Kamala Harris has now won the endorsements of Joe Biden, the Clintons, and multiple members of the House and Senate. She has raised tens of millions of dollars in less than 24 hours. But does she have a plan to beat Donald Trump? A clear winning strategy? In this video for Zeteo, here are my seven pieces of unsolicited advice for the vice-president who has now become the likely 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

There’s a lot to process, pick apart, and debunk from Donald Trump’s 92-minute-long speech at the Republican National Convention. In the latest episode of Mehdi Unfiltered, Mehdi looks past the more ‘somber’ version of Trump that the world saw at the start of his speech, and unpacks just how concerning the rest of it was. Two former Trump administration officials join Mehdi to talk about the moments that stood out to them: Olivia Troye, who previously served as advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sarah Mathews, Trump’s former Deputy Press secretary. In the conversation, they talk about what they regret most from working in Trump’s first administration, the lessons they’ve learned from being on the inside, and their biggest warnings to Republicans, Democrats, and everyone in between about what could come in a second Trump White House. Mehdi also debates Washington Post columnist and Editorial board member Shadi Hamid, who feels Trump does not pose the level of threat everyone else sees in a potential second term. Should we have faith in U.S. institutions to withstand a Trump-style autocracy? What exactly could Project 2025 do? And what’s the matter with the Democrats? Watch the full show above and let us know what you think in the comments!You can find Shadi Hamid’s Notebook here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

In the midst of all the media frenzy over Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump has made one of his most deluded claims yet: That he has nothing to do with the people behind the far-right policy agenda known as ‘Project 2025.’A bold statement for the GOP’s leading man, especially when you consider his close and long-standing alliance with the right-wing organization behind it: the Heritage Foundation. But beyond that, Trump’s denial begs the question: Did he just suddenly forget about the former staffers of his who worked on the project? People like his former top aide Stephen Miller and his current press secretary Karoline Leavitt?Watch Mehdi debunk Trump’s desperate and deluded denials, as he goes through just a few of the major players that the former Republican president knows are leading Project 2025. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

The pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden. Not only is he facing calls to step down as the Democratic nominee from senior people within his own party, but his age has also become the biggest story for every major media outlet. On the latest episode of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered,’ Mehdi moderates a debate between two D.C. insiders on whether Biden should step aside as the Democratic nominee, after his disastrous debate performance two weeks ago.Plus, as Hollywood stars like George Clooney call for Biden to step down, watch Academy-Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore tell Mehdi why he thinks keeping Biden in office is “elder abuse.”A debate on Biden’s candidacy… Should Biden step down from the 2024 election? Can he defeat Donald Trump once again, after all the frenzy over his long pauses and awkward gaffes during the CNN debate?Journalist Brian Beutler, who has called for Biden to step down, joined the show for a debate with political scientist Norman Ornstein, who says that though Biden may stutter, “he can govern.” Beutler takes a more critical stance on the Biden campaign, telling Mehdi that the president should step aside as the presumptive nominee because, “he can't communicate extemporaneously in public clearly anymore.”Ornstein and Beutler also discuss what it would look like for Vice-President Kamala Harris to take over the Democratic Party presidential campaign, whether Biden would still serve out his term, and the media’s lack of coverage over Trump’s many gaffes and lies.Michael Moore on Biden… This past week, award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore called for Biden to step down not only as the Democratic presidential nominee, but also as president. Moore tells Mehdi that watching the CNN debate was “heartbreaking” for him. “My first thought is who let him out on that stage in that condition? Who would do that to their parent or grandparent?” Moore also accuses Biden of displaying “Trumpian behavior” by refusing to step down. “Remember Trump when he ran said, ‘I’m the only one who can fix the problem, I alone can fix these.’ ” Moore asks Mehdi. “For Biden to think – and I don't think he thinks this – that he's the only one that is going to do this or the only one that can defeat Trump…it's narcissistic and arrogant to dig in and take this position.”Moore, who has been very outspoken on Gaza, also talked to Mehdi about Benjamin Netanyahu coming to Congress, Biden’s support for Israel’s “massacre” in Gaza, and how it could cost him the votes of young people in November (if his campaign continues)... “I tried to just say it as loud as I could right away in October: Please don't go and hug Netanyahu,” Moore said, referring to Biden’s support for the right-wing Israeli prime minister’s war on Gaza. Watch the full show above and, for paid subscribers, be sure to let us know in the comments below what you think of the show and who we should have on next! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

