The Bulwark Daily

If the repudiation of our corrupt president comes through tonight, Democrats are promising to hold everyone to account who helped him turn our government into a playground for profit and vengeance. In addition to exposing the First Crime Family, Rep. Raskin tells Tim that Dems will also focus on impeaching Hegseth and reclaiming public lands that were given away to plunder. In Texas, Ryan says the Trump era has induced people to behave horribly and lean into what's wrong. Plus: Haley Stevens's betrayal seems to have backfired, Trump made nearly a million dollars an hour in 2025, and Tim uttered the nicest words about Ivanka that have ever been said on any Bulwark podcast.

Rep. Jamie Raskin and Ryan Holiday join Tim Miller.
show notes:

• The Bulwark’s election night coverage on YouTube and Substack starts at 7pm ET
• Ryan’s The Daily Stoic
• The Painted Porch Bookshop
• Subscribe to The Bulwark
• The Bulwark store

The Iran war and its impacts at home are major issues in the midterms, but POTUS is not finished with his misadventure in the Middle East. One key Democratic senator who's been briefed on the war plan says it's "insane" and would lead to a "devastating escalation" of the conflict. In rosier news, the polls continue to look good for the Democrats. Bill—who was bullish back in the summer—is even more so now, while Tim remains nervous about the Senate margin. And in a special bonus segment, JVL and Tim break down Haley Stevens's psychotic break over the weekend.

Bill Kristol and Jonathan V. Last join Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Monday’s “Morning Shots”
• Carville’s famous speech in “The War Room”
• Anderson Cooper’s full interview with Haley Stevens on Sunday
• The Bulwark's election night coverage on YouTube and Substack
• Lauren on the legal planning to counter Trump's election meddlng
• Closing Song: MJ Lenderman - “She’s Leaving You”
• The Bulwark store

Our vice president made up a confusing story about a trip to an emergency room because almost everything he does is a performative act to play to voters he thinks are dumb. Over at the White House, POTUS flip-flopped and un-canceled his Midwest rallies—so there will be more opportunities for the flat-out racism to keep flowing into Election Day. Plus: Polls and early voting numbers are keeping the anxious optimism going, Melania's Epstein press conference in April makes a lot more sense now, a Bulwarky hero deliciously trolled Fox News, and is Nicki Minaj's MAGA fandom all about getting pardons for the two sexual predators in her life?

Jane Coaston joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes:

• Sunday’s live election preview with Tim and the rest of the gang on Substack and YouTube.
• Jane’s pod, “What A Day”
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store

Is it possible Adam Hamilton could be the first Democratic senator elected from Kansas in 94 years? A major new poll is raising hopes there—and in other key Senate races as well. At the same time, the Peltola campaign's unnecessary Sullivan plot is a gift to election deniers. Plus: Performative cruelty is the MAGA initiation rite, Christian Texans who like Talarico are attracted to his decency, Trump gutted the pro-life movement, and Tim makes an impassioned case to Michigan to not vote for religious bigot Mike Rogers.

David French joins Tim Miller.
show notes:

• Tim on the Charlie Kirk Show
• David on Vivek’s ad
• National Review piece Tim and David discussed
• Clip of Tim discussing Renee Good killing on the Charlie Kirk Show
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• One thing to pack, five ways to power! Head to http://ridge.com/THEBULWARK for Ridge’s Friends & Family Sale, where you can buy two Ridge Power Banks and get a third FREE.

Trump's (surprisingly) current favorite pollster shares what he's seeing in the numbers less than one week before Election Day. The first sign of what kind of night the Dems are going to have will come when the polls close in Kentucky. But we may have to wait until the wee hours of the morning to learn what happens with the Senate. The Bulwark will be live at 7pm ET. Plus: The Guardian's Julian Borger explains how fear among Arab Israelis was a huge factor in the Israeli election—and may end up redrawing the country's political landscape. And Brazilian voters who were afraid of the Bolsonaro family being back in power delivered the surprising election result there.

