Jesse & Kevin are absolutely exhausted following yesterday's election. Since we're still recovering, we bring you a shorter episode of the podcast this week. We discuss the end of our campaigns for Town Council & Board of Education, what yesterday's gubernatorial elections mean for 2018 & how Michael Flynn might be next on Robert Mueller's list.
The Trump White House has gone to war with Rep. Frederica Wilson while a Gold Star widow is stuck in the middle. Bannon has declared war on the GOP establishment, but is it more about his ego than his ideology? Democratic candidates are raking in the money. Does that mean they will win in 2018? The Senate has a bipartisan health care bill with enough support to pass. Will Trump actually sign it? Finally, Bernie Sanders is, and will always be, an independent and not a Democrat. Why are we surprised?
Trump & Mitch McConnell want us to believe that they're best buddies, but we're not buying it. Trump continues to attack all things Obama, this time with an Executive Order focused on the ACA & by pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear agreement with Iran. Trump hopes to pass tax reform by the end of the year, but is that a realistic time frame? Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been linked to a Russian oligarch. Is that just another coincidence? Finally, Senator Dianne Feinstein is facing a primary challenge in her bid for reelection. Is that a good thing?
In an act of political theater, Mike Pence attends an NFL game, but leaves before it starts. The EPA is repealing an Obama era climate rule, which will result in more carbon emissions. Rex Tillerson called Trump a moron...or did he (he definitely did)? Trump has started a new Twitter war, this time with GOP Senator Bob Corker. Trump also insinuated that war is on the horizon, though declined to give any specifics. Finally, Trump continues to handle the crisis in Puerto Rico poorly.
Our thoughts & prayers go out to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting. We discuss what happened & try to understand why. As if that wasn't bad enough, Trump has decided that diplomacy is no longer needed when dealing with North Korea. Trump has picked a fight with the mayor of San Juan for not showing enough gratitude, Tom Price resigned over wasting taxpayer money & the GOP is going to give tax reform a try.
The Senate GOP is trying (again) to repeal & replace the ACA and things aren't going any better for them this time around. Trump threatened to destroy North Korea at the U.N. and, as you can imagine, Kim Jong-un had something to say about it. Sean Spicer appeared at the Emmys & everyone freaked out. NFL players knelt during the national anthem & Trump freaked out. Finally, Jared Kushner might be hearing "lock him up" pretty soon, Anthony Weiner is going to jail & Alabama is holding a special election on Tuesday.
With everything going on in the world, we take a moment to remember 9/11 & discuss Hurricane Irma. Then we get into Trump's official DACA announcement and how he pissed off GOP leadership with the debt ceiling deal. Steve Bannon was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night and it was a doozy! Trump hopes to pass tax reform this year, but is that realistic? We end by discussing how Donald Jr. & Dan Scavino aren't doing the administration any favors.
Trump had his first prime time address to discuss his new policy on Afghanistan & it was a little short on details for our taste. But at least we had some good news with Steve Bannon's firing! Trump is having a rally in Arizona tonight but not everyone thinks it's timing is appropriate. Finally, Trump is still fighting with Mitch McConnell & named Hope Hicks the new communications director.
This episode we discuss the tragic events that happened in Charlottesville over the weekend & Trump's bizarre response. Since then, he's continued to make a bunch of questionable decisions, including disbanding his advisory panels. We also received a little more information out of the Russia scandal & delayed nuclear war with North Korea. Finally, the president started a fight with his own majority leader & Alabama had Senate primary elections.
The GOP's Skinny Repeal went down in dramatic fashion, all thanks to three maverick Republican Senators. Since then, there has been a lot of shakeups in the White House. The Mooch? Gone! Reince Priebus? Gone! John Kelly? In! Jeff Sessions? TBD.