Pod Save America - 1120: Dems Freeze ICE

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Live from Melbourne, Jon, Lovett, Tommy, and Dan react to Democrats’ decision to stand firm on ICE funding and force a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, Pam Bondi’s epic meltdown in front of the House Judiciary Committee, Megyn Kelly’s unhinged response to the Bad Bunny halftime show, and what really happened with the the laser weapon that shut down El Paso airspace. Then, the Australian crowd and American hosts attempt to answer questions from each other's citizenship test.

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What a city We're such fans We love this city We are not just saying that We didn't do this for other cities I'm not going to name any names All right so we got a big show tonight In the

In the five days since we've been gone from the U.S The president has tried and failed To arrest several members of Congress the Attorney General had a public meltdown over the administration's continued cover-up of a child sex trafficking ring and the Department of Homeland Security is headed for a shutdown

but not because they used an experimental laser to accidentally shoot down a party balloon over Texas without giving aviation officials a head up forcing them to ground all traffic air traffic over El Paso that's not why the department's closing down but we'll get to why it is But let's start with a very important public health announcement

from the top U.S. official in charge of our nation's well-being. I'm not scared of a germ. You know, I used to snort cocaine off a toilet seat. There is. There is. Another Kennedy winning hearts all over America. That is the most I've ever believed, R.F.K. Jr., This is a man who saw a dead bear carcass on the side of the road in upstate New York and thought,

let's give it a ride to Manhattan. That's his vibe. We think that the cocaine fell and he just didn't want to waste any of it. Like there's no reason he was like trying. Like what was the purpose of... Listen, I'm not like a cool guy. I know he's a conservationist. I've not been offered cocaine often in my life.

People just don't look at me and think he'll do cocaine. but I'm pretty sure the toilet seat is never the best option for doing cocaine. Was he in a bathroom? It has to be in a bathroom. I don't think he's at, I don't think he's at Home Depot. I think he's at the public...

Is it IKEA? Where were the follow-up questions in this interview? That's it, I mean, I think it was with Theo Vaughn, so who knows? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Let's get to the actual news. Believe it or not, the RFK Jr. Clip was not the craziest performance

of a Trump cabinet secretary this week. On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi test... Wow. Sorry, Bondi. That's our fault. Playbook did title the story about this, Bondi Beach.

I know. Yeah, exactly. She testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee, where she was asked to provide candid answers about the government's handling of the Epstein files. That's what this hearing was about. Let's take a listen. How many of Epstein's co-conspirators have you indicted?

How many perpetrators are you even investigating? First, you showed it. I find it. How many have you indicted? Excuse me. I'm going to answer the question. I answer my question. No, I'm going to answer the question the way I want to answer the question.

You don't tell me anything. Yeah, I did tell you because we saw what you did in the Senate. He's not even a lawyer. Have you apologized to President Trump? The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000. And the NASDAQ smashing records. That's what we should be talking about.

This guy has Trump derangement syndrome. Don't you ever accuse me of a crime? I believe you just lie under oath. Her district includes Culver City, and she's not talking about, any crime in her district. But we're going to move back to you. I bet we are. Yes, of course, because

you're here to testify. That's the idea. You come here, we go back to you, because we're asking you questions. There's a, it's unbelievable. It's a great Steve Martin joke where he's at the Kennedy Center honors for Paul, Kennedy Center was a building we used to have

before Donald Trump blew it up. And Steve Martin says, you know, I could sing the praises of Paul Simon, but this is neither the time nor the place. Love it. If you were Pam Bondi's communications director... And you almost were. And you almost were. And she walks out of the hearing room.

She hasn't looked at social media yet. And she says, John, how'd I do? I think I'd say, wow. You did your best out there. And you really gave as good as you got, Boss, hey, late at night, you can't hear God anymore either, right? Like, you used to be able to hear something that felt like connection to like an ever-loving presence, and now it's silent, right?

That's true for you, too. Not just me. Are we all? Because at night, when it's really quiet, it's getting quieter than it was, and you're like, what's missing? What's the quiet in the quiet? And it's like, is that, is that me, or you feel that, you feel that too? Great job out there, boss. The boss is going to love it. I'm really happy with my... Has the president called?

Has the president called? Has the president called yet? No. Tommy, aside from the crash out that we just witnessed, were there any answers or revelations from the hearing that you think will keep the story going or cause the administration some problems? Yeah, so there are a few like factual things. One, she was repeatedly pressed if they were going to indict anyone based on what's in the Epstein

files. And I think she said something like, we have pending investigations in our office, which seems like news and seemingly contradicts what the FBI director Cash Patel said when he said there was no one to indict based on what he'd seen in the files. Second, she said she claimed not to have known that Galane Maxwell was going to be moved to a minimum security prison, which seems impossible to believe in suggest to me she may have perjured herself.

Bigger picture. And she said it wasn't actually a minimum security prison. Which is bullshit. Bigger picture. What is minimum anyway? Yeah. Saying we shouldn't be talking about prosecuting child predators because the Dow is at 50,000

is one of the most fucking insane things I've ever heard anyone say in politics in my life. That is the line, though. It is like 49,000. Yeah. Guess where it ended today? 49,000. Watch out, co-conspirators.

And I do think it was like permanently damaging. It just, not just because of the, insanity of the comment, but the degree to which it broke through. Like, my TikTok and Instagram were full of people commenting on this. Like, the Gen Z reporter at Barstool Sports was talking about how insane this was. And then there was also this moment where she was asked if she would apologize to victims of Epstein's crimes who were in the back based on how badly DOJ had bungled the release of the files and put out names and graphic images of people. And she would not look at them.

