238. Polls Open - Is America Done with Trump?

0:00Welcome to The Rest Is Politics US with me and Anthony. On election day, we are finally here for the big referendum on Donald J. Trump and his presidency. Voters, of course, across the country, across the United States, have been casting their ballots and defining what the next couple of years is going to look like in America. Right now, we do not have any results that have come in, but later tonight, or should I say very early tomorrow morning, Anthony and I will be breaking down the results as they roll in, in all of those important swing states to see who gets control of the House, to see who gets control of the Senate. We're going to be joined in the studio by two good friends of ours, Ed Elson, who is co-host of the Prof G Markets

0:42podcast, and Amanda Renteria, who is a democratic strategist and knows all things Democrat Party. We also have tons of guests who are going to call in senators, members of Congress throughout the night to give us the inside story, keep us updated on all of those important exit polls. So make sure you're subscribed if you want to listen to us tomorrow morning. To this channel, you can watch there. That's at 5 a.m. UK time till 8 a.m. If you're in the States, 12 a.m. Eastern to 3 a.m. This episode is brought to you by eToro. A tariff, a spending plan, a regulatory change. It can all start just as the first line of a speech, but it sets in motion things that can reach far beyond Washington and unfold for years to come.

1:28That's right, Katty. Markets move on expectations, not just events. Investors are constantly weighing what a decision could mean for company sectors and the wider economy. So eToro is an investing platform where you can access a wide range of markets and explore how political and economic developments could affect them. You could also learn from the global community of investors and see how people around the world are interpreting the same news. As with all investing, your capital is at risk. See eToro.com forward slash trip US for full terms. Hi, this is Gary Lineker from Goal Hangers. The rest is football. This episode is brought to you by Wise. It's only when you start moving money between currencies that you really think about

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3:01Be smart. Get wise. T's and C's apply. This episode is brought to you by the Financial Times. You don't need to be a journalist to know that there are countless voices out there competing to tell you the what, the who, and the where of the latest news stories. To really understand what's going on, you need to know the why. You get it all in the FT. It's a very objective paper and it's lots of fun to read and it makes you smarter. I also loved Janine Ganesh's opinion piece on why must a socialist always be woke? And he's making the point that the socialists in America have compelling economic policies, but cultural policies that many people in the country hate. Is there a lane for somebody who is a more culturally moderate socialist?

3:47I love the FT weekend. My very favorite thing to read on a Saturday morning. No, I love the FT. I'm just thrilled that they're a sponsor. For the Y, Financial Times. Listeners of The Rest Is Politics US can save over 40% on an annual digital subscription to the Financial Times by visiting ft.com slash trip US. That's ft.com slash trip US, T-R-I-P-U-S, subject to terms and conditions. Offer expires October 28th. Okay, Antony, how are you feeling? Election day. It must be a little odd for you. I am not an American citizen so I don't vote in American elections. All my family have done so but I imagine it's a little odd for you to be here in London on election day. Well the polls, you know, we have early voting in New York so I was able to

4:38vote on Saturday before I came over here. A couple of things happened today that I would love to get your reaction to. So the president makes an announcement early this morning that he's ending the $3.8 billion of funding to Israel. Israel is now just going to flat out buy arms from the United States, but we're not going to subsidize them anymore, which was something that we agreed to way back in 1978 during the Camp David Accords. We had promised to create an economic aid package to both Israel and Egypt to help facilitate that peace. And that was an ongoing mission from the United States. But I'm just wondering, Cady, that's election related? What's the strategy there? Because he also said that

5:26candidates like El-Sayed in Michigan are using the totem of Israel receiving the aid as a political situation. So political football, if you will. So go ahead. What do you think of all that? I mean, this was bizarre election day news. Trump said this on Fox News on interview. He said he last spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu last Saturday. And he said it's because Israel no longer needs it. And because, as you say, people like Al-Sayed are using this as what he called a political tool. It's certainly true that we've seen Israel's favorability in the U.S. decline precipitously since the attacks of October the 7th and the attacks on Gaza after that. And we've seen particularly amongst young Americans

6:16less enthusiasm for America helping Israel in the way that it has done over the decades. I'm not surprised that America would move in this direction. It's a little way that it has done over the decades. I'm not surprised that America would move in this direction. It's a little odd that it's Trump announcing this because he's had this on again, off again, cozy relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he'd reached the agreement with Netanyahu on the phone. And Netanyahu had told an Israeli news channel before Israel's election that the end of USAID was coming. So I think everybody's kind of seen the writing on the wall. What struck me as surprising, Antony, is that he would say this on the morning of these important midterm elections.

