I'm Charlie Sykes. Welcome back to the To the Contrary podcast. A hell of a weekend. Donald Trump is on a losing streak in the courts, spent most of the weekend on a really unhinged bleat storm. I think the unhinged feels like kind of a euphemism after one judge, actually two judges blocked his slush fund. Another judge ordered him to take his name off the Kennedy Center.

And he says, you know, if they don't want me, I'm just going to wash my hands of the whole thing.

And then he cancels the centerpiece concert of Freedom 250 and replaces it with a MAGA rally.

Let's dive into all of this. By the way, congratulations

of making it through the month of May. Welcome to June.

And joining me on our first podcast in the month of June, our good friend John Avalon,

author, historian, pundit, Renaissance, man. Good to have you back, John.

Good to see it, Charlie, as always. Thank you. I'm really interested in talking to you about your piece in the Atlantic about what happened to Rudy Giuliani because, you know, this is one of those things going, you know, Rudy Giuliani, you know, could have been a contender. He could have had schools and airports named after him.

You were actually a speechwriter for Rudy.

You knew the guy, so. you know, could have been a contender. He, you know, he could have had schools and airports named after him.

You were actually a speechwriter for Rudy. You knew the guy. So I really am interested in getting

your perspective on what the hell happened to that guy. But can we just talk a little bit about

what Donald Trump is doing to the 250th anniversary party as in a story.

I mean, this is one of those milestones in which America has a chance to come together,

to reflect upon its values, where it came from, what happened 250 years ago when we first rejected kings.

And Donald Trump has decided to make, I mean, it could be about so many of these things, but Donald Trump has decided to make it about himself,

which is not the most shocking story of the week, is it? No, it's completely predictable, but of course,

it's also tragic.

I mean, I think the entire tenor of America 250 has been damaged by Donald Trump, because

this should be a moment where we come together, as we did at the bicentennial.

Sequicentennial is an awkward word, but the, you know, quarter millennia is a time for us to come

together.

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