AI Summary
5 min readThe Corruption Scandal That Has Finally Spooked Trump
On this episode of The Rest Is Politics: US, Katy Kay and Anthony Scaramucci cover three distinct but interlocking stories: New York Mayor Eric Adams navigating the impossible politics of the Israel-Gaza war, a corruption scandal involving two of Trump's top political operatives working for a pro-Russian government in the Balkans, and a Democratic House candidate who responded to leaked fetish photos by leaning into them. The throughline is a political system so polarized that no one can split the baby anymore — and what happens when politicians try anyway.
The Mayor Caught Between Two Fires
Eric Adams had a rough October 7th anniversary. He posted a lengthy statement on X that spent one paragraph acknowledging the Israeli victims and then multiple paragraphs calling Israel's actions in Gaza "genocide" and accusing it of war crimes. The reaction from Jewish voters in New York — a city of three million Jews — was swift and angry. Fox News jumped on it relentlessly. Then, later that day, Adams attended a Jewish vigil commemorating the October 7th attacks. Pro-Palestinian protesters harassed him there, calling him a traitor. He looked ashen-faced and had to be whisked away.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Opening Teases** - Katy and Anthony preview the episode’s two big stories: a corruption scandal rattling Trump, and a candidate’s bold response to leaked kinky photos.
- 2 (01:43) **Welcome and the Mayor Adams October 7th Dilemma** - The hosts introduce the episode from New York and dive into Mayor Eric Adams’s fraught handling of the October 7th anniversary.
- 3 (07:06) **Advice for Adams and the Pragmatism of Meeting Trump** - The hosts discuss how Adams should navigate the fallout and why New Yorkers supported his recent meeting with Donald Trump.
- 4 (10:46) **Could a Mayor Adams Win the Presidency?** - The hosts reflect on audience skepticism about Adams’s national viability.
- 5 (13:07) **The Corruption Scandal That Has Finally Spooked Trump** - The hosts pivot to the major story: two top Trump allies were paid by a pro-Russian government in the Balkans.
- 6 (16:32) **Where Is the Democratic Counter-Narrative?** - Anthony challenges the Democrats to offer a cohesive message against the scandal, while Katy argues for a state-by-state approach.
- 7 (20:12) **Are MAGA Inc. Ads Helping the GOP?** - The hosts question whether the super PAC run by LaCivita and Blair is effective.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Is fallout over Mamdani's October 7th statement his first real political challenge? What is the real reason Trump is disowning his top political advisers, James Blair and Chris LaCivita? And, can a former fetish model win a seat in Congress?
Join Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci as they answer all these questions and more.
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