The Signorile Report

photo: Tyler Merbler, license: CC BY-ND 2.0

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This week I had a discussion on my SiriusXM program about the text messages obtained by Talking Points Memo between 34 GOP members of Congress and Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows in the days after the 2020 election and leading up to January 6th and the attack on the Capitol.

They included a text from South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman calling for Trump to declare “Marshall Law.” He is now facing calls for him to resign, and not because of his misspelling of martial law. Surely a bombshell of a story which all Americans who care about democracy should want to learn about.

That’s when Evan from Texas called the program. He claimed to be a “conservative constitutionalist” who wanted to have a “civil discussion.” But he then followed that with the accusation that I’m “obsessed” with “inflammatory” topics — like the discussion we were having about January 6th.

Not very civil.

He claimed that January 6th was a “terrible thing,” and said “nine out of 10 intellectually honest Republicans” would agree with him. (How many “intellectually honest” Republicans are there again?) Thus, we should just move on and talk about other issues — like “the border.” He then admitted that, even though he didn’t believe the 2020 election was stolen, he still voted for election deniers.

He got really mad, by the way. Listen in and see if you can make sense of out. And let me know your thoughts!

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PHOTO: PHILIP FRIEDMAN; PEACOCK

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On my SiriusXM program, I spoke with the enormously impactful Soledad O’Brien, the award-winning journalist and executive producer whose illuminating documentary, “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks,” is currently streaming on Peacock. The film challenges the narrative about the civil rights icon, and corrects the historical record in a way that echos so much of Soledad’s work in righting the wrongs of journalism.

Rosa Parks is ensconced in the American imagination as a middle-aged seamstress who somehow got caught up in the civil rights movement when she just was tired and wanted to sit down on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. In fact, Parks was deeply involved in activism, a radical Black liberationist in the mold of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. The documentary uncovers so much, including how Parks and other women in the movement didn’t get credit for the work they did, and is a must-watch.

Soledad and I spoke about the documentary, how she came to it and what Rosa Parks means. And, having been an anchor at CNN for many years, as well as having worked at NBC and MSNBC for years before that, Soledad discussed her work then and how the industry has changed.

She also offered her relentlessly on-target critique of the terrible political coverage by corporate media today — both of President Biden and Democrats, and Donald Trump and Republicans. Many of you know Soledad’s criticisms well if you follow her on social media, where she has over 1.3 million followers on Twitter.

This was a terrific conversation, and I was glad to get a chance to speak on air with Soledad, as we’d been planning to do it on the show for a long time. 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

This is part of an ongoing series focusing on Democratic candidates I’m interviewing on my SiriusXM show as Democrats fight to keep the House and Senate, and even gain seats, in the 2022 midterms. (Read some other recent entries here, here and here.)

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

This is another one of those races that could decide the House, as Democrat Christy Smith, a former member of the California Assembly, is taking on Republican Mike Garcia for a third time.

The first race between them was in a special election after Democrat Katie Hobbs — who took the seat from far right-winger Steve Knight in the 2018 blue wave — resigned in 2019. Garcia pulled it out in the special election in early 2020, and then in the 2020 November election, he won by just 333 votes.

Redistricting has benefitted Smith, as the the newly-created 27th Congressional district now includes part of Los Angeles County.

Garcia has shown complete allegiance to Donald Trump, voting to overturn the 2020 election. He voted against supporting the Capitol Police, against the Inflation Reduction Act, and against codifying access to contraception into law. And he supported the “Life at Conception” Act, showing he’s an extremist on abortion.

That has made Garcia vulnerable but as an incumbent he has an advantage. The race is close but Smith is feeling the energy on the ground.

Smith speaks forcefully on reproductive rights and transitioning to green energy, as well as on economic policies to bring down the cost of living and battle inflation. In an interview on my SiriusXM program she also laid out her ideas on defending LGBTQ rights and voting rights, fighting attacks on immigrants, and preserving democracy.

Listen in and make sure to check out her website where you can help her in this important race.

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

This is part of an ongoing series focusing on Democratic candidates I’m interviewing on my SiriusXM show as Democrats fight to keep the House and Senate, and even gain seats, in the 2022 midterms. (Read some other recent entries here, here and here.)

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

Democrat Robert Zimmerman is running for an open U.S. House seat in New York’s 3rd Congressional district, a seat currently held by retiring Democrat Tom Suozzi in northern Nassau County on Long Island, and, after redistricting, parts of the borough of Queens in New York City.

