The political circus may have been in town in D.C. this week with a host of contentious hearings for a series of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees, but it was also down in Florida where Trump was hosting a GOP retreat at his Doral golf course. On this week’s The Daily Beast Podcast, co-hosts—and ringmasters—Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee offered intel on it all.
After staking it out in “Trump country” for the retreat, The Daily Beast’s Senior Political Correspondent Juliegrace Brufke provided an inside peek at “policy discussions and poolside mingling.” Brufke described the scene as like “a large company retreat” with tax policy sessions and a “unifying speech” from Trump, though his subsequent funding freeze announcement rather left lawmakers scrambling—and not just for their sunscreen.
The Beast’s Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty addressed RFK Jr.’s “incredibly testy” Senate confirmation hearing, noting that the Kennedy scion’s nomination has been “tearing apart a family like we’ve never seen.” Despite his cousin Caroline Kennedy’s accusations that RFK Jr. as a “predator” with “dangerous and willfully misinformed” views, most Republicans still appear hesitant to reject him outright. “I am so distressed that anyone is taking this person seriously," said an exasperated Bee. “I want a vaccine against RFK Jr.,” added Coles.
The podcast closed with an interview with Reid Hoffman, who is backing "California Forever‚" a planned utopian city in the Golden State’s Solano County, outside of San Fransisco. “Building new cities is actually the kind of really big, ambitious thing that we should do more of,” Hoffman argued, noting that he plans to “invite all (his) friends" to town.
New episodes of The Daily Beast Podcast are released every Thursday. Like and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. And click here for email updates as each new episode drops.
