The Young Turks - Smith Bodies Sosnick - March 25, 2026

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

Iran publicly slams Trump’s attempts to negotiate, but privately, Iran is reportedly open to diplomacy. The US and Israel are at ODDS over the next leader of Iran. Florida State special elections spell DOOM for the GOP in the midterms. Dave Smith BODIES Adam Sosnick in their debate on the Iran War. “Alpha male” Nick Smith is the new US “brand ambassador.” Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://go.tyt.com/shopifytyt Just go to this exclusive web address right now to try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE: ziprecruiter.com/tyt Check out Pocket Hose and use my code TYT for a great deal: https://www.getcopperhead.com If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — check out plaud.ai Explore opportunities in more than 60 countries and apply at http://PeaceCorps.gov/serve Use less data, get paid by switching to Noble Mobile: https://go.tyt.com/getnoble Hosts: Jordan Uhl, Brett Erlich SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE ☞  https://www.youtube.com/@TheYoungTurks FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK  ☞   https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER  ☞       https://twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM  ☞  https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK  ☞          https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕MERCH  ☞      https:/www.shoptyt.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. There's something about spring that just feels like a reset, longer days, fresh energy, and the motivation to try something new. This spring, that's something new, could be learning a new language. That's where Rosetta Stone comes in. They've been a leader in language learning for over 30 years with an immersive method that helps you learn naturally, connecting words, visuals, and meaning and context instead of memorizing or translating.

With over 25 languages to choose from, like Spanish, French, German, even Japanese, Rosetta Stone is a go-to tool for real language learning. It's designed to help you think in your new language, so what you learn actually sticks. Plus, true accent gives real-time feedback on your pronunciation, so you sound more natural, like having a personal coach. And you can learn anytime, anywhere, whether you've got five minutes or a full hour. Ready to start learning a new language this spring, visit rosettastone.com slash today to explore Rosettastone

and choose the language that's right for you. Go to rosettastone.com slash today now and begin your language learning journey. To the young Turks, I'm Jordan. You'll join by none other than Brett. Or like Brett. How are you today? I'm doing all right, Jordan.

I'm seated. I'm in place. I put on a sweatshirt and a hat because I was going to be on. I thought about putting on a right side up, L.A. hat because I respect to this. And one of those looks like a gamma, Jordan. But I instead just went with the hat I'd already put on. Well, thanks for letting everyone know.

I'm sure that brightens people's Wednesdays. We've got a lot of show today. We've got stories on Iran. We've got more stories on Iran. We've got some funny ones. We've got a funny one to end this hour on. And you, of course, don't want to miss hour two with Yaz and Wa. So definitely stick around.

But let's jump right in, Brett. Iran is playing hardball with the United States while the Trump administration attempts to negotiate an end to the war. But according to the New York Times, Iran is open to the idea of a deal. They reported, privately, some Iranian officials had said as late as Tuesday that Iran was considering meeting with U.S. negotiators in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the next week to discuss Trump's proposal, but would not entertain a temporary ceasefire. And on Monday, Trump claimed that talks were already taking place. Take a look. Mr. President, Iran's foreign ministry says you're not telling the truth when it comes to

productive conversations, Dan. Well, they're going to have to get themselves better public relations, people. We have had very, very strong talk to We'll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement. I would say almost all points of agreement. Meanwhile, Iran is singing a different tune in public. Yesterday, a military spokesperson claimed that the U.S.

is, quote, negotiating with itself. Don't call your defeat an agreement. You will see neither your investments in the region nor previous energy and oil prices return. Until it is our will, nothing will return to

how it was. That will only happen when the idea of acting against the Iranian people is completely erased from your minds. Now, the U.S. reportedly submitted a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran. Representatives from Pakistan who reportedly delivered the U.S. plan to Iran told the associated press that it would include sanctions relief for Iran, dismantling Iran's nuclear program, restricting its use of missiles and reopening the strait of Hormuz. Today, U.S. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt only half denied the plan's existence. Take a look. Iranian State TV has said that Iran has rejected the U.S.'s 15-point plan to end the war.

What's the White House's response to that? And have these talks hit a dead end? They have not. Talks continue. They are productive, as the president said on Monday, and they continue. to be. However, I saw a 15 point plan that was floated in the media. I would caution reporters in this room from reporting about speculative points or speculative plans from anonymous sources. The White House never confirmed that full plan. There are elements of truth to it, but some of the

stories I read were not entirely factual. Now, Iran has reportedly rejected that framework and submitted their own demands, which include reparations for war damage, sovereignty over the straight of Hormuz and a ceasefire in Lebanon. Iran has flat out rejected the prospect of negotiations with Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff, who represented the U.S. in the previous round of talks. An anonymous diplomatic source told the Guardian, with the previous negotiating team, there's no chance. The Iranian side regards the request for negotiations as another round of deception for the U.S.-Israeli regime to find a loophole to aggravate the strikes. again. Instead, Iran is reportedly asking to sit down with Vice President J.D. Vance.

Brett, I want to bring you in here. What do you make of this reported 15-point plan? And why should Iran negotiate with the U.S. after we've seen how the last talks went? Well, I think one of the reasons they would want to negotiate with the U.S. is like, I don't know exactly what they're facing internally. Like a lot of us here in the States, we don't really know the extent to which they've suffered damages to their infrastructure. We don't really know the extent to which they're willing to at least signal to the United States that anything that the US is doing is quote working. What I know for a fact is it is so impressive how little I know as a citizen of the United

States about this war I'm paying for. Why are we doing it? Who's in charge? Who's winning, who's losing? All I know is that like the price of gas is higher. And I don't know what happened to make us start bombing them. A 15 point point. The only thing I really believe coming out of the White House is that their plan had more

points in it than the Iranians because that is how Trump would consider it a victory. And then like for JD Vance to be the one that they want to talk to, maybe it's related to the fact that in the initial lead up to the first time we went and struck Iran, maybe it was because he was the one who according to anonymous sources familiar, etc., etc., he was the one that was the quote skeptical voice in the room. Like maybe it's that. Or maybe they just like wanna meet the guy who wrote whatever weird, you know, the hillbilly elegy. Maybe they saw the movie and they really like Glenn Close and they want to meet him. Such is the case. What do you think?

Yeah, it could be, you know, they might be, they might be fans of his work. I don't know, my mind went down a rabbit hole when I saw that earlier today. It's like, well, what if they want retribution? I mean, the United States has, I don't know, this seems maybe far-fetched, but the United States has wiped out many top Iranian leaders. What if, you don't know, I don't know. They want a slay vance? Yeah, maybe. I don't know.

We'll see. But this war, like you say, is opaque to a lot of people. It's also unpopular with a lot of people, including from some of Trump's most prominent MAGA figures. So today, Representative Nancy Mace authored several alarming posts on X, starting with this one, just walked out of a House Armed Services briefing on Iran. Let me repeat, I will not support troops on the ground in Iran even more so after this briefing. She continued, the justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House Armed Services Committee.

This gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people. And she wraps up, Washington's war machine is hard at work. They're trying to drag us into Iran to make it another Iraq. We can't let them. In fact, according to a recent poll, the war has already lost the support of the American people. According to the Associated Press, about 59% of Americans say U.S. military action on Iran has been excessive. About half of Republicans say the U.S. military action has been about right.

But relatively few want to see it go further. Only about two in ten Republicans say the U.S. military action has not gone far enough, while one quarter say it's gone too far. About six and ten Americans somewhat or strongly oppose deploying U.S. troops on the ground to fight Iran, including about eight and ten Democrats and roughly half of Republicans. Beyond the Goldilocks just right analysis here, Brett, what do you make of this waning support? And what do you think? We'll get into this more in the next couple blocks.

But this does spell disaster for the MAGA coalition, for the Trump base. And Republicans in general, as they're already dealing with massive discontent for prices and other manifestations of this war. Right. I think this is why it's very important for shows like this one to kind of be in this conversation talking to people like this. Because that is a very key aspect of what is uneniable a wedge issue, right? Like the wedge issue is there are people who in the Trump coalition, they love Trump no matter what, there's also war hawks who just kiss his ass, and then there are truly anti-war people who believed him when he said, we will not get into any more wars. And between that first chunk and the second chunk, there's not really much of a wedge.

There's people who just like, it's a cult and they love having Trump as someone to be a fan of. But then there's all these people who are like Nancy May, someone who has been, you know, friendly to Trump at many points in her career. There are, there's a lot of folks who just go like, yeah, I'm going to do whatever Trump says because I want to stay in his good graces. And then there's some that will speak out in this point. Now when they do that, it is incumbent upon people who are against war or who just don't want Republicans to keep winning to get in there. Have that conversation and say like, yes, if you want to stop this war, the answer is, given that we've had Trump twice as president, and he seems to have completely diluted

us and lied to us about being anti-war, we need to step up against this guy, band together, and stop this kind of stuff before it gets even worse. As paratroopers are getting sent to Iran to do a ground invasion. And I didn't, I haven't watched the Princess Bride recently, but one of the key quotes in it is, you know, you've wandered into one of the classic blunders. The most well known is never get involved in a land war in Asia. And that's what we want to do. Like Iran's sitting there going like, another element I think we'll talk about later is like,

There are two kinds of countries in the international arena. Former empires and never empires. We have current and former empires and never empires. The US versus Iran, if you ask people who run Iran, they will tell you, we are just a temporarily inconvenienced massive empire as evidenced by the fact the person courting your position to us used to be part of our empire and will probably be again, Pakistan. Not all of it, some of it. And this is the thing that everybody just thinks of themselves. Russia, like probably Italy as we experienced in World War II, the UK, the US, and many, China,

all kinds of places, Japan, think of themselves as former empires and just how recently was the defeat at the hands of whom? And who is making my life miserable? As I need to remind you on the international stay, I was, I'm Iran. I control straits of Hormuz. I control this whole area. That's what I should do. I am the one, you know, funneling resources to Lebanon so they could fight Israel. I got satellites, bro.

You got satellites, but the difference is you're attacking my house. Like you live in DC, that's very far away. You're attacking my house. I'm going to fight harder than you. Also, I'm a former empire. Like that's, I think that's the calculus. And Nancy Mason folks are allergic to that at this point, as well they should be.

