Vice President JD Vance tries and fails to act normal during a CBS town hall in Michigan — but struggles even harder to explain away his boss's policies. Donald Trump sells out Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, a complex scandal involving two Trump advisors engulfs the White House, new details emerge about the firing of Katie Zacharia, and Republicans try to make an issue out of the riots in France.

Jon, Lovett, and Tommy react to all the latest, including new lines of attack in the Senate races in Michigan and Maine, and Trump telling his followers not watch Fox News anymore. Then, Mayor Paige Cognetti talks to Jon about fighting corruption in Pennsylvania and flipping a critical House seat blue.

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With two weeks until the midterms, Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, sits down with Dan to break down what she calls the most brutal political environment Republicans have faced in twenty years.

They discuss whether the numbers indicate a "blue wave" or a "red undertow," whether the polls can be trusted, and why massive Republican spending can't outrun Trump's cost-of-living crisis and his war in Iran. They also dig into the strategy—or lack thereof—behind Trump's rally blitz, whether gerrymandering has backfired on the GOP, and why Democrats may actually perform better in red states than in blue ones this November.

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Trump makes the case for Jon Husted in Ohio, praising the Republican senator's greatest asset: his athletic behind. Jon and Dan react to Trump's Ohio rally and his other messages to voters on the campaign trail, Politico reporting that Trump is considering replacing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles with an MLB executive, and new press secretary Katie Zacharia's brutal debut briefing.

They discuss the president canceling the Department of Defense's plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, the administration's deeply troubling attempt to strip Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of her citizenship, and another pathetic attempt at humor from Vice President JD Vance. Then, Sherrod Brown talks to Dan about his bid to retake his old Senate seat in the Buckeye State.

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