Pod Save America - Trump’s Hurricane of Lies

Episode Date: October 6, 2024

Live from Ann Arbor, Jon, Lovett, Tommy, and Dan are joined by special guest host Leah Litman, co-host of Strict Scrutiny and Michigan’s own legal whiz! With just four weeks until Election Day they dive into the latest in the presidential race—Kamala Harris’s more aggressive strategy, Donald Trump’s wild new conspiracy about Hurricane Helene, and Melania Trump’s surprise stance on abortion. Plus, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin stops by to talk about her Senate race and what Democrats need to do to win in November. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail] and include the name of the podcast. 

What's up, Michigan? Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Leah Littman. I'm Jon Lovett. I'm Tommy Vitor. I'm Dan Pfeiffer. We got a great show for you tonight. Your next senator from the state of Michigan, Alyssa Slockin, is here.

And we're so lucky to have tonight University of Michigan legal scholar and strict scrutiny co-host, Ann Arbor's very own, Leah Lippman. All right, guys, we are 30 days out from the election. How's everyone feeling? We're going to win? All right. The vibes in this race have gone from bad in the spring to great in the summer to extremely anxious right now. NBC News reports that the Harris campaign is planning on using these final weeks to quote, more aggressively attack Donald Trump. You guys like that?

It's not for you. Well, they see it as the best way to win over the small but decisive group of undecided voters because as one Harris campaign official said to NBC of this extremely close race, quote, the numbers aren't moving. Harris certainly made the contrast with Trump clear here in Michigan on Friday. She did a rally in Flint and Detroit. In Flint, she was with Michigan state legend, Magic Johnson.

And she attacked Trump's record on labor and manufacturing. Let's listen. Donald Trump's track record is a disaster for working people and He's trying to gaslight people all over our country But we know the facts and we know the truth He is an existential threat to America's labor movement America lost nearly two hundred thousand manufacturing jobs when he was president Including including tens of thousands of jobs in Michigan, and those losses started before the pandemic,

making Donald Trump one of the biggest losers Losers of manufacturing jobs in American history. She really leaned into that losers thing, huh? Really leaned in. So Dan, the Harris campaign told NBC that internal research is showing that the most effective message for voters, for undecided voters, the ones they're still trying to persuade, is that Trump is unstable. Which is a bit of a shift in thinking from the conventional wisdom we've talked about up until now, that

people have already made up their minds about Trump, and the best message is about Kamala Harris, her values, and what she'd do as president. What do you think? This is a shift, but I don't think it's as dramatic a shift as people think it is. Because up to this point, Kamala Harris has run most of her ads been positive, but about half of them have had some form of negative in it,

usually either a fully negative ad on Trump or contrast ad that has some positive about her and some negative about Trump. But the order in which she did this makes sense, which is when Kamala Harris got in this race, she was an unknown figure to most of the country. And she was also a deeply unpopular figure. Her approval ratings were no better than Biden's.

And so over the course of the last few months here, they ran, she was out campaigning, there was a convention, there was a debate, and they ran tens of millions of dollars of ads to teach people about her, who she is, her values, her visions, and her policies. And that worked spectacularly. Her approval rating went up 16 points.

She now has a net favorability, and she's much more popular than Trump. And you have to establish that bit of credibility with the electorate before you can start making negative ads because they're not gonna believe you. And then also the other side's negative ads will be more effective because they are filling in a vacuum. And so we are now on the closing argument phase of the campaign. We are

30 days away from the election. And so now is the time to make the argument against Trump. It doesn't mean she's gonna stop talking about herself. Like she's gonna do that. These events will still be positive ads because the New York Times post debate poll said that a quarter of voters still want to learn more about her. But there are voters, I know this is hard to believe, but there are voters who feel like they need to learn more about her. But there are voters, I know this is hard to believe, but there are voters who feel like they need to learn more about Trump. And it's about one in 10, it's true.

It's about one in 10 voters. And those voters are not, and there's so much bad shit about Trump. We were just talking on the last podcast about the unsealed filing that Jack Smith made, which basically has Trump cheering on the hanging of Mike Pence. And these 10 voters- Att're hanging, attempted hanging.

Yes. Yes. No, thanks to Donald Trump. We like to be fact first here. That's right. Before we get to the section on conspiracy theories later. And these voters are not going to hear this negative information about Trump by reading it in the news or listening to it on a podcast. The only way to show it to him is to pay for it, to put it in their feed when they're scrolling social media, to put it on YouTube when they're looking at videos, to put it on TV when they're watching college football games. And so this is the right thing to do.

And I do think that the unstable message is interesting because it's happening in a time of sort of increased chaos around the world, insecurity about what's happening, hurricane here, violent attacks in the Middle East. And it's worth reminding people that Donald Trump is not just some normal Republican with differing views on healthcare and taxes. He is a dangerous individual, right? He is a deranged, declining, pretty dumb guy

at a very dangerous time. And we can't run away from that. And I do think that like to Dan's point of this is not that much of a shift cool it that a lot of this is not trying to teach people that Donald Trump is unstable it is reminding people that Donald Trump is unstable. It is reminding people that Donald Trump is unstable, reaffirming what they already believe about Donald Trump, and making an argument about why it's important, right?

It's not changing people's minds about Trump. It's affirming their instincts about him in a way that is persuasive, which is really just, I think, a continuation of what they've already been doing. Leah, you live here, so you've been inundated with ads and talking to plenty of people about the race. What are you hearing and what do you think of the strategy?

So first, I just have to say something about the weirdest ad I have seen repeatedly. There is an ad that runs on cable that tells me to vote for Donald Trump, and it's a woman who's a healthcare provider, and she tells me that under Joe Biden, she had to provide health care to someone she didn't want to.

And I pause and I think you are running an ad that reminds people you want to deny people health care, right, like when you want to weaken the Affordable Care Act, you want to send women to emergency rooms where they can't obtain health care, this is nuts. And yet, this is the ad I see repeatedly. On the strategy of going negative on some level, I like it.

I like to be reminded that there is room in the Democratic Party for shit posters and mean girls. I feel very seen. On the other hand, I think focusing on Trump and Trump being uniquely bad misses an opportunity to remind people what the Democratic Party has done in Michigan and could do still. Because we have had, yes. Yes. Our Democratic legislature has done clean energy reform.

