The Chuck ToddCast

Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon — the Jacksonville union organizer and DSA member who upset Alex Vindman in the Senate primary despite being outraised roughly 16-to-1 — joins the Chuck ToddCast. She explains how she got into politics through community organizing, why she associates with the DSA while not agreeing with everything it wants, and argues Democrats lost Florida because they divested from the state after 2018 rather than because of ideology. She describes being assigned a basement office with rats as punishment in Tallahassee, calls the Florida legislature pay-to-play but still workable, and lays out what she'd do in the Senate: repeal the Big Beautiful Bill, extend ACA subsidies, get big money out of politics, and fund HBCUs. She won't commit to voting for Chuck Schumer.
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For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Angie Nixon joins the Chuck ToddCast
01:00 From community organizing to the statehouse
05:30 Why the DSA — and where she parts ways with it
08:30 How Democrats lost Florida, and why divestment did it
14:30 Rats in the basement: corruption and pay-to-play in Tallahassee
20:45 What she wants to do in the Senate
26:30 Venezuelans afraid to leave the house, and Florida's political swings
32:30 Fixing the Democratic Party — and not committing to Schumer
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens with the attempted hijacking of a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight and the reminder that history turns as much on what almost happened as what did. With 33 days to the midterms, Ken Paxton got caught on tape at a private event calling Trump's midterm convention a negative — and is now in full cleanup mode, nervous about having crossed the president. Chuck returns to the Eric Schmitt debacle as a window into the intellectual rot of the Trump-era GOP: nobody in the room double-checked the facts, because loyalty is now valued over competence and the conclusion arrives before the evidence. He also unpacks Trump's White House AI summit, where six tech CEOs signed a one-page "morally binding" accord and Trump formally renamed AI "superintelligence" by executive order — a self-policing pact that does nothing for Republicans whose own voters are frightened of this technology.
Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and previews the upcoming weekend in college football.
18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: CHUCKTODD
http://kalshi.com/r/CHUCKTODD
Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.
For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
08:00 The attempted hijacking and the history that almost happened
11:45 Paxton caught on tape, and a campaign in cleanup mode
17:45 The Schmitt incident and the intellectual rot of the Trump GOP
27:30 Trump's AI summit, the "superintelligence" rebrand, and a self-policing pact
31:15 The issues polling best don't help Republicans at all
36:30 An economic backdrop the GOP can't ignore
39:45 The off-ramps Trump won't take
43:00 Voter exhaustion, instability, and what comes after a wipeout
00:52:30 Ask Chuck
00:52:45 Book recommendation about the “butterfly effect” in history
00:54:30 Thoughts on your monologue on fixing public ed
00:56:15 Why aren’t Democrats putting more resources into Texas?
01:00:45 Would you have a former FBI agent on the pod to discuss changes at FBI?
01:02:00 Can a self-described Democratic socialist like AOC win in America?
01:07:00 College football preview
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens with the attempted hijacking of a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight and the reminder that history turns as much on what almost happened as what did. With 33 days to the midterms, Ken Paxton got caught on tape at a private event calling Trump's midterm convention a negative — and is now in full cleanup mode, nervous about having crossed the president. Chuck returns to the Eric Schmitt debacle as a window into the intellectual rot of the Trump-era GOP: nobody in the room double-checked the facts, because loyalty is now valued over competence and the conclusion arrives before the evidence. He also unpacks Trump's White House AI summit, where six tech CEOs signed a one-page "morally binding" accord and Trump formally renamed AI "superintelligence" by executive order — a self-policing pact that does nothing for Republicans whose own voters are frightened of this technology.

Then, Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon — the Jacksonville union organizer and DSA member who upset Alex Vindman in the Senate primary despite being outraised roughly 16-to-1 — joins the Chuck ToddCast. She explains how she got into politics through community organizing, why she associates with the DSA while not agreeing with everything it wants, and argues Democrats lost Florida because they divested from the state after 2018 rather than because of ideology. She describes being assigned a basement office with rats as punishment in Tallahassee, calls the Florida legislature pay-to-play but still workable, and lays out what she'd do in the Senate: repeal the Big Beautiful Bill, extend ACA subsidies, get big money out of politics, and fund HBCUs. She won't commit to voting for Chuck Schumer.

Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and previews the upcoming weekend in college football.

