The David Pakman Show - 9/4/24: Trump fails with Lex Fridman, Kamala leading by 8 in Wisconsin

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

-- On the Show: -- A deep dive into the claims that Kamala Harris is a "DEI candidate" reveals that Donald Trump is the true affirmative action candidate -- A stunning new poll has Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by 8 in Wisconsin, but not all battleground states are looking so good -- Kamala Harris has raised so much money that she is giving some of it away to other Democratic campaigns -- A judge has denied Donald Trump's request not to be sentenced later this month -- A slurring and sedated Donald Trump is interviewed by Lex Fridman in an interview-gone-wrong -- Donald Trump loses it after a campaign volunteer exposes that New Hampshire is increasingly a lost cause for the Trump campaign -- JD Vance attempts to rehabilitate his image in a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham and it does not go well -- Voicemail caller feels humiliated that David was humiliated by a caller last week -- On the Bonus Show: Trump calls Arlington Cemetery incident "made up," Goldman Sachs predicts stronger GDP and job growth if Democrats win, Biden approval rating jumps 13 points, much more... 👕 Sponsored by Printful: Build and grow your business at https://davidpakman.com/printful 🛌 Helix Sleep: Get up to 20% OFF + 2 free pillows at https://helixsleep.com/pakman 🥦 Lumen lets you master your metabolism. GET 15% OFF at https://lumen.me/pakman 💻 Get Private Internet Access for 83% OFF + 4 months free at https://www.piavpn.com/David 💪 Athletic Greens is offering FREE year-supply of Vitamin D at https://athleticgreens.com/pakman 🥦 Lumen lets you master your metabolism. GET 15% OFF at https://lumen.me/pakman -- Become a Member: https://www.davidpakman.com/membership -- Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/davidpakmanshow -- TDPS Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow -- Pakman Discord: https://www.davidpakman.com/discord -- David on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow -- Leave a Voicemail: (219)-2DAVIDP

. You know, one of the things about doing a show like this is that no matter what I talk about, I will get a slice of the audience that writes in and says, you know, David, you talked about this thing, but what about this other thing? Why didn't you talk about this totally different thing that I want you to talk about? And 98 percent of the time, to be quite frank, these are non sequiturs. They are completely unrelated things. It doesn't really matter. But there is a situation right now where it's really difficult to tell the whole story on any given day because the what about

this other thing really does matter. And so I want to say that I appreciate the people who yesterday wrote to me and said, you know, David, you talked about the new national polling in which Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump by nearly two points, the biggest lead she's had since she became the presumptive nominee. But what about the battleground polling? What about the new poll in Wisconsin that has Kamala plus eight? But what about the average polling in Wisconsin, which has Kamala only plus one? But what about the fact that Democrats must win the popular vote to even have a shot at the Electoral College.

And even that's not guaranteed. Well, you know what? You are all correct. The two percent of the audience that wrote in just a couple dozen people, actually not two percent of the audience, but the couple dozen people that wrote in yesterday and said, you know, David, the national polling is not really telling the whole story. You are absolutely correct. And what we're going to try to do today is to flesh out a little bit more of that story. And it's a big story. And there is always an if and or but. So let me reframe.

We have a situation right now where if you go back to the day that Kamala Harris became the presumptive and eventually the official Democratic presidential nominee, her lead today is as big as it has ever been nationally. Yesterday, I told you that that lead had swelled to one point eight. It is now one point nine. And it might it might by next week be a two percentage point point national polling lead. However, we have a presidential election in the United States that is won not by winning the national popular vote as much as I would love it for B for that to be how we determine who becomes president. One must secure 270 electoral votes by getting those votes from enough states to add up to 270.

And what it will come down to in the United States because of the way that the population is distributed and the electoral votes are distributed is three to five, maybe six critical swing or battleground states. Now, there was a headline this morning and it was an accurate headline, Kamala plus eight in Wisconsin. And it is absolutely true. And we have it up on the screen now that in the latest Bloomberg morning consult poll, Kamala Harris is leading by eight. Surely a great sign for her in Wisconsin. So remember, we're building up the story. Well, here's the national polling. But this is really a race about three to five or three to six critical battleground states. Well, here's a

battleground state that was divided by under one point in 2020, where Kamala Harris seems to be leading by eight. That's great for her, right? Well, maybe not, because we don't look at just one poll. We look at an average of recent polls. And while Kamala Harris is leading by eight in one recent poll out of Wisconsin, Trump is leading in two of the last four polls. Harris is leading two in two of the last four polls. And we have a tie in the fifth of the last five polls. So on average, Kamala Harris is lead in Wisconsin is only one point four. Well, let's zoom out a little more and look more broadly at the states likely to decide this election.

All right. The picture that is painted is one that is very much of a toss up race. If we look at Arizona, on average, Trump is leading by one. Remember that Biden won Arizona in 2020 and yet Trump is currently leading. Well, that doesn't seem so good for Kamala Harris. If you look at Nevada, a state that Joe Biden won in 2020, Kamala Harris is leading, but it's six tenths of a point. It is essentially a dead heat in Michigan, another state that President Biden won in 2020. Harris is leading by one in Pennsylvania, a state that Joe Biden won in 2020.

It is a straight up tie. You've got five recent polls. Two are tied. Three have Trump winning. One has Harris winning. The weighted average of those is a dead heat tie in Pennsylvania, a state that was won by President Joe Biden. So none of that is particularly rosy for Kamala Harris.