They have expanded voting rights. They have protected the queer community in Michigan. And they've done all of this with a small majority. So we need to keep the state house blue. And we also need to focus on the down ballot races, which again, aren't about Trump. There's a nonpartisan section on the Michigan ballot for the Michigan Supreme Court. And the reason why we have a reproductive freedom for all amendment in Michigan is because the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the board of canvassers to allow the people to vote on the amendment. The Michigan

Supreme Court is a critical, critical race and Justice Kyra Bolden and Kim and Kimberly and Thomas are the justices we need on the Michigan Supreme Court so Kyra and Kim for the win it's not just about Trump being a shitty dumb deranged individual. And we got to spend some time with them today they are so so impressive you're not just getting vote for them, you're getting to vote for really amazingly qualified people. Easy to remember. Kyra and Kim for the win. I didn't meet them because I was in Ohio. I can't believe you had a great time in Ohio. He was at a Buckeyes game. He had a great time in Ohio. He was at a Buckeyes game. Speaking of going negative, I do think

there's a way to combine both, which is we've talked about this, but the most effective testing ads are not just negative ads about Trump. They're not just positive ads about Kamala Harris. They are contrast ads where, again, you need to frame the election as a choice. Here's the future under Trump. Here's the future under Kamala Harris, and it's not even just reminding people about Trump. It's like every single day he gives us new

material so that Kamala Harris can stand up there and say, this is what you'll get for another four years if you elect him and this is what you'll get if you elect me. So I think that you could probably do both. Love it. Kamala was focused on an economic contrast with Trump here in Michigan. She also talked about the great economic news we got this week. 250,000 jobs created last month, unemployment down, wages up 4% from a year ago. Polls have consistently shown that most voters still don't feel great about the economy and they tend to trust Trump more on the issue, though that gap has narrowed considerably

since Kamala Harris has become the nominee, especially in the last month. Do you think that shifting in terms of what she should be able to say, can Kamala make economic progress part of her closing argument about the choice between her and Trump? Yeah, I think she is doing that.

And the point that Dan made, I mean, a shift in approval of a politician of this magnitude in this short time, it's extraordinary. Never before seen. Nothing like that has happened before. And actually, in more subtle ways, I think the same thing is happening in this economic argument.

There was a poll that came out today or yesterday that showed that among women for the first time, they believe Kamala Harris' policies on the economy are better than Donald Trump's policies on the economy is an AP poll from last week where she's basically kind of fought to even on whose policies would be better for you. The other part of this is that most people

do not have a clean line in their mind between where an economic policy ends and a healthcare policy begins. She's been out there hammering the contrast on healthcare, and if you're going to make prescription drugs more affordable, that is an economic issue. So I think it's incredible how much progress they've made and how different this campaign sounds on the economy than the Biden campaign sounded on the economy. Is it possible for her to win on this issue? Maybe, but maybe also she doesn't have to, right? Like, we need to win on health care and abortion. We need to win on these issues of extremism and stability. We have a

deficit on immigration. We have a deficit on the economy, but it seems like she's doing the things that you would do to try to fight to a draw. I'd say, I think the interesting change here is when it was Biden versus Trump, it was a choice between the past and the present. The Trump economy and the Biden economy. What Kamala Harris has done is she has tried

to make it a choice about the future. Because we could argue all day about what the macroeconomic numbers say about the economy and how people feel. And you're not going to convince people that what they feel is not real, because prices are still high. Inflation is down, but the prices have remained high. And so the key here is about who is

going to fight for you in the future between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and she has framed that which is why she's narrowed the gap in a way. Yeah Tommy a lot of nervous Democrats, which is all Democrats Have been urging the Harris walls campaign to get the candidate out there doing more interviews more events more of everything Kamala sitting down with 60 Minutes on Monday night. She's got a Univision town hall on Thursday, and she apparently just recorded an episode of Alex Cooper's massive podcast, Call Her Daddy.

The daddy gang in the house, all right. Does all that count as being out there more? Are there other places she should go, other people she should sit down with? It does. Aside from Pod Save America, of course. Of course. Thank you for that pity booking applause. We do want to know why 60 Minutes is on on Monday. The thing about 60 Minutes is it's usually on on Sunday,

which comes after a football game, which gets them a big audience, but we won't complain too much. Yes, I mean, so I've talked to the Harris campaign and Tim Walz's people a lot about this. What happened was Joe Biden drops out on July 21st. They have to, she has to get the nomination. She has to pick a VP. They have to vet them. They have to do a plan, a convention, a convention speech, and then prepare for the debate. And then Walls goes down a similar path and his debate happened on October 1st. And so basically their bet was the debates were gonna be

the single biggest moments of the campaign with the most eyeballs on the candidates, so they had to do well. Now that they are past those big moments, they're going to do more interviews. And I think that call her daddy is a really good idea. I mean, she should do more traditional interviews like the 16 minutes like the Univision town hall. They should be gaggling with their traveling press corps every couple

of days. They should talk to all the local press they can possibly talk to. I mean Kamala Harris already started doing that. She did local Philly TV was I think her first interview. But then they have to think okay What's the audience we need? We're the voters we need and how do we reach them? And so I imagine For call her daddy. They know that there's probably a lot of people watching or listening to that show who don't know that abortion is Under threat in this country and they don't't know that Donald Trump is gonna, you know, make sure that they don't have access to it in every state, let alone sort of the patchwork of laws that we have now.

And they need to reach them. They also know that, you know, a lot of the persuadable voters that still exist are women under 50 without college degrees who are independents. And they think, okay, how do we find those people and sort of reverse engineer a strategy from that? Kamala Harris also did a show called all the smoke It's an NBA focused podcast. I imagine they did that because they know that she's been struggling with

younger men black and Latino men in particular and People who watch that show are there to consume NBA news or sports news they probably don't get a lot of political news in their lives. And that's a way to reach them or reach an audience that they might not talk to ever except for through paid media. So I think the critique of the campaign was a little bit unfair before the debates.

Now it's legitimate, but they are clearly hitting the gas. And I think they need to do more, but this is a good start. I love the call her daddy thing. It's not strict scrutiny, but it's really awesome because I think it drives home the contrast between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats are the party that allows you to have fun

and are normies, right? You can like Taylor Swift, beer, football, freedom, Freedom and all these things and have fun and be a Democrat Whereas the Republicans are going on these like men's rights in cell podcasts like we get a new clip from JD Vance every week from Some weird podcast he went on saying weird shit And so Kamala Harris is doing a cool podcast and it's gonna be fun and awesome. And so I like the contrast Yeah, no, I agree All right, we will be back in a bit with more news. And we're back.

This week, Donald Trump started several new conspiracies. Wouldn't you know it, Laura Ingraham was standing by to help spread the bad word. So now it's time to break it down in a segment we call OK STOP. Let's see. Let's see how Fox News handled its duty to viewers during this serious natural disaster. Wait, okay stop. Yes. It's not the clip we talked about. It's about time. It's about time. That's not the clip we talked about. What is that?

What do we see on the screen? It seems like there's somebody who's about to... Gone too soon. Gone too soon. Run into some mud. Alright, well, let's roll the clip. Okay, stop. Did that hurt?

That looked like it hurt. When your hair was rubbing against the net and you were all muddy and... It's more on the knees and the legs. You're in the gravel. It's mud, but under the the legs. It's very... You're in the gravel. It's mud, but under the mud is dirt. You can't see what's down there. And also lifting these giant... We're about to see it, but lifting these giant cubes.

