Lovett or Leave It - What a Weekday: What's That You Say, Mr. Robinson?

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

Garfield was right about Mondays, but Tuesdays? Tuesdays are for the boys. This week on What A Weekday! Lovett vaults the latest presidential polls, Kamala Harris stands and delivers on gun ownership, Trump dodges a second debate, Mark Robinson takes it to the comments, and we ask Chappell Roan, “Is it casual now?”

Before recording, David said he had a dream about me, that we were both riding Harley-Davidson's downtown. That's so cool. That's the coolest thing he's ever done. He didn't even do it. This is not my reaction. I'm worried about David. I love this.

What a fun dream world. It was a cool Harley-Davidson downtown Los Angeles. That's cool. Did you take a unison last night, or you want a new sleep medication? No new sleep meds. No new sleep meds. Well, have a good time in RIP.

I probably should mention that I sneak into David's house at night and I whisper into your mouth, he's sleeping. There are all these Harley tracks on the carpet. It's weird. ["Wake Up, David!" theme music plays.] And we're back! I'm here with Halle, Sarah, Kendra, for another edition of What a Weekday. So let's get into it.

What a Weekday. The polling gods giveth and the polling gods taketh away. The latest poll from NBC News has come up five points on Donald Trump, 49% to 45%. It's barely good news, but it counts. When you're starving on an island, you don't go, oh great, one edible berry. You eat that tiny delicious berry and you savor it. At least I assume I was only out there for three days. According to NBC News, Harris's favorability has left 16 points since July, the largest

increase in the network's polling since George W. Bush after 9-11, and I'm just now receiving word that a second debate has hit Joe Biden. And last week, the New York Times' Tiana poll showed Kamala four points ahead in Pennsylvania, but if I know Pennsylvania, those polls have definitely been greased. Awuga. Oh, brother, this guy stinks! All right. All right.

I do worry that Kamala's getting a little cocky. She keeps saying, I could shoot Gritty in the middle of a wawa. But then on Monday, The Times released another batch of polling showing a Trump lead in Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina. In Arizona, the share of undecided voters actually went up. It's one poll and every poll will have weird results if you dig into the sample because seeing more voters turn undecided as the election gets closer is like seeing the water level in your toilet getting higher after you flush. Something is wrong and you must act fast.

The reality is none of these polls should inspire confidence or doom. The polls might have a consistent error of a point or two bias against Trump or maybe it's a bias toward Trump because enthusiasm is hard to measure and every election is unique with 2016 and 2020 both being pretty strange. If you are listening to this you're probably not in charge of ad spends for the Harris-Walls campaign but if you are, hey what is money? It's not real, it's like a made up thing. Let's crank open the tab, baby. I wanna see Kamala ads on YouTube tutorials for how to make scrambled eggs, which I'm not watching because I'm a grown man

and I know how to make scrambled eggs. You just scramble. You got it. You gotta scramble. Just get in there. Just get in there. But they're done before you think. Yeah, they do.

If you think they're done, it's too late. Do you like them hard or soft? And then there's how I like my eggs. Every time, maybe. Do you think they're done? It's too late. Do you like them hard or soft? And then there's how I like my eggs. Point is... Sorry. Point is, polling over the next 41 days is mostly for sport. We have to win Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

We have to fight like hell to win Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina. If you signed up for Vote Save America, great. Polls are a reward. A sweet treat that is also a spike in your cortisol. Last night I was on What a Day, our new daily news podcast with Jane, and we went through the polls. It was fun. It was a good way to do it. But really consume the polls. I know we're all going to consume the polls, but don't preoccupy yourself with the polls. They are information that is maybe helpful on the margins, or for the most part, we all know what we have to do.

In other news, Kamala Harris joined Oprah for a town hall interview last week, during which they discussed, amongst other things, mass shootings. A terrifying moment for Oprah to tell the audience to look under their seats. Oprah also asked Kamala about being a gun owner herself, and Harris said this.

I'm a gun owner, Tim, I also was a gun owner. I did not know that. And somebody breaks in my house they're getting shot. Yes, yes, I hear that, I hear that. Probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later. I had not seen that. And if somebody breaks into my house they're getting home alone.

