What A Day - Bye Bye, Biden

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

Joe Biden’s presidency officially ends at noon on Monday, when Donald Trump is sworn in... again. And along with the end of Biden’s presidency comes reflection on his legacy as leader of the free world. Biden made his case for the history books during a farewell address Wednesday night from the Oval Office. But despite some notable wins, Biden also tallied some painful failures – on inflation, the war in Gaza, and maybe chief of all, his decision to run again in 2024. Alexis Coe, presidential historian and bestselling author, weighs in on Biden’s legacy. Later in the show, a Pasadena resident reflects on evacuating from the LA fires.And in headlines: Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency told senators during his confirmation hearing that he believes in climate change, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chose state Attorney General Ashley Moody to replace Sen. Marco Rubio, and TikTok users brace for the app to potentially shut down this weekend.Show Notes:Alexis' op-ed - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/biden-legacy-trump-election-win-1235154852/Check out Pod Save The World – crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-world/Support victims of the fire – votesaveamerica.com/reliefSubscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Friday, January 17th. I'm Erin Ryan in for Jane Costin, and this is What a Day, the show pouring one out for right-wing strongman and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, whose request to leave the country to attend Trump's inauguration was denied by his country's Supreme Court. So sad when aspiring dictators can't be there to support one another. On today's show, all the political hot air coming out of those confirmation hearings won't spare DC from a cold snap on Trump's inauguration day, and TikTok users brace for their beloved app to shut down operations in the U.S.

Also, director David Lynch has passed away, which means I will be watching Lost Highway tonight, which also means I will be having bonkers dreams tonight. Whether you're a social media user, political junkie, or film weirdo, right now a lot is coming to an end. And it's not clear if what we're headed toward is ultimately good or bad. It's a time of deletion, of indelible change. It's not just the end of one era. It feels like the end of several eras all at once. Not knowing what comes next is frankly unnerving, and

it's why my most prized possession is currently my weighted blanket. But let's start by talking about the end of a political era. Joe Biden's presidency officially ends at noon on Monday, when Donald Trump is sworn in again. And along with the end of Biden's presidency comes reflection on whether he was any good at being leader of the free world. Biden made his case for the history books during his farewell address Wednesday night from the Oval Office. In the past four years, our democracy has held strong. And every day I've kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation's history.

Joe Biden says that Joe Biden will remember himself as a pretty good president. Guess it's settled. But despite some notable wins, he also tallied some painful failures on inflation, the war in Gaza, and maybe chief of all, his decision to run again in 2024. That decision is still dividing Democrats,

and it played a role in ushering in the very cabal of oligarchs Biden warned the nation about in his speech. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. Oligarchy is such a cute word for something so scary. Kind of like Kremlin. It's too cute. Anyway, to explore Biden's legacy, his victories and shortcomings, I reached out to presidential historian and bestselling author Alexis Coe. Alexis Coe, welcome to What A Day. Thank you for having me. All right, Alexis, even within the Democratic Party,

there's a debate about Biden's legacy and whether history will view his presidency as a success or a failure. And I guess to start, big picture, where do you fall within that debate? It's difficult to judge. First of all, as a presidential historian, I do not like to comment on a presidency if we haven't had at least a decade, because we have to wait for certain policies as Biden has promised us to unfold, to take form and to see the effects.

The problem here, and this is true for every president, is they inherit something, but Biden is sandwiched between Trump's first presidency and his second, so everything about his presidency, with a few exceptions, is going to be connected to that and his refusal to leave office. Right, like an Oreo cookie with like the cookie part being made of something really gross

and then the inside being made of something where you're like, oh, is this okay? As a historian, how do you think Biden's farewell address compares to other presidential farewell addresses? In some ways it was standard. It was also the real visual reminder that spoke against what he's still talking about, which is a little bit like Trump still talking about the big lie. Biden is still talking about winning the election and how he could have done it.

And so it was difficult. I kept thinking about that as I was watching him. And that is the problem with refusing to leave office is what would have been a legacy that rivals FDR. And that would have been the book on Biden. Now that legacy is a chapter two and everything else is about what happened after. In 2020, Biden ran on the idea

of returning American government back to normal, both in the eyes of Americans and in our allies abroad. Do you think he succeeded? I do think he succeeded there. I think he definitely reestablished democratic norms. He should get credit for being an excellent manager. And I think we see that throughout his administration. The retention level has been impressive.

It might be the best of any presidential administration in American history. He has executed some amazing deals as a result. The people he puts on the ground and entrusts and empowers are quite good. But we do at the same time have difficulties when you talk about normalcy because for normal Americans, democratic norms don't matter as much as say inflation. Well, before we get to his failures, I want to talk about his successes, which you kind of alluded to in earlier answers. He managed to pass a lot of legislation with narrow majorities in the House and Senate,

Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the CHIPS Act, historic climate bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. What do you think the long-term impact of that legislation will be? Is there a historical analog to legislation that big? Is he going to be like an FDR light in that regard? I think so. I mean, there's this funny line in Hamilton that people often quote, I couldn't undo your work if I tried and I did try.

And so there are certain things that do exist that people put into policies, but again, we just can't tell yet the problems that Biden faces as far as his legacy because by the time we see some of these things come into effect, he will likely not be with us anymore, is that he can't really speak to it. He was never a great communicator about his accomplishments. And these things have gone unnoticed already, which makes me worry. The Office for Gun Violence Prevention and Control, I would argue that that was an incredibly innovative office.

I wish we had heard more from it. But critics would say it didn't do anything, and they would be right to say so. I think what was interesting last year is I went on a 13 stop tour, a discussion tour for New America where I'm a senior fellow and I asked a simple question, how should a president be? And of course I went to all these different places that I tried to not go to the same schools and the same bookstores and the same think tanks that I always go to.

I tried to sort of branch out. And I would talk to people when they picked me up at the airport and I would tell them what I'm doing. And what was really shocking to me is how few people knew Kamala Harris. They didn't really know who she was. They had a vague idea. And that was something that was really surprising to me, but not as time went on. And so I think one of the biggest failures obviously was not having a primary, but also

not putting her at the forefront during this time. The Office of Gun Violence Prevention, she ran that office. It was through the Vice President's office. There were so many opportunities to put her at the forefront and he really didn't because he didn't believe his time had come to an end. Another failure, the Biden administration kind of didn't ever figure out how to address Americans' fears about inflation. Yeah, it was something happening globally and there were a lot of reasons why the 2024

election didn't go Democrats' way. But inflation is the one that a lot of people who didn't vote for Kamala Harris cite. What other presidents in the past have struggled with inflation and how have they been remembered? I mean, we have Hoover, of course, and we have the Great Depression, and we have Grover Cleveland who didn't respond adequately to the panic that occurred. We have Grover Cleveland again. Of course, he's the only other president aside from Donald Trump who was reelected and had nonconsecutive terms.

He refused to sort of, you know, respond to this. There can be debates over whether those were unforeseen consequences, but I think this comes back to this issue of communication. When we rank presidents, when historians rank presidents, and I think this comes back to this issue of communication. When we rank presidents, when historians rank presidents, and I'm expecting this any day in my mailbox, we don't just sort of like make a list and put numbers next to them. There is a set of criteria and each one is weighted. And one of the most important things is a president's ability to communicate with the public. And there were lots of ways that I thought Biden could have done it.

Going on TikTok, an account he opened, I think six months to a year before he left office, was not the way to do it. It was not the way to do it. And so I think that in general, and it was hard because this is this politician who has a wonderful history of empathy and of really connecting with Americans. And he just seemed unwilling or unable to do so.

After the election in 2024, you wrote a piece in Rolling Stone about how by choosing to run again, he squandered his legacy. Why does it all boil down to that decision for you? It was astonishing to watch. I think it doesn't all boil down to that. It is the process and what it will do to our collective memory as we look back at his legacy. We also wonder what we didn't know, how it got to that point. We'll sort of question everything. And his legacy is not his own anymore. It now belongs to Donald Trump and whatever question everything. And his legacy is not his own anymore. It now belongs to Donald Trump and whatever he does.

And it depends who you talk to. But many historians, I know many political scientists, think that this is the end of democracy as we know it. And these are not doomsayers. I think that Biden, again, you called an Oreo cookie and I think that's more appealing than a sandwich, but it really, you cannot, he will, it will always be there. He will never be just fluff anymore.

No more filling. Although I guess you don't call it a bread sandwich. So it would be the Biden sandwich surrounded by Trump flavored bread, but neither here nor there. So ultimately does Biden's presidency become just a footnote to Trump's legacy? It seems kind of like that's what you're saying,

or maybe is it worse? Like is his legacy the end of American exceptionalism? That does seem very likely. I think that we can't say because we don't know what's going to happen. The first Trump presidency was such a wild ride and we're waiting for an inaugural address. We don't really know what it will say. I was shocked by the last one, American carnage, is a catchphrase that will now live next to other inaugural addresses such as, ask not what your country can do

for you. And so I think that we really can't underestimate the importance of Trump's presidency when it comes to Biden's legacy. Alexis Koh, thank you so much for joining us. Always great to hang out with you and I always wish our hangs were longer. Thank you so much for joining us. Always great to hang out with you, and I always wish our hangs were longer. Thank you so much. Thank you. That was my conversation with presidential historian and author Alexis Koh. We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends.

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Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash whatadaytoday. Go to rocketmoney.com slash what a day today. That's rocketmoney.com slash what a day. Rocketmoney.com slash what a day. Here's what else we're following today. Headlines. I want to work with people to ensure they do their part to protect our environment.

Senate confirmation hearings continued on Thursday with Lee Zeldin, Trump's pick for head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The former Republican congressman and New York gubernatorial loser fielded questions from lawmakers about his qualifications for the job. Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders

asked Zeldin directly if he believed in climate change, to which Zeldin said, yes. Do you agree with President-elect Trump that climate change is a hoax? Well, first off, Senator, it was great to meet with you as well. I believe that climate change is real, as I told you. There was also this pretty funny moment mid-hearing when Sanders' phone rang. And solar power. Sorry. That's okay.

Almost saved by the bell. That was the fossil fuel industry. There is nothing less surprising to me than the fact that Bernie Sanders does not have his phone on silent at all times. That is incredibly old guy coded. But even though Zeldin pledged to protect the environment, he's expected to roll back many Biden-era climate laws. He voted against the Inflation Reduction Act when he was a member of the House in 2022.

And a telltale sign that he's in the pocket of big oil? Well, they've been lining his pockets with donations to his campaigns over the years. When Trump announced Zeldin's nomination last year, he said that if confirmed, his main focus was, quote, energy dominance and making US the, quote, artificial intelligence capital of the world. I will give a crisp $100 bill to the first reporter or Manosphere podcaster to ask Lee Zeldin to explain in his own words how artificial intelligence works. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has chosen his replacement for Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who's expected to become Trump's

wee little secretary of state. On Thursday, DeSantis announced that State Attorney General Ashley Moody will fill in Rubio's seat on the Hill. She joined him for a press conference. I have one message right now to President Trump and to my new colleagues on the United States Senate.

America first, let's get it done. America first and let's get it done happen to be the two most commonly used phrases in MAGA mad libs, which I do not recommend purchasing. Moody is a classic MAGA Republican apart from the fact that unlike many classic MAGA Republicans, she has not dyed her hair Hulk Hogan blonde. She once sued Trump for fraud back when she was a prosecutor, but has since become, quote, one of Trump's biggest surrogates. She denies the results of the 2020 election.

She's joined several lawsuits against the Biden administration over its support of gender-affirming care, gun control, and environmental protections. Well, like I always say, the only thing that can stop climate change is a good guy with a gun. And DeSantis said on Thursday that all of these stellar qualities make her the perfect fit for the U.S. Senate. I wanted somebody with a demonstrated record

of delivering results. I know I should be triggered by this, but the fact that she's not Laura Trump has made me kinda like her for the next 30 seconds, maybe? Moody will serve out the rest of Rubio's term once he resigns. She'll have to run in a special election in 2026 to keep the seat. How many days do we have left with TikTok in the United States? As of now, the app is on track to potentially, maybe, possibly go dark on Sunday.

That's the deadline TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faces to either sell the app to a non-Chinese entity or be banned from U.S. app stores. The Biden administration says because the deadline is happening so close to Trump's inauguration, it's going to leave enforcement of the TikTok ban up to the incoming administration. Reminds me of how sometimes when I stay at an Airbnb, I don't strip the sheets. You can handle that, next people. A White House official told NBC News, quote, Americans shouldn't expect to see TikTok suddenly banned. But ByteDance has shown zero interest in selling, and it's reportedly planning to shut down TikTok in the U.S. on Sunday.

National security concerns aside, I believe I speak for every parent of a very small child when I say, what am I supposed to do when I'm up at 3 a.m? Trying to calm the baby down now fix it Emperor Trump Well, apparently he kind of wants to which has left me with really conflicted feelings because I will not be starting his second term approving of his actions The Washington Post on Thursday reported that Trump is considering an executive order to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. while a potential sale is negotiated. The Supreme Court is also weighing the constitutionality of this whole thing on First Amendment grounds. The court has scheduled a decision day today signaling it could rule on the law.

Either that or feature more confused ramblings from Justice Alito, who earlier this week during a different First Amendment case asked lawyers for the adult content industry whether online porn websites featured thoughtful essays by the modern equivalent of Gore Vidal, like Playboy. I'm so serious. That really happened. You can look it up. You're welcome. T.O.P.E. Tech bros in red state Karens are donning their black ties,

Oscar de la Renta knockoffs, and of course, their their MAGA hats to celebrate Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday Snoop do Double-g double thumbs down has disappointed all of us with an expected performance at DC's first-ever crypto ball That's scheduled for tonight Feel like I can smell it and leading up to the inauguration several parties are on the calendar in and around the capital They include a party at tech billionaire Peter Teiel's mansion and another at a members-only club hosted by the tech podcast All In. Uber and Elon Musk's ex, I'll never call it by that. I will always call Twitter by its dead name, are also hosting an event. And Spotify is hosting a brunch with guest lists that includes Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly, and Ben Shapiro.

Nightmare Blunt Rotation. And on Monday night after the inauguration, Metta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is throwing a black tie reception with co-hosts and Republican donors, Miriam Adelson and Todd Ricketts, thus creating the most impossible game of FMK of all time. Many of these same-tech leaders also made big donations to Trump's inauguration fund. The nearly $200 million his team raised far surpasses the $107 million he raised in 2017, which was also a record at the time. And that's the news. One more thing. There are myriad ways to discuss the fires in Los Angeles. We can talk about

whether local and state officials could have done more to stave off some of the destruction. We could talk about how cynical political actors will use disaster victims as a political football. We can talk about how in times of devastation, community can fill in gaps left by bureaucracy. Hell, we can talk about how most of the stuff in our houses turns into poison when it's set on fire and how that might not be great. But today, we're gonna talk about how uncomfortably close every one of us is to being a climate refugee. In an era of climate change, something as random as a cigarette butt

being tossed on a pile of leaves could determine whether or not your home remains standing, whether your community remains intact. I wanted to talk to somebody familiar with the razor's edge we all walk now, Amanda McPhillips, a single mother of two from Pasadena, California, who evacuated because of the fires.

Amanda, welcome to What A Day. Thank you. First of all, how are you doing? I know that there's, that's a loaded question, but overall, how are you doing? We are okay. We are grateful that we have our house. I think like everybody,

we're basically hour by hour at this point and where we're gonna to be and what we're going to do. My son's school is one of the schools that was burned down. So we're trying to figure out what happens with the kids at this point. Oh my gosh. Wow. And walk me through the day that you evacuated from Pasadena. What did things look like in your neighborhood? What was going through your head as news of the Eaton fire broke, especially as a parent? Well, the day was really normal. I know the Palisades fire was going on

and I was aware of it. And all of a sudden everyone started saying, there's a fire in Eaton Canyon. I downloaded Watch Duty like everybody in LA did and started just really tracking it. As the fire started getting bigger and it was clear it was much more dangerous, I started to get a little bit nervous. The winds were really, really bad. I mean, it was literally like having a hurricane that just never stopped,

that was just going. You'd look out the front window and you can see the flames coming down. You would see flashes in the sky because it was clear power lines were coming down and it looked scary outside. And it's that horrible like orangey glow and there's like stuff like swirling. It's true what they say, you just know. And I was like, we have to go, we have to go right now. And so I had packed the car. We, at that point, we weren't even under watch. We drove to a friend's house that lives like on the south, like a different part of Pasadena that seemed safer just to like figure out what to do next. And in the time it took us to get in the car friend's house that lives like on the south, like a different part of Pasadena that seems safer,

just to like figure out what to do next. And in the time it took us to get in the car and get there, which was maybe 20 minutes, it went from nothing to a watch to a go. Like that's how fast it moved, like to the evacuation order. When we started seeing what was getting, getting burned, it was, I mean, it was wild. I mean, it's was wild. We're so, so lucky. There's houses 0.5 miles from us that burned. Wow. Are you in the South Bay now? Now we're back in the house, but we're looking at possibly relocating for a couple months

because there's no school for my kindergartner to go to. Um, I mean, look, we're grateful that we have this house. Um, and if it can be of service to a family that doesn't have the option to leave the area for work or other reasons, there's, I think at least 45, if not more families in our school alone. Right. Well, I'm in the Eagle Rock Highland Park area, so we're not far apart from each other and it's absolutely crazy how quickly things turned for people, friends and neighbors

in Altadena and Pasadena. I'd imagine you and your neighbors have been in touch since all of this happened and everything scattered. How have you talked about recovering? Like, do you know what direction you're moving in? What is everybody gonna do now? I think the idea is to rebuild, but even when it comes to our school, I don't know. Do you rebuild in the same place?

There's this terrible thing that happens after a fire like this where the burn scar is going to be so big that theoretically this area would be safe for a matter of years, but that's not forever. I think everyone's having trouble wrapping their head around it because it doesn't feel like there's a North Star for what recovery looks like because there's no part of your life that's normal. I went to go take money out of the ATM and I'm like, oh, our bank burned down. Everything stops. Yeah. Yeah. And so I've got little kids too, but mine are three and seven months old. How are you talking to your kids about what happened?

Because it happened right in front of them. It seems like there's no sheltering. Yeah, you have to. And I think my oldest is six and kindergarten and my youngest is three. And I mean, part of the reason I live in LA is because I was displaced during Sandy in New York. I was in New York for Sandy too. I feel like we're like ships in the night, Amanda.

I know. We didn't have water damage, but all the infrastructure had been underground. So it flooded out. And it's funny, because when I think about my oldest and kindergarten, so much of his whole life is shaped already by climate change. We might end up moving out of this area for good

because of the fire risk and some issues like this, but I think it's going to just be ingrained in them as a way of life. For him, he's upset. I think it's harder for them to process that the physical school is gone. But for the kids, being near their friends has been the most important thing. Like, well, when can I see my friends again? And we've explained it as the school might not be there, but the community is there. Our friends are there. The teacher, everyone is safe, and that's what matters. And we're going to be helpers now and help everybody.

I'm so sorry, Amanda, that you were so directly impacted by the fires and that your family was so directly impacted. And thank you so much for joining us. I wish you the best and take care of yourself. Yeah, thank you. That was my conversation with Amanda McPhillips of Pasadena. Before we go, Crooked's friends at Vote Save America, Action and Crooked Ideas have set up a disaster relief fund to benefit those impacted by the horrific wildfires here in

LA. It's super easy for you to make one donation that's split among incredible charities doing critical work for our neighbors and first responders, like the Latino Community Foundation, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, United Way of Greater Los Angeles, California Community Foundation Wildfire Relief Fund, and Inclusive Action. Thanks to you, we have raised nearly $200,000 for these great groups so far. Great job, everybody. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at vote save america dot com slash relief. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, do

a creepy dance in the Black Lodge to honor David Lynch, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just synopses of David Lynch's filmography like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Erin Ryan, Jane Costin will be back on Monday. And in the words of David Lynch, let's try that again, but this time good.

Or in the words of David Lynch, fix your hearts or die. What A Day is a words of David Lynch, fix your hearts or die. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Emily Four. Our producer is Michelle Eloy. We had production help today from Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters, and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Ericaters, and Julia Clare. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adrian Hill.

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