In our new flagship Building America series, @SenTedBudd (R-N.C.) talked about how public officials and companies need to better explain the benefits of AI. “You never want to be tone-deaf in these roles,” Budd told @washingtonpost ’s @dan_merica .
In case you haven’t heard, Bruce Springsteen dropped a new song this week about what is happening in Minneapolis. Before we got into the news on this week’s politics show, @dan_merica and @bendavidn talked about the resonance of @springsteen releasing an anthem for this moment.
This one’s for you, Dad, who took me to my first (and only) Springsteen concert.
Find the full episode on our Washington Post Podcast YouTube channel or listen wherever you get podcasts!
Maybe you heard about @realdonaldtrump giving the middle finger and mouthing “f—- you” at a Detroit auto factory worker who yelled, “pedofile protector” at the president as he was touring the plant.
Our very own @dan_merica was the only reporter to speak with the man, TJ Sabula, after the incident went viral. Here’s a sneak peek of our convo with Dan about how Sabula is feeling after being on the receiving end of Trump’s middle finger. And how his brief moment of protest has been richly rewarded.
Check out the full episode of our politics roundtable where we go deep into the many examples this week of how Trump responds to his critics…whether through targeted investigations or crude gestures.
@washingtonpost@postpolitics
On last week’s politics roundtable with @dan_merica and @mbirnbaum1 , I threw down some peak, child of the 90s knowledge. It’s geopolitics with a side of nostalgia.
Who else has this line burned into their brain forever? #90skid #themightyducks 🦆
Find our politics show, which comes out every Friday, on our Washington Post Podcasts YouTube channel or wherever you listen to podcasts!
Ah! Forgot to post this last week, but here’s a clip from Friday’s politics roundtable where @dan_merica explains how Trump’s failure to embrace “affordability” as a legitimate issue facing Americans is becoming a political liability for him and Republicans ahead of next year’s midterms.
The full convo can be heard anywhere you get your podcasts or watched on the Washington Post’s Podcast YouTube channel.
We tried out something fun on last week’s politics show! My regular roundtable guest, @dan_merica , co-anchor of the Early Brief politics newsletter, asked his readers to send in questions that we could answer on the podcast.
Here is the super smart one we got from Paul in Orlando about the legal case against Texas redistricting. Check out last Friday’s Post Reports to hear how Dan and my other guest, Justice Department reporter @jrroebuck , answered Paul’s question.
Find us on the Washington Post Podcasts YouTube page or anywhere you get your podcasts!
On last week’s politics roundtable, I asked @dan_merica what President Trump was busy doing during the 40-day federal government shutdown. One thing he did was issue sweeping mass pardons for a long list of allies allegedly involved in the plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including Trump lawyer and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The pardons had no practical effect, none of the 75 people listed are facing federal charges and a president can’t pardon people facing state charges. But they do show a president who has still not moved on from his loss five years ago and who is still fixated on the idea that the election was stolen, despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud.
Democrats won BIG last night from races in New York City to ballot measures in California. Among the night’s biggest winners was NYC Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani who inspired a swath of voters to turn out in record numbers for a local election. In this clip, @dan_merica and I talk about the importance of Mamdani’s massive victory. Check out our full breakdown of Tuesday night’s results on our Washington Post Podcasts YouTube channel or listen to it on Post Reports anywhere you get your podcasts.
Major thanks to dream team @lolbenshoff , @reena.jf , @jcearbhaill and @rennieys who worked insane overnight hours to get this episode out first thing this morning.
Does President Trump care if the government reopens? At the end of last week’s politics roundtable, I asked my guests how they think the government shutdown will end. @dan_merica noted that Trump seems unconcerned.
Watch the full episode on YouTube (the Post now has its own podcasts channel!) or listen wherever you get your podcasts to hear their answers.
As always, producing, filming and editing by the most amazing team, @lolbenshoff , @jcearbhaill and @reena.jf .
On last week’s politics roundtable, @dan_merica brought us up to speed on the saga playing out in the Virginia attorney general race over a text message the Democratic candidate, Jay Jones, sent about murdering a Republican state lawmaker. He claims he was riffing off a joke from The Office.
Here we discuss how Democrats, while distancing themselves from his comments, have not called for him to drop out. It seems that our political discourse has eroded so much that we have lowered the bar dramatically for how we expect our politicians to act.
Congress has until midnight tomorrow to pass a spending bill or the government will shutdown. Last week, I had politics reporter @dan_merica and WH economics reporter @jacobbogage on the Post Reports political roundtable to discuss all things shutdown, why it’s happening (again!) and how Democrats are thinking of it this time as a tool to fight Trump.
I’ve covered my share of shutdowns and near-miss shutdowns. Here’s a clip from our conversation that sums up how performative and exhausting this cycle of funding fights has become the last decade or so.
Watch the whole thing on YouTube or listen anywhere you get your podcasts!
