Speaker
Bill Kristol
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Both Kristol and Miller argue Trump's stock trading and insider enrichment constitute a straightforward impeachment case, even if Senate conviction is unrealistic.
Kristol noted that 'banana republic' as a phrase partly derives from American companies like United Fruit bribing Central American governments, and that the US passed laws in the 1970s to stop such practices.
Trump's investment accounts made 300 undisclosed stock purchases the day before he paused Liberation Day tariffs, then he urged Americans from the Oval Office to buy Dell stock — a company he's personally invested in. Kristol and Miller argue this is the clearest, most obvious impeachment case of Trump's presidency, even if conviction remains politically unrealistic.
Trump publicly stated his children will have inside information on virtually every business deal and declared his administration doesn't need to care about it. Kristol argues the U.S. has crossed from Orbán-style authoritarianism into Putin-grade kleptocracy — and the financial corruption is an essential pillar of the broader political rot.
Impeachment is morally justified but strategically complicated — and Kristol and Miller spend real time wrestling with both sides. The risk: Democrats look like they only care about retribution. The opportunity: force Republicans to publicly defend the indefensible. The verdict is nuanced, but both agree the case is clear enough to make loudly.
Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the Michigan Senate race after centrist groups pressured candidates to condemn far-left figures — a fight Tim Miller warned was strategically disastrous from the start. Democratic voters right now want candidates focused on Trump and economic concerns, not intraparty purity tests. The McConnell lesson: pick your fights carefully, not on your weakest ground.
Michael Cohen is back in Trump's good graces, with a WABC radio show blessed by the White House — and Tim Miller is not surprised. Cohen was never a genuine Never-Trumper; he was Trump's bag man who did corrupt things on his behalf for decades. The 'resistance star' framing was always wrong, and the reunion proves it.
The Trump administration is using every federal agency — not just the DOJ or White House — to pressure opponents. Brendan Carr's FCC is threatening local TV stations' licenses. It adds up. Kristol calls it an all-of-government assault that mirrors Orbán and Putin: every institution becomes a weapon.
An Idaho mother charged with murdering her 18-month-old twins had appeared on RFK Jr.'s Children's Health Defense Fund podcast blaming the deaths on vaccines. Miller connects this to a broader pattern: conspiracy culture is dangerous in ways hard to predict, from Pizzagate to election denialism, and now the Secretary of HHS is adjacent to it.
An American player's red card was reversed by FIFA — only the second such reversal in the tournament's history — and Trump claimed full credit for personally calling FIFA's Gianni Infantino. Miller and Kristol agree the reversal may have been right on the merits, but Trump's inability to let anyone else take credit is the tell of a true megalomaniac.
After Kristol's Weekly Standard editorial opposing Trump in 2015, Trump personally called him: jocular, back-slapping, confident he'd come around. Kristol wasn't moved, but he understood in that moment exactly why people get taken in. Con men are good at this — it's how the con works.
Trump and Pete Hegseth celebrated the Iran strikes as an unprecedented military achievement. But Kristol notes that by the July 4th celebration, no one was talking about it anymore — not even Trump in his own speech. Kristol's verdict: it was a humiliating defeat, and the silence is telling.
The US once passed laws in the 1970s to stop American companies from bribing foreign governments. Now Qatar has gifted Trump a plane serving as Air Force One while the US is embroiled in Middle East conflicts where Qatar has direct interests. Kristol's punchline: Qatar is now the old United States, and America is the country getting bribed.
The US reportedly warned Poland that Russia may be preparing a military provocation to test NATO's resolve — echoing the intelligence warnings before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Miller says the real fear is that any Russian provocation gives Trump an excuse to declare escalation and back off support for Kyiv, which is exactly what Putin wants.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Government 63%
- Society & Culture 25%
- News 12%
Connections
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