The Chris Cuomo Project - Chris Cuomo on the 2024 Closing Messages from Trump and Harris

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Chris Cuomo analyzes the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, diving into the closing messages that will define the 2024 election. He contrasts Trump’s grievance-driven appeal with Harris’s focus on unity, highlighting how Trump’s rhetoric stokes anger and frames opponents as enemies, while Harris calls for collaborative progress in Washington. Cuomo examines each campaign’s strategy as a reflection of deeper voter frustrations and the competing visions for America’s future. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Support our sponsors: RadioActive Media  TEXT CHRIS TO 511511 OR ON THE WEB AT RADIOACTIVEMEDIA.COM. TEXT RATES MAY APPLY. Get Maine Lobster  Visit GetMaineLobster.com, and use promo code CUOMO at checkout for 15% off all orders store wide. Ground News  Go to http://groundnews.com/chris to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan.  Everyday Dose   Head over to everyday dose.com/chris for 25% off plus 5 free gifts with your first order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to Smartwater Alkaline 9.5 plus pH with antioxidant, there's nothing to overthink. So while you may be performing mental gymnastics over whether the post-work gym crowd is worth it, if you'll be able to find a spot for your yoga mat, or if that spin instructor will make you late for dinner again, don't overthink how you hydrate. Life's full of choices. Smartwater Alkaline is a simple one. We just had the biggest crystallizing moment of this election, the Trump rally. What does it mean?

What does it not mean? And what does it tell all of us about where my head's at, where your head's at, and where we are as a collective, I have answers for you. ["The Big Bang"] Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from Shopify. Shopify matters from a business perspective. Because what you learn is,

a successful business is really about the business behind the business that helps it deal with its own growth and success. So when you think about businesses that are selling through the roof, Aloe, Allbirds, Skims, okay? Oh, well those are just great businesses, they have a great product. Yeah, but what about what they're using

to help them fill all the orders and grow the right way and deal with their customer satisfaction? Nobody does all those things for a business better than Shopify. They are home of the number one checkout on the planet. And the not so secret secret with shop pay is that you can boost conversions up to 50%. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout on Tuckit uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial.

Okay, how about that? That is some trial period. A dollar a month. Go to Shopify.com slash Chris C. All lowercase. Shopify.com slash Chris C. Upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com slash Chris C. Upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com slash Chris C. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from AG1. Listen, if you know me and you know the podcast, you know how I feel about AG1.

But I got a limited time offer for you, all right? $67 value. As you know, AG1 is the real deal. For me, just one scoop and for me some warm water, but you can put it in whatever you want. And that's it. And that's my morning routine. All right?

Literally. What can it take you? A minute? You get the vitamins, the minerals, the pre and probiotics, the adaptogens for you big brains and more. All in a scientifically blended, to make sure that it gets absorbed formula, that is AG1, which I've been taking for years. AG1 is daily self care for me, and it should be for you.

I know that I'm doing something right when I start the day with AG1. So, start with AG1, notice a difference for yourself. It's a great first step. It's an investment in your health, and I think that matters. Try it today, and you will get their special offer of 10, yes, 10 free travel packs. Oh yeah, they upped it.

And a bottle of Vitamin D3K2 with your first purchase at drinkag1.com slash CCP. That is the $67 value I was telling you about. You get it for free if you go to drinkag1.com slash CCP today. Check it out. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from Oracle. Oracle is looking ahead. AI is gonna be the future.

Sure, we don't know how. We don't know how much, but we know it's coming. Storming every industry. Billions are being put into preparing for what the unknown may hold. So buckle up. The problem is, what does AI require? Speed, processing power. So how are you supposed to get in on that if you're not one of the biggest? Upgrade. Next generation of the cloud. Oracle cloud infrastructure. Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. You'll be hearing a lot more about this. OCI. OCI is a single platform for your infrastructure database application development and AI needs.

OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds. Four to eight times. So you get one consistent price instead of variable regional pricing and of course nobody does data better than Oracle. I mean they built their brand for a reason. So you can train your AI models at twice the speed and less than half the cost of other clouds through OCI. If you want to do more, spend less like who? Uber, 8x8, Databricks, Mosaic, free test drive of OCI at oracle.com slash CCP. Oracle.com slash CCP. Oracle.com slash CCP. Care about AI?

Check it out. Chris Cuomo here at the Chris Cuomo Project. Thank you for subscribing and following. So what did we see? Trump gave his closing argument. He gave the closing vibe. He gave the closing vibe. He gave the closing ceremony. He gave the grand finale.

That's what the MSG rally was. One, it told you he can beat up on the city as much as he wants. He can tell you that he's against the cultural elites as much as you are. He isn't. He wants to be on the big stage. He wants to be in the big apple. That's why he came here. He's not gonna win New York State.

New York State's not a swing state. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of Vivek Ramaswamy. Smart guy, dumb thing, not a swing state, okay? But what does it tell you? Trump wanted the big stage. MSG matters, the big apple matters. And what did he use that big stage to show you?

Tony Hinchcliffe is a brilliant comedian, okay? I know he doesn't like me. I know he goes on with his boy Rogan and takes shots at me. That's what he gets paid to do, but he can be funny. And more importantly, everybody knows what he does. Did you see the Brady roast? I mean, Tony Hinchcliffe, his podcast, Kill Tony, I mean, this is what he does. Did you see the Brady roast? I mean, Tony Hinchcliffe, his podcast, Kill Tony, I mean, this is what he does.

He kills everybody. And I don't believe he's a racist. I don't believe that he's coming at that as comedy from that way, but it doesn't matter. I would never put him as the headliner of my show and ask him to do that kind of work because I don't want my audience thinking that that's what I want them to understand about me. But that's exactly what Trump did. He wanted to make fun of minorities

because that's his pitch to the American people. They are out to get you. And the they just happen to never look like me unless they are in alliance with the they. They're allies of the they, which is almost more dangerous than being an actual member of the they. Because the only worse thing than this insurgent population, the brown menace, the underclass, the minorities, the people who want what you have, are those who enable them, who know better. So we get this pitch. We've seen it time and time again. There are very few new ideas in our politics. It's just about the latest manifestation, and now they just have a blessing of a megaphone

that we never imagined before social media. Magnifying minorities, taking fringe, and making it fundamental. We are now dominated by a smaller slice than a majority. And it should not be that way, but that's how it is. And that's what Tony Hinchcliffe was about. I am not condemning Hinchcliffe for his humor, okay? Here, the best idea wins. Here, we don't censor or we shouldn't.

If you don't think he's funny, then fuck Tony. Don't listen to him. Don't watch his act. That's fine. But it's not about Tony Hinchcliffe. Not for me. It's about the decision of Trump and his people to put him as his headliner, because that's the message he wanted. Does it bother me about Puerto Rico? I guess. I mean, Puerto Rico has a really bad waste disposal problem. The people there are very upset about it. The Puerto Ricans here are very well aware of it.

I have Puerto Ricans in my family. I grew up around Puerto Ricans. It's a very robust community in Queens, especially when I was growing up there. I love the people. I love the island just as much as Tony Hinchcliffe says he does. Go there with my family too.

In fact, it was the last vacation. I was on vacation with my family in Puerto Rico when I learned that my father was in his final moments and I had to get back. We had just gotten in a ring calling, wanting to get away from all of that. And all the suffering of my father at the end and the tumult of my brother's election and all the shit that I had just been through in my coverage duties at CNN. And we just got down there and they said to me, your father's closed his eyes and we don't know that he's gonna open them again,

it's time to get back. So I was in Puerto Rico when that happened. So I care about the place, I went down there after the big storm, what was it, Maria or whatever, the names of the storms never matter, but the place was devastated, nobody gave a shit, you can look up my coverage of it when I was at CNN.

So I care, do I think it was insulting? That's for Puerto Ricans to tell you. I certainly think it could have been, but that's part of what comedy is, right? But as a political commentary, that's a fucked up message to put out there. And Trump made that choice. And then I know he said later, I'm not that guy.

Okay, here's why it's a crystallizing moment. That's Trump's cell. Grievance, fear, they're changing shit to hurt you, okay? That's what the left is about. That's scary. That's his campaign. So Harris is not just running against the man, she's running against the movement of grievance.

Don't make the mistake of writing off everyone who is open to being supportive of Donald Trump's candidacy as thinking that those people are like Trump. I'm telling you, I have people in my life who would never act like him, who wouldn't have him around them, who don't like what he says, but they are more concerned about something else. What? Disrupting norms that they believe are destructive to what America is supposed to be about in their opinion.

Well, like what? Like the political culture, how the people in power never seem to leave, and they're always corrupt. All right, but Trump's corrupt. Yeah, but he wants to destroy that culture, and that's what matters more to them. And in some perverse way, they believe like, this is the kind of thug that you put into that mix.

He is a virus that you put into that political corpus to make it sick. And they care about that more than his foibles and failings. They believe, yeah, that's the kind of guy you put into this shit factory. You put a guy like that. I'm telling you, they don't talk like him.

They don't think like him. Now, of course there are those who do. We have all seen the rallies. And yes, for whatever reason that you want to ascribe, bigots gravitate towards Trump, not Harris. Why? You answer that for yourself. So yes, it's an aspect of it, but you are making a mistake if you want to win this election and thinking that all the Trump people are like Trump.

There is a movement of grievance, of disaffection, of desperation, of economic and cultural dislocation that is very real and should not be pooh-poohed. You are being exactly what you don't want to be if you want to relate to some of these people, which can be done. We have so much more as a common concern than we do of these isolated points of division. Boy, divide and conquer has never been more true. Never been more true. That's what the parties are doing to us. They're not equal. I know, but they're both playing the game. But Harris is better.

Listen, the propositions are about which is less scary. Well, then Harris is less scary. Maybe, but just on that basis, I think it's gonna be hard for the incumbent to win. And I know that the best brain in the business, Professor Lichtman, who I really introduced to a lot of you guys, and his 13 keys, he says Harris is gonna win.

And look, usually the incumbent does. Is it a little bit more complicated when it's the vice president taking the president's position? Yes, but still, you usually get a second term, right? Only 10 or 11 haven't out of all the presidents. So, you know, you got better than the seven and 10 shot. However, you look at Carter in 76, you look at Reagan in that election in 80, what do you see? So we thought that race was close, okay? And he wound up beating them like 400 and something to two or whatever it was. They crushed them in the electoral college.

And then we would see Mondale just winning in Minnesota as home state. So I think this election may be that way. I don't know. That's not my expertise, the polling, but I've found polling less and less reliable. I like Polymarket more than the polls and other betting sites like that. Why? Well, because money's on the line and these guys only get paid when they're right

about the spread. That's not true with pollsters. So I'm looking at outlets like that, brands like that, more than polling these days, but you know, we'll continue to discuss that. Here's the point. I don't know that this race is gonna be as close as we think it's gonna be.

And more importantly, look, what I want is what we should all want, which is this is gonna be definitive and quick. That's what I want. I don't care which one of them wins. I don't believe that either are as scary as you're being sold they are. I don't believe Trump is a dictator and waiting. I don't believe that his are as scary as you're being sold they are. I don't believe Trump is a dictator and waiting.

I don't believe that his goal is to destroy the constitution. I know what happened on January 6th. I think he deserves blame for what happened on January 6th. Prosecuting him, to me, I think it's too much based on too little. And I think you gotta be very careful about lawfare. And I think we've exaggerated political behaviors into prosecutions way too much.

That's my opinion, you should have your own. But, but, but. The offset to this is as important as the aggravating factor. The aggravating factor is Trump and the grievance, which has led to a dynamic of division that I argue the Democrats have bought into. And I think it's a mistake. If you do a battle to the bottom of who that I argue the Democrats have bought into, and I think it's a mistake. If you do a battle to the bottom of who's more outraged,

I think that is Trump's election to lose. So I liked hearing from Harris, he is ready to get even, I am ready to get to work. I like that sell. I like that contrast a lot. Why? Because I want things to get better in this country. I'm tired of hearing the lamentation of who's to blame

for how they're getting worse. So I like that cell. I think that that is the magic. I think that is the special sauce to offsetting a grievance movement, is offering them fixes, fixes. But then Harris gives her speech and it starts that way, but almost immediately goes into

what a piece of shit Trump is. And while I'm not saying that that isn't appealing to people, he is one of the least popular people in modern politics, certainly the least popular to be as effective and successful as he's been in elected office. I mean, to win a presidential election with the kind of numbers he had, to be the nominee with the kind of numbers he had,

to be in a race that is putatively or from a poll perspective, as close as they're telling us it is, with as much unpopularity as he has, wow, I mean, he's a one-off. So the Democrats are battling the Republicans on their own footing, on the Republican footing, which is we're pissed off. We want things to change.

They're the incumbents on the Democrat side. How can you be in a race about how bad things are right now when you own the status quo? I think it's very dangerous. And I think, yeah, I know it's harder. It's easier to scare people and easier to say things suck. My father used to say,

any jackass can kick down a barn. It takes a good man or woman to build one. It's true. But that's the position you're in. And frankly, I think it's the position you should wanna be in. And not just in politics and life. I don't wanna be somebody who's making money off,

scaring the shit out of you, making money out of making you angry, making money out of telling you who you should be mad at. I mean, that's killing it in digital media right now. I mean, you even look at who Trump had out there, Tucker Carlson, who is in the business. Look, I don't demonize Tucker Carlson, but he is talking about how scary

and how diabolical everything is all the time. Tony Hinchcliffe is a paid provocateur. Funny as shit in my opinion. But I get why people don't like a lot of his material, right? I get it. If you were probably going after Italians in a way that hit me, maybe I'd feel different about it. I don't know.

He's come after me personally. I didn't like that either. But I believe that we don't censor here. I don't have to like him, but the idea that he shouldn't get to do what he does, I don't know about that. I think that's real poison to our democracy. And then this, you know, little toxic troll

that none of you know from conservative radio who was just talking about how his city sucks. And he's just a little hateful bald man, right, which is kind of like a caricature of how some people want to depict the toxic Trump-er. And they're just all bashing everything all the time. And it's they, they, they are out to get you. They are doing this. They are doing that.

And it works. It gets him his conservative viewers who have gone off the deep end of fringe. It makes him his money. It makes Carlson his money. It gets him his views. Digital media has become a repository for extreme thought. Now I believe there's opportunity in that.

I don't believe you should censor these people. I think it's stupid that Poole and these other guys went for these big price tags from companies that they didn't, you know, use the basic discipline or have the kind of accountability within their companies. One of the big problems with independent media is that they don't have structure, they don't have back office, they don't have people thinking about what they're doing the way big companies do. And the upside to that is you're not going to see me taking money from a Russian masked outfit to put out stuff that just happens to be destructive to American unity. You know, it wasn't suspicious to them that somebody wanted to pay Tim Pool that kind

of money or Benny whatever his name is. Really? You really think you're that big a deal that somebody wanted to pay you that kind of money? You should have been suspicious. People would have been at News Nation if that kind of partner had come in. So independent media has got some ways to go. You got some guys like Matt Taibbi, Michael Schellenberger,

Barry Weiss, who I believe are doing it really well. You don't have to like everything, you can like it, you cannot like it, whatever, whatever, the market will decide. But I think there's responsibility to their efforts. That's not true across the board. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from radioactive media.

Business owners, CMOs, gotta grow, right? How, how is the question? People plateau pretty easily on social media. Unwant. Online efforts. Sometimes they start right, but all of a sudden they go wrong. Why not tap into podcasts? Why not tap into radio? What do we know?

In the U.S., audio reaches more than 270 million people every week. That's more than social media and digital combined. My friends at Radioactive Media, they know the recipe to launch, optimize and scale performance by building compelling audio campaigns, and those campaigns can work. They got a personal approach, they know the medium in a way that few others can match.

For advertisers who wanna reach the right audience with the right hosts and programs, you gotta speak with radioactive media. Learn how you can experience the power of audio marketing by utilizing the strength of text messaging as well as audio message integration. And as a result of combining, you generate a return on investment as high as seven to one. Now, I'll give you a little bit of a deal.

Text my name, Chris, to 511-511. Heck, you can even buy spots on my show. All right, if you're a mid-sized company or a well-funded startup with a monthly budget as low as five figures, radioactive media can help. They believe in the power of radio so much, they even use it themselves. Right here, right now, right?

That's what's happening here, is I'm promoting them for helping me. Text my first name, Chris, C-H-R-I-S, to 511-511. Chris to 511-511. Or you can do it on the web. Go to RadioactiveMedia.com. Text rates, sure, it's worth it. After decades of shaky hands caused by debilitating tremors,

Sunnybrook was the only hospital in Canada who could provide Andy with something special. Three neurosurgeons, two scientists, one movement disorders coordinator, 58 answered questions, two focused ultrasound procedures, one movement disorders coordinator, 58 answered questions, two focused ultrasound procedures, one specially developed helmet, thousands of high intensity focused ultrasound waves, zero incisions, and that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special.

Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. Now, if that's where we are, this election is about grievance, it is Trump's to lose. Now, does that mean that he will definitely win? Of course not. Harris, historically speaking, is in a very good position to win. Why? Because while pocketbook politics tells us that things are not what they should be, the overarching realities of this economy are on par with the last two terms.

And that is the analysis that Alan Lichtman uses for his key about long-term economic policy. Now short-term economic policy for him is defined as whether or not you are in a recession on your watch. We are not in a recession on Biden's watch. No, no, that's not what the indicators show. We're at almost full employment, you know, which is one of the unspoken parts of our immigration formula. If you want to know why some people are slow to want to blow the whole thing up when it seems so bad, it's because we're worried about the economic implications.

We have six plus million open jobs, and we're at almost full employment, according to the economic statistics. What does that tell you? That tells you that you need the new blood, that you need the people who want to take those jobs and do those jobs, and what's gonna happen if you round them all up?

First of all, critical thinkers, how are you gonna do that? Where are you gonna put them? I mean, that's's gonna happen if you round them all up. First of all, critical thinkers, how are you gonna do that? Where are you gonna put them? I mean, that's never gonna happen, okay? I don't think it should happen, but more importantly, it's never gonna happen. So I don't know why he's promising it any more than he promised the wall.

And the wall was a lot easier to pull off and he knew when he was saying it, it wasn't gonna happen the way he wanted. That's why he exaggerates how much of it he got done. And I'm not against physical barriers on the border. It's not about that, it's about the how, the how. And we don't get to it here because we are so addicted to the division

and that's what is motivating this election. Who is voting against the other side more vociferously, more aggressively? A battle of the bases, you will hear. Worst kind of election. Well, why? Shouldn't the main thrust of Democrats and the main thrust of Republicans, you know, shouldn't that be what it's about?

No. It should be about who forms consensus and gets the mandate to move the country forward together. After this election, you're going to have half the country disgusted about what they have to deal with, and the side that wins demanding that what they beat gets destroyed. That's not a mandate for positive change for this country. Well, it is if you see Trump as a despot and all of his people as being these,

you know, destructive people to democracy. Yeah, I just, I don't think that's what it is. I think that's an exaggeration of what it is. The same way I think it's absurd to say Tim Walz is a Manchurian candidate or Harris is a commie. How can people who are insistent that Russia isn't inimical to the American cause, but being a commie is so scary. She's not a commie. Democrats are not commies.

But why are you being so gentle about your analysis of the commie, Putin, and how toxic it can become, while also wanting to scare people that that's what she is? You see what I'm saying? The inconsistency betrays the shallowness of the attack. But Harris's burden is greater than Trump's, in my opinion. Why? Black woman matters. Black woman matters. That is a barrier to entry in the American electorate. And I know that the Trumpy people say, no, she's a DEI hire. That's why she's there, because that's what they want.

I don't believe that, and I don't know that to be true about any majority in America. I think that we got a ways to go in terms of accepting everybody. Ways to go in terms of colorblindness, a ways to go in terms of equity. And, Harris has a tougher job.

She's got a heavier lift because she's got to beat a man and the movement behind him, which is about being upset about the status quo, which is on her watch. And we all know that a vice president isn't in control or in charge. She wasn't the border czar. She wasn't the number two.

It's not how it works. Pence didn't do shit when he was in there, except get put in that moment, in that crucible, after January 6th of having to certify the election, which he took the coaxing of lawyers telling him you have to do it. You don't really have discretion. Otherwise, who knows how that would have gone.

So I don't buy that, that Harris is to be held accountable for the administration that she's in. I don't believe that. That's be held accountable for the administration that she's in. I don't believe that. It's never been true in my opinion. But optically, it's gonna have traction and it is her time to serve and it's what happened during that time. And so it's hard for her to say I'm a change agent

when she is the status quo. That is tricky, doable but tricky, doable but tricky. So she has the status quo. That is tricky. Doable, but tricky. Doable, but tricky. So she has a tougher challenge. And these early voting numbers are proof that of one of two things. One, either Republicans who are gonna come out on election day are coming out sooner because they were spooked about what Trump was selling them

about all the lies about the last election being rigged. Or you have an undiscovered growth within the electorate that is voting early and you're gonna have a matching number of dedicated voters on election day. Now, if that is true, that's what we saw with Reagan and the polling that was supposedly close with him and Carter,

and then it wound up not being close at all. We could have that this time as well. And by the way, I'd be okay with that because again, I want it definitive and I want it quick. Okay, because why? Because delay is death for us. Delay is death because it will breed all the division and all the people will be saying

that they knew this was gonna happen and it's bad and it's this and it's that. And I don't wanna deal with any of that bullshit. And I will because that's the job. But we have learned where we are and what this election is about. That rally is Trump. It's a bunch of angry, mostly men,

saying that everything is not only in the shitter, but it's in the shitter because of the people they're running against. That's his proposition. And what is Harris's closing argument? Well, smart move, doing it at the Capitol, not just because she's the vice president and she has access to it,

but because she's gonna contrast January 6th with what she presents as a vision of America. He wants to get even, she wants to get to work. I love that line. She didn't create it, but I love the line. But I don't know that that's what she's doing. I don't think it's fair to say that he's presenting plans and she isn't, I think the opposite is true.

I think she's put a lot more meat on the bones than he has. Yes, she was slow to do media, but that's not unusual in politics. Trump is an outlier and that he does as much media as he can because nobody who's gonna vote for him seems to care how he does in his media appearances. Democrats do. So I understand her being a little bit more reticent.

And they've corrected that over time, although she didn't sit with News Nation, which was so stupid when independent voters are gonna have such a voice in this election. Fastest growing part of the electorate. News Nation has an overweighted independent voter audience and you don't do them? Stupid.

Anyway, doing it at the Capitol, right place. I'm getting to work. He wants to get even. Right message. But they default into what you see in my social media all the time. How can you not condemn Trump every moment? You've been red-pilled, Cuomo. Red-pilled? Are you fucking kidding me? My father was Mario Cuomo. My brother is Andrew Cuomo. And you think I'm red-pilled? Look, I am not a Democrat, and I don't believe that that party is my father or my brother's party, personally.

I think it's changed, and I think it has concerns about that change. But I'll never join any party. The two-party system is the root of our problem, people. That is as clear to me as what my name is, okay? This is where a binary system takes you. A reductive battle to the bottom of which one is worse. It is this simple Occam's razor analysis

of how you get from A to B, the simplest and most direct way. I want to win, the easiest way is to make you lose. That's where we are. Oh yeah, I'm all these terrible things, she's worse. Oh yeah, whatever is wrong with us, it's nothing compared to this guy who wants to destroy the democracy, so you have both of these people trying to scare you

by saying your freedom's at stake if the other side wins. Implicit in that is what? It doesn't matter what I do, I'm stopping them. have both of these people trying to scare you by saying your freedom's at stake if the other side wins. Implicit in that is what? It doesn't matter what I do, I'm stopping them. Opposition is the validating position. Where does that get us to a better place? How does that create a mandate to get anywhere better? And if you have a mixed Congress, none of this is gonna matter anyway

because you know that the out party is gonna do everything it can to make sure nothing happens so they can get to the midterms and get more power. And you've got Trump who comes in as a lame duck if he wins, because he can't run again. I'm telling you, I don't like it. I don't like the whole setup, but I want you to see what it is. Harris has the tougher burden, but she has the bigger opportunity as well, not just because she's the incumbent, but because Trump is so unpopular.

And he's offering you nothing except to go kill the guy who's bullying you, in his estimation, which I believe is a false premise. All the boys are going to play on the girls' sports teams. Really? Do I think that males should play in female sports? No, I don't. Of course not. Do I think it's complicated with transgender? Yeah. Do I think it could be figured out? Yeah.

Do I think it should be a top line priority? No. Oh, but I heard Megyn Kelly say that we're destroying kids' bodies. Yeah, I get it. And I know why she's saying it. Because it sells. That's why. We do not have a plague of transgender surgeries going on in this country. Okay?

You want to worry about that? Megyn Kelly wants to be in high-dudgeon about something. I get it. She's good at it. Fentanyl. Fentanyl. Go after that. That's killing people all over the fucking place. And we're doing way too little about it. Not as scary though for one side against the other, is it? No, that's why she's quiet about it. That's why most people

are quiet about it. See it for what it is. It's all about advantage. It's about division as advantage. It's about how can I get paid to be provocative and scare the shit out of you. That's who's popping on digital media. They just all seem to be, for the most part, from the right. Why? Because they're in the scary business. But I'll tell you what, when they get in power, they're going to get less scary.

They're going to get less scary when they have to own the status quo. You'll see. And then it'll become, oh, why are they trying to stop the president from just trying to help and make things better? Why don't they do something instead of just trying to destroy everything? Watch. If he wins, that's what you'll hear. Because they're just playing you to gain advantage and gain traction. Look, and I know I could get into that game and my numbers would pop. We'd have a lot more commercials, I'd be charging more, I'd have more ratings at News Nation. That's just not me.

I'm not saying I'm better, I'm just saying I'm different. I don't want to do that. I want to expose the game because the game sucks and I know the game. I know the game better than any of them. None of them have lived it and been in it. They haven't even been in the business as long as I have, not at the level I've been in.

I know what Fox News was about at work there. I knew Roger Ailes well. I worked at ABC News for a dozen years. It was the best team I'd ever seen. Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Ted Koppel, Peter Jennings, Sam Donaldson, I mean, legends, Connie Chung, ever seen. Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Ted Koppel, Peter Jennings, Sam Donaldson, I mean, legends, Connie Chung, you know, John Quinones, all these people, amazing, amazing. Chris Wallace was there as the chief investigative correspondent

then. Amazing. I'm leaving out three quarters of the people that made it great. So I know I was at CNN in a day day. I was the number one show there. I absolutely understand what works on cable, what works in the network, where it's good, where it's bad. I get it, I get it, I get it. And I'm trying to pass that along to you. And I'm trying to do that now with giving you clear eyes on what this election is about.

You are being scared to death. And the death, fortunately, is figurative. It's the death of the unity. Somebody should have been coming at you with what knits us together, with what everybody wants, with what we all know is true. Harris had that opportunity, but I understand the seduction of doing what they're doing.

Trump doesn't give a shit in unity. He told you that with his rally the other night. He's not looking to expand his base. He believes he's got enough people who are pissed off to win this. And the polls suggest he's right. But have clear eyes on the game, my brothers and sisters, because we are being played.

And we'll see how it plays out and we'll live it together. But I'll tell you something, I've never been more worried about an election because of what it's been about. We are fucking with ourselves here. We're fucking with what we have and we're doing it for bad reason. I know that's not what you're hearing from the two sides. No, it's very noble. No, no, this is this is because it matters because how important it is. I don't believe that. I believe it's just about winning and they don't care what they have to do to do it.

End justifies the means and that almost never gets you to a better place. So thank you for subscribing and following. Thank you for being with me at The Chris Cuomo Project on News Nation. Subscribing at Substack, the numbers are starting to come up. Good. You get the podcast ad free. You get all the Long COVID stuff. You get my walk-in talks. You're gonna get exclusive content.

And I appreciate it. And we're using the money to help people get treated for Long COVID. So it's all good, all good. We will get through it if we remember that this country operates on one thing, collective interconnectedness and interdependence. We are either in it together or we are going to fall separately.

It's always been true. United we stand, divided we fall. Ladies and gentlemen, the election is upon us. Let's get after it.