Look at Georgia, a state that Joe Biden won in 2020. It is a tie. Harris leading by zero point one percentage point, a tenth of a point. These are all signs that this will be very close. Now, let me give you a sign that things are better for Kamala Harris, which is the North Carolina numbers. It's very tight. It is not wrong to say that North Carolina is in play right now. Donald Trump winning by seven tenths of one point. And Kamala Harris has three recent polls where she is leading. So what's the big picture here? Depends what story you want to tell yourself. And this is why I try to focus on that, which we can control. Can I control whether I vote in the state in which I live? Yes, I can. Can I control whether I express to my friends and loved ones and co-workers and whoever will

listen to me the importance of voting and that this race will probably be close electorally, even if Kamala Harris wins by several points in terms of the national popular vote. Yes, I can do that. Can I control a lot of these other factors? Get out the vote in North Carolina, predicting what the split will be in the three north. I know I don't have any control over that. So it is really important that we not just say to ourselves, hey, you know what? J.D. Vance's favorability is in the toilet. People dislike him, but they like Tim Walz and Kamala Harris is raising record money,

which she is. And I want to talk about her fundraising in a moment because it's very interesting what's going on. We don't want to hear that and hear Kamala plus eight in Wisconsin and say we've got this one in the bag because at a structural level, the Electoral College favors Republicans. We have numerous examples, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, of situations where the Republican candidate loses the popular vote and wins the Electoral College and becomes president. We have multiple examples of that. And we also have this framework where, you know, you look at the 2020

results, which let me actually pull them up presidential general election results, because I want to make sure I get the numbers right. President Biden won the popular vote by more than four points. And still, the Electoral College came down to just over 100000 votes in three states. And if there is any reminder more crystal clear than that about the importance of, you know, Kamala's winning by two. Great. Biden needed to win by four point five to eke out one hundred thousand vote win in the Electoral College. It will almost certainly be very, very close and keep an eye on the the total picture, not just national election polling, not just one poll in Wisconsin. And if you do that, it's hard to look at the numbers right now and say that Kamala Harris has this in the back.

Let's now talk about fundraising. Kamala Harris is raising so much money that she's giving some of it to other campaigns. And this is of critical importance because the ability to get anything done in the next presidential term, even if Kamala Harris wins, will come down to who controls the House of Representatives and who controls the Senate. The latest Senate forecasts for a forecast forecasts I've seen. I think I added an extra syllable there. The latest Senate forecasts I've seen suggest that this is very, very close with a slight lean towards Republicans controlling

the Senate. If that's the case, it doesn't really matter what Kamala Harris wants to do with the child tax credit. It doesn't really matter what Kamala Harris wants to do with her other tax and economic proposals because Republicans will have the ability to stop it. So we have a couple of interesting articles. Washington Post Harris to transfer nearly twenty five million dollars to help down ballot Democratic candidates to boost House, Senate and state level candidates follows a five hundred and forty million dollar fundraising haul for the vice president over six weeks. We will link to that article. Business Insider also reporting on this. Kamala Harris has raised so much money

that she's giving 25 million of it to other campaigns. Now, some of you might say, well, if her victory is not even guaranteed, why would she give any money down ballot? Well, there's two important answers to that. Number one, in a way, it is self-serving because there is this rising tide lifts all boats sort of thing. There are states where her polling is different than the Democratic Senate candidate. And it's conceivable that if you boost you spend on your own campaign, but there's a limit to how much you can boost turnout based on promoting yourself. There's the idea that if you devote some money to Senate, get out the vote efforts that getting people excited about voting for whoever's running for Senate will actually help her.

That's one aspect of this. And the second one is, of course, what I already mentioned, which is that her ability to actually get anything done does depend on who controls the House and who controls the Senate. And I'm sure because she's intelligent and so are her advisers, that they are thinking what we don't want is a presidency that we eke out while losing the House and Senate are able to accomplish nothing. And we have a historically unsuccessful presidential term. I know that they are thinking ahead. So we will be delving more deeply into the Senate map right now. What I have on the screen for you is what is being called the consensus map based on

current polling. There are a whole bunch of different states that have Senate elections right now. What you can see is 50 for Republicans, 48 for Democrats with two toss up seats, Montana and Ohio. And this is not an awesome map. This is not a particularly awesome map for Democrats. So we are going to be following all of this extraordinarily closely. The fundraising numbers are stunning. And yet and yet it still looks like it'll be a very close election electorally. Hopefully there will be some spend devoted to North Carolina, a state that is at least

arguably in play and very gerrymandered state. Donald Trump is having to put some money into North Carolina. So that is an interesting thing. But we we are seeing sort of the feeling and I know facts, feelings, two different things. There is the feeling and an energy of excitement behind Harris walls that has not really been there on the Democratic side for quite some time now. That alone won't get you victories, but it can be a starting point to actually campaigning and

building a really good, good ground game. One other really funny thing about Kamala sending some money down to down ballot Democrats, Donald Trump's deal with sending money to down ballot Republicans was you've got to give me a five percent cut. There was a leaked memo some months ago demanding any candidate that uses Trump's name to fundraise, give him a cut. There was a leaked memo some months ago demanding any candidate that uses Trump's name to fundraise, give him a cut. That's the Trump approach to politics. Very different than the Harris approach to politics. So long story short, we've got just a few weeks to go. Debate is next week. I'll be streaming it live. Hope you'll watch with me. Vice presidential debate October 1st. We'll be streaming live. Hope you'll watch it with me.

