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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the Internet. It is Tuesday, July 30.
Glenn is once again away on vacation. So, sorry to break it to you, but you're stuck with me again. I'm Michael Tracey, inspired by Kamala Harris’s campaign, our show tonight will be limited exclusively to white dudes, so we'll discuss this sudden peculiar embrace by the Democratic Party of white identity politics.
Then: journalist, media critic, and fellow white dude John Ziegler and I will confront our shared whiteness in relation to the new Kamala juggernaut.
And finally, Bill Scher, editor at the Washington Monthly and yet another white dude will analyze with me how he stopped worrying and learned to love our new Kamala overlord.
But for now, welcome to a new episode of System Update, starting right now.
So, the Democratic Party has taken an interesting turn. First, they seem to have collectively decided that Donald Trump is no longer a fascist: he's just weird. So, for months and years and what seems like decades, what's been slightly shorter than that thankfully, the Democrats have been histrionically shrieking that Donald Trump is this existential threat to democracy; he's undermining our democratic order irreparably and irreversibly; he wants to overturn everything great and sacred about American and liberal internationalist values, and we need to all come together as a popular front to thwart his next rise to power. And Democrats seem to have taken an entirely different course these past couple of days, and they've decided that it turns out most people don't actually believe that Trump is this existential threat to democracy. So, you could have plenty of criticisms of Trump – we've shared some on the show–, you could do critical reporting on Trump – as I've done for now, eight, nine years, whatever the hell long it's been – without endlessly lurching into this just tedious refrain that Trump is going to destroy our democratic order, which never made a whole lot of sense. Democrats appear to have decided that, at the 11th hour, they're just going to start calling Trump weird and not explain how they made that logical transition.
And they're bolstered in this, apparently, by J.D. Vance having said some quote-unquote weird stuff over the past couple of years. So, we'll talk with our guests about that weird shift on Democrats' part.
What I want to get to now is an even more shocking turn of events in terms of how the Democrats are handling their current electoral argument. They've decided to embrace white identity politics. Fascinating.
Take a look at this beautiful trucker hat.
This was developed and created by a group of Democratic operatives and strategists and they convened last night a Zoom call of lots of white dudes. So, they're having racially exclusivist gatherings, I suppose, where they're emphasizing the racial identity and gender identity of the participants. And I should note, in fairness, they did clarify at the outset of this Zoom call that everybody was technically welcome, but it was branded first for white dudes. It was for white dudes to demonstrate their racial solidarity with Kamala Harris. So, they were showing how important it was to be allies of the newly presumptive Democratic presidential nominee with their racial identity. And you can purchase that hat. Take a look at it again. Gaze at it with wonder and joy.
That is available to you for the low price of $35, I'm told, plus $7.05 shipping. So, for approximately $42 that could be yours. And you'll have an in-kind contribution to the Harris campaign. And if you're a white dude like myself, then you'll, I guess, be repurposing your whiteness toward a positive, progressive end, at least in terms of how the organizers put it.
So, let's hear a little bit from the intro, from this magnificent Zoom call that I actually sat and watched. So, the things I do for you people. Glenn, whenever the heck he gets back, really should elevate my compensation drastically. Because what I did this afternoon was I sat through like 3.5 hours of White Dudes for Kamala Zoom call and collated all the funniest bits so you don't have to watch it all yourself. So, for that alone, man, I should be getting his entire salary, frankly. So, let's have a look at what this white dude had to say vis-a-vis the intro of this Zoom call. [Short clip version]
Video. White Dudes for Harris, July 29, 2024
Ross Morales Rocketto: And I'll start by really addressing the elephant in the room, which is a lot of people feel and felt uncomfortable about the call, and I think that's understandably so. You know, throughout American history, when white men have organized, it was often with pointy hats on. And so I think that discomfort, I think the skepticism is understandable. The reason that we are doing this is because, we've just, you know, the left has been ceding white men to the MAGA for way, way too long. You know. […]
So, that's the organizer of this White Dudes for Harris call, preempting whatever discomfort some might understandably have. He acknowledges the impetus for this call being shared racial and gender identity, which, at least in terms of whites, the Democrats used to be pretty aggressively skeptical of and you might even say hostile to in recent years. But they're diving into it headfirst, apparently, now, because it can be marshaled toward the self-absolving and heavily virtuous end of electing our first half Asian. And you have to go through every historic first that Kamala would represent. You can't just say, woman, it's half Asian and half Black and also woman and also first person from Berkeley, California, and almost also first San Francisco district attorney and also the first vice president to be theoretically elected president, who was picked basically as an emotional blackmail tactic by an incumbent, or by a presidential nominee in 2020, Joe Biden, who had was basically pressured into selecting a Black woman after the George Floyd uproar Emerged that year. There was some political necessity for him to demonstrate his own solidarity in that election cycle, I guess, racially or something, and pick a Black woman, and Kamala ended up rising to the top of the pack after her surrogates and supporters kind of basically kneecapped her other rivals for the VP slot. But that's neither here nor there. Let's look at what's the white dude in chief himself, Jeff Bridges, had to say. This is funny.
