The Majority Report with Sam Seder - 3671 - Trump Salvages His Iran War Defeat; New York's Change Primary w/ Mouin Rabbani, Astead Herndon

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

It's Fun Day Monday On today's program: California has declared a state of emergency over the warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The fire has been raging for five days no...w, releasing a black cloud of toxic smoke and destroying 85 million pounds of frozen food. Lineage Logistics, the company responsible for this disaster, has 55 workplace safety violations, 77 regulatory infractions and over $5M in unpaid penalties. Mouin Rabbani, Middle East analyst, co-editor of Jadaliyya and non-resident fellow with the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, joins the show to discuss what Trump's loss in Iran means for the Middle East. For more from Mouin consider subscribing to his eponymously titles Substack. Astead Herndon, Editorial director at Vox and host of the podcast America, actually, joins the program for a conversation about the tomorrow's primaries in New York and their implications nationally. In the Fun Half: Political strategist Morris Katz speaks on MS NOW about the importance of progressive Democrats keeping their campaign promises otherwise it undercuts the credibility and makes it harder for other progressives to win elections. Katz uses the example of Antonio Reynoso claiming he wouldn't accept real estate money and then turns around and accepts donations from big real estate. On a hostile roundtable, Faiz Shakir defends the progressive wing of the democrat party for offering material solutions to the scarcity crisis. Lindsey Graham is eating crow after lobbying for an attack on Iran for decades only to get his wish and have the U.S. lose. Now Graham is desperately trying to figure out how to stay in Trump's inner circle whilst pushing to continue the combat. Patrick Bet-David claims he was approached by major money guys to gauge his interest in being installed as a leader of Iran. Bill Maher is offended that Zohran Mamdani has not accepted an invitation to Real Time. All that and more. Legal Defense Fund for MN Anti-ICE Organizers To connect and organize with your local ICE rapid response team visit ICERRT.com The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. 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 AM Quickie 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: DELETEME: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to www.joindeleteme.com/MAJORITY and use promo code MAJORITY at checkout. BLUELAND: Get 15% off your first order by going to Blueland.com/MAJORITY SUNSET LAKE CBD:  Use the coupon code FS26 to save 25% on all full-spectrum CBD Gummies at SunsetLakeCBD.com. The sale ends June 27th at midnight Eastern time Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey 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.  

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You are listening to a free version of the Majority Report. Support this show at join the Majority Report.com and get an extra hour of content daily. Majority Report with Sam Cedar. It is Monday. June 22nd, 2006. My name is Sam Cedar. This is the five-time award-winning majority report. We are broadcasting live.
Starting point is 00:00:31 from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America. Downtown Brooklyn, USA. On the program today, Muin Rubani, Middle East analyst, co-editor of Jayaaya and non-resident fellow for the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies on the Iran War deal. Excursion.
Starting point is 00:01:01 excursion. Ben Astid Hernan. Herndon. Sorry. Editorial director at Vox. Hosts of the podcast, America, actually.
Starting point is 00:01:12 On the New York State primaries tomorrow, particularly those taking place in and around Comey corridor. All this. Oh, headlines.
Starting point is 00:01:23 Sorry. Take two days off and forget it. Ron says Major progress. in talks last night as traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is still at a trickle. Roadmap achieved as the lower level technical negotiations begin. No word on the latest Israeli attempt to torpedo talks.
Starting point is 00:01:50 Meanwhile, just as Matt leads, Kier Starmor steps down as UK Prime Minister. Hmm, our secret agent. Trump's reflecting. pool has become a biohazard. And kudos to Senator Kristen Gillibrand's son. Just graduated college this week. Manged to raise $30 million to launch a new financial derivative market. Wow.
Starting point is 00:02:18 That quickly, huh? Doesn't make me feel so great the day after Father's Day. That kid's going to be camp counselor. Trump endorsed far-right millionaire wins in Columbia presidential election. new report Tulsi Gabbard's entire career has been dictated step by step by her cult leader and no not Donald Trump a different one shout out to Carrie Howley who'd been doing that reporting like eight years ago U.S. attacks on boats over 60 as the latest kills two and leaves six survivors lastly the Trump regime to end aid or I should say to end AIDS funding to South Africa, presumably now that all of the white refugees have been led into this
Starting point is 00:03:11 country. All this and more on today's majority report. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, it is... Fun day, Monday, Monday. Thank you to Matt Binder for filling in for me on Thursday so I could go to the Knicks parade. I was able to get into the VIP area, and it was pretty fun. It was pretty fun.
Starting point is 00:03:31 I mean, I posted these pictures, so I got to see, like, the whole ceremony and everything. It was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. Yeah, that's the problem with the Knicks, this whole VIP thing. Whatever. It's not a big deal. There's no problems with the Knicks, actually. In fact, they're both making me happy on a basketball level and serving as socialist and
Starting point is 00:03:52 collectivist propaganda, which you don't seem to value. But I care about the movement. I saw Momdani's speech, and I have to say, I, it was a great speech and it almost made me excited about the next. What was even more exciting is that Jim Dolan got booed so badly and I was actually sitting next to Stuffy and he goes, he never recovered after that point. And that is where he just completely was so rattled. He thought that we would all forget after you won a championship. No use surveillance, psycho billionaire. We still hate you.
Starting point is 00:04:27 There you go. That was fun. Yes. All right. Before we get into what's going on with Iran and these elections, there is a fire that has been raging in L.A., in Boyle Heights. It's on in East L.A. And it is at a, I don't know what you call this, a facility, a factory, a warehouse. Yeah, it's a warehouse. cold one and apparently it's it's owned by this company linear lineage logistics they own this warehouse they have like dozens of violations they have workplace safety violations and they have over
Starting point is 00:05:11 five million dollars in unpaid penalties and they were responsible for a disaster in 2024 they had a fire that burned for multiple months and they still have not been held accountable here here's this report from l.a The shelter-in-place order is in effect right now in a Los Angeles neighborhood where a massive warehouse fire erupted yesterday. The new order is because ammonia is in the smoke from the warehouse being vented out. It could impact people with breathing difficulties. And Hunter Sauerz has community reaction for us. It literally started exploding.
Starting point is 00:05:47 Like you could hear the explosions inside, like ocean was like, boom. Fear and frustration. It was bound to happen. This is not the first time that it happens, actually. As time lapse video shows the fire, it's. explode over the Los Angeles skyline, spreading like a storm cloud for miles on end. That's when nearby residents knew they had to go. Because you could see the flames from the edge of the building.
Starting point is 00:06:08 It's terrible. You could just see like a bunch of smoke, like a bunch of black smoke. And I was like anywhere. Worried because problems like this seem to be happening more frequently, especially for lifelong resident Elsa Lemus, who made it out with her bird and family and remembers the last time. The same building went up in flames. I've lived here 58 years. I've lived here born and raised, lived here all my life. Nothing has ever happened.
Starting point is 00:06:32 But they big these big commercial buildings. They bring them into residential areas. And this is what happens. Danielle Medina agrees. She rushed to her grandparents house from work when she stepped outside and could see the smoke plume from miles away. It's just a result of, you know, putting these type of buildings so close. And I just feel so bad. Their main concern is a long-term impact to their health. And it's scary. It's really, really scary. And when we talk about what's in the air, take a look. We've been here for about two hours now and just within that time frame. This is all of the particles people are breathing in. All that's going to be going into your eyes, your nose, your mouth, into your lungs.