Harry Entenr and The Guardian’s Julian Borger join Tim Miller.
show notes:

• Harry on YouTube
• CNN’s All Access app
• Julian on the Arab Israeli vote
• Julian on the elections in Brazil, Israel, Serbia, and the US
• John Couvillon, the Republican who tracks early voting that Tim mentioned
• Subscribe to The Bulwark
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Closing Song: Orville Peck - “It’s the End of the World”

Democrats offered a glimpse of the accountability that's likely coming over the Epstein cover-up: new allegations of rape against Trump and evidence that strongly suggests Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. And of course, POTUS is standing by Vivek's ad with an endorsement from a mother who inflicted a pedophile on her own daughter. Plus: The Bulwark and "Pablo Torre Finds Out" teamed up for a new poll on the intersection of sports and politics, Pablo shares the skinny on how Vivek is exactly the kind of person who would use that ad against Amy Acton, Republicans are using straight racism as their closing message against El-Sayed, Hegseth's High T schtick is landing with no one, Trump can't quit his obsession with Comey, and Clay Travis stole his Cheesecake Factory valor.

Sarah Matthews and Pablo Torre join Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Tim and Sam discuss the new poll on “Pablo Torre Finds Out”
• Brendan on the new poll from The Bulwark and “Pablo Torre Finds Out”
• The January 6 Memory Project
• The petition by Vivek’s high school classmates calling on him to pull the ad
• Pablo’s Kelly Clarkson show
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Closing Song: The War on Drugs - “Suffering”

There was good news over the weekend on the anti-authoritarian front in Brazil and Serbia, while our wannabe autocrat is ominously threatening to not accept midterm election results he doesn't like. Still, early voting numbers among Dems in key states—along with black voters in the South and Latinos in Texas—are encouraging signs. Plus: Bill and Tim share their longshots (in Louisiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin), Trump's helipad is now known as the maxi pad, the right's Cheesecake Factory defense has reached epically absurd levels, POTUS wants everyone to know how badly Bill Maher hurt his feelings, and what is Musk up to targeting The Bulwark?

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
show notes:

• Monday "Morning Shots," including Andrew on Trump's latest quid pro quo attempts
• Tim’s ‘Take’ on Musk’s threat against The Bulwark
• Jamie Davis’s campaign for Senate in Louisiana
• The campaign site for Rick Crosson in WI-8
• Rick Crosson responding to a communism question
• Campaign site for Lindsay James in IA-2
• Josh Turek’s trans-related ad
• Tangle News on how Trump's corruption is still the story
• Tangle's original piece on the corruption
• Join The Bulwark for our members-only livestream on Sunday
• Closing Song: MJ Lenderman - “She’s Leaving You”
• The Bulwark store

Elon Musk is the largest single donor in American political history. He's also the world's most prominent booster of white supremacy. While Democrat after Democrat gets asked about Hasan Piker, most reporters don't seem to ask Republicans about the views of the man who's pumped nearly a half billion dollars into their Senate campaigns. Nor do they ask about the destruction he rained down on our government under DOGE. Plus: Trump is trying to build a city-size mausoleum for himself, his targeting of Ilhan Omar is also an attack on Congress, MBS is finding out he bribed the wrong family, the gang of jackals around Trump has no loyalty to the U.S., and is JD such an a-hole because deep down he hates his mother...and himself?

Jamelle Bouie joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
show notes:

• Jamelle’s piece, “Elon Musk Is Beyond the Pale”
• Jamelle on the targeting of Ilhan Omar
• JVL’s “JD Vance Is a Sociopath”
• Walter Isaacson’s interview with Elon
• Washington Sun on State Dept only promoting officials who voted for Trump
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are already divvying up how to investigate Musk, the one-time shadow president who's still making foreign policy decisions about the war in Ukraine. Also on tap for hearings is the impeachable Hegseth, who ironically broke the iconic globe used by Eisenhower—a man who actually knew how to fight a war. And of course there's self-enriching Jared Kushner, who pretends to do diplomacy with his Putin-worshipping sidekick, Steve Witkoff. Plus: Vance's support of Vivek's ad suggests that he has deep psychological problems, Marco keeps flailing on the Starlink debacle, the crypto industry is spending $55 million to buy Ohio Senator Jon Husted, Mike Rogers's wife has won some very large government contracts, and Kinzinger feels a real energy behind Talarico in Texas.

Adam Kinzinger joins Tim Miller.
show notes:

• Kinzinger's YouTube
• Kinzinger on Substack
• Andrew in “Morning Shots” on the Texas trans mailers
• Drop Site News on Mike Rogers’s wife’s government contracts
• Jon Stewart on Mike Rogers
• Chris Christie dragging Vivek
• The NYT on Alina Habba’s $50 million deal
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Closing Song: Orville Peck - “It’s the End of the World”

Could there be a bigger sign of Ramaswamy's depravity and desperation than using a mother from hell to sell your message? His campaign for governor of Ohio against Amy Acton has been a nightmare from the beginning. Meanwhile, Murphy senses kryptonite in the water around Trump as well, particularly with the farm belt in revolt over tariffs and the price of diesel. But in Michigan, El-Sayed has got to cool it on the cocky bro stuff in the final days of his campaign. Plus: From our live show in Atlanta Tuesday evening, Gen. Hertling joined Tim to discuss the continuing blame game between Musk and the administration over the crippling of Ukraine's military communications, the lack of leadership at the Pentagon, and the failure to protect our troops.

Mike Murphy and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling join Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Hertling's recent piece, "Siding With Russia Is a Double Betrayal"
• Murphy’s “Hacks On Tap” pod
• Amy Acton’s campaign site
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Closing Song: MJ Lenderman - “She’s Leaving You”

Though they deny any involvement, the Trump administration and Elon Musk are apparently helping Putin escalate his campaign of terror against Ukraine. Civilian casualties across Ukraine are rising—including women and children—but Trump said Monday that Russia "has been fine on Ukraine." At the same time, Team Trump looks to be lining up business deals with Russian energy companies. And Marco's whitewashing of it all is sickening. Plus: Zelensky is tired of Trump's games, China is playing a curious role on both sides of the war, and JD has another whopper to add to his stack of lies.

Former Amb. Michael McFaul joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• McFaul’s book, “Autocrats vs Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder”
• Tim’s ‘Take’ with Caolan Robertson in Ukraine
• The NYT on potential Kushner/Witkoff deal with Russian company Lukoil
• Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta TONIGHT
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Closing Song: Orville Peck - “It’s the End of the World”

The vice president had the gall to suggest he didn't know anything about what millions of Americans know: that Trump is using his office to enrich himself and that the administration made major mistakes in executing the war in Iran. But the polls strongly suggest a rebuke of Putin's biggest fan is coming because of the conflict in the Middle East. Plus: The obsession at Fox over Abdul El-Sayed is getting embarrassing, Mike Rogers is a POS, Tim and Bill share their new round of long shots (in North Carolina and Mississippi), and the tech oligarchs will be among the last to break with Trump.

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
show notes:

• The Bulwark LIVE in Charlotte Sunday evening
• Monday’s “Morning Shots”
• CBS’s town hall with Vance
• Mississippi’s Scott Colom’s campaign site
• Paul Barringer’s congressional campaign site for NC-13
• Kimberly Hardy’s congressional campaign site for NC-7
• Judd Legum on Zuckerberg
• Abdul El-Sayed confronting a Republican plant at one of his campaign events
• Bulwark LIVE in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• Closing Song: The War on Drugs - “Suffering”
• The Bulwark store
• For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to http://3dayblinds.com/THEBULWARK.

