Trust Your Eyes and Ears

In Conversation with Wajahat Ali and Danielle Moodie

[Transcript edited for clarity, flow and legnth]

Mary Trump: So we got some of the band back together anyway. Friends and fellow Nerd Avengers Wajahat Ali, Danielle Moodie, and I discussed the upcoming midterms and how Democrats should avoid intra party fighting because, eyes on the prize, everybody. Any Democrat currently running for office is running against a fascist.

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Wajahat Ali: Mary, I want to ask you this question. Do you think your uncle is going to leave legally or peacefully? Danielle and I are always told we’re crazy. Danielle is a Black woman. I’m Muslim. We’re the scary ones. We’re the hysterical ones. But Mary, you’re a real American.

Mary Trump: Yes, that’s me. The terrified lesbian. I just want to say really quickly that it’s so awesome. I feel like the Nerd Avengers are back together again. It’s so awesome to see you guys together.

But yes, I am a real American. You could have seen that coming. I’m from the social hellscape of Mamdanistan. I am not a real American. Please.

Listen, Waj, you and Danielle and I have been saying this since 2020. He’s not going to accept the results of a free and fair election. He’s not going to concede. He’s not going to go to the inauguration. We couldn’t have anticipated the insurrection or the ensuing horrors, but the idea that somehow he’s become a more reasonable, sane person is completely absurd.

Waj, you nailed it in your introduction. This is not a ballroom. This is a bunker. I have to be honest, the idea that he’s going to run again is also absurd. He’s just not going to leave. And why would he? Because he’s going to have a bunker underneath a military complex.

Wajahat Ali: He’s also fortifying the front of the White House. He’s literally opening up 2028 merchandise and selling it. He also told us his plan last month at a conference, and there’s a seventeen page proposal laying it all out.

Danielle, I want to come to you first and then back to Mary. We have to oppose this. Thankfully, we have an opposition party, the Democratic Party. Let me give you the state of play. A recent CBS News and YouGov poll asked Democrats whether the party is about as progressive as they want it to be. Forty seven percent said yes. Forty four percent said it is not progressive enough. Only eight percent said it is more progressive than they want.

To me, it seems the Democratic establishment is focused on winning over that eight percent.

Let’s look at another poll on capitalism versus socialism. Among Democrats, fifty eight percent view socialism positively, while fifty percent view capitalism negatively. It seems the status quo we’ve been told to preserve for the past decade is not working. People want change.

Yesterday I mentioned at least ten stories that should be leading the news. Democrats should be talking about Donald Trump as a threat to democracy, a threat to national security, a threat to our military, and a threat to our economy. Instead, I want to show you what Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said when he was asked about Democratic Socialists.

This is what Hakeem Jeffries said:

I do not support defunding the police. I do not support open borders. I do not support abolishing the Senate. We’re focused on actually solving problems that hardworking American taxpayers want us to solve, which is to lower the high cost of living in a situation where life is far too expensive in this country. That’s the Democratic agenda. That’s what House Democrats are fighting to achieve.

When asked whether Democratic Socialists belong under the Democratic Party’s tent, he responded:

I don’t support the DSA agenda as articulated by the DSA itself. You’re going to have individual members elected in Democratic primaries, and if they win in November they’ll be part of the House Democratic Caucus. It’s going to be a broad caucus. There will be progressives, new Democrats, and Blue Dogs.

Wajahat Ali: Danielle, imagine one of those old body swap movies like Freaky Friday. Suppose you were temporarily in Hakeem Jeffries’ body. You know the polling. You know about the smears against Abdul El-Sayed. You know about the racism, the Islamophobia, and everything else. If you were asked that same question, how would you answer it?

Danielle Moodie: Great question. Yes, absolutely Democratic Socialists are part of the Democratic Party. They have an agenda that aligns with our ideology because it focuses on the most marginalized people and centers working class Americans who are struggling.

Why are people struggling? They’re struggling under Donald Trump’s economy. They’re struggling under the weight of his tariffs. Apple received billions of dollars back. Target received billions. Walmart received billions. Do you know who didn’t get any of that money back? The American people.

We are committed, just as Democratic Socialists are, to building an economy that works for all Americans.

You see how easy that answer would have been?

Wajahat Ali: Danielle, maybe they should hire you.

