The Chris Cuomo Project - BREAKING: Chris Cuomo Reacts to Trump’s Joint Address to Congress

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

Chris Cuomo reacts to President Trump’s joint address to Congress, breaking down the key themes and what they reveal about his strategy heading into the next election. He examines Trump’s framing of economic success, his messaging on immigration and national security, and how Democrats are responding. Cuomo also questions whether Trump’s appeal to working-class voters still holds, how his rhetoric shapes political divisions, and why Democrats’ attempts to counter him continue to fall flat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Boy, the Democrats have to learn that what got them where they are is not going to get them where they want to be. But I know the secret to their success. I'm Chris Cuomo. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo project. I'm telling you, if you look at what happened with the president's address to Congress, how the Democrats were before, with how they were there, how they dealt with it afterwards, they're

missing the opportunity to get to a better place as a party and as individual politicians. What is the key? What is right? What is wrong? Now, the Democrats, they all put out the same video. First of all, people play it like, was this an accident? Or you know, or was this some kind of misdirection?

No, they're all putting out the same video on purpose. They're trying to show that they're in lockstep. Okay? Now, why? Because that's what worked well for the Republicans. Listen, you can't play Trump's game and beat him or his team. They are the party of grievance. They are the owners of, it's broken, it's bad, it's worse, I don't like it, I want to disrupt it, I want to destroy it. That's what's going on right now. You can't hear Trump or any of his people say anything good about anything about government. Why? Because their whole mandate is to disrupt and change and

it's so much easier. My father always said, and I forget who said it, you guys can Google it right now and I'll tell people, any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good man or woman to make one better or to build one. Sam Rayburn, really? The famous member of Congress? Anyway, the Rayburn building is, you know, the main congressional building in DC. Anyway, the point is, yeah, it's easy. The politics of negativity,

the politics of reductive politics are easier. It's easier to be negative, it always is. We know this from everything in our lives. But the Democrats are where they are, and they are not going to win by being lockstep. They're going to win by being better, and they're not going to be seen as better if they're just bitching shit that ain't true. I'll tell you what shit ain't true is that saying shit like shit ain't true is going to put you more in touch with where people are. We don't want our elected

representatives to sound like people that we see on the subway. That's not what you're looking for. You're not looking for them to be common in terms of our limitations and weaknesses and inadequacies. That's not what we want our leaders to mirror, to reflect, to echo. We want them to be our best examples of ourselves. That's what we've gotten away from. That's why our levels of political decorum and our respect for a lot of institutions is in the turlet, is that it's gotten too common, too base, too low as common denominator. One of the challenges of American culture is that everything we do is pendular. All right, we fly in one direction or the other.

Look, I believe you don't even ever know Donald Trump is more than a TV guy if you didn't have President Barack Hussein Obama. Why? I think there was white fright. I think there was reaction. I think there was a fear of what he meant from the perspective of, here they come and you know who they is. So the Democrats now, in my estimation, it's not just an opinion, why? Because this is what I do for 40 years. 40 years, okay?

Doesn't mean I always get it right. That's not the point. It's that I rarely don't understand what's going on. And what's going on here is they're being told that people are pissed off, they're disappointed, they're disillusioned, they thought they were voting for this and it's not happening, and doge is that, da da da, let's go after it. But you don't understand that doesn't change people's desire for better and for change and for disruption. And you now just seem like you're defending the status quo when instead you're better off not saying shit ain't true.

Talk about what is true. Talk about what the strengths of our systems are when they're working the right way and what needs to be done and what ideas you have to make it that way. You will have plenty of opportunities. There's plenty of wood to chop. There's plenty of wood to chop. There's plenty of wood to chop

because there are so many things that people want to be better, okay? People don't get psyched to vote for someone who's telling them that everything sucks. They're doing that out of desperation. All right, I don't believe in regret. I don't believe in the utility of it unless you're learning from something

and then being different in the present and future. Otherwise it's just bullshit. We use it as an excuse. Negativity is a proxy for insight in the media and in our politics. So we rake people over their coals because we breed on negativity and it's easier to get somebody about their past

and your gotchas and your personal bullshit. But it's not what works best for anybody in their personal lives or politically. Support comes from Cozy Earth. Cozy Earth products are designed to transform your five to nine. That's the time that matters most, right? Five to nine, that's when you need the coziest sanctuary. Luxury starts where you rest. Look, the bedroom is a very sacred space,

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Shopify.com slash Chris C. Don't focus on what Trump says. Why? He's not like other politicians or presidents where that is putatively what is policy. It's not like other politicians or presidents where that is putatively what is policy. It's not. Even the tariffs, these are bluffs. I'm cutting off all aid to Ukraine.

Yeah, okay. I don't think it's going to happen. The tariffs, I don't think they're going to happen in any permanent way, not once if they're actually put in and retaliated to by other sides, other players. And then we see any change in our pricing, forget it. So focus on what happens and deal with that. And I don't mean what happened in the Oval Office. And I don't mean how much stuff Trump lies about or gets wrong in a speech to Congress.

