• Polls have shown that former President Donald Trump is increasingly weak when it comes to support from women. Recent Wall Street Journal polling found that Vice President Kamala Harris has a 13 point lead over Trump among women. In an attempt to reverse those trends, Trump went on Fox News to speak to a crowd of all women where he called himself the “father of IVF.” Erin Ryan, host of Crooked’s Hysteria and the weekend edition of What A Day, joins us to debrief.
• And in headlines: Democratic Representative Colin Allred dragged Republican Senator Ted Cruz during the Texas Senate race debate, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his “Victory Plan” to his country’s Parliament, and an abortion rights group in Florida sued the state after Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration ordered TV stations to stop airing their pro-abortion ad.

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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Thursday, October 17th. I’m Jane Coaston. And this is What a Day, the show that’s absolutely stunned at a fake whistleblower letter alleging that ABC news gave Vice President Kamala Harris her debate questions ahead of time, has been officially debunked as well fake. Good thing that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and multiple members of Congress didn’t share it without asking a single question. Oh wait. [music break] On today’s show. Abortion rights activists fight the state of Florida over an ad. Plus, Trump has lots of opinions on his biggest enemies. But first, time and time again, polls have shown that former President Donald Trump is increasingly weak when it comes to support from women. Recent Wall Street Journal polling found that Vice President Kamala Harris has a 13 point lead over Trump among women. And that’s not only due to women of color. CNN’s Harry Enten reported this week that Trump only has a one point lead over Harris among white women. Down significantly from Trump’s totals in 2016 and 2020. So in an attempt to reverse those trends, Trump went on Fox News to speak to a crowd of all women, many recruited by Fox from Republican groups in Georgia, moderated by the network’s Harris Faulkner. The town hall event was recorded on Tuesday in a suburb of Atlanta and aired Wednesday morning, and it opened off with this insulting comment towards the family of Amber Thurmond. Thurmond was a Georgia resident who died in 2022 after doctors denied her care for 20 hours due to the state’s abortion ban. Thurmond’s family has been featured in ads by the Harris Walz campaign as a symbol of the consequences of Republican abortion policies. 

[clip of unnamed Fox News interviewer] And the Thurmond’s family have come out on a press call. And they’re doing what’s called a prebuttal to our town hall right now. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Oh that’s nice. 

[clip of unnamed Fox News interviewer] Yeah. And I want to get–

[clip of Donald Trump] You’ll get better ratings, I promise. 

Jane Coaston: Eew. That was far from the only gross moment during the town hall. And to talk through this event that went about as poorly as it could possibly sound on paper, I spoke with Erin Ryan, host of Crooked’s Hysteria and the weekend edition of What A Day. Erin, thanks for coming back to What A Day. 

Erin Ryan: Thank you so much for having me. 

Jane Coaston: So the idea of Donald Trump talking to a roomful of women sounds like a nightmare I’ve had once. How did this town hall go?

Erin Ryan: About how you would expect, despite the fact that it seemed like Fox News kind of put their thumbs on the scale–

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Erin Ryan: –a little bit. 

Jane Coaston: As far as I can tell, everyone in the room was a Trump supporter and a couple of them appeared to be actual Republican Party officials. 

Erin Ryan: Yes, yes, yes. It feels like the thumb was put on the scale a little bit. And it also seemed to me that Trump was, if you can ever call him prepared, he had been prepped. He had been prepped until his brain was pink and raw. But still, despite that, he did not keep it together in a way that made him sound like he can appeal to women who are not already on his side. 

Jane Coaston: It wouldn’t be a town hall without some unhinged moments talking about immigration. So the former president was asked what he’d do about sanctuary cities, and here was his response. 

[clip of Donald Trump] We are going to end all sanctuary cities immediately. We’re going to end it. Because they’re really–

[clip of unnamed Fox News interviewer] Is that an executive order you’d do that with? 

[clip of Donald Trump] They really, I could do it with an executive order. I’ll have to do it with an executive order. You can do it with Alien, the Aliens Act of 1798. We can do things in terms of moving people out. 

Jane Coaston: So I have to ask, one, why does Donald Trump think that bonkers immigration policies appeal to white suburban women? Clearly the audience. And secondly, does it? 

Erin Ryan: The Trump campaign right now, I think, is understanding that they are in deep, deep trouble with women, with demographics of women that they normally could win, could count on. And I think that’s the whole purpose that they had this town hall. But in order to win with these women, they have to kind of shift the conversation to an issue they think they can win on. They can’t win on abortion or reproductive rights. They can’t. They can’t win on like kitchen table economy stuff, I don’t think, because they don’t seem to have a grasp or an understanding or even a desire to understand the lived reality of women’s financial lives. But what they can do is appeal to a manufactured fear of migrants coming in and hurting them. So they’re trying to shift the conversation from safety means being able to decide what to do with your own body. Safety means being able to make health care decisions on your own to safety means we kick the migrants out. 

Jane Coaston: So Trump was asked about the child tax credit and gave an answer that seemed mostly centered on praising his daughter, Ivanka. Let’s listen. 

[clip of Donald Trump] My daughter, Ivanka, she said, Dad, we have to do tax credits for women, you know,  for the child tax credits. She was driving me crazy. Then I did it and I got it just about done. Dad, you’ve got to double it up. I said Ivank– it was actually more complicated than the entire bill, but I got it done. And what we’re going to do and I’m going to make because I understand exactly what you’re saying, we’re going to readjust things so that it’s fair to everybody, because it’s really not fair to everybody. 

Jane Coaston: What did Trump actually do with the child tax credit during his first term? And what does his campaign said he will actually do if reelected? 

Erin Ryan: Okay. First of all, him taking credit for the child tax credit is egregious. Representative Rosa DeLauro would like a word. She’s been working on this for literally her entire political career, which much predates Donald Trump’s political career. Connecticut representative and longtime advocate for a reduction in child poverty through the child tax credit and other measures. So here’s what happened. In 2017, Donald Trump was trying to like Hulk through this massive tax overhaul. Right. And included in that tax overhaul was a doubling of the child tax credit to $2,000. So it was $1,000 before, but it was $2,000 after. And that was partly because of work that Ivana Trump did on a bipartisan basis. But here’s the thing. The $2,000 tax credit from the 2017 tax overhaul only applied to families that make enough money to pay income taxes. And so the people that needed that tax credit the most, the lowest income families, I think like 40% of families in the U.S., do not pay income taxes. 

Jane Coaston: Right. Because you don’t make enough money to do so. 

Erin Ryan: Because you don’t make enough money. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Erin Ryan: They were not seeing any benefit from that. Some people were seeing something like $150 over the course of a year. Like it wasn’t enough to make a difference to the people who needed it the most. So doubling the tax credit to 2000 and expanding it to families that made up to 400,000 was what Trump did back then. But it really didn’t benefit low income families. Now, during pandemic, there was an expanded child tax credit that applied to everybody with kids, and it reduced the child poverty rate by like 50% in this country. And in 2021, Republicans and Joe Manchin refused to extend it indefinitely. And as a result, the amount of child poverty went way back up. Donald Trump hasn’t issued a coherent child tax credit plan. You know, he hasn’t talked about anything specific when it comes to his plans for his second term. And frankly, I don’t believe that he has any real plans for a child tax credit that actually doesn’t leave out low income families. 

Jane Coaston: So IVF also came up during the town hall and Trump gave himself this title. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Oh. I want to talk about IVF. [laughter] [banter]

[clip of unnamed Fox News interviewer] You don’t hear that every day. 

[clip of Donald Trump] I’m the father I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question. 

Erin Ryan: [laugh] I’m the father of IVF. What the fuck are you talking about, my dude? 

Jane Coaston: Like what? 

Erin Ryan: That makes literally no sense. Okay. In what sense? Like, this is an example of Fox News handing him an alley oop. Like, why was there no follow up to that? What do you mean? You’re the father of IVF.

