11/4/26: Trump and MAGA Self Implode After Major Losses, Data Centers Crushed At Ballot Box
50m 25s
The podcast explores a convergence of public sentiment, political shifts, and technological concerns in the wake of recent elections. Progressive highlights its Accident Response service, offering real-time emergency support to ease anxiety during accidents. A major public backlash against data centers—where voters in nearly every state have rejected proposed facilities—signals a broader resistance to tech oligarch influence. Political victories by figures like Abdul Sayed and Will Lawrence, despite massive spending by billionaires, reflect a deepening class-war narrative and voter disillusionment with power concentration. This sentiment is now central to the emerging Democratic platform, with a strong push for a full pause on frontier AI development to prevent runaway innovation and potential existential risks. Critics argue that Trump's post-election rhetoric, especially on Iran and tariffs, is inconsistent and politically manipulative, while tech companies face growing scrutiny. Wasabi is introduced as a solution for AI-driven businesses, offering affordable, scalable cloud storage to counter rising data costs. The overarching theme is that public trust is eroding, and voters are demanding transparency, accountability, and a reassertion of democratic control—particularly over data, AI, and economic power—marking a pivotal shift in political and technological discourse.
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I turned off news altogether.
I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything.
It's the rage bait.
It feels like it's trying to divide people.
If we got clear facts, maybe we can calm down a little.
NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts.
Let's move forward from there.
NBC News, reporting for America.
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What are we moving to next?
Is this GOP meltdown?
Yes.
Is that what we've got next?
Okay.
Can't get to that soon enough.
Let's go ahead, guys.
Let's cue up Trump on the Democrats.
So, Trump predictably took a bunch of calls from reporters, including Fox News, where he spent a lot of his time.
Oh, you want to?
Let's call him.
All right.
Let's call him up.
If he doesn't answer.
Ryan and I have Trump's number.
We've been saving it for moments like this.
Let's see.
We're going to do it live.
If he doesn't answer, then we'll just play some of his other clips.
So, we're going to hold the clip here.
Ryan's cueing it up.
Let's see.
What have we got?
Who does he know better?
Yeah.
Sir, this is Sagar and Jenny.
Sager.
Sager.
All right.
This is not good.
Cell phone.
What do you guys think?
Leave a voicemail.
All right.
Send him a text.
Leave a voicemail.
Send him a text.
Yeah.
Didn't pick up.
It doesn't have the number saved.
Ryan Gribb.
But, yeah.
I mean, shockingly, Trump accepted the election results immediately.
Yep.
Is saying that, and didn't do all that much, like, on the day of.
There were election monitors sent out and whatever in the Alaska lawsuit.
But, by and large, you know, there wasn't ice at the polls and National Guard at the
polls are the things that many of us feared.
He accepted the results.
And he has said, I mean, he tweeted out, like, a hat that says,
Yeah.
But then he also went on Politico Live and said, I don't want to just be vetoing things.
I want to work with Democrats on whatever they, you know, bring to the table.
So, I don't really believe that.
But that's the tone that he's striking right now.
And I guess there's a theoretical possibility that he feels like, okay, well, my legacy
is kind of not looking so great right now.
If I become the guy that works across the aisle, maybe that's something that I can hold
on to.
So, with that, let's take a listen.
To Trump on Fox News.
Mr. President, you have a final message tonight that you take from tonight and a message to
the American people.
Well, I say this.
Congratulations to the Democrats.
They did a good job.
They've been looking for this one for 11 years and they finally got it.
But I don't view it as a hit on me.
I think we've done a, we've had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency
in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things that we've done.
Look at the border.
The border.
The border was an open sieve and within two months it was totally closed.
You know, 17 months now with zero people coming in through the, you report the results, zero
people coming in through the southern border.
That's a big deal.
I ran on that.
But that's peanuts compared to what we've done because we have all this money all over
the world.
They're coming here.
And you look at Europe, it's dying.
You look at what's going on in France and what's going on in Italy and all these other
countries.
I mean, they're going through a terrible time.
They may not even survive, frankly, and we are thriving and we want to keep it that way.
But I say congratulations to the Democrats.
They worked very hard and long.
They worked very hard.
By the way, on Iran, this still remains the looming question and in a very bad sign for
the world.
Trump actually did say that the people still agree with him on Iran.
Let's take a listen to that as well.
Clearly, that's a message in some of the polls.
We see in these exit polls that I don't think it's the war, though, Brad, I think it's the
gasoline price.
People agree with what I'm doing on Iran, but they really probably weren't willing to
do the short term consequence of playing more for gasoline.
And that, you know, I understand that.
That's it's like I don't agree with it.
And I would say to people, you know, it's a short term.
It's a short term problem, but for long term gain.
But, you know, is it too bad?
Hello.
Hello.
Look, bottom line is they were not able in many cases to get the votes.
And I think the Democrats did a good job.
I really do.
I think they did a good job.
They fought hard.
They were, you know, they've been fighting for a long time.
