Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov - Why JD Vance Became the Face of Trump’s Iran Surrender

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

Get your tickets now for our live show at 92NY: https://www.92ny.org/event/scott-galloway-and-jessica-tarlov Jessica Tarlov and Scott Galloway break down the latest updates in the negotiations between Iran and the United States, with Vice President JD Vance at the helm. After Iran once again threatened to close off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and President Trump responded with threats of renewed military action, Vance says Tehran has agreed to allow nuclear inspectors into the country. Is this a genuine breakthrough — or just another fragile pause in a conflict that refuses to end? They also discuss the resignation of Keir Starmer, Britain’s Labour prime minister, which came auspiciously at the ten-year anniversary of the Brexit referendum. Then, Jessica and Scott discuss the revelations and questions surrounding Senator Ruben Gallego, who is alleged to have used PAC funds for personal use. And, as the Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago to great ceremony, Scott and Jessica offer their reflections on Barack Obama’s legacy, Michelle Obama’s skills as an orator, and Scott reveals who’s on his fantasy “future spouse” shortlist. For ad-free episodes, exclusive livestreams, and to connect with Scott, Jessica, and the Raging Moderates community, join us at ProfG+ on Substack: https://ragingmoderates.profgmedia.com/ Get The Monday Rage newsletter: https://profgmedia.com/s/monday-rage/ Follow Raging Moderates on IG, Tiktok, and Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/ragingmoderatespod/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ragingmoderates https://www.facebook.com/ragingmoderates Follow Jessica Tarlov on Instagram, Substack, and Bluesky: https://instagram.com/jessicatarlov https://substack.com/@jessietarlov https://bsky.app/profile/jessicatarlov.bsky.social Follow Scott on Instagram, Substack, and Bluesky: https://instagram.com/profgalloway https://substack.com/@profgalloway https://bsky.app/profile/profgalloway.com Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RagingModerates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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diversity is a strength that helps L'Oreal Group create the best beauty products for all people. Visit laurel.com to learn more. I don't think they have any intention of complying with half the conditions that Trump is trying to outline to save face. I don't think BB has any intention of stopping. Trump thinks he can walk into a Ferrari dealership and go, I'm famous. Give me a Ferrari for free. There is more chance, in my view, that Mexico is going to present us with a memo of understanding and we're going to get back Phoenix than this memo of understanding ever becoming a tangible agreement. And what we are going to look back on history is we did not realize what incredible diplomacy the JCPOA was until we found out a village idiot

cosplaying a world leader tearing up that thing and then trying to renegotiate it, he has turned in a Ferrari and come home with a Ugo and tried to pretend it's a win. Welcome, Raging Monarch, I'm Scott Gowleroy. And I'm Jessica Tarlov. I am in Dakota, where am I? I mean, the Cote d'Azure, Jess.

And the Cote d'Azure. I'm just in New York City. How is it? I mean, your room looks nice, at the very least. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's, yeah, they do. It's something about, so everything is so beautiful here that whenever I think, you know, I get, I think, oh, the French, the economy, they don't get it. They're just total socialist.

I show up and they manage to get $6,000 a knife for a room because it's worth it. It's so beautiful here. And everybody here is rude yet elegant in sort of a very cool way. if you think about the most beautiful highest margin products in the world that aren't in fact convincing teenage girls to cut themselves, they usually originate from France, whether it's Hermes or Chanel or Van Cleef in our pals. Is Van Cleef French? It must be anything that beautiful is French. So I love it here and I just had a $62 burger. It wasn't worth it. No? Wasn't worth it. No. Oh, that's where they let you down? The setting, but yeah, we still got a lock on burgers. At least we have that.

Anyways, before we get started, we're putting together a summer mailbag episode and want to hear your questions. Ask anything you want. Send a short voice recording with your question to raging moderates at Proptoidmedia.com. Again, that's raging moderates at Proption Media.com. And we may feature yours on the show. What a thrill. And also, we're heading back to the 92nd Street, Y, this September. Tickets are on sale now and going fast.