One side note, why were people so concerned about, well, you know, this isn't a state of the union. I mean, we just don't do our homework anymore. Sometimes it's like crazy. Like, I can't believe that Elon Musk actually said in an interview that Social Security is part of our future debt obligations and it's part of our national debt? No it isn't. It's not part of the calculus. And Joe Rogan,

Really? 40, 50 million, 60, 70 million followers? You know, Social Security, if you look at our future debt obligations, this is a little bit. Listen, jealous and appreciative of the guy's success. I do think he has a unique ability in the current pod market to bring people in and have conversations. But brother, you just said a couple of weeks ago that you didn't like that Musk was fucking around with Social Security and saying shit that wasn't true about this army of 150 year old zombies we have getting Social Security benefits

that's your response to him telling you that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. What do you mean by that? Come on. Come on. You've got to be more muscular than that. It's what makes your coverage of the UFC so insightful and powerful. Is that you get it and you get what matters about things. And this matters here because I think Musk knows what he's telling you and others is bullshit. I think he's bought into just make them hate everything. You're smart,

convince them that they're right, that everything is terrible and everything has to get blown up and that's why people who are freaking out about these people aren't wrong to be freaking out any more than I thought the righties were freaking out about the trans stuff. When something's being exaggerated and put on you in a way that your gut is telling you doesn't make fucking sense. I get it, I just don't know that it's the most intelligent use of our time or our energy in terms of how to respond

to it, you know, this whole third right, fourth right bullshit, I don't believe in that. I think that's nonsense, it's not gonna happen here. Oh, but it could, a lot of things could happen. I don't think in that. I think that's nonsense. It's not gonna happen here. Oh, but it could. A lot of things could happen. I don't think it's gonna happen. Anymore than I think you can have an army of high school female athletes who look like me.

Hopefully they have better knees. Otherwise you don't have to worry about them being superior on the field because they'll just be rickety and old. The Democrats need to see where the light is, not just the heat. The heat is Trump's words. The heat is saying everything sucks. The heat is disruption.

Wait for the big events of what happens and the impact of what they actually do, and there will be plenty of opportunities to show that you could do better. Not that what everything he does sucks. They own grievance. You don't. Go with your gut about what makes you your best.

You never saw a video like that from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that you're seeing from Elizabeth Warren. You never saw that video. You never saw Mario Cuomo make a video like that. You never saw Ted Kennedy make a video like that. You never saw Ted Kennedy make a video like that. You never saw Bill Clinton make a video like that. Why? They were better than that.

They weren't in the business of saying that their opponents are shit. They were better than their opponents. So they didn't need to talk shit. That's where Democrats need to be focused, in their gut of what is right and wrong. It's not about being in protest, we're not going to the speech, because it's the state of you.

It's not really... Listen, here's the truth, okay? When a president is elected, that first time they address Congress isn't called the state of the union, because they haven't had enough time to figure out what the fuck is going on. That's why.

And there is no state of the union specifically in the constitution. It just says that congress from time to time will invite the guy, the president, to come and talk about what's happening in the state of the union. It's not a formalized thing. It's usually in January or February. This one's a little later. But the first one is usually not considered it because the guy can't have a full account of what's going on.

That's all. That's all. There's nothing really crazy going on here. Support comes from iRestore. So here we are heading into March. You got the winter blues, you want a fresh start. Let technology be part of your solution, especially when it comes to fitting hair and hair loss. You want to take a look at the iRestore Elite.

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they have experience, they have a track record. Go to RadioactiveMedia.com or text Chris to 511-511. Text Chris to 511-511 today. Message and data rates, of course, they apply. What's crazy is continuing to make the same mistakes and thinking you're going to get different outcomes. You know that old definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing and thinking you're going to get a different result. The Democrats making videos, being in lockstep, be lockstep about better, better ideas, better solutions. These guys wanna destroy social security,

make the case to the American people about how easy it is to extend it. Even with what I believe we never needed, which was Reagan's trust fund, which I think he did do, as a back door to borrowing for his spending. I do. I think the record is clear on it. But we are where we are. And certainly now is not the time to change our fiscal architecture that way, because the last thing you need is to figure out a way to do more borrowing, right? To make up for what is held as treasuries in the trust fund for

social security. But there's so many things. I mean, you know, even if you don't like the idea of retirement age, if you don't like the idea of COLA adjustments, if you don't like the idea of adjusting to prices versus income, and the idea of extending what income is covered is the most no brainer thing. Why do people

who make more money get a pass on paying into Social Security? Well, they don't need it. Then create an opt-out. Create an opt-out with a tax offset. Meaning that let's say you want to opt out of Social Security. You don't want to pay in anymore. Okay, well first of all you're not going to get it. And what you've paid in, you should get a, not dollar for dollar, but you should get some type of pro rata rationed discount on your taxes, right? But why don't we do what we do with Medicare? So the idea that this is a radical idea,

what I'm about to give to you, doesn't make sense in the gut. Why? My ample gut. Because we already do it with Medicare. There's no limit to the amount of income that gets taxed for Medicare payments. Why is there with social security? You see what I'm saying? The society has already bought it on one level,

and this is the easiest fix that will extend it. Why not make the case? Why not be in the business of better? Right and wrong, you gotta go with your gut. And when you look at what they're doing, it doesn't feel right. It feels petty. It feels small.

It feels bitchy. And that's what got you here. It's not where it's gonna get you somewhere else. Or am I wrong? You tell me. Chris Cuomo here. Thank you for subscribing and following at The Chris Cuomo Project. Thank you for checking me out on News Nation AP and 11P Eastern every weekday night. Where are your independents? Get your free agent gear. And I like the show but the ads. Subscribe at the Substack. Oh, I see that you're getting a little bit less flubbery fitness. Yes, I am. How?

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