The State of the Union Is Long

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[01:46] Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Dan Pfeiffer. I'm Jon Lovett. Tommy Vitor. [01:50] Alright guys, we are recording this at about 10pm Pacific [01:54] Uh, after enduring a speech that will go down in history as the longest State of the Union ever delivered by a president. One hour and 47 minutes. Congrats to Donald Trump on beating the previous record holder, also Donald Trump. We're going to get into all the gory details, but let's start with some, uh... [02:10] Some general reactions. What'd you guys think? [02:13] dan speech was a crime yeah it's a speech crime it was a rhetorical crime political crime [02:20] Just... [02:21] - Really stole people's time. - Yeah. - Time crime. - A time crime. - Pre-crime. - Yeah. - Yeah, it was mostly long and forgettable, was kind of my takeaway. Like, he tried to heighten the drama. He did something innovative. Instead of recognizing people in the audience, just having them stand up, he had them enter the chamber. [02:37] I actually thought that was kind of it. That's a great way to get the record if you're trying to have the longest speech ever. Yeah, that's true. It's not a bad touch. I was genuinely surprised you didn't go harder at the Supreme Court justices. [02:45] Yeah. Showed a little discipline there. Yeah. I figured they would, I figured Susie Wiles would keep him on, keep a shot call around on that one. It went so long that we were on Jimmy Kimmel. [02:56] And they had to just do the show while the speech was still going. So we didn't even see the end. [03:03] And we're better for it. And honestly, we didn't miss anything. [03:07] Honestly, if we had gone 40 minutes before it ended, we probably wouldn't have missed anything. I don't really get what he was trying to do here, other than set the record for the longest speech. [03:14] Well, so the first 30-40 minutes was like basically Trump hosting his own award show. There was a combo of that. So he's given out awards to everyone. He's also honoring himself, of course, by just like bragging about the country and the economy and everything like that. Let's listen to how the beginning went.

[03:37] The President: People are asking me, please, please, please, Mr. President, we're winning too much. We can't take it anymore. We're not used to winning in our country. [03:46] Until you came along, we're just always losing, but now we're winning too much. [03:52] And I say, no, no, no, you're going to win again. [03:55] You're going to win big. You're going to win bigger than ever. And to prove that point, to prove that point, here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The men's gold medal Olympic hockey team. Come on in. Getting a better microphone. You know... [04:17] He's complained so many times about his mics at different events, and this is the worst one he's ever had. [04:24] Anyway, that was a nice moment for the men's hockey team, I think. - It was a nice way out of his rambling, we're winning too much thing that he's been doing since 2017, basically. - He's brought it back recently. [04:35] Yeah. Because we're winning again? Yeah. Do you think that was, do you think the winning message is, I mean, that was a sample of it. That was the most ridiculous part before he brought up the hockey team. But that first 15 minutes was just straight, like, everything is amazing. [04:49] Yeah, the warmed over old lines, like we're winning so much. People are upset how much we're winning and watching Mike Johnson and J.D. Vance cackle behind. Chortling. So funny. This charming, charming man. I can't stop myself from being so entertained was a bit much because it is still, you know,

[05:09] We're a decade into this and it's still an embarrassment to have Donald Trump up there, you know, shouting and cavorting with these people and using his usual lines to great effect among Republicans who can't get enough. Watching them applaud things that a few years ago that if a Democrat had proposed, they would say was an attack on the very foundations of the country, etc. [05:30] I mean, [05:31] The speech is fucking insane. Yeah. It just... [05:34] Any person who knows anything about politics would have said, here's what you're supposed to do. [05:39] The American people are unhappy. 60% of them think the country was better off when Joe Biden was president. [05:45] Three quarters of them think the economy sucks. [05:48] 50% of them think your policies have made their economic situation worse. 50% of them think they're [05:54] Prices have gone up under you. [05:56] 60% of them hate your tariffs. [05:59] and so when you go in don't like your immigration policy we haven't even gotten to that yet right so this is just the beginning is a [06:04] Any speech has to deal with the reality on the ground. And you have to acknowledge that reality and pivot. In no speech, even the State of the Union changes the trajectory of any presidency, but [06:15] This is the easiest moment a president has in their presidency. Not for the speechwriters. But from a pure communications perspective, it is a fucking layup. You get a guaranteed applause. You get guaranteed coverage. The press covers it straight no matter how insane the speech is. And it's where presidents have... [06:32] demonstrated the political pivot they have to make after when their approval rating is in the high 30s, like Trump says. Right. It is when Bill Clinton said the Arabic government's over. It's what when Obama sort of pivoted towards like more ardent populism in 2012, sort of in response to Occupy Wall Street and prepare to run against Romney. And he did none of those things. He doubled and tripled down on the exact things that have made him this unpopular. Like it really is a speech he gave for himself, written by people only trying to please him and trying to do nothing to actually help Republicans on the ballot.

