In short
The episode argues that Donald Trump’s 9/11 “hero” story is a deliberate lie, then pivots to Islamophobia and media hypocrisy around New York Mayor Eric Adams (“MamDani”).
Key claims
Trump falsely says firefighters lifted him from rubble; Republicans normalize such falsehoods and ignore coverage; NYC councilmember Vickie Paladino’s attacks on Adams are racist Islamophobia; Giuliani is framed as a liar tied to 9/11 poison coverups.
Notable examples
Trump clip about being rescued; Paladino demanding Adams “not show his face”; Adams announcing settlement of lawsuits with 9/11 Health Watch to restore public air-quality information. Guests mentioned: Zoran Mamdani (host’s reference to Adams), Jon Stewart (advocate for 9/11 responders), Abdul Al-Sayed (podcast guest), Jacob Coxon (Anthropic/OpenAI researcher whistleblower), plus Bernie Sanders (AI moratorium advocate).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOTrump's 9/11 Claims
0:00 to 0:26
Discussion on Trump's exaggerated claims about his role during 9/11.
“In the U.S., there's a break-in every 26 seconds.”
Trump's 9/11 Claims
0:29 to 1:28
Discussion on Trump's exaggerated claims about his role during 9/11.
“Every single day, the president of the United States does something absolutely breathtaking.”
Media's Role in Accountability
1:28 to 2:55
The failure of national media to hold Trump accountable for his lies.
“Former anchor of NBC News, Brian Williams, lost his job and his career for lies like this.”
Ted Cruz's Response to Trump
2:55 to 4:25
Analysis of Ted Cruz's comments on Trump's 9/11 statements.
“You just turn the other cheek and it makes it seem okay.”
Racism and 9/11 Commemoration
4:25 to 6:31
Discussion on racism surrounding 9/11 and the actions of Muslim officials.
“Just imagine if I were to give a speech somewhere and I said, yeah, the firefighters lifted me out of all the rubble.”
Mom Donnie's Advocacy for 9/11 Victims
6:31 to 7:59
Mom Donnie's recent actions regarding 9/11 health issues and victims.
“Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12 month plan required.”
Critique of Republican Lies
7:59 to 10:59
Criticism of Republican narratives and media portrayal of 9/11.
“Mom, Donnie, he's the mayor of New York.”
The Political Climate Ahead of Midterms
10:59 to 14:01
Discussion on the political landscape leading into upcoming elections.
“I don't like hearing that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuckles, Chuck Schumer, take money from APAC and take money from big tech.”
Racism and Political Hypocrisy
14:01 to 16:43
Discusses the hypocrisy of politicians and the role of racism in American politics.
“And this is really coming to a fever pitch.”
Jon Stewart and 9/11 First Responders
16:44 to 18:53
Highlights Jon Stewart's advocacy for 9/11 first responders and criticisms of Republican support.
“PTSD or first responders are suffering, tough titties.”
Show all 13 chapters
The Dangers of AI
18:54 to 19:52
Explores the potential dangers of AI and the urgent need for regulation.
“And what's the through line between all of this?”
AI Alignment and Ethical Concerns
19:53 to 22:36
Discusses the challenges of aligning AI with human values and the ethical implications involved.
“because all countries are in kind of this race for the prize, race to try to get to the top of this.”
Concerns Over Governance and AI Risks
22:37 to 23:49
Examines the risks posed by unprincipled governance and the implications for AI development.
“This is our chance because we have a government in the United States that is unprincipled.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00In the U.S., there's a break-in every 26 seconds. But when intruders step near, SimpliSafe Home Security steps up. Stop. This is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way. Using AI alerts, U.S.-based live agents help deter break-ins. SimpliSafe, no long-term contracts. Save 60 % on a new system with professional monitoring during our 20th anniversary sale at simplisafe.com slash Spotify. Outdoor deterrence requires a SimpliSafe Active Guard outdoor protection plan starting at$49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012.
0:34Every single day, the president of the United States does something absolutely breathtaking. He out crazies himself from the previous day. And so the floor, the bottom is so low, you think, this couldn't get any worse. Well, it does every single day in America. The president of the United States is now in his stage where he is embellishing being some heroic 9-11 first responder, which is just so divorced from reality. Let's play the clip. Two firemen. We thought it was coming down on top of us and two firemen, big, strong guys. And I'm not the smallest guy in the world. They grabbed me under the arm and said, got to get out of here.
1:13And they literally lifted me up. This is not easy to do. I'm big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, fellas, I can run myself. But they were amazing. But they thought it was coming down. It didn't come down, U.S. Steel. All right. Former anchor of NBC News, Brian Williams, lost his job and his career for lies like this. And I think what's so insidious about this is there he is standing in front of all of these first responders, in front of firemen and police officers. And yet this political party is like, we back the blue. We're all about personal accountability and responsibility.
1:51And then we have this old queen out there changing his hair color, lying through his teeth. Somehow he was rescued from the rubble by firemen and then talks about how fat he is at the same time, which was an interesting twist I didn't have on my bingo card, Josh. You really can't make this shit up. You really can't. And my biggest problem when I see things like this is the framing of this, number one, in any story that you see, which is minimal. I don't think that the national media covers this kind of stuff. And it's important because it's our president, unfortunately, lying about being assisted by firefighters in 9-11, knowing that that's a lie.
2:31And it used to be there was a point in time in our history that something like this mattered if you did that, if you stood up and you lied like that. Now we can't even get the media to cover it. And this is not even getting into the fact that just yesterday, I think he showed an AI image of him bludgeoning the prime minister of Canada. that he does stuff like this day in and day out and mainstream media doesn't call it for what it is. And when you do that, you normalize it. You just turn the other cheek and it makes it seem okay. And every single time, as redundant as it sounds, when you see something this ridiculous, you have to call it out and move on.
3:07But call it out for what it is, which is just him lying. Well, let's see if Ted Cruz is able to call it out. Play the clip. I mean, he's kind of making it sound like he was pulled out of the rumble, though, with the firefighters. Do you think that's appropriate? September 11th was 25 years ago. It was a horrific moment for our entire country. And you could doubt whatever you want about Donald Trump, but the man is a New Yorker. He loves New York. And I have every doubt that what he's conveying there is what he experienced. And that was a... Lion Ted, was that a little moment of truth? He has every doubt that what the president is conveying there?
3:43I mean, okay. Ted Cruz is just a prime example of the basic Republican man, believes in absolutely nothing but ass kissing to be close to rich people in power. Ted Cruz could not defend his wife. He did it for just a brief moment. Keep Heidi out of your damn mouth, Donald. And then like literally one news cycle later, God bless Donald Trump. I don't want Kamala taking my cheeseburger. And we're like, Ted, we know nobody's taking your cheeseburger, big guy. When you hear him talk, it's like he's selling snake oil. I mean, he's one of those guys that you listen to for a few seconds and you realize this guy is a fucking liar.
4:28He's full of shit. But he's always been like that. Just imagine if I were to give a speech somewhere and I said, yeah, the firefighters lifted me out of all the rubble. I was there. You think Ted or anyone else is going to come on and say, well, that was 25 years ago. Josh may not have remembered exactly where he was on 9-11. So it's the same thing. He did have a 40 and slip there, which I think was funny as you've got? So of course, in the city of New York, we have a Muslim mayor who actually advocates for everybody. He has a brand of politics that leaves not one group behind, period, full stop.
5:11And more than anything, he advocates for working class New Yorkers, which there are more of by a lot than the billionaires. And because he is Muslim, you have a bunch of people that have been completely propagandized that they they believe that everybody that's a Muslim is a jihadist terrorist. And so the racism that is accelerating before the commemoration of 9-11 is out of control. And here is a New York City council member named Vicky Palladino attacking Mom Donnie. Play the clip. I'm not asking politely for the mayor not to come to 9-11 to that ceremony. I am asking, I am demanding that he not show his face at that sacred ground.
6:04He does not belong there. When you associate yourself... Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12 month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy.
6:39See terms. Oh, okay. Why doesn't he belong there? He was nine when 9-11 happened. He's the mayor of New York. More people voted for his Muslim ass than your white ass. I'm so sick of this disgusting display of white supremacy and white grievances. Like he won. He has a 69 % approval rating. It's so demeaning and so dismissive of people that believe in something bigger than their own personal needs. And that's the thing about Republicans. It's like, well, people will say about me, well, you've made good money. Why are you a liberal? As though being a class traitor is a bad thing. They can't understand that you would advocate for something bigger than yourself.
7:27And of course, the racism in that and the entitlement is so grotesque, in my opinion. It's Islamophobia. I mean, it's front and center. That's all it is. And, you know, last I checked, there are many Muslim Americans that lost their lives in 9-11 that were also first responders. So they don't get you think about all the times that Donald Trump appears on behalf of our country at some ceremony. I want to vomit. I want to gag. But guess what? He's the president. He gets to do that. Mom, Donnie, he's the mayor of New York. He was elected. He has every right as a Muslim American to to be present for that ceremony.
8:07It's not even a question. If you want to question anyone's fitness to be there, question Giuliani. He's a serial liar, disbarred from two different states to practice law, has a$100 million plus defamation judgment against him. Question that guy. Yeah, well, they won't because Giuliani is white, of course. But, you know, something important to talk about is what happened to many Muslim Americans after 9-11. I had Abdul Al-Sayed on the podcast. He's been on two or three times. And he was really young. And things really changed for him because the Islamophobia in the United States really just came to a fever pitch.
8:47Even George W. Bush was trying to calm it down. But meanwhile, Mom Donnie is actually doing real work and exposing real corruption. And here he is advocating for 9-11 victims yesterday while Vicky Palandino thinks somebody appointed her to be boss of New York, which nobody wants you. Here's Mom Donnie actually talking about real problems. Play the clip. I would to announce that our administration has settled two lawsuits between the city and 9-11 Health Watch, ending what has been a multi-year legal battle and restrictions on New Yorkers' ability to access information that can shed valuable insight on air quality and health concerns.
9:32Administration after administration has ignored those calling for answers and clarity, instead choosing to bury them in legal arguments and in red tape. We will do no such thing. As we mark 25 years, it is time for this painful chapter to end. So he was there with Jon Stewart. You all may remember Jon Stewart has been advocating for the 9-11 responders and their exposure to poison, carcinogens. And basically, they have found out that Rudy Giuliani covered it up, that there was a big cover up as there always is with Republicans. They claim to be, oh, we're so pro-life. We're so great with the economy.
10:18We're so great with all of this shit. No, you're not. You're great at lying and propagandizing in that order. And you're really the best of the best of the best at lying and propagandizing. But the white folks down with Vicky Palandino don't want to hear this because they would rather be lied to because every Fox viewer and every person that feasts in right-wing media knows that they lie. Fox News had to pay almost a billion fucking dollars for lying to their audience, which normally would be business ending. But it says a lot about the Republican electorate that they would rather hear what they want to hear if it's a lie than hearing the truth.
10:59And here's a prime example. I don't like hearing that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuckles, Chuck Schumer, take money from APAC and take money from big tech. I don't like hearing that because I'm like, man, you're supposed to be on my team, but I need to hear it. We need to hear the truth. We need to criticize within our own party. And the Republicans are incapable of doing this. They'd rather feast on lies because it makes them feel good about being bigots. And how refreshing is it to see Momdani basically get in office and say, listen, I'm not going to keep this secret anymore. I've got no reason to hide these facts from the public, from the New York citizens.
11:38And he releases it. And so then you get, you know, the right side, you get the conservatives coming out attacking him. That's basically what a lot of this is about is a smear campaign against him because he's not, he's not your typical politician who's bought and paid for. He's independent. And so he gets into office and he says, I'm going to be honest with the people. I don't care if it's good or bad. Yes, it's going to reflect poorly upon government. But guess what? That's what happened. I'm going to settle these lawsuits with these victims, allow them to have information about the air quality.
12:07That's the right thing to do. It's refreshing to see someone who can do that even when it's against the interest of government, even when it makes government officials look incompetent or bad. That's why we want politicians like him in office. I completely agree with that. And of course, Fox doesn't cover any of this. They don't cover the scandal that New York politicians lied to the public about being poisoned in downtown Manhattan. Of course, they don't cover that because they have Vicki Palandino, who just serves up racist red meat and throws it to the audience that says, lie to me. I can't handle the truth.
12:48I'm too big of a snowflake. I'd rather be lied to. So, of course, Laura Ingram, just want to throw this out there. the channel that preaches about women need to get married, women need to be in traditional families. Laura Ingram is unmarried with adopted children. Judge that as you will. I support her right to do that. But meanwhile, the channel wants to lecture everybody else on their personal life choices. But here she is dragging out Vicky Palandino. Let's play the clip. I hate to even say this, Laura, but you know, it's a message to Osama bin Laden that, look, we conquered New York. That's how scary all of this really is to each and every one of us.
13:28New Yorkers need to wake up. OK, Vicky, Osama bin Laden is dead. OK, so there's no message to him. He's dead. And guess who killed him? The Democrats. Barack Obama. All right. Was president and ordered that hit. But y 'all called him a Muslim as well. And you called him not American as well. And this is so unbelievable to somehow equate every single Muslim with these terrorists. It is so intellectually dishonest. It is so incredibly racist. And this is really coming to a fever pitch. And I think it boils down to this in the midterms. Do you want to live in an America with Vicky Paladino and all the Fox News liars and Donald Trump changing his hair color and Rudy Giuliano, who also changed his hair color?
14:22You remember the Four Seasons Total Landscaping disaster where the dye was running down his face? Great moment. Or do you want to live in an America that has politicians that protect everyone and Republicans exclusively want to service these broken billionaires? and then what do they tell the Vicky Palandinos? Your exchange in that is you get to hate on Mom Donnie and you get to feel superior and you get to draw all of these false equivalencies and you get to go on Fox News and lie because their audience loves it. They love getting lied to because they're such fucking snowflakes. They cannot handle the truth.
15:02And they're in denial about the state of affairs of the country. And if you see though, it's this party that's lying like this is also the party trying to keep people from voting because they have no policy. Because this is what they have. They have the Vicky Palandinos of the world that get on and talk like that with no policy and the hypocrisy of it and the racism. But that's part of a bigger picture here when they go after the Voting Rights Act, when we have this issue that will end up before the Supreme Court on postal service and whether or not they can implement a plan to restrict basically mail-in votes.
15:40All of that is because the Republicans have no policy and they want to restrict or keep people from voting because more people think like we do. More people think like we do. We hear this stuff, we call it out for what it is, and there's a mass growing number of people that feel the exact same way, which is exactly why they're trying to basically destroy democracy, destroy the right to vote for people so they can stay in power with the same racist bullshit policy that they have. And I think it's important to note that nobody has worked harder for 9-11 first responders. So there were obviously the casualties, which are horrible in 9-11.
16:18But the aftermath of the people that have got cancer and died and had like all sorts of COPD, I think is what it's called, all sorts of just lifetime suffering from the poison down there. Jon Stewart would go to the Capitol, confront Mitch McConnell, confront all the Republicans. It's the Republicans who don't support the back, the blue stuff. Oh, no, they do when it's politically convenient. But when they're suffering, just like when military people are suffering from PTSD or first responders are suffering, tough titties. You don't have insurance. We're not going to fund that. That's too expensive.
16:52We can't afford it. That's how the Republicans are. So it's important to note that Jon Stewart, who really has done the work on this, was standing next to the mayor, while Vicky Palandino was with all the pathological liars over at Fox News that had to pay close to$1 billion for their lies. But speaking of lies, this is a story that's really breaking all over the place right now. And AI is something that is really touching every single facet of our lives right now. A lot of people believe that it's like a Ponzi scheme holding up the stock market right now. And all of these big tech guys, of course, have immediately gone to Donald Trump to bend the knee because they don't want it regulated.
17:37Well, an anthropic researcher is speaking out about the dangers of AI. Jacob Coxon tweets, pop this up. I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pre-training research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving super intelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below. He says, do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing.
18:22The people building AI earnestly believed that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible, but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger. Well, obviously that's terrifying. And the politician that I see out on the forefront talking about a moratorium on AI and freezing AI and regulating AI is of course Bernie Sanders. And what's the through line between all of this? Zoran can't be bought and paid for, incorruptible.
19:04They're going after Abdul El-Sayed, doesn't take corporate PAC money, incorruptible. Bernie, the same. And so all of these forces are using the Vicky Palandino red meat racism shit to take our eye off the ball, that it's always been the billionaires that are taking your jobs and now apparently going to kill us all. And I think this is going to show the importance of what we talk about a lot here, which is what they label socialism. But it's going to be government regulation with AI. We're going to see that come to the forefront here with this particular issue. And it's my personal belief. I mean, we don't profit off of AI.
19:45So we're not you know, we're not part of the billionaire club. But the people that do are trying to control the narrative and keep the government from any type of meaningful regulation, because all countries are in kind of this race for the prize, race to try to get to the top of this. And so there are very few limitations, if anything. And that's what they're talking about. This is something with what's at stake that needs to be closely regulated by a competent government. And that doesn't equate to socialism. There are just certain times that government has responsibilities to its citizens to make sure things like this don't happen without the proper safeguards.
20:21That's what it is. And so we're going to see this play out in real time. Yeah, and public safety should be the goal of government. And the Republicans like to do this. Government needs to be run like a business. Businesses are ruthless. Businesses are all about profit and maximizing profit. And when you get into that mindset, then it's like, oh, we can pay these people less. We cannot give them benefits. We cannot give them PTO, et cetera, et cetera. Look at how the government treats its employees. Mitch McConnell has health insurance. Mitch McConnell is on day 5 ,483 of paid time off with zero accountability.
21:01The government treats their employees with dignity, but the government run by the Republican wants to make sure these corporations treat the public with complete patronizing disregard for their safety and well-being. And I don't want a government that's trying to make a profit. I want a government that is not trying to make a profit, that is valuing life and public safety above profits. And the current head of alignment at Anthropic responds to this whistleblower, pop this up. Jacob is correct here. We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans. I personally think it's a less than 10 % within the next decade.
21:46I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to. Okay, that's not reassuring. Alignment is the practice of making sure an artificial intelligence system's goals, actions, and decisions match human values, rules, and intentions. And here's my problem with this. Which humans are you trying to match it to? Elon Musk, Zuck, Jeff Bezos, Bill Ackman, Donald Trump, Dumb and Dumber, Tweedledee and Tweedledipshit. Of course, you know, that's who I'm talking about, Jared Kushner and Whitcoff. Are we going to match this super intelligence to those sociopaths?
22:30Maybe throw in Ivanka, who's like, let them eat cake as she lets her horse gallop, you know, and post that, turning off comments. This is a very dangerous time, very dangerous, because you have the worst people governing us and the worst, most morally corrupt business people know this is our moment. This is our chance because we have a government in the United States that is unprincipled. Putin knows that. Netanyahu knows that. They're both benefiting from it. And all of these tech oligarchs know that. But hey, Zoran Mamdani, Jon Stewart, Abdul El-Sayed, Hassan Piker, AOC, all of these people, Bernie, they're the real problem.
23:11Give me a break. All right. The trans athletes. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. All the trans athletes in the WNBA. I mean, that's just a real pressing issue. Let me say one thing about this. If you grabbed your morning cup of coffee and you thought, okay, the world is kind of a shitty place. And then you read this story to where, okay, there's only a 10 % chance that we're all dead in the next decade. It's as bad as you fucking thought. You might want to skip the next three or four stories as you're feeding your morning news because it is bad. It is bad. That's not very reassuring. Yeah. All right. That's some uplifting news for today.
23:47We'll be back later with more news.
From the publisher
Trump continues to lie about 9/11 and MAGA continues their disgusting attacks on Mamdani.
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