Trump’s Ugly Scheme to Exploit RFK Jr.: Wolff

The Daily Beast Podcast

The Daily Beast

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4.6 • 8.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joanna Coles and Michael Wolff jump in for an emergency podcast to unpack the twisted story of how Donald Trump brought Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into his administration, despite his history of drug abuse, womanizing, and a long career of anti-vaccine activism. They explore how Trump’s desperation to shore up his MAGA base on vaccines led to RFK Jr. running the nation’s public health system, with devastating consequences. From collapsing expert panels and vaccine shortages to Trump’s fleeting fantasy of a “Trump Kennedy 2024” ticket, the conversation reveals a dangerous bargain. Wolff recalls his decades of encounters with RFK Jr., from his days as a campus drug dealer to his ambitions for the presidency, painting a portrait of a broken man now wielding immense power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So, Michael, by rights, we should both be at the beach and yet...
0:03.8	I am at the beach.
0:05.3	Oh, you are?
0:06.0	Well, you're at the beach, but you're in your office at the beach.
0:09.2	I will walk out to the beach, yes.
0:11.2	All right, you should be on the beach, is my point.
0:14.4	But what's going on at the CDC and the dismantling of America's public health apparatus
0:20.7	seems so urgent and so important
0:25.3	that we decided we would do an emergency episode of inside Trump's head to find out what's
0:31.8	going on inside Trump's head and where he is about RFK Jr.
0:42.7	Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's just been an extraordinary 24 hours.
0:50.7	And we are seeing this, the emergence of RFK Jr. as, you know, one of the most significant powers in the country.
0:55.1	And one of the most dangerous powers in the country?
0:57.2	One of the most dangerous.
0:58.6	And also potentially one of Trump's successes.
1:01.7	And I also see this as a kind of Trump is in a bit of a squeeze here.
1:08.1	So this is what's going on in Trump's mind. I do definitely see Trump is thinking,
1:14.4	God, I'm stuck with this nut case. And I'm stuck with this nut case because, you know,
1:22.1	the vaxers are nuts. And I got a, I'm making my accommodation.
1:30.2	RFK Jr. covers me with the Vaxers.
1:34.4	So Trump has had a very busy week.
1:37.4	Inside his head, it must be very kind of frantic
	...

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