They should be calling out like, what are we doing? Tell me the last time we had a war of regime change that resulted in something dope for the United States. What's the latest trend in hiring? Skills-based hiring, which actually emphasizes capabilities, over education and direct experience. According to experts, this leads to faster hiring and better job performance. Well, if you're an employer who's adopted skills-based hiring,

the best way to ensure that your applicants have the right skills is ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter recommends smart screening questions to help you hone in on that perfect match for your role. And right now, you can try for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash TYT. ZipRecruiter has powerful matching technology to help discover qualified candidates quickly. They also make it easy for you to add their screening questions to your job posts so you get the highest quality applicants. That's what makes ZipRecruiter the number one rated hiring site based on G2. Let ZipRecruiter help you find amazing candidates with the skills you seek. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day.

And now you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash TYT. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash TYT. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. Well, there's another angle here as you talk about regime change. Maybe they're doing it, maybe they're not, but new reporting shows maybe it's just a continuation with a different figurehead like we saw in Venezuela. With reports of U.S. and Iran talks appearing flimsy at best and speculation about the health of the current Supreme Leader, some U.S. analysts point to a

different Iranian figure who could be fit for negotiations with the U.S. But Israeli officials are already raising concerns, and we'll get into that in a moment. But first, who were they considering? Iran's parliament speaker, Mohamed Bogor Halibov, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air Force commander in Tehran mayor, has denied any talks with the U.S. are underway. He has taunted President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth. He is called the U.S. Israeli War with Iran a quagmire.

And he served in the Iran Revolutionary Guard during Iran's brutal war with Iraq in the 1980s and is known as a hardliner's hardliner. He has been described by some analysts as a wannabe strongman and a, quote, hardliner with a pragmatic streak. Aliboff is considered ruthless and ambitious, but also a competent manager. After a stint as head of the police, he became mayor of Tehran in 2005, a position he held for 12 years. As a politician, he is something of a populist. He has drawn allegations of corruption, which he has denied. He has been lambasted for allegedly amassing personal wealth. He has also bloodied his hands and suppressing political dissent.

In 1999, he signed a letter along with other leaders, warning the reformist Mohammed Hatami, who was then president, that if he didn't crack down on student protests, they would. But while this assessment has been taking place, he's on X, calling out the Trump administration directly. Our people demand the complete and humiliating punishment of the aggressors, he posted Monday on X. No negotiations with America have taken place. fake news is attended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped. But if this is the case and this is somehow the figure that the U.S. thinks they can negotiate with or talk to, Israeli officials say not so fast.

Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Jahel Leiter, while speaking at an event this week, said, when this business about Hali Baff came up, you know, all of a sudden, this guy's a moderate. I'm here, I'm telling you, Hollybough is not a moderate. This may rile some feathers, but I'm committed to telling the truth. He also rebuked the notion that Israel dragged the U.S. into the war. Biter took pains to argue that there were no significant divisions between the U.S. and Israel, saying the two governments had been in lockstep with one another since last summer's joint military operations against Iranian nuclear facilities.

But, quote, lovers have spats too, he noted. Brett. Pitzer it didn't happen. Who's making out? I want to watch them have love, make love to each other. This is great. I just want to say, like, we're really bad at choosing the leaders of countries that we regime change.

Like it doesn't work. And I don't need to look very far from. this story to find evidence of it, but we like, you know, the West, so to speak, put in the Shah of Iran, who was overthrown, and now there's this situation. This is, and I don't want to paint Iran is like being dope. I don't want to paint like a fundamentalist regime that quells protests and treats many women horrible, you know, we all know we can fill in the blanks on that. That said, like, it is insane to think that we could just put in someone who will do everything we want.

And more specifically, when folks are like, this person is corrupt, like, a lot of the times, that's the thing we look for when putting in a new person in charge of a country, whether it's there or in South America. we rely on their corruption. But the problem with corruption is that person is always looking for the bigger, better deal. And everybody's characterizations of this next guy falls into that category. Like this seem, yeah, I feel like a lot of the times when people on the left looking at, you know, the right or right looking at the left, they'll be like, I have to pick aside, this guy is either a good guy or a bad guy.

in a situation like this country, there is, you're probably just a damn opportunist and you're probably and you're probably wildly corrupt. And I don't really need to look at that country for evidence because like here we have a lot of people in the bastion of democracy that is America who are wildly corrupt. And a lot of the criticisms levied against the Americans throughout all this, some of which you've read, is like, you know, when I'm looking, at these weird movements that I didn't expect from Trump. And I see giant swings based on threats and reneged threats that make certain commodities markets skyrocket, then crater, then skyrocket again, double down on it with kalshi bets that are like a little bit ahead of the game.

It just feels like, yeah, this is the kind of stuff that when people say America first or no more wars and you can sign that petition for no more wars at t yt.com. Like that's what we're talking about. We're like what are we doing and why? Also fundamentally our relationship with Israel is you can say for the good of Judeo-Christianity. I don't really buy it. I think it's more to like safely control the waters of Congress so that like boats full of stuff can get there cheaply. And whatever we're doing now, regardless of if it's righteous or evil, opportunistic, or responsible laying down of infrastructure for a prosperous future, in the meantime, it cost twice

as much to fill up my tank with gas. And it didn't cost twice as much before you did this. So stop. So stop now. And creating more and more martyrs in Iran, definitely like for people who can't live in Iran and had to leave because of the revolution, like it makes them feel good. And I don't want to be smart. You know, I don't want to take that away from them.

But in the long term, I'm more likely to believe that like a recently martyred leadership will make it harder for the next person to support our goals, not easier. In these types of moments, there's this level of American hubris that seems to dominate the conversation and affect people's judgment. Like you're pointing out, like, that you potentially prop up somebody who might have a corruption streak because it could benefit you temporarily. any outside interference is going to upset people there. They're not stupid. And I think that so many U.S. officials, not just Republicans, not just Democrats, across the board. I don't know if they completely discount that as a possibility, but they don't seem to treat it with the seriousness with which it is required.

And we've seen this type of propping up for decades, especially in Latin and South. America and how much backlash that inspires. And then as a result, how violent it can get in that country as a result as they try to cling to power with our backing. One of the concerns that they're beyond this person to begin with, one of the concerns the Israeli officials even raised with the U.S. was it's probably not the best idea to try to prop somebody up from the outside. Like, there's just like a level of jingoism throughout our foreign policy in the Middle East that just treats them as like illiterate or subhuman, like, oh, these people can't think for themselves, they're backwards. And you've seen it in commentary for years.

And here it is, again, the, just the, here comes the big macho US. No, this person's going to be your leader. Well, that doesn't work. And so also why it didn't work in Venezuela, despite the repeated attempts over the past several years. So why they didn't prop up the opposition leader because they knew there would be backlash. They don't have political, there's not a general consensus or popular support in that country for somebody different. So I don't know what this is going to look like. Maybe it is this guy.

And maybe they're, because he's associated with the regime at least, and the parliament speaker, maybe. But I just, the idea of like a kingmaker, The US playing a kingmaker from abroad is not going to end well. Before we go to break, any final thoughts, Brett? No, I just, yeah, I'm good. All right, we're going to go to break. We've got more on the other side, so stick around.

You know when you're building something from the ground up, the to-do list never ends. When I started TYT, it wasn't just what if no one watches. It was also, how am I supposed to handle the business side while also creating a show? That's really hard. In those moments, you realize you can't do it alone. You need a real partner. For us, that partner for our shopty-t store is Shopify. And honestly, I wish I had something like that from day one.

They've been a terrific partner for us. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. That's amazing. And it's built to tackle every single one of those worries that keep you up at night. What if you run out of ideas for your product pages? They've packed the platform with helpful AI tools, You can generate product descriptions, right page headlines, or even enhance your photography with just a few clicks.

And my picture needs to be enhanced. It's like having a creative director in your pocket. And of course, what do people get to checkout and change their minds? Because they have to enter all that information. That's the worst, but Shopify has that iconic purple shop pay button. It's faster, it's trusted, and it's why they have the best converting checkout on the planet. Fewer abandoned carts means more sales actually going through to you. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today.

Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash t-y-t. Go to Shopify.com slash t-y-t. That's Shopify.com slash tyt. Welcome back to the Young Turks. I'm Jordan Neal joined by Brett Ehrlich. And Brett, I've got a question for you. How much do you spend on your cell phone plan? About Noble, Mobile 50.

Okay, great. That was ideally in this scenario, you would say more than $50. More than $50. I do. I do spend more than $50. Why? Do you have a better way? Well, what if I told you? NobleMobile gives you unlimited talk, text, and data on the T-Mobile 5G network that actually pays you back for the data you don't use. Your first month, just $10. This is the smarter phone plan. Brett, make the switch today at t-y-t.com slash switch. Okay, I wrote that down on my hand. You're writing it down?

I'm writing it down. Got it. Brett, we cover a lot of heavy topics on this show. What if I told you this next story is an exciting one, a positive one, an interesting one, an interesting one. Would you want to hear it? I do want to hear it. That's a great cliffhanger.

All right. Democrats flipped two more seats on Tuesday night, this time in special elections in Florida. And as we get closer to midterms, the red to blue winning streak has Republicans worried. We'll show you why. But first, some context on these races. In the only state Senate election on the ballot, Democrat Brian Nathan, a Navy veteran union organizer and first-time candidate. Shocked Republican Representative Jose Tom Cow, my bad, in the Hillsborough County Senate District 14 contest, winning by just 408 votes, taking 50.25% of the vote to Tom Cow's 49.75. Tom Cow, however, had a huge fundraising lead over Nathan and was a heavy favorite in a district that Collins won by 10 points in 2022.

The last time the seat was on the ballot. Donald Trump won it by more than seven points in 2024. In the state house race, MAGA headquarters, Mar-Lago now has a Democratic representative. Oh, it's so good. It's so good. In the Palm Beach County, House District 87 race that includes Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, Democrat Emily Gregory, a first-time candidate with a public health background, defeated Republican financial advisor, John Maples, 51 to 49, in a district that Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024. Now, Democrats have flipped. 30 state legislature seats already this year. And some in what we're presumed to be safe red districts, which may give us some insight into how things will go in the midterms.

The current real clear polling generic ballot average has Democrats with around a five-point margin, a little bit more. But then there's a question of why. Of course, there's many reasons why these are going this way. Brett, I'll bring you in in a moment to add your thoughts. But of course, special election turnout is always lower than a general. That's a factor here. But the top line is that Trump is deeply unpopular. Also on Tuesday, a new Reuters Ipsos poll found Trump has reached a new low in approval polling, falling to just 36%, which is a four-point drop from the week prior. Americans' views on Trump soured significantly with regard to his stewardship over the economy

and the cost of living, as gasoline prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28th. Just 25% of respondents approved of Trump's handling of the cost of living, an issue that was at the center of his 2024 presidential election. campaign. Brett, so we're two more flips. Things are not looking good for Republicans coming into the midterms. How are Democrats going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Just you mean, yeah, they're gonna defeat from this jaws of victory as they normally do. I don't know, but I do know one thing. My dear friend and fellow ninja star thrower, Tim Poole,

tweeted, Democrats are, in the wake of this very story, Democrats are tracking for a super majority in November. As men are quitting in huge numbers, we see men checking out in every political metric from polls, donations, and viewership. And someone responded, Michael Flynn, Jr. Everyone that Baron Trump convinced his father to bring in is now gone. Essentially, the podcast bro audiences ranging from Theo Vaughn to Rogan to Shultz, Dick, to kill Tony, etc, et cetera, et cetera. And as a reporter yesterday, like he's down among dudes. Like not young dudes, dudes, and that for a Republican is insane. That is crazy, crazy in that is to quote weird science, crazy insane.

Like unfathomable. And what Trump was able to do is something that Democratic, that Democrats have, you know, their leftists have tried to do, which is awaken people who are not normally voting. Folks that are like disillusioned with the process. Trump got all these dudes to be like, you know what the problem is? And whatever he filled it in with, they were like, you're right about that. Also, I like how you're kind of mean. And I'm with you and going to vote for you because you talk like what I perceive a person to talk like. And everybody else talks like wishy-washy politicians. Now it did take them 11 years, 12, who know, like what is it, nine years to really come to terms with the fact that he just found a new way to be an F-boy to you,

toot you and boot you, but now they're finding out. And yes, off-cycle elections, particularly special elections have much lower turnout, but they do tell you who's jazzed about this. Who of the people who are really into it are gonna show up and it ain't Republicans. That whole thing of getting Trump to mobilize the electorate is gone. And it looks like the Democrats will probably scoop it up. Now what will they do with that? And how will they message in the wake up in the way up to that election? We don't know.

I haven't had my hair blown back by any of the leadership, good Lord. But that's my take on it. What do you think, Jordan? Yeah, there's several things here. The story yesterday about Republicans in general losing men is wild. I think it also speaks to how I wouldn't say the party itself, but the broader orbit of the Democratic Party has had an out, you know, an internal conversation.

I've had it with countless friends, colleagues, allies in general. All right, we really need to think through how we can speak to men in general. You know, there's a focus on young men, of course. And I don't know how much you could chalk up to that effort, but I know there are a lot of efforts to do that. You know, honestly, in general, Hassan has a big part in that. But across the board, I don't think how it's necessarily or exclusively democratic outreach or a new strategy. It's them seeing what's happening. It's, oh, this guy lied about being anti-war, there's lied about no new wars.

He is clearly implicated in the Epstein stuff. They're clearly trying to hide his involvement in that. They are doing more of Israel's bidding and the economy sucks. That's the biggest thing. That's it. It's I can't pay my bills. You promised us you would deliver on this. You made things worse in the first year with the tariffs.

And now you're making it even worse after saying just be patient. This is all going to work out. Don't worry. The tariffs are going to help you somehow. How many J.D. Vance interviews have we covered and have we seen where he's like, just be patient. Trump is working on this. We inherited a mess while their tariffs were making everything more expensive.

And then you had a new war, which is two prom. because it goes against a major campaign promise that we knew was insincere, but something they tried to, you know, position themselves in contrast to Harrison. And that's making things more expensive. So it doesn't matter who you are, you're going to be upset by that if you believed them in 2024. And I think when you're seeing, yes, it's a special election, of course, but we've seen 30 now, 30 flips. That's alarming. You should be alarmed. But the language and the rhetoric we're seeing from the right, I watch way too much Fox News just because I like to see what they're saying. And also it's good reaction content for other purposes. Jordan, you dog.

The message that they are rolling out is one of premature defeat. In the study of sports fan science, which in this case, can be applied here. It's, you know, you're going into a big game of this weekend. Your quarterback is hurt. You're starting quarterback's hurt and, you know, you're expecting you're going to lose. So you start like preemptily making excuses and conversations with your friends. That's called cutting off future failure, coughing. We're seeing it happen here with Republicans where they're already saying, well, it's no big deal. The president always loses seats in the midterms. They always lose power in the midterms. And it's like, sure, but there's a scale, right?

What happened in 2022 was Republicans thought there was going to be some massive red wave, and it was pretty minimal. There was a pretty razor-thin margin as a result. Yes, they did take power back in the legislature, but it wasn't as big as they were expecting. And Democrats saw that as some sort of moral victory. Here, it's, I mean, if we were to take anything from these races, we're talking about red seats in Florida in Texas, flipping Democrat. If you can't win the district that Mara Lago is in, under this point made elsewhere, but people have flocked to that area just to be close to him. Because he's corrupt.

They want to get access to people there. So maybe they can make some money off of his ripping off of the government. They're flooding that area and you lose that district? Brother, that is bad news. Brett, any final thoughts? One thing I just want to ask you. So like along the way, Dem's got to say something, right? I mean, there is one school of thought that's really sad and unfortunate for like future change where like the Democrats,

and you've heard this on this channel more than anywhere in the world, where Democrats just sit around and their only victories are when someone else fails. And they scoop up and they're like, see, we're winners. But like, is there a messaging you think is going to be the most important to execute for Democrats so that they don't accidentally steal victory from the Jaws of, or defeat from the Jaws of victory? I mean, that's interesting. It's probably cost, but the legacy Democrats are not going to be the ones to make that case. What do you mean by cost?

You can't roll out Chuck Schumer. You can't roll out any of the top dem leadership on these. Like Akeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, what's your excuse? You know, why should we believe you? That's the challenge they find themselves in because they're clinging to old leadership. And nothing like nothing really has happened. Nothing different has happened. They're posturing differently.

But voters are cynical. People, like you look at these approval polls, yes, Donald Trump is down, but so is the Democratic Party as a whole. So I think it's going to be how can supporters, how can everyday people, you and me, talk to our friends, talk to our communities, talk to audiences that we have access to about core principles. It's people like AOC. I think Rocauna is really good at this. You're seeing new progressive challengers. You're going to, you want to see people show a fight. As odd as it is, Chris Van Hollen is consistently emerging as like a good messenger, which having lived in Maryland for 10 years, it was not something I ever thought like,

oh, Van Hollen is a star. But okay, sure, I'll take it. Someone new. I think they would be smart. And we're seeing, there was spending some reporting over the past couple weeks that they're going to maybe try to move towards replacing Schumer. Hopefully soon, hopefully before the election. So you can only show, hey, we've got a new face on this. There's new people at the helm, and we're taking a different course.

Economic messaging is what's going to win. I think the messengers are going to be a key component. It's going to be crazy, though, if we go with leadership Chris Van Hollen, because then we'd have our first Pakistani in charge. Look it up. Okay. We're going to take a break. We'll see on the other side.

At Medkan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation. of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life.

Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Welcome back. It's the Young Turks. I'm Jordan Yoll, joined by Brett Ehrlich and Brett. I got to tell you, my cell phone bill is too high. Really? Well, Nobile Movalet for you guys in Italy. Sign up for $5.50.

Our producers, oh, no, sorry, this is just how it goes. You're getting ad reads whether you like it or not. Let's get into our next story, starting with this. If you want to keep doing this, buddy, you could tell me to check the scoreboard. I'll run circles around you on this dude. Check the scoreboard. Most unpopular war in American history going in. Check the scoreboard. 13 dead Americans and 150 plus other wounded. Thousands of innocents, including little schoolgirls in Iran, killed. Dead innocent Israelis. Hundreds of dead innocent people in Lebanon. Millions of innocent people being displaced all at the cost of tens of billions of dollars and destroying Trump's coalition. You just watch Dave Smith tear into Adam Sosnik on yesterday's episode of Pierce Morgan uncensored. The two right-wing commentators were debating the Iran war. Let's hear Smith make his case for why he thinks the war in Iran is not going well.

The big picture here is that clearly the calculation changed for Iran. They no longer feel that it's in their incentive for self-preservation to not strike back and kill Americans or not do maximal damage. And now clearly with a younger, more radical Ayatollah, who has not promised to not build nuclear weapons, they've made the calculation that actually they can't not give us a bloody nose, that they have to really make this cost us. Otherwise, we'll be back in another few months doing it again. And of course, at the beginning of this war, Donald Trump said this was a full regime-change war and called for the people to rise up and overthrow their government.

And the people did rise up, Pierce, in support of their martyr. Ayatollah. This all relies on two major factors. Think about this, Pierce. It's not just that Donald Trump has to call it quit and declare victory or whatever, but then we got two other entities that are majorly involved in this war, Iran and Israel. Now we know at this point, Iran is saying they're vowing not to stop. They talk a lot of bluster, who knows, maybe they will. But Israel, Pierce, we all know they want the regime change here. Now Sosnik only had one brief attempt at making a substantive argument in favor of the war. Here it is. This was not an easy decision. You think, you know, this guys have been in power 47 years.

Everybody in our microwave hustle society once is done in the next four to seven weeks. It's going to take some time. And we've already, I was talking to a good Navy SEAL, buddy in my Navy SEAL. He said, dude, we've taken out 80% of their military capacity. Not bad in less than a month. So let the guy cook a little bit. So you also talk about Dave, that, oh yeah, they had people out there pro regime. Yeah, nobody's denying that 10 to maybe 20% max of the country is pro regime. But what about the 80% of the country? That's like if they had a comedy show, there was 100 people that magically showed up to Dave's comedy show.

Oh my God, he has so many fans. Dude, there's 100,000 people outside that didn't go to the show. I'm not being brutish or sarcastic, but just you're taking a small sample size and extrapolating out for the entire country. Instead of actually debating the Iran war, Sosnik spent much of the show personally attacking Smith. He spent time accosting Smith for calling the U.S. and the IDF the world's worst terrorist organizations. Let's see exactly what Smith said, followed by his back and forth with Sosnik. The IDF is the worst terrorist organization in the region. Let's get real. The United States of America is arguably the worst terrorist organization in the world.

If you want to look over the last 25 years, how many innocent civilians we've slaughtered. You're saying the United States is a terrorist organization. You've already lost the debate. You live in America, tough guy. You have the luxury of sitting in your little studio with your hooded sweater. The regime. Like you're 17 years old, the regime. You mean all American president?

