Bulwark+ Takes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller is back in DC and it's somehow crazier than he left it. With National Guard troops patrolling Dupont Circle, Tim recruits Will Sommer for a scavenger hunt through Trump's Washington: a $500K-to-join MAGA club co-founded by Don Jr., the bar where Rand Paul's son got into it with Rep. Mike Lawler, the strip m...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger and Ben Parker went live to cover the Republican election deniers in 2020 now running for office, the company that put out a bogus poll on purpose, Trump’s latest threats against an American ally, and the White House response to a question about Natalie Harp. Read Morning Shots: https://www.thebulwark.com...

Tim Miller shares the story of a Venezuelan family — a pregnant mother, father, and their 7-year-old daughter — who have spent weeks detained at the Dilley detention facility in Texas, despite doing everything the Trump administration has asked of immigrants seeking to leave the country. The family followed every legal step: they applied for asylum, never missed an ICE check-in, and when they deci...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Andrew Egger give their takes on Donald Trump’s latest chaotic press conference, from his bizarre claims about talking with Kim Jong Un to his demand that South Korea pay up for U.S. protection. They also look at Trump’s latest comments on the Iran war, the state of the USS Abraham Lincoln, and his increasingl...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Jonathan Cohn gives his take on the viral “puppy killer” attack against Abdul El-Sayed—and explains how a misleading story about Detroit’s animal control department became a powerful piece of political misinformation. The reality is far different from the headline. El-Sayed inherited an animal control system plagued b...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) and Ben Parker went live to cover Trump threatening to bomb Oman, an ally, as a deal to end the war in Iran remains elusive. Plus, Trump praised North Korea over the weekend and cancelled our military drills with South Korea. Read more from Mark: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/canceling-mil...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Saletan takes on Kristen Welker’s Meet the Press interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, arguing that Blanche’s evasions on Justice Department independence, Trump’s influence over prosecutions, January 6 pardons, and a proposed compensation fund expose him as a loyalist ready to do the president’s bi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger and Catherine Rampell discuss Sen. Bill Cassidy’s criticism of vaccine policy after his vote to confirm RFK Jr., questions surrounding Mitch McConnell’s prolonged absence, growing support for price controls in the GOP, the political fallout from Trump’s tariffs, and the Navy’s potential multibillion-dolla...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Saletan gives his take on how Republicans accused of serious misconduct have learned to survive scandal. All they have do is follow Donald Trump’s example: never resign, deny everything, attack the accusers, call the investigation “political,” and invoke Trump’s own history as proof that they can stay in the figh...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller joins Alicia Menendez to discuss widespread calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign, Trump’s continued support for him, Democrats’ affordability message, and efforts to recruit stronger young candidates for down-ballot races nationwide. Watch One the Line with Alicia Menendez on MS NOW: https://w...

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 the growing crisis aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, where sailors have endured months at sea with poor food and living conditions, disrupted communications, and little clarity about when they will finally come home. Now, there's been several reports that...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Join Catherine Rampell and JVL at 12:30pm ET as they go live to discuss the biggest political, financial and economic stories of the week. Read more from Catherine: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-gift-to-the-money-launderers-database-treasury

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Brandon Herrera is running for Congress in Texas and we’ve discovered a very strange side of his public persona. Sam Stein, Tim Miller, and Will Sommer dig into Herrera’s podcast, where he discusses “Lock & Load,” a supplement he says helps men with...something. The trio goes down the bizarre rabbit hole of male-enhan...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger and Sonny Bunch take on Trump’s latest attempt to get his name back on the Kennedy Center, his refusal to let go of fights he’s already lost, and what his obsession with credit, legacy, and scapegoats says about a president who increasingly seems stuck doing the same thing over and over and over and over...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller takes on Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins, from his support for taxpayer-funded payouts to January 6 rioters to his ties to white nationalists, racist social media posts, election conspiracies, and bizarre campaign stunts. And when Collins is confronted with questions about the extremists in his orbit,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer look back at the wildest moments from Mike Lindell’s career after the Trump-backed election denier lost the Republican primary for Minnesota governor. From refusing to accept election results and offering a $5 million challenge, to arguing with a kid at the Democratic National Convention, get...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Join Sam Stein and Lauren Egan for this exclusive, members-only look at the state of primary races ahead of the 2026 midterm election.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) discuss an alleged Russian explosive drone at a German airport and the potential implications for NATO, President Trump’s use of a decoy Air Force One amid an Iranian threat, and George W. Bush’s secret 2003 Thanksgiving trip to Iraq. They also answer viewer questions about...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Donald Trump was secretly smuggled out of Turkey last month after U.S. intelligence reportedly warned of a possible Iranian assassination plot, but the journalists and White House staff traveling on Air Force One were left in the dark. Michael Weiss and former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos give their takes on the ex...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Andrew Egger went live to cover the GOP’s misleading furor with Tony Fauci’s text messages, Trump appearing to sleep as he peddles vaccine misinformation, the elaborate plan that had Trump stowed away in a catering truck amid a threat from Iran, and the new memo from the White House that shows Trump is s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) give their takes on Iran’s sweeping new demands, Trump’s response, and why the prospects for a diplomatic deal are fading. They discuss Trump’s shrinking military options, depleted U.S. weapons supplies, and the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz that's left merchant...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Donald Trump’s attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed may be doing the exact opposite of what he intends. Tim Miller gives his take on Trump repeating the same failed strategy Republicans used against him in 2015 and 2016, attacking an outsider in ways that ultimately give them more attention and support....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Saletan gives his take on Trump’s new NIH director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, becoming a loyalist defender of the Trump administration’s most controversial and absurd health claims. Bhattacharya repeatedly blames Anthony Fauci for COVID-era school closures, declining vaccine confidence and other public-health failure...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Sommer and Sam Stein went live to cover the right’s freakout over AOC deciding to freeze her eggs, Max Miller refusing to drop out of his re-election bid, Sen. Mike Lee fuming at Coca-Cola, and Trump mocking Joe Biden after it was announced that his cancer had spread.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Bill Kristol welcomes recently retired Col. Bree Fram to discuss Hegseth's leadership and the damage he's inflicting on the United States Military, as well as her own personal experience being forced out of the military after over 20 years of service.