All HELL BREAKS LOOSE as GOP Senators BLAST Trump SURRENDER

All hell has broken loose as Donald. Trump's top Republican allies in the. United States and elsewhere are turning. against him after his unequivocal. unconditional surrender to Iran. As one. account notes, it takes truly keen. political instincts to alienate your. party senatorial class just before. selling out the US to Iran and needing. them to run cover for you. Top-notch. stuff. That was reposted by right-wing.

guy named Eric Erickson. Now, we've. heard from MAGA Republican senators like. Roger Wicker after Donald Trump. announced his surrender to Iran after. Trump promising that Iran would be the. one that did an unconditional surrender, but Trump did an unconditional surrender. and gave Iran everything they wanted. including $25 billion, control over the Strait of Hormuz, and. that Trump has agreed he won't even talk. about nuclear issues with Iran for.

another 30-60 days. Here's what MAGA. Republican Senator Roger Wicker says. The rumored 60-day ceasefire with the. belief that Iran will ever engage in. good faith would be a disaster. Everything accomplished by Operation. Epic Fury would be for naught. Let me. just fact-check him right there and. fact-check a lot of this. We should. never have been in this unlawful and. catastrophic war at all, period, full. stop. Donald Trump and Netanyahu are war.

criminals. They're genocidal maniacs. I'm just simply pointing out that Donald. Trump promised a set of criteria that he. said would show success and he's failed. in each and every one of them. Ben. Rhodes, former President Obama's. speechwriter and Deputy National. Security Director, wrote the following. Nothing was accomplished by Operation. Epic Fury except putting the IRGC in. charge of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Then we heard from.

Lindsey Graham, warmonger. Lindsey Graham. He writes, "If it is. perceived in the region that a deal with. Iran allows the regime to survive and. become more powerful over time, we will. have poured gasoline on the conflicts in. Lebanon and Iraq. A deal that is. perceived to allow Iran to survive and. possess the ability to control the. Strait in the future will put Hezbollah. in Lebanon and the Shiite militias in. Iraq on steroids." He then goes on to.

say, "If a deal is struck to end the. Iranian conflict because it is believed. the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected. from Iranian terrorism and Iran still. possesses the capability to destroy. major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran. will be perceived as being a dominant. force requiring a diplomatic solution. This combination of Iran being perceived. as having the ability to terrorize the. Strait in perpetuity and the ability to. inflict massive damage to Gulf. infrastructure is a major shift of the.

balance of power in the region and over. time will be a nightmare for Israel." I. guess Israel first for Lindsey Graham. also. It makes one wonder why the war. started to begin with if these. perceptions are accurate. I personally. am a skeptic of the idea that Iran. cannot be denied the ability to. terrorize the Strait. and the region cannot protect itself. against Iranian military capability. It. is important that we get this right.

Then you had Ted Cruz and Ted Cruz. posted as well that he thought that this. was catastrophic, that [snorts] the. outcomes would be terrible, and he said. that you couldn't have a worse solution. to which you then had Donald Trump's. MAGA influencers and people in the White. House like Alice Brawley. said, "Cool Ted, no one asked you bro. Stop trying to undermine the president. and his administration. Cruz wrote, I'm. deeply concerned about what we are.

hearing about in Iran deal being pushed. by some voices in the administration. And then in response to Trump official. Alex Brusowitz calling him out, Ted Cruz. goes, hush child, the adults are. talking. I'm not your bro and young. political grifters pushing Iran. appeasement. are not remotely helping the president. One commentator noted, when you're. having to tell Ted Cruz to shut up and. be more obedient to Trump, probably not.

a great sign for normie voters. Then you had Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump's. own former Secretary of State. He. posted, the deal being floated with Iran. seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman, Robert Malley, Ben Rhodes playbook. Pay. the IRGC to build a WMD program and. terrorize the world. Not remotely. America first. It's straightforward. Open the damn straight. Deny Iran access. to money. Take out enough Iranian.

capability so it cannot threaten our. allies in the region. Overdue. Let's go. More and more warmongering, in other. words. Then you had Steven Cheung, Donald Trump's communication director, attack Mike Pompeo and he said, Mike. Pompeo has no idea what the he's. talking about. He should shut his stupid. mouth. This is Donald Trump's head of. communications in the White House. This. guy's the top communications person in. the White House. Leave the real work to. the professionals. He's not read into.

anything that's happening. So, how would. he know? I think the only thing that. people know is that Donald Trump said, here's what we're going to do, regime. change, we're going to get rid of all. the nuclear material, we're going to get rid of the. conventional weapons that are a shield. to the nuclear material like the. ballistic missiles and the Shahed. drones, right? Trump said he wrote all. regime change, all these things were. going to happen and and none of them. happened. And Trump showed that. America's security umbrella in the.

