The Signorile Report

This is some real Progress, which is of course the name of our channel.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting for equality and helping each other out.

Nick in Michigan called my SiriusXM show this week and, unlike the majority of people who call and say they support Donald Trump, he actually rethought some of his positions, listened to facts and seemed to have a real moment of clarity.

At the very least, he’s going to be thinking some more, which is a good thing. The call focused mostly on Trump’s response to coronavirus, with Nick initially claiming there was a media conspiracy against Trump. But I did lay out some of the details of what Trump has done — and what he said in his own Twitter feed, which is directly from him and not the media. And there seemed to be a breakthrough.

In the past few weeks the Trump supporters who call the show have been fewer and farther between, and they’ve been more sheepish, not so strident, even when they are very disagreeable. But this was an actual rethinking — within a phone call.

Who knows how much it represents many others, but it’s something nice to think about on a holiday weekend. Take a listen and let me know your thoughts.

P.S. I’m off from the show today for the holiday, but we have a great “best of” show. And I’m taking off Monday and Tuesday, but the great Joe Sudbay will be guest-hosting, so listen in!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting for equality and helping each other out.

Mike From Washington claimed that Trump says a lot of “stupid things” but that he doesn’t pay attention to them.

Mike from Washington called my SiriusXM show to respond to Trump having retweeted a video of supporter chanting, “White power!”

Mike said “there’s a lot more to it than what’s really going on” regarding controversies involving Trump, and that he’s a Trump supporter but “I don’t support 100 percent of everything he does.”

He then professed ignorance of Trump’s racism because “I don’t tweet” and “I don’t have a Facebook page. I don’t do any of that stuff.”

When I explained to him that this was a cop out, he decided to then defend Trump’s racism, but again, making like he just was not informed. He asked, in trying to defend the “white power” chant, what about someone chanting, “Black power? That’s not the same?”

Yeah. Completely lame.

Mike then told me about “a very good friend of mine” who is black.

I’ll stop it right there, but there’s a lot more. Listen in. Let me know your thoughts.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

An interview with his husband, David Webster, on the AIDS activist’s life and work

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere.

The pioneering, fiery and life-saving AIDS activist, playwright and author Larry Kramer died on May 27th, leaving us when he was still deeply involved in his work — including pushing Dr. Anthony Fauci on coronavirus and working on a play about the HIV and covid pandemics.

In his first interview since Larry’s death, his husband, the architect David Webster, spoke with me for a one-hour special which I was honored to air on my SiriusXM show. (And by the way, through July 6th you can listen free on your phone or online to the show — 3-6 ET, weekdays —our entire progressive political channel, Progress, and 100+ news, music and entertainment channels, right here, with no credit card or info. Just listen free).

Larry was a friend and mentor — we met in ACT UP back in 1988 — and an enormous inspiration for much of my work as a writer, columnist and author, particularly in those early years.

Here you can listen to the full interview with David Webster, on Larry’s life and work and their relationship. Let me know your thoughts.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

It was the bible photo-up that did it.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere.

Happy Juneteenth to everyone! Let’s learn as much as we can about this day in history that commemorates the end of slavery, educate others and let this day be a wake up call to white America, as Brandon Tensley writes.

I’ve owed you guys this call from the last week to my SiriusXM show — and mentioned the call in a few posts — so here goes.

Mike from Pennsylvania, a hardcore conservative Trumper’s Trumper who has called my show frequently from before Trump’s 2016 election, has flipped on Trump. This is in line with other callers to the show who had friends and neighbors flip, and with other reports we’re seeing, and even in a Michigan poll, pointing to Trump’s bible photo-op, and tear-gassing of protesters, as a breaking point for some Trump supporters.

Why that and not the myriad of other ghastly things Trump has done? It’s horrific enough to me that people stick with Trump, so whenever they have a breaking point it’s good, no matter how it’s hard it is to believe they stuck so long.

Now, Mike still weighed in on defending the police in their actions against protesters — and I had to school him hard on that — but it was quite fascinating that this Trumper’s Trumper has jumped ship on the cult leader.

