Tim Miller had sterling credentials as a top GOP operative, working for the RNC, John McCain, Jeb Bush, Jon Huntsman and more...until he felt increasingly alienated as Donald Trump took over the party. In this conversation, he talks his path out of Republican politics - chronicled in his bestselling book WHY WE DID IT - and how the past several years of GOP politics led to the wholescale Trump takeover of the party. This is a great discussion with one of the most brutally honest observers of American politics, who’s had a front row seat to the most important political phenomenon in decades.
IN THIS EPISODE…
Tim’s path to working in politics…
The early threads Tim saw of the Trump movement in the GOP…
Tim talks his role helping write and promote the infamous post-2012 GOP autopsy…
The moment Tim realized most of the GOP political class would throw in their lot with Trump…
The Corey Lewandowski Theorem…
Tim talks the rivalry between Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney…
Rumors of the negotiations of a possible 2016 Rubio / Cruz pact to stop Trump…
Memories of Lindsay Graham’s vitriolic anti-Trump sermons…
The Breitbart Embassy…
Tim talks the time he's spent around Steve Bannon…
Tim best practices of placing political opposition research…
Tim on the “ruthlessness” gap between the Democratic and Republican political class…
The story of the Independent Journal Review as a glimpse into the GOP base...
Tim’s creative take on the various type of Trump apologists...
Tim defines “nerd revengers”…
Tim’s level of optimism the GOP can pull back from the Trump brink…
Tim’s LSU football fandom…
AND Greg Abbot, George Allen, amnesty, avatars, bags of hammers, Paul Begala, bets with Grandma, blocking and tackling, Dan Bongino, Bruce Braley, Buchaninites, the Bulwark, Jeb Bush, James Carville, Catalist, the Chicago Cubs, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, cloak and dagger, Scott Conroy, the cool kids table, Council Bluffs, Daily Caller, Mitch Daniels, Death Valley, Ron DeSantis, Bob Dole, dorks and nerds, Matt Drudge, the Everglades, Alyssa Farah, Mark Hanna, hatchet men, Chuck Johnson, Brian Kelly, Ted Kennedy, Charlie Kirk, love children, John McCain, William McKinley, H.R. McMaster, meme culture, Mother Jones, mutual fund managers, National Review, Ralph Northam, Ed Orgeron, Bill Owens, Sarah Palin, plutocrats, Reince Preibus, Ronald Reagan, Todd Ricketts, Nick Saban, Mike Shields, Alex Skatell, Sean Spicer, squishes, Elise Stefanik, George Stephanopoulos, Stuart Stevens, Tea Party weirdos, John Thune, Tiger Island, traffic hoses, Sean Trende, unique psychopathy, Upworthy, Dick Wadhams, Scott Walker, the Wall Street Journal, the World Series, YOLO mode & more!