Middle East was a complete and utter. failure. And now, you know, you have. Donald Trump sick offense like Maga Mike. Johnson posting, "President Trump is the. only one who could have gotten Iran the. world's largest state sponsor of. terrorism to the negotiating table. We. are We are greatly encouraged to learn. of a peace deal in Iran is underway and. look forward to learning more about the. specifics. Under Trump's leadership, our. nation is stronger, more respected on. the global stage, and safer than ever. before." You know, to which Eric.

Erickson, very right-wing guy, says, "Obama got Iran to the negotiating table. and boy, doesn't the JCPOA seem like a. great deal? I always thought the JCPOA. was a great deal. Iranian enrichment. taking the uranium down to what, under. 4% enrichment? Weapons grade's like 90%. enrichment. It had all these. international mechanisms to ensure that. Iran wouldn't get weapons grade, but. could use for civilian purposes. There.

was the buy-in by the International. Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, and. there was all of these mechanisms like. Fordow was turned into a research. center. That's what you had there. Here, Donald Trump's base after all of this, after the war crimes, after Manama, after Lebanon, after all the horrors. that were unleashed in the world, after all of this, after Donald Trump. saying, "Here's what I'm going to do. Here's how we're going to win.". Donald Trump got a deal that was way.

worse, not even in the same league as. Obama's. If the Obama deal was the major. leagues, this Trump deal was the pee-wee. leagues. That's who Trump always is. though. You know who I want to talk to. about all of this? I want to talk to the. person who you had Pompeo and Cruz are. all attacking. Someone who worked in the. Obama administration, Ben Rhodes. As Ben. Rhodes just wrote to Lindsey Graham. also, this guy helps create a global.

catastrophe and then notices that his. dumb policy has left Iran stronger. So. of course what's needed is even more war. right there. Oh and Ben Rhodes posted. DC's Iran hawks got two wars, nearly. every conceivable sanction designation, a blockade, threw a wrench in the global. economy, and will still claim that just. a little more pressure, a little more. war, a touch of more bombing will. magically yield the concessions they. still won't be satisfied with. So right. before this deal by Donald Trump was.

announced, probably another market. manipulation thing as well, uh I spoke with Ben Rhodes and I had a. great conversation with him about. everything that's going on in the world. in the Middle East. This is an exclusive. interview I've done with Ben Rhodes. Let. me bring in my interview with Ben. Rhodes. You're going to want to watch. this. I mean this was. I thought a really powerful interview. with Ben Rhodes. Let's bring in Ben. Rhodes, former President Obama's speech. writer, former Deputy National Security. Advisor. Great to see you Ben. You're. out with the new book, All We Say: The.

Battle for American Identity, A History. in 15 Speeches. But I got to ask you. from the outset with this geopolitical. environment going on. You've been in the. room with Vladimir Putin before. You've. been in the most high-level meetings. with former President Obama. So we got. to dig in there to start, but there's. definitely a link with the book because. projecting who we are as Americans is. what pervades. your book. So I'm trying to.

distill for our audience the kind of. moment that we're in, which is filled. with this kind of existential dread. about domestic issues and foreign policy. kind of being intertwined. And when you. think about foreign policy, it seems if. there's any consistency, which there. isn't, it is attack our allies, whether. it's Canada, NATO, Denmark, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and who and whoever, just attack.

them and then heap praise on the. authoritarians, the adversaries who are. working very openly to undermine and. destroy us and aren't hiding that. And. Trump brags about his meeting with G, which to me looked utterly pathetic. Putin then shows up in China and then. gets a hero's welcome where they. announce the new multipolar world. You. had Foreign Minister Rogchi showing up. right before Donald Trump goes there in.

