Honestly Speaking with Tara Setmayer

On the first Honestly Speaking with Tara episode of 2021, Tara delves into her thoughts on the deadly insurrection attack against the U.S. Capitol, the subsequent 2nd impeachment of Trump and the fallout from it all. She's joined by USC Prof. of Homeland Security, former FBI Agent, counterintelligence and homegrown extremism expert, Dr. Erroll Southers to discuss the horrific security failures during the Capitol siege, the threat posed by right wing extremists heading into the inauguration...

In the first podcast back since Joe Biden won the election, Tara discusses her reaction to the results, Trump's refusal to concede and why she decided to quit the GOP. She's joined by Stuart Stevens, veteran GOP consultant, author of "It Was All a Lie, How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump," and fellow Lincoln Project Senior Advisor. Also, former Michigan GOP Party Chair and Lincoln Project advisor, Jeff Timmer discusses the legally dubious attempts by Trump to overturn the election...

On the eve of the most consequential election in our lifetimes, George Conway joins the podcast for a conversation about what's at stake, why he chose to become a prolific anti-Trump voice and how he became an original co-founder of the Lincoln Project. George also shares a never told before story, about how a dinner with Javanka in 2018 was the final straw for him and why. Tara tells her early voting story and gives her take on what could happen on Election Day.

On this week's Honestly Speaking w/Tara, award winning Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio joins the podcast to discuss his latest book, "High Crimes; The Corruption, Impunity and Impeachment of Donald Trump," co-authored with veteran journalist Peter Eisner. "High Crimes" offers the most comprehensive inside story behind our most significant modern political drama: the House impeachment of Donald Trump. D'Antonio discusses the oversized role Rudy Giuliani has played in this mess, the Hunter...

On this week's episode, guest David Shimer-Wilson Center Global Fellow, historian and author of "Rigged: America, Russia and 100 Years of Covert Electoral Interference," joins Tara to discuss the the full context of foreign and domestic interference attempts in the 2016 election, what's happening now and what we can do about it. Tara gives her take on the death of RBG, the first presidential debate and Trump's refusal to denounce violent white nationalist groups.

On this week's episode, former Dept. of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor joins Tara to discuss the variety of dangerously absurd, inhumane and illegal demands Trump made during his tenure at DHS, the concerns raised within Trump's own National Security staff about his unfitness for office, why it took so long for many former Trump officials like him to finally say enough is enough and much more. Tara takes on the latest political hot topics of the week.

The conventions are over. Now the real campaigning begins. Trump's doubling down on his dark messages of mayhem and lies to demagogue issues of law and order and undermine the upcoming election. Historian, NYU Professor and author of the forthcoming book "Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present," Ruth Ben Ghiat joins Tara to discuss the ways Trump's behavior is straight out of the authoritarian playbook. Tara gives her take on the RNC, Kenosha, the Trump administrations continued effort to...

On this week's episode, Tara gives her take on the DNC Convention, the recent arrest of former Trump Campaign Manager Steve Bannon, and the release of the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee final report on Russian interference. Ret. Lt. Cmdr. Greg Keeley, Co-founder and President of The Council on American Security, joins Tara to discuss Trump's shameful non response to Russian bounties on US troops, why the attacks on the postal service hurt veterans, the significance of a National...

On this week's episode, veteran Democratic Strategist, CNN Political Contributor and Author, Paul Begala joins Tara in a lively discussion about his newly released book, "You're Fired, The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump." Great stories, great insight, great conversation. Find out why Tara calls Paul her favorite Democrat. Tara details her recent Twitter spat with the US Surgeon General, the Trump Axios interview and the ongoing Veepstakes.

Another chaotic week in Washington. Attorney General Bill Barr testified before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time and it was doozy. Former SDNY federal prosecutor and CNN Legal Analyst Elie Honig rejoins the podcast to breakdown the ups and downs of the raucous Barr hearing. He doesn't hold back! Tara takes on Trump's insane tweets that suggest delaying the election (he can't) to his support for a quack doctor who preaches demon sperm can impregnate women in their dreams. Not...