They did me a nice job in the edit because when I was whipping this rope off of the column, I really got Rachel in the face. And she got hit in the face with the rope. And then Jeff said something on screen where he compared me to a Movie cowboy and I said I think I said shut up Jeff My god

Okay, let's keep rolling this Wow! You're good, gotta go! Sierra and Andy! Okay, stop. So, is that the only outfit that got dirty? The whole time? No, there are other outfits that also got dirty the whole time? No there are other outfits that also got dirty. As you know I did miss three dinners. I just want to point out that this is a very funny moment because Sam is like is there mud on my lip? I'm like yeah. Mud on your whole body. There's mud all over you. So you got a little annoyed

with Sammy for asking that and then you almost hit Rachel with the... I did hit Rachel with the vote. So we're wondering why you got voted off. I don't think anybody's wondering why I got voted off. Alright. It felt like baptism by mud. Like, we're going to win this challenge and every challenge that follows. My name is Dave. I live in Boston right now. We don't really know each other, but this is a tribe that can win challenges, because we did.

I'm from Los Angeles. You're WeHo? No, I started in WeHo, where all the gays go. I was a- Okay, stop. Annika has gotten a lot of shit for that, because it's like, I'm gay and I'm from Los Angeles. WeHo, no, not WeHo.

But she didn't deserve it. Yeah, no, I think she was just trying to make conversation. But here you go. I want to see this part. This is great. And then I started a podcast called Pod Save America. Hi, how are you? What's the name?

Well, have any of you listened to it? I haven't listened to it. OK, stop. I like it here. I. I have a little high five. Okay, stop. I... I... I... I... I... I... I...

I... I... I... When I first saw this and heard this, I was in tears. I almost pissed my pants. I could... I could... I could...

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I like the person just trying, like, I should pretend that I've listened to his fucking podcast. They'd all heard of it. They'd heard of it. Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I like the person just trying, like I should pretend that I've listened to his fucking podcast. They'd all heard of it. They'd heard of it. Yeah, maybe.

Maybe. They'd heard of it. Did you change the way you speak to go on Survivor? You have like a new tone of voice, a new voice. Is this like faux, is faux humility, like, oh, then I kind of started a podcast. It's like no big deal. Homophobic, homophobic.

Never do that impression again. Shame on you. I hate the spotlight, the other one's named after me. Never said I hate the spotlight. Never said I hate the spotlight. How big could it be? That's a funny thing to say I thought what do you want to get very very popular we sell out theaters in Ann Arbor what's that gonna do for me it's trying to keep it light. Shut up. Roll the clip. How big can it be? Oh my God. I feel like your podcast is huge, right?

Do I? That's super cool. Okay, stop. What are you supposed to say? Shut up. What was that? What would you, what do you say there? Yes, it's huge.

It's always at the top of the charts. It's us fighting it out with Michael Barbaro. Yeah. There we. There's your best friend. Your best friend, Andy. I want you to know when I got to the hotel last night, I turned on the TV and Survivor was on, Andy, still going strong.

Yeah, I'm aware. I'm aware. We wish him the best, wherever he is. The... What are you... And our special guest for tonight. Jerry Springer it. I will say, the one... The silver lining to all of this, Leah, is, your silence noted, is that imagine what we would have done with every episode of just material. I just, I don't know that I could have survived it. I know.

I know. I couldn't survive the survivor, but I don't know if I could have survived watching it. Connect with two people. It would actually be very hard to get voted out. I'm bi. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm gay Okay, I'm not that old No, I love that. I remember Vine. I know about Vine. That's right. I was still a young person. Looking at my tribe, I'm realizing

I'm not getting to know a group of people. I'm getting to know a group of young people. I am 41 years old. OK, so I'm old now. No, I really like Vine. There's so much back in my day stuff coming out of my mouth. But being a speechwriter, I learned that you need to be. Okay, stop.

Your interactions with them in the scene, I'm really sorry. They remind me of JD Vance in the donut shop. Oh. Oh, fuck you. Fuck you. Sorry. Fuck you. Oh, are you sorry?

You're not sorry. I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry. Oh, are you sorry? You're not sorry. I'm not sorry! I'm not sorry. Oh, please. Unbelievable. How dare you. The rule said you weren't gonna fact check me. This is the moment when we were watching where Emily was just like,

Oh, they gave him the old edit. Finish the fucking thing. Able to put yourself in other people's shoes. I'm addicted to TikTok. First person voted out of survival 47, John. That's four, that's enough. You need to bring me your torture. Ooh. I look good there though.

John, chop his fucking. Okay, stop. I'll say something though. Okay, stop. I'll say something nice. Okay. If Mike Pence has the courage to do the right thing, you could still win, survivor. Yeah. I agree.

I'm frightened fast. Time for you to go. Alright. Jeff's like, okay, I am the host here. Yeah. I like you, but I am the host. Amazing. Look at Andy.

Good job, Andy. What a dick. That guy sucks. No, hey, hey. We wish Andy... Don't talk that way about one of Love It's closest friends. Yeah. That's my best friend you're talking about.

And that's OK, stop. So while Kamala Harris was here in Michigan, Trump spent his Friday in Georgia and North Carolina focused on his core message, a new conspiracy theory that the federal government isn't helping people who've been devastated by Hurricane Helene because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris spent all the money on people who came here illegally. Trump has been spreading this garbage everywhere. Elon Musk has been promoting even crazier conspiracies on Twitter.

Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted this about Democrats, quote, yes, they can control the weather. It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done. That is ridiculous. Hey, John, first of all, shame on you. That's not about Democrats. It's about Jews. Yes, definitely.

It's... Shannatava! about Democrats, it's about Jews. Yes, definitely. Shannatava! I've heard mixed stuff about that. I've heard other people say that she was talking about Democrats. Yeah. Both? I think... Anyway.

Who has the space lasers? You do the math. We know that, yes. Anyway, even though FEMA, journalists, Democratic and Republican officials in the affected states, including Republican officials who support Trump, keep begging Trump, Elon, others to stop spreading these lies. Trump refuses. Here he is on Friday.

It's been a terrible response from the White House. They're missing a billion dollars that was used for another purpose, and nobody's seen anything like that. Now, from that standpoint, it's been terrible. Now, a lot of the money that was supposed to go to Georgia and supposed to go to North Carolina and all of the others is going and has gone already. It's been gone for people that came into the country illegally. Look, we have a president that spends most of his time

on the beach sleeping. I never saw a guy could sleep in front of a camera. Does anybody think of it? I don't sleep that much. I toss and turn. I think, I think, I think. I'm always thinking. Do you ever do that?

You're sweating and you're thinking and you're trying to figure out how to beat this one that look how to make our country great. But I toss and I turn. He's thinking, he's's thinking he's thinking. I think he's I think he's confusing thinking and acid reflux. I think you're describing anxiety. Yeah. He's just he's trying to he's just he's losing sleep trying to figure out how to make this country great. Tossing and turning it's a lot of it's a hard it's a lot of I think it's hard, it's a lot of, a big thing to toss.

I think it's the Diet Coke. Yeah, he's having Diet Cokes too late in the day. Tommy, what is the truth here? Did the White House send a hurricane to devastate Trump supporters and then spend all our disaster relief money registering non-citizens to vote? Is that what happened?

Yes. It's obviously, it's such a brazen and unbelievable lie. And of course, with all Trump lies, there is an element of projection because in 2019, he did divert a bunch of DHS disaster relief money to the southern border to build detention facilities for migrants. So maybe that's part of this. But the administration, the Biden administration has already allocated $110 million for disaster relief. That is just the very beginning.