Instead, Mary, after Abdul El-Sayed won his primary despite being outspent ten to one, despite Islamophobia and relentless attacks, you would think Democrats would unite behind him. You would think they would pivot and spend their time attacking Donald Trump, Randy Fine, Max Miller, or Charlie Kirk instead of attacking fellow Democrats.

Instead, watch what happened.

This is what another Democratic voice said:

It certainly makes sense to get rid of this Hasan Piker affiliation. I’ve continued to call on that. My friend and mentor, Keith Williams, who is chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus...

Wajahat Ali: All right. That’s enough. Mary, your response.

Mary Trump: It should be so simple. We are fighting fascism.

Progressives, Democratic Socialists, mainstream Democrats, and Blue Dog Democrats all believe in the Constitution of the United States. They believe in the American experiment. They believe in strengthening, rehabilitating, and rebuilding our institutions. They believe in individual liberties and civil rights.

We may disagree around the edges, but any middle of the road Democrat is infinitely better and needs to be elected because what Abdul El-Sayed and others like him are fighting right now is fascism. I don’t want to hear anything else.

What Hakeem Jeffries did was disqualifying because, as Danielle pointed out, the answer to that question was simply yes. He could have stopped there. Of course, Danielle gave a much more thoughtful answer, but he literally could have just said yes because Democratic Socialists and progressives are winning their primaries. That’s what the voters want.

We do ourselves, our party, and our country a disservice by weakening our own candidates before the general election when the people they are running against are fascists.

Wajahat Ali: You’re literally weakening your own candidate before the general election. We don’t see Republicans doing this. Look at Randy Fine and the Islamophobic things he has said. Republicans are backing him. Donald Trump is backing him. Mike Johnson is backing him. They’re backing Max Miller too. They stand by Charlie Kirk. Donald Trump had dinner with Nick Fuentes, and he has never apologized for that. That’s exactly what I would be talking about.

Wajahat Ali: But there’s more. Mary and Danielle, we’ve always said that the Democratic establishment is more comfortable moving to the right while punching to the left. The big tent opens to the right, but never to the left. At a moment like this, when we should be consolidating because we’re facing a fascist regime that is openly telling us its plans, we see something very different happening.

I have to bring this up because people wouldn’t believe it otherwise. Elijah Manley is a twenty seven year old Black, queer teacher running in Florida’s historically Black Twentieth Congressional District. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thanks to redistricting, tried to move into that district and is being backed by super PAC money and AIPAC money.

Oliver Larkin is running as a proud Democratic Socialist and progressive against Jared Moskowitz, another Democrat who voted for the Laken Riley Act, supports Israel, and takes money from AIPAC. They were scheduled to hold a rally on Friday night. Then we learned that Laura Loomer, one of Donald Trump’s closest allies and one of the country’s most notorious Islamophobes, worked with some Democrats to pressure the venue into canceling the event because Representative Rashida Tlaib was scheduled to attend.

The venue gave in. Elijah, myself, and others pointed to what we called the Laura Loomer Democrats. Danielle, these people proudly describe themselves that way and even repost Laura Loomer’s attacks on Hasan Piker. People think I’m exaggerating. Tell me I’m not.

Danielle Moodie: You’re not exaggerating. We live in an insane world where this continues to happen.

Think back to the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Who was on stage? Liz Cheney. Adam Kinzinger. More Republicans appeared on that stage than progressives did. There wasn’t even a Palestinian voice represented, yet Republicans were welcomed with open arms. How many times did we see Kamala Harris standing arm in arm with Liz Cheney?

I’ve said this before. Establishment Democrats will say the right things in front of the cameras, but behind the scenes they do what they have always done. They protect themselves.

What does that mean? It means attacking progressives whenever they can because progressives threaten their power and their financial interests. When representatives take money from corporations, they stop being representatives. They become protectors of institutional oppression and systemic injustice. They become guardians for CEOs and shareholders.

They would rather align themselves with someone like Laura Loomer because they believe that somehow makes them more appealing to that mythical political middle they’re always chasing. Meanwhile, as Mary said, we are living under a fascist regime. There is nothing more extreme than what we are experiencing right now.

Anyone who insists on occupying some comfortable middle ground at a moment like this is missing the point entirely. When people claim that Abdul El-Sayed or another progressive is unelectable, what they’re really saying is that person threatens a status quo that has worked very well for the people already in power. They don’t want to give up that life.

Wajahat Ali: That same narrative about electability is reinforced by corporate media.

