Tangle - DNC Coverage

Episode Date: August 21, 2024

I'm out at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago. A lot of readers have been asking why we didn’t go to the Republican National Convention. The answer is pretty simple: We applied for press passes to both, but the RNC didn’t accept us. We don’t know why. It is not because of any perceived partisanship — the RNC approved many liberal reporters, and here at the DNC I’ve seen everyone from Charlie Kirk to Kellyanne Conway, and Fox News has their own booth. Anyway, the DNC gave us credentials, so we came. You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠You can watch the entire Tangle Live event at City Winery NYC on our YouTube Channel!Check out Episode 5 of our podcast series, The Undecideds. Please give us a 5-star rating and leave a comment!Today’s clickables: Corrections (0:42), Quick hits (2:15), Today’s story (4:29), Simon Rosenberg Interview (23:32), Jo From Jerry Interview (29:40), Live from the DNC Clips (39:58)You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Help share Tangle.I'm a firm believer that our politics would be a little bit better if everyone were reading balanced news that allows room for debate, disagreement, and multiple perspectives. If you can take 15 seconds to share Tangle with a few friends I'd really appreciate it. Email Tangle to a friend here, share Tangle on X/Twitter here, or share Tangle on Facebook here.Take the survey: What do you think of the Medicare negotiations? Let us know!Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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with mortgage payments on their minds. If you're struggling with your payments, speak to your bank. The earlier they understand your situation, the more options and relief measures could be available to you. Learn more at canada.ca slash it pays to know. A message from the Government of Canada.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight.

Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. From Searchlight Pictures comes A Real Pain, one of the most moving and funny films of the year. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain is a comedy about mismatched cousins Thank you. this year, garnering rave reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. See A Real Pain only in theaters November 15th. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle.

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle Podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we're going to be doing some live coverage from here at the DNC. This is a little bit different, a little unusual. Today in our newsletter, we actually have a reader feedback edition, sharing a bunch of feedback from readers who wrote in responding to my piece on Israel, which was released to members only on Friday. So that's happening in the newsletter today. But here on the podcast,

we're doing some special exclusive DNC coverage. I'm going to share six observations from the DNC so far, talk a little bit about what we're seeing here on the ground and a little bit of my experience. Before we jump in, though, I have two things. First, a correction and then our quick hits. We have a correction from yesterday in our coverage of the Medicare drug pricing negotiations. We said that four of the Medicare Part D drugs for which the government had negotiated lower prices were among the 10 most over-prescribed drugs in the United States. That's not true. We misread an abstract of a study and then somewhere in our review process, I guess we missed the correction there.

And this got included in the my take section. It was a little bit of an aside, but we linked to something that proved that what we were saying wasn't true. So thank you to the 10 or so readers who caught the error. This is our 114th correction in Tangle's 263-week history. It's our first correction since August 13th. We track these corrections and place them at the top of the podcast in an effort to maximize transparency with our listeners. All right, so that's our correction. And with that

out of the way, I'm going to do some quick hits today and then jump into our DNC coverage. into our DNC coverage. First up, former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff headline the second night of the DNC, which we are going to be talking about in a moment. Number two, civil defense officials in the Gaza Strip claimed an Israeli strike on a school killed at least 12 people. Israel said the school was housing a Hamas command and control center. Separately, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza. Number three, Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate, suggested Kennedy might drop out and support former President Donald Trump. drop out and support former president Donald Trump.

Number four, drug maker Eli Lilly published the initial results from a long-term study that showed the company's weight loss drug reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 94% in obese or overweight adults with pre-diabetes. And number five, the U.S. Department of Justice declined to challenge a $1 billion merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, though the deal is still subject to Department of Transportation review. line to challenge a $1 billion merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, though the deal is still subject to Department of Transportation review. All right, that is it for our quick hits today, which brings us to our main story, which is the Democratic National Convention, where we are here in Chicago. And we went into day two yesterday with the cameras

rolling, the mics on, and I want to share six observations from the DNC so far this week with perspectives I think you can get mostly from actually being here on the ground. Also, while we were roaming around the DNC and running into all sorts of interesting people and Democratic politicians, we saw Simon Rosenberg, the man who was right about the 2022 election. We were one of the first people to interview him. And we actually bumped into him in the parking lot of the United Center on our way into the convention. So we stopped him for an interview. And then we also chatted with Joe from JERS, one of the most popular influencers

