Trump issues SHOCK ESCALATION against Democrats

Donald Trump is prepared to send troops into Chicago and there is a much more insidious reason for it than he's letting on. And I've got four interviews this week, I speak with Governor Wes Moore about redrawing his state's maps, Tommy Vitor about Republicans' disastrous town halls, Attorney Norm Eisen about Trump's latest loss in court, and Zach Walls about his run for Senate in Iowa. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen and you're watching No Lie.

The latest pronouncement from Donald Trump is that he's preparing to send troops into Chicago. And there are two reasons for this, both are nefarious but one that's truly cause for alarm. The first reason, pretty clear on its face. Trump is an autocrat, and autocrats want centralized power and control.

By putting boots on the ground in the cities, he can effectively co-opt power that would otherwise belong to the states. Anyone on the right who claims to be a strict constitutionalist while Donald Trump tramples on the 10th Amendment to the Constitution is showing their entire ass right now. But then again, I know it's not breaking news that Republicans are hypocrites. He may very well do exactly what he did in LA, which was to send the troops in knowing that doing so would incite violence. And it did, and he used that as a pretext to be able to retroactively justify his decision.

So he's not looking to quell any violence in the cities, he is expressly looking to exacerbate it. But the second reason is far more worrisome, and if you follow my content you know that this is something that I've been relentless about calling out. This isn't only about exercising power now, it is about laying the foundation to be able to do it during the election. Remember, Trump already

tried once to seize voting machines in Georgia. He already tried once to block certification of the election in Congress. He already incited an insurrection at the US Capitol, but he didn't have the tools in place to be able to succeed in those efforts. For as horrific as he was, Bill Barr, his attorney general, called Donald Trump's stolen election claims bullshit. That was his words.

And of course he had no one in the states that are willing to actually carry out his plans like seizing those voting machines. But we're in a completely different world right now. Pam Bondi, the current attorney general, won't stop Trump from acting on his worst impulses and any bogus stolen election claims. Neither will Dan Bongino or Cash Patel or Stephen Miller.

And now, if he's also got boots on the ground because he's deployed these troops to the states under false pretenses, and he asked them to seize the voting machines, what's going to stop them this time? Of course, the answer to that question may come to us soon. Gavin Newsom is suing Trump in court in California over his troop deployment. He did try to get an injunction

when the troops were first deployed and the courts didn't go for that, but their refusal to offer an injunction doesn't offer any insight into how they'll ultimately rule on the merits of this case. So it could truly go either way.

But the point is that if Trump loses, then other states now have a legal framework to be able to challenge his troop deployment across the country. And by the way, if Trump appeals his loss and loses again at the appeals court, then that becomes legal precedent that other states could point to, which is even worse for him.

Of course, on the flip side, Trump could win, which would establish a framework for him to be able to justify his troop deployment elsewhere. So it's all very much in the air right now. But the point here is that we have to defeat these efforts and we have to make noise about these efforts because they represent something fundamentally dangerous, not just to the people who live in these cities,

whose lives are being upended by these troops, but to the very concept of our democracy, to the very concept of our autonomy. Like it used to be a Republican position that we would fight back against tyranny. Now these Republicans are exactly

the ones perpetuating it. One note of hope here, when we fight these battles, we generally find that the law is on our side. When Trump brought 65 cases to court after the 2020 election, he lost all but one, which was nothing, shortened a ballot cure deadline

from like nine to six days in Pennsylvania. So we'll continue to fight, but the most important thing is that we're clear-eyed about his intentions here so that no one is caught off guard. Next up are my interviews with Wes Moore, Tommy Vitor, Norm Eisen, and Zach Walls, but first here's a quick word from some sponsors. No Lie is brought to you by Everyday Dose.

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Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash BTC. Go to Shopify.com slash BTC. Shopify.com slash BTC. I'm joined now by the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore. Thanks for joining me.

Thanks, Brian.

Good to see you, man.

So the last time we spoke, it was kind of this theoretical discussion about maps and redistricting. Texas had not yet moved forward with their new maps to grab five seats from the Democrats. That's all a reality now. Those maps have passed the state legislature. They'll be signed by Greg Abbott, I'm sure imminently.

And so in terms of what you're able to do to kind of counteract this power grab by Republicans in Maryland, what would be the impetus for some move forward? I know that you said you've you're open to it that you've been speaking to the legislature But what would it take for actual like for to go from hypothetical or theoretical to actually? Okay, let's let's get moving on this

Well, I think everybody in Maryland right now is looking at what's happening around the country in it as the country continues to move in This direction. I think that means other states to include Maryland We'll have to look to evaluate to make sure that our maps are fair as well. You know, and honestly, the thing about it, Brian is like, like, I actually can't stand this. And I think it's actually one of the things that people don't like about

politics is the whole gerrymandering and, you know, mid cycle, you know, without any new data without any new census data, people saying, Oh, let's rearrange maps. But this is what the president is forcing. And again, the thing that gets me about it is it's actually very similar to what he did in Georgia,

where he calls up election officials and says, hey, find me votes. And now he's basically doing the same thing, except with redistricting. And again, this was the thing that he did in Georgia that actually got him indicted.

And now he's going around calling different states and saying, hey, can you get me X new congressional districts, can you give me Y new congressional districts? So I think it's one of the things that there's just continued to be this feeding into the thing that makes people absolutely exhausted about politics

in the first place. And so I actually wish if in an ideal world, you get Congress to actually pass legislation that actually bans gerrymandering, right? If Congress could do that, you could actually, I think help to solve this thing where you say you cannot do mid cycle gerrymandering

of our congressional districts. However, if Congress is not going to do this, and if Congress is not going to do the right thing, then 100% all options will be on the table and will be on the table in the state of Maryland as we continue to see how this thing continues to evolve.

Do you view Maryland's position as being there to neutralize if we see this kind of thing happen in Missouri, for example, or Indiana, if they move forward? Is that very much in the same way that Newsom viewed his effort to neutralize what happened in Texas? Would you view Maryland's place here to be to neutralize what would happen hypothetically in Missouri or Indiana?

I would look at Maryland's position as we're just looking to make sure that we have fair maps too. That if these other states are looking to have fair maps, then Maryland's going to have fair maps too. Okay.

So there's no like trigger mechanism or anything like that. More broadly, how do you view Maryland's Supreme Court as possibly playing into this? If Maryland's officials did move forward, if you did move forward with maps to kind of counteract these power grabs that are on on the right in the national environment uh... how would the the supreme court possibly service and pediment uh... to the to these efforts

it is something that the that the the maryland constitution does matter uh... in all of this and and i think it's under the state legislature are the members of our general assembly are going to have to align because i you know it is something that the general assembly has to be involved

with the process. The General Assembly has to make sure that there is legal grounding and legal standing to be able to make sure that everything is above board and can happen. But I also know that that's something that they are actively talking about already, that we are in communication with them on it, because we have to make sure that we don't have something where elected officials are choosing their voters. Voters have to choose the elected officials.

And at the same time, in the absence of Congress saying that there is going to be no gerrymandering in mid-cycle, it means that our state is very clear that we are watching, we are observing, and all options for us to be able to respond are on the table.

Okay. Moving over to a different topic, Trump had actually focused in on you this weekend, attacking you for daring say something critical of dear leader. And one of the things that he threatened, because you didn't heap praise onto him, as is expected by Donald Trump, is this threat that he's going to revoke funding for a bridge in your state.

So first and foremost, can you talk about where that funding did come from? Because he made it sound as if he's responsible for heaping this funding onto you, and just as easily as he gave it to the state of Maryland, he can take it away.

Yeah, I was actually fascinated about the level of revisionist history that that we continue to see from from from from our president. And yeah, he talks about how he gave me all of this money for the bridge. And as a reminder that we had on March 26, a year and a half ago, where a ship the size of three football fields slammed into the iconic Key Bridge in Baltimore and it shut down 13 percent of our state's economy. It meant thousands of workers were laid off and we had six construction workers who were fixing potholes in the middle of the night who lost their lives. And we said that very first morning that we would stop at nothing to make sure

that we are both going to make sure that our workers were supported and our small businesses were supported, that we would make sure that we could bring closure and comfort to the families. And it took it took about five weeks, but we're able to bring all the bodies and return all the bodies to the families. And also that we would reopen the the Francis Scott Key Bridge and clear the federal channel. And when people told us it would take 11 months,

we got it cleared in 11 weeks. Really put up on a case study on how to work together to be able to respond to tragedy. And it was a bipartisan group from Congress who actually passed the legislation and made it a stat, put it in statute,

that there was gonna be 100% cost share. So a cost share between the state of Maryland and the federal government to ensure that we could speed up the process of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge. And we have honored that promise

where we have moved faster than expected, not just to clear the federal channel, but also complete the demo and start the rebuilding process. And that bill was signed by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress,

and then eventually signed by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and then eventually signed by President Joe Biden. Donald Trump was not involved in that. His signature is not on the statute. So a threat of being able to quote unquote take away funding for the key bridge is a very empty threat because it's not his signature that made it happen in the first place.

And so I tell the people of our state, you know, uh, don't be concerned about someone taking away something from you when they didn't give it to you in the first place. And that's exactly what the situation is.

What does it say more broadly, not withstanding the fact that he was not involved in the allocation of this funding, but what does it say that his beef with you personally, because again, you didn't heap praise onto him, which is what he expects from everybody in this country, that his response here is to hurt an American state and American citizens who live in that state because he didn't get, you know,

like the amount of loyalty that he expected from one person. And so he's going to hurt everybody else as a result of that, despite the fact that his job as president is to keep this country as prosperous and as safe as it can be.

Yeah, I was very clear, Brian, when he first won the election, I said to people in my state, listen, I will work with anyone, but I will bow down to no one. I'm not built that way. And the people of our state know that. But I look at his decision and what he said recently about the Key Bridge, and what I say is it tracks because this is the same person that has taken away, that has now

pulled back hundreds of millions of dollars in previously allocated capital to the state of Maryland. This is someone who has pulled away resources from NIH. This is someone who's pulled away resources from Social Security. This is someone who's pulled away resources from NIH. This is someone who's pulled away resources from Social Security. This is someone who's now responsible for firing over 12,000 Marylanders who are federal workers,

people who are doing things like making sure that our food is safe and making sure that our critical infrastructure is protected. This is a person who has denied federal support to our folks in Western Maryland who suffered historic floods.

And then FEMA has, despite the fact that we not just hit, but exceeded the benchmark on what is required in order to apply for federal relief funds, that FEMA then turned around and said that no support of Maryland is warranted? That this is a person who was decided

in the middle of a press conference without speaking to anybody about it, nor to actually a Congress or a GSA that put it in place, that the FBI building was not coming to the state of Maryland. So this is a person who these are not glancing blows at Maryland.

These are direct shots that have happened ever since he has become the new president of the United States. And what's really wild about it is when you're talking about doing things like declining FEMA funds to Allegheny and Garrett County, when you're talking about things like saying, I just pull back bridge financing, which is going to most impact communities like Dundalk. Do you know they all have in common? They all voted for the president.

And now these are the communities that he is deciding to go after and leave behind because he has a personal beef. This is the level of vitriol and childishness that becomes so tiring and exhausting for people when it comes to politics. And I remember when Western Maryland had its floods, we were some of the first boots on ground.

And I remember never once, even when people say those are deeply, those are Republican areas. You know, I reminded them, you know what I never once asked a single one of my soldiers when I was leading soldiers in combat?

What's your political party? But it's very obvious that this is something that the pain that they want to inflict on Maryland, it is petty, it is partisan, and it is punishing. And it is deeply unfortunate, because when we're seeing how this continues to show itself,

seeing how hundreds of thousands of Marylanders are now about to lose their healthcare because of these decisions, how Marylanders are watching the price of everything go up, from their energy rates, to the clothes they're buying, to the food that they're eating.

This is petty, it is partisan, and it is punishing. And frankly, unfortunately for this president and this administration, it's par for the course.