Mary, I opened today’s show by listing at least ten major stories that should dominate the news cycle. Imagine if Joe Biden had three hundred bank accounts closed because a financial institution feared money laundering. Imagine if Joe Biden secretly boarded a catering truck, left the press behind, and flew away while members of his own staff believed they were still traveling with him. If any of that had happened, the media would be talking about nothing else.

Instead, this is what appeared in The New York Times. Nate Cohn argued that Abdul El-Sayed would have to be one of the worst Democratic candidates in the country to lose Michigan in this political environment.

The election is only three months away. Tell me, Mary, what is the purpose of framing the race that way?

Mary Trump: If somebody, especially somebody from within a candidate’s own party, says that person is unelectable, they’re helping create a self fulfilling prophecy. They are doing our enemies’ work for them.

That’s one of the biggest problems I have with what Hakeem Jeffries said. He adopted the language of the opposition. He framed Democratic Socialists exactly the way Republicans on Fox News and Newsmax frame them.

This is something Democrats have done for far too long. They borrow Republican language and, in doing so, weaken their own position. Years ago they adopted terms like “pro life,” which immediately placed them at a disadvantage.

Jeffries implied that Democratic Socialists want to abolish the Senate. I’ve never heard that. He implied they want to defund the police. I’ve never heard that either.

What he was really doing was repeating Republican talking points and doing their work for them. It’s inexcusable. It also proves, once again, that far too many Democrats who have spent decades inside the political system still do not understand the moment we’re living through. That should shock all of us because they are simply not equipped to meet this moment.

We need to rally behind every Democratic candidate, whether that person is more moderate, more mainstream, more progressive, more Blue Dog, or more Democratic Socialist. None of that matters compared to the existential threat we are facing.

Wajahat Ali: Appeasing fascists never works. Fascists eventually come for everyone, including fellow fascists. If you think moderating your message on Fox News by throwing progressives or Democratic Socialists under the bus is somehow going to protect you, it won’t. Whether you like Hasan Piker or not is beside the point. He’s being used as a battering ram against fellow Democrats.

If you don’t believe me, look at how this movement operates. From Fox News:

He’s up five in a potential matchup with Democrat David Jolly, whose platform sounds like it could come right out of the DSA playbook.

David Jolly responded:

Temporary Protected Status should be extended for our Haitian Floridians. If we are unwilling to welcome the refugee in a time of crisis, we might as well throw the Statue of Liberty into the East River. I proposed creating an Office of Civil Rights within the governor’s office because whether it’s Black and Brown communities or LGBTQ communities, we need somebody willing to defend the personal rights of everybody. Republicans don’t believe the economy should work for everyone. They believe raw economic growth that benefits billionaires is enough.

David Jolly is a former Republican. He’s running as moderate a campaign as you could possibly run in Florida, and it’s still not enough. They’re calling him a radical leftist. Trust the evidence of your own eyes and ears.

Danielle and Mary, I’ll give each of you the final word. We’re dealing with a fascist regime. What would you like to see from Democratic leadership?

Danielle Moodie: Honestly, I’d like to see them gone.

There isn’t anything Democratic leadership can show me at this point other than the door. It is time for them to go. They are not built for this moment. They don’t want change. What they want is a return to the status quo, and that should not be acceptable to anybody paying attention.

We should not want to return to the way things were. We should want something better. We should want equity. We should want justice. We should want accountability. We should want transparency. Those are the things we’ve been missing, and they’re exactly what we need to demand now.

The Democratic establishment has shown us, over and over again, that it is not interested in delivering those things.

Wajahat Ali: If David Jolly, a former Republican and one of the most moderate Democrats imaginable, is now being labeled a radical leftist, then what does that make you, Mary?

Mary Trump: I don’t think there’s a word for what I am. That’s for sure. Apparently, I’m not even a real American.

Wajahat Ali: Final word to you.

Mary Trump: I agree with Danielle, except unfortunately we can’t get rid of them right now. I would say they should resign, but that’s obviously not going to happen.

What we can do is make sure we elect the strongest Democratic candidates possible. By January 2027, we need Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate. Then we can finally clean house, replace these feckless, ineffectual, and useless Democrats, and begin accomplishing something meaningful for the American people.

Wajahat Ali: I love that.

Danielle Moodie is the editor of The Damn Digest on Substack. Like me, she’s a terrible capitalist, so her newsletter is free. Go subscribe. She’s also the host of The Danielle Moodie Show on YouTube.

Check out Wajahat Ali on his Substack the Left Hook here.

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