The Majority Report with Sam Seder - 3610 - Trump Flirts With A Third Term; What Democratic Leadership Is Missing w/ Astead Herndon

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

It's an Emmajority Friday on the Majority Report On Today's Show: JD Vance found it "weird" that the Knesset voted to approve annexation of the West Bank while he was in town. Astead Hendron joins the program to wrap up the week's news. In the Fun Half: Ken Klippenstein reports on the FBI paying non-violent protestors visits to interrogate them over their "Anitfa" connections. Harry Enten shows polling that reflects Trump's approval rating on the economy plummeting. Despite Trump claiming that he is paying for White House renovations himself, it has been reported that essentially every major corporation in America is contributing. Majorie Taylor-Green calls the Argentina bailout the grossest thing she's ever seen, and she's seen a mirror. Hakeem Jeffries gives Zohran Mandani a last-minute endorsement. Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams lean into islamophobia while attacking Mamdani. All that and more The Congress switchboard number is [phone]. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: RITUAL: Get 25% off during your first month. Visit ritual.com/MAJORITY to start Ritual or add Essential For Men to your subscription today. ONESKIN: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MAJORITY at  OneSkin SUNSET LAKE:  Head to SunsetLakeCBD.com and use coupon code “Left Is Best” (all one word) for 20% off of your entire order  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com

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where every day is casual Friday. That means Monday is casual Monday. Tuesday, casual Tuesday. Wednesday, casual hump day. Thursday, casual thursday. casual thursday. That's what we call it. And Friday, casual Shabbat. The Majority Report with Sam Cedar. It is Friday. October 24th, 2025. My name is Emma Vigeland in for Sam Cedar. And this is the five-time award-winning majority report. We are broadcasting live steps.

From the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, USA. On the program today, Asset Herndon, new host and editorial director at Vox and political analysts at CNN will be with us to recap the news of the week. Also on the program, Trump releases the list of donors who are funding the ballroom, the most important issue in America. And it includes Palantir, Amazon, Google, Lockheed Martin, and more. All my rowdy friends are here. Yeah. Why are you against fun? They're trying to bring all the corporate people into one place to party.

Trump ends trade talks with Canada because the Ontario premier ran an ad showing Reagan criticizing tariffs. And he grants a... pardon for Chinese billionaire Shang Peng Zhao, whose company, Binance, coincidentally just struck a deal with Trump's crypto company, World Liberty Financial. America first, baby. It was a pardon for not setting up things to catch blatant criminal activity on the exchange. Why would Trump be interested in covering up blatant criminal activity? Yeah.

The Israeli Knesset advances a bill to formally annex the West Bank, while J.D. dances in town. And he's offended. Israel strikes southern Lebanon, viling yet another ceasefire. The Israeli Supreme Court once again refuses to let international reporters into Gaza. They are hiding the true death toll. Blinking, blinking, flashing alarm bells. They don't want there to be recovery of the evidence here. Trump officially green lights. a plan to open a pristine Alaska wildlife refuge to oil and gas drilling.

He also says he will not ask Congress for authorization on striking Venezuelan boats, despite the Constitution requiring it for acts of war. Shut down watch. It is day 24. Republicans are anxious about expiring ACA subsidies. as Trump still bars them from negotiating with Democrats. And lastly, the economy keeps flashing warning signs. Target cuts 1,800 jobs as tariffs wreak havoc. And I guess, actually, lastly, early voting in New York City begins tomorrow. This is very important.

If you're a listener to this show and you're in New York City and not voting, I don't know what we've done wrong. But early voting starts tomorrow on the 20th. 5th, all this and more on today's majority report. And, you know, I don't know the official early voting dates for other states, but we have many races around the country, even though it's an off year that they're going to be really important just across the river, of course. We have the governor's race in New Jersey and others. People might really enjoy going back and listening to my interview with Daniel Nicanian from, I guess, a week and a half or so ago, where

He laid out a lot of the races that are important. I mean, Omar Fate, another race that we need to be supporting. I was really happy to see that our girl, Ilan Omar, has been going hard for him in the final weeks. It was kind of like the AOC strategy, right? Getting more attention when it's the right time to. And people really need to turn out for a socialist Robin Wansley in the War II election in Minneapolis, who is facing a challenge there from the establishment. We need Robin to win, too.

So if you're in Minneapolis, particularly in Ward 2, or no people in Ward 2, get him to lock in. Absolutely. Let's start here because it's been over two weeks, or around two weeks, since the ceasefire was announced, although Israel continues to violate it and bomb and kill dozens of Palestinians a day in Gaza

they it's interesting ceasefire yeah I mean it's the same thing in Lebanon it's the ceasefire holds because there is completely there's disproportionate force on the Israeli side and everybody knows it

so they have to to make sure that they're not being bombed into oblivion seemingly allow repeated violations of the ceasefire to keep the genocidal, rabid country happy to maintain the bloodlust.

They're breaking the Lebanon ceasefire. They're breaking the ceasefire in Gaza. And then they'll blame Hamas. So it's just, this is how Israel operates. And they continue to block aid from getting into Gaza. The trucks are not getting in at the level that they are supposed to be. When have we heard that before, even though there is supposedly a ceasefire? The international press, as I mentioned, has not been allowed into Gaza. There was a statement that was

put out, I believe, by the Foreign Press Association, because the Israeli Supreme Court, shockingly, I know you'll be shocked by this, said, it's not time for international reporters to go into Gaza and document the genocide, perhaps uncover the true death toll and the reality of the destruction. Unra is still being blocked from getting in. It's the only organization that has the infrastructure that could adequately address the humanitarian crisis there and they are being blocked. So the situation remains immensely dire in the Gaza Strip. But then we turn to the West Bank. Oh, I should also say they Israel controls over 50% of Gaza at this point. They have drawn this invisible line and have been shooting at Palestinians on site as they

tried to cross the invisible line into the essentially occupied territory of over 50% of the Gaza Strip when they're trying to go back to their homes. Israel hasn't said, has given vague notions of where this kill line is, but not being very clear. and they're just gunning Palestinians down as they try to go to their homes, which for all they know is just rubble at this point. And then there's the West Bank. As a reminder, Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank in East Jerusalem since 1967.

They illegally stole the territory. And since that time, more than 700,000 Israelis have stolen homes and land and have put up settlements in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem. So, and formal annexation is all but that. It is only really just a formality, right? If you're literally taking somebody's house that they used to live in and saying,

this is mine now because of who I am and who you are. And that's exactly how they did it in 1948. It's the same, same thing. So this is a formality, but then the question is why the formality? The formality is that two days ago, the Knesset voted 25 to 24 to advance a bill that would basically say that Israel has sovereignty over what they call Judea and Samaria and what Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee will call Judea and Samaria, which is the Jewish fundamentalist way to say that this is

Jewish land only, but it means the West Bank. And they advanced the bill saying we have sovereignty over the entire West Bank. They, Netanyahu and Lukud did the most unconvincing protestation of it, but knowing that the far right ministers, uh, were spearheading this effort and that it was going to pass because it doesn't even matter if they formalize it. Netanyahu's government's already doing it. Then the question is why formalize it. And it's, I saw that Mary of Zostin, um, who writes for crisis group is a, is a really good

reporter on this was positing that it was a way to try to humiliate Netanyahu or embarrass him into more bloodshed because J.D. Vance was in town at the time. And Trump has said publicly that West Bank annexation is a red line because they're obsessed with the Abraham Accords. They want to codify the Abraham Accords and the other states in the region say that this is our red line on things like that in terms of formalizing our relationship with Israel. So here is J.D. Vance on the tarmac basically saying, why would the genocidal government of Israel do this while I was in town? Yeah, go ahead.

We'll do. Yeah. the West Bank vote yesterday that took place while you were in the country? Oh, yeah, that was weird. That was weird. I was sort of confused by that. Now, I actually asked somebody about it, and they told me that it was a symbolic vote, some symbolic vote to recognize or a symbolic vote to annex the West Bank. I mean, what I would say to that is when I asked about it, somebody told me that it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance. It was purely symbolic.

I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very strong. stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it, the West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that. But we certainly weren't happy about it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So that's when they, he says we're not happy about it. It's because of the Abraham Accords. Let's be clear. It's not because this administration has an iota of humanity towards the Palestinian people, they are, Trump's personal wealth is tied up in money with other Arab

states that do not want the West Bank annexation for selfish reasons, too. One, because the Israel is obviously deeply unpopular in these countries. If there's any semblance of democracy or like any, you know, discontent within their population about this, they might have to answer to it, even though many of these governments, of course, are incredibly authoritarian and undemocratic. But, too, because if it pisses off these governments, Trump can't make as much money as he wants when they're doing crypto deals in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. And, of course, all of these arms deals and other ventures with the Saudis. So that's what they're really upset about.

But we're happy that supposedly a line is being drawn there. But it's just so, I think it's weird. What do you mean weird? This has been the reality of, of course, the past two years, the past over 100 years. It's not weird. It's actually the most obvious outcome that could have been anticipated that Israel is going to try to formally annex the West Bank. One state is what they envisioned. Netanyahu held up a map at the United Nations showing that the West Bank was a part of Greater Israel.

I don't know who this is fooling, but he talks just, God, like he's like the most online young right-wing boy. And I think that's who they're targeting, by the way. With all the, they feel like they can sustain their political constituency with young men. So, but it doesn't translate in like his whiningness in, in when you hear him talk. Well, because it's weakness. They have to mask weakness on this, which is, it is all, the only thing that's different is the symbolism. of is this formally recognized or is it not? Because when you're waving through giant new settlements

and having people continually kicked out of homes, and the settlers, like was in the Jasper video, walking down people in their fields like the hills have eyes, like it doesn't matter, really, if you're not going to do anything to stop any of that. So, like, be insulted by it. But you're insulted because Israel right is doing what it always does, which is says,

all that land and no one's going to stop us and the reason that they have right and the reason that they're even protesting here i would argue is probably because they are much more interested in seizing the gaza strip and building this like capitalist casino thing that trump keeps talking about i mean he's brought jared kushner back into the fold and we played the clip of him at harvard around six months into the genocide talking about the value of the real estate on the gaza strip being a beachfront property. I mean, you see how just 50 miles north, Israelis are playing volleyball in the zone of interest country. And just down miles beneath them, a genocide is happening. And that coastal property is quite valuable to them. Although, interestingly, the yellow line,

the yellow line that Israel is drawing here, it's their farmland. that Israel had been occupying the more fertile areas right now. They pushed them up against the beach. Yep. So that is another, obviously, colonial tactic is to continue to push the occupying population into smaller and smaller territories. It makes them easier to starve again later.