It’s vital that Democrats keep this seat blue, but the race has been close in what’s considered a suburban swing district. A September poll has the race neck and neck, while the Cook Political Report rated it leaning Democratic, which means Zimmerman is perceived as having an edge but that it’s competitive.

Zimmerman grew up on Long Island, and is a long-time fighter for progressive values, working in movements for justice — from labor rights to anti-war protests — and working as an aide to members of Congress, as a Democratic strategist and as a TV commentator.

And he’s openly gay. As noted on his website, where you can check out more about him:

Robert, like many other closeted gay young men, struggled to find his voice. Coming of age in the suburbs was a lonely and isolating place. A trusted educator even once assured him there were doctors who could “make you well.” Conversion therapy was never an option, but the notion of “not being well” was tough to shake and helped Robert find his voice. He began to use it for others that society marginalized, left out, and refused to recognize.

Like so many, Robert joined arms to protest oppressive wars, march for civil rights, demand social and environmental justice, and advocate for causes that mattered to the community.

His opponent, Republican George Santos, is also openly gay, and the race has been noteworthy because it’s the first time two gay men face off for a House race.

But that’s where the commonality stops, as Santos is complete and total MAGA. He’s a Big Lie-promoting extremist who actually praised the January 6th insurrectionists, cheered the Supreme Court in “correctly” overturning Roe v. Wade and defends Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Yep, a gay man supporting a heinous law demonizing his own kind. You can watch his video on Facebook to see if for yourself. This is the most grotesque kind of self-loathing we’ve seen — and someone like this should not be anywhere near the levers of political power.

Listen to the interview with Robert Zimmerman to hear about the work he’s done and what he’d do if elected, as well as about the dangers of his opponent. And check out his website, where you can also help out in this close race.

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

This is part of an on-going series focusing on Democratic candidates I’m interviewing on my SiriusXM show as Democrats fight to keep the House and Senate, and even gain seats, in the 2022 midterms.

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

Annette Taddeo is a Florida state lawmaker who’s fought hard against the GOP’s radical agenda, standing up for immigrants, LGBTQ rights and abortion rights. She’s running for Congress in Florida’s 27th Congressional district, which is located entirely within Miami-Dade County.

Taddeo is the daughter of a Columbian mother and an American father who was a World War II fighter pilot, and she grew up in Columbia before her family fled to the U.S. when she was 17. Taddeo became the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida State Senate in Florida history when she flipped a Senate seat held by a Republican in 2017.

Florida’s 27th Congressional district is a true swing district: Hillary Clinton took the district in 2016, but Republican Ileana Ross-Lehtinen kept her seat. In 2018, Democrat Donna Shalala won the seat in the blue wave, but in 2020 Republican Maria Eliva Salazar beat Shalala, even though Joe Biden won the district.

Now Taddeo is running neck-and-neck with Salazar in recent polls.

In a close mid-term election in which no one knows anything about what will happen, as the polls are so tight, this could be one of those seats that help Democrats keep the House.

Taddeo is passionate about politics and connects with voters in a way that is genuine. She spoke with me on my SiriusXM program about the issues she’s running on and how her opponent is enabling the extremist GOP agenda.

Listen to the interview above, and check out her site where you can learn more about her.

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

This is part of an on-going series focusing on Democratic candidates I’m interviewing on my SiriusXM show as Democrats fight to keep the House and Senate, and even gain seats, in the 2022 midterms.

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

In Montana’s 1st Congressional District, a newly-recreated district that encompasses a third of Western Montana, including several liberal college towns, Moncia Tranel could beat Donald Trump’s former interior secretary and scandal-plagued grifter Ryan Zinke.

A recent poll showed the race tied. Tranel has burnished her reputation fighting on behalf of the people of Montana as an environmental attorney taking on Big Oil, corporate monopolies and utility companies, while also standing up for the rights for Native peoples.

Zinke, a former at-large House member from Montana, served as Trump’s Secretary of the Interior but resigned in January 2019 in the midst of a blizzard of ethics investigations, including using government aircraft for private travel and spending $139,000 on his office doors. Reports released this year by the Inspector General’s Office found Zinke lied to investigators.

