Trump’s UFC event descends into CHAOS

If you are looking for the peak of. embarrassment, this right here is how. Trump's big UFC event kicked off. Which is to say, Trump's big. taxpayer-funded birthday party is. kicking off as exactly the kind of. circus you'd expect it to be. And it's. not just with Nitro Circus and these. motorcycles. Here's the way in.

>> [cheering]. >> Look at this. Look where we're at. Look. at this beautiful [cheering] view. You know I act like a animal? >> I enjoy it. Sorry, I was. >> Look at how emotional you are. You are. like a female, Joey. Look at this. >> Look at this. >> It looks so pretty. It looks so good on you. It looks so. good on you. Yeah, that small looks good. It looks good. I think you.

>> You are fighting for this, right? >> Okay. >> No, this is not the belt we are fighting. for. >> boy. >> Not for Not the belt we are fighting. for. Not the belt we are fighting for. >> It's much better on me. >> And. I don't know, maybe I'm being too. precious about the Capitol Complex being. like hallowed ground for the trashiest. event you could possibly imagine. But I. think there's actually something else. that bugs me. I wrestled for about a. decade, starting at age 11. I loved. everything about the sport, but. especially that there was no way to.

skirt responsibility. Like you can't. just hang out in the corner and take. credit for the rest of your team's. actions. The bout is just you and the. other guy. That's it. And you own that. victory when you win, and that is a. great feeling. Again, because you own it. entirely. And I mean, it's absolutely a. team sport in the sense that your. teammates push you to be better in. practice every single day, and if you. don't have that, you simply won't be. successful. But when you're out on the. mat, you are on the mat, and you have to. perform, and there's no shortcuts. And.

that's good for somebody who wants to. work hard, and I did work hard. I worked. my ass off. I I did pretty well. I won. some championships. I learned a lot. about discipline, and I made some great. memories with my guys. And other mixed martial arts are the. same. It is just two of you on the mat, in the ring, in the octagon, whatever it. may be. And again, there's no shortcuts. There's. no excuses. There's just hard work, discipline, technique, and heart. But. you look at a guy like Trump, and this. is somebody who has lied, cheated, and.

stolen his way through life. A guy who. got rich off the backs of contractors. who he refused to pay. A guy who slapped. his name on products and brands that. ultimately failed. A guy who has no. lasting legacy other than his. willingness to plow over people while. enriching himself. And I just I see the dichotomy between. this guy who has climbed over everybody. else to take all the credit for himself, and these fighters who could only get. there if they worked for it. And of. course, yet again, Trump will watch.

these people do all the hard work, and. yet he will bask in the spotlight of an. event paid for in blood and sweat and. tears that don't belong to him, and. taxpayer funds that don't belong to him. Everything he has is the result of the. labor of others, but he'll never give. anybody else an ounce of credit because. his ego demands that the attention shine. solely on him. And I think that's a pretty apt. microcosm for how he's governed because. while he swore on the campaign trail. that he would focus on an America First.

agenda, since the moment he took office, it has been about him, about his new. jet, his ballroom, his golden-crusted. oval office, his reflecting pool, his. repaved rose garden, his triumphal arch, all for him. Meanwhile, you've got. surging costs. Gas is almost at its. highest point ever. Healthcare has been. cut for tens of millions of Americans, food assistance has been gutted, electricity prices are surging, but he. hasn't done anything to fix it because. he just doesn't care.

And it's not like he can't. Like. remember, this is Donald Trump we're. talking about. When he wants something, he does it. He won't let anything stand. in the way. Not the law, the courts, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, the. Constitution, he just makes it happen. But only when it benefits him. And. making sure that Americans can afford. groceries and healthcare and housing and. food assistance, none of that impacts. him, so it doesn't get done. And the. rest of his party, which has the power as a co-equal branch. of government to at least step in and.

work on behalf of their constituents, even if he won't, they have collectively decided that it's. more important to help Trump than the. rest of America. The entire party exists. to serve one person. Something to. remember as you're deciding who to vote. for come November. Just a quick note. here to say that if you appreciate my. work, which is and always will be 100%. free, a small ask is if you could please. pre-order my new book The Day After, which explores how Democrats must. finally wield power if they're fortunate. enough to get it back. I'll also be on.

tour in DC, New York, and LA mid-July. You can grab tickets to the tour and you. can pre-order the book at the same link, which I'll put on the screen and in the. post description of this video. You can. also find them at. briantylercohen.com/book. Again, I'll never paywall a single piece. of content, but this is the one time. that I'll ask for some support for a. book that I really think meets this. moment. Thanks so much. You're watching. the No Lie podcast. Next up are my. interviews with ranking member of the. House Oversight Committee Robert Garcia, co-host of Pod Save America Tommy. Vietor, and head of data science at Vote.

Hub Zachary Donnenfeld. No Lie is. brought to you by ZBiotics. Now, you've. heard me promote ZBiotics pre-alcohol. before and for good reason. It is a. game-changing product that I use before. a night out with drinks. Well, a few. weeks back, I was able to use it again. I went to Pod Save America's Jon Lovitz. wedding. I made pre-alcohol my first. drink of the night. I felt excellent the. next day. I was literally on camera. shooting content completely normal. I do. not think that would have been the case. without pre-alcohol. So, what is. pre-alcohol? ZBiotics pre-alcohol. probiotic drink is the world's first.

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ZBiotics is backed with a 100%. money-back guarantee. So, if you're. unsatisfied for any reason, they'll. refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to zbiotics.com/btc. and use code BTC at checkout for 15%. off. No Lie is brought to you by. Shopify. Starting something new isn't. just hard, it's scary. So much work goes. into this thing that you're not entirely. sure is going to work out, and it can be. hard to make that leap of faith. Trust. me, I know. When I started this podcast, I wasn't even sure of what I was doing.

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J.D. Vance, the vice president, that. hasn't uh been in the spotlight before. Can you explain what that news is? >> Yeah, I mean, look, this is pretty. bombshell reporting. Um the New York. Times has obviously put out a pretty. significant report. We also hear there's. there's more to come about J.D. Vance. actually now being centered in this. Epstein scandal and cover-up. Uh we had. no idea that Vance had really been. involved in the past. He's made some. comments, but now we learn that J.D. Vance is basically hosting and leading. meetings in the situation room.

about the Epstein investigation. Now, the situation room is used for national. security, for issues of war and peace, for major issues around the country. And. J.D. Vance, Susie Wiles, uh Kash Patel, Todd Blanche are having these meetings. about Epstein in the actual situation. room. And it's clear from this reporting. that they're talking about ways of. protecting Donald Trump. So, it's very. significant. It's the first time Vance. is now at the center of this cover-up,

directing, giving ideas, making. suggestions like it's including really. bizarre ones. And so, we've said we've. got to talk to J.D. Vance and the rest. of the folks in that room. Why are they. playing cover-up for Donald Trump?". >> In terms of getting J.D. Vance in front. of the House Oversight Committee, what. is the likelihood of that happening, and. what action can and are you taking in in. service of that? >> Well, we just made the formal request to. get J.D. Vance, to get. Patel, Susie Wiles, some of the.

communication staff, folks who were in. that room in front of the committee to. Comer. At the end of the day, it's. Comer's decision. Now, look, he may not. go along with this, but we can put the. pressure on. When we've put pressure on, we've heard from folks if they we've. forced people to come in, and certainly. when we win the majority, we're going to. expect these people are in front of our. committee actually answering these. questions. Look, J.D. Vance made some. wild wild accusations, as well as. provided some crazy ideas. He suggested. that Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine.

Maxwell. He's there talking about how. they can maybe pardon what a pardon. would mean for Ghislaine Maxwell. How. can we get Ghislaine Maxwell to to say. that she had nothing to do with Donald. Trump, or that Donald Trump would had. nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. This. is a cover-up that we are reading about. in real time, and now we know that J.D. Vance and Susie Wiles have been in on. it. So, they have a lot to answer for, and quite frankly, they have a lot to. answer for to the survivors. >> How can Republicans justify potentially. having wielded contempt powers for.

Hillary Clinton to testify in front of. the House Oversight Committee as it. relates to the Epstein files, but not. J.D. Vance who is on record perpetuating. the cover-up? I mean, he seems a lot. more involved in this thing than Hillary. Clinton ever did, and yet they were. willing to use whatever tools they had. at their disposal, and whatever. punishments and accountability methods. they had at their disposal to make sure. that she appeared. So, how do you. justify bringing in one, but not the. other? >> You don't. I mean, the reality is is. that J.D. Vance has clearly now been a.

played a big role in this cover-up and. we just did we just found out about it. And the fact part of this is the fact. that they're having these meetings in. the situation. Why are they there? They clearly view. this as a massive security threat to. who? To Trump? To their administration? They know that in that room. it's very obviously there there is. technology in that room. that really. ensures that folks don't find out what. they're talking about and so it's it's.

concerning that through the reporting. from the New York Times they're giving. us a snapshot but I want to know how. many times did they meet in the. situation room? How many times with JD. Vance involved? The reporting talks. about certain instances but they're. clearly if we're reading about some. there has to be a lot more. And so we we. have I think JD Vance has a lot to. answer for and I hope he's asked by by. the press and the mainstream media. what the hell is he doing and why is he. trying to play cover-up for Donald. Trump? What did actually JD Vance know?

Does he know what's in the files? Why. haven't the rest of the files been. released? These are all important. questions. >> If Democrats are able to take the. majority in Congress and you become. chairman of the Oversight Committee. what will that mean in terms of you. being able to wield your power to compel. the testimony of someone like JD Vance. given what given the questions we now. have? >> Look I think that JD Vance. first of all is clearly and we already. know that he's a liar and he he does. whatever Donald Trump wants him to do. That's been clear throughout this whole.

administration. He refuses to ever stand. up to Donald Trump and I think what. we're learning here is that he's a much. more central player in the Epstein. cover-up than we had ever thought. before. And so we're going to have to do. everything we can to compel him to. testify to to push the media get public. opinion and I'll say look I was looking. at some reports and polling that the. Epstein investigation and this broader. kind of Epstein. case is the single most bipartisan thing. in the country. And it's where Donald.

Trump is actually the weakest. More. people care, Republicans care about this. and believe that Donald Trump is failing. at this than any other topic. More than. the economy, more than immigration, more. than anything else. Democrats as well. And so, it's united the country. And so, if J.D. Vance thinks he's going to go. walk around and we're going to allow him. to tell lies and not answer questions, he's mistaken. >> Have you gotten any sense from your. Republican colleagues whether there is. an Oh, I'm I'm I'm sure there's not an. appetite to call J.D. Vance in to. testify, but an openness, a willingness?

Do you think that those people could be. pressured to call J.D. Vance to testify? >> I think there are going to be some. Republicans, Tom Massie, Nancy Mace, uh. Lauren Boebert that might um be. supportive of some of of that type of. effort. Uh but I think that J.D. Vance, the the bigger question in the. Republican Party broadly speaking is. he'd never been a part of this. investigation before. And there was no. evidence linking him to any sort of a. cover-up. But now it's clear, he is not. only part of the cover-up, he's leading. cover-up meetings in the situation. It.

can't get more serious than that. And. so, he has a lot to answer for and I. going to encourage I've encouraged my my. congressional colleagues over the last. few days to stay on this. And we got to. hold J.D. Vance's feet to the fire here. He's the Vice President of the United. States, second in line to the. presidency, and he's playing cover-up. for Donald Trump. It's got to end. >> You know, some of those colleagues that. you had mentioned, Nancy Mace is in her. last term in the House. Uh she obviously. lost her primary for South Carolina. governor. I believe came in fifth in.

that primary. Um uh you have Thomas Massie also was. ousted thanks to uh help from Donald. Trump. And so, um given the fact that. these people are are kind of freed from. the shackles of what is expected of you. if you want to remain a member in good. standing of Donald Trump's Republican. Party, do you expect that they'll be a. little a little more outspoken in terms. of their support for transparency on. this issue. >> I mean, I do hope I I I do expect that. they will be obviously wait and see, but. look at Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean,

I think that she's a good example of. someone that has kind of broken free. from. Donald Trump and you know, very much has. a strong political opinion of what I. strongly disagree with, but overall. she's not in it anymore to please. President Trump, which is what she did. the entire time almost that she was in. Congress. And so, I hope that Nancy. Mace, I hope that Thomas Massie in these. months ahead continue to show some. courage and push on the Epstein files. We need to get more answers and we need. now why the hell is Susie Wiles so.

obsessed also with the Epstein files and. she's directing all sorts of things. We're hearing from. Bongino, who of course was at the FBI. saying some pretty crazy stuff. And so, again, there's just more more to look. at, more to investigate. Another really. critical part of those in this reporting. was, you know, Pam Bondi liked to throw. Todd Blanche under the bus a lot in her. in her deposition saying that somehow he. was in completely in charge of. everything. Obviously, Todd Blanche was. in these rooms, but so was Pam Bondi. Pam Bondi would attend these meetings. sometimes by phone.

And so, this idea that Pam Bondi had no. idea what was going on, she certainly. never mentioned to us she was having. meeting meetings in the situation room. And so, I think it's very concerning. >> Especially because like, you know, this. is where the the operations took place. to take out Bin Laden and and Soleimani. and Al-Zawahiri and like and like to. equate those missions with the well, I. guess what is now a mission to protect. Donald Trump from the Epstein files is. pretty telling in terms of what this.

how important this administration views. this entire cover-up effort. Um but you. know, something that was also striking. in terms of Donald Trump going after. these people who dare speak out against. him as it relates to Epstein is Donald. Trump also decided to create a new. website as part of whitehouse.gov and. that was what he's calling a media. offenders list. There's a bunch of. content creators. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Yes, it is it's something. that I wear as a badge of honor. I'm I'm. one of the names of those content. creators who were included on that list.

and so I just wanted to get your. reaction to the fact that. you had a Republican Party. that predicated so much of its identity. on this idea that they are staunch. opponents of censorship and they're. going to be these champions for free. speech. Now publishing an enemies list. of content creators like YouTubers and. podcast hosts on whitehouse.gov. Just your reaction to the fact that this. is where their priorities are. at the hands of a party that would beat. its chest as as being anti-censorship.

>> These people are just a total joke. I. mean they're they're a joke. They're. they weaponize the government. Um. It's it's it's crazy to be like both so. incompetent and so crazy about attacking. people at the same time. I mean look, I. think. they have worked to destroy anyone that. opposes them. It's part of their. authoritarian playbook. They have gone. after whether it's large. uh companies like obviously CBS and. large institutions to successful.

new media channels, right? Like. yourself, other podcasters that are out. in this space. People I mean you you and. others have these enormous audiences. on in the digital space on YouTube and. so many other ways and I think they're. intimidated by that. The right we've. allowed the right for so long to. dominate the digital space, to dominate. YouTube, to dominate so so the. podcasting space and it's just been in. the last you know, few years. You look. at about the what's happened in the last. five years, three years for us on on the.

progressive front. We're actually making. some headway now. There's investments. that are happening. So of course. Donald Trump is going to attack that. He's going to try to bring folks down. and intimidate cuz you know, you for if. you know. you have a. a great operation. There's also some. very some some smaller operations that. intimidation can have an impact. People. don't have the ability to to defend. themselves often times or the resources. to to to fight Trump's Trump's. Department of Justice.

>> Yeah, completely agree. I mean the whole. point of this is to have a chilling. effect. What do you think your Republican. counterpart in the Oversight Committee. James Comer or Jim Jordan who chaired. the the subcommittee on the. weaponization of government? What do you. think that those Republicans would say. if Joe Biden had created an enemies list. and published it on the taxpayer-funded. whitehouse.gov website? >> Insane. I mean, I can't believe that um. they went after Joe Biden for, you know, using an using an auto pen.

uh. and that was the the their the thing. they're mad or or they were mad that he. was old. Um I mean Donald Trump is. literally stealing everyone's money and. giving it to himself and his family. They're going after journalists. They're. attacking the courts. They're stealing. money. They're they're cutting real. estate deals. They're destroying the. White House building cage matches in. front of it. I mean, it's. it's beyond. You know, they destroyed. our relationships around the world. He is just the worst person to ever lead. our country by far and his.

administration is and I I think we're. all just waiting for the day where we. can turn the page on Donald Trump. >> Well, look, I I know that I speak for a. lot of people watching in saying first. off, thank you for the work that you're. doing and keeping these important issues. to hold Trump to account at the. forefront. And and second of all, um you. know, in terms of that work starting, hopefully just a few months from now you. do become the chairman of the House. Oversight Committee and we can start. digging into some of this stuff that I. think the American people have very. valid and legitimate questions about.

First and foremost on the Epstein. matter, but a whole raft of things that. you just mentioned, whether it's the. financial corruption, you know, these. these deals that Trump is engaged with, these vanity projects that he is that. he's doing right now, the fact that his. kids are involved in all of these. military endeavors, and the list goes on. and on. So, again, you know, the work to. to begin holding this administration, this overtly corrupt administration. accountable, uh hopefully starts sooner. rather than later, and I know that a lot. of that is going to be in your. jurisdiction. So, with that said, uh. we'll leave it there. Congressman, I.

appreciate your time. >> Thank you. >> Tommy, it looks like Donald Trump just. got hit with a brand new Epstein blow. from somewhere he didn't expect. Let's. see the clip. >> to watch. >> They're traitors. The ones that refuse. to release Epstein files want to cover. up for pedophiles and rapists and all. sorts of disgusting things in these. files. Those are the traitors to the. American people, and they should be. ashamed of themselves. >> Uh I mean, it this report basically says. it was the president who didn't want.

anything released. Are you saying that. that that applies to the president. himself? >> I'm saying exactly that. He told me on. the phone that his friends would get. hurt, and that's why he's against. releasing the Epstein files. It's it's. been shocking. uh to people many people that voted for. Donald Trump, many people that voted. Republican that they would actually. follow through to try to cover up the. Epstein files. >> So, uh. >> Ouch. >> not too ambiguous there with Marjorie. Taylor Greene's [laughter] uh.

>> You're a traitor. >> That's yeah. >> I mean, what kind of an impact do you. think that that's going to have here as. Trump continues to try and basically. quash any dissent as it relates to. Epstein, but you have people like. Marjorie Taylor Greene making sure that. this issue doesn't die? >> I look, I think that there was a bunch. of folks in the MAGA movement who. sincerely believed that Donald Trump. would expose the Epstein files and. expose the kind of client list, take. down this cabal of elites, and actually. put people in jail. Um. that might have been a little bit naive, right? We I think we all can agree with.

that, but there's. >> Wait, you think the guy who had been. photographed a billion times. >> Literally best friends with Jeffrey. Epstein. >> is best friend for 10 years, that might. have been misleading? >> But like we all know that there was a. group of people in the MAGA world, like. especially this the podcast universe, who like were really, really focused on. this. And they believe Marjorie Taylor. Greene is sincere, and they're probably. still listening to her, and she'll keep. the issue alive. Like Donald Trump did. this big article in New York Times. um about the desperate efforts last. summer to spin and cover up the Epstein. files.

um is like kind of bringing back this. issue, and it just shows that Trump. cannot make this go away. It's just. never, ever going to go away. >> What about the fact that he tapped um. Todd Blanche to be his permanent. attorney general? I I think that this. was obviously with Epstein in mind, because if there's anybody who's going. to be willing to defend Trump. like to the ends of the earth, it's. going to be his own former personal. criminal defense attorney. Somebody. who's already shown to be willing to do. whatever it takes as far as Epstein is. concerned. The guy went to Florida, talked to Ghislaine Maxwell, and.

immediately moved her over to a minimum. security prison in Texas. Why? >> Nothing sketchy about that. >> know. He refuses to say it. >> Yeah, now he claims it was uh threats to. her life, so that's why she had to go to. a country club. >> Yeah. >> I guess. >> So, do you think that um that Todd. Blanche is going to be able to. effectively bury this thing? >> I mean, so this New York Times report is. an excerpt of the new Maggie Haberman. book that's about how Todd Blanche, who's currently nominated to be Trump's. attorney general, was sitting in the. situation room at meetings conspiring to. cover up, suppress, um otherwise just.

like kill all of these horrible. allegations within the Epstein files, including ones that Trump. like had sex or sexual contact with one. of Epstein's victims. You know, it's. like really awful stuff. So, my hope is. that uh Democrats, if if Todd Blanche. really has confirmation hearings, Democrats should hammer him on this. Like, what were you doing in these. meetings? How what like whatever. happened to the Department of Justice. having some distance from political. decision-making in the White House, right? Like this is totally. inappropriate collusion.

>> I wonder if there's going to be. Republicans who are going to be willing. to buck Trump and actually join in on. this effort to get some transparency. here because we've also seen what. happens, and I think this was by design, we've seen what happens to Republicans. who aren't willing to tow the line. And. you know, Thomas Massie is out of. Congress, John Cornyn out of the Senate, Bill Cassidy out of the Senate. And so. these and these are not like squishy. squishy libs, right? Like. >> Yeah. >> These are These are people who have. voted with Trump more than 90% of the. time, in some cases all the time. And.

yet whatever they did, whatever one. thing they did that caught his ire was. enough for him to like cut them off. And. so, you know, when when when Todd. Blanche shows up for these confirmation. hearings and and is posed a tough. question by a Republican, do they become. persona non grata in the GOP? Does that. mean that their career in Congress or. the Senate is effectively over? >> Yeah, I I don't know. I mean, hopefully. some of them have a little bit of. courage. I mean, interestingly today. alone uh it sounds like Republican. efforts to get rid of Bill Pulte or his. nomination to be the director of.

national intelligence finally worked cuz. Trump announced he was naming someone. else. Like. ultimately there is a line. We just have. to help Republicans find the courage to. to touch it. >> I I also I also presume that Bill Pulte. is not is not a hill that Trump is. really willing to die on, but the. Epstein stuff is different because that. directly implicates him. >> Yeah, although what he was hoping to do. with Bill Pulte is install him as. director of national intelligence and. then use that job to find all the. information and authorities and stuff.