So to translate that, their only concern there is that this might get in the way of the Abraham Accords efforts and the enrichment of Trump. and their buddies with their new Middle Eastern friends. This has nothing to do with protecting the Palestinian people. We'll continue to monitor this as well. But none of this is going to change unless we cut off arms and cut off support.

You know, you hear there was like some Zionist podcaster that was saying, we don't need you. Like insulting J.D. Dance, we didn't play it. but um no more iron dome no more none of that you want to try that sink or swim exactly i would love if the we had policy that you know followed through on those statements but they're so arrogant because they know that zionists have bought our politics here in the united states and even if they say that even if they act like they're strong without u.s support they need us the amount of hysterics you'd see if uh iron dome funding was significantly threatened uh i'd like

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majority.fm. Quick break and then we will be joined by Astead. Thank you. We are back and we are joined by a new host and editorial director at Vox and political analyst at CNN. Instead, welcome back to the show. Thank you for having me. I'm pumped to be here. I'm pumped to have you. Congratulations on leaving the New York Times. Would you describe this as your Jerry McGuire moment heard around the world?

Oh, you know, it was time. I mean, I really enjoyed working at the times. I've been there for seven years. I was 25 when I got there. My mom was telling me like, she was like recounting the day I got the job. And it made me remember like, you know, there are ways that I want to explore my own journalism past the premise of time subscriber. There's a whole new world out there in terms of media.

And I just thought at this moment earlier this year, I was like, if you do another election cycle here, you're like really capital letters instead of NYT. And I don't, I don't need to be that for my whole life. So I, you know, I'm glad to try to explore some new stuff. But the timing ended up being kind of comedically back to back with the Zora profile. But it was not, I would like you to know, that was not intentional. Okay. Good to know. Good to know. But I want to start with your profile of Zaraan Mamdani. I know that, you know, being New Yorkers were very focused on this race. I'm sure that there are some of the audience, you know, is a little sick of it. But I also just don't want to understate the significance of this race because of what it means for the Democratic Party, because of what it means for Democratic socialism or broadly. being introduced to the country, just tell us a little bit about your profile of Zorong because I even got like a text from my mom saying, I really liked it, which is, that's a big

deal because I'm trying to make him seem a little less scary to some boomers. Yeah, it was really, it was four times reader, you know, I was, no, I, it was fun to do. They have reached out to me on primary night right after he won and basically was like, you got till the election, kind of help us untangle this thing. And I had kind of seen it from afar, but I think like, you know, so much of my work has been about national stuff and also has been about what Democrats aren't doing and kind of places of lack of inspiration and the disconnect with working class folks. They actually really enjoyed the process of seeing a proof point of someone trying to model new things and trying to show hope and inspiration or at least a different model of what politics could look like. And so I think that it does have a lot of lessons, both for Democrats nationally, but I also just think about our politics more generally.

You know, the groups that Mamdani has been successful with, the ones who power that primary campaign, ones who are powering his lead in the general election, is not just your typical democratic socialist. I say this is someone who lives in kind of like Mamdaniville. His unique candidacy is that, you know, you're getting your young folks brought in, you're getting your more traditional leftist progressive,

but you're also getting, you know, my neighbors, like folks who have lived there for 40 years, people who feel pretty distant from Democrats, people who like Donald Trump, you know, first-generation folks who see no difference between Donald Trump and not no difference is a, it's not the right word, but they don't see a conflict between supporting someone like Donald Trump and also supporting someone like Zoran in the mayor's race. That's where he's really had his sauce in terms of expanding that left liberal coalition. And I really think kind of because of his opponents, Adams and Cuomo really seeding this, he's also been able to take up the anti-Trump. mantle too. And so even if you look across the candidates, he's the only one who's consistently, I mean, maybe Slewa, but more consistently has been talking about how the city pushes back against Donald Trump. And I think that's really been underrated also. The center has positioned itself

so much against just being against the left. They've actually ceded the thing that combines most Democrats right now, which is Trump's unpopular. Yeah, so much there. I want to back up to, I guess the 2024 when we last had you on in the aftermath of the election because your reporting especially given the outcome is people should go back and you know read what you were covering at the time about cost of living and you're kind of screaming as saying this needs to be taken seriously in ways that others weren't and that that was central to to Trump's kind of appeal. And then in the wake of his victory, Zoran Mandani went to the streets and started interviewing

folks about why they voted for him. And it was exactly what you're reporting indicated. And then you have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's district, like going towards, there were many, many voters that voted AOC and Trump on the same ballot, just to give an example of, like, the dynamic you were, you were witnessing. So let's just start in. 2024 after the election, how the aftermath of that has brought us to this moment almost a year later? Yeah, I mean, I think that's an important place to start. You know, we were on this

journey with our podcast The Run Up, and it was really about creating a record of what we thought a lot of people were really ignoring leading up to last election cycle. And, you know, I think that there were several things that started back in 21, 22, when, you know, a lot of people felt there was a legitimate inflation crisis, a legitimate immigration crisis, and felt like the Biden administration wasn't responding to it. It began, it continued as we culminated to the November race, where we were in North Carolina, seeing, you know, people who were the exact suburban district Democratic voter they needed a battleground state who wouldn't vote for them because they didn't take action supporting Palestinians. We were seeing these like steps along the way

of people's growing distaste with the party's actions. And I think even more so, distaste with the process that they didn't feel like ever brought them into the room. And so one of the things that I think I most brought up is like, we were at the Democratic National Convention's winter, the DNC's winter meeting in 2023 early, right after the midterms. And this was the time they were making the path easier for Biden. They were kind of telling everybody, it was all well and good. And we had spent the whole day just going through these folks being like, why don't voters deserve an open explanation about this?

