Rick Wilson & John Leguizamo

Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, where we discussed the top political headlines with some of today's best minds and.

President Jimmy Carter has turned one hundred years old. We have such a great show for you today. First, Joe here, Rick Wilson and Molly react to the vice presidential debate. Why from City Widery and Philadelphia. Then we'll talk to actor John Leguizamo about his activism. But first the news.

We're joined by a special guest, Rick Wilson for the headlines live backstage from Philadelphia at the City Widery.

So, Trump has accused Kama of being a murderer. Let's listen.

By the way, I'm outraged, and she let him the savage who raped and murdered Rachel Lamar, and Kamala let her in letteran she murdered him.

In my opinion, Kamala.

Murdered him just like she did, just like she had a gun in her hand.

Look, Trump is just experimenting with going lower and lower and lower, and he couldn't figure out anything lower than what he usually does, and so he's decided that he's going to continue with this explosive rhetoric. Again, we have been trying really hard to get people to take down the temperature. Donald Trump is doing exactly the opposite of that.

This is escalating to the point now where, you know, in the last twenty four hours, he's accused the Biden administration of trying to kill Western North Carolina by not providing them AID, and now he's saying that completely. And now I'm saying that Kamala Harris has a gun in her hand. You know, there's a temptation here to just write this off as Trump being Trump and Trump being senile.

It does seem none of this works morally ready. But it does seem as if Trump sees the numbers, he sees the trajectory. He sees the poles and now he's just trying to grab anything he can in the hopes that it will, you know, disrupt this trajectory, this polling trajectory. So I do think he is in full break out mode. Also, I think it's words remembering that when you listen to him, he just sounds much less with it than he did.

Yeah, the energy level is through the floor now.

And he also just his tenses don't match, the prepositions don't match. You know, he has trouble getting the gender of the character and the story to match. I mean, he's really having some structural grammatical problems that I haven't seen before.

Look, Donald Trump has never been a paragon of grammar. But I think you're exactly right, Molly. There is an increasing obvious diminishment of his ability. This is again, it's not the guy from sixteen, and it's certainly there from twenty certainly the guy from sixteen. This is a much weaker, smaller man than he was, which is why he's trying to throw out crazier ideas than ever before.

One of my sources in Trump earlier the.

Day said that he's calling her a thug and you know, we know what the word means, we get it, and he's trying to frame her in that same light right now with this thing, it's not going to work except for the you know, the craziest of the crazy. But you know those crazies are the crazies are also you know, a bunch of heavily armed lunatics and that's his.

Group, right those are his people, the magabase, and I think his goal is just to activate as many of them as possible, to get those ones and choose out.

Yep.

We could talk about this all night, but it's a temptation on the part of the Harris campaign obviously to try to play defense on this stuff.

They shouldn't even address it. They shouldn't even talk about it.

This is a crazy person yelling at the clouds, and you know, if they want to say anything, it's like, just have her look straight at non I go, hey, talk shit.

Get hit?

Yeah, don't all right?

So with that, Trump's really losing it language wise. Could this be why he is backed out of doing an appearance in sixty Minutes?

Well, they claimed that he backed out of it because Hugo Woll reported that he backed out of it because they wanted to do quote unquote live fact checking, which is what we call journalism, and they wanted to correct him during the interview, and he wouldn't do it.

If you find facts offensive, you may be a maga republic.

I mean, I think, show.

Me on the dollar, the facts touched you.

Yeah, if you're if fact checking feels like an assault on you, you may be a maga republic. Right, you get it because a lot of this stuff is a lie.

I think.

Look, Trump wants to change the trajectory, and we're going to talk about this in a minute, because there's a desire within him to try and do different stuff in order to change the trajectory. But Trump can only be Trump, and Trump twenty twenty four can only be this sort of diminished words Trump.

Yeah. No, I will also say this, this is part of a pattern. Now Trump is chickening out. He's chickened out of another debate, He's chicken out of the sixteen minutes interview. He's doing fewer and fewer things. Remember when he used to sit there and banter with reporters and yell at them and abuse them. Yesterday in Valdosta, Georgia, when he got called in his bullshit. He basically ran away like a scalded dog. I mean, this guy is

When he's off the camera.

He does better politically, ironically, but he can't.