Starting point is 00:07:08 ER, Dr. Joshua Part Now says the effects depend on a number of factors, including how long people with sensitive systems are exposed to toxic chemicals. Guaranteed tonight in our hospital, we'll see people that come in with something either as simple as some eye irritation or they'll have something. more serious, like an asthma attack or an opesia, chronic bronchitis attack, and that can be, you know, that can be life-threatening. Many immediately evacuated the area but weren't allowed back to their home for hours and had nowhere to go. Now they're worried, it won't be safe when they return. They're worried, they're wondering what's going to happen. Everybody's like scared. Like this, many of these AI data center stories, this is also an environmentally, environmental racism story. It's a heavily Latino area. And that's 85.
Starting point is 00:07:56 million pounds of frozen food in this 500,000 square foot warehouse, and they've been unable to put it out for days. Newsom and Karen Bass had to declare a state of emergency, but it's important. I know in November, Marissa Roy is going to be on the ballot for city attorney, and she's at least, she's promising to hold them accountable and open an investigation here. So just important to get that out, because we can be a little New York focused here in the, you know, Brooklyn studio. This fire has been going on for now five days, and they don't expect to get it under control for another couple at least.
Starting point is 00:08:39 And all you've got to do is watch that segment and realize they didn't put this in Beverly Hills. Weird. So weird. Weird. In a moment, we're going to be talking to Muin Rubani about the latest that is going to the ongoing Iran saga, if you will. And then Stead Herndon will be here to talk about the New York State primaries.
Starting point is 00:09:05 First, a word from our sponsors. I don't know if you've ever like, I mean, I've thought about this quite a bit over the years. I really should be doing something to protect myself from people who want to do me harm, stalkers, whatever. You know, we have a job where we irritate some people in the, and over the years I've been doing this. I have occasionally gotten some letters and stuff like that. And I don't know, maybe it was 10 years ago. Early on in this iteration, the majority report, I started using Delete Me. And Delete Me is a service.
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Starting point is 00:12:05 Dot com slash majority. The code is majority. We'll put that in the podcast and YouTube descriptions. Also sponsoring the program, if you've been a listener for any extended period of time, you know I was on a mission for the past couple years to get rid of. much plastic in my life as possible. And I made some big strides. I'm just like thinking about what ends up in my recycling.
Starting point is 00:12:33 And plastic is very low in the list. It's mostly just like cans of, well, can I say spin drift? It doesn't matter. Seltzer water cans. And here is the big change. And I also think I probably minimize microplastics. they land in your body. I'm not going to talk about where.
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Starting point is 00:15:08 Now, quick break. We come back, Mouin Rabani. We are back. Sam Cedar. Emma Vigland on the majority report. It is a pleasure to welcome back to the program, Mouin Rubani, Middle East analyst, co-editor of Jadalia, and a non-resident fellow with the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies. Mouin, thanks again for joining us. It's very good to be with you. Thank you for having me.
Starting point is 00:16:55 So it feels like things are changing every eight hours in terms of the Iran-U.S. negotiations, or I should say there's a slight twist every eight hours. Maybe nothing is changing. Yes. Let's just take a step back. Start with some basic premises about how the Iranians and the United States are sitting. Like what has brought them to this moment, the major premises, if you will. Well, to take a step back, as you suggested, on April.
Starting point is 00:17:33 the 8th, the U.S. and Iran concluded a ceasefire through primarily Pakistani mediation. That ceasefire ended the fighting, but it didn't resolve any of the underlying issues, particularly for the United States. And here I'm referring to the precipitous rise in energy costs, the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping and so on. And so Washington was essentially faced with two options. It could either conclude a diplomatic agreement with Iran, the terms of which would be substantially more disadvantageous to the United States than the 2015 agreement that the first Trump administration unilaterally repudiated,
Starting point is 00:18:25 or it would need to commit massive military resources, many of which it doesn't really possess, and others of which it is unwilling to commit to a renewal of full-scale hostilities in the hope of achieving the original war aims. And most people have pointed out that this was very unlikely to happen. Ultimately, the U.S. chose for diplomacy. And so what we had in mid-June
Starting point is 00:18:54 was the conclusion of a U.S.-Iranian memorandum of understanding, which lays the basis for negotiations over the subsequent 60 days. Everyone who has looked at this, particularly people who have previously been involved in U.S. Iranian negotiations, say that the possibility that a final agreement is going to be reached within the 60-day period is at best absolute zero. But we do now have the basis for diplomacy, and the likelihood is that if this agreement, holds that it will be indefinitely extended while the U.S. and Iran engage in various exchanges seeking to put a permanent end to this war and perhaps even normalized relations between their
Starting point is 00:19:46 two states. The main sticking point at present is Lebanon, because Israel, which was pointedly excluded from the negotiations by the United States and Iran, because it is seen. as the main spoiler, hell-bent on continuing this war, is using Iran, arguably with U.S. support to try to weaken Iran's regional influence and from Israel's perspective, hoping to provoke Iran to the point that the war can resume. So far, the U.S. has stuck to its guns, and the most recent and most positive development is that the U.S. and Iran have agreed on the establishment of what they're terming a deconfliction cell to seek to impose a ceasefire on Iran and thereby expand the space for diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.
Starting point is 00:20:46 Iran has shown that they will, though, if the MOU is violated by Israel as it relates to Lebanon, that they will respond. and they'll suspend it and then they will basically show, well, we will bomb or we will withdraw from negotiations. They have strengthened clearly their position since Trump launched this war months ago because they seem quite confident in their ability to fold Hezbollah and Israel's incursions into southern Lebanon into these negotiations. Talk a little bit about the strength of their position and what that indicates.
Starting point is 00:21:26 Well, as you may recall, in the original nuclear agreement of 2015 that was unilaterally renounced by the first Trump administration in 2018, there was a so-called snapback function that would allow the United States to reimpose international sanctions on Iran without requiring the authorization of the Security Council to do so. The main result of the current war is that Iran now has a lever that is much more powerful than the theoretical threat of a nuclear weapon, should Iran ever decide to possess one. And that is, of course, the control, the unprecedented control has established over the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime choke point, particularly given its significance to global energy markets and the bi-brose. products of the hydrocarbon industry. Iran has committed to allowing commercial shipping to once again transit the Strait of Wormuz, but now Iran has its own snapback function, which it can impose at will also without requiring security counsel or other international authorization. And basically what it's saying to the United States is that according to the first article of the memorandum of understanding, there is a permanent ceasefire, cessation of hostilities throughout the region,
Starting point is 00:23:00 and that article specifically mentions Lebanon. In other words, this is the test of the entire agreement. And if Israel continues its aggression against Lebanon, then Iran will simply snap back control over the Strait of Hormuz, and this is exactly what it's done. And the background to this is, is that Iran feels emboldened. It feels that it has emerged as the strategic victor of the latest war. And this is a view shared by most independent analysts, that the result of this war has been to confront the United States with problems that previously didn't exist for Washington in the region or globally,
Starting point is 00:23:45 and that it has allowed Iran to considerably strengthen its regional and geopolitical. political power. It seems to me the next 60 days are sort of a race between the, I mean, from what I've read, we are 60 days away from like starting to have a genuine oil crisis around like what we had in 73, where we're going to have spot shortages or massive spikes in prices because the draw down from the world's strategic reserves will be
Starting point is 00:24:27 down, we'll have no more. And then there'll be an ongoing daily basis, 20% less coming out a world's oil supply. It seems to be like it's a race between
Starting point is 00:24:42 the U.S. thinking like we can rebuild these strategic reserves over the next 60 days. And Iran, saying like we need to get as much money back into our economy over those 60 days. But at the end of those 60 days, it seems to me that in Iran at that point could start to charge a fee. They're negotiating with Oman right now as to how they'll handle that. But it also feels like Iran at that point can just be like, okay, it's going to snap back.
