The NPR Politics Podcast - The 2023 Can't Let It Go Year End Spectacular

Episode Date: December 29, 2023

The new year is nigh. We look back at all the things we couldn't stop thinking about in 2023 — politics or otherwise.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondents Danielle Kurtzleben, Ashley Lopez & Susan Davis, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and senior political editor & correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This episode was edited by Erica Morrison. It was produced by Jeongyoon Han and Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at AutographCollection.com. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And today, our annual holiday tradition, unlike any other, the can't let it go year end spectacular. The moment we all wait for all year. Yeah, it is all the things that we have not been able to stop thinking about this year, politics or otherwise.

And we will start with two very familiar voices, Danielle Kurtzleben and Franco Ordonez. Hello. Hi. Danielle, no pressure. Start this off. I never feel pressure. I'm a pro. All right.

We're going to talk about this. The thing I can't let go of this year is the fervor over Ron DeSantis' boots. Now, to be clear, to be clear here, I am not, my can't let it go is not his boots themselves. I take no position as a professional reporter who reports on Ron DeSantis. But not fashion. I take no position. Also, I'm bad at fashion. No, but like I take no position on whether he's wearing them, whether it matters. I'll be honest. There's probably some voters out there who subconsciously want a taller president. And you know what? That's

a bad reason to vote for someone. But if you were a candidate to wear lifts, you go right on ahead. But... And his campaign has denied it, correct? His campaign has said this is absolutely stupid. Like they barely dignify it. They've dismissed it, not denied it. Well, so this is the thing that just the amount of scrutiny and energy like on TikTok, the way that this has turned into a conspiracy theory for people, in particular, the thing that I'm thinking about is this, is a Politico magazine story where the reporter reached out to, quote unquote, expert bootmakers from the world over, and they zoomed in on

photos of Ron DeSantis's boots and were like, all right, what do you think? Is he wearing them or not? And the bootmakers, a few of them were like, yeah, he is. But just like, that is what we call reporting the living bejesus out of a story is reaching out to expert bootmakers. Like, it's silly. It's inconsequential. Someday we're all going to look back on this mainly when we hear it as a pub trivia question. It's not the boot itself. It's the attention that is your can't let it go. Yes.

Yeah. Just like, oh. The attention to the boot. You know, politics is a serious business so often. And when there's a sideshow that gets people's attention, it always grabs mine. Because you know what? It's something else to think about. And I will say this.

Recently, I was at a campaign event, and you guys know this as radio reporters, there's a little press gaggle around a candidate at the end of a thing. And if you're, as a radio person, you either have a long pole your mic is on or you squat down in front of everybody. So I'm down on my knees and I'm holding my mic out. And I asked a serious probing question about child poverty. And later I found myself, I was like, huh, I'm on eye level. I found myself looking at his boots a little bit and thinking, maybe. And I realized, nope, Danielle, you have brain worms. You have brain worms. Put it out.

Yeah. This is so dumb. That said, this is also a very Danielle can't let it go because throughout your entire time on our team, you have been obsessed with masculinity in politics. And you have also, yeah, you have been obsessed with masculinity in politics. Yeah. And look, like the attacks on Ron DeSantis for the bootlifts from like Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump. I feel fine voicing this opinion. It's been juvenile. It's been juvenile and ridiculous. So like, my can't let it go is that this is a little bit of levity and inconsequential nonsense, but distracting nonsense during this whole presidential campaign. Unless you're an expert bootmaker. Yes. In which case,

it's serious business. That is not my side hustle, so I feel fine. Franco, why can't you let go of? Speaking of masculinity, I want to get y'all's thoughts on a little bit of femininity. Because what my issue is and what I can't let go is Barbie. Oh, yeah. I mean, good, bad. I mean, here I am, guys, for years, four years, trying to convince my mom not to buy my daughter another Barbie doll. My mom gets mad at me. My daughter gets mad at me. She's telling me, why won't you let Lala buy me another Barbie doll? Lala's how they call my mom. And I'm trying to explain, you know,

the problems with the gender norms, the unrealistic body image. I am trying to explain, you know, the problems with the gender norms, the unrealistic body image. I am trying to be a good father, good husband. And then this year, on her 12th birthday, she's got all her girlfriends watching the Barbie movie. And I'm like, as my son would say, what the? You know, what did John, is what my kids say. I don't know why. Capitalism gets you every time, Franco. I don't know what to tell you. Is she now a feminist icon? I mean, how am I supposed to look at this? And, you know, what is the damage that I put on my relationship with my mother? Was it all worth it?

Well, just look at it through rose-colored glasses. Uh, I don't know. Was that in the movie? No, I think it's Tam making a pink joke. You haven't seen the movie. Look, I can't give you any advice on what to do for your daughter. I do think it was a fun movie, though. Is Barbie good?

Is Barbie good? Is Barbie good? God, can we have an hour-long podcast about Barbie as a feminist icon or not? Because I would do that. I don't know. Is the movie good? The movie's fun. It's funny. I'm not talking about the movie.

The movie's very good. I personally, would I buy a Barbie for my kid? No. But, you know, you do you, man. All right. Well, we are done with Barbie for my kid? No. But, you know, you do you, man. All right. Well, we are done with this segment. Oh, man. Thank you both for coming here and telling us what you can't let go of.

We're going to take a quick break. And when we get back, more that we can't let go of. And we are back with us now. A few more friends. Deirdre Walsh, Ashley Lopez and Susan Davis. Hello. Hi there. Now, as we always say for Can't Let It Go, it's politics or otherwise.

And you all are bringing the politics or so I hear. I have no idea what you're actually bringing. Sue, kick us off. Oh, how do we end 2023 and not talk about the life and death of the speakership of Kevin McCarthy? As much as Deirdre and I probably would like to not ever think about this year again, I just think that it was such a defining political story, not just for the fate of the speaker himself, but everything it told us about the state of the Republican Party, the overwhelming loyalty to Trump and the really sharp divisions inside this majority that, you know, spoiler, I think give us a good primer for what to expect in 2024. You mean like we could have another 19 speaker votes? You know, let's let's not. Hey, hey, hey, let's let's not. I'm still recovering from this year.

But I think Sue is right. I mean, it just that whole arc of Kevin McCarthy's speakership says so much about the moment we're at vote, and McCarthy was standing at the back of the chamber looking around. And a few people were coming up and, like, shaking his hand because essentially he made this deal with Matt Gaetz and he finally got the votes to be elected speaker. But then that exact deal is what took him out. Yeah, I feel like this is also a tale about hitching your political fortunes to Donald Trump and what ultimately happens to basically anyone who pitches their political fortunes to Donald Trump. I do think we haven't seen the last of Kevin McCarthy. I think his 2024 will be a little bit about a revenge tour. We'll see. He certainly has made it clear that he'd still like to play some kind of role in politics. I can imagine that part of that role might be raising money and finding primary challenges to the lawmakers that voted against him and ultimately threw him out. I mean, in his final days in office, he still seems like a pretty bitter man about him. He puts forward a

bit of a sunny, you know, I have no regrets, I would do it all over again. But over the course of losing his speakership and everything that followed in the weeks after, his anger and bitterness towards people like Matt Gaetz and Nancy Mace is really palpable. And he still has a lot of allies in the Republican Party. And so I could see him trying to be a bit of a troublemaker next year. Well, we will be watching. Ashley, what can't you let go of? Well, I guess staying in the House of Representatives, what I have not been able to let go of this year is George Santos. Oh, my God. Yes. It is like truly staggering to think about the amount of times this year that hearing about him, we only really got to know him once he was elected.

And like all this barrage of like nonstop news has come in. And it's just like really stunning. If anyone wants like a pretty good breakdown of like a list of all the, you know, alleged lies like Santos has told the New York New York Magazine put together uh compiled a pretty good list and I was reading through it this morning and I'm like oh my gosh there's some like other things that I forgot like when he claimed to be a Broadway producer at some point I missed that one yeah he apparently told some donors that he helped produce uh Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark and of course folks associated associated with that production say like, yeah, he was not involved in that. Also, that production was catastrophic and not something you would want to claim to have any hand in. It's such a weird, if it's a lie, it's such a weird lie. Like why

try to like attach yourself to something so unpopular? And I mean, there were some really dark ones too. Like he claimed he had family members and colleagues involved in like various tragedies ranging from the Holocaust to the Pulse nightclub and 9-11. It was, it's just so weird. But my favorite though, I don't know if you guys remember this one, which is he like also allegedly lied about founding an animal charity. Oh, this was terrible. This one was just awful. Yeah. I'm like, why lie about that? Anyways, I have not been able to look away. It's like a car wreck. Oh, but come on. The best, I think, was when he was called out for not actually having Jewish ancestors. And he said, oh, but I'm Jewish. Yeah. Heavy on the ish. I was trying to describe this the whole case after he

was expelled from Congress to someone. And I was like, look, all public corruption ish. I was trying to describe this the whole – after he was expelled from Congress to someone and I was like, look, all public corruption is bad. I'm not defending public corruption. But there is an element of ridiculousness to his public corruption that you almost have to laugh at. That is different than like if a lawmaker was selling national secrets or undermining national security. There are levels of severity to public corruption. And his – using your public funds to get Botox, I'm sorry. And Hermes and bad fillers. Yeah, like there's an element of almost satire and comedy to the level of corruption that he

is alleged to have commit that I'm sorry, he has given me a lot of laughs. He gave me a lot of laughs in 2023, and the legal system will seal his fate soon enough. He's also haunting his former Republican colleagues, because as Sue talked about on a previous podcast, he has a new career on Cameo. And a Democrat sent me something that he posted. I don't know if it was on Twitter or X or Cameo, but it was essentially after the New York redistricting case came down, which will be a big factor in sort of whether the Republicans control the House in 2024. is weighing in, basically saying to his former Republican colleagues, I'm here to give you some tips on your career. Maybe you can join me on Cameo, essentially, like you won't be in the House anymore. It was like, these were people that you used to serve with. And now you're trolling them. I mean, the guy has absolutely no shame. And that was another lesson that we learned about

2023 on Capitol Hill, like shame was not a strong point for members of Congress. In the reality TV-ification of our politics, he is a perfect character. Yeah, I will say this. If there is a movie made about this man,

I will watch it. Oh, yes. There will be a movie. I think somebody has already bought option to book. I think George Santos is producing it. Even if he's not,

he will say he is. Oh, my gosh. Deirdre, what can't you let go of? One thing I can't let go of this year is with all the big stories we covered on Capitol Hill, you know, avoiding a default on the country's debt, avoiding a shutdown, unprecedented ouster of a speaker. There was this whole debate about the dress code on Capitol Hill. Oh, yeah. And how, you know, there was this swift move to change the dress code in the Senate. And the typical dress code in the Senate is business attire. Male members of the Senate wear suits and ties, female members wear office appropriate attire. And Senator Fetterman traditionally wears cargo shorts and hoodies.

And so there was bipartisan backlash in the Senate where they were allowing him to vote in his typical attire that he's pretty much worn throughout his career, even before he was elected to the Senate. And it just cracks me up because it's sort of like, don't we have more important things to do around here? I mean, on the dress code front, I personally have a beef up here is because you love to wear cargo shorts? No. And card heart sweatshirts. I did see Senator Fetterman go into vote recently with a Steelers hat and cargo shorts on. He was not presiding, so he was allowed to duck in there and vote. If he's presiding or walks on the floor, the deal now is he should be wearing appropriate Senate attire, which is a suit. But we run around this place that has really hard marble floors and treacherous stairs where you're chasing after people during all these crazy stories.

And they kick you out of the speaker's lobby as a reporter if you're wearing sneakers. And I think maybe I'm getting a little bit older, but it's a lot easier to maneuver this place if you have comfortable shoes on. And sometimes I do wear sneakers. Explain what the speaker's lobby is real quick. The Speaker's Lobby is an area right outside the House floor where reporters frequently can talk to lawmakers during vote series. And it's sort of like the go-to spot if you're looking for someone in particular or if there's a lot going on and you want to kinds of versions of sneakers, including the top House Democrat who wears sneakers with his suits. That's Hakeem Jeffries. But reporters are not allowed to wear sneakers. And I think like, let's focus on the bigger problems and not worry so much about what reporter shoes are or freak out about the dress code.

Like, I can't imagine like the average voter, like how high, whether or not everyone in Congress looks like they're at a country club ranks in their list of grievances with Congress. I just don't, I just don't think that matters much. Maybe if everybody was wearing hoodies, the American people would like them more. They can't like them less. Yeah, it could only help. And there are senators from both sides of the aisle who frequently show up to votes that don't have on the typical attire. I mean, some are coming from the gym. Some are coming from the airport. And so let's, you know, let's not be so concerned about that kind of stuff. This is all so long been true in the House, which also has a dress code. But if you would on fly out days when it's like the last vote before they go home, there would always be this like back off the C-SPAN camera place of the

House floor, especially on the Republican side, where a lot of the members would be like in their golf attire or their travel attire, like so they couldn't be seen on camera and they could like vote and then, you know, get out of town and hit the airport. So I think that it's the people feel really strongly about the dress code stuff, though. I mean, even on the House side, especially with policing the way women dress is more women have come into Congress, right? Women have more sartorial options than just a suit and a tie. And a lot of times I feel like leadership sets the tone. Like you obviously remember former Speaker John Boehner. You're like he was known for having incredibly high

sartorial standards and would make fun of reporters and would make fun of lawmakers and really felt like if Congress was in session and you were around lawmakers, you should be dressed businesslike and professional. And he sometimes would take it to the chair of the House chamber and scold people. I miss when that was the meanest thing that was happening. Oh, my God. We've come a long way from scolding members about their dress code. Now we're dealing with members having physical altercations in the hallways.