Vanessa Hudgens set up those booby traps years ago. Every day I come home and get hit in the face with a paint can. I love this moment. I feel like there are people that were critical of it because guns are terrible for our society, sure. But it was kind of badass. And I just like any moment where Kamala is saying,

I'm not really, I'm not on the talking points. My staff's gonna be annoyed by this. like anytime she can kind of like cut through because like Donald Trump gets these points For being anti-establishment because he has anti-establishment vibes while fighting for the most powerful forces of the establishment like You know Christian nationalism patriarchy, you know, right-wing corporate politics, like, he is as establishment as a person can physically be while having this sort of rebellious vibe. And anytime that Kamala, who is like running this incredibly disciplined campaign under

so much pressure, can just break, break, like, kind of break the fourth wall just a little bit, I think is a good thing because people hate politicians and they like that Trump doesn't seem like one. And she seems like a politician because she is one and she's a very effective one. It's also nice to have a moment of authenticity that I don't think that Trump can have

because frankly, when she says that, when she says, if you break into my house, you're getting shot, I firmly believe that in a way that I would not believe it coming from Donald Trump. I think this is a great moment. It's authentic in as much as her ability to stay on message is authentic. I think it's a perfectly engineered moment for when

you're in the laundromat doing laundry, and you look up and you hear that, you go, that's funny. I like her. In that regard, it's great. I am very anti-gun, so hearing this, I'm like, well, that's not great. But to your point, I think it's like, she's already got us, right?

Like she's already got me. So it is these moments of revealing other parts of yourselves that are more relatable to other people in the country. So while I don't like the gun stuff, it is a very artful moment that I think she executes incredibly well. I do think she should be taking out guns that are rallying and just fire them into the air.

Yeah, Yosemite Sam style, like dog on it. Video of her in a gun range? I mean, they might as put her on ATV. I'm saying just let's go for it. Yeah, go on one of those weird gun YouTube channels. Why not? It wouldn't be a terrible idea, frankly. Yeah, I think Kamala on an ATV while firing a gun.

Still in the pants suit though. Yeah, for sure think Kamala on an ATV wall fire a gun, you know, still the pantsuit though. Yeah, for sure. Yes, for sure Meanwhile Kamala has accepted a cnn invitation to a second presidential debate on october 23rd against donald trump She then walked up behind trump at a rally grabbed a bunch of his ass and pointed out of the crowd and said this This is mine now. I own this A bunch of his ass. She had a bunch of it Yeah, well, I think donald trump's ass is a is not accountable. Like bunch of his ass. He's got a bunch of it. Yeah. Well, I think Donald Trump's ass is not accountable. The amount of ass is not accountable, Seth. It's like in the same way that you can't grab a...

The liquid doesn't exist. It's like a liquid. What? It's like a liquid. Yeah, it's like a liquid. It's like a pool. You don't grab a certain amount of pool. You just you're in the pool. You know, it's not accountable.

A rich visual. Yeah, so she grabbed some ass. It'd be less ass, not fewer ass. Right, exactly. A bunch is the funniest way to put it. Exactly. At a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina on Saturday, Trump sadly claimed it was too late to have another debate.

It's too late to do another, I'd love to in many ways, but it's too late, the voting is cast, the voters are out there. It's better than his first excuse. I'd love to in many ways, but it's too late. The voting is cast. The voters are out there. It's better than his first excuse, which was bone spurs. Obviously, Trump had debated Biden well after early voting had begun. This is not a real excuse. The Harris campaign retweeted the video of Trump

weaseling out of a second debate and mocked his cowardice with three chicken emojis. As always, if it seems silly and immature, then that's the exact right play to send Donald Trump into a cataclysmic rage spiral. Meanwhile, over on the internet, Janet Jackson said she heard Kamala Harris isn't black. We got Taylor Swift, we got Billie Eilish.

I think we can stop asking entertainers where they are on this. Whoa, whoa, whoa, what about Phineas? Where's Phineas at with this? Yeah, no Phineas erasure. Thank you, we need the Phineas endorsements. Here, lover, leave it. In an interview. Thank you, we need the Phineas endorsements. Here, love her, leave it. In an interview with The Guardian, Janet Jackson said, well, you know what they supposedly said?

She's not black, that's what I heard, that she's Indian. When the interviewer pointed out that Harris is both, Jackson replied, her father's white. That's what I was told. I mean, I haven't watched the news in a few days. I was told that they discovered her father was white. Look, it's harsh, but this is a great example of why we need jail time for the passive voice.

