What A Day - Should Democrats Be The Anti-War Party?

Episode Date: April 14, 2026

Trump’s war in Iran is now 45 days old with no end in sight — which is a problem for Republicans. Because while midterms are always tough for the party in power, an unpopular war with no exit strategy isn’t helping. So how should Democrats running for office this year – and in coming years – respond? And what should they be running for? Because recently “we aren’t Trump” hasn’t been good enough. To find out, we spoke with Mehdi Hasan. He’s the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the media company Zeteo.And in headlines, the U.S. conducts more lethal strikes against supposed drug smuggling boats in the Pacific, President Trump receives the White House’s first DoorDash delivery, and Jane and Matt unpack the showdown no one asked for: POTUS v Pope. God help us.Show Notes: Check out Mehdi's work – zeteo.com/s/mehdi-unfiltered Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Tuesday, April 14th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day, the show that is wondering. How low will Vice President J.D. Vance go to bend the knee to President Donald Trump? Will he, for example, pretend that Trump posting an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ was funny? Here's Vance on Fox News Monday speaking to Brett Baer. Well, first of all, Brett, I think the president was posting a joke, and of course he took it down, because he recognized that a lot of people weren't understanding his humor in that case. I think the President of the United States likes to mix it up on social media. And I actually think that's one of the good things about this president is that he's not filtered.

He doesn't send everything through a communications professional. He actually reaches out directly to the people. Yes, that's kind of what I thought Vance would do. On today's show, the U.S. conducts more lethal strikes against supposed drug smuggling votes in the Pacific. And the showdown that no one asked for. Podus versus Pope. God help us. But let's start with the war in Iran and what it means at home.

Trump's war in Iran is now 45 days old. So far, the conflict has resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen U.S. service members and thousands of Iranians, and there is no end in sight. The situation is bad enough that after failing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with diplomacy, Trump announced that the U.S. will just blockade the strait itself. Here he is on Monday responding to a reporter during the White House's first DoorDash delivery. More on that later. Mr. President, as far as the naval blockade is concerned, what's the endgame? Is it to force Iran back to the negotiating table?

Is it to open up the scrape so that gas prices ultimately come in? Maybe everything. Both of those things, certainly, and more. We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world because that's what they're doing. They're really blackmailing the world. We're not going to let that happen. He went on to explain that the blockade will be fine for the U.S. because the United States produces so much oil by itself,

which is sort of true. But due to a bunch of factors like the global oil market and the type of oil the U.S. can actually pump out of the ground, it isn't going to make gasoline prices go any lower, which is a problem for Republicans. Actually, the entire Iran war is a problem for the GOP, especially with the midterms just a few months away. Gas prices are likely to remain high until the end of the year.

Consumer sentiment is remarkably low. Trump's own opinion polling keeps on dropping with basically everyone, and the GOP doesn't have much more to run on than tax cuts. Yes, midterms are always tough for the party in power, but an unpopular war with no-exit strategy isn't helping. It's no wonder that on Monday, Cook Political Report shifted the ratings of four Senate races in the direction of Democrats. But Democrats are still pretty unpopular.

So how should Democrats running for office this year and in coming years respond? What should they be running for? Because recently, We Aren't Trump hasn't been good enough. To find out, I spoke with Mehdi Hassan. He's the founder and editor-in-chief of the media company Zateo. Mehdi, welcome to Wad today. Thanks for having me. It's been a month and a half since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran,

and the effects have been, but are even more so officially hitting home. How do you think Americans are perceiving the war with Iran right now? I think they think it's a disaster, and they're right to think it's a disaster because it is a disaster. It's one of the biggest disasters on my lifetime, and there have been a lot of disasters in my 46 years on this planet. The one remarkable thing I noticed about American reactions to this war is that they are consistently anti-war. They were anti-war before Trump kicked off this war of choice, and they've been increasingly anti-war since this shit show has continued. over the last few weeks. And for the first time in my lifetime, the American public is opposed to a war

