George Conway & Howard Polskin

**Molly Jong-Fast** (0:00)
Hi, I'm Molly Jong-Fast, and this is Fast Politics, where we discuss the top political headlines with some of today's best minds. And JD Vance says, folk leo should stick to matters of morality. We have such a great show for you today.
New York's 12th Congressional District candidate, George Conway, steps by to talk about Trump's feudal attempts to keep his coalition together. Then we'll talk to the writings, Howard Polskin, about the splintering of the MAGA movement as they turn on President Trump. But first, the news.

**Jesse Cannon** (0:38)
Somali, last we talked, it was looking like Congress was going to expel four members. We now have two members that are leaving their seats. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez will be retiring. What do you see in here?

**Molly Jong-Fast** (0:50)
You know, Eric Swalwell, I have been friends with him. I have had him on my podcast.
I am horrified. I am just horrified. These are not anything. And, you know, I'm very friendly with his wife, who is just a really wonderful person and who is really going through it right now. And so I just want to say that it's just so incredibly crappy when powerful men do terrible things. So we don't know the extent of it. There was a woman who came forward today who alleges some really terrible stuff, including rape and really attempted murder. I mean, if these allegations are true, it's pretty terrible. And we know there are more women and we know this is just going to be a fire hose. So look, I am so pleased that he resigned right away. I know that he may have done that, that this may have been a sort of broker deal to get rid of both him and Gonzalez in the same sweep. And I know that when they resign like this, it means they get to keep their pensions. And if they get expelled, they don't. So this is not happening just out of the goodness of anyone's heart. But I'm really proud that Democrats are knowing that this is the right thing and are not trying to be like just because Trump. Because Trump is a genuinely bad person who is at least alleged and adjudicated, at least in the civil court, as having done some really terrible sexual stuff. But I'm really happy to see the Democrats are not trying to have a race to the bottom with Trump. And they're just able to let this candidate go. So look, I think everyone is very disappointed in the person who Erick Swalwell turned out to be. I do want to say that he has these children, and I hope that things work out for his wife, and that she ends up being okay, because it's really none of her fault. And we see so often that there are women who are married to men who turn out to be not what they thought. And so I think the most feminist thing any of us can do here is just support her and her children and all of that. So I'm really glad to get to talk about this, and I'm glad Democrats are taking this very seriously.

**Jesse Cannon** (3:12)
So an interesting news, Virginia has joined the effort to ensure that whoever wins the popular vote becomes president. And since more of we keep hearing about that woke centrist Abigail Spanberger.

**Molly Jong-Fast** (3:24)
And so this is like a great thing. And we've done a lot on this, by the way.
We've done a lot on this national popular vote. So the idea is if you win the popular vote, you win the presidency. There are any number of reasons why this should happen. But the biggest is that it's a democracy. And if the person who wins the most votes should win. And it means that everybody's vote counts, right? It means that just because you live in California, doesn't mean your vote gets thrown out. Just because you live in a state with a lot of people, a lot of Democrats doesn't mean your vote gets kicked out. And it also means that our elections are not decided by West Virginia or by a state that's not very populous. I think ultimately, it's better for everyone to have a vote like this, to have it work like this. So it's very cool. It's very cool again. Republicans are really angry at Abigail Spanberger for many different reasons, all of which are completely about, she's effective and that is making them completely crazy. I mean, it's a real lesson that you cannot make these people happy and you just have to do what is the smart thing and national vote that is by popular vote as opposed to an electoral college is just head and shoulders a better way to do voting.