6:56I mean, I don't see that there's much benefit to him. It's not like suddenly you're going to have a whole load of on the fence voters or Republicans who had been thinking of staying at home, suddenly deciding that Israel and Gaza is the issue that's going to drive them to the polls at the last minute. So I'm not quite sure why he did this. Maybe he does want to deprive the Democrats in the future of a political talking point. But that's a that's an odd way to make such an important foreign policy decision. And B, there's also going to be Republicans who are friends of Israel's. You know that there are a lot of people in the Republican Party who are friends of Israel's who don't like the idea of America cutting off support.

7:36And it could be a political liability with them. So it just it sounds like the official reason is he's trying to satisfy one group and risks alienating another group. This was probably bound to happen. I know that people in the Middle East have told me, you just look at the demographics of America. The support for America, for Israel is not there anymore amongst younger Americans. So it was going to happen. It was just a weird timing to do it on Election Day. What what did you make of it? Yeah, no, I think he was trying to make a statement here on election day. I think that was a play in Michigan. But what, he thinks that's going to drive people out to the polls? Him saying that? I think he's trying to take it off the table in Michigan. I

8:19think it's been used aggressively. It's a little late for that. I mean, that's... I understand that. I think, but he also had to wait for the conclusion of the election in Israel. I don't think he was ready to tell that information before, because obviously he endorsed Netanyahu. He didn't want it to be a political football in Israel. So he's making it one here. What about the 18? I mean, this is the dirty tricks season, right? We've got two Sullivans on the ballot in Alaska, and we've got the governor of Florida moving polling stations, right? Now you know there's another trick. You look at the black neighborhood. There were three polling stations in the black neighborhood. You say, okay, where do the people live?

9:01Okay, well, the people live over there. Okay, well, let's put the polling station, let's close two of the polling stations and put it way over here, so it takes them an hour to get to the polling station. And then of course, let's make sure there's not that many polling booths, so these people have to wait on line six, seven, eight hours without water to cast their vote. What do you make of all that, that dirty trick campaign that goes on? Yeah, I mean, that I've seen over the years in American politics. This is not the first time. They've also closed 90 polling stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In previous elections, particularly in Wisconsin and in Michigan, they've shut down polling stations

9:43in areas where there are a lot of students. So they've shut down polling stations in areas where there are a lot of students. So they've taken them off university campuses, which makes it harder for the students to go and vote. This is not new to US politics. The numbers of the turnout, which are very high, and particularly in the early voting, as far as we can tell, turnout has been very high and has been particularly high in some of the gerrymandered areas where black candidates have lost their seats. That makes you think that actually sometimes when they play these dirty tricks, it makes people even more determined to go and vote. We saw that in Georgia, right? Remember when it was at a couple of election cycles, I feel like it was 2022, where they changed the rules in Georgia ahead of those critical midterm elections during Trump's

10:30first term and said, you can't hand out water in the lines and you can't hand out food in the lines. And actually, they had huge turnout in some of those areas because people don't like having their vote taken away from them. So I don't know that it makes much difference. I think people who are determined to vote and everything up until now suggests we've got very high levels of voting. Have you seen, we should actually, we hadn't when we were on air yesterday, Anthony, we had not listened to Trump's reflecting pool speech, which is one of the more bizarre closing messages I have seen from a candidate ever to spend seven minutes talking about piping and drainage and made the very salient point that drainage is important.

11:16And I think we would probably both agree with this. The official TripUS position is that drainage is important. It's just a bit of an odd closing message. What did you think of his speech? Well, you know, I don't know, people, do you remember the Wallman Rink? What's the Wallman Rink? Yes, the Wallman Rink was the ice rink in New York City that Donald Trump decided in the 1980s that he was going to renovate and only he could renovate it. He actually did get government funding as well to do it, but he decided to claim all of the credit for the Warman Rink and stood up there and said only he was the one. He was the only one that could have renovated this rink that had been disused for so long.