in in Beijing. And so let's just talk. macro and then let's drill down a little. bit. Then let's get into the book. Macro, what what what are you seeing right now. about what America's doing? To me, it's. not projecting strength, it's projecting. being like a predator and then attacking. our allies and making us weaker. Yeah, well, that's a good summary. I. mean, I think one way to. you know, approach this is look, Trump. clearly feels most at home in the. autocrat club. You know, the people that.

he wants to spend time with are not. even, you know, Republican members of. Congress. Certainly not allied leaders. It's Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin and. and Bibi Netanyahu and people like that. Um but if you if you pull the camera. back, you know, Russia has wanted to. destroy the US-led international order. for some time now under Putin. Xi. Jinping in China would like to replace. that order with something that is. dominated by the Chinese. And Donald Trump is the most useful,

willing or unwilling partner in that. project because everything he is doing. is accelerating the dismantling and. unraveling of that international order. So, you know, essentially the. international system doesn't function. anymore. When you ever hear about the. United Nations, he's dismantling US allies. He clearly. has no regard for NATO. That's our comparative strength by the. way to the Chinese and Russians. And. it's no coincidence that at that precise. time you have a massive war in Ukraine.

that shows no sign of ending despite. Trump's promises to end it on day one. You have this. bizarre totally pointless and. unnecessary and destructive war in Iran. that is accelerating the loss of faith. that people have in America around the. world. And at the same time, and this is where. it becomes kind of existential to. people, in this country. capitalism doesn't work, inequality is. run amok, AI is coming online and it creating all. this uncertainty about the future. So,

there's a sense that that everything is. kind of unraveling. and that the beneficiary of that is. basically going to be a combination of. Xi Jinping and the Chinese alternative. and then the people that are kind of. looting the system in this country, the. tech oligarchs and Trump cronies. And. and and just I just don't think it's a. sustainable dynamic. It's going to. require a pretty massive correction in. the next couple of years. Talk about the. damage that you see arising out of this. war that may not be so obvious. I think.

some of the obvious things, which I'm. not downplaying, are the rise in gas. prices, inflation increasing, the cost. of the war in the hundreds of billions, 1.5 trillion dollar military budget. because 1 trillion couldn't control the. Strait of Hormuz, the loss of life, most. significantly of our brave men and women. who were who were out there. There's. that and then to there's the kind of. American standing in the world though. that to me is not getting enough.

attention because that is. when you think about your administration. with Obama handing off a a stable. predictable certain kind of world that. Trump used to say, "Look how great I. am." for the first two or three years. and then try to blame the remainder on. on COVID. The point is you're a. temporary occupant of the White House. and you're supposed to pass on a voice a. a better situation or a stable. situation. And what I see and you. probably have a better perspective of.

this than just about anybody. The. security umbrella, America's standing. both in terms of NATO, in the Middle. East, in Southeast Asia is gone. Having. an American military base in your. country is a liability and is not even a. strength anymore and it makes you. subject to American extortion and it. makes you a target of other nations as. well and the offensive capabilities that. America once projected were demonstrated. one to be not reliable, but two a.

defensive posture with all of these. drones and the way modern warfare has. taken place. I think we've been exposed. there as well that these billion-dollar. billion-dollar fat and patriot systems. are important, but it's also not. reflective of the modern warfare that. we've seen, you know, in play out in. Ukraine and and in Russia and now in. Iran. So, what do you see about the. standing in a more. uh significance in kind of a global. world order structure? >> [snorts].

>> Well, first of all, there's some other. unseen short-term costs and then there. are the longer-term costs that you're. speaking to. I just say that we've also. not been told the truth by the Pentagon. and by the US military frankly about the. extent of the damage. I mean, I talked. to people um in the Middle East. The. extent of the damage to US bases, facilities, uh embassies across the. region. We just we have no sense of the. price tag, uh the amount of devastation, how long some of those facilities are. going to be offline. And to your point, we've also spent down an extraordinary. amount of US munitions that we brought.

from places like Asia, uh leaving South. Korea more vulnerable, um to try to. defend uh uh all of these facilities and. and our allies. And what have we. learned? To your point, Shahzad Iranian drones that you can make. in your garage have hit our bases, have. hit our Gulf uh Arab allies. Uh an. aircraft carrier cannot stop. a speedboat from closing the Strait of. Hormuz. And so it undermines the entire. uh concept that America is a security.

guarantor both in terms of our. predictability and reliability um and. our, you know, not doing something as stupid. as launching a regime change war against. Iran, but also just in terms of our. capacity and our understanding of where. war is moving, as you said, after. Ukraine and Iran. Then I think there are. going to be massive geopolitical shifts. here. Um first of all, the Iranian. regime, because of the war and and the. assassination of uh Ali Khamenei, the. supreme leader, who you know, nobody is.

shedding a tear for, but it's actually. more hardline now. Iran is now run by. the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. that has demonstrated that they can. control the Strait of Hormuz through. which 20% of the world's fossil fuel. energy flows. That is a huge deal, right? The Gulf Arab allies have played. along with a concept in which we provide. their security and they provide the. energy, and that's kind of how the whole. global economy works. Well, now their. dependence on America has put them at. risk. They were attacked because they.

are American allies, and we could not. defend them. And that is going to lead. them, I think, to start hedging against. the United States and looking towards. China. And then if you look around the. world more broadly, to include our Asian. allies and to include potentially even. and European allies, who looks like a more stable and. predictable actor right now? The Chinese. Communist Party that maybe you don't. like the terms of the deal, maybe you. think they're bullies, but the terms. never change. Or the United States, where you have a president who's been.

imposing tariffs, launching wars, shaking you down for essentially, you. know, tribute payments like he's done to. the Gulf. Um, America's not the stable bet. We are. kind of the rogue nation in the world. And so I think what you're going to see. in the long run, it puts at risk the. dollar as the world's reserve currency. The dollar, I think most Americans don't. realize what what allows us to sustain. our standards of living, which already. feel like they're at risk cuz of rising. prices, is the fact that we can take on. so much debt because the whole world.

transacts through the dollar. Well, and. that includes oil trades, importantly. You're already seeing some nations begin. to move away from that. And if that is. the case, then that is truly the end of. not just kind of American hegemony, but. America's capacity to sustain its fiscal. situation. So this this a lot happening. right now. Yeah, and I want to. I'm going to put a little pin in that. cuz I want to talk about that cuz what. do we do when the next Democratic. administration comes into power in DC.

and all of this. this these issues then get blamed and. the arsonists blame the firefighter for. trying to put it out and then you have a. corporate news of trillions of dollars. that just push, you know, the day-to-day. game of Well, I I won't put a pin in it. I'll jump in it now and then I'll get. back to the next point. But but but but. then it gets back to the gamification. of, you know, oh, look, you know, all. these problems are happening, but this. is this mounting Ponzi scheme that we're.

seeing, you know, this this shell game. right now that we're seeing where things. are bad right now, but in the future, 10, 20, 30, 50 years, but they can get. significantly worse, and Trump's handing. the successor a pile of of crap in the. the worst possible situation, and then. that person gets blamed for it. Then all. of these MAGA people who are going along. with golden ballrooms and arches and. $1.8 billion. J6 settlements where Trump waves claims.

against himself for like audits and all. all these people then are like, "We're. so against this and how dare you, you. know, Democratic president. You you Then. they become China hawks and Taiwan the. exact things they were How do you see, having the perspective of an Obama. admin, how do you combat when that. happens so we don't get into this. constant seesaw of the Democratic. president gets blamed, then a new. Republican like Trump emerges, then a. Democrat fixes it. Obama had to fix.

George W. Bush's mess. Took him a while, but fixed it, handed it over, Trump. created a mess. Biden started to fix it. It's the blamed for those first 3 years. Things were going good, Trump Brexit. How do we get out of this cycle? Well, I think first of all, what we can. do is we can kind of learn from the last. two times cuz there are things that were. done right, but there are also things. that were done wrong. Um if you look at. Obama comes in and there's a global. financial crisis, remember that one, as. well as the catastrophic war in Iraq. Uh.

and you know, while I think Obama did a. lot of stuff right, there was also a. sense that, "Hey, we're not going to. look back. We're not going to kind of go. after people. Um we're here to look. forward and to build new things and to. try to work together with Republicans.". Um and that obviously left Obama in a. situation where there was both a sense. there wasn't accountability for those. failures, but there's also a sense that, "Well, he owns things now because he's. saying, well, this is normal. I'm taking. a hand off. I'm doing what I'm doing.". Biden very similarly came in.

with COVID and a lot of economic. disruption, obviously a lot of, you. know, diminished US standing in the. world. And and and was we're we're kind. of returning to normal here. We're. getting like the adults back in charge. And and the same thing. There wasn't. kind of a relentless effort to kind of. spotlight just how much things had gone. wrong and who was to blame for that and. hold them accountable. Look, I think. that the next Democratic president is. going to come in, things are going to. get worse in the next couple of years. Uh so, first of all, I think it's going. to be very apparent to Americans um just.

how deep of a hole we're in by the time. of the next presidential election. I. think you have to come in with speed. You are not coming to restore normalcy. You are coming in in emergency. situation. I mean, I think the analogy. would be uh and I just spent, you know, 4 years in American history because of. working on this book. The analogy would. be be FDR, who who is one of the. chapters in my book, but when he came in. it was not normal. We're we're doing. we're moving fast. We're doing huge. things. Um and I think that we have to.

come in. hold people accountable. We have to. reveal all the corruption. Uh don't. hesitate from looking back. I mean, I'll. leave it to the justice system to deal. with people who've committed crimes, but. beyond that, I think there should be a. relentless focus on spotlighting the. grift and corruption and dismantling of. the US government that was done. There. has to be a rapid effort to to uproot. anything that is entrenched in the US. government that is MAGA ideology or. grift. There has to be a reconstruction.

of how the US government works. There. has to be an enormous reform agenda. And. this is another thing I found in my book. after the Gilded Age is when you got the. direct election of senators, you got. women's suffrage, a similar level of. ambition in just transforming how. politics is financed, how how. politicians are held accountable in this. country, how you can assure Americans. that the government is actually going to. work for them and not just a set of. special interests. And then globally, I. think a real effort to say this is over.

You know, we're we're dismantling this. forever war apparatus. We're not just. drawing down some troops. We're taking. the whole thing apart. We're we're an. anti-war party now. We're not going to. do the dumb war thing anymore. And we're. going to re-engage the world as a. country that wants to deal with issues. that people care about. Like, how do you. put guardrails about artificial. intelligence? How how do you deal with. the threat of climate change? So, I I. think all of that adds up to the. Democrats needing to not come in and try. to make things feel normal, but to come. in and and act as FDR did with the sense.

that there's an emergency that is of a. scale that everything is going to have. to be different going forward. I think. about the State of the Union address. that you put in January 6th, 1941 FDR, when he says the nation which had looked. inward was now committed to an. all-inclusive national defense, to. defending not just the Western. Hemisphere, but people who are resisting. aggression and to rejecting any. negotiated peace with dictators. These. principles, as you write, would not. shape not just America's approach to.

World War II, but its policies for 80. years, as you talk about, you know, the. speech that that that that he gave. And. here we are now seeing a complete. reversal of that, Donald Trump coddling. with dictators. And as I go through, you. know, as I go through your book, I mean, as as you say, you know, these words, these speeches have a way of redefining, setting the direction and tone of. American history. And just how important. words are. I mean, you as a speechwriter. were very careful when you would be. drafting these speeches. I can't even.

imagine the amount of work that went. into the famous speech that you and. Obama did in Cairo or I mean, these are. every word, comma had a meaning that was. that was embedded, that was. past-looking, forward-looking, present-looking, that communicated. messages to parties that that understood. it. And in this particular moment right. now, as you also pivot in the book to. talk about Trump's assault on democracy, it's also an assault on on words and. language. >> Yeah. and the meaning by when he does.

these speeches if you even want to call. them that, which is just verbal diarrhea. and it's all over the place, it is kind of an affront to the idea of. words matter. What America says matter. And in and of itself, the verbal. diarrhea is a destructive exercise akin. to siding with our enemies over our. allies be through the verbal diarrhea. That's. That That's one of the things I took out. of the book even if that's not That's. not what you said it's about.

Yeah, no, that's That's exactly right. And And look, I it's to connect these. conversations. because I think it's really important. how you framed it. Um. Uh. we Trump has kind of dismantled the idea. that we have a shared national identity. or even a shared reality in this. country. Now, underpinning that is a. deeply reactionary story that has always. been part of the American story, right? It's a kind of white Christian. nationalism that rejects or subordinates.

other identities and basically says that. there's a group of people in this. country and with Trump it's a very small. group of people who are allowed to do. whatever they want. Um And And then. alternatively, there's a more. progressive sense of national identity, a progressive story that I trace, you. know, all the way back from the. Constitution through the abolitionist. movement and Lincoln and through FDR and. Kennedy and King up through Obama that. says what America is about is a country. that is founded on a creed, an idea that. we pursue equality. and that we're extending that effort.

across the United States and around the. world. And And I think that this has. been missing in this country and in how. this country talks to the world. Right. now, there's a sense that people have. everywhere that that that it's not. working. That that that the American. experiment is in some ways unraveling. That I don't think that that that life. for my kids is going to be uh better. than my life, that I don't know how the. economy is going to function with AI. I. don't know what we stand for in the. world anymore. That's how people are. feeling. That is much more existential.

than just uh even important things like. I want my ACA uh healthcare subsidies. or, you know, I I want the government to. to to build more housing. Those are. important things. I think what's missing. for Democrats is what is the story? You. know, uh Obama launched in 2004 because. he came along when Democrats were. feeling on the back foot and he told the. story about America and what American. identity means that allowed him to. become president of the United States. Like that's how important speeches and.

words can be. And I think right now we. need political leaders uh in the. Democratic Party or even in movements. who who are engaging in this bigger. question about what is American. identity? What is it all about and where. are we going? And by the way, when we've. done that well in the past, that shapes. what we mean and stand for in the world. You know, in that FDR speech, the Four. Freedoms speech, he didn't just lay out. the case against isolationism and for. support for uh Britain against Nazi.

Germany, he said this country stands for. something. We stand for four freedoms in. this world, right? Uh freedom to say. what you want, freedom to believe what. you want, freedom from fear of uh of. war, and and freedom of from want as. well. And those four freedoms became the. basis not just of what America stood for. in opposition to fascism in the war. They literally became the basis for the. entire post-World War II international. order. They're literally written into. the United Nations uh charter and the.

declaration of of human rights. Kennedy. and and and Martin Luther King, their. words around civil rights, around the. purpose of the United States, well, that. gave us an advantage over the Soviet. Union because people said, "Look Look at what people can do in a. democracy. They They right wrongs. Uh. they can stand for things. They can even. deal with their own problems like. systemic racism and segregation. We are in a moment where we're going to. need similar storytelling about what is. the purpose of the United States, but. also about what is the next world order.

because the whole house has been blown. down right now. We're not renovating. this country or the international order. We're going to have to rebuild it on the. other side of Trump. And that there's. has to be a story at the center of that. from which policy and relationships um. grow like branches. You know, it's. fascinating when I see Prime Minister. Carney's speeches, very intentional, very Obama-like. Frankly, almost like. you've written some of those speeches in. a way, but he probably has speech. writers like you. But it definitely sets.

out a vision of what Canada looks like. in the future, reliable, predictable, turning to Europe. This is a rupture. This isn't just a mere temporary. I. mean, it's a very consistent message and. it sets out what Canada is going strong. So, I would be remiss if I didn't, you. know, conclude this interview with you. as we talk about your book, which. everybody needs to get, by the way, Always Say, The Battle for American. Identity, A History in 15 Speeches, to. ask you, and I don't mean to put you on. the spot, but I've got you probably one.

of the most, if not the most preeminent. speech writer of our time right here who. wrote these Obama speeches that changed. the world for good. What would you tell. someone who's running for office in 2028. right now? Obviously, I'm not going to ask you to. sculpt the full the full speech, but but. but what do you think that looks like. for for them? And I'll tell you what I. observe. I'm saying, who's filling up. stadiums right now in the Democratic.