I want you to be involved in whatever way makes sense for you. Phone banking, donating, just making sure that you vote and make sure you're subscribed to the YouTube channel as we will be with you through and beyond the November election. We'll take a very quick break. Big court news for Trump after this short break. If you run a business or organization and want to get your brand out there or even just have your own DIY project, like maybe helping a political candidate spread their message, Printful is the perfect way to do it. Our sponsor, Printful, is the world's number one on demand print and fulfillment service. Printful empowers your business or

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So I invite you with humility and peace and love to sign up at join Pacman dot com. You can also use the coupon code Save Democracy 24 Save Democracy 24 to get a sizable discount off of the cost of a membership. Well ladies and gentlemen it appears to be happening. Another attempt to delay Donald Trump's sentencing in his criminal conviction on 34 felony counts has been rejected by a judge. And we appear if things could change, we appear to be barreling towards sentencing just a few days from now, but two weeks from now, in fact, on September 18th for Donald Trump.

ABC News reports Judge denies Trump's second attempt to move his hush money case into federal court. The former president is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18th. Trump had asked the federal court to intervene and delay sentencing after the Supreme Court ruled in July that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office. However, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote yesterday, quote, Nothing in the Supreme Court's opinion affects my previous conclusion

that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts outside the bounds of executive authority. And of course, it doesn't take a law degree to come to that conclusion. That's for sure. Trump sentencing scheduled to take place September 18th. As I mentioned, Trump filed a notice of appeal signaling his plan to appeal this most this latest decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. And of course, as a reminder, Trump found guilty in May. Thirty four felony counts falsifying business records due to the hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in 2016. So where are we on this right now? There was an argument made by defenders of Trump in the

immediate aftermath of the July decision from the Supreme Court that because of the immunity that the Supreme Court determined Trump has, he simply cannot be sentenced in this particular case. What it ultimately comes down to is what we knew it would come down to beforehand based on the oral arguments that were made. What constitutes an official act? And there's a very dangerous double edged sword here because there were these hypotheticals that were put together outlandish in a way, but really addressing a very real issue. What if Joe Biden or Kamala Harris determined that as an official act? To preserve the national security of the United States, Trump must be killed if they can couch it as an official act based on what the Supreme Court found, that would be an action for which they would have immunity. that. That's crazy. It doesn't make any sense. Well, but hold on a second. What when when we talk about slippery slopes, there are times where a slippery slope is asserted and it is logically

fallacious and it doesn't make sense. This is a case where it is exactly the thought experiment that we need, because what we are talking about is presidents on their own say so based on determinations they've made unilaterally without an empirical basis, saying as president, here is what I am doing and what I am ordering and therefore I should be immune. So we all understand the very sharp double edged sword that exists here. At least for now, the judges determined Trump sentencing can go forward. It's two weeks away. I don't know what to expect. I think it's listen, I think the most likely outcome is Trump doesn't serve a day of jail or prison. Now, that doesn't mean there would be a sentence, but it's suspended an attempt at home confinement. I don't know. But I if I were a

betting man, which I'm not, I'm still leaning on. Trump doesn't serve a single day. Let me know what you think. One of the funniest interviews I have ever seen was published yesterday. It was Lex Friedman interviewing the failed former president, Donald Trump. Now, some of you may recall I was on Lex's show some time ago and Lex Friedman's approach to interviewing is sort of laid back, not particularly argumentative. Let the guest explain how they came to their views without any real probing or certainly no contradictions with facts. And that was Lex's approach in this interview. There are people defending him saying, listen, this is the way he's done his four hundred and forty one episodes before this one. So why would we expect anything different? And there are those

who are angry saying, well, listen, when you interview a former president who is the Republican candidate, you can't just let them lie uncontrollably and either refuse or be ill-equipped to contradict what they say. Let's watch some of the clips and then make that determination. One of the things you will notice is that Trump is slurring and seems sedated and his right eye is almost completely swollen shut. It's almost closed. It's like he's been in a boxing ring. It's bizarre. One of the funny things is that Lex has a kind of low key affect himself. And I'm not suggesting that Trump is trying to match Lex's affect, but Lex is so low key. Trump sounds sedated. His eye is almost completely swollen

shut. It's wild. We pick up the interview when Lex Friedman asks Trump about his claims regarding the 2020 election. Trump tells 13 lies in two and a half minutes, 13 lies in two and a half minutes. Let's see if you can count them all. We'll watch and then we will discuss. Tough topic, but important. You said lost by a whisker. I'm an independent. I have a lot of friends who are independent, many of whom like your policies, like the fact that you're a dealmaker, like the fact that you can end wars,

but they are troubled by what happened in the 2020 election and statements about widespread fraud and this kind of stuff, fake election scheme. What can you say to those independent voters to help them decide who to vote for? Right. I think the fraud was on the other side. I think the election was a fraud and many people. And I'm going to play the 13 lies. That's the I'm going to play the 13 lies back to back. But I'm just acknowledging Trump sounds absolutely he sounds like he's on sedatives. I mean, it's bizarre. Felt it was that and they wanted answers. And when you can't challenge an election, you have to be able to challenge it. Otherwise, it's going to get worse, not better. And there are lots of ways to solve this problem. Go to paper ballots and do it

the easy way. I mean, the paper ballots and you have voter ID and you have same day voting and you have proof of citizenship, which is very important because we have people voting that are not citizens. They just came in and they're loading up the payrolls. They're loading up everything. They're putting students in schools that don't speak a word of English and they're taking the seats of people that are citizens of our country. So, look, we have the worst border in the history of the world. We have coming into our country right now millions and millions of people

at levels that nobody's ever seen. I don't believe any country's ever seen it. And they would use sticks and stones not to make it happen, not to let it happen. We don't do anything. And we have a person who was the border czar who now said she wasn't really the border czar, but she was the border czar, who now said she wasn't really the border czar, but she was. She was the border czar, but she was in charge of the border.

And we have her, and she's saying very strongly, oh, I did such a good job. She was horrible, horrible. The harm she's done. But we have people coming in from other countries all over the world, not just South America. And they're coming in from prisons and jails. They people coming in from other countries all over the world, not just South America. And they're coming in from prisons and jails. They're coming in from mental institutions and insane asylums. OK, that's just under two and a half minutes. And Trump told 13 lies, 13 lies. Trump says Democrats committed voter fraud in 2020.

There's no evidence of that. Trump says many people felt there was Democratic voter fraud. Well, facts and feelings are two different things. Trump says you can't challenge an election. That's wrong. Trump tried and he did the he did everything that you can do. It's just there was no merit to the challenge. Trump says paper ballots would solve this. It wouldn't. I mean, you know, voter fraud of the kind Trump claims is so rare.

Paper ballots would just bring this massive logistical issue for handling and storing them. If there's a natural disaster, they can get lost. It's really a solution in search of a problem. Trump says voter I.D. would solve it. Remember that it is not really a problem. And we know that voter I.D. laws disproportionately impact certain groups of voters, low income people, elderly folks, students, everybody who is eligible to vote, to be clear. And there's no evidence that voter I.D. actually prevents voter fraud. There's also no evidence that voter fraud is happening. Trump says same day voting would solve it. It doesn't exist.

Of course, requiring all votes to be cast on the same day just increases the likelihood that lines are really long, that polling places are crowded, that there are technical issues and that can deter people from voting. It would cause a problem. Trump says proof of citizenship would solve it. Reality is that current voter registration process already includes citizen verification through either the U.S. census or state specific requirements of different kinds. And these vague proof of citizenship requirements would be redundant and they would be unlikely to catch fraud because the fraud isn't actually happening. Trump says noncitizens who just came

to the United States are voting. There's no evidence of that. Trump says immigrants who speak no English are taking the seats of people from our country. I don't even know what that means. Trump says that we have the worst border in history. That's certainly not true, as we've seen significant declines in border crossings under the Biden administration. He says Kamala Harris was the border czar. She was not.

He says that people are coming into the country from prisons and jails. There's no evidence of that. And finally, Trump says people are coming into the country illegally from mental institutions and insane asylums. And there is also no evidence of that. Thirteen lies in two and a half minutes when Lex Friedman tells Trump claims of widespread fraud are bothering some people, here's how Trump reacts. So a lot of people believe that there was some shady stuff that went on with the election, whether it's media bias or big tech. But still, the the claim of widespread fraud is the thing that bothers people. Well, I don't focus on the past.

I focus on the future. But when Trump is told this nonsense is really bothering a lot of people, you may be turning off voters. Trump says, I'm not focused on the past. I'm focused on the future. Yet, yet at every rally for nearly four years, Trump rehashes the same debunked claims about the 2020 election. Trump then addresses the issue of religion and heaven. It's really weird. Trump's delivery is bizarre. Something is very wrong.

One of the tragic things about life is that it ends. How often do you think about your death? Are you afraid of it? I have a friend who's very, very successful, and he's in his 80s, mid-80s, and he asked me the exact same question. I said, I turned it around. I said, well, what about you? He said, I think about it every minute of every day. And then a week later, he called me to tell me something, and he starts off the conversation by going, tick, tock, tick, tock.

This is nutty, nutty stuff from Trump. This is a dark person, you know, in a sense. But it is what it is. I mean, you know, if you're religious, you have, I think, a better feeling toward it. You know, you're supposed to go to heaven, ideally not hell, but you're supposed to go to heaven if you're good. I think our country is missing a lot of religion. I think it really was a much better place with religion. It it was some it was almost a guide to a certain extent. It was a guide.

You want to be good to people without religion. There's no real there are no guardrails. Of course, the claim that without religion, there are no guardrails has been so widely discussed for so long that it's not even a subject for us today. But the funniest part of all of this is that his next as Lex nods along. We all know Trump's not even religious. This is a character he's developed to enter politics in the Republican Party. Trump hasn't been to church for three years. He I mean, the last time he went that we were able to find was twenty twenty one. It's all a farce. It's

and that really would be the question I would like to see asked. Lex Friedman asking Trump, when you are composing one of your posts to Truth Social, what are you like? Are you in bed? Where are you? What are you doing usually when you're composing a truth? Like are you chilling back on a couch, couches, beds? OK, a lot of different things. And of course, a lot of different things I can only assume includes the toilet, as widely reported, Trump regularly having to flush 10 to 15 times the topic of the Jeffrey Epstein passenger lists and other documents came up.

And as is typically the case, Trump does appear uncomfortable with the topic. There's a moment where you had some hesitation about Epstein releasing some of the documents that Epstein why the hesitation? I don't think I mean, I'm not involved. I never went to his island, fortunately, but a lot of people did. Oh, my goodness. Why is he talking like that? Why is his eye almost completely swollen shot? And why does he always get uncomfortable when the topic of the guy he's in numerous videos hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein is brought up?

