In short
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner security failures and the fallout from a shooting attempt, plus broader criticism of Trump-era press treatment and conspiracy narratives. The hosts also discuss a separate incident at a Substack party involving journalist Jim Acosta confronting a MAGA troll, Michael Tracy, who allegedly harassed investigative reporter Julie K. Brown; Tracy later challenged Acosta to a fight outside a Hampton Inn.
Guest backgrounds
Jim Acosta is a White House correspondent and host of the Jim Acosta Show; he says he skipped the dinner, attending a Substack party instead.
Key claims
The event should be scrapped due to poor security (unsecured ballroom, shooter reportedly able to check in). Trump planned to “trash the free press.” Acosta argues “normalizing” the optics enables dismantling democracy. He also claims MAGA figures cover for pedophilia.
Notable examples
New York Times and Washington Post reporting on Kash Patel’s post-shooting departure; references to Caroline Levitt’s “shots fired” comments; Jimmy Kimmel’s parody; Acosta’s account of Tracy bullying Julie K. Brown; Acosta’s mention of Tracy trolling Epstein survivors and a prior 2017 incident involving Maxine Waters.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Correspondents Dinner Debacle
0:45 to 3:08
Discussion about the issues surrounding the White House Correspondents Dinner and its implications for press freedom.
“But to me, like, you know, this this is yet another reason why this this event should be scrapped in its current form.”
Kash Patel's Controversy
3:08 to 4:19
Analyzing the controversies involving Kash Patel and the shooting incident.
“They're all in one ballroom that is not being guarded that well.”
Press and Trump Dynamics
4:19 to 5:31
Exploration of the relationship between Trump and the press, and the normalization of hostility.
“There is no, you know, what's worse than this.”
Melania Trump and Jimmy Kimmel
5:31 to 7:03
Discussion on Melania Trump's reaction to Jimmy Kimmel's skit and the implications of humor in political discourse.
“Apparently he was going to give this revenge speech.”
Rhetoric and Public Perception
7:03 to 9:26
Understanding the current political rhetoric and its impact on public perception and trust in government.
“you give a shit about Trump and his wellbeing.”
The Night of the Shooting
9:26 to 11:16
Details surrounding the shooting incident and reactions from the media and politicians.
“I think extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
Confrontation at the Substack Party
11:16 to 14:04
Jim Acosta recounts a confrontation he had at the Substack party following the shooting incident.
“Can you imagine if he had been there the whole night and you would have fallen asleep like five times?”
Confrontation at the Party
14:04 to 14:50
Learn about an intense confrontation between journalists at a party.
“So I'm finished with the Substack thing.”
Michael Tracy's Antics and Background
14:51 to 17:16
Explore the controversial actions of Michael Tracy and his history of trolling.
“And so finally they stepped in and escorted him out of the party.”
The Essence of MAGA Supporters
17:17 to 19:25
Discuss the characteristics and behaviors of MAGA supporters and their impact.
“He's a disgusting troll who doesn't pull the stickers off his pants when he picks them up.”
Show all 12 chapters
The Trump Administration's Connection to Epstein
19:26 to 22:46
Analyze the ties between the Trump administration and the Epstein scandal.
“They can dish it out, but they can't take it.”
Closing Thoughts and Reflections
22:47 to 23:46
Hear final reflections on the ongoing political situation and media landscape.
“I mean, you know, when Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, and maybe they're just doing it because they're grifters and they're laughing all the way to the bank.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:04Joining me today to discuss all of the White House correspondent ordeal debacle is my friend Jim Acosta, host of the Jim Acosta show. Jim, so you were there. Were you in the ballroom at the correspondence dinner? I was actually not at the dinner. So I didn't go because I said, you know, I don't want to be a part of this. I don't want to be a part of anything where Trump was going to speak and trash the free press and everything. So, you know, I thought about getting a table for me and my guys. And we just said, no, let's not do it this year. Let's do it another year. So I was at the Substack party where, you know, there was other stuff going on.
0:43But, you know, I mean, we can talk about the dinner itself. But to me, like, you know, this this is yet another reason why this this event should be scrapped in its current form. It should not continue like this. Well, let's get on to some pressing matters. Number one, I like to a browbeat Kash Patel, obviously, because he's such an easy target. So here is right after the shooting. And here is some video of Cash Money working as director of the FBI. Let's play this clip. So there he is looking around, dazed, confused. Do you know, just like James Bond. It's 007 right there. There he is. Exactly.
1:28Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred and definitely shaken. And then here's this bit from the New York Times regarding Kash Patel that I thought was just fantastic. Pop this up. Patel was seen being ushered out of the Hilton through the lobby at 10.02 p.m. about 90 minutes after shots were fired. The Washington Post reported his girlfriend, who was also invited by the mail, was hiding in a room. holding hands with another man, but later left with Patel, the New York Times reported. And I don't know if you remember this tweet that Cash put out a few months ago that his girlfriend was a country music sensation and she had done more for this country in 10 lifetimes than anybody else.
2:14So I can only imagine how badly Cash is reeling from this reveal that Alexis is holding hands with somebody in a closet somewhere. Yeah. I, you know, that one, that one is, is, is strange. I mean, there was a lot of strange stuff going on that night. There was, there was Stephen Miller apparently hiding behind Katie Miller. There was, they rushed out J.D. Vance before they rushed out Trump. I mean, this whole thing was a shit show. And, you know, the, the only folks who came out, you know, smelling like a rose, it seems to me, were the folks in the press. I thought, you know, despite the fact that I didn't want to go to the event and I thought, you know, it wasn't right that people in the press were having this event with Trump.
2:55I thought Weijia Jiang, the head of the Correspondents Association, handled it well. But I mean, this was a shit show from top to bottom. I mean, first of all, why is it that the president, the vice president and the Speaker of the House, you know, the line of succession is right there. They're all in one ballroom that is not being guarded that well. Like, you know, you're just in a hotel where people can just check in. And apparently the shooter was able to check in without any kind of security. I mean, the whole thing is nuts. And that, I mean, I've been saying this for, I mean, since last year, that this event just needs to be rethought.
3:27Like, you know, this idea that the press. Well, Jim, it's going to be in the new ballroom now. Yeah. It's going to be in the new$400 million ballroom. He's already rethought it. Did you see in the manifesto of this shooter that he said his targets were Trump and some people in the administration, but not any referred to him as Mr. Patel? Have you seen that? I haven't. I don't know. But I mean, Kash Patel, I mean, we were going into this weekend, we were hearing that he might be fired. So he it's either he's going to be next or Pete Hegseth is going to be next. You know, this is not a good week for Kashmir or anybody in law enforcement.
4:06I mean, the Secret Service has let this happen again, you know, where somebody was able to, you know, almost pull this off. And so, you know, I mean, but this is the Trump administration. There is no bottom. There is no, you know, what's worse than this. You know, he's going to continue to, and, you know, people were saying, you know, in the press, oh, look how conciliatory he was being after this was over. And I'm like, and then it was like 24 hours later, he's already shitting on the press again with Dewey O'Donnell, you know, on 60 minutes. Well, and here's my thing. If the press has to point out, look at the big boy who's acting like a big boy for 30 minutes.
4:44This is just such a low bar. And I think that the fact that the whole normalization of it, of everybody sitting there, because I was kind of watching it. And I just feel like Stephen Miller sitting in Kash Patel and all of these people who are dismantling democracy sitting there and everybody's playing patty cake like, oh, this is normal. And we're working with the president on this when a lot of people, you know, yourself included, you get really serious threats when the president goes after you or those in his administration go after you. And this is not a guy that likes the First Amendment.
5:21And this is not a guy who likes the opposing political party. He calls vermin. So I just all of the optics of that really bother me. But apparently, yeah, apparently he was going to come in and trash the press. Apparently he was going to give this revenge speech. Caroline Levitt, apparently she was on Fox beforehand saying shots are going to be fired tonight. Have you seen that video of her saying that? And I thought for once, Caroline told the truth. You know, to me, you know, putting this to the side, you know, Trump trashing the press and so on. And he also, they also had the Ellison table at CBS with Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth and Brendan Carr was in the audience, the FCC henchman.
6:02There is not a bottle of vodka big enough that I can set at that table. That's why I was like, forget it. I'm out of here. I'm not doing this. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So Jimmy Kimmel filmed a skit parodying the White House Correspondents dinner last week, two days before the dinner. And here was the clip. Play a clip. Our first lady Melania is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. Okay, and now Melania is having a post-mortem stage five meltdown because these people are only good at being victims. And Melania is calling for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired.
6:42Pop this up. First lady Melania Trump, Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn't comedy. So he goes on and on. She goes on and on. And this is just number one. Nobody thinks for a second, Melania, that you give a shit about Trump and his wellbeing. I mean, that's just before we even get to the fact that she's worried about Jimmy Kimmel. So what do you think about this? I think that we've learned from scholars that fascists and authoritarians go after comedians first because they can't handle it. That's right. They can't handle it.
7:22I mean, that's what Putin did. He went after some Muppet show in Russia shortly after he came in. No. And then also, you know, Melania is talking about Jimmy Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric. Has she, you know, not that they're in the same bed anymore, but has she turned to her husband and said, you know, maybe knock it off. Maybe, Maybe don't tweet out that you're going to wipe out a civilization and go off on the press in terms like he does on a daily basis. This is the this is the problem that we have right now in Washington, Jen. And it is that there's rules for for thee and not for me.
7:55And, you know, on Friday, on Saturday night, there were all these tweets from administration people and MAGA people. Maybe it's time for the left to tone down their rhetoric. Really? Are you serious? You know, give me a fucking break. And I just, these guys, this is the game that they played for the last 10 years. And it works with their base. Somehow they rally around this monster who, you know, if this thing had not gone down the way it did Saturday night, was going to spend an hour to an hour and a half trashing the free press in this country. And then what were the members of the press supposed to do?
8:32Just sit there and take it? and you're going to have these cutaways of different anchors like laughing along or clinking champagne glasses. This is why the public has had enough with this stuff. And they're watching folks like you and me. They've turned it off. They want independent media because they think this whole thing is a joke. And, you know, I find it also to be ironic, Jen, that nobody believes that this was, you know, an actual assassination attempt. You know, there are all these people now who think it's a conspiracy and there was something going on and a setup. And this is the this is the environment that Donald Trump has created.
9:07Yeah, he's the conspiracy theory president. Exactly. And so totally. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. If somebody hooked me up to a true sermon of polygraph and said, do you think Trump and his administration would do something like this? Yeah, I could totally see them cooking this up. But I am not a conspiracy theorist by nature. I think extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. But do I think that Trump is surrounded, that he's so depraved and he's surrounded by incompetent morons that they could cook up one night and go, you know what, we really need this ballroom. Let's run back Butler.
9:44You know, like if Butler was staged, which I don't, I mean, I don't know, but. Yeah, I don't think that was staged. I don't think this was staged. I kind of do. I kind of think Butler was. But here's the thing. These guys are so incompetent, they put war plans on a signal chat. You know what I mean? Like they're right. These guys, this is, they're not sending their best as Trump once said, and they're, these guys could fuck up a one car funeral. And so I just, you know, how could they possibly, possibly pull off an assassination plot? You know, I mean, you're probably right. Own guy. You know what I mean?
10:18Like, I just have such little faith in anything they do, anything they say. But the larger narrative, whether it's staged or not staged, is that we're living in an era where I think it went on for two weeks that people thought that Benjamin Netanyahu was dead and that Israel was AI-ing him. And basically with Trump, we have this weekend at Bernie's president where they're propping up whatever they're injecting into his hands to keep him alive. And they're propping him up all over Washington, DC. And so there's just no faith in the decency or integrity of any of these institutions. Government trust is completely eroded.
10:57But I want to move on. That's probably why the plan was they were only going to have him come in, give his speech. He was going to go off on the press and then get the hell out of there in part because he can't take it. He can't take a joke that he's not going to be able to take it if somebody were to make fun of him. But the other thing is they didn't want him napping in front of the press. Can you imagine if he had been there the whole night and you would have fallen asleep like five times? Like that press, that White House where he's totally REM, I think it was Friday or Thursday. Yes, he's out.
11:28Some former colleagues of yours wrote books about Joe Biden. And you know what? You want to be a president, you're worthy of all the criticism in the world. You have to be a big boy and you're running for the big boy seat and people are going to write books, call you incompetent, that's part of it. So Joe Biden put himself in that situation. But I just don't see the same standard when it comes to MAGA. That image of him standing there, sitting there, and he's completely asleep. Yeah. And you can tell he's like a stroke victim. You can tell he's got like this, I'm no physician, but I mean, I asked chat GPT and put a picture and it looked like.
12:05Grandpa needs a cookie and a Diet Coke. Exactly. Okay. So when I woke up Sunday morning, there were two big stories on my social media feeds. Number one, of course, was this quote, unquote, staged and or not staged and or shooting in Washington. The other one was somebody wanted And whoop, Jim Acosta's ass at the Hampton Inn in Washington, DC. And I was just like, tap the vein. This shit is so good. So pop this up. So here's Michael Tracy. And he says, still have no idea whatever went on with Trump tonight. Just know Jim Acosta threw a fucking hissy fit, pussy. Jim, meet me in front of the Hampton Inn, 901 6th Street.
12:54And so I'm like, oh my God, dang. And then he goes on to pop this up. Pop up the next one, Kylie. Jim, I'm literally waiting for you right now, you piece of shit. Oh my God. I saw all of this. Okay, so tell us what happened. What's going on? Why does this guy want to whoop your ass? Why is he calling you a pussy? First of all, Jen, you got to stop missing the Substack party. Like you got to show up for these things, you know? I know. I need eyewitnesses. No. So I'll tell you what happened. So we're at the Substack party. The whole shooting thing, of course, went down. So, you know, me and my team, we went off to like a quiet corner.
13:33We were doing a Substack. I interviewed Norm Eisen and asked him what happened. And he was there in the room. And we're coming back into the main area. And I see this dipshit, this guy, Michael. Apparently, he's like this goofy guy that trolls people up on Capitol Hill. And lately, what he's been doing is trolling Epstein survivors and reporters who work on the Epstein story. I don't know if you know about this. And one of the reporters that he, I guess, doesn't like is this lovely person, Julie K. Brown, investigative journalist for the Miami Herald. She's a badass. She basically broke the Epstein story.
14:10So I'm finished with the Substack thing. I walk into the main room of the party or one of the main rooms of the party. And this Michael guy is almost literally on top of Julie K. Brown. He is bullying her. He is harassing her. He's chasing her around, yelling in her face, will not let her get away. And I basically saw this happening and I got up in his face and I said, hey, man, leave her alone enough. Get it. Get out of get out of here. And he's like, fuck you. Fuck you, Jim Acosta. Fuck you. And I said back to him, fuck me, fuck you. I said, why don't we step outside and deal with this? And he's okay, fine.
14:48All right, fine. In the meantime, I walk Julie out of the area and I tell this guy from Substack and the security people like, this guy's out of control. You got to get him out of here. This is nuts. He won't leave her alone. And so finally they stepped in and escorted him out of the party. And I had to pull, like I pulled Julie aside to kind of calm her down. And she was so upset. She's this very small person. She's so sweet. And she's so sweet. And, you know, first of all, my attitude is like, dude, pick on somebody your own size. Don't be such a bully. Don't be such an asshole. And I guess earlier in the day, he went to a vigil for Virginia Giuffre.
15:29and was trolling them. I don't know if you guys have this. He was trolling them. But he also left a sticker on his pants with the size. Tara Palmieri post first, I went to Virginia Goufray's memorial today and who was there was M. Tracy, a man who has made defaming Goufray a full-time job. And then Derek Guy, he's the guy who's always commenting. He's really cool Twitter account. Yeah, fashion account. He says someone needs to remove the size tag on M. Tracy's pleaded. So what's the background on this Michael Tracy? Is he just a big MAGA nut? So I think he might be. Apparently there was some situation that happened.
16:13There was a story in 2017 where he was in the middle of it where he had gone up to Maxine Waters, you know, the congresswoman. Oh, yeah. And he was spewing these pro-Russian talking points to her and she called him out and walked away and it was it's hilarious video and um my friend Tommy Christopher over at media sent it to me and I was looking at it yesterday and I guess at the time Michael Tracy accused Maxine Waters of like kicking his ass or something roughing him up and all she does is like walk away from him so this guy is just full of shit and so apparently um he he has this thing now for the Epstein survivors there was the big press conference remember when they gave this big press conference up on Capitol Hill.
16:54Yeah. He was there trolling them during that press conference. And then afterwards, so when I saw him Saturday night, I was like, oh, my God, it's this guy that trolls the Epstein survivors. And what kind of scumbag can you be when you are trolling survivors of sexual assault and sexual abuse and pedophilia? Well, yeah. The Trump supporter. I mean, it's just a basic run of the mill Trump supporter. You know, they're all. He's a troll. He's a mess. He's a disgusting troll who doesn't pull the stickers off his pants when he picks them up. And then to challenge me to a fight outside the Hampton Inn.
17:33Of course, I didn't show up. I didn't see the tweet until the next day. And I'm thinking to myself, how pathetic can you get? A rumble outside the Hampton Inn. The Hampton Inn. It was so unhinged. It was the Motel 6 not available. You know, give me a break. It's so unhinged. I did tweet at him. I said, did you at least get the free breakfast? you know, because the waffles are, they are breathtaking, you know, and I hope he got some waffles out of it at least. I love that you took up for Julie and she, she's been on our podcast a couple of times and she's like the, you know, she is an incredible journalist who has advocated for these survivors and shining a light on these wrongs that happened to these little girls.
18:11And And so Julie Brown posted thanking you, pop this up, Kylie. She says, Acosta was a true gentleman who came to my aid last night after Tracy began screaming and blocking me from trying to leave the event. Acosta and several other men had to stand in his way to stop him from following me. So this is just insane. saying, but I have to say that to me, he is like the quintessential Trump supporter. That is like the comment section. That's the delusion of these people. So good on you for standing up for Julie. You got to stand up to the bullies these days. You know what I mean? It's all about standing up to the bullies.
18:57And I told the New York Post this, I don't know if they'll print it, you know, who knows that's Murdoch people or whatever, but I'll say this to you. He should pick on somebody his own size. And if he wants to pick on somebody, he can pick on me, but don't pick on Julie K. Brown. If it hadn't been for her, we wouldn't know about this Epstein scandal. You know, she's the one who blew the lid off of it and she deserves all the awards that she's received and then some. And I just, you know, to me, I think you're absolutely right. He is the epitome of the Trump MAGA supporter these days. They can dish it out, but they can't take it.
19:32And he was squealing like a little baby all weekend long about this. And, you know, all I have to say is, you know, hey, pal, you know, you want to pick on somebody, pick on me. Yeah. And, you know, I'll just say this, at least there's not that, in my mind, there's not a big difference between this guy who wants to whoop your ass outside of the Hampton Inn and little Moses Mike Johnson. Little Moses Mike Johnson is just more polite about it and he is truly too big of a pussy. But both of these men cover for pedophilia and take the side of child rapists. And I say it over and over and over, Jim, MAGA is the anti-family death cult.
20:15They are anti-family, they are anti-children and all of their policies lead to death. And it's just disgusting. on 60 minutes saying I'm not a pedophile. You know, when you got to say it, that ain't good. Yeah. And the way he said it, I'm not a rapist. The way he said it, it was just something made my stomach like, oh my God. And that's when I went back. I'm with you. And I went back to, I mean, whatever, if people have to do what they want to do, but going and sitting down and playing patty cake with him, like we still have, you know, like they're not trying dismantle the first amendment and then melania is trying to get jimmy kimmel fired today because these people are so thin-skinned they're just constant victims but jim i can't thank you enough for joining me do you have any last closing thoughts on the white house correspondence i i i'm with you a thousand percent on all of this um maga stuff and you know to me one of the one of the biggest stories of this second term which has been a dumpster fire for donald trump has been the cover up of the Epstein files and the cover up of this pedophile ring, which has been orchestrated by the president and his people, people like Pam Bondi.
21:30I mean, they really should be ashamed of themselves. But at the same time, you know, going back to what took place over the weekend, you know, and talking about Butler earlier, you know, there were all these MAGA Christian conservatives, which I still can't figure out for the life of me why they back him, but they think they think he was saved by God, you know, at these during these assassination attempts. My response to that is maybe not for the reason you think. Maybe not for the reason you think. Maybe he's sticking around just long enough for us all to figure out what a fraud he is and what a fraud some of his people are.
22:02And just like this Michael Tracy guy, what a fraud, what a phony. What a weirdo. Like out of all the positions to take care of your man, it's just there's just this delusional thing about triple Trumpers. And Hillary was right when she said basket of deplorables Explorables and they freaked out because they're such victims. And Joe Biden called him trash. And then they all started wearing trash bags saying, yeah, we are trash. Yeah. And he was right. And it just, there is that 30%, 32 % that still have his support. They will never, ever believe that he's a con man. They have. I agree with you.
22:39They put down on this and it's just, they're cooked. But every day they give us fresh reasons to think that they are. And maybe it's penetrating. I mean, you know, when Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, and maybe they're just doing it because they're grifters and they're laughing all the way to the bank. But some of these some of these folks are starting to figure it out little by little. You know, it's like it's like it's a wonderful life. It only took 11 years. It's like when a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. You know, it's like every day a bell rings and somebody goes, oh, yeah, maybe he is a phony.
23:10He is a fraud. And that means that, you know, our work continues, Jen. That's right, Jim. Jim, thank you so much for joining me. I'm going to be on your stream later. Go follow my friend, Jim Acosta on Substack, on Instagram, on, you're not on Twitter, are you? Oh, you are on Twitter. Because that guy was going to kick your ass, Atacosta. He was going to kick my ass on Twitter. Go follow Atacosta, defender of journalists. And I will see you later, Jim. Sounds good. All right. Great to see you, Jim.
23:46Thank you.
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