[07:02] I think I would have been surprised, Tommy, [07:04] He hadn't done that because like I couldn't imagine a speech where he was actually like, I'm going to acknowledge people's pain. Well, no, I mean, you got to do it in the most Trumpian way possible, but you could at least dial the rhetoric back. You can't say it's a historic turnaround. You can't spend 90 seconds touting all the prices, saying all these prices have gone down when they have not. [07:22] Yeah. Right. Like there is a like there's the way a normal smart person would do the speech and there's way Trump would do it. And even in that by in Trumpian terms, he did it worse than I even possibly imagined. [07:52] down when he started screaming that we're winning. Now, then the hockey team comes out. So I think you sort of forget that moment. There was some controversy today about the men's hockey team being there. I think we should talk about it for a second because we were pretty hot out of the gate criticizing FBI Director Cash Patel for burning money to fly over to the Olympics. And then when Trump called the players when they're in the locker room after the game and Cash Patel patched them in, he made some shitty comment about the women's team being like, well, [08:22] is like weird, you know, sexist old man humor. That's like lame and condescending. And also once again shows that he doesn't know shit about sports because the women's hockey team is way better. They have historically have won a lot more titles, but I've seen a lot of people criticizing the players. And I just, I think it's unfair because they're representing the United States. Like it's inherently a political job they're having this moment. Like politicians will try to use you for political purposes. Um, I don't know their political views. I don't really care.

[08:52] not take his call or to reject an invitation to the White House. Like, go if you want to go, don't if you don't. But it's like, they're not the bad guys here. It's that douchebag Kash Patel for, like, crashing their party. Well, I mean, they did. [09:03] It is their choice to go. [09:04] I understand going, being invited, and they are in a difficult situation. Anybody representing America right now is in a difficult situation because the country is represented by an embarrassing, cruel maniac. But when you choose to go in the way that they went, it is unavoidable that they were part of a show that Donald Trump put on. They were the punchline to him saying the country was winning. They were used by Donald Trump. And they can be okay with that. They can be uncomfortable with that and not be willing or interested in being involved in politics the [09:34] those men were all used by Donald Trump for political purposes. If they're okay with that, they don't have to say anything. They're free to do whatever they want, but they also could say, it sucks, of course. They don't pick the president, right? They make the team, they work their whole lives to make the Olympics. They go to this game, they win the gold medal. They should be celebrated by our country, by our government. I get what you're saying. I hear you, but I just think it sucks that the fucking onus is on them to be decent human beings. Yeah. I think that we, it's sometimes hard to realize that, uh, [10:01] Not everyone is political junkies like we are and also like feel the urgency of how bad the Donald Trump presidency is, even though like most of the country isn't happy with Donald Trump. They don't necessarily they aren't necessarily unhappy with him the way we are unhappy with them or anyone who is listening to this unhappy with them. And I think our our job is to make sure that people understand the emergency. But like if they don't, because they're hockey players and they've been focusing on hockey for the last couple of years and they're just kids at this point, like, OK, they went away.

[10:31] - Credit to the women's team. - And also it's awesome, so they won. - No, they didn't go, so that's definitely different tech. - Right, but like, yeah, I mean, I guess it's sort of, what are the responsibilities individuals have? I agree it's unfair that they're in that position, but it would be good to hear what people think, having been used as a tool by Donald Trump, are they happy with that, are they okay with that? Like, all of us have an obligation, even if it's unfair. [10:50] I really do feel that way about it. The women's team seem to know that they would rather not go and rather spend the time with Flavor Flav. - Yeah, well I guess a couple of them, a couple of the men didn't go. - A couple of the men didn't go. I'm pretty much on that, like if you don't want to go, don't go. - If you don't want to go, don't go. - And don't get criticized. - But like, the Olympics are in the United States in 2028. Every single Olympian is gonna have this problem. Or are they all gonna boycott? Like, I just don't think it's terrible. - I don't think they should boycott, but I also find with intending, I just wonder like, [11:12] Are you going to say how you feel now that you've been used? That's all. What do you feel about this? Tell us. [11:18] I do think it raises, though, sort of a larger issue about the speech, which is it felt like... Great segue. Yeah. [11:24] I wasn't even going to segue into what we're supposed to segue into, but I was just been thinking about this. It does feel like it took place in a different reality. These speeches and his speeches now are still covered like a normal speech. It's like we're clapping. The people in the panel are like, did he do his job and all this kind of stuff? And you're like, OK. He is giving this speech at a time when he is about to launch an illegal war after launching previous illegal military action.

[11:54] taxes, the tariffs that the Supreme Court have now invalidated, that are also helping pay for, I don't know, at least, I don't know if it's illegal, but at least a lawless paramilitary force that is rampaging through the streets, has killed two Americans, didn't hear anything about that, and has like locked up hundreds of people in basically internment camps. Like this is, and meanwhile, the president's like getting rich the whole time and tried to arrest several of the people sitting in that chamber. [12:20] just for, you know, and it is a weird thing to cover this, to talk about this, to analyze this just as a speech. Yeah, it pulls you towards a normalcy that... [12:32] should be very uncomfortable in this moment. Like we were watching on CNN, and they're doing this, they were covering it the exact same way they covered Obama's speeches, Biden's speeches, George W. Bush's speeches, where it's like, [12:42] Who's high-fiving the president? Who's getting a selfie with the president? Look at this person who's in a tough election talking to the president. And it's just – like I understand. Like I don't know what else you do. We're doing a little bit right now. I mean this goes back to – this is why I thought about it with the hockey team too because it's like you make a decision in the moment. You go and like we cover it and we do it and people talk about it on the panel. And it's like we're all just living through this. We're living the reality that we're living in. Yeah. By the same token – [13:03] The conservatives were critical of Americans who were abroad in the part of the Olympics saying that they felt shame or embarrassment while being proud to be American. And of course, why are the Republicans saying that? They're saying that because they want everyone to treat this like normal. Of course. They don't want to feel the shame and guilt that on their hearts they know they should feel for being part of this. Right. Like this is the the watching this all unfold. I think part of what you're getting at is.

[13:26] Republicans right now are like uniquely unsuited [13:29] to like speak to the actual harm that he's doing, the actual pain that people are feeling, A, because Donald Trump simply cannot admit fault, and B, you feel a bunch of people that are all in a bubble of information, right? Trump is in a bubble. These Republicans are in a bubble. They're all applauding each other, celebrating each other. These are people that have inoculated themselves against reality, in part because it is necessary in order to support someone like Donald Trump. [13:57] Pots of America is brought to you by Helix. As you guys know, it is February is the darkest, gloomiest days of winter, which means you're probably spending a little more time inside. You are probably lingering in your bed a little longer, maybe watching some Netflix from the comfort of your bedroom, which is why you need the most comfortable mattress money can buy. That's where Helix comes in. Helix is the most awarded mattress brand. Tested and reviewed by experts like Forbes and Wired, Helix offers a variety of mattresses designed to fit your sleep [14:27] mattress works best for you and your body, you can take the Helix sleep quiz. It matches you with the perfect mattress based on your personal preferences, making it easy to find a mattress that suits your sleep needs. And it's one of a bunch of awards. Helix is the most awarded mattress brand. Helix will deliver your mattress right to your door with free shipping in the US. The Happy with Helix guarantee offers a risk-free customer-first experience designed to ensure you're completely satisfied with your new mattress. You can rest easy with seamless returns

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[17:49] - So, you know, the most important political task that, if you want to call it a political, was to tell the American people that he does know the economy isn't improving quickly enough, to lay out exactly how he plans to bring down costs. Here's what that sounded like. - The roaring economy is roaring like never before. Now the same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters [18:12] Suddenly use the word affordability, a word. [18:15] They just used it. Somebody gave it to them. They knew their statements were a lie. They knew it. [18:21] They knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices, [18:28] Our policies are rapidly ending them. We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downwards. We want homes for people, not for corporations. Corporations are doing just fine. Ray Sal, thank you very much. Good luck with your home. You'll get one soon. Good luck with your home. You'll get one soon. So I noted that he talked about economic accomplishments, made up a bunch of statistics, lies about the economy, all that kind of stuff. [18:58] any kind of economic policy proposal, any action he was going to take or policy he wanted, you know, turned into a law, was at 9:50 p.m. What do you think? Did he move the needle there on the econ stuff, Dan? No, I mean, he moved it backwards, right? It just... [19:16] I hate to harp on it, but this is the perspective I look at is that he's a president.

[19:20] with a party [19:22] controlling both houses of Congress in the midterm, where the economy is the number one issue, and he did the exact opposite thing anyone on the ballot would want. You just cannot, like, we saw this when we worked for Obama. If you go up there and you tell people the economy is great when they know it's not, you are sticking a thumb in their eye. It is why his approval rating sucks right now. Yeah, I will say, like, he does then, the speech is just a kind of, a matter of craftsmanship, just terrible, meanders incredibly long for its own sake. It takes a minute 50 to get to these [19:52] I do think, I imagine when you look at the dials, you will see that the populist economic policies is actually put forward, not letting corporations buy houses so that people can buy them, the Trump accounts, like no tax on tips, no tax on overtime. Those are all things that I think [20:12] a more disciplined administration, administration that really did try to do the actual economic populism that we were afraid Trump would do from the beginning, that didn't do the big, beautiful bill that cut taxes for the wealthy and sort of gave everybody else mostly nothing. Like that is the worrying version of Trump. [20:27] Trump to me, but I just think the fact that he can't get there till minute 50 and will not now spend the next two weeks hammering it will go do various Events in which he talks about the random things on his mind while posting true socials about Adam Schiff is why like ultimately doesn't matter I think in this case they made the same classic mistake that I [20:45] bad political operatives make with pulling information all the time was they tested these they tested these number these policies these policies all tested to the roof i guarantee it democrats republicans people want something to do on and we should just go through like something on housing that you mentioned he wants people want him to do something on prescription drugs so he's made up a bunch of shit that he's done on prescription drugs that isn't really true and that he isn't going to do um he also talked about he he got agreements from ai companies to maybe defray some of the costs of the data centers power the energy electricity like yeah

[21:15] Okay. Good luck. Good luck waiting for your electricity bill to go down on that one. But so, yeah, I'm sure those are the things that I'll pull. But this is that you policies don't happen in a vacuum. [21:24] Policies are connected to the person who proposes the policies. And the person who proposes the policy tells you that this is the greatest economy in history. And all your prices have come down. When you know none of those things are true, you're not going to believe he's going to do those things. [21:36] Yeah. Tommy, our friends at Politico, you know what the big headline is? No. The blaring headline across the top of the page. Don't trigger me right now. It's late. It's Trump sticks to the script. Republicans needed the president to sell their message to kick off the midterms. [21:48] They're breathing a sigh of relief. Get the fuck out of here. That can't be real. That cannot be real. And then the headline underneath it, Trump allies relieved he's sticking to the script. [21:58] But do see warning signs. One Republican strategist that got on background said, I wish we had more detailed steps to take. Yes, because there are no steps to take. Also, sticking to a shitty script is not something you're proud of. That is what it is. He stuck to the script, guys. Who are the authors of that piece? You know what? No one put their name on it. Well, the political lie of no one put their name on. But the actual piece, it's a Dasher Burns. It's a Dasher Burns joint. [22:23] - Okay. - I just think we're at the point where, uh, it's a good night for Republicans when the president doesn't call for the public execution of members of the Supreme Court who are in his presence. Like, that's where the bar is. - Yeah. - But honestly, I like, I had the same reaction watching. I was like, oh, he was surprisingly disciplined in that he didn't like try to kill Amy Coney Barrett or whatever. It's like- - Didn't throw his feces at John Roberts. - If you walk up there and you read the script to like Battlefield Earth or something, like, I don't think it's a win. - Right. It's also a script where he says the only way Democrats can win elections if they cheat, where he points it, by the way, off script, he points it like, these people are crazy. - They suck. - They ruin the country. They're just

[22:53] destroying the country. [22:55] Yeah, we'll get to that. So on the econ stuff, he he's suddenly on board with the stock trading ban and called out Nancy Pelosi. And what I thought I assume they all thought was a really clever move. We do remember when Donald Trump was against the stock trading ban, when when Josh Hawley was on board with it and was going to vote with the Democrats. And then Trump posted that that Hawley was just being a pawn for the Democrats and he was being used by them and he came out against it. Now he's on the stock trading ban. Yeah. [23:24] - He almost. - Wow. And you know what? Trump was smart. He got Hawley to not do it. Then Trump becomes the most corrupt president history, makes more money they could ever imagine. Now he's gonna fuck all these Congress people over who are trying to get their beaks wet. And he'll get the credit. - Yeah. - Great move by him, actually. - They should ban stock trading. They should ban buying and selling crypto or owning crypto companies. They should ban Kalshi as a service, or betting on Kalshi if you work in the U.S. government in any capacity. Like, great, do it. [23:50] Like we've been talking about this for decades now. Also, Trump has control of the House and the Senate. Right. Do what we're waiting for. Yeah. It's not Nancy Pelosi's fault. I'm sure all these. Yeah. I'm sure all these like testable, but like nothing's going to happen. And then what's going to happen when the midterms roll around and none of the stuff that Trump talked about tonight actually goes into law or actually happens or makes anyone lives and make anyone's lives better. They forget about this tomorrow. On the tariffs, because, you know, he did. He mentioned that he said it was a disappointing decision. [24:14] I said disappointing a couple of times. You could tell he was close to maybe losing it, but he did, he held it together. It is interesting, I think, on the tariffs that he just, you know, he's going full steam on a tax increase. It's insane. It's insane. As we always know, when you're running in a midterm year and people are upset about the economy and they think the costs are too high, you run on a large tax increase. Yeah, I think the fact that they landed on the word unfortunate, which he like hammers, it's unfortunate, it is unfortunate, it's unfortunate.

[24:44] a victory inside of a room where people were trying to get him to be as mild as possible. I wonder part of this too, is he's also convinced himself in the interim that they actually couldn't stop him and he's using tariffs like he did before. And it's not like he feels like he was able to put the tariffs back on. Anyway, the, again, like Republicans being willing to cheer this stuff, although they cheered tariffs less when he's just saying how we're going to make these other countries pay when I think people feel like it is affecting, [25:14] going to them, we now have evidence from these tariffs, that 96% of the costs go to Americans, that is all information people have. So, yeah, he's not, [25:23] He's going down with the tariff ship for sure. I also think he had a choice to make because he was initially acting like the Supreme Court decision is going to destroy the country and the world. And it was the worst thing that ever happened. But that also he still has all the authority to do all the exact same tariffs and they're going to be even better than before. Now they're in stronger legal funding. You can't really do both of those things. That's what I mean. He decided to pick the strength over the weakness. Because he realized it was fun to bitch about the Supreme Court. But that's not where he wanted to land. [25:53] at kind of looking kind of that sort of frozen face and Trump continuing to go on about how much stronger his legal authority will be. Yeah, I'm sure she practiced that. Trump did spend a lot of tonight talking about immigration, which he still thinks is a winning issue for him. There was a lot of secure border talk, a lot of detailed, gruesome accounts of Americans who've been killed by immigrants. And then it got even darker. [26:12] "We'll balance our budget. The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness

[26:24] are the norm, not the exception. [26:26] importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders. [26:31] brings those problems right here to the USA [26:34] And it is the American people who pay the price and higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent. [26:41] taxes, and perhaps most importantly, crime. [26:44] We will take care of this problem. We're going to take care of this problem. We are not playing games. So, Tommy, it's obviously gross and dishonest, but do you think that even works for him? Yeah, I mean, like, it has become standard issue... [26:57] Um... [26:58] That there is always a section where he like narrates a series of grisly crimes and then they cut to some poor person whose life was just decimated by these actions. And I like I guess I have TDS, but it's grotesque to me. I also found like the unbelievably racist attacks in the Somali community to be grotesque and dehumanizing. And like just like you were saying, like not meeting the moment of the things people are worried about. Like he starts the immigration section by saying not a single undocumented person has gotten into the country. So why are you still focused on it? [27:28] We're all mad about the economy, not this. [27:30] Good. [27:31] Yeah, also, um, pirates operate on the water. [27:36] Well, a little throwback, you know. Right, but sort of the, can't be, not really a pirate. I think he saw the movie. I do think, Dan, that he, the way they constructed the speech was they knew that to the extent that anyone outside of Trump fans and Trump supporters were watching the speech, they're watching the beginning.

[27:56] The first 30 minutes, maybe the first hour. And so the first 30 minutes is like the award show where it's hard to at least disagree with him. He's not going to say anything too partisan. He's going to tell a lot of lies, but he's not going to say anything too partisan. Then as it got into later in the speech, that's when he started... [28:12] the dark immigration stuff, the Democrats. This is like a juice in the base, you know, who's the people who are still hanging on at our. - Yeah, I think that presupposes a little more strategy than they brought to the table here, but you are correct in how it was structured. And you will, everyone always starts with the economy. Like that is the standard way of doing it. Normally you get to it like a minute five. [28:30] Not Minute 55, but teach their own. I think from a... [28:34] like one thing from a political perspective is Trump is living in a 2024 reality, not a 2026 reality. [28:41] He's talking about the border. He's talking about it as if people trust him on immigration and are deathly worried about immigration and crime. [28:49] Now those things are true anymore. His immigration approval is now as bad as his approval on the economy. [28:54] which is quite bad. People think ICE is a threat to American citizens and legal residents. People think ICE has gone too far. And so once again, I know Trump is chemically and psychologically incapable of this, but there is a way to do this that is pretty simple to acknowledge that you don't even have to admit any fault, but that we are, like he could have mentioned the body cam thing, which was their proposal that they did. Did you guys hear him mention ICE at all? I don't see, I think he said the word, did he? I don't think he said the word. Yeah, I don't think so either. Which is wild because, I mean, [29:24] It's certainly an acknowledgement of how unpopular they are, but like you'd think that

[29:28] the way the Trump administration is with everything else. It would have been like the men and women of ICE are trying to keep us, protect us, and they've faced all kinds of assaults and stuff like that. Did he hit it at all when he was talking about the funding fight and wanting to make sure? No. It doesn't have been at Homeland Security. Homeland Security. Just Homeland Security wider. He focused on rescue stories and brave people who are no longer funded because of Dems and DHS. [30:00] Pod Save America is brought to you by Quince. A well-built wardrobe is about clothes that work together and hold up over time. That's what Quince does best. Premium materials, thoughtful design, and everyday staples that feel easy to wear and easy to rely on even as the weather shifts. Quince has everyday essentials I love with quality that lasts. Organic cotton sweaters, polos for every occasion, lighter jackets that keep you warm in the changing seasons. The list goes on. We're going to Australia and New Zealand. I don't have a pack for that. It seems to be both summer and at times... [30:27] Colds, it's very hot in some parts of it. [30:30] There's mountains. Truly daunting. I have a lot of Quinn stuff that I'm bringing. [30:34] Quince works directly with top factories and cut out the middlemen. So you're not paying for brand markup, just quality clothing. Everything is built to hold up to daily wear and still look good season after season. Plus they only partner with factories that meet rigorous safety standards for craftsmanship and ethical production. Huge fan of Quince have a bunch of stuff from there, not just clothes, some sheets, a bag. They have great stuff. You just go there and check it out because they have a range of stuff that compares to more expensive brands. So you should just kind of make it a habit to check to see if there's a better option there. Refresh your wardrobe with

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[32:27] Closing in on the hour mark, Trump really started to get nasty towards the Democrats in the room, who mostly sat quietly and refused to clap for him. Take a listen. [32:34] These people are crazy, I'm telling you. They're crazy. Democrats are destroying our country, but we've stopped it just in the nick of time, didn't we? If you agree with this statement, [32:48] Then stand up and show your support. [32:51] The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. Isn't that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself. They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country, and you should be ashamed of yourself. [33:15] They are Republicans, MAGA, so excited about that moment. [33:21] planned. It was a setup. They are very proud of themselves. You know, Scott Jennings called it a moment of the night. Stephen Miller tweeted, Democrats declared to the world their searing disdain for and profound disloyalty to the actual citizens of the United States. They refused. It was a moment that chills to the bone, which will live for a thousand years. Live for a thousand years is so funny. A thousand years from now? That was like the second one too. He did another [33:51] - I think that's like the big, they really got them. - They think they set a trap, an incredible trap. - So clever. - A masterclass. - Who's ever done that? Delivered a line that you only assume that one side will stand for, even though you know that like most people, come on. - Preemptively saying,

[34:07] Uh, [34:07] Everyone will stand for this unless they're insane. [34:12] - I mean, this is once again, like a little bit of the, like bizarre, surreal normalcy of it, which is back when we would do this, you try to find moments and then you would try to use [34:22] whatever platform you had to make that be the moment. You just tell the reporter, "This is the moment. This is the moment. This is the moment of the speech. This is the moment you should show." So they're trying to do that here. Also, [34:31] This is an idea that [34:32] It was not originally my idea, but I pitched Obama on two separate state of the unions was to do this for raising taxes on the wealthy. [34:38] - Not about the immigrants? - No, but to make the Republicans not stand up. - And we didn't do that? - I don't think we ever, I think we should've done that. - George W. Bush's move during this, his move was always to say something kind of partisan [34:51] and then end with something everybody would have to applaud for. So we'd say like, we're gonna deregulate, we're gonna let you get cut down some of the trees that we don't need anymore. We're gonna get rid of some of this onerous taxation, because America is gonna have the strongest economy in the world that everybody like, "Oh, fuck." [35:05] Stephen Miller also said this was the most shocking image in the history of the U.S. Congress. He's such a fucking loser. I mean, if you watch the speech or even if you watch clips, it's just so obvious that Trump is trying to goad Democrats into this dumb child. He was not subtle. Yeah. And also, like, it's just no longer interesting. Like the shock value of like them screaming back and forth is gone. I don't think anyone really benefits from clips of the president screaming back and forth. Like I bet Ilhan Omar will benefit in her community.

[35:35] given like what he's done in Minnesota. But most voters will watch that and think like, "This is what I don't like about Washington." - Yeah, we're saying that she was shouting that, as he's making this sort of [35:45] attack on Democrats or not, [35:47] keeping citizens safe that her district, two people were killed by ICE. [35:52] Yeah. [35:52] in Border Patrol. [35:54] Also, like everyone's watching those speech. They know that the Democrats haven't been applauding to anything else. Like they don't think it's a fucking theater. So in the alternate universe where politics never got this stupid, the State of the Union would have largely been about, or at least significantly about Iran and explaining to the American people what exactly we plan to do with the gigantic fighting force we have amassed in the Middle East. Trump did get to it quite late, pretty briefly. Here's what he said. They've already developed missiles that can threaten Europe. [36:23] and our bases overseas, and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America. We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words. We will never [36:37] have a nuclear weapon. Tommy, what was new there? Anything? I mean, that line that they're working on missiles that will soon reach the United States of America jumped out at me. It sounded like bullshit. I got checked it with some experts who have had intel access much more recently than I have. And they said it was wildly implausible, though obviously we don't know what we don't know. But I think it's just him trying to create a pretext for going to war. Like Iran, it does say they have a large, diverse array of ballistic and cruise missiles. They can hit a lot of bases in the region.

[37:07] can't hit Europe, they can hit Israel, for example. And that's why an attack could lead to a scary response. But the idea that they're going to hit the continental US is like, is nonsense. The other thing he said that was a lie, though, was this claim that, what is it, the secret word? The secret word. The secret word, no nukes. The preamble of the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal that Obama negotiated with Iran and that Trump pulled out of says, quote, Iran reaffirms that under no circumstance will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons. That was in the JCPOA [37:37] Obviously, we don't trust them. That's why there was all this verification that went along with that deal. But Trump just pretends that didn't happen. And he's, you know, the source of all this problem. The really remarkable thing to me is, like, we're on the cusp of war. [37:51] He made no case for it. I realize that's because it's wildly unpopular, but that problem doesn't go away if you just start the war without making the case. I mean, I guess it does. I guess. It doesn't change the popularity. We're sleepwalking towards a conflict that nobody wants. Yeah, it solves his problem that people don't want the war that he's about to launch. All right, so after the speech, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger gave the Democratic response because we were in the studio with Kimmel while it was happening. We heard good things, [38:21] We haven't had the chance to listen yet, so we thought we'd just react to it here for the first time. Do you guys have the clip? The president is planning for new tariffs. Another massive tax hike on you and your family. They have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies. They have sent children.

[38:39] a little boy in a blue bunny hat, children too far off detention centers, and they have killed American citizens in our streets. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed, not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities. He's enriching himself. [39:01] his family, his friends, the scale of the corruption is unprecedented. [39:06] There's the cover-up of the Epstein files, the crypto scams, cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms. So I'll ask again. [39:16] Is the president working for you? [39:19] We all know the answer is no. [39:22] - That was great. - I was depressed. - It was good to hear something. It was good to hear a return to reality. This is what's happening in the country. - Yeah, and just also some good old fashioned speech writing. You know, just sort of some cogent sentences. [39:35] That kind of thing. Like the old days. - What'd you think, Tommy? - I mean, you know, hearing, my initial reaction was hearing like a moderate, like Abigail Spanberger, go that hard at ICE funding, really tells you how far the politics have shifted on the issue generally. It was like the kind of thing you would imagine she'd be advised not to touch, and now she's just laying into it there. - Yeah. I like that she did it in front of a crowd. [39:55] Yeah. That's good. Yeah. I think responses should only be in front of crowds. Yeah, I think that's right. He's got the crowd. I mean, he's in a great crowd because half the crowd didn't stand up. The other half, a bunch of people just didn't show up at the speech either. But it is nice to have a little energy behind you than to have the like straight direct to camera kind of. Also, they didn't complicate the simple. She just gave a speech at a podium with flags behind her instead of like trying to put her like in a weird room or like a factory floor or all the other dumb things we've done over the years. That is true. No bad ideas in a brainstorm. Who was it that walked down the steps? Bobby Jindal. Bobby Jindal.

[40:25] - Remember Rubio reaching across for the water? That was incredible, man. - Now he's secretary of state, could be the next president, so. [40:32] Looks like he got the last laugh, huh? President of Venezuela. There's still time for laughing. He's got like three jobs and was the archivist for a while. He's not doing that awesome. I got fired from that. All right, before we go, any kind of closing thoughts? We got an insta-poll from CNN. Uh-huh. Apparently the percentage who said it was a very, who felt very positive about the speech was like the lowest. [40:53] In the last 10 years, I guess. Woo-hoo! So that's something. Of course, those Insta-polls, they're always more Republican or more—I mean, they're—people watch the speech tend to be people who are already supportive of the president. So if it's like a Democratic president, this poll's more Democratic if the Republican president— I think it was a CBS poll that came out today that said that only 18% of Democrats were planning on watching the speech. Yeah, it was wild. I think there are a lot of them—that's the time when Democrats lie to the pollsters. [41:23] is like fine. But still, 38%. And the question is, does any of this matter anymore? No, probably not. I don't think it does at all. I think that like, by the time you finish listening to this podcast, you'll never think of the speech again. Stealth bombers could be headed to Tehran right now. The great shame of our nation, a historical atrocity that he is in office as approval of writing will continue to hover at 38%. Yeah, but I do not, but unlike what someone told Politico, I do not think that he, that sticking to the script gives the Republicans what they need for the midterms. [41:53] - That's an insane stupidity. - They need a genie and a lamp, that they can rub and ask three wishes to at this point. - Yeah, I don't think, and that's it. That's his biggest audience until the midterms. - It's just so crazy we have President, the bar is so low that's like, he read the words everybody.

[42:10] They were bad words. They made no sense. They really didn't make anything better, but he read them. [42:15] Look, mostly. Great work. Look, look, they've changed the headline now. What Trump avoided in the State of the Union could haunt him in November. But then the subhead is like jazz. The President's State of the Union was notable for something his second term has largely lacked. [42:30] - Restraint. - Oh my, come on. - Oh my, come on. - When you started screaming the Democrats are crazy, I guess that's for a statement. - I would love to just like show this speech to a typical Republican in 1996. They'd be like, what happened? Was the president injured? Like what's going on? [42:46] There were mistakes he avoided making. Trump did not attack the Supreme Court. He did not blitz members of his own party who have criticized him. He avoided rambling, angry digressions from the script. Amazing. But then he avoided no new ideas on housing or health care, two defining issues in the midterm campaign. Yeah. Meme and no mention of the Jeffrey Epstein scandals. I mean, in fairness, yeah, I don't think he was going to go on a stem winder on Epstein. Yeah, good thing to skip over. I've got some of these files in my pocket. Let me unredact them on live TV. [43:14] Now that's what a showman would do. [43:16] Take out the files. Take off the black tape. He didn't blitz members of his own party. Is he the free safety, like, tackling Speaker Johnson? You know what he did not talk about? It was, for better or worse, see, someone else wrote this one. Oh, there's a to be sure paragraph. This is, this is, Eli Stokos wrote this one. They changed it. They changed the whole thing. [43:37] But it's unlikely to change the political trajectory of Trump's second term. In some ways, it was nearly indistinguishable from Trump's daily pattern in the Oval Office.

[43:46] That's correct. That's right. Good job, Politico. It is also an accurate description of what happened tonight. [43:55] Anyway, it's 1030 at night. We've got to go to bed. We'll see you guys soon. All right. Bye, everyone. Good night, everyone. [44:02] If you want to listen to Pod Save America ad-free and get access to exclusive podcasts, go to crooked.com slash friends to subscribe on Supercast, Substack, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. [44:11] Also, please consider leaving us a review. That helps boost this episode and everything we do here at Cricket. Pod Save America is a Cricket Media production. [44:19] Our producer is Saul Rubin. [44:21] Our associate producer is Farrah Safari. Austin Fisher is our senior producer. Reid Cherlin is our executive editor. [44:27] Adrian Hill is our head of news and politics. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Jordan Cantor is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis. [44:37] Matt DeGroat is our head of production. Naomi Sengel is our executive assistant. [44:41] Thanks to our digital team, [44:42] Elijah Cohn, Haley Jones, Ben Hefcoat, Mia Kelman, Carol Pellaviv, David Toles, and Ryan Young. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [44:55] . [45:00] you