Bulwark+ Takes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller takes on Vivek Ramaswamy’s attempt to show off his strength at a campaign event, then turns to Jon Ossoff’s message to young voters about why they can’t afford to give in to despair and the case for turning frustration and rage into political action. Plus: Tim’s thoughts about James Baldwin and the long his...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Saletan lays out the case against Donald Trump that Jack Smith never got to present at trial. Drawing from Smith’s testimony before Congress, Will looks at the evidence that Trump was repeatedly told the truth about the 2020 election by his own advisers, Republican officials, and Justice Department officials and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger joins Bill Kristol after an extraordinary 24 hours in Ohio: attending the funeral of 20-year-old Haitian immigrant Pierre Bel, then heading straight to a Trump rally, where he found surprising cracks among Trump supporters even as the MAGA faithful rallied around a visibly lower-energy president. They dis...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A bombshell New York Times/Siena poll shows Democrats running surprisingly strong across traditionally red states, including Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, and Kansas. Catherine Rampell and Bill Kristol explain what the numbers actually tell us, why Trump’s erosion with his own voters matters, and whether this is what a r...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Donald Trump posted Tom Cotton’s private phone number because the Arkansas senator is blocking his push for permanent daylight saving time. Will Saletan and Joe Perticone take on the strange fight, the golf-industry interests behind it, and why Trump is picking on one of his own loyal allies with Republicans already s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah Longwell went live with her cohost Ben Parker for an AMA about her new book, How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time .

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer break down the leaked script for the Daily Wire’s upcoming fictional movie Pawn Shop, a pro-ICE thriller set amid an imagined Antifa siege of a Minneapolis pawn shop. They discuss the film’s fictionalized version of the Renee Good shooting, its portrayal of ICE agents, Antifa and MS-13, the “...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Catherine Rampell and Andrew Egger break down Donald Trump’s bizarre new interview with Time Magazine, from his claims about having the “highest” IQ to his ever-changing story about how long the war in Iran was supposed to last. They also discuss Trump’s claim that annihilating Iran would create peace, his latest atte...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) joins Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) and Ben Parker to share her takes on what she learned from her recent trips to Hungary and Poland and what those lessons could mean for America after the Trump era. Slotkin explains how countries can recover from authoritarianism, why she believes the U.S....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos and national security reporter Michael Weiss take on the attempted hijacking of a flight bound for Tel Aviv, a suspected plot targeting an air base in Britain, and the troubling signs that Iran may be taking its fight abroad. They also ask whether America is prepared for a renewe...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com If sitting through 16 minutes of Hegseth talking about “fatties,” testosterone, and the wisdom of Newt Gingrich sounds like a lot, become a Bulwark member. We watch this stuff so you don’t have to! Sam Stein and Ben Parker give their takes on Pete Hegseth’s bizarre State of the Force address, from his “no fatties, no...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Ken Paxton is caught on tape blaming Donald Trump for hurting his Senate campaign, telling a small group of donors that Trump’s Texas convention actually hurt his numbers. The New York Times first reported on the leaked recording, which came from a small Paxton fundraiser where an attendee recorded the conversation. J...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) give their takes on Pete Hegseth’s reported plan to cut twenty percent of the military’s general and flag officers, and what that could mean for military leadership, congressional oversight, and civilian-military relations. They also discuss Hegseth’s push to remake Departm...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Andrew Egger give their takes on Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt’s disastrous attempt to catch former special counsel Jack Smith in a perjury trap during a Senate Judiciary hearing. Schmitt thought he had a smoking gun showing Smith was in Atlanta for a Hawks game on the same day as a controversy involving...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol give their takes on Jack Smith’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Smith defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and said he would make the same decision regardless of whether Trump were a Republican or Democrat. They also discuss Republicans’ focus on the for...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Michael Weiss and Marc Polymeropoulos are back to give their takes on the latest allegations of corruption and counterintelligence concerns surrounding the Trump administration, including Alina Habba’s star-studded wedding and the appearance of FBI Director Kash Patel alongside a former informant who was suspected of...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer break down the latest drama on the online right, from a bizarre AI video posted by Trump aide Dan Scavino to the growing influence of QAnon conspiracy theories inside Trump world. Will explains why QAnon followers believe Scavino was sending them a coded signal and what the reaction reveals a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump says he’s banning news organizations over negative coverage. Then his own officials go on TV and insist that’s not what’s happening. Will Saletan meticulously breaks down Todd Blanche’s defense of Trump’s press crackdown, Mike Waltz getting confronted with the president’s own words, and the shifting story about...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump’s White House is racking up losses, picking fights with the press, and increasingly operating without anyone willing to tell the president no. Bill Kristol talks with former Trump White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews about what’s happening behind the scenes, why Republicans are suddenly putting some...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Catherine Rampell and Will Sommer take on Trump’s escalating war on the White House press, the amateur-hour MAGA media operation stepping in to replace the traditional White House pool, and Byron Donalds’ awkward attempt to put a little distance between himself and Trump. Plus, Kimberly Guilfoyle’s misadventures as am...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Marc Polymeropoulos and Michael Weiss examine the growing Russian threat in Europe, separating the real danger of Russian sabotage and state terrorism from the media panic over a potential Russian invasion of NATO territory. They discuss the intelligence briefing that sparked concerns across Europe, how the assessment...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Jon Ossoff is running so far ahead in Georgia that his strength is starting to shape the races around him. Tim Miller and Lauren Egan look at the striking gap between Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, whether Ossoff can drag the Democratic ticket across the finish line, and why the governor’s race could wind up determi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller gives his take on the Republican candidates who are suddenly calling for an end to the Iran war after repeatedly supporting it. John James, Mike Rogers, Tom Tiffany and Ashley Hinson are all trying to distance themselves from the war, but Tim asks the obvious question: What is their actual plan to end it? T...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A quick note: Your Bulwark membership makes journalism like this possible—and by “journalism,” we mean having Brendan watch six hours of Trump TV. Join today so we can continue funding Brendan’s masochism. Sam Stein, Brendan Hartnett and Will Sommer discuss the chaos surrounding the White House press corps after CNN,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger is joined by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to give his take on Maryland’s new AI regulations, the rapid growth of data centers, and the need for guardrails around increasingly powerful AI models. Moore explains why he believes AI is moving faster than government safeguards, criticizes the White House’s approach...