But Biden has also told Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia that the federal government is gonna cover 100% of the costs of things like debris removal, first responders, emergency food and shelter. So there's way more money to come. But as you noted, like Elon Musk, Trump, Mark Robinson, like the worst people in Republican politics, thank you for hissing at those people, are spreading

these conspiracy theories and the result is you have Republicans in North Carolina begging them to stop, begging them, because this is not just a political problem. You have people calling these offices, people who are in need, who are stranded, who are worried, calling their local officials saying, I'm reading that FEMA is gonna repossess my assets or take over my farm. And they're flooding these lines

and people can't get good information, they can't get the help they need, local offices are being inundated. So this is a real problem that's putting people at risk. And so what seems to have happened is the Republican Party has turned into just a bunch of Alex Joneses. It's the worst of the worst, spreading the biggest bullshit.

And we spent years having Republicans tell us that social media was lefty and rigged. And now you've got Elon Musk buying Twitter. You've got Facebook no longer caring about content moderation. God knows what's happening on TikTok. And this is kind of the like play of the land going into an election, where we're going to have some very close

calls and delayed election results. And it's pretty unnerving. Yeah, it's been, if anyone has seen this on Twitter or on TikTok, it is a nightmare. Some of the conspiracies are even like, some of them are funny. They're so crazy. Some of them are not.

There's one about how the government directed the hurricane to Western North Carolina because there's lithium there And so they wanted to destroy the town so they could get the lithium and I guess then make Batteries like it all goes back to the electric cars. Yes. Yeah They've there's there's stories that they're confiscating people's homes The theme is going and taking people's homes like it's it's wild people's homes, the theme is going and taking people's homes, like it's wild. Dan, the White House has been working really hard to debunk these conspiracies and show the

president, vice president, FEMA, doing everything they can to help. Kamala Harris today is in North Carolina meeting with first responders, FEMA, Roy Cooper. But of course, we know how easily disinformation, misinformation spreads in this environment. How much does all this worry you? And is there anything else you think they can be doing? Well, John, I know you're famously offline. So you may not know this, but our information ecosystem is pretty shitty. Yeah, no. I mean, we really are at a point where there are no rules, no regulations, no referees. It's like Mad Max Fury Road out there. And it's a huge problem.

And it's not going to get fixed anytime soon, because this is one case where the traditional political press can deservedly get a lot of shit for how they cover things. But they are out there pushing back on this left and right. And it doesn't matter, because their reach is so diminished from what it was't matter because their reach is so diminished from what it was before and their credibility is so diminished that the people most likely to believe this stuff are the least likely

to believe the press. In fact, they usually view a fact check from the press as evidence of the conspiracy because the media would be in on it. And so we're gonna live in this world for a long time politically. And it is, as Tommy sort of referenced, it is very scary when you think about the election

and the sort of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and whatever else Trump wants to put out there to try to set up the big lie 2.0 is gonna spread around faster with fewer checks than it did in 2020 exponentially. And so the question is, what do you do about it? And there are no easy answers here. And so the two things I would say is, one,

all of us have agency here. I'm not suggesting the people here in the audience are listening today try to convince their deeply red-pilled uncle about this stuff. But there are a whole bunch of people in your lives who are checking into politics right now for the first time. And they're going to have some questions. And they're more likely to trust you

than they are to trust CNN or the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal or someone like that. So we should think about ourselves as the fact checkers for our friends. And I think that's really important because we have real power to influence the people we know. The second thing is, it's very hard because if you're in the perspective of the White House

or the Harris campaign or just Democrats, more broadly, you don't wanna go around playing whack-a-mole on all these things because you'll never get your message out. And just if your whole campaign can't be Trump said X, but the reality is Y. And so you have to take it a little bit bigger. And so instead of playing his game, you have to call out his game. And you have to call out why he is lying about these things, why he is trying to divide us to help him to get power for himself, to help his rich friends, and make it part of your

overall message that He is trying to pull the wool over the American people's eyes so that he can gain power Avoided legal accountability and give tax cuts to his rich friends. Yeah, I I mean To our earlier discussion about the slight shift in strategy where she's gonna be doing more contrast and more Sort of attacks on Trump. I would, if I was Kamala Harris, I'd go and kick the shit out of him on this. Like I would go out and you can't do that in the first week, right? She's done everything she should be doing.

She went to visit Georgia. She's in North Carolina. But at some point she could just go out there and talk about and call out the game and what he's trying to do and how there are Democrats, Republicans, local officials, people in red states, blue areas of red states working together to help people to clean this up. And then there's Donald Trump

who wants to win an election, right? Which is just like what he's done with every other issue. Everything is about him trying to win an election. And I think that I would just tell people, because then it shows the contrast that if she's president, right, this is how she's gonna handle

dealing with a natural disaster, dealing with disaster relief. Donald Trump's president, well, first of all, we know how he's handled natural disasters, and he's just gonna do it again. The other piece of this is why I think it's really important that we have to be doing this right now is there are still Republican governors that are willing to be honest about this to say that the Biden administration is doing a great job.

There's still that last piece of tether to the old earth where these people are willing to tell the truth about it. Those Republicans are probably doing more good than anything a Democrat could say right now. That really matters and There's a ton of like AI images going around and they look silly. They look they don't look believable they may be fooling a certain subset of people who want to be fooled but like It's not high on the list of things we talk about for why it's important to defeat Donald Trump and defeat this form of republicanism It is very clear that like the technology is going to enable people

to make up whatever they want. The AI is going to become more persuasive. Our only hope is defeating this form of republicanism because the fact that so many of these elected republican leaders went to this form of politics so quickly, there will be no stopping them in the next. The republican governors are going to move to the right. They're going to become more great, like it's all shifting in that direction, like we have one last chance right now to stop this kind of politics because we are, there's no information system, we're not gonna be able to, there won't be a Republican governor on our side the next time this happens.

Leah, Politico ran a story Friday that says, the politics of federal disaster relief is a topic that Trump has always been keenly attuned to. Is it your sense that Donald Trump has always been keenly attuned to the politics of natural disasters? Well, so he has been attuned to it in the following sense, which I think gets at your point about Vice President Harris being able to drive home a contrast between herself and Donald Trump.

It came out this past week, the reports that when California needed federal support, in order to get that federal support from Donald Trump, his aides went to him and basically showed him you actually have a large number of voters in California. Before, he would actually accede to the request for federal relief in California. And this is the lie that he is trying to attribute

to the Biden administration now. And it's exactly what people warned about. It came up at his impeachment trial regarding the effort to extort Zelensky to accuse Biden of misdeeds. Law professor, Stanford law professor, Pam Carlin testified and she invited lawmakers, imagine you live in a state

that experiences severe weather events and your governor goes to the president and is requesting disaster relief and he says to your governor, what are you gonna do for me? And this is the exact problem with Donald Trump and he is again telling everyone that the Biden administration is doing exactly what he did

and it's just, it's gross. Yeah. No, it is, and I honestly like, her talking about that, it's the right thing to do, but I also think like in this home stretch, this is, it's politically wise to draw that contrast. They are doing everything they are supposed to do to respond to a storm, and Donald Trump, the only reason this kind of politics is successful is because people are already so cynical that

they believe the government operates the way Donald Trump would operate it if he were in power. It works because they believe Donald Trump will do what he already did when he was president and what he would do again, and it's so fucking cynical. I have nothing to say about it, I'm just furious. It's outrageous, it's outrageous, evil. Well, before we move on, we gotta talk about Melania Trump,

who hasn't been on the campaign trail for her husband or really anywhere this entire race until this week. So a reporter at the Guardian got their hands on an early copy of her book that's coming out next week and reported that in it, the former First Lady reveals that she is stridently pro-choice. Once, I guess, sure. What are you plotting exactly?

