In short
The episode argues the 2026 World Cup in the US is undermined by restrictive visa enforcement and ICE activity, hurting America’s “soft power,” depressing tourism/hotel bookings, and fueling global perceptions of xenophobia. It also discusses Trump-linked election-fraud claims in California’s mail-vote system and how Republicans may be setting up midterms with election-denier rhetoric.
Guests
Katty Kay (journalist/host) and Anthony Scaramucci (journalist/host). No other guests are interviewed.
Key claims
ICE presence and visa denials (including an African referee and Iran-related visa delays) reduce attendance and inflame protests; unions fear ICE disruption at stadium concession work; Mamdani (NYC mayor) counters Trump’s image with a “welcome” campaign and immigrant-inclusive messaging; Trump and GOP figures malign election integrity despite signature verification; “impossible to prove” is used as a substitute for evidence.
Notable examples
Senegal players frisked on the tarmac; Iran visas delayed; hotel occupancy down ~80% and flights down ~15%; Kansas City hotel bookings down ~85%; California mail ballots counted over ~6 days; Trump/press confrontation at the Knicks game.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOWorld Cup Preparations and Challenges
2:36 to 4:49
Discussion on the World Cup's impact and issues surrounding it, including visa problems and ICE presence.
“Katty, what are we going to be talking about today?”
The Role of ICE and Worker Unions
4:49 to 7:15
Examination of ICE's involvement and how it affects stadium workers and unions during the World Cup.
“So I think as a kind of exercise in soft power, an exercise in brand rehabilitation, Anthony, I reckon you could do a lot better than America is doing right now during the World Cup.”
Impact of US Policies on Tourism
7:15 to 11:19
Analysis of how US policies are affecting tourism during the World Cup and the perception of America internationally.
“by unions who are actually going to be responsible for making sure this actually goes off.”
Zoran Mamdani's Positive Approach
11:19 to 14:01
Discussion on Zoran Mamdani's efforts to positively represent New York City during the World Cup.
“The US doesn't need to humiliate international players.”
Mamdani's Impact on the World Cup
14:01 to 21:41
Learn how Zoran Mamdani contrasts with Trump's America during the World Cup.
“So talking of New York, and I want to talk about the Knicks in just a second, because that was another not great sporting moment for President Trump.”
The Knicks Game Experience
21:52 to 23:36
Hear about the atmosphere and reactions at the Knicks game with Trump present.
“Whether you're living abroad, paying someone overseas or just trying to manage your money across borders, you want a fair exchange rate, an easy transfer and no surprises along the way.”
Trump's Voter Fraud Claims in California
24:16 to 28:00
Explore Trump's allegations of election fraud in California and their implications.
“We spoke about this last week, the governor's primary and the LA mayor's primary.”
Mike Johnson's Struggle with MAGA
28:00 to 33:10
Explore how Mike Johnson navigates criticism from MAGA supporters and his attempts to appeal to them.
“And it kind of keeps bouncing back at him.”
Trump's Body Language and Media Interaction
33:10 to 34:00
Analysis of Trump's behavior and body language during a recent encounter with the press.
“I knew we were going back to the Knicks game.”
Trump's Body Language and Media Interaction
34:54 to 35:47
Analysis of Trump's behavior and body language during a recent encounter with the press.
“I imagine you're looking forward to Father's Day.”
Show all 11 chapters
Trump's Body Language and Media Interaction
35:51 to 36:08
Analysis of Trump's behavior and body language during a recent encounter with the press.
“and the gift will land straight in your dad's inbox right on Father's Day.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Katty Kay:For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur.
0:40Katty Kay:Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tremfiaradio.com. Let's talk about a condition many people haven't heard of. And it turns out it's more common than you'd think. Peyronie's disease, or PD for short. PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis. This can cause a curve or the bump during an erection and, for some men, lead to pain during intimacy and may impact mental health.
1:20Katty Kay:It may also lead to anger and frustration, depression, lower self-esteem, and even withdrawal from sexual activity and physical intimacy. Because of this, some men could feel embarrassed or reluctant to talk about PD. The actual cause of PD isn't always known. In some cases, it may be linked to a minor injury or repeated injuries during sex or other physical activity. The good news is, PD is treatable. If you notice a curve with a bump, a trusted urology specialist can help diagnose it. and walk you through your options, including non-surgical treatment. To learn more about Peyronie's disease, visit TalkAboutPD.com.