on the left in the creator's lounge of the DNC, which I'm going to talk about as well. So we'll have some snippets of those interviews as well. But first, six thoughts on the DNC. Number one, it's not what it's like on X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it, or even what it's really like on TV. Being here in person is totally different. I said this on an Instagram post and a lot of people asked us to expand on it. They're interested in hearing more about that. And here's why I said it. First of all, while I've been here, I've been, you know, logging into X, seeing what people are talking about, seeing how

certain moments at the convention are resonating with people, seeing what's getting shared, what's breaking through, what's making the news. There's two things that I saw a ton of on Monday. The first was chaos, just protesters breaking through fences and fighting with police and, you know, basically an image of mayhem. And the second, from a lot of more conservative accounts I follow, was that the convention center was empty and it was a total snooze fest in here. What was happening on the ground was nothing like this. First of all, I, and I say this genuinely, I think we have seen a handful of protesters who are basically just walking down the street with Palestinian flags since we got here. We've been walking all over Chicago.

I'm not saying that the protests aren't happening. Of course, they're happening. You're seeing videos of them. They're very concentrated. I think they're much smaller than the news makes it seem. When you see these scrums, you'll notice that like half the people in the image are media. There's 15,000 people from the press here, I heard someone say, or read in one of the newsletters about the convention. I can't remember where, but I remember trusting the source. And based on what I'm seeing,

I think that's probably roughly accurate. There's so many people from the media here that if a hundred people get together and walk down the street, they're going to swarm them and it's going to look like a complete madhouse. The protests are happening. There were some clashes with police last night. I saw the videos of it.

I'm just telling you, as somebody who's been going to and from the convention center walking all over here i've literally not run into any serious protests yet so it's calm there's been no disruptions during any of the main programming it just seems like not nearly as big of a deal as it is on x or twitter or whatever and then there's also these little memeable moments of the empty convention center and people making fun of Democrats. I don't care if the convention center is empty or not.

If it were empty, I'd be reporting that and talking about it. It's not though. There's a lot of logistical issues here. I tweeted about this and people for some reason got upset about it. It's like all anybody who's actually attending here is talking about media influencers

Normal people who are just attending it's a total shit show here. There's lines out the door for hours to people for people to get in There it's just been messy Your passes that give you access to certain spaces. There seem to kind of be no rules about them You can just like tell somebody you're somebody you aren't and get where you want to go. We've been doing that, low key. It's not organized, I would say. There are parts of it that are very well run,

but on the whole, it's a little crazy. And on Monday, that manifested in a lot of people getting into the convention center late. So it was kind of empty. But by the time we hit the primetime lineup, it was packed. And there's been a good bit of energy. I think the party seems really happy and motivated and relieved that Joe Biden has stepped down.

So there are just these little things that keep happening where I see somebody talking about something that's happening at the convention center from watching at home or something that feels very like a misrepresentation or not exactly what we're seeing here in person. So that's number one. It's not what it's like on Twitter X, and we'll try and keep telling you what's actually happening here on the ground. Number two, really interesting thing here that I've noticed, and I think this is maybe just a shift in the larger

campaign, is that Democrats are reclaiming the freedom, patriotism mantle and mantra and vibe. I don't know when exactly this happened. It occurred to me last night when people were just breaking out into USA chants, which is typically something you might hear at, you know, a Trump rally. People are holding up signs saying USA. You know, Steve Kerr spoke and got an unbelievable reception. And it was all about, you know, U.S. exceptionalism. This whole pivot to freedom from democracy, I think, was a smart play by the Harris campaign. And, yeah, we're seeing it play out live

now, but it's really, really interesting. All of a sudden, all these Democrats here are just USA fanatics who are reclaiming freedom as their word. And they're talking a lot about freedom. It was a centerpiece of Obama's speech last night. It's been framed as reproductive freedom, but also freedom to practice the religion you want to practice, freedom to be who you want to be, freedom to accept the fact that other people make different choices than you. Freedom, freedom, freedom. And a lot of US exceptionalism. It's just not the same vibe that Democrats had in 2020 or 2016. It's very interesting. Again, I think it's a smart play. I actually saw Noah Smith write a little article about it this morning, which I was bummed about because he beat me to the punch because I had the same thought