Jane Coaston: I like how Harris Faulkner was like, you don’t hear that every day. I’m like, Yep. Because–

Erin Ryan: Because you’re not. 

Jane Coaston: What? 

Erin Ryan: You shouldn’t hear it any day. 

Jane Coaston: No. 

Erin Ryan: It’s a complete lie. 

Jane Coaston: No, no. It no. Trump’s claim is that the GOP is, quote, “the party for IVF.” Is IVF actually safe under the GOP? 

Erin Ryan: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. So let me rewind a little bit. Prior to Roe v Wade being overturned, the anti-choice pro-life forces in the U.S. were united behind one single goal, and that goal was to overturn Roe v Wade. Now, then they became the dog that caught the car, and the movement sort of splintered. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Erin Ryan: And so there is a majority of people who consider themselves pro-life, do not want to see IVF outlawed. But there are important, highly moneyed and very politically active factions of the former pro-life like monolith that think IVF is sinful. The Catholic Church, six members of the Supreme Court are Catholics. Like they think that IVF is a sin against nature. The pope says it. And there are other like extremely right wing evangelicals that believe destroying an embryo at all is a form of murder. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Erin Ryan: Akin to pushing a two year old off a building. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Erin Ryan: Like it’s the same thing. [laughter] It’s IVF inherently involves the destruction of embryos. And even if you’re only creating as many embryos as you want to implant, it will lead to unavoidable miscarriages and embryos that are being frozen for indefinite amounts of time. Now, I don’t think that most people who have frozen embryos are comfortable with those being treated legally like children. But that’s what the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year said that they needed to do. 

Jane Coaston: So there was one question during the town hall on abortion, and Trump did his whole I’m a hero because I let the states decide spiel. Let’s take a listen. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Nobody wanted it to be in the federal government, five or six or seven years ago, they started talking about weeks in this [?]. But what they wanted is they wanted it back in the states for a vote of the people. And that’s where we have it. And the states are now voting for it. And honestly, some of them are going much more liberal, like in Ohio, I would have thought it might. 

[clip of Harris Faulkner] Some of them are not. 

[clip of Donald Trump] [?] Different and some are not. But it’s going to be redone. It’s going to be redone. They’re going to you’re going to you end up with a vote of the people. And some of might agree they have they’re too they’re too tough too tough. And those are going to be redone. 

Erin Ryan: Okay. First of all, zero states in zero states have they chosen to go more conservative when it’s been put up for a vote–

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Erin Ryan: To the actual voters and not to the gerrymandered–

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Erin Ryan: –state legislatures in zero states have pro abortion access, pro reproductive freedom measures failed. 

Jane Coaston: And so when Trump talks about how states are being too tough on abortion, one that seems to me that he knows somewhere that this is a bad issue for him. He knows that. But also, it’s interesting because one of the people who really loves an abortion ban is his own vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, who when he ran for Senate before he deleted it from his web site, said, you know, he wants to end abortion. So what did you make of that response and especially of Trump trying to play it both ways about how everyone wanted it back to the states, but now the states are making the wrong choice. 

Erin Ryan: I mean, it’s patently untrue. First of all, 80 to 90% of Democrats polled did not want Roe v. Wade overturned. 

Jane Coaston: No. 

Erin Ryan: And the overall rate of people who didn’t want Roe v. Wade overturned was something like 76%. It is completely not true. He just made that up. So that to me is just him trying to create an argument to support an unwinnable position. And I also thought we should take a step back. And when he says leave it up to the States, just reflect on that. Like as a woman, he thinks that the best way for decisions to be made about the female body, about a woman’s body, about anybody with a uterus’s body is to give it to a committee of elected officials. Like in what world is that not creepy and weird? I think people need to understand that the scariest abortion bans are the ones that, like, put a time limit on it. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Erin Ryan: Because it is completely inhumane to imagine that a condition that medically cannot be discovered until after 16 weeks or even after 20 weeks is something that a woman is just going to have to carry and deliver in a hospital and live with and possibly threaten her future fertility and her future family and months of her life and not be able to move on with her, it is an inhumane, ridiculous, like offensively flippant way. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Erin Ryan: To think about dealing with what people are allowed to do with their bodies. It’s like it’s super gross. 