Like, even if you do it, even if you want, you know, even if there's not some clear alternative, why aren't you really like forefront dealing with kind of the obvious critiques we're hearing from public? And they have really walked themselves off from saying the public had any say. And so one of the things I think is happening in the post-2020 for a moment. It's at minimum. There's a group of people who are motivated to change the party internally more than almost anything else. And so I think it's somewhat expressed in so on. I think you see it with other kind of more competitive races.

But I think this mostly happens outside of your traditional battleground midterms races, right? Those races are going to be about beating Republicans on the other side. There's a looming other fight that I think is building towards the Democratic presidential primary, which is a much more open question about who the party is. And that, I think, is an unfinished conversation that they started in 2019 and that primary, but basically collapsed it because COVID hit and it just became about beating Donald Trump, right? And so there was never a question about what an affirmative, democratic immigration policy looks like. There was never an open discussion about even when they talk about the economy and affordability.

Like, I think the left has a vision of what they mean about that. But I don't think there's been like a larger kind of part, like what does the part? party stand for. And so Donald Trump really, really ceased on that vacuum, right? It's much easier to make the she's for they, them, and not you when they don't know what she is for, right? And so as we, that was really consistent to the voters we were talking to. It wasn't a mass love of Donald Trump. It was like a recognition that he was diagnosing problems they thought were legitimate. And they thought the Democratic Party was not in a real conversation with them, right? And so I feel like what Zoran has done after, and I think a couple other candidates have done

this too, I don't even think it's strict ideological, it's basically bring them in reality, you know, if you're going to say, if you're going to, at this point in 2025, if you're not on TikTok, if you're not doing kind of non-traditional media, if you're not kind of leading from a place of acknowledging Israel's failure, particularly on the last couple years, a lot of Democratic voters, you're not even clearing the basic litmus test. to talk about the other stuff. And so I think that's been the recognition now is that it's not some side issue. It's actually the ways that you gain trust and authenticity have to come through certain

policy barriers. And I think that's becoming more clear. The lack of performance of small D democracy within the Democratic Party is also essential to the story that you're telling here. and what you're saying about not bringing even voters into the process or attempting to have that conversation. I think that part of also the lack of credibility on an issue like affordability is that democracy isn't just when you show up at the midterm elections and then two years later you show up in the general presidential election. It also has to be in terms of democracy of outcomes, right? Like that deals with affordability in when you're looking at people's economic situation, people don't feel like democracy works for them if they're not heard on like their basic cost of living situation.

And then there's the democracy internally in the party that's been entirely issued. And you can go back to Bernie Sanders in 2016, also in 2020, the coalescing behind Joe Biden where how do you go with Liz Cheney to friction? in Michigan with protect democracy, we're anti-authoritarian, et cetera, when you can't practice democracy internally in the party, that contradiction is also why we're here. Yeah, 100%. I mean, I tell people this, like, and it's easier to say now, but, you know, they were booing me for saying it then. Like, the, the democratic premise of reelection required only kind of news interested

people. Like, they weren't really trying to expand the tent. They were looking for the Nikki Haley voter, obsessed with the Nikki Haley. They were kind of assuming lack of interest and lack of engagement in the election. And so under that assumption, Liz Cheney and Nikki Haley become more valuable because you're basically saying we're only dealing with the kind of left, right center crowd, kind of as D.C. imagines. That was always ridiculous. That was always quite ridiculous. And the big disconnect they have is, you know, the obsession with kind of putting folks on that ideological scale, I think really is outdated.

So illusion, disillusion, news interested and not following news, I think are even more helpful distinctions than trying to put everybody in those left, right, center buckets. And so oftentimes I would be having these moments where so many of the people we were talking to who were upset with the process, who were, who hated both options. who wanted to kind of think differently, they wouldn't, like, call themselves centrist, though. You know, they wouldn't call themselves like Joe Manchin supporters, right? And so so many times, I think we project that if you don't like D and R, then that means you're in the center. And I think that's not true.

And I really think that's a reflection of a democratic system and process that has not now matched the diversity of thought in this country. And I honestly would say the diversity period in this country. So, you know, what we were doing was really trying to show how people were upset with having to sort themselves into buckets. They knew didn't fit them. They knew it. And so I think that's a different kind of framework than so much of our other kind of politics assumes, which is that Americans are just in are just, you know, there's a camp D and there's camp bar. And those are firmly opposed to one another.

I'm like, eh, I don't really think so. I think the process of our political system forces a sorting that increases that polarization. And the sorting that the Democratic Party has used has often been based on race. And a lot of that was shattered in this election to bring it back to Zoramandani. You have some voters of color who voted for Trump who are now voting for him or who voted for Trump and voted for AOC. And it's not just in New York. This is across the country. Like that assumption, there's some race.

involved in that assumption. They assume the same as they assume the same about Jewish voters in New York City. Oh, they must hate Zoron. Like, I mean, there's racism within the Democratic Party and bigotry or assumptions being made based on consultants. It's motivated reasoning. I get it. But like, that also has led us to this moment. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you can think about it in a lot of ways. Like, it's the passive way to think about it is like these are people who just understand these communities through poll numbers. And so of course they don't have the why. Of course they don't have these things because they're not thinking about them in a kind of 360 texture way. But I think what you're saying is true, too.

Like so much of what I think there's been a discussion post-election about how Democrats bring themselves to different places or bring themselves to spaces of young men and all these different groups. And I'm like, well, if you're too stuck up to think that these people have genuine value, you're never going to come to those places in a good way, right? And so some of it is a gut check about who matters. And I really think that the predominant thought of, you know, Democrats since the, I would say, like an Obama era, has been a sort of technocrat, debate class, hall monitor etal thing, where if the facts are on their side, they kind of just went, you know, in their head, they're like playing a fact-driven game. And I'm like, no, there's some vibes and some other stuff involved, too.

and you can't impose your version of the world on others, right? Like the Biden reaction to go back to inflation of 2021 was not to say, hey, people's concerns about the economy are correct. It was to say, Bidenomics is working and they should get over it. And then we get data two years later saying the exact opposite, that they were the wrong ones, right? And so I'm saying like, that speaks to the natural instinct of, I think, most political actors, which is not to take their fellow Americans at their word and not to trust them. but to impose a view that serves their own political purposes. Well, then you have now we'll get to the present day.

The Trump administration, I mean, they do the opposite. They hyper, hyper target their base. They're basically only speaking to their base these days. I mean, the diarrhea video on the no kings protesters is just for the base. Although we were showing J.D. Vance earlier and it's like the way he talks in real life, it's like he's posting for young men online. what it seems like that AI slot video was for where they're just like trying to rile up this constituency they feel is really important to them. But they do the opposite.

It's not a coordinated strategy, you know, is what I would say. Like to think about their relationship with their own folks, I think you need to think about different people. You know, like Donald Trump is not, you know, yes, there's one way to think about it saying like, you know, he's trying to execute his base concerns, whatever. But I think him and Stephen Miller are mostly concerned with an expansion of executive authority and a kind of framework shift of the presidency that insulates them from political backlash. I think it's important to see, like, in a different presidency, you can think about these midterms in a totally normal way. And I think there's a lot of signs in the Trump administration's actions that, you know, they might pay an electoral cost.

Like, people do not like what's happening with ICE. That is unpopular. People do not like what they did with Doge unpopular. You know, like there's there is tariffs massively unpopular, right? So I'm saying like there are legitimate things you can see as penalties that, you know, your normal politics brain would say would lead to Democrats winning and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But the difference between this administration is their effort is to make Congress less relevant itself, you know, is to shrink Congress. And Congress is going along with it, by the way. The Republicans are so beholden to him that they are giving their power and their authority up to him voluntarily in a variety of the recisions thing is insane they're saying

no matter what budget we pass yes he can do whatever he wants i'm saying is congress seeds their authority and the white house is making efforts to expand their authority then you should see the midterms as not necessarily the effort that's going to be the check or balance it might be in different administrations their goal the whole project 2025 effort is to exist outside of that check and balance. And we have two other branches of government right now, being Congress and the Supreme Court, who is encouraging those actions. And so I think it puts us in a different place when we think about, like, just the strict electoral politics. Because, you know, I'll have people come to me all the time and say, like, well, do Democrats have a chance to take back the house?

I'm like, yeah, maybe or whatever. You know, like, do, or do, you know, or is, you know, surely not everyone agrees with what Trump is doing. I'm like, absolutely. I don't think so. But at the same time, does that mean that's going to cause the type of electoral, like, the type of political backlash that will force him to change his actions? I'm very skeptical. And I think that to me is a structural question. Like, not, like, what is it? Like, 80-something percent of the seats in Congress aren't competitive. Like, we're still talking about such a small slice of active democracy that if I were the Democrats right now, I would be, I would blow up every rule, you know? Like, I would think I don't see how in this framework they exist as anything other than an occasional buttress to the Republic, to like conservatives, you know, I think there's such a structural advantage to write as in this current setup.

The, I mean, it's the gerrymandering fight is at, is at the core of it, right? But it's also the tail of what you're talking about. Like, the idea that that this Prop 50 effort is happening now, as opposed. to I don't know 10 years ago or whatever is like it's already over and now they're trying to mitigate the damage but the the point that you're making and the point that you're making is key because there has to be more discussion about creative avenues given the fact that yeah we'll have this prop 50 hopefully it passes in California but the Supreme Court we just had L.A. Mastal on earlier this week to talk about the gutting of the voting rights Act that appears imminent, where it seems like Republicans could, like, add up to 19 seats in the South by all but eliminating majority minority districts.

They, I mean, like, the arms race of redistricting is one that Republicans have more options to win, you know, like Prop 50 can happen and all of those things. I think Democrats, I see how they're embracing a more aggressive form of others. But I'm like, Republicans have more state legislatures they control and more up and they're and they just are more willing to follow the president's wins and so we're already seeing them make a big bush in indiana and like as even as those state lawmakers push back the trump like trump like political wing is pretty open about saying hey we'll try to we'll try to find challengers they're going to like put internal pressure on those folks they're right now fighting in Nebraska to take away that electoral um you know how

they do proportional, they give that one electoral vote. Yeah, to the place in Omaha. Like they were trying to get that switch last year. They'll probably have that switch come to the next election. Like, Republicans have been, you know, they took the Biden years to sit around and think what they're going to do. And they're much more, I mean, that's the big difference between first time and second time. There's no longer the team of rivals situation. You know, before, there were opposing interests to Donald Trump.

which increased the chaos, increase the leaks, and decrease the effectiveness. That is not true anymore. And so you're basically talking about different people trying to work under the prism of Stephen Miller and Trump's fiefdom rather than it is opposing that interest. And, I mean, we saw the amount of turnover in the first term that we're not seeing now. Exactly. It's all true believers. Yep. And they're all people that are either, you know, compromised by Trump. Trump, like, I would argue that Pete Higgs is having all those skeletons in his closet is not a coincidence in terms of leverage that a guy like Trump wants over somebody or their absolute maniacs who are podcasters that are now the heads of the FBI and it'll never get better for them at this moment. So go all in.

I mean, at this point, the folks sees a simple owe themselves to him, right? Like, these aren't people who kind of have individual political cachet. And so that is part of the Trump relationship is to hold that power. But, you know, I really, I really just find it, like, I really find it such a bummer because it's not ever like, even when we were out there all last year, Americans were in some agreement about the solutions Donald Trump was proposing, you know. And so it always felt that there was this looming issue because what his governing strategy versus his political diagnosis are vastly different. And so that's the, that's the, that was always the like the saddest part to me. It's because you could see this coming and you would pose to people like, well, how will the tariffs improve your life? And they'll be like, well, he just won't do it. They'll just wave it away, right?

It was never actually about what he was saying on the stage he would do. It was about what he was saying was wrong right now. And so I get that expression of frustration, particularly as Democrats did, you know, their foolishness over the last several. years, but that's so, it just felt like we were so robbed of an actual contest that was forward looking and we're now paying the consequences. And a competitive primary would have allowed for there to be that. To be more forward looking. And then that would have also been the performance of democracy for the public because that would have given them a chance to weigh in. And that's what, you know, part of, one of the many reasons we're here today. But like, just to return to

what you're saying about the Trump administration and Stephen Miller and Trump together trying to insulate their political actions from democracy and making sure that the executive branch can act with impunity outside of Congress. Steve Bannon is just saying it here. This clip made the rounds this morning. This is from yesterday. but let's just take a listen to Steve Bannon outright saying that Trump will be president in 2028 and we're going to disavow or we're disinterested in the Constitution on this front. We're going to try to circumvent the 22nd Amendment.

You don't need to hear me say it. This is what Steve Bannon said. Well, he's going to get a third term. So Trump 28, Trump is going to be president of 28. and people just ought to get accommodated with that. So what about the 22nd Amendment? There's many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we'll lay out what the plan is. But there's a plan, and President Trump will be the President in 28.

We had longer odds in 16 and longer odds in 24 than we got in 28. And President Trump will be the President of the United States, and the country needs him to be President of the United States. We have to finish what we started. And the way we finish it to Trump, Trump is a vehicle. I know this will drive you guys crazy, but he's a vehicle of divine providence. We got, we got the, he's going to basically say he's the closest thing to a God, and that's why, you know, all our evangelical supporters treat him like one. I mean, so it let's, I don't even really know fully what to say about this, except, okay, like, Bannon is not in the administration.

Yeah, I mean, Bannon is. But they talk apparently every day, and he, clearly has Trump's ear on many things. Right. To me, Bannon's big, you know, to me, Bannon's use in understanding the world is that he is a, he is kind of a visionary of Maga, I would say. And I would say, even I think about a couple years ago, when he was at CPAC talking about how, you know, how he thinks that this ends with, you know, physical troops on the ground and America expanding its kind of reach.

Like, we're seeing those steps happen too, right? Like, there are ways that Steve Bannon is often a signpost or of the future. So I don't know if, like, I don't know if the, you know, we don't have like, my sense of the reporting is that they always, they want us to think that possibility exists of 2028, but we don't know if, you know, we don't know the seriousness of it. Yeah. All I'm saying is, like, by the time we'll get to that point,

the effort of the second term will already have changed the game because Donald Trump as a president will have expanded his reach past, so I'm saying in a governing way, past anything that we've seen before. And so I think they're going to use those expansions of power to justify any type of political possibility going forward. And I'm saying that's what connects the domestic actions and the actions abroad. They want the legal fight about his authority. They wrote the laws on purpose for that fight because they think that, you know,

whether it's unitary executive theory or plenary power, whatever you want to call it, like Stephen Miller's core belief is that Donald Trump can do whatever he wants and they need to prove that. And if even if you have the battle, you have a shot. I mean, the Supreme Court has proven that over and over again.

I would not bet against them. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's, it's unclear to me what the guardrails are. It's unclear to me what the checks are. Like, the public and all that stuff can be one. But it doesn't seem to me as if the structures have shown any willingness to stop them. If you have the right Heritage Foundation lawyers or whatever, and like this Supreme Court will give you, hear your case and will almost certainly give you at least some more power. They may not go all the way, but they'll tweak.

to allow for Donald Trump to have more power. And that just, like, I guess, brings me to ice. And you spoke about how unpopular these ice raids are. The impact on these communities, I feel like can't be overstated. What we're seeing, just terrorizing communities that are usually in urban areas. They're usually black or brown or poor. These are communities that were already over-policed by local police. And it occurs to me that this is very much, actually, it doesn't occur to me.

I've been making this point a bunch. But this is like the federalization of broken windows policing and decades of it that we've been seeing across the country from, you know, targeting people because of loose gang associations and putting them into databases that they can't get out of without due process. It's very similar in like what they're doing with immigrants. And you don't need to prove criminality. You don't necessarily need to prove that anything has been done wrong. We're just going to round you up and put you in the system because you are of this class and because you are of this ethnicity. Yep.

