Alex Wagner

Wagner cautioned against drawing broad conclusions about outsider candidates from the Platner case.

“Nobody should take a broad lesson about outsiders from the Platner”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 34:59

Wagner said there was always latent misogyny in how Platner's supporters dismissed Janet Mills.

“I feel like there's like there was always like latent misogyny around it”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 22:05

Wagner worried that Nirav Shah's CDC background would bring COVID-related political baggage.

“but it's extra baggage in these insane and tumultuous times”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 15:49

Wagner called for moderated public debates or town halls among replacement candidates before delegates choose a nominee.

“I would love to see some kind of public format where they're, whether it's debate, town hall, whatever, that's moderated”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 10:27

Wagner argued that Platner's exit video absurdly implied his accuser was a crisis actor used by the Democratic establishment to push him out.

“I guess we're meant to believe that a rape victim is a crisis actor, and that crisis acting is being used by the Democratic establishment to get Graham Platner out of the race”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 4:04

Wagner argued that if the allegations are true, Platner's masculinity is as toxic as what the right offers, undermining his appeal as an alternative.

“this kind of masculinity, if this stuff is true, is just as fucking toxic as everything being served on the right”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 53:58

Wagner argued the apparently subsidized Freedom Fuel stations show Trump is a socialist.

“like I sort of delight in it because it is further proof that Donald Trump is a socialist”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 53:58

Wagner argues Trump's lack of empathy on inflation undermines his party's ability to manage the political fallout.

“if he's going to try and manage the political reality that he and his party are facing, you got to start the sentence with empathy”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 23:35

Wagner argues that gas prices will not fall quickly even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens, due to shipping and refinery disruptions.

“The gas prices are not going down, even if the Strait of Hormuz opens back up tomorrow”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 25:57

Wagner criticized Senator Bill Cassidy for squandering a chance to redeem himself by refusing to back the Democratic amendment.

“This was the one chance Bill Cassidy had to redeem his reputation, his stature as a statesman”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 9:30

Wagner argued that Blanche's assurance the fund was dead is meaningless because he will do whatever Trump wants, so Congress must outlaw it.

“If Todd Blanch says on Monday – The slush fund is gone. And Trump says on Tuesday, I love it”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 9:48

Wagner highlights reporting that IRS lawyers wrote a memo concluding Trump's lawsuit would not stand up in court.

“IRS lawyers compiled a 25-page memo that was supposed to be sent to the Justice Department saying, hey, guys, listen, Trump's lawsuit isn't going to stand up in court”

Pod Save America: 50 Shades of Legal Gray (May 24, 2026) · Listen from 5:17

Wagner contends that any resolution with Iran will involve covert payments to the Iranian regime despite official denials of sanctions relief.

“We are going to buy any kind of resolution that happens here”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 15:49

Wagner argues Trump will bear responsibility for civilian deaths in Iran for a deal inferior to the JCPOA.

“Donald Trump will own every single one of those deaths for a deal that looks like it will be nothing on par with the JCPOA”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 11:28

Wagner called on Paramount's entertainment talent to speak out, arguing only they could pressure the Ellisons.

“It's another thing for everybody who's on a Tyler Sheridan show to say, hey, you can't gut the fourth estate just because you want to make money”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 1:09:32

Wagner argued the Ellisons are gutting 60 Minutes to curry favor with Trump and secure the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

“the best way to do that and ensure that they can proceed with the paramount Warner Brothers discovery merger, which is supposed to happen as soon as next month”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 1:08:03

Wagner argued detention conditions are deliberately made so harsh that detainees abandon their legal cases.

“one of the things they're doing is making life so abominable that people just decide I'm going to give up on my case”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 18:13

Wagner cited reporting estimating that about 200,000 deported parents have been separated from their children.

“By her estimate, I think 200,000 parents have been deported and separated from their children”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 14:58

Wagner challenges El-Sayed for framing Israel aid and domestic spending as a zero-sum choice.

“I think you've made it a zero-sum game between, like, funding for, for example, schools and aid to Israel”

Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:39

Wagner argued the unresolved dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz will keep harming the global economy and Republicans before the midterms.

“that is an unresolved dispute that is going to continue to fuck the global economy and could make life incredibly painful for Republicans heading into the midterms”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 49:11

Wagner argued Platner's appeal reflected a crisis in how the left responds to MAGA-style masculinity.

“there's a real crisis right now in terms of how the left responds to MAGA style masculinity”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 36:33

Wagner cites Washington Post reporting that the ballroom will cost $600 million, roughly half from taxpayers.

“The cost of the ballroom, that monstrosity, is going to cost $600 million with approximately half of that coming from taxpayer wallets”

Pod Save America: Heather Cox Richardson on Trump’s 250th Celebrations (Jun 21, 2026) · Listen from 25:01

Wagner argues that Juneteenth became an alternative Fourth of July this year for people who felt excluded by Trump's celebrations.

“has become kind of an alternative Fourth of July for a lot of people who feel completely excluded from Trump's, you know, malignant narcissism”

Pod Save America: Heather Cox Richardson on Trump’s 250th Celebrations (Jun 21, 2026) · Listen from 14:45

Wagner argues there should be much more public discussion of Trump's fitness for office and transparency about his health.

“I do think we should all be talking a lot more about his fitness for office”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:02

Wagner argues Bill Pulte should be kept out of the intelligence community, even at the cost of holding up FISA reauthorization.

“That man needs to be locked out of the intelligence infrastructure and get a restraining order, basically”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 38:14

Wagner said Spencer Pratt's strong showing shows Democrats are failing to address voters' concerns even in deep-blue Los Angeles.

“Democrats are having a really hard time articulating a message that is addressing people's deep seated concerns”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 46:33

Wagner argued Pulte was appointed to help Trump claim fraud in the 2020 election and potentially contest the 2026 midterms.

“he's being put in there for one reason only, and that is to help Trump find a reason to say that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 32:20