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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Friday, May 1st, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, the show that finds it strange that this is why President Donald Trump doesn’t want to wear a bulletproof vest after three assassination attempts. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds heavier. 

Jane Coaston: Look, I get it, but also, I don’t think that would be the vest, Mr. President. [music break] On today’s show, the Department of Homeland Security’s longest shutdown ever finally comes to an end. And somehow we missed Alina Habba joining the View for a cage match, I mean, interview. But let’s start with Trump’s very strange week. On Saturday night, the president survived an attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. And in response, the President appears to have one singular thought. We gotta build that White House ballroom. He even got the GOP on board. Here’s South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham earlier this week. 

[clip of Senator Lindsey Graham] We’re gonna introduce legislation that would authorize $400 million to be spent to secure to build the presidential ballroom. Private donations can be used, but I think they should be used for buying china and stuff like that. 

Jane Coaston: Yes, those private donations that we’re supposed to be paying for the entire ballroom. This is nuts, right? Not enough people are saying it, but it is. Donald Trump is one of the most powerful people on Earth. His political party is in charge of Congress and arguably the Supreme Court. But even though his power is immense, his apparent vision is so small. Just keep cashing in as much as possible as the headlines get crazier and crazier. So how did we get to this place where Trump’s whims direct the news cycle? How does he get his base to buy in? And how should Democrats respond? To find out, I chatted with Keith Edwards. He’s a Democratic strategist and host of the Keith Edwards Show. Keith, welcome to What a Day. 

Keith Edwards: Hey, how are you? 

Jane Coaston: I’m good. So you, like me, follow politics, follow the news day in and day out. 

Keith Edwards: Yes. 

Jane Coaston: And I know that because you are reacting to it on your YouTube channel. And I have to say, this week has felt crazier than most, which is really saying something. In your view, what is the wildest thing you’ve seen this week? 

Keith Edwards: Oh my God, there’s so many. I think the wildest thing so far is, it’s a small thing, but Erika Kirk’s random–

Jane Coaston: Oh my gosh, yeah. 

Keith Edwards: –pronouncement about how she went to DC to confront reporters, but she was dressed like Janet Jackson. 

Jane Coaston: Yes, uh Erica Kirk. 

Keith Edwards: Yeah. 

Jane Coaston: The widow of Charlie Kirk, did a video um about like she was going to come to DC to confront reporters, but she was dressed like Janet Jackson in the Rhythm Nation video. 

Keith Edwards: Rhythm Nation, that’s right. 

Jane Coaston: Um. I don’t think that that’s what she was going for but like what did you think?

Keith Edwards: What was she going for? Like, ninja? Spy? What was the what did she does she not think about these things?

Jane Coaston:  I don’t know. I think that that’s something, I mean, I wanted to ask you how much like MAGA media in fighting do you observe? Getting to–

Keith Edwards: A lot. 

Jane Coaston: A lot?

Keith Edwards: A lot. It’s kind of my bread and butter. 

Jane Coaston: Okay. 

Keith Edwards: I enjoy it. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: We need more of it on our side. 

Jane Coaston: We we do. 

Keith Edwards: I’m just going to say we need left-wing influencers attacking each other. I’m serious. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: I am kind of serious. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: There’s a whole, there is a whole like beat. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: Where the right-wing influencers are covered. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: By like the Bulwark. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah! 

Keith Edwards: We don’t have that on the left. 

Jane Coaston: No. 

Keith Edwards: I think that’s to our detriment because then we don’t have people that are really like garnering attention in the way that they are. 

Jane Coaston: What do you think that kind of attention does for conservatives, does for the right? Because I think that there’s people on the left who would be like, we all got to be in lockstep because otherwise it’s just going to be like they’re going to find like the most irritating person among us and then pretend that we’re all them. Like there’s a real, I think that there’s kind of a fear. There’s a lot of fear and anxiety among liberals on the left. What do you, what do think that the infighting on the right does for them? 

Keith Edwards: Well, it creates brands. And brands create name ID. And then when you have name ID, you can command attention. And sure, like Laura Loomer is using that to, like to–

Jane Coaston: –ruin lives. 

Keith Edwards: Yeah to ruin lives. And to talk about the things that she thinks are really important. But she really does have the capacity to, like, draw attention to the things she’s interested in. And so Candace Owens does too, again, but this is like for evil, dark purposes. But I do think if we had folks on the left that could garner attention and actually like, if we just had characters that were running amok, we need more people to run amok. 

Jane Coaston: I’ve– 

Keith Edwards: On the left. 

Jane Coaston: I’ve always been saying we need more running amok. People need to be out in the metaphorical streets. Um. But I think that that gets to something I’ve been thinking about a lot, which is that Trump has obviously the biggest name ID of all. He’s still super unpopular with most people, but still holding steady with his base. What do you think makes Trump such a good messenger? Not a messenger of good things, but good at messaging. 

Keith Edwards: I think he, the thing he’s really good at is he’s he repeats it a lot. Like we’re all talking about the ballroom. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Keith Edwards: Why? Because he won’t stop talking about the ballroom. 

Jane Coaston: Non-stop. 

Keith Edwards: Non-Stop. So there is, and that’s how advertising works. You don’t just like buy one commercial and run it, maybe for a Super Bowl ad, because you’re expecting that to make a bigger impact. But you have to repeat a message over and over and over again in order for it to stick. And he’s been, I don’t know if he just intuits it or if he just, it’s something he’s learned over time, but he really does methodically say the same thing over and over and I think there’s a purpose to that and it’s because he wants us to listen to the thing he wants to talk about. He doesn’t really talk about the things that the media wants to talk about. 

Jane Coaston: Or, I mean, I would argue the things that, like, everyday Americans would want him to talk about. Like, you know, he doesn’t really talk about the economy except to talk about how it’s amazing and perfect and everything’s great. But if we’re borrowing from Trump in that way of, like bringing up things or trying to develop better name ID and thinking about how to communicate better as liberals and Democrats, what should we be learning from Trump? 

Keith Edwards: I think repetition is one thing. I do think um redefining things in the way that resonate not only with our voters, but you know the maybe the more moderate voter who’s not necessarily paying attention as much, uh could work too. Um. I like to call, like for instance, like my little version of this is I call Truth Social Donald Trump’s blog. You know you wanna cut it down in size. Everyone calls it his social media platform, please. 

Jane Coaston: It’s just him. Blogging. 

Keith Edwards: It’s a blog, it’s a blog. 

Jane Coaston: It’s a livejournal.

Keith Edwards: It’s a blog. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: Place where one person goes to write and then people comment, okay? No one else is on Truth Social going viral. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Keith Edwards: So I think there are those things that we could be doing as a party to, one, just kind of change the perception of what’s happening, but two, also just cut him down in size. I think cutting down someone who appeals or at least wants to be an authoritarian, uh one of the best things you can do is try to like shrink them.

Jane Coaston: Do you think we need to be like, how do we blend that with like, he’s trying to do some terrible things and has done really terrible things, but also, like, they’re really he’s incredibly thin skinned and very easy to make fun of. 

Keith Edwards: So I think it’s a yes and. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: I don’t think you have to do one or the other. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Keith Edwards: I think there are gonna be some people who lean on raising the alarms on like the threats to our democracy and our freedoms. But I think there’s gonna be other people who are really good at just like cutting him down in size. And I think they’re both really valuable. Um. I personally was one of the people who was raising the alarm for a long time. I don’t know how you feel. I kinda feel, now I might regret saying this, I kinda feel like we’re like. It’s, I think we’re gonna be okay. That’s how I feel today. 

Jane Coaston: I have also, I mean, again, this is all one of those things where I’m just like, knock on wood. 

Keith Edwards: Yeah. 

Jane Coaston: Like don’t make this be like a thing I regret saying, but I kind of agree, I want to hear more about what you’re thinking there. 

Keith Edwards: Well, I do think there was a moment where, if Donald Trump had the desire or if he had the capacity, he could have probably overtaken um most aspects of our government. Like I really do believe there was moment–

Jane Coaston: Oh yeah. 

Keith Edwards: Where that could have happened. Um. I think he’s become too unpopular. Authoritarians have to be popular in order to gain control of the government. Um. And I also think we’ve seen that uh folks don’t like what he’s doing. And they rise up in numbers that are pretty impressive. And when you have those sorts of things, it’s it’s kind of impossible to fully take over a government. Now, I’m not saying he wouldn’t be able to, but I just it just feels to me like that moment has passed. Now, I don’t know what’s gonna go on in the midterms. I’m preparing for shenanigans. I’m saying this wherever I can because no one remembers. In 2024, for the election day, there were bomb threats in democratic voting areas, precincts, and I don’t like, the margins were so close in these states. Could that have changed? I don’t know. But who did it? Why did they do it, uh what did they do, you know, we don’t know any of that. There’s been no investigation and so like I’m looking forward to voting Republicans out in the midterms but like what was that and is there going to be like an echo of that in November? 

Jane Coaston: I was really excited to talk to you, not just to talk about kind of the politics here, but because thinking about messaging is really important. 

Keith Edwards: Yes. 

Jane Coaston: What can Democrats, can liberals, progressives do better to message to Americans, to talk to Americans? Not lecture them. There’s been way too much of that coming from liberals, I think. But how can we better talk to Americans?

Keith Edwards: I think Democrats are really good at explaining the what and the how. I think we could get a lot better explaining the why. Why is this happening? Why is this happening to you? Why why are things more expensive? Why do Republicans focus on trans people and immigrants instead of the things that actually affect your day-to-day life? I don’t know about you. A trans person has never affected my life positively or negatively. It just does not impact me and yet it’s something that we talk about a lot and I wish Democrats would go on the offensive and say why. Why that is because they don’t want us to actually talk about the things that we could be fixing right now. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Keith Edwards: So that’s something that Republican creators like Laura Loomer, Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, they’re really good at giving us the why this is happening. Now they’re lying and they’re telling a fairy tale. But that’s something that I think Democrats just don’t, I don’t know, is there like is there something different with our mind? I don’t know, like are we just like–

Jane Coaston: I think that like–

Keith Edwards: –programmed differently? 

Jane Coaston: I think that there’s like an over like explanatory but not in a way that like reaches people like there’s a real like we’re gonna give you a bunch of powerpoint slides. 

Keith Edwards: Yes. It’s like if I just–

Jane Coaston: [?] graphs. 

Keith Edwards: –told you enough facts, you would see it my way. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Keith Edwards: And that’s just not we we are we are inherently storytellers, we’ve been telling stories for since we’ve being humans. Right? Cave aren’t there’s it’s like cave art. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Keith Edwards: Right. So I just think it’s not as hard as we make it out to be. Just tell a compelling story, Graham Platner, I think has been doing that pretty effectively. I think James Talarico has been doing that pretty effectively. I’m not going to name names and other Democrats who have been telling the what and the how, but I think you can fill in the blanks on that. So it’s to great success as well, is if you can tell a compelling story that actually happens to be true. 

Jane Coaston: Keith. Thank you so much for coming in and joining me. 

Keith Edwards: Thanks for having me. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Keith Edwards, host of the Keith Edwards Show. We’ll link to his YouTube channel in the show notes. We’re doing our best to get the word out that there’s a better way forward for this country. If you wanna help, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today. 

[sung] Headlines. 

Jane Coaston: Joining me is Crooked’s news editor, Greg Walters, to talk about the big stories. Hey Greg!

Greg Walters: Hey Jane! 

Jane Coaston: Greg, Trump was once again locked in on the most important issues of the day on Thursday. Those issues being the ballroom, the ballroom, and also the ballroom. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] You know when you have a thousand rooms sitting on top of a ballroom and you have the elevators coming down right there, the entrance it’s a pretty tough situation. Now right outside we have something that’s on time, on budget actually ahead of time and ahead of budget depending on finishes, you know finishes is a big difference between marble and onyx. 

Jane Coaston: I’m always saying that. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] In price. But it’s–. 

Jane Coaston: Big difference. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] –right on budget, right on time. And that’s built to the highest standards of security. 

Jane Coaston: Anyway, some actual news, just as Trump was waltzing away on his presidential twinkle toes in the ballroom of his dreams, choosing between marble and onyx, wouldn’t you know it, the longest government shutdown in history actually ended. 

Greg Walters: Which is, Jane, why we need a ballroom. 

Jane Coaston: Obviously, while Trump was pounding the table for his ballroom, aka his new favorite past time/obsession, House Republican leadership caved and agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security ending a 76-day shutdown. 

Greg Walters: Yeah, and to point out the elephant in the ballroom here, Jane, we were just days away from Transportation Security Administration employees missing a paycheck, and this Bloomberg headline sums it up. House votes to end DHS shutdown as threats of airport chaos loom. 

Jane Coaston: Greg. Why does something always have to be looming before Congress can do anything about it? I’m so tired of looming. I hate looming, I don’t wanna loom. 

Greg Walters: Me too, uh and but you know, no matter what is looming, this plan does not include funding for federal immigration enforcement, which Democrats were refusing to fork over after federal agents killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis without new safeguards. So some folks are calling this net-net, a win for Democrats. 

Jane Coaston: You know what else I’m tired of? I was really tempted to make a tired of winning joke here, but it’s 2026 and I’m of making jokes about being tired of wining. Maybe I’m just tired. Maybe I need to reawaken my feminine power and light, but there’s bad news on that front too. Greg. 

Greg Walters: Damn. 

Jane Coaston: I don’t know if you’re into psychedelic mushrooms, raw milk, manifestation, and the divine feminine, but if you are, I have some very sad news I must tell you. 

Greg Walters: I cannot wait to find out how you’re gonna link all those things together in one headline, Jane. 

Jane Coaston: On Thursday, President Donald Trump pulled the nomination of Casey Means to be surgeon general. 

Greg Walters: Ah yes, that story, I should have guessed. Okay, so Trump is claiming that this is because Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, whom he called, quote, “a very disloyal person,” was holding up her nomination over her views on vaccines. Um. But I gotta say, this seems to me like another big break with the Make America Healthy Again people after Trump’s decision to boost the production of glyphosate, a very controversial pesticide for people who hate pesticides. 

Jane Coaston: Now, according to Trump’s Truth Social post, Means’ replacement is Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, and a Fox News contributor. And like, of course she’s a Fox news contributor who thinks RFK Jr. is a, quote, “visionary.” It’s Trump. But I’m guessing she spent a lot less time talking about using psychedelics to find love and doing full moon ceremonies and Casey Means has, so there’s that. 

Greg Walters: I mean, the Trump alignment with the Make America Healthy Again people has always been a little sketchy from my point of view. I mean this is the most famous fast-food president since Bill Clinton jogged to McDonald’s back in the old days. But speaking of people who don’t have the job they wanted, Alina Habba joined The View on Wednesday. You might remember Alina Habba as the former White House counselor and former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Anyway, her appearance on the View didn’t go how what you might call very well. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah, here are some selected moments of greatness. 

[clip of unnamed View host] What do you think 86 means? 

[clip of Alina Habba] To kill the president, to get rid of the president. That’s what it means. By the way, his words not mine if you look at his late night show. 

[clip of unnamed View host] But the dictionary the dictionary disagrees with you on that. The president also posted death to Democrats. Do you think the president should be held responsible for that? 

[clip of Alina Habba] When you, with all due respect. [applause] I haven’t seen that post. I will tell you what I did see. 

[clip of unnamed View host] It does exist. 

[clip of Alina Habba] The Department of Justice brings real cases. We are not Jack Smith. We are not Letitia James. We bring real cases against people. 

Jane Coaston: I can see two things here. Why Trump really liked her and why she was not very good at lawyering. 

Greg Walters: You know, Jane, my mama always told me not to pick a fight with the dictionary and lose. And if I do, don’t do it on TV. 

Jane Coaston: Greg, your mother did a wonderful job. Thank you so much for hanging out. 

Greg Walters: Thanks Mom, and thanks Jane. 

Jane Coaston: And that’s the news. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, enjoy some delusional thinking, and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading, and not just about how if Donald Trump can believe what he said on Newsmax Thursday.

[clip of President Donald Trump] Everyone says if I was on the ballot we would win in a landslide. I have the best I have some of the best poll numbers I’ve ever had. 

Jane Coaston: You can believe absolutely anything, like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston, and run an ultra-marathon. Go after that new job. Ask that person out, because if Donald Trump thinks he’s super popular, you can think whatever you want. Have a great weekend. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Fohr, Erica Morrison, and Adriene Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdock and Jordan Cantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [music break]