Will it last? Let’s hope so, but let’s not count on it. Trump is reeling — let’s double down and continue to pummel him until we beat him at the ballot box this November. Listen in to the call, meanwhile, and let me know your thoughts and if you’re hearing similar things.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

He claimed Trump was tough on China, but doesn’t “remember” Trump praising President Xi

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere.

Brian from Massachusetts called into my SiriusXM program on Monday after I remarked that Trump supporters haven’t been calling the show lately to defend Trump. In fact, we’d even recently gotten a call from a hardcore Trumper who’s been calling for years — Mike in Pennsylvania — who said he’d flipped on Trump, who won’t be getting his vote this year. (I’ll post that call shortly.)

This one is even more relevant after the bombshell from John Bolton’s book which reports that Donald Trump pleaded with President Xi Jinping of China to buy farm goods from states Trump needs for his re-election. Brian actually called before the book was obtained by The New York Times and reported on yesterday, a book that now shows Trump asked an adversary to interfere in the election on his behalf — just as he asked Ukraine to do so, and just as he accepted Russia’s help in doing so.

But still, it was fascinating — mind-boggling — that Brian had not known of Trump’s boot-licking of Xi, since Trump must have tweeted air kisses to the Chinese president, and made positive public comments about him, at least 10 times. We now know it was all about trying to get Xi to help him win re-election. This seems to show how Trumpers not only watch Fox News and nothing else for information, but they selectively filter out Trump’s tweets — not “remembering” certain ones while retaining others.

Anyway, listen to the call — it begins with Brian claiming the economy is great, and then veers into his saying Trump can’t be blamed for his coronavirus response because of big, bad China. And let me know your thoughts!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

The “conservative libertarian” admitted he’ d let his mother be pepper-sprayed if they had to “move” her

Trumper Sean from Louisiana called into my SiriusXM show, saying he occasionally listens and is a “conservative libertarian.” And he wanted to clarify, regarding Donald Trump, that “I hate some of things he says,” but Trump hasn’t done “anything fascist.” When given examples, he kind of just sputtered — and lied.

“He didn’t gas anyone — there were smoke grenades and stuff like that,” Sean claimed about the peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park last week, negating the fact that protesters — for the sake of Trump’s photo-op in front of a church with an upside down bible — were hit with pepper spray, a chemical irritant designed to cause pain, and rubber bullets.

After repeated questioning — and after dodging several times — he eventually, pathetically admitted he’d allow his mother to be pepper-sprayed and hit with rubber bullets if she was holding a sign on a street corner and authorities had to “move“ her.

Then he basically threw in the towel, perhaps realizing his arguments were feeble.

It boggles the mind that anyone who calls himself a “libertarian,” who supposedly believes the federal government is too-powerful and should be out of people’s lives, would be fine with the government gassing people, threatening laws to silence the media, and well, a whole slew of other things.

Another nonsensical caller who hadn’t thought things through. Listen in and let me know your thoughts.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

New York State Senator speaks out after being pepper-sprayed, handcuffed and arrested at a protest, as police brutality surged on the 10th night of demonstrations.

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie protested this week at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. His experience, which he shared with me, is vitally important to listen to as we have witnessed 10 nights of protest across the country and as Thursday night saw a wave of violence by police in cities and localities all over America — much of it caught on camera.

The state senator, who represents a district in central Brooklyn among the hardest hit by coronavirus, knew many of the police captains, connected with them at the start of the protest, and wore a bright-colored shirt with his name on.

None of that protected him, however, as an African-American man, from being brutally treated at a peaceful protest — where there was no provocation by protesters — by police who pepper-sprayed him and then handcuffed him as his eyes burned, rendering him unable to do anything about it.

“One of the worst pains in my life,” he told me on my SiriusXM show this week. “I had every credential you would want someone to have. My degrees didn’t save me. My upbringing didn’t save me. My title as an elected official representing 300,000 people didn’t save. So imagine those of us who don’t have any of those things. It would be just as bad — and it is just as bad.”

We discussed what happened, and talked about the police reforms he and other Democrats are trying to get passed in Albany. (Listen to the full interview above; there’s a short clip below as well).