So grab yours at 92NY.org or the link in the show notes. All right, let's get into it. Vice President J.D. Vance says that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspectors into the country after the first round of talks. The talks face a bumpy road after Iran declared the straight affirmative shut over the weekend, citing Israeli strikes continuing in Lebanon and a violation of ceasefire commitments. Trump retaliated with threats to resume bombing and take over the straight if there was no deal solidified. Let's watch fans in Switzerland showing off his signature brand of diplomacy, and then we'll also play a clip of Ted Cruz giving a warning to the GOP.

But fundamentally, what Jared and the Qataris and the entire team here in Bergenstock accomplished is, to me, a classic Trump deal, where if Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they're going to go to make American farmers richer and to feed the Iranian people. I believe the president is getting very powerful. poor advice on this. We shouldn't send a penny to the Ayatollah and sending $300 billion would be, I think, enormously dangerous. Your thoughts? I'm trying to be a little glass half full, at least for a few minutes, because I don't know. I'm just like fundamentally a positive person, and it's kind of exhausting just talking about like every way this has gone wrong. And I think that,

we're now fully in a place where we just have to ignore what President Trump is saying and doing, like that it has nothing to do with the reality on the ground. Iran was going to push the envelope and they did, you know, opening, closing the Strait of Hormuz, saying they'd left the talks when they were actually secretly still dealing. And if we did want to have like a little bit of rainbow news, I guess, or positive news, the Qataris and the Pakistanis issued a joint statement after yesterday's talks, that had some good stuff in it. I mean, if this is true, it could all fall apart tomorrow, of course, but they established this high-level committee that agreed on a roadmap

towards reaching a final deal, agreed to the creation of a deconfliction cell for Lebanon that will ensure the adherence to the termination of military operations. You know, technical talks still progressing. But the Iranians were part of that as well, so it wasn't just the Qataris and the Pakistanis. And if they're talking, that's better than bombing. But the idea that the administration is going to sell anyone who's paying real attention to what's going on on the notion that we're not already paying them when they can sell oil on the open market and make up to $5 billion a month. I mean, that's a gift that they weren't even getting, you know, over the last decade, right? Like JCPOA did not make room for that.

It was always sanctioned. And because you were in France, I think that we should give another hat tip to the first. French, you know, the French have come out and said that they are not willing to sign on to the UN resolution to stop sanctioning Iranian oil. So we're going to need some more people to sign on for that if it's actually going to become a global policy, as it were. But I think the statement from the Qatari's and the Pakistanis is if you wanted to have a little bit of good news in this, that perhaps it's that. So I appreciate your optimism. And by the way, 98% of people, people claim to be optimist, which makes no sense to me. It should be about 50% according to math,

but you need optimists, so it's that you invent the plane. I'm a pessimist. You also need us, so we have seatbelts. But my pessimism around this is common sense in history. Trump at the beginning of this war promised unconditional surrender, and he's delivered it. Unfortunately, the unconditional surrender is ours. We have effectively, from almost every angle of anyone who doesn't have their head up their ass and get to do math or any reasonable semblance of game theory, this is unconditional surrender on our part. The most successful foreign policy initiative of the last 25 years remains the 2016 Iran deal, the JCPOA. The problem is that both parties who spent the last decade trying to destroy it. Iran spent years trying to kick inspectors

out. I guess it's a good thing that they're talking about inspectors and economic sanctions again, but J.D. Vance has become the administrator's designated survivor. Whenever Trump wants plausible deniability, Vance gets a plane ticket. And effectively what you have here is we've wasted tremendous resources, eroded enormous credibility, strained massive, enormous strain on our alienation of our allies such that we could hope for something that is a shadow of the strength of the JCPOA. And the fact that France isn't going to sign up, the original JCPOA not only had Western nations signed up for it, It had Russia and China signed up for it. This memo of understanding is hilarious.

We are being so played. The IRGC knows give them just enough so that the calendar keeps clicking. There is no way we're going back in. No way. I mean, we might throw a couple missiles at them. There's no way we're going back in. Trump keeps with these hollow threats saying stupid eighth-grade shit, like they won't even make it fucking back unless they do what I ask. boss you're the bitch you're the one they are now muscling around you're the bully that got kicked in the

nuts and is screaming i'll get you as you run home and and the notion that we are not applying any additional military strategy we look totally feckless all the r gc needs to do is let days tick by get closer to the midterms recognizing that there is no coming back for the americans the ability to try and ensure safe passage to the Strait of Hormuz is exceptionally expensive than a call that would require two carrier strike forces and paratroopers and Marines on Iranian soil. We are not going to do that. They have gotten everything here. They come out stronger. They come out with an equivalent of a nuclear weapon, and that is a control of the Strait of Hormuz. And we have an individual who is so terrible in negotiating in game theory and has shown his cards face.

up that he has absolutely no cards, and he's throwing Vance under the bus here. This is literally unconditional surrender. It was fitting that they signed it at Versailles. This is capitulation in sum. The U.S. comes out of this much weaker, Iran comes out of it stronger. Where do I have that wrong? I mean, I guess I had it wrong with the other 98% of people who were excited about the Pakistani and the Qatari joint statement. No, you don't have it wrong. wrong. Maybe it's just like a fun exercise to think about like what could go right. I think that's important. And to date, I've been wrong on this. So please. Yeah. No, I'm not saying that it gets us to the deal that we want, but I'm at least happy that

people are sitting at a table and having a conversation. The thing that I can't figure out, and maybe it's just that he's preserving him for 2028 or that Ruby always said, like, I'm not into this. But like, why isn't Mark? Rubio there as well. You know, like you have, when you listen to the vice president say, Jared. Let's go out at Chernobyl. Let's kill ourselves slowly. Notice how Hagseth has gone quiet, too? Well, I mean, that's the whole group that said they're never going to sign the deal that you want, right? That's Rackcliffe, Hegseth, and Rubio. And they're the missing three in all of this at this point. And I'm reading Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman's new book, Regime Change. And there's this line in it where Trump

You know, he's redoing the whole, you know, Oval Office and the White House in gold. And then he says, oh, well, Cubans like gold. So, like, Rubio's his guy, right? And maybe he's just saying, like, hold your powder. Why don't you focus on whatever we're going to do in Cuba, Columbia, et cetera. And, like, J.D. gets the full airing them out to dry treatment. I just wanted to throw in as well. There was new very, very dismal polling on this issue from CBS over the weekend.

78% want the war in Iran to end now, including 60% of Republicans and 56% of MAGA Republicans. 69% say the conflict was not worth the cost, which, by the way, did you see Moody's put out their number? 132 billion. Wow. And then 69% say we haven't stopped Iran's nuclear program, which, yes, obviously at this point, we have done nothing. I mean, I guess there's the stuff that's buried from Operation Midnight Hammer, but that feels like forever ago. Do you have any thoughts on the U.S.-Israeli dynamic in all of this? Because it really does feel like Trump is now completely fed up with Netanyahu. And that Bibi, and I should say, I mean, Hezbollah is playing their part in this,

is just going to go it alone, essentially, and wage their own war, if that's what has to be done, which is obviously then, by extension, going to hold up our chances of getting a deal. So I think neither the IRGC or Hezboa or Israel have gotten the memo on the memo. I think all of them see a vested interest in continuing to fight. I think Netanyahu is constantly on a war footing. And I go back to the same thing. I think the world would be a much better place once Netanyahu and Trump leave the world stage. But Netanyahu is on a war footing.

He sees his political survival based on his promise to annihilate or destroy his enemies, he sees this as a unique opportunity. I don't think he has any intention of stopping. I think Trump will blame him and the IRGC will blame his trail as well for continuing to bomb Hezbollah such that they have an excuse or kind of a red herring or a false flag to say the ceasefire has been violated. I don't think they have any intention of complying with half the conditions that Trump is trying to outline to save face, and they will use the ongoing conflict in Lebanon and Israeli strikes as an excuse that, in fact, the ceasefire that we, quote unquote, the West, Israel and America have not lived up to their promises. I don't think Beebe has any

intention of stopping. I don't think the IRGC has any intention of stopping. And the notion that Trump thinks that the IRGC are good actors and have any desire to have a ceasefire. fire with any real agreements, with any teeth, and that Netanyahu is not fighting for his political life. I just, Bibi didn't even see a copy of the memo, supposedly. Asked for it and got denied. Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel weren't even asked to be signatories to a memo of understanding or an agreement that involves the cessation of hostile. That's like Mexico negotiating an agreement for NAFTA and not asking for us to be at the table. I mean, it's, He, again, he thinks he's the buyer in the cellar. Trump thinks he can walk into a Ferrari

dealership and go, I'm famous, give me a Ferrari for free, and that they'll do it if he wills it to be so. He thinks he's that kid in that twilight zone where and he thinks things they actually happen. This is one of many reasons in moving parts around why this memo of understanding, in addition to incentives, in addition to the fact he doesn't recognize they have gained power, in addition to economic interests of Iran. in addition to multi-parties, he has not been able to bring to the table, that he never briefed or got enlisted. There is more chance, in my view, that Mexico is going to present us with a memo of understanding and we're going to give back Phoenix than this memo of understanding ever becoming a tangible agreement. And what we are going to look back on history is we did not realize what incredible diplomacy the JCPOA was until we found out that a village idiot,

cosplaying a world leader tearing up that thing and then trying to renegotiate it, he has turned in a Ferrari and come home with a hugo and tried to pretend it's a win. Any closing thoughts here before we talk about my country right now? No, I want to have a bigger conversation about what the implications of the failure of the war in Iran does to Jewish Democrats that voted for Trump. But let's do it another day. Maybe when we have more on it, because I've been having it. some very interesting conversations, to say the least, with people who were lifetime Dems,

and we're like, oh, but the Dems are terrible for Israel. And now they're like, oh, this doesn't seem great. 100%. And what I will say is the majority, I was in a Jewish fraternity at UCLA. The majority of my friends, who I see is fairly moderate, voted for Trump because they saw him as more resolute on Israel. And I'm not trying to play money quarterback. I'm like, be careful. Bigots, which Trump is, always eventually turn on. Jews. Always eventually turn on Jews. And the notion, I also think Biden didn't get nearly the credit he deserved. There was only one nation out of 189 that sent two carrier strike forces on October the 8th to defend Israel. And I've always thought that Secretary Blinken did not get the credit they deserve.

But I would love to have that conversation. I think it's an interesting one. I think that the Jewish diaspora right now is in a very, very weird spot. So happy anniversary to the Brits. Believe it or not, it has been 10 years since the Brexit referendum. I was actually in Cam when that happened and the pound crashed. And this morning, UK Prime Minister Kirstarmer resigned, paving the way for the seventh Prime Minister of the country in a decade. Let's listen to a bit of his resignation this morning. The question being asked now is not who was best placed to change the Labor Party to take us into power and to begin the vital work of improving lives for millions of people.

Those questions have been answered. The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace. I mean, this is going to be very curious.

I'm, you know, an older, like, long time ago, London resident. But he made it longer than Liz trusted with that head of lettuce. Yeah. I, what are you feeling? You know, I've purposefully and joyfully stayed ignorant about UK politics. Since I moved there four years ago, this will be my fifth prime minister. I mean, it's just weird that they've had five prime ministers in what is effectively about four or five years. I think probably the geopolitical hard rock Hall of Fame first ballot mistake will be our entry into Iraq the second time, right?

I just, we turned Iran into a superpower. It costs us trillions of dollars, thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. Economically, Brexit is the most expensive act of self-harm by a developed democracy and modern history. The original estimate was they would take a 4% GDP hit, GDP hit. or hit to their GDP. Current estimates are 6 to 8%. That's the equivalent of literally setting hundreds of billions of pounds from British taxpayers on fire. And Brits thought they were voting for sovereignty. What they voted for was lower growth. Seven of the 10 IPOs of the last 10 years in the UK are below their offering price. Open AI, Anthropic, and SpaceX are going to raise $150 billion in capital,

three companies. Last year, the entire UK stock market raised $2 billion. 52% had voted leave today, 52% won't back in. Yeah. And, I mean, there has never been a case of political buyer's remorse like Brexit. I always thought Starmor should do, should advocate for Baxit. I think he kind of showed up and was like, oh, wait, I'm supposed to lead. I just look good and have good hair. He never really outlined a vision for anything.

And to think of it in business terms, Brexit is the equivalent of firing a biggest customer because you were tired of sharing the break room. The notion at a moment when the EU should be as solid as possible, this was literally, okay, let's reduce the size of our market and let's make our shit more expensive for no reason. Let's reduce purchasing power and reduce our customer base in one elegant swoop. And what's amazing about Britain, as I understand it, the worst Brit for Britain is a guy named Nigel Farage. Yeah. And he's potentially a contender to be a prime minister at some point. So I do not understand UK politics. Can you give me a sense for what you think is going on in the UK? Well, I would argue that you actually do understand UK politics from what you just talked about and that you ended on Nigel Farage. I mean, I remember from when I was living and studying and then working in the UK, the beginnings of the racist ads that were then going to become the backbone of the Brexit movement. Like there was one in particular, which Nigel Farage had a hand in, where there were like

brown people running through the grass. You know, they have been fearmongering. And to some I mean, this has happened all over Europe. Obviously, Germany got an enormous jolt with huge influxes of immigrants who ended up committing a ton of crimes in Germany. And that's a major on Angela Merkel's reign there as chancellor. But it was beginning when I was leaving in 2012 and then obviously hit this crescendo. And it was happening all over the world, right? Then there are tons of parallels between the Brexit movement and what happened here with the rise of Trump. I think ultimately it was Starmer when Labor lost basically every election in May. I think they lost like a thousand council seats that there was no way that he was going to be able to hang.

on. And then Andy Burnham, who used to be the mayor of Manchester, I think he was a mayor for like 10 years, super popular, basically said, like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to throw my my hat into the ring. And they actually have leadership challenges there. It's not like here where everyone kind of like waits around. And I think the problem with Starmer overall is that he was too much of a procedures guy. I think he even, they called him Mr. Rules. And this is just not a time for leaders that just follow rules to the letter, right? Like, we talk about this a lot with, you know, what will Democrats do if we are lucky enough to get back into office? Well, you can't just go back to how it was, right? Like, that's not good enough for everybody. Everyone wants something different.

Everyone wants the system to be shaken up. It's just a question of what types of policies they support being put into place. So I think Sturmer was just like too much of a bore, essentially, and they lost all these elections, so why would they keep him? I thought he gave, you know, a good speech. It's good to leave. You know, they're going through all the stuff that the rest of us are. They have cost of living problems. I mean, Starmer said he would lower wait times for the NHS that has not gotten any better. Both of us are enthusiastic about a public option that works. And, you know, I had this very scary experience where I thought that I had breast cancer when I was living in the UK. I went to the NHS. They asked me, do you have private

insurance? And I said, I do. And they said, well, then I would recommend you go to Harley Street, which is their fancy doctor street or your fancy doctor street since you live in London and get an appointment tomorrow to have this checked out. Otherwise, it's going to be two or three months before we can get you in with the NHS. I was very lucky that I could go and do that. Is it still better that somebody who is not as lucky can get in two to three months versus having to pay the kind of premiums that we do, absolutely. But they have a lot to sort out. And no one wants to keep someone in leadership who isn't dealing with how hard their everyday lives are. It is very hard to serve the public's demands if you're not growing your economy. And to give credit to a more conservative

ideology or the power of our tech community, it is very hard to maintain a peace if you don't growth. And the UK, at the end of the day, has had no growth. And I find the UK to be sort of an enigma because just as islands and nations are totally different than their mainland, you know, Ibitha, Micanos, St. Bart, Hawaii are distinctly different than their domestic flag. I see London is the closest thing to an island in a nation I've ever been in, because London is not the UK. The concentration of wealth in London is extraordinary. But the thing I would notice about London is that it's what I would refer to as a Butler economy, and that is all that wealth was created somewhere else.

And the only people making money in London are people servicing that wealth, hospitality, money managers, you know, hotels, bars, you know, whatever it might be, accountants helping people set up offshore accounts. I very rarely meet a tech, a manufacturing, a CPG company that has created wealth in the UK. The economy here is not growing. Brexit expedited that lack of growth. And without growth, it is very hard to maintain social services or a social safety net. And London is, London is not the UK. London is, and then another own goal, the non-dom. You know, there is a trend in Western societies. It's somewhat embodied by London. And that is stagnant wages, housing shortages, immigration anxiety, and institutional distress. But also, a lack of leadership to recognize it may, it may tickle the sensors of the middle class to say, God damn it, we're doing away with a non-domicile and you have to pay your fair share. And then they leave, and we have a lower tax base to actually fund social services. And, you know, California is going through the same thing, where they're catering to the emotions of the middle class around a billionaire's tax. But, okay, at the end of the day, it's going to reduce the tax base in our ability to have that social safety net.

And the UK is desperate for a leader, somebody that people are willing to rally behind and who is willing to take big swings to try and reignite growth in the tech economy. Because the frustrating thing about the UK having lived there for four years now is it has all of the ingredients of a robust Western democracy and economy. Amazing educational institutions. You got your PhD here. It's got incredible cultural. Sure. It's got rule of law. It's got a decent amount of trust amongst, in terms of corporate governance. Everybody likes the idea of moving here for a while. It has good relationships with other nations. It has a decent understanding of technology. They will tell you that AI was actually invented at Cambridge, and there's some truth to that, and yet they can't get out of their own way. And by the way, I am pro-UK because I think what's going to happen is I think a lot of people,

people from the Gulf are going to move back because I think the veil of security has been punctured. And I think the flows of capital, human and financial that we're sucking from Europe into the Gulf are going to reverse. And I even know some Americans thinking about moving to the UK for various reasons. So I'm actually quite bullish on the UK because I think you're buying it in a low moment. But there's no doubt about it. This nation and economy has been really mismanaged over the last 10 or 15 years. Agreed. And it's still, if there's any, that I wish that I could live again. It's London.

Yeah, it's a great city. It's spectacular. And even, I mean, they made it a lot harder for it to be the kind of melting pot that it was when I was in school. But my program, what, like the whole globe, not just talking about who was there from Europe. And I taught the introduction to politics class for LSC. And I had Russian kids, Singaporeans. I had kids from mainland China. Hong Kong, Taiwanese kids, obviously, you know, all over Europe and they're the American kids that

had come over, you know, everyone talking about their differences and experiences, a lot of them much older because they had done their mandatory military service. Like, I learned so much from having the opportunity to teach kids at a British university. And I think it is so sad. And I mean, this can happen with direct democracy, right? Like, it's more good than bad that they had the opportunity to vote on this. But it's not just today where you've seen the boomerang effect with the, you know, it's switched that 52% want backs it or to get back in. That happened almost immediately once people realized what the implications of this decision actually were. And people saying either that they had voted and made a mistake or a lot of people who didn't vote at all

because they didn't understand what was going to happen to them. So shame on Nigel Farage forever more, but especially for that. You left out Arsenal and Premier League football. That's another reason to live here. Totally. I mean, and I are... It is a great city, though. It's so fun.

And I went to, like, a game in Manchester as well. Like, it's just, you know, it's great, but it has gotten a lot worse for working class people. And this is going on across the globe. And they have the same number of votes that you do. No doubt. So one Democrat who also appears to me in the middle. midst of an own goal is actually someone we like a lot. Political reports that Senator Ruben

Gallego from Arizona has used PAC funds to pay for trips to Disney World, the Super Bowl, and more than $18,000 in child care since 2019. I'll go first here. I don't, look, this is unacceptable if it proves to be true. The question isn't whether this is disqualifying, but whether anyone notices, because the scandal economy is suffering from inflation. And I feel like this is a speeding ticket relative to the murder that is taking place every day in the White House. And also, I empathize with the fact that, well, let me move right to solutions. I think we should go to a Singaporean model. These are important people that do important work, and they have huge expenses. And I think all members of Congress, a million bucks a year, senators, two million bucks a year, the president makes 10 million

bucks a year. And there's a zero tolerance for any of this bullshit. No PAC money, no sunshine period. You cannot serve on boards. No paid speeches, no book deals, no gifts from anyone. Like, zero tolerance. You take flowers from a pack or you accept a position on a board. You are severely punished. But pay them for God's sakes because they, quite frankly, I can see how they get seduced and start to rationalize. Oh, a nice donor who's a friend, but he's also a donor, but he's really more of a friend has invited me to Disneyland. I mean, you can kind of see how this happens. And again, the Democrats, in my view, are probably going to engage in purity tests as opposed to focusing on the massive corruption that takes place at the White House. Your thoughts, Jess?