Starting point is 00:25:15 We're shutting down the Strait of Hormuz again. And you can't do anything more to us than you had tried. before. Like, this is just the way it is, and we'll wait out another, whatever, you got 30 days more of reserves because of that, then fine. I mean, is that more or less what's going on here? Because if I'm Iran, why would I trust the United States at this point? We have bombed them. We killed their negotiators. Like, yeah. Well, not only are you correct, but the situation is actually much more serious than the one you presented because world energy markets are not like a light switch that you turn on and off.
Starting point is 00:25:55 You know, when this war began, the strategic reserves were there, as you mentioned. There was a lot of oil on its way to market out at sea. But what's happened during the war is not only has there been no further shipment of energy, There's also been no shipment of essential ingredients for, for example, fertilizers that are vital for agriculture throughout the world. Their energy facilities have been shut down or damaged, and in some cases they could take several years to once again attain their full capacity. So many of the effects of the war are either only beginning. to be felt or will be felt in the coming months. Look at, for example, flight prices and so on.
Starting point is 00:26:50 And so this place is Iran in an even stronger position. Again, you know, it does have now this snapback function. And the difference with the U.S. snapback under the nuclear agreement is that it's something that can essentially only be used once. Iran theoretically can open and close a Strait of Hulamuz as all. often as it desires. But having said that, I do think Iran's preference is for a constructive engagement with Washington, for a verifiable agreement, and for one that addresses Iran's core concerns, the sanctions regime, and end to Israeli and U.S. aggression, and so on.
Starting point is 00:27:37 But, you know, because from Iran's perspective, the United States has repeatedly shown itself to be a thoroughly dishonest, duplicitous, unreliable negotiating partner that considers its commitments optional rather than mandatory, it will not hesitate to use this newfound role in this trade of Hormuz as leverage to ensure that the U.S. meets its, meets its commitment. But the key issue in these 60 days is not that anything is going to be resolved, but whether the U.S. and Iran can agree on a framework in which negotiations will continue and in which actual issues are going to be addressed and eventually resolved, as opposed to once again, for example, serving as camouflage for the U.S. to replenish its military supplies. and launch a new attack. What many people looking at this have said that in view of, you know, the U.S. essentially no longer having a military option against Iran,
Starting point is 00:28:49 and in view of the very significant domestic challenges that Iran is facing in terms of reconstruction and economic development and so on, let's not forget the widespread protests throughout Iran late of December of last year, in January of this year, that both parties now actually have an interest in making disagreement work, and both parties actually have an interest in ensuring that neither Israel nor any other party is able to sabotage their diplomacy. Well, just to follow up on that, because it seems to me that the United States has very little to salvage at this point, outside of like, we just got to make sure that the
Starting point is 00:29:33 world economy is not wrecked. Iran seems to me is pursuing what they've pursued for at least, you know, since the wake of 9-11 when they made an overture to the Bush administration through the Swiss to essentially get to where they want to get now with the sort of normalization and join the world economy. Is the, are you suggesting that both those parties may be motivated enough? that they would ignore Israel, let's say, continuing to bomb Lebanon. Like, does the, no, okay, because explain that dynamic because I'm not sure why, you know, the narrative that we're told in the United States raised as small children is that Iran funds Hezbollah just because they love the idea of terrorism. And, you know, that's just, that's their nature.
Starting point is 00:30:31 Essentially, they just love terrorism. And so they fund Hezbollah, which just happens to attack Israel. And to bolster just your question, Trump had just called the Iranians rational over the weekend, which is a very, it's a departure from decades of what Sam is talking about. They're irrational and motivated by religious insane can't be dealt with, etc. Yeah. And this is probably not a reference to Mike Huckabee or P. Exf. Right.
Starting point is 00:31:00 Look, I think just to answer the broader point raised first, I think it would be fair to say that for the United States, this diplomatic engagement is essentially an exercise and damage control to salvage what can be salvaged and to save orange face, essentially, if you will. Iran is looking at this very differently. Iran is not so much looking to minimize its losses, but to generate achievements that it has not been able to achieve before in diplomacy with the United States and the Europeans. And so that's, I think, the fundamental imbalance in this agreement, in this engagement, if you will. The key issue here is,
Starting point is 00:31:57 that seen from Israel's perspective, any diplomatic engagement with Iran, any political agreement with Iran is a strategic failure, if not a catastrophe as Iranian, as Israeli commentators have been describing it. And so Iran, rather Israel, is using the Lebanese arena to increase the pressure on not only Hasbub, but also on Iran, hoping that in doing so, it can derail U.S. Iranian diplomacy. Now, as far as Hasbullah's concerned, it's a Lebanese organization. Is it a religious movement? Yes, you know, but it's far from the only one in that part of the world,
Starting point is 00:32:49 and that, of course, includes Israel as well. Iran's relationship to Lebanon is primarily formulating. on the basis of Iranian national interests rather than on any kind of religious or revolutionary zeal. Because another issue for Iran is that it is seeking to reestablish its regional influence, particularly at a time in which it will also be renegotiating its relationship with Arab states much closer to home. And here I'm referring to Saudi Arabia.
Starting point is 00:33:27 and the other states sitting across from the Persian Gulf, because that relationship is at least as important to Iran as is the one with Lebanon. And of course, you know, it's always easy to kind of demonize an adversary, paint them as irrational, as incapable of reaching an agreement, or fulfilling one, and so on. But let's look at the history here. In 2018, when Trump, when, when,
Starting point is 00:33:57 the United States unilaterally repudiated the international agreement known as a JCPOA. Every independent authority who looked into this said that it was Iran that was scrupulously fulfilling each and every one of its commitments under that agreement. And it was the United States which repudiated that agreement without any evidence of Iranian violations of that agreement for doing so. And that was, of course, at the behest of the Israel lobby, which, you know, you had Netanyahu come out. I still remember that PowerPoint presentation that he gave basically showing how Iran is cheating on the deal, lying about it, of course. But I guess here's the central question.