Jane Coaston: It’s incredibly gross, and the obfuscation is driving me nuts. But Erin, thank you so much. Someday you’re going to come on this show and it won’t be about something that drives us both insane. 

Erin Ryan: Oh. Good. I can’t wait. [laughter]

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Erin Ryan, host of Crooked’s Hysteria and the weekend edition of What a Day. We’ll get to the news in a moment. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: And now the news. 

[sung] Headlines. 

[clip of Colin Allred] When he ran for president in 2016, he supported the personhood amendment. You know what that means? That would make something like IVF illegal, but also ban certain forms of birth control. You did. You did when you ran for president in 2016. 

[clip of Ted Cruz] Fundamentally false.

Jane Coaston: Democratic Representative Colin Allred wiped the floor with Republican Senator Ted Cruz in a debate for the Texas Senate race Tuesday night. And I’ll just say this. I know it’s Texas, but if someone had a chance to beat Ted Cruz, this is how you would do it. 

[clip of Colin Allred] You can look it up, folks. You don’t have to believe me again. You’ve been seeing him lie to you for 12 years. Let’s have a senator who doesn’t. 

Jane Coaston: Allred called out how Cruz responded to the January 6th, 2021, capitol riot. 

[clip of Colin Allred] I was prepared to defend the House floor from the mob. At the same time, after he’d gone around the country lying about the election after he’d been the architect of the attempt to overthrow that election. When that mob came, Senator Cruz was hiding in the supply closet. 

Jane Coaston: That was cold and Allred brought up how Cruz is all talk and no action. 

[clip of Colin Allred] This is a pattern. He talks tough, but he never shows up. We have a phrase for this in Texas. All hat and no cattle. That’s what Senator Cruz is. Six more years of this. Come on. He’s had 12 years to do it already. 

Jane Coaston: I don’t know about you, but I’m guessing Senator Cruz was thinking about a certain Cancun vacation right about then. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced last month it was investing in a multimillion dollar ad buy in Texas and Florida after Montana Senator John Tester’s prospects started to look bleak. And after Tuesday’s debate, the Allred campaign is saying he earned $1 million. Now, normally that wouldn’t be nothing but a Texas Senate seat for Democrats is like Charlie Brown thinking Lucy is finally going to let him kick that football. But if anyone were to have a chance. Allred is sure making a good run at it. [clip of Volodymyr Zelensky speaking in Ukrainian plays] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his victory plan to his country’s parliament on Wednesday, detailing how he believes Ukraine can win the war with Russia. Most of the specifics of the plan were kept private between Zelensky and his allies ahead of Wednesday’s public announcement. The plan includes five main conditions for Kyiv’s victory. The first of which is Ukraine finally joining NATO. The alliance has said in the past that it will allow Ukraine to join the ranks amid Russia’s years long invasion. But it has yet to extend a formal invitation. Other provisions of Zelensky’s plan include bolstering Ukraine’s defenses and charting out a plan for Ukraine’s economic growth for after the war ends. According to Zelensky, his plan could bring an end to the war in Ukraine, quote, “no later than next year” with the support of its allies. Ukrainian officials told Reuters on Wednesday that they’re seeking membership with NATO before Biden leaves office. Great news for ballot access. Nebraska’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that convicted felons in the state can vote immediately after completing their prison sentences. The state previously required former felons to wait two years after serving their time to vote. But state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle voted to throw out the waiting period earlier this year. Other state officials appealed to the state’s Supreme Court, arguing that allowing felons to vote was unconstitutional. But the court disagreed, siding with lawmakers. Huge win, but the clock is ticking for convicted felons who want to vote this November. The deadline to register online to vote in Nebraska is tomorrow. Folks can also register in person until October 25th. A group campaigning in favor of abortion rights in Florida is suing the state after Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration ordered TV stations to stop airing this ad. 

