Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov - The Gender Gap, Media Blitzes and Misinformation

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov break down the latest political shakeups just three weeks before Election Day. They dive into new polls showing tight races in key battleground states, explore Harris and Trump’s competing media strategies, and tackle Trump’s controversial hurricane conspiracy claims and the broader impact of misinformation on disaster relief. Follow Jessica Tarlov, @JessicaTarlov.  Follow Prof G, @profgalloway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Scott Galloway. And I'm Jessica Jarlow. Jessica, I am in New York. I'm in your city. I can see that, but I got no heads up. You don't want to hang. No heads up. IRL? That's okay. You know, you're married. I get it.

You're married with little kids. You have absolutely no interest in hanging out with families. None whatsoever. Oh, I thought you were going to say you must be really busy, but really you wanted to say, I don't want to see your little people. Yeah. You know, I didn't tell you I was in New York. Friends, friends with kids. I pretend to be interested. Not really. Not really. Not really. Yeah. Well, Jess, we're just three weeks out from election day and there's been a flurry of new polling. A new New York Times poll from over the weekend shows Harrop four in Pennsylvania and Trump up six points in Arizona. Last week, we got a Quinnipiac poll that has Trump up three in Michigan, up two in

Wisconsin, and in Pennsylvania, Harris is up three. Did you watch Meet the Press? Or are you allowed to watch Meet the Press being on Fox? No, My TV doesn't go to any other stations but Fox. The Stasi might turn you in. But I saw that it was 40, it used to be 49 or like 53, 45, and all of a sudden it's tightened. And the momentum that Harris had has flipped and now there's momentum towards Trump. Would you agree with that? And what is your insight? I think it's a little more complicated than you agree with that? And what is your insight?

I think it's a little more complicated than that, but that was definitely the headline from the polls that came out yesterday. A lot of, you know, tweets with R plus, right? The shift was going in one direction. And, you know, it's always choose your own adventure. Like I could rattle off six or seven findings that would help Harris's case in all of this. But it feels as if we've been talking about this as a tied race for the last month, let's say, and now we are. And he said, do not pay attention to anything that doesn't have them within one point of each other. And Trump hitting 48. Trump is going to hit 48. The question is, what can we do? And I thought that that was a really good bat signal to throw up to all of the anxiety prone Democrats, which is basically all of us that were hyperventilating. I actually woke up to a text from a good friend of mine who works in polling that said, now is the time to start hyperventilating. And he had

been talking me off the cliff the night before, but then these new surveys came in. I should note that the CBS poll, which is also a very high quality poll, was good for her and had her back actually to Biden's levels with Black and Latino voters. And I know we're going to talk about that because that's a real kind of crux of her being able to win. But I just look at, like, at this point in 2020, Biden was up 9 or 10. And if she's up, the average is still like 2 to 3 points. That doesn't feel as good and as safe as it was. And if you think about what we went through in order to get a result in 2020, I have no idea when this election is actually going to get called. And that, again, for another bad signal or a spidey sentence or whatever kind of fear I could have of what Trump will do in that interim while they are counting votes is extremely scary to me. Yeah, there's been some reports, including one in CNN, basically saying that Democrats in the campaign are a bit freaked out that this momentum hit a wall a couple weeks ago. Have you talked to anyone in the Democratic apparatus about what kind of their plan is, or for that matter, in the Republican apparatus going into the final stretches here? Yeah, so the Democratic plan

is to flood the zone with events. So Kamala's campaigning schedule this week is massive. She's heading all the blue wall states. She's doing a lot of rural campaigning. They're bringing in every surrogate that could make a difference. I loved seeing Bill Clinton out on the road in rural Georgia.

He's not fully recreating his bus tour from 1992, but Bubba's still got it. And there was this great anecdote, and I like to think of it that there was some sort of Avengers Assemble meeting, and they asked Bill Clinton, well, what do you want to do? And he said, don't send me anywhere really populated. Send me out with the people. Send me to rural Georgia. And there's really cute footage of him um at a local fast food place and when they realized in there who was standing in front of them how excited they were the one woman actually thought it was joe biden at first which is just a interesting old man comp um so they're going everywhere um i hope doing much more press. I know that we're going to talk about that effect

of this as well. But the big target has been how do we address this problem with Black male voters in particular? And they just put out their agenda for Black men, including providing a million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs, championing education, training, and mentorship programs, getting into crypto, other digital assets. There's a national health equity fund focused on diseases like sickle cell, diabetes, and mental health, legalizing recreational marijuana, creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry. And I think that that is, it was coming, but a direct response to a kind of controversy after Obama spoke on Thursday night, and you listed these programs that are supposed to target or appeal to black people, I felt like it was identity politics in the worst possible way. And that is, oh, black men care about crypto and marijuana. It's just like not an aspirational view of black men. And I wonder if the Democrats have fallen into the same trap a lot of times don't you think though that what she had been trying which was to just talk about an opportunity economy for all americans and talk about home ownership talk about uh starting a small business

talking about uh expanding health care you know your taxes, raising taxes on those who can afford it, that that was an agenda that should have appealed, but it wasn't resonating. So I agree with you fundamentally, but it seems like the Black community is telling her we need something specific because this other stuff that you're saying, we're not hearing you. Yeah. So, look, at the end of the day, this is about winning. And my sense is they've probably gone, these are, you know, I think they're smart people actually pretty high up in both campaigns. Susie Wiles. Yeah. My sense is she's, she's been described as brilliant and very on message. And sometimes the gap or whenever the campaign kind of comes off the rails, it's blamed on his lack of discipline, not hers.

And the Democratic Party, I would argue that, I just think a huge mistake from the party is rather than, I think they're smart to talk about the economy, opportunities for young people, opportunities for first-time homebuyers. When they fall into identity politics, I worry that when people hear this podcast and say that the Democrats are trying to roll out giveaways, basically a non-recourse loan, but you have to be black. I worry, Jess, it's going to turn off just as many struggling young white men as turn on as many people in the black community. One of the things that has really hurt the Democratic Party is just the level of identity politics. And again, I just go back to this notion where when you say on the DNC org website that you're advantaging 76% of the population, you're not. You're just discriminating against 24%. But if the polling shows they needed to do something to motivate this community that wasn't, you know, as enraptured with Vice President

Harris as they were with Obama. I get it. But I hear that. And it just reeks of the same identity politics that I think we've come to expect from the Democratic Party that, quite frankly, turns off a lot of rural voters and turns off a lot of white people. So first part of my question, how would you market these proposals? So these aren't going to go away. Let's say that it's just not called an agenda for Black America or whatever it is. How would you make this seem more universal but signal to people who do want to know that these programs are available to them? Well, my go-to, as I say, programs that recognize that the group that has fallen further faster than any other group in America is young men.

And families all across America are feeling this. Parents have two daughters, one son, one daughter at Penn, one daughter in PR in Chicago, and their 26-year-old son is living in the basement vaping and playing video games. And that's not even a joke. That is a fairly consistent profile across a lot of homes. Now, a lot of young men are killing it, but most aren't. More single women own homes than single men. Great, don't do anything to get in the way of women ascending. Three to two college enrollment, and a lot of the jobs that were available or on ramps for these young men are no longer available. So what I would do is a series of programs. And by the way, all of these for these young men are no longer available. So what I would do is a series of programs.

And by the way, all of these problems affecting young men acutely affect young men of color. Anything I'm talking about, whether it's suicide, addiction, homelessness, lack of economic opportunity, lack of mating opportunities, do you realize that marriage has become a luxury item? So all of the

problems I'm speaking to, I believe, if there were programs, would especially appeal to communities of color. So what I would talk about is funding for vocational programs, national service. I can't stand student loan debt forgiveness. I think that turns off the two-thirds of Americans that didn't have the chance to go to college, redshirting young men a year, holding all boys back a year because they just mature later than girls. Programs that put schools on the hook for student loan debt so they stop putting people indenturing them with debt. Child tax credit. Home program, similar. And Vice President Paris, I like her plan for more permits. I just wouldn't make it about a loan for that's a non-recourse loan for black entrepreneurs. Well, what if I'm, I mean, how do you even qualify? Like, you know, the bottom line is I would target poor people, not people based on the color of their skin. Your thoughts? Yeah, well, I've been thinking a lot about the great realignment that may be happening in this election

and how it's not really about race, but it's about class. 100%. Sorry. Great. 100%. Is the podcast over? Yeah, 100%.

