Jon Favreau

Favreau argues widespread anger at incumbent leadership in states and Congress will affect the midterm results.

“I think that there's something about incumbency and people just being fucking pissed at the leadership in their state and in Congress”

Pod Save America: Trump Plans to Shove What Where? (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 18:39

Favreau argues Democratic Senate candidates are outrunning the national party brand because far fewer voters see them as too far left.

“Only 35% say their actual Democratic Senate candidate is too far left. And so the candidate brands are all running, outrunning the national party brand”

Pod Save America: Trump Plans to Shove What Where? (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 11:07

Favreau argues that maximizing House gains in 2026 would help a future Democratic president pass an agenda after 2028.

“that's going to make it more likely for that Democratic president to actually be able to pass a real agenda through Congress”

Pod Save America: Choosin' Texas with Bobby Pulido (Sep 27, 2026) · Listen from 35:00

Favreau predicts Trump will claim fraud if Republicans lose the midterms.

“clearly, as sure as the sun comes up, is going to cry foul if Republicans lose the midterms”

Pod Save America: Trump's Explosive Diarrhea of the Mouth (Jul 17, 2026) · Listen from 13:37

Favreau argues growing, diversifying states like North Carolina and Texas are Democrats' long-term targets.

“North Carolina and Texas are states that not just this cycle, but many cycles into the future, Democrats just have to win at some point”

Pod Save America: Trump’s 4th Threesome (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:07

Favreau argues Democrats have convinced voters Trump is failing but not tied congressional Republicans to him.

“We have not done a good job persuading people that the Republicans in Congress are the primary reason that Trump has been able to make their lives worse”

Pod Save America: Trump’s 4th Threesome (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 53:12

Favreau argues the Iran war has achieved none of its stated objectives, including regime change or setbacks to Iran's nuclear program.

“They didn't destroy the regime. They didn't get the, they didn't make any progress on their nuclear program”

Pod Save America: The Primaries Will Continue Until Morale Improves (Jul 21, 2026) · Listen from 18:51

Favreau predicts the Iran war supplemental funding bill will not pass given vulnerable Republican senators.

“I got to say, I think that supplemental is never getting through”

Pod Save America: Trump Honors Dead Friend, Restarts War (Jul 14, 2026) · Listen from 43:17

Favreau argued Iran knows Trump will not resume bombing as the midterms approach, undermining his threat.

“iran knows that as we get closer to the midterms he's not going to go back to bombing them”

Pod Save America: LIVE(ish) from the Obama Presidential Center (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 48:41

Favreau interpreted Condoleezza Rice's op-ed as an attempt to flatter Trump about the war while steering him away from a deal that releases money to Iran.

“anti-anti-Trump Republican thing of being like, I think we can play him, right?”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 41:56

Favreau argues the White House's public pre-spinning of a deal is likely hurting negotiations with Iran.

“I don't think that all the pre spinning of what the deal is going to include from the White House is actually helping the negotiations”

Pod Save America: Trump and Pod Save America Agree: JD Is Lame (Jun 2, 2026) · Listen from 17:47

Favreau argues the war did nothing to set back Iran's nuclear program beyond Trump's earlier strikes.

“is Iran any further from developing a nuclear weapon than when this war started in February? No, we did nothing to push back the Iranian nuclear program”

Pod Save America: Is It Gay to Flip Texas? (May 29, 2026) · Listen from 7:02

Favreau says revelations about Platner have hurt him but the polling does not show the damage is fatal.

“I don't think anything in this poll shows that like what's happened is fatal”

Pod Save America: Trump’s 4th Threesome (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 1:14:06

Favreau argues Collins is more vulnerable than in 2020 because she has never faced a competitive race with a midterm electorate.

“She's never run a competitive race with a midterm electorate”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:21:19

Favreau said he would welcome replacing Platner with Janet Mills because winning the seat is what matters.

“It's not about Graham Platner. It's about winning the seat”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 57:57

Favreau said Platner's biggest problem is trust, and voters cannot be blamed for doubting him.

“The problem is, it's gonna be really hard to blame voters who wonder whether they can believe him”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 54:32

Favreau argues that the accumulating Platner stories create a trust problem he must work to address before November.

“there is a trust issue now that could become a bigger trust issue”

Pod Save America: Trump and Pod Save America Agree: JD Is Lame (Jun 2, 2026) · Listen from 57:00

Favreau cautioned that voters expecting quick gas price relief may be disappointed.

“Just because the price of oil is falling doesn't mean that the price of gas will as well”

Pod Save America: Pool Me Twice, Shame On You (Jun 23, 2026) · Listen from 18:45

Favreau predicts gas prices will fall by November but not return to pre-war levels.

“gas prices come down between now and November, but they don't end up where they were before this conflict started at all”

Pod Save America: 80-Year-Old Man Loses War (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 25:12

Favreau predicts the war's economic fallout will burden JD Vance in the 2028 Republican primary.

“This is going to be an issue for J.D. Vance in the Republican primary and whoever decides to run against him from outside the administration”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 26:40

Favreau predicted economic sentiment will not improve before Election Day even if the war ends immediately.

“I'm having a hard time imagining that people don't feel worse about the economy than they do today on Election Day”

Pod Save America: Strait Up War Crimes (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 37:37

Favreau says Iran is counting on American consumers' sensitivity to gas prices to create political problems for Trump.

“Iran is banking on the fact here that, you know, American consumers paying higher gas prices is going to cause a much bigger political problem for Donald Trump”

Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 23:28

Favreau warns that late-counted California ballots will likely produce an early Republican-leaning red mirage.

“high probability that this will have a red mirage in the voting as the returns come in, especially this year”

Pod Save America: Trump and Pod Save America Agree: JD Is Lame (Jun 2, 2026) · Listen from 44:56

Favreau says he voted for Katie Porter despite recognizing it was the least strategic choice.

“I just voted for Katie Porter because I like her and it's like I realized that she has it is the least strategic head”

Pod Save America: Trump and Pod Save America Agree: JD Is Lame (Jun 2, 2026) · Listen from 30:47

Favreau predicted the next California governor will be Steyer, Porter or Swalwell.

“like those are probably one of those three candidates is going to end up being governor”

Pod Save America: Strait Up War Crimes (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 1:01:06

Favreau said Trump's endorsement of Steve Hilton did for Democrats what their own campaigns had failed to do in the jungle primary.

“It's so funny. I think you and I talked about this and I was like, how have other Democratic campaigns not elevated one of the two Republicans by now?”

Pod Save America: Strait Up War Crimes (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 56:49

Favreau suggested Democrats copy Newsom's 2018 strategy of elevating a single Trump-aligned Republican such as Steve Hilton to consolidate GOP votes.

“I would imagine if they all decided we're going to all go after Steve Hilton, he's the boogeyman. He loves Trump. He's on Fox all the time and make him the big, the big bad guy”

Pod Save America: Blue Wave Building in the Strait of Hormuz (Mar 27, 2026) · Listen from 1:00:29

Favreau cited Washington Post reporting that a roughly $600 million contractor invoice showed half the ballroom's cost would be taxpayer-funded.

“they found an invoice to a contractor for like $600 million and that half of it was going to be taxpayer money”

Pod Save America: LIVE(ish) from the Obama Presidential Center (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:22

Favreau recommends that Democratic candidates tie their Republican opponents to the ballroom in every debate.

“I just think that is the easiest, easiest layup. I don't care if the question is about some local fucking issue”

Pod Save America: It's One Ballroom, Donald, How Much Could It Cost? (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 34:01

Favreau cited reporting that the administration is building the ballroom through a secret no-bid contract after inflating its value.

“The Trump administration basically is building this thing with a secret no-bid contract after inflating its value by three times”

Pod Save America: Political Violence Shocks Washington (Apr 28, 2026) · Listen from 21:50

Favreau, after initially doubting calls to demolish the ballroom, concludes it should be torn down.

“Yeah, I think you fucking take this thing down”

Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 55:28

Favreau argued the U.S. gained essentially nothing, since the strait was previously open international waters and will now be jointly controlled by Iran and Oman with fees.

“The theoretical opening of the Strait that Iran and Oman are going to jointly control and can charge fees whenever they want”

Pod Save America: LIVE(ish) from the Obama Presidential Center (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 48:10

Favreau argues Trump cannot simply wash his hands of the region because Iran can draw the U.S. back in by closing the strait.

“Iran, of course, knows that it can get us back into the whole thing just by closing the straight again”

Pod Save America: 80-Year-Old Man Loses War (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 15:33

Favreau argues the Iranian regime's survival would itself count as a victory for Tehran against the U.S. and Israel.

“For them, the regime surviving, even with all this damage, is a win for them because then they can say and they can show the world the United States and Israel gave it everything they had”

Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 16:07

Favreau said the worst of the oil crisis has not hit because supplies shipped before the war are still in circulation, and that fertilizer and other goods will also be affected.

“the worst of the oil crisis hasn't hit yet because there are still tankers that took off before the war began”

Pod Save America: Blue Wave Building in the Strait of Hormuz (Mar 27, 2026) · Listen from 11:19

Favreau says that as a Democratic president he would fire most ICE staff while still keeping immigration enforcement.

“i would fire most of the people in ice because i think they've hired a bunch of unqualified psychopaths”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 37:11

Favreau argues that public support for deportations rebounds when abuses leave the news, so Democrats and protesters must keep attention on them.

