Pod Save America - “Trump's Covid Joyride.”

Episode Date: October 5, 2020

A hospitalized Donald Trump takes a spin outside Walter Reed Medical Center and tells America not to be afraid of Covid, hundreds of people are exposed to the virus because of a White House superspreader event, and the Biden and Trump campaigns grapple with the political fallout with just 29 days left in the campaign. Then Senator Cory Booker talks to Tommy about how Washington’s Covid outbreak might affect the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.

I'm not telling anybody but you, but I'm about to make a little surprise visit. Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Jon Lovett. I'm Tommy Vitor. On today's pod, Tommy talks to Senate Judiciary Committee member Cory Booker about the Amy Coney Barrett hearings and his Republican super spreader colleagues. Before that, we'll talk about the super spreader-in-chief and how he's handling his COVID diagnosis,

all the ways he knowingly put others at risk, and how all of this might change the last 29 days of this campaign. Holy shit. Holy shit is right. Lovett, anything interesting to point out from Love It or Leave It this weekend? Great Love It or Leave It. Talked to Jamie Harrison in South Carolina. He

had a blank expression when I said the worst things I could say about Lindsey Graham possible. Talked to Langston Kerman, who was hilarious, Adam Davidson. We talked about Trump's taxes, and then we did a little update on, you know, Kim Jong Il with COVID. The tax story was last Monday. It was a week ago today. How fucking nuts is that? Yeah, it really changed the race. Yeah, it really did. Blockbuster.

One quick housekeeping note before we start. There is still a vice presidential debate currently scheduled between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris on Wednesday, October 7th at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. We will be doing more live analysis on our group thread with the whole Crooked Media family. And we'd love for all of you to follow along at crooked.com slash debate. All right. Let's get to the news. The president is a very sick man. He also has COVID, and we don't know how severe his case is because his staff and even his doctor keep lying to us.

On Friday, they told us that Trump was fatigued, experiencing mild symptoms, and didn't require any supplemental oxygen. On Saturday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters, quote, the president's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We're still not on a clear path to a full recovery. By Sunday, the president's doctor, Sean Conley, admitted that he had misled the public and that on Friday, the president not only had a high fever, but low oxygen levels,

which did in fact require supplemental oxygen. Here was Dr. Conley's explanation for his failure to tell the truth. I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, that his course of illness has had. I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction. And in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn't necessarily true. It wasn't necessarily true. I have to tell you, this doctor has never tried to conceal a president's illness during a global pandemic. And honestly, it shows. Yeah. Not necessarily true is so funny.

It wasn't necessarily lying. The most deadly thing you can do when you have COVID is tell the truth. It will steer the whole illness in the wrong direction. Love it. What the hell did he mean by that? What was he trying to say there?

Well, I think what he was trying to say, I honestly think everybody got a little bit over-torked. What he was trying to say is I didn't want to steer the interpretation of what I was saying in a negative direction. I don't think he was sincerely offering his medical advice that bad words make COVID worse. I don't think he was doing that, but he was- The White House communications director repeated the same exact line later in an interview. exact line later in an interview. Yeah, I mean, you know, I think they're all pretty dumb. I don't think the doctor I think what I look, I'm not excusing him. What I'm saying is he is trying to explain the fact that he tried to yada, yada, yada, the president having oxygen on Friday without without surrendering his medical license. So look, whatever the other Trump people say around him is different. And obviously they've made he's overcome the virus like a central part of their message.

Like, OK, fine. But for this doctor specifically, I think he was trying to save his reputation while trying to explain why he got a little too close to Trump. He looked Trump attracts weak people. He and he Trump got his claws into this guy, sent him out there and he was afraid to tell the truth. And he went too far, well beyond, you know, the ordinary spin that's been actually quite common in kind of denying the severity of the illnesses of presidents. He lied to keep Trump happy.

I mean, that's that was the whole thing. And basically, that's what Tommy, what the White House was saying, too, is that he lied so that Donald Trump could keep Trump's spirits up and so that the American people could pretend that Trump's spirits were up. Everything's fine here. Nothing wrong. Nothing to see here. We're all doing good. Which I still think is just laughable spin. You guys are lying because Trump thinks it will help him politically if you lie. That's what really happened. That's right. Assholes. That's right.

I actually even honestly, I think it's even dumber than that. It's his ego can't handle the fact that he's very sick because he's been lying about the disease for the better part of a year. It's like, I don't even think we get into politics. He's embarrassed that he got COVID. He's embarrassed that he got COVID. Tommy, what do we know and what don't we know

about how serious the president's condition is right now? I should also note that we are recording this. Oh, here we go. Okay, we just got an update. Donald Trump tweeted, I will be leaving the great walter reed medical center today at 6 30 p.m feeling really good don't be afraid of covid don't let it dominate your life oh my god we have developed under the trump administration

some really great drugs and knowledge i feel better than i did 20 years ago you're okay what okay yeah go to go to your original answer that really doesn't change the answer much yeah here's what we know right we know he had a fever but they won't tell us how high we know that his oxygen dropped to dangerous levels but they won't tell us exactly how low we know that he had lung scans but the only thing they would tell us about that was there were some expected findings expected how they wouldn't clarify. We know that they were worried about all of this enough to take him to Walter Reed. And then in terms of drugs, he's taking something called dexamethasone, which is a steroid typically used to treat severely ill COVID patients who have been often intubated or are getting oxygen. He's also taken an experimental antibody treatment.

He's taking a five-day course of the antiviral drug remdesivir. So he's taking a lot of stuff. Some of them have side effects. The steroid can include side effects like confusion, delirium, mania, all things you probably don't want your president to have. Please note, he's not taking hydroxychloroquine despite months of spewing bullshit about all of this. We know he's obese. We know he's 74. And that's all very bad. And so, I mean, the idea also, let's just stop pretending that we're talking about a patient being released from a hospital the way one of us would be. He's being released from one facility to another facility that has a full White House medical unit and hospital wing in it. He's just going

from one hospital to another. I just want to like Donald Trump's spin on COVID is now that COVID is like the fountain of youth. Right. You get COVID, you go to the hospital and you feel better than you did 20 years ago. Go get yourself some COVID if you want to feel young and energetic again. That's the president's new message. Cool. How will we know if he is experiencing unusual delirium, mania, anxiety? I know, I know, I know.

How do you tell? How do you tell? Yeah, no, I thought it was, I thought it was interesting in the New York Times piece that they said there's like a name for demanding of your doctors all kinds of treatments. It's called the VIP syndrome, where the doctors might not necessarily recommend a bunch of treatments. But because you're so important and they don't know how to say no to you, which is certainly the case with the President of the United States, they're just giving him all these experimental treatments anyway because he's demanding them, which to me seemed like exactly what has happened here.

Well, also, yeah, these aren't also like time tested techniques where, you know, there's a manual that goes back decades explaining how exactly to treat COVID. It's a brand new illness and they're just stuffing his old unhealthy ass full of every drug they can think of. Like, that's not necessarily a good idea. No, no, it doesn't sound like it. And he's certainly not out of the woods just yet, even though he's going back to the White House right now. So that seems troubling. So no matter how sick he may be, Trump, of course, wants us to think he's fine because he's terrified of appearing weak. He released pictures of himself supposedly working at Walter Reed, in which he appeared to be signing his name in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. He filmed a couple of rambling, semi-coherent,

hostage-looking videos. In one of them, he said, I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn't the let's read the book school. And I get it. And I understand it. And it's a very interesting thing. And I'm going to be letting you know about it. Trump then made a few Secret Service agents get in an armored vehicle with him so that he it and it's a very interesting thing and i'm gonna be letting you know about it trump trump then made a few secret service agents get in an armored vehicle with him so that he could stage a photo op outside the hospital where he waved to a few of his cheering supporters from inside his suv um i just just we just listen maybe took me a long time but i finally understand covet now fellas get in this enclosed space. We're going

for a drive. Tommy, how do you think, like, compare Trump's vision of how this stunt would go with the reality of the public reaction? Like, I would love to know the thought bubble of how Trump thought this was going to go. Yeah, I think in his head, it was like, you know, the allies liberating Paris. And in reality, it was like a couple of proud boys and some QAnon fans like really confused about the weird, like slow funeral procession going by them with all black SUVs. I mean, it made me think of the photo of George W. Bush looking out of Air Force One while they were flying over New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. And obviously, we're partisan hacks here. But to me, it showed someone who was out of touch, who refuses to learn or be responsible no matter

what happens. And I contrast that with the time Obama gave a hug to a nurse who just recovered from Ebola in an effort to destigmatize it. And so I'm really glad that the discussion around this photo op immediately focused on the fact that he put these Secret Service agents at risk so they could chauffeur him for this trip around the block. Because I do think that's also like the perfect anecdote that tells a bigger story about this White House, their irresponsible behavior, including refusing to wear masks. It has gotten White House staffers, reporters, including refusing to wear masks. It has gotten White House staffers, reporters,

U.S. senators sick. And that all comes from the top. Like Trump is known to mock mask usage. He does it in meetings reportedly. He once accused a reporter, Jeff Mason, of being politically correct because Jeff didn't want to take his mask off at a White House press conference. And so like the politics are quite clear on this. 75% of the country supports mask usage. They want the government and the people running it to be responsible. The white house is totally on the wrong side of the issue. This image cemented that he's obsessed with looking strong, right? That's why his favorite adverb is strongly. Everything is strongly.

I'm looking at this executive order very strongly. It makes zero sense half the time. He's terrified of looking weak, but right now, what he looks is irresponsible and like someone who doesn't understand how to deal with a pandemic facing the nation. And I think it was a very, very big mistake. Love it. What did you think of the covid joyride so he could wave to his proud boys? So it really gives new meaning to us. Stand back and stand by. Yeah, right. Yeah. It really gives new meaning to stand back and stand by. Yeah, right.

Yeah. It was, yeah, I mean, look, like what's left to say? It's like how the man is in the hospital with what is apparently a severe case of COVID-19. And even inside of his own convalescence, he found a way to be the worst human being we have ever had in this job. That is extraordinary. You have to work work hard that is a fucking detour like not like you know metaphorically and also practically you have to really be creative to think about this the look in that secret service agent's eyes in that front seat this like so that like dead expression like this motherfucker waving at the the biggest assholesholes in politics because his ego needed

a boost because he was bored. New York Times. There was a sentence in the New York Times sort of tick tock of all this that said Trump is in the hospital watching more TV than usual. And I like stared at it. I mean, this was the president put Secret Service agents at risk because he was bored. There's no grand political strategy. There's no there's no thought behind how it helps him politically. Not really. He is fucking bored. And he didn't like seeing Mark Meadows telling everybody after Dr. Everything's OK got done with his briefing saying I'm treating Dr. Happy talk over there. Yeah. Yeah. And I gave him a couple of pez. He's happy in there.

You know, a couple of lollipops. I gave him a shot in the lollipop. Kid's doing okay. And Mark Meadows is like, he's actually quite ill. I don't know what's happening. So, yeah, he was pissed and he wanted to go for a car ride because he's, you know, we know. We know what he is. Well, it was like, so the attending, one of the attending physicians at walter reed james phillips

like tweeted as this happened and and was just appalled as most physicians i'm sure were that he was putting the lives of these secret service agents in danger because they were in a hermetically sealed car together and even with masks that's still dangerous um but phillips also gave an interview afterwards with nbc where he says it's not just that he's putting people's lives at risk so that's horrible he's sending a message to other people who are sick that it's okay to go out which is of course the other big problem with the entire way that trump has handled this pandemic and what he just told people in that fucking tweet don't be afraid don't be afraid of this deadly fucking virus. Just go live your lives.

200,000 people are dead. We're still, I think, that obscene tweet, I think, is still kind of washing over us because we're mid-pod. Usually we have time to think about these things. He says he gets it. Of course he doesn't get it. Anyone who thought he was going to get it or change is very dumb. he doesn't get it. Anyone who thought he was going to get it or change is very dumb. But you would think that he would understand that the reality of the pandemic and his own political fortunes are kind of tied. Like if he would say something along the lines of this is yet another reminder, he could look, it would be hypocritical. It would be bullshit, but it would be at least

positive for the country. If the president said this is a reminder to take it seriously, we obviously need to wear masks and do social distancing. It's what least positive for the country if the president said, this is a reminder to take it seriously. We obviously need to wear masks and do social distancing. It's what's good for the country. It'll keep you safe. It'll keep your community safe. And I hope that that is a lesson we all take. Instead, he's like, you know, it's Mardi Gras, baby. I've never felt better.

I'm glad I got it. You should get it too. I mean, he could have, like, he could have, short of saying, like, I was wrong, which he would never say in a million years, short of saying I didn't take this seriously enough. He could have done things like called COVID patients while in the hospital. He could have made this about frontline workers. He could have said, I'm receiving the best care in the world. Everyone deserves this kind of care. million ways he could have projected that he was okay and still doing his job to the public and to the world, which he clearly wanted to do without looking like a fucking buffoon who was putting people's lives at risk. No, instead he blamed the troops. I don't think, I don't know that a lot of

people notice this. I forgot about that. Yeah. That first Sean Hannity interview he did between Hope Hicks' diagnosis and his, he basically blamed airmen, Marines and police officers for her getting sick because he said, you know, it's hard when they want to come forward and give you a hug and talk to you. You know, it's hard to tell him to stand back. No, it's not. You have secret service detail. It's very easy. He has done everything wrong at every turn. And by the way, by the way, Hope Hicks, they spent like 24 hours being like, I hope gave it to Trump. There is no evidence of that at this point. We have absolutely no idea.

They put her out. They sent her to the wolves. Yeah, totally. Well, I mean, speaking of that, it wasn't just the Secret Service agents that Trump put at risk of contracting COVID. We now know that over the last few weeks, the president, his staff and senior members of his party may have exposed hundreds of people to the virus, sometimes knowingly. Senior members of his party may have exposed hundreds of people to the virus, sometimes knowingly. We know that the September 26th Rose Garden ceremony to nominate Amy Coney Barrett was actually a super spreader event with at least eight positive cases. We know that Trump was likely infectious at the debate where his staff and family refused to follow protocol and wear masks. We know that after learning he'd been exposed to a covid positive Hope Hicks, Trump chose to go mingle with more than 100 people at an indoor fundraiser

in New Jersey that included a fucking buffet. The list of COVID cases connected to Trump so far includes the First Lady, Hope Hicks, essential worker Kayleigh McEnany, campaign manager Bill Stepien, personal aide Nick Luna,

Kellyanne Conway, Chris Christie, who's now hospitalized, Ronna McDaniel, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Tom Tillis, Senator Ron Johnson, Notre Dame President John Jenkins, a couple White House press staffers, a couple White House reporters, multiple Cleveland debate staff. Now a few housekeeping staff at the White House itself.

Like, what the fuck were these people all thinking? What were they thinking, Tommy? They thought that they could use rapid testing alone to stay safe. And that was catastrophically wrong. I mean, you can be infectious for days before the amount of virus in your body registers positive on one of these rapid tests. And there's also data that shows at least early iterations of the Abbott rapid tests were very inaccurate.

The NYU did a study in May when they found it could be missing a third to almost half of positive cases. So what works? Social distancing, wearing masks, not shaking hands, not close talking with Chris Christie. They refused to do any of this. And so I feel a little bit bad for the non-White House staffers who went to this White House event and thought that maybe they had protocols in place for keeping them safe.

But having 150 people mix and mingle right now is criminal negligence. And having a VIP clutch for your Supreme Court nominee inside the White House before the outside event is even worse. And now we're seeing the results. And I think what people might not totally get is just how small the West Wing is. Like my first office, the lower press office, was right behind the podium where the press secretary briefs. It is like 200, 300 square feet maybe. It's tiny, tiny, tiny. We had seven or eight people in there. And the press corps and countless others walk in and out freely all day

long. My second office is a windowless basement. The place is a Petri dish. All of them are going to get it if they've been around people like Kayleigh McEnany and these other super spreaders like Trump. And so they are, it is criminal negligence, in my opinion. Someone's going to die because of this. Well, I was going to say, I mean, Lovett, I do think there's a difference here between carelessness and recklessness, right? Not taking the proper precautions, right? Like, you know, like Tommy said, the rapid tests aren't perfect.

But if you had like rapid tests, plus masks, plus social distancing, plus being outside, then it is good, right? Then you test everyone, but you know that the tests aren't 100%. So you take all these extra precautions. These people, I mean, these people were inside, they were mingling, they were hugging, right? Like all these problems. But there's a still a difference between that, between not taking precautions. And then what Trump was doing, which is he told an advisor, according to the Wall Street Journal, don't tell anyone about their positive test.

He knew he was exposed to Hope Hicks and that Hope was positive, and yet still chose to go to New Jersey and mingle with a bunch of people after he knew he was exposed. And he lied on Hannity when he didn't mention to Hannity that he already tested positive and was waiting for a second positive test to confirm. So it goes beyond recklessness that he was actually actively put. He knew he was putting people in jeopardy. Yeah, I mean, look, we also still at this moment do not know when Donald Trump's last negative test was. We don't know when he last took a negative test. And that's really important. It's a it's a national security question. It's a public health question. It's a judgment,

leadership temperament question. It's an incredibly important question because we don't know if he was even tested before he went to the debate. The White House is engaged in a cover up even at this moment, right before we before we found out Kayleigh McEnany herself had been had come back positive with COVID-19. She was walking back with the White House had previously previously said the White House had said, we're going to tell you how many people at the White House have COVID. But they now won't do that. They're saying it's because of privacy concerns. I don't know why the number 37 suddenly has privacy concerns. It doesn't really make any sense. They're afraid to tell the truth.

They're afraid to tell just how reckless and careless they were. On top of that, yes, like, look, Ron Johnson, exposed to COVID, takes a test, then does an event, then finds out he has it. That is what Kayleigh McEnany has done. That is what a lot of these people have done. They have brazenly and I don't think it is even I don't think they deserve the benefit of the doubt. There has been they are there is way too much information that tells us over and over again. Their own advisers have told them us over and over again. Their own advisors have told them this over and over again. We need a testing regime because it protects us en masse over time. But a single test doesn't mean you don't have it. That has been clear for a long time. Rapid testing is

not a permission slip. A negative test does not mean you get to go in front of the press and take off your mask. Look, I'm sitting here. I'm still worried about Joe Biden. You know, I'm very, very relieved. Thank God we are now, you know, almost a week away from his exposure to Donald Trump super spreader. And he has come back negative again and again. But it sometimes takes days for a test to show up, show up positive and to have enough covid in your system to start showing up positive. So these people were worse than irresponsible. They were genuinely they showed a complete disregard for the lives of anyone around them, honestly, including themselves. I do feel much better, by the way, on the Biden question that he got a negative test yesterday on Sunday. Yes, because that is now five or six days. And the vast majority of people would show or the covid would show up five or six days in the first test he got the first test he got was like yeah but this doesn't matter the curve is dropping the likelihood it is dropping it's very very good but these assholes should have learned their lesson when

friggin ran paul uh got tested and went for a swim in the senate pool and came back positive right i mean they they have been awful and irresponsible since day one the republican party is putting people at risk period which by the way is why you don't go to a giant event with all these fucking people yeah right there's that's the other thing is like there's a difference between like going to it like i wouldn't i wouldn't go anywhere near a fucking republican politician or a trump supporter right now because like you can't believe if they've been tested you can't believe if they've been taking precautions like i mean there's's 100 people at that event.

Even if the even if the tests were 100 percent accurate, I still wouldn't believe that all those people are going to get fucking tested. I still wouldn't fucking believe it. Look, we'll get to it. But like, you know, you stop. It's like we're we are so through the looking glass. The Biden campaign had to push the debate, the debate commission to change the rules to move Pence and Kamala Harris further apart because the White House is an unreliable and reckless operator that is an ongoing threat to public health and safety. That is extraordinary. We have to keep the we have to keep Kamala Harris away from Mike Pence because we don't trust them and he may be sick. So, well, so Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller was the first to try to they trotted him out on the Sunday shows to try to defend the president's behavior.