I'm 17 years old. Who's your favorite president in the last 50 years? Adam, I'm 17 years old. What's your last 15 years old? I have a wife and children. Who depends on you, Adam? Your mom? Okay, I also have a significant other.

So you want to go personal? You have a significant other. Dave, we can go as personal as we can go. No, I'm trying not to. We can go as personally respond to one thing. I don't care, Dan, Adam, some substance. I don't care. I know because you don't know anything.

You're a radical. So move on. So stop picking a fight with me, dude. You don't know anything about anything. I just want to say really quick. It's like you never really get to see that comedian beef. funny because he's too busy, like, arguing with people. But like, thank God, you got to see Dave Smith just like, be like, I'm going to crack a joke at your expense because you're ridiculous.

Yeah. Well, I definitely want to get your take, but I want to show people, Smith explaining why he made that controversial remark. What I made the point, and I've made this point a million times on your show, Pierce, I was saying when people come on and say Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism, Well, just like give me an objective definition of what terrorism means. And then let's apply that standard universally. And if you're going to sit here and say, look, America has given billions, tens of billions of dollars to the IDF in the last few years. We've also, by the way, given a lot of weapons and money.

Your first guest on this show there, the head of the Obama deep state, was using al-Qaeda bin Ladenite headchoppers on the ground in Libya and in Syria. And yes, Adam, I would also consider it when our politicians lie of, us into wars that slaughter millions of innocent people and in many cases target those innocent people, I consider that terrorism as well. Brett, I want to bring you back in here. What do you make of this debate, which is if you can call it a debate? That guy Adam is one who threw like a tampon at Anna during her take. Like the guy's stupid.

And I'm fine saying that. I've said that in many videos. Like the makeup of the Patrick Bed David show is this. Patrick Bet David is very smart and a tactician, right? There's good smart tacticians out there, right? And he does a really good job, and he's the influencer on that show. The rest are indicators. Indicators is a term, I think I came up with it, where it's like,

Patrick Bet David throws like potential messaging at these guys, and they represent the morons in the audience. And if Patrick's ideas work with the morons on his panel, Then they work with the morons in his audience. And those are employees, for those of you who have watched like sitcoms growing up, the multi-cams with the laugh track, those dudes are the laugh track. Ha ha ha ha ha. Their reaction is there simply to make Patrick look smarter.

And he's smart, right? He's great. Add that. I don't agree with him pretty much ever, but that's what's happening. And like Dave Smith is like has triggered Adam because and when Adam starts saying, like you look like you're 17 years old. That's the moment where where Adam realizes he doesn't know, I think as Dave said himself, anything about anything.

And he just has been like, like comedians are so good because they have to get people who don't know them to laugh, which is a form of agreement, right? Or just like an involuntary thing, they're wizards, right? They get you to do stuff with their thoughts and words. But a panelist who's just a friend of Patrick Bet David never has to work on any of those muscles. And when he comes toe to toe with someone who is figuratively jacked from years and years in dark comedy clubs, he gets knocked the out. I mean, it was it was hilarious, right? It was hilarious. Now, if you want to chime in on like the merits of his discussion of what he said, I think you should do that.

I just wanted to talk like the meta psychological dynamic of what was going on on that. And even Pierce is like, this is a bloodbath. I'm sorry, I'll hang out and let this moment happen. Yeah. I mean, I'm always curious to see what people like Dave have to say on this issue because I do think like, you know, like you say with this saucenik guy, he represents the dummies watching Patrick Bed David. Dave Smith, I think, represents a good portion of Americans and especially American men that we just talked about in our last segment who are now disaffected. Just totally checked out. Like, I don't buy this MAGA BS anymore.

And what I've liked about him is that he's been pretty consistent. He's like, these are my red lines. He crossed him. I'm out. They got crossed. He's out. And he's calling it out. And I would hope that other people and more and more people who close.

claim, that's why they supported Trump, are now in a similar position. I think, like we just talked about, these 30 red to blue flips across state legislatures, even in red states, is a sign that is happening. That's why, I don't know, I like Dave Smith when he talks about this kind of stuff. I'm sure we would have points of disagreement. I don't really care. It's a free country. Believe what you want.

I don't need to get, and it doesn't bother me that we have disagreements. But he's really good messenger for this kind of stuff. And I love seeing just blind right wing dummies get embarrassed. Right. It's enjoyable. And like a lot of people would have lumped those two together as like bro-y dudes. I mean, Dave Smith's not as bro-y, but like bro-y dudes who supported Trump and bought what Trump was saying. But this is a, you know, the litmus test of like people like Andrew Schultz, the Oval to a certain extent, to a certain extent.