Political analysts, who for a long time said Zinke was the strong favorite to win, have moved their projection of the race toward the Democrats — showing they truly don’t know what will happen and are engaging in some CYA. Per the Daily Montanan:

A poll commissioned and released earlier this month by the Big Sky Voters PAC showed Zinke with a 41 percent lead to Tranel’s 40 percent, Lamb’s 8 percent, with 11 percent undecided. The poll of 840 interviews was conducted by Victoria Research, which counts Democratic organizations and candidates as clients, and it noted a 3.4 percent margin of error, according to a memo from the firm.

It also said Zinke had a 49 percent unfavorable rating and 41 percent favorable rating; it said Tranel had a 37 percent favorable rating and 32 percent unfavorable rating, with an opportunity to still introduce herself to 31 percent of voters.

“Zinke is underperforming the general partisan leaning of this district significantly,” said the memo from Victoria Research. “Voters in the survey say they prefer a generic Republican candidate over a Democratic one by five points: 47 percent to 42 percent.”

I interviewed Tranel last week on my SiriusXM show and she exhibited the reasons why she’s been able to close the gap, speaking clearly about her agenda and why she’s a theat to Zinke and the GP.

You can check her out here and help out if you can. And you can listen to the full interview above. Let us 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

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

In a discussion on my SiriusXM show about the Hershel Walker denying he paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion, Billy from Oklahoma called in to defend Walker.

He demanded to see the proof that Walker had a child with the same woman as well, a fact that the woman reported days after Walker denied paying for the abortion.

The only problem with that is that Walker admitted he did have a child with the woman — just not the abortion.

In fact, Walker has admitted to being the father of all the children who’ve surfaced who are reported to be his children.

So then Billy tried to shift it to the abortion, and the proof of it — which Walker does deny — but there’s the receipt from the abortion clinic and Walker’s personal check to the woman a few days after.

Walker first denied sending the check, but on NBC this week when it was presented to him, he acknowledged it was his check — after first questioning it. But, he said, it didn’t prove anything because it’s not unusual for him to send the woman money because she’s the mother of his child.

The problem with that is that he had the child with the woman years after the abortion.

But back to Billy, the caller to my show. He was an example of how Walker is even making it difficult for his supporters defend him. Even as I explained it all to him, he still couldn’t wrap his head around what I was saying, and was still asking for proof of that Walker fathered the child.

I think you’ll find this one quite amusing, though it’s awfully sad.

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

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

In a discussion on my SiriusXM show about John Stewart’s masterful take down of the Arkansas attorney general on the state’s banning of gender affirming care for young people who identify as transgender — which you have to see if you haven’t watched it —a woman named Katherine called my show from Florida.

The tip-off that Katherine was a fraud came when he told our producer she didn’t understand why there was so much attention on this issue, since we’re talking about such a small percentage of the population, and she wanted to discuss that.

But then when she got on the air, she hijacked the discussion, going into a whole other direction. Katherine said she used to agree with me but that after watching “TikTok videos,” she was afraid that kids today would feel pressured to believe they’re transgender. This is the right-wing lie that tries to take advantage of the fact that there’s more affirmation and acceptance for the those kids who are trans and who can now come out as trans.

Katherine claimed, however, that she was a “straight up tomboy” as a child and that in today’s world she’d think she was trans. This is silly, as no one can make you transgender no matter how you express your gender. Just as no one can make you gay, lesbian or bisexual — or heterosexual — if you are not.

So I asked Katherine if in fact she thought she was a lesbian when she was a kid since she was a “tomboy” and, in her time, that was coded as “lesbian” — and surely if she were a tomboy people called her a lesbian or a “dyke” or queer or whatever, since that’s how kids bully other kids.

It all escalated really, really quickly — and you can criticize me for getting too hot — as I just will not allow people to spread lies, especially after they used deception to get on the show, and I demand they answer questions.

She refused to answer the question and I had to shut her down — until finally she did answer. And no, she said, she didn’t think she was lesbian. And the reason is — she’s not a lesbian. (I wonder if she really was a “tomboy,” by the way, or if the whole thing was a fraud.) You can’t make someone a lesbian just because you tell them they are, or they appear to be, just as you can’t make someone transgender.

No one is encouraging kids to be transgender. The world is simply more open to accepting those who are — something that appears to threaten a lot of people. It’s true that some young people, as they feel out expressing their gender, might question if they are gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender, and determine that they’re not. So what? Why can’t we let kids think about possibilities and conclude on our own?