Just jail time. Oh, you were told, Janet? I mean, to be fair, that lady's been living in a bubble since like 1992. Who knows where she gets the news from? Yes, following the interview, the singer's manager issued a statement to several outlets saying of Jackson, she recognizes that her statements regarding Vice President Kamala Harris's

racial identity were based on misinformation. Janet respects Harris's dual heritage as both black and Indian and apologizes for any confusion caused. No worries, Janet. We're actually not at all confused. In fact, you are confused. You are the confused one. And you're confused that you're confused about who's confused.

So a famous person said something silly in an interview. They issued apology, end of story. Or is it? It is not. Apparently the apology statement was not authorized by Janet Jackson, who promptly fired her manager, reportedly with the help of her brother, Randy Jackson. That's a two person job, firing a manager.

Good for her, the last thing you want is a manager that makes you look better. On Monday, the manager said he was let go due to disagreements between me, her, and Randy after her meeting with the Guardian and her unbalanced statements. I love throwing the unbalanced in there. You know that that word unbalanced contains a world of stories, a cinematic universe of insane shit that Janet Jackson has said and done in your presence. As Kendra was saying, think about the levels of delusion that this requires.

You're not consuming the news. You're hearing a version of a Trump attack on Harris somehow transmuted to be even more false and crazy. You obviously haven't verified it. You believe it. And you decide to share it with a journalist during an interview. Just like zero regard for what's true, how you know what's true, the stakes of the election, the fact that you're in a position

to reach millions of people. Anyway, I am sorry to report that Janet Jackson may be out of touch. Yeah, it's pretty bad. They also just lost Tito, so I'm trying to hold back too. But it does remind me of that. Is spreading false information one of the stages of grief? I don't know. It is America.

Yeah. It does remind me of like how much we did this with Obama, because I do remember during the whole birtherism wave, Laura Ingraham giving a full video, a full explanation of how she discovered he isn't black. And it was just sort of like, I know we're back here, of course, we're repeating all this stuff,

but it's like, wow, I guess I just didn't think we'd cycle back to this so, I don't know, it's like we're playing the hit so quickly, you know what I mean? Yeah, look, I don't know what Janet Jackson's media diet is, but like, man, it's gotta be pretty bad. It's gotta be pretty bad. Can I do the joke you said we couldn't do?

Yeah. Hey Janet, stick to nipples. Yeah. I think it, stick to nipples. Yeah. I think it's better coming from you. In other political news, Chapel Roan was raked over the pop culture calls for her decision not to formally endorse Kamala Harris for president, which seems unfair.

She's a pink pony girl, not a blue donkey woman. All right, OK. All right. I know I went out of Chapel Groan. All right, okay. All right. I know I went out of Chapel grown The singer told the Guardian I have so many issues with our government in every way There are so many things I would want to change so I don't feel pressure to endorse someone there are problems on both sides However in August Chapel Rowan told Rolling Stone right now It's more important than ever to use your vote and I will do whatever it takes to protect people civil rights

Especially the LGBTQ plus community. My ethics and values will always align with that and that hasn't changed with a different nominee. I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historical time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee." Okay, so she's implying that she's voting for Kamala and talking about the importance of voting and that she will do whatever she can while not endorsing. Chappell also told The Guardian, I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote, vote small, vote for what's going on in your city. And she said she wanted to see movement on trans rights. They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period.

Except when the trans person is being super indecisive about where to go to dinner, then the cis person is allowed to step in. That's fine. Y'all, right? That's not political. It's part of an inter-community agreement. Yeah. It's in the, yeah.

That's right. It's in the, um... Bylaws? The Charter? Charter. Will you sign your contract with the Alphabet Mafia? That's part of it. Yeah, that's part of it.

The reality is that Kamala Harris will use the power of the presidency to expand protections for trans people and gender affirming care. Project 2025 argues that pornography can be made illegal and that anything that promulgates what they describe as gender ideology fits the definition. The second Trump administration will come for gender affirming care, not just for teenagers but for everybody. The bans we have seen at the state level, we will see at the national level. It will be even more unsafe to be trans in this country.