Put your hands away. What? I guess, sure. What are you plotting exactly? Put your hands away. You've lost the credibility to applaud. So the report happens and once the report gets out, Melania did what anyone would do in this situation and posted the following video. Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom.

What does my body, my choice really mean? It reminds me of like the first days of the pandemic when we all were doing Zooms and you had like one lamp in your living room. So just like the left side of your face was lit. What the fuck was that lighting? It's Melania for abortion for Elizabeth Arden. Two face from Batman.

Leo, what'd you think of that? It's a shitty 90s perfume commercial. It looks and sounds like she's auditioning to be the next villain from Genovia for Princess Diaries 3, right? It also kind of looks like that. But, you know, in some sense, it is totally consistent with everything Republicans have done on abortion and reproductive justice, which is to gaslight and insist they are not going to do the exact thing we know they are going to do. You know, when Donald

Trump was running he ran on a platform to appoint justices who would overrule Roe versus Wade, but then when he nominated justices all of the Republican senators are like, what are you talking about? They're not gonna overrule Roe versus Wade, and they're doing the exact same thing here, and there is just a special place in hell for white women who will shill for the patriarchy. The music, was the music necessary? What was the music?

Let's not lose with the forest for the trees here She is releasing a book three weeks before the election in which she takes the opposite position of her husband on the one of the Most important issues in the election that is fucking bananas. Do you okay? So let's let's talk let's because we don't know the answer to this But do we think it was some some people say this was a strategy But do we think it was, some people say this was a strategy from the Trump campaign with Melania that they wanted to soften his image on abortion by saying, well, you know, he kind of believes

everyone can do their own thing and his wife believes something different, or was it just coincidence and Melania wants to sell books? This is like the crypto, the watches, the shoes, it is a way, like the clock is ticking here because if he loses in 30 days, no one's buying that fucking book. So she got to sell it now.

The, this idea that it's a strategy, okay. I think that like, so remember when she had that jacket that's, I don't really care to you. She talks about that in the book. I'm sure she does. And there was this whole news cycle about how she's sending a message to her husband. No, she was upset about her press coverage.

And then there's a part of the book where she, so there was a mean video that claimed that Barron had autism. Rosie O'Donnell shared it and said, oh, maybe this will help for autism awareness, deleted it when she found out it wasn't true. Melania writes that this was one of the cruelest things. Rosie, it was on purpose.

It was, every time you try to, people have tried to ascribe some deeper meaning to Melania Trump's intentions. What you have found on the other side of it is that she's a lot like her husband. That it's about bad press, it's about personal grievance, it's about attention, and it's about what she can get for herself. Like, she's married to Donald Trump.

And... And there was also a report, I think it was CNN, tried to get an interview about the book, and the publisher wrote back, "'Yes, you can have one if you give us,' was it $100,000? $250,000. A quarter mil.

Sorry, a quarter mil. They were trying to extract money for an interview about a book. Which is way more than most of us charge for our interviews. Yeah, who do you think you are, Mu Dang? I did that joke and love it or leave it. That's a recycled joke. Yeah, I mean, like, whether it was, I agree with you,

it feels too complicated for it to be a strategy, but obviously, like, Donald Trump knew what was going to be in this book. The release was timed for to maximize sales in the heat of the campaign. So they knew this cycle was coming. This narrative, this news cycle, these reports about what she says.

I mean, yes, because they wanted to make money. Donald Trump, who is running on some sort of faux populist agenda, is selling a $100,000 gold watch right now. It's a nice watch. Yeah. The watch. And you can buy it with crypto. $100,000, $100's a nice watch. Yeah. The watch. And you can buy it with Crypto.

Hundred thousand dollars. Hundred thousand dollar gold watch. It's the guy that people trust on the economy. A lot of people breaking down the cost of the watch. Yeah. Shocker. It's not an expensive watch. No. No shit. Well, good luck on the book, Melania. All right. When we come back, your next senator, Alyssa Slotkin. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. tonight the next US senator from the great state of Michigan Congresswoman Alyssa Slotkin. That's all the political nerds. These are, that's a good reception.

First of all, thank you for letting us hang out with you today. We did two events together. It was so fun. You have a new bus that's very beautiful. RV. And a wrap, sorry, RV. That's a RV, Tommy. But it was very like, you're having some big events.

Saturday morning, 9 a.m., 150 people knocking doors for you. I mean, Michigan's where it's at I mean I don't know well we're where it's at let's talk about that so Axios reported that last week you told some supporters that Kamala Harris is underwater in the state of Michigan this same report also said that Republicans believe that your race is tightening. What's the truth here? I mean, how are you feeling about Kamala Harris' odds

in Michigan and your race against Mike Rogers? Yeah, I mean, I think anyone who's from Michigan will tell you that the minute you sleep on Michigan, it's going to go the wrong direction, right? In 2016, we voted for Trump in this state, right? And closest margin in the country, and then we've been making up for it ever since, right, by electing Gretchen Whitmer and our attorney general, our secretary of state.

And so I think to me, I mean, look, we also watched Hillary Clinton ahead in all those polls before 2016. Michiganders are an independently-minded people. We're still ticket splitters, a lot of people. So the minute you say, you know, I'm going to be on the sugar high here and think that we're just coasting the victory is the minute you lose. And so to me, it wasn't any different than what I've been saying, which is it's terribly close.

And we're now just within the margin of effort to win this election. If we work for it we're gonna win and if we don't work for it we're not gonna win and that's the same in my race that's why you see people out you know in Livingston County and in Dexter today and all these folks yeah Livingston County and so I just it to me the minute we get too high on our own supply is the minute we lose here in Michigan. Right, you know, you do see a lot of people in Washington who think ticket splitters don't exist.

