Chuck Todd opens with a programming note—the ToddCast moves to a Monday/Thursday schedule for July and August—before digging into the fallout from Zohran Mamdani-endorsed candidates sweeping New York's primaries. Chuck unpacks who powered the wins (younger, white progressives), argues that Mamdani's affordability focus rather than his endorsements was the real galvanizing force, and examines how Israel has become a litmus test on a left that, like MAGA, increasingly has little patience for the pluralism Chuck calls the heart of the American experiment—warning that when every issue becomes a litmus test, disagreement turns into something punishable. He weighs whether this is a singular New York moment or a broader realignment in which two uncompromising factions come to dominate both parties, with Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate bid shaping up as the next big test. From there, Chuck turns to Trump blowing a chance to show voters he cares about affordability by refusing to sign a housing bill that already has veto-proof majorities—and how the president keeps making it nearly impossible for the GOP to govern heading into a brutal midterm stretch he's brought on himself. Finally, an alarming look at Pete Hegseth's overt politicization of the military: the firing of respected leaders like Chris Donahue, purges that appear to target officers for their race, gender, what they know, or their willingness to push back on illegal orders, the removal of the JAGs and the Pentagon press corps, and why Chuck argues that whoever Hegseth wants out may be exactly who the country needs leading it next. 

Then, Matt Bennett — co-founder and executive vice president of the center-left think tank Third Way — joins the Chuck Toddcast to offer a pragmatist's anxious assessment of what the Mamdani-led DSA surge in New York actually means for the future of the Democratic Party. Bennett's central worry is whether the New York primaries represent a genuine "Tea Party moment" for the left — which he frankly admits would be scary for Democrats — though he takes some comfort in the fact that the three districts Mamdani candidates won are extraordinarily deep blue, and argues the national Democratic electorate simply isn't as extreme as the Republican base, making the party much harder to hijack than the GOP was. Bennett draws a crucial distinction in how these races were actually won: Mamdani himself won on affordability, but many of his endorsees won on Israel, where anti-Israel sentiment has become the number-one voting issue for New York progressives. He's careful but direct on the antisemitism question — not all of the far-left are antisemites, he says, but they are increasingly making common cause with them, pointing to the antisemitic abuse Dan Goldman faced during his campaign — and argues that while antisemitism won't ultimately eat the Democratic Party, it absolutely needs to be contained. Bennett is sharply critical of the self-inflicted wounds of progressive governance (decriminalizing shoplifting was a disaster, he says), and argues the broader problem is that left-coded "performative nonsense" fundamentally changed how voters see the party — that the country rejected both Biden's progressive overreach and the left's woke cultural politics, and that Biden's real mistake was bragging he was the most progressive president since FDR.

The conversation broadens into a rich strategic discussion about 2028 and the soul of the party. Bennett argues that parties are ultimately defined by their nominee, so Democrats will be fine if they simply get that choice right, and frames the Michigan Senate primary — where he's skeptical Abdul El-Sayed can beat Mike Rogers — as a fascinating case study in the tension between charisma and electability. He makes the case that charisma genuinely matters (Mamdani and El-Sayed have it), that "boring doesn't work" in modern politics, and that the biggest open question for 2028 is whether a center-left candidate can successfully run as a genuine change agent — because the status quo is extremely broken, and no one can win by running to preserve it. Bennett offers some encouraging signs for his wing of the party: Iowa is drifting back toward Democrats, James Talarico is a genuinely strong candidate in Texas, and candidate quality still matters enormously. He and Chuck dig into why Palestine became the defining progressive cause rather than the plight of the Uighurs, how social media and the collapse of civics education have sealed people into ideological bubbles, and why the word "socialism" means Norway to some voters and Cuba to others. Bennett argues that Netanyahu has personally turned off a generation of young Americans to Israel — and that if Israelis remove him, it could serve as a genuine relief valve for Democrats — and closes with a series of pointed predictions: Schumer should make clear soon that he won't run for leader again, Warren and Murphy are too far-left-coded to unify the party, both wings could actually rally around Brian Schatz as leader, and the Mamdani story, for all the panic it's generated, is ultimately a minor earthquake rather than a major fracture.

Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

00:15 Programming Note: July & August the ToddCast will be on M/TH only

03:30 Fallout from Mamdani endorsed candidates sweeping NYC primaries

04:30 Younger, white progressives powered Mamdani’s candidates

05:00 Mamdani was smart about where he spent his political capital

06:15 Unlikely there’s a wider swath of voters open to socialism

08:30 Mamdani’s affordability focus was galvanizing, not his endorsees

09:15 Israel has become a litmus test for some on the left

09:45 MAGA, and increasingly the progressive left don’t appreciate pluralism

10:15 Pluralism IS the American experiment

11:00 When every issue is a litmus test, disagreement becomes punishable

14:00 Many Jewish Americans felt very unsettled by the results

16:00 Is this New York’s moment, or a broader ideological realignment?

17:30 Two factions not interested in compromise could dominate both parties

19:00 Both parties used to move to the center to win elections, less so lately

19:45 The DSA could create discomfort with centrist voters like MAGA does

21:30 The next test will be with the candidacy of Abdul El-Sayed in MI

23:45 Mamdani is an incredibly smart and calculating leader of DSA movement

26:15 Despite better organization, DSA has less chance of taking over the party

29:00 It’s still early, but it feels like the left is on the march

29:30 Trump meets with senate GOP after refusing to sign housing bill

30:30 Trump blew a chance to show voters he cares about affordability

31:00 Trump turned meeting into an airing of grievances

31:45 The bill has veto proof majorities even if Trump doesn’t sign it

33:00 Trump is hurting the Republicans politically ahead of the midterms

33:45 Trump makes it almost impossible for the GOP to govern

34:45 It’s going to be a miserable 2 years for Trump, has only himself to blame

36:00 Pete Hegseth is overtly trying to politicize the military

36:30 Military leadership wants to stay out of the political fray

37:30 One of these generals they force out could become next POTUS

39:00 Chris Donahue is quintessential military leader, fired by Hegseth

40:00 Donahue was viewed as a future chairman of the joint chiefs

41:15 Confirming Hegseth is biggest black eye on the record of Tom Thillis

42:00 All military leaders make personnel changes, this is different

42:30 Hegseth is removing leaders simply for being black or women

44:00 Hegseth is firing people for what they know or what they’ve seen

45:00 He also fires officers for when they push back on illegal orders

45:45 Hegseth removed the JAGS to avoid “legal roadblocks”

47:45 Hegseth is trying to force his religious beliefs on the entire military

49:15 We’ve never had a comparable purge in our military

50:45 The Pentagon removed to the press corp to avoid difficult questions

51:30 This should be extraordinarily alarming to Americans

52:15 Whoever Pete Hegseth wants out… should be our next set of leaders

53:00 We can’t risk the military being turned into a political force

53:45 Damage at DOJ and Pentagon will be hard to repair

01:00:30 Matt Bennett (The Third Way) joins the Chuck ToddCast

01:01:30 Third Way believes themselves to be center-left pragmatists

01:02:45 If NY primaries are a “Tea Party moment” for left, that’s scary for Dems

01:04:00 3 districts Mamdani candidates won are very deep blue

01:04:30 Worried about MI senate primary if Abdul El-Sayed wins

01:06:15 The far left could become a disruptive force inside the Dem party

01:08:30 Mamdani won on affordability, his endorsees won on Israel

01:10:00 Not all far-left are antisemites, but they’re making common cause with them

01:10:30 Dan Goldman faced antisemetic abuse during the campaign

01:11:45 Antisemitism won’t eat the Dem party, but needs to be contained

01:14:15 Progressive politicians decriminalizing shoplifting was a disaster

01:16:15 The national Dem electorate not as extreme as the GOP’s

01:18:00 It will be harder to hijack the Democratic electorate

01:20:00 Democrats suffered from a lack of charismatic leaders in the 80s

01:21:15 Parties are defined by their nominee, Dems will be fine if they get it right

01:22:00 Anti-Israel has become the #1 voting issue for New York progressives

01:23:15 Why has Palestine become the cause and not the Uighurs?

01:27:15 Social media and a lack of civics education has put people in bubbles

01:28:00 You have to be able to talk to people you disagree with

01:29:30 Socialism means Norway to some people and Cuba to others

01:32:30 Biden’s mistake was bragging he was most progressive president since FDR

01:33:15 The country rejected Biden’s progressive change & left’s “woke” culture

01:35:30 The left coded performative nonsense changed the view of the party

01:36:45 Al Gore lost as a VP to a popular president, Harris had impossible task

01:40:00 Could the Democratic base reject someone center-left in 2028?

01:41:15 The Michigan primary is a fascinating case study in Dem politics

01:42:30 Being charismatic like Mamdani or El-Sayed matters in politics

01:43:00 Democratic candidates have to get through the wall in South Carolina

01:44:45 Big question for 2028… can a center-left candidate run as a change agent?

01:47:00 Bibi Netanyahu has turned off a generation of Americans to Israel

01:49:15 If Israelis get rid of Netanyahu, that could be a relief valve for Dems

01:49:45 What can the establishment learn from the DSA?

01:50:15 The status quo is extremely broken, can’t run on preserving it

01:51:15 Iowa is coming back to the Democratic party

01:52:15 Candidate quality matter and Talarico is a good candidate

01:53:30 Boring doesn’t work in modern politics

01:56:00 What does success look like for the center left in the 2026 midterms?

01:56:45 Skeptical that El-Sayed can beat Mike Rogers in Michigan

01:57:45 Schumer should make clear he won’t run in 2028 and announce it soon

01:58:30 Warren and Murphy are too far left and far left coded

01:59:00 Both wings of the party can agree on Brian Schatz as leader

01:59:30 Mamdani story is a minor earthquake not a major fracture 

02:00:15 Chuck’s thoughts on the interview with Matt Bennett

02:03:15 Ask Chuck

02:03:30 How much have outlets like Fox News shaped the outlooks of boomers?

02:11:15 Is there a future where large PAC spending burns out due to voter backlash?

02:16:15 Could you talk about Keir Starmer and labours struggles.. Lessons for Dems?

02:23:30 What would you consider the Top 5 presidential actions that worked?

02:29:15 What characteristics define a “Trumpy” voter?

02:32:00 Can the establishment mend fences with the progressives?