Full agreement. 100%. And your kid's going to get into any little pre-K she wants. Go ahead. I mean, let's hope. But, you know, we, the Democrats, are running the risk of becoming just the middle class and up party,

especially with all of these new moderate Republicans and right-leaning independents that are coming into the fold as a result of the Trump era. And I think that you're seeing the impact of that most explicitly on Black voters who have been the most loyal voting bloc. And there was a great line on SNL this weekend from Weekend Update. And they said, if the Democrats always need 90 percent of the Black vote to win the presidential election, they might have a flawed business model, right? That this is, no one should ever have any expectations that you're going to get 90% of anything when you go to the ballot box. And I don't want to be the party of just me. Like, I love me. I think I'm great. You know,

I'm thankful that I got all of the education that I did and that I can live this tremendous life that my parents set me up for and, you know, that I'm in the top or I found a guy in the top three quarters and was able to get married and have two beautiful children and all that jazz. But I want to be in the same party with the least fortunate amongst us. And that's something that I feel is so core to the democratic ethos. And if we are at risk of losing that, I want to do everything possible to make sure that voters understand that we have a plan for them. And that's why I think that this agenda that is explicitly calling out that it is an agenda for Black people matters. Because Magic Johnson, last week, he was introducing Kamala

in Flint, in Michigan, and he's the co-chair of Athletes for Harris. And he was talking about how much misinformation there is about Kamala circulating, going back to when she was a prosecutor, that she just locked up every young Black guy that was out there. Charlemagne, the God, is having a radio town hall with her. He's someone who was a supporter of hers for the 2020 primary, but has also talked about how he de facto was spreading misinformation about her because he didn't know enough. And he was also railing against her for not getting things accomplished as a vice president, when in reality, what can you cite that a vice president did besides Joe Biden and gay marriage, which I think put him in the upper decks, right, in terms of history of what you think of as a good vice president.

And so when you're up against that level of a disinformation machine, even coming from people that support the Democratic Party, I think you do have to make these specific appeals and not making them in a pandering way, saying like, this is who I am. This is what the opportunity economy means. You know, these are the policies that I supported as vice president. But going forward, I want you to know that I see you and I hear you because these focus groups that have been going on all over the country, Black men are saying over and over again, there is no deliverable for me. Yeah, look, what you say is compelling. The thing I don't think Democrats want to admit is that her media tour started off very strong and they said, get out there. And I think she has performed poorly over the last week, I think. And we'll come back and talk about this, but I think her appearance on The View, some questions she should have been ready

for, she wasn't. And the reality is, as a candidate, I think she's just not View, some questions she should have been ready for. She wasn't. And the reality is, as a candidate, I think she's just not that great on her feet. And I think it's hurt her the last week. Anyways, we got some interesting data here. Campaigns and super PACs are spending the most in Pennsylvania. Republicans spent $170 million. Democrats spent $180. Basically, they're sort of neck and neck, except in Michigan, the Republicans are 88, Michigan's at 120. And then everywhere else, the Democrats are kind of 10 to 20 percent up, except for Nevada, where it's 22 versus 53, reflecting that the Democrats have just outraised Republicans. Any thoughts or any insights when you see the spending by state? I mean, Pennsylvania is the key to it. I mean, Trump has no path without it. We have a very, very difficult path and it's a dead heat right now.

Makes total sense. I'm just happy to know that we have these kinds of dollars to be able to spend. And last week we said there was an ad that we were talking about that maybe it worked, maybe it didn't, but at least you have the money to try it, right? You can actually take all these ads that are in the can and not even run them if you decide that it's not something that fits with the message. But the most important thing that these dollars are going to be spent on is the get out the vote operation. And that's where I still am wondering what's going on on the Trump side of things, because all these articles like the LA Times had a big piece about canvassing in Arizona and people saying we haven't had a door knocker for the Trump campaign happening in Georgia, happening in Pennsylvania. And it just makes you wonder. I get it. Charlie Kirk's in charge. Maybe he has some master plan that I don't understand. But this is not conventional campaigning. Maybe it works out, but Susie Wiles runs traditional campaigns usually, and I can't understand this get out the vote component. All right. We're going to take a quick break. Stick with us to talk about Vice President Harris's media blitz this week, hitting the Breakfast Club with Charlemagne.

They got following appearances on Call Her Daddy, 60 Minutes, The View, Howard Stern. So Charlemagne is coming on our show, correct, Jess? That's the rumor, yeah, in a couple weeks, right before the election. That's super exciting. Vice President Harris was on Howard Stern, Stephen Colbert. Let's listen to a clip of her on The Colbert Show. You know, when you've lost, you lost millions of jobs,

you lost manufacturing, you lost automotive plants, you lost the election. What does that make you? A loser. This is what when somebody at my rally said i thought it was funny it's accurate it's accurate this is what happens when i drink beer uh what do you think of her appearance well i was disappointed uh by week. And I know that we were going an amazing opportunity for her to showcase not only her wonkiness, because I think people do want to see competency and that she understands,

