Susan Glasser: Lame-Duck is Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose

To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

Charlie Sykes

News Commentary, Politics, News

4.9 • 719 Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Charlie Sykes and Susan Glasser break down a stunning Oval Office moment in which Donald Trump defended Mohammed bin Salman and derided a reporter for asking about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. They explore Trump’s escalating attacks on the press, the gold-plated symbolism of his Oval Office, and the deepening corruption and impunity shaping his presidency. Plus, growing fractures inside MAGA world including Marjorie Taylor Greene’s unexpected revolt, and what these shifts reveal about a movement in turmoil.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Things happen. Great, great moments in presidential rhetoric. Hey, welcome back to the
0:17.9	To The Contrary podcast. I'm Charlie Sykes. We are joined by the New Yorkers,
0:22.5	Susan Glasser, to talk about really kind of a remarkable day in Washington, D.C. Susan,
0:27.3	welcome back on the podcast. I appreciate it. Thanks, Charlie. I'm so glad to be with you.
0:33.0	Well, let's talk about what happened in the Oval Office on Tuesday. I suppose by now we should get
0:39.3	used to these horror shows, but here we have MBS, the man who ordered the murder of Jamal
0:45.8	Khashoggi, who is given the royal welcome in the Oval Office. I know that you watched it.
0:51.6	A very, I would say, plucky, brave ABC reporter, Mary Bruce asked him right to his face about the murder of Kamal Khashoggi,
1:05.6	Jamal Khashoggi, I'm sorry, and how 9-11 families would feel about all of this. And so talk to me a little bit about
1:12.9	Donald Trump's reaction where he he defends MBS. He downplays the murder, says that he was a
1:22.5	controversial guy. You know, on Earth 2.0, it was a standalone, breathtakingly horrendous, awful moment.
1:31.2	But your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, that's right. Stand alone, breathtakingly awful moment.
1:36.8	As I was all the interrelated, breathtakingly awful moments, it is one of those things where
1:43.9	you almost have to go back and watch it twice
1:46.9	because you can read these quotes or you can even see the clip and still not fully process it.
1:53.2	And I think that's actually what happened to me because I got stuck on the breathtaking
1:59.5	comment from Donald Trump. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman, right? Okay, great. So that's what he said about the guy he was hacked up with a bone saw, hacked up with a bone saw, according to the U.S. intelligence community on the orders and approval of the man who's being greeted
2:20.6	with all these smiles in the Oval Office of the United States. And so I got stuck on that.
2:26.8	But if you go back then and you listen, you see a lot of other remarkable things in this rant.
2:31.8	Not only the President of the United States, just literally,
2:36.5	rudely and without provocation, personally attacking and demeaning a reporter, which is one of
2:42.5	the things that we've gotten so used to. I think people don't even bat an eye at the president,
	...

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