She would not apologize to them. She would not give an inch. And I think, like, this performance drew so much more attention to Donald Trump's worst issue that I know she was performing for an audience of one, but I think she made it exponentially worse by acting like a crazy person. Yeah. I mean, there's also another moment in the hearing where Congressman Dan Goldman had their 10 of Epstein survivors who were in the audience. And he asked them, how many of you have been interviewed by the Department of Justice? And none of them raised their hands. He asked you how many of you would be willing to share your story at the Department of Justice?

They all raise their hands. And so you just have to think about this is they have a bunch of emails with people on record admitting to or very seriously implying being involved in child sex trafficking, talking about torture videos, talking about incredibly young girls. And they have not even asked the women who were involved about this. Like there is no effort to investigate the most famous, maybe largest child sex trafficking ring in American history. And the reason that is is because they don't want to know the names of the people that they're going to say. Yeah. Because once they start pulling on the strings, a lot of people who may be friends with this administration, friends with this president in this administration, their names may come out.

And you do think that, like, as we go forward, that is something that reporters can keep pressing them on. Like, they are willing to be interviewed. You were at the hearing. Have you interviewed them yet? Like, that's something that's going to be hard to just keep running away from. And because she was flipping around her briefing book so much, it was revealed that DOJ has surveilled members of Congress and knew what terms they were searching for when they were looking through, I assume, the unredacted Epstein files, which is an insane thing to do.

That would be a massive scandal in any other administration. Yeah. This is, by some measures, perhaps the largest or most consequential political scandal in American history. You have the federal government in the United States from its absolute highest level covering up and protecting people involved in child sex trafficking because those people may be friends with donors to or colleagues of the President of the United States. Yeah. Like the Commerce Secretary. who we found out, went to the island with his family.

He brought his children to pedophile island, so that's fine. You want to take your kids to Epstein Island as a trip after you said that you broke off relations with him years before. You got to get the fast pass, though. It's a Disney joke. It's okay. It's okay. Do you think they didn't understand? Do you think that's why they reacted that way?

We were told not to dumb it down, specifically. So, Dan, here's a Politico headline from a story about the hearing, how does Dems think Pam Bondi just help them in the midterms? What do you think? That's putting a lot of weight on a congressional hearing

that happened midday Wednesday in early February. We do have nine months. Is that what? I think there are two bigger questions here that come from this hearing and the entire thing. The first is, what impact will the Epstein files

and cover up have on politics? And the second question is, how should Democrats use, talk about the Epstein files in the midterm campaigns? So let's start with the first question. It's obviously going to have an impact. This is a rare monocultural event in American politics. It has been honestly the biggest story in American politics for nine months now. Yeah. It dominates everything. It is everyone talks about it.

It's broken out of the political media bubble. It is your non-political podcasters are talking about it. influencers on TikTok and YouTube are talking about, it is broken through it away. And in our politics, there are so few moments like that that's impossible for not to have an impact. So the question is, like, how did Democrats talk about it? And it absolutely should be part of our message, but I think it needs to be a data point about a larger story.

And that larger story is that in America, there are two sets of rules, one for elites and one for everyone else. and that dynamic is why rich people get tax cuts and Americans get kicked off their health care. It's why politically connected fraudsters get pardons from the president and hardworking law-abiding people in America get thrown into vans

because of the color of their skin or their accent. And it's why the Department of Justice will not even talk to the victims because they're so worried that the elites will get in trouble because of it. And that, and that, That is an absolutely true, believable story of America.

It's actually the story that got Donald Trump elected twice. And the fact that he is now on the wrong side of that, that he is not someone breaking up that cabal as he tried. He is one of the elites protecting other elites. That is a mortal political wound for him. But we have to tell that story. We have to tell it aggressive. So we get too wrapped up in the specifics.

I think you lose it. It's got to be, it's not just the FECN files. Even though the country believes that he's covering something up, you know the country believes that there should be transparency, there should be more investigations. It has to be part of this larger story. Yeah. I also think her conduct at the hearing is like a perfect example that illustrates that story.

Because people who are tuning in and, you know, like Tommy was saying, this, like, broke beyond the political bubble and everyone's just, people are watching the attorney general of the United States sit at a hearing and just refuse to answer a single question, scream at members of Congress. And midterms are about, you know, a referendum on the party in power. And they're about like whether you want to have checks and balances and whether you want to hold an administration accountable. And you want to have some balance of power in the country. And having Pam Bondi up there scream for a half hour and refuse to answer questions and talk about the fucking Dow when we're talking about child sex trafficking. It's just going to strike most people who don't even pay attention to politics. It's like, what the hell? Why shouldn't she have to answer questions?

She works for us. She's the attorney general United States. I understand from her own personal politics why she acted like this because this is apparently what people think Trump wants. But this is the last thing that Trump should want attention being drawn to. It's like having robbing a bank and having your getaway driver light herself on fire outside the bank. It's not a good plan. Yeah, you won't get away. It's also worth saying like, why is she doing this in this way right now?

And I think it's because she's on her heels, right? There's lots of stories about Trump being pretty upset with her and rightly so. this began with Pam Bondi saying that the list was on her desk, and she sent a bunch of people with binders out called Phase 1 before Cash Patel said there is no list. And so she is just... And that was when the doubt was at $45,000. Yeah. And so I think, like, ironically, her fealty to the president and constant fear of losing a news cycle and then, like, earning his wrath has put her in a, like, kind of an impossible situation because everyone knows she's just a... vassal for Trump and that she's performing for an audience of one that actually makes it impossible

for her to do anything to help him with the scandal because everyone knows she's not an independent arbiter of justice she works for him and so there's really nothing she could do and by the way their decision to like redact these things has allowed the story to continue rolling out now there's all these news cycles about day after day of like oh who was this email from we want to unredact this we want to fix this like she is stuck in a loop where because she is so devoted to Donald Trump she can't solve the problem for him. Pan Bondi's had a few other big elves this week. She and the president tried to indict six Democratic members of Congress

for exercising their First Amendment rights, in this case reminding members of the U.S. military that the law does not require them to obey illegal orders. Thankfully, not a single American serving on a D.C. grand jury voted to indict. Was it because criminalizing free speech is a nightmare that our founders probably had? Or was it because the prosecutor assigned to the case runs an active dance photography studio and has zero experience being a federal prosecutor? We'll never know.

We'll never know. It's maybe some combination. It's a weird combo. Weird combo. It's like members and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Position one, position one, position two, position two. Plea, pleia, and spin. Honestly, if you go to the Instagram feed, some good work.

Really? Yeah, the photography's not bad. Is she dancing while taking photos? Is that the deal? No, I think she takes photos of dancers. Maybe it was a confusion because she... It's a he, by the way. Because Piero had thought he had taken the bar.

Tommy, feel relieved that our legal guardrails held, or should we be terrified that Trump and Bondi tried this in the first place? Yeah, I don't, I, D.C. Grand Jurors have become a surprising bulwark against creeping fascism, whether you are a member of Congress or just a dude, drunk hucking a sandwich at a nice guy. Shout out to D.C. Grand Jurers, but I do not think, I do not think that can hold, like, as we've all seen, there are judges and jurisdictions. that are far more likely to do Donald Trump's bidding. And I assume that at some point, DOJ or someone will find ways to route these cases there.

Earlier today, though, I spoke with one of the six elected officials who they're trying to prosecute. And this person told me that they thought that Trump was going to try again maybe as soon as tomorrow. Which is yesterday in America. So it's already, no, okay. With another grand jury. And so maybe it won't work again.

Maybe it will fail. But look, I mean, these people, you have to hire a lawyer. It takes time. It takes money. It is intimidating. And like, you know, in this case, it seems like they fucked with the wrong six people. Right. But there will be a whole host of other people who are far more willing to be silenced, to be intimidated.

For every Mark Kelly, there's a Mark Zuckerberg who has tremendous money in power. or just turtles or a Jeff Bezos or, you know, Tim Apple, Tim Cook. Yeah, Tim Apple. Went to the Melania documentary premiere for Amazon. So I don't think we should feel good about this. Love it. A federal judge, speaking of Mark Kelly, just blocked Pete Higsef from retroactively demoting Mark Kelly, Senator Mark Kelly, his military rank and reducing his pension. Also because of the illegal orders video, Hegsef then responded to say he's appealing. Like...

And he's not. Stop it. Stop it. Not anyone gets to be the understudy on the weekend Fox show. Why do you think they don't seem to care that they just keep losing these fights? Like, they're not worried. So I think it's a couple things. I think to Tommy's point, the process is the punishment.

They just want to make their lives miserable. They want to make them feel afraid of the process and what the worst case scenario could be. this could go to a grand jury and that could go beyond it. This could cause your pension to be reduced. I think there's a reason that Janine Piro is now stuck going to a dance instructor slash lawyer to kind of do this thing. Like, they're not sending their best. Like Pete Egg Seth, like Pam Bondi, is just trying to keep his head above water.

He is just grossly unqualified to do this job. You can see it on his face. I'm sure he feels it in every meeting he is with serious people where he's pretending to be in charge and pretending to be on top of it and pretending to have earned the respect of generals who can barely stare him in the face. They're all just trying to stay one new cycle ahead, right?

They get a defeat, so he says, we're going to appeal it. Why does he have to say that? So it doesn't look like they lost, right? They're always just trying to stay one step ahead. And I think it's important just to, like, I think sometimes these people, we know it to imbue them with magical powers or sort of kind of prognostication abilities.

They're trying to figure this out one day at a time. And I think Pete Hegseth is just trying to stay ahead of the weather. Like, I really do think that that's a lot of what's going on. So, Dan, like, I could see that most Americans, first of all, if they have heard about this story, and probably many haven't. But those who have heard about it, you know, it's like, oh, Donald Trump is, you know, trying to indict people and politicians. and does it, but like, this to me is a genuine, like, if not constitutional crisis, like democratic crisis right now, that we are, that the president is just because he didn't like a video trying to use the Justice Department to arrest sitting members of Congress.

Do you think that, like, this is something that might, might break through, that maybe Democrats should talk about this? And, you know, what do you think? What do you want me to say, John? You know what I want you to say. And you're right. This is an absolute crisis. The President of the United States is criminalizing opposition to the regime.

Like that it is as authoritarian as it can be. The only thing standing in the way is our American citizens serving on grand jury. It is what's kept Jim Comey, Letitia James, Lisa Cook, and a bunch of other people from actually being prosecuted, right? Being indicted by their government and then brought up on criminal charges. for what is essentially anchoring the Mad King. Now, the way to talk about this, I think, and we know that people do care about this. In polling, after polling, majorities think

Trump is going too far, majorities think, including strong majorities of independence, and even as a swath republicans think Trump is a threat to democracy. There are, you know, huge majorities, particularly of independence, but the country has whole who think that the government,

under Trump as a threat to free speech, like they're aware of this. What is really bothers people the most, and maybe this isn't say the most, the, since say the best things about the voters who will decide our election is, it's not just that Trump is doing this. It's that he's doing this instead of the other stuff they elected him for. Right? There's a whole bunch of people who elected Trump. They knew this risk, right?

They heard him say these things. Maybe they thought we were being a bit hyperbolic in how we described it. We weren't. Maybe they didn't really like him. They might have his policies, but they really believed, given the choices they had, that he would do a better job of making their life a little bit easier by lowering prices.