“You just got to keep reminding people and my people, you know, coming out and in Maine and Texas to protest. This is important to keep it in the news”

Pod Save America: The Primaries Will Continue Until Morale Improves (Jul 21, 2026) · Listen from 31:12

Favreau says Republicans could reopen the rest of DHS and fund ICE separately through reconciliation without Democratic votes.

“So just fucking open the rest of DHS like everyone else voted to do in the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, and then”

Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 44:28

Favreau argues establishment Democrats should defeat progressive challengers with better ideas rather than objecting to primaries being held.

“it's not the greatest argument to be like, how dare you run and how dare you upset our primaries”

Pod Save America: The Primaries Will Continue Until Morale Improves (Jul 21, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:41

Favreau suggests infighting in Trump's second-term White House is significant because the staff is composed mostly of loyalists.

“My guess on this is that the percentage of diehard loyalists is much higher in the second term”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 34:12

Favreau stated that Trump doubled his support among Black voters between 2020 and 2024.

“He doubled his support among black voters between 2020 and 2024”

Pod Save America: Will Raphael Warnock Hear the Call? (May 10, 2026) · Listen from 29:15

Favreau recommends Democrats message the January 6 payout fund daily as a plan to give taxpayer money to criminals.

“If they win, they have a secret plan to take your money and give it to criminals who beat cops and abuse children”

Pod Save America: Cage Match Inside the White House (Jun 12, 2026) · Listen from 48:09

Favreau argued that Republicans who opposed the fund could prove it by voting against the final bill.

“if it really counted and they really didn't want the fund, they could vote against the final bill”

Pod Save America: Trump's Versailles on the Potomac (Jun 5, 2026) · Listen from 13:04

Favreau argues the fund has no oversight or accountability and its payouts may never be disclosed.

“There's no oversight, no accountability over this fund whatsoever. We may never know who they pay, how much they pay them”

Pod Save America: Trump's Revenge Leads to Republican Revolt (May 22, 2026) · Listen from 10:46

Favreau suggests the only strategy that might have helped Republicans was Trump not endorsing Paxton so John Cornyn could win the primary.

“i guess the strategy would have been donald trump not endorsing him and letting john cornyn win”

Pod Save America: Trump Plans to Shove What Where? (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 41:57

Favreau argues Democrats should frame the race around Paxton harming Texans rather than merely his bad character.

“It is very easy to turn this into a race about what a bad person Ken Paxton is. And I think it would be a mistake to just just talk about Ken Paxton as a bad person”

Pod Save America: Is It Gay to Flip Texas? (May 29, 2026) · Listen from 51:54

Favreau says Ocasio-Cortez's main risk in a presidential run is being seen as too left, and that her careful endorsements suggest she is preparing accordingly.

“her risk is that she's seen as too left and too extreme and she's seen all the polling data”

Pod Save America: The Primaries Will Continue Until Morale Improves (Jul 21, 2026) · Listen from 1:08:16

Favreau says Harris would need to genuinely take responsibility for her past handling of Gaza.

“Like I was wrong or I made a mistake or I came to this too late”

Pod Save America: Trump’s 4th Threesome (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 46:11

Favreau argues most Americans would reject a system in which the administration decides who is a citizen.

“your citizenship is determined not by your birth, not by where your parents are from, but by Donald Trump and Stephen Miller”

Pod Save America: Trump’s 4th Threesome (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 26:45

Favreau notes that even the restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies estimates birth tourism at only about 20,000 cases a year.

“But even they say that this is they put birth tourism at roughly 20,000 cases a year”

Pod Save America: Trump’s 4th Threesome (Jul 2, 2026) · Listen from 25:29

Favreau said he was weighing whether a Democratic Congress should impeach Trump over corruption, noting impeachment is the constitutional remedy.

“when he's stealing from the American people, the remedy in the Constitution is to impeach the guy”

Pod Save America: Pool Me Twice, Shame On You (Jun 23, 2026) · Listen from 59:57

Favreau argues that simply restoring Justice Department independence will not stop a future Trump, so bigger reforms are needed.

“the idea that the next democratic president is just going to be like, well, the justice department is independent again”

Pod Save America: Trump Admits He's for He/Him, Not You (May 15, 2026) · Listen from 24:49

Favreau argued that the Declaration of Independence has fallen out of favor with national conservatives because activists used it to demand equality.

“Which, by the way, is why it has fallen out of favor with J.D. Vance and some of the national conservatives today”

Pod Save America: What Does it Mean to Be an American? (May 31, 2026) · Listen from 41:52

Favreau argued that the ability of anyone to become American is the core of American exceptionalism.

“anyone can come to America and become American. And like that, that is a very that is a unique, exceptional quality of America”

Pod Save America: What Does it Mean to Be an American? (May 31, 2026) · Listen from 18:36