And a good example of what I'm talking about in terms of the distinction between problem, diagnosis, and solution. I mean, I'm from Chicago. I remember the big complaints about the surge of Venezuelan migrants over the last couple of years. But I think that's much different than, you know, basically unleashing a pseudo-paramilitary force. And you're seeing the reactions to that. nothing has united people more than pushing back against that stuff. I was with Mamdani at the West Indian Day parade. And, you know, one of the reasons, you know, people were kind of skeptical that maybe he would

win over some of these voters and stuff. And I'm like, they see that only as like black and race and whatever. He goes in there and he talks about his experience with immigration and how he understands more intimately what needs to be done to keep those communities safe and his specific focus. And he talks about a specific focus on black immigrants and blah, blah, blah, blah. And that really hits there. And so I'm saying both politically and policy, you know, Donald Trump, I think, has overreached in a lot of different areas. And it's created space for people if they want to stand up for those communities.

But all I'm saying is like, at some point, Democrats will have to answer, national Democrats will have to answer what they think should happen about deportations, what they think should happen about. But you're saying, I'm saying they will have to answer that question at some point. But right now, they can be against what Donald. Trump is doing because there is universal disapproval. But I would argue, though, said that they could be a much more potent opposition if they took the Mamdani approach of making a positive case for immigration, but they won't do it. They won't do it. Not all of them believe it. You know, I'm like, that's not even, that's not like us, you know,

I don't think that's like a universal belief they're scared to share. I think they're legitimately split. And so that's what I say. But that's a major problem. Like we, I, I grew up with this notion. learning about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and the immigrants are what make this country great. Like, that is, should, the idea that that's civic education can't be tapped into by the opposition party is political malpractice. But the, but the position of choice is to say Statue of Liberty while you're still conducting the deport, as Obama style deportation rates while using the, while using the language of supporting Democrats, we're supporting immigrants. All I'm saying is that that combo has gotten a little exposed. And so whatever they come up with next, I think will look much more like a just legitimate affirmative embrace of immigration is good or a more moderate approach where they're being more comfortable with saying like, okay, we're down with these means of ICE or this means of deeper, or whatever.

But I don't think the kind of say one thing, do another, which is what they've been doing. is going to last through that next primary. Lastly, before I let you go, I would love just your take on the brewing fight over leadership on the Democratic Party. I mean, Schumer's is like a dead man walking, it feels like, and it seems like he knows it because this looming primary challenge from AOC,

it wouldn't be till 2028, but it's just like an albatross around his neck. And he really messed up by capitulating in the spring And Hakeem Jeffries, I still want primaries, obviously, because of APEC money and because of all of this. But he at least seems to have the support of the rank and file in the House. I'm not, he would be, I think the only way you dislodge him from leadership is beating him in a primary. But even zooming out from that instead, what is your take on how the Democratic base is eager to change over leadership? Yeah, I mean, the fervor for a new perversion of the party.

is real. And I think that's true beyond just left, right? I think No King's a great example about like a kind of hardened center Democrat, which I think is even more open to the language of progressives than they were before and, you know, has really showed the party and kind of forced them into a posture of fight in a way that they were not doing earlier this year. I think we all know that. I guess what I think in terms of the leadership fight specifically It's like, you know, what is the next version? Like right now, Schumer and Jeffries represent resistance, but they don't represent opposing vision.

You know, they don't represent some other version of what Democrats stand for, much more than they just stand against what he's doing. I think that the true leaders of the party will offer both. And it will be interesting to me to see if, It is my sense. And this could, this is somewhat New York, too. But Jeffrey's really, even maybe more so than Schumer, I think did himself a disservice with this Zoron stuff. And so even if you're a young person, I just don't get what like, I don't get, I would not, in my opinion, like be so far positioned against the growing lane of the party, you know.

And so I get why he's doing that because he's trying to keep his rank and file involved. He's thinking about battleground races. He's thinking about donors. But I just think it makes him more ripe of a target to be the face of like the ways Democrat leadership has been a little more inadequate now. And so you see some of these early midterm candidates not committing to backing him as caucus leader.

And I think that's going to be an interesting early step to see how much leeway he has. Because even Pelosi by the end, you know, everyone was kind of openly saying there should be a change in leadership. And she was okay with that, you know, because you knew that you kind of had to do that to win your race is. I don't think, I don't think Jeffries has enough clout internally to withstand if that becomes the national kind of, if that becomes what a lot of primary candidates are saying, if they start embracing the talk of new leadership. And so I think that's going to be something

we can even start tracking within the next year or so, is to say, those main red to blue candidates, those statewide candidates, how are they talking about leadership will be a clearer reflection of the pressure they're feeling or not feeling from base. Like, come 2028, AOC will do what she's going to do. Like, it'll be president or Schumer, we'll find out. And, you know, I'm saying earlier than that, I think the public pressure might start getting some clues that Schumer and Jeffries have passed their time. And there's also this fight in Schumer's involvement and Gillibrand.

as the head of the DSEC in... Over in Maine, Maine, Grand Platner. But it's not just Maine. It's also Michigan, where they're putting up Haley Stevens who's just like openly courting A-PAC money and is probably, I don't know, I haven't looked at the polls, but might be lagging behind McMorrow at this point. Like the candidates that they are pushing to Schumer and Gillibrand

and the DSTC are actively against the base's wishes, which I think accelerates what you're saying. talking about absolutely i don't think that i think the the they're so used to leaning on electability and just telling people it has to be somebody and they won't it's not going to work like that anymore and so that's not to say that you know a more moderate candidate can't win but they would have to win more so than the party i think can impose them just just you know forced them to the front and so you get what i'm saying like i think no i do because zoron has proven you can if you can prove your electable as a left wing

Democrat. That's part of what the momentum you create. Like people want to be associated with a winner and the Democrats have done a great job for years of basically saying a Bernie-style populist politic could never could never win. No, no, no. But that illusion's shattered and that is why they're falling apart. And it's shattering

even without it being left. I'm saying someone like Jasmine Crockett would not be, I would consider a leftist, but would totally break the rules by running and messing up that Texas Senate race or that or there's going to be some ways that stardom has shifted and that the desire for even for for the base Democrats who want a clear expression of fight or a clear expression of lefty values or whatever like the fact that Seth Moulton is announcing he's not taking APEC money is the sign you know what I'm saying?

That means the median has shifted you know and I think that that we're on the beginning stages of that Not yet. Well, Seth Herndon, I could talk to you for even longer, but I've got to let you go. Congratulations on your new position at Vox. Everybody check out your work over there, and I can't wait to see what you come out with in the coming weeks. Appreciate your time today. Appreciate you having me. Have a great day, y'all.

Thanks, you too. All right, folks, with that, we're probably going to just wrap up the free part of the show and head into the fun half. Before we go, though, we have a limited edition, shirt, merch, hat situation. I could have said that more cleanly. But the Emajority report, hats and shirts are back. Now, we had a clay shirt that we ended up just doing gray. So this is actually a new version of the E majority shirts. this charcoal gray one.

But we kept the blue. We got the charcoal gray. I think it looks pretty sweet. The gray hat is the best majority report hat, the gray Emma majority. The gray M majority report. I'm glad you say that. I totally agree with that.

You can get that one. You can get the blue shirt. I mean, we also have the max left hats up there. What does it mean pre-orders? I mean... Oh, yes. I should know. I should say that. If you can pre-order it through...

I should have the... in front of me sometime in November we'll ship mid-November it looks like yeah but I have where okay so basically okay here we go the pre-order runs through Monday November 3rd and orders

are going to be shipped before Thanksgiving so head over to shop dot majority report radio.com if you would like the limited edition and majority report shirts Matt what's happening on Left Reckoning Yeah, left reckoning, we had a great show with Dan O'Sullivan talking about the mob organized crime

and how it is the sort of hidden constituency and sort of the Maga Coalition, Al Capone, the Cray twins over in the UK, so check that a really fun discussion with Dan. Awesome. All right, we will take your calls. We will read your IMs in the fun half. See you there. Emma, please. Well, I just, I feel that my voice is sorely lacking in the majority report.

Wait, what? Look, Sam is unpopular. I do deserve a vacation at Disney World. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome Emma to the show. It is Thursday. I don't think you need to take over Sam. Yes, please, sir, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pause you right there. Wait, what?

You can't encourage Emma to live like this. And I'll tell you why. So it's offered a twerk, sushi, and poker with the boys. Twerp, sushi, and poker with the boys Who was offered a twer? Yeah, sushi and poker with the boys What? Twerp, sushi and poker

Tim's upset? Twerp, sushi and poker with the boys. It was offered a twer, sushi, and... That's what we call the biz. Twirl? Sushi and poker with the boys. Right. Twerp, sushi and polo.

We're going to get demonetized. I just think that what you did to Tim Poole was mean. Free speech. That's not what you did. we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about it because I think you're responsible. I probably am in a certain way, but let's get to the meltdown here.

Dwerp? Ugh. Sushi and poker with the boys. Oh my God. Wow. Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my fucking mind. Someone's offered a twerk? Yeah. Sushi and poker with the boys. Logic. Twerp. Sushi and poker with the boys. Boy, boy, boy. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Dwerth. I think I'm like a little kid. Dwerth. I think I'm like a little kid. Add this debate.

7,000 times. A little kid. I think I'm like a little care. I think I'm like a dude. I'm losing my fucking noise. Some people just don't understand. So I'm not trying to be a dip right now, but like, I absolutely think the U.S. should be providing me with a wife and kids. That's not what we're talking about here.

It's not a fun job. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Offered it. That's a real thing.

That's a real thing. Real thing. That's the twer. A real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Logan has done it again. Offered a twer.

That's a real thing. That's a poker with the boy. I think he might be blown out of proportion. Real thing. That's a poker with the boys. Offered a twer. That's a real thing. That's a poker.

Let's go, Joe. Twur. Sushi and poker with the boy. Take it easy for a twerk. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker with the boys. Elusel.

Too. Deluded. You don't have a clue as to what's going on. Live, YouTube. Sam has like the way to the world on the shoulders. Sam doesn't want to do this show anymore. It was so much easier. When the majority report was just you, you were happy.

Let's change the subject. Rangers and Nick's feeling great. Now, shut up. Don't want people saying reckless things on your program. That's one of the most difficult parts about this show. This is a pro-killing podcast. I'm thinking maybe it's time we bury the hatchet. Left is best.

Violet. Don't be foolish, and don't fucking tweet at me, and don't get changed. The way that I just cucked, all these people, love it. That's where my heart is, so I wrote my honor's thesis about it. Oh, she wrote an anesthesia. I guess I should hand the main mic to you now. You are to the right of the unformed policy. We already fund Israel, dude.

Are you against us? That's a tougher question. I have an answer to you. Incredible. I Bumblers. Emma Viglin, absolutely one of my favorite people. Actually, not just in the game, like, period.