And then since he's been in office, he's done everything but that. And that's where this really hurts them. Right? Like we just, people care about democracy, but what they really care about, like I said, maybe this is to speak incredibly well of our citizenry, but what they really care about is,

because if you were in a position where you are not making ends meet, that's what's in front of you because you're trying to feed your family, you're trying to save money for retirement, trying to put your kids through college, and that is always going to be first and foremost, and that's where he's failing, but in part he's failing because he's doing all this other shit instead of that.

Yeah. Is that the answer you wanted, or you wanted me to say... Well, no, yes, of course. I also think that, like, you think he's going to stop at members of Congress? Like, he could do this to you. He could do this to anyone. And what happens when he starts doing it to people who are not well-known, who can't hire attorneys,

who are not going to get, like, the public behind them because no one's going to know that it happened to them. You know, like, at some point, you have to make the argument that, like, this is not about Trump fighting with other politicians or democratic activists or organizers, but, like, everyone is at risk. If the president of the United States can just go try to arrest people, throw them in jail, for exercising their rights. And, I mean, look, and this is why, we'll talk about it, but, like, this is why ICE and immigration, this is why he's so unpopular on that, too, because it is, people are starting to realize, because they're seeing it in their communities,

that no one is, if some people aren't safe from this president and the law doesn't work anymore and the law is not upheld, then no one's safe. I mean, that's why the killings of Renee Goode-Navix-Pretti broke through in the way they did because it is evidence, everyone's worst fears came to fruition, which is at any point the government can do anything they want to any American and face no accountability for it.

Yeah, I do think there's like a virtuous feedback loop in which it's what stands in the way of jury it is yes it's a group of grand jurors but it's bigger than that right the fact that there is not some mass movement behind Donald Trump he's not the the the leader of a popular front that wants to criminalize being a democrat and and that is sort of that erupted to to help him execute the day he was elected that they don't have enough lawyers to do the kind of uh uh uh prosecution of their enemies they don't have the they don't have the they don't have the kind of, like, expert group. They don't have the popular will behind them.

It means that, yes, grand juries are going to stop them, but so are judges. It means that when Trump tries to go after the head of the Fed, there's pushback from Republicans as well. Like, he doesn't have democratic legitimacy for this, which is why it's important to make the argument that you're making, to make the case, because even if that doesn't result in them, that will be felt inside of the legal process,

because the law is what we say it is, and it is what judges say it is. and if they feel empowered by the public, it will allow them to do more and be another check as we go through it. Pots of America is brought to by Bombas. Whether you've been able to stick to your resolutions this year, there's one goal that should remain at the top of your list. Get comfy.

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I mean, I just want to listen to us to know. I literally won't have a drink without a Z-biotics. I know there's a lot of kind of snake oil in this, You might be skeptical. Try it. Try it one time. You get 15% off and then it's 100% money back guarantee. Literally nothing to lose. But every single friend I tell about Zbiotics becomes a subscriber. Literally no one has said this was bullshit guys. It didn't work for me. It works. Never heard it. Ready to try it. Go to Zbiotics.com slash cricket now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use cricket at checkout. Plus it's backed by 100% money back guarantee. So there's no risk. Subscriptions are also available for maximum consistency. Remember to head to zbiotics.com slash cricket and use the code crooked at checkout for 15% off. Melbourne, you're all here because you follow American politics. And we're here

because you follow American politics. And we appreciate that. But do we appreciate it enough to learn even a tiny fucking bit about you? Let's find out. Tonight, we're going to test our knowledge of each other. I'm going to ask members of the audience, I'm going to come out there now, questions from the American citizenship test. And I'm going to ask my best boys up here, questions from the Australian citizenship test. Oh no. All right, I'm coming around. It's going to take me a second. I get another drink for this. I think you can probably still hear me. There's a long route. Legally speaking, they said I wasn't allowed to jump down from the stage because even though I act like I'm not,

I am technically over 40. I don't even know if you guys can still hear me. Okay. All right. We hear you. Ooh, too loud. Hi. All right. So here's how this is going to work.

I have some questions here about what it takes to become an American citizen. A little bit like buying Bitcoin now. But here's the thing. The motto of Pod Save America, buy the dip. All right, who would like to go first? Oh, and by the way, I love our Americans who are here and our expats who are here.

We're so grateful. I'd like Australians to help. So anybody want to raise your hand? All right, I'll come to you. Hi, hi, hi, hi. Hi, what's your name? Chancie. Okay, hi.

I'm not going to try. I'm sorry. All right. Now, I will one note about this. The American citizenship test, you just have to know the answer, but we publish the full test. The Australians, you have to read a book. But the questions are multiple choice.

Interesting. All right. The idea of self-government is the first three words of the Constitution. What are the first three words of the U.S. Constitution? We the people. You got it. Good. All right.

John, Tommy and Dan. What do we remember on Anzac Day? Is it A, the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli, Turkey, B, the arrival of the first free settlers from Great Britain, or C, the landing of the first fleet at Sydney Cove? What's the day called? Anzac Day. Anzac.

A-N-C, what we all know. Say the options again? Yeah. The landing of the Australian, New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli, the arrival of the first free settlers, the landing of the first fleet at Sidney Cove. Come on, fellas. First World War is what we were told.

I'll give it to you. That's correct. The landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli. It's a bit like Memorial Day or Veterans Day. Who would like to go next? Oh, I, okay. You're gonna come together. Okay, all right.

How many, how many years does a U.S. Senator serve? I'm gonna need a number. I'm gonna need a number. That is the right answer. Four. Wrong. It's wrong. How many?

Six. All right. Sorry. What is represented by the Commonwealth Star on the Australian National Flag? Is it A, the six states and one point for the territories? Is it B, the, the British heritage, or see the Southern Cross.

The Commonwealth star on the Australian National Flag. C. C. That's wrong, obviously. Oh, boom. Fucking audience. What was it? It is the six states and one point for the territories.