Maybe we will never know, but I hope someday we will. Trump not exactly playing up his law and order credentials when he says Hillary Clinton is lucky that he didn't lock her up. As the leader of the United States, you were the most powerful man in the world. As you mentioned, not only the most famous, but the most powerful. And if you become leader again, you will have unprecedented power. Just on your own personal psychology, what does that power do to you? Is there any threat of it corrupting how you see the world? No, I don't think so. Look, I've been there for four years. And you guys heard that,

right? I mean, just his tongue, engaged in a battle to the death against his tongue. Just on your own personal psychology, what does that power do to you? Is there any threat of it corrupting how you see the world? No, I don't think so. Look, I've been there for four years. Yikes. I could have done a big number in Hillary Clinton. I thought it looked terrible to take the president's wife and put her in prison. She's so lucky I didn't do anything. She's so lucky. That's absolutely terrifying. Absolutely terrifying that he is saying essentially Hillary Clinton should be thanking me that I didn't lock her up. By what means Trump would have done it.

We still don't know. And then finally, Lex Friedman addressing the issue of supposed tension with podcaster Joe Rogan. Trump says Rogan's kind of a liberal guy. And I don't know that I'm inclined to appear on his show. Let me ask you about my good friend Joe Rogan's kind of a liberal guy, and I don't know that I'm inclined to appear on his show. Let me ask you about my good friend Joe Rogan. So you had a bit of tension with him. So when he said nice things about RFK Jr., I think,

you've said some not-so-nice things about Joe, and I think that was a bit unfair. And as a fan of Joe, I would love to see you do his podcast because he is legit the greatest conversationalist in the world. So what's the story behind the tension? Well, I don't think there was any tension. And I've always liked him, but I don't know him. I mean, I only see him when I walk into the arena with Dana and I shake his hand. I see him there and I think he's good at what he does, but I don't know about doing his podcast.

I mean, I guess I'd do it, but I haven't been asked and I'm not asking them, you know. I'm not asking anybody. It sounds like a challenging negotiation situation. No, it's not really a negotiation. And he's sort of a liberal guy, I guess, you know, from what I understand. Yeah. So I don't know about Rogan and being liberal at this point.

Certainly. Here's my thought about the interview. Trump's performance, bizarre slurring, eyes swollen shut. So I don't know what's going on with his teeth or tongue. It just none of it makes any sense. And Trump's demeanor, bizarre, lied through the entire thing. Lex Friedman is a good guy. You know, he means well.

I sat with him for hours on his show. We talked before we talked after this interview was not good in the sense of Trump just lied his whole way through it. Trump said endlessly, factually incorrect things, whether they were all lies or some were mistakes or ignorance. I don't know. You decide. Lex did not fact check. Now, it is true. You know, this is podcast episode. I think I said it's this is episode four forty two for Lex Friedman. He did it the same way he did the other four hundred and forty one. So. In a sense, you know what you're getting into. And so I don't know if the criticisms of Lex's handling are super fair and, you know, oh, but David, you must be friends with like

I haven't had any interaction with Lex that I can recall since I was on his show a year and a half or two years ago. I also know, you know, if imagine I don't know if I was episode 350 or whatever, if he's done 349 episodes one way and I show up and he treats me completely differently, it would be a sort of strange thing. My preference would be that this just be a different sort of interview altogether. I prefer an interview, especially when you're doing something like a public service with the former president and presidential candidate. I want there to be fact checking and I want there to be. Wait a second.

You just said 13 things in two and a half minutes. None of them are true. Let's go through them one by one and discuss them. That's not the way Lex does his show. So my question to you is what is a fair criticism of Lex's handling of this interview and what the hell is going on with Donald Trump slurring? Let me know what you think. Please make sure you're subscribed to the YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash the

David Pakman show. And remember that my book, The Echo Machine, is now available for preorder. We have surpassed fifteen hundred preorders. You can find it at David Pakman dot com slash echo or on any Web site where physical books, e-books or audio books are sold. I try to take my health and fitness seriously. Cardio weights, eating right. You can do all of the right things and have one major pitfall, which is just not knowing how your metabolism is functioning during your workouts. But our sponsor, Lumen, gives you that power. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach.

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or if you're good to go using that biofeedback lumen can help you get the most out of your workouts. And in the long run, these are changes that can really add up. Go to Lumen dot M.E. slash Pacman to get 15 percent off your Lumen. The link is in the description. You watch YouTube, you listen to podcasts, you've heard a ton of ads for VPNs, but all VPNs are pretty much the same except for one. Our sponsor, Private Internet Access, is the only VPN that can confirm your Internet activity is not being logged. Their software is fully open source, so you can see the traffic isn't being logged. Their systems are also independently audited by the big four accounting firm Deloitte to confirm nothing is being logged. And they've demonstrated multiple times in court. They have no record of user activity. Everyone should use a VPN when

they connect to the Internet, hides your IP address. So governments and big tech can't track you. And you can access Netflix and Hulu content not normally available in your home country. Private Internet access has servers in 91 different countries and all 50 U.S. states. You can protect all of your devices with just a single account. And private Internet access is giving my audience 83 percent off comes out to just two or three a month, plus four extra months for free. Go to PIA VPN dot com slash David. The link is in the podcast notes. One of the failed criticisms that Donald Trump and Republicans have latched on to about Kamala Harris is calling her a DEI candidate. This is an argument that the only

reason or the primary reason that she's the Democratic nominee right now is either because of preferential treatment she received because she's a woman or because she's not white or because she's both a woman of color, we would say, not white and and a woman or another version of it is because she slept her way to the top at the beginning of her career. Now all of this has a particular goal and it's to suggest that Kamala Harris isn't qualified to be president. It implies she didn't rise through the ranks of politics based on merit and achievement. So today we're going to discuss why this criticism doesn't make any sense and how, like so many

claims from the right, it's actually more true about Donald Trump than it is about Kamala Harris. It's yet another example of the projection that they love to do. So let's start with Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris has had a long career in public service, steadily climbing the ranks over the years, started as deputy district attorney in the 90s, worked in the D.A.'s office in San Francisco, ultimately becoming D.A. in 2004, served as California's attorney general from 2011 to 2017 before becoming U.S. senator in 2017.

She was chosen in 2020 to be Joe Biden's running mate and has now served as VP for almost an entire presidential term. That is quite a resume. She's clearly qualified to be president of the United States. So what are Trump and Republicans basing their argument on? Well, some Republicans argue that Kamala Harris slept her way to the top because she had a relationship with California politician Willie Brown in the 1990s, the argument being she was leveraging being a young, attractive woman to further her career. Now, it is true that Brown appointed Harris to two political positions during their relationship. One was on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and one on the California Medical Assistance

Commission. Now, these appointments have been cited to argue that her career was solely based on the relationship with Brown. These are really pretty minor positions compared to what she ultimately achieved. And it doesn't really make much sense. The relationship with Brown ended either in late 95 or early 96. She kept climbing the ladder without his help, saying his career is over. I will be alive and kicking for the next 40 years. I do not owe him a thing. And indeed, Kamala Harris continued rising through the ranks because of her qualifications.

But that's not the more common accusation. The more common accusation the right has been trotting out is that she was chosen to be Joe Biden's VP only because she was a woman and or a minority racially or both. Now, it is a fact that during the 2020 Democratic primary, Joe Biden stated, I want to choose a woman as my running mate. So the country could potentially have its first female vice president. If I'm elected president, my my cabinet, my administration will look like the country. And I commit that I will, in fact, appoint a pick a woman to be vice president. There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow. I would pick a woman to be vice president. There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow. I would pick a woman to be my vice president.

In the wake of George Floyd's murder, there was a push for Biden to pick a woman of color. Four of his finalists were black women, and ultimately he selected Kamala Harris. The narrative that Kamala Harris was selected solely because Biden wanted a black woman for vice president ignores the reality that many qualified candidates were considered and Harris stood out because of experience, her policy positions and the energy that she would bring to the ticket. Harris had a track record. She was a candidate herself in 2020.

People knew her. She offered some intangibles that made her appealing to the Biden campaign. But that doesn't make you a DEI candidate. Diversity, equity and inclusion any more than any other strategic VP pick would. Vice presidents are often chosen to try to appeal to certain regions or demographics. Whether it works is a different question, but it's common. J.D. Vance and Tim Walls, for example, were clearly chosen in part because of their appeal to working class voters in the Great Lakes region who are overwhelmingly white. Yet no one would label them DEI candidates. Identity has always been a major factor in

presidential candidates choosing their running mate because they want a balance on the ticket. In 2008, John McCain, as an elderly man, chose Sarah Palin, a young woman, to be his running mate. Maybe it's a little much to say McCain was elderly then, but as a middle age plus guy, he chose Sarah Palin as a young woman, younger woman to be his running mate with the idea that it would invigorate the campaign. Barack Obama chose Joe Biden, believing that Biden's gray hairs and experience would balance out the ticket and alleviate the concerns about Obama being too young and not having

enough experience. These considerations aren't racist or sexist or playing into D.I. It's just smart politics. Now there's a further irony, which is that in 2016, Trump explicitly said he would not pick a woman because it could be seen as pandering. Remember this? His campaign manager says the campaign probably won't choose a woman or a member of a minority group. That would be viewed as pandering, I think. Sure enough, Trump went with a man, Mike Pence,

since Pence was chosen for being a man and women weren't considered by Trump. Does that mean Pence wasn't deserving or qualified to be vice president? Does that make Pence a DEI candidate or an affirmative action choice of sorts? When Donald Trump faced his third Supreme Court nomination in 2020, he declared he will choose a woman, possibly because he had already chosen two men. And he did pick Amy Coney Barrett. Would Republicans argue she was a DEI pick because Trump said, I'm only considering women? You know, we're working very hard when getting a third Supreme Court justice. The only thing I'll say for the women, it will be

a woman. It's also critical to discuss something about Michelle Obama that she mentioned in her DNC speech. Most people aren't afforded the grace of falling forward or benefiting from the affirmative action of generational wealth. Donald Trump has benefited significantly from the privileges of his wealthy background, something he was born into by chance. He didn't do anything to achieve that. Trump's upbringing in a wealthy family gave him opportunities that most Americans don't have access to elite education, hundreds of millions of dollars for business ventures. These advantages are a form of

affirmative action for the wealthy, where success is often determined by birth, not by merit. Now, according to The Economist, social mobility is decreasing and the odds of an American child being born into the bottom fifth of incomes and making it to the top fifth of incomes when they're an adult is just seven point five percent. So as much as people like to tell themselves that everyone has a fair shake in America, the most important factor in how rich you become is how rich the family you're born into is. These advantages far outweigh the advantages of an affirmative action type program that really only helps along

the margins. Now, there's more to it, which is that the Republican Party as a whole benefits from a type of affirmative action as the political structure in the United States, including the Electoral College and the Senate, disproportionately benefits Republicans. It provides an inequitable advantage that undermines a true meritocracy. The Electoral College lets a candidate win the presidency without even winning the popular vote. We saw it in 2000.

We saw it in 2016, both of which benefited Republican candidates. The structure of the US Senate gives disproportionate power to the less populous states, many of which lean Republican. That leads to an imbalance in representation that doesn't reflect the popular will. These systemic advantages for Republicans undermine their criticisms of DEI when their own political success is bolstered by structural inequities. And finally, there is the point about how this DEI criticism just isn't resonating. These kinds of accusations are angering voters. They're angering especially

women and minority voters. They see them as attempts to delegitimize their achievements. And as we've discussed in recent weeks, Trump's race based attacks aren't helping him. The American people are rejecting them. He keeps using them maybe because he thinks it will be effective. The argument that Kamala Harris is a DEI candidate ignores this broader context of American politics, where privilege, especially wealth and race, historically have played a major role in determining who succeeds politically. The narrative also overlooks the fact that many successful politicians, including Trump, have leveraged and continue to leverage their privileged backgrounds to achieve power, often without the very same

scrutiny of their qualifications. Republicans making this argument are either acting in bad faith and or confused, and they're hoping that latent racism in their messaging will appeal to voters. It doesn't seem to be working so far. Let's hope it fails. AG1 is the daily scoop you mix into water or your smoothie to get 75 high quality vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and nutrients from only whole food sources. Just a single scoop covers me nutritionally for the whole day. AG1 is just simpler and faster and more cost effective, by the way, than fumbling with a dozen different vitamin pills and products. Agey one can support all sorts of different functions and it promotes diversity in your microbiome.

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I told you yesterday that a Trump campaign volunteer has essentially said the New Hampshire thing. It seems dead. Trump pulling out of New Hampshire, New Hampshire is out of reach. There's just no possible way that Trump could get New Hampshire back as Kamala Harris's lead is now solidified around five points. Well, Donald Trump is very much not happy with that reporting, and he is completely flipping out on truth social. Now, before we look at what he said, I do think it's important just to mention again, Trump won in 2016 without winning New

Hampshire and Trump lost in 2020 without winning New Hampshire, even though there is this kind of quirky scenario in which New Hampshire could determine whether we have a 269 to 269 tie in every statistical model I've looked at. New Hampshire is not expected to be a difference maker state. So one could argue Trump pulling out of New Hampshire, even though it might be a bruise to his ego, he already didn't win it in 2016 or 2020. So it's not really like something he has to feel too bad about. And it might just be good campaign strategy. But of course, Trump is Trump and Trump is wildly triggered constantly all the time about everything. The New Republic reports Trump loses it after top volunteer exposes the sorry state of his campaign. A damning report reveals some staffers on Trump's campaign no

longer think New Hampshire is winnable. Well, Donald Trump taking to his platform Truth Social, which itself is failing and says, quote, Comrade Kamala Harris sees there are problems for her campaign in New Hampshire because of the fact that they disrespected it in their primary and never showed up. Additionally, the cost of living in New Hampshire is through the roof. Their energy bills are some of the highest in the country and their housing market is the most unaffordable in history. I protected New Hampshire's first in the nation primary and always will to my friends in New Hampshire. Get out and vote Trump together. We will make your capital S states and America capital S strong capital S safe and capital P prosperous. Again, just capital letters randomly all over

this thing. Listen, I hope that the report about Trump failing in New Hampshire triggers him so strongly that he takes this personally, that he directs his campaign to the extent that he has a campaign to a poor money and staff into trying to turn New Hampshire around and winning it instead of devoting those resources to Georgia or to Michigan or to Nevada or Arizona or states that really Pennsylvania really have a shot at determining who wins this thing. Let's hope that he continues to split and divide up his resources on lawsuits and spending money in noncompetitive states. And while he does it, we can focus on actually getting the vote out in the critical battleground states. So it's so funny how this ended up all

being a play on Donald Trump's ego and narcissism and his thin skin, because the math of it is who cares about New Hampshire if you're Trump, because it has never been win or lose. Had Trump won New Hampshire in 2020, he still wouldn't have become president. And in 2016, Trump didn't win it. And he did become president winning in the Electoral College. So it just doesn't matter in that sense. I'm not saying he doesn't care about New Hampshire voters, although he doesn't. He doesn't care about any voters beyond their ability to help him, either by donating money or voting or getting him in the White House. It could just be, hey, you know what? We didn't need the state. I've won without it. I've lost without it.

We're making sure that the states that are going to be really close are where we are putting in our energy. But Trump's too thin skinned for that and so wildly triggered on truth social. Good for him. Start pouring money into New Hampshire. I hope he does it. Fox News decided to host a rehab interview for J.D. Vance. What do I mean by that? Well, as many of you know, J.D. Vance is painfully unlikable and his unfavorability is high. His favorability is low. So they decided to try to do a let's rehabilitate your image interview on Fox News interviewed by Laura Ingraham.

It went so terribly wrong so quickly that it almost makes you feel a little bad for J.D. But I don't really feel bad for him because he's absolutely horrible. We've endorsed J.P. right. J.D. Mandel. Here is Laura Ingraham doing her best to talk about what a great guy he is and how funny he is. Really, folks, he's so likable, says Laura. People, I guess they do these polls and they say, oh, your favorability isn't as high as Tim Walz is. You know, there's a gender gap for your ticket compared to Harris and Walz. How do you go to the undecideds at this point, the shrinking pool of people

and and convince them that not only are you serious and you're seriously smart, but you're a regular person. I've known you for a long time. You're really fun. You're really funny. How do you convince people that you are a member of Homo sapiens, just like all of us, despite the way you appear versus the giggle and vibe show that seems to work for a lot of women voters out there? Right. That's that's a reference to Kamala Harris's laugh, by the way. You know, Laura, my approach to this is just to get out there and meet as many people as

possible. And I know this is Donald Trump's approach to this is just to get out there and meet as many people as possible. And I know this is Donald Trump's approach to one of the funny things is every time he meets people, it goes terribly. Can you tell me how long you have worked in the donut shop? Oh, I've worked here six months. Very good, ma'am. Thank you. I will have a cruller, please.

You don't do the scripted stuff. We don't only speak in front of a teleprompter. We actually like to get out there and give some unscripted remarks, some press conferences, and also just go out there and talk to people. And that's what I'm going to keep on doing, Laura. I don't put much stock in the polls. Yeah, I wouldn't either if they all said I was the least popular VP in modern political history. Even the polls that show us ahead. And there are a lot of those these days.

What I put stock in is the wisdom of the American people and the fact that if we go out there, make our case, don't hide behind a teleprompter, but get out there and meet people. The American people are going to elect me and Donald Trump. I have no doubt about that. We just have to do our work and we've got 65. Laura, thank you so much for having me on your show to rehabilitate my image today. It's a really strange choice. I mean, Laura Ingram's nuts, nuts and so lacks charisma herself. It's a weird place to launch your I'm a normal person

tour in my mind. Here is Laura Inraham asking J.D. about his beard. Vance, will you clear this up tonight for everyone watching? Is your beard your best prop? Hot, hot, hot, hot. Laura, you have told a funny joke as a fellow member of Homo sapiens. I recognize it with this laugh. It was just all it was all terrible. It was really, really bad.

And eventually, J.D. kind of got to why Donald Trump is so great and everything he said is untrue. And I think that if we want to fix that recruitment problem, the best thing we can do is reelect Donald J. Trump. People trust his leadership. They also know that a military led by Donald Trump is about what unites us as Americans. And it's not about this ridiculous division of Kamala Harris. Yeah.

You know, it doesn't strike me that it would be logical for one to say now that Trump won, I am going to go and join the military. And the division that J.D. is talking about is what Trump has been stoking. You go to, you know, a Harris Walls event and it's let's build ourselves up. Let's educate. Let's give people freedom and liberty to do the things they want to do and to realize that we are one one human race at the Trump rallies. It's the media is bad. Democrats are bad. These people are Marxists. Those are communists. The military's woke. The division is coming. The calls are coming from inside the House is the point I'm trying to make. And then here is J.D. laying it out and saying, oh, yeah, so many people will want to join the military if Trump. Well, if you're a person thinking about joining the military, you're probably not going to want to sign up, Kamala Harris has not made foreign policy an extensive

part of her campaign so far in a serious way. But one thing that seems pretty clear is Kamala Harris isn't going to certainly do what George W. Bush did and say, hey, you know what, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11, let's just start sending endless troops into harm's way, leading to thousands of American soldier deaths. I don't think Kamala Harris is going to do that. So I don't know what J.D. Vance is talking about. And this attempt at appearing to be a normal person really not working out very well. We have a voicemail number. That number is 2 1 nine two. David P. Here is a caller who is humiliating, who feels humiliated for my humiliation that someone canceled their membership because we're no longer on TV. Listen to this.

I did. This is Jordan from Utah. I just listened to one of your segments where a caller called in and let you know that he is canceling his membership because of your decision to expand, I guess, on different digital platforms or whatnot because of 57-minute time limits and this, that, and the other. And it struck me as very odd that someone would call in and leave a voicemail, uh, explicitly letting you know that, that they are withdrawing their membership. It is odd, but it happens all the time as if, um, you know, two bucks a month, uh, or, or whatever, a single membership is going to make a massive difference. But I know every little bit helps. I'm not trying to diminish that.

But the fact that someone feels as though they have to call in and let you know that they're canceling, knowing that their voicemail might be broadcast is just humiliating to me and very sad. So I'm going to be gifting some memberships to make up for that. Not that I feel obligated to, but just because I feel that the work that you do is incredibly important. There's a lot of independent media shows out there. Tucker Carlson on X

and Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly. People that used to be mainstream but are now independent who are just chills for the right wing still. And not just progressive shows like like yours, but honest shows like yours are ones that I appreciate.

Well, listen, I love the message. Yes, people for a very long time feel it necessary to call in and tell me, David, I'm canceling my membership. It will continue, I assure you. But it's great to have folks like you in the audience. We've got a great bonus show today. We're going to talk about the Arlington Cemetery debacle fallout. We will talk about the latest prediction about the economy from Goldman Sachs, whether it is Harris versus Trump as president.

And we will also talk about how Joe Biden is as popular as ever now that he's not running for anything. Should that come as a surprise? All of those stories and more on today's bonus show. Sign up at joint Pacman dot com. I'd love to see you there.