[clip of Florida political ad] When I saw the tumor on the MRI, my first thought was, am I going to be able to see my daughter again? The doctors knew if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby. I would lose my life and my daughter would lose her mom. 

Jane Coaston: Earlier this month, the Florida Health Department threatened TV stations with criminal prosecution for airing it. The ad encourages people to vote yes on a ballot measure that would protect the right to an abortion until fetal viability, which is around 20 weeks. Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that produced the video, says the action violates their First Amendment right to free speech. The ballot measure would overrule Florida’s current abortion law, which bans abortion in most cases after six weeks, which is before most women know they’re pregnant. And that’s the news. [music break] One more thing. If you want to hear what Donald Trump cares about, you could listen to his spokespeople or the people who have endorsed him. But if you want to hear what Donald Trump actually cares about, you could just listen to him. Take, for example, Trump’s belief that America’s biggest enemy is the enemy within. It’s a big deal for him. He talks about it a lot. Here he is speaking in Aurora, Colorado, on the 11th. 

[clip of Donald Trump] We have the greatest military in the world, but you have to know how to use them. 

Jane Coaston: And who does he want to use them against? 

[clip of Donald Trump] It’s the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That’s a bigger enemy than China and Russia. 

Jane Coaston: And here he is in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, making it clear that he thinks the military should handle radical left lunatics. 

[clip of Donald Trump] In terms of Election Day. I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they are the [?] and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or if really necessary by the military. 

Jane Coaston: And who are the radical left lunatics? Amazing question. By radical left lunatics who need to be handled by the military, he means Adam Schiff, as he detailed on Fox News on Wednesday. 

[clip of Donald Trump] And it is the enemy from within. And they’re very dangerous. They’re Marxists and communists and fascists, and they’re sick. I use a guy like Adam Schiff because they made up the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. 

Jane Coaston: And then, of course, there’s his favorite California congresswoman who apparently requires intervention from the National Guard. 

[clip of Donald Trump] If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are the you know, the Pelosi’s. These people, they’re so sick and they’re so evil. 

Jane Coaston: That’s what Trump thinks. That’s what Trump believes. You and I can both hear and see what he’s saying. He doesn’t spend this time discussing how he’s going to make America healthy again or do something about our waterways. He believes that the people who oppose him are evil, sick criminals who should be dealt with by the state. Now he has no problem with saying so. But throughout the last eight or nine years, there have been a host of people supporting Donald Trump who nevertheless refuse to listen to the words he actually says. Remember, take Trump seriously, but not literally. Now it’s just take him please. Like Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday about the words that Donald Trump actually said while apparently not hearing them. 

[clip of CNN’s Jake Tapper] I’m talking about Donald Trump saying that he wants to use the National Guard in the military to go after the left. That’s what he’s saying. 

[clip of Glenn Youngkin] I don’t I don’t believe that’s what he’s saying. But listen, you and I are going to argue about that. But I would I wouldn’t suggest if you would also–

[clip of CNN’s Jake Tapper] I played the quote and I read it to you. I mean– 

[clip of Glenn Youngkin] If you would also balance that. 

[clip of CNN’s Jake Tapper] I mean you can wish that he weren’t saying that. But that’s what he’s saying. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Jake. All the time. People people are taking little snippets of context and turning it into a big a big narrative. 

Jane Coaston: I don’t believe that’s what he’s saying. It’s been nine years of this, nine years of Donald Trump saying something and then a bunch of people either saying that he didn’t say the thing he said or saying that we are all simultaneously mishearing him. We didn’t and we aren’t. These are his words and these are his plans. [music break]. 

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Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a review. Listen to the words that Donald Trump is saying and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just Zelensky’s plan for victory for Ukraine like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston. And sometimes Elon Musk, stuff on the internet isn’t true. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded by Jerik Centeno and mixed by Bill Lancz. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from Ethan Oberman, Tyler Hill, Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. 

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