It's a figment of our imagination, but you're meeting them out on the trail? I mean, not only meeting them, I mean, I can't see the audience, but I'm guessing most people here know, even in their own families. You saw me today ask people like, raise your hand if a relationship with a family member,

a friend, a colleague, a work partner has become uncomfortable because of politics. And everyone in Michigan raised their hand. I mean, it really is. Thanksgiving dinner has become uncomfortable for a bunch of us. And I represent a district that's very purple. Most of my mayors and town supervisors are Republican,

and they've been sending me pictures of their absentee ballots, which have already gone out. And it literally, I see them filled in the box for Trump and Slotkin. And we can have a conversation about the Trump part, but the ticket splitter does exist in Michigan, or else we wouldn't be the swing state that we are. One challenge for President Biden and now for Kamala Harris in Michigan is the uncommitted

movement which is Arab Americans, progressives, a lot of young people who are frustrated about the Biden administration's Gaza policy. This group I think seems to be expanding to people who have ties to Lebanon who are concerned about the Israeli Ground invasion and air strikes into Lebanon against Hezbollah Kamala Harris met with Muslim and Arab American voters before her event in Michigan on Friday. So yesterday I know you've met with these voters many many times. What do you think they need to see and hear? From vice president Harris to earn back their support? Yeah, I mean look, I think it's hard to overstate

how this issue has roiled the state of Michigan, right? And it's of course because we have the largest Arab and Muslim American population. We have a large Jewish population. We have a large student population. But it's also because unlike other places in the country, we're very integrated here. We grow up together, right?

My parents' local public high school is literally half Jewish, half Muslim American. They have off for the high holidays and for Eid. We go to school together, we go to the same sport teams, we go to the same restaurants, and that's an amazing thing. An amazing thing. But it also makes it so personal

when the conflict in the Middle East just literally comes home. My dad was in and out of the hospital this year and every single doctor and specialist was Arab or Muslim American, right? So it just makes it so personal here. And to me, the most important thing that anyone can do, myself included, but certainly Kamala

Harris, is you got to keep the lines of communication open. That means having hard conversations constantly. That means reaching out to people and saying, look, I know you're in pain, right? I see what's happening. The saddest thing about it is that my experience is that the leaders that I talk to on all sides of this, particularly in the Arab and Muslim American community and the Jewish community are experiencing really the mirror image of the same thing. They both feel like the other Americans

don't care about my dead. They don't care about people who look like me and my children being killed. Both communities feel like they're terrified of rising anti-Semitism, of Islamophobia. They're worried about what's going on in college campuses. They don't know what the future is. Both communities feel that same sense of just anxiousness and hurt.

So to me, keeping lines of communication open is important for her. I was glad she met with the people she did that at the last time she was in and the time before that. I did that at the last time she was in and the time before that. I think that's important. But then also, you can be as supportive of the state of Israel as you want and still show empathy for people who are dying. And it makes you no less supportive of their security.

And so, expressing that empathy and being willing to listen and learn, I think think are the key things that is my best advice to her on a very, very personal issue here. That's good advice. I bet a lot of people listening in here tonight are reading and watching the news and just worried about the war expanding and seeming to spiral out of control.

You've got the Israelis are now hitting targets in Yemen. The IDF is launching this ground invasion into Lebanon, Iran launched another massive barrage of missiles at Israel, we are all now waiting to see what the Israelis do to respond and, you know, before you won a congressional seat, you had this really impressive career in the national security world. You were the CIA, Department of Defense, like a number of big jobs. Can you just help people understand what is happening

and how worried you are as an expert about things escalating further? Yeah, you know, what we talk about in national security circles is the latter of escalation, right, that you're trying to contain things, but sometimes without your even willingness to do it, it starts to get out of control. And that's what I think a lot of us are fearing right now,

right, with the expansion into Lebanon, with Iran firing a much more serious barrage of ballistic missiles, including a hypersonic that came through some of the defenses. It just, that spiral is happening, and I think people feel deeply concerned about it. And to me, you know, any country in the world has the right to push back when ballistic missiles are being fired at it, but it is just clear to me that we are on the precipice of something much more serious that frankly as Middle East analysts

like used to always study in school like what if we had full-on warfare between Iran and Israel and what would happen so you know it's it's already been a crazy couple of months year here and I think everyone's just making sure that we don't have that cycle of escalation go completely out of control. Well, hopefully they can get to a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza and start to put things under control.

Switching gears to Michigan, I mean, Donald Trump is trying to use the Biden administration's efforts to combat climate change, especially their support for electric vehicles, to drive a wedge between the Democratic Party and autoworkers. Do you think that effort is working? And if so, how do you think Democrats can convince the UAW, autoworkers, people in the

industry here in Michigan, that clean energy policies aren't going to negatively impact the auto industry. Yeah, I mean look, I think the UAW understands this more than most because they're the ones who are staffing the new plants that we're building. We have 44 new plants being built in the state of Michigan after 40 years of not a single new plant. So, and here's the thing, I think, you know, they, the other side has kind of turned this into a completely political issue. Here in Michigan, we don't care what kind of car you want to drive, right?

I live on a farm, I live on a dirt road, I don't live anywhere near a charging station. That's not probably in my immediate future. But if the question is who wants to build the next generation of vehicles, you're damn right I wanted to be Michigan and the United States of America and not China. And I think, I don't understand the position

of the other side. They're like, China's eating our lunch on this vehicle and China, China, China. It's like, right. So do you wanna do something about it? Or do you wanna just like kick back and watch them do that? And in Michigan, we know what it's like to miss movements on this, right? You want to just kick back and watch them do that. And in Michigan, we know what it's like

to miss movements on this, right? In the 70s and 80s, Michiganders were like, why would anyone drive anything but a huge vehicle? What are these fuel efficient vehicles you're bringing in from Japan and from Korea? We poo-pooed it, and then they ate our lunch. So we don't want to miss this. We don't have to drive them, but we wanna build them.

Well said. Let me ask you about your opponent, Mike Rogers. I remember him being a very conservative, but not like a total Trump sycophant, like some of his colleagues back in 2014, 2015. But then he left office, I think, in 2015. He became a lobbyist. He moved to Florida, I believe.

And then he came back, and he's just gone full MAGA. Is this, what happened? Is this the price you pay to win a primary in any Senate race now? Yes. I mean, I think the simple answer is the Mike Rogers of 2014 is not the Mike Rogers of 2024. And I think actually for Michiganders like we understand that there's not going to be only

Democrats winning elections. We understand that we are a purple state and I think most Michiganders want two healthy parties that debate and push and back on each other about the role of government in our lives and make policy better. We dream about that but that's not what this is. And I think the the saddest thing is watching someone who you know it did and was vocal about pushing back at some points about Trump and conspiracies around the 2020 election. Now talk about all the shenanigans that are gonna happen in southeast Michigan for this election.

I mean, laying the predicate along with Trump that if he doesn't win, the elections are rigged, right? Because that's what's happening across the board. So it's sad even for me, and I'm running against him. It's like watching the last buffalo die. It's very sad. Sorry, it's sad. Speaking of dead buffaloes, maybe. Your family's in the meat business, in the hot dog business. I'm serious. You are a Hamas Hezbollah hot dog expert. What's the right way to eat a hot dog? Ketchup? Mustard? Chili?

Okay. Okay. So yeah, thank you. There are people in the back screaming, a Coney dog, like a Coney. Okay. It's a Michigan thing. Okay. But and there's, you know, dueling conies in downtown Detroit and right, yeah, Lafayette versus National. They're all screaming in the audience. Oh man. It is literally, my preference is a good Albee Frankfurter. I personally slice it a little bit, grill it flat, that's me, but chili, mustard, little bit of onions if that's your thing, and that is what we call a Detroit Coney and you're welcome.