Starting point is 00:34:46 There's a lot of praise right now, I think, for more independent right-wing media about, or at least online right-wing media for J.D. Vance, breaking rhetorically from the, most kind of obsequious position towards the Israel lobby. Now, there's a lot at play here. Vance is setting himself up for a presidential run, but he's also tasked with being a negotiator on this, you know, one who isn't Whitkoff, who screwed things up so badly with the Omanis, or Jared Kushner, who's widely viewed, rightly so as a mouthpiece for the Israelis and probably funneling information to them behind the scenes. So then you have J.D. Vance. Like, what, I mean, with Trump, being such a pro-Israel president, getting $100 million from Miriam Adelson. But you have that, but then you also have the threat of complete economic collapse on the other end.
Starting point is 00:35:41 These are the two things Trump is stuck in between. How do you assess how things are shaking out with that dynamic? Look, Israel and its lobby in Washington played a central and influential role in the U.S. renunciable. of the nuclear agreement in 2018. But the U.S. is not an Israeli colony. It was not an Israeli decision. It was a U.S. decision. And there were key power centers in Washington
Starting point is 00:36:11 that also played a key role in this. John Bolton, for example, is not generally considered an Israel lobbyist. Yet it was kind of a reward for him accepting the position of national security advisor that Trump then some 48 hours later renounce the agreement. What you're having now is essentially also a power struggle in Washington. Yes, Israel is part of this power struggle,
Starting point is 00:36:39 and Israel is being held up as kind of the litmus test, if you will, for this power struggle. But ultimately, it's an American power struggle. And what I find so interesting this time around is that it's not a constant, to see who is most loyal to Israel and who is most prepared to subordinate U.S. to Israeli interests. But, you know, it's really about who is prepared to pursue U.S. national security interests in the Middle East, however one cares to define them without placing Israel at the center of that equation. And, of course, the other thing to bear in mind is that, is that,
Starting point is 00:37:25 that the Republican Party today is essentially a personality cult. And no one wants to get on Trump's bad side, because if there's one thing that he excels at, it's demagoguery. And so they're trying to paint this as kind of J.D. Vance going rogue, that if you look at previous Trump administration officials who have gone rogue, they haven't lasted very long. So I very much doubt that, that Vance is kind of an independent operator in this entire business.
Starting point is 00:38:00 And when you talk about the not wanting to go against the cult leader, Lindsey Graham is on television yesterday saying, you know, I didn't realize that $300 billion was not coming from the United States. And so now I'm for it. I mean, that was unreal. It's amazing to me. His opportunism is for the ages.
Starting point is 00:38:16 You know, someone who is basically praising everything he was condemning before I went to sleep yesterday. It's amazing Lindsay Graham's flexibility as to where let me ask you this just as a broad
Starting point is 00:38:33 in a broader view has there ever been like I've been thinking about this for the past I don't know a week or so trying to come up with a historical parallel to a
Starting point is 00:38:44 like a bluff call like we have seen with Iran and the United States like the idea for 47 years we've been told the U.S. has basically
Starting point is 00:38:59 held off more or less over those 47 years, maybe not exactly 47. Israeli desires to attack Iran directly, I would imagine within the context of certainly in the Iraq war was supposed to be the first domino and then we were going to go to Damascus and then we were going to
Starting point is 00:39:21 go to Tehran according to the neocon. but it didn't happen. And we finally did it. And all of a sudden, like, it has shown that the United States is a paper tiger in this instance. And I just can't recall, like, it's this is like Cuban Missile Crisis level of, whoa, this everybody pushed it too far. And now we know the reality.
Starting point is 00:39:48 And this is a very, very stark reality. Like, when we talk about what the. United States is trying to sort of like salvage here or damage control, it's unclear to me that we're ever going to get back the position that we had amongst the Gulf states as being some type of protector or real genuine influencer in that region. Well, you mentioned the Cuban missile crisis. The analogy that I've been using that I find much more appropriate with all due respect is the 1956 Suez crisis. Because what happened then is that you had Britain and France two global powers, much diminished by the Second World War, seeking to reassert their global
Starting point is 00:40:36 dominance by pursuing a war against what they considered pushover in the Middle East, that what they thought would be a relatively minor skirmish that they conducted in league with Israel. And what emerged is that rather than reasserting their dominance, they came up against the limits of their power. And that is kind of the point at which you can determine that Britain and France, their imperial power, went into irreversible decline. And I think you can use the same analogy today, which is that the Iran war was meant by Washington to reassert and emphasize once again unchallenged U.S. global dominance. But instead, it came up against the limits of its power. And I think future historians will point to this as a key point in the process of U.S. imperial decline. And similarly for Israel, the Iran war was supposed to be the final act in its several years-long campaign to establish unchallenged regional hegemony and supremacy in the Middle East.
Starting point is 00:41:57 Let's not forget, on the eve of this war, Israeli politicians and commentators were already proclaiming victory and saying, you know, after Iran will take on Turkey, we're probably going to have to go to war against Egypt again. we may even need to defeat Pakistan, but instead this showed the limits of Israeli regional power and that its delusions of grandeur are entirely dependent on U.S. might and power, and that when the U.S. pulls the plug, Israel can't fulfill its regional aspirations. All right. Lastly, and I guess this has direct bearing on the U.S. is imperial, I guess, sunseting, for lack of a better word, it's reported that China had, was secretly either releasing reserves or was able to pivot away from its usage as a way to essentially maintain the world economy. And what is your sense of that and where in terms of the knock-on effects,
Starting point is 00:43:20 not just within the context of that region, but around the world where the U.S. was formally had that position of, we're going to stabilize everything. but now it appears that China was sort of the adult in the room of the world, I guess. It seems that way. I don't know enough about Chinese policy to venture a confident response to your question. But it does seem to me that during the past several months, China has been primarily concerned with ensuring that economic, economic instability did not penetrate into China, and it appears to have not only released a very
Starting point is 00:44:08 substantial amount of its own energy reserves onto the market, but China is also a leader in renewable energy, and so on. And secondly, I think, China, despite its strategic relationship with Iran, and despite the assistance that it has given Iran, was also coordinating with Pakistan in terms of its mediation. Well, at the same time, quite happy to see the United States bleed its strategic capabilities and reserves and expose its weaknesses in a prolonged conflict in the Middle East, because it feels that this could well limit U.S. belligerents towards China in East Asia. Well, Mouin, Rubani, I imagine we will be in touch with you relatively soon. It feels like this thing could go in 14 different directions at any point over the course of the next 60 days.
Starting point is 00:45:18 So, but thank you so much for joining us and discuss. it now. Thank you. Okay, folks, we're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we're going to be talking to Instead, Herndon, editorial director at Vox, host of the podcast, America, actually,
Starting point is 00:45:37 about not just the primaries tomorrow in New York, but the implications of these primaries in New York. We'll be right back after this. We are back, Sam Cedar, Emma Vigland, on the majority report. It is a
Starting point is 00:47:13 pleasure to welcome back to the program. Instead, Herndon, editorial director at Vox, a host of the podcast, America, actually. Instead, big primaries in New York tomorrow. And, I mean, there's a real, like, I'm just trying to go back a year and a half ago when Mondani's in this race. And as we get closer to the idea that he's going to beat Quant, the narrative was very, like this is a very isolated situation or Cuomo is uniquely bad. And Mom Donnie's win, it seems to me, and in the past six months, just to him being in office, has really built a narrative.