But he can't resist the camera.

So that's and also she's gotten Harris has gotten so in his head that he can't write. Like the smart thing, the smart play if you're Trump is to disappear, right, make this, have your surrogates out there, not be out there yourself because you seem so crazy. But because what Harris did in the debate, which she got so in his head, now we can't disappear because he feels he

So our last headlight is some very interesting and good news, which is that the Cook Political Report has moved Colin al Read versus Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate to only lean Republican. What are you guys seeing here?

So I think it's.

Important to realize that cook is is very serious.

It takes a lot to move them. Do you agree with that?

Look? Yeah, I think that's right. I think I think that's that's broadly correct.

Texas is going to be a much closer state than people think.

And I've said this on Blue in the Face.

And you turn out African Americans in the Houston metro area and Harris County, you're going to be in a much different position than you'd be in a generic race. I think already has been a better can better or work in terms of connecting with African American voters obviously and with Texas voters more broadly, because of his athletic background, I love better, but Colin comes across as less academic, less lofty, more.

Also doesn't want to take away your guns.

I mean, guns are a big.

Issue into guns are big issue in Texas.

When Betto started talking about that, I think he alienated some voters. I mean, it's no accident that Harris said she had a gun, right, right, That's not an accident that was by design because voters. That's an anxiety for a lot of American voters. My god, why that's an anxiety?

God help me.

We all need there. This is an entire country that needs therapy.

But maybe.

I guess like personalizing this, but.

I love you mean it, But the gun thing is real. We'll see what happens in Texas. Ted Cruise is wildly unlikable. And if there's ever a really good Senate candidate who could be politically beaten at the back a box in a very red state, it would be Ted Cruse.

Do you agree?

I agree?

And look, Ted Cruz is he is a guy who who has kind of checked out of the job a long time ago. He pays more attention to his podcast and his travel.

Plans drops three times a week.

Guy, he's like the Steve Bannon of Charlie Kirks. I mean, he's recording all these But look, Cruz is a guy who is deeply unpopular in the Senate. His own colleagues ad him. He has no friends, no allies. He's never going to get anything done. Whether it's Mitch McConnell or Chuck Schumer running the Senate. Ted Cruz is a non entity at this point, he's a troll, and I think there's a point where he sort of ran out of juice to you even amuse himself with this ridiculous any character.

He's important that he's still predicted to win, but there's an opening there, there's some daylight, and I think that's what's important to note.

We have even more tour dates for you. Did you know the Lincoln Projects? Rick Willstead of Fast Politics bleijug Fast are heading out on tour to bring you a night of laughs for our dark political landscape. Join us on August twenty sixth at San Francisco at the Swedish American Hall, or in la on August twenty seventh at the Region Theater. Then we're headed to the Midwest. We'll be at the Vivarium in Milwaukee on the twenty first of September, and on the twenty second, we'll be in

First off, JD.

Vance talks like an auctioneer, meth out of his mind, that a catalytic converter auction I mean he really, he really. Vance has been very much trying to do two things tonight. He's been trying to hit this one mark of pleasing Trump over and over again.

Donald Trump is the God.

Donald Trump did this on all of that comes down at the end of the day, I think to something that's a little weaker than he thinks. I would say Walls had a slower start, especially because and I think part of it was he was looking at Vance like you know that that that super high speed Vance trying to get his story out, not not hey there you are not comfortable.

We occasionally leave sometimes.

Yeah.

I think look, Vance is infuriating because he lies so effectively, and so question.

I wrote an article about it today, like you can expect Jadie Vance to come out tonight with a torrent a river of.

Bulshit cue and it's Donald Trump.

But I mean, I think the question is when you watch that, who do you like better?

Look?

I think I think that question is very relevant. I also think that his answer is at the very end here.

Jessie from Walls on abortion and on women are much stronger than Jade Vance trying to weave his way through and fake out and answer.

Like I just cared about the babies.

But it is pretty funny that JD.

Vance is still getting fact checked even though they're not doing fact checking, Like how.

Much lie don't have to do that?

They decide that they're not going to do fact checking, but they are going to do fact checking.

