Ep. 54 | Broken Promises, Bad Optics, and the Rise of American Socialism

Rivera and Reeves | Insider Feed

0:00

-1:06:37

Paid episode

The full episode is only available to paid subscribers of Rivera and Reeves

Ep. 54 | Broken Promises, Bad Optics, and the Rise of American Socialism

From Trump's defensive cabinet meeting to NYC's new socialist mayor candidate, we break down the messaging disasters and radical victories reshaping American politics.

Meseidy

and

Rachel Reeves

Jul 10, 2025

∙ Paid

Hey friends! We're back with another episode where we're diving DEEP into the messaging disasters coming out of this administration. We're talking about the Epstein files situation that has the MAGA base absolutely volcanic (Charlie Kirk's words, not ours), Trump's defensive cabinet meeting response that had us texting each other like "DID YOU SEE THAT?!", and Pam Bondi's theatrical binder rollout that left everyone feeling sandbagged.

But wait, there's more! We're also breaking down the communist takeover of the Democrat Party through the lens of NYC's new golden boy Zoran Mamdani (we're calling him "Mom Donnie" because why not). This dude is Castro 2.0 - charming, educated, privileged, and talking about seizing the means of production with a smile. The Democrats are literally handing their party over to radicals while normie leadership sits there like deer in headlights.

Rachel gets heated about optics (because OPTICS MATTER, people!), Mercedes goes on a rant about weak Democrat leadership, and we both agree that when you promise transparency and deliver theater instead, you lose the very voters who got you there. This episode is a masterclass in how NOT to manage political messaging and why the under-30 crowd is about to burn it all down.

Buckle up - we're not holding back on this one!

Episode Highlights

The Epstein Files Meltdown: Trump's defensive cabinet meeting response was pure theater and showed this administration bungling messaging worse than we've seen in months.
Pam Bondi's Binder Disaster: The Attorney General's document rollout was so poorly executed that even MAGA influencers felt sandbagged and the White House was reportedly furious.
The Online Right Revolts: Charlie Kirk says the under-30 crowd went "volcanic" over broken Epstein promises, and these are voters Trump can't afford to lose.
Meet Castro 2.0: Zoran Mamdani won NYC's Democratic primary by being a charming, privileged communist who literally talks about seizing the means of production with a smile.
Democrat Party Weakness: Hakeem Jeffries and establishment Democrats are soft-peddling around Mamdani instead of calling out his radical agenda, effectively handing their party to socialists.

Listen for Free

Love what you’re hearing and want even more? Join us as a paid supporter on Substack! As a subscriber, you’ll unlock ad-free podcast episodes, full access to our archives, and exclusive subscriber-only perks like bonus content, behind-the-scenes updates, and our in-the-moment reaction videos. Plus, you’ll be directly supporting our mission to cut through the media spin and deliver sharp, honest analysis every week.

Your subscription helps us stay independent and keep creating the content you love. So why wait? Support the show and subscribe today!

Get R&R Merch!

Our official merchandise store is NOW OPEN! 🛍️ We've launched with our first four items to get things started, including coffee mugs, oversize t-shirt and a tote bag. You can check out everything available right now.