New Heat on Trump AG Pick

23:22Ty Cobb:Yeah, for those who saw it, as you say, even his allies looking and going, well, you can't defend it, would rather pretend it's not there, which is a real indictment of a sitting president. We covered the Epstein matters where, of course, Donald Trump has denied wrongdoing, has not been, of course, indicted for anything related to that. We say in fairness. And on January 6th, he was indicted, but everyone remembers he legally is presumed innocent because we didn't get the trial. But his choice to pardon the violence has shown the country, as you've as you've pointed out, exactly where he stood being for violence and against police.

23:55Ty Cobb:Ty Cobb, thank you very much. I wish you a good weekend. We've got a lot more on the show. I'll tell folks there's great to have you, Ty. MAGA Civil War. Remember the burning hats? Some of that is back. Tucker and the new right wing culture war. We will be hitting that. And Mom Donnie finding a new way to route around not only an aging Democratic system in D.C., but getting his licks in on Donald Trump. All of that coming up.

24:26Ty Cobb:Elections often boil down to the economy. And here is the economic report card for Trump. Growing pessimism. Sixty one percent of Americans say they see things getting worse. A whopping two-thirds say groceries are still not affordable, something that was the core of the 2024 campaign debates. It's up actually 20 % since this war that Trump started. 15 % of Americans say they still strongly support Trump. That's half of what it was after Trump's prior low point after January 6th. So you just think about how he's struggling to even hold the kind of red-hot base he once had. Now, Trump made this big effort to basically push his pet priorities, erase parts of American history.

25:13Ty Cobb:And that's something that in this new podcast, Barack Obama is addressing. It's so interesting to see today this contest over what is the dominant narrative of America. And, you know, you have an administration that is trying to change, you know, the plaques at national monuments. But it does speak to the power of stories. We have a republic if we can keep it. If we can keep it. the narrative the story the propaganda with efforts by donald trump the famous reality show pr guy that get more and more extreme and bizarre as people are tired of the shtick i showed you the polling trump's defense secretary basically ridiculed for his testosterone announcement i'm authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best.

26:21Ty Cobb:It's self-parody. It's like a South Parker Simpsons episode. But of course, we're at war, a war that Donald Trump's having trouble ending. So this being the content priorities of the Pentagon is, well, a problem to many Americans. As for this whole tea obsession, it goes all the way back to a big part of the manosphere that Steve Bannon thought they could successfully kind of recruit into Republican politics. If you really want to go back a ways, you have Tucker Carlson's film, The End of Men.

27:08Ty Cobb:that is the real video of the thing not an attack ad or satire of the thing and yet the people sharing that thing's testosterone worldview are running, well, your Pentagon in an open-ended failed war in Iran. I have Juanita and Jason here as our special political guests when we come back. Ever since I was young, I've watched people working hard, chasing opportunity, making sacrifices, doing everything they can to build a better life. And now we're shining a light on what matters most, our economy, our national identity, our democracy, our future. The stakes have never been higher. It's all On The Line.

27:52On The Line with Alicia Menendez, weekdays at 12 p.m. Eastern on MSNOW.

28:06Ty Cobb:We're back with Juanita Tolliver, MSNOW analyst, host of the Archival Podcast, and Morgan State politics professor Jason Johnson. Welcome to both of you. Juanita, We checked. There was no end of men. Men are still here. But but I wanted to get your view on the the Baroque silliness of it is matched by an open ended war that Trump promised would be done by now. And gas prices up and the economic backlash to the Republicans going into the midterms that I mentioned. So your thoughts.

28:37Juanita Tolliver:like Ari all I could think about as I saw that image of that man sunning his genitalia was like oh so Republicans do support hormone therapy are they going to bring back all the trans soldiers that Donald Trump unceremoniously dismissed from the armed forces I just want to be clear because having testosterone injections is hormone therapy it is gender affirming care It just seems like they only want to do that for the manliest of men in their definition, the men who they're going to likely deploy in an unending war that they have started unnecessarily that has prompted economic fallout, which is prompting Republican voters to to turn away from them.

29:19Juanita Tolliver:I want to go to that economic polling, though, Ari, because what it shows is that when the rent is too high, when gas prices are too high, when health care costs are too high, when the cost of the shoes for your kids is too high and you're sitting at your table on the first of the month looking at those increased prices, there is no way to avoid that reality. And people know exactly who to blame. Like the first of the month is something that comes with a sinking feeling. And every time I say that phrase, I think of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. I don't know if y 'all are like me, but the first of the month does come with a sinking feeling of the reality of your bank balance compared to all of the expenses that you have to try to cover.

29:57Juanita Tolliver:Well, I'll let you finish one. I'll let you finish one. Voters are negative. Yeah.

30:01Ty Cobb:I mean, bone thugs. I know. I know. Professor Johnson appreciates that. I believe that's a shout out Ohio. And the first also makes me think of Hove, who's been celebrating this past weekend. No two days are alike except the first and 15th pretty much. And there's a lot of music that talks about the struggle of getting by. And you're saying, Juanita, people know why it's harder to get by right now. They know why gas is up.

30:26Juanita Tolliver:And Republican voters aren't impervious to that, Ari. And that's why you see that dramatic decline in Trump's support among Republican voters. They feel it the same way as anybody else because the math isn't mathing for them in their day-to-day lives. And no message, no amount of racism, no amount of transphobia or testosterone shots is going to deflect from that reality. Jason. Ari, when I heard that Pete Hexf was pushing hormone therapy or testosterone, it was Curtis Mayfield's push-a-man. Is Jay-Z talking about dope boys? One thing we know about these Republicans is that they love the grift.

31:04and so many of them from Dr. Oz to RFK Jr. to Alex Jones, they're supplement pushers. That's what they're going to do. We're going to find out that after this testing is implemented, that there's going to be some wealthy MAGA donor who has a supplement company that's going to get some huge contract because what they're saying right now is, well, it may not be mandatory for these soldiers to do this. They will eventually try to put pressure on them to do it. And not only does it make no sense, look, the reason that we're losing to Iran right now is not because Basmati's rice is healthier than Uncle Ben's, right?

31:35It's not genetics. It's called technology strategy in geography. And that is what's missing right now, the intelligence that we need to run these kinds of agencies, not some sort of MAGA, incel nonsense. And look, the voters realize it. That's why they're unhappy. That's why Trump is giving these kinds of speech. Every single distraction you can, other than the fact that people are unhappy with the incompetence of this administration.

31:56Ty Cobb:Yeah, and then broadening even beyond sort of the hijinks of the administration, Jason, And there is something larger happening. There is the current economic crisis, affordability. But there is a clear, deeper distrust and revolution against a lot of the elites. Elites in Washington, people clinging to power. We've seen elites in New York and Wall Street, the AI tech thing coming out of Silicon Valley. People can see it. People don't think AI and the plans are working for them or the labor protections are there. Interesting, because this kind of cuts multiple directions, but this chart, when you look at MAGA and a label that people would say actually makes them on a glance be more interested in supporting a candidate, MAGA is down to 27 below Trump.

32:40Ty Cobb:Trump is about 29, which gives him leverage in primaries we've seen. But the label Democratic Socialists now, Jason, beats those slightly. This is a CNBC poll. That's our sister business network, business news. What do you think about what might be a fracturing, but also reflects a kind of a populist revolt against the economic business as usual, even beyond inflation? All right, this is the political scientist to me. I've been saying this for a long time. Democratic socialism in 2026 is what we used to call good governance in the 1960s. It's just the idea that cities and urban areas should be affordable, that people should be able to walk to get to the grocery store, that public transportation is cheaper than when you used to have to live out on farms.

33:23And so what people have been seeing is democratic socialism is being branded by Mom Donnie. It's being branded by people who have helped to lower costs and lower crime. And it's more branding than actually politically changing, because I point out all the time that what Brandon Scott has accomplished in Baltimore is almost as impressive. It's just Baltimore is not as interesting to most people in the public as New York City. If you look like a government official who is accomplishing things, lowering costs, listening to people, going to concerts, championship teams win, watching the World Cup with people who are in prison, people will take they will accept whatever you want to call your policy if it looks like their lives are being improved.

34:01And that's what we're seeing. Now, the challenge is going to be if you get a certain number of Democratic Socialists in Congress this fall, are they able to push legislation or are they able to just stop things? But right now, it looks like the best deal in town because the Democratic branding is garbage. The Republicans are incompetent and MAGA is afraid of their own tails.

34:19Ty Cobb:Juanita?

34:20Juanita Tolliver:I think it's also important to highlight what Jason mentioned about these mayors delivering to the public. They are, as En Vogue says, giving people something they can feel in real time. There is no lag. Yes, your potholes will be filled. Yes, we're templating a free child care program so parents can go out for anything. Yes, we're offering free child care for city workers. That is something that has immediate impact. That is also the beauty of being a mayor. But I think that's something that is going to have to be part of the vision that Democrats present in this midterm election cycle, because it can't just be bad, bad, bad over there.

34:58Juanita Tolliver:What is your vision of possibility that will impact people's lives? And sure, being a stopgast against Donald Trump and the Trump administration is a big point but what are you giving people that they can potentially feel with democratic control

35:14Ty Cobb:all makes sense uh Juanita do you have a favorite bone thugs in harmony song

35:18Juanita Tolliver:I already said it first of the month like growing up in Memphis Tennessee that was on repeat

35:25Ty Cobb:because crossroads Jason crossroads played a lot and then there was the biggie collab bone and biggie yeah yeah I mean that's a big every graduation someone is playing crossroads like that's my song oh yeah it makes me sad well it's like it's like uh it's so hard to say goodbye uh by boys to men it's just once you hear it you're like uh i'll give you a fun fact since it's friday that was the last song we played at my bar mitzvah at the dance we ended on boys to men it's so hard to say goodbye there i shared something um because we we got to share you You know, in addition to all of our news talk, Juanita and Jason, Juanita brought the music to the table tonight.

36:12Ty Cobb:So credit to you for starting that. Have a great weekend to both of you. We're going to finish the break. When we come back, Democrats are actually more bullish on some of these Senate races with the heat we've been covering this week on Susan Collins. I have an update on that, actually. Next.

36:29Ty Cobb:Turning to the mad dash out of Maine. There are more candidates, Democrats, trying to take up what is a political void, and politics doesn't like a void. The now absent position of former Democratic nominee Graham Plattner. They have less than three weeks to pull off what typically takes campaigns months or more. The Democratic nominee will then face off against the incumbent who is so vulnerable that Maine has become such a big issue. I mentioned in reporting this week that while we've talked a lot, understandably, about Plattner's scandals, the whole reason that there's more coverage of Maine than almost any other Senate race in the country is that Collins is vulnerable.

37:09Ty Cobb:And, of course, you had last night's debate, which repeatedly presented the fact that she is a Trump enabler. That's what the Democratic Senate candidates, I should say, hammered on because of the record. and it's also something that we showed on the facts. You can decide whether you want your vote in Maine to be a vote for Trump or not, but our special report documented her record. They needed Colin's vote to get to 50 and she'd made a big show of sharing her concerns, raising Roe and these issues in her meeting with him, which drove headlines about what she would do. In the end, after everything I just showed you, everything she told Maine voters for years, She then came out casting the 50th vote for Justice Kavanaugh, breaking the thrust of her promise, which she memorably tried to explain, casting this key anti-abortion vote, this pro-life vote, this anti -Roe vote.

38:07Ty Cobb:She tried to explain it in a long and winding floor speech the day of that vote. Aint pledged to nominate only judges who would overturn Roe. There has also been considerable focus on the future of abortion rights based on the concern that Judge Kavanaugh would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade. Protecting this right is important to me. The judge asserted to me a long-established precedent. It's not something to be trimmed, narrowed, discarded, or overlooked.

38:47Juanita Tolliver:Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. The ayes are 50.

38:55Ty Cobb:The nays are 48.

39:00Ty Cobb:That's how she actually governed, leading, of course, to the end of Roe v. Wade. Susan Collins has a record that is over 90 percent voting for Trump with Trump in this current term, which is what's made her vote so vulnerable in the blue state of Maine. We will be right back.

39:21Ty Cobb:There is a lot going on. We might need this even more than usual because we have a special edition of Fallback. And wait till you see this pairing. Emma is now analyst and veteran fallback expert Alex Wagner. She's a Webby Award winner known for newsmaking interviews and her political reporting in the field. She hosts the Runaway Country podcast. She also was editor-in-chief of the celebrated music magazine, The Fader, which is relevant today because making his fallback debut, along with Alex's Juvenile. The New Orleans rapper has 12 albums, his latest, Boiling Point, and hits that have transcended what was once rap's regional pockets to become national favorites we all know and love.

40:01Ty Cobb:He was recognized recently as a hip-hop pioneer by his hometown, shout out to that, and made even a brief foray into the Democratic primaries with his memorable call to back that boat up. Cash money records taking over for the 9-9 in the 2000s. Tom Starr and the popular musician juvenile at a Get Out the Vote rally.

40:27All this little bounce stuff you see all these people out there filing my hands trying to do. They could do it, but they can't do it like I did it because I'm the originator.

40:34Ty Cobb:Respect. Great to have you in for the first time. Great to have you together. Thank y 'all for having me. I'm thrilled. I'm always thrilled that I'm particularly. This is thrilling. And so we're going to get to everything, including back that VOTA. But Alex, you're the hometown. Back that VOTA, yes. You're the hometown. What's on your fallback list? On my fallback list is the news made by the head of the Center for Medicaid, Dr. Mehmet Oz, on Eric Trump's podcast, wherein Dr. Oz explained that President Trump believes that soda kills cancer cells in the body. Really? Wow. Yes. This is not science.

41:11Just in case anybody's wondering, much like you don't want to drink bleach or ivermectin if you have COVID, you do not want to drink Fanta if you think you have cancer. But apparently, because if you pour soda out on the ground, it will kill the grass. President Trump is under the impression that soda will also kill cancer cells in the body. This is I just this is part of a portfolio of poor eating choices that the president's making. You know, he loves a Big Mac. He loves McDonald's. I will also like eat a chicken nugget from time to time. no disrespect, right? But he eats a lot of it, sir. He eats a lot of it.

41:44And according to Dr. Oz, it is because he believes that fast food is cleaner and safer because it is ultra processed and there is high quality control. I just need to remind our audience of the E. coli scare of McDonald's 2024, the salmonella outbreak. I believe it was at Taco Bell in 2023, the norovirus outbreak at Chipotle. It's not a winner to suggest that you're always going to be safe eating fast food.

42:11Ty Cobb:And the follow up question then becomes, Alex, are we in a movie? I mean, that would explain a lot of this because it's like you couldn't write it unless maybe you are. Yeah. Wild. I would also can I just say one thing? It's hard to take Trump's word on food safety when his FDA is just literally dismantling food inspections. And you were out on the campaign trail. Tell us about back the vote up because Tom Steyer, people know, is now a big figure in California politics. Just tell us about all of that. You know, the whole thing with that was, you know, at a time we was trying to get people to go out there, get out there and vote.

42:47And, you know, you know, the whole thing with the coronavirus and all of that was my second thing. But I wanted to get out there and tell people to go out there and vote because, you know, everybody have a word to say. I have something to say if they take their, if they use their rights. The other part was I wanted to do it in an entertaining way. So what better way to do it than back the vote, back the vote up? Did you come up with that? I didn't come up with it. Who came up with that? I can't even remember who came up with it, with the whole idea of it, but they knew I was the perfect person for it.

43:22And, you know, I had to be with it to do it. Yeah. Yeah. When you were like back then, vote up. Okay. Yeah. Do you feel like, I mean, hip hop's also always been political. There's always been a social, racial, cultural element to all of it. Do you feel like, I mean, what do you feel about right now in terms of politics and also the intersection of politics and hip hop? Do you feel like, you know, we have elections coming up this year. There's going to be elections in 2028. Do you feel like people, do you feel like hip hop fans are following politics that this is like? we are we are i mean my guy my guy luke skywalker is running for office i don't know if he ran yet but i hear luke skywalker is running for office okay who would you like to work with that you haven't worked with yet oh man one we uh like make music with yeah it's how it has to be it has to be

44:09Ty Cobb:uh drake uh kendrick drake was got his start with help from the south and bird man i mean you guys are all connected. You're one call away from Drake if you want to say, hey, put me on the Iceman. Art can connect you. We've had Birdman on the show. Put me on the Iceman remix. I saw him breaking the ice up over there. Yeah. I hope I could have caught a flight over there and got them 50 ,000 right there. Yeah, man. Y 'all put the word out for me. Tell Drake Juve wants to do a song with him. All right. We'll put this not only on TV. Let's do that. We'll put it on the gram. Yeah, I appreciate y 'all.

44:42Ty Cobb:Great to see you. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. Alex Wagner, showing the musical chops. People forget. People do. What a nice way to end the week as we look out at Washington, what we can learn, back that vote up, stay involved, a fitting message there. Our thanks again to Juvenile and Alex Wagner, our colleague. That does it for us. The weeknight is up next. Snoring, gasping for air during sleep, daytime sleepiness. I'm Shaquille O 'Neal, and this shouldn't be anybody's experience. Ask your doctor about ZepBound towards hepatitis. The first and only FDA-approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity.

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