you know, the nuts and bolts of everything, but for her to come off as someone that was more relatable. And I felt that she was too cautious and guarded. And that might just be her personality. You know, I don't know her. It could be how she is. But if she's the fun aunt, you know, that's what Maya Rudolph says about her. She portrays her at SNL. I don't think that that came across as clearly. And there were just a few things that I think if you're in her position, you have to have nailed perfectly. And that question of what are you going to do differently from Joe Biden has to be sewn up perfectly. And it was botched at first on The View. Then they went to commercial. Obviously, someone told her you're going to have to do better. So then she said, I'm going to have a Republican in my cabinet. That's all well and good. You know, the next question is, is that Republican Liz Cheney? That's not really going to appeal to people in the same way as someone who feels

that Trump is right about one or two things. It was a real shame that the best answer, which came as a separate question because they knew she was rolling out this policy, didn't come right away because the big announcement for the day was that under a Harris-Walls administration, Medicare would cover in-home care for aging parents, which I think is just unbelievable. Like, what we would have done to be able to have that when

my dad was sick, and we were able to afford at-home care for him, we're very lucky. But a majority of Americans can't do that. And that should have been the first answer. Like, I'm so proud of the fact that Joe and I were able to expand Medicare, negotiating drug prices, capping price of insulin, et cetera. But you know what I'm going to do when I'm president? Bam. Yeah. Yeah. The in-home care hits because I'm going through that with my father right now. And there's this program in California that is really powerful. And that is if you're nurses, I think they will help you set up a residence. So we've taken them out of assisted living.

I mean, realistically, my father's near the end. And he goes into a residence. And it's a five or six bedroom residence in a nice area. It's not fat, but it's very comfortable. It's very nice. And this husband and wife nursing team manage the residence. And I believe, I'm not sure, but I think either Medicare or Medicaid helps with the payment. But the idea of figuring out a way to let people be at home and cover some of the costs, it just seems to me that that would, you know, that's good for the,

good for costs, good for the economy, good for families, good for the planet. I think that's a really powerful program. I don't even know the details of the program. I can afford it. It's not going to really impact me, but that hits hard. You just see what the sandwich generation is going through. I mean, especially you with little kids. All of my friends are struggling up and down. Just all of a sudden, I have friends who's, recently close friends whose kids are, you know, having issues. And then they're also dealing with parents who, quite frankly, you know, we've increased lifespan, but not healthspan at the same rate. So we're all taking care of, you know, we've increased lifespan, but not healthspan at the same rate. So we're all taking

care of, you know, aging parents who are living 10 and 20 years post-decent health. And I think they'd be smart to really dial that up. Yeah, there's no, I think, more common wish from a dying person to be able to pass away at home. Like, dying in a hospital, and the people who work, the nurses and the physician's assistants in particular, deserve sainthood. You know, my dad passed away in bed at home with all of us in bed with him.

You just, there's no amount of money that you wouldn't spend to be able to do that. And I'm glad that the government is going to recognize that if Kamala becomes the next president. says nothing comes to mind. I mean, that's got to be, well, let me tell you about what I would continue to do. I would continue to support our allies in Ukraine and Israel. I would continue to ensure we're going to bring inflation down to the lowest in the G7. What I might do differently, one, I would immediately partner with people across the aisle, including Senator Langley, who had an immigration bill that was bipartisan that should have been passed had Trump not started saying he wants to run on the problem, not fix it. We are immediately going to fix and address our immigration border. We are going to have to start having a difficult

but adult conversation around the deficit. And, you know, to say, is it going to mean more taxes on corporations and the super wealthy? Are we going to have to cut spending? The answer is yes. She just should have been locked and loaded. So like she was at the debate, because we've seen her capable of, frankly, a canned answer well delivered. A hundred percent. And instead she said, well, nothing comes to mind.

It's like, okay, so your campaign slogan is, I'm Biden, but 20 years younger, because she was about to lose. I'm like hot Biden. Yeah. So that was disappointing. And I don't, but 20 years younger, because he was about to lose. So that was disappointing. And I don't think Democrats want to acknowledge she had a really bad week, because at the end of the day, fairly or unfairly, she comes off as just not very good on her feet

and is prone to sort of these milquetoast answers that just feel somewhat awkward and not, you know, I don't know what the opposite of inspiring is. And he's had a great week. I feel as if you just got a, not even a week, weeks. I think the last two weeks have definitely gone to Trump. I think he has cauterized her momentum and reversed it. And, you know, we'll see what happens over the next week. The one thing she does seem to have is when I see these clips and granted you and I, you know, we're, we're Democrats and we love kind of the greatest hits in the hall of famers coming out. Right. So when you see Clinton, when you see Obama, I loved what he said to young men, he said, let me get this. You think being a young man is