Which we all learned from reading the book that teaches us all this, the common bond. Next up. Back to our host. What is Australia's national flower? Is it A, the tulip, B, the rose, or C, the golden waddle? Got to be C.

It's got to be C, right? C. It is. It's the golden waddle. A beautiful, a beautiful yellow flower. Here we go. Points on the board. Points on the board.

I'll come over here. All right. Who wants to go next from over here? Okay, hi, hi, hi, what's your name? Francis. Francis, hi. Are you from Melbourne? Yes.

What a city. You live outside? About an hour and a half. Oh, but in of doors. If both the president and the vice president can no longer serve, who becomes the American president? There's a half. You got it. Amazing.

Well done. All right, boys. What is the national anthem of all? Is it A, waltzing Matilda? B, a song we all love out here. Is it B, God Save the Queen? Or is it C, Advance Australia Fair? Come on, Tommy.

What is the world you've been saving? It's not a trivia show. Ben would know. Do you think it's God Save the Queen? No. No, that's, I don't know. I thought they'd keep it up. I think it's see.

It's see. How could it be God Save the Queen? the queen when you think about it, she dead. See. You got it. It's Advanced Australia Fair. All right, who would like to go from over here? Oh, hi, huh?

Well, you can't point, you know what? Fuck you for pointing at your friend. Name two cabinet-level positions in the U.S. government. Two cabinet-level positions. Stop helping. Kind Australians. Mouthy nice people.

Secretary? That is, okay. Of what? Of what? Secretary of war and Secretary of State. Wrong. There is no Secretary of War. That's Trump talk.

I was going to say there is now. Wrong. Not by law. All right. When did the first fleet of convict ships arrive in Australia. Was it July 4th, 1776? The first of January 1800

or the 26th of January, 1788? I think it's C, right? It's all... C. Right. See? C, that's correct. One of Australia's proudest moments, I guess. There's a weird history you guys got. Love it here. Look.

You're just up. What's happening? Okay, sit down, you prisoner. Sit down. Act like this isn't a prison anymore. Jumping up. All right. Here, let's do one. I'm doing it.

All right, ready? When was the U.S. Constitution written? It was in the olden days. Hit the nail on the head there. You're so cocky. Now we're talking and you don't have a fucking answer. But you know what? Oh, I'm getting punched.

Get his ass. John, Tommy, Dan. When was the U.S. Constitution written? Come on, boys. 1783? Oh, you're getting so close to it. The Australians know it's 1787. So close.

So close. So close. So close. These are hard. These are hard. Oh, let me give you a real, let's give you a, all right. Let's do this. Who is Australia's head of state?

Is it A, this is a sensitive topic. It's a sensitive topic. Is it A, just chill out. Just for the rest of the game. Act like you're still a colony. I'm going to get killed out here. All right. A, is it the prime minister?

Is it B, the government? or is it C, the king of Australia, his majesty, King Charles III? C. That's, yeah, no, it is. It is King Charles. It is King Charles. Oh, I read the book today.

Why don't you all take your fucking test again? The Governor General is his representative. You are all still fucking subjects of that inbred fucking London. You can pretend all you want otherwise, but until you change your constitution, you work for Charles. I guess we're not getting asylum here. Sorry, I got a little upset there for a second.

Why does our flag have 13 stripes? Uh, it's a 13 original color. You got it, thank you. See, we're coming back. What is the role of the Governor General in Australia? Is it A? Get mocked by Trump. A, make all the government decisions. B, lead the parliament, or C, act as the king's representative,

and perform ceremonial and constitutional duties. C, sounds like C on this one. You got it. Nice. Let's do one more question out here amongst all these lovers. Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, what's your name? Ash. Ash.

Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States. Mississippi? You got it. The other is the Missouri. and as I come back, Melbourne, you won the game. And as I come back... Run, run.

As I come back, I just want to say that in learning a lot about your country, I came to find out that in 1975, your supposedly ceremonial governor general committed a fucking coup. There was a coup d'etatah in Australia. In 1975, boo me all you want. You know I'm right.

And then in 1975, the fucking king of England had a coup in your country, and you all just fucking ate it. Right? The CIA did it. You know what? There's a lot you can blame on us. There's a lot you can blame on us. But not the 1975 governor general thing. You did that.

You know what? You lose the game. My boys won the game. And we'll be right back. Pod Save America is brought to you by Acorns. There were times in my past when I wasn't investing, especially when I was young, and I just didn't know how to do it.

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Let's get back to talking about America. Clearly a superior country, because as most of you know, well, I was some heavy sarcasm there because I was about to say, as most of you know, our... They haven't gotten sarcasm here yet. Our government has been sending roving paramilitary squads into our cities and towns to round up immigrants and citizens alike, so that's what we're dealing with. But there's been some promising news on that front this week. Democrats in Congress are standing strong in refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security

unless Trump and Republicans agree to rain in ice. A Trump-appointed judge, of all judges, just ruled that the administration must no longer violate thousands of immigrants' constitutional rights by locking them up without access to lawyers. And in Minnesota, Borders R. Tom Homan and Governor Tim Walls announced that Operation Metro Surge, which has terrorized the people of Minneapolis, has finally ended. And here's what Tim Walls had to say at his press conference. The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here. We've got children that a core memory for them will be their class.

being taken away. And that will stick with them the rest of their lives. And my hope is what sticks with them is human decency wins out. Rule of law matters. All the surge is going and they're going immediately. So as soon as they can pack their stuff, book a plane, move on. I would volunteer. We will help you get to the airport. We will clear the roads to get you to the airport. I will come over and pack your damn bags if that's what it takes. right there. Yeah. That's Tim Walz.

Love that. That's a Tim Walz we loved. Oh, yeah, that's great. Tim Walts packing the bags, the under armor shirts, the photos of the kids they're not allowed to see. Love it.