And Stephen Chung was pissy that Trump pulled out of the sixty minutes thing because he said they said they would be doing fact checking on the story. I'm like, I'm so sorry. Did you did you think Donald just got to go in there and say, all right, Andrea, sit down, I'm gonna just talk for an hour.

Well, that's what Donald Trump wants to do, and that's what Sean Hannity lets Donald Trump do, right, I mean, that's why he does all those interviews.

There actually was a.

Sean Hannity show one night in twenty sixteen where he had Trump on and Sean Hannity said thirty five words in the entire hour.

I had a guy figure that out. From the time. I was like, that's amazing. It's like, mister President, tell us why you're wonderful.

But I look, I do think, I do think what you're seeing tonight is that Vance is very much trying to like feed the MAGA media machine open border, open border borders. Our borders are open border, open border, open border. That sort of stuff is the thing that that he's trying to give Fox as many YouTube clips as they can get. Yeah, that's that's what he's really approaching the set.

I thought Vance, Look, he got out there, he looked nervous Waltz when he got out there.

He looked a little bit nervous, and all of us took a deep.

Breath, and I thought, our guy looks a little nervous, and perhaps a little bit of bronzer would not be the worst thing. You'll remember, bronzer has been, has has appeared many times during this.

It has indeed, and I will say, you know, Tim Walls is about as white as a bag of marshmallows, right.

But he got his sea legs pretty quickly. Yeah, And that answer on abortion, I thought was really excellent.

And I guys, honestly, no one's changing their mind based on jd Vance going out there and rattling off seven hundred words in mighty four seconds.

It's not it's just not. It's not going to change the game.

The only, the only, in my lifetime, the only like real drama in presidential debates was when Lloyd Benson cleaned Dan Quail's clock.

And and yet George H. W.

Bush went on to win four hundred electoral college bo stop gloading.

We still love him.

And I love you too, but but but you know, you also saw like during the okay, here.

Were welcome back to the CBS News vice presidential debate.

We want to turn it lence epidemic.

All right, we're going to give you guys as much time with them as possible, So we're gonna just turn down the closing remarks because we.

Know that's gonna be bullshit. We know what they're going to say.

We did it, Mama Harris, open border, open border, openes.

We did and I this is a weird experiment tonight, but thank you.

All for hanging in.

We promise appreciate you coming out tonight.

Thank you so much.

We promised never to subject you to that much.

Again.

The giant down in this thing from Maga World on Twitter.

Was how dare they in fact chuck jd Vance?

So let me ask you a question about Jady Vance. I was watching that debate and I thought that Walls did pretty well and Jady Vance is a lying psychopath.

Now, yeah, I just want to ask you.

There were a lot of people like, you know, the sort of really terrible two sides, the pundits like Crystaliza.

Oh god, yeah, who.

Said while Vance is doing an amazing job tonight, He's coming out, he's saying the lies very quickly. They're very catchy. Isn't the job here to be likable?

Lord? Or no likability matters.

But but look, Vance came out with that rattle trap high speed coped up first answer, and I knew the guy had been hyper prepared for the debate. Walls came out trying to be the agreeable, vuncular guy that he.

Is, which he was, and he was.

You know, a lot of the we agree on this, We agree on that. Vance didn't want to go into that mode, but Walls dragged him to it. Oh look, I think Vance was playing for an audience of two, the national media, so they would.

Say how smart and prepared he was and for Donald Trump, right and so.

But Vance, everything was punctuated by Kamala Harris's open border.

Right. It's like, it's like Kamala Harris's policy on healthcare. Motherfucker. The congressional side of this is completely missing in JD. Vance's head.

I'm like, dude, stop saying that Kamala Harris can change housing regulations right, right?

But also JD.

Vance, Donald Trump tried to repeal Obamacare twic but twice so and and.

By the way, and by the way, the greatest memorial John McCain could have left for himself was that moment on the Florido. He went, yeah, that was his last fuck you. And believe me, I know John John John had borne to you fuck using him. Yeah, but that was a moment where you know they're going to try to retroactively rewrite the whole history of Trump.

It's a jade.

Vancis are like Donald Trump's sensitive caring policies towards women and and and he really thought to save Obamacare.

But Rick, my question for you is this, dude, does this move the needle?

Does smatter at all?

Once again?

