The Chuck ToddCast

Anthony Scaramucci returns to the Chuck ToddCast with All the Wrong Moves, out September 22nd, which argues Trump is a symptom rather than the disease — the product of three decades of bipartisan mistakes: Clinton's China trade deal, Bush waging war while cutting taxes, and Obama's bailout that rescued Wall Street while leaving ordinary families behind. He and Chuck also revisit the private credit questions raised in the ToddCast's Lakers special report, with Scaramucci arguing risky lending simply migrated from banks to private markets and that Mark Walter is likely not an outlier. His predictions are blunt: Trump is effectively conviction-proof, and in Scaramucci's view will try to make tens of billions before pardoning himself and his family — which is why, he warns, if the country doesn't take care of its people, the pitchforks will come out.

Timeline:
00:00 "All the Wrong Moves" and the three decades that produced Trump
02:00 China, the wars, and a bailout that skipped the citizens
05:45 Is Mark Walter an outlier? Private credit and where the risk went
10:00 A looming financial crisis — and Trump facing a Democratic Congress
12:45 Conviction-proof: corruption, pardons, and the GOP's breaking point
14:45 No rule of law, desperate workers, and the pitchforks
16:15 How we made the wrong moves — and how he came back after January 6th
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Chuck Todd digs into ProPublica's bombshell on Susan Collins, which details how her office steered millions in federal contracts to defense firm Navatek while her campaign operation pumped CEO Martin Kao's network for donations — sometimes cut within 24 hours of the defense spending bill clearing a Senate hurdle — and how the FBI's pay-to-play investigation died after Trump's purge of the bureau. Chuck’s argument is that the legality is precisely the point: Washington in 2026 is a legalized influence marketplace, Collins is no outlier, and what's needed is a post-Watergate-style transparency revolution — if money is speech, it shouldn't be allowed to hide.
Then, Anthony Scaramucci returns to the Chuck ToddCast with All the Wrong Moves, out September 22nd, which argues Trump is a symptom rather than the disease — the product of three decades of bipartisan mistakes: Clinton's China trade deal, Bush waging war while cutting taxes, and Obama's bailout that rescued Wall Street while leaving ordinary families behind. He and Chuck also revisit the private credit questions raised in the ToddCast's Lakers special report, with Scaramucci arguing risky lending simply migrated from banks to private markets and that Mark Walter is likely not an outlier. His predictions are blunt: Trump is effectively conviction-proof, and in Scaramucci's view will try to make tens of billions before pardoning himself and his family — which is why, he warns, if the country doesn't take care of its people, the pitchforks will come out.
Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 list of the worst issues a candidate can campaign on for the midterms and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.
You can order All The Wrong Moves here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250437563
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
02:30 The ProPublica story and what it says about Susan Collins
07:00 The FBI investigation Trump's bureau shut down
08:15 The bigger story: how normal this kind of corruption has become
18:00 Crypto's $30 million play in Ohio and the threat of outside money
21:30 The transparency revolution we actually need
34:45 Iran waiting out the midterms, Mamdani, and Xi's visit
38:45 New Pew data on data centers — and where the money is going
44:30 AOC hints at 2028, and the GOP's Senate spending advantage
51:30 The Paramount settlement with California
59:45 "All the Wrong Moves" and the three decades that produced Trump
1:01:45 China, the wars, and a bailout that skipped the citizens
1:05:30 Is Mark Walter an outlier? Private credit and where the risk went
1:09:45 A looming financial crisis — and Trump facing a Democratic Congress
1:12:30 Conviction-proof: corruption, pardons, and the GOP's breaking point
1:14:30 No rule of law, desperate workers, and the pitchforks
1:16:00 How we made the wrong moves — and how he came back after January 6th
1:17:00 ToddCast Top 5 most unpopular campaign issues
1:17:45 #5 A candidate endorsed by Donald Trump
1:18:00 #4 Wanting to abolish ICE
1:18:30 #3 Supporting weapons and funding for Israel
1:18:45 #2 Supporting the war in Iran
1:19:15 #1 Supporting for building data centers
1:21:00 Ask Chuck
1:21:15 What prevents a journalist from pivoting during a TV interview?
1:25:15 Advice for helping with kidney stones
1:26:30 What factors are behind Kansas suddenly becoming competitive?
1:33:15 If you could ask Trump one question, what would it be?
1:35:30 Could a future congress pursue financial penalties for pardoned officials?
1:38:00 Shout out to the Nats
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Chuck Todd digs into ProPublica's bombshell on Susan Collins, which details how her office steered millions in federal contracts to defense firm Navatek while her campaign operation pumped CEO Martin Kao's network for donations — sometimes cut within 24 hours of the defense spending bill clearing a Senate hurdle — and how the FBI's pay-to-play investigation died after Trump's purge of the bureau. Chuck’s argument is that the legality is precisely the point: Washington in 2026 is a legalized influence marketplace, Collins is no outlier, and what's needed is a post-Watergate-style transparency revolution — if money is speech, it shouldn't be allowed to hide.
Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 list of the worst issues a candidate can campaign on for the midterms and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.

Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
02:30 The ProPublica story and what it says about Susan Collins
07:00 The FBI investigation Trump's bureau shut down
08:15 The bigger story: how normal this kind of corruption has become
18:00 Crypto's $30 million play in Ohio and the threat of outside money
21:30 The transparency revolution we actually need
34:45 Iran waiting out the midterms, Mamdani, and Xi's visit
38:45 New Pew data on data centers — and where the money is going
44:30 AOC hints at 2028, and the GOP's Senate spending advantage
51:30 The Paramount settlement with California
58:00 ToddCast Top 5 most unpopular campaign issues
58:45 #5 A candidate endorsed by Donald Trump
59:00 #4 Wanting to abolish ICE
59:30 #3 Supporting weapons and funding for Israel
59:45 #2 Supporting the war in Iran
1:00:15 #1 Supporting for building data centers
1:02:00 Ask Chuck
1:02:15 What prevents a journalist from pivoting during a TV interview?
1:06:15 Advice for helping with kidney stones
1:07:30 What factors are behind Kansas suddenly becoming competitive?
1:14:15 If you could ask Trump one question, what would it be?
1:16:30 Could a future congress pursue financial penalties for pardoned officials?
1:19:00 Shout out to the Nats
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Six weeks out, Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza open on Trump's ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House — escalated Monday when the rest of the TV pool refused to cover him without CNN. Chuck, who fought the Obama White House's attempt to cut Fox out of a pool, explains why the real story is why now: a president lashing out as he loses control everywhere else. NBC has Trump at 41%, his second-term low; the Fed just raised rates for the first time since 2023; and the three most toxic positions in NBC's message testing are the three things Trump spent the last ten days amplifying. Chuck argues everyone is probably underestimating Democrats, then turns to the party's own problems: a DNC in debt, a brand that polls worse than the GOP's, and Axios reporting that most former Harris aides don't expect her to run in 2028. Plus JB Pritzker's 80-pound GLP-1 disclosure and Jayden Daniels' devastating elbow injury.

Timeline:
00:00 Trump bans CNN, MS NOW & Politico — and how the TV pool works
06:00 Why now? A president grabbing what he can control
16:00 Toxic message tests, Iowa defections & a party running from Trump
24:00 Are we underestimating Democrats? Wave, tsunami or mirage
34:00 The Democrats' money problem — the DNC, donors & turnout groups
40:00 Is Kamala Harris running? The Malibu tell and a cycle off
48:00 Pritzker's weight loss, the Democratic brand & the rise of independents
1:00:00 Jayden Daniels, injuries & the college sports bill
1:08:00 NFL chaos, NBA predictability & the case for relegation
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Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter joins the Chuck ToddCast to talk about a state whose bipartisan political culture — he worked productively with Mike Johnson in the statehouse — has been steamrolled by a president who's made clear he doesn't want to work with Democrats at all. Carter notes the irony that a majority of Johnson's own district is Medicaid-dependent in a state that never expanded Medicaid, and that the One Big Beautiful Bill cut it anyway. He argues Democrats lose working-class voters by refusing to speak plain American, that Bill Cassidy would have been tough to beat had he run as an independent rather than losing his primary, and that impeachment without the votes is a fool's errand even as rampant corruption demands answers. Plus: why progressives struggle with Black voters, the flawed SCORE Act, Jeff Landry's LSU mess, and Carter's bill requiring watermarks on AI video.

Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Congressman Troy Carter joins the Chuck ToddCast
01:00 Louisiana's bipartisan culture and a president who won't play along
06:00 Medicaid, the OBBB cuts, and government that fails to deliver
12:45 How Trump wins working-class voters — and how Democrats lose them
18:00 The House map, surprise flips, and the Cassidy what-if
22:45 What Democrats should do with a governing majority
26:45 Oversight, impeachment, and the limits of both
35:15 Progressives, Black voters, and building a broader coalition
39:30 Procedural rules and Carter's reform wish list
45:45 College sports, the SCORE Act, and the LSU fight
54:00 AI, watermarks, and what Congress has to figure out
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.