You were in Minneapolis a couple weeks after the killing of Alex Prattie. What are some lessons you think we can take away from what happened here? So, I think, something that will always stick with me,

something I've never seen in an American city are just parents standing on street corners all throughout the city invests with whistles, kind of these sentinels, standing guard of the schools, preschools, middle schools, high schools, in case ICE shows up. That is an organic outpouring of empathy,

compassion, of people standing up for their neighbors in their community, and that group of unarmed people were strong enough to force the Trump administration. into retreat. When, something I've said before, tyrant, you know,

dictators look stronger than they are, democracy looks weaker than it is, but it is very powerful. We are very powerful. The American people are powerful, and they underestimate that because I think they equate being kind with being weak, but you can be kind and tough, and I think that's what

the people of the Twin Cities showed, and I think that's what we have to show as Americans, and I just think we can, and I just think we can, And that is why I think when we, like, worry about what they're going to do to take over our elections, worry about what they're going to do to throw members of Congress in jail. We have to remember that we are still stronger than them, and we should not give them power that they haven't taken because we will hold them back as, like, we will set how far they go. They will not decide how far they go.

Yeah. So, Dan, another two polls came out this week, one from NBC, one from the Associated Press that show Trump's approval on immigration at record lows. I think in the AP poll, his approval on immigration is even lower than his economic approval. How's his economic approval? Not great either. Not great either. Though immigration being lower, I've been reliably told that only economic issues are what people care about, so it's nice to see that. I am sure that that's one reason Democrats in Congress feel like very confident heading into this

mini shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which will probably take effect by the time people listen to this podcast. How do you think, one, the Department of Homeland Security shuts down, Democrats win this fight, and what does a win look like? So whenever you were dealing with a budget or government funding shutdown, there's a political win, a substantive win. They're not always the same thing. So let's talk about the political win first.

What Democrats, as you point out on this point, they have the high ground here. And this is really going to require Democrats and Congress to change their mentality, because our natural assumption since the day Trump came down the escalator is, if the conversation about immigration, it's bad for Democrats. And that is no longer the case. Immigration, it went from Trump's greatest strength to a glaring weakness. And so we have the political ones that are back here. We should be strong. And it's positive to know that talking to senators, they believe that Democrats will stand strong here. The way I think they carry the message here is they stand strong. They are very loud and clear about what it is they're asking for. And be very specific that all that

they are asking for is for people to stop wearing masks, for ICE agents to have to use judicial warrants, like our Constitution says before they arrest people, that ICE and CBP agents adopt the same standards for use of force as every other federal law enforcement officer in the country. That's all we're asking for. And then the other thing here is we care about ICE and CBP, the Customs of Work Patrol. And Democrats are willing to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security tomorrow if Republicans will agree to it. We will fund the Transportation Security Administration. We'll fund everything other than that.

And so they force Republicans to vote against that or to say they will not do that. They put them in position of being unreasonable. And the only thing that Democrats cannot do here is to do what they did at the end of the last shutdown, which is to quit with nothing, to fold their cards before getting anything else. If the government, if the DHS has to be shut down through the election, through the swearing into the Democratic majority in the House and maybe the Senate, then that's what has to happen here.

Because honestly, ice has money. Like, we should be very clear, ICE has $125 billion. Like, they're not going to suffer here, but there is a principle here in that we will not vote to give a single penny to this agency that has killed American citizens, that has terrorized American communities,

without the most basic guardrails you could possibly ask for. And we have to stand by that. Because if we're not going to do that, then this is going to end up, that would be tremendously damaging if we fold our cards here. And we should be clear, too, like, within the Department of Homeland Security, like,

transportation, the TSA, right? There's the people at the airports who, you know, make sure when you go through security. And if, you know, TSA will work without pay, they'll have to work without pay for a while. But, you know, last time we had to shut down the airports, you get a lot of delays and then travel. That's the FAA, which is funded. At some point, the TSA thing starts getting a little funky. But I do think, and they're in the Coast Guard to, and FEMA, right, which is emergency management.

And we'd fund them. Right. And so I think at some point the Republicans will say, oh, look, the Democrats are hurting people by doing all this. And I think, you know, Democrats have to say, no, no, no, we'll fund this immediately. And if you want to leave the Department of Homeland Security, the rest of it, ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, like, unfunded for the rest of the year, great, we don't care. Like, I don't think, and I think there's less pressure on Democrats over DHS than there was

when the whole government was shut down over the affordable care. Ice is approval rating is down 30 points in the last year. Yeah. So if the Republicans want to make it hard people to go through airports,

they want to keep the Coast Guard unfunded, they want to keep the rest of the Homeland Security unfunded to pay for the masked paramilitary groups terrorizing American communities that America is including even 24% of Republicans disapprove of. That's their choice and they should pay a price for it. Yeah, I agree.

Tommy, While we're on the subject of the Department of Homeland Security, we should talk about Lasergate, which I briefly mentioned at the top of the show. So again, the headline here is that Customs and Border Patrol reportedly used an anti-drone laser on loan from the Pentagon to shoot down a party balloon flying over El Paso. Party pew, pew peopers. Unfucking believable. Is my mic on? Can someone turn it off?

So they shoot down the party balloon with the laser on loan from the DOD without giving the federal aviation administration a heads up. So the FAA then briefly closes the airspace over El Paso in Texas, which is the city of about a million people. Why would they do that? Why are we shooting Defense Department lasers in a situation where we're not at war? Can I add one more question of this? Yeah.

What's a pretty balloon? Right. That we cannot answer. We were all searching for this today. We don't know. We think it's just a mylar balloon? Yeah, we need better reporting on this. Yeah, we need better balloon.