1:58Katty Kay:Let's talk about Peyronie's disease, or PD. It's not widely talked about, and some men may feel reluctant to bring it up, but it's more common than you'd think. PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis, causing a curve or the bump during an erection that, for some men, may lead to pain during intimacy and impact mental health. A trusted urology specialist can help diagnose PD and walk you through your options, including non-surgical treatment. Visit talkaboutpd.com.
2:33Anthony Scaramucci:Welcome to The Rest is Politics US with me, Katty Kay.
2:36Katty Kay:And me, Anthony Scaramucci. Katty, what are we going to be talking about today?
2:39Anthony Scaramucci:Unless you've all been living under a rock, you are probably aware that the World Cup is kicking off on Thursday this week. Very exciting. Of course, the event much anticipated. It's being held in Canada, Mexico and the United States. But unfortunately, this has not been the great relaunch of American soft power that America might have expected or hoped for. because between the ICE presence at the stadiums and a big row between ICE and New York Mayor Mamdani, lots of different visa issues with one African referee even being barred from entry into the US, empty hotel rooms, controversy, of course, around Iran's participation.
3:19Anthony Scaramucci:This has now become an image of how closed off America is and has become rather than how open and welcoming the World Cup host nation is. So I thought it was worth talking about that today, Anthony. When the World Cup was picked for the United States, I remember that Infantino, the head of FIFA, was going around America saying that this is going to be like 104 Super Bowls and it's going to be this huge economic boost for America. You're going to have, what did you say? There was going to be the cavalry of tourists coming to America to watch the World Cup matches. And of course, Actually, it hasn't quite panned out that way.
3:58Anthony Scaramucci:There was a report out just a couple of weeks ago saying that hotel rooms are down in occupancy, something like 80 % compared to normal in the host cities. That is not what you'd expect. Flights to America are down 15 % July of this year during the World Cup compared to July of last year. It's just turned into being, If you watch coverage around the world, it is one story after another of how America is shutting its doors to fans, to photographers, to team members, even to this one referee, a Somali referee who was named Africa's referee of the year and was given hours of interrogation, tried to get into the United States and was not allowed to come into the country, even though he was meant to be refereeing one of the games.
4:49Anthony Scaramucci:So I think as a kind of exercise in soft power, an exercise in brand rehabilitation, Anthony, I reckon you could do a lot better than America is doing right now during the World Cup. What do you reckon?
5:00Katty Kay:Well, I mean, you know, they're at zero. So I think a lot of people could do better. But Katie, I want you to go to, if you don't mind, before I chime in, go to the unions and some of the issues that are going on with some of the unions related to ICE right now. So these are concession workers at the stadiums, et cetera.
5:16Anthony Scaramucci:Yeah. So, ice, I mean, the whole issue around ice has been super interesting because there's two different issues. You've got Tom Horman who repeated this week on Monday that he was going to be having more ice agents than you've ever seen in New York City around the World Cup. They haven't refuted the idea that they're going to be going into stadiums and picking up workers. Well, who is it that runs the stadiums? Who is it that runs the concession stands? Who is it that It cleans the stadiums. So many immigrants to the United States are the ones doing that. So you now have the workers' unions threatening to go on strike, particularly out in California, where some of the matches are being held during the World Cup if there is an ICE presence.
6:04And what's interesting is that the administration has been given the opportunity to say, no,
6:10Anthony Scaramucci:there won't be ICE looking for people who are in the country illegally. They've been pushed on this in multiple interviews, and they have decided that actually their message is going to be, you know what, we are there for national security. But guys, if we happen to come across people who are in the country illegally, this is specifically what they've said, we will be picking them up. This is what Mark Wayne Mullen, the head of DHS, has said. So I think that's the backdrop to this. And it's not just a story about the World Cup. this has become a story about whether America is open to migrants, whether America is open to foreigners.
6:47Anthony Scaramucci:And now you have the potential of disruption at some of the matches because of the ICE activity. And Anthony, I was sitting at a dinner the other night with a group of people from around the world who follow American politics closely. And we were kind of playing this game about what's the most shocking thing that has happened in the course of the last year. And you You know what the number one most shocking thing was? The killings in Minneapolis around ICE. So the role of ICE in America is being watched carefully by foreigners, but of course also by unions who are actually going to be responsible for making sure this actually goes off.
7:19Anthony Scaramucci:It's the workers at these stadiums who are responsible for making sure this World Cup goes off well, right?
7:24Katty Kay:I want you to envision Barack Obama is President of the United States, Joe Biden. George W. Bush is president of the United States. The dollar is down 12 % against the euro versus the euro in the last year. I just want you to think about the magnitude of that.
7:41Anthony Scaramucci:So you're making the point that America is a cheap place to come on holiday.
7:44Katty Kay:Exactly. So America is a lot cheaper for tourists, but I would say the July booking numbers are down 14 % vis-a-vis 2025, and we've got the World Cup here. Europeans specifically, Caddy, year over year down 14.25%. Just think about the magnitude of this stuff. Now, of course, 80 % of the hotels are saying the same thing, way under. Kansas City is the worst, okay? Roughly 85 % of the hotels in Kansas City are reporting lower than expected bookings, despite the high profile matches in the Kansas City Chiefs stadium. And so to me, I find this stuff shocking, but also telling that there's a protest going on.
8:32Katty Kay:This is not about, it's not about anything other than this is Trump's America. You've made it brutally hard for us. You didn't give the team from Iran the visas until last Friday. And oh, by the way, some of their personnel. You rejected their visas flat out. They can't even enter the country.
8:51Anthony Scaramucci:Well, they can't even train in Arizona, which is where they were planning to train. They're having to train in Mexico.
8:56Katty Kay:Yeah, they're going to be in Tijuana. It's crazy. So it's embarrassing for the United States. I mean, it's a terrible thing to say. I'm an American, and so I'm going to say it, and then I want you to react to it. Russia got banned from the World Cup as a result of the Ukraine invasion. Why isn't the US getting banned here? They were the aggressor in Iran. Why are they not getting banned here?
9:15Anthony Scaramucci:Because as Mark Carney told us all in Davos, there are multiple different rules in the rules-based order. There is a rule for the big countries and a rule for the small countries, and America has been tipped. This is the first time ever, interestingly, that a host country has been at war with one of the playing countries. I found that remarkable since the 1930s when the World Cup was launched. It's never actually happened before, which is why you've got this issue around the Iranians. But I don't think America needs to be banned. I think the world is banning America for it. I mean, I think that is the reaction that you're seeing, Anthony, to this World Cup.
9:52Anthony Scaramucci:I think the stadiums will have decent attendance. Friends of mine who are buying tickets last minute are saying you can now pick up tickets for 100 bucks to some of the smaller games. A Swiss friend of mine is just about to fly up to San Francisco to watch the Qatar match, the Switzerland-Catar match, and he got the tickets pretty cheaply. So some of this was FIFA meddling with the prices, but this is also the case that there are not very many foreigners. So you're going to have Americans in the stadiums. I do think you'll have more Americans, hopefully once the games start, traveling to see them.
10:24Anthony Scaramucci:But it shined a bright spotlight between these crazy visa restrictions, this Somali referee. I don't know if you have seen this video of the Senegalese players that's gone completely viral all over Africa. Yeah, of course. So this is video of the Senegalese team. They're on the tarmac. They're being frisked.
10:44Katty Kay:Yeah, it's embarrassing.
10:45Anthony Scaramucci:And the video went viral in Africa with the caption, you know, this is how America is treating the African players who are arriving. It actually turned out the Senegalese soccer team put out a statement saying, actually, this was meant to expedite transfer from Raleigh to San Antonio where they're playing. It was actually quite a useful screening process. this was not as they were arriving at the San Antonio Stadium. But in a way, it didn't matter because the damage was already done because that is the perception of America already. The reputation has already done the work. The US doesn't need to humiliate international players.
11:22Anthony Scaramucci:And there are lots of African countries coming, as we know, Donald Trump called them shithole countries, right, in his first term. It doesn't need to humiliate them because the reputation of America is already done and this stuff spreads like wildfire whether it's accurate or not accurate.
11:36Katty Kay:Not that he's a bellwether or anything like that, but Alistair Campbell, when I saw him in Hong Kong two weeks ago, told me this will be the first World Cup. He hasn't attended in three decades worth of World Cups. I think there's something going on, Caddy, that I want to sort of explain to American listeners. I think the European listeners and global listeners have a handle on it, but this is a perfect storm where policy pursued by a right-leaning political coalition has landed untold, unforeseen political costs on people that really didn't have a seat at the table. Okay, these are union workers, bellhops, barmen, concession stand workers.
12:23Katty Kay:Hotel workers. Hotel workers. This says local restaurants, the sort of ecosystem that would support a Super Bowl or a World Cup, okay, has been hit by these policy restrictions and had been hit by the xenophobia. And so to me, it's reckless to them because, again, we want to be objective here on this podcast. To them, it's principled. They're like, hey, yeah, that's exactly what we're doing. And we're going to have ICE agents everywhere and we'll arrest you if we think you're doing something illegal. But it just puts this chilling effect on everybody. And you know the president, at least in the House, hasn't cleared the Senate yet, got$70 billion for his new secret police program, whatever that is, in terms of the fortification of ICE and the fortification of these different para-police forces that the president wants to enforce the immigration.
13:24Katty Kay:laws, but also to hand check people in these cities. And again, it's mostly blue states, mostly blue cities. And the great irony there is that these blue state, blue cities have pretty low crime rates. The red states have per capita more crime than some of those blue state cities. That's the big irony of the whole thing. So to me, I'm just going to say if you're coming, there's a very large part of the Americans that welcome you, certainly want you in our hometown in New York. But if you're not coming, it's also understandable. But I hope somebody brings it up and has some type of reckoning with the administration over what they've wrought.
14:05Anthony Scaramucci:Okay. So talking of New York, and I want to talk about the Knicks in just a second, because that was another not great sporting moment for President Trump. But you know who has made this a blinder of a World Cup for himself and has done a kind of masterful job on rolling out the welcome mat? And that's Zoran Mamdani. I don't know if you've been watching some of his stuff. Anthony, I think I sent you some of the videos that he's done.
14:27Katty Kay:Telegenic.
14:27Anthony Scaramucci:Super telegenic, great communicator. And he's done this welcome video, it's worth watching, that he's put out on X, where he is all around the city explaining how New York City works to visitors, telling everybody they're welcome to the city, explaining the subway system and the buses. He's also managed to get FIFA to drop the prices of a lottery with$50 tickets for a thousand New Yorkers every day, trying to make it more accessible to New Yorkers to get around some of these high prices. But in a way, what he's done that is so masterful is he's juxtaposed Trump making America look closed and frankly, un-American with himself as a politician, rolling out the welcome mat and saying to the rest of the world, actually, this is America.
15:16Anthony Scaramucci:He got into this great exchange with Tom Homan because Tom Homan did this thing on Monday saying that he was going to flood the zone in New York City with ICE agents. And Mamdani shoots back a tweet the next day. They've got really into it this week in the run up to the Open of the World Cup. And he says, listen, the soccer world would not exist without immigrants. Six of the U.S. men's national team are immigrants. And he makes the point that, you know, the coaches and stadiums are all run by immigrants, exactly what we've been talking about. But he's found a way to make Trump not look just wrong on this, but to look like he's not what America should be on the global stage.
15:53Anthony Scaramucci:And here is Mamdani citing the US men's national team as a way to say, okay, this is actually what America is. America is a country of immigrants. And I think it's not just good politics. I think it's a template for how Democrats need to start responding to what's going on in the country around ICE.
16:13Katty Kay:Well, listen, I think the number one thing that he's doing, which I think is brilliant, is yes, all the media stuff is brilliant. And he's very telegenic. He's got a great smile. He has the best smile in American politics since Barack Obama.
16:27Anthony Scaramucci:Since Barack Obama, I was going to say that.
16:29Katty Kay:multi-billion dollar smile Barack Obama carried him and many other of his assets carried him into the presidency but Mondani's got all of that but I'll tell you something he's doing that I think is genius because I'm a New Yorker he's running the city and he's running the city as a moderate and I want to contrast that to Donald Trump because Donald Trump actually is a lunatic and he talked like a lunatic during the campaign he reversed some of his policies like he's now running forever wars and he's not going to disclose the Epstein files, but all of the right-wing rhetoric and all of the atavistic xenophobia Donald Trump has executed on, Donald Trump has pursued.
17:12Katty Kay:And so this is the contrast. If Trump had talked like a nut, but just ran the things like a moderate, he'd actually be reasonably popular. Mondani gets the joke. Yes, I have a coalition of democratic socialists, but you know what? I got to run the city. He's made one major mistake, okay? And that was the mistake, and I'm not going to mention the name because I don't want to put the guy in harm's way, but the billionaire whose house he went in front of, and he said, hey, you know, blah, blah, that was a mistake. I'm going to give you these numbers, okay? So he starts out two months in, he's at 49 % versus 31.
Read the full transcript
17:51Katty Kay:That's like Mayor de Blasio. But today, in the two most populated congressional districts, New York 7, which is Bushwick, Williamsburg, Long Island City, he's polling at 77 % approval rating, okay? In New York 12, which is where all the rich people are. Okay, that's Midtown, Upper East Side and Upper West Side, 66 % approval rating.
18:18Anthony Scaramucci:At the moment, in the time of politics we live in, nobody's getting that.
18:22Katty Kay:This guy is one of the most popular politicians. I'm just saying for his delegation of people that have to vote for him, he's got very high approval ratings. People should look at what he's doing and study it.
18:35Anthony Scaramucci:Well, yeah, the Democrats need to start looking at what he's doing. Anyway, I think this World Cup is going to be defined by those two vizios. On the one hand, you've got Mamdani's welcome video. And on the other hand, you've got the Senegalese players on the tarmac being frisked. And that second one may not tell the entire story, but you put those together. And one is Trump's America and one is Mamdani's America. And that is what the world is looking at. Okay, you were talking of sporting events here at the New York Knicks on Monday night. I'm sorry for your loss. Mamdani was there too in the cheap seat standing room only.
19:09Anthony Scaramucci:By the way, another good look for him.
19:11Katty Kay:Let me give a news for people that may or may not. I wasn't in the front row. I wasn't in celebrity row, but I'm bougie, nouveau riche, New Yorker. I was eight rows back behind the net, okay, close to the Spurs bench. You know, and I brought Nick and James, my 12 and 8-year-old, and we'll put some pictures up of the event. A couple of things there. I think thing number one was the Secret Service and the TSA did an amazing job of getting those lines cleared and people into that arena on time. And there was protective bulletproof glass in front of the president's suite. And so whether he should have been there or not, Stephen A.
19:53Katty Kay:Smith, a famous sportscaster here for ESPN, thinks he shouldn't have been there, thinks that he's the reason why the Knicks lost. but I will just say that the people, the New York City's finest, that's what we call our police force and the people around New York did a phenomenal job of making everybody safe. But what I will say is Trump looked very tired. He fell asleep.
20:17Anthony Scaramucci:And I imagine it was pretty noisy in there, right? How easy would it have been to have a quick nap?
20:21Katty Kay:Yeah. So I'm going to say not consistent with the way the left is reporting it, okay? when they flashed him on the screen during the national anthem, I would say it was a 65-35 mix of boos and cheers. It was very consistent to my ear of what's going on in the country, two-thirds, one-third. And by the way, self-selecting is a very wealthy crowd in there because they paid a pretty penny to go to the game, but it was two-thirds booing and one-third. and you could see the expression on his face and his, you know, one of the things they didn't like, they didn't like his granddaughter witnessing that type of booing.
21:00Katty Kay:She looked unnerved by it.
21:02Anthony Scaramucci:He knew he was going to get some of that. He knew that when he went, he would get some of that. I mean, not that he's not a Knicks fan. He is. He always has been.
21:08Katty Kay:The mayor has it figured out. He's young. He's bold. He's charismatic. But he's governing. And for all of the rich New Yorkers that don't like him, take a chill. you may have an opportunity to bring the city together with this kid.
21:24Anthony Scaramucci:Yeah. Well, he is dominating this World Cup at the moment in terms of politicians handling this well. And if you want to know who the mayor of New York thinks is actually going to win the World Cup, watch the Guardian's bracket video. It's super fun. It's nine minutes. I was surprised anyway. And I'm hoping he's right. Okay, let's take a break and we'll come back and talk about California.
21:45Katty Kay:Hi, this is Gary Lineker from Goalhangers. The rest is football. This episode is brought to you by WISE. It's only when you start moving money between currencies that you really think about the exchange rate, the fee and what might be hidden away in the small print. Whether you're living abroad, paying someone overseas or just trying to manage your money across borders, you want a fair exchange rate, an easy transfer and no surprises along the way. WISE keeps things simple. Wise is a smart way to move the currencies you need around the globe. It works in more than 160 countries and with over 40 currencies.
22:21Katty Kay:Most transfers arrive instantly. Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate, like the one you see on Google, with no markups or hidden fees. So when money needs to move, you can see the rate, know the fee and get on with it. Join millions saving billions on hidden fees by downloading the Wise app today. Be smart, get wise, T's and C's apply. Let's talk about a condition many people haven't heard of. And it turns out it's more common than you'd think. Peyronie's disease, or PD for short. PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis. This can cause a curve or the bump during an erection, and for some men, lead to pain during intimacy and may impact mental health.
23:03Katty Kay:It may also lead to anger and frustration, depression, lower self-esteem, and even withdrawal from sexual activity and physical intimacy. Because of this, some men could feel embarrassed or reluctant to talk about PD. The actual cause of PD isn't always known. In some cases, it may be linked to a minor injury or repeated injuries during sex or other physical activity. The good news is, PD is treatable. If you notice a curve with a bump, a trusted urology specialist can help diagnose it and walk you through your options, including non-surgical treatment. To learn more about Peyronie's disease, visit TalkAboutPD.com.
23:41Katty Kay:Let's talk about Peyronie's disease, or PD. It's not widely talked about, and some men may feel reluctant to bring it up, but it's more common than you'd think. PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis, causing a curve or the bump during an erection that for some men may lead to pain during intimacy and impact mental health. A trusted urology specialist can help diagnose PD and walk you through your options, including non-surgical treatment. Visit talkaboutpd.com.
24:14Anthony Scaramucci:Welcome back to The Rest is Politics US. We're going to talk about California, which seems to be the latest target of Trump's voter fraud claims, raising speculation now that he's going to use this same playbook for the midterm elections, because what's happened is you've had. We spoke about this last week, the governor's primary and the LA mayor's primary. And there was a Trump endorsed candidate in the LA mayor's primary who looked like he was going to do well. He had gone kind of viral with these AI videos, Spencer Pratt. Anyway, he lost the race. And ever since he lost the race, Donald Trump has just piled in to California, which has this weird voting system where people can vote by mail.
24:54Anthony Scaramucci:The votes get counted so long as they arrived with a postal stamp on them on election day. It takes a long time to count all of the votes. They're super assiduous about checking all of the signatures. So it takes a long time. It took six days. You didn't have a result for it. And that time, Donald Trump piles in and says the California election must have been rigged because Spencer Pratt, my guy, was ahead, Anthony, on election day, and then he lost the primary. So what's happening in California? Why did it take so long? and is that the problem? Because when you have a vacuum, it seems to me that's where mischief can be made, right?
25:31Katty Kay:Yeah, listen, I mean, the problem is it's a compelling story that Trump is telling. It's not a true story, but this is the problem with Donald Trump. He is maligning the integrity of our elections. And so what Cady just said, I want to overemphasize, our signature verifying every single mail-in ballot. And if you look at the statistical anomalies, there are very few. I either would be turnover over 100 % or there would be totally miscued districts. And he tried to say that. He said, oh, there's a 43 % of the vote came in for the Democrat and zero came in for the Republican, which is impossible.
26:13Katty Kay:It's not even a true statement that he said, but he's trying to rile people up and he's trying to malign the electoral integrity of the system. And I will say this though, Caddy, people do believe him. And that's the thing that worries me the most. I don't believe him. You don't believe him. Normal people that are looking at it that understand process wouldn't believe him. Even the Homeland Security people that are permanent governmental officials do not believe him. But guess what? As he said to Leslie Saw, oh, if I say a lie over and over and over again, I can get enough people to believe the lie.
