The Bulwark Daily

The character of the nation is on the line: We have to stop an autocratic minority from imposing its will on the majority of Americans. And no question, Putin has been very easily manipulating Trump and Musk. Plus, Biden talking about garbage, spam polls, pollster herding, and the weakest swing states for Kamala. 

Alex Vindman and Lakshya Jain join Tim Miller.

show notes:
Congressional candidate Eugene Vindman's web site
The fake family of Eugene's opponent in the open VA-7 seat

Kamala Harris sees the world as divided between those who follow the rules and those who break them—and that injustice requires action, not whining. And behind the story of a child of two high-achieving immigrants is a woman who remains loyal, reveres law and order, shows up prepared, and approaches challenges with a 'just the facts' linear style of thinking. Yet, she also maintains a level of inscrutability.

Robert Draper joins Tim Miller.
show notes:

Draper's profile of Kamala

By de-prioritizing The Washington Post in his business empire, Jeff Bezos is showing exactly how a free press gets dismantled. Other corporate titans are also falling in line so they're not on the wrong side of Trump. Meanwhile, with the Klan-like rhetoric at Sunday's rally, MAGA is baring its teeth and showing us that its true essence is about white Christian supremacy. Plus, the Senate races, and Tim's reporting from outside MSG. 

Bob Kagan—who resigned from WAPO on Friday—and Bill Kristol join Tim Miller.

show notes:

Bill and Bob's conversation on authoritarianism in 2019
Bob's book, "Rebellion," published in April
Bob's 2016 piece warning how fascism could come to America
Tim's message to Haley voters

Trump is corrosive to the soul of our democracy. He's a bigot, an ogre, and an isolationist. And for all the Reagan Republicans on the fence: If Trump gets back in, America won't have a healthy conservative movement again for generations. Plus, Kamala on Israel, and Elon's private foreign policy with Putin—he's working against our national security while helping himself to the treasury of the United States.

Bret Stephens joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes:

Tim's playlist
Bret's 2018 piece on Musk being the Trump of Silicon Valley

 A whole faction of Red America thinks the judges and tax cuts in the first half of Trump's presidency were the 'real' Trump. But the Jan 6 'burn it all down' guy is the real version—as Tucker's weird parable about a violent and angry dad makes clear. Plus, MAGA's confidence in the election results, Cheney's abortion comments, and the surreal double standard where all the rules apply to Kamala, but none apply to Trump.

David French joins Tim Miller.

show notes:
David's latest newsletter, "Trump's Election Reversal Dreams Are Dead"

Donald Trump doesn't share our values or our norms, and he wants the privilege of being able to shoot down Americans in the street. And former officials who worked in his administration are frightened about what he could do to the country. Meanwhile, all the Hitler talk drowns out any talk about Kamala's proposed policies, which are more popular than people realize.

Jeffrey Goldberg and Catherine Rampell join Tim Miller.

show notes:

Goldberg's latest reporting on Trump's preoccupation with dictators
The NYT's interview with John Kelly
Rampell's piece on the popularity of Kamala's policies
Rampell's piece on Flint, MI's baby bonus
Rampell's piece about Trump losing his edge on the economy
Bulwark piece on McKinley and tariffs

The ex-POTUS has resolved that his route to regain power is creating hate, fear, and anger. Meanwhile, his little fascist from Santa Monica is planning to raid quinceañeras as part of a mass deportation. In contrast, Kamala promises to be a president for everybody—with fights only in the fields of democracy. Plus, Elon's despicable Nick Fuentes-grade ads targeting Jewish and Arab voters, and the MIA anti-Trump Republican men who are banking on Liz to do most of the talking.

Mitch Landrieu and Will Saletan join Tim Miller.

show notes:

Some of Mayor Landrieu's favorite spots in NOLA

Tipitina's live music

Kingpin bar

N7 restaurant

Remember those few weeks when Trump ceded the stage to Kamala and didn't do any campaigning? How glorious it was not to have to talk about him. Meanwhile, Kamala, Liz, and Sarah work to seal the deal with undecided voters, Moldova rejects the vote-buying oligarchs, and Lindsey, you're wrong: It's Trump, not Kamala, who's the most radical candidate in modern American history. Mallory McMorrow was recorded live at our Bulwark event in Detroit, and Bill Kristol joined Tim Miller for a recap of the weekend's political news.

show notes:

Gifted link to John Heilemann's interview with David Plouffe

The Bulwark kicked off its weekend 'Swing State Swing" in the City of Brotherly Love Thursday before a packed house. George Conway, Sarah Matthews, and Tim talked about psychopaths, narcissists, and how voters need to understand that if Trump didn't even care what happened to his VP on Jan 6, he certainly doesn't care about them.


George Conway and Sarah Matthews join Tim Miller.

Since the release of Woodward's "War," Gen. James Mattis has reached out to the journalist to endorse the book's warnings about Trump, and to urge that they not be downplayed. Plus, Kamala's counseling of Zelensky before the invasion of Ukraine, and how Russia really was on the nuclear brink and the Biden team pulled out all the stops to get them to step back. Bob Woodward joins Tim Miller.

show notes

Bob Woodward's book, "War"