Vice presidential debates have never statistically moved the vote. Now you're gonna see Maga on social media trying to turn this into a giant win tonight because their lives have been so shitty for the last eight weeks. They've gotten their asses kicked every day by trained professionals. They really hate where they're at right now. So you're gonna see them try to make this into like this is the one debate that will change everything.

But did But But do you think Walls lost this debate because I'm not convinced he did.

I don't think he lost the debate.

I think one of the things Vance did tonight that was targeting the press is to code switch really quickly. You know, he goes from being Tucker Carlson techbro asshole on podcasts like of course women should be subservient to their lords and masters to this tonight, we just care about women and the babies. His code switching is brilliant and rapid. I thought he came across his fake and overprepared. I think Walls had a one answer that cannot be forgiven. Okay,

But he had to.

Give an answer that lasted for like forty minutes. I was like, stop, stop, it's dead, Jim.

So no, Look, Walls didn't.

Lose this, but but he didn't win.

But neither did he win it.

Yeah.

Look, in the very first debate, Joe Biden lost the debate.

Yeah all lost Donald Trump debate.

Not win that debate.

That was the worst.

That debate was one of the worst moments of all of our lives.

Let's be honest here, I've made Oh yeah, and if I.

If I may, if I may do a southernism.

I called Stuart and I were on the phone after the debate the first debate, and I'm like, man, my dick is in the dirt.

Oh.

He's like, that is a southernism. But no. But so look that first debate Biden lost him. Trump did not win.

If you read Trump's transcript from the first debate, he sounds like a lunatic. Yeah, Harris clearly decisively won the president's debate. Donald Trump will not debate her again.

Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe, I think you could still do.

I think the Republican joke on Twitter, it's like that should debate Harris.

Yeah, advancure debate. Hairs like, okay, give it a rest, pal.

Yeah.

So look, I think Walls gave good answers. I think he gave some answers that neutralized some of the Republican attack factories.

The gun answer was very well crafted and very well delivered.

And the January sixth stuff, and the January I.

Think Vance shipped the bed in the last act of the play.

Yeah, yeah, if I may mix my metaphors a bit, yes, but I don't think he ended well on it. And look, the other thing you wanted that Advance was really trying to get to all night night. He finally got to it at the end, was.

Like, I'm endorsed by Robert F.

Kennedy and Tulsa Gabbert, which is just bait for the Tucker crowd, right, you know.

Well, also, I mean, okay, that's good.

That in four sixty five? Int you a small latte Starbucks?

Yeah?

I right, exactly On Alex Jones, I mean I just am not convinced that that does anything for him.

No, look I don't.

And again, no vice president's debate has ever moved the This is interesting, it's amusing, but the reaction to it on the right of taking a let's even call it a qualified win and trying to turn it into this earth shaking political moment just shows you.

How desperate they are on the broader campaign.

And I also think it's worth just pulling back and wondering if Vance.

Is so unlikable. He was not more likable tonight, No, he was.

Look again, the code switch tonight is not a believable change, right, he was very fast and Edgy in his answers, he was super prepared. Right, Yeah, Yale Law School. Hey, they're going to kick us out of here at eleven o'clock. Yes, so what we're gonna do?

Are you concerned about Project twenty twenty five and how awful Trump's second term could be?

Well, so are we, which is why.

We teamed up with iHeart to make a limited series with the experts on what a disaster Project twenty twenty five would be for america future. Right now, we have just released the final episode of this five episode series. They're all available by looking up Molly John Fast Project twenty twenty five on YouTube, and if you are more of a podcast person and not say a YouTuber, you can hit play and put your phone in the lock screen and it will play back just like a podcast.

John Leguizamo is a stand up comedian and an actor.

Welcome to Fast Politics, John Guizamo.

Mally, what a pleasure. Thank you for having me, Ami, you talking about this for a long long time.

That's right, we have, and throughout this whole time, you've been doing such amazing work first talking the Latino community.

Talk to me.

About you're doing acting, but you're also doing activism in a really cool way.

Yeah, I think they're not mutually exclusive, but then you can do both. It has its repercussions in the entertainment business a little bit in them with fans. Some fans expect you just to be entertainer and to shut up, and they'll tell you that, like in a tweet or on Facebook, especially Facebook and Twitter, where they like to get really hostile you. It'll push back, but you know, I'm not new to push back. I'm a Latin man

That's right. So first I want you to talk about the PBS series and then we'll talk about all the other stuff.

