Congressman Tom Massie lost in Kentucky last night — sort of. Trump and the MAGA machine spent tens of millions to take out the GOP Congressman who crossed him, and in the process made Massie a household name with a ready-made presidential-grade platform: no war in Iran, no tariffs, no Trump, and no stopping the release of the Epstein files. Paul Rieckhoff opens Episode 528 with a no-BS solo briefing on what last night's primaries really mean, why JD Vance is lying about Ukraine, why January 6 rioters may now go from prisons to pardons to payouts, why James Murdoch buying Vox Media's podcast network should put every independent voice on alert, and why the NY Knicks comeback and leadership is bigger than basketball.
Then Paul sits down with Dr. Karen Matthews (https://www.matthewsforcongress.com/) — Navy veteran, radiologist, small business owner, and independent candidate in California's 23rd district. CA-23 isn't Gavin Newsom's California. It's Reagan's California: working class, libertarian-leaning, a third independent, with one of the best VAs in the country and a slice of Fort Irwin inside its lines. Matthews lays out why the incumbent doesn't show up, why the Democrats have given up, and why California's open primary on June 2nd may be the single biggest day for the independent movement in years. This is what the angry middle sounds like when it stops complaining and starts running. It’ll leave you inspired.
In this episode
- Why Tom Massie's loss in Kentucky may actually be the start of something much bigger — and why "transpartisan" is the line to watch
- The $1.8 billion fund that could send January 6 rioters from prisons to pardons to payouts
- JD Vance's Ukraine lies, and why Marco Rubio still has the inside track on the post-Trump GOP
- James Murdoch buying Vox Media's podcast network — and what it means for independent media
- The War Powers resolution finally advancing to block Trump on Iran, and the four Republicans breaking ranks
- Dr. Karen Matthews on why CA-23 is more Reagan than Newsom — and why that's an opening, not an obstacle
- "We're caught between a party that wants government to fail and a party that can't make government work"
- Why an open primary on June 2nd makes CA-23 the most winnable independent congressional race in the country
- Gas at $6 a gallon, the Strait of Hormuz, and how forever wars hit working families first
- A Memorial Day reminder: one minute of silence at 1pm Eastern for those we've lost
