Amanda Carpenter: Trump’s Stale, Ceaseless, Clout-Chasing SOTU

Impolitic with John Heilemann

Audacy | Puck

News, Politics

4.8 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John welcomes former Republican Senate staffer Amanda Carpenter, who currently works for the non-profit Protect Democracy, to discuss the first State of the Union address of Donald Trump's second term — the interminable length and apparent aimlessness of which, she argues, obscured the ways it was designed to further lay the groundwork for Trump to interfere with the 2026 and 2028 elections. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:17.5	This episode is brought to you by Vanta.
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0:52.0	Aloha and namaste everyone and welcome to Impartic with John Howmane, a Puck and Odyssey Joint,
0:57.1	featuring lively, in-depth conversations with the people who cruise the corridors of power in America,
1:03.1	sculpting and shaping the ebid and flow of our politics and our culture.
1:06.7	As you will have almost certainly realized already,
1:14.0	you are listening to a special installment of the show.
1:19.7	Special in that it's hit your inbox on Wednesday morning instead of Friday morning.
1:28.3	And special, if not surprising, in that its singular and solitary focus is one discrete event.
1:30.9	Donald Trump's State of the Union address last night at the United States Capitol.
	...

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