It’s astonishing and frightening that the police across the country have brutalized and beaten protestors into the 10th night of protests, even as they know they are on camera.

In Buffalo, New York, a 75-year-old man simply asking the police a question was thrown to the ground by police, who then walked right by while he lay on the floor bleeding. (The two police offers have been suspended, following outrage that had the mayor speak out for justice.) In Tacoma, Washington, the mayor has called for officers to be fired after a black man was killed while retrained and pleading, like George Floyd, “I can’t breathe!” Indianapolis police are being investigated for horrifically striking a woman with batons.

In Los Angeles, police viciously attacked peaceful protestors with batons, while in New York protestors were thrown to the crowd and arrested.

This is the police state Donald Trump has promoted and emboldened — but it was here long before him.

That police feel empowered to engage in these acts of brutality even after the officers who killed George Floyd were arrested, and even while caught on camera, underscores how brazen many of them are, and how confident they are in engaging in brutality.

It also shows why the protests are so important and why the pressure has to continue until lawmakers create true reform that reins in violent, racist cops.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

He’s worried about his manliness, and believes it’s all a conspiracy and a “scam”

Trump supporter Bill from Illinois called my SiriusXM show this week claiming that he won’t wear a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic —“Thank God Trump is making fun of Joe Biden” for wearing a mask, he said — because he doesn’t want to look “weak.”

I asked what he feels so insecure about, and why his manhood is so threatened by a face-covering to help stop a pandemic. Hilarity ensued as he tried to answer with typical Trump supporter nonsense.

Bill also insisted that mask-wearing is some sort of media conspiracy, I guess meaning that the media is trying emasculate Trump supporters by making them wear masks and look “weak.”

I had to pretty much take him to school.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

Cindy from Austin, Texas called into my SiriusXM program this week to cheerlead for Donald Trump. It was a conversation that exposed the deep denial many Trumpers are in, and also how deeply Trump has drawn them into his perverse cult. She did not get an easy ride from me.

Cindy was triggered to call by hearing criticisms of Trump from a guest on the show. And yet, she had no facts, just adulation — it was not about convincing anyone but herself that Trump is a savior sent by God. She eventually talked about being a Christian, but then devolved into a boilerplate conspiracy about a “coming one-world system.”

And, yes, lots of other Austinites called to say, no, she doesn’t represent those of us who live in Austin.

Please weigh in on this one.

(Just a reminder that if you’re not a SiriusXM subscriber, through May 31 you can listen for free to my SiriusXM show — live each weekday, 3-6 ET — and to a ton of other talk and music channels by downloading the SiriusXM app and streaming on your phone, or you can listen online here. I’m on SiriusXM Progress, channel 127, where you’ll catch all of our great progressive political shows. No credit card info taken or trial, just sign up and listen.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

I interviewed Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an expert on the radical right, about his new book, War For Eternity: Inside Bannon’s of Global Power Brokers, on my SiriusXM show recently. It’s a fascinating discussion, definitely worth a listen.

Many view Bannon as a failed White House advisor who keeps flailing about around the world. Certainly he spins his own web of grandiose ideas and claims, many of them false or overblown.

But Teitelbaum, who extensively interviewed Bannon and his global counterparts influencing authoritarian presidents in Brazil and Russia, explains how Bannon’s previously little known movement of “Traditionalism” — a strange, quasi-religious, philosophical movement — has already had an impact here and in other parts of the world, wreaking havoc. And he believes this will continue whether Donald Trump wins the White House again or not, which is all the more reason to be informed about it. The book is interesting, very detailed and well-reasoned, an important exposé of the underpinnings of the movement. Take a listen, and let me know your thoughts.

(Just a reminder that if you’re not a SiriusXM subscriber, through May 31 you can listen for free to my SiriusXM show — live each weekday, 3-6 ET — and to a ton of other talk and music channels by downloading the SiriusXM app and streaming on your phone, or you can listen online here. I’m on SiriusXM Progress, channel 127, where you’ll catch all of our great progressive political shows. No credit card info taken or trial, just sign up and listen.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe