‘They Might as Well Have Torn Up the Constitution’

‘They Might as Well Have Torn Up the Constitution’

For years, a central goal of the conservative movement was to install right-wing judges. A Republican president delivered, big time. And these Trumpists are still pissed.


Which tells you one thing. For the authoritarian wing of the Republican party, this was never about interpreting the American legal code. It was always about raw political power.


“It's not about the rule of law. It's not about getting good qualified judges. It's about results- oriented litigation,” former U.S. Attorney for Alabama Joyce Vance tells Molly Jong-Fast on the latest edition of The New Abnormal. “They want judges who will vote to save the election for a president who has clearly lost it. And that's just out of bounds. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. The notion that the courts could be used to steal an election is really the epitome of being anti-democratic. It's ludicrous. It's ridiculous. It just shows you that these folks are off the rails. They might as well have stood on a stage at CPAC and torn up the Constitution.”


Vance adds, “We should immediately begin to identify what's being done here as anti-democratic. I don't believe that that's where my Republican friends in Alabama are. Many of them are good people who have different principled views than I have on policy issues. They believe in the Constitution and the rule of law. And they're horrified by what they're seeing.”


Because the Trumpists aren’t just looking for judges that overturn elections they don’t like. They don’t want anyone outside of their crowd to be able to vote, period. “These efforts to suppress the vote previously have been relegated to dark corners of political operatives. It's now actually the platform of the Republican party to make it hard for people to vote, because they're afraid that they might not vote Republican. They should be expending half the energy they're expending on voter suppression on trying to win voters over, on creating policies that are appealing to the population,” Vance says. “This is a sickness in the American political dialogue.”


Vance also looks at the mushrooming scandals around Andrew Cuomo, and the mounting legal cases for Trump. Then, Olivia Troye, who worked for Trump and Mike Pence during the early days of the pandemic, talks about their botched response to COVID. “It turns out nobody in the White House cared about spreading the virus,” she says. And the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel, fresh from CPAC, talks about how even straight-laced Republicans are now espousing the Big Lie.


If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Beast’s membership program. where Sometimes we interview Senators like Cory Booker or the folks who explain our world in media like Jim Acosta or Soledad O’Brien. Sometimes we just have fun and talk to our favorite comedians and actors like Busy Phillips or Billy Eichner and sometimes it's just discussing the fuckery. You can get all of our episodes in your favorite podcast app of choice by becoming a Beast Inside member where you’ll support The Beast’s fearless journalism. Plus! You’ll also get full access to podcasts and articles. To become a member head to newabnormal.thedailybeast.com

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Episoder(1010)

Why Epstein's Shadow Still Haunts Trump

Why Epstein's Shadow Still Haunts Trump

Joanna Coles revisits some of The Daily Beast’s most disturbing and revealing conversations about Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. Michael Wolff explains why Epstein’s shadow still looms over Trump, while Stacey Williams and Cleo Glyde recount encounters that expose the brazen culture of power and silence surrounding them. Tina Brown reflects on the scandal she helped uncover and why its consequences continue to fracture Trump’s world. Together, these voices reveal how wealth and influence conceal dark truths—and why the reckoning is far from over. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Des 2h 49min

How the Epstein Files Backfired on Trump: Wolff

How the Epstein Files Backfired on Trump: Wolff

Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to unpack why the release of the Epstein files has backfired on Donald Trump, obscuring key facts while amplifying the one question that won’t go away: what Trump knew, and when. Wolff explains how the chaotic document dump fits Trump’s flood-the-zone instincts, while Coles probes how branding, spectacle, and confusion remain his core political defenses. They also examine the risks of sidelining institutions—from Ukraine diplomacy to ICE-as-content—and ask whether Trump’s belief that chaos protects him is finally working against him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24 Des 1h 1min

Real Reason My Uncle Trump Renamed Kennedy Center

Real Reason My Uncle Trump Renamed Kennedy Center

Mary Trump joins Joanna Coles to explain how Donald Trump’s accelerating cognitive and psychological decline is rooted in a childhood defined by cruelty, fear, and the absolute ban on showing weakness. Drawing on her training as a clinical psychologist and her firsthand experience inside the Trump family, Mary argues that Trump’s belligerence is routinely mistaken for strength, even as his physical health, cognitive deterioration, and untreated pathology collide. The conversation ends with a stark question: What happens when a country is governed by a man trying to fill a void that can never be filled? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

23 Des 54min

Trump Mental Decline Is Accelerating: Psychologist

Trump Mental Decline Is Accelerating: Psychologist

Psychologist Dr. John Gartner joins Joanna Coles to dissect Donald Trump’s latest White House speech and explain why its manic pace, rigid teleprompter discipline, and sheer velocity alarm mental health professionals. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, Gartner argues that Trump’s hypomania, malignant narcissism, and advancing dementia are no longer abstract theories but visible patterns—accelerating, measurable, and increasingly unmanaged. They examine why repeated cognitive tests suggest monitoring decline rather than routine screening, and how sleepless nights, impulsive decisions, and compulsive posting point to a leader edging toward a cognitive cliff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

22 Des 41min

Trump Aides Are Secretly Prepping for His Downfall

Trump Aides Are Secretly Prepping for His Downfall

Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to tackle the question Washington won’t confront: what happens when a president’s cognitive decline is visible but systematically rationalized by those around him. Wolff describes how Trump’s inner circle shields alarming behavior as “Trump being Trump,” even as voters recognize familiar warning signs from their own families. He also explains the significance of Susie Wiles’ long-standing relationship with Marco Rubio, and why her influence still shows in his disciplined, professional posture as Trump spirals. As Trump’s grandiosity accelerates—from galloping speeches to branding national institutions—Coles asks why no one is willing to take the keys away, and what that silence means for the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Des 57min

Why Melania Trump Is Hiding From Me: Wolff

Why Melania Trump Is Hiding From Me: Wolff

Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles with a story Trump World would rather bury: his legal pursuit of Melania Trump after she threatened a $1 billion libel suit over his reporting on her ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Wolff details the surreal effort to serve the First Lady—lawyers refusing papers, process servers turned away, Trump Tower staff claiming she lives there while she avoids being found—and explains why he sued first under New York’s anti-intimidation law. The legal farce opens onto something larger: a family operating in secrecy and fear, a president trying to “serve” his wife even as control slips, and a White House where avoidance has become strategy. As Trump’s foreign policy grows more erratic and Europe edges toward war, the question lingers: is Melania’s disappearance just legal gamesmanship—or another sign of a presidency retreating from accountability? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

19 Des 59min

Epstein Served Me Up For Trump's Sick Pleasure

Epstein Served Me Up For Trump's Sick Pleasure

Stacey Williams joins Joanna Coles as the anticipated release of the Epstein files throws fresh scrutiny on Donald Trump’s long-denied proximity to Jeffrey Epstein. Williams recounts how a dinner invitation led to a relationship with Epstein—and, she says, to being deliberately walked into Trump Tower where Trump groped her while Epstein stood by, a moment she now believes was staged. Does her account expose how power, silence, and sexual coercion were normalized at the highest levels—and why Trump remains untouched as others in Epstein’s orbit fall? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Des 45min

Trump's Staff Are Questioning His Mental Stability

Trump's Staff Are Questioning His Mental Stability

Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to break down the Vanity Fair profile that may have pushed Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles into dangerous territory, and the newly surfaced Epstein diaries that reveal fixation more than revelation. But the episode turns darker with Trump’s grotesque response to the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife—a moment that shocked even his own insiders. Wolff argues this wasn’t calculation or cruelty, but something giving way. And it leaves an unavoidable question hanging in the air: how long can a presidency survive when self-destruction is no longer strategic, but instinctive? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 Des 47min

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