Is it mylar? Is it just helium? Who's on the balloon beats? It's got to be helium. 99 red balloons. It's got to be in the air. What's going on? Yeah.

So the weapon system itself is actually pretty cool, but it's shocking how bad they fuck this up. So the system itself is called locust or the palletized high energy laser. Peahel. Great name. So it's like a 7 by 7 box. You can slap it on the back of a truck. There is one, like, optic is a laser.

One is a guidance system. And I think it's sort of like bolt into whatever radar you have around. And what it does is provide sort of a mini air defense bubble for deployed troops. And anyone who has seen footage of what it is like on the front line in Ukraine knows that like war these days is drones that you could often buy it, Best Buy or whatever, that you strap a grenade to. Sometimes they use AI guidance and they're unmanned systems that are autonomous that are just, you know, absolutely lethal. And so what this system does is it provides a way to defend against those. Like it's a 20 kilowatt laser that, which is actually not that much.

It's kind of like the low end of the spectrum. I read it was like 350 light bulbs, basically. But you direct it the size of a dime. And over time, it's a shitload of energy. So I watched a promotional video this company did about their weapon system on YouTube. and they melted a two-inch metal coin from half a mile away in 1.5 seconds. And the reason this is important is because basically cost, like, normal missile defense systems, the interceptor missiles cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if I've thought millions of dollars.

This is basically like a dollar or two, three dollars per kill. So a good system. Per kill is what you said. Per fire. So there's a good thing. it's like... Tommy, have you purchased one of these lasers? We cannot, I don't think so.

He's like, oh, we should tell you. Tommy's on the board of Raytheon. Do we not mention that? Are you going to check the box when we go through customs that you cannot be bringing the laser? So the balloon costs more than the laser. Yeah, well, it's like unlimited ammo.

Yes, you can take out a balloon for less than the price of the balloon. And so that's why laser was such a good weapon in Contra. So apparently, apparently, the cartels are flying drones like these over the border they're tracking CBP so they know where they are.

And they'll see the customs officials move one way, and they'll send whatever drugs over the border of the other. So what it seems like happened was the Army acquired some of these systems. They loaned them to DHS, who gave them to CBP, and these cowboy assholes just started firing these fucking things at balloons without telling anyone. And the FAA was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we got to ground all the planes. But then they announced that we had to ground all the planes for,

10 days, which I don't understand. It's like, and they lied, right? And they didn't say it was a balloon at first. They said it was a, it was like drugs, right? Yeah, there were multiple stories coming out. At first, it was a, yes, it didn't make any sense. And so what this story to me suggests that this is what happens when you have a national security advisor who is also the Secretary of State, who until recently was the chief archivist,

and is like seemingly the president of Venezuela? What? Did he lose the archivist? Yes, he did. He did. He's also running Venezuela. And so that guy is the person, Marco Rubio, should be coordinating the interagency to be like, all right, we got this problem of cartels on the border, they're flying drones, they're tracking our agents so they can traffic things across the border. Here's the solution. Here's how we're going to work together to make sure that we don't shoot U.S. or Mexican commercial planes by accident. But no one told the FAA.

So they just like did this. Everyone freaked out, understand. And it was a complete disaster. And it sounds like no one told RFK Jr. Because his shipment was in that balloon. It was just a floating toilet across the border. That guys, he's got to go find another toilet. Unbelievable. Just idiots.

Idiots. Right on the government. Transportation Secretary was a former cast member on the real world. And honestly, he's one of the better ones. He's doing okay. Yeah, well, he's fucked up. too. I don't think this is on him, is it? The balloon thing? He's in charge of the FAA. It didn't seem like the 10-day shutdown thing was kind of like inter, like a way of being like,

we weren't told this was happening, we're going to be kind of like, we're going to be like pissy about it. Yeah, for sure. But it's like, what's the end game there? It's also like a serious thing. Like in the El Paso airport, there were like medevacs that needed to get out of there. They were like people, it's not just like people traveling into El Paso. Like people need to get out of there and there was like the airspace was shut down because they shot a fucking laser at a I don't think they told the Mexican government either yeah there's a lot of problems no no it's like the like the 10th story uh that the on the New York times because everything else is fucked up too all right that's that's the news for now

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and we want to stop to talk about it. We'll say, okay, stop. In America, we call it Super Bowl Sunday. Here in Melbourne, we suppose it would be Super Bowl Monday, and that raised a lot of questions for us. President Franklin Roosevelt described December 7th, 1941, the day that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor as a day that would live in infamy, but here that was December 8th.

So what day lives in infamy? We refer to the terrible events of September 11, 2001, as 9-11, but here it was 12-9. Anyway, this week a lot of American conservatives, including Megan Kelly, watch Bad Bunny, arguably the most popular musician in the world, perform the halftime show during the Super Bowl. But for people like Megan Kelly, it was like a cultural 12-9.

And so, let us all watch and wonder as Megan Kelly, in conversation with Pierce Morgan, apps... Oh, yeah. Yes. Honestly, he's the hero here. Watch his face. It's so funny. As Megan absolutely crashes out. I'm sorry, peers, but to get up there and perform the whole show in Spanish is a middle finger to the rest of America.

Who gives a damn that we have 40 million, Spanish speakers in the United States? We have 310 million who don't speak a lick of Spanish. This is supposed to be a unifying event for the country, not for the Latinos, not for one small group, but for the country. Okay, stop. I just want to say, obviously, this is shocking. It's funny, because in the context of the rant, because when she does a lot of, like, Avita-like gestures,

for someone who's railing against Latin culture, she's up there being, like, arms up on the balcony. Also, the Super Bowl is not a unifying event. It is an opportunity for the NFL to make as much money as humanly possible for a group of billionaire owners, as the United States, we all pick one side or the other,

and we watch them concuss each other to death on a field. Yeah, as a Patriots fam didn't feel very unifying, the Super Bowl. Well, the rest of us were unified about that result, so that's fine. It really is 22 grown men beating living shit out of each other while we eat a six-foot sub and have some wings? Yes. It is a great event, but...