11:57So in fairness to Trump, and obviously he put this story in the art of the deal, there had been two years gone by, extensive cost delays. They couldn't get the rink built. He offered to intercede. He did put some of his own money in. He got some money from the city and he took a whole group of contractors to the Wollman Rink and in a few months they had it up and running. There's a very famous picture of him standing on the rink. It's an outdoor rink. He said it used to really bother him looking at it from his triplex apartment that it was under construction for that long. He tells people that was the springboard into his political success, that he was a private sector person taking on a public job, using the mechanics of the private sector to

12:46get something done. And so in his mind, standing in front of the reflecting pool like he did yesterday was that message. Okay. But that messaging is dated, Caddy. That messaging is not resonating. And very few people understand the thread from 40 years ago, the Wallman Rink, to the 2026 renovation of the reflecting pool. But that's what he was trying to do yesterday. He was trying to remind people that, you know, remember the speech in 2016, Cleveland, only I can fix this. Only I know better than the rest of you. It's only me. And so he was trying to send that message yesterday. But I'll tell you, not only did it fall flat, Katty, he looked terrible. He looked tired. Didn't you think he was tired?

13:39I said to you this morning, he was... And let me tell you something, when he looks terrible, he should wear the red hat, not the white hat. And he had the white hat on and his head was tilted in a certain way where he was overly leaning on the podium. And I thought he looked absolutely terrible. And I know the guy a long time. That is aggressive burnout. 20 plus campaign stops in 15, 16 days. At 80. I mean, that's a lot. Yeah, at 80. And let me tell you something, you know, and let me tell you something. He, you know, you got to, I don't like the messaging. And I certainly want him to get roasted tonight. And I certainly want there to be a stamping out of MAGA. But if you don't respect at 80, the move that this guy made around the country,

14:32I mean, he was saying insane stuff and he was, I don't think any of the stuff that he was saying was necessarily relevant to these candidates' success. If somebody like Husted, who I predict ends up, or Husted, as you say, if he ends up losing tonight, some of it will relate it to Donald Trump. If he wins, which I think is not likely, it won't be related to Donald Trump, but it'll be related to the miracle of him and his campaign. So I think Trump on the margin helped very few candidates on the stump over the last three weeks. Do you disagree with that? Do you think he- No, I think that- I think he didn't help the Republican Party in the candidates he chose, and he hasn't helped the Republican Party with his closing message.

15:19Focusing on Houston's ass is not going to help. Focusing and spending seven minutes on drainage of the reflecting pool with all of these charts and these pictures. I mean, it is his obsession. His obsession is the beautification so-called of Washington, D.C. And you and I have both heard from a foreign ally, leader of a foreign ally, that he doesn't think it's going well, that he actually doesn't think that this is going to be a very good night. So maybe he was thinking, okay, well, if I focus on the reflecting pool, and I show them I've done it, and you see they all said, and he hates it when he's criticized, he's pretty thin skinned. So when he's criticized for something, and he's made a joke of like he was over the reflecting pool, his instinct is to go back and say, no, you see,

16:03I'm right, I did fix it. I am right. And I am strong. And I'm the only person that can fix it. It's just that nobody is interested in that argument. Nobody's interested in whether he's the only person that can fix the reflecting pool on the eve of an incredibly consequential election where the Republican candidates around the country are trying to say, okay, can we try and do something about the price of gas? Because in the end, that's all this is going to be about. It's going to be, I don't even think this is a referendum on Doge. The Iran war, I think, is a factor. But I think if the Iran war had been in and out and over quickly, and gas prices hadn't plummeted because the Straits of Hormuz got shut, then actually people probably would have forgiven him for that.

16:43This really is an election that is driven by prices. I mean, it's ironic, right? Because that is what did Joe Biden in 2024, and that is what is doing Donald Trump in right now. And it's pretty simple. If you're not talking about that on the eve of the election, you're not talking about the right subject. So there was something that happened this week on the 29th. Somebody called into Sean Hannity's radio show, and that's usually a jingoistic, very pro-Trump show. Sean gets out there for three hours and beats the drum and tells everybody how wonderful the president is. And he comes with the facts and the statistics that are slanted towards Trump. Somebody called in at the riot act related to this and Sean pushed back aggressively, but Caddy,

