10/27/25: Binance CEO Pardon, Zohran Rally, Bill Maher Trashes Zohran, KJP Confronted On Gaza

25:23The majority of New Yorkers voted against Zoran. So that's number one. Number two, though, I firmly believe his power is only likely to grow because we know a confrontation is coming with Trump and we know New Yorkers are going to hate it. right, they already don't like Trump. They are going to hate the specter. We've already had some of these raids of these, you know, masked up, military outfitted federal agents in their streets, you know, rampaging the sort of scenes we've seen in Chicago. New Yorkers are going to absolutely revolt. You know, it's a city that really takes its immigrant character seriously and truly has been built on these various waves of immigration.

26:04But even just beside that, it's a very proud city. Like, what are you doing infringing on our territory? And I fully expect, based on what I've seen from Zoran thus far, that he is going to meet that moment very effectively. You know, I've yet to see him, like, fail or fumble an important moment in his campaign, whether it's on the debate stage or in important interviews, etc. And so I think he's going to end up even more of, like, he's already kind of, you know, this, like, burgeoning rock star in the Democratic Party in our national politics. I think that is probably going to become even more the case.

26:38And so I saw Elon Musk tweeted like this is the future of the Democratic Party as if that's a negative thing. And I'm like, yeah, I hope that it is. I think I think he may be right that it is. And listen, we should like let's have let's have a contest. Right. Rather than doing this, you know, lame Kathy Hochul, Andrew Cuomo, Joe Biden style of politics. Like let's embrace the new young wave of left populism and unapologetically so. and see how people respond to it. Because thus far, what we see is Bernie Sanders is the most popular politician in the country. Zoran is an up-and-coming rock star in the country.

27:18You've got Graham Platter, in spite of all of his things, coming out of nowhere to challenge the sitting governor of Maine. And two out of the three of the polls are, to be believed, winning that showdown thus far. So maybe this is the new direction of the Democratic Party. And if so, I think it has a lot more promise. certainly than the old direction. Emblematic, of course, of that version of the Democratic Party is AOC, who was there last night and gave a barn burner of a speech. Let's take a listen to one of her highlights. City was built by the Irish escaping famine, Italians fleeing fascism, Jews escaping the Holocaust, black Americans fleeing slavery and Jim Crow, Latinos seeking seeking a better life.

28:04Native people standing for themselves. Asian Americans coming together in Queens, in Brooklyn, in the Bronx, in Manhattan, in Staten Island, in this country. So crowd obviously roaring. And I think this will fit together with the next piece that we're going to do on Zora and all this like Islamophobic bullshit, calling him a jihadist, etc. But But what she is laying out there is the pluralistic vision of America, which is direct contrast to the increasingly like blood and soil nationalist vision of America that's being asserted, not just by the Trump administration, but increasingly by like right wing influencers who are being quite overt at this point that like white people built this country.

28:53It's a country for white people. If you aren't white, you come under suspicion. If you weren't born here or your family hasn't been here for multi-generations, we can denaturalize you. You aren't a true American. Really rewriting the conception of how people have thought about America for a number of years at this point. And a theme of how people have thought about America from the beginning. Not that there's always been complete alignment in that view. But so what AOC is laying out there, I think, is a very important contrast in the vision for what the country is and what it means vis-a-vis the vision that's being asserted and trying to be made real reality by this administration right now.

29:36For Democrats and Democratic socialists, there's quite a lesson to be taken from what happened during Trump 1.0 and then Biden, because backlash and polling to Trump's immigration policies inspired a fairly dramatic, what's the right word, like liberalization of the Democratic Party's immigration policies. policies. And this is where like Zoran's really going to have to sell because in New York City, there was a lot of backlash to the Biden immigration policies, which is why Eric Adams sort of changed his own tune on it. And the asylum policies, all of that, like the hotels, this was, you know, there was significant backlash in New York City.

30:19And so that means if Zoran wants to, he's been talking about how he wants to make New York or wants to keep New York as like a sort of prominent sanctuary city, as a great sanctuary city. I think that is a, you know, obviously I have deep political disagreements with that, but I really think that's going to be kind of interesting to watch because he's a great political salesman. And if that's, I mean, if that's what Zeram Amdani and AOC want, they do have to sort of come up with a different way to sell it because what happened before didn't work. Well, Trump is making that sales pitch for them right now.

30:56That's absolutely true. Because, you know, I mean, people say Chicago is also a sanctuary city. And, you know, you see the scenes coming out of there of people just being harassed or even assaulted just because of the shade of their skin based on absolutely no evidence that they're here illegally, let alone that they've committed any sort of crime. Obviously, the apartment raid pulling all sorts of American citizens out on the street in their underwear in the middle of the night and arresting them, zip tying their kids, throwing U-Haul vans. All of these abuses are playing out. And, you know, I fully expect Trump to, you know, move on New York in the same fashion.

31:30So I think, you know, I think Trump is making the pitch for them of like, OK, so there was dissatisfaction over, you know, the immigrants were busted by and large by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. And that creates, you know, this friction in the city of, OK, well, what do we do with this influx of people and how do we handle them and how do we, you know, integrate them into the city? and many of them don't have work permits. So they're like sort of inherently dependent on the government to provide for them, et cetera. So you had that, but then when you see the cost of this insane militarized crackdown, I think that certainly the New York City public is already going to be on board for sanctuary policy.

32:12We already see a backlash against the raids that they've done in the city thus far, the actions at the courthouse downtown where they're just immigrants who are coming in and are like doing the thing and going to the court dates like they're supposed to are then getting swept up and detained, assaulted at times, et cetera. So, you know, I think that that sort of sales pitch has already happened in an important sense. We can put E4 up on the screen. We do have some early voting results just in terms of the boroughs that are surging. So top line here is Brooklyn. People living in Brooklyn are voting their asses off.

32:50And that is Zoran's best borough. Laid off vice employees are coming in strong. They are coming in strong. And then the second best borough for Zoran, judging by the primary, is Queens, and Queens is also voting at extraordinary levels. Next is Manhattan, then Staten Island, then the Bronx are the two lowest performing boroughs, and those are also Zoran's two lowest performing boroughs. So who knows? Maybe this is just the Sliwa surge. could be, but it's looking like this turnout seems to indicate that Zoran is cleaning up. And it would not surprise me if he outperforms the polls again, because he did during the primary.

33:41He outperformed the polls by like, I don't know, 12 points, at least 12 to 15 points in the primary because he changed the electorate. And so it would not be a shock if there was another polling underperformance because he is a politician that brings out a different electorate than pollsters are really able to capture. Very Trump-like in that way, where it's predominantly young people, right, who normally pollsters discount, feel like, okay, they don't turn out that much. And this is a general election in a New York City mayor's race where typically the general election is a foregone conclusion.

34:18And yet there's all this energy and interest around it. So that creates a totally different political landscape. So I would not be shocked at all if, you know, Zoran already the polls show him winning by anywhere from like 10 to 20 points. I would not be shocked at all if he outperforms the average of the polls right now too. So I'm looking at this poll that producer Griffin flagged over the weekend because it's just so funny, so rich, that Mamdani versus Sliwa is more competitive for Sliwa than Mamdani versus Cuomo. Like Sliwa, head-to-head with Zoran Mamdani, is doing better than Cuomo, head-to-head with Zoran Mamdani.

34:55I think it's by, like, one point, but it's still amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it's two points, yeah. Think of how contrary that is to all of the standard issue political logic that, like, Cuomo's the guy. It has to be Cuomo. It's Cuomo versus Zoran. Cuomo could win. And it's, like, actually all along, you know, first of all, do you not understand how hated this guy is? Do you not understand how incredibly lame he is and lazy, by the way, and what a bad campaign he's running? And you still think like he's the guy where you want to send all of your millions and put all of your hopes into? Yep.

35:29And he's at so that poll actually had eight point five percent of the electorate undecided, which is that's a pretty significant chunk of the electorate if that poll is correct. Now, again, to Crystal's point, polling in New York City races can be really difficult. So we'll see where it ends up going. But that is for for Cuomo. I mean, the primary should have been enough to embarrass him out of politics, out of public life. Truly. Because of what he the situation that he put Democrats in by running and trying to consolidate all of the money and then losing to a 33 year old Democratic Socialist state senator.

36:10And yet he persisted. Nevertheless, nevertheless, he persisted. Indeed. Welcome to the A-Building. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Menelik Lumumba. It's 1969. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated, and Black America was at a breaking point. Rioting and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia, at Martin's alma mater, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in Black history, Martin Luther King Sr. and a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. To be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people were dying.

36:511968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should. And it will blow your mind. Listen to The A Building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

37:38What? And he was really good at it. You probably won't believe it either. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. The guy was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's? Played poker with Harry Truman. And had a long affair with a congresswoman. And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids? The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote.

38:12Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back B. John Robinson. When I'm on the field and feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes me feel great before I run the play. Just like B. John, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at loveyourmindplaybook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M.

38:45Blank Family Foundation, and the Ad Council. There's been a subplot. I don't know if it's a subplot or a foreplot, anyway, playing out in this race as well, though, because Zoran has been, really throughout the campaign, attacked in an extremely racist way just because of him being Muslim. Um, Cuomo was on this radio show and, um, the, the radio host said something like, oh my God, can you imagine if Zoran had been mayor during nine 11? And then the host was like, oh, he would have been cheering. And Cuomo just chuckles along with this, right? Disgusting stuff. Zoran actually was in New York city on nine 11.

39:23He was a kid and he was horrified by it as everyone was. Um, uh, Sliwa said something like, oh, we can't allow New York city to become Europe. so this really this is their final push like everything they've thrown at zoran has completely failed all of the supposed scandals they tried to dig up have been complete nothing burgers you know the latest i saw like someone was posting oh my god he had sushi at a nice restaurant with his wife can you believe the socialist like eats nice sushi um the other one that i just saw was some report of new york times or something like this reporting on when he ran for school president and promised juice and wasn't able to fulfill his promises.

39:59Like, this is what they've got on this guy, okay? Shouldn't do that. So they've just decided to go to complete naked Islamophobia and racism in the final phase. And Zoran, who has tried to really keep his, yeah, as a democratic socialist, tried to keep his program incredibly universalist, felt the need. Like, okay, I got to stand up for myself. I've got to stand up for Muslims in the city. And so he gave a speech talking about these attacks and what they mean. And like I said, trying to speak up for Muslims in the city. Let's go ahead and take a listen to a bit of that. Yesterday, Andrew Cuomo laughed and agreed when a radio host said that I would cheer another 9-11.

40:41Yesterday, Eric Adams said that we can't let our city become Europe. He compared me to violent extremists. And he lied again and again when he said that our movement seeks to burn churches and destroy communities. The day before that, Curtis Sliwa slandered me from the debate stage when he claimed that I support global jihad. And every day, super PAC ads imply that I am a terrorist or mock the way I eat. push polls that ask New Yorkers questions like whether they support invented proposals to make halal food mandatory or political cartoons that represent my candidacy as an airplane hurtling towards the World Trade Center.

41:30But I do not want to use this moment to speak to them any further. I want to use this moment to speak to the Muslims of New York City.

41:46I want to speak to the memory of my aunt.

41:54Who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.

42:03I want to speak to the Muslim who works for our city. Whether they teach in our schools or walk the beat for the NYPD. New Yorkers who all make daily sacrifices for the city they call home, only to see their leaders spit in their face. So you can see Emily, him being very emotional there. What did you think of his decision to address this at the end of the race, which I think entails some some risks? You know, I mean, up to this point, his approach had been I'm just going to kind of like ignore that this is happening. Stay above the fray. like you said before he tries to keep his campaign like relentlessly positive yeah you know always um always smiling always putting forward like a positive vision for the future even as he has come under you know incredibly ugly attacks the i remember the cuomo people in the primary too they're putting out these mailers where they like lengthened his beard and darkened his skin again to try to make him look like some scary jihadist we do that with sagar by the way in all of our promotional graphics.

43:07Just to help me to win the debates with him. Just give me that little bit of an edge. But, you know, you had that. You had, and this is not just coming from Republicans, by the way. This is Cuomo, who's allegedly a Democrat, Kirsten Gillibrand calling him a jihadist. Birthers originally came from the Clinton campaign. So it's been bipartisan ugliness. And there's also, I mean, not that anyone cares about, like, philosophical consistency, But on the one hand, they're like, he's so far left in the queer liberation. And here's some crazy shit that he said. And on the other hand, he's like ushering in Sharia law.

43:43So which is it, guys? Come on. Which is it? This is the, and actually from someone who is like very skeptical about political Islam, my argument to Elise Stefanik rocking around calling him a jihadist is that you're like politically that is insane. What you are doing is softening it so that if you actually had somebody who was like a Sharia follower who ran for office, that has no meaning anymore. Just like all of the other terms that were level that people like Elise Stefanik and she argued against it lost so much of their meaning because they were just being tossed around to people who you thought like her.

44:22Let's say her argument against Zeran Mamdani would be he is going to give aid and comfort to jihadists. That is different than him being a jihadist, even if you believe that argument, which I don't believe that argument, though we probably would disagree on his imam photo op and all of that. But like you are completely, you're completely making that term like meaningless. If you were calling Zeran Mamdani, who's marching in the pride parades, a jihadist. Like stop it. That is so stupid. And it is so counterproductive. On the political level with that speech, I thought it was really interesting because one thing that he's careful to do is always be a glass half full guy.

45:08Yeah. I don't blame anyone, especially people, you know, like even even women who run for office. I don't blame anyone for seeing the world as glass half full after going through that experience or glass half empty. I'm sorry. When you're in the middle of an experience like that. But politically, it's one of his benefits that he actually gives New Yorkers a ton of credit. And he always sees New York as glass half full. And so I think the implication of that speech was truly I forget. I should have pulled out one of the lines in particular. But it's truly that New York is a place where people experience deep, widespread Islamophobia.

45:45And that isn't to discredit Islamophobia that people actually experience in New York. But I think he has been careful. This is just the political strategy of it to give New Yorkers a lot of credit, to give Americans a lot of credit and to always be like sunny and optimistic. So I don't blame anyone for not being sunny and optimistic. Politically, I thought that was just a, it was a different approach from him. I mean, can you blame him when Randy Fine, member of Congress, is right now attempting to denaturalize him? No, no. Of course not. Or he's being called a jihadist. Exactly. And that's the thing is like there has been an upsurge in Islamophobia in a truly, again, bipartisan way post-October 7th that has resulted in now.

46:30I mean, I see Betty Hassan all day long getting told like we're going to denaturalize you. Will Chamberlain and all these characters, Matt Walsh, like going to war with him. And we're going to denaturalize you and you're not a real American and we want you out of our country, blah, blah, blah. This is just commonplace discourse, mainstream discourse. Now, that happens to be coming from the right. But as I said, you have plenty of Democrats who have indulged in this as well because they can't defend Israel anymore. So instead, they have to smear and dehumanize Muslims in particular and Arab Muslims specifically, but Muslims in particular.

47:04And so this is the reality of America that we live in. And so I think it makes sense for him to address that directly because I think that he's probably speaking to a lot of people in the way that they feel their grasp on being considered real Americans and a full part of the fabric of society kind of slipping away from them. And that even Democrats who in the past have defended them are sort of allowing that to occur. Speaking of which, we have Bill Maher, who is taking a similar attack on his show, attacking Zoran for being a citizen of Uganda and like weirdly blaming Zoran for the policies that are in place in Uganda as if he has any power or control over that or supports those policies.

47:54Let's go ahead and take a listen to E7. The issue now that Andrew Cuomo is bringing up in New York is that he is a Ugandan citizen. Uganda is a country where they kill homosexuals. So somebody who is a dual citizen can't be mayor of New York? I would renounce, if I was the dual citizen with a country whose policy, government policy, was we kill homosexuals, yeah, I would renounce that citizenship. I don't, and to not, and he also, I think that is buying into a fear, I think that is buying into a fear framework that is not good. A fear of killing homosexuals, yes. It's not good for the country.

48:33It's not good for the country. You shouldn't be afraid of that. And I think the way that Cuomo, I think the way that Cuomo is closing out this race and really, and really race baiting and really leaning in on, you know, what if he were there and something like that. You know what, just because it's done. I don't think that's good for the country. I understand. But just because something is done by people in Africa doesn't mean it's always okay. Now, I'm going to guess, Emily, that Bill Maher has not had any problem with the Israeli dual citizens in the country or indicated that, you know, their continued Israeli citizenship would indicate that they, you know, for sure support a genocide, etc.

49:09Yes, but Crystal, Israel has the greatest pride parade. Have you heard about the Tel Aviv pride parade? Many times, actually. Weirdly, a lot I've heard about the Tel Aviv pride parade. Have you heard about the Ugandan pripria? Probably not. So now you can see Bill Maher's logic. You're giving me something to chew on here. Yes, something to think about, something to think about. When I'm siding with Kate Bedingfield in an exchange, something's gone wrong. That's all I can say. We've gone off the rails here. Yes. All right, well, we promised KJP, so let's get to KJP. Let's do it. Welcome to the A-Building.

49:43I'm Hans Charles. I'm Menelik Lumumba. It's 1969. 1969, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated, and Black America was at a breaking point. Rioting and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia, at Martin's alma mater, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in Black history, Martin Luther King Sr. and a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. To be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people were dying. 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago.

50:27This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should. And it will blow your mind. Listen to The A-Building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

51:08care. I'm telling you, I was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's, played poker with Harry Truman, and had a long affair with a congresswoman? And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, before writing a hit James Bond film. How did the secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read his kids. The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

51:42I actually drop better when I'm high. It heightens my senses, calms me down. If anything, I'm more careful. Honestly, it just helps me focus. That's probably what the driver who killed a four-year-old told himself. And now he's in prison. You see, no matter what you tell yourself, if you feel different, you drive different. So if you're high, just don't drive. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. Well, as Karine Jean-Pierre continues her book tour, which has been a wild ride already, she stopped by MSNBC and got pressed specifically. This has been a long time coming in the last week of her book tour.

52:26She really had not faced this level of questioning over the Biden administration's policy on Israel and Gaza. She got pressed by Eamon Mooledin on it this weekend. Let's take a look. You stood at the White House podium speaking on behalf of the administration. You defended U.S. policy in Gaza at a time where there were mass civilian casualties, journalists being killed, whole families being wiped out, hospitals being bombed. And the international community was calling it what it was at the time, saying it was a violation, it was war crimes, and you defended the administration's policy. When you look back at that moment, do you regret any of the positions that you advocated for on behalf of the administration, the positions you take?

53:07Do you feel that you were complicit in advocating a narrative that turned out to be wrong? No, I appreciate the question, because one thing that I really want to make clear is that I was speaking on behalf of the president. That is the job of the White House press secretary. I'm not speaking for Kareem Jean-Pierre. I was speaking for Joe Biden. That's every White House press secretary. That is their job. Well, you said now you speak for yourself. So. Hold on. Hold on. Wait, let me finish. No, no, I know. I just want to because we're almost out of time. I just want to get to it. Obviously, what's happening is heartbreaking, heartbreaking.

53:43And to not say that and not to be clear about the devastation and the killings that we're seeing of families is just heartbreaking. And my I would say is that is not the way I believe people wanted it to turn out. But I didn't make policy. The president is going to write his book. He will speak to his policy. I'm going to let his foreign policy team speak to that. But it is heartbreaking. And I'm hoping that the ceasefire holds. We need to get to a peaceful situation in the Middle East, to a peace agreement. And I know that's going to take a lot of hard work. But of course, that's not what I want to see.

54:22I mean, nailed it, stuck the landing, 10 out of 10, Crystal. Couldn't have gone better for her. Everyone's buying the book now. And Eamon followed back up and said, OK, I get it. You were speaking for the president. now you're speaking for yourself and still deflection along with an i some way of working in her you know trailblazing identity into all of this as well and um i don't know this the the book her as a person all of it is like tailor-made to drive me insane because you know i i knew her a little bit when i was at msnbc yeah um and she came out of like the move on activist world and I'm just like, how does this happen?

55:02And the answer actually is contained in the book. The answer is she doesn't care about policy or like anything. Apparently she left the Democratic Party because not because of any of like the obvious reasons why one might. Yes. But because she felt they treated Joe Biden poorly. The Democratic Party was insufficiently pro Biden, even though it clung until the bitter end until he glitched in a debate. So now she's framing herself as a quote-unquote independent who's left the Democratic Party because it was too insufficiently loyal to this doddering, narcissistic old man who's facilitating a genocide.

55:42And then the other thing that she's pissed about in the book, apparently, is that they weren't sufficiently deferential to Kamala Harris. Again, not based on any like merits, anything that Kamala Harris had really done or achieved, but just the fact that she was also a historic, you know, identity like higher. Yes. And had happened to be next in line. Like, so those are the things that she was mad about. And it's like, I don't know, it's such, to me, a perfect encapsulation of this particular mode of girl boss and boy boss politics. Yes. Where it's about your own personal like ambition and fulfillment.

56:26And the voters are there as a vehicle for like the, you know, the grandeur of Kamala Harris or of Hillary Clinton or of Joe Biden or of Karine Jean-Pierre. That's what she thought the party was supposed to be. And that when the voters didn't obediently fall in line and when there were other factions, by the way, of Democratic elites as well, who were like, we are going to lose to Donald Trump with this man. We have to do something. She found that was what she found so offensive. She could no longer be part of this party. And Crystal, you teased this masterful Washington Post book review of Independent at the top of the show.

57:01But let's get to it. We can put it up on the screen because what Crystal was just saying is actually encapsulated itself in this line from the review, which we should credit the author, Becca Rothfeld, for writing. She says, Jean-Pierre is an artifact of an age that looks recent on paper but feels prehistoric in practice. The age of pantsuits, the word empowerment, the musical Hamilton, the cheap therapeutic entreaties to work on yourself and lean in to various corporate abysses. Independent is written in the outmoded register of one of those lawn signs proclaiming that in this house we believe kindness is everything, which have been firmly planted to no tangible electoral effect since 2016.

57:38And what I think is what stands out from that observation, Crystal, is you mentioned KJP doesn't particularly care about policy. And that's astute because it seems like what she cares about is identity. And it seems like the best sort of takeaway or one of the better takeaways from that era is how everything else was subjugated to identity in democratic politics. And when you subjugate everything else to identity, I think actually it's why when you and soccer were hosting rising originally it took off i think it's why breaking points took off is because it was saying that's shallow there are serious material concerns spiritual concerns downstream of that and all you care about is identity you've seen it over and over again in kareem john pierre's interview she's tried to kind of block and tackle by saying i am a black queer woman and that falls completely flat now in a way that it wouldn't have in 2019 progress us.

58:32Yeah, yeah. Let's put the next piece up on the screen, this other quote from this article. Really, you got to read the whole review because every word is delicious, but it's a little too long to read all of it on air. But let me just read this part. Imagine parting ways with the Democratic Party, not because of its unwavering support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he violated international law and waged a bloody campaign against civilians in Gaza, not because of its humiliating failure to mount meaningful opposition to the Trump administration's assault on just about everything of value in the country, not because it continues to run candidates in their 70s and 80s, one of whom opted to die in office at 90 rather than cede her seat to someone younger.

59:08Diane Fonson. Yeah, not because of its inability to expand access to health care or protect immigrants or tax wealthy or really get anything done at all. Not because of its politely noncommittal affect and rhetoric of facile uplift or its members' tendency to address the public as if they're delivering the keynote at a corporate retreat. not because the Democrats have no political vision, something of a liability for a political party, but rather because of the single sensible, if very belated, thing they have done in recent memory, which was to usher a doddering Joe Biden out of the 2024 presidential race.

59:42So she left the Democratic Party not because of its many failings, but because of the one halfway intelligent thing, halfway moral thing that they did in the, you know, past little stretch. That's the thing that was the straw that broke the camel's back for her. So, I mean, it sounds like it is just a platitude-laden, like, vacuous black hole of thought based on this review and others that I've seen, too, commenting who actually, you know, read the whole thing. I'm sorry, guys. I'm not going to subject myself to that. But it really is, I guess it's heartening in a sense that, yeah, these arguments from her at this point, that we should have just backed Kamala Harris because she was next in line and there shouldn't have been.

1:00:28It's good that voters didn't have any process. And how dare you even think that maybe there should have been voter input to this and, you know, and that all of her facilitating and running cover for a genocide should be forgiven because she was just speaking for the president. Oh, by the way, did you know I'm a queer black woman. I mean, all of this does such a disservice to to the many extraordinary and accomplished and morally courageous black women and people of color that are out there. Like for you to claim the mantle like you represent all of them when you were both a, you know, like a failure at the skill level, which is why John Kirby had to be brought in constantly to save your ass.

1:01:11Yes. And a failure, most importantly, on a moral level and continue to be a failure on the moral level, even now when you're not when you're detached from the administration can speak plainly about what you actually think about these things. Like, how dare you hold yourself out as some beacon of any identity group when you have failed in such key and critical regards at a really critical moment for the country? And this is the problem with subjugating content to identity and subjugating substance to identity is that you end up actually undercutting the work that people who have those identities actually are contributing.

1:01:45And it was the same problem with Kamala Harris and the Biden administration couldn't. They were so attached to these identity politics that when it was obvious Kamala Harris was not the best candidate that Democrats could have run, when it was obvious Karine Jean-Pierre, who had been much touted for her identity politics, being the first lesbian in the role and I think the first black woman in the role. They had touted that so much that when John Kirby was clearly the better candidate to replace her, they couldn't because they would be then boxing themselves into the corner based on their own arguments of replacing a black queer woman with a straight white man.

1:02:19And you can't do that, even if it's better for Democrats, even if it's better for the party, that you have somebody who can competently make the message of the party or sell the message of the party to the public. Couldn't do it. Yeah. And also, let's be clear, I mean, he is morally disgusting and abhorrent. But he was at least a better pitched man. But if you're just talking about technical skills, technical skill. Yeah. And I mean, and yeah, and that's that's what it really comes down to is like, OK, let's not ask the question that like identity characteristics of the person in power. Let's ask the question of what that person is doing for the various groups that we care about and for the country as a whole.

1:02:55And so that's why it ties in so closely with the politics of personal ambition, where everything is about the fulfillment of this powerful person's dream for their life. And how dare you get in the way of whatever achievement, ambitious achievement they wanted to claim for themselves. And if they don't make it, it's because the voters didn't understand their greatness, not because they had any failings. No, it's so true. Weigel highlighted, he read it so that we don't have to. Dave Weigel of Semaphore. He says the knock on KJP was that she was a lightweight who had to be layered by John Kirby.

1:03:29And her response is, he posted this excerpt from the book, Alicia Keys, the singer and Broadway producer, said DEI is not a threat, it's a gift. Shakira, the Latin American superstar, dedicated her award to her immigrant brothers and sisters, saying they didn't stand alone. Doichi, a brilliant up-and-coming artist who won Best Rap Album, told all the black women singing on the Grammy stage that they should take that as evidence that anything is possible. A pop superstar and actress Lady Gaga, who won the award for Best Pop Duo or Group for a song she performed with Bruno Mars, why she needed to mention that, I don't know, gave a shout-out to the trans and queer communities during her acceptance remarks.

1:04:04That's her argument. Okay, well, case closed. What the hell? Well, again, this is somebody whose job was to be a persuasive messenger, falling back on someone who won the award for best pop duo or group for a song she performed with Bruno Mars. Lest you mistake Lady Gaga for somebody who did not win best pop duo or group for a song she performed with Bruno Mars. Right. Got to get that in. Got to make sure that point's made. What the hell? What a mess. Them's are cooked. What a mess. We're all cooked. Well, actually, I mean, like I said, it's kind of heartening that, like you said, this will just fall in totally.

1:04:41It's being rejected. Yeah. I mean, the fact that The Washington Post published this review is pretty remarkable. Yeah. I mean, it's The Washington Post now. And I saw her, you know, Joy Reid, who used to work at MSNBC and I think was pretty close with with KJP. She was pressing her on these same things with regard to Gaza. And the response was like exactly the same. And Joy, you know, Joy has some cred there because she very good case that she lost her job because of how forcefully she advocated for Gaza. And so, you know, when she was faced with the with the decision of like, OK, my career, my principles, she chose the principles.

1:05:15So, you know, I think to see her pressing Karine Jean-Pierre in that moment was also particularly like noteworthy and powerful to see. It's insane to try to have anyone believe or that Karine Jean-Pierre thinks anybody believes that she genuinely thinks Joe Biden was OK for a second term. Like that is a crazy thing to ask people to believe. That's insane. Yeah. And yet she's that's the predicate for her book. Like, OK, and let's just say she's just this total cynical political actor, cares only about her ambition. Yep. Like, how much are you misreading The Room right now? Who is this for? I know, right?

1:05:57Like, the idea of writing a book called Independent is so smart. But, man, did she get it wrong. Right. Yeah. Like, do the Lindy Lee, you know? Yeah. You can be the next PBD, like, her take. That's so funny. I think they're still in the market for someone new, you know? That's so funny. You could go. I was in there all the time saying, this is wrong. We can't do this. You know, do you have any proof of that? No, but I promise you, I was there. and it's a crime what the Democrats do to the public. Like, if you're just looking for how to get attention and further your career, the right will take you.

1:06:31Like, if you're willing to go out there and say you turn on the Democrats and you're going to spill their tea and, you know, air the dirty laundry, they will take you all day long. That lane is wide open for you. This thing you're doing is like a non-existent lane that I don't think ever existed, but certainly expired somewhere around like 2014. It's gone. Yeah, indeed. There we go. So, all right, Emily, thank you. Enjoyable as always. My pleasure. We got through all of it. Somehow. Yeah. Well, we were kind of determined. We were determined. Yeah, I really wanted to get to that. So Sagar was at the New Yorker Festival, right?

1:07:02Yeah. So he's, that's why I'm here, but Sagar will be back tomorrow. Yep. Yeah, he did a panel actually with Hassan Piker, which I want to know how that went. Awesome. I've not heard the feedback yet. And they managed not to get deported. So big dub for both of those guys. Yes. Yes, neither of whom are heritage Americans in the lingo of the right. Not a heritage American in sight on that New Yorker panel. Now, Sagar and Ryan also have a huge scoop over at DropSite about the administration's Venezuela war. We have to call it that at this point. So when Sagar's back tomorrow, I expect you guys are going to break that down.

1:07:34Oh, yeah, we'll be going in on that. There's some new developments as well. And, yeah, huge story, not getting nearly enough attention. And, like, it looks like, I mean, it looks like it's happening. They're saying Maduro is either going to be toppled, like have to flee, killed. I mean, there's, yeah, it's, I mean, the regime change, like it seems like they have decided regime change is happening. It just is now a question of what that entails exactly. And you know what, Crystal, I think maybe on the Friday show, one thing that would be good is even if Sagar's there, but even if he's not, have Ryan talk a little bit about the background of that story in the premium half for premium subs.

1:08:11So breakingpoints.com if you want to see the second half of those Friday shows. Nice pitch. Yeah, we get the little background story on Ryan's amazing journalism and soccer's amazing journalism too. So check that story out at DropSite and tune in tomorrow to hear more. All right, guys. Have a great day. I will see you tomorrow.

1:08:55We'll see you next time. The Crown Act in New York was signed in July of 2019, and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 1969, Malcolm and Martin are gone. America is in crisis. And at Morehouse College, the students make their move. These students, including a young Samuel L. Jackson, locked up the members of the Board of Trustees, including Martin Luther King Sr.

1:09:29It's the true story of protest and rebellion in Black American history that you'll never forget. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Menelik Lumumba. Listen to The A-Building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. people who didn't do what John of God wanted them to do they usually disappeared John of God was once Brazil's most famous spiritual healer but in this limited series podcast we uncover the darker truth behind his global empire of faith and fear from exactly Right and Adonde Media, this is Two-Faced, John of God. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.