last night when I was watching all this play out. So don't know what it means long term, but I just think it's an interesting point that Democrats seem to be leaning into some kind of new refurbished version of patriotism that they're more comfortable with. When four years ago, I think there was very little patriotism in the party. Even a year ago. I mean, it's one of my biggest criticisms of Democrats is that far too many people talk about the US like it's a horrible place to live

and we're a horrible country and we do all these horrible things when really it's a great place to live and we do great things and we've influenced the world in really positive ways. And yeah, I hope it keeps up personally, you know, based on my worldviews, but it's happening for sure.

Freedom and patriotism are back on the left. We'll be right back after this quick break. Got a mortgage? Chances are you're thinking about your payments right now. Need help? Ask your bank about relief measures that may be available to you. Learn more at Canada.ca slash it pays to know. A message from the Government of Canada.

From Searchlight Pictures comes A Real Pain, one of the most moving and funny films of the year. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain is a comedy about mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. A Real Pain was one of the buzziest titles at Sundance Film Festival this year, garnering rave reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. See A Real Pain only in theaters November 15th. Number three, there is very little talk about policy here It is all about kamala harris as a person and defining her as a person and the same is true for tim walls

I don't think this is normal. Uh, I watched a ton of the rnc. We weren't there By the way, a lot of people have asked why did you go to the dnc not the rnc? We applied for press passes for both the rnc didn't accept our application and the DNC did. I have no idea why. Some people asked if I was worried that it was a sign maybe the RNC thought we were left-leaning or something. No, the RNC allowed a ton of left-leaning, overtly hardcore liberal journalists to go report on the RNC in person. I'm here at the DNC now, and Charlie Kirk is here. Matt Walsh is here.

Kellyanne Conway is here. Rudy Giuliani is here. Fox News has the biggest booth of any television station that's attending here. They don't stop people from coming because they're left or right. Pretty much anybody can get into any of these things. A lot of it's probably just luck. We got rejected from the RNC.

If we got accepted, we would have gone. We didn't, so we didn't. But we got accepted here, so we came. Anyway, brief tangent. But there's very little policy talk. Kamala Harris is being defined as this working class woman who worked at McDonald's when she went to college, who climbed the ranks of a difficult career, who's always cared about the people, you know, in the middle or at the bottom. They brought out in primetime, you know, like her childhood friend and her childhood friend's mom

to give an address where they just talked about going to certain events during their childhood with Kamala in their car. And I mean, it's like there's a very, very different thing happening here than was happening at the RNC, which there was some personal stuff, you know, the standard personal story. J.D. Vance told his personal story, but it was very policy focused, very Trump focused, obviously. I mean, that's where the party is right now. It was a lot about what he's gone through and his grievances. But it was also policy-focused. Immigration, trade, economic policies.

This is not that. I'm not hearing a lot of that. Obama referenced some of Kamala's housing policies during his speech last night. of Kamala's housing policies during his speech last night. But on the whole, all of this is this big defining Harris, the person, where she's from, who she is, what she represents. I think it might be a good strategy.

We saw what happened earlier this week when she released some actual specific policy proposals and some of them got raked across the coals, even by people on the left. There's not a lot of time left in the election. I don't like it because I care about policy, but I think it's very interesting. It's really, once you notice it, it's really stark and really jarring that it's just, it's just one giant convention talking about someone's upbringing, basically. And yeah, I would keep an eye on that. I don't know how long they can keep that strategy going, but I think for right

now, they're doing a good job defining Harris to the American people, even if I think it's telling that they're not talking a lot about their policy positions. Number four, clearly a super emotional night for the Biden family on Monday and an emotional week for them, I think. Just throwing this out there, President Biden rolls in. He has this kind of swan song night, gets introduced by his daughter, by his wife. There's so much emotion on stage, clearly. He's crying. They're crying. People, you know, the delegates on the floor are crying. It's all very goodbye-ish. Thank you for everything you've done. And we'll see on the other side type vibe.

