The Audacity of Pope

The Muckrake Political Podcast

CLNS Media Network

News, Politics

4.6 • 530 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nick Hauselman is joined by Jason Neidleman, a political science professor at the University of La Verne, to dissect a bizarre week in global diplomacy. While ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stall out in Pakistan after 21 hours, President Trump and his Secretary of State are nowhere near the table, opting instead to attend a UFC match. The duo discusses the "derangement theory" of Trump’s foreign policy, the strategic sidelining of J.D. Vance, and whether Jared Kushner is using high-stakes peace talks to pitch private investment funds. The conversation also covers the surprising defeat of Viktor Orbán in Hungary despite an unprecedented campaign stump from the American Vice President. Nick and Jason explore the "tit-for-tat" escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s surreal midnight attacks on the Pope, and his sudden pivot against Alex Jones. Finally, they examine the political fallout of Eric Swalwell’s sudden exit from the California gubernatorial race following allegations of misconduct. Support the show and get the Weekender at Patreon.com/muckrakepodcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Muck Wrake podcast. I am Nick Houselman, your host, and Jared D.H. Sexton is not with us today, which allows me to bring on good friend and friend of the pod, Jason Needleman, who is a political science professor at the University of Laverne. And I'm sure you probably heard him on the conversation before. So Jason, thank you for making a
0:22.7	return visit with us. Thanks for having me. We have lots to talk about a big rundown today.
0:29.0	Obviously what to talk about is ceasefire negotiations, breaking down after a very long 21 hours
0:34.9	between the two sides. We have Trump taking on the Pope. Eric Swalwell is back in the
0:41.0	news in the unfortunate way. And probably lots more to talk about in between all of those different
0:47.3	things. So Jason, let's start with what was going on with these ceasefire talks. I think the first thing on my mind is who Donald Trump opted to send over to Pakistan
0:59.5	to discuss this between Iran and the United States.
1:03.6	Was it strange to you that the Secretary of State is not involved in any of these kind of discussions?
1:11.0	Right. Not only not involved, but instead attending a UFC match.
1:17.2	Can you remind us all of what that is?
1:21.5	The MMA fighting.
1:24.5	Okay, so he wants to see a bloody bout between two men, you know, half naked and a ring, instead of actually doing diplomacy.
1:33.8	But isn't that, I don't know, can you remind us, what is the job of Secretary of State?
1:39.0	Oh, my God.
1:40.1	Well, you essentially head up the foreign policy for the country as a whole.
1:44.8	So obviously, war and peace would come directly under the purview of the Secretary of State.
1:51.5	If you divide the war into the war fighting side and the diplomatic negotiating side, the Secretary of State would be in charge of the negotiating side.
2:01.6	So to just be absent, well, it sends a message, right?
2:09.6	Yeah, well, here's what doesn't make sense to me.
2:12.6	I was convinced, and this is seriously how deranged I feel Trump is,
2:16.6	is that ever since Rubio tried to make
2:21.0	fun of Trump's member size, he's been waiting to use that against him. And I thought they were setting
	...

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