Video. Jeff Bridges. White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Jeff Bridges: Kamala is just so certainly our girl. You know, I can see her being pressed. I'm so excited a woman president, man. How exciting, you know, and her championing of women's rights. But for that.
Okay, so, Jeff Bridges, I guess is just really excited about a woman president. So, would he have been excited about Nikki Haley? Perhaps. How about, I don't know, Sarah Palin? Marjorie Taylor Greene? Lauren Boebert, who we interviewed at the Republican convention recently? I mean, so much of what was discussed on this call as this rallying cry around Kamala was just pure recitation of her identity traits, which was thematically in keeping with the organizational reason for this call, purportedly, which is that these are all white dudes, and they have to stand together as white dudes and show that they will very dutifully line up behind Kamala, despite having divergent racial characteristics, and that's supposed to be very heartwarming for us all in this pluralistic democracy that we're so fortunate to live in.
Let's go to Governor Roy Cooper, of North Carolina, yet another white dude. As I mentioned, this is a whites-only space tonight. This is a safe space for white dudes. If you're not a white dude watching, you might not even want to turn off the broadcast because maybe you'll feel uncomfortable. And frankly, you're not even welcome as far as I'm concerned, because I'm going with the vibes that have been sent forth by the Democratic Party.
Don't turn off the broadcast! That would be bad for Rumble and our advertisers. I'm just kidding. But you get my point, right? This is all about, apparently, racial solidarity. So, we're trying to model that, we're emulating what the Democrats are doing. It's all in service of racial justice.
So, here is Governor Roy Cooper, Democrat of North Carolina, we're told, just took himself out of the running for a potential VP pick for Kamala as of yesterday. But he nevertheless made time to appear on this White Dudes for Kamala Zoom call.
Video. Gov. Roy Cooper (D - NC). White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Gov. Roy Cooper: I'm going to get right to it, guys. Real men respect women. Their decisions. Their careers. And it's pretty clear that Donald Trump and JD Vance don't.
So I guess all real men out there, and I consider myself a very real man – look, you just see me radiating with masculinity, I feel like I'm going to overdose on masculinity, my muscles are just going to burst out at the seams of my shirt here and, actually, probably seductive for many of you watching – but what Roy Cooper's point is, I gather, is that real men know when it's time for them to defer to women. And the number one woman to be deferred to now is Kamala Harris.
Notice they're marshaling this woman argument, which it seemed like it was played out with Hillary Clinton but, I guess, you know, never say never with the Democrats, it's back baby. They're saying that, you know, real men would understand that what they ought to do, what they have a moral obligation to do, is defer to the divine rights or the obviousness of Kamala Harris ascending to the presidency, again, as we've gone over many times on this show, without having won a single vote, acquired a singular delegate through a single popular vote outcome in a single state or territory in two presidential primary cycles. But that's all being swept to the side and, according to Roy Cooper, real men understand that it's our duty to defer to Kamala.
Next, we have Mitch Landrieu. He's the former mayor of New Orleans. He's also a Biden campaign operative. And here's his take.
Video. Mitch Landrieu. White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Mitch Landrieu: We need to stand in this moment. Kamala is carrying on her shoulders 248 years of pain, of agony, of hope, of frustration. And no matter how high she jumps, no matter how many degrees she has, no matter how good her grades are, she's never good enough because they're always moving the line. And I think in that idea, she holds the heart of so many people who have been left out.
So, there's Mitch Landrieu. Yes, a white dude, as indicated by his participation in this call, taking it upon himself to assert that Kamala Harris as a personage, as a figure that hasn't been elected to any office in terms of this current election cycle, yes, she's the elected vice president, but nothing beyond that in terms of having acquired delegates or votes in the nomination cycle. But even if she had, it's very bizarre for Landrieu to ascribe to Kamala this, like, world-historic importance as like a racial forgiveness vessel or racial absolution vessel, where Landrieu is suggesting that she carries centuries of racial injustice on her shoulders. Really? According to who? I mean, did she carry that on her shoulders when she was locking up plenty of young Black men in California as a district attorney and then as attorney general? I'm not sure. I'm not even sure what entitles Mitch Landrieu to posit all these extravagant racial narratives onto the personhood of Kamala Harris. It's all very strange. You could easily imagine this being taken much differently if similar narratives were being concocted by Republicans where they're trying to appropriate the racial suffering of, I guess, Blacks and say that they stand for this, you know, historic remedy to the centuries-long plight of Black Americans and you can break that glass ceiling, I guess, by voting for their preferred nominee.
