Speaker
Claire Valdez
Appearances over time
2 episodes
Episodes
2
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
In 2009 at Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan, Clint Romesha and roughly 52 Americans were attacked by 300 Taliban fighters in a 15-hour firefight the military had deemed unwinnable from an indefensible position. Eight Americans died. Romesha led a counterattack against an enemy that had breached the wire, outnumbered the defenders 8-to-1.
Shapiro argues Trump's praise of Turkish President Erdoğan is a serious foreign policy error. Erdoğan holds Russian S-400 air defense systems, openly supports Hamas, publicly talks about restoring Ottoman influence across the Middle East, and is allied with Russia — yet Trump called him a 'good man' and promised a 'gift bag' visit.
The DSA's primary victories aren't being driven by housing costs — they're driven by anti-American ideology that resonates with college-educated white progressives. Shapiro maps the complete political strategy: use the Democratic Party ballot line, recruit disaffected voters, and ride a youth coalition that already represents 56% of 18–29 year olds.
Data from New York's primary races shows DSA candidates winning in wealthier, more educated neighborhoods while losing public housing and majority-Hispanic precincts by double digits. The working-class branding is a total fiction.
The DSA's official platform calls for abolishing the Senate, replacing the president and Supreme Court with Congress-subordinate bodies, defunding the Department of War, abolishing all prisons, ending sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran, granting universal amnesty, and public ownership of all major corporations. It's not hidden.
Shapiro profiles the DSA leadership class: Mamdani is a failed rapper whose father taught at Columbia; Chevalier has been in college or grad school since 2008; Valdez studied painting and worked a 9-to-5 at Columbia before discovering politics. Every major revolutionary in history, from Lenin to Hitler, was a disaffected pseudo-intellectual — and the DSA is no different.
Trump canceled the signing ceremony for the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act, demanding Congress pass the SAVE Act — which requires documentary citizenship proof to register to vote — as a condition. Shapiro calls it a political own goal: why sacrifice a winnable affordability narrative for a fight you don't have the votes to win?
The SAVE Act requires documentary proof of US citizenship to register for federal elections, photo ID for in-person voting, and in-person registration only. Shapiro supports most of it but argues the real electoral threat — ballot harvesting — isn't addressed, and blowing up the filibuster to pass it is a dangerous overreaction.
Trump told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte he doesn't need money or troops from allies — he just wants loyalty. He called out Germany, the UK, Italy, France, and Spain specifically after European allies offered only words during the Iran conflict. Rutte countered that 4,000–5,000 US planes flew from European bases during the 6-week war.
While Trump insists the US controls the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC Navy is broadcasting live warnings that no vessel may transit without their permission. The MOU explicitly includes future shipping fees, which Trump says would be unacceptable — a contradiction Shapiro says reality will eventually force a reckoning on.
Clint Romesha explains that veterans' biggest challenge isn't trauma — it's identity loss. The day after leaving the military, the unit is gone, the mission is gone, and the sense of belonging vanishes. America's Warrior Partnership exists to plug veterans into existing resources, not reinvent the wheel, connecting each veteran one-on-one to the support they individually need.
Pew Research shows a coalition of DSA true believers (14%), disaffected Democrats (19%), tuned-out moderates (14%), and loyal liberals (9%) totals 56% of all voters aged 18–29. The bet is that this youth coalition bleeds upward into older demographics over time.
The biggest single Democratic voting bloc — the 'Order and Opportunity Left' — wants law enforcement, controlled immigration, and capitalism with rough edges shaved off. They're 18% of the entire electorate. If Republicans reach them before the DSA absorbs them, they win. If they don't, they lose.
Trump's 2025 financial disclosure shows the president and his family earned over $1 billion — led by $600M in meme coin sales and $500M from World Liberty Financial. The crypto haul dwarfs his real estate empire and has sparked conflict-of-interest alarms that the White House flatly denies.
When reporters pressed Trump on his billion-dollar earnings, he insisted he has no contact with those managing his investments. His answer — that he has 'closed accounts or something' — left more questions than it answered about where presidential and financial interests diverge.
Analysis
What they talk about
- News 67%
- Society & Culture 33%
Connections
Shows they appear on and people they share episodes with. Drag to explore.