18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: CHUCKTODD
http://kalshi.com/r/CHUCKTODD
Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.
For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
08:00 The attempted hijacking and the history that almost happened
11:45 Paxton caught on tape, and a campaign in cleanup mode
17:45 The Schmitt incident and the intellectual rot of the Trump GOP
27:30 Trump's AI summit, the "superintelligence" rebrand, and a self-policing pact
31:15 The issues polling best don't help Republicans at all
36:30 An economic backdrop the GOP can't ignore
39:45 The off-ramps Trump won't take
43:00 Voter exhaustion, instability, and what comes after a wipeout
00:55:45 Angie Nixon joins the Chuck ToddCast
00:56:45 From community organizing to the statehouse
01:01:15 Why the DSA — and where she parts ways with it
01:04:15 How Democrats lost Florida, and why divestment did it
01:10:15 Rats in the basement: corruption and pay-to-play in Tallahassee
01:16:30 What she wants to do in the Senate
01:22:15 Venezuelans afraid to leave the house, and Florida's political swings
01:28:15 Fixing the Democratic Party — and not committing to Schumer
1:35:15 Ask Chuck
1:35:30 Book recommendation about the “butterfly effect” in history
1:37:15 Thoughts on your monologue on fixing public ed
1:39:00 Why aren’t Democrats putting more resources into Texas?
1:42:30 Would you have a former FBI agent on the pod to discuss changes at FBI?
1:44:45 Can a self-described Democratic socialist like AOC win in America?
1:49:45 College football preview
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash joins the Chuck ToddCast to discuss The Elections That Changed the World, out September 22nd, which she wrote with David Fisher. The fifteen elections she chose stretch from Julius Caesar — who ran partly because he was deeply indebted and didn't want to be prosecuted — to Nelson Mandela, and "election" is defined loosely enough to include Pope John XXIII's selection and Martin Luther King's informal elevation to lead the Montgomery bus boycott. The through-line is money: wealth shaped nearly every one of them, from the Magna Carta to Caesar effectively buying votes. Bash's larger point is that you rarely know in the moment how consequential a vote will be — Germany in 1932 was a revolution disguised as an election. Plus her five favorite 2026 races, why Michigan is fascinating, and what it's like covering a second-term Trump White House.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Dana Bash joins The Chuck ToddCast
01:00 Why write "The Elections That Changed the World"?
05:45 Caesar, Hitler, and the cautionary tales
08:00 Wealth as the through-line from the Magna Carta forward
16:30 Sun Yat-Sen and the bridge between imperial China and Mao
22:30 Pope John XXIII and modernizing the Catholic Church
26:30 Kasturba Gandhi, Golda Meir, and women leading democracies
33:45 Mandela's election and the limits of judging history in real time
45:00 2026 races to watch: Michigan, Lawler, Iowa, Texas
59:30 Covering a second-term Trump White House
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens by correcting Jon Stewart, who made him a punchline Monday — before turning to the circus at Tuesday's Jack Smith hearing. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, a potential 2028 VP pick, thought he'd caught Smith perjuring himself with text messages placing him at an Atlanta Hawks game the day after the Fani Willis affair broke. Smith was at an Iowa Hawkeyes women's game in Maryland. Klobuchar spotted the mix-up, Schmitt never backtracked, and Chuck's point is the deeper one: Schmitt decided the conclusion before the evidence and displayed exactly the confirmation bias he was accusing Smith of. If evidence can't change your worldview, what's the point of evidence? The second half is a substantive argument that the voucher experiment has hit a dead end — it never moved low-income kids into private schools, it mostly subsidized families already paying tuition, and school funding may be a real reason Republicans lose in November. He also explains why focusing on improving pre-k through 3rd grade education should be a national project.
Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 2026 midterm results that will most impact the 2028 race and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.
18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: CHUCKTODD
http://kalshi.com/r/CHUCKTODD
Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.
For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
01:45 Jon Stewart, NBC, and setting the record straight
03:15 Which Republicans will actually campaign with Trump
09:15 The Schmitt-Jack Smith hearing debacle
13:15 Confirmation bias and what evidence is even for
16:15 What Jack Smith was actually investigating
22:45 Public education as an American advantage
25:30 The voucher experiment and whether competition worked
30:00 What Mississippi got right, and why pre-K through 3rd grade is everything
40:45 Vouchers hit a dead end — and the political price
47:30 Alabama's TikTok settlement and the limits of blaming teachers
00:57:45 ToddCast Top 5 2026 results that will most impact 2028
00:58:00 #5 Does an independent break through?
01:00:15 #4 California’s wealth tax
01:01:45 #3 Texas senate
01:03:15 #2 Texas governor
01:04:45 #1 Michigan senate
01:06:45 Ask Chuck
01:07:00 How would a mega-tsunami election affect committee assignments?
01:11:45 Is there a value in running uphill races beyond winning?
01:16:15 Will Republicans act with more independence from Trump after midterms?
01:18:45 If enough independents won and didn’t caucus, who would have control?
01:23:30 Favorite sports + political movies? Should Trump impeachment have been broader?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.