So, here's an even funnier one. I hope you all enjoy this. I hope you go to bed tonight and you just replay this over and over again in your head because I know I will be doing so. This is from Josh Gad. I have to confess, I wasn't exactly familiar with him prior to subjecting myself to this White Dudes for Kamala Zoom call. But now I'm a huge fan of his work, so I'll be studying his filmography very closely. I have his IMDb page loaded up and ready to go. Let's hear from Josh.
Video. Josh Gad. White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Josh Gad: I'm. I'm a white dude. That much you can probably tell by now, but I also happen to be a father of two girls. I have a ten-year-old and a 13-year-old, and I'm not sure if you guys can recall that feeling you had on the night of Tuesday, November 8, 2016. I stood over my kid's bed and I wept. I wept because I felt like I let them down. I wept because they had the chance, and we had the chance to have a female president for the first time in our lives and in the history of this nation.
Isn't that wonderful? I need my tissues, where are my Kleenex and my other supplies to dab my eyes just because I'm so moved by his performance there? It really is something. I mean, what is there really to add? I like what he says.” As you can see, I'm a white dude. That much should be clear.” I think I'm going to introduce myself in every social situation from now on by saying the same thing. So, I'm just going to burst into a room and say, “I should be clear, I'm a white dude, but” then I'll make my point. I'll offer whatever greetings I was planning on offering, but I want to preface everything by announcing that I am, in fact, a white dude, again, inspired by the Democratic Party's recent turn toward white identity politics and what makes this so just unbelievably ironic?
In 2020, you might recall, during the summer of George Floyd, you had a bevy of bestselling books, Atlantic magazine articles and viral tweet threads where white people were being instructed to, for the first time, develop a sense of racial identity that maybe they had been oblivious to or had neglected in the United States, where they have a stature of privilege. This was the theory, but they needed to cultivate a sense of white racial identity in order to recognize the racial grievances of their fellow Black Americans, or POC Americans, and to understand that they had to listen to them, value them, and allow them to take the lead in all kinds of endeavors and step back. You know, white people were being instructed “to know their role and shut their mouths,” to quote Dwayne The Rock Johnson, one of my idols.
What was clear at the time was that what a lot of these white liberals were doing, in a fit of racial hysteria, was echoing what much of the white reactionary right like truly extreme online racialist right had been obsessed with for a very long time and were desperate to get some kind of mainstream acceptability, for which is to also cultivate white racial identity, but for their preferred ends, which is some kind of white nationalism, perhaps overblown term, but to foster a political movement around this sense of collective white identity, to preserve whites' interests or even whites' racial purity.
So, the irony was that the white liberals who thought that they were cultivating this white identity politics to elevate Blacks or something, or to forge this new racial utopia or progressive utopia, they were giving a huge favor to the genuine reactionary, racialist right-wing types who wanted to foster this sense of identity politics for entirely different reasons. And that's continuing now because what are the white dudes for Kamala doing? Well, yeah, I mean, they are further entrenching this idea that white dudes have these distinct interests or there are distinct racial groups and there's like maybe any other racial group or ethnic group that organizes amongst themselves. I'm not even endorsing or opposing the logic of that. I'm just noting for the record that the function, it seems to me, of this new embraced by the Democratic Party and the Harris campaign of white identity politics in service of its own ends, just kind of underscores the creation of this new category of political, racial organizing.
That can have some potentially worrisome downstream effects or it's at least something not to just be mindlessly cheered, I wouldn't think, especially if you, at least at one point pretended to be into, like, a colorblind society, like, I don't know, Barack Obama kind of was. He was into that rhetoric in the ancient days of 2008 or 2010, which I guess is an entirely different epoch in our collective history here.
Let's go to Scott Galloway, who I'm told is some kind of internet celebrity. I don't understand the appeal, I have to say, every time I see him on some program, he just looks entirely dour, you know, he's, like, lecturing in this really morose way. Apparently, he inspires a lot of people to listen to it like marketing podcasts or something, but, hey, different strokes for different folks, right? And I'm certainly a different folk myself. So, I'm not one to judge. He graced the White Dudes for Kamala Zoom call with his presence as an internet celebrity. That's how he was introduced actually. And here's what he said. This is amazing.
Video. Scott Galloway. White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Scott Galloway: Thanks very much. My name is Scott Galloway. I teach at NYU. I consider myself a man and I think my job is to provide and protect and the way that manifests in this age is to ensure that Vice President Harris is in the White House.
So, Professor Scott says how he manifests his masculinity at the moment is to elect Kamala Harris. Again, so selfless. You could tell why he's such a popular internet celebrity, that he's willing to put it out there for anyone to see, that he is of the belief that what his commitment to true, pure and righteous masculinity entails in this moment, in this trying moment when the soul of America is once again at stake in the most important election of our lifetimes – which is the case for every election, we're told, right? I mean, 2016, 2020 and even go back. I mean, I would love to resurrect the ghost of Bob Dole, or at least go through the archives from the 1996 election, because I'm sure there are some schmucks who said that the election of 1996 between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton was the most important of all time. They say it every election cycle. And it's always a bit of a ruse because. It's all about just inflaming Partisan sentiment to get people rushing out to the polls, marching dutifully to the polls to pull the lever, checking the box or mailing the postcard or what have you to keep in power the two major parties, and then they can just usher in their respective professional classes who get empowered as a result of the voter going and voting in the Republican and Democratic Party, and then look forward to next election cycle also being the most important of all time.
So, in light of that, I'm very thankful for Scott Galloway instructing us, or lecturing us because he's such a brilliant NYU professor and he really has the academic expertise to inform us what it means to be a man in this moment is to ensure that Kamala Harris is in the White House. Isn't that inspiring?
Next, let's go to Eric Swalwell. Always a fun guy to hear from.
Video. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D - CA). White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Eric Swalwell: And you know who's tough? It's Kamala Harris. And so, she's tough. She's real. She's ready. She's smart. And something that we're all starting to really see that I really like is that she's fun, and she's a person who can be serious without taking herself too seriously. But what I was hoping to impart onto everyone tonight, in my experience of like telling the story of why Kamala and not the past president, is a few things. And so, I wanted to just give you kind of three things that we all can do. And something that I've found helpful in my messaging is these three things. And if there's anything that us white dudes like to do it's to have a good hot take.
I couldn't agree more, Eric. Congressman. If there's anything that we, white dudes, love to do more than rattling off hot takes. I don't know what it is. I know I associate my whiteness and my white dudeness intrinsically with the art of the hot take. Like the Art of the Deal, written by another infamous famous, depending on your point of view: white dude Donald J. Trump. We, white dudes and our hot takes, you know, it's just, something we're born with. I'm once again very inspired by Eric Swalwell, marshaling his inborn propensity to muster hot takes in service of what is now all our righteous and collective duty, which is to elect Kamala Harris, apparently.
One more of this stuff, but this one also tickles me. This is another actor who I have to familiarize myself with because I'm just so moved by his thespian skill.
Video. Rory O’Malley. White Dudes for Harris. July 29, 2024
Rory O’Malley: For having me. What's up, my white dudes? Ross, it was my honor to do anything for this call. I want to thank you and everyone who's been a part of it, and all of you who are on the call and will have donated that crazy amount of money. I'm in shock that this is happening. I'm here because I'm a dude. I'm clearly very white. I'm representing the pasty white contingency of the delegation, and I'm voting for Vice President Harris because she is the candidate who stands for justice, freedom and the future. She's the embodiment of the backbone of the progressive movement. She's a woman. More specifically, she's a Black woman and Black women have been showing up to elect progressive white dudes for generations. And it's time we show up for […]
Okay, so there is, there's Rory fellow of White Dudes for Harris, one of the organizers, saying “It's time we, white progressives, show up for Black women.” Have you heard, like, one statement of a policy stance associated with Kamala Harris over the course of any of these declarations? I heard very little in sitting through that 3.5-hour session. It's all about how white progressives – I have to say, many of them seem like gay men – which is fine, not that there's anything wrong with that – who feel like they have some extra identity-based obligation to defer to Black women and show how supportive they are of Black women and how they're going to leave everything out on the field for Black women. Because Black women, as Rory said, are the backbone of the Democratic Party. And it's time for white dudes to show their appreciation electorally and get to work and sacrifice for others for once. Just like Black women have always sacrificed for white dudes. So, it seems like it's more like a racial karma ritual for a lot of these people than it is about governance or policy or anything that would really substantively relate to Kamala Harris's conduct in the office of the presidency, the most powerful position in world history. I mean, forget foreign policy, forget national security. They don't give a crap about that, as far as I could tell. It's all about, like, this racial trade-off, mystical kind of conception of how American politics works. That's what they're most fixated on by far. And as a white dude, I know I'm here for it.
And just to end this tantalizing monologue, let's hear from our gender compatriots. I'm gonna make one exception. Okay? This was a white dude-only session tonight inspired by the Democratic Party, but I couldn't resist. White women also held their own Zoom and it was also a joyous occasion. I want to share this with you because I feel like this will really ring in your heart for some time. So, let's hear this.
Video. Arielle Fodor. White Women for Kamala. July 29, 2024
Organizer: Arielle Fodor, affectionately known as Mrs. Frazzle to her combined audience of over 1.5 million followers, is here to help gently parent us through this election.
Arielle Fodor: Thank you. Hi everybody. I am so honored to speak today. I am like shaking to just be among such incredible company. We are here because as if you were here earlier you've heard, Bipoc women have tapped us in as white women to step up, listen, and get involved this election season. This is a really important time, and we all need to use our voices and influence for the greater good. No matter who you are, you are all influencers in some way. So tonight, I'm going to share some do's and don'ts for getting involved in politics online and navigating the toxicity that comes with it and spoiler alert; as much as the toxicity […]
Okay, I'm pausing because, honestly, I think I would blow my brains out if I listened to that full clip. So, I apologize to our production team but I really cannot bear to listen to that full thing. But you get the idea. She says she’s shaking because she's so honored by being in the presence of all these illustrious people who are on the call. I'm shaking to listen to that, but for much different reasons. I do appreciate, though, that she says we're all influencers. She's a TikTok influencer. She is a teacher, I guess, and she makes cute little videos about her classroom experiences. But now she's a political mogul, I guess, or something, and she wants to give us all tips on how we can best share the message of Kamala in these tumultuous and turbulent political times. And I know when I'm listening to that, I really do feel like I'm in a third-grade classroom. And I guess that's what a lot of people in the Democratic Party like now. They want to feel like they're being educated in a third-grade context, because that's about the level of sophistication with which they're approaching this stuff, which is why identity politics, I mean, if this is up your alley, then I don't know. You guys are on a different wavelength than me. I find that really repulsive. But now let's move on.
Interview: John Ziegler
All right, so I want to welcome John Zeigler. He's a long-time media critic, I think it's fair to say. Also, I would call him a journalist. I'm not sure if you would appreciate that designation or not – sometimes journalist is not the most flattering title. I'm even inclined to reject it myself – and also a long-time radio host, he's a podcaster, and so forth. So, let's go to John Ziegler.
M. Tracey: John, how are you?
John Ziegler: I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.
M. Tracey: So, John, I recall hearing of you first back in the day when you were a staunch defender for Sarah Palin, the vice presidential nominee in 2008 with John McCain. So, in light of that, I do want to get your take on something to do with J.D. Vance, obviously, the recently named vice presidential nominee for Donald Trump. And let's go to this clip. This is JB Pritzker. He's the governor of Illinois. He was on ABC's “This Week”, this past Sunday. I want to get your response to it.
Video. JB Pritzker. ABC This Week. July 28, 2024
JB Pritzker: […] They're just weird. The differences between these two candidates, I mean, on the other side, they're just weird. I mean, they really are. The things that they stand for. Donald Trump, of course, is afraid of windmills. And, you know, he talks about, all kinds of crazy. You know, his running mate, as you probably have heard, is, you know, getting known for his obsession with couches and somebody who is hiding his views on a woman's right to choose, and then just broadly, the attack on people […]
M. Tracey: So, John, as best I can tell, when JB Pritzker is invoking JD Vance, having some weird fixation with couches, what he's referring to is a fabricated internet meme that people just outright made up, that then got turned into a new story about J.D. Vance, like, having sex with a couch. I'm sorry I'm even having to say it here, but that was the genesis of what Pritzker is alluding to and you know notice, Martha Raddatz, who I think was the anchor of ABC News’s “This Week” on the Sunday show this past weekend, she doesn't catch it. She just lets J.B. Pritzker make this allusion to some literally made-up claim about JD Vance to underscore this newfound Democratic talking point, that J.D. Vance is weird. And I'm sure he is weird in certain respects. In fact, I'm pretty certain that he is weird in certain respects, but, you know, so am I; so are most Democrats. John, I'm sorry to say you might be weird in certain respects as well. A lot of us are weird, but to just let fly that fabricated claim about Vance and having some sexual liaison with a couch, I don't know. This seems like it could raise your hackles a bit, given your experience in 2008 with Palin or am I drawing too loose of a connection there?