Sure. So, now, the PBS show is a passion project of mind, a life's mission to get Latin facts out to the public, especially for my Latino community, but for everybody, for the black community, white community, Asian community, l GTBQ plus to understand what Latin people have brought to America to the world, our contributions to the modern world. That would not exist without our contributions. The modern world could not exist without Latin people's contributions. First of all, Latin

Wow. And you got inspired when you were working on Latino history for morons.

I mean it had started a little bit before, but Latino history for morons. What happened to my son and that he wasn't being taught any Latin history, you know, was the genesis of it all. Because I found it kind of absurd, and especially when I started doing the research then I found it really aggressive and I started to realize that the reason our history is missing, it's not a casual thing or a happenstance. It's a purposeful thing.

Yeah, no, it's a really good point. Will you explain to us sort of what you've been doing with your activism and outreach to Latino communities with this election coming up?

Yeah, well, because I'm working on two activists, I mean politically on one side, and then entertainment and employment because they go cut hand in hand.

Explain to us first the political stuff and then the employment stuff.

So, you know, trying to tell Democrats mostly, but Republicans have heard because they listen in to find out our secrets and that the Latino vote is the largest voting block and we're going to help decide who the president is because we have about thirty six million registered voters and you have to have Latin consultants. You have to have Latin experts. You have to have people in the field who know what we need to be talked to, what we care about, how to reach us. And you

What is the message, what is the need?

Well, I mean, the biggest thing for us Latin people above anything else is jobs. That's all we really care about is jobs and housing. Latin women are the number one small startup businesses in America. I think last year the we'red eighty six percent. I'm not sure what they're at this year. But they're also the lowest paid woman in the American economy. And then the problem with the small businesses that we have is that we're less than

Do you feel like people in the Latino community are more connected with her? I mean, are you seeing that or does she need to still do more?

She still needs to do more, but no, she's hitting home. You know, she's energized the Democratic base and that means us Latinos. I know, all the latin activists that I'm talking about in everybody who's grassroots organizing for Latinos are jacked up by her, are pumped up. She definitely is doing but she needs to do more because you know, we're not a monolith. And you know there are the very religious Latinos who are very conservative and they need

Yeah. Now, can you talk to us about the other part of your activism?

Well, the other part of my activism is employment. Yeah, and that we are so invisible and just not getting the promotions we deserve. We're not executives, We're not at the seats so the decisions are being made. We're about zero point one percent of the executives in Hollywood. But that goes everywhere. Hollywood's where I can see it, and I know it because I experienced it. But would I talk to other Latin people who are executives everywhere else.

I mean, oh, it's such a nightmare Latinos. They happened to be in the most important swing states, large populations, Nevada, Arizona.

Huge the population.

Yeah, so you know, when I went to Arizona a while back, I talked to young activists. Sheriff Joe had made them activists. They had seen these terrible anti immigrant laws at the state level and acted. They had seen you know, just real almost Jim Crowish law, people being deported and jailed, et cetera. And you know these huge prison camps, I mean, just really bleak. And it radicalized them in a good way. I mean, it made them activists. It made them care about what happened to their community.

Yeah? No, No, Mary, that's a great point. I mean, you you're so hit because I went to Arizona just this summer and I met with all these activists Chicanos por La Causa, met Ruby and Gayega. So there's so many great organizations, grassroots Latin organizations that gave us Arizona for Biden. They alone did it without nobody donated to them. They did it out of their own pockets. And that's what I'm telling also politically to democrats is you've got

It's interesting to me because Ruben has you know, I've known him for a while, We've interviewed him a ton of times. I always thought he was a really, really compelling speaker with a really amazing story. But he is, I mean so far, and again the election hasn't happened yet, but in the polling he is just wiping the floor with carry Oh my god, I know that humongous leads. I mean, you know, again, nobody knows anything and everyone must vote and do the work.

But right, Nate Silver taught us that, yes, exactly.

But it is like he has a very compelling message, and it seems like he's very connected to voters, and he's raised a gazillion dollars.

