{"id":97143,"date":"2026-07-09T22:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/rcp-podcast-end-of-the-platner-saga-is-iran-war-back-on-trump-vs-woke-smithsonian\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T22:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:42:02","slug":"rcp-podcast-end-of-the-platner-saga-is-iran-war-back-on-trump-vs-woke-smithsonian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/rcp-podcast-end-of-the-platner-saga-is-iran-war-back-on-trump-vs-woke-smithsonian\/","title":{"rendered":"RCP Podcast: End of the Platner Saga? Is Iran War Back On? Trump vs. ‘Woke’ Smithsonian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Mary Katherine Ham discuss Graham Platner withdrawing from the Maine Senate race — what it means for the Democratic Party and one of the country’s most closely watched races. Carolina Lumetta joins to break down the latest from President Trump, as the Iran War appears to pick up where it left off. She explains the mysterious new “Freedom Fuel” discount gas stations the White House is promoting, and whether Trump will allow the bipartisan housing bill to become law. The show closes with Tom, Carl, and Mary Katherine Ham discussing the White House’s 162-page report criticizing the Smithsonian for becoming too woke and political, and the broader fight over how American history is presented in public institutions. Listen live weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, or other platforms. <\/p>\n

00:00<\/a> – Opening: End of Platner Saga?<\/b> Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Mary Katherine Ham discuss Graham Platner dropping out of the Maine Senate race, making one of the country’s most closely watched races even more interesting, and raising more questions about the future of the Democratic Party. Watch: Platner Drops Out: Our Political System Is Built To Stop Movements Like Ours<\/a><\/b> “I think he’s a clinical narcissist, and his use of the royal ‘we’ was annoying,” Carl Cannon commented. “We are not accused of raping a woman — he is.” Watch: Trump on Graham Platner: “It’s Really A Question Of Whether Or Not You Believe The Woman”<\/a><\/b> “It was fairly obvious he was bad news,” Mary Katherine Ham said. “But Democrats were so desperate for a guy who looks like a dude and talks like a dude.” *** 09:30<\/a> – Democrats Rattled by Platner?<\/b> The panel takes a step back and looks at what the Platner saga tells us about the future of the Democratic Party, and how they plan to replace him on the ballot in just a few weeks. Watch: Fetterman to Platner: “The Trash Took Itself Out,” “Go Back Under The Rock You Came From”<\/a><\/b> Washington Post: 9 possible candidates who could replace Platner on Maine’s ballot<\/a><\/b> “They’re talking about doing it at a convention. So then the question becomes who gets to vote at that convention,” Cannon explained. “There’s almost no time for them to rig the system, so they kind of have to let it play out.” “Democrats seem to view their elections, particularly primary ones, as like an exhibition game. We just hope everyone has fun out there, and then after that, we’ll make the decision,” Mary Katherine Ham added. “By the way — eleven minutes for a video getting out of a race? The narcissism!” *** 20:45<\/a> – Back to Bombing Iran<\/b> Carolina Lumetta joins the show to discuss U.S. strikes on Iran beginning again after the apparent collapse of the ceasefire, and whether a credible threat from Iran caused the president not to use the new Air Force One from Qatar. “We’re back to we don’t know what to call what’s going on,” Lumetta said. “He has been very clear that he wants no nuclear weapon with Iran, and he wants the strait to be open. What we’re just not clear about is how all of these attacks are accomplishing that.” Watch: Vice President Vance on Iran: “If They Shoot At Ships, We’re Going To Knock The Hell Out Of Them”<\/a><\/b> Watch: Trump: As Far As I’m Concerned, Iran Ceasefire Is Over<\/a><\/b> “There was never a ceasefire during the first ceasefire,” Mary Katharine Ham said. “Now we’re in a second ceasefire and a second Strait of Hormuz opening, which is also not operative on one side. It’s only operative on our side. I do think Trump is interested in his threat credibility, and I think he showed the other day that he was ticked off at the Iranians.” *** 30:18<\/a> – What Is “Freedom Fuel”?<\/b> Carolina Lumetta also reports on the mysterious Freedom Fuel gas stations selling gas at $ 3.47 per gallon, and the bipartisan housing bill that may become law without Trump’s signature unless he vetoes it. “It’s actually not the White House’s thing. They’re promoting these 25 gas stations. They’re called Freedom Fuel stations, mostly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, that are selling gas at $ 3.47 a gallon, 47 cents being for the 47th president,” Lumetta explained. “Nobody really knows who owns these gas stations, though. Some of them used to be a Sunoco station that just got rebranded in American flags.” CNN: Trump Promotes ‘Freedom Fuel’ Stations Selling Cheap Gas–How They’re Able To Do So Is Unclear<\/a><\/b> “The president said last month that there was a corporation, a small corporation, that decided to take on some of the losses from higher gas prices,” she said. “But the White House, in a statement, was very clear that they have nothing to do with this.” “The Freedom Fuel trademark name doesn’t really have a clear owner or even a really clear trademark. There seemed to be a trademark in Delaware, but all the stations are in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” she continued. “Snopes is having a field day.” *** 37:39<\/a> – Trump vs. Smithsonian<\/b> The episode ends with Tom, Carl, and Mary Katharine discussing the White House’s 162-page report, Saving America’s Story, which criticizes the Smithsonian and the National Museum of American History for adopting a politicized, “problematized,” left-leaning view of American history. White House: “Saving America’s Story”<\/a><\/b> Watch: WH’s Vince Haley: Smithsonian Has Turned American History Museum Into A “Tool Of Social Justice”<\/a><\/b> “You want to present American history warts and all, and the way this report described it, it’s all warts … This is what you get when you hire a historian in this country these days,” Cannon said. “It looks like it was done by Eeyore.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Listen to RealClearPolitics weekdays at 11 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, or other platforms. Subscribe for more RealClearPolitics analysis, interviews, and political commentary.
\nRealClearPolitics Videos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Mary Katherine Ham discuss Graham Platner withdrawing from the Maine Senate race — what it means for the Democratic Party and one of the country’s most closely watched races. Carolina Lumetta joins to break down the latest from President Trump, as the Iran War appears […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[541,261,29169,14433,10185,16010,5395,15369],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}