Starting point is 00:48:05 And this is sort of like the next phase of locking in that narrative, despite the fact that it's New York, it really does seem to be the implications of these three races, I guess, in New York anyways. We're talking New York 10, Bradlander, I think is going to win. But really, more so, 7 and 13. What's your sense on that, just your broader question? Yeah, I mean, I definitely think you're right that this is a follow-up to what we saw in 2025. And I think at that time, we were wrapped up in a lot of personality. It was Cuomo uniquely bad politician and Mamdani uniquely good politician.
Starting point is 00:48:48 But that obviously, I think, papered over some real coalition shifts we saw in that race. When I was doing that profile of Mamdani last summer, the big thing that was happening, at that time, people thought Cuomo was a legit chance, even to run as an independent, as an outsider. And what Mamdani did there was really consolidate support about more traditional democratic bases beyond the DSA millennial left, right? Like he improved among that kind of working class homeowner base, Hispanic voters, particularly in NY7 places like that, and kind of blackboarders upper Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx.
Starting point is 00:49:26 And that's a big reason why he gets that kind of margin in November. And that's a big reason of why there's opportunity here for DSA now. You know, when I was talking to him at that time about what he, about endorsements, whether he was going to support people going against incumbents. It was, again, a kind of cagey answer at the time. He was like, you know, I'm going to support people who support my agenda. But that caginess should have been the clue, right? Like that this is someone who believes in a political project that goes beyond his individual office of mayor.
Starting point is 00:49:59 And so I think step one for him was do a good job as mayor, which I think, you know, in the last six months, he's gotten a lot, I think, of, like, broad approval in ways that I think some folks are surprised by. That was his first job. But his second was to change the landscape of New York City politics. I mean, that is a goal. And so I think in these endorsements, particularly Valdez, particularly Daria Liza and New York 12, I think this is him in DSA seeing an opportunity to not just have a foothold in blue, you know, making blue New York bluer.
Starting point is 00:50:35 But I think modeling a version of leftism in the congressional caucus that they don't really see right now. And so I think that some people are surprised by, you know, him spending political capital on this stuff. And I think I'm not because he accrued it for this purpose. Yeah. It's explicit goal. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:00 And that is so important to point out because he got. some criticism from his left for kind of lobbying DSA not to support a primary challenge against Hakeem Jeffries. And we argued on this show, and you see the strategy that that is happening right here. First of all, AOC and Zorn Mamdani have split up endorsements throughout the city. So it spreads out their ability to, you know, if either of them take losses, it doesn't look as bad on the ledger, but each of these candidates has a high profile endorsement from from one of them. I think that's really smart politically. But two, this was Mamdani saying it's more important for the goal of building democratic socialism outside of these specific races for me to succeed than to piss off
Starting point is 00:51:47 the leader of the Democrats in the House and we need to be able to collaborate. So he wanted the success to create the momentum that we're seeing right now. And yeah. Yeah. No, go ahead. I was saying just exactly. And I think that people, um, in that kind of Chios, say Hakeem Jeffries moment, I think people were kind of read Mamdani's actions maybe as he was unafraid of these challenges. And that's not really what I thought the takeaway was more so than they're selective about ones they think they can win. And that I think that the feeling was, but I think this has played out already in these races. Like, like, Hakeem Jeffries is not Adriano Espiontoa. Like, like, Hakeem Jeffries has a more active political movement that would have been a much, I think,
Starting point is 00:52:31 a riskier or at least messier fight in that place. And I think you've seen a DSA invest in places that they think are more winnable and see a good result from there. But I guess like the actual, you know, whether I think a Chevalier successful or not, I do think we see the center or more establishment versions of the party not being able to pitch an affirmative vision. and that has created space that the DSA can seize on. And so, like, you know, they can wrap it up in personalities all they want.
Starting point is 00:53:10 But I think people are demanding a worldview that is not just populist, but is anti-war, not, you know, and it's explicit in its moral value. And I think that is the opportunity that DSA has really, I think, driven over through these primaries. And if they go to three for three in these races, like that will be a clear message. I mean, one thing again that came out last summer was, you know, Zoron's overcoming of the establishment should not just be seen as the Cuomo's of the world. But, you know, think about Gregory Meeks, the Queen's Democratic Party who never endorsed him, who's, you know, been the leader of that kind of black congressional caucus. I
Starting point is 00:54:00 remember espion he is a big corporatist and he's been that way for decades and doesn't it doesn't really make any apology or no no but that's yeah i'm like i'm like the queen queen's had a literal assemblyman from queens as a democratic nominee and the queen's democratic party would not endorse yeah so like i think it's important to see mom dany's ascension as not just overcoming of a corporate wing that's white but also folks who have represented that from a black base, from a Puerto Rican base, from, and that's been in the air. And so what we should see with some of these challengers is them taking that next step to make those arguments in those districts. And so, you know, last thing I would say is I think
Starting point is 00:54:46 a lot of kind of the punditry has really been stuck in, um, uh, kind of 2016, 2020, talking about like, you know, the left's inability to win over working class, people of color. And I think basing it really off of Bernie in that presidential race. And one thing I always tell people is like, times have changed. The people are different. Like these candidates aren't Bernie Sanders. Like they move differently. They have connections to their community.
Starting point is 00:55:13 They are much more comfortable in those spaces. And they're not like the same type of rigid ideologue. Like, Mamdani is much more fluent in the language of identity politics than Bernie Sanders is. And that's not going to be something that scares them away, even as they kind of make their economic first message. And so I just don't think that the assumption of the gap between, you know, working class people of color and the left has accounted for the ways both of those groups have changed over the last couple of years. And we should say that the challenges in the 10th and the 7th, well, I guess technically really the challenge in the 10th and the 7th is an open seat. But it is
Starting point is 00:55:58 it is a challenge to Velquez's legacy, I guess, a handpicked person. Yep. She's been feuding with Mom Dani publicly about it.