Yeah, I mean I give him every chance I get, and I tell all my friends and I send them the sites to send money to to puent this, to go diego to all the other Latin candidates out there, because they are doing this saving of democracy that we all need and want. Ruben, You're right, he's brilliant man. He's a great speaker, he's charismatic, he's a veteran, and he's haf Colombian. So I love that too.

Yeah. I mean, if you want those voters, you need to run those people, right, Yes, you know, you need to connect with them. And I think that that's the exciting thing about Harris, right, is that she looks like the base of the Democratic Party.

Yes she doesn't. She's you know, she's a brilliant speaker. She's smart, she's sharp, she's strong, she's a strong woman. You know, I think we can all get behind a strong woman. I think Americans and men finally are realizing that a strong woman is an incredible woman and it's great to be with them and be near them.

One of the issues with this election is that she's doing very or at least the pollings that she's doing very well with women. She's got to sort of pick up the numbers when it comes to men.

There is a certain level of sexism.

Oh yeah, yeah, So talk to me about that, I mean, and sort of what you think could be useful there in.

The debate, she really showed that she was president and that she was tough. Because women have the difficult task of that, they have to be charming as well and likable as they're being tough, do you know what I mean. Men don't have to do that. It can be like Trump. It could be just a jerk and an asshole, and that's great, you know what I mean. But women aren't allowed to be that. So I think she wrote that

Now.

You know, it's not just about peace. We want to hear that, but you also have to show that if she hits the fan, that you can fucking put your dukes up and defend us.

You know, what do you think though about this sort of like Trump says he's made in roads with Latino men. I mean, we don't really know what it will look like until the election, but the narrative in the mainstream media, and again there's nothing to back us up but pols, so we don't really know. But the narrative is that, you know, he's very macho and that that may be appealing to some Latino.

Men and women, and some Latino women like that strong man thing as well. Yes, I think it does appeal to some Latin men, the machismo thing, you know, so it's definitely an old school Latin thing that comes from colonialism and all that nonsense. People do like that, that strong man thing, But I don't know if that's enough

It's so interesting when you say that, and so important to just talk this all through. I think the work you're doing as an activist is so amazing, And just are you ever really disappointed that more celebrities and more actors don't do that.

I used to be very disappointed by it, but then I understand it's a risk. Entertainers need to be like a blank canvas a little bit, you know what I mean. The people can imprint whatever they want on you. But I'm an artist. I'm not an entertainer. That's where the difference is. Artists stick their neck out and we fight for things, I mean, trying to change society. I'm not an entertainer. I mean, I'm glad when I can't entertain

I really really appreciate you.

Thank you, so much for coming on.

Oh Molly, thank you for giving me the space.

You're the best, No moment perfectly all right, we are back with a Moment of Fuckery live from the backstage of the Philadelphia City Winery with Rick Wilson mind John Fast.

I want you guys to react to Kelly and Conway is pushing Donald Trump to man up and debate Kamala Harris again.

Well, let Rick start.

You don't want to react to friend of the Show Kelly had Codways saying something value.

Nope, go.

Look, Kelly Anne is desperately trying to get back into Trump's good graces and the world of Trump and Trump is because Chris los Avida and Susie Wilds actually know what polling is and that's not what Kelly Anne does.

And they don't like her polling.

They don't like her in general. And I think Corey coming back in did not did not help her. Omm I'm really going to get in trouble, aren't.

They, because Cory doesn't like her, right.

He did once upon time.

But you know, she's got one of these things where she's not really giving Trump real advice.

She's hoping to be ahead of the curve.

When his ego drives him into changing his mind and debating her again.

But also he wants to do.

It, and everybody else on the staff is like, please, for the love of Jesus, please don't do this, because I mean, think we all understand this. If he walks onto that debate stage with Vice President Harris again and she cuts his head off again and kicks it around like a soccer ball, not only is the election over, the Republican Party is going to get blown the fuck out in a lot of places it shouldn't.

He's going to get Mark Robinson Levell new to Africa, poland.

Pretty much yeah.

I mean, as if Donald Trump walked in the stage and said, you know, on my online chat room on my important site, and I frequent I call myself baby Hitler.

That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to hear the best minds in politics makes sense of all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard, please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. And again, thanks for listening.