Well, another testament to exactly that is within those threats against you, he suggested sending the military into Baltimore as well, very much in the same way that he's done in my city of Los Angeles and that he's done in my city of los angeles and that he's done in dc and so can be reaction first and foremost the prospect of him

using the u.s. military uh... to ten not to be sent overseas but to go into the streets of an of yet another american city

and i i told them and i was very clear that that i would not authorize uh... the usage of of our national Guard being able to be deployed to any of our cities or others, because I said, not only is this something that is not sustainable, I mean, the American people need to know this is a deep waste of taxpayer dollars.

There's well over a million dollars a day that is now being spent on having members of the National Guard go and patrol communities in a way that they are not trained for and in a way they did not sign up for. I've said that we will not authorize it

because it is not scalable. You're not gonna send the National Guard into all of America's major cities, especially when, frankly, a lot of the people who are patrolled and deployed now to Washington, D.C. are actually from states that have higher crime rates, then then have

some of the highest crime rates in the country. So who's going to deploy their cities when they're actually walking around Washington, DC. And I told him it is unconstitutional, because this is a direct violation of the 10th of the 10th Amendment. And this is deeply disrespectful to the members of the National Guard. And and you know, as someone who's actually worn the uniform

and deployed overseas, I actually take my responsibility to them seriously. And I take my responsibility to their family seriously. And to ask them to go and to activate for a mission that is theatrical and to a mission that they are not trained for is deeply problematic and, frankly,

deeply offensive to me and to a lot of other people who have actually worn the uniform in this country. And so so I have, you know, I have said and I will continue to say that I will not authorize it. And if there's one thing that I know, I know the Constitution and I know the oath that I took and I plan on standing by both.

What do you make of the fact that he continuously threatens or actually follows through on these threats to deploy the military into blue cities and blue states, but refuses to do so when it comes to red states where there are cities that have, you know, objectively higher per capita crime rates than in those blue states?

I think it just goes to show how completely partisan this decision is. These decisions are not data backed. These decisions are not are not consistent with fact. And I say it especially when you're when you're talking about coming into places that have actually, for example, if you look at what's happened in Maryland, Maryland's had amongst the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere in the United States over the past two and a half years. That when I first became the governor, that Maryland saw over an eight year,

over a 10 year period before I became the governor, how the homicide rate had nearly doubled, the non-fatal shooting rate did double, Baltimore City went eight straight years of 300 plus homicides. In 2022, the year before I became the governor,

Baltimore's averaging almost a homicide a day. Now, since our inauguration, we've had amongst the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere in the United States of America, that the last time the homicide rate was this low in Baltimore, I was not born yet, and that we've done it by working together with the mayor, with our state's attorney, with local law enforcement, with community groups, to be

able to say, we know we have more work to do, but no one is watching faster drops than what we are seeing in Baltimore and what we are seeing in the state of Maryland right now. And so I know so my invitation when I invited the president to come, come to come to a safety walk with us that I guess offended him. But the reason is because he can learn something. And instead of spouting ignorance from the Oval Office,

come be educated about the things that are actually working, about what it looks like when people on the ground are actually collaborating and working together on these issues and stop making theatrical political plays that frankly just serve as distractions of the fact that your economic policies are just making life harder

for every single American. Well, you say that his decision is not data backed, but you know, it's very possible he could just fire the person who was giving him actual data and replace them with somebody who gives him the data that he actually wants. And then suddenly it's data backed. Okay, last thing, I'm going to play a clip of something that Donald Trump said today.

Baltimore is a horrible, horrible deathbed. It's a deathbed. I know Governor Moore said, oh, he wants to take a walk with me. He mentioned it in a derogatory tone. I said, no, no, I'm the President of the United States. Clean up your crime and I'll walk with you.

But it's tremendous crime. But he was trying to be derogatory. He doesn't have what it takes. But he's trying to be derogatory. And I met him at the Army-Navy game. They said, Oh, there's Governor Moore. He'd love to see you.

He came over to me. He hugged me. He shook my hand. You were there. He said, Sir, you're the greatest President of my lifetime.

I said, Well, it's really nice but no, sir, you're doing a fantastic job. I want to just shake your hand. Thank you very much, Governor. That was it. And then every time I see him on television, he's knocking the hell out of me. But that's all right. That's called politics.

So apparently, you had a conversation where you privately told Donald Trump, sir, because it's important that you include the sir, sir, you're the greatest president of my lifetime. Gov, care to explain?

I literally laughed out loud when I saw this. And I'll tell you the story. So he comes up and first he was the one who asked and requested to meet. So as he pulls up, as we're at the Army-Navy game, because I'm there and I don't miss and I'm not I don't you know,

I don't miss Army Navy games, especially when they're in Musty. You know, he comes up and, and he said, Welcome back to Maryland. You know, Mr. President, and he says, you're a good looking guy. That was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Yeah. And then and then I told him about how we need to make sure that this bridge gets financed and we're on track to get it done. And he said, we're gonna help you out. And I said, thank you.

And that was the conversation.

And what he took out of that was you telling him that he's the greatest president of your lifetime.

I mean, it is just, you know, people ask, you know, what do you think? And it's just difficult to have any answer besides, as I've always said, don't let things that don't matter too much matter too much. I'm a person who believes in my integrity. And I can tell you right now, that imaginary conversation that he revealed from the White

House not only did not happen, but unfortunately, it's just a consistent thread and a consistent theme that we are seeing from the president of the United States, it's just a consistent thread and a consistent theme that we are seeing from the president of the United States, which is just a deeply sad state of affairs.

Yeah, just a recurring pattern where he is trafficking in nothing but delusion. Okay, well, with that said, I appreciate the time today. Appreciate the work you're doing in Maryland. And, you know, as this I'm sure this this map fight is going to continue ramping up. This map Cold War that we're engaged in right now at the hands of Donald Trump and these very obsequious Republican governors. I'm sure that this isn't the last

that we'll speak about that. So Governor Moore, appreciate your time today.

I appreciate yours and go Ravens.

I'm joined now by the co-host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, Tommy Vitor. Tommy, thanks for joining me. Good to see you. So we have some very surprising footage here from one of the top Republican incumbents who's running for re-election this upcoming cycle. You haven't seen this footage yet. I don't know what we're talking about. Let's throw to the clip. Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame It's like Game of Thrones, we have the classic shame, shame, the bell maybe. I'm curious what you think of here because look, you know, we can see this stuff and it's obviously promising because this is one of our few offensive opportunities, the other

being, you know, Iowa, which just had a great result in the special election yesterday. And of course, you know, there are a few other states that we could look to. North Carolina. North Carolina. North Carolina, and maybe even in some, depending on how the environment looks, Texas. But Susan Collins has been able to weather quite a few storms.

And even in other election cycles where Democrats were heavily favored, I believe it was 2018 where Sarah Gideon ran against Susan Collins, is that correct?

Yeah, yeah, a lot of money.

All the polling showed that Sarah Gideon was gonna beat her by like 10 points. And of course, she she came out of it. And so how are you thinking about a moment like this, where we're starting to see a real big uprising against Susan Collins, but also keeping in mind

kind of the the historical trends of Maine? Yeah, look, Susan Collins, she has surprised us over and over again with both how naive she can sound in the face of Donald Trump's authoritarian tendencies, but also the fact that she just keeps winning. And so it's good to see a bunch of super energized, pissed off Democrats showing up at her events. I think this will probably influence her thinking. It'll make her nervous about going out in public and doing events and doing town halls.

Not that I want her, like, scared, but I want her to worry politically about having a terrible news cycle like that. So that gives me some hope. That makes me a little more excited. I don't know. How are you feeling?

We got a good candidate. We have a good candidate. There are actually a couple of candidates. I just did interview Graham Platner, who is like, I mean, this guy is the real deal. He is, he's an oyster man. who was created in the usual democratic lab of like, you know, consultants and operatives

put together this person that just looks like they were born to run, you know, on the democratic ticket and just spout out a bunch of platitudes. But this guy is the real deal, economic populist. He is like, works with Trump supporters. He's doing-

Military veteran.

Military veteran. He told me, he's like the highest office I ever thought I would have was Harbor Master in my hometown. And he's a great speaker and he's a real great voice. I mean, like I couldn't even come close.

Yeah, it was cool. I was like, oh, voice for radio. Look at this guy, that announcement video.

Yeah, so that part I actually feel really good about. Now we'll just see what the composition of the electorate looks like in Maine. Again, we've been here before. Right now, the national environment looks very much like it did in 2017, where we're seeing over performances by Democrats

at about 10, 11, 12 points from where they were in the norm. So if we see something similar to what we saw in 2018, in 2026, that could mean we take the House by 40 seats. I mean, we took 41 seats in 2018. But these seats are going to be especially important.

Being able to flip these Senate seats and actually have the opportunity to win back the Senate in what is, by the way, a pretty dismal Senate map will be really important.

Really, really, really important. Yeah, I mean, there's a few factors at play that I think about. Trump's approval is in a very bad place right now. He is extremely unpopular. Hopefully he will continue to get more unpopular. That is good for Democrats. But if you look at polling about the Democratic Party brand, we're not doing great.

So that's why it's exciting to see someone like Graham Platner come in and run, who doesn't look like a traditional Democrat, doesn't sound like one, doesn't have, as you said, the traditional resume. He's not like a lawyer or like a rich guy. No, he's like a oyster farmer or fisherman.

And I think that's important because a lot of people are having these meta conversations about how to fix the Democratic Party's brand, but the party is its people.

Exactly, exactly.

And so the way to fix it is not to just do things, is not to like make these inauthentic moves. And like I said this the other day, but now I'm gonna start talking like this and I'll wear like a backwards hat. We're not gonna tweak a couple of dials

over the DNC like, you know, room that controls the party. No, it is exactly what you said. It is the people who are running, the candidates who represent us.

And so if we have people like Graham, like a lot of the candidates that we're seeing across the party. To that point, I do want to talk about some news that came out of Axios. I believe it was Alex Thompson who reported that Democrats are considering doing a mid-cycle DNC. And so I'm curious what your thoughts are on that.

So I read that story too. I read it almost immediately after I read another Axios story about a big intrademocratic party fight over Gaza at the DNC, the current DNC meeting, and it made me worry about our...

About the prospect of having another mass gathering where Democrats decide not to acknowledge it at all? Right. And look,

you know where I am on all these questions of whether Democrats should be cutting off military assistance to Israel. Very much so. I support that. But my concern is more like if you get a bunch of Democrats together in a room, can we all agree upon a set of policies or at least messages to deliver? And so like that's kind of table stakes

for doing something like a mini convention in an off year like this. Now, you know, Donald Trump blots out the sun. Every day he wakes up and he truth social something or he has an event or a four hour cabinet meeting and he dominates the news cycle

like no one I've ever seen in my life, no one I've ever seen in politics. And so Democrats, we need to be creative and think of new ways to grab attention back, get our message out, showcase people and candidates within the party and talk about what we are

and what we stand for. Maybe this gives us that opportunity. So I don't want to like poo poo new ideas or creative ideas, but you know, I'm sort of of two minds about it.

Yeah. I know you and I have spoken about this on, on a video that we did for pot save America's YouTube channel. So if anybody who's watching this right now is not yet subscribed to pot save America's YouTube channel, go ahead and subscribe. subscribe I'm going to put the link on the screen and also in the post description of this video. Great way to support independent media more broadly. But you and I were talking about this and you know on one hand it is good to have opportunities where if we have a mini DNC

then that means that at least for a few days Democrats get to dictate the narrative. They get to drive the news cycle just because that's where all of the you know like when you're handed a stage, it's hard not to garner attention as the result of it. But then there is some concern as well on the flip side of that is it does feel very top heavy and the energy in the party right now is not at the top, it's at the bottom, it's at the grassroots level. And I think having an event where it feels like, I mean, it's literally the DNC. So having an event where things are dictated by, you know, the folks at the top and the leadership at a time where there's a lot of distrust and disgust, you know, aimed at those

people and a lot of hope aimed at the people who are in the grassroots and who are running for these offices right now. And I do hope that we see something of a of a Democratic Tea Party as we head toward 2026. Doing this right now feels it feels a little bit like we're heaping attention onto the wrong folks.

Yes, it is quite top heavy. It will certainly be like kind of dictated by the top, right, like who speaks, what the messages are, what the themes are. And it's also literally staged. Like this is an event on a stage with production

and it kind of like, I don't know, a bit of it harkens back to a bygone era when, you know, conventions were all about giving something to the three networks and, you know, getting all these people to watch.

Well, let me ask you because we see a lot of these like Turning Point USA conferences and CPAC and those still have legs. And so how do you differentiate those?

Well, yeah, look, I think that Turning Point USA and CPAC have been unbelievably effective because they are gathering places and organizational tools for organizations that are not the party. Like they are doing their own specific missions. Like CPAC was this inexorable pull of the Republican Party as far right as humanly possible until it's the craziest people in the party who are now in charge in the White House. Success. people in the party who are now in charge in the White House, success. TPUSA, they were all about going to college campuses, making, trying to convert people to being a Republican

or to make young conservatives feel like they were not alone or they could talk about being a Republican and not be embarrassed at a time when Republicans weren't seen as cool. So I do think both those organizations have been quite successful at their missions.

Now a part of it is these like big events, these gatherings, it sounds like the TPUSA ones are just debaucherous. There are some-

So we've heard.

There's some stories. Will Sommer over at the Bulwark has some stories about what happens after hours at those events. But you know, the organizing is the real key to them.

So let's finish off with one more story. And I think we have some video footage that I wanna throw to here.

I feel like I'm in a fucking fucking hotline. I feel like I'm in a fucking hotline. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh!

Oh!

Oh!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! even in courtrooms where they say that prosecutors could, even a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. They weren't able to indict this guy at the hands of Jeanine Puro. So I'm curious what your reaction to this story more broadly is given the fact that Trump really has a vested interest in trying to pick people out

and make examples out of them. And of course, there's no better example if you're an aspiring autocrat than if somebody throws a sandwich at one of your goons to try and make an example out of him. Trump sent 20 police officers

into this guy's apartment to arrest him. So, curious your reaction to the fact that they weren't able to secure an indictment. Yeah, it's hard to overstate how rare it is for a grand jury not to return an indictment like this. I think the stat is like between some period of like 2009 to 2010, there were about 190,000

cases and only 11 of them, the grand jury did not return an indictment. So pretty rare. And the reason is because the process is totally rigged towards the prosecutors. They get to introduce all the information. The defendants don't have lawyers in there. So it's just, it's really tough. What it tells me is that the DC residents who are part of this grand jury are pissed. They are rip shit pissed

at Donald Trump at this military occupation of their city. And they said, fuck you. No, I'm not we're not gonna do your bidding. We're not gonna indict this person. You put Jeanine Perot in charge the she's the US attorney for Washington, DC. Do you know how insulting that is? Yeah. Drunk wine mom from Fox News. No, we're absolutely not returning an indictment for her. So I love it. It's a little quiet act of resistance. That's it. One might even say he's a hero. Get it? It's a sandwich pun. With that said, I wish I could do your cricket noise. I'll do it for myself. With that said, of course, again, for anybody who is not yet subscribed to Potsave America's

YouTube channel, I'm going to put the link right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video. Help support independent media, help grow the Crooked Team's voices and their reach that when people come on to YouTube, for example, they're not automatically sorted into right wing content. So again, that link is on the screen and also in the post description.

Tommy, appreciate your time. Thanks for having me. I'm joined now by the founder of Democracy Defenders Fund, Norm Eisen. Norm, thank you so much for coming on. We have major news right here that really shook up the entire economic world because it puts at risk the independence of the Fed, of our entire monetary policy. And that is Donald Trump's decision to try and fire Lisa Cook, who was one of the Fed

governors. So can you explain the pushback that's happening at the hands of Lisa Cook right now? Yes. Brian, as you know, the bedrock of our prosperity as a nation and really the kitchen table strength of American families is that we have a strong dollar. We have a reliable dollar, we have a Federal Reserve that is in charge of managing issues like inflation. If you attack the independence of the Federal Reserve, their ability to do their job, you weaken the prosperity of every American.

And that's just what happened when Donald Trump baselessly announced last night, sent a letter saying that federal governor Lisa Cook, the first Federal Reserve governor who's an African-American woman in the history of that institution was being terminated. He claims that it meets the legal standard of four cause, but that's a joke. There's no basis that's been established in law for this termination. Immediately the dollar weakened, the dollar got worse on exchange rates. That hit all of our pocketbooks.

That's the meaning of Fed independence. It keeps us prosperous as a nation. Once again, like with his tariffs, like with the big, brutal betrayal, the tax cuts for billionaires taking away health care from average folks, he's hit us in the wallet again, almost as if he intends to harm the American consumer.

So I got to ask, first and foremost, the only way that Trump has legal basis to go ahead and fire Lisa Cook is, as you know, for cause. Now, he's trying to gin up some scandal about mortgage fraud, which is a claim that this administration has leveraged not just on Lisa Cook, but also on other people who they view as political opponents, including Adam Schiff. But can you talk about the legitimacy of this claim as it relates to Lisa Cook?

It's utterly ridiculous as to Lisa Cook. The same is true with very similar claims that are being made about Donald Trump's adversaries, Adam Schiff and A.G. Tish James. In the case of Lisa Cook, what you have is the head of the federal agency

that regulates mortgages, a sharp Trump partisan and campaign donor, Bill Pulte, who has launched these smears against these three adversaries of Trump. Of course, Donald Trump has a historical grudge against Adam Schiff for leading the first impeachment where I was a counsel, Tish James for prosecuting his own mortgage wrongdoing. And here with Lisa Cook, it appears

what he wants to do is get one of his cronies on the Fed, undermining the independence so it can do what it wants. But as a legal matter, Brian, pause means doing something wrong on the job, inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office. It's all job-related stuff. Here you have a tweet from Bill Pulte, the Trump partisan, alleging that Lisa Cook did wrong. That is not a legal basis for cause. No wonder she and her lawyers are saying they're going to litigate it. They should because as has happened so many hundreds of times, if this matter goes to court, the

courts are going to say, what? Again, first Adam Schiff, then this James, now Lisa Cook.

Give me a break. The courts are going to be very skeptical.

As of right now, practically speaking, is Lisa Cook fired? Is she showing up to work? What are we dealing with in terms of the logistics of actually going to her job?

Donald Trump's pronouncement that she's fired has no legal basis. In my view, it's null and void. She says she's going to show up for work. She should show up for work. She should show up for work. And of course, she should litigate this matter because what Donald Trump is doing once again, he's abusing the rule of law.

He's turning us into a police state, not the United States. We don't have presidents who criminalize their grudges against their political adversaries. That's not what America is about. It's like something out of the nightmares of the 20th century.

So that's why the courts have rejected him so often. He's lost another big case today where he sued the entire federal judiciary of the District of Maryland and a conservative judge, it was not a liberal Democrat, said this is laughable, threw the case out. I think that Donald Trump is doing the same thing with Lisa Cook.

There is no pause based on a tweet from Bill Bolte.

And so what are next steps now from a legal standpoint? Is her legal team seeking some type of injunction or temporary restraining order so that we can have some clarity here in terms of what happens tomorrow when she tries to show up to work?

They've said that they're gonna go to court to contest this. And unlike some of the other cases we've seen, the Supreme Court just said that the Federal Reserve is different, is entitled to more protections because it's a uniquely structured quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the first and second banks of the United States. What that means is Congress has more power

based on the Constitution in our history to protect the Fed. They've done that with Fed governors by saying terminations must be for cause. This is not for cause. So unlike some of the other cases, I think that Lisa Cook and her lawyers led by the brilliant Abby Lowell, I work with him often, his colleagues at Lowell and Associates, they quit big law. They set up on their own to fight for democracy. And they've got themselves

an important case here. And I think this is one where there's strong recent Supreme Court

precedent from the Roberts court that helps them.

Norm, does it surprise you that as it relates to Bill Pulte, this guy is in his position solely to offer Donald Trump these baseless predicates to be able to launch attacks against his political opponents?

Like that's what this guy's entire job boils down to. Well, the Trump administration is full of people who, instead of their qualifications for the job or providing their independent judgment, giving their best effort qualification is loyalty to Donald Trump. But Pulte is taking that to a whole other level by weaponizing mortgage applications against the perceived enemies of Donald Trump. And I don't think the courts are going to stand for it. It stinks to high heaven. The judges of every party, Brian, as you know, over 200 times judges appointed by Bush and Trump, judges appointed by Biden and Clinton and

Obama have rejected illegalities of this administration. They're trampling the rule of law. But these attacks criminalizing the political opposition to Donald Trump are some of the worst abuses. I think the courts are going to see through that. Nobody knows for sure, but it's a noble fight and it's one that must be waged. And those day in day out fights, you and I often talk about them. We've covered so many different cases here.

They are how we are going to hang on to this democracy of ours.

Can you talk about why Trump is so hell bent on being able to replace legitimate members of the Federal Reserve with his own appointed lackeys?

He has the idea that if he puts his people on the Fed, that they will lower interest rates, never mind the inflation risk, which is substantial, and that it will goose the economy. He's panicky about the 2026 midterms and the backlash. So he's thrashing about. He tried to find five extra seats in Texas.

California's checking him on that. God bless Governor Newsom and the Californians for pushing back on that. So now he's looking for something else to get him out of this bind that he's created with his rule of law violations

and his giveaways to his billionaire cronies. By the way, he likes to take these outrageous actions because it changes the subject from his biggest fear, the Trump Epstein files. We just filed a lawsuit to get a hold of those Trump Epstein files. He wants to change the subject, but he also thinks he's going to help the economy. But, Brian, he's hurting the economy, not helping it, because by undermining the functioning of the Fed and the independence of the Fed, he's weakening the dollar.

That means we're all going to pay more for things. And it weakens the economic position of the United States. It puts us all in jeopardy. The strength of our country is being undermined economically by Donald Trump's behavior, plus the tariffs, plus the tax cuts

that took away the healthcare and other benefits from average folks. He's destroying the economy instead of as he thinks, goosing it. And you know what? The American people see through him, 37% approval rating.

They know what he's doing.

They're actually smarter than the elites at times.

You know, I think that's such a great point about his efforts to kind of turbocharge the economy that ultimately are having the complete opposite effect. I mean, this effort to boost the economy by filling the Fed with his own self-appointed lackeys is going to send inflation higher.

That's the whole reason the Fed isn't doing it right now, which by the way, used to be important when Republicans spent the last few years railing against high inflation. It was the whole reason that Joe Biden's approval rating was as low as it is, was as low as it was. And now Donald Trump's approval rating to that exact point is as low as Joe Biden's was with inflation rising every single month since March. And so he's only going to exacerbate the very problem that he himself campaigned on fixing. And that's to say nothing about the fact that he's also promised to lower costs and instead has sent them surging with his misguided trade war and has said that he would protect earned

benefits and entitlements only to cut Medicaid for 17 million Americans and food assistance to the tune of $300 billion. So it really does go to show how Donald Trump just pulled a bait and switch on his own supporters by promising them one thing when, you know, he wanted to manipulate people for their votes, but then once he got into power, he's just more interested in the optics that he's doing well as opposed to actually helping the economy.

And of course, if we see any numbers that aren't to his liking and that don't lend themselves to his grand vision that Donald Trump has for himself, he'll just fire the statisticians or anybody who gives the message. Right. Right. Kill the messenger. That's exactly right. You know, Norm, I do want to take this opportunity for folks who are watching right now. If you're looking to support the invaluable work that Norm and his team are doing on the front lines, which is in the courts, please, I'm going to put the link to Democracy Defenders

Fund right here on the screen. If you'd like to donate, these are the folks who are fighting again on the front lines. So if you want to be able to donate and help these folks out, you can click the link right

here on the screen and also in the post description of this video. Norm, I appreciate your time. Brian, so many people are rightly concerned about the direction of our country. It's so terrific to come on with you and your viewers and listeners to say, hey, there is accountability. The American people are figuring it out and the courts are an important part, not the only part, but are a very important part of doing that. So have me back any time. Donald Trump is going to fail. And I'll tell your listeners for the umpteenth time that they and your viewers are the ones who represent the hope for this country.

So keep on going, folks.

I'm joined now by candidate for the U.S. Senate in Iowa, Zach Walls. Thanks so much for joining me.

Thanks, Brian.

So we have some major news out of Iowa that really did capture the entire attention of the country, and that was that there was a state legislative seat that was flipped a 20 some odd point flip from red to blue from the 2024 election when Trump won that district by about 11 points to when Kaitlyn Dray won that district just this week by about 10 points. So a major a major flip. And so how does that make you think about Iowa as you're running right now in terms

of you know, I know a lot of people will write the state off. How are you thinking about the state given what we've seen in the last 24 hours?

Well, Brian, it's really exciting for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost, even though this is probably what got a lot of the audience's attention, given the fact that this got national headlines, this is actually the fourth consecutive special election with a 20-point Democratic overperformance in just the last six months. This is the second state Senate seat that we have now flipped in Iowa that was won by Donald Trump in 2024. So needless to say, there's a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, including the fact that Caitlyn actually broke the Republican supermajority by winning this seat.

Our campaign had the opportunity to campaign with her this past weekend during Get Out the Vote. Our supporters raised over $7,000 directly to Caitlyn's campaign to help make sure that she could stay competitive in the media wars. And it was a real honor to have the chance to get to know her during the course of the campaign and to knock doors with her this past weekend. Talking with a lot of Iowa voters, we're really upset with the fact that the Trump administration has not brought down costs like he promised they would. And the fact that Republicans have been a rubber stamp for his agenda, including Senator Joni Ernst, that has actually made cost of living higher for most Iowans rather than

lower. Now, as it relates to Joni Ernst specifically, I'm going to throw a clip right here on the screen of a comment that got her a lot of national attention.

You are arguing about illegals that are receiving Medicaid benefits, 1.4 million. 1.4 million. They're not, they are not eligible, so they will be coming off. So people are not. Well, we all are going to die.

So can I have your reaction to that comment? I know that it's a couple of months old by now, but I think the sentiment probably still remains if you're Joni Ernst.

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, that comment has really put her on the back foot and I think really put this race on the map, not just here in Iowa, but all over the country. There's been a real groundswell of support for our campaign against her because Iowans I think saw and so many of us all over the country saw just how out of touch she is. I don't think it's a comment that she necessarily makes 12 years ago when she's first running for the U.S. Senate. I think it's a clear example of how she's really gone Washington, and I don't think Iowans are happy about that. I think it just demonstrates just how out of touch

she is and the fact that, you know, she's no longer the person that she once was.

As it relates to your race specifically, there was some polling out that tested a bunch of Democratic candidates against Joni Ernst. You scored the highest, and in this hypothetical matchup, you scored 45 to 44 against Joni Ernst. So how are you thinking about that polling in terms of when you're speaking to folks in that state?

And the reason I ask is because, you know, a lot of times when we have these states that have consistently voted red, and I think the last time Iowa voted for a Democrat, if I'm not mistaken, was 2008 for Barack Obama, is that correct, in the presidential?

2012, President Obama carried it in the re-election.

So it's been a minute, and I think that we think of a lot of these states as not worth expending energy and resources in places that are just trending in the opposite direction. And so what did that poll result tell you?

You know, despite kind of the common knowledge that people might have about your state?

Well, I think one thing that's really interesting in that poll is that Joni Ernst favorability lags 17 points behind where Donald Trump is. So there is an enormous number of enormous number of people in the electorate who still approve of Donald Trump, but have an unsatisfactory view of Joni Ernst, which tells me that there is an enormous number of Iowans

who are willing to give anybody a second look as not Joni Ernst. But our message is clearly resonating with people, which is why we're the strongest candidate to defeat Senator Ernst next November. We were the only candidate who, when voters learned more about the folks who are running,

actually moved ahead of Senator Ernst in a direct head-to-head matchup. We know that she's vulnerable, and we know that the agenda that she has voted for is uniquely bad for Iowa. Tariffs have been devastating for our farmers

and for our light manufacturers. The cuts to Medicaid are gonna have a devastating impact for rural health care providers. Mass deportations are not going to be good for our state. And cuts to SNAP are not only going to hurt struggling families, they're going to have a devastating impact on farm incomes,

grocery stores as well. And so we know that Joni Ernst has been a rubber stamp for this agenda that is actually raising costs by doing things like ending investments in clean energy that are going to increase utility bills by hundreds of dollars a year in our state. So from my perspective, I think it shows conclusively that Senator Ernst is very vulnerable in 2026.

And the only thing I would add, Brian, is that Iowa, despite being perceived as being more Republican over the last few years, as late as 2020, we had three of our four members of the US House were Democrats, back when we had Abby Finkenauer, Cindy Axne, and Dave Loebsack. Our state auditor, Rob Sand, continues to hold statewide office. He's a Democrat, who has consistently won statewide elections. And Iowa is, in fact, the third most likely state in the country where voters split their

tickets between Democrats and Republicans. And so there's no doubt that Donald Trump has been popular in our state. He's won this state in 2016 and 2020 and in 2024. At the same time, Joni Ernst has never had to run in a cycle where the environment is better for Democrats. She's consistently been underperformed Donald Trump in 2020 and the Republican candidate for governor in 2014.

So this will be the first time where she's ever had to face voters in this climate that's actually positive for Democrats. And we believe that we are building a coalition that cannot just bring new people into the Democratic Party, but can actually win over independents and Republicans. That same poll saw me winning independence by almost 20 points. In fact, even winning 7 percent of voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2024, more than any other

Democrat in the race.

So we've spoken a lot about kind of the negative attributes of Donald Trump and Joni Ernst and the case against those people. But I think, you know, it's important to recognize that there has to be an affirmative case for you as well. And so in terms of what your affirmative case is for voters, that that's not just how bad Trump and Ernst are,

what has been most resonant in terms of the message that you're bringing to voters?

Absolutely. Well, some of your audience may recall a speech that I gave back when I was a college sophomore about marriage equality and defending the freedom to marry for my two moms and for all Iowans. And I brought that same level of courage to my entire work in politics over the last seven years of serving in the state Senate. I think Iowans are looking for people who have the political backbone to take on leaders in both parties when they're not working for Iowans, whether that means standing up to your own party when it's necessary, pushing for our party to do

better and actually be more effective in representing our constituents, or be willing to stand up to Donald Trump when that's what it takes and he's pursuing policies that are bad for Iowa, like the tariffs, where Joni Ernst on the other hand has been a total rubber stamp. And so from my perspective, we are laser focused on Joni Ernst. We're focused on the fact that she's been a rubber stamp for an agenda that is increasing costs that is not growing paychecks.

And she has become a part of the problem that she said she'd solve. Back in 2014, she ran for office, said that she would only serve two terms in the U.S. Senate, and now she's gearing up to launch her campaign for her third term. It's exactly the kind of typical Washington, D.C. behavior that people in Iowa are sick of, and that's why they're ready to make a change.

When you have gone around the state, have you had the opportunity to meet with or talk to Republicans or Independents, Trump voters, whoever it may be, who are kind of disillusioned by what they're seeing from the Republican Party, which is this, you know, very clear bait and switch. Trump came into office promising lower costs, lower groceries, lower housing, lower rent. All he's done is launch a trade war that's exacerbated all of those costs. He promised to release the Epstein files. Now they're engaged in the biggest cover up in American history on that. They promised to end the Ukraine-Russia war on day one.

That hasn't happened. Promised to make IVF free. That hasn't happened. And yet they always manage to find enough political capital to give millionaires and billionaires tax cuts. And so there is this very massive bait and switch happening at the hands of people like

Donald Trump and Joni Ernst. Have you heard from the actual voters though, kind of echoing that sentiment?

Yeah, absolutely. So we're talking about exactly the issues that you just outlined, Brian. And I'll tell you that is resonating with people. We aren't just reaching out to Democrats for the events that we're hosting, whether they're in big cities or small towns, we're reaching out to those independents and we're reaching out to Republicans because in order to defeat Joni Ernst in this state, that is what it is going to take. And there are enough people who are frustrated by all the chaos and the fact that Washington,

D.C. is more focused on things that are not lowering costs for Iowans, that they are coming out to war events. They are endorsing our campaign. We're the only campaign so far to have received support from across the political spectrum. And we were the first campaign to receive grassroots donations from all of Iowa's 99 counties. And not all of those donations came from registered Democrats. We are building a new coalition that is going to bring people together, defeat Joni Ernst, and bring some real generational change to Washington, D.C.

If I'm elected, I will be the youngest member of the U.S. Senate, although I will be a little older than Senator Ossoff was when he was first elected back when he came into Washington. And so we feel like there's a lot of enthusiasm for the campaign. And it's not just coming from Democrats. There are a lot of independents and even some Republicans who are ready to make a

change. Zach, what would it mean more broadly if Democrats are able to win in this offensive opportunity in what is otherwise a pretty dismal Senate map that we're contending with.

Yeah, absolutely. Getting to 51 seats in the US Senate this cycle, and we can't just get to 50 because JD Vance can break the tie. We need 51 seats in the US Senate and getting to 51 without Iowa in this cycle is going to be exceptionally difficult. It's part of why we're trying to build a strong 99 county grassroots campaign that learns the best

lessons from the Obama campaigns in 2008 and 2012 that puts a real emphasis on meeting voters where they are. And in some respects, it's kind of getting back to the basics of actually talking with our neighbors, our family, our friends, the people we see at church or at coffee

or at the grocery store about why this campaign matters, and then trying to actually make Iowa a better state along the way. One of my favorite things that we're doing in our campaign is that is when we distribute our yard signs in the communities that we are visiting. We ask folks, we reach out to the community service agencies in those areas, we ask, what supplies do you need? And then we ask our supporters to bring those supplies in exchange for a yard sign. We've gathered nearly a thousand pounds of supplies to community service agencies across Iowa

that are unfortunately in desperate need of these supplies because of where things are with the economy right now and the cuts that are happening in Washington. So we're not just waiting for

election day to build a better state people asking folks for funds and donations. And so why is it important that they donate to a state that they would otherwise have in their mind is redder and more difficult to win than some of the easier pickup opportunities?

Again, to get to 51 seats in the US Senate, we have to be competitive in Iowa and we have to defeat Joni Ernst. And we're not waiting until the primary is over next June to get to work on building out the statewide operation we're starting today. Because if we wait until next June,

then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and it's too late. But because this message is resonating with people and because we have some of the early resources that we need to begin that work, we're asking people for their support. They can go to our website, ZachWals.com,

to learn more about the campaign, to make a contribution, and to get involved. We've got lots of grassroots volunteer opportunities all over Iowa, and we're looking for support because that's what it's going to take to build a grassroots operation that's strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Senator're not taking a dime of corporate PAC money. We are 100% people powered. Something that I wear with a badge of honor. And I think when we talk about cleaning up the political corruption and being willing

to stand up to the establishment and both parties, this is a great example of putting your values into action. But we can't do it alone. We're counting on grassroots supporters all over Iowa and across the country to make this work possible. And so if this resonates with you, we would love to have your support. And I hope that I can count on folks who are interested in learning more to go to the website

and to chip in.

Awesome. I'll put that website right here on the screen and also in the post description. If you're listening on the podcast, it'll be in the show notes. Zach, appreciate your time. Best luck in the campaign trail. Best luck in the campaign trail.

Thanks, Brian. audio version of this episode, click the thumbnail right here on the screen to subscribe to my podcast and of course to see more of my content, the subscribe button's on the screen as well.