Raging Moderates: Trump Threatens to WIPE OUT Iran and Triggers 25th Amendment Calls (preview)

0:00Jessica Tarlov:Hey, thanks for listening to Raging Moderates here on the Prof G feed. This is just a preview of today's episode, and soon we'll be leaving this feed entirely. To get the full episode, you'll want to subscribe to the Raging Moderates feed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. We're dropping new episodes every weekday evening, so you can now get Scott and me five days a week. Subscribe on YouTube or check us out on Substack if you want it ad-free. All right, here's a preview of today's show. Aren't we at a moment, Jess, where we are literally living on the extremes? We are 100 % living like on the edges of everything.

0:33Footnote, apparently we did do this for regime change, which everybody denied in this administration from day one. But I guess now the latest excuse, according to this presser yesterday, was we've successfully achieved regime change, which, again, nobody ever said what was the plan, the purpose or the goals behind going into this war. Is it just a handful of autocrats, wannabe dictators like Trump and Orban and others that get to divvy up the world? Is that it? I mean, it's so, to me, frustrating that we just have these very small men with very big dreams, with very powerful weapons that are carving up our world.

1:17Jessica Tarlov:Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Jessica Tarlov. And today I'm very lucky to be joined by attorney and host of the Katie Fang Show on the Midas Touch Network. Katie Fang, thank you for coming back. It's been a while. It's been too long, and I figured if there was anybody with whom I could spend end of day as well, there would be Jess Tarloff. So I'm happy to be here. I was thinking of that. What was that movie? A Friend for the End of the World? Yes, that is totally. I don't even know. You know, it's like, is it wrong for me to be laughing? Shouldn't be laughing. But this is just absurd. Like, you just kind of have to, like, chuckle your way through it, right?

1:52Jessica Tarlov:I guess so. Or until 8 p.m. when we see if something actually happens or if it's another round of taco. I've been calling it Taco Tuesdays. Taco Tuesdays. Kind of perfect. OK. All right. I'm going to set the table because we already got to the conclusion. But in case you hadn't noticed, President Trump is warning that a whole civilization could be wiped out if Tehran doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline of 8 p.m. tonight. Set your calendars, your alarms, whatever you need to do. In a social media post just hours before that cutoff, he said a whole civilization will die tonight while still holding out faint hope that something, quote, revolutionarily wonderful could prevent the strikes.

2:33Jessica Tarlov:Trump's also threatened to decimate Iran's bridges and shut down its power grid, moves that could constitute war crimes. Iran, for its part, is vowing crushing and extensive retaliation of civilian infrastructure is hit. And despite a reported 10 point proposal from Iran to end the conflict, seems like there's no sign of a breakthrough before tonight's deadline. Let's watch this clip from Trump's presser yesterday. The entire country could be taken out in one night and that night might be tomorrow night. Short clip, but to the point. What do you think is going to happen this evening? I don't think the United States is going to annihilate the people of Iran.

3:14I mean, doesn't that kind of defeat the whole purpose? It's like you want the people of Iran to do something revolutionarily wonderful, but then, hey, we're just going to take you all out in the same stroke. I just I do think it's a taco Tuesday. I do find it to be alarming, though, that, again, we can chuckle through a taco Tuesday where you have a man who has the control over the nuclear codes saying that he's going to eliminate an entire country in one fell swoop. I find it to be remarkable, more so that there is, are there, there are literally no adults ever left in this administration? I mean, you look at what he posted on Easter Sunday of all days, of all days to post.

3:53And then you look at, listen, I, and I know that you used to work with him, but I don't think Pete Hegseth is ever going to reign in Trump. Pete Hegseth's bloodlust, I think, exceeds Donald Trump.

4:04Jessica Tarlov:This is a say what you want about Pete Hegseth show. So there's no morality. There's no caution. There's no discretion. There's no measure in Hegseth. So, I mean, if there was ever anybody who was, I think, like the chef's kiss match for Trump when it comes to having an appointment, like a cabinet appointment, like a secretary of defense, it was definitely Hegseth. But what's more crazy? The fact that Trump posted what he posts and says what he says, or the fact that somebody doesn't stop him from doing it and somebody doesn't tell him to take it down or people don't quit over it. I mean, there has to be an off ramp to the Looney Tunes moment that seems to be repeating itself day in and day out.

4:45But I find it also very upsetting because this is not just a United States Iran thing. We've got Israel involved. We have other countries in the Middle East region that are involved. And so it's, you know, one life lost is one life lost too many? And what upsets me is that we're just going to watch the day come and go. And then people are going to wake up on Wednesday morning and he will not have bombed around into the stone ages. And then we're all just going to kind of move on. I'm kind of at my end on that tolerance level, I think. Yeah, I think that there are bridges that we are crossing

5:21Jessica Tarlov:that because of the deluge, deluge, I should say, of information all the time. Delusional deluge. The delusional deluge that we're not really taking stock of the fact that you're talking about a country with over 90 million people on it. Right. This is no small threat. And I'm not sure how seriously Iran takes it. I mean, their social media would indicate that they know that this is a meme game more than a bombs game. And we should note that at the same time that this was going on, there was another U.S. military attack on Karga Island, which appears to be more of a double tap than something new.

6:00Jessica Tarlov:It was just us. Israel was not affiliated with this particular move. But that signals a very different approach than we're going to bomb you into the Stone Age. Right. That's more targeted and about the oil. And I keep going back to, I guess, two things. one about the adults in the room i think that general kane seems like an adult in the room even though he always gets pushed to the side and ignored in the press conferences like when but yesterday kane disappointingly was kissing his ass like that was you always have to kiss the ass no no i i i think that there has to be why because then you're going to lose your job and i that people who serve in these capacities and have the chance to rein it in when it actually counts, if it looks like public flattery, but they have some sort of moderating force in there versus another version of a Hegseth coming up, like Dan Driscoll as well, the one that Hegseth is so concerned is going to get his job if he does get pushed out as the Secretary of Defense.

7:03Jessica Tarlov:I can handle some ass kissing in a press conference if I know that the situation room isn't just Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Pete Hegseth. That's how I feel. But that also presupposes, Jess, that Trump will listen to Cain and that Hegseth will listen to Cain. What I heard yesterday from Cain was, our dear cult leader, commander-in-chief is so amazing. and and what i what what disturbed me was kane saying this man as in trump delivers on his promises and i understand he was talking in the context of rescuing our downed service members which i want to make clear the the level of heroism that is involved from people in our armed services right now is stunningly amazing um and i don't ever want to sound like i don't support our armed services.

7:55But when Cain says something like this man keeps his promises, then you couple it with what we're seeing. I get very worried about Cain giving any accolades to Trump. He could just get up and he could deliver the information that he should be delivering to the American people that we're not really getting from this administration. And instead, the flattery is very North Korean. It's very gross. Hard pass. I don't think that's a part of your job requirement.

8:20Jessica Tarlov:Sure. But like it is part of your job requirement to survive this administration. And does he need to like, does he have? I don't know. Do we need a situation room that is in Mar-a-Lago and it's Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth. It's next to the buffet brunch. Yeah, I know. A hundred percent. There's a black curtain up for some privacy. There are Apple watches. Apple watches everywhere with an Apple watch. Right. And there's not a legit general insight. So I'm going to take the ass kissing general. OK. Versus that alternative. But I understand your standards are perhaps higher than mine.

8:58Jessica Tarlov:And maybe I'm a little conservative media coded. And now I'm looking at this. No, but maybe I'm not being realistic and I understand. But I do think aren't we at a moment just where we are literally living on the extremes? Like, I feel like we live on the edges now. We are 100 % living on the edges of everything. And if we are living in that extreme land, and I feel like the extreme would be if Cain doesn't agree, then Cain shouldn't be there. And I don't mean like I wanted them to have green khaki uniforms versus blue. I'm talking like this is wrong. Everything I'm seeing is wrong or it's too gray.

9:34We're too in the gray on this one. I'm not comfortable. I feel like it's the imprimatur of credibility that makes me worried by somebody like Dan Cain.

9:41Jessica Tarlov:Before we go, another reminder that not only is Raging Moderates five days a week, we're also available on Substack. Subscribers get ad-free episodes, which I know you all love. Live streams, a place to connect with me, the Prof G team in general, which includes Scott. Plus, you'll get access to the new Raging Moderates newsletter, The Monday Rage. Our first one was out yesterday. Did you like it? Find us at ragingmoderates.profgmedia.com. And we've got our Webby Award for Best News in Politics podcast. I'm going to ask you again, if you haven't voted, please do vote.webbyawards.com. If you've already voted, consider doing it again or like getting your mom or your dad or boyfriend, girlfriend, whoever, just people should be voting for us.

10:20Jessica Tarlov:That's all for this episode. Thank you so much for joining.