The Aaron Rupar Show

In the latest edition of the PN Pod, Paul and I discuss Trump’s tantrum at the NATO summit and how nobody at home or abroad seems to really care at this point, Graham Platner’s spectacular implosion and what it says about the importance of vetting and appealing to voters with something more than vibes, Mitch McConnell’s health crisis and his sad legacy of obstruction, and more. We had a record liv...

In the latest edition of the PN Pod, Paul and I discuss the sad spectacle that was Trump’s rally commemorating America’s 250th birthday, then get into his housing bill tantrum and what it says about the sad state of public policy in Trump 2.0. We then turn to Paul’s piece about this week’s New York elections and why he thinks primaries are a good and health thing for the Democratic Party. If you’d...

In this week’s edition of the PN Pod, Paul and I unpack the Iran MOU and the unconditional humiliation it represents, how “chief negotiator” JD Vance is being set up by MAGA to take the blame, Israel’s newly precarious position vis-a-vis the Trump regime, our level of concern about Trump possibly refusing to leave power, and more. If you’d like to support the podcast and ask us live questions duri...

In this week’s PN Pod, co-host Paul Waldman and I discussed the outlines of the emerging Iran deal, which looks like something close to a complete Trump cave, and unpacked whether the president can sell his humiliating loss as a win to the American people. But before that, we got into this weekend’s UFC fight at the White House, how the whole thing seems like a deleted scene from Idiocracy, and wh...

The debut episode of the new PN Pod is in the books! I’m thrilled to have the great Paul Waldman onboard as my regular co-host. We had a lively conversation about why Trump’s insurrectionist slush fund went bust and corruption as the dominant narrative of the ‘26 cycle. We also talked at length about whether Graham Platner’s personal foibles are sabotaging Dem efforts to pick up a key Senate seat...

The first episode of the newly rebranded PN Pod features the tremendous Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News . We had lots of laughs while discussing topics like the increasingly debased state of Fox News during Trump 2.0, the moments of Fox programming that have made Juliet want to throw her computer into a dumpster and walk into the ocean, why people find Trump’s voice and visage so triggering — an...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice discuss Donald Trump’s latest disastrous foreign trip that saw him grovel before China’s president without notching anything that could be described as a win. We’re sad to say that this is David’s last episode, but the show is not going away! Aaron will be back at the same time, same place on Friday,...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice discuss the fallout from the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the state’s new congressional map. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below:...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice chat with Chris Geidner, the publisher of the must-read legal newsletter Law Dork , about the fallout from the Supreme Court’s detonation of the Voting Rights Act. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of cri...

This week’s Nir & Rupar features a very special guest — Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters and one of the foremost experts on right-wing media. Gertz and I discussed the ways in which Fox News is even worse now than it was during Trump’s first term, the Ellison family’s ill-conceived takeover of CBS, why Trump hosting the White House Correspondents dinner is an affront to the Constitution,...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice explain why Donald Trump’s beyond-unhinged crusade against Pope Leo XIV is such a disastrous move. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: David and Aa...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Joe Sudbay, the host of “State of the States” on SiriusXM Progress , dive deep into Tuesday’s massive wins for Wisconsin progressives with Dan Shafer, publisher of The Recombobulation Area , a must-read newsletter for all things Wisconsin. You can subscribe to Dan’s Substack right here: The three disc...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice catalog an extraordinary series of setbacks for Donald Trump in just the last few days. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: David and Aaron discuss...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice discuss why the GOP is in a shambles — whether it comes to funding the TSA or special elections down in Florida. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice discuss why there’s no apparent off-ramp to Donald Trump’s war with Iran—because he doesn’t even know what one looks like. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sig...

The latest Nir & Rupar features Aaron and special guest Paul Waldman going deep on how Trump bungled his way into a way of choice that’s becoming more and more of a political albatross as it becomes clear he has no idea what he’s doing. Waldman — who does fantastic work as a Public Notice contributor, including a piece from last month that has already aged extremely well about Trump’s failure to s...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice try to wrap their heads around Donald Trump’s berserk war on Iran. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: David and Aaron discuss: * Why it’s importan...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and guest-host Joe Sudbay, the host of “State of The States” on SiriusXM Progress , count off the many ways in which Donald Trump is crashing — and crashing out. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidenc...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice explain why, whatever BS the Trump administration may be spewing now about Minnesota, ICE is on the run. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: David...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice examine why some top Republicans are now embracing Trump’s most disgusting conspiracy theories after years of stiff-arming him. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice talk about the fallout from ICE’s killing of Alex Pretti, both in Minnesota and nationwide. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: David and Aaron dis...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, Aaron Rupar of Public Notice tells David Nir of The Downballot what life is like in Minneapolis, a city besieged by its own federal government. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: Aaron explains: * All the wa...

If you missed my live mailbag on Substack Live today, you can check it out above. I started it off by talking about what life is like in Minneapolis right now and my workflow covering right-wing media, then took an array of questions from viewers. This was the first time I’ve done something like this, and the response was overwhelmingly positive — over 1,600 people tuned in! I’ll do another one so...

On the year’s final episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice take stock of 2025’s bizarre dual nature, which saw Donald Trump consolidate power at the same time as the GOP got shellacked at the ballot box. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical electio...

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice talk about the many warning signs about Donald Trump’s health — and why the media isn’t pressing harder. If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below: David...