Starting point is 00:56:11 Yes. And aside from the sort of like the sort of like gossipy, you know, he made a personal deal. He shook hands. Actually, they, you know, whatever it is. I mean, which is just
Starting point is 00:56:26 hilarious with my limited knowledge of how politicians actually operate. The idea that, like, they wouldn't turn around to do. It's just that people are like, I can't, I can't believe this. But what is interesting, though, is this is not
Starting point is 00:56:42 AOC against Crowley, let's say. You know, like, in the seventh, Renaso is like a solid, progressive, with some corporate backing and and whatnot. And, um,
Starting point is 00:57:04 espiat is, you know, again, sort of like, it may be a little bit less, but it, you know, he may be more like in the Crowley version because he's been
Starting point is 00:57:15 entrenched for a long time. But this is basically like, not so much a purity test, but a notion of like, we're going to do this without corporate money, it seems to me, is the fundamental thing. I mean,
Starting point is 00:57:27 I think like obviously the issue of of APEC and Israel has come up, but there's there was a quote that was going around by Patrick Gaspar, who was a former like Obama ambassador who said that something to the effect of like Israel, people don't necessarily vote on foreign policy, but it is a shorthand for, and we've been saying something like this, shorthand for, can you tell what time it is today? Yeah. And once you can answer that question, you're not answering that question in a completely bizarre fashion,
Starting point is 00:58:06 then people start to say, okay, I'm open to your other policies. But this is just like a way to assess, like, do you recognize the sky is blue? Are you born? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:58:16 Are you living in the shared reality as anyone else, right? Like that quote from Gaspar was in my mom's Dani profile, and I think that was a big question at the time. I remember people asking like, can you separate, is this a sentient separate from his advocacy for Palestinians? And like that's what he was responding to was saying, no, you can't separate those things. Because this is, and I think alongside the Democratic base who has changed on this issue too, this has become a way to show you're willing to take moral stances, that we are willing to offend
Starting point is 00:58:50 the establishment and that people trust you to follow through on value. And so like, you know, that kind of litmus test, for authenticity, I think, is one that has emerged post-20204, and that I think Mahmdani really crystallized in New York City. To your point about Espyat versus Raynoso, I think this is an important one. Like, Espyat was endorsing Cuomo, kind of in that primary. I do think you can make a kind of corporatist argument for him, and certainly Dari Liza on our show, did that kind of saying,
Starting point is 00:59:20 pointing to his votes to arm Israel. But I'm like, but Raynoso has been, you know, kind of, you know, help found no King's Democrats, help kind of break up Brooklyn political machine, has been someone who has kind of a working families party Democrat. I mean, this is explicitly WFP versus DSA. Right. And so I was like, I don't think the argument is that from Valdez and DSA
Starting point is 00:59:47 is that Antonio Rinozo doesn't represent that district more so than they are just more closely aligned with where they think that electorate is. And so I think that's a little different. than Espyat, who is, I think, a more dramatic version of the gap. And I think in seven, we're talking about gradations of blue. But that's important, too. I think that people are buying into the DSA political machine, right? Like, I don't think that Valdez is helping to see just because of Mamdani's endorsement as an individual.
Starting point is 01:00:16 I think that there is a growing number of people who see that organization as a vehicle for sustained power outside of of the two party. And that is not separate from the point. That's core to the point. And that's so important. And, and, and the, the fact of the matter is that in New York seven in particular, Mom, Donnie's approval rating is over 75%. And he is aligning himself with DSA in this really important way. Like, Raynoso is the Brooklyn Borough president. In any other time period, this would kind of be a shoe in here. But this is the so-called commie corridor. This is Long Island City. This is Green Point. This is Williamsburg. This is, they voted overwhelmingly for Mamdani. And it's also a lot of tenants, not homeowners. So it makes it so prime for this message
Starting point is 01:01:09 to resonate. It's just that, you know, is turnout going to be there? And you also have parts of that district like in South Williamsburg, the Hasidim who vote as a block, who are going for Rainoso. But can the Williamsburg, Long Island City? the Greenpoint folks turn out in a way that is able to overcome that? Yeah, that's what I was looking at today, is that you see the age so far of the early vote is a little older. You see kind of a makeup that's more reminiscent of a traditional Democratic electorate than the one we saw in 2025.
Starting point is 01:01:44 Maybe that changes on election day tomorrow. But that's the challenge here is really in these kind of local races. The question is of motivation. and Raynoso has played explicit strategy of kind of banking on those groups who come out most consistently the city community, older voters, I saw him doing a tour of senior citizens,
Starting point is 01:02:06 senior citizens homes, like that's going to be the play. Like what Valdez needs to hope for, and I think this is the DSA, obviously, comfort zone, is that they organize to an degree where that shifts and that you're getting people who don't particularly participate also coming out. And so we'll see how some of that plays out tomorrow,
Starting point is 01:02:23 But I guess I think I'm just saying in general, I don't think we should use our DSA pre-MModani priors anymore. Like, you know, like, I think that the Zoran moment is a fundamental shift and not just how socialist politics or DSA left is perceived in New York City. But also, I just think a model of governing that goes beyond what people have seen from traditional parties. I will say like, we hear about Zoron as a model for what people want to see from politicians all the time. And this is not just coming from Democrats and it's not just coming from a New York. We were in a Virginia competitive House race. And you know who all those indivisible volunteers were saying they wish they saw more of Zoronts. We were at Trump's UFC event in D.C.
Starting point is 01:03:14 Talking to guys who like Trump and they, well, kind of like Trump, but kind of turning on them. And in that moment, you had a couple people cite Zora as an example of a politician who they like. And so I'm saying it is not just the fact that he won. It's the fact that he's governed in a public focused way that I think people are increasingly demanding from D and R. It's do it out loud, live those values out loud. and that's the baseline of expectation. You know, he and Spanberger were sort of touted as the two rising stars. And she has shown just how bad things can go so quickly in terms of popular opinion,
Starting point is 01:04:04 whereas Mamdani has done the opposite. Let me ask you this. What if, let's say there's a three-for-three sweep, it's quite clear that this just adds momentum and strength to the argument of populism. Obviously, New York is not, but, you know, we should say these districts, you know, the 17th, for instance, I should say, you know, these districts are, you know, they're New Yorkie. You know, we're not, we're not, we're not going too far north here. But it will, it, it provides the ballast on one end of the, the conversation as to where the Democrats should be. And it shows like you need to have a very sort of focused and defined message in these conflicts.
Starting point is 01:05:01 If they lose, if it's just Bradlander, and Bradlander almost doesn't count because that's, a fate accompli and that's a unique to I think, you know, the way the Goldman was elected. But if they lose, like what happens then? There's a lot of talk of like, this is going to hurt Mom Donnie in the city because he's
Starting point is 01:05:22 going to create enemies. I think that's overblown. It seems to me people, politicians always sort of like just follow their own best interests anyways. But what what does it mean across the country in terms of like
Starting point is 01:05:38 that narrative. Yeah. I would say two things in terms of why it matters. One is that the shift in urban centers across the country, whether it be the D.C. mayor's race that just happened, whether it be what we see in L.A.
Starting point is 01:05:59 is at this point more than just the trend. But I think an important driving force for who Democrats will become a 2027 presidential parliament. Like, there is a ton of evidence about, you know, a younger 40 population who's kind of moved away from traditional Democrats.
Starting point is 01:06:19 Like, and that's happening in cities all across the country. And so I think this moment is a big, this moment, if they were to, if he were to succeed in two or three of these races, that would be the, you know, maybe biggest data point yet. But I think we already have a lot of them. So that's one thing.
Starting point is 01:06:37 If they were to lose, like, you know, one thing I think, particularly to the kind of Mondani political capital question, is, you know, there's a lot of folks who have been waiting on his hot streak to end, you know? And so he's up right now. The Knicks are up. Like, Arsenal's winning titles.
Starting point is 01:06:55 Like, he's on a hot streak. So I, like, I do think there's a little blood in the water, like, thirst to say, to bring the man down to earth. Now, I think to your point, I don't know how much that has. as a governing impact because his relationship with Kathy Hokel remains solid. He didn't burn the Hakeem Jeffrey's bridge, right? Like he's made kind of targeted choices on who to irk, basically.
Starting point is 01:07:22 And even someone like Velasquez, you know, Nidia, who is retiring, I think was hurt by Mamdani kind of stepping into this race. I asked over the weekend whether she feels a sense of betrayal from her. And she says no, you know, that she, this is an individual endorsement. That's something a member of Congress gets. to do themselves and she still shares his larger priorities. Like people recognize who the King of New York is besides Jalen Brunson. And so like I think that it's not going to be some fatal blow.
Starting point is 01:07:50 But I would say like his agenda requires a kind of postage, right? Like you're not going to get a rent freeze without an overwhelming sense to the public's demanding it. You're not going to get. Right. These electoral wins are about showing that there's a growing movement out there. And it's basically, this is my muscle. Right. It is what makes the, it is what makes the threat work, right?
Starting point is 01:08:17 It's what makes it more than TikTok, right? Like a year or two ago, there was still some sense that this is a social media star. And more than this is someone who has political roots across important demographics in the city. Now, the general election was one piece of that. But this, I think, would take that a step further. If they win. If they were to win. But I would say if they lose, you know, even if I'm saying like the national narrative is already set, and I think there's been a rise of the left and cities broadly.
Starting point is 01:08:52 Like, I think the left has to recognize that the corporatist wins of the Democratic Party are so strong that a one fumble returns people back to their natural. setting. Right. You know? So I don't think I don't I think it is unfair to say if he were to not go three for three that has some lasting impact because we see politicians make those kind of endorsement errors all the time. But I do think it's fair to say that he is held to a higher standard because of the ambition of his agenda. And so it kind of you know, in some ways it's a hot street and in some ways it's what's required for it to happen. And the people setting the standard also want him to fail, right? So they're they, they fair. Yes. Like, yeah. I mean, I just, this is my former employer, but I just read the time story about his
Starting point is 01:09:41 endorsement stuff. I'm like, you know, this has gotten out of control. Like, I think a little bit, like, I think sometimes you can feel the desire for his failure in some of the coverage. And I know this in terms of talking to some of the people, um, who were kind of Cuomo endorsers or, or anybody but Zorons. But I think we have to recognize that that's a minority. movement. Like yes. And so it is overrepresented kind of in coverage. Well, hold on. Popular person. Yeah, I just want to make this point because it was like the, the, the, uh, hekeem Jeffries thing. It is important, I think, for this DSA constituency to be in his backyard and him to, it, they, Schumer got to go, right? But if Hakeem Jeffries hangs on and remains the leader of the
Starting point is 01:10:30 Democrats in the house, which it feels like some of the more progress. members are betting on that happening. Is it not a significant win for in his backyard, the infrastructure of the Democratic Party, to be building up around him with all of these lefties, these DSA people, where he's accountable to them as well? It's like a very different situation than Pelosi being the leader of the Democrats in the House out in California with all the Silicon Valley folks. Then Hakeem Jeffrey's being here.
Starting point is 01:11:01 And then potentially there's multiple D.S. say elected's in the city. Yeah. I do think it's different. And I do think that I do, and one thing I know from reporting wise, it's not like, Jeffrey's world feels New York changing. They're not in confusion. And part of the reason he has been so hostile to the DSA and emerging left is because
Starting point is 01:11:22 of those shifts, you know. And so I think the card that they've been used to playing is gentrifier, you know, is out-of-towner, largely white, downwardly mobile, likes of academic Yiwu kids. And as that construction of the organization changes, and frankly, as
Starting point is 01:11:42 Zoran introduces those ideas to different types of people, that makes that card harder and harder to play. And so I think if there are, you know, if they see significant victories tomorrow, then you don't have to tell Hakeem Jeffries
Starting point is 01:11:59 he's next. He knows. And I think, I think that to me is the importance of Mamdani asking Osay to hold off a little bit is because I do think he retains some level of goodwill, no matter what happens tomorrow, because they chose at least not the biggest pain point to litigate this time. And, you know, I think that is part of the, I scratch your back, you scratch mine this, that Zoron's been able to pull off to this point.
Starting point is 01:12:34 Well, and part of it also, it seems to me, is the calculation amongst politicians is, if you can win, then you were right to run. Sure. Like you saw the weakness. Everyone was unelectable until they're elected. And if you can win in these races, then clearly there was a hunger for a different type of candidate
Starting point is 01:12:53 and makes more sense and blah, blah, blah. But it's when you lose, and that's when I, you know, like, and lastly, just, it seems to me, that the narrative, like, in the context of New York, if they lose, if they lose, it doesn't mean that much differently materially for New York in terms of Mom Donnie and his ability, because he is still so popular. But in terms of how that narrative works in almost for the exclusive cohort of other political candidates, either in this cycle or in the next, that to me,
Starting point is 01:13:31 seems to be what what the implications of a loss are that you that they hear from their consultants like you know there's a reason why esplan is still there or there's you know there's a reason why renezo is there because nobody wants that crazy ass uh you know uh socialist stuff or you can't or they'll say you can't get those kind of young you can't get young people to mobilize those off your elections or without a city if mom donnie couldn't get them to mobilize you're not going to be able to. And so you've got to attack towards the middle. That's the danger with these losses, it seems to me, if they have. It feels to me that that will be the kind of prevailing media narrative. And I think some like version of establishment thought cope if that happens. I guess like,
Starting point is 01:14:18 I want to explain to like a point that might be a little, uh, heady, but I think it's important. Like one thing that moderate, the moderate wing of Democrats do is like pretend as if, um, you know, third way is representative when it's really, you know, working class people of color. Like, the base of the modern version of Democratic Party is like old black and brown homeowners. Way more than it is Pete Buttigieg, right? And so one of the things that's really allowed that a slight of hand to continue is that, you know, they've been resting on the fact that the left hasn't really reached that group, right? And so they're still kind of pretending as if there's some firm, moderate base, more so than they're increasingly up for grabs.
Starting point is 01:15:06 And increasingly some of those voters who maybe aren't your kind of like classic corporatist at the top, but have been the base of their electoral support, increasingly those group of people are getting pulled towards the left by issues like affordability or AI rebellion or Israel Palestine. Like I think that shift is a real one. And so one of the things I think that is the potential of this race, if it goes in DSA's direction, is to really show how that block is much more swingy than I think a lot of people have acted. And I think that's increasingly true post-20204. And so like that's really what I find as the stakes in this race is if we see something like we saw in D.C. last week
Starting point is 01:15:57 where a socialist candidate who was assumed to only be the support, who only gained the support of like white college educated voters, but actually puts together a map that reflects the city broadly. It becomes impossible then
Starting point is 01:16:15 for that moderate wing to keep that fakeness going. And so I'm like, that is what I think is really, is really the stakes here at this race is like the emperor has no clothes once you realize it's just these folks at the top, presuming that their electoral base will follow them to the end of the earth. And like now I think DSA is increasingly putting up candidates with roots in those
Starting point is 01:16:47 communities and is increasingly I think has a pitch policy-wise that's aligned with some of they're changing values and is picking those people off. Well, we will have a better sense of this in, I don't know. Delete that if they lose, no. Yeah, exactly. 35 hours from now, we'll have a much better sense of all this, I think. Stead Herndon, thanks so much for your time today. I really appreciate it.
Starting point is 01:17:14 We'll, of course, link to your work at Vox and America, actually. Yeah, appreciate it. Always love coming on. Thank you, Estad. Yep. All right, folks, that's it for us today on the free show. Well, let me just quickly just plug because, you know, DSA really, really does need, if you are listening to this live canvassing in like the final hours here.