about, you know, not living up to your commitments. He's like, what's with that? And I liked that it was in a small room. You know, I think he's fantastic, but the media I do think has a bias against Trump and they've like really mocked Musk at that rally. I thought that was great for Trump. I'm not a fan of Elon Musk, but a ton of young people and innovators and people in tech, you know, this is their Jesus Christ, that guy. And when he's kind of all in on Trump and creating a spectacle and jumping up and down on the stage, you know, I know my co-host at Pivot is going to make fun of him because she doesn't like him. But it's great for Trump. It's great that he's the wealthiest man in the world who a lot of young men look up to is so excited about Trump that he's on stage jumping for Trump. It's great that who's the wealthiest man in the world, who a lot of young men look up to, is so excited about Trump that he's on stage jumping for him. You know, I just I can't help. I think it's really good for the Trump campaign. And I don't know if they have been more disciplined. If this momentum continues in this direction, he's going to be up by two or three in a week. Your thoughts? I don't think the electorate is built for him to go up two or three, just de facto. But I take your point. And the thing that Musk signals that is important to the Trump

campaign is we are the movement or the campaign of the island of the misfit toys. If you feel misunderstood, if you feel like you're not accepted, if you're a little different, maybe you're neurodivergent, maybe you aren't. But if you are struggling to get a job, if no girls like you, we're a place that you can go.

And not only that, then I'm going to spend this whole week firing rockets, right? Like doing some of the coolest stuff and rolling out all of these new amazing innovations. And we don't have that vibe. Like part of being cool now, I think, is being different, right? There's no mainstream to it. It's like the weirder you are, the better.

And I don't feel like we're running a diverse enough campaign that way. And Trump has managed to grab onto that. And you see it in these interviews, like he goes on Andrew Schultz's podcast. I thought it was a great forum for Trump. He was making fun of him to his face. Like Trump at one point says, I'm a mostly truthful person. And all of them burst out laughing in his face. But it doesn't matter because Trump isn't bothered by it. He's not thrown. He just keeps going. And actually, one of the most important questions of the campaign, which Trump dodged, but came from Andrew Schultz, where he said, I get it about immigration. We need the wall, et cetera. But what about the good people who have been here for decades? And he

said, I was raised by babysitters that are not here legally. He grew up here in New York City like I did. And Trump, you know, just used it to go off on migrants. But those kinds of interactions, those kinds of questions being posed to him, even if he doesn't give a good answer, is humanizing him in a way that is turning people on. And what I do think the kind of secret factor of the last week has been is actually J.D. Vance. And I'm curious if you agree that he won the debate in just you're watching it and you're like, this guy has got it. But it's like the debate has had a long tail and that the impact of J.D. Vance has been felt more strongly, I think, in the last five to seven days with the

kind of interviews that he's giving. I mean, you should listen to him if you haven't on The Daily. He does a fantastic job. And I mean, he's bobbing and weaving. He won't say if Trump lost the election, but he's taking an issue like immigration. And he did this with Martha Raddatz as well and got Martha rattled. Venezuelan gangs. The Republican mayor of the city said flatly the city and state have not been taken over or invaded or occupied by migrant gangs. So do you support Donald Trump making those claims that the Republican mayor says were grossly exaggerated and have hurt the city's identity and sense of safety. I understand what you're saying, that some people left behind. But he's making these statements that the mayor is flat out disputing.

Well, Martha, you just said the mayor said they were exaggerated. Grossly exaggerated. That means there's got to be some element of truth here. And of course, President Trump was actually in Aurora, Colorado, talking to people on the ground. And what we're hearing, of course, Martha, is that people are terrified by what has happened with some of these Venezuelan gangs. You proliferated this lie about the cats and the dogs. And he says, you know what? There are problems in these communities, right? There are migrants that are using resources. There are Haitians that are living four families to one

house. People are getting pushed out of their homes. With Martha Raddatz, he did it about the Venezuelan gangs that they said are taking over Aurora, Colorado. And they have the Republican mayor saying that's absolutely not the case. And Martha Raddatz says, well, there are a handful of them. And he said, a handful is too many, Martha. And he said, do you hear yourself? And that was the soundbite that went everywhere from the Sunday shows, J.D. Vance saying, do you hear yourself? And as a liberal, I can't tell you how many times my conservative co-hosts, who I respect their opinion a lot, will say to me, do you hear yourself? And I think that that has been a big part of the swing. It's super interesting because I've always thought if you want to, one of the things we do or