Here's what he said to George Stephanopoulos. And George, I think there's a really important point here is that President Trump had to take this head on. He had to get out there as the leader, not just of the country, but of the free world and take this head on. He had to get out there as the leader, not just of the country, but of the free world and take this head on. This is a general in the field type moment that he couldn't just stay upstairs hidden in the Lincoln bedroom or in the White House. He couldn't stay hidden in his basement saying, I'm going to shut down forever. Donald Trump, virus hunter. Hand to hand combat. Tommy, what is the argument the Trump campaign is trying to make here? And is it at all believable? They're just clowns. They're clowns. There's no argument here. You can't spin nothing like and the question about whether or not he'll get sympathy, like sympathy is still

even different from whether it'll help him politically. I might be sympathetic. I don't I'm not like wishing anybody ill will. But like, I think this just reminds everybody of just how badly he has failed to manage COVID. And like Jason Miller, good luck defending the indefensible. You you wretched human being. I mean, give me a break. spokesperson uh aaron perrin said on fox he has experience now fighting the coronavirus as an individual joe biden doesn't have that unbelievable it's it's like who is that fucking for it's beyond who is that for who is like where where is a lot of pressure on joe biden to catch the coronavirus now to keep up with donald trump a lot of pressure like good luck peep good luck you absolute fucking bottom feeding dregs of Republican politics. The only people willing to go on television to defend this because Kellyanne is also sick. Yeah. But also, you know, those arrogant, awful Trump kids who strolled into

the debate and then removed their masks and waved away the Cleveland Clinic people who tried to give them one. They are exactly what is wrong with this country on so many different levels. They are so arrogant and elitist. And by the way, if the various like bodies involved would just enforce the rules that everyone is supposed to go by, whether it comes to Trump not talking over Joe Biden every five seconds of the debate or like proof that he got tested showing up to the debate in time to get tested there that day in front of everybody, we wouldn't have all these problems. But everyone kowtows to them for no reason. Well, it's indicative of the larger problem of how various institutions and establishment institutions in particular have responded to fucking Donald Trump. Like the debate commission is fucking useless, impotent. Like, oh, we don't want to be accused of playing sides. We can't upset the Trump people. So it's the White House Correspondents Association. Kayleigh McEnany was briefing them

without a mask yesterday. Today she has COVID. They put out a statement basically wishing her well, not saying a damn thing about how she recklessly put them all at risk. Come on, guys.

Must not appear partisan. Must not appear partisan no matter what. The biggest sin is appear partisan. Everyone's going to end up dead from COVID, but at least you won't have been playing it you know at least you at least both sides will have been you would have been fair to both sides right

so let's talk about how this is all playing for trump uh spoiler alert not great okay sure yeah let's talk about how it's playing for for Trump. Spoiler alert, not great. Okay, sure. Yeah, let's talk about how it's playing for Trump. Just about every poll since Trump's diagnosis has showed Joe Biden maintaining or expanding his lead. In addition, a Reuters Ipsos poll found that 90% of Democrats and even 50% of Republicans agreed that, quote, if President Trump had taken coronavirus more seriously, he probably would not have been infected.

ABC News found that 72% of Americans, quote, believe that Trump didn't take the risk of contracting the virus seriously enough. Yahoo News and YouGov found that only 15, 1.5% of Americans thought that Trump should have attended that New Jersey fundraiser. The only thing I find interesting about these numbers is that Trump isn't even getting his usual 35 to 40 percent of his base support on his covid behavior. What do you guys think? Was there anything interesting or surprising in these polls? Love it. I know. No, there isn't. There just isn't. This is not, you know, like maybe the only thing you could wonder if you're going to wonder anything is we were in the midst of a news cycle after the worst presidential debate in our lives ever on television.

I think that's fair to say because of Trump's sort of boorish and awful behavior. And that was having a lingering effect. I think some of the polls showing a like slightly widening lead for Biden reflects that this is a whole new story. It's not a good story for Trump. It throws everything. It kind of throws all attention on his worst issue. Well, at the same time, I'll say, you know, though, you know, it's amazing how quickly he's back to normal with his sort of kind of self-destructive tweets. But like these videos, while heinous and ridiculous and incoherent, were ultimately not the kind of vitriol he'd have been spewing if he'd been able to go to Wisconsin, if he'd be able to go to the places he wanted to go. So I don't know. I just think it's

like, will this affect the race? Nothing seems to have. This thing is incredibly stable. I don't know. What do you think, Tommy? I feel like this might affect the race. It might not be like the bottom dropping out, but this feels like a big deal. I just think like, look, nothing in the polling surprised me. There's probably no better understood part of Trump's record than his handling of COVID. And it's probably no more hardened opinions than the fact that he did a terrible job. And the problem for the Trump people is, you know, he was displaying this recklessness recently. On Tuesday at the debate, we watched him mock Joe Biden for wearing a mask, right? I mean, like the Tulsa indoor rally was a huge disaster. Herman Cain died, but is somehow still tweeting through

it. It's like people get this. Like a week ago, we were listening to audio of him telling Bob Woodward he purposely played down the fucking virus. There's no spinning this, guys. Best of luck. Send us your Conways. Send us your Millers. Send us the best you got.

There's no spinning this. You guys are a fucking disaster. Maybe you'll win the election. I'm not saying I know who's going to win. You're a disaster on this one. But honestly, like if you win at this point, then like go, you know what? Godspeed. Because this is like if you I mean, I had been wondering if there was a way that COVID

would come back into the headlines, knowing that it's the toughest issue for Trump. And, you know, I was sort of scared. And it might be this anyway. We should say that, you know, cases are on the rise again throughout the United States. We hit like 50,000 over the weekend. We had been at a plateau of 40,000. That's incredibly alarming, especially when Fauci said that if we want to get through the winter when there's supposed to be another surge anyway, we should be down to 10,000 cases a day in order to be able to handle it. We're now at 50 again, which is really alarming.

So it could have crept into the headlines anyway, but now it's in the headlines in a much different way, which is like the president of the United States, patient zero is a fucking super spreader. And so are members of his party. And they're running around the country, not just neglecting COVID right now, but actually infecting people with COVID themselves. Like, I cannot imagine, I cannot imagine if I tried a worse way to close out the race for him. And I will say, too, you could conceive of a strategy that they might have to show him getting better, back on the campaign trail, talking about it, trying to take it seriously, all out the window when he gets in a car and puts people at risk and shows that he's learned absolutely nothing there's no well in that tweet where he said i feel better

better than i have in 20 years yeah yeah that's got to be the steroids by the way i mean those steroids i mean they're coursing through his veins yeah i mean like i'm not a doctor i'm but neither half the people saying they are so whatever i like the idea that that doctor being like um obviously uh trump is doing really well. His fever did spike. He did have a several minute conversation with Herman Cain. But again, it was a mostly positive encounter. Also, just like the lines, just like, did his oxygen ever go? Well, 94. It certainly didn't go into the low 80s.

Like, I didn't ask about that. That wasn't the question. So I assume I assume from that answer that it definitely went into the high 80s. Is that what you're assuming? Yeah, definitely. Because you lie about everything else. Sounds like 85 to me. Right.

They did not vet their doctors for the ability to lie. That much was very clear. Yeah, that was an issue. Let's talk about how Joe Biden's handling all of this. The former vice president, who, again, thankfully tested negative again on Sunday, has wished the president well, pulled down his negative advertising, but continued to campaign and draw contrast with Donald Trump on both policy and leadership. Here's a clip of Biden from this weekend talking about the importance of masks. We can save 100,000 lives in the next 100 days, according to the

head of the CDC, if everyone wears a mask in public. So be patriotic. It's not about being a tough guy. It's about doing your part. Wearing a mask is not only going to protect you, but it also protects those around you. Your mom, your dad, your brother, your sister, husband, wife, neighbor, coworker. Don't just do it for yourself. Do it for the people you love. Tommy, how do you think the Biden campaign has handled this situation? And how should they handle it going forward? I thought that speech was was pitch perfect. I mean, listen, the reason Trump can't defeat COVID is because it requires empathy. It requires maybe looking a little silly in your photo app when you're a 74-year-old president with a weird

hairpiece thing going on because you have a mask on for a few minutes. And he just refuses to do that. He will not put the health of others ahead of his own image, his own politics. Joe Biden is the opposite human being. I mean, look, if it were up to me, I would lock Joe Biden in that basement and not let him out. I would bubble wrap the house. I would keep every human being away. I would go back to the week two of COVID. We're all wiping down like every individual banana we were bringing in there. Like, I don't think he needs to be out there campaigning. I would just have him chill out and do a bunch of Zooms. I think pulling down the negative ads is like fine. It was a good message. It sounds good. I would rather have them, you know, up with a bunch of ads about his

record anyway. So I think they're doing the right things. But man, I'm just terrified about him getting sick. Like, that's my problem. Love it. What do you think? How should he handle this sort of message wise going forward? I think he's saying all the right things. You know, we've been having, well, you know, Peter Hamby wrote about this. We've talked about this, that there's not a lot of meat left on the attack ad bone anyway for Donald Trump, that we need to make a positive message about Joe Biden's sick. What a great way to shift to positive ads when that's probably what they need to do anyway while getting a bump.

And by the way, I don't think the super PACs are necessarily going to take the notice anyway. So I'm sure there's plenty of negative ads going anyway. Like, you know, I checked in with my hacks on tap. I don't think Mike Murphy is pulling down his ads in Florida and they're not that negative anyway. So for the Republicans against Trump. So there's plenty of there's plenty of Trump messaging, by the way, the newspaper. I was going to say, if you want some negative content about Trump, turn on the fucking news, man. I see all these people worried, like, what is Joe Biden doing?

What is Joe Biden doing? Like, guys, it's totally OK. Plenty of negative information about Trump out there. And we know that positive ads move voters more than negative ads. Just because you're a partisan who knows you're voting for Joe Biden doesn't mean that there's some the fucking undecided and uncertain voters out there. They know that Trump's an asshole. They want to know why they should vote for Joe Biden. How many times we have to say this? I'd also say, too, that simply the act of going in front of cameras and saying it's patriotic to wear a mask, it doesn't make it tough to not wear one. We need to take the pandemic seriously and revive the economy.

It's the only way out of this myth is a contrast message because the president has said such heinous and opposite things. So I don't I don't I'm not it doesn't concern me at all. I also think that now that Trump seems like his normal self again, plus some steroids, that Biden will go back to the contrast himself. You know, I mean, one Trump advisor told, I think, the Washington Post, like the attack ads write themselves, how can he protect the country if he can't even protect himself and his staff? Which, thank you, anonymous Trump advisor, because that is the message right now. Like, Donald Trump cannot protect you, does not want to protect you from coronavirus.

He couldn't even protect himself, couldn't even protect his own fucking staff, because he doesn't give a shit. He doesn't give a shit. He doesn't even give a shit about himself. By the way, like one other thing that's been coming out today is one of the journalists that probably got COVID at the White House on Saturday said that they've been contacted. Nobody's reached out to them. Nobody has checked in with them. No, there's no contact tracing. No one told Chris Christie, who's in the hospital right now. He had to find out from the news. So like, and to me, like this is once again, like no one is going to tell this White House that it's their responsibility to set up contact tracing, to convene universities and other people together.

There's no one else but them. Like Mark Meadows, your job is to set up the contact tracing. There's no one else in charge. You're in charge. They have been afraid of being in power this entire time. And it's just another way in which they're just sort of the malevolence and competence battle is just sort of raging as always. It goes to I mean, we should say like there is I know that, you know, we're partisans. We've made up our mind here.

But there was a way that Trump could have handled this that would have been more politically effective for him. Right. Like the country would have had sympathy for a president who falls ill. He could have said this taught me a lesson. We should take covid seriously now. And maybe I haven't been as vigilant as I should have. And everyone should wear masks and we should make sure everyone has access to testing and everyone should get the same kind of treatment that I had at Walter Reed. And, you know, this has really humbled me and made me think and like, obviously, Trump can't do this. But if he did that, I actually think he might close the race a little bit. I don't know. It's it's he didn't do it. They've cornered themselves. They have always felt like any change in behavior is a tacit admission that what they were doing previously was wrong.

He just refuses to ever admit that he's wrong. So maybe it would have gotten him some sympathy. I really don't think it would have gotten him sympathy votes. I think that people are pretty hardened in their beliefs about him. He's a terrible leader. You could be sympathetic, but it doesn't mean you want this guy running the show anymore. That's true. That's true.

All right, let's talk about what happens in the last 29 days of the campaign. Trump is off the trail, but his campaign is moving ahead with something they're calling Operation MAGA, which involves deploying family members and surrogates and I guess coronavirus in the battleground states. Mike Pence, Mike Pence is scheduled to hold an in-person rally in Arizona on Thursday. The vice presidential debate is on for Wednesday night, though we have no idea if the next presidential debate will take place as scheduled on October 15th. Love it. Pence holding rallies is insane from a public health standpoint.