They've been fighting me for a long time.
This fight's been going on for ages.
You know, I started and really, if you look at it, I've been doing it for 12 years with
them and I've come up on top all the time.
And this is I don't say, you know, I don't.
I don't like to consider it a defeat for me.
I was on the ballot.
If you're on the ballot, it's different than if you're not on the ballot.
People agree with me on Iran.
So that's where Trump was.
I don't know if we have that.
I don't think we do.
Trump was on with Politico yesterday.
Yeah.
And he immediately says like, oh, maybe I will vote with the Democrats.
By the way, you know, he's all over the place because this is conciliatory tone.
An hour later, he's on with Politico and he's like, well, I wasn't on the ballot.
And the reporter is like, sir, you told people to vote.
Like you were on the ballot.
He goes, yeah, but I wasn't on the ballot.
I was lying about that.
I wasn't actually on the ballot.
Yeah, I lied a little bit.
So, I mean, who knows?
I mean, she asked him, she's like, would you work on with immigration bill?
He's like, yeah, maybe.
Like you said, he said the veto hat.
I mean, there's precedent for that from Trump.
It's possible, you know.
After 2018, he was trying to work with Pelosi.
He is going to grasp.
And this is the ultimate question for him and even for the caucus.
And especially like who he's going to listen to, who he listens to and how he understands
the selection is more important than anything else.
What happens to Susie is a huge question.
Yeah, so you saw there that he's taking, he's ingesting a lot of Fox.
We're not going to play this clip because we don't have the time.
Where he's like bitching about Fox News polls.
Like he watches it so laser.
Texting Greg Gutfeld last night.
Texting Gutfeld.
Complaining about Jessica Tarloff.
He's watching Bill.
He's like, why is Bill de Blasio on Fox News covered?
Literally, that's something he said last night.
Very dumb.
Midnight.
The question and the Murdochs, from what I understand, they've spoken.
The journal line now is going to be, this was all tariffs.
This was not Iran.
Trump understands this gas prices thing.
But I think that obviously makes it very dangerous.
I think for the world is that if he doesn't hear enough over and over and over again,
that actually, sir, this was about your disastrous war that you just launched.
Oh, another thing.
He did not say and would not commit to any changes in the cabinet.
They asked him, will we see any cabinet changes as a result of that?
He said, no, I don't think so.
Obviously, I mean, even Bush fired Rumsfeld in the aftermath of 2000.
And six, you got to give the people something, you know, especially since some of them may be facing impeachment.
Hexen.
Oh, my God.
Very, very much.
Democrats don't impeach Hexen.
I mean, what are they even doing at this point?
I can't even think of anyone more deserving.
The let's put Mark Levin up.
We've got him last in this element list.
Mac, when you when you grab that.
But there's a full crash out with like the Israel first, you know, neocon hawk wing between him and Laura Loomer and whatever.
And yeah.
A lot of spin about like, oh, it's not really about the Iran war.
Yeah.
I mean, this is an act.
We've got an Ackman.
I'm watching all the back and forth on this site.
Much of it is nasty, petulant, dishonest and vile.
Oh, what's new?
Among the worst of it are posts from Washington politicians, self-aggrandizing podcasters, website writers, et cetera.
To write that in yourself, be a self-aggrandizing podcaster is kind of incredible.
Anyway.
And a website writer.
He goes on to say the woke Reich should be patting itself on the back.
They're all celebrating.
They sought the defeat of the Republican Party and want to remake it into some kind of socialist, light, isolationist, regressive political entity.
In other words, they seek to undermine this country and the MAGA movement the president works on every day.
Here we go.
The midterms were not lost over a single issue, meaning like it wasn't all Iran.
And anybody with a functioning brain knows that the party not in the White House traditionally wins.
Some of our candidates were weak and the messaging was confusing despite a robust economy.
OK.
Affordability remains an issue.
housing, energy, et cetera, and prolonging the defeat of the Iranian terrorist regime
all contributed to the results, as did the woke Reich.
There needs to be a thoughtful and honest evaluation of events.
Will do that will not be dragged into some ideologically driven agenda
based on fringe operators, Jerry Springer-like performers,
and shock jock loudmouths,
while those people will never support a strong pro-America first agenda
or a unified opposition to the radical Democrats and their Marxist-Islamist agenda,
including their war on the Constitution and capitalism.
We will, we will do what we have to do to save this country in spite of them.
So a lot of cope there around, basically what he's saying is that
the problem isn't we did the war.
The problem is we didn't do the war hard enough.
Oh, yeah.
That's the message.
Crystal, we were talking about this last night,
and I was going to say, like, I think we predicted this is exactly what was going to happen from them.
And the audacity of that man to go on Fox News every single week over the course of this war,
before the war, convinced the president that the people would have his back
to say, as he did on his show,
people would not be voting on the Iran war when we now have hard data in exit polls,
as if you needed it, as if you needed it,
when every single poll over and over and over again was showing the same thing,
that the American public did not like the war.