The stakes are total. On the climate, the stakes are total. On democracy, the stakes are total. I am less interested in one person's decision about whether to endorse and more on the broader media environment in which genuine and legitimate anger are decisions by the Biden administration. There are genuine and legitimate reasons to be very angry, frustrated, saddened, disappointed by the Biden administration. reasons to be very angry, frustrated, saddened, disappointed by the Biden administration. How those objections are transformed into supposedly nuanced views over what our moral responsibility in this election. I love Chappell-Roehn, and I'm sorry that this person thrust into fame over the last

year suddenly has to decide how to talk about politics. And it is unfair that she can't decide not to endorse without not endorsing being a story. That is unfair. But in the same way, as she knows, a vote doesn't have to be a statement of identity, a step we take to make sure we are in a position to protect ourselves and pressure our leaders, an endorsement doesn't have to be a statement of identity either. If her view is that our votes are more important than ever, and she is saying that she understands how important it is to vote for Kamala while not explicitly saying so because of her misgivings, even if those misgivings are valid,

then that is hoping for Kamala to win while not using the means at her disposal to make that happen, which is an expression of privilege and opposite to exactly what she said, which was doing whatever she can. Now you might respond, didn't you leave for five weeks to go on Survivor in the middle of an election year? Is it casual now, John? Good response, Chappell. Damn it. All of us have to do whatever we can to prevent Trump from winning. And once that's done, we can fight and pressure and protest into all the intro left in fighting our heart's desire. Is that totally fair? No. But that's what a fascist threat requires. Fascism rejects. Dissent. Deb, nuance, openness, generosity, vulnerability, queerness, femininity outside of mothers and wives, democracy, autonomy. It is a

cancer. It is spreading. We have to destroy it. We have to destroy it so that we can have a voice in the future even when and especially when our democratically elected leaders let us down. That is our job right now. And like I, and I'm not really aiming this, like, it doesn't, whether or not one musician, one celebrity, one actor endorses, says the right thing, it's not that important. It is more that like we are in a media environment and not because of the left actually, more because of I think mainstream coverage that treats voting as a statement of identity and treats the election as more complicated than it is because it is more interesting to talk about

something nuanced and complicated than something simple and static. And we are all creations of our media environment. We are all a reflection of our media environment. And I, like, nobody wants to think that they are an expression of what they're consuming, even the stuff they consume that they don't like or don't agree with. But like I do view these kinds of statements as an expression of what it is like to live in a media environment that complicates something that is not complicated. I just think it's different if she had come out and said I'm not voting for Kamala unless she commits to stopping funding to Israel or something. Because I think once we enter the situation where there are things wrong on both sides, then we all enter into this constant ongoing conversation.

But again, I'm empathetic just because she is just a regular, not a normal person, she's a pop star, but it's like she's trying to have some kind of complicated conversation and we're not set up for that. And she is a mainstream character. But I also think I mean, ultimately, this is the reality of Donald Trump is what reality of Donald Trump is. Like there's no, there's only, we could only go down from here with a Trump presidency. Yeah, it's been really interesting, right? Because there's also been a bunch of moments where Chappell talks about what it is like to become famous in this way, people approaching her, people expecting

things of her. And I understand the connection between people feeling like they are entitled to a photo with you, entitled to you being nice in a public place, entitled to conversation. There is a connection between that and what I'm doing right now, which is basically saying I feel entitled to your political views or your political actions.

But I guess it is that like, I think she's free to do whatever the fuck she wants. She like, she is a person, she's just a person who became famous. Like she should be free to express herself, have whatever view she wants. I just think it's like worth trying to persuade people who hold this view, whether they're deciding to vote or not, or to endorse her or not, right?

In this case, her endorsement is like a, an avatar for voting or voting is really an avatar for the endorsement. And like the same, it's a higher stakes version of the conversation we're having with anybody who's considering whether or not to vote, which is, hey, I know you're upset for a variety of reasons. You have to do everything you can despite your misgivings because the only way we can get to anything better is by doing that together. And it's everybody has to help to help everybody. And it sucks. And it sucks that suddenly she's a public figure facing this kind of scrutiny but it doesn't change the ethics.

But doesn't some of the scrutiny, obviously all of that is true, she can do whatever she wants and express herself however she wants, but doesn't some of the scrutiny come directly from the audience that she is very purposely cultivated and the queer aesthetic that she has very purposely cultivated, which I'm sure is very authentic to her. Yeah. That is what she is expressing publicly. So it's very different when she is choosing to not endorse, while saying obviously who you wrote for is important,

local voting is important, but it's very different when she makes a statement like this than versus when like Sabrina Carpenter makes a statement like this because of what they represent Carpenter makes a statement like this because of what they represent. I think that's interesting, right? I think there's two sides of it. There's the kind of brand aesthetics and then there's the practical necessity.

And like in that interview with Rolling Stone from August, she talks about not wanting to go to pride. Now, I think she says some version of, I don't wanna be a pride monkey, right? Cause she has problems with the administration's positions, right? Like the administration put out a policy on trans people in sports that was kind of controversial

on the left, right? Some people saw it as a way to kind of controversial on the left, right? Some people saw it as a way to kind of win on the issue, find a compromise that protects trans athletes. Others saw it as a capitulation to the right. They had put out a statement or they put out a policy position on gender affirming care for minors, which they then change, right? Like there have been places where they're very valid, I think, criticisms of the Biden administration on these issues, even as their record on the whole is one in which they are fighting to expand and protect rights and care

for trans people, LGBTQ people. And so I understand not wanting to go to pride when you feel like, wait, am I being used as a tool for branding, right? Like I kind of get that, totally respect that. At the same time, like, for her trans fans, for her queer fans, especially the ones that aren't in New York or Los Angeles, but even the ones there, like this election, we may, I don't, we don't actually know how high the stakes are for trans people in this election until we lose. We won't know. We don't know how far they'll go. Like project 2025, like I have read it, really have, and it is so ominous.

It is hard, like the implications for what they say on these issues, like it's actually hard to contemplate just how far they'd be willing to go. We really just simply don't know. The document, the plan gives them the space to go as far as they want. Because if they define pornography, they believe the First Amendment doesn't protect pornography, and they define

gender affirming care, even just talking about it as a form of pornography they can ban. I don't know how that far that goes, right? Is that just trans people not being in classrooms? Is that trans people, is that doctors going to jail for providing gender affirming care for adults? Is that not even being allowed to publicly talk about being trans, about trans rights? I don't know how far it goes. Nobody knows how far they're willing to go. Those are the stakes for her fans.

To me, it's like, fuck the brand. Fuck the identity. Fuck the bad vibes. We have to stop him. You have to stop him. I'm sorry. Well, I agree with what you're saying and I'm vote blue no matter who,

like I'm not gonna pretend I'm not gonna vote for her. But I think the thing that's missing and the thing that I think is, I'm assuming she's struggling with this, someone who is in queer spaces. And I only came out like three years ago, so you know, like I don't know anything. But I think it's like what she's dealing with

is the fundamental issue that is queer politics. Where it's like the understanding that like everything you're saying is true. And also as a white queer person, she does have an obligation to some other ability to be like, okay, I am also obligated to talk about Palestine. I'm also obligated to talk about these things.

Even if it seems like they're unrelated, part of queer politics is the understanding that any one of us could be any one of us. So then you are put in a position of like, obviously you support trans people. Obviously, we know who the candidate you have to vote for. The trans people can continue living their lives in America. And also you are now dealing with the fact that like, you know that you could also be someone in Gaza, right? So it's it's almost like to it's not an opposition to her queer fans or the queer community.

It's an understanding that queer politics kind of necessitates that all of this is the same issue. So it can't be divided from one another. So I'm not saying like, again, I'm voting for Govely Harris, but like that rather it's like the conundrum of queerness is that all of these things are also your issue because that you just have to know,

like if you're queer anywhere in the world, like you're having this experience, you know what I mean? Yeah. I agree with all that. I think what bothers me about this is just the fundamental silliness of making clear that you were voting for Kamala Harris and you think that everyone else should too,

but then not going the step of saying that out loud. That to me makes it about your, the purity of your brand and a pure, it's only about the optics and not about what you think should happen. And I find that frustrating. Yeah, I agree with that. And like, I'm not denigrating. I really do mean this. Like, I'm less interested in what one person thinks than more about the political environment in which, um, I think legitimate points that Halley is making are then translated into nuanced views on the election, when I don't believe they're warranted, where we are right now, 40 days before an election.

Uh, after all, look at what Trump is saying just this week on Thursday at a campaign event aimed at denouncing anti-Semitism, Trump preemptively blamed the Jews. If I don't win this election, and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because at 40 percent, that means 60 percent of the people are voting for the enemy. Trump does not have even 40 percent of the Jews. Even his lies contain lies. A Mandelbrot set of infinite lies, just in case Trump is listening, a Mandelbrot set

is a math thing named after a Jew. I like, again, this is an event about antisemitism. Trump is doing antisemitism at the antisemitism event. I'm very nervous about what happens when the conflict in the right between trying to appeal to Jewish Americans on Israel and the anti-Semitism that has always been rife in their movement come to head after this election and they lose and they believe that their efforts to appeal to Jewish voters were

ineffective and Trump decides that he's to appeal to Jewish voters were ineffective and that Trump decides that he's going to blame the Jews for this, how dangerous a path the right is on now, right? Like that anti-Semitic streak is there. It has always been there. It is getting worse. You're seeing it more and more. You're seeing more and more of these fringe white nationalists and genuine actual Nazis

popping up even at dinners with this man. Like Tucker Carlson has been flirting with Holocaust denialism. Like, this is happening. This is very fucking dangerous. And the only thing right now stopping it from getting worse is the fact that they believe that there's equity in trying to appeal to Jews to get their support over Israel. And I am very afraid about what happens when that's done.

Yeah, it's an oi for me. That's two ois. That's two full ois. The ois have it. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. In other neat rants, Trump wrote in a lengthy all caps truth social post on Friday night that if he wins a second term, women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion because it is now where it has always had to be with the states and a vote of the people.

So true. Well said. Trump 2024 said the one woman on true social. This is so much scarier to me than the grab him by the pussy. Like somebody clearly said to him like, you got to appeal to women. He's like, that's it, I'll protect him. It's like, oh no, like it's activating some part

we haven't seen. I actually think that like, cause we've talked about it. I don't know if we talked about here on Pate America, but like Trump is doing terribly among women. The poll, the NBC poll shows a massive gender gap. You see that in the Times polls, even the times polls that weren't so great, there's a massive gender gap. And the gender gap is such that we are doing better among women than Trump is doing better

among men. So there's a little bit of an help for us there. I don't know if this is about appealing to women or appealing to men. I think it's probably trying to do a little bit of both. I do think that there is space to try to convince men, especially men that are pro-choice or are hearing about being pro-choice from the women in their lives,

that like, hey, the way you be a man, to be a strong, good man, is not to be this kind of a bully. Like, that's a weak version of masculinity. That's what men who are sad and lonely and insecure do. They kind of like, that's the Cybertruck of being a man. Like, you don't want to be a Cybertruck man. Those are embarrassing men. Those are men.

I can see for when the front of the man crumples when it hits something. Yes, that's right. You want men with a fucking crumple zone. That's exactly right. And I think Trump knows he's facing a lot of blowback with women because of his abortion position about trying to control women. He's trying to use immigration to say, no, no, no, look at all these dangerous migrants.

I am trying to protect women. I think Democrats need to make it clear that Donald Trump is trying to control women. And that if you care about the women in your life, if you view your role to kind of support and respect women, your job is to protect women by voting against Donald Trump. He is trying to do the opposite and say, no, no, no. Women are endangered by immigrants. That's I am the protector because I'm going to close the border.

I think that's where this is basically heading. Yes. It all harkens back to like bring it back to your favorite to close the border. I think that's where this is basically heading. Yes, it all harkens back to bring it back to your favorite book of the moment. It's very much southern masculinity that you would see in the antebellum period, where that's how you got a lot of the stereotypes that we deal with with black men right now, because black men were set up to be predators

against white women. And it was all about protecting the white women of your life. And he's just playing off of that. Yeah, I mean, like, there's so many different xenophobic immigrant stereotypes that go back to exactly what you're saying. And he's the big daddy, I guess. Yeah. So because it's like, I do think there's a nuance here, which is like, I do think that

there are men out there that see themselves as protectors of women. And I think like, how do you appeal to those men in a way that is, like kind of meets them where they are, like that they take pride in like that kind of, I think masculinity that he's sort of trying to appeal to while kind of steering it in the positive direction. And I just don't think we do that enough. I really don't. I think it's like a gap in how we talk about men.

Like, why is there this big gender gap? Like, it's, you know, it's not because of fucking crypto and Elon, it's just not, right? There's something deeper going on. And I do think that like, we've talked a lot about toxic masculinity. I think we need to do better on our side about showing men that like,

you wanna be part of this movement. Like it's, you know, that like you're needed here. Like the idea that like men between say the ages of 18 and 30, like how many men out there that are right now considering voting for Trump have accidentally gotten somebody pregnant and prayed to fucking God that she had an abortion. Like that want women to have that right.

Like that happens every fucking day. We're going to pretend it's not. Like I've seen like you like, like that conversation isn't happening every day Where like a man says some version of what are you gonna do? Desperately hoping that they're not about to have Um put themselves in a position of being a father when they didn't want to be like they put those decisions on to women every Day hoping that they make them Also, we all know this and take this for granted but I think it bears repeating every time this comes up Trump has been found liable

in court for sexual abuse. Yeah. What are we doing? Again as someone who will be voting for Kamala Harris I would say half of the reason I will be is because I don't want JD Vance in the White House and I think he's the perfect example of like we have to offer a different template because their template is JD Vance. It is someone who is a racist. It is someone who wants these extremely rigid gender roles. And I think as dangerous as Trump is, Trump is not gonna be around forever. And JD Vance is absolutely-

Yeah, well it's like JD Vance is absolutely ready to step into this role and he is as dangerous, if not more so, because he has the conviction of someone who is believes that this is grounded some sort of spiritual reality which I think on our side we have to be like this is this is a secular country we have to be able to allow people their personal decisions about their whether that's their family their sexuality their gender we to ridge that control away. Yeah. And speaking of people that won't be around forever,

as unavoidable as he seems to be, Trump has held far fewer rallies during this campaign cycle. In 2016, he had held 72 rallies between June and September. During the same period of this year, as of today, he's held just 25. We have this visualization that shows how few rallies he's actually been doing. People around Trump gave Axios three main reasons for his lighter schedule.

Voters already know who he is. Rallies are expensive. And the old man just wants to stay at Mar-a-Lago. Aging is tough. Each of us will one day reach a point where we can no longer just stand in 100 degree heat and free associate racist conspiracy theories like we used to. Speaking of heating up, in that time Santa poll that dropped on Monday, Trump was up by two points in North Carolina with 49%

To Harris is 47% But keep in mind that poll was taken from September 17th to September 21st and the latest insane and should-be campaign ending story about lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson calling himself a black Nazi and fantasizing about owning slaves on the message board of a porn site Only came out on September 19th. The worst part is that he still believed these things even after he had post-nut clarity. I'm sorry. Even now, though, I suspect a lot of voters in the state aren't fully caught up on their porn site message board news. In the wake of this story, Robinson's campaign has crumbled around him with four top staff members resigning over the weekend. You've gone too far, sir, said a staffer wearing and it's okay to have questions about the Holocaust t-shirt.

Always interesting to see where people's lines are. The nude Africa message board comment that broke the camel's back as it were. A spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association said on Monday that the group is done spending ad money on Robinson's behalf. Sure, why bother paying for ads when you're getting all this earned media for free?

The Harris campaign has circulated a memo outlining its plan to tie Trump to Robinson in North Carolina with a big rope. No, it's metaphorical. It's metaphorical. They're gonna target black voters, moderate Republicans, and suburban voters in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas.

God help Robinson if they find his comments on the nude, moderate Carolinian message boards. They're even worse. Even as Carolina Republicans abandoned Robinson, Trump and Vance have refused to do so. Look at how Jude Daphric Vance responded when asked about the scandal. Do you believe him that those were not his posts? I don't not believe him. I don't believe him.

I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion. What does that mean? Does that mean that if voters in North Carolina believe the allegations, you'll believe the allegations? I mean, I'd have more respect for Vance if he just came out and said, I don't give a fuck. I'll tell you if I believe the allegations. I mean I'd have more respect for Vance if he just came out and said I don't give a fuck I'll tell you if I believe the allegations once I find out how all this affects me personally As after all JD Vance is our great skeptic. He has to wait for conclusive evidence before he says what he believes Oh wait, just just wait this just in from JD Vance a nine foot tall Guatemalan man is eating the Central Park carriage horses Horsebones blocking traffic on Madison Avenue because of immigrants' glue prices soaring.

And finally, before we go, I would be remiss if I didn't address Nicole Kidman's terrible wig in Netflix's The Perfect Couple. No, it's not gonna go back to the way it was. I'm not going back to the way I was because really. It's like they took it out of the bag and they didn't even brush it.

Do you guys know what she says after this? I do know what she says after that. I know the repeat. Oh no, my wig, why is my wig like this? She says somehow a bad wig feels good in a place like this. Hey yo. This show, I enjoyed it thoroughly. One of the dumbest fucking things I've ever watched.

One of the glossiest, dumbest things I've ever seen. The last episode moved way too quickly. Nothing happens for the first seven episodes and then suddenly you are just slammed with plot. It's wild. It also just like a good, like to me it's like Apple TV makes these exquisite shows and movies with the great actors and directors and writers spends ungodly sums. I was watching an Apple show last night. Every episode has like three songs. I worked on a

sitcom. You don't get to use those songs because they're super expensive. You can maybe get like one a season. Every episode is like, is that the Rolling Stones? What's going on here? And they don't market them, you never know about them. And then Netflix just is like, get Nicole Kim in a wig, we need eight episodes of true crime slot for our piggies. We all watched it. And we all watched it, oink oink, baby.

It's just insane. It's just the craziest wig I've ever seen. I love it. I've seen worse. Have you ever seen Chamar Moore's cornrows in Diaries of a Mad Black Woman? Okay, yeah, I have, okay, well. Well, that's not something I'm gonna talk about. I love it. I've seen worse. Have you ever seen Chamar Moore's cornrows in Diaries of a Mad Black Woman? Okay, well.

Well, that's not something I'm gonna talk about. Before we go, despite what you may have heard, I am not flying to Pittsburgh just to eat a delicious four-course meal at Sheetz. No, that'll just be a little fun side mission. When Love It or Leave It is live in Pittsburgh on Friday, October 4th, we'll be a month out from the election,

and while Trump has stopped the steal, no one can stop Steel City. Huh, that's pretty good. So join me and my fabulous guest playwright R. Eric Thompson, congressional candidate Janelle Stelson, and comedian Matteo Lane as we rock the Roxy-en on October 4th. Tickets available now at crooked.com slash events. They're mostly gone. So get them now. Also clear calendars because on October 2nd, I am hosting a Trek the Vote. This is a live comedy show and fundraiser

with politics, games, high level, high octane, nerd, dumb. I will be joined by beloved Star Trek cast members like Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Will Wheaton, Jerry Ryan, Tawny Newsome, and so many more for a fundraiser that you won't wanna miss. You just won't wanna miss it. And because I'm hosting, I can't be voted off, so that'll be fun. All funds raised will go to Vote Save America in support of the highest impact down ballot races, state level grassroots organizations, and voter

protection efforts across the country. So please grab the nearest Ferengi and join us for a stellar event where nerds can unite for the greater good, please go to vote save america.com slash trek. vote save america.com slash trek to buy your tickets. It's both for it's in person in LA, but it's also a live stream. Please support it. This message has been paid for by vote save America. You can learn more at vote save america.com and this ad has not been authorized by any candidate or candidates committee. And that's our show. Thank you to Halle. Thank you to Sarah Lazarus. Thank you to Kendra. See you sluts on Saturday. It's time to get on the road. Love it or Leave it is a crooked media production. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett and Lee Eisenberg. Kendra James is our executive producer, Chris Lord is our producer, and Kennedy Hill is our associate producer. Hallie Kiefer is our head writer, Sarah Lazarus and Jocelyn Kaufman, Chris Lord is our producer, and Kennedy Hill is our associate producer.

Hallie Kiefer is our head writer, Sarah Lazarus and Jocelyn Kaufman, Peter Miller, Alan Pierre, Will Miles and Mahana Del Shiki are our writers. Evan Sutton is our editor, Kyle Seglen and Charlotte Landis provide audio support, Steven Colon is our audio engineer, and Milo Kim is our videographer.

Our theme song is written and performed by Shure Shure. Thanks to our designer, Bernardo Serna, for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast, and to our digital producers, David Tolles, Claudia Shang, Mia Kelman, and Matt DeGroote for filming and editing video each week so you can. ["It's Love It or Leave It"]

I have one survivor question. Yep. When Andy had his meltdown and you realized you were in trouble, did it occur to you to throw an even bigger Meltdown to show you were less of a threat That's such an important question. I would say that specifically didn't occur to me. But what did occur to me was oh Like

He is gonna get to the other side of this by kind of having made himself seem pretty weak to everybody and I did realize like, like, oh, is that a liability that I didn't realize I had, which is that like, I'll play really hard to win, but I am worth this is going to be on television. Oh, that's I think that your fundamental thing that hindered you is that you have a little bit of dignity left and you can't go up against someone who doesn't. And that's one other wonderful learning from my experience on Survivor.