Is it even smart from a political standpoint right now? No. Is it even smart from a political standpoint right now? No, no, I don't think I don't think so. I don't think the super spreader White House rally events like I don't know what possibly they could be looking at. I don't know what is going on inside of the kind of fetid Zoom calls these people are engaging in right now to figure out how to get themselves to some other kind of political reality. I am sure that they are seeing the same kind of terrible numbers we're seeing publicly and trying to figure out a way out of it. I don't know why they think they need to send Mike Pence, but I'm sure they think they need to do something. They can't just wait because the current trajectory is so poor for them. So no, I don't think it's a good story to have Mike Pence, who very well may come down positive soon enough,

who's been exposed to all of these people taking this sort of White House to yet another event that puts a lot of people at risk, especially when we see cases rising across the country in Wisconsin. You know, Wisconsin is becoming another hotspot. It's rising in New York. It's rising all across the country like we are still sort of neck deep in this pandemic, and it is their biggest liability, and it is now the closing issue because of what happened at the White House. No, I don't think it's good for them. Tommy, if you're on Kamala Harris's debate prep team, is there anything you would do to prepare her differently for this debate with Pence now that all this has happened?

Yeah. Don't do it. What do do you think i feel like i'm watching a horror movie and and the the like really nice girl is about to walk into the dark abandoned house don't go in there what are you thinking mike pence isn't safe like mike pence could come down tomorrow are you crazy oh we'll move her nine feet away instead of six what the fuck are we doing here? It's madness to me. Madness. I would not be doing this debate this week. If you have to, I would make a huge deal about the need to follow the rules, be safe, professional, like make him get videotaped taking his test on the day of. We still don't know when Trump's last negative test was. Like, I don't trust this White House to be honest about anything. I don't know what they're thinking here. I think this is

absurd. It's irrational. Pence should not be campaigning at all when his boss, the president of the United States, has a deadly illness. Like he should be doing everything he can to keep himself safe, as should Pelosi, as should, you know, the next people down the chain. I think this is madness. Yeah. Yeah. Put the politics out. Pence should be self-quarantined. Yes. I should, you know, the next people down the chain. I think this is madness. Yeah, put the politics out. Pence should be self-quarantined. Yes. He should be self-quarantined for two weeks. He should be.

They all should be. I honestly think the reason they're not telling us the number of people infected at the White House is A, it's a high number, and B, they're not totally sure because they have no competence to actually gather the information. They put out a letter. This White House, we talk about how they don't care about people in New York. They don't care about people in California. They told the White House staff to go to their own doctors and not to come to the White House medical office because they want to not. I don't for whatever reason. I don't know because they don't want to take care of this. They don't feel the obligation. I don't think they know how many people at the White House are infected. So, no, of course, Mike Pence should be quarantined. You know, they're trying to say, OK, they'll keep Kamala Harris and Mike Pence 14 feet or 12 feet away at this point. No, I don't know. Maybe they should bring the Jamie Harrison.

Yeah. Bring a plexiglass in. Yeah. I mean, look, it's it's ridiculous. Everybody is figuring this out for the first time. We've never been in a situation where the White House is a public health threat in real time, actively spreading a virus. I mean, it's a kind of a it's a sticky wicket. I mean, if she if, if she does participate, if they can sort of put them both in bubble wrap, I do think like Mike Pence

was the head of the fucking coronavirus task force. Heck of a job, Mikey. Heck of a job. Like, do not fuck, like I would take every question on every issue back to this failure. If I was Kamala Harris,

I would make the entire debate about their failure on COVID, I would make the entire debate about their failure on COVID, a failure for the country, a failure to protect millions of Americans, their own staff, their own supporters, their own party, the president himself. It is a failure from the get-go, and she should just not let up the entire time. I would do nothing else but talk about that. I don't know what happens with the next two presidential debates, by the way. Like, I mean, Donald Trump, like if he had if he was asymptomatic, right, and didn't have symptoms through the course of the illness, then you got 14 days that you're supposed to stay in isolation. He is very symptomatic and basically has a

fairly severe case of covid. Like, yes, he's not going to be ready on fucking whenever it is a week from now. Why are we even considering letting Joe Biden into a room with that man again? This is also a town hall. Do a Zoom debate. It's also a town hall format. There will be all kinds of other people there. Oh, right, I forgot about that.

Regular human beings, citizens of the country that he would put at risk. Why do we play this game anymore? Stop letting this fucking monster dictate the terms of the debate. Look, I want Joe Biden to debate him because Joe Biden kicked his ass up and down the debate stage last time. And all the polling since then has broken hard towards Joe Biden, but it's just not safe. It's not safe. And it's

madness that we're pretending otherwise with this irresponsible monster running the country. I feel like I'm in crazy world and like no one will just recognize what's happening in front of us which the president United States almost gave his opponent the coronavirus because he is so reckless yeah that is that's the real that's the that's the very scary thing here that like I can I mean I was when I spent yesterday like on pins and needles waiting checking Twitter every five seconds waiting for Joe Biden's negative test because the way 2020- That's your normal Sunday, but yeah. It is my normal Sunday, but it was even worse than usual.

I know, me too. Because like the way 2020 is, it's just like, oh my God, Donald Trump somehow gets COVID, gives it to his opponent, survives okay. And then fucking poor Joe Biden is sick. Like that was, I was terrified of that. And it almost happened. You know, of course, like by the grace of God, it didn't happen. And let's hope the next test comes back negative. Let's hope we're okay. Let's just hope we're okay. But it shouldn't be up

to the grace of God. We shouldn't be in this situation. That's totally right. You've already seen, this relates to the Amy Coney Barrett nomination. Again, reminder, the source of all of this, it is the super spreader nomination. But you've seen a bunch of Republicans start saying things like, I'm following my doctor's orders. I'm going to quarantine for 10 days. Like, well, 10. That's interesting. Interesting how it's down to 10 now. No, I mean, look, Trump needs to be isolated for two weeks. He needs to have multiple COVID tests that come back negative before it's safe for him to be around anyone. It is just not possible for them to do an in-person debate.

And here's the good news. Over Zoom, you can just mute him. Also, Joe Biden doesn't have access to Walter Reed. Joe Biden doesn't have the White House medical unit in his other house. Again, the system is stacked in favor of Donald Trump. And no one is recognizing that and helping Biden back away from this completely unsafe position he's been put in. It makes me infuriated. Well, here's the other thing.

Campaign doesn't need to go on anymore. Guess what? You have all the fucking information you need, America. You know what? Like go vote. Right. And you know what? Early voting has begun.

