Debate This!

The PREVAIL podcast returns, with "Bad" Brad Berkwitt, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, boxing reporter, host of "The 'Bad' Brad Berkwitt Show," and MAGA's worst nightmare.

After three weeks of hiatus, during which all hell broke loose, the PREVAIL podcast returns today, with the great “Bad” Brad Berkwitt, who is bad in name only:

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S7 E18: Debate This! (with “Bad” Brad Berkwitt)

In this, the first episode of PREVAIL in three weeks, Greg Olear opens with his thoughts on the debate, the immunity ruling, the Kamala option, and the politically suicidal push to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.

Then, Greg welcomes “Bad” Brad Berkwitt, a veteran who served for more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy, including 16 and a half in Naval Intelligence. After retiring from the military, he served as a government contractor for the Dept of Homeland Security. He also hosted a boxing show, Ringside Reporter. And he’s now the host of The “Bad” Brad Berkwitt Show, where he interviews key figures in the fight for democracy. In this conversation, Greg talks to Brad about his career, intelligence services, the Gulf War, Gitmo, and how to take on MAGA.

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Speaking of Me Reading Out Loud…

At long last, Rough Beast: Who Donald Trump Really Is, What He’ll Do if Re-Elected, & Why Democracy Must Prevail is now available as an audiobook. Thanks to Molly Hawkey for the crack production.

Here’s a clip of me reading a few paragraphs about Project 2025:

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No, Biden Should Not Drop Out FFS Please Stop

A week after the debate debacle, my position has not much changed. The freakout among Democrats, I believe, was driven by fear. Not fear that Biden cannot do the job—he can, better than almost anyone ever has, as he’s proved the last three and a half years—but rather fear that he cannot possibly beat Trump after that dismal performance.

The fact of the matter is, the only way Biden doesn’t win, even after the poor showing, is if we all abandon him. This is what MAGA—and the Kremlin, not that there’s much daylight between the two—wants. Because the other side knows Joe will kick Donald’s diapered ass come November.

I talk about this in detail in today’s podcast intro, but here are some points to consider:

• No one watched the debate. It had the lowest ratings—such low ratings, CNN is a failing company, it’s a disgrace—of any debate in recent history.

• The poll numbers have barely moved, even a week after.

• Biden/Harris raised a boatload of money in the hours after the debate, indicating Dems are more, not less, likely to support Joe.

• Reality check: There is no feasible way to change candidates now. We already voted for who we wanted in the primaries, we won’t agree on a replacement, no one else would keep the broad Biden coalition together, and only MVP Kamala Harris has access to the $100 million in Joe’s war chest.

• The public figures calling loudest for Joe to step down are Never Trump Republicans, the Pod Save America douche-bros, obscure Democratic Congressmen, the founder of Netflix (which didn’t stream the Kavanaugh documentary), and the editorial boards of various newspapers, including the disgraced New York Times—which yesterday, on the fucking Fourth of July, ran a column by a radical Catholic weirdo calling for people to not vote.

• The AFL-CIO, the Democratic governors, and Bernie Sanders (!) all want Joe to remain. “A presidential election is not a Grammy Award contest for the best singer or entertainer. It’s about who has the best policies that impact our lives," Sanders told ABC News. “I’m going to do everything I can to see that Biden gets reelected.”

• Without discussing it internally, all of the independent media folks I know and admire, almost without exception, want Biden to stay: Allison Gill, Kimberley Johnson, Tony Michaels, Cheri Jacobus, Dave Troy, Aaron Rupar, and there are plenty of others I’m forgetting.

• The historian Allan Lichtman, who knows a thing or two about which candidates win elections and why, is adamant that replacing Biden is a terrible idea.

• While there are people who truly believe Biden should step down for [insert reason here], the “Joe must go” movement has absolutely been co-opted and amplified by malevolent forces in lockstep with the Kremlin. (After eight years of this shit, I know an op when I see one.) That’s what our enemies do: they wait for wedge issues, for cracks in the armor, and when one emerges—whether it’s HRC’s emails, the atrocities in Gaza, or Biden’s banishment—they pounce. (They don’t create the wedge issues; they identify and exploit them.) Again: there are plenty of real Americans, including some good friends of mine, who genuinely feel that Joe should step down; I’m not suggesting there isn’t organic support for that position. But that position is also the one being advanced and amplified by Moscow. Both things are true.

• We are voting for the ticket: Biden and Harris. If and when Joe decides to hang up the skates, Kamala is in the wings, ready and able to replace him. I expect that will happen at some point in the next four years. And I’m more than fine with it.

Bottom line: I don’t care if Joe Biden is in an iron lung. I’m voting for him. Period. And you should, too.

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New Sponsor!

A new executive search firm! Chunk & LB both bringing the goods this week:

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The Five 8

You bet there’s a new show tonight!

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Show Notes

Follow “Bad” Brad:
https://x.com/BadBradRSR

Watch his show:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheBadBradBerkwittShow

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