For more than 10 years, Trump has been showing us how skilled he is at sowing division and riling people up. Alan sees the kind of tribal mentality that Trump has fostered on his own reality show, "The Traitors," where contestants make incredibly stupid decisions because they don't want to deviate from the pack. The actor takes the opportunity to urge people to vote, protest, and stay vigilant in the face of the Republicans' campaigns of hate against immigrants and trans people. (And that includes Vance's dumb, dated gay jokes.) Plus: Rep. Garcia of the House Oversight Committee is preparing to get the gavel in January. He's already teed up new Epstein legislation, and he's planning to end the cover-up of 3 million Epstein documents, many of which have to do with Donald Trump. Also on the target list: the Trump family's business deals and the donors to the ballroom.

Alan Cumming and Rep. Robert Garcia join Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes:

• "The Traitors" on NBC
• Alan's show, "Tip Toe," on Starz
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store

Mike Johnson sure sounds afraid of what might come out when the House—under Democratic control—actually does its job and investigates the corruption of this administration. Democrats should start with the families of Trump officialdom who've been making bank since Inauguration Day. And as the Guilfoyle firing shows, everyone in Trumpland is expendable. Plus: Republicans have got nothing to offer voters but bribery and bigotry, Talarico shows the right way to disarm MAGA lies, the Elon-Putin-Trump Axis of Evil is together again, and George—in his first week back with The Bulwark—passed a cognitive test just like our president.

George Conway joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Follow George’s new Bulwark pod, “Psycho Politics”
• Trump talking to Ken Bone in 2016; evidence of his current mental decline
• Ossoff on Chris Hayes’s show
• Miss South Carolina at the Miss Teen 2007 pageant
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Closing Song: Orville Peck - “It’s the End of the World”

Elon is now pitching in to help POTUS sabotage Ukraine while Trump makes a payout to Putin and works on his next self-enrichment scheme. A Cooper victory in North Carolina would be key to a potential Democratic Senate majority—a first step to reining in Trump—but the former governor warns Tim that Republicans have historically been undercounted in the polls and his lead should not be taken for granted. Plus: Scheiber in his recent book has the backstory on the radicalization of recent college grads, who tend to support the DSA and think America has too much power. And at a time when even white collar professionals identify with the working class, Trump's economic messaging sounds even more ridiculous.

Roy Cooper and New York Times reporter Noam Scheiber join Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Cooper’s campaign site
• Noam’s book, “Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class”
• JVL on Trump screwing the housing market
• This week’s “The Next Level”
• Link to send to elected Democrats on behalf of Maryam Tahmasebi and her family
• The Jay Kang piece that Tim referenced about Noam’s book
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
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Americans are living in a more dangerous world now because of Donald Trump. Not only because of his now-expanding war in the Middle East, but also through his reckless advocacy of AI. And in his desperation over the midterms, he's cut a sinister deal with Putin, the very same man helping Iran to kill Americans. Rice tells Tim this is not the time to be complacent over the good polling numbers. Just go vote. Plus, Democratic strategist Jackie Rosa checks in from South Texas on the electoral landscape there and offers up some advice on how Dems should talk to Latino voters.

Susan Rice and Jackie Rosa join Tim Miller.

show notes:

• JVL on Trump's desperate, weak deal with Putin
• "The Next Level" podcast out later today
• Tim's updated candidate list
• Bobby Pulido's campaign site
• Johnny Garcia's campaign site in TX-35
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store

Not only did the lamest of October surprises blow up in the faces of Ken Paxton and the rightwing loons desperate to get Talarico on something, Greg Abbott is now in a tight race with his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa. And all the money pouring in to prop up Paxton could be better spent on Senate races in Alaska and Kansas. This would be a great time for the Democratic Governors Association to steer (a lot) more funding Hinojosa's way. Plus: Bill and Tim share their long shots, POTUS can't quit showing how much he's in the tank for Putin, MBS is finding out the hard way how the Trump family treats their business partners, don't be distracted by DHS's clownish authoritarianism in raiding Ilhan Omar's home, and the Iranian family that Tim has been advocating for is still in the Dilley detention center.

