Trump's Favorite Democrat is Unfit for Office: Steve Schmidt on "The Daily Beast" Podcast
The Warning with Steve Schmidt
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 May 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Steve Schmidt joins "The Daily Beast Podcast" with Joanna Coles once again with a blistering warning about Donald Trump’s unraveling grip on power, the Republican Party’s “Shakespearean” collapse into cowardice, and why he believes MAGA is heading toward a political wipeout. In a conversation that ricochets from the Epstein files to the future of American democracy, Schmidt tears into GOP leaders he says have “lashed themselves to the mast,” predicts a brutal reckoning in 2028, and unleashes a stunning critique of John Fetterman, calling the Pennsylvania senator unfit for office after his stroke and accusing Fox News of psychologically manipulating him in public. Schmidt also paints a deeply alarming picture of America’s standing abroad, arguing the U.S. is already losing a hidden war with Iran while Trump drifts toward another dangerous foreign adventure in Cuba, all as gas prices soar and public frustration boils over. Schmidt then turns his fire on Jeff Bezos and the billionaire class he says chose submission over resistance, framing this political era not just as a fight over power, but as a historic test of national character that future generations will study with disbelief.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:03.8 | I think he's on fifth for office. |
| 0:07.1 | John Fetterman had an incapacitating stroke. |
| 0:11.1 | And John Fetterman has obviously not recovered from that script. |
| 0:16.0 | We see how adult he is in the simplicity of the response and the engagements with his staff on |
| 0:29.7 | questions, for example, about the murder of Regnay Good and Alex Preddy, almost the childlike, |
| 0:45.9 | teenage like sophistry, the degree to which this man is publicly manipulated by Fox News. |
| 0:50.0 | You read all of the things that come out of Federman's mouth. |
| 0:52.5 | He's a very childlike view of the world. |
| 1:01.4 | I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast. And today we are covering John Fetterman. |
| 1:13.0 | Is he actually fit for office? You'd be surprised what our guest on today's podcast thinks we cover Iran. What's happened to the Strait of Hamoos, |
| 1:20.6 | Jeff Bezos, what is he going to be actually remembered for? Similarly, Marco Rubio and how are the plans going to celebrate Trump's 80th birthday? Yes, the President of the United States leans into his ninth decade. We have three weeks to count down. Before we get into it, I'm just going to ask you please to smash the subscription button wherever you get your podcast. We're nearly at 700,000 subscribers. So please help us get to our |
| 1:47.0 | current goal. And those of you who are regular listeners and viewers will know that we've had |
| 1:53.3 | some technical hitches, one we've been doing some of our podcasts, including inside Trump's head, |
| 1:59.6 | due to, how can I put this, the lack of |
| 2:03.1 | bandwidth at my parents' home in Yorkshire in the UK, where I've been for the last month, |
| 2:09.1 | and the internet, which my mum refers to or referred to as the vibes. |
| 2:15.0 | Anyway, big thanks to my neighbours, Claire and Brian, who helped us out when our |
| 2:22.4 | connection went down midway through the podcast. So close observers will notice a dramatic |
| 2:30.5 | change of background. Anyway, let's get into it with Steve Schmidt of the warning. |
| 2:37.1 | The former Republican, he's been in politics all his life. |
... |
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