Josh Turek
Iowa state legislator, Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa
Josh Turek (Iowa state legislator, Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include 2026 United States midterm elections, Roundup (herbicide), Agriculture in Iowa.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
2026 United States midterm elections
- Prediction · due Nov 2026
Turek predicts Iowa could flip three congressional seats and provide the 51st Senate seat for Democratic control.
“I believe it's Iowa and we can win this and we can win it with a candidate like me”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:22:00
Turek argues he is the more electable Democrat because he overperformed in a Trump-won district by a wide margin.
“And I was able to win my district by nearly six points. That is 50% more overperformance than any other Democrat in the state”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:18:30
Roundup (herbicide)
Turek links Iowa's rising cancer rates to nitrate and pesticide levels in the water and proposes incentives and EPA enforcement.
“there is a direct correlation to what we're seeing with the nitrate levels, with the pesticide levels that is leading unquestionably to the cancer rates”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:15:48
Agriculture in Iowa
Turek says Iowa now leads the nation in farm foreclosures and that a quarter to a third of farmers lack fertilizer ahead of planting season.
“you're looking at now somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of Iowa farmers do not have fertilizer”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:12:54
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Turek calls Trump's mockery of learning disabilities the behavior of a bully and urges disabled young people not to be defined by it.
“I've dealt with bullies my whole life and we've got a bully in the Oval Office”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:07:10
Budget reconciliation in the United States
Turek contrasts war spending with health care cuts, saying 110,000 Iowans lost coverage and clinics are closing statewide.
“110,000 Iowans lose their health care benefits. Thousands more lose their homes. food assistance”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:05:30
United States war with Iran
Turek says Iowa has already lost three National Guard members in the conflict and calls it an unnecessary forever war.
“We've already lost three Iowans because the base that was hit in Kuwait, those were largely National Guardsmen from Iowa”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:19
Agent Orange
Turek says his spina bifida resulted from his father's Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam and required 21 surgeries before age 12.
“born with a condition called spina bifida due to my father's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 59:02
Predictions
1 pending
- Prediction · due Nov 2026
Turek predicts Iowa could flip three congressional seats and provide the 51st Senate seat for Democratic control.
“I believe it's Iowa and we can win this and we can win it with a candidate like me”
Pod Save America: SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts (Mar 31, 2026) · Listen from 1:22:00 · 2026 United States midterm elections
Appearances
SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care CutsPod Save America · Mar 31, 2026 · 1 h 31 min
Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett dissect Trump's Iran war, its economic fallout and the GOP's health-care-funded war bill, before Tommy Vietor interviews Iowa Senate candidate Josh Turek.
Discussed in
The Search for an Exciting ModeratePod Save America · Jul 26, 2026 · 1 h 15 min
Jon Favreau and Matt Yglesias debate how a moderate, center-left Democrat could gain attention, win the 2028 presidential primary, and appeal to swing voters.
Cage Match Inside the White HousePod Save America · Jun 12, 2026 · 1 h 41 min
Jon Favreau and Alex Wagner discuss Trump's Iran deal claims, inflation remarks, White House infighting and the Epstein saga, then Ron Brownstein analyzes the 2026 midterm map.
Trump and Pod Save America Agree: JD Is LamePod Save America · Jun 2, 2026 · 1 h 36 min
Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor discuss Trump's abandoned slush fund, Iran talks, California, Iowa and Maine primaries, and JD Vance; Senator Andy Kim describes Delaney Hall.
Did Trump's Supreme Court Rig the Midterms?Pod Save America · May 1, 2026 · 1 h 41 min
Dan Pfeiffer and Alex Wagner discuss the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling, Trump's grudges and Hegseth's testimony; Tommy Vietor interviews Iowa Senate candidate Zach Wahls.
Often appears with
- Jon Favreau · 1 shared episode
- Jon Lovett · 1 shared episode
- Tommy Vietor · 1 shared episode