The Daly Weekly (4/17)

Viktor Orbán, Lauren Boebert, the Epstein Files, and more.

Hi everyone.

Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw my way.

Let’s get right to your questions…

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Hi John. So my admittedly uninformed take on Iran, is that I would love for the mullah / IRGC regime to fall, but I don’t exactly trust Trump and his merry band to actually see that through, and really am not sure the whole thing will be worth it, if that doesn’t happen.

But my question is, have you also noticed that for most pundits, their degree of support or lack thereof for the war, seems to be based solely on their level of support or lack thereof, for Trump? Of course we have the MAGA cultists supporting whatever Trump does, even if he contradicts himself within the hour. Nothing new there. But we also have most Bulwarkers, not only opposing the war, but proclaiming that Iran is actually winning, and at times even appear to be gleeful about it, just because it makes Trump look bad. I honestly find that attitude quite gross.

I have appreciated the more nuanced coverage by NR and TD, but even there, NRs “cautiously optimistic” and TDs “cautiously pessimistic” takes are essentially simpatico with their overall editorial approaches to Trump.

Do you think this war is for most political pundits, little more than just another referendum on the Orange Man? I don’t think it’s all of them, certainly. I appreciated your recent podcast interviews with [Mike] Nelson and [Mike] Coté because they do NOT give me that impression. Also, if you can give me names of other analysts I can trust to actually try to analyze the war itself, I would appreciate it. — Aylene W.

Hi Aylene. I think you’ve illustrated just how complicated of an issue the Iran War is. I also think your position is totally reasonable.

As for political pundits aligning their war analysis with their personal views of Trump, I think that’s largely true. There are exceptions, of course, and I’m one of them. I’m not at all a Trump fan, but I do support much of his Iran policy and the military action we’ve taken there. I would love to see the Iranian regime toppled; it would be great for the Iranian people and much of the world. That said, I think the administration has handled a number of things poorly, including in communicating the policy to the American people (there has been a lot of mixed messaging), and sidestepping Congress. Also, Trump himself seems to be quite confused at times about what the goals, strategy, and latest developments are (I have much more confidence in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and CENTCOM).

I very much disagree with those, including some of the aforementioned Bulwarkers, who are insistent that Iran is winning. Iran is absolutely not winning (and no American should be giddy if they were). At minimum, we’ve destroyed so much of the regime’s leadership and military capacity (not to mention their nuclear program, months earlier) that it will take them years to recover. But again, at this point, I’d like to see us keep going and put an end to the regime.

Lastly, thanks for watching/listening to the Reagan Caucus podcast episodes with Mike Nelson and Mike Coté. They both know their stuff. I’m a bit more aligned with Mike Nelson on the issue that I am Mike Coté, though both certainly want the Iran regime gone.

Sir John, I keep hearing from the left that Trump attacked Iran to distract from the Epstein Files. I keep hearing from the right that the Dems could have released the files during the Biden Administraton but chose not to. The left responds by saying that a court order prevented them from doing that. So what IS the truth? Do you think Trump truly doesn’t want the files made public because they may be incriminating or at least embarrassing to him and his friends? Were the Dems truly unable to release the Epstein Files during the Biden Administration? Or is that a convenient excuse they use to cover their own concern about prominent Democrats that may be on the list? —“Epstein’s Ghost Still Hanging Around” regards from The Emperor

Hi Emperor. I do not believe that Trump attacked Iran to distract from the Epstein files. As for the Democrats, from what I understand, they could have released the files under Biden (albeit it with significant limitations), but they didn’t.

Regardless, I think you and many others may be missing an important point here. The “Epstein Files” controversy of the past couple years was created by MAGA, not the Democrats. I don’t think the Democrats had any interest in using the Jeffrey Epstein as a political weapon against Trump (at least not in any meaningful way), until MAGA gift-wrapped it, and dropped it right in their lap.

Trump surrogates (including current FBI Director Kash Patel) made this a huge issue in the 2024 election cycle, insisting that President Biden was protecting pedophiles, and therefore Trump was needed back in office to publicly expose those people (with the assumption that many of those mentioned in the files were Democratic party bigwigs and/or donors). When Trump won, MAGA demanded the promised results. But Trump didn’t want that, because, as a former friend and associate of Epstein’s (not to mention a Democrat and big Democratic donor at the time), he was mentioned several times in the files (along with some embarrassing, if not damning, revelations). This put people like Patel and AG Pam Bondi in the unenviable position of having to very awkwardly manage the situation, and do their best not to embarrass their boss (or otherwise get him in trouble).

The Democrats, observing all of this, smelled political blood in the water. They went all-in on calling for the release of the files (apparently having calculated that any embarrassing revelations about people still on their political team would be offset by what might come out about Trump). Even if there’s nothing more about Trump that hasn’t already been released (which is doubtful), it’s a political advantage for the Dems to keep hammering the issue (even if, in reality, they couldn’t care less about it).

It’s that classic tale about being careful what you wish for.

Literally a day after you published this, the corruption got worse with the DOJ now deciding to vacate charges against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for the Jan 6th insurrection. It’s clear ‘justice’ is not being served by the department that bears its name, and trust in this institution is at an all time low (like Trump’s poll numbers) that will take years to rebuild. Well done on being ahead of the curve on this one. — FDM

Thanks, but the corruption is sadly front and center for all to see. I might write about this latest development next week, but it really is egregious (though sadly not surprising) that the DOJ is working on totally clearing people found guilty of seditious conspiracy, of all things.

What are your thoughts about Lauren Boebert (is she your representative?) slamming a bunch of reporters, who were asking about sexual misconduct scandals (that she had been weighing in on), as being “horny.” — Ben G.

My first reaction was to laugh, because — while it’s possible I missed some important context — my understanding is that she was being asked relevant questions about an issue she’s been very vocally weighing in on. The bizarre leap to calling the reporters “horny” reminded me of a recurring joke on Arrested Development:

Oh, and no, she is not my representative. I used to live in, and volunteer for, that district (when Ken Buck held the seat), but recent redistricting put me in a different one. Now, a Republican named Gabe Evans is my rep. He’s pretty much just a Trump toadie, but a fairly low-profile one.

Are we ever going to know the real reason why Trump and Vance were so desperate to keep Victor Orban in office? — Alex D.

That’s an interesting question, Alex. Up until the election, I had assumed that Trump’s weird affection for Orban came entirely from his well-documented admiration for strongman leaders. With Vance, it was more ideological; Orban represents the postliberal, autocratic ideology that Vance largely subscribes to. But Trump and Vance went so far over-the-top in their campaigning for Orban (Vance outright lied on behalf of Orban numerous times) that I’m inclined to believe there was indeed something more. We did find out, after Orban was defeated, that he’d been directing Hungarian tax dollars to American right-wing organizations like CPAC. I now wonder what other American enterprises he was investing in. It’s possible, through the new Hungarian government, that we’ll find out.

Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.