What do you say to critics who say putting chili on anything is too close to like Skyline chili from Cincinnati? I mean, I don't know if you're purposely trying to agitate me and or the crowd by mentioning Ohio. This is, yeah, Ohio does kind of suck. I mean, it just... And so no, they can take their chili and suck it in Ohio. Okay.

Well said. I do want to remind everyone that Love It was in Toledo today. Last question. You know, we were out with you today. We saw people knocking on doors. I know that campaigns need everything at the end, but there's a lot of people here who want to help you out. There's a lot of people listening at home

who want to help you out. What should they do? So, couple of things. Just do a two hour volunteer shift, literally, especially in this area. I know it sounds simple, but that simple act of actually engaging other people, they know that you gave a crap about their vote, right? And just especially in this area, in the Ann Arbor area, the students have the ability to literally decide this election.

I mean, for the whole country. And so doing a two-hour shift with us, with the one campaign, you know, that whatever you want and then I think, you know, particularly in this crowd, doing a little social media and being like, you know what, this is what I'm doing, this is my plan to vote. Asking people and agitating about whether they're gonna vote. We know that at University of Michigan, they literally stood outside in 2022 for four hours to vote on Proposition 3. Make it a thing and just talk, talk, talk about it every single day until the election.

So everyone here has committed, I think, to doing a two hour shift. Amazing. There we go. Congresswoman Alyssa Slocke, and doing a two-hour shift. Amazing. There we go. Congresswoman Alyssa Slockin, thank you so much for joining the show. How nice would it be to have a US senator from Michigan who knows the auto industry, who knows foreign policy, who

represents and cares about you guys? You have the chance to elect her. And can I just say, youngest Democratic woman in the Senate. I'm not young, I'm young for the Senate. Thanks everybody. Thank you. Thank you. All right, now it's time for a game.

I'm gonna divide John, Tommy, Dan, and Leah into teams and quiz them on the absolute chaos the hodgepodge the unholy hot dish That is the Michigan Republican Party Any game we're calling take a mishigander at these freaks Aka Austin's parents are in the audience. We also have a Michigan based sports game now, etc All right, John and Leah, you're a team. Yeah, we're ready. I got a Michigander right here. Yeah, you got a Michigander legal scholar on your team,

and we have each other. Cool. We're screwed. You guys keep up with the news. All right. First question, John and Leah. Florida man Mike Rogers moved back to Michigan from the Sunshine State,

Florida man Mike Rogers moved back to Michigan from the Sunshine State and bought a house how many months before he announced his current Senate run? How many months before he announced that he bought? Multiple choice on this? No. Oh. Oh.

Six. Six? Incorrect for this deal? One. No. God damn it. It was three months. Right between. Three months. Wow. Ninety days. You could have had, I mean it'd be a risk, but you could have eggs, you know, in the

fridge that long. You'd check them, but you could eat them. Three months? They're old eggs. Three months. Three months. Three months. Three months. Three months. Three months. but you could have eggs, you know, in the fridge that long. You check them, but you could eat them.

Three months? They're old eggs, but they might be fine. For legal reasons, we have to cut that, but... FDA. I said you could eat the eggs. Tommy and Dan, which of the following musicians did former GOP chair Christina Caramo call Tools of Satan? Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Beyonce, Post Malone and The Weeknd, Chapel

Roan and Lil Nas X. Which pair? What was the first one? The Tools of Satan, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Why did they get a multiple choice question? It's going to, it's, it's, it's, it's equity, not equality. That's why. Can you read them again?

Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Beyonce, Post Malone and the Weeknd, Chappell Roan and Lil Nas X. Who are tools of Satan? Is there an Ollie above? Billie Eilish and? Sure. Billie Eilish and Beyonce? Correct!

Nice. Good job, Dan. She also apparently dinged Cardi B, Ariana Grande and the practice of yoga. The practice of yoga. Tool of Satan. Downward dog. Leah and John. The practice of yoga, tool of Satan, downward dog, Leah and John. Michigan is one of several states along with Arizona

and Nevada where fake electors have been slapped with felony charges for baselessly declaring themselves electors to help Trump steal the 2020 election. Which of the following people is not one of the 15 fake electors being prosecuted for sending their fake votes to Mike Pence, the National Archivist and the Michigan Secretary of State? Is it A. Walt Kowalski, Korean war vet and former Ford employee? Is it B. Mishan Maddock, former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party?

Is it John Haggard, owner of Haggard's Plumbing and Heating? Or D. Rose Rook, former Van Buren County GOP chair? Which of the following is not? C. False. Wrong. The correct answer is Walt Kowalski. That is of course the name of Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino.

Which... Bummer. Which tops virtually all of the Michigan movie lists available on the internet. So let's get some more movies shot in Michigan because we can beat Gran Torino people. What about 8 Mile? 8 Mile is also up on the list,

but it's that and 8 Mile, duking it out. What about Gross Point Blank? Oh, yeah. Wow. One note, there was a 16th fake elector, but flipped. They got him, not being prosecuted. Turned on him. Thanks. They got him. Not being prosecuted. Turned on him.

Thanks. James Renner. He sang like a bird. Alright. Dan and Tommy. True or false? State Representative Josh Shriver was forced to delete a tweet after reposting a meme involving black stick figures and white stick figures espousing the great replacement theory back in February? True. True. False. He did not delete it.

It is up right now. Ah, fuck. I knew it. It is up right now. It is so fucking, that's it. It's so, it's just racist. Up right now. That's from today.

Why didn't we get to steal on that? Yeah. Which we had true, false? Yeah. Well, if they're gonna get- Equity, not equality. I don't know about having lawyers on this show. We got how many months they got true, false?

And we still got it wrong, so. Yeah, they got it wrong. Fucking lawyers, all right. Hey. Last June. Ignore stop the steal over here. Keep going. Last June, a physical brawl broke out at a Michigan GOP meeting between Clear County Republican Party Chair Mark DeYoung and Wayne County Republican James Chapman. Afterwards DeYoung told the Detroit News, he blanked me in my blank as soon as I opened the door.

Kicked me in my blank as soon as I opened the door. Kicked me in the nuts. I'll accept it, it was balls. Uh. Nice, look at that. But I'm tough but fair, you worked the refs and so I gave you the win. You said it was, it's three on two, it's three on two and now I'm like, ah, I gotta give him one.

That's what Trump does. You're the Trump of this. All right, David Muir. not a strict textualist I assume what not a strict textualist that's right that's right it's a living breathing document these cards evolving with the times how could you be an originalist before the internet it doesn't even make any sense what did What did Madison think? Google it? You can't! You know? I'm gonna invite you to guest lecture in my next law school class. You know, microfiche. Earlier this year, State Representative Matt Maddock posted

to social media claiming to have spotted buses loaded with loaded up with invading illegals at the Detroit Airport along with photos of said buses who did the invaders turn out to be I will give you a hint It was the month of March That is your hint. The hint is that it was the month of March when this busload of invaders came around. Basketball team? March Madness? Okay. The basketball team?