Ballots are in the mail. People already start voting. Everyone go vote now. End this fucking nightmare. Like we don't need Joe Biden risking himself at more events. We don't we know what Donald Trump's going to say at his fucking rallies. We know what they're both going to say at the debate. We know how this is going to go. Just fucking go vote. You don't need to hear from these two men anymore. I need a group of undecided voters on CNN with their arms crossed saying I came here to get some information. I'm ready to find out what these people stand for.

I need Selena Zito at a gas station with a bunch of undecideds talking about their economic anxiety. Like, yes, let's just vote. Please vote. Everyone go. I don't I don't I don't like Donald Trump, but I am somewhat persuaded by the argument that Joe Biden didn't catch COVID yet. So he doesn't have that experience. And maybe he'll give it a cool nickname. All right. When we come back, we will have Tommy's interview with Cory Booker. I am thrilled to be joined now by New Jersey Senator and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cory Booker. Senator, it's great to see you again. Thank you so much for coming back

on the show. Well, I'm going to trump your thrill with my outrageously excited to be talking to you. So jumping right into it, I know that two members of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Tillis of North Carolina, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, have tested positive for COVID. Another U.S. Senator, Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, tested positive as well. First question here is just, how are you doing? Have you been tested? And are senators frustrated that this White House event for Amy Coney Barrett seems to have put so many people at risk? Yeah. So first of all, thank you for asking about my own health. I just got tested earlier this morning here in Newark, New Jersey at our local hospital with some great, courageous medical professionals who've been standing on the front line for this whole

pandemic. And I feel good, no symptoms. So I'm praying I'm okay. But I was in a Judiciary Committee hearing with Tom Tillis and Mike Lee on Thursday. It was a very big room and they were far away. But I just think that this is yet again pointing out that we are not doing everything we should be doing in the Senate to protect members. And I think when you put it in the context of a hearing that is being outrageously rushed, an ahistoric rushing of someone at a time that we usually have a lot of time to prep for this, to read the volumes of her writings and really prepare to do what our constitutional duty is, which is to advise and consent. This is a process that should be waiting and being given the appropriate time. And that combined with the fact that we now have members of our committee who have fallen ill,

and obviously I pray for their well-being, but this just further highlights that this process is just wrong. Yeah, it goes kind of easy about that process because, you know, I believe judiciary was scheduled to begin hearings for the Barrett nomination on October 12th. Senator Lindsey Graham had suggested holding a committee vote on October 22nd. Some have since suggested conducting Barrett's confirmation hearings virtually. What's your sense of the state of play for the timing of these hearings? And do you think that virtual hearings on a Supreme Court nomination are appropriate or sufficient? So number one, I have no real sense with how

Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are going to do this. I just know that they are intent and determined no matter what to do this with members of their caucus who have said before even Amy Comey Barrett was nominated that they would vote for whoever Donald Trump puts up. And so I want to recognize that this whole process, there's a deep illegitimacy in it to begin with. And we should constantly at every point be talking about the illegitimacy of this process, the fact that we're moving forward at all, the fact that he put up a Supreme Court nominee while voting had already started. It is an illegitimate process being pursued in a raw, naked power grab to get someone on the Supreme Court before the American public voices, speaks to all these issues. Because what's at

stake, frankly, again, the majority of Americans are against what Donald Trump is trying to do, put a justice on that will tear down Roe v. Wade. Put a justice on that will tear down the Affordable Care Act. These things have 70% plus support that Americans should be allowed to speak on these issues, as well as the other issues that we know are going to come for the Supreme Court. So back to the part of your question about the committee hearings, you know, I have no doubt that they're going to try to press forward with virtual hearings, which I think is just wrong. For a lifetime appointment on the

highest court in the land, we should be able to do this in a way that could honor the traditions that we've had going back to, you know, decades and decades, but also to give you a real chance to vet the individual who's up. Yeah, I agree with that. And I'm glad you really are focused on the illegitimacy of this process, because I agree with you 100%. And I think one of the things that, you know, I'm curious about, our listeners are really wondering is, you know, you see all these armchair Senate experts on Twitter, and in other places, suggesting all these armchair Senate experts on Twitter and in other places suggesting all these ways the Democrats could stop or slow the Barrett nomination. Ideas like objecting to unanimous consent agreements, denying committees the ability to meet after a certain time of day, quorum calls, all these tactics. I'm not saying these are bad ideas.

I just literally have no idea if they are effective or sufficient. I just literally have no idea if they are effective or sufficient. Can you give listeners a sense, a realistic sense of what can Democrats actually do to slow down this nomination? Because I think it's hard for people to deal with how important a Supreme Court nomination or any judicial appointment is compared to how little power the minority sometimes has in those situations. Right. And so understand that we will do all the procedural things that we can do to stop this illegitimate process. We will do those. And I don't think there's folks that feel more of a sense of urgency on this than the folks that are in that arena right now. But I want to remind folks that should we be able to pull a procedural tactic based upon the rules of the Senate to slow this nomination or stop it, Mitch McConnell has already shown you that he will just change the rule. Remember, we couldn't filibuster Supreme Court nominees before. Well,

Mitch McConnell said, well, that rule, I'm sorry, that would stop the putting on of Brett Kavanaugh. We're going to change that rule. And so you have to understand, we are in the minority. The rules are controlled by Republicans who have Mitch McConnell, whose singular purpose is to completely hijack the American courts. He constricted, thwarted really Barack Obama's ability to put not just Merrick Garland on, but a whole slew of circuit court and district court judges. He thwarted that, and now he's aiding and abetting President Trump in putting on a record number of judges. So if that's one of his most proudest, singular, purposeful pursuits, then they know that if we are able to do things that start to mount to using the rules to stop this illegitimate process, that he is fully capable of just changing the rules. And people should be aware of that.

I really think that a lot of this fight is sort of similar to the health care fight, which was this. We did not have the votes in the beginning. It was not until Americans really started doing all kinds of creative protests that put so much moral force on the Republican Party that enough Republican senators shifted their votes and we were able to stop their pulling down the Affordable Care Act. In that chapter, remember, they've never stopped trying to tear down the Affordable Care Act. They've sabotaged it by not fully funding it,

by not allowing enrollment periods, not advertising enrollment periods. They've done things to jack up premiums. They've been sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, but this is their final fight, California v. Texas, going to the Supreme Court and then trying to rush a justice through to seat her before the oral arguments start so that they have a 6-3 majority to overturn your health care, to overturn people's protections from being denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, overturning people's lifetime cap issues, people who already exceeded that lifetime cap, all the things that we now are wildly popular amongst Republicans and Democrats, they are setting up for the final blow

to tear it down. And so if you're not finding ways creatively to protest on the moral grounds of this issue, where the majority of Americans already agree with you, Republican and Democrat, think this should wait until after the election. We should be doing everything we can to whip up that moral pressure. Because I know a lot of people may or cynical think it doesn't work, but there are a lot of people in tight elections around this country. And there are a lot of others in the Senate that that could work on it has worked in the past. Yeah, I think that's a really good point and something everyone should remember. No fight is over until it's over. Speaking of major issues before Congress, I mean, it's been months since Congress agreed to pass COVID relief legislation. Mitch McConnell

has basically walked away from negotiations. There have been rumors of talks between Pelosi and Mnuchin possibly breaking through. Do you have any hope that Congress might provide additional relief to people who are struggling? I mean, any hope. Look, I always tell people, be a prisoner of hope. Never give up hope because anything is possible. American history is a testimony to impossible things happening. American history is a testimony to impossible things happening. But I am very doubtful that it will happen. And people are hurting really, you know, it's just, it's awful what's going on in our country. And you've seen the most recent jobs report. You've seen the announcements from airlines and movie theaters and more.