There is no surgery or hormone or other physical treatments offered to children (or even most teens, except for puberty blockers), as those decisions are made when they are older. It’s true that there have been a small percentage of people who, as adults, have found that transitioning wasn’t right for them. But just because of that small percentage it doesn’t mean you condemn or stop others from becoming themselves and leading full and productive lives.

Let people make their own decisions. And let parents, informed and led by medical professionals, make decisions with their children.

Again, I warn you again — I went hard on this one, and feel free to say I was too harsh. I explained after the call here, that part of the reason was because she deceived us.

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

This is part of an on-going series focusing on Democratic candidates I’m interviewing on my SiriusXM show as Democrats fight to keep the House and Senate, and even gain seats, in the 2022 midterms.

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

When a poll last week revealed that Democrat Adam Frisch is in a statistical tie with GOP House eletion denier and QAnon cultist Lauren Boebert it created a frenzy among progressives and all Americans who stand up against the extremism.

Former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch’s campaign commissioned the survey that showed him trailing Boebert by just 2 percentage points. Forty-seven percent of those polled in the Keating Research survey of 500 likely 3rd District voters said they would vote for Boebert, while 45% said they’d back Frisch. Seven percent of those polled said they were undecided.

As Frisch explained in an interview with me on my SiriusXM program this week, he commissioned the poll precisely so that he could go to donors, big and small, and the make the case that he can defeat Boebert, who has promoted hate on social media, has mocked school shooting victims, and has gotten no legislation passed.

Frisch said he looked at the election results of others in the House’s extremist caucus in their 2020 elections and saw an interesting difference.

“Our district is about 25%, 31 % Republican and 43% unaffiliated,” he explained. “I looked at Marjorie Tayler Greene, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, all of these kind of extremists on the right. And you see that they all had 65% to 75% wins in their general election in 2020. And Lauren Boebert only had 51% of the vote in 2020. She did not win her home county. Those who know her best do not care for her — and a lot more people know her now than before.”

He believes he’s building a coalition with Democrats, independents and some Republicans, and is hearing from Republicans he says want to see Boebert defeated. Even Boebert’s GOP primary opponent has now endorsed Frisch.

Frisch and I had a discussion about Frisch’s background in politics in Colorado, and his positions on the issues energizing voters. The son of an OBGYN who worked with Planned Parenthood and lived with bomb threats, the issue of abortion access is enormously important to Frisch.

“ Since [the] Kansas [referendum on abortion] we’ve seen a huge uptick in voter registration, he said.

Boebert seems to be afraid of that momentum and of the independent poll that Frisch commissioned.

“She’s scared,” he said. “Up until a few weeks ago, she was proudly presenting her travel schedule to go visit Sarah Palin in Alaska. She was rallying for some young Trumper up in New Hampshire…{She attended] extremist rallies outside of our district. Now, in the past four or five days, she actually has been canceling her out of state travel. She is going on tour. She tried to submit a serious tweet where she wasn’t yelling and screaming.”

Listen to the full interview above, and go and check out Adam Frisch’s website to read more and help him out. Surely. beating Boebert would be a great service to America.

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

If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

This one is an example of how deep in the cult so many of these Trumpers are — to the point where they contradict themselves literally within the same sentence — and have sort of calmly accepted giving themselves over to an authoritarian.

Debbie from Connecticut called my show after I played clips from Washington DC Metro Police Office Michael Fanone, who was brutally attacked by the MAGA mob of insurrectionists on January 6th. At the sentencing of the thug, Kyle Young, an IVAC worker from Iowa who pleaded guilty to assaulting Fanone — which included stunning Fanone with a stun gun — Young’s mother apologized in court.

But after Young was sentenced to seven years in prison, his mother called Fanone, a “piece of s**t.” He relayed this to Don Lemon on CNN, and Debbie called to respond to it.

The gist of what she wanted to say was: a) we’re not all like that — even though she still supports Trump and his movement and; b) I didn’t hear this or that fact (such as that Trump wants to pardon the insurrectionists).

That’s pretty basic for Trump supporters — ignorance in bliss. What was more scary about Debbie, however, was that she wan’t belligerent or nasty, but rather robotic yet slightly perky, like she was in a hypnotic trance.

And there was absolutely no way to speak with her rationally because she believed all facts were “opinions.” She contradicted herself on a statement before she even finished making the statement. None of it made any sense, but she just wanted us to accept that and just chill.

Honestly, you have to listen to this one, as describing it is both not easy and won’t do it justice.

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