17:37there's ice breaking in the system. The MAGA person has left the building and they're maybe never coming back. And again, I'm not saying they're voting for Al-Sayed. I'm not saying they're voting for Talarico. But not voting in this election is a way of saying, you know, MAGA, you disappointed me and I'm not showing up to vote for you because you're going to give me more of the same. I can't hold my nose and vote for the other person, and I can't vote for the Democrats, but I'm not voting for you. Do you think a lot of that's happening? Yeah, I think some of that is definitely happening. I mean, if you just were to take this snapshot in time, Tuesday, November the 3rd, 2026, and ask, is the MAGA

18:29experiment making your life better or worse off? Is that famous political question, it's the only one that really matters. Are you better off today than you were two years ago? Or are you worse off today than you were two years ago i think even most mega people at this point would say they are worse off today than they were two years ago now they may still love donald trump and so they'll stick with him but you i've said this for a while i think this election is going to see the return of that long-lost species the actual republican voter who is republican first not trump first and they've been under a rock and they've been hiding or they've been cowed or they've been wowed by the kind of show.

19:11But I think we'll see this election. We'll start to see people who are Republican first voters, and some of them may stay home and some of them may say, actually, you know what, in Texas, in the interest of the party, if we elect somebody like Ken Paxton, we're destroying the Republican Party. So I'm going to hold my nose and vote for a Democrat. Or there might be states where they split the ticket. I can see that happening as well. Ohio might be an example of that, for example. But I think we are going to, I think we're in the beginning. You and I were asked this today, is this the beginning of the end of MAGA? You think it's the kind of end of the beginning. I actually think if the economy continues like this, and unless the MAGA experiment

19:51delivers for people's daily lives more than it is doing today, then I think we could be, this election could mark the beginning of the end of MAGA and of the MAGA experiment. Okay, but, Cady, unless we're ending the Iran war, which would certainly drop energy prices, there's no legislation coming. Is there any legislation? No. Let's say... It's a vibe shift. It's a vibe shift as much as it is a legislative shift. Are the Democrats going to take the House, Cady? You and I are going to go live live 5 a.m. London time, midnight in the United States. You are never getting rid of us, guys. We will be with you the whole time. Right, which has been very enjoyable for me. I'm enjoying doing this. We've been having a nice time. But I'm just saying, are the Democrats going to take the House,

20:38Kat? Yes, I would say the Democrats are going to take the House. Okay. And so even if you have a split situation where the Republicans maintain the Senate, forget about it. There's no chance that any legislation is going to get done. And Donald Trump doesn't do things through Congress anyway. He doesn't legislate with Congress. The president would have to say, hey, I made a mistake on the tariffs. I'm rolling those back. By the way, I met with the new Ayatollah and I cut a deal. The straits open. You know where it's going and I cut a deal, the straits open. You know where it's going to cost us money to get the strait open, but we'll probably see a reduction in energy prices. And that would generally improve or uptick the economy and lower the specter of inflation.

21:18But other than that, what could they do, Kati, in a gridlocked government, in a lame duck session of the American president? This is back to when Barack Obama lost the House and the Senate and the country became ungovernable. And Barack Obama then spent the last two years of his presidency doing more by executive orders. Well, Donald Trump started his presidency by doing things by executive order and ignored Congress all along. But don't underestimate the power of that vibe shift, because I think that could make a difference, certainly in how the world sees America, but also just in terms of the confidence of Democrats going into the next election. Okay, we're going to take some questions, guys. We're going to take a quick break

22:01and then come back and take your questions. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Anthony, we are heading into the holidays and there are a whole load of jobs that need to be done. So we are hiring for an elf. What do you think? Okay. All right. Well, I'm sure we could find somebody like that on ZipRecruiter. I personally would like a professional cookie decorator. I was also thinking about a custom t-shirt designer because I've really got to upgrade my t-shirts for 2027. I think ZipRecruiter would be good for that. But the truth of the matter is ZipRecruiter can be good for so many different jobs, the highest level professional jobs and even jobs around the house. Try it free at ziprecruiter.com

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24:59or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia, if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbounce.lily.com. First of all, by the way, shout out to Sally Molyneux, evening from Fort William, Scotland. I think tomorrow is going to be very interesting indeed. If the Democrats take the House and Senate, it could get very messy indeed. Shout out to Sally because you live right near my in-laws

25:42who are right outside Fort William. So that's kind of fun. I think it could get messy. I mean, what do you think we're in for a, let's talk short term, Anthony. Yeah. Let's say the Democrats do take the House and the Senate. Does the president accept the results or does he try to interfere? You and I were asked about this today. Do you think he tries to interfere with the result? I think it's very tough. I think that these are run by state and local authorities as you know. I think he has sufficiently scared the state and local authorities to thinking that the federal government is going to manipulate and or meddle in the elections, at which point the back is up on everybody. He just lost that court case.