traditionally have done when I was running L2, which was essentially, we call it business intelligence, but it was a consulting firm that just sat on a shit ton of data such that we didn't have to hire attractive people with Northern European accents. We just called ourselves data people. And I feel like an x-ray into someone's IQ, I can be fooled in an interview. I think interviews are almost worthless. If someone can write well, they're intelligent. Not only are they intelligent, but they're probably well-educated. It's like that quadrant of well-educated, well-trained, and real IQ. Because I know people who went to Ivy League schools. When I started my first consulting firm profit when I was 26, my job

was writing earnings calls and writing speeches for CEOs. Because these guys had gone to Harvard and they couldn't write their way out of a fucking paper bag. It is hard to fake the written word. And when I read Hillbilly Elegy, I'm like, this guy is brilliant. The narrative arc, the way he brings situations to life, his puncturing analogies, the way he structured his sentences. I've just always thought before even before he was in center, this guy is brilliant. And I do think he's brilliant. And I don't think what people give him credit for is look at the hand he's been dealt. Everyone is going to ask him, did Trump lose the election? And I mean, how do you, how do you, how do you in any way come out okay from basically denying democracy and that, and saying democracy isn't important. And yet he manages

again to bob and weave. And that New York Times reporter, I thought, did a great job of just being very unemotional and saying, Senator Vance, I'm going to ask you again. I thought she did a great job, but he probably won the pod. What's interesting, I think, about this media tour. The two most consequential media appearances for Harris and Trump have been podcasts with, I don't want to call them comedians, the most consequential media appearance for Harris was Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy. And I believe the most consequential media appearance of the last few weeks was Andrew Schultz's podcast. I thought he did a better job interviewing him than anyone has. 100%. And by the way, he accused me of spreading misinformation around Joe Rogan, so we hate him. We hate him. Andrew, we do? Yeah, we hate him. Okay, I didn't know. I hate him. But this was a rare moment of talent for him. Rare W for the man we hate. the dirty work or the heavy lifting allows Trump to be able to coast through these more fun forums and for the campaign to look like they're doing the hard stuff. But it's not Trump himself. He's

not on 60 Minutes himself, right? He's doing this or he's talking to a friendly TV host, whereas it feels like everything is on Kamala, even though Walls went on Fox News Sunday again, and he did a really good job. But it feels like she's on an island alone and that the Trump side is running as a team, which is interesting because Trump was supposed to be the larger than life person. But he needs J.D. Vance. Speaking of the podcast with Andrew Schultz, let's listen to a clip. Comrade Kamala. It's a little hard to say. She's comrade because she's obviously a communist. She's horrible. So I call her comrade. And it's a communist yeah she's horrible so i call her

comrade yeah and it's not bad but when you put the names together yeah it's a little you got to be able to pume no you gotta be able to put it out there pume there you go gotta be able to pume um but his his fan base loves it and he does come come across as very authentic and not starched, not rehearsed. you know, migrants are like vermin, like using 1930s type language. He did it this weekend with Maria Bartiromo. He said the enemy within is the real problem. And then he goes on these podcasts, which gets such bigger play. And he seems like the fun grandpa. Like, has he lost a step? Sure, his nicknames were way better in 2016. But people are listening to that soundbite or seeing him being self-effacing. There was a great joke about repealing Roe v. Wade. Andrew says to him, you know, Barron's a stud. Are you nervous now that Roe v. Wade's been repealed?

And Trump couldn't land the plane on it. But it was an interaction that makes him feel so much more human than the rally boss. I just don't think there's any getting around it. The momentum has swung, in my view. Political recently reported on Trump's push to win over the bro vote with the Nelk Boys, the host, the Hak Tua podcast, girl podcast, dating apps, music festivals, and even college football games. It's just, so we're going to pat ourselves on the back. We said this a couple of months ago on CNN and other places that we thought this election was going to be a referendum on women's rights. But my sense is those folks are kind of already decided. If you're pro-life, you're going Trump. If you are very passionate about bodily autonomy, I think Harris has you sewn up. But it's clear both campaigns are now going after, quote unquote, the bro vote. And the thing that Harris is trying to do, I think, is just make

sure that not so much that they vote for Trump, but they just, that they don't vote, which is kind of a vote for Trump. They're trying to use some surrogates to motivate them. Trump's also officially turned down the invitations for more debates. That's a bummer. I'm shocked that Harris agreed to a debate. Actually, you know what would be a great idea? I don't know, easy for me to say.

The five should moderate. I wonder if, I guess Trump's just not interested. I guess, has fox tried to get them to do it yeah um with brett bear and martha mccallum there are election anchors and trump won't do it he won't play ball i think he well he probably thinks he could do a really good job but suzy wiles or or smarter people are telling him you, we're going in a good direction right now. Don't give her another chance to recapture the momentum. We don't need it. I don't know if that's correct or not, but safer. Anyways, Bob Woodward's new book, War, comes out this week. It's filled with fresh

details about Trump's relationship with Putin, including secret COVID-19 testing supplies Trump sent to Russia. By the way, I don't see a problem with that. I don't. You don't? Well, he didn't send that many, did he? Then you're the problem, Scott Galloway. But did he send that many? I mean, wasn't it like trying to just get along with the world later? It wasn't just one. And the problem is that doctors working in ERs and first responders couldn't get COVID tests. I'm about to be shamed. I'm about to be shamed. I'm sorry. Caroline, do not cut this out. No, we'll give this to you. Americans could not get tests and he sent it to our biggest adversary. But how many? I'm asking to learn, not to make a point. How many did he actually send?

I don't know. I mean, it was not just one. Right. But was it like a box saying here for you and your friends, let's get along and not go to war? Can you imagine if Biden had done something like this or if Kamala, you know, had even a separate text message chain? Hundred percent. With these people. I remember Jared Kushner and the WhatsApp chats with the Saudis and making two billion dollars. These things would never fly in a Democratic administration. 100%. No, you're absolutely right. Oh, thank you. You're right. Listen to yourself.

But I would like to know how many tests there were now that you've raised it. Yeah. Because I've been pretty pissed off about it without knowing exactly how many. Okay. We'll be right back

after a break to discuss Trump's lies about hurricane recovery efforts. Stay with us. So, Jess, last week, as thousands were grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, Trump spread misinformation about FEMA's response. He claimed that the federal government isn't assisting those affected by Hurricane Helene because Biden and Harris have allocated all the funds to undocumented immigrants. Let's listen to a clip. People are dying in North Carolina. They're dying all over those five, six states.

They're dying and they're getting no help from our federal government because they have no money because their money's been spent on people that should not be in our country. The White House worked to debunk these claims, but we know how quickly disinformation can spread in today's environment. What do you think are the impacts of Trump amplifying this misinformation? Jess, do you think it hurts or helps him?

Well, I guess it helps him that they've poll tested this and his supporters believe it. You know, if you're not breaking through to people who are actually supporting him, then it doesn't make any difference. The other layer of it is the real effects of this, which is that people who need aid aren't thinking that it's not coming. They're thinking that they're not entitled to it. They're thinking they're only getting $750, which is the initial amount that FEMA gives you for your basic necessities or essentials.

And then you can apply for a lot more money. And it also leads to stuff, I don't know if you saw this story, so Rutherford, North Carolina, one of the hardest hit areas, FEMA's down there working, and they had to be pulled out because armed militias were showing up to, quote, get FEMA. So that is the result of all of this, that level of disinformation. So these FEMA workers actually had to leave their job, their rescue jobs, because these lunatics with weapons showed up to be hunting FEMA. And I don't want to be a broken record, but I do a little bit about this point, that all of it just indicates that the number one priority is to get the American public to

distrust the government. And as an extension, I think then to be able to say, I won the election. How can you trust them about anything? They're not coming to save you when a hurricane happens. And they're not counting the votes properly. Look, this is very disappointing and it's hard to have two. I don't think there's a both side of them here. Our institutions are meant to be the connective tissue here. When people are cowering in the rafters, January 6th, our elected representatives, Republican and Democrat, that was us cowering in the wrong place at the right time and devastated by a natural disaster, that we come together. This used to be one place where, you know, Jerry Brown and Governor Newsom or Governor Brown and Lieutenant Governor Newsom walked around with President Trump and, you know, the superfires in California to tour devastated areas. This used to be a place where we'd come together. And my understanding is, you know, Governor DeSantis, they're not even returning their calls, that they want it to be perceived as a total disaster. And the problem is that a lot of people believe this and aren't calling FEMA and aren't accessing the resources that they're entitled to and that would help. There's just no getting around it. It's incredibly disappointing. And it speaks to a larger issue that Americans no longer trust their institutions and our

institutions are us. So it's a larger issue. I don't know how to solve it. I think that probably the one thing we would need to do to try and address it is to get young people into mandatory national service, such that they could see that, you know, where there's still work to done, but this is the least bad country or the best country in the history of the planet. But there's just, generally speaking,

a total mistrust of institutions. I put out a thread. I saw the nicest video of this young man, this doctor, walking into a room with a preemie that wasn't moving and wasn't breathing.

And he just very adroitly and crisply got this mini ventilator, started tickling the kid or bothering it to try and inspire. And then you hear literally the most beautiful sound in the world. You hear this kid start to wail or this baby. And I put out, you know, we need experts. And I was just shocked how many comments were, and I don't know if this is bots, I don't know who it is saying, experts are late stage capitalism. And saying, okay, we can't even have experts now. We can't even like salute people who are just really fucking good at what they do that make all of our lives better and even save lives. And there's just such a weird distrust. And I don't know, I don't know where it stems from. I don't even know how much of it is real. And that's what

the Soviet propaganda machine used to say. It's not about misinformation. It's about flooding the zone and overloading. So nobody knows what to think. Such that we're all, we're all just, you know, totally, totally overwhelmed. But this is especially disappointing. It also distracts from any intelligent conversation around the fact that these hurricanes are going into areas that are not weather ready. Because, I mean, you're in Florida when you're building a house, you get double pane hurricane impact windows. You think about buying a generator in case your power goes out. In Asheville, North Carolina, they didn't think they'd ever need to be worried about Ukraine. I read on, I forget where I read, that there's like a non-zero probability that London might experience its first hurricane. But instead, we're having these conversations around misinformation instead of saying, okay, what does this mean about climate change or weather preparation in terms of a disaster or what FEMA funding should in fact be. Instead,

it's just this total misdirect around all of this bullshit. But this stuff is incredibly disappointing. I think the hurricane has actually helped Trump because I think the feeling of chaos just lends itself well to the challenger, that the more chaos and disruption you feel, you're going to blame the current administration fairly or unfairly. And while I think the response from FEMA has been people doing their level best, I think this sense of chaos actually helps Trump. Your thoughts? Yeah, I think so, too. And I just wanted to note, DeSantis actually worked very well with President Biden. His politics playing was he wouldn't take Kamala's call and basically said, like, I never hear from her during other storms like this is about the campaign. I can't have that. But I agree. Chaos benefits the chaos agent in all of this. And it does seem like FEMA and the administration was better prepared for Florida

than they were for North Carolina, even though the disaster declarations were signed early. But North Carolina had to depend on private actors more than they should have in the first couple days in terms of the recovery. I should note that there are a lot of Republican officials on record saying, do not believe all of these lies, not necessarily calling Trump out specifically, but saying, like, these are the factsumbency, it's going to fall on her, right? Anything that goes wrong with a response like this, even though the vice president, again, can't do anything, she's not even in the chain of command for something like this, she's going to end up with the responsibility. And the fact that he took this and made it an immigration issue, which he thinks is, you know, his gold standard issue at this point. And I would say you probably should be hewing more towards the economy than immigration because economy is always going to be number one.

But by telling this lie about the pots of money being commingled when we know that migrant money comes from shelter services and this is the disaster relief fund. People get the wrong idea and they don't even know. Donald Trump is the only one actually that took disaster relief money out of the pot in 2019 and moved it over to address something else having to do with migrants. And he's the one that had to be shown. Did you see this story that they had to show him voter data from Orange County when the wildfires were happening so that he knew that he would be helping out some Republicans because otherwise he wanted to withhold. Yeah, he wasn't going to do it. Yeah. Yeah. He's the worst. There you go. So as we wrap up here, Jess, is there anything or is there any like next big thing you're looking for in the next week? Any pivotal moments where we'll have our eyes on? You know, just how Kamala does this week, how she's going to be going back to rally form.

And I do feel bad for her that there was this, oh my God, you got to do more interviews. And she does a bunch of interviews and they're like, why aren't you doing the rallies? So she's doing all these rallies this week. But I'll be paying really close attention to Charlemagne's town hall and how she does there. you know, where she's going, how she's being received, and also the message that all of these surrogates are delivering. But I don't think that

there's like one crescendo moment I'm focused on. What about you? Well, I think you missed what will obviously be the biggest media event of the political season is coming up. Do you know what that is? Well, next Monday. Yeah, that's right. But Kamala's not coming. Raging Moderates live in New York. Our live launch event. I'm going to bring my baby. I'm just kidding. Sorry. No, no, no. Kids not allowed. ID checked at door. Live podcast. That's right. Monday. Jess, did you hear we're sold out? I did hear that. We have dozens and dozens of fans, Jess, already. I can't believe it. This is very, very exciting. All right. That's all for this episode. Thank you for listening to Raging Moderates. Our producers are Caroline Chagrin and David Toledo. Our technical director is Drew Burrows. You can

find Raging Moderates on the PropGPod every Tuesday and on YouTube every Wednesday. Jess, have a great rest of the week. You too. See you around.