Well, I'm going to ask, so you want the president to take a pay cut? Oh, no, I think the president should. No, it's a joke about Trump and you only want 10 million. Oh, I thought it was pretty good. No, I get it. So I think a lot of this has to do with Eric Swalwell. So Gallego is like best friends with Eric Swalwell. They apparently even had a joint campaign account, which is what they use to attend the Super Bowl. There are, you know, many knives out for Swalwell. He's been pushed out of the gubernatorial race, but it is not over in terms of the investigations.

And to him, I think that it's linked to that. I didn't realize this, actually, that federal lawmakers can legally spend campaign funds on travel. meals, events, and child care, as long as the funds aren't for personal use. So there will be a lot of devil in the details here, right, of like what argument you can make that it wasn't for personal use. I feel like if your kid is on Space Mountain, it's going to look pretty personal to people, but net net with what's going on, you know, in the country and what elected officials are being accused of, found guilty of, et cetera. This feels like small potatoes. My initial reaction to it, though, was like, why can't we have nice things? Right? Like, Ruben Gallego is a nice thing. Right. Like,

this is the genuine article, you know, raised by the single mom, went and served the country, also got himself to Ivy League schools, went into public service, et cetera. You know, he's progressive and moderate somehow, like talks like a normal human being, very approachable. A lot of people talking about it as a potential, you know, VP, if not going forward and actually running and what will be a very crowded field in 2028. And, you know, this is to some degree the price you pay when you are top of the heap, right? Like people are daggers out for those that are succeeding and, you know, are the tip of our proverbial spear. But I hope that there are good justifications for all of this. I don't like the improper use of funds. I understand that they are not paid enough, but it is also the

job that you signed up for. And we all have a responsibility to live within our means, especially when we are public servants. And that's the choice that you made. And I hope that, like I said, there are good explanations and that this doesn't go much further because he is a top-tier Democrat. Like, I rarely run into someone who doesn't love Ruben Gallego and what he stands for. I hope that he gets the same punishment and scrutiny as Speaker Pelosi and Marjorie Taylor Green and the hundreds of others Congresspeople who insider trade. That is wrong. They make money. They shouldn't do it. This has become, there's so much corruption that there's a general sense of, well, why am I going to feed the meter when no one else is? So I don't, my biggest fear is that the

Democratic Party decides to perform infanticide on its stars and apply a purity test to him that, But anyways, I can't wait for other Democrats to be thoughtful and start virtue signaling around this. I don't, quite frankly, I hate to say it. I don't think this is that big a deal. I mean, I'm glad that you're saying that. I hope that it is and also that he doesn't do it again. So from a Democrat facing controversy to when celebrating his legacy, the opening of the Obama Presidential Center has allowed pundits and those close to the former president to reflect on his impact. now 10 years removed from office.

Here's Michelle Obama, First Lady Obama, one of my, literally my Yoda's around parenting. I don't think she gets enough credit for just how thoughtful she is on parenting advice. Anyways, here she is speaking at the opening. Eight years in the crucible. And not once did you melt from the heat.

The claims that a U.S. senator and constitutional law expert wasn't qualified for the job, the lies about your birthright. your faith, your patriotism, the outrage when you stated the biological fact that if you'd had a son, that he too would be black. Yet, you were unflappable at every turn, always focused. By the way, the images here have just been outstanding. I know, right? Haven't they been great?

The first ladies? It looks great. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. The first ladies and all of them, they just, your heart hurt. You look at George and Laura Bush and you look at the Bidens and you look at Bill and Hiller and you think, Jesus Christ, take me back. I mean, I know that we're both already married, but like, wouldn't it be incredible to be married to someone like that?

To First Lady Obama? Yeah. You got the odds for First Lady, but that's your, that's number two for you? I don't know. Who's number one? Oh, like, actually, Brian? Yes. No, I just, it's amazing to see someone.

who grew into what the country needed from her at that level. I mean, she is now arguably a better speaker than he is. Like, I saw both of them speak at the DNC. I don't know if you were there that night. And remember, when he came out, he said, I think I'm the only person stupid enough to come out after Michelle. And her speech was mind-blowingly good. And she just, she hits everything.

She made him cry. She was funny. Her Peace Prize line was amazing. And you could hear Hillary cackling about it. But it makes you for someone, and I have to acknowledge us for someone with our politics, it makes you sad for a time that doesn't feel like we'll ever get again. Even if you got a president who you adore and who you think has been good for the country and hits all the right notes and implements wonderful policy, et cetera,

there is something special and unique to hope and change in recent political history. For me, as a millennial, hope and change is it in terms of politics and democratic politics. And it's just been wonderful to see them out there. And, you know, I'm glad that this presidential center is going to be open and a resource for people and that he will be remembered for the icon that he really was and the way that he not only shaped our country, but shaped the global order, right? And how good the rest of the world felt about us

when Barack Obama was at the helm. So more importantly, let's focus on who our next spouse is it. So my number three, or as I refer to, that person is the future ex-Mrs. Galloway. I've thought about this a lot. Number one is Emily Radikowski for obvious three. reasons. Number two is Dana Bash. I think she's super smart, super hot, and I just think we'd get invites to everything. I think we'd be a very interesting couple. And number three is Anderson Cooper. He's

handsome. He has two sons. I'd like more kids in the shoot. I'm not interested in Dick, but I'd figure something out, maybe just get really fucked up. But I think he'd be a great, a great spouse. Those are my three. That wouldn't have been besides Emily Radikowski, I could not have predicted the second two in that list. You kind of smart, though, because you go for people who are going to get you invited to things that maybe you wouldn't have been invited to in the first place. That's everything that I don't go to. I just want to be invited.

Yeah. I wish you good luck. I'm going to go up. I'm going to go up to the terrace here at the Hotel de Cap. I'm going to put an unlit cigarette in my mouth, and I'm just going to watch the evening go by. And then I'm going to take an edible, come down to my room, watch some Euro News or World Cup in French, just the perfect evening. Anyways, Emily, Dana, and AC, you know, call me. You've got my number. Anyways, let me just get to, back to the topic here. I think one of the legacies the Obama

administration is an uncomfortable truth that America is still an incredibly racist nation. I think there was a large swath of Americans that haven't forgiven America for electing a black president, and they swung hard to this like, We call it white Christian nationalism. It's just white nationalism. I didn't realize how uncomfortable a lot of America was with a black president because there is no excuse for this guy not to be universally, if not loved, appreciated. He inherited an economy losing 800,000 jobs a month, a month. And he left one that produced 75 consecutive months of jobs. growth. That's the largest streak in American history. The SMP during the Obama administration rose 166 percent. If Obama had been a hedge fund manager, we'd call him a genius. Unemployment during his administration fell from 10 percent to 4.7. 20 million people also gained health insurance. Now, the cultural cudgel that emerged was that services jobs rose 10 percent,

while goods producing jobs, which is basically a manufacturing jobs, fell. And that was kind of the whole story in what Trump leveraged was, oh, we need to get back to the starching of America, right? The browning of America has gone too far. And two, you lost the heartbeat of America in our manufacturing. And I think he leveraged that brilliantly. And that is Obama won the macro economy. but he lost the cultural economy through no threat of his own.

Stock market recovered, but factory towns didn't. And Trump understood that gap better. But when you see, I found the imagery coming out of the Obama library opening so heartening that there's more of that in America than there is green algae and memos of understanding, that that, in my view, is still the real America. And I thought the imagery was hopeful. I think that typically the people who become president in our nation are incredibly impressive people with incredibly impressive spouses and that they make good decisions and they're incredibly. I just hope I'm trusting that while the arc of American justice is jagged, it does bend towards the righteous. And I trust that we're going to move back to this notion that character and intelligence, mean something again.

Amen. If I was an amen person. There you go. Yeah. All right. Let's leave it there, Jess. Have a wonderful week. Have a great rest of the week in New York, Jess.

Thanks.