Justin Wolfers & Mini Timmaraju

**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 the CBO says the deficit will be $200 billion more than initially expected. We have such a great show for you today.
Platypus Economics own Justin Wolfers stops by to talk about Trump losing the confidence of the GOP on the economy. Then we'll talk to Reproductive Freedom for All, Mini Timmaraju about why Democrats aren't mobilizing voters on abortion. But first, the news.

**Jesse Cannon** (0:39)
Molly, you don't got Caroline Levitt to kick around anymore. And many people are hypothesizing why she left so suddenly her post as chief propagandist on the podium for Mr. Trump. Do you have any thoughts?

**Molly Jong-Fast** (0:54)
Yeah. It turns out that we won't have her to kick around, but neither will he. So she was on maternity leave and the reporting says that he would not stop calling her, and that he did not respect her personal space. And I know that is shocking because Donald Trump is known to be a big personal space respecter. Levitt wrote on X, I cannot be the best mom to my two young children while devoting the constant time and energy and attention required of the White House Press Secretary. One wonders if that is constant time, energy, and attention. A little bit of a dig at the 80-year-old president who wants to be the baby.
She has a two-year-old and she just had a baby. Look, again, I don't want to defend Carolyn Levitt. So let's just say this, very skilled propagandist will ultimately probably end up on Fox News one day, leaving the White House so she can raise her kids.
Would be nice if everyone could get the kind of maternity leave that she got, and also would be nice if we had a press secretary who answered questions and was honest and told people the truth and didn't berate them. It's a real tension between having a job and being a mom. I mean, anyone who says otherwise is lying. But this is not what this is about, really. This is about a very skilled propagandist who decided she didn't want to do it anymore, and maybe it's because she wants to spend time with her kids, and maybe it's because of the emotional toll that defending this president takes, especially in a world where this president has famously low approval rating. I mean, so low, I mean, nobody since like the 1950s has gone into a midterm with such a low approval rating. So, you know, this would be as good a time as any to jump off this sinking ship.

**Jesse Cannon** (3:14)
Yeah. So, you know, I'm not so into palace intrigue. I find it pretty boring. But the sudden departure does leave some questions if this is the story to be believed that we were told.
But because she left so suddenly, the White House is scrambling to fill this role. And some speculate it will be filled by Scott Jennings, who spent this week making a video where he's going to get sued for defamation by Hassan Piker for taking him out of context, where he was saying examples of what other people say, and then he made it sound like it was his words.

**Molly Jong-Fast** (3:51)
I mean, look, there are a lot of choices. All of them are bad.
There's the possibility. By the way, Natalie Harp, Katie Miller, who dated, by the way, I know we shouldn't shame people for people they've dated, but Jesus Christ. It's not very feminist.

**Jesse Cannon** (4:11)
No, but sometimes a spade is also a spade or.

**Molly Jong-Fast** (4:15)
I mean, Jesus Christ. Stephen Miller was like, I mean, Eric Swalwell, there's being disappointed by Eric Swalwell, and then there's, I mean, this is all bad.
But anyway, so the point is, all of anyone in the world could be the press secretary if they are a liar. And on Fox News, Carrie Lake is being floated, you know, Stephen Chung, Matthew Boyle. I mean, all I can say is that I want to point out that Matthew Boyle is the Washington Bureau Chief for Breitbart. Like, if the choice is like in the Admin, or being a quote unquote straight news guy, like that's kind of demented. Alina Haba, you remember Alina Haba, she's a very good dancer. Unfortunately, yeah.
You know, maybe you'll bring back Sean Spicer. I would, you know, that's a good one. But there are a lot of all bad choices and all bad, et cetera. And, you know, the point, it's not, the Press Secretary is not the problem in this administration. It's the administration.