All right. Well, thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Tim. All right. One more break and we'll be back in a moment.

And we are back again. And to close it out is Domenico Montanaro. Oh, why? I don't know. I don't know what you can't let go of. But before I let you talk, I'm going to go first and talk about what I cannot let go of this year. Ooh, what's that?

Well, there seems to be a trend in the alcohol world that I don't understand or comprehend. But earlier this year, there was a bit of a to-do about something called Sugarland's Eggo Brunch in a Jar Liqueur. Huh? Yes, this is an Appalachian sip and cream that is Eggo waffle flavored or inspired. Eggo waffle flavored or inspired? Okay. Yeah. I mean, there's lots of other flavors of Eggo waffle flavored or inspired? Eggo waffle flavored or inspired? Okay. Yeah. I mean, there's lots of other flavors of Eggo waffles. There's chocolate, there's vanilla.

Blueberry. Yeah, no, no, no. This is just Eggo waffle booze. Is it like, tastes like syrup? I think it's like a creamy liqueur. Huh. I couldn't find it. Digestivo, if you will.

Oh, there you go. I don't know. Wait, no, I just got so there you go. I don't know. Wait, no, I just got so excited I over-modulated my microphone. Oh, and then now new, and I also couldn't get my hands on this though, I tried, is Doritos Nacho Cheese Liqueur. And this is made by a liquor company called Empirical. Empirical or Empirical? Empirical.

Yeah, it is impure. That's for sure. Well, but apparently, according to the Washington Post, it sounds like a stunt, but it's actually good. Well, it depends on your writer. I'm not going to say. I don't know. But I'm a, you know, I don't want to say purist about this, but you know what makes a really good cocktail, Tam? Just plain old alcohol?

No, really good liquor. Yeah. Like, you know, so, you know, if you want to have a good cocktail, keep it simple. You know, I think I make a pretty good margarita, martini, and old-fashioned. And, you know, you start with good liquor, the high-end stuff, right? And simple ingredients. It's really not that complicated. I don't need Dorito cheese or Sugarland, Egoland, or whatever, liqueur mixed in that. It sounds like a headache. Honestly, at this age, that's a hangover. It all sounds like a headache. Oh, Domenico, what can't you let go of? Well, a little bit more on a cheery note, I guess.

I can't let go of the fact that I got married this year. This is a, it's a kind of a, you know, I don't know. You know, what's funny about weddings is that the wedding was amazing. Like, honestly, like it was a great, awesome Texas wedding, like in a fancy barn that was never a barn. It's just intended for like nice weddings. Yeah. But we had like longhorns and open pig roast, corn toss. Texas even won a football game that night against Alabama, which has now put them into the

national championship contention. But, you know, it's funny. These weddings are like, you do so much planning for them, right? I mean, a year and a half, basically, of planning for it. Wow. Yeah. And it goes so quickly. I really wish I was a guest at my wedding. It looked like people were having a lot of fun. It went so fast. This is the thing about weddings.

I do have an idea, though, for caterers. Okay. Because the food was so good. I picked out the food. You know, I like to cook. I picked out all the drinks that were made. And I tried all this stuff beforehand to make sure, you know, that it was good. Of course.

And everyone told me how good it was. I had about two bites of a taco and like some mac and cheese and like a good spicy margarita. It was great. But I wish I could have had more time. And so here's an idea. A post-wedding sit-down dinner for just the couple, right? That's catered by the caterer, if you really like the food. Because to be honest with you, most weddings I've been to, the food ain't that good. That was a big requirement of mine. I wanted good food and people not to be waiting

around for drinks. And I think we accomplished that. Well, on the night of my wedding, you talk about no time. I felt the same way. And they took away my slice of cake before I got to eat it. No, not cool. It was like a strawberry mousse cake. Luckily, they did not follow my instructions to not. I said, do not save the cake top. Don't save the top layer for one year later. That's so dumb. Why would anybody do that?

But they did. And so that night I got a fork and I ate the top layer of my cake after the wedding because I hadn't had dinner. I hadn't had cake and I couldn't have gotten a drink. Was it sugar land Eggo flavored? No. Thank God. We didn't even do a cake. This was something we were very insistent on. We did a donut truck, a famous Austin donut truck called Gordo's Donuts. And they came and rolled onto the property in their Airstream and made for great pictures.

That's awesome. Well, congratulations, Domenico. Thank you very much. Well, that is it for us for this year. Wow. We'll be back for an election year very soon. All right. Our executive producer is Mathani Mathuri.

Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our producers are Jong-Yoon Hun and Casey Morrell. Special thanks to Krishna Dev Kalimer and Lexi Schapittle. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent. Happy New Year. And thanks for listening to the APR Politics Podcast.