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Will Sommer and Andrew on MAGA's Talarico breakdown
• Bill in "Morning Shots" on thinking beyond the midterms
• Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday" with Ron Brownstein
• Brendan on the Trump superfan running in upstate New York
• Blake Gendebien's campaign site (NY-21)
• Gina Hinojosa's campaign
• Tim's piece on Maryam Tahmasebi and her family
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Bulwark LIVE in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• Closing Song: MJ Lenderman - “She’s Leaving You”
• The Bulwark store
• Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BULWARK at https://www.oneskin.co/BULWARK
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While the cult of Trump is dragging Republicans' popularity down, the Democrats have good, ideologically diverse candidates running all over the place. And voters aren't stupid: They know Trump's war and his tariffs are why prices are higher. But high-profile polling misses in recent years still haunt Dems, so Adam takes a deep dive into whether Republicans are doing better than the polls are showing. Plus: Derek explains how AI is making our lives more expensive and ponders why people behind AI think it's the most dangerous thing in the world yet still keep trying to build it as fast as possible. And no, AI does not have feelings.

Derek Thompson and Adam Carlson join Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes:

• Derek's "The 26 Most Important Facts About AI and the Economy"
• Sam's interview with the guy who snitched on Guilfoyle
• Tim's Take on Vance discussing socialism
• Nate Silver on Derek's "Plain English" pod
• The New Yorker video, "Josh's Wedding," that Tim referenced
• Johnny Garcia's campaign site in TX-35
• Katy Padilla Stout's campaign site in TX-23
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Closing song: Orville Peck's "It's the End of the World"
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store

The king of the birther conspiracy knows he needs to round up the white male vote, so he's serving up one of his old faves—straight-up anti-Muslim bigotry. And he's added a new one: Making Americans pay for another political ad, this time about what a tough guy he is. But Trump also has another corruption problem, courtesy of Trump Jr.'s ex-fiancée, Amb. Kimberly Guilfoyle, who seems to have a habit of calling in very expensive favors. Plus: Rubio is laying the groundwork for 2028, Hegseth is lobbying to keep his job after the midterms, the Democratic establishment is coming together for El-Sayed, Bibi has been very bad for Israel, and Trump has created a long-term security crisis for the West as a result of his Iran war.

Susan Glasser joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Susan on Hegseth declaring victory in the wrong war
• The NYT on Iran forcing Trump and Hegseth to retreat
• Sam's interview with the guy who snitched on Guilfoyle
• Susan's 'Political Scene' podcast
• Trump falling asleep during the Susan Dell photo-op
• Will Sommer on the Andrew Tate eel-sex problem
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Closing song: MJ Lenderman's "She's Leaving You"
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE show in Atlanta on Oct. 20
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
•

The Bulwark store

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Florida's Democratic nominee for the Senate says average Americans right now are living in the dreams of oligarchs and the super-rich, and it's time for regular people to live their own dreams. The progressive maverick promises to fight to help all Floridians—regardless of party—to be healthy, prosperous, and safe. And while Republicans like to point out Nixon's DSA affiliation, the Trump administration itself is acting socialist, while also sending immigrants back to countries like Cuba and Venezuela. Plus: Nixon weighs in on Vance's racist dog whistle, and Tim praises Troy Jackson's debate performance against Susan Collins—who seemed out of touch and was forced to play defense over Trump, the war, and the stupid tariffs.

Angie Nixon joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Angie’s campaign site
• October Surprise: The Bulwark is 30% off
• Upcoming Bulwark LIVE shows, including Atlanta on Oct. 20
• Closing Song: The War on Drugs - “Suffering”
• The Bulwark’s campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield
• The Bulwark store
• Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to http://www.joindeleteme.com/BULWARK and
use promo code BULWARK at checkout
• For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to http://3dayblinds.com/THEBULWARK