26:28The Supreme Court told him, sorry, those 20,000 ballots that you're trying to invalidate in California, that's not going to happen. And they didn't even give him a reason, Gatti. They just said, look, it's just not going to happen. And so he knows that he's losing. He just knows, right, it's just not going to happen. And so he knows that he's losing. He just knows. He's not stupid. We both know that he knows. And we know that he's talking to our friends, telling them with low levels of confidence about what's going to happen today. But for me, I don't see how he, what is he going to do? I declare the elections invalid? I know, if, I think there's going to be some fun though up in Alaska. There's two Dan Sullivans, as you know, in Alaska.

27:12And let's say the Democrat wins by 1%, but there's 4% of the vote went to one of the Dan Sullivans. We're going to have holy hell going on in Alaska. So you're laughing because you know there'll be all kinds of smoke. We are. Right. Even though the Supreme Court in Alaska has already ruled that both of the Dan Sullivan's can run. And in the end in America, it's the states that decide. Yeah. And by the way, how do you say her name? Peltola? How do you say her name? Peltola. Mary Peltola? How do you say her name? Peltola. Mary Peltola. Mary Peltola will be the senator if she wins, even if Dan Sullivan, the combined Dan Sullivan plus Dan Sullivan is more votes than her, she's going to win. Okay, you know that, and I know that, and that's a dirty trick

28:01that the Democrats played. You said to a group of delegates here at our SALT conference, and it made me laugh under my breath. You were like, well, you know, for the Democrats to play the righteous party and to literally get caught in the cupboard with the rats, like munching on the shortbread, you know what I mean? It's not a good look. Look at those guys over there. They're in there like munching. You know what I mean? I'm shocked that there's gambling going on, right? I'd say, so she'll win that race, right? Yeah. Do you think she'll beat him? Yeah, so I think she's going to beat him. I think she probably wins. Okay, here's a good question. Here's a great question. You have to answer this. Scottish G is asking, serious question. Why is the US so bad at holding

28:43elections? It's not just this year there are always stories of hours long waits has it always been that way it does feel and listen i think it is so much better when there is not a big time frame between the vote and the result because in that time frame is a vacuum in which mischief can be made and that is when you start getting the disinformation and you start getting the criticisms and you start getting the questions. And we've seen that it would be ideal if we had the vote and then we had the election. I mean, it's not, you know, other countries have their complications too when they have the first round and then they have the runoff. I mean, that's a form of a complication. That's a form of spreading a vote out.

29:22But it's because all of the states are responsible for holding their own votes and they each have their own rules. Florida is not the same as... Florida is great. They count very fast. It's not the same as California. It doesn't mean there's mischief, but it looks like mischief. Well, the first thing I want to say is Scottish G is probably like Ali G, but the guy's Scottish, right? So, you know, he's obviously crazy, okay? And I'm going to guess that that is a man who's Scottish G, okay? It's not probably a woman asking the question. I'm just going to throw that out there. Why is that not a woman asking a question? I don't think so. I think it's a really good question. What the heck, America? Get your act

30:00together. Let me know if you're a man or a woman. I'm betting that you are a man. Okay. But anyway, Ali G. Scott. Ali G. and Scott Lynn. Let me tell you something. Okay. John Anderson. Katty knows who that is. An independent. He ran in the 1980 campaign. Jimmy Carter versus Ronald Reagan. He upset the campaign. Reagan won. Let's keep going. Ralph Nader. He upset the campaign. Reagan won. Let's keep going. Ralph Nader, he ran, he got funded by Republicans, guys. He ran in the year 2000, and we're old enough to remember the hanging chads in Florida. And without Ralph Nader in, Al Gore would have been the president. Can we keep going? I miss the pregnant chads. I miss them. Right, I can give you one after the other.

30:47And I said Jill Stein last night, where Steve Bannon was rifling money to Jill Stein, and those two or three points knocked Hillary Clinton down a peg and allowed Trump to win. So to me, this is going on all over the place. And Scottish G, you may remember in the year 2020 during COVID, there were lines. There were lines out the door in Georgia. Then Brian Kemp, the governor said, yeah, we're going to make the lines longer and oh, by the way, it is illegal for you to hand a bottle of water to anybody on the line. We want you in the line and we want you parched and we're hoping, and anybody that's gone to a Starbucks knows what a balk rate is. I'm online and I want the product and in this case, the product is to vote, but I'm online and I want the product, and in this case, the product is to vote, but I'm now balking

31:46because I've had enough and I leave the line. And so that's been going on for at least 50 years that I'm aware of, Cady. Yeah. It's also to do with the fact that some states you can count the mail-in ballots the moment the polls open. Some states you can only start counting the mail-in ballots after the polls close. Some states you can process the ballots, but you can't count them until after the polls close. Every state has different rules. It depends on do you have to have your mail-in ballot stamped the day of the election, or does it have to arrive at the processing facility by the day of the election? This is the complication of a federal system where each state almost, when it comes to elections,

32:28acts like its own little country with its own rules. And that also makes the voting process take long. Okay, if this is open the straight crazy- Scott, let me go back to Scottie G for a second because he's preferring not to answer. Okay, but let me just say this to you, Scottie. Okay, if you're black in the country and you're in places like Alabama and you're in places like Georgia, you're waiting in line in this country. Okay. And that's the way it works here. And that's embarrassing for me, but I think we got to be factual. Let's go to the next question. Okay. Open the Straight, You Crazy Bastards is asking, if El-Sayed turns out to be as extreme on Israel as some fear, will it vindicate Haley Stevens the same way Chuck Schumer

33:10was vindicated over Plattner? Okay, apples and oranges here, guys. Yes, Chuck Schumer did not want Graham Plattner. And that was he wanted Janet Mills, who was the sitting popular governor. But the allegations against Graham Plattner were allegations, particularly around sexual abuse. There was an allegation of rape that was brought forward. That is totally different. There has never been a whisper of anything like that around El-Sayed. Hayley Stevens clearly had a difference of opinion with El-Sayed over Israel, but that is a political and philosophical difference that is not to do with El-Sayed's character. I think that is worth pointing out. There's another question here. Do you think that Susan Collins will make it?

33:56I think she will. Do you think she will? Yeah, we've talked about this quite a lot. I actually do think she'll make it. She has a good... Susan Collins calls herself not the Senator of Maine, but the mayor of 50 of 50 different towns or something, or the mayor of 500 small towns. And I've mentioned this before. My son lives up in Camden, Maine, works for a boat building company up there. And Susan Collins knows people. They've helped, she's helped somebody out when their dad needed a place in a retirement home. She's helped people get passports in Maine. I've spoken to people who say, you know, oh, I was having trouble accessing X, Y, and Z benefits and I contacted the Senator's office and Senator Collins helped

34:36me out. And the average voting age of somebody in Maine is 52. Women tend to vote more than men. I think she has quite a lot of goodwill amongst women. It may not be her year. It may be the end of the road. This is a woman who has been in Congress, I can't even remember the statistics, but an awful long time, about 30 years. And it may be that now Maine has decided that's enough. But if they'd had a more charismatic candidate, they probably would have been. This is another one where candidate quality, it's always so much about candidate quality. And the Democratic candidate, Troy Jackson, is not a particularly compelling candidate, right? Okay, you take another one. I feel like the guy could barely fog a mirror at this point. I have no idea what he stands for. And I feel like when I watch

35:25him in a debate, I can barely listen. And, you know, she's got the name recognition, whether you like it or not. And she'll hang on. Of course, she'll be 82 years old. If she gets reelected, Katty, she'll be 82 years old, and then she'll probably want to run again. know that's brother then that's the iron of the whole thing here we go JD mayor is asking who are some non MAGA Republicans who should lead the party I'm gonna ask that one because somebody asked me this the other day and I could think of Nick Nikki Haley I mean the Chris Christie the problem is that especially in the Senate so many of these Republicans have kowtowed to Trump because they were afraid of being primaried, that it's very hard to find a member of the U.S.

36:14Congress at the moment who has been independent of the president in a way that is normal in other political cycles, right? And I think it's hard for them now to say, okay, actually, we didn't think that was a great idea. They're all on record as swallowing their pride. Can you think of some names there, Anthony? Listen, I mean, David McCormick is gonna try to go non-MAGA, okay, but he's been MAGA to get himself elected. You know, Fetterman may end up as a Republican. He may try to go non-MAGA, you know, but there's not there's no non-MAGA. I mean, Christie's a non-MAGA guy at this point, but he's likely not going to be running. Glenn Youngkin, I would say, is a non-MAGA guy. You'd have to get somebody like Paul Ryan back in the race, which he has absolutely no interest in

36:59running. You know, I don't I don't see non-MAGA, you know, And I know you and I did a presentation today where somebody made the point, well, it's a personality cult. The cult will extinguish with the personality. OK. But look at the track record of everybody. Everybody's been beating a MAGA drum alongside of Donald Trump in the marching band. So now all of a sudden, they're going to go to a different group of sheet music and they're going to be able to do that immediately and no one's going to remember that and that's going to go over okay? I just don't see that happening. A Republican said to me today, what about Marco Rubio? But he can't because he's been tied to the administration. He's the weathervane.

37:42No way. Okay. By the way, Frozen Hero 2010, we are in the Chancery Rosewood. Yeah. It's the weather vane. The weather vane. No way. Okay. By the way, frozen year of 2010. We are in the Chancery Rosewood. Cady and I are talking to you from two different hotel rooms. We're here for the SALT Conference. And yes, this was the former embassy, but it's a five-star hotel right now with great room service. So, all right, let's keep going. And now we're wondering what happened in the basement of this embassy and whether people ever got roughed up in the basement of the embassy. We know where the spa is. Let's just put it this way. It wasn't a spa during the Cold War. Okay, that we know. Okay. And for those of you that think I look put together with the suit and tie on, too bad.

38:21I'm going back to my Christmas t-shirts, Gatti. Yes. Next week, I will be can't wait we're getting through the election guys yes and then after that oh what oh somebody's mentioned liz cheney as a non-maga republican true we shouldn't forget liz cheney she was a profile in courage you think liz cheney is going to show up in 2028 i don't think so no but i think she is one of those people who did she is a non-MAGA Republican. Adam Kinzinger. Liz Cheney could be a king or queen maker. I see her in an elder stateswoman role where she could help to designate somebody who is non-MAGA. So, you know. Signora Yeti, by the way, I do not have a better room than Anthony. I'd just like that to go on the record.

39:07Oh, someone's asking that? There we go. Yeah, somebody's saying that. Okay. Okay, guys, I think it is time to wrap it up because we have a very long day tomorrow. You have a long day tomorrow. We're going to be here 5am to 8am UK time. Don't forget to join us on YouTube. Subscribe and then you can follow along with us. We've got lots of great guests coming in. That is 12 a.m. Eastern till 3 a.m. We think we're going to still be getting results, but we hope that we can at least start the show with some sense of which direction it's going. Is it going to be a wave? Is it going to be a big wave? Is it going to be a tsunami? Is it going to be a drip that has everybody, including all of the pollsters, confounded?

39:45We will let you know all of that. And also look at what this means America is going to do for the next two years, where this means the country is headed. Make sure you're subscribed to the channel and hit the notification bell so you don't miss the start. It is going to be a long night. Set your alarm wherever you are. Lots of coffee tomorrow morning everybody in the uk but worth waking up for this is a big one uh we will see you 5 a.m uk time tomorrow thanks so much for joining us i just want to say when when katie recruited me to this podcast she's told me one hour a week but what she really meant was one hour a week off that's what you meant and i just want to thank everybody for actually tolerating us for this level of volume.

40:25Oh my God. You've been with us two and a half years, guys. We've got a nice turnout. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody. And we'll see you later on. Ten and a half hours from now, we will be reporting live on the results. Guys, I really hope you'll tune in. Big breath. Big breath, everyone. The team behind Claude, the AI built for businesses. Every business wants to move faster. Few can afford to be wrong. That's why nine Fortune 10 companies count on Claude for the work they want to get right. Safety and accuracy aren't just boxes to check off for the research team at Anthropic. It's kind of their whole mission. See how Claude works at claude.ai.span. LinkedIn is pretty amazing at helping you grow your small business.

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