As if you needed that, the audacity of him to then go blame people
and continue smearing them as the woke Reich just because,
just because they were against the war.
And that is exactly what Mark Levin did.
Are there actual people that would belong in a category called, like, quote, unquote, woke Reich?
Of course there are actual people that would.
Unfortunately, for Mark Levin, the category is every single damn person
who said the war was a bad idea,
regardless of whether they are genuine bigots and anti-Semites.
So the audacity of him to come out this morning with a post like that is astounding
and tells you everything you need to know about his character and his political acumen.
Well said, Emily. Thank you.
Let's put Laura Loomer up here on the screen.
Here's what we've got from Loomer.
America certainly got loomered last night.
Here's what she says.
I hate to say it, but America is over.
The communists and jihadists are going to open our border,
replace our votes with votes from illegal aliens.
We now have reps who openly speak about their hatred of America,
their love of communism, and their support for Sharia law.
We won't be able to undo the damage they caused on our country.
America 250 was a funeral.
The American dream is dead.
What's funny, too, is people who talk like this
have been going after Emily and me and Tucker and all these other people
and accusing us of running something called a demoralization campaign.
Oh.
Pointing out how the. It's a conspiracy.
We're like, hey, the war is bad.
Just saying, you know, the war is bad.
If you said it was good.
If you said it was good, if you convinced the American people it was good,
then none of this would happen.
I mean, I can relate to this.
They call us the retard right.
Because during the Biden administration, there was some of the same, like,
you know, like, don't talk about the economy being bad.
Yeah, that was Will Stanselism.
Yeah.
He said, you guys are all talking down the economy.
The economy, if you look at the numbers, he's like, it's great.
That's true.
It's been so long that people, I remember people who would come after you
and you're like, how can, you know,
you're creating problems because you're saying Biden's doing genocide.
And you're like, yeah, that's just what I believe.
But he's doing it.
It's like, what am I supposed to say?
The economy's not great.
We're supposed to deny the reality.
Look, I mean, that's a breaking points problem always that exists.
But beyond that.
Being honest.
Yeah.
That's our fatal flaw.
Saying what we have to say.
Sorry, folks.
The big thing here is that, you know,
so Emily literally just sent me this op-ed from the Wall Street Journal.
And I look at the quote and they go,
this time Trump insisted on imposing universal tariffs willy-nilly.
That have raised prices, damaging Iowa, Kansas, and the farm belt.
His senseless trade war with Canada hurt Republicans in Michigan, Maine, and even Texas.
The word Iran does not appear in their big picture takeaway.
The first thing they mention is tariffs.
The very first thing that they take away.
Yeah.
There is tariffs.
I mean, this is, you know, obviously, look,
so much of this is going to be about our country.
But we do have a looming catastrophe on the other side of the world.
And I do think.
At least one.
Yeah.
Right.
I mean, we didn't cover it this week, but there's crazy shit.
Going on in Ukraine right now.
Yeah.
These torture dungeons of children being revealed.
Azov battalion tortured dungeons and riots.
And I mean, it's really.
There's a lot that's going on in the world right now.
That feels like it's getting to a tipping point.
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It's the rage bait.
We got clear facts.
Maybe we can calm down a little.
NBC News brings you.
Clear reporting.
NBC News reporting for America.
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I wanted to play this Caroline Sunshine clip from Fox News of her trying to inject some reality
into coverage that was often disconnected from it.
If we can go ahead, Mac, and pull that one up and play this.
President Trump didn't win.
No.
President Trump's message won.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the messenger.
His staff and his team allowed his winning message in 2024 to be co-opted by his opposition.
All of the candidates on the Dem side that won tonight,
we were spending time talking about Hassan Piker and El-Sayed.
Hassan Piker and El-Sayed were spending time talking to voters about how,
hey, you know what?
Maybe you don't want to send all your money to overseas wars and have it come back home
and work hard for you here.
Hey, we want to take on corruption.
Hey, we want to make the economy work for you.
That's President Trump's message.
That is the Trump doctrine.
And Republicans tonight allowed that message to get co-opted by insincere actors.
Now, I love her delusion here that Trump had nothing to do with this.
And it's just that they abandoned his message when he's out there talking about John Husted's ass
and Hassan Piker, by the way, and Abdul, who he insisted on calling Muhammad and doing his whole racist.
Jihadist.
He called him a jihadist.
Called him a jihadist.
After, by the way, he said Zohra Mamdani was not a jihadist a year ago when I asked him in the Oval Office.
Yeah.
He flipped on that.
So, I mean, it's, yeah.
So, she does her whole, like, oh, it's not Trump.
It's the advisors.
It's never him.
It's the Republicans.
I'm going to give Caroline a break because she's trying to talk to him.
But, yeah.
Yeah.
But in any case, the message there about we were talking about Hassan Piker, who they
tried desperately to make the main character and villain of the election.
And meanwhile, Democrats were out there saying gas prices are too high.
Grocery prices are too high.
This war is a disaster.
Trump is a.
He's corrupt.
That is really true.
That is really true.
And I don't know why anyone thought that trying to make Hassan the main character of this election
was going to be a smart play when they literally tried that same play with Andrew Cuomo.
And guess who was not mayor of New York City?
Andrew Cuomo.
Zoran had nothing going for him except a compelling message and a whole lot of political talent.
But he started at one percent.
And he clawed his way up because his message resonated so much.
And because some people were so disgusted with the reign of the Cuomos of the world,
they tried the Hassan Piker playbook and decided to roll it out once again, thinking for some
reason this time it would be different.
Complete insanity.
And they, you know, they even like stepped on their own like, oh, their socialist message.
Not that I think that would have worked particularly well either, but complete insanity to think
that this was going to be.
A successful playbook at a time of deep economic discontent.
Wow.
Breaking news.
Mike Johnson will not run for minority leader.
So good for my job.
He's like, no one's saying that he was going to run.
Oh, well, the Republic.
Well, OK, this is on the it is.
And on the political level, Jim Jordan will be somebody that Republicans feel has always
been strongest in opposition to the Democratic establishment.
So the politics of it aren't insane for Republicans.
They were much less comfortable when Jim Jordan was in a position of more power.
People felt like he was surrounded by.
Lobbyists and those complaints started to rack up against Jim Jordan, tech lobbyists
in particular.
So the politics of it aren't a disaster for Republicans.
Mike, who'd want that job?
All right.
You did the honorable thing.
You need to resign.
You need to go back to Louisiana.
You need to get a ritual sword and slit your belly.
All right.
That's what needs to happen.
I'll serve as your second and I will cut the last in use.
You want to talk about I need to talk about war funding for a second.
Yeah, go ahead.
So let's put up the one that's labeled.
This is D 13, 20, 27 fiscal year funding.
So this was a.
a very interesting little scoop from Punchbowl last night.
they say news top house so it's coming in to you know right in the middle of election day top house
and senate republican and democratic appropriators are planning to meet early next week to discuss
fy 2027 funding government funding runs out on december 11th this four corners meeting will
kick off lame duck spending talks so immediately the kind of war uniparty on election day is like
okay funding is running out december 11th that is that can be the major fight over
control of the war and trump's ability to wage this war the day before that uh chris van holland
with david sirota uh do we have this thought that this is the one labeled van holland it would be
donald trump who would be shutting down the government because he wants to continue an
illegal war that's what he would be doing if you're asking me whether i will vote for one
penny to continue the war i'm not going to continue the war i'm going to continue the war
i'm going to continue this illegal senseless war absolutely not and democrats should use their
power to make sure we bring this war to an end in fact i would go further one of the big votes we
may have when we get back is on the national defense authorization bill my view is we cannot
advance that bill which is essentially a big authorization bill for the defense department
if that effectively allows the iran war to continue remember donald trump told us he was
instead he and prime minister netanyahu started an illegal war so if donald trump wants to take
the position that he wants to shut down the government in order to keep his illegal war going
and put more american soldiers at risk and kill innocent civilians in the region and keep prices
going up he will tell the american people that his priority is to break the promise that he made
in the campaign so that's the that's the line in the sand right there uh december 11th
are democrats going to continue funding uh for for the war uh chris murphy do we have the chris
murphy side all right cool so chris murphy yeah let's let's roll him this is before he had a
stroke understand they caught it pretty quickly hopefully he's going to make a full recovery
this is chris murphy talking about um the intelligence that he's seen about the trump war
plans in one of these briefings we did get the chance to have a fairly detailed conversation
about what the war plans were and what the war plans were and what the war plans were
would be if we restarted military operations you've heard a preview that it would be a
short duration yeah um plan i will just say this their plan is insane um it won't it it won't it
it it it will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the
will of law can you say more i mean there's been open reporting as to you know what we may be
planning and the civilian infrastructure that we may be targeting um i i think the plan the plan
that they have they've been asked by the president to develop a plan whether they believe it it will
work or not i do not know um but the plan that they have developed will lead in my view to a
and an escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests and so
then he followed that by saying in december we're going to pass a cr which funds all of this insanity
and then we're going to fight this out in january or february and it's like why would you do that
hold on you just said this it's complete insanity yeah complete insanity and absolutely devastating
let's go ahead and fund it in december yeah through january let's think through so i mean
not to get too nerdy on it but let's think through this schumer's almost done with this
almost certainly going to be majority leader okay so we'll see uh well i mean from what i've seen
right now or at least the way he's acting uh others not enough of these people are on the
record against him one thing i saw floated is that he may agree to resign to basically step
down after his term is up past the baton right and that may be his play is to say basically like
yeah let me do this for two years if he runs gone anyway it's not like he's coming back anyway but
let's okay so but let's tease it schumer is i mean he's actually i wouldn't say he's pro-iran war
but you know pro-israel uh probably secretly pro-iran war in the way that dan osborne he would
have been pro another iran yeah that's right not there's not this kind but a different kind so i
mean is he really going to lead like this gets to our conversation yesterday about pelosi not
wanting to defund the war in iraq i mean this is going to be a titanic struggle yeah and you still
have hard who are these other establishment dems i'm thinking of like the minnesota what's that
woman's name taggy flanagan no the other one the one who's currently she was replaced by tina smith
again oh sorry okay so i'm trying to think in off the top of my head the more establishment type
people who are going to be in the senate right there's a bunch of them opposite sides well
mark warner's a good example somebody like that right you know people uh people who are much more
in the schumer camp and will often use him for as cover yeah and be like oh blame schumer when
secretly like they believe yeah that type of stuff there are a lot of democrats like that yes
absolutely oh uh what's it connecticut what's the guy who lied about vietnam yeah him exactly people
like that who are all very secretly very establishment they're not yeah with the times
they're probably looking at this with horror because now they have to do something that's
what it's highlighting december 11th because they're they're feigning this lack of power
it's the it's you can't let them feign that we were talking about this last night it's the
republican senate after the tea party wave in 2010 2012 2014 where they were being called
wacko birds by lindsey graham and john mccain and there was a real effort to undermine them
despite the fact that the republican electorate was clearly clearly clearly going in one way or
one direction you had mandates from republican voters over and over again and mitch mcconnell
clung to power by blocking obama scotus nomination i mean that's really what wins him the trust of
republicans is he takes a big swing so if chuck schumer has something like that in him who knows
if that's even enough uh because this is even more of a route than republicans had in 10 12 and 14
yeah yeah i mean i go back to what jack was saying on the live stream last night if democrats really
want to seize the moment and create a break from the the
failures of the past this is still a very unpopular party they should turf chuck schumer
that should happen it should be obvious yes and and the reckoning was yes primarily of trump and
the iran war and all of those things but if you look over the course of the democratic primary
process there was a major reckoning that was happening within the democratic party as well
which will continue um moving forward i mean hayley stevens is the prime example of that and
abdul sayed's ultimate victory by seven eight points and
michigan is another example of that so um you know that would be a very important message to send
that we get it you're giving us some trust here we are not going to let you down we are going to
be different we are going to operate in a different way than we did in the past now am i confident
that's going to happen no but you do have some senate candidates who just won who said they're
not supporting schumer for leadership so there will at least be a conversation there will at least be
a fight and i know the democratic base is going to be on the side very much of the politicians who
are saying we've got to do something different what does john ossoff do that's a big question
president yeah but in terms of when he starts getting questions about leadership i mean in
terms of like whether he would support schumer not whether he would step into the role but like
what does he do with schumer it's a big question it's a big question for talarico i mean these guys
i think he probably voted for schumer probably but he also got elected on a
populist narrative yeah i mean if you're a smart politician the smart politician move is to vote
against schumer because the base doesn't want to vote for him and he's not popular it's not like
he's popular with the general public i hate him if you are representing a republican state like
texas a red state like texas this is a way both to please your base and to please the electorate
in texas i'm standing up to the party leadership we're doing something different so there will be
a lot of political incentives for him for adam hamilton obvious got call on the fans up in the
as well um you know annie andrews you'll have incentive you could have a horseshoe of the
moderates who just won in red states and the progressives who want someone you know more
aggressive than elizabeth warren chris van holland somebody like that um you could you could see how
it could come together i don't think it's preposterous to imagine good point by the way
even more updates steve scalese apparently going to be running so it's going to be scalese versus
jim jordan that's kind of jordan gets that actually i think he probably yeah wins that but i mean that's
that's big implications at least has a lot of lobbying connections yeah exactly he's got that's
going to be his pitch he's like guys we needed more money actually to to win this jordan is a
better small dollar fundraiser than uh scalese so anyway okay jordan plays this i don't know if
his benghazi bullshit's gonna work this time around no i mean in the in the face now of what
man in the face of uh all these investigations and the corruption stuff that's gonna happen
that's a good pitch for jordan probably because he kind of they'll say he's the one who knows how
to head off those types of investigations
because he's been part of them right and he did it last time i don't know i don't have no idea i don't
see it progressive's accident response can contact emergency services if you're in a major accident
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I turned off news altogether.
It's the rage bait.
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Let's talk about data centers and then we can, I'll probably have to jump at that point
because I'm going to do an interview with Navarra Media.
Got to spread the good word across the pond.
And I think I'm talking to Owen Jones later today too.
So the Brits are very interested in what's going on with us right now.
But I do want to talk about this data center piece because, again,
the reckoning of the billionaire class extended far beyond just Trump.
Let's go ahead and put this up on the screen.
There were a bunch of data centers.
There were a bunch of data center ballot initiatives across the country
where people were voting, do you want this thing in your community or not?
And guess what?
The score is 41 to 0 against.
In nearly every case, it's about 67 to 80% opposing data centers.
