Pod Save America abandons Joe Biden?? PLUS which candidate supposedly ate a dog?

WEBVTT

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Callaroga Shark Media from Washington, where
we pre tape Saturday. So the least

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we can do is tell you who
supposedly ate the dog. This is ballot.

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That's right. I finally figured out
a way to get a day off

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around here, even if a dog
had to suffer. Thanks Joe, let's

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hit this, Oh man, Joe
Biden's even lost the Pod Save America.

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Guys, that's gonna make old Joe
even crazier than my ex girlfriend Norma.

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Pod Save America, affectionately dubbed the
Pod by its diehard Democratic followers, was

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instrumental in rallying support for Joe Biden's
twenty twenty presidential campaign. But oh,

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how the Mighty have fallen or stumbled
on a debate stage. In the week

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since Biden's train wreck of a debate
against Donald Trump, the hosts of Pod

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Save America Jon Favreau, John Lovett, and Tommy Vietor have had a collective

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come to Jesus moment. They've concluded
that Biden just doesn't have the chop to

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run a winning campaign against Trump again. Ouch In a candid chat with Semaphore,

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Tommy Vietor didn't mince words about why
they're now advocating for Biden to step

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aside. It's a challenging moment,
Viator said, which is code for we're

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in deep trouble if we don't fix
this. He emphasized that their frankness is

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driven by the high stakes of the
upcoming election. Joe Biden's message is that

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the future of American democracy rides on
the outcome of this election. Right,

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given those stakes, how can you
not have an honest conversation about the nominee

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and his ability to win. It's
a harsh reality check, but Viator insists

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they're coming from a place of concern
not just for their pals grinding it out

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in the White House, but for
the entire country after the campaign is over.

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We all own the outcome equally,
he reminded us. It's like saying,

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we're all stuck on this sinking ship
together, folks. When asked about

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the emotional toll of their criticism,
Vietter got real, I think the people

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I kind of worry about are people
who are close friends and people I care

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about, he said, clearly feeling
the weight of potentially burning bridges. I

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personally feel badly doing something that hurts
my friends, but the future of the

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country, he argued, is more
important than sparing some feelings talk about a

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rock in a hard place. Their
call for Biden to step aside isn't just

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based on a single bad night.
Vietra pointed out that Biden's performances since the

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debate haven't exactly been confidence boosters.
We all watched the debate and saw how

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bad it was, but Biden's subsequent
off teleprompter interviews and performances have also been

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bad. He said. It's like
watching your favorite sports team lose game after

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game and still expecting them to win
the championship. And it's not just the

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pod host feeling this way. Vietor
mentioned that their listeners are also deeply concerned.

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Your average listener watched the debate and
felt the way we all did,

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which was deep concern about our ability
to win the race. He noted.

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One fan even called them traders,
proving that there's always someone ready to burn

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you at the stake for saying what
everyone's thinking. But it's not all doom

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and gloom for the POD's dynamic trio. They've seen a spike in audience engagement

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since they started airing their grievances.
We're seeing numbers go up in terms of

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downloads and YouTube views and audience generally
tuning in and paying attention. Vietor revealed,

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turns out a little drama can be
good for business. Vietor also took

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a swipe at the Biden campaign's response, or lack thereof the obvious advice that

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everyone's been giving Biden from the beginning
is get out there more, do more

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interviews or events, he said,
but Biden's team seems hesitant, likely because

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they didn't think their candidate was capable
of doing those things successfully. Translation,

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they're as worried as we are,
but they can't admit it. John Favreau

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echoed this sentiment in a recent episode, expressing his frustration with the campaign's strategy.

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If Joe Biden decides that he's not
going anywhere and he is formally nominated

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in August, after that, we
will saddle up and fight for him,

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he said. There's absolutely no question
about that. But the real question remains,

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is Biden the best person to run
this race? Now? Love It

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chimed in with his usual wit,
pointing out the absurdity of the situation.

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We ran against Hillary Clinton. We
knew the risks of her candidacy, and

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I didn't speak up about those,
he said, reflecting on past mistakes,

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and when the Komi letter dropped weeks
before the election, you didn't want to

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alarm people, but we should have
all been alarmed. In the end,

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their message is clear. They want
a candidate who can actually win. Vietor

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summed it up perfectly. It's about
the future of the country. So while

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they might be causing a stir now, they believe it's necessary to prevent a

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much bigger disaster down the road.
After all, if we're going to be

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stuck with four more years of anyone, they'd rather it not be the guy

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who can't seem to keep it together
on stage. John Stewart is not backing

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down on his criticisms of President Joe
Biden. In Thursday's episode of his weekly

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show podcast, Stuart goes full throttle, comparing Biden to Donald Trump talk about

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hitting below the belt. Joining him
for the Biden Roast, where Pod Save

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America hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor
and CNN political commentator Bacari Sellers. The

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four of them analyze Biden's less than
stellar debate performance against Trump and his subsequent

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refusal to even consider stepping down as
the Democratic Party's nominee for the upcoming election.

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Now, while it might sound impressive
that John Stewart has a podcast,

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I'll remind you even I have a
podcast. Stuart always the provocateur, isn't

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outright calling for Biden to step down, but he's definitely stirring the pod.

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It would be better, Stuart muses
if Joe Biden came out and said,

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look, I understand where I'm at
in my lifespan and cycle in what I

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do. Here's how this government works, rather than coming out and becoming trumpion

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and saying you think someone else could
hold NATO together? They could never Only

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God can tell me to get out
of the race. Yep. Biden pulled

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the divine card in a recent ABC
News interview, saying if the Lord Almighty

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came down and said Joe get out
of the race, I get out of

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the race. The Lord Almighty's not
coming down. Stuart never won to mince

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words, continued his tirade. If
he were to come out and say here's

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my team, here's how we hold
the line, but we're not seeing any

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of that, Stuart lamented, nothing
that's been done inspires any confidence other than

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the fatalism of it is what it
is, and this is what we're stuck

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with. And that's the part that
I think has degraded people's trust in institutions

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and the government from the get go. That's a problem. The criticisms didn't

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stop there. Stuart pointed out that
omerta, a mafia slang term for a

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code of silence, is being used
to stifle what could be an incredibly productive

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conversation, reminding everyone that Biden himself
once suggested he might only seek one term

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as president. Ah promises promises.
Adding fuel to the fire, the Biden

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Harris campaign recently blasted self important podcasters
in an email, a clear swipe at

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the Podsave America hosts. Bacari Sellers
didn't take too kindly to this, stating

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he was mad about being called out
and emphasizing that all factions of the Democratic

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Party need to unite to rid ourselves
of fascism. Sellers wasn't exactly sugarcoating it.

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Vieter, bringing his usual candid insights, noted Biden's decline has been pretty

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rapid, dismissing Biden's excuse of having
a bad night at the debate. The

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in person fundraiser I saw in Los
Angeles a couple weeks before the debate was

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as bad as the debate, Vietor
revealed. Everyone I walked out with was

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like, that was chilling. Yikes. George Clooney, who hosted that LA

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fundraiser, seems to agree. Favreau
pointed out that Clooney has since pulled back

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on his support of Biden, even
penning a New York Times article about the

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Democratic Party needing a new nominee.
Vietor added, he had just flown back

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from Italy, so everyone was like, he must be so unbelievably jet lagged.

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But obviously there is a more systemic
problem. Okay, okay, the

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dog story. I'm only telling you
this because I wanted today off, as

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it seems we're going to have a
long summer here on the political beat.

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Did he really eat a canine in
Korea or was it a goat in Patagonia?

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It hardly matters. There are many
many reasons why Robert F. Kennedy

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Junior will never be president. For
starters, his claim that a parasitic worm

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ate part of his brain, but
crazier than having brainworms or owning nine cats.

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It's supposedly eating a dog. That's
not very presidential. Sure, sleeping

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with a porn star is and not
knowing where you are right now is fine,

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But you can't eat a dog.
He denies it. He claims it

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was a goat anyway. In a
July second, Vanity Fair article shows a

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twenty ten photo of Kennedy and an
unidentified woman chomping into the barbecued remains of

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what sure looks like a dog,
although some claim it's a goat and totally

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not a dog, because who would
eat a dog unless you have brainworms?

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According to the magazine, Last year, Kennedy texted that picture to a friend

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who was traveling to Korea, suggesting
he try a restaurant there that served canine.

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Vanity Fair went so far as to
consult a veterinarian, who confirmed that

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the carcass in the picture did indeed
appear to be a dog. But let's

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be clear, RFK says he's never
eaten a dog. Now, what about

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Trump? Has Trump ever eaten a
dog? No? Has Biden? Maybe,

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but he doesn't remember. Even crazy
Norma hasn't eaten a dog. She's

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more of a cat lady shocker.
But here's the thing. If we had

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a race between Biden, Trump and
an otherwise sensible candidate who maybe visited the

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wrong Korean restaurant once, wouldn't the
Dog Eater be up by ten point pints

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right now? Anyway. Portions of
today's program were made with the help of

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AI. You can't spell canine without
an A or an I. You know,