>> find some other hack. He can find some. hack who's easier to get confirmed. >> For sure, but like. >> And do you Do you think Is it Jay Is it. Jay Clayton who is. >> it's like the Southern District of New. York. >> And And do you think that that person is. going to be as as malleable as Bill. Pulte would have been? >> I know nothing about Jay Clayton, but I. know that Bill Pulte has literally zero. qualification for the job. I mean, this. guy is like overseeing Fannie and. Freddie. He's working. in the in the mortgage world. Before. that, he was going to conferences and. encouraging people to pump and dump Best.

Buy stock. You I'm sure you've seen the. video of like him at this conference. where someone's just whacking another. guy in the face with a dildo. Drew, cut. that in here. >> Here is the first ever, man, a live. dildo slap on the PP live. Polte, look at this thing. All right. Come on. Polte, daddy. All right, fine. There you have it. The first. dildo slap in history live.

So, Bill, this says Bill Polte. All right. Thank you. And then if you notice on it's got a. stamp with a butterfly on the. back. >> it only the young. >> One ass cheek said yes, it does say. it does say only the young on the back. here. Only young December. >> That looks pretty badass. >> We have a mushroom stamp on the head of. it and Bed Bath on one cheek and GME. Oh, GME on the other. >> too excited there.

>> [laughter]. >> So, you know, that's like when it's. someone who's like that when it's like a. Cash Patel, right? Or Bill Polte, who. has like literally no business in the. job only because you're doing Trump's. bidding. Like that's when I get the most. nervous. >> But that's the whole cabinet. >> look listen. Pete Hegseth is not there. because he is competent at running the. military or any department. >> But Pete Hegseth served in the military. >> Sure. I guess if the bar is that low and Bill. Polte doesn't even meet that low bar, then like then that is then missing the. point. >> Tulsi Gabbard, right? Like she was.

served in the army for what for like 20. years. She was a member of Congress. She. was on the intelligence committee. I. don't think she was qualified for that. job. I don't think she was the right. person. But she wasn't like just like. coming out of the you know, owning a. chain of like Quiznos or something like. that. >> [laughter]. >> You know, like Bill Polte is. He's like I like we were we were Oppo on. him like digging for research for Pod. Save the World and we found a podcast. interview he did on a podcast that. specializes in HVAC issues. >> Uh you know that HVAC to Intel Intel.

community pipeline is strong. >> Yeah. They they build pipelines to connect. your heating and your air conditioning. >> To the nation's intelligence. infrastructure. >> yeah, anyway. Great. >> Yeah. Well, you know, on the on that. point it was funny um to see when the. Knicks played game three to see like. Howard Lutnick on the sidelines. >> I know. >> And it it it it is a bummer because. you know, that should be the ultimate. apolitical event and and something that. New York desperately needs and has been. really fun to watch uh um the Knicks.

like really run run this entire series. Um and it was great watching the entire. I mean, you know that that moment the. whole world was waiting for that moment. just as much as they were waiting for. the actual game itself to see how badly. >> Trump's going to get booed. >> Dude, and it was so awesome cuz they. they clearly tried to set up the one. shot of Donald Trump during the national. anthem. You can't boo and New Yorkers like, "Wait, [laughter] wait, wait, wait, wait. This is New York. Hold my. beer. I'm going to boo the out of. this guy." And did you see the cuts from.

Bryant Park and like all the all these. other places where they were just. viewing it in the city? >> Yeah, people were going nuts. >> Yeah. Oh, it was great. Also, there were. so many politicians at the game that. night like Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief. of staff was there. Uh. Bloomberg was there like two nights ago. >> somebody uh one of the one of the guys. like fell into him. >> [laughter]. >> Fell like you you don't realize how. frail these people are until you have. until you have like. a seven-foot tall basketball player fall. into their lap. >> That's what's crazy about watching an. NBA game. It's like on TV, you know, they're they're like taking charges and.

taking jump shots, but like up close and. personal. these guys weigh like 280. They're just. killing each other. If they fell on a. regular human being, let alone like a. frail old guy. >> There there is um I I I think I brought. this up to like a group of my friends. the other day. Would you rather. have to survive 10 seconds in an NFL. game and you can make $10 million. or just get a million dollars? >> Get a million. >> I think that's the right answer. 10 seconds in an NFL game I think.

[laughter] would just. >> Do you understand what getting hit by an. NFL cornerback would do to you? Okay, now imagine it's an inside linebacker. Now imagine it's, you know, Myles Garrett. Dead. Dead. >> Look, man, that's why I asked the. question. >> there's like medieval You know those. medieval tortures where like they pull. you from every angle and like all your. limbs come off? That would be me on the. field. Just like. splayed out. >> Yeah. >> Is this good content? >> You'd like that, wouldn't you? You're. disgusting, Tommy. Disgusting. It's not.

that kind of a show. The nice The nice. part about this was. watching knowing the fact that the only. game the Knicks have lost now is the one. that Donald Trump showed up. >> Yeah, he definitely jinxed them. I mean, they were on like a 13-game heater and. the guy decided he had to go to the. game. He ruined the fan experience. >> longest streak in NBA history. >> And then the next night they came back. with the greatest comeback in NBA finals. history. Donald Trump not there. It is. pretty awesome. Like this is where Trump. is annoying. Like. Like because of the conservative bent of.

like the sports media in particular, if. this had been Joe Biden, he would be. getting absolutely killed but for this. Like it would be like a national meme of. like Biden, you know, the jinx or the. loser. I feel like Trump's not getting. the commensurate amount of. >> No. No. I I I agree with you, but I. think that it's becoming less and less. like in style and fashion to like in. vogue to to step to stand behind Trump. especially like in the sports world. Especially with the Epstein stuff. bearing down, it's like there's a very. easy retort to anybody, you know, in the.

Barstool world that continues to like. advocate for Trump and it's like, all. right, but like guy's like pretty deeply. mixed up with pedophiles. So. Remember. like earlier on in the first term they. were like NFL players doing the Trump. dance in the end zone and stuff, right? Like it was like Amon-Ra St. Brown I. think was the first one who did like a. bunch of players are doing it. Like cool. good players. And it made me very mad. And also like he was in the cultural. zeitgeist. Like people were showing up. to the inauguration. And now like Milli. Vanilli's canceling on them, >> [laughter]. >> you know? is Although although what really.

hurts as a lifelong Giants fan is like. the one player that didn't get that memo. is Jackson Dart. And that sucks. >> Can't believe your quarterback from Old. Miss is a Republican. >> [laughter]. >> Well, look, you know, even the other Old. Miss quarterbacks at least have Eli. Manning has like enough enough sense not. to align himself with the Republican. Party in New York of all places. >> Yeah, and it was weird. It like turned. into that weird fight on Twitter about. it and whatnot. I don't know. Like my my. view on this is I feel like like. everyone just gets to like who they want. to like and we can live and let live and.

move on and like scolding players into. liking people or not has proven to be. ineffective from our side of the aisle. You know what I mean? >> What? You not not not in not down with. the the intolerant left? >> No, I don't think that worked well for. us. >> Yeah. No, you're right. But I still hate. it. >> I too [laughter] still hate it. The owner IS BOB KRAFT. HE'S LIKE BEST friends with Trump. He. was courtside too the other night. >> The Knicks The Knicks owner is I saw. him. The Knicks owner is same deal. Like. he's. He is like been sparring publicly with.

Mayor Mondani who tried to have this. watch party outside Madison Square. Garden and and like like Dolan canceled. it. So. >> James Dolan famously has like security. officials in the arena spy on people and. will like kick them out if they say. stuff making fun of him. >> Yeah, I saw that I saw that reporting. the other day. >> Yeah, Pablo Torre's stuff I think. >> Yeah, pretty wild stuff. Okay, well, with that said, for those who are. watching right now, first of all, go. Knicks. Boston sports team suck. And. second of all, if you're not yet. subscribed to Positive America's YouTube.

channel, I'm going to put a link right. here on the screen and also in the post. description of this video. Completely. free to subscribe, but a great way to. elevate voices like Tommy's uh and the. other guys uh at PodSaveAmerica, um so. that we can help build up this. progressive media ecosystem. Tommy, anything to add? >> I love you. >> Thanks. All right, we'll leave it there. >> [laughter]. >> I'm joined now by the head of data. science at VoteHub, Zach Danini. Zach, thanks so much for joining me. I wanted. to talk to you because A, I'm a huge fan. of the work that you and VoteHub do, and. it's especially important right now. because we're seeing a new round of um.

of election denialism happening, but. it's happening starting in California, which seems to me to show that Trump. doesn't have a lot of isn't isn't very. discerning about how he deploys his. election denial claims, but from the. perspective of somebody who works in. data science, can you speak about these. claims of election denialism that are. happening in LA and California more. broadly? >> Yeah, so I think something that, you. know, I want to start by saying is uh. counting is truly very, very slow in.

California, right? Even compared to, you. know, other West Coast states that count. their mail-in ballots late, uh we're. talking about only about half the vote. being counted on election night. And. those votes are counted in roughly. chronological order, and different. people hold their ballots and return. them earlier and later. It's different. populations. And I think, you know, from. my position, I try to, you know, understand that that is like not exactly. intuitive to people who don't. obsessively follow elections like me, um. but it also, you know, is we try to.

communicate that because we know what. those shifts are roughly going to look. like to people. >> On that point, you know, there have been. a lot of Republicans who've come forward. and said, "Well, that kind of a system breeds distrust.". My pushback to that is that the system. doesn't breed distrust. The system is. what it is. We allow a lot of different. avenues for people to vote and for those. votes to be counted. What breeds. distrust is the people who breed. distrust. It's the people who come. forward and say that, you know, when.

there is election day votes that are. counted first and then mail-in ballots, which skew overwhelmingly. Democratic, when those come in after and. the vote total shifts from a redder. electorate to a bluer electorate, we're. inevitably going to see, you know, we're going to see Democrats. do better and better as more votes are. counted. I think that's what undermines. trust in the elections, but from from. your vantage, having looked at both the. California system and the rest of the. country, can you give a sense of what you think. when people say that a system like the. one we have in California breeds.

distrust? >> Yeah, so so I I I do think in general it. is you know, it is just tough for. people, you know, in in a lot of states. they wake up and they see someone's. losing by what 1% or something on. Wednesday morning. And maybe they think, oh, this is close, they could come back. You know, in California that can be 10. or 12%. And someone come back. So it it. the system in California is, you know, it is a bigger number than what we're. seeing everywhere else. But a falsehood. that is just really frustrating, I. think, that we've had to deal with in. the last week is this idea that these.

late mail ballots always favor. Democrats. I you know, recently this. week, you know, posted about, you know, an election that I was in charge of. covering in 2022 when it was a. Republican candidate, David Schweikert. in Arizona, who was losing by double. digits with 70% of the vote counted in. Arizona House. District 1 in 2022, and he came back and. won, right? You know, it goes both ways. and and I think it's important, you. know, for people to try to bring those. facts to light so people aren't getting. a warped picture of what happens.

In terms of the broader election coming. up now, as we look toward midterms, can. you give me your sense of where we stand. as far as the Senate is concerned? >> Yeah, so the Senate is an interesting. situation because there are kind of two. different sets of states. We have Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Georgia. These are states that uh were were. close. Uh maybe Trump won them by a. little. In the case of Maine, uh Harris. won them. Uh Democrats kind of need to. sweep these four.

And then there are other states, uh. Iowa, Texas, Ohio, and Alaska. All of. these four key All of these four states, Trump won by double digits, but. Democrats need to win two about two of. those as well to win control of the. Senate. So, um you know, what this means. is, you know, you have to hold serve in. these races that Democrats should be. winning in a blue environment, and you. have to win a couple races in in states. that will be difficult to win even in a. blue environment with good candidates. >> What does Vote Hubs' analysis suggest.

would happen, I you know, if the race. were today? >> If the race were today, honestly, we. think Republicans would probably hold. control of the Senate. Right now, in our. in our polling average, we have. Democrats ahead of Republicans in. generic ballot polls by 5.4 points. Um. we actually expect this to shift towards. Democrats considerably the next 6. months. Um our projected uh November. average is D + 7.2. Um why? There's just. a historic pattern where in midterm.

elections, uh you know, the public. sentiment usually shifts towards the out. party in the months leading up to the. election. After even, you know, considering that. shift right now, we give Republicans a. 55% chance to win the Senate. So, so I. mean, roughly a toss-up, but a very, very narrow, you know, uh you know, uh. really Republicans very narrowly. favored. >> Are there any unforced errors that are. causing um a chance for Republicans to. be more successful than they should be. as far as the Senate map is concerned?

>> So, I think um one issue for Democrats. is uh. Maine and Michigan. Uh the you know, candidate quality in these states is is. unclear. I I don't want to say that, "Oh, the Democrats are going to throw. away these races because of poor. candidate quality. There's no evidence. to to make you think that will. definitely happen. But uh it is. important to you know consider you know. Georgia and North Carolina. You have. these battle tested candidates John. Ossoff and Roy Cooper who we know are. very very good at winning elections and.

strongly believe they can do so in such. a blue year in their purple states. Uh. Michigan and Maine, you know, people I'm. sure Democrats wish they had a Roy. Cooper, wish they had a John Ossoff to. run in these states. Um but they don't, right? So there's it's just more of a. question mark. Uh I think 6 years ago. people would have said John Ossoff was, you know, an you know, inexperienced. candidate without a you know, track. record of winning elections. Now we view. him as real really strong, you know, we. could be saying the same thing about. Graham Platter in 6 years or we could be.

saying in 6 years, "Wow, you know, Graham Platter lost Maine in a blue. midterm.". >> What about the House now? If we go over. to the to the um. to the House as it stands in the. aftermath of redistricting, I believe if. I'm not mistaken Republicans were able. to net another 12 seats this cycle as. the result of redrawing maps. Does that. put the Democrats' ability um or. likelihood to retake the House at risk? >> I think it's very important to know that. Democrats are clearly favored to win the. House. If the election was held today, they'd be clearly favored to win the.

House. Uh and and again we expect things. just to shift more towards Democrats in. the next 6 months. Um you know, I think. I always tell people, you know, American. elections are, you know, surprising. things happen a lot, right? You know, an. 80% chance of winning the House um you. know, me it means that if you you know, flip a coin a couple times and get heads. right now, we think Republicans uh you. know, could feasibly win the House, but. that something would really have to. change and it would be surprising and. break historical precedent. >> What about in subsequent cycles? Um what.

do you foresee as as. the prospect of Democrats redrawing maps. and some of these weapons that haven't. yet been deployed? I'm talking about the. ongoing redraw um in New York, which of. course took a will will take a. constitutional amendment. I presume that. we'll see another effort in Virginia. That one will likely be successful. because the the technicalities that. precluded it from working in 2026 likely. won't present themselves in 2028. There.

is of course the ability for California. to redraw again, you know, there are I believe seven seats that. that Republicans will still hold in in. this state. So, the map may very well look different. especially in the aftermath of Democrats. seeing the extent to which Republicans. were willing to engage in this process. in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi. Like. North Carolina, possibly South Carolina.

the next election cycle. So, what what can that look like? And is. there and I guess the broader question. is like is there a world where Democrats. can actually come out on top if they're. willing to fight fire with fire and be. aggressive here as aggressive as. Republicans have been. >> Yeah. So, first of all, I think we have. seen that Democrats are willing to fight. fire with fire. In the 2022. redistricting cycle, I like to remind. people in 2022 and 2024, the House had a. pro-Democratic bias, right? You know,

Democrats. were the House had a pro-Republican bias. throughout the 2010s. The Democrats, you. know, in in Illinois, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, and basically said, you know, we're done. with this and they actually kind of out. redistricted Republicans in 2022 and. 2024. 2026 cycle as you know, I'm sure. everyone listening to this knows was a. big win for Republicans. Probably about seven to eight seats in a. neutral environment. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> But now Republicans are now kind of.

tapped out in a lot of their states. Another one I'll throw out there you. didn't mention is Colorado. That's a 4-4. map right now. It's very easy to draw in. a you know map for Democrats in. Colorado. Um so so Republicans are are. now like kind of you know maximally. gerrymandered in a lot of their states. They of course always you know have a. few more districts they can knock off. and you know South Carolina, even go. back to Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska. Uh but Democrats now have a. lot more outstanding in Illinois, New. York, Washington, Colorado. Um so we'll.

we'll see how that develops. Um It It's. It's uh made it so that Democrats do. need quite a blue environment to win the. US House in 2026, but the data right now. points to that blue environment. happening. >> Do you I mean I mean I know this isn't. really within your jurisdiction as a. data scientist, but do you presume based. on what you know about these Democrats. that they there's a difference between. being able to do it, having the. opportunity to do it, and them actually.

doing it. And the latter part of that is. is I think what Democrats as as. institutionalists have had more trouble. bringing themselves to do. I mean we. even heard from J.B. Pritzker who says, you know, he's told me um in our. interviews about this very topic. He. goes, "I'm on team fight." But then. decided to hinge any action in Illinois. on on whatever Indiana did. So not. really as aggressive as I think um as I. think he had suggested previously. So.

just judging from what you know about. the Democrats who are in charge here, do. you think that they'd actually be. willing to deploy these tools even. though they have the opportunity to use. them? >> Yeah, I will note that Illinois already. has, you know, what I would consider a. pretty heinous gerrymander, right? Both. by tests when you look at the map. My. home district is a noodle that stretches. from Champaign to St. Louis. Um and then. it would be, you know, basically turning. it into a like completely maximal super. ugly bacon mander. Um it would probably. actually be the lowest compactness.

gerrymander if Illinois went there, worse even than anything Republicans. have drawn yet. Um, that being said, you. of course have states like uh New York. and Colorado who that are that are blue. states and if anything maybe even have. slightly Republican leaning maps for. right now. Um. I I I think I I think odds are. definitely in the favor of Democrats. redrawing in 2028. I think the. Democratic outrage surrounding the. Voting Rights Act being uh gutted by by. SCOTUS this spring was was pretty big.

and um you know uh when when we're. talking about ugly maps, right? I think. like what happened in Tennessee really. went past a line, honestly, that had. been held uh for the most part by by. both sides with the with the Memphis. draw out is is really really really um. you know extreme. Uh so. >> Last question here. Um this is a little. bit. farther out into the future, but um the. prospect of a reallocation of electoral. votes and the impact that the that.

that's going to have post-2030. As it stands right now, even Democrats. winning like the blue wall states um in. in the Midwest uh wouldn't be enough to. get them over the finish line. So, how. do you foresee that shaking out um given. the fact that California will likely. lose electoral votes, a lot of these. blue states in in the Northeast for. example, um and and and on the West. Coast and those are going to be. reallocated towards states in in the. Southeast and the Sun Belt.

>> So, yeah, something I really try to. communicate with people is there is a. lot of uncertainty surrounding. reallocation. So, what this means is, you know, midway through the decade, we. have these estimates about how we think. people are moving across the country uh. from something called the American. Community Survey, the ACS. Um but uh the. US Census, the full US Census is only. once every 10 years. Based on these. mid-decade estimates, it looks like. reallocation is going to be quite bad.

for Democrats. Um, but there's. uncertainty around that, right? If this. is quite bad, it could be anywhere from. like neutral for Democrats to like a. total disaster. We're winning all three. blue wall states, maybe and Arizona. isn't even enough. So, we don't quite. know where it will end up. Um, but. directionally, you know, a best-case. scenario for Democrats at this point is. basically no change. A worst-case. scenario is having to win, you know, two. two or maybe even three more states if. you think about, you know, Nevada being.

pretty small in 2032. >> Yeah, I mean, although there is a world. where, I mean, like this is this is like me. doing the thing that I think Democrats. have been doing for the last 20 years. where it's like, maybe Texas is is. poised to flip, but we've been saying. maybe Texas is poised to flip forever, but but we'll see. I mean, I I, you. know, we have a strong candidate in James. Talarico, and perhaps, if he's able to win, and there's such disgust over what the. MAGA agenda has turned into in Texas,

and. voters there get a sense of like, okay, we stuck our necks out and voted for. this Democrat for the first time, and. he's performing well in the Senate, maybe that'll allow them to be more open. to other Democrats in the future. So, look, time will time will tell on that. stuff. Zachary, for those who are. watching and listening right now, where. can they see and hear more from you? >> Uh, you can follow Vote Hub or my name, Zachary Dininni, on X. You can go to our. website at votehub.com. We do a lot of. coverage on election nights. We have a.

midterm's forecast we worked very hard. on. We do a lot of scraping of precinct. data, so you can see the most detailed. maps as they update in real time on. election night. >> Awesome. Well, I appreciate the work. that you do and you taking the time. today. >> Thank you very much for having me on. >> To listen to the audio version of this. episode, click the link right here on. the screen to subscribe. And of course, to see more video content, that. subscribe button's on the screen as. well. >> [music].