I'm going to give it to you. Yes, we were looking for Gonzaga's men basketball team and their staff arriving for the NCAA championships. March Madness, more like march this crazy bastard right out of town. But I'm giving it to you. Lee and John, former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and his wife, who have been charged with 15 corruption charges, all related to Chatfield's time as speaker, were granted permission by a judge in May to travel out of state for what event?

A, their son's wedding, B, the birth of their first grandchild, C, a separate unrelated trial for larceny, or D, the Kentucky Derby? D? That is correct. It was the Kentucky Derby. Derby. Wow. Dan?

Tom? Speaking of the most upstanding Republican in Michigan, while a state rep Chatfield was recorded on camera being arrested for bringing what onto a plane at Detroit International Airport? Gun? Seems could he have gotten it through security. Is he bringing it on the plane or is he bringing it through TSA? He was arrested for bringing what onto a plane at Detroit International Airport

I have no more information and I don't believe this is so nuanced as to not also potentially mean security Maybe on the plane it might be on the way to the plane This car does not does not contemplate your follow-up question We're gonna go with gun And you're gonna be right it was a loaded unregistered handgun just loosen his carry-on He did apologize He did apologize. He did apologize. Yeah, well.

Yeah. Well, that ends well, I guess. Yeah. Now, today you wouldn't apologize. Sorry, the woke TSA stopped me from being an American. Ha ha ha. And finally, Leon John, state representative Angela Riggs called attending the January 6th insurrection what?

A, true patriotism. B, the least we could do to show our support for Donald Trump, the greatest president in American history. C. A completely legal and peaceful protest. Or D. A highlight of my life. D? It was D. A highlight of my life. Of course. Sound effect. So if somebody says sound effect you just make a noise. Why did you think to do that? Why did you think about that? That's an insane thing to do and? Why did you think about that? What kind of sound did you really go, ah? Were you doing that? That's an insane thing to do. And it's obviously insane. Only one person in the thousand people was like, sound effect, I know.

Weird people. Not like those great people I met today in Toledo, Ohio. We'll insert the sound effect to post and you know what that sound means because I wasn't it's time for a lightning round where the points really I wasn't able to I wasn't able to get out of knowing things that easy this tour Tommy John Dan and Leah have been given Michigan sports related questions mine from the brains of producer Austin, to torture me in a simultaneous mini game we're calling 50 Shades of Let's Go Blue.

John, kick it off. Okay, love it. Who are the Michigan Wolverines currently playing as we tape this show? Please note, Austin has mentioned this a half, stop it! Stop cheating! Austin has mentioned this half a dozen times and it was playing on a giant TV outside the venue when we walked in. I would not have known. I would not have known. I hear the person in the front row who thinks they're at home doing

dishes while listening and has forgotten that we can fucking hear you. Hey I know this I know this experience is similar to how you normally hear us on the toilet but when you say something we can hear you. Hey thanks for listening. But I now know that it is the Huskies but I wouldn't know. It is the Huskies. Do you know where from where? No. I mean I don't know Huskies like the like the sled dogs? So Alaska. The Washington Huskies. Okay. Okay, so former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was known for his iconic expression, who's got it better than us? Which one of the following is not another memorable saying from Jim Harbaugh? A, I take a vitamin every day. It's called a steak.

B. We refuse to drink the candy-ass skim milk or the 1%. He's right about that. That's true. That's smart. Skim milk is a scam. Don't drink skim milk. C. I'll sleep when I'm dead. That's basically all you can do then. That's funny. D. Big congrats to Judge Judy on signing her contract extension through 2020 from a devout fan. Oh, that's so weird. He's a weird guy.

There's a lot of men who would live a longer life if they didn't think salmon was woke. I'm gonna say the one about C, I'm gonna say C. That's gonna say, I'm gonna say that's fake. That's correct. Oh, I got it. It was clever, it was clever. Okay, the Michigan Wolverines begin every game

with an intro video narrated by which famous actor and Michigan alum? I'll give you a hint. He died last month. He died last month? Uplifting hints, yeah. It's not James Earl Jones. It is!

It is James Earl Jones. Hell yeah! Hell yeah! That's a star, of course. Which of the following is Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell's actual star by-quarters? Is it A. 12 ounces of warm whole milk with extra foam? Is it B, two venti coffees with two shots in each? C, one of the unicorn frappuccinos that went viral in 2016 and he's still getting them? Or D, a grande brown sugar oat milk shake-in espresso?

I think it's B because it's so insane. B is correct. Yes. Wow. And that means, just to do the calculus, that's over 1,100 milligrams of caffeine in total, more than 13 Red Bulls in one coffee order. That's terrible.

I need to, that's gonna be my new order. That's good, get one of those in the morning. That sounds good. All right, the victors, the fight song for the Michigan Wolverines says that Michigan is the champions of what cardinal directions? Direction. One direction?

One direction. Not that one direction. So, they're the, well it's either nor it's. Michigan are the champions of what cardinal direction It seems like it could all of them seem wrong It's not east not west you're not south. You're not north. What the fuck East Fuck you

It is the West the West that's stupid. What do you mean the West? It doesn't make that's the most that's the dumbest one to pick You can't come to Michigan and shit on our song Especially if you come from Ohio what yeah There's the songs in Ohio make much more sense And they put chili on spaghetti there like real sophisticates. OK, true or false, the official name of Detroit Lions Blue is Honolulu Blue. Weird, true, I guess. Yes.

The Ford family purchased the NFL's Detroit Lions on the same day as what historical event? What? Historical event? Oh wow, the Fort? I could give a hint. I'm not going to give a hint. The Detroit Lions on a historical...

I mean, I'm just... I'm not getting out of this stuff. 9-11. Close. What? Kennedy assassination. Is it close? Yeah. It involves days, my other option was gonna be D-Day.

They're days that live in infamy for sure. Right. Okay, which NHL Hall of Famer and Detroit Red Wings captain will the new bridge connecting Detroit to Canada be named after? A. Gordie Howe B. Alex Del Vecchio C. Nick Lindstrom D. Steve Iserman And you know there's been a lot of great scientists from this state, right? You think your athletes aren't getting enough fucking attention?

Open a book. I don't know. It's Dordie hell okay yeah do I do one do one more sure which of the following is not a minor league baseball team in Michigan a the Saginaw sugar beets be the Utica unicorns that can't see the Westside wooly mammoths D all of these are to actual teams. I guess D, they're actual teams. Yes, they are. Wow.

What a society you've built. That's 50 Shades of Let's Go Blue, and that's our game. Woo! And that's our show for tonight. Thanks, Alyssa Slotkin. Thank you to Leah Litman. Everyone go check out Vote Save America table in the back. And 30 days to the election.

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Thanks to our Digital Team Elijah Cohn, Hayley Jones, Phoebe Bradford, and the rest of the team Madeline Herringer is our Head of News and Programming. Matt DeGroote is our Head of Production. Andy Taft is our Executive Assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Hayley Jones, Phoebe Bradford, Joseph Dutra, Ben Hefkoat, Mia Kelman, Molly Lobel, Kirill Pellavive, and David Tolles.