26:51Katty Kay:You know, Billy Bush tells a great story about Trump saying that, I'm number one in The Apprentice. And Billy says, well, you haven't been number one in five years. I'm number one. I'm number one. And then when the show's off, he says, you know, Billy, if I say it enough, there's a lot of people that will believe that I'm number one.
27:07Anthony Scaramucci:Do you remember when we did our series on Trump from the 1980s? Of course. That was the message he learned from Roy Cohn. and you say a lie enough, people will actually end up believing it. Okay, talk about Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, your favorite politician at the moment with a very, very strong spine of steel, that Mike Johnson I'm talking about, because Mike Johnson seems to have decided that it's his role to tout this idea. What did he say? He said, I'm not saying it's rigged. I'm saying it stinks to high heaven and everybody knows that. Then he's pressed about the evidence. What's your evidence, Mr.
27:42Anthony Scaramucci:Speaker, that the California election is rigged? And here's his answer, Anthony. Tell me if you're satisfied. Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream that it's impossible to prove. But I think everybody knows instinctively something is wrong here. Does knowing something instinctively constitute evidence of election fraud to you?
28:06Katty Kay:him no but remember what mike johnson is doing because mike johnson gets criticized that he's not trumpy enough and you remember there was a hit or a potential revolution on mike johnson before trump even reascended to the presidency that the president himself had to put down and render some support to mike johnson so every once in a while the maga people i see mike johnson you Remember that Rocky thing with the, you know, when you hit the bag, you know, and you're rattling the bag? And it kind of keeps bouncing back at him. Yeah. Yeah. That's Mike Johnson's face with these MAGA people. So they keep hitting him and he's like, shit, I got to get out there and say something right now.
28:47Katty Kay:Remember, he did get caught on a hot mic, as we pointed out the last episode. I think we pointed it out on the medical episode that Trump is batshit crazy. He got caught on the hot mic. He had to walk it back. And so this is him trying to get back in the flow of pro-MAGA. The best line though, Caddy, the best line, you ready? Go on. Impossible to prove. Impossible to prove. That is the best line.
29:16Anthony Scaramucci:Yeah.
29:16Katty Kay:Okay. So listen, it is fraud. But you know what, Caddy? It's so diabolical and it's so sinister. It's impossible to prove. Okay. And that goes into Donald Trump's ear like a corkscrew. You know, it's like those ringworms that he's allowing now on our meat products from the FBA. They're just going inside his ear and eating his brain with this sort of propaganda nonsense. But I'll tell you, it's very bad for the country.
29:44Anthony Scaramucci:Mike Johnson is implanting screwworms into Donald Trump's brain is what you're suggesting.
29:50Katty Kay:The Republicans have got to figure out a better strategy in California. The strategy that they have right now is not going to work in that state. By the way, Bruce Blakeman, the Republican that's running against Kathy Hochul, is running the same MAGA playbook. Guys, these are blue states. You're a Republican. The last Republican to run New York was Governor Pataki. That's 20 years ago. He left office in 2006. Guys, wake up. This strategy that they're deploying is MAGA, MAGA, MAGA, and can you give me some more MAGA, is not going to work in those areas. And you talk about this, Gatti. You've talked about like the Swiss army knife approach.
30:36Anthony Scaramucci:Yeah, you pull out the right blade for the right district in the right state. You don't try and take a sledgehammer in a state that needs like a screwdriver. It doesn't work for you. I mean, look.
30:48Katty Kay:You talked about Spanberger's race in Virginia being a very different race than Mondani.
30:53Anthony Scaramucci:Yeah.
30:53Katty Kay:And look at what's going on with Plattner. That's like another whole other thing. But the Republicans have decided we can't deviate from Trump. We're going to get ourselves in trouble. So let's triple down on MAGA.
31:05Anthony Scaramucci:And Spencer Pratt, by the way, is running a full MAGA campaign to try and become mayor of Los Angeles in a city that is only 17 % Republican. That's why Spencer Pratt lost the mayoral primary. It wasn't because there was something nefarious going on. He's the wrong candidate in the wrong city. They can't run like that. I think you're right. Mike Johnson is just there trying to get the screw worm of acceptability into Donald Trump and Maga's ear. But I think there is a difference, Antony, between Trump 1 and Trump 2. Trump 1, you've got an attorney general in Bill Barr who is prepared to say that the idea that the 2020 election was stolen is, quote, bullshit.
31:45Anthony Scaramucci:This time around, who do we have? We've got Kash Patel. We've got Todd Blanche. We've got Bill Pulte just about to go and run the Department of National Intelligence. And they're all election deniers. So Trump has really fed election deniers into the system. These are all the people who are going to be charged with securing the midterm elections in November. And I think we're setting up a very different group of people with a very different set of ideologies compared to what you had in the first Trump administration. And that's why people are worried about what Trump is doing now and the kinds of things that he's saying when he says it's not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost LA, that America is like a third world country with rigged elections and that there's big cheating going on.
32:26Anthony Scaramucci:He did this in 2020. He lays the groundwork for people to believe that there is some kind of fraud. I actually think it's not just that the Republicans have got to get their act together in California and run the right candidates. in California in particular, they have to do something about how long it takes to count the votes. They've got to change this system, Anthony, because when there's a vacuum in a world of social media, guess what? Conspiracy theories dive into that lovely warm water and they swim around and they metastasize and then you get rigged election claims.
32:58Katty Kay:Well, I think it's very well said. They should do that. They likely won't do that. I want to take you to the tarmac after the Nick game where Trump was accosted by the journalists.
33:10Anthony Scaramucci:I knew we were going back to the Knicks game. We were going back to the Knicks game.
33:14Katty Kay:And I said, hey, you know, Stephen A. Smith says that they lost because of you. And Trump said, what did he say? Stephen A. Smith has low IQ. He can't be president. And then they turned to Lee Zeldin, who's the EPA guy. He did run for governor unsuccessfully a few years back. He's the EPA administrator. And Lee Zeldin was talking, and I am going to show you, okay, because we have props. Watch me. This is Trump. Okay. And if you're listening, I'm moving and I'm bending and I'm moving. And Trump was like, dude, five words out of your mouth is five too many. I want that microphone back in my face.
33:52Katty Kay:And Trump was moving back and forth like this. And finally he cut Zeldin off and he got himself back into the mix with the reporter. Okay. I was just loving the body language between these guys, okay? And Zeldin looked very stressed, man. He was trying to get some words in with the press. Yeah.
34:11Anthony Scaramucci:Do not get between Donald Trump and a microphone. He was not having it. It's a very dangerous place to be. Okay, guys, we're going to leave it there. We will be back next week, of course, with more news. And if you would like to hear the second part of our series on Donald Trump's health, talking of the president falling asleep at the Knicks game, and what can be done in America if we feel that a president is not fit for office. We've got that episode dropping this week for our founding members. You can sign up at TheRestIsPoliticsUS.com to become a founding member. We interviewed a doctor who I was pretty surprised by what he said.
34:47Anthony Scaramucci:So if you want to find out the truth about Donald Trump's health, it's a good series to listen to. Thanks so much for listening, guys. We'll see you next week.
34:53Katty Kay:Thanks, guys.
35:03Anthony Scaramucci:Anthony, you have a few kids. I imagine you're looking forward to Father's Day.
35:07Katty Kay:It's a special day in the UK, also here in the US. And look, as a dad myself, I wanted to give our listeners a quick tip. This year, why not give your dad a membership to the Restless Politics US?
35:21Anthony Scaramucci:And because we love all the dads out there, those who send us questions, who are in our founding members club, those who come to our shows and come up and speak to us afterwards, we are offering a 25 % discount on an annual gift membership.
35:33Katty Kay:I mean, come on, Caddy. What dad wouldn't want our exclusive founding members Q &A, our members-only miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to our live shows, ticketing, and much, much more?
35:47Anthony Scaramucci:Just head to therestispoliticsus.com. You can click on gifts, and the gift will land straight in your dad's inbox right on Father's Day.
35:55Katty Kay:It's an excellent Father's Day present. I would know. Go to the rest is politics us.com and click on something to make your dad a founding member. Happy Father's Day, everybody.
36:08Anthony Scaramucci:Happy Father's Day.
From the publisher
Has America’s ‘soft power moment’ really just revealed how closed off the country has become? How has Mandami managed to win over so many New Yorkers? And, are Trump’s ‘rigged election’ claims in California a signal of what’s to come?
Join Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci as they answer all these questions and more.
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