Party on off years? And what message is. resonating? I'm listening very carefully. to those Bernie rallies and the Fight. the Oligarchy Tour that draw 20,000, 30,000 people in Utah, you know, in West. Virginia, and I'm listening to what. those people are saying. When AOC's out. there speaking in front of huge crowds, I'm listening to what those people are. saying, and they're drawing crowds who. are Democrats, Republicans, MAGAs, Independents, people who don't like. politics, and I'm listening carefully to. those speeches, and I'm saying, I see.

how that's resonating with those people. But, what's your What's your view to, you know, uh looking forward? What What. does it look like, do you think? I You know, I I I I I love the question, and actually, I will point to a few. Democrats, uh and and who are doing. something interesting in the way they. speak, um because I think we can draw. from from them. uh some of the answers to your question. If you look at a Jon Ossoff, for. instance,

when he speaks about corruption, he connects it to why things are so. broken, and how things could get better. In the Democratic Party, there's also. often been like, we're either talking. about democracy and corruption, kind of. process issues, or we're talking about, you know, health care and policy issues. And what Ossoff is saying is he's. telling a story about how this whole. system has become corrupted. And not. just Trump, the entire political system. has become corrupted. That's why you,

the voter, are getting bad outcomes. That's why the prices are too high. That's why you can't afford health care. That's why AI is coming for your jobs. It's a coherent and complete story that. connects the need to fundamentally. reform our democracy to the outcomes. that people care about in their lives, their jobs, their health care, their. prices. So, that it's not just a kind of. pointy-head, you know, uh op-ed page. democracy argument, it's an argument. about how to make government work. If. you look at a James Talarico in Texas,

he's talking about, you know, and I. found this in going back and looking at. what makes these speeches consequential. and connect, it's when they're also. truly authentic. When you're the only. person on earth who could be delivering. this message. And then I think that's. something everybody who runs for. president needs to keep in mind. Not. just what's my five-point plan. Why why. are you running? Why why you? And when. Tal Rico talks about why he's running. for Senate, he talks about his faith and. how his faith compels him to want to. care for his neighbor and and to want to.

have a different kind of conversation in. this country. I think people are ready. for that kind of message. A more kind. not just policy again. Like. who are we as Americans? How do we. connect with one another? What motivates. the people that go into public life? And. then to your point about the rallies, I. think AOC, what she does that is so. important is she's fearless and joyful. in how she refuses to be intimidated by. all these forces that are arrayed. against her. Joy is really important. I.

was on the 2008 Obama campaign. That was. the most joyful exercise I've been a. part of. People wanted to be a part of. it. And and I think in the the Trump era. we've fallen into a trap the last three. presidential campaigns where we're so. angry. and we're kind of we should be by the. way, but but you need to kind of have. AOC's angry about the same things we. are, right? She's angry about the. oligarchy. She's angry about inequality. She's angry about racism and. discrimination. But there's a kind of. joy to her politics.

and so I think if you take those three. examples, the kind of coherence of an. Ossoff, the the kind of core values. proposition of a Tal Rico, and then that. kind of joyful fearlessness of an AOC, you have the ingredients of what we. need. Again, the common thread and I saw. this like through all the speeches that. I found to be the most impactful in my. book is. they're not just policy proposals. You. know, they're about something bigger. than that. They're telling a story about what has.

happened in this country, why it's. happened, why I the speaker uniquely. care about it and I'm motivated to do. something about it, and then laying out. a vision that other people can be a part. of. And I And I think we're beginning to. see in in in notably Asaf. AOC Tal Rikov, they're younger. I also think there's a generational. change people are ready to hear someone. come along who's. you know my age or younger and and say. let's just turn the page on all of this. Which can also often be the most.

powerful. message in the world one of generational. change. Everybody if. this interview didn't convince you to. get the book I frankly don't know what. else will but uh. >> [laughter]. >> We had 7 million subscribers so y'all. need to get this book All We Say The. Battle for American Identity A History. in 15 Speeches. It's great to see the. man behind the book Ben Rhodes. Thanks. for all you do and of course we'll be. we'll be checking in on all of the Midas.

Mighties book reading experience. I know. they'll enjoy it the way I did and then. also looking forward to seeing what what. you're up to next. Thank you so much and I love what you. guys are doing. It's really inspiring to. watch so thanks. Thank you. Everybody. hit subscribe and let's get to that 7. million subscriber mark. Want to stay. plugged in? Become a subscriber to our. Substack at [music] midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron. Filipkowski, ad-free episodes of our. podcast, and more exclusive content only. available at midasplus.com.