This was true in California, in Ohio, in every state where this was tested.
And then they've got a link to the results here.
And, you know, you had Ohio.
You had Michigan.
You had Maine, Illinois, Kansas, California, Florida, North Dakota, New Jersey, Nevada, Wisconsin.
In every single instance, voters said abso-fucking-lutely not.
And this is what I mean when I talk about the potential coalition
that a smart and principled politician could pull together for 2028.
I think data centers, the reason we've covered it
is because it was really the bleeding edge of an overall AI resistance.
It was the most in-your-face manifestation of this loss of control to tech oligarchs.
And the concerns ranged a broad amount of issues.
You know, it was the noise.
It was the pollution.
It was the energy bills.
But there was also just this, yes, corruption.
There was also just this sense of we have handed so much power.
These people have taken so much power from us, including in what we can have in our own community,
like the building, the character of our own community.
And so it was really the bleeding edge of that.
And now you have this massive reckoning.
You add to that the fact that Will Lawrence wins in Michigan.
Gina Hinojosa wins in Texas, running against data centers there.
You have a bunch of politicians who are winning in spite of tech billionaires
spending heavily in their races against them.
So this is another real message from the American people
and mandate that is being issued here to politicians.
being issued here to politicians that they are not for the Trump, David Sachs, Elon Musk,
And so I think it's really important that we have this massive reckoning.
off to the races with ai development and my you know big prediction is that this sentiment which
started with data centers is only going to grow and become more central as people see exactly all
of what the tech oligarchs have in store for us even soccer to the point you always make even in
their like utopian vision most people look at it and go why would i want that why would i want why
would i want your your quote-unquote utopia which involves eliminating my job and my ability to earn
a living for myself and 22 hours of screen time a day uh watching netflix ai slop or take yeah
like literally that's the that fruit island or whatever i think alluring i do think this is so
we talk about mandate and like what they need to do by the way this is the one they actually could
do it's the most deliverable stop stop is much easier than do that's one of the right you know
i mean it's one of the ever-present lessons in all of politics stopping something from happen
is much easier than making something happen because you actually have to plan for it it has
to be affirmative and so i have multiple questions around ai and the big question actually for the
democrats in the house and in the senate is are they going to go in kind of the dario direction
Like they're going to pass the AI with the guardrails or they're going to be like, no, we're not doing this shit literally at all.
Right. I think that's a very open and kind of interesting question about how they govern.
But on the data center front specifically, it's dead.
Like there will not be more private data center investment or zone that will be allowed in this nation, at least at the pace that we've seen so far.
If anything, I expect a dramatic rollback.
Elon's first and only reaction last night was maybe data centers in space are looking pretty
good right now. I mean, that's what they're basically having to say is like, oh, well,
we can't build them in the Gulf because Iran will blow them up. And I guess we can't build
them in Texas because a bunch of people are going to vote Democrat. And so that means where? We got
to go up. That's bullshit. And we all know it. Right. And so that actually freezes. I actually
don't think the market is reacting correctly. Last night, the S&P dropped by 2 percent. I think
it's back up it's like skyrocketing this morning actually it looks like a no yeah so right back
erase how does trump explain that it's incredible he loves to talk about the market gains that he
is ushering in he was actually i don't well this wasn't about him you're right he was not on the
ballot every other republican in the country i don't about him i honestly don't really get why
it's up because and i'm not saying this in a disparaging way like this is not good for the
ai industry like this is actually very bad but maybe the argument is that the ai industry gets
the they've been pushing for some self-regulation so maybe they get the self-regulation that they
are pushing that's what i was getting at slow air let out of a bubble instead of a spectacular
explosion and collapse but i don't understand the market logic well yeah i was just looking
right now you know one of my friends is talking about like the various ways that they could go
about this on ai so they could do this uh shift like to the dario kind of ea ai with guardrails
development. They could just do the so-called like ban, whatever, what is it? Super, you know,
AGI or something, uh, recursive self-improvement, but they could also, they could go a lot further.
They could do an entire moratorium. Uh, they could actually say, no, we're not doing any more
development. Like we're actually doing a straight up pause, right? And they could force Trump's hand
to have to veto those types of things. This is another thing that we have to mention because
of the results last night. And remember the amount of power that these states have to regulate and to
ban a lot of these things, not just at data centers, but remember Ron DeSantis and others
were putting moratoriums and their own individual state laws on. That now becomes a question where
if Trump will veto it at the federal level, Democrats can actually lead at a state level
and stop a lot of this from going forward. One thing people have pointed out is that
And if these frontier AI companies would stop just doing new models, they instantly actually become profitable with the product that they have.
They're just taking all of the profit that they're making and dumping it into moving closer to recursive self-improvement.
And so maybe the market is like, hey, maybe they're going to start making some profits now since they can't build out the data centers anymore.
The reason they don't want to do that is because when you stop training the models, then you become a normal business.
And then you don't get to have, like, an $8 trillion valuation or whatever insane number they put out there because you no longer have this theoretical possibility hanging out there of all of the, like, we're going to literally capture all of human productivity and, like, run the entire global economy.
Once that's off the table, then, okay, now you're like a normal business in the process of building apps, basically, that are extremely powerful.
I'm not trying to downplay, obviously.
But that's why they haven't liked going in that direction, even though it would be an actually better business and more profitable.
And the models are already obviously extremely powerful.
There's a lot that they would already do to upend many industries, you know, here and around the world.
So there is a lot of room to move in that direction.
But, yeah, then then you don't get your multi, multi trillion dollar valuation.
I wanted to play, if we can grab it, it's in the rundown, guys, in this block under Abdul.
In that 60 Minutes interview that he gave to Ross Douthat and was quite wide-ranging, they did get into AI, which is a particular interest of Ross, has talked a lot about this and has a lot of concerns himself.
And Abdul pitched himself as, you know, one of the things that he wants to do is right now he thinks there should be, he agrees with Bernie, that there should be a pause on new AI development.
And I think you're going to see other candidates who just won
who probably share the same position.
Do we have that clip, guys?
Okay, let's go ahead and play it.
- What about the frontier where companies are pushing forward
companies are pushing for.
We need a full-on pause.
Full-on pause.
Full-on pause.
Okay.
And what happens then, the instant question, what happens if we pause and China doesn't?
See, I just don't think that that's – I don't take that as seriously as a lot of people do.
Here's why.
A lot of the frontier research is just spoofing our models.
China's research.
China's research.
And it'd be like, you know, you're pulling a skier on a boat.
And you speed up the boat and you're like, the skier is still so close.
We've got to speed up.
The skier is still so close.
Well, it's because you're pulling the skier.
And I think that's in part what's happening, right?
And they've been very, very good at just mocking our technology.
So I think if we slow down, I think we'll find that a lot of what China is doing is more about the dispersion of this technology than it is on frontier research.
And at the same time, I think we need an international treaty.
I think we need to be working with the Chinese because at the end of the day –
Because eventually the water skier can still swim and catch up.
I mean, that's where the analogy falls apart.
Running with the metaphor.
Yeah.
But –
But eventually, yes, they are going to be able to hop on a jet ski and catch up.
But the point that I'm making here is that I think all of us are interested in the preservation of humanity, right?
Because, you know, in China there are humans too and we're humans too.
And creating robots that get to this point of recursive self-improvement, kind of like that horror point in Fantasia where you've got the mops with the buckets that are self-creating.
None of us want to get there.
And none of us want to see what happens when you open Pandora's box and all of a sudden AI has far exceeded our control.
So I think we all have an incentive.
I think we all have an incentive to get this right.
But to understand that we are going to have to figure out how to work together similarly to what we've done when it came to other potentially humanity-risking technological endeavors like nuclear power to be able to contain the potential threat and work together to make sure that we are focused more on protecting humanity than just simply what the micro-scale incentives might look like.
I was really excited to see that because, number one, Abdul is a political superstar.
what he overcame to win by a wide margin in Michigan is extraordinary, both in the primary
and in the general election, the Haley Stevens thing, the racist smear campaigns, all of the
money that poured in, all of that. And he ends up winning and winning quite easily. And by the way,
and this is a side note, 95% of Democrats voted for him. So the entire media narrative, oh my God,
Democrats are divided over Israel. Bullshit. Democrats are not divided. They are quite
united. In fact, the only people that are divided are a few Israel first elected Democrats who no
longer think that they see themselves in the Democratic Party. And you know what? Please
move along. But what I hear in that response from Abdul as someone who is deeply engaging with all
of the AI discourse and reading and all of that all the time, this is a man who has spent a lot
of time also reading and thinking he just read about it exactly he's talking about aoc answer
on taiwan yes wow oh thank you for like reading the news you know he's talking about recursive
self-improvement exactly even his his comment about the fantasia nightmare with the that's
something that people in the space talk about quite a bit this is someone who has thought a
lot about this issue he's not coming to it casually and so bernie has already been a champion greg
has been a champion. But Abdul is such an extraordinary political talent. Having him
in the Senate and pushing forward on this issue is going to be, I think, very consequential.
And by the way, this will be the minimum requirement for Democrats running in 2028.
This will be another litmus test issue. You will need to be for a full AI pause if you're going to
win the Democratic nomination. That is my theory. And you're going to have, you know, tech oligarchs
have their guy in J.D.
If we're alive by them, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
They have their guy in J.D.,
so they feel like they've got their player
on the Republican side.
They're likely to get behind probably Gavin
or some other player on the Democratic side,
but I do not think it will be successful
because the backlash to this stuff
is only going to get bigger
as it becomes more tangible to people.
J.D.'s, you know, remember on the campaign,
what did he say?
He's like, well, data centers could be good,
or something.
I was like, oh.
Well, we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about Will Lawrence.
He owes a lot of his career to Peter Thiel,
and I know that's a little bit simplistic.
don't like when i say it but that is where i just think it's i just think it's reductive in terms of
like because okay yeah it's not his political career is actually his basic his career career
his life yeah i think what it is more under this now is he was trying to square the circle i don't
even think that has shit to do with peter teal he's trying to square the circle with all the
money that he needs to be able to run with the 2028 campaign and where the popular obviously
electorate was. And this
basically just blew up
this entire plan
that they were kind of looking at
from the Elon money and others. I mean, if anything,
this election shows that that money
doesn't matter at all in the
way of actual material. If anything, yeah, it could
hurt. It could be actively against you.
And I was going to say, we would be remiss if, while we're talking
I mean, what he overcame to win by two.
I mean, what he overcame to win by one.
I mean, what he overcame to win by two.
So, this has been a very illuminating experience for the Democratic base.
Whether it's Zuckerberg or Altman or whoever, like, I don't think it's going to be as simple as now I'm celebrating diversity and here's my Kente cloth and let me, you know, Black Lives Matter.
Like, it's not going to work the way that it did before because they really have exposed themselves.
And because the central argument in this election really was fuck the billionaires.
And it didn't matter if it was Texas or Maine or Michigan or Iowa.
Across the country, candidates that were moderate and candidates that were progressive, there was a class war narrative that was quite front and center.
And that is not going back because, I mean, people are just horrified by the amount of wealth and power that these guys accumulated and flaunt.
You know, they flaunted it in your face.
Handing over the entire federal government to Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet who's now on certain days.
A trillionaire.
I don't think that they're going to be able to come crawling back to the Democratic base the way that they are likely already thinking that they will.
And like I said, they're going to have their candidate or candidates in the Democratic primary.
They will try to play that game.
I do not think the Democratic base is going to fall for it this time.
Big questions.
All right.
Crystal, I know you have to get.
Yeah, I got to run.
So we can wrap this up.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
We appreciate it.
It's been a lot of fun to do it again here at the desk and for all the premium members.
And others who signed up, of course, we'll still have our continued and normal regular coverage throughout the week.
So stay tuned and we'll see you all then.
We'll see you next time.
We'll see you then.
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Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Progressive’s Accident Response allows policyholders to contact emergency services in major accidents, providing peace of mind for loved ones.
A growing public backlash against tech billionaires is manifesting in widespread voter opposition to data centers, with 67–80% of voters rejecting their presence in communities.
Key political figures like Abdul Sayed and Will Lawrence won by defeating entrenched tech-backed campaigns, signaling a shift in public trust and a class-war narrative.
Democrats are facing a potential mandate to implement a full pause on frontier AI development to prevent uncontrolled technological escalation.
The Trump administration’s post-election messaging, including claims about Iran and tariffs, is widely criticized as disingenuous and politically manipulative.
Wasabi offers affordable, predictable cloud storage designed for AI workloads, enabling businesses to innovate without being burdened by rising data costs.
Public distrust in media and political figures is rising, with critics calling out “rage bait” and misinformation, especially in partisan conflicts over AI and foreign policy.
A new political consensus is emerging where voters demand accountability from tech oligarchs and prioritize human safety over unchecked innovation.
Summary:
The podcast explores a convergence of public sentiment, political shifts, and technological concerns in the wake of recent elections. Progressive highlights its Accident Response service, offering real-time emergency support to ease anxiety during accidents. A major public backlash against data centers—where voters in nearly every state have rejected proposed facilities—signals a broader resistance to tech oligarch influence.
Political victories by figures like Abdul Sayed and Will Lawrence, despite massive spending by billionaires, reflect a deepening class-war narrative and voter disillusionment with power concentration. This sentiment is now central to the emerging Democratic platform, with a strong push for a full pause on frontier AI development to prevent runaway innovation and potential existential risks. Critics argue that Trump's post-election rhetoric, especially on Iran and tariffs, is inconsistent and politically manipulative, while tech companies face growing scrutiny.
Wasabi is introduced as a solution for AI-driven businesses, offering affordable, scalable cloud storage to counter rising data costs. The overarching theme is that public trust is eroding, and voters are demanding transparency, accountability, and a reassertion of democratic control—particularly over data, AI, and economic power—marking a pivotal shift in political and technological discourse.
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Progressive's Accident Response allows you to contact emergency services if you're in a major accident. It provides peace of mind knowing your loved ones are protected and help is available when you can't reach them.
No, Progressive's Accident Response is limited to availability in California. It is not available in all states.
No, driver is responsible for emergency and towing charges, which are not covered by the policy.
Wasabi is a cloud storage service that offers simple, predictable pricing and fast access to data. It enables AI businesses to store and access data efficiently without hidden fees or high costs.
Yes, Wasabi offers a free trial to try its cloud storage services, allowing users to evaluate its benefits before committing.
In nearly every state tested, including California, Ohio, and Michigan, voters have strongly opposed new data centers, with support ranging from 67% to 80% against their construction.
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