in which American military personnel are involved and have died in. Iraq, a lot of people took to the streets to oppose the Iraq war. I was one of them in the UK. People marched across the US, across the world. But once the war got going, the American public fell in line. American public backed the boys in action. Not this time. The American public is so fatigued with this war that they're not supporting it even as 13, 14 American soldiers are killed. So I think that that gets us to what I wanted to talk to you about, which is the midterms are coming up. And we've seen a lot of Democrats position themselves as just anti-Trump, which for midterms, great, fine, amazing. Worked in 2018.

Look, it works. It works. It worked in 2006. It tends to work. But instead of saying what they're not for, how do you think Democrats can define what they are for, especially when it comes to Iran? Like, should Democrats be straight up anti-war right now, or should. should they take more of the Iranian regime is terrible, but you're doing a terrible job fighting them, that kind of stance. Yeah, I mean, obviously anyone who knows me knows I don't support the latter stance. I think it's insane for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to be like, our objection to this war is you didn't write a clear enough letter to Congress explaining what you were doing. Tutt, tut, tut, tut, you know, Tako Trump, this phrase comes from Chuck Schumer back in 2025 when he was attacking Trump from the right for not being tough enough on Iran. So this is the problem we have with current democratic leadership. A lot of them are pro-Israel Hawks.

A lot of them are APAC-funded hawks who love a good Middle East war. Their objection to Trump is that it's Trump doing it, not a Democratic president. So that's not the right way forward. It's not the right way forward morally. It's not the right way forward politically. Morally, obviously I think the Democrats should be an anti-war party because war is bad, especially the endless foreign wars that the U.S. has fought in recent years. They've almost all been bad, right? Libya and Iraq and Afghanistan where supposedly we had noble goals. That was the good war after 9-11, turned out to be a 20-year debacle, we left it back in the hands of the Taliban. So war is bad. The American public now think war is bad. So there's a moral reason for rejecting war stridently. And there's a good political

electoral reason, which is the American public, is fatigued with war, is fed up with war, sees through the bullshit, isn't signing up to Trump's Iran war, won't sign up to any future war, I hope. And therefore, it's kind of, it's there for the taking. I mean, my big problem with 2024 Kamala Harris, I had many, but was leaving that lane open for Trump to pretend to be the anti-war candidate. I knew he was anti-war. I told people on the left, please don't buy this shtick. I told Muslims who I knew in Dearborn, Michigan, please don't buy this bullshit. But some of them did buy it. And can you blame them when Trump was turning up to tell them, I won't send boys to fight in the Middle East? I won't kill Muslims, but Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris, they want another

war in the Middle East. The Democrats left open that massive anti-war lane. And if they do it again this year, then they deserve to lose again. But thankfully, we do have candidates like Graham Platner, who is vocally anti-war in Maine. He does look like he's going to be the Senate Democratic candidate in Maine. We need more grand platners. Speaking of Kamala Harris and Graham Platner and a host of other candidates, for Democrats, taking any stance on Israel has gotten complicated, particularly in purple states. How are Democrats positioning themselves regarding Israel right now and how should they be? So some Democrats are doing the right thing and really reassessing what they have thought about Israel for years. I interviewed Rokaneh recently, who has led the charge on both the War Powers Act and on arms and aid to Israel.

He used to proudly brag that he was a progressive Zionist, that he was a progressive supporter of Israel. And I asked him, I said, how did the Rokhanna four, five years ago, who was proud to defend Israel, turned into the Rokunner of today? And he said, look, I was in the wrong place. I got it wrong. Obviously, the genocide in Gaza made me see Israel in it. a different light. And I think we need more Democrats who are substantively shifting, who get what they got wrong. Even Bernie Sanders, people forget. Bernie Sanders was a hardcore liberal

scientist. I think he still is a liberal scientist, but he's much more critical of Israel, much more willing to talk about things like conditioning aid and restricting arms. He's led that effort. He will be in the Senate later this week with a vote on arms to Israel again. But people forget, 10, 15 years ago, Bernie was defending Israel's right to defend itself. In fact, at the beginning of this genocide, he wasn't calling for a ceasefire. So Democrats have been moving. Some of them in substantive ways. Now, there are others, I think of the governor of California, who says stuff to your colleagues, John Favre and Tommy Vita, on stage that, oh, is Israel an apartheid state? And then goes to Politico and says, I was quoting Tom Friedman. I revere Israel. I think that's

going to be problematic. The people who see that they need to say certain things in order to have a viable chance in Democratic primaries where the base is like, what, 8% pro-Israel, and the rest is anti. You've seen that with Josh Shapiro. Josh Shapiro is one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the 2028 race. And just the other day he came out slamming Netanyahu, not just slamming Netanyahu, which he's done before, which is easy, low-hanging fruit, but, you know, talking about who to blame for this war, you know, his rhetoric much harsher than anything before. And you think he's seen the internal numbers. He gets that he has to say this to have any chance of being any kind of frontrunner in 2020. Now, are people like him or Newsome and others,

when they get elected, are they actually going to be, you know, willing to reassess America's Israel. Most people will be skeptical. So I think in the Democratic race, people are going to have to work out who's actually moved on Israel and reflects where the base is now and where international law is and where common senses. And who just basically has seen the internal numbers and gets that they have to say this stuff. I'm curious as to your thinking on that with regard to the people who are going to be voting in Democratic primaries and the people who are voting in the main elections are likely to have different perspectives and even wait those perspectives. on Israel differently. How do you think Democrats need to be thinking about that?

It's a good question. And I remember Democrats pointing out in 2024 that it wasn't cost-free for Harris to throw Biden under the bus because, for example, Pennsylvania had lots of Jewish pro-Israel voters versus Michigan's, lots of pro-Palestine Arab voters. I get that. Obviously, these are not zero-sum games. These are complicated calculations. But one thing I would say is interesting. I can't remember who the polling was by. I want to say IMEU, but there was polling done in swing states in 2024, not after the election, not with the benefit of hindsight, which showed that a candidate who was willing to engage and call out the genocide and talk about conditioning arms to Israel, this is at the height of the genocide in 2024, they would pick up

independent voters in swing states, but they wouldn't lose many. So there was an argument that said it was, I'm not going to say cost-free, but it wasn't as costly to be anti-Israel as it was to be pro-Israel. And I would argue that Gulf has only gotten bigger in the last couple of years. So the primary, Democratic primary crowd is now much more anti-Israel than it was before, especially with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu making it into a partisan issue. So Democrats can comfortably reject Israel citing, well, it's Trump's policy. And then you look at the American public, Jane, the polling that just came out from Pew the other day, astonishing numbers. It's everyone under the age of 50 is a critic of Israel right now,

including this is the one that almost knocked me down, a majority of Republicans. even a majority of Republicans under 50 now take a critical stance of Israel. So I think, look, it's not going to be a top issue in the general election. Why would it? Americans are going to vote on things like the economy, wages, jobs, crime, the border. The usual stuff, healthcare. I'm not pretending Israel or the genocide or Lebanon or Iran is going to be a top three issue. But it's not going to cost a Democratic candidate.

And therefore, the real question that Democrats have to ask themselves is, how do I win a primary when the base is now in such a different place from where it was 10, 15 years ago? it's clear to me that Trump has no end game for the Iran war. A war he started, a war of choice, a war he's gotten us into. But he sometimes manages to eke out wins from the most difficult situations. It's that tweet about like, I wonder if old Trump can wriggle his way out of this one, and then he does. Do you think there's anything Trump could do that will throw a giant wrench into Democrats' momentum this fall? So objectively, just looking at it from a purely factual perspective,

no, there's no way he can rescue this. Like even if the war stopped tomorrow with an amazing peace deal where everyone's happy, the damage to the global economy is done, the damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf is done, the damage between our allies is done, the damage to America's reputation in the world where the president can just mull openly about destroying a civilization tonight. That's done, right?

You can't take that back. But, to go back to your point, Trump being Trump and the America that we live in and the media we have to deal with, he is able to e-cat wins because he's graded on a curve, Jane. He gets a pass that no other politician in my lifetime has gotten. So even if he ends up killing 160 schoolgirls on day one, even if he threatens genocide in Iran, even if he sends his conflicted, corrupted son-in-law to do peace negotiations

and then fail, even after all that, if there is some deal done, some shitty deal, where it's like, yay, we reopen the Strait of Hormuz, hey, it was already opened before the war. Such is our media that that will be seen as a win, and Trump will call it a win, and his Republican cult will go on TV with message discipline and say it was a win, and the media will say, well, they say it's a win. And that is how he gets away with the shit that Joe Biden couldn't get away with, Barack Obama couldn't get away with.

No other president could get away with. But yes, I've said this many times. Donald Trump is the master, the absolute master of providing solutions to problems he created and then asking for praise for that. Maddie, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you, Jane. That was my conversation with Medi Hassan, founder and editor-in-chief of Zateo. You probably know the drill by now, and if you don't, just hang in there, because we'll be getting to more news in a moment. But in the meantime, if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads.

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It makes using money overseas easy and convenient. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com. Terms and conditions apply. Here's what else we're following today. Head aligns. Joining me as Crooked's Washington correspondent, Matt Burr, to talk about the big stories. Hey, Matt. Hey, Jane.

President Donald Trump found a new way to piss off Maga World, which I didn't even know was possible, but this time he went with, um, Straight up blasphemy, he posted and later deleted, an image that depicted himself as none other than Jesus Christ. Now, here's what he told reporters on Monday. I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross as a Red Cross worker there, which we support. And only the fake news could come up with that one. So I had just heard about it. And I said, how did they come up with that?

it's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. Now, people who are watching this on YouTube, you will be able to see the image. And you can tell me if this reminds you of any doctor you've ever seen. That's not my doctor. So either Donald Trump came up with the worst lie I've ever heard or admitted that he could not tell the difference between an image of Jesus Christ and a doctor. In other words, he is either lying or he's an idiot, but it's probably both. And what really gets me is seeing some within Maga World kind of going with it.

Like, seriously. But somehow, that's not the only religious scandal Trump waited into on Monday. He continued beefing with Pope Leo. Yes, you heard me. Beefing with the Pope. After a late night social media post on Sunday in which he described the pontiff as being quote, weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy. And Matt, you know, that might be really hard on the Pope's re-election campaign.

Oh, wait. Yeah, that is one way of thinking about this. I mean, Trump is not shying away from this fight. And this is a fight he started for no reason whatsoever. I mean, if you're thinking about it from Trump's angle, it is that Leo has repeatedly called for the end of the war in Iran with Trump, obviously, is not. wrapping up anytime soon. And Leo hasn't explicitly taken aim at Trump, but Trump is still taking these comments incredibly personally, even though popes, you know, generally advocate for peace. It's admittedly a little funny that Saturday the Pope said, quote, enough of the adultery of

self and money, enough of the display of power, enough of war. And Trump correctly assumed Pope Leo was talking about him. As the saying goes, a hit dog does tend to holler. So how is the Pope taking all of this. He's doing okay. I mean, he is he is not bothered by Trump. He told reporters on Monday that he's not afraid of the Trump administration

and that he's going to continue to, you know, do his job spreading the gospel, calling for peace. Trump, on the other hand, doubled down on his insults on Leo, telling reporters on Monday that, quote, there's nothing to apologize for. I'm so glad we have normal,

stable adults running this country who are not picking fights with religiously who represent 1.4 billion people. Speaking of more insane decisions, Trump threatened on Monday to bomb Iranian boats that come near to the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. Right. In that post on Truth Social, Trump said that the attacks on Iranian boats

would be the same as the attacks on alleged drugboats in the Western Hemisphere. As recently is Saturday, the U.S. killed five people on two alleged drugboats in the eastern Pacific, according to the military. Since September, the U.S. military has killed at least 168 people on drug boats without actually ever providing evidence

that they were carrying drugs. Some of these boats have been alleged to be fishing boats. So I guess Trump is taking his boat bombing global. Just wait until the Board of Peace here's about this one. I'm sure member countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkai and Qatar, will be sending some very harsh emails.

Yeah, I'm sure he's going to get in a lot of trouble. But of course, I'm kidding. We've heard crickets from the Board of Peace since its inaugural meeting in February. In just a week after that meeting, Trump bombed Iran. But I digress. Threating to drop bombs on Iranian boats and posting a picture of himself is Jesus may not even have been the weirdest thing that Trump did on Monday. He also got McDonald's dooredash to his house.

And by his house, I mean the White House ahead of a press conference. Yeah, the publicity stunt was to promote Trump's no tax on tips law, because that's going to counter the rising gas prices and the fact that no one can buy a house and also we're at war with Iran. But Trump answered questions alongside the DoorDasher who was wearing a DoorDash Grandma T-shirt

and I felt very bad for her because it did not go the way Trump thought it would. And I think you voted for me, do you think? Maybe. I heard you're a great supporter. We appreciate it. Thank you. And that's not all.

Trump also asked this DoorDash grandma. Again, this is a food delivery driver. What she thought about Republicans' favorite topic, trans people playing sports. Here's a clip. Do you think that men should play in women's sports? I really don't have an opinion on that.

You don't, I'll bet you do. No, I'm here about tax on tips. I have a lot of questions after seeing that clip, but my biggest one is, did Trump say that she was there for pizza? Because she was delivering McDonald's. I don't think I've ever felt as bad for someone who is delivering food in my entire life. And I just, I stand with DoorDash Grandma.

You didn't ask for any of this. And I stand with you, Matt. Thank you so much for hanging out with me to watch one of the most uncomfortable clips we've ever watched on the show. Well, thank you for having me. One quick update to a story we brought you on Monday's show. California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell has announced he will resign from Congress. In a statement, Swalwell wrote, quote, I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes and judgment I've made in my past.

I will fight the serious false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make. On Sunday, Swalwell suspended his campaign for Governor of California after the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN published stories on Friday detailing allegations of sexual misconduct. Both reports feature a former staffer who said Swalwell sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions. CNN also included claims made by three additional women. On Monday, the House Ethics Committee said it would investigate Swalwell for, quote, allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is also investigating his former staffer's claims regarding an alleged assault in New York City.

And that's the news. Before we go, even though SCOTUS hit pause and oral arguments, the legal chaos did not. This week on strict scrutiny, Leah is joined by Katie Fang to break down the nonstop headlines, from Trump rattling sabers at Iran to the Secretary of Defense leaning hard into Christian nationalist rhetoric, plus a genuinely chilling case the court quietly passed on. Then, Leah sits down with Emily Amick for a deep dive into the 25th Amendment, where it came from, why it's basically a non-starter right now, and why it's still very much worth paying attention to.

New episodes of strict scrutiny drop every Monday. Follow wherever you get your podcast so you don't miss it. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Read the conclusions from a federal judge who tossed Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading,

not just about how Judge Darren Gales concluded that Trump had come, quote, nowhere close to proving the journals reporting on Trump's alleged creepy 50th birth, letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein amounted to actual malice, like me. What Today is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and Trump's team says it will refile its quote, powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, because apparently Trump wants me to keep talking about how he allegedly wrote a creepy 50th birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.

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