I mean, it just felt like this kind of, this end to his political career. And not just a passing of the torch, but a fading into the background. And then he leaves before the Obamas get here, before this sort of transition happens to where the pivot goes straight to Kamala. He's reportedly in California on family vacation or something like that. It's just hard to wrap your head around it. A month ago, this guy was at the top of the ticket and was swearing up and down that he wasn't going to leave the race. And I watched in person on Monday night what felt to me

like his goodbye to the American public. I know he's got a few more months in office. I know he'll have, you know, a big end of presidency address or speech, but this really felt like the end. And it just struck me that the party is moving forward without him with so much speed and velocity. much speed and velocity. And I thought it was, you know, I don't think it is a sign of some sort of break that he left before Obama got here, but I could have easily imagined an alternative universe where the two of them showed up together and came out on stage together and, you know, waved to the crowd and brought everybody

back to the nostalgia of 2008 and whatever else. But they didn't. And it just, I had the inkling of a thought that, you know, maybe the reports about the bad blood and the division and all this stuff are actually real, are pretty on. And, you know, Biden, despite how gracefully, which I think he is handling this pretty gracefully publicly, he has not uttered a word, a bad or ugly word about Harris or the people who forced him out or whatever else, that he really is spurned and feels a little bit pissed. And I don't know, just something to keep an eye on

because there's a lot of time left before the election. There's going to be a lot of stories coming out, a lot of leaks. There'll be a few more months of him trying to lead while also fading into the background. And, you know, the emotions are high. I'll tell you that for sure. It's very clear when you're here in person that there's a divide among the people

who did not want to see him go, who feel like he made this great sacrifice. And the people who are basically like, this is my favorite thing he's ever done is stepping down and thank God he did it. And he saved the party and they're happy about it, but also a little bit pissed that it took him so long. It's a really interesting mix of vibes and I would just keep an eye on it because interesting stuff happens when those emotions are really high. Number five,

there's been very little talk about the historic nature of Kamala Harris as potentially the first woman to be president. I don't know that that's important or not. I just find it really interesting. And again, similar to the patriotism thing, kind of a sign of the times. Eight years ago, Hillary Clinton was the party's nominee. Every introduction of Hillary Clinton, every speech that she gave,

every speech about her by surrogates, there was a reference to the fact that, you know, she was going to break the glass ceiling and become the first woman to be president. The talk about that here has been almost zero. I mean, literally, it gets mentioned almost never. Hillary actually was one of the few people who sent her speech around it, but there's just no talk about it.

And I said this on Instagram that I've heard more references to Donald Trump cheating on his wife with a porn star than I've heard to Kamala Harris being the first woman to be president. I don't know what that means about where the party's headed if they want to abandon

the kind of identity politics stuff. I don't know if that means about where the party's headed if they want to abandon the kind of identity politics stuff. I don't know if that's a strategy and it's intentional that they want to define her and they don't want to make it about her gender and the glass ceiling and all this stuff. I don't know if it's a read on the electorate that they still think, you know, it's hard to get a woman elected president.

Not like, you know, nobody's going to notice she's a woman, but maybe they just don't want to center that. I'm not sure, but it's very interesting and it's very different than 2016. All right, and finally, number six, this is my first DNC. I've been to a lot of political rallies. I reported on a lot of, you know, big political events.

I've never been to the RNC or the DNC. This is my first convention. So I don't know how it stands up historically, but I'm talking to a lot of people and I'm interviewing everybody we can interview and chatting up folks, you know, over a beer or whatever else, texting friends who have been to past ones, asking for advice, asking for their impressions of certain things. And the thing people keep saying is that they haven't seen energy like this since Obama in 2008. I don't know what to make of that. I think the party is incredibly energized. I think we're still in a little bit of the honeymoon phase, but it's real on the ground. The same way it was real on the ground with Trump in 2016. I was one of the reporters back then who talked about how absolutely mind-boggling the events that Trump was holding were.

The energy and the vibe of Trump in 2016 was unlike anything I've ever seen. I mean, blew this out of the water, to be totally frank. But a lot of people ignored that. A lot of people laughed at the idea that the rallies or the crowd sizes or any of that really mattered because they were just looking at the polls. And they did matter. And they were a sign of something. And I've never seen the Democratic Party, you know, with the exception of Obama, have this kind of energy and turn out these kinds of crowds. And it feels on the ground, not like Trump in 2016, because nothing was like that. But the difference between what Trump was doing

in 2016 and what, you know, Republicans had done in 2012 and 2008 feels similar to the difference between what Kamala is doing now and what Biden did in 2020 and what Hillary did in 2016. There's a clear sea change happening on the ground. And I think Democrats are really enthusiastic about that. So I, you know, I'm not going to sit here and tell you Kamala is activating a base like Obama did in 2008 or Trump did in 2016. Both of those were pretty unprecedented and unrivaled moments in political history. But something's happening and you can feel it. She came out on stage on Monday

and that little surprise appearance, which every nominee always does, they always show up as a surprise on Monday. And it worked. It was, you know, like being at Madison Square Garden in game seven of the NBA championships. It was nuts.

I mean, the place went absolutely, totally bonkers. You couldn't hear yourself think. And I looked around and looked at people going nuts and waving their signs and screaming their heads off and crying. And you just realize that there's a lot of people who really, really love her and excited about her in a way that they were not about Joe Biden. And that's going to matter. It'll matter for the on the ground operation. It'll matter for turnout. It'll matter for, you know, people who want to volunteer, all that stuff. So, you know, take it as you will, but it's real and I'm seeing it.

And speaking of that energy, I do want to share with you guys this brief parking lot interview I did with Simon Rosenberg, who, like I said, was the guy who got 2022 right. He's been very generous with his time. He's a Democratic strategist. He's a Democratic homer, but he's very enthusiastic about where the party is. And we got to ask him a few questions about it. So here's Simon Rosenberg from the parking lot of the United Center in Chicago. Simon Rosenberg out here at the GNC in Chicago. Simon, good to see you. I got one log, so I'm going to use it the best I can. We

just ran into each other. One of my favorite interviews of tango of all time you predicted the no red wave in 2022. tell me about the energy and the dnc what you're seeing what's going on this is my ninth convention and i think the energy the intensity the indy the joy is pressing in society we saw it last night and it was incredible i think people here were kind of blown away by the level of enthusiasm there is. But look, we're leading in the polls. I have a terrific ticket. I agree with you. And we shouldn't let this go.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the Kamala Harris appearance last night. Because I've never been to a DNC. This is my first one when she came out what I saw was my kind of electricity that I have not seen out of political rally before I mentioned the year I mean they said 9th convention Obama 2008 I would say very list of subjects there's something magical happening here I know you've got to be kind of of way I listen. Yeah, yeah, okay.

So, yeah, listen, there is something magical happening there. And I think that what's incredible about the Harris campaign is they're flying the airplane, they're voting it at the set of time. This campaign is being invented every day. So there's an incredible amount of innovation and creativity and passion. It's an amazing thing to watch. There's drama, right? Because every day there's like a new, we don't know what's going to come.

And even her coming out last night, right there, aware of this drama. Reading. It's calling people in. I think the most significant thing that's happened in the last two weeks, it was for the first time in nine years, Donald Trump is not the most important.

Of course I'm not going to follow through. She is. And this is why he's melting down. I agree. I agree. I agree. One last question, Brie. I'm curious.

Last night, Joe Biden's speech, to me, sort of felt like this kind of swan song, end of this political career. A very emotional night. You know, he was teared up on stage. I saw delegates crying down on the floor. I'm just interested to hear you reflect a little bit on his speech last night, how it landed with you, what you thought of it. Look, he, I think I call him the American citizen at us. I mean, he, the selflessness that he has demonstrated, the pragmatism, the level of country that he has exhibited, his willingness to get up every day and obviously is in fight for the

American people. Saw it on display in a different way last night. He is an American hero. He is a patriot who loves his country. And I think there is so much emotion. The emotion that's out here is complex. It's coming out a bunch of different ways. And I think one of it is just incredible respect to Joe Biden on his office to click on the exhibits of the country in the last few weeks.

And, you know, it was an affirmation that in a democracy there is no essential man, which is citizens taking their turn. We feel this is about the most powerful we can on the repudiation of Trump's politics, and one can imagine, and it's very deep to me. All right, Simon Rosenberg, the man who was right about the 2022 election.

Appreciate the time. Thanks, man. Okay, good luck, you guys. Enjoy. We'll be right back after this quick break. Got a mortgage? Chances are you're thinking about your payments right now. Need help?

Ask your bank about relief measures that may be available to you. Learn more at Canada.ca slash it pays to know. A message from the Government of Canada. From Searchlight Pictures comes A Real Pain, one of the most moving and funny films of the year. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin. A Real Pain is a comedy about mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.

A Real Pain was one of the buzziest titles at Sundance Film Festival this year, garnering rave reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. See A Real Pain only in theaters November 15th. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. After we spoke to Simon Rosenberg, we walked into the convention center, which is a totally wild experience.

You walk around, you just see, you know, members of Congress, senators, you bump into everybody from Ro Khanna to Hassan Piker, just roaming the hallways and stop people and try and chat with them and get some interviews. and stop people and try and chat with them and get some interviews. We're in a really interesting spot because we have a media credential, but I'm also straddling the line of kind of content creator, which here at the convention, it's super interesting.

They're giving a lot more space to content creators and influencers and a lot less space to traditional media. This is a smart play, in my opinion, from the Democratic Party. I don't like it very much only because I think the traditional media should get more access to Kamala Harris and all these people, but they know the traditional media might give them a neutral or unfavorable look. Whereas the influencers they're bringing in, the content creators they're

bringing in are people that they clearly believe love the Democratic Party. And so those content creators are getting tons of access. And then the Democratic Party through those creators is reaching a lot of younger voters. So all that's to say,

it's an interesting little navel-gazy, underbelly story that's happening here. We went into the creator's lounge at the DNC where they're giving out free food and booze to all these creators. And we just walked in and said we wanted to talk to some people and we were allowed in, which was great. And then we bumped into Joe from Jertz, who is one of the more followed, most popular influencers, content creators, who, to be clear, is obviously a partisan. She's someone who organizes and supports the Democratic Party. But it was interesting to talk to somebody like that, who's not a traditional

party person. She's kind of this content type creator, but is also somebody who I think has the pulse of the party and kind of the, you know, the grassroots movement. And so we snagged her in the creator's lounge for a quick interview that I wanted to share with you guys. So here's Joe from Jers. I'm here with Joe from Jers, one of the most influential Democratic creators in the world right now.

Thank you very much. That's the truth. How are you doing? I'm doing great. This is insane. The energy here is electric, to say the very least. But it's like an orgy or something. It's like the best political orgy of all time because we're all feeling really fired up and hopeful.

We're also like taking a minute to sort of reflect on what we're experiencing. And last night's speech with Joe Biden was epic. And I'm still trying to sort of download everything that happened. I'm glad you started there. I was going to ask you, like, I'd love to hear your impressions, how it landed for you. I mean, it sounded to me, you know, kind of like the swan song, a little bit of a farewell, a little bit of a goodbye. It was clearly an emotional night. How did it connect with you? So I've been very open about being a bit of a Biden devotee. Like, I'm a big fan of the man.

I've met him. I'm just going to drop that. But I love him. And I love what he's done for our country. And I held him in the highest regard. So I knew going into last night it was going to be hard. I knew I was going to be emotional. I knew I was going to ugly cry.

I knew that his speech was going to be sort of, you know, checking in on his legacy and reminding everybody of what he's done. There's so many accomplishments. I mean, so many bipartisan bills were passed. Nobody thought could be passed. He did that. I was prepared for all of that. I was prepared for the emotion. But while I was standing there, what occurred to me, I was like, I'm not ready to say goodbye. I've never been ready to say goodbye. And then I was like, I went home and I was thinking about it and I was crying, I was crying. I'm not ready to say goodbye because it sort of could have felt like a goodbye. And then I woke up this morning and I was going to write about it. And I started thinking, let's just think.

It's not a goodbye. It's not really a passing of the torch so much, which I know that's what everybody's saying. And it makes sense. The way I see it now is last night what Joe Biden did for all of us was he began a sentence, really. Where all of this is him beginning a sentence. Last night was what Joe Biden did for all of us was he began a sentence, really, where all of this is him beginning a sentence. Last night was the comma. And then Kamala Harris is going to finish the sentence that he started, that they started together. And so it's not goodbye.

It's not the end. It's a continuation of something he started and he built. And she's going to take and see it to its fruition. And then someone else will take over the sentence and so and so. And that's how we'll write the story of America moving forward. So that helped me, because I was like, oh, it's not goodbye. It's just the comma. Take a minute, take a breath, realize that this portion of the sentence is transitioning into this one, and then embrace that and move forward. That's how I see it. I'm curious. I mean, a few weeks ago, you say you're a Biden devotee. Were you someone who wanted him to step down and let somebody else come in? Where

did you stand a month ago, you know, before he actually made the decision? Well, I've never wanted him to step aside. I've always believed he could win. I've always I know he's up to the job because if he wasn't up to the job, we'd all know he wasn't up to the job because we'd see policy and craziness that isn't happening. He's not only up to the job. He got that hostage deal negotiated with all those moving parts in all those countries while he had COVID, while he was contending with a lot of people wanting him to step aside. He did that with all of that. So I know he's still up to the job. I know he was, I know he could have won. So I was not at all pushing for him to step aside. What I was saying after that debate, because let's be real, we all saw that debate.

And I was at headquarters in Delaware watching that debate. And I still have like some PTSD about watching that debate there. Because he went in and was like, and then we left. And it was like, this is the first day of my life as a funeral. And you just see all these grim faces. And it was hard. But I always, always, always said it's up to Joe Biden. It is up to Joe Biden.

He knows what's best. If he doesn't think you should get out of the race, he's not going to get out of the race. No one else can tell him to. And by the way, all of this, I would like a unicorn to run with a bottle of tequila and like they'll win. It's like, stop.

All these fantastical pairings that my perfect candidate. No, they were trying to leapfrog, stop. All these fantastical pairings. My perfect candidate. No. They were trying to leapfrog Kamala. And you couldn't do that. It was a non-starter. It wasn't an option. If they did that, we would have fractured to the point where none of this would have happened. This wouldn't have happened.

This would have been chaos. We would have seen so much infighting and division. The only possible path was for Kamala. And so when it finally, when he finally decided, the way I see it, I think he knows what's best. And I think he knew there was a moment in time where someone had to say, enough. Somebody has to stand up. Somebody has to take one for the team. That's him. He's the only person I think in history who would have ever done anything like that. And he did it. And he did it for all of us so that we could have this, so that we could embrace her,

so we could embrace Tim Walz, so we could run hard against that felon rapist and his freak show of a VP. He did it all for us. So I'm actually more supportive of him now than I've ever been because his legacy is on the line. Now he left. He stepped aside. He stepped aside. He sacrificed his political career,

the office he holds and has done an incredible job with, he sacrificed that. I am not going to let that be in vain. So I'm going to fight harder than ever to make sure she wins, and I'm not alone. That brings us to Kamala. I was here last night when she came out, sort of surprise entrance.

I'm a huge sports junkie. I've seen some incredible sports moments, Madison Square Garden, you know, big games. I've been to a lot of political rallies. And I told people last night that it was electric in the room. I mean, what happened when she came out felt like you were witnessing, you know, a Game 7 NBA championship level crowd energy audience I'm curious to hear how it landed for you and where you are on Kamala right now and how you're feeling about everything I would describe it as the 1994 Rangers Canucks final

game seven uh because my team won uh that's that's kind of that's I'll go with that sports reference um but I'll tell you where I was I was was in one of these, you know, whatever this circle is called, where the concessions are. And everyone started, like, there was all this electricity and buzz, and it was like everything was just kicked up 10 more degrees. And I was like, what's going on? I looked up at the screen, and everyone's running,

running into whatever hallway they can get down. And you see her on the screen, and I was like, holy shit, in a tan suit, no less. And I was like, oh my God, what is she doing here? And the mood in that room, I was like, what is happening? It was, I don't understand anything like it. It felt like this moving, like, I don't even know how to describe it, like just energy.

And people were going nuts, and that's the joy. That's the excitement. That's the hope. That's the optimism. That's people like me being like, you're going to win. I love you, but you're going to win because Joe Biden did this for all of us. And we're going to make sure that that legacy is protected. But also she's got a great vice president. They have great messages. She has a great economic plan. She's going to do things for the American people, actually do things for the American people. That's exciting. We're going

to get our right to bodily autonomy back. I guarantee you she wants to expand the court. What an actual court reform. We need a Congress that'll do that. But it's a start. And so last night you saw the intersection of of all of this joy, hope, excitement. But this promise of America, the promise that we can change all of the things that were imposed upon us and we can move this country forward. And she and Tim Walz are going to do it. Last question for you. I'm just curious if you could kind of tell me a little bit about where you think the party is right now. I mean, a month ago,

especially right after the Trump assassination attempt, it felt like Biden was down in the polls. People were sort of resigning themselves to this idea that there's no way Trump was going to lose now. There was division in the party about whether you should step aside. I'm an outsider. I'm an independent political reporter. But it feels to me like there's a lot of unity right now. Like people are coming together. There's a lot of energy, a lot of positivity around Kamala.

You're someone on the inside. I'm curious to hear your read on just like where things are, how you're feeling about the election right now as we sit here today in mid-August. Well, I'll tell you, being here and feeling this, it's indescribable. But I look around me and everybody's smiling. Everybody's getting along. Nobody's being rude. You know, nobody's pushing. Nobody's like angry.

Everyone is fired up, engaged, excited, enthusiastic. And I know, I get it. I understand that a lot of people weren't there. They weren't there with the race as it stood between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. And I was. I was like, we're running against a felon traitor who will completely destroy democracy. But that enthusiasm wasn't there for a lot of people. My own nephew, who's in his late 20s, he was like, Aunt Joanne, I'm just not excited. I don't really like either of these choices.

I know they're not the same, but I'm not excited about this. And so a lot of people were going to vote. I know he was going to win. I know a lot of people would have come to the ballot box and made that binary choice. They would have chosen Biden. But they are going to the ballot box now to choose something they are for, really, truly, genuinely for. Not just because they think they have to or it's the right thing. Something they want.

Something that is promised to them. And that's a different level of excitement. And in terms of unity, there was so much division, especially over this decision with Joe Biden. And a lot of people wanted the perfect candidate. A lot of people wanted what they wanted. And what the base did was we took our medicine, right? We didn't want him to step aside. But when he did, and then he did the right thing in telling us, I'm stepping aside, I'm endorsing her. And when he did that, we were like, all right, well, we have our marching orders. We need to get on board.

We didn't go, well, I don't want to play anymore because I want to take my ball and go home because I didn't get what I wanted. We didn't do that because we understand the mission. We know what we're here to do. And we have to come together and put our differences aside, and we have to get her elected. Whether or not she's your dream candidate does not matter. She represents the future.

She represents democracy. She represents hope. And everything that Trump and Vance represent is the antithesis of that. Joe from Jers, appreciate the time. Thank you so much. Great to meet you. Appreciate you chatting with us.

Thank you. All right, that is Joe from Jers in the creator's lounge at the DNC. Before we get out of here, I thought it would just be fun to share with you guys some sounds from the convention. So we're just going to play a couple minutes of audio of us walking around the convention center, a little bit of commentary from me as the speeches were happening, and then we're going to wrap up. And we'll be back here same time tomorrow with our typical newsletter and podcast. So hope you guys enjoyed today's special on the ground

coverage from the DNC. We'll see you then. Enjoy the last bit of this. Peace. Our parents taught us better than that, and we deserve so much better than that. That's why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good, big-hearted people. There is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Thank you. Michelle Obama giving definitely one of the most passionate speeches that we've heard since we got here and seems to have the audience very much in the palm of her hands. Let us not forget the despair we have felt. We did it before y'all and we sure can do it again. Let us work our lives together and let us keep moving our country forward and go higher,

yes, all the way up higher than we've ever gone before as we elect the next President and Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Thank you all. I think far and away that's the most effective speech that we've heard in the first two nights of the convention in terms of endorsing Harris and also activating voters and also rallying up the audience. There's the childish nickname, the crazy conspiracy theories. This weird obsession with crowd sizes. You just made a gesture

that was very phallic, we'll say, as if he was talking about somebody's penis size. So the man who keeps running his penis over outside where we go every minute of every day. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited and engineered by Duke Thomas. Our script is edited by Ari Weitzman, Will Kabak, Bailey Saul, and Sean Brady.

The logo for our podcast was made by Magdalena Pakova, who is also our social media manager. The music for the podcast was made by Magdalena Bokova, who is also our social media manager. The music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. And if you're looking for more from Tangle, please go check out our website at readtangle.com.