This economy is in serious, serious dire straits. And there are a lot of American families that need help and need support. So we're going to continue to fight for that. But that's where I want everybody to understand both of these issues we're talking about, from COVID, urgent COVID relief, to the Supreme Court. A lot of this is going to be coming down to what we do in November and the election. All of these issues, we can do nothing about them if we don't take back the Senate. Nothing. We can do nothing. We can do very little about them, I should say, if we don't take back the Senate, very little about them if we don't take back the presidency. If we get both the Senate and the White House, we can do a lot to rescue and support states and local governments and families and hospitals and individuals. And I know that Joe Biden, like he did when he ran the

recovery under Obama, will come in with a big plan to help the United States of America get through the storm. Yeah. Last question for you. And thank you again for your time on a busy week. Over the past few months, Donald Trump has said that you, specifically you, Cory Booker, are literally going to destroy the suburb of America. And that struck me as odd, considering that you're pretty well known as someone who digs out neighbors' driveways when there's snowstorms and shit like that. That seems like the opposite of destroying us ever. But I hear that language, and I think that is racist. And he's singling out you because of your race. How did you take it? What's the best way for us to respond to outrageous comments like that? Yeah, well, it's outrageous, but it's not new. We've seen consistently, especially marked in recent history by the Republican Party,

from Ronald Reagan's welfare queens to Bush's, William Horton. We've seen people making appeals to racially bigoted imagery and more. But this president is not even, you know, not even a dog whistle. It's a bullhorn, as people are saying. And he is trying to scare suburban people in suburbs with tired racial tropes and rank bigotry. And it's awful and it's unfortunate. And, you know, and on a personal level, just to let folks know, it really strikes a note to me because, you know, by the time I was 18 years old, I was graduating from a very privileged suburban high school. I was graduating from a very privileged suburban high school, present in my class on my way to play football at Stanford and the like.

But my family never let me forget, as I was growing up, that the only way we got into that suburb, we were the first Black family in this part of New Jersey, was because activists got involved, because we were denied consistently homes, be able to literally buy homes because of the color of our skin. And in 1969, it was these courageous white folks with black folks that sent white couples to follow my parents around when they would be home shopping. And when they would be turned away from a house, the white couple would come and present themselves as homebuyers. They actually put a bid on the house for my parents, for the house that I grew up in.

And when my dad showed up at the closing with a lawyer instead of the white couple, the real estate agent literally attacked my dad's lawyer, punched him in the face, took the dog on him. And so I am where I am today because of racist attempts to whip up fear, fears of white flights, and so that bigotry that was baked into the laws of our past. And so it really is, to me, at a time that we should have a president speaking to the truth of racial challenges in our country. We instead have a president that is trying to play to bigotry, demagoguery, fear-mongering, hate, can't even condemn white supremacists, is attacking racial sensitivity and gender sensitivity training, calling it un-American, which is very opposite. So again, everything

comes back to this election. It is not enough to get worked up. We got to get out there and start working. It's not enough. We know who Donald Trump is. He's told us who he is enough times. Heck, every news cycle, he does things to tell us where it is. This is not a referendum on him. I'm telling you, it's a referendum on us, on who we are, what is our character, who we're going to be to each other, and how much are we willing to fight for our country.

And the fight right now, and I'm not discounting the urgency of the Supreme Court fight, but the biggest fight is to have such a wild wave of a voter turnout that we, Florida, when we get those results back, that it is a big victory for us. That we, blue states, listen to me, please, that people don't think, well, I'm in California or New York. And no, it matters. Because if we show him, we run up the score, don't beat him by 3 million votes this time, but beat him by 15 million, 20 million votes, this will be a complete repudiation, not just of Donald Trump, but of Trumpism and this horrible brand of politics. It will never go away, but at least we can send it back into dark corners for another decade or so before

demagoguery and bigotry tries to take over our systems again. Yeah, that's great advice. We have to send a message to the ballot box. Senator Booker, thank you so much for the work you're doing. I hope that you and all your colleagues stay healthy. I'm sorry you're in this situation because of an irresponsible White House staff, but thank you again for all your work. I just want to say this because I say it every time. What you all have become on this podcast is, and I'm glad we're coming to the end of this cycle, but those last four years, you all have been such important moral voices, sustaining voices. You guys have entertained, nurtured, nourished, inspired, engaged so many people. The success of this podcast really speaks to the need of the podcast. And I'm just grateful for the

warrior work you guys have done, warriors of justice, warriors of peace. And you know me, I have to say it, warriors of love as well. So I'm just grateful for you guys. I'd love coming on and let's bring it home in this last 30 days. That's very kind of you. Let's bring it home. All listeners, let's bring it home. We can win this thing.

Thank you again, Senator. Thank you. All the best. Thanks to Cory Booker for joining us today. Again, we will have Group Thread Wednesday night at the debate, if that debate happens. So far, it's just still scheduled. Don't do it, Kamala.

Don't. Cory, if you're listening, call her. I bet you have her cell phone. Send her a book or call her. Don't debate this clown. Zoom in. Zoom debate. Do it outdoors.

Outdoor debate, 12 feet apart. Do that. Yeah. But he can't, as long as it's dark out, I don't think Mike Pence can in zoom debate do it outdoors outdoor debate 12 feet apart do that yeah but he can't as long as it's dark out I don't think Mike Pence can be outside in the light of course he doesn't have COVID

you need blood in your fucking veins alright guys bye bye Pod Save America is a Croicket Media production. The executive producer is Michael Martinez.

Our associate producer is Jordan Waller. It's mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Kyle Seglin is our sound engineer. Thanks to Tanya Sominator, Katie Long, Roman Papadimitriou, Quinn Lewis, Brian Semel, Caroline Reston, and Elisa Gutierrez for production support. And to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Nar Melkonian, Yale Freed, and Milo Kim, Thank you.