I love it. The 15 minutes of Spanish didn't seem like that was an issue. What is that character she did? Like, she's so angry. Like, what? Yeah, she did accent work. Yeah, it's really... Work is generous.

All right, let's continue. Black national anthem, we don't need a Spanish-speaking, non-English performing performer, and we don't need an ICE or America hater featured as our primetime entertainment. Okay, what is the national language? Officially, the national language of the United States. States of America?

I mean, English. And there's been a push for many, many years to make it to make it an official documented thing. You don't have one. If you would have let me finish my comment, I would have pointed that out, but people have been pushing to make it official. Okay, so you're trying to make official. This attitude that you have right here is why you in Great Britain have lost your culture.

You seated your culture to a bunch of radical. Look, now the Muslims are catching straight. That attitude by Pierce Morgan is why the British have lost their culture. If only we were so lucky. I can't get everywhere I look is British culture. I feel like Shakespeare's hanging on. All of our, all the American roles go to British actors. Yeah, she thinks Shakespeare joined ISIS and she's screaming at him.

Also, many Americans can't speak English if we're just being honest. A lot of us don't understand our own. language particularly well. So, I mean, her president has a faint grasp on the language to begin with. She's so mad too. It was very funny. She's like, and we don't need a Spanish-speaking non-English performing. It's just like.

No, we got you. Like our last several halftime shows were Kendrick Lamar, artfully calling Drake a pedophile. Yep. Dr. Drey and Snoop Dog doing a 1990 set-hop revival. The weekend. Like, were those nationally unifying events? I guess the catcher thing was an attack on Canada, which was cool. Yeah, it was fun. Yeah, I feel like that did unify the country against Drake.

Yes. No one has honestly seen him in public since. Yeah, that was the end of him. It's funny that, like, every year of the Super Bowl is in some sense about pedophilia. Let's continue. Limbs who came in and took over, and now it's gone. We're not allowing that here. it's Hispanic, whether it's Muslim. It's not happening in the United States of America. That's

why President Trump was elected. And whether it's Bad Bunny, who is American, but refuses to speak English in his performances, or anybody else, we have to keep the Super Bowl, which is a quintessential American event. Football, that kind of football is ours. They call it American football. And the halftime show and everything around it needs to stay quintessentially American. Not Spanish, not Muslim, not anything other than good old-fashioned American apple pie. There should be a meatloaf, maybe some fried chicken, and an English-speaking performer. That's what the Super Bowl should be. Okay, stop.

Fucking meatloaf? It's a classic Super Bowl food. Super Bowl is about long simmering oven dishes. It's about what you're pulling out of the hearth. What the fuck is she talking about? Truly. She's so angry. What are you angry about?

You're so rich. You're just sit in a studio and you yell all day. Like she sits in front of this specific background, hour after hour, day after day. You live in Connecticut with your fucking family and you're just sitting there yelling on a microphone. What's your problem? I think as a rule, everyone should have to show the full context of where you're, you're just sitting there yelling on a microphone. to show the full context of where they're doing their content making. Like, I think that, like, this shot should have to go wide,

show us in the room, like the studio in her beautiful home, then have, watch it go through the, like, the, I'm sure, hideously appointed beige fucking soulless interiors that she paid for. That looks like just a joyless, gray expanse of what life could be or should be if you were a person who knew how to be happy. But we should have to see that. I think we should get to see that.

Because what are you so mad about? What are you so mad about? By the way, it was an American. There was an American flag. It was cool. It was a cool concert. It was fun in the moment to watch a lot of MAGA Discover

that Puerto Rico is part of America. Yes. Yes, it was. But it's also like, it's 15 minutes. For 15 minutes, someone who disagrees with you sang a couple songs. That's it.

You could have gone pee. You could have gone to get some extra meatloaf. You could have got a lot of options. Wait. Fucking a huge mix of cultures and languages. That is quintessentially American. That is the whole fucking country. Honestly, that is the whole point of our politics right now is the disagreement with that idea.

Like read the, all the documents, all of them. Read them. I just can't overstate how little you will see meatloaf at a Super Bowl party. I've never ever in my life seen meatloaf at a Super Bowl It's chips and dips and wings That's more death It's a snacking holiday Spanish-speaking Muslim ones

Also I would leave a Super Bowl party if I saw meatloaf I'd be out of there Also also we stole meatloaf from the Germans It was a traditional minced meat dish That they stole from the Romans That's how culture works You steal things from the new guy Did you Google the origins of meatloaf?

I googled it, yes, Jack GPT, help me out with that. Meelof, better in the original German. I think it would be very fun to have a Super Bowl party, invite Megan Kelly over, never say a word about it, and then just be like, Megan, care for Penang Curry? Megan, how is this?

Oh, Megan, welcome to yours, you must try the sashimi. We have a wonderful spread, all of our favorites. I'll be over here on my prayer mat. We actually like to watch the Super Bowl Facing East now. When you make Pierce Morgan look like the reasonable one, Jesus Christ, man.

I told you he was the hero here. Let's not let Pierce Morgan off the hook because all you can see in Pierce Morgan's shit-eating grin is, I'm viral again, baby, Pierce. Keep it going, Megan. It's another great day for peers. Attention, that's my Super Bowl food. Nosh, nosh, nosh, attention.

And that's okay, stop. That's our show for tonight. Melbourne, we love you. Thank you so much. If you want to listen to Pod Save America, ad-free, and get access to exclusive podcasts, go to cricket.com slash friends to subscribe on Supercast, substack, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.

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