what's his name, Joe Rogan. And that like Dave Smith above all of them is the one who was like, I was wrong and I'd like to apologize. I can work with that. I would just phrase a little differently. It's not that I don't care that we have disagreements. I care that we have disagreements. And something I care even more about is someone who is going to discuss the ideas

rather than this perception that they're winning or losing in their desperate attempt to appeal to an audience. Yeah, totally, absolutely. Well, let's get into our last story, and it's a fun one. Tourism in the United States is in the toilet, and only an alpha male like Nick Adams can get it out. Reporting from the independent claims, tourism grew worldwide in 2025, but the U.S. saw a 6% drop last year, according to data from the world travel and Tourism Council. Further reporting suggests that those numbers are likely to get worse in 2026, with tent poll celebrations on the horizon such as the World Cup, America's 250th birthday,

and the Olympics coming up a couple of years later, many are asking, what is the Trump administration's plan to combat these dismal numbers? Enter Australian American mega loyalist and self-proclaimed alpha male, Nick Adams. Now, those of you familiar with this show might recognize Nick from some of our previous coverage, but those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with who this person is, we're sorry, but take a look. M&Ms have just released feminist M&Ms. Yes, you heard me right, feminist M&Ms. Hooters is a wonderful family establishment. And I for one am absolutely sick and tired of it being defamed, derided,

introduced and mocked. This is a solemn day in alpha male history. I am here in Dallas outside the Anheuser-Busch facility. and I cannot believe the betrayal that we are currently witnessing. So that shiny example of male excellence who was wearing cargo shorts, presumably within the last year or two and pronounced it, Ianheiser is being tapped for a new position in the White House. Last week, Adams began his role as the special presidential envoy for American

tourism, exceptionalism, and national values. Adams took to X to express his gratitude to Trump for the opportunity stating, it will be my honor to serve this country as special presidential envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism, and values. I am deeply grateful for President Trump's continued friendship and confidence in me to serve in this critical role. I will thrust forward into this role and never relent in spreading the message of the greatness of America. That post was accompanied by an almost six-minute video in which he attempts to lay out his duties for this new role. But he manages to only regurgitate vague platitudes about, quote, the story of American greatness. Politico reports that the new role comes after his nomination

for the post of U.S. ambassador to Malaysia reportedly fell apart in recent months. So what is the function of this exact position? One can assume it's to serve as the chief marketing executive for a nation besieged by rising gas prices caused by an unpopular war with Iran, rogue ice agents torturing the citizenry with near impunity and out of control inflation. It will be Adam's job to convince hesitant travelers to return their tourism dollars to the U.S. That's a tall order to be sure. Luckily, we have one of the nation's finest on the job. Take a look. For the last time, stop sending Pizza Hut Pizza to my house.

And if you want to really know how I feel about the less woke precious pizza, I'll show you. I'm off the hooters with the boys, the boycott stands. And those boys presumably were just out of frame having a great time. It's so good. Oh, I'm an alpha mile. Please take my word for it. This guy is an ambassador for tourism. Okay, okay, okay.

The worst kind of person you can have is an ambassador for tourism, is an American tourist. You can hear them from where you're sitting and they're in Mexico right now. The second, actually probably the even worst way to do it is have an Australian tourist. They're loud and mean. They are by many surveys that I have seen on internet, the two worst ambassadors for tourism. If you want to drive people away, send a lot of Australians and Americans to that spot. Like that's an undeniable fact.

This dude, like who's watching those videos and saying that's my guy? This dude is born in Sydney, Australia, according to the brief Wikipedia thing I've done. And you know how he came here in the first place? That dude, that brilliant communicator, who's like, I'm an alpha mile, now watch me get in a golf cart and run over a flimsy pizza box. He came here on an Einstein visa. Like, you like, what? It's horrible. And like, Like what's so sad is that this is exactly the grift. This is the shillitarian industrial complex. You kiss Trump's ass based on BS culture wars that he is magically crafted and other

operatives have crafted out of nowhere. And are you doing it for the benefit of the world? Are you doing it for the benefit of the country? Or even the alpha males you say you lead, even though you're the big. doughball I've ever seen. No, you're doing it for your own benefit so you can get these perks like being, you know, rejected, but like the ambassador to Malaysia. Like, it's a great job if you can get it. Meanwhile, nobody can get actual jobs here in the United States. It's just, it's like a character. It's like a lazy caricature of American culture that this guy is latched on to.

Like, okay, this is the guy who's going to represent America on the global stage for purposes of tourism. Come see our sexy M&Ms, get your Budweiser that the rest of the world kind of scoffs at because it's just watered down Pilsner. And whatever pizza is currently woke or not woke, that's probably better in other countries. Oh, also Hooters. Like, it's just like, So sad. It feels like a lazy caricature from some like coastal elite liberal who's like, oh, this is what people in middle America like. And it's like, no, he's like broadcasting that to the rest of the world. Like this is the things that I care about.

These are things I'm upset about. You want to support a good Nick Adams, a former colleague of mine comedian Nick Adams has a book called Making Friends with Black People. So by that instead. Right. Well, Brett, where can people? find more of your work. If you open the hood of TYT, I'm in there and I'm a greaser. So just if you have any questions about our fuel injection here, I can answer them.

And I make videos on Rebel headquarters and I'm on damage report every Friday. Eoretically, I'll be in the Dan Lebitard show, but I'm not sure if that's an April Fool's joke yet. Well, it's been great. I've got a new YouTube channel. If people want to check it out, it's called It Gets Work. over on YouTube with friend of TyT Jules Soudstaltzv Sudesdalstiv.

Suzstaltzv. Says Daltiv. No, I think I said it right. Suzolstev. It gets worse. Check it out. We'd love to have you there. That's all for this hour. Yaz and Waz.

Coming up next. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember. 988, Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know, just in case.

Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada.