Deep State Radio

In recent days, Donald Trump has angrily claimed he knows nothing about Project 2025, the blueprint his allies are drawing up for an authoritarian second term presidency. But CNN is now reporting that at least 140 people from the Trump administration have a hand in the Project 2025 plan. And NBC News has unearthed video showing that Trump expressly praised the plan’s creators for their work in 2022. We talked to Amanda Becker—a reporter for The 19th News and author of a forthcoming piece on Project 2025’s minutiae—who explains why Trump keeps running from Project 2025 and what its darker designs really have in store for us. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing concerns over President Biden’s ability to remain in the election has created a divisive conversation that has rocketed to the forefront of major media coverage. How are these discontents taking shape in Washington? Norm and Kavita are back to discuss Biden’s commitment to remaining in the race, growing concerns within the Democratic Party, and the behind-the-scenes debates taking place in Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The current situation around the Biden campaign is unprecedented. With so many voices calling for Biden to step aside and conflict within the Democratic Party, what can we do? More importantly, how can we keep the momentum to defeat Trump in November? Tara McGowan and Simon Rosenberg are back with David Rothkopf to discuss all this and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Thursday, we share the latest news on a new poll that shows a majority of Dems want Biden to drop out, an announcement that Russia will counter the deployment of long-range missiles in Germany, a new report on growing anti-semitism in Europe, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With President Biden forcefully declaring that he isn’t leaving the presidential race, the latest polling looks frightening. The Cook Political Report just released new polling averages showing Donald Trump leading Biden nationally by three points. FiveThirtyEight’s averages also look grim. New swing state polls show Trump dominating. But Ron Klain, the former White House chief of staff to Biden, nonetheless maintains that Biden is still the Democrat with the best shot against Trump. We invited Klain on the show, and he fielded some hard questions while making an expansive case that Biden still has a path.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All eyes are on the NATO summit in Washington DC. What decisions will the alliance make with regards to Ukraine? How will President Biden perform? Former NATO ambassadors Ivo Daalder and Gen. Doug Lute join Kori Schake, Ed Luce, Rosa Brooks, and David Rothkopf to analyze what NATO’s leaders are looking to achieve — and what’s at stake.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we discuss NATO’s pledge to supply Ukraine with air defense systems, an Israeli air strike on a camp in Gaza, a Russian arrest warrant for Alexei Navalny’s widow, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although the Democratic Party remains mired in infighting over President Biden’s disastrous debate performance, congressional Democrats now appear increasingly convinced that he will survive as the nominee. They seem resigned to this even as many appear convinced he will lose to Donald Trump in November. What happened here, exactly? We talked to The American Prospect’s David Dayen, who has a good new piece called “Why the Bid to Push Out Biden is Losing,” about how Biden seems to have shut down the opposition, what it says about the Democratic Party, and why there’s still grounds for deep anxiety about what comes next. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Tuesday, we cover President Biden’s condemnation of a Russian missile attack, Israel’s latest assault on Gaza City, Keir Starmer’s pledge to improve on an EU trade deal, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, we learned that the committee for the 2024 Republican convention is debating a new platform, proposed by Donald Trump, that purports to soften the party’s positions on abortion and same sex marriage. This will be widely interpreted as a savvy effort to woo swing voters and suburban women. But what if it’s really an expression of fear that the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the horrors it has unleashed will remain a major problem for Trump and the GOP this fall? We talked to Jess McIntosh, a Democratic strategist and longtime defender of reproductive rights, about what’s driving this shift, why it’s a scam, and how Democrats can make sure voters know it. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the intense focus on Gaza, other critical issues in Israel have slipped into the background. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti joins Marc Polymeropoulos to discuss the lack of coverage on settler violence in the West Bank and how Israel's rightward shift poses significant challenges both domestically and internationally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Monday, we cover the stunning results from the French election, a horrifying missile attack on Ukraine, protests in Israel, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Sunday, Donald Trump erupted at The New York Times, slamming it in crazed and bizarre terms for its supposed unfair treatment of him. Yet if anything, in recent days the Times has crusaded relentlessly against his opponent, President Biden. Which is why this moment helps explain how Trump games the media—and how the media lets Trump game them. We talked with Will Stancil, an active social media presence who has prominently skewered the press for an immense double standard toward Trump and Biden. He explains why the Times and the media often seem to crusade more aggressively against Biden’s age than against Trump’s obvious mental unfitness for the presidency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: June 16, 2023 The lies and deflections from Republicans defending Trump have spun up the ire of "Words Matter" co-host Norm Ornstein. So in this episode he not only explains why but guest co-host David Rothkopf tries unsuccessfully to defuse his anger. Instead, both recount the facts surrounding the case for which Trump was arraigned this week and the likely cases to come and frankly, the outrage only grows. Join them to understand why it is fully justified. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was only Tuesday when the Supreme Court upheld a decision by North Carolina’s top court that struck down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under state law. Since then, the court has ruled against affirmative action in the college admissions process, struck down Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan and ruled in favor of a web designer who said she had a First Amendment right to refuse to design wedding websites for same-sex couples despite a state law that forbids discrimination against gay people. What does this mean for the future of our democracy and how might it impact the 2024 election? Host David Rothkopf breaks it all down with Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick. Don’t miss this important discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After more than two years, the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds on. Yet the Ukrainian spirit remains as unshakeable as ever. Illia Ponomarenko joins David Rothkopf to discuss his book, “I Will Show You How It Was,” and share how Ukrainians and the world can draw inspiration from the earliest days of the conflict. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Supreme Court’s series of bad decisions will go down in history. Norm and Kavita are back to break down the latest legendarily awful decisions from the Roberts court and why we’ll be dealing with the fallout for years to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy, and the Dems need to put their best foot forward to defeat him. So what needs to be done? Ed Luce, Kori Schake, and Rosa Brooks join David Rothkopf to break down the Joe Biden dilemma, and why the party needs to seriously consider alternative options before it’s too late.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Chevron deference and presidential immunity rulings, the Supreme Court has put our democracy in even greater danger. So what happens next? Dahlia Lithwick joins David Rothkopf to analyze the impact of the court’s latest disastrous decisions and what can be done to stop the bleeding.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we break down the massive land seizures in the West Bank, $2.3 billion in new aid for Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani being disbarred in New York, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices