The Muckrake Political Podcast · CLNS Media Network

Trump's Tariff Tantrum and LIVE SOTU Tonight

·1 hr 4 min·4 clips

Trump answered the Supreme Court by throwing out new 10% and then 15% tariffs after the 6-3 ruling.

1. The Muckrake Political Podcast centers this episode on Trump's tariff fight, the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling, and a live State of the Union show scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern. 2. Jerry J. Sexton and Nick are the hosts, and Sexton frames the conversation as a reaction show that will go deeper than cable coverage while also pitching Patreon. 3. The episode is built around the question of what Trump's tariff moves, court clashes, and political alliances are really doing in practice. 4. The hosts say the Supreme Court struck down Trump's sweeping tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. 5. They note that Trump responded by floating new 10% global tariffs and then 15% tariffs. 6. Sexton quotes Trump calling the courts 'these fucking courts' after the ruling. 7. The hosts argue that the Supreme Court is acting to protect 'the wealth class against politicians.' 8. They describe Neil Gorsuch as sounding unusually alarmed, saying he is now talking like the Trump administration is violating democracy. 9. Sexton says the tariffs were originally justified as a way to jumpstart U.S. manufacturing and destroy neoliberal globalism. 10. He adds that the hosts think the real effect has been 'basic plundering' rather than a coherent policy. 11. Sexton says $133 billion has been collected through tariffs and that every American family has effectively been taxed nearly $2,000. 12. He says the most important question is not the court fight but where the $133 billion went. 13. Nick says a possible midterm move would be sending out $2,000 checks with Trump's signature on them. 14. Sexton replies that Trump would choose pocketing money over winning the midterms. 15. The episode shifts into a long comparison between present-day politics and hidden power structures, including references to Epstein, Obama, aliens, JFK, and the Bay of Pigs. 16. The hosts then discuss Mexico, saying the reported death of Nemesio Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, triggered cartel violence, kidnappings, and fires. 17. Sexton argues that cartels are woven into Mexican civil society and that the United States is one of the largest drug traffickers in the world. 18. The tone stays conversational and combative, with Sexton and Nick riffing, interrupting each other, and mixing policy talk with pop-culture references like 'five minute abs' and Charlie Sheen. 19. People who follow tariffs, Trump, Supreme Court politics, Mexico, and Democratic Party strategy would get the most from this episode. 20. People looking for a tightly focused interview or a nonpartisan policy explainer probably should skip it.

As heard by us

A live-reaction pregame that treats Trump as a symptom of a larger disease.

This live-reaction pregame treats Trump less as a single story than as a symptom of a wider habit in government, and that is where the episode has its bite. Jerry J. Sexton and Nick sound sharpest when they move away from the night's spectacle and into that larger pattern.

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Why you'd press play

You want the immediate post-SOTU take, live and right after the speech.

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