TRUMP IS A LAME DUCK NOW - AND THE (LATEST) OLIVIA NUZZI STORY - 11.20.25

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Nov 20, 2025

Trump's status as a lame duck is dissected, highlighting the surprising coalition against him in the Epstein fallout. Mainstream media rushes to call him out, while polls indicate growing distrust among the public regarding his knowledge of Epstein's activities. Olivia Nuzzi’s controversial book excerpt sparks a fiery critique from multiple angles, revealing a tangled web of accusations and misunderstandings among journalists. The dynamic legacy of Trump's foreign policy decisions and his misogynistic behavior towards female reporters also evolves into pivotal discussion points.

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INSIGHT

Mainstream Media Declares Trump a Lame Duck

Keith Olbermann argues mainstream media declaring Trump a “lame duck” signals a substantive shift, not just a cliché.
He links the Epstein vote and bipartisan rebukes to weakening Trump’s grip on the GOP and public trust.

INSIGHT

Polls Amplify Epstein's Political Damage

Olbermann cites polls showing most Americans believe Trump knew about Epstein and that his handling is widely disapproved.
He predicts prolonged scrutiny will amplify suspicion and damage Trump politically over time.

ADVICE

Sustain Coverage To Increase Impact

Repeat the Epstein revelations daily to keep them in public attention and force accountability.
Sustained coverage increases belief that withheld information must be damaging.

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SEASON 4 EPISODE 35: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-BLOCK (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump is now a lame duck.

A lame Donald. A lame duck Donald. A lame Donald Duck. I like it.

It’s not just that MAGA stood up to him and a GOP/Democratic coalition beat him 427 to 1 on Epstein. It's that that was something even most of the Washington political media industrial complex can understand, can process, can WRITE using the cliches in which they trafficked until Trump and his unprecedented madness came along. This looked all too familiar and they jumped on it with both feet and the same cliché: LAME DUCK.

Fortune used it. NBC. Semafor. The National Review. Nate Silver's site asked "Is Trump A Lame Duck?" CNN's went further: "Is Trump A Lame Duck NOW?" It's so bad there was a Politico Lame Duck Listicle! "Seven signs Trump is losing his groove." And then the final nail: “It’s Official: Donald Trump is a lame duck by President”by Chris Cillizza, part of his weekly conversation with Chuck Todd.

It's never over til it's over, Yogi, but it's over.

B-BLOCK (25:00) SPECIAL COMMENT: I'm the character in The (Latest) Olivia Nuzzi story who gets shot in the first scene, but I still know more about her than almost any outsider and there is a lot to correct on her epically bad book excerpt in Vanity Fair, and the riposte by the more recent ex, Ryan Lizza, who was apparently told by Olivia that I was stalking her at the same time as Olivia was telling me there was a guy in Washington stalking her, named Ryan Lizza. The Nuzzi News is a Doozy and we all lose. This was to be a comeback; now she'll need an entirely new comeback to come back from her come back. And how does Vanity Fair keep her employed after the Mark Sanford accusation made her explanation of her RFK Jr lies into a separate lie?

C-BLOCK (1:00:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Trump accuses himself of rigging the 2020 census. It was in July, but Bill O'Reilly insisted that Jeffrey Epstein was prosecuted by Biden and Garland, and refused to correct himself even after he was reminded Epstein died during Trump's first presidency. And Bill Maher says he's giving up touring because people who are half as funny are selling twice as many tickets. Who does he mean? The New York Jets?

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