Every wonder what the hell Trump is doing during his infamous rallies? Jennifer Mercieca, Texas A&M Rhetoric Professor and author of the new book, "The Demagogue President. The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump," joins Tara to discuss the various techniques Trump deploys when speaking. Yes, there's actually a method to that madness! Tara takes on the ongoing debate around opening schools, the attacks on Dr. Fauci, the Trump campaign shake up and more.

On this week's episode, former Obama speech writer and NY Times best selling author, David Litt, joins the podcast to discuss his latest book, "Democracy in One Book or Less." Litt discusses his view on eliminating the Electoral College, solutions to voter suppression, anecdotes about crashing Mitch McConnell's frat house, compares lines at Disney World to voting, behind the scenes at the White House Correspondents Dinner with President Obama and more. Tara takes on Trump's Fourth of July...

In this week's episode we tackle the national discussion on systemic racism and police reform with Ret. NYPD Lt. Darrin Porcher. He spent 20 years with the NYPD, has a PhD and is currently a Professor of Criminal Justice at Pace University. Porcher gives his take on the recent police shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta from his perspective as a former Internal Affairs investigator and outlines his ideas for meaningful police reforms. Tara tackles the racial history of Juneteenth and...

American cities have been in turmoil for a week after protests erupted nationwide over the horrific killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, protests turned violent in dozens of cities. Trump's response has been despicable, fanning the flames and relishing in the use of brute force. Many warned that a Trump presidency would be a disaster. Did we ever think it would get this bad? Conservative author, VP and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy...

Trump is at again. To distract from the increasing coronavirus death toll and the mounting evidence of his failed response, Trump has created a new shiny object. Obamagate. But what is it? And why now? Former federal prosecutor, LA Times legal columnist, constitutional law professor and Host of The Talking Feds Podcast, Harry Litman joins Tara to discuss the latest on the damage Bill Barr is doing to the Dept of Justice, the Flynn case, whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright and more. Tara breaks...

This week's episode includes two fantastic interviews. Despite increasing infection rates and a COVID-19 death toll on pace to hit 100,000 in a few weeks, Trump has pivoted to reopening the economy in hopes of saving his re-election. Former DHS official, CNN National Security Analyst and Harvard Professor Juliette Kayyem discusses the alarming failures of the Trump administration's response and why Trump's you're "one your own now" approach to the COVID-19 fight will cost lives. Want to...

As the US surpasses a million COVID-19 cases, including over 56,000 deaths, Trump insists his administration's coronavirus response has been fantastic. It hasn't. Starting with the country's insufficient testing capacity. Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Biden and Ebola Czar under President Obama, Ron Klain is this week's guest. Klain explains the importance of wide scale testing, what steps should be taken before reopening the country, what he learned from his experience as Obama's...

The Honestly Speaking with Tara podcast returns after a COVID 19 hiatus. CNN Senior Political Analyst and The Atlantic Senior Editor, Ron Brownstein is this week's guest. He discusses the pros and cons of mail-in balloting for the upcoming presidential election, which party does it help or hurt and insight into how absentee balloting could impact the six most important Electoral College states. Brownstein also devles into the politics of the pandemic in red vs blue states with less than...

The Coronavirus has officially gone global with confirmed cases on every continent except Antartica. CDC officials have warned about potential community cluster outbreaks in the U.S. As the world is facing a pandemic, unsurprisingly, President Trump is downplaying the virus and claims his administration has it all under control. Does it? Can we trust this administration to handle a looming health crisis and be honest with the American people? Former CIA analyst, spokesman and member of the...

Another extraordinary week in political news as the Senate Impeachment trial drama of Donald Trump ensued as new revelations from John Bolton's book manuscript claim Trump told him directly that Ukraine aid was tied to a Biden investigation. Despite the bombshell revelations, the GOP led Senate voted down new witness testimony. Joe Lockhart, Former Press Secretary during the Clinton impeachment, joins Tara to discuss his perspective as he relives a very different impeachment trial than what...