Monday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Tom Bevan, Andrew Walworth, and Carl Cannon discuss the president’s shifting messages on Iran and Cuba and how difficult it is for the public to keep up with events. They also talk about the third round of “No Kings” rallies against the Trump administration this weekend, and Speaker Johnson calling the DHS funding showdown in the Senate a “joke.” The group also breaks down the FBI’s new effort to publish more information about Rep. Eric Swalwell’s famous run-in with a Chinese spy, and debates whether Democrats have a “Rahm Emanuel problem” in the 2028 presidential primary. Plus, at the end of the show, they discuss the stunning UConn vs. Duke game last night! You can listen to the show live, weekdays at 11:00 a.m. on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opens with President Trump’s latest threat to expand the bombing campaign in Iran, telling the Financial Times the U.S. should just “take the oil.” Will the White House regret giving a “four to six weeks” timeline when this started? Financial Times: Donald Trump Says US Could ‘Take the Oil in Iran’ “President Trump is throwing a lot of things out there. Sometimes I just think he’s undisciplined and says whatever comes into his mind, but other times I think he’s waging psy-ops against the Iranians,” Carl Cannon said. “But it doesn’t seem to be nearing completion yet.” *** And then at minute 6, the group turns to President Trump allowing a Russian oil tanker to resupply Cuba, after months of embargo. Is he reversing strategy here? Watch: Trump: “Cuba’s a Mess, It’s a Failing Country, and They’re Going to Be Next” “Maybe the Cuban regime is about to fall — who knows?” Tom Bevan said. “But this idea that these regimes that have been in power for 50 or 60 years and have total control over the government, media, and weaponry, are just going to fall over with a tiny little push is something that I think mistakes past presidents have made. It never goes that way. It’s not going that way in Iran. I don’t know why the president thinks it’s going to go that way in Cuba.” *** At minute 8, the panel discusses Jennifer Murtazashvili’s essay in the Washington Post describing this conflict with Iran as the first “alt-war: a conflict in which the war fought online and the war fought in reality have diverged so completely that they might as well be happening on different planets.” Washington Post: Wartime Reality Doesn’t Match What You See on the Internet “She made a telling point in that piece,” Carl Cannon commented. “How the international left and the isolationist right haven’t agreed on anything in 30 years, but they agree that they hate this war.” *** At minute 12, the group asks whether the “No Kings” rally this weekend amounted to anything but a primal scream echoing from the 1960s. Watch: Gov. Tim Walz: Somali-Americans Will Still Be Here When This Orange Clown is in The Dustbin of History “It was a pretty heavily boomer crowd at these rallies,” Andrew Walworth added. “It’s very sort of like, let’s get back to the 60s and take over campus — or take over the retirement home.” *** At minute 21, the group looks at Speaker Johnson blasting the Senate compromise, calling the DHS funding compromise they passed a “joke.” Watch: Speaker Johnson: Senate’s DHS Funding Compromise “A Joke” “Mike Johnson is right about this — this is not how you run a government,” Carl Cannon said. *** At minute 31, the group discusses FBI Director Kash Patel’s attempt to release more information about Rep. Eric Swalwell, now a candidate for governor of California, and his ties to an alleged Chinese spy. Swalwell calls it a “personal vendetta.” The Hill: FBI Director Pushes to Release Investigative Files on Rep. Eric Swalwell “Well, it actually might be personal, because this is an old story,” Bevan commented. “The House Ethics Committee looked at this in 2023 and recommended that no action be taken… At the same time, he did get honey-potted by a Chinese Communist spy.” “He can never put this to bed — it’s too good a story,” he added. *** Finally, at minute 34, the panel debates former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s chances going into the 2028 presidential primary as Politico profiles how he eats a salad. Politico: Democrats Have a Rahm Emanuel Problem “Isn’t this how everybody eats a salad?” Bevan laughed. “However, he is a flawed messenger, and I don’t think someone like Rahm could win the nomination. It’s just my opinion. I think the energy is all on the left, and it’s going to be someone who is a strident, hardcore lefty.” “It’s a metaphor,” Cannon said. “But he has one of the best resumes of any modern presidential candidate… He’s a talented person.” *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics daily radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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