The Lonely Liberal Podcast

Nick and Rick break down a chaotic week in American politics — recorded as the UFC fight unfolds on the White House South Lawn. They open on Trump's 80th birthday UFC spectacle: seven mixed martial arts matches with 4,000 spectators, including 1,000 servicemembers required to attend in uniform on their own dime and meet a waist-to-height ratio standard, plus a 120,000-person fan fest at the Ellipse and a federal lawsuit that lost on Friday — and Trump joking he might never take "The Claw" cage down. Days before the fight, a massive "86 47" mural appeared etched into the National Mall grass. Then to the wealth milestone: Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX's $1.77 trillion IPO — the largest in market history — pushing his net worth to roughly $1.1 trillion, nearly four times the next-richest person on Earth. And the bombshell from Haberman and Swan's forthcoming book "Regime Change": VP JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles held secret Situation Room meetings without Trump's knowledge to contain the Epstein files fallout. Vance "appeared panicked" and floated a plan to have Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison. Dan Bongino predicted Epstein would be "Trump's Iran-Contra." Trump has now launched a "massive" leak hunt to find the source. Also covered: the US struck Iran's drinking water reservoirs in Hormozgan after Iran shot down a US Apache, with Defense Secretary Hegseth dismissing questions about civilian infrastructure as "disingenuous"; FISA Section 702 expired for the first time since 2008 after Democrats refused to reauthorize warrantless foreign surveillance under acting DNI Bill Pulte — Trump then nominated SDNY US Attorney Jay Clayton as permanent DNI; Sen. Rand Paul released documents showing Fauci's NIH ties to the intelligence community date to 2003 and how he coordinated lab-leak pushback with the NSC; the US government ordered Anthropic to pull its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models globally — the first time the government has recalled an LLM, with Anthropic publicly disagreeing; a court forced Trump's name removed from the Kennedy Center facade in an overnight removal; the US killed Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero in a joint operation with the Venezuelan government; Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic Senate primary as expected, and Trump-endorsed Pamela Evette crushed Nancy Mace in the South Carolina governor primary. We close with Spencer Pratt's unhinged concession in the LA mayor race — calling Bass and Raman "dumb and dumber" and "corrupt communists," vowing FBI raids, claiming secret recordings — and Trump backing his "Rigged Elections!" fraud claims.

Trump just did something FDR tried and failed to do: he purged his own party. Three sitting members of Congress — Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. Bill Cassidy, and Rep. Thomas Massie — crossed him, and all three are gone. So why does a president polling at 38% have this much power? Nick breaks down the math trick behind Trump's grip on the GOP, why the same anti-establishment fever just nominated an oyster farmer over Chuck Schumer's hand-picked recruit in Maine, who MAGA actually blames for $20 breakfasts, and the receipts showing Democrats are turning out at 2018-wave levels. Trump purged his party's shock absorbers five months before the crash — and the bill comes due November 3rd.

Nick and Rick break down a chaotic week in American politics. They open on the Trump-Israel rupture: Trump cursed out Netanyahu in a Monday phone call — "You're f***ing crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. Everybody hates you. Everybody hates Israel because of this" — and then confirmed it on the record to the New York Post. Days later the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency raised Israel's counterintelligence threat to "critical" — the highest level, same as Russia and China — after Israel was caught spying on Trump's top Iran negotiators to learn his negotiating positions. Then to Maine, where the NYT published a hit piece on Senate candidate Graham Platner days before his primary — surfacing allegations from an ex-girlfriend that the source herself later said the Times "twisted" into something it wasn't — while Sens. Hassan and Slotkin lined up to express "concerns" without calling on him to drop out. Plus the DOGE bombshell: a WaPo whistleblower revealed the Trump administration planned to falsely classify 2.7 million living people — including US citizens, lawful permanent residents, and teenagers — as dead, using the Social Security Death Master File to destroy their financial lives and force them to self-deport. Also covered: the House passed an Iran War Powers Resolution 215-208, the first time the chamber has voted to end the war, with four Republicans crossing over; Iran struck Kuwait's airport and US bases in Bahrain after the US disabled a Botswana-flagged oil tanker with a Hellfire missile; the Senate passed a $70 billion ICE/Border Patrol bill 52-47 after a 19-hour vote-a-rama, funding Trump's immigration agenda through the end of his term; Pam Bondi told House Oversight that Todd Blanche "was in charge" of the Epstein files decisions; Trump floated government equity stakes in top AI companies on Air Force One as Anthropic confidentially filed for IPO at $965 billion; Jill Biden's memoir revealed she thought Joe was having a stroke during the 2024 debate and that doctors checked him moments after — contradicting the White House timeline; Hunter Biden returned to X with 102 posts in a day; the Iowa Senate primary set up Ashley Hinson vs. Paralympian Josh Turek; Karen Bass advanced in LA with reality TV star Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman fighting for the runoff spot; Trump named housing director Bill Pulte — with zero intelligence experience — as acting DNI; John Bolton reached a plea deal on classified documents; and Trump announced a $700M coal bailout in the Oval Office, then was caught dozing off mid-announcement the day after Rubio told Congress he'd "never seen" Trump fall asleep — and Ted Lieu played the video proving him wrong. We close with George Santos under DOJ investigation for insider trading on the prediction market Kalshi — he bet against himself attending the State of the Union, then posted videos saying he'd be there.

Is Trump a fascist? Nick's guest says: wrong question. Dr. Eric Grube is a historian at Boston College who specializes in fascism, nationalism, and the far-right movements of interwar Europe — and he's back on the show six months after his last appearance to update his verdict. His answer has shifted: Trump isn't a fascist in the historical sense so much as a selfish egomaniac being driven by the Heritage Foundation's policy machine. But here's what Eric wants you to take away — fascism was never easy to categorize in the moment either. The bigger problem with forcing the label is that half the room shuts down the second you use it. So what do we actually call this? And does the name even matter if the machinery is already running?

Trump threatened to "blow up" Oman over the Strait of Hormuz while a tentative Iran deal sits unsigned. Ken Paxton crushed John Cornyn in Texas — the first GOP senator ever primaried out — and immediately started attacking his Democratic opponent's testosterone levels. Federal courts blocked two Republican gerrymanders in Alabama and South Carolina, taking a chunk out of the GOP's redistricting math. Plus: government-wide NDAs for federal workers, the DOJ unmasking ICE critics on Reddit, and Trump wants his face on a $250 bill and the National Mall's horses covered in gold. Nick and Rick cover the week.

Last week the Democratic Party released its official autopsy of the 2024 election. 192 pages. No mention of Gaza. No mention of Biden's age. No mention of the debate. Not once. Nick breaks down what the document actually reveals — not about 2024, but about a Democratic establishment that preaches getting money out of politics while backing Cuomo over Mamdani, that cried about losing young men and then tried to cancel the one media figure reaching millions of them, and that tried to do exactly what MAGA Inc. does — pick winners, freeze out insurgents, enforce conformity — and lost to its own voters every time. Cassidy is gone. Massie is gone. Cornyn is gone today. Trump's machine works because it's aligned with its base. The Democratic establishment keeps failing for the same reason: it isn't.

Nick and Rick break down a chaotic week in American politics. They open on Trump's revenge tour: Trump-endorsed Ed Gallrein ousted Thomas Massie in the most expensive House primary in history ($32 million spent), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth campaigned in-district against Massie in apparent violation of the Hatch Act, and Trump endorsed Ken Paxton over John Cornyn in the Texas Senate runoff. Then to the GOP response to Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund: Mitch McConnell called it "utterly stupid, morally wrong," Tillis called it "beyond the pale," Capitol Police officers sued to block it, and Senate Republicans went home for Memorial Day without passing the ICE funding bill — meaning Trump's own slush fund killed his own immigration agenda. Plus DNI Tulsi Gabbard resigned after contradicting Trump on Iran in sworn testimony — Reuters reported the White House forced her out hours after the official "husband's cancer" announcement. And the DNC autopsy disaster: Chair Ken Martin finally released the 2024 report after months of pressure, then publicly repudiated it in the same statement, fired the author the same day, and revealed the report didn't interview Biden, Harris, Walz, or most top aides — all while the RNC sits on $124 million in cash and the DNC is $17 million in debt. Also covered: Trump and Rubio raised the specter of military intervention in Cuba a day after charging 94-year-old Raúl Castro, and the Treasury subpoenaed Hasan Piker, CodePink's Medea Benjamin, and Ilhan Omar's daughter over their March Cuba trip; USCIS announced foreigners must now leave the US to apply for green cards, reversing 50+ years of policy; Trump claimed a Strait of Hormuz deal is "largely negotiated"; and Mayor Mamdani launched a Twitch show the same week the most prominent socialist on Twitch got federally subpoenaed. We close with Trump skipping Don Jr.'s wedding to Bettina Anderson at Mar-a-Lago, his DC triumphal arch design getting approved, and the AI executive order signing getting postponed because Trump "didn't like certain aspects" — days after his stock disclosure showed heavy AI-adjacent buys.

Trump sued his own government for $10 billion, was about to lose in court, and settled with himself — walking away with a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded fund he controls, a board he can fire, zero court oversight, and his personal IRS audit liability quietly erased on the side. Nick breaks down exactly what the Anti-Weaponization Fund is, who gets the money, who's running it, and why calling it a slush fund isn't a political attack — it's just reading the definition.

Nick and Rick break down a chaotic week in American politics. They open on Trump's two-day state visit to Beijing, where Xi warned that mishandling Taiwan would put the relationship in "great jeopardy" and Trump returned with a vague Iran commitment and a Boeing order — plus Pete Hegseth visibly sweating through the welcome handshake with Xi on Chinese state TV. Then to the quote of the week: Trump told reporters he doesn't think about Americans' financial situation as gas hit $4.50 a gallon and inflation hit a three-year high, and when given the chance to walk it back on Fox News, called it a "perfect statement" he'd make again. Plus Cuba's energy grid collapse: the country has run out of fuel under Trump's blockade, hospitals are suspending surgeries, the largest protests in decades have erupted in Havana, and the DOJ is preparing to indict 94-year-old Raúl Castro the same week the CIA Director made a surprise trip to Havana to demand "meaningful reforms." Also covered: SCOTUS gave Alabama back its previously-struck-down map and refused to save Virginia Democrats', Steve Cohen retired after Tennessee carved up Memphis, Bill Cassidy was ousted in the Louisiana Senate primary by Trump's revenge campaign, Jerome Powell stepped down as Fed Chair after eight years, Trump bought Nvidia stock days before approving its chip sales to China, and Trump is preparing to drop his IRS lawsuit in exchange for a $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded "weaponization" fund to pay January 6 defendants and his political allies. Mayor Mamdani delivered a balanced NYC budget and Newsom balanced California's. We close with the Health Secretary playing with a robotic surgery console mid-operation at the Cleveland Clinic, and the urologist behind a YouTube show called "Erection Connection" now running the federal hantavirus response.

Ten years ago, Nick got laughed out of a grad school seminar for arguing that the U.S. isn’t a fair example of capitalism — by the same logic his classmates used to exempt the USSR from representing socialism. He’s been waiting for the right case study ever since. This week he found it: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and DOGE’s crusader against ‘wasteful’ government spending, built his entire empire on $38 billion in taxpayer money. SpaceX was seeded by NASA. Tesla was saved by a government loan. Its first profitable year was manufactured by government policy. Nick breaks down the numbers, defines the terms people weaponize without understanding, and compares U.S. corporate subsidies to Europe industry by industry. The free market isn’t a principle. It’s a punchline.