Starting point is 01:17:39 I think, you know, the race, both in New York 7 with out for Valdez, but also really particularly New York 13, Daria Liza Chevalier. And DSA. New York 6 even. New York 6, too. I know that's not a DSA race but that's Chuck Park but who is primarying
Starting point is 01:17:58 Grace Meng. But yes so if you have the ability to go out on canvas for DSA right now I'd really encourage it. They're a little bit worried about the youth vote and turnout as Ested did just mention so you can go to I have it
Starting point is 01:18:14 somewhere here it is DSA.NYC slash vote and you can find the whole slate there because, you know, you also have these assembly races, state Senate races. Diana Moreno is looking to take Zoron's old seat, but you have Conrad Blackburn in State Assembly District 70, Christian Celeste Tate in State Assembly District 54,
Starting point is 01:18:41 Huntley in District 56. Ian Huntley and Conrad of both on left reckoning in the past couple weeks. If you want to check them out, of course, you'd vote for them anyway, but you can watch interviews afterwards. David Orkin, State Assembly District 38, Elapa, Sarah Tupac, thank you very much. I've seen ads, but I still can't pronounce it. State Assembly District 65.
Starting point is 01:19:02 So everybody check out that whole slate. But Chavez-A, I really want her to pull this off because the coordinated smear campaign against her over the past few weeks has been absolutely insane. And she's challenging an incumbent, as opposed to New York 7, which is a little bit more open since Velasquez is retiring. Also in Utah, there is a primary.
Starting point is 01:19:25 Nate Bluin is the candidate, the progressive candidate in that primary. Nate Bluin, if you're in Utah, is the candidate to support for tomorrow. Somebody asked me about the state comptroller. I know the other day, was it Wednesday? Somebody was talking about Raj Goyle. I will tell you that I think from a progressive organization standpoint
Starting point is 01:19:53 for the comptroller it's not the sexiest the positions Drew Warshaw has accumulated more of these endorsements so you can read about him
Starting point is 01:20:11 there's Katrina Vanden Heuvel did a piece on him in April I think it was over at the Nation magazine worth checking out. But election day, the final day to vote is tomorrow. You got to get out there. I don't know of any two elections outside of these. I mean, obviously, I think Brad Langer is going to win.
Starting point is 01:20:40 But these two elections in the 7th and the 10th. 13th. Landers 10. Yeah, sorry. The 7th and the 13th are going to just have more impact on 2028 than I can really any other two congressional races I can think of. I mean. Just because it's tied into Mom Don. Yes.
Starting point is 01:21:02 It's tied into the narrative. We got some clips. And DSA. Like building DSA as an independent force to be wrecking with within the Democratic Party is the most important political project in the country right now outside of, of course, organizing for Palestine or whatever. is enormous. I think, I mean, we've got some clips that we'll play. I think the DSA is the engine, but at least in the context of New York and obviously in cities across the country. But these two races, because of Mamdani's achievements, they are the establishment. They are the establishment, corporateists,
Starting point is 01:21:48 Zionists, for that matter, are looking for the limiting principle. And if they can say that Mom Donnie couldn't even help these candidates in his own city, then you don't want to take these positions when you're in, you know, I don't know, Maine or New Hampshire,
Starting point is 01:22:10 or you don't want to take these positions in Minnesota or in Pennsylvania or in, you know, wherever. The, that's what happens. So get out there. Canvas, get yourself out, get any of your friends, your family, got a vote. And join DSA if you're not in New York. I just upped my dues, I decided. So I want, I think this is enormously important.
Starting point is 01:22:40 And if you like Zoron, You can bring it to that kind of politics to your city, too, as well. Not Aaron. Who do you like in New York 12? New York 12 is the Nadler one where it's like Boris and Lashor. Neither's like great, but Boris has been running against the AI stuff, which I think is helpful. That's basically my, that's been my answer too, but I don't feel like. He was at that parade the other day.
Starting point is 01:23:09 As long as it's not Schlossberg, I will. I cannot handle any more of him, frankly, at all, let alone him winning and being a representative. Folks, it's your support that makes this show possible. You can become a member, join the Majority Report.com. When you do, you not only get the free show, free of commercials, but you also get the fun half. Join the Majority Report.com.
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Starting point is 01:23:49 9 a.m. in your email box with the day's news headlines from a decidedly left perspective by two great writers, Corey Pine and Whitney Wimbish. And if you, for a couple bucks, you get it five days a week as well. Matt, what's happening in the Matt Lecky and Media Universe? Yeah, we had a Sunday show. for all the patrons. But I'm back on Left Reckoning tomorrow. We're going to talk to Devin O'Shea about his great book
Starting point is 01:24:17 on the Veiled Prophet Ball in St. Louis and the long history of that secret organization from the rise of the Ku Klux Klan to Harry Truman, taking over the White House, to the rise of CIA and Ferguson. So it's an amazing book. I'm excited to talk to him tomorrow for Left Reckoning. See you in the fun half.
Starting point is 01:24:43 You are in for it. All right, folks, 646, 257, 39, 20. See you in the fun now. Oh, no. Are you ready? Who sent us this? Danarchia. Alpha males are back, back, back, back, boy, and the alpha males are back, back, back.
Starting point is 01:25:11 Just as delicious as you could imagine. The alpha males are back, back, back, back, back, back. Boy, back. And the alpha males are back, back. And the alpha males are back, back, back, back. Just want to degrade the white man. Alpha males are back, back, back. I take all of it to my phone.
Starting point is 01:25:28 Alpha males are back, back, back, back, back. Snowflakes has what? The alpha males are back, back, back, bro. You are a madman. And the alpha males are back, back. Oh, no, Sam Cedar, what a, whoa, what a fucking nightmare. A nightmare. Yeah, or a couple of them, just put them in rotation.
Starting point is 01:25:49 DJ Denner. Well, the problem with those is they're like 45 seconds long, so I don't know if they're enough in the break. That's fucking nonsense. You see, white people doing drugs. They look worse than normal. White people and all white people look disgusting. And the alpha males are psych.
Starting point is 01:26:04 Fuck them. Fuck them. Snopflex says what. What? What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what. Snowflarendex says what? A hell of a lot of the bank. A hell of a lot of bank.
Starting point is 01:26:27 Okay. I'm making stupid money. Hell of a hell of a lot of bank. A hell of a lot of bank. Lives matter. Have you tried doing an impression on a college campus? I think that there's no reason why reasonable people across the divide can't all agree with this. Syke?
Starting point is 01:26:54 And the alpha males are back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back. And the Africans are black, black, black, black, black, African. And the alpha males are black, black, black, black, black, black, black. And the Africans are back, back, back, back, black. When you see Donald Trump out there, doesn't a little party you think that America deserves to be taken over by jihadists?
Starting point is 01:27:17 Keeping it 100. Can't knock the hustle. Come up. Fuck them. Fuck them. Things I do for the bigger game plan. By the way, it's my birthday. Happy birthday to me, Jew boy.
Starting point is 01:27:31 I have a thought experiment for you. And the alpha males are back. The price are blasts to be around. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

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