Caroline Reston
Appearances
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
So in 2020, when Biden was president-elect, Trump and his administration famously stonewalled the transition. What does that even mean? What what are the stakes for Stonewalling an incoming presidency? And what literally are they doing to stop the transfer of information?
Pod Save America
What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
I didn't see that you wrote that. I mean, I've been here six years. I'm like an old vet.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
So is Biden and his team just not getting information during that time?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
You know, I want to ask this question earlier, but I saw that Trump was at the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris and had a meeting with McCall, the president of France, and the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy. Is that normal for an incoming president to be meeting with other world leaders? And is Biden ever clued in on what they're talking about because they had a closed door meeting?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Also, I just want to point out that Obama, post being a president, got into podcasting. So he kind of is following in your footsteps.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
The closed door meeting that happened after is.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
I would say that's like kind of the perk of being the president elect. It's like, you know what? I'm going to go to Greece and meet with the princess. Yeah. So looking now at president elect and his transitional team, it is helmed by Linda McMahon. I, by the way, I've been really loving looking at her old videos of getting like body slammed. Nothing like a half Nelson to scream.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
No, I mean, he did. So you were both part of the Obama transition committee. What does that mean? What were your roles? What did you do? Tell me all about it.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Um, what should the Trump administration and their transition team be focusing on right now?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Yeah, it's really interesting watching it from the difference from 2016. I feel like this this time it's feeling much more like politics as usual. Like it just seems more formal and like they have their shit together, even though it's like math. It's like a small bandaid on chaos that's underneath.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
This is a great time for me to ask this question that I've been dying to talk to you both about. RFK. I don't know if you guys saw this story. It was reported that there is a job application process that is asking some batshit questions. Let me give you one example. This is per The Independent. One section asked applicants to pick three or more attitudes that suit them as such.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Quote, I require excessive admiration. Or I quote, I don't have that much interest in having a sexual experience with another person. Another was I believe in many things. Others don't like having a sixth sense, clairvoyance and telepathy. And as an adolescent, I had bizarre fantasies or preoccupations. Is this normal?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Okay, so that's not normal. What is a typical question you are asked?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
All right, here's my last question for you guys before we wrap up. And this is honestly something I've been thinking throughout. Is there a petty part of you deep down inside that wishes the Biden administration was just like, fuck you. I'm not telling you anything. I'm going to stonewall this, like doing exactly what Trump did to Biden back in 2020.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
If anyone in the Biden administration is listening to this, hide all the remotes. Like that's a very innocuous, petty thing you can do is hide them. Even better. That's great.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
I love that the way we used to announce cabinet picks was like a debutante ball and not just like on Twitter.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Including ethics requirements.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Would have been so much easier. So you're talking about how previously before even winning the election, you are already prepping, even though you feel like it's bad juju. OK, you won. What is happening the next day?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
I think what you guys are talking about is something I actually didn't know existed, which is the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, which requires GSA to provide office-based administrative support to the president-elect. So looking at the Biden administration right now, when does the new president-elect start to get looped in? How does that whole literal transition process start?
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
And how does that work? When is Trump getting clued in to what's going on? After they become the nominee.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
Are nominees being told that the Syrian regime is on the brink? like top national security information when they're the nominee.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
In 2009, the Obama administration was coming into office a huge recession. And I know we talked a little bit, you were just talking about how the outgoing administration has to loop in the incoming administration. But when something like a huge economic crisis is happening, what does that look like? I imagine you need to hit the ground running.
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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition
What are the things you're doing day one when you're the nominee on something like that? Were the Bush folks like nice to you?