In the midst of their horrific assault on Gaza, Israel has already started drawing up battle plans for another war – this time with Hezbollah in Lebanon. In this episode, Mehdi exposes the disproportionate Israeli military doctrine that could ultimately kill thousands of Lebanese civilians. Plus, Middle East expert Vali Nasr breaks down what another war would mean for the region. Also on the show, Mehdi asks US Congress Representative Greg Casar about President Joe Biden’s asylum ban and Representative Jamaal Bowman’s primary loss in New York. Mehdi is also joined by Israeli Historian Lee Mordechai, who recently accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. Israel and Lebanon… Mehdi takes viewers back to the 2006 Lebanon War, when Israel developed the Dahiya Doctrine – a military strategy that aims to intentionally inflict long-lasting and disproportionate damage onto their enemies as a deterrent. “If you think Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in 2006 were disproportionate, if the Dahiya doctrine was bad back then, just think how much worse a war on Lebanon will be now that Israel has barely even gotten a slap on the wrist from its Western allies, especially the United States, for inflicting a full-blown genocide on Gaza!” Mehdi said. Middle East expert Vali Nasr pointed out that a war in Lebanon with Hezbollah would also be a great danger for Israel themselves, even if Iran and the U.S. don’t get involved. “Hezbollah has proven itself over 40 years to be a ferocious fighting force. It's the only fighting force that Israel has not been able to crack around it,” Nasir told Mehdi.  “Hezbollah is capable of hitting northern Israel in a way that it would become uninhabitable for a long period of time, but if Israel's objective is to enable its population to go back [to Northern Israel], it [a war] will have the opposite effect.”An interview with Rep. Greg Casar…Earlier this month, in what was widely seen as an attempt to address his right-wing critics, US President Joe Biden implemented an asylum ban at the Southern border – one that critics say is straight out of Trump’s playbook. Mehdi asked Representative Greg Casar from Texas – a progressive and long-time advocate for immigration reform – what he made of Biden’s controversial move. “Republicans have set this sort of trap, and it's the oldest trick in the book – distract from Republicans' failures to govern by picking on whichever vulnerable group… Right now, it's overwhelmingly Venezuelan and Haitian moms showing up desperate at the border,” Casar explained. Mehdi also asked Casar about Representative Jamaal Bowman’s historic primary defeat on Tuesday night, after pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC spent 15 million dollars trying to unseat him. “There is a clear message trying to be sent to progressives, but frankly to any member of Congress, that maybe infinite money can come into our elections,” Casar told Mehdi. “I think it's on the Democratic Party to stand up and say…no matter who's spending the money, this can't be allowed anymore because it would change our democracy in a fundamentally disastrous way if this happens at every primary.”An Israeli historian accuses Israel of genocide… Dr. Lee Mordechai, a professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has become the latest Israeli academic to accuse their own country of genocide, after an extensive research process that led to an almost 100-page paper with over 100,00 footnotes. “The amount of information that can come out of Gaza is limited. A significant amount of these journalists in Gaza are also being killed. So all this is limited. Nonetheless, I've seen enough evidence, whether by journalists over there, whether by regular people there, and that has convinced me,” Mordechai said. Watch the full show above and, for paid subscribers, be sure to let us know in the comments below what you think of the show and who we should have on next! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

Over 70% of Americans believe lobbyists have too much influence – so why do Democrats and the media remain silent when it comes to the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in America, AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee? In this episode of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’, Mehdi not only calls out AIPAC for helping the GOP meddle with Democratic primaries, but also calls out his main interview guest, Democrat Congressman Dean Phillips, who recently voted to sanction the ICC for requesting an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Plus, Mehdi speaks with world-famous Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam on his protest against the war in Gaza and what it has cost him. Watch the full show above. Pressing Rep. Dean Phillips on his vote against the ICC…Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips says he stands for the rule of law. So why did he choose to vote for a bill that would sanction International Criminal Court officials – as well as their families – after the court requested an arrest warrant for Netanyahu’s role in the war on Gaza?Phillips told Mehdi that he objected to the ICC’s decision because of the fact that Israel is not party to the ICC – a claim that Mehdi rebutted by pointing to last year, when Democrats praised the ICC arrest warrant against Putin for his war crimes in Ukraine, even though Russia is not party to the ICC either. “Even if we were to agree with you that they're outside the purview, and they [the ICC] would say they're not, it didn't just go after ICC officials, but also quote ‘immediate family members’ of ICC officials. That is mob-like behavior – is it not? To go after family?” Mehdi asked Phillips.“We have votes in Congress that we know will not end up going anywhere. We have votes that we know will probably be signed into the law. They have very different consequences,” Phillips responded. “With respect, Congressman. It doesn't matter what your intent is. It matters what you voted for. You voted for a very mafioso bill,” Mehdi told Phillips. They also debated U.S. complicity in war crimes, whether Democrats value Palestinian life, and Phillips’s own failed presidential bid earlier this year. Let’s talk about AIPAC…As AIPAC spends millions of dollars trying to unseat pro-Palestine progressive Jamaal Bowman, Mehdi begs the question: Why does AIPAC, a pro-Israel group that openly brags about their influence over elected officials, rarely get criticized? “Anti-Semitic tropes about ‘rich Jews’, whether they’re Soros or the Rothschilds or the Jewish community in general, should absolutely be condemned. But that’s not what we’re talking about when we’re talking about AIPAC. We’re talking about a self-described powerful lobbying group,” Mehdi says, adding that the lobbying group, “should be rejected in the same way that we reject, say, the NRA.”Watch his powerful and timely monologue above. Artists speaking up on Gaza…This past March, Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam was supposed to curate the first ever edition of the famous Biennale photography exhibition in Germany with three non-European curators. However, the exhibition ended-up being canceled in November due to Alam’s criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza. “We worked really hard to put together a show that would have been very different. The whole point in inviting initially me and me inviting the others was to bring about a change to the way they'd always done it,” Alam said of the exhibit. “But of course… what they needed was someone who would be non-European, but still follow the European scheme of things.”Alam of course has not backed down from his criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza. Watch the full show above and, for paid subscribers, be sure to let us know in the comments below what you think of the show and who we should have on next! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu might have expected the entire world to celebrate the news of four Israeli hostages being rescued from Gaza, and the entire world might have done - had it not been at the cost of hundreds of Palestinian lives. Saturday’s bloody and brutal operation has raised new concerns among many of the Israeli hostage family members, who accuse Netanyahu and his far-right government of deprioritizing the safe return of all the hostages.Enter Zahiro…One hostage family member who believes that is Zahiro Shahar Mor, who says there is more reason to fear for the safety of his 79-year-old uncle, Avraham Munder, while he remains captive in Gaza.Avraham was taken by Hamas on October 7th, along with his wife, daughter, and grandson, all of whom were released during a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel in November - with the exception of Avraham.His nephew Zahiro tells Mehdi: “Ever since October 8th, everything they [the Israeli government] do is directed at not getting the hostages back,” and that Netanyahu’s government is actively “sabotaging their own initiatives” by rejecting deals that would have secured the release of all the hostages much earlier in the war. Betrayed by his own country’s officials, Zahiro says Israel’s government “is being taken hostage by the diehard, right-wing, extremist fundamentalists.” Also on the show, more betrayal …Zahiro isn’t the only one who felt betrayed on this week’s episode of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered.’ Palestinian Pastor Munther Isaac of Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church accuses Christian evangelicals in the U.S. of abandoning their fellow Christians in the Occupied Territories.“They [US Christian evangelicals] have created a worldview in which support to Israel is integral to this American identity, American exceptionalism, American national Christian identity,” says Munther, a worldview that he thinks would change if they were to visit occupied Bethlehem, for Christians the birthplace of Christ, and see the situation on the ground for themselves. Munther is no stranger to the apartheid rule of Israel, where government policy and a 708-kilometer separation wall disrupt the worship of thousands of Palestinian Christians. Recalling conversations with fellow evangelicals from South Africa, Munther says they described the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories as being “much worse than apartheid,” adding that “you would assume that people would respect what South African theologians, church leaders are saying.”Watch both interviews above and, for paid subscribers, be sure to let us know in the comments below what you think of the full show and who you think we should have on next.  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

While Joe Biden struggles to draw a red line for Israel in its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a handful of principled officials within the administration are making their red lines very clear. This week on ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’, Mehdi dives into the latest wave of resignations within the Biden administration over its handling of the war on Gaza, with one outgoing political appointee accusing the president of “making Jews the face of the American war machine.” The exit interview…The latest resignation from the Biden administration came into effect just this Monday for Major Harrison Mann. Formerly an official at the Defense Intelligence Agency, and an active-duty U.S. army officer, Mann made headlines for a resignation letter he shared last month to his Linkedin page criticizing the “nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel.”In one of his first TV interviews since leaving his post, Mann explains to Mehdi the reasoning behind his decision, the role US agencies play in Israel’s ethnic cleansing, and how others in government share his views - but are afraid to air them.“I also suspected and have increasingly learned even in national security circles that my views are not particularly uncommon or controversial,” says Mann. Mann, who is Jewish-American, compared the treatment of Palestinians today to the way in which Jews were treated in the run-up to the Holocaust: “It was very easy for me to see in the Palestinians another unwanted population, the way that Jews were in Europe.”Also on the show: a forgotten war…One genocide overshadowed by another. This week Mehdi sheds light on the atrocities that are taking place in Sudan but are unable to reach the world. With more than 14,000 people dead, and more than 8 million displaced, the violence in Sudan is still going mostly unnoticed in Western media. Mehdi is joined by Nesrine Malik, an award-winning British-Sudanese journalist with the Guardian, who has covered the story in Sudan for years. She explains how the lack of information from the ground there is making the situation much more dire, especially when paired with false stereotypes.  “We don't tend to think of war happening in countries like Sudan as a profoundly tragic, destabilizing thing, and more as business as usual.” Watch both interviews above, and for paid subscribers, be sure to let us know what you think of the full show and who you think we should have on next.  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

What has Israel’s relentless assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah revealed about the U.S.? That Joe Biden, has no red line, no pink line, no line whatsoever when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu. This week on ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’, Mehdi begins the show with a condemnation of the lack of condemnation for Israel’s deadly airstrikes in Rafah. A decapitated toddler, a massacre of Palestinians in tents, and a complete rejection of an order from the top U.N. court demanding Israel halt its operations in Rafah – none of it led to the U.S. saying much at all. “We live in a world where non-existent images of imaginary beheaded Israeli children can help launch a genocidal war,” says Mehdi, in his opening monologue, “but actual images of real-life beheaded Palestinian children don’t force the entire world to bring an immediate halt to that war.”Also on the show… Ambassador Husam Zomlot, the current head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom and a member of Fatah spoke with Mehdi about the role of the U.S. in this decades-old conflict, saying it’s “not about Trump or Biden.”“So far, the U.S. has failed miserably to bring itself to the level of an honest mediator, of a leading force in our international relations,” Zomlot says. “The US has remained, whether Democratic administrations or Republican administrations, has remained completely and utterly biased.”Zomlot also talked about Nikki Haley signing Israeli artillery shells destined for Gaza, recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by three countries, and what the future of governance in Gaza could look like. Biden and Black voters…Recent polling shows Black voters are much less interested in Biden and the Democrats in 2024 than they were in 2020. From feeling that the president hasn’t done enough to earn their vote to complaints over the U.S.’s handling of Gaza, the reasons vary – and some Black voters are even turning to Donald Trump. So, does Biden have a chance in November if he loses Black voters? Has he taken them for granted? And how big of a role exactly is Gaza playing in Black disillusionment? Don Calloway, a former Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives and now a Democratic Party strategist, and Pastor Michael McBride, a founder of Black Church PAC and the lead pastor of the Way church in Berkeley, California joined Mehdi for this debate. “People do believe that the president and this administration, and by extension, the Democratic Party, has lost its way on this issue [Gaza],” McBride argues. “We believe there has to be a course correction.”Calloway pushed back. “Black voters do not have and have never had the luxury of being single-issue voters. So, do we care about Palestine? Absolutely… Do we vote against Joe Biden and the interests of Palestine against reproductive freedom? Probably not.” To hear McBride’s response and more of this exchange, watch the debate above. Be sure to let us know what you think of the full show and who you think we should have on next.  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

“Raisi very much was someone that they were banking on, and now their plans have to go back to square one. On your question about this new guy…his mandate is to do nothing.” -  Iran expert Trita Parsi on finding Raisi’s successorSince the sudden death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash this week, there have been a lot of hot takes on what this means for Iran. Why does it matter? What does it mean for the Iranian people? This week on ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’, we thought we’d speak to an expert to help us make sense of it all. Have a listen to what author and analyst Trita Parsi had to say. Plus, former ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and UN Special Rapporteur Francesca P. Albanese join Mehdi to lay out just how consequential the ICC’s request for Israeli arrest warrants is. On Iran…This past weekend, a helicopter crash in the northwest province of East Azerbaijan left no survivors, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. His death comes not only as fighting continues between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, but also just a little over a month since Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel.Iranian-American relations expert Trita Parsi joined Mehdi to discuss the elephant in the room – whether there was any “foul play” involved with his death, or if anyone is blaming Israel or the U.S. for the crash. “The regime has a very clear interest in denying that there could have been anything else but an accident, because if there, for instance, had been an Israeli hand in all of this…it would show that the Iranians failed with their attack last month. They did not establish a new equation. They did not restore deterrence,” Parsi said. “Now, having said that, there’s no evidence that the Israelis were behind this.”Iran has, of course, said they will be holding new elections on June 28th to choose a successor for Raisi, but Parsi tells Mehdi that participation will once again be low, just as it was in March’s parliamentary election. “The people have lost faith in the idea that change can come through the ballot box. Now they [Iran] are going to be dealt with a crisis, because if they have even record low elections in this one that is upcoming right now, it really takes away a key thing that they had treated as a dose of legitimacy,” Parsi said. On the ICC and Israel…In his monologue, Mehdi called out the GOP’s failed attempt to stop ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from requesting arrest warrants for the Israeli government over the war in Gaza, after 12 Republicans threatened him and his family in a letter sent in April. “The GOP – and in fact, all of the Israeli government’s western allies – better start scrambling because in an earthquake move, the chief prosecutor… requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defense minister Yoav Gallant.” Mehdi pointed out that Khan’s historic request marks the, “first time an ICC prosecutor has ever gone after the leader of a western country or one of its close allies.”Former ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese joined Mehdi to discuss the implications of this request, with Albanese calling it a “game-changer.”Albanese, who previously issued a report calling Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide, reminded viewers that although this is the first time the ICC is taking major action against an Israeli leader, it does not necessarily mark the first time Israel has committed war crimes. “There were opportunities and obligations to investigate the [Israel’s] war crimes and crimes against humanity … before the 7th of October. The failure we are under is testament to the lack of effectiveness of that system,” Albanese said. “We can turn the tides now, and this is the challenge of all member states.”Friendly reminder: All of our content is currently available to all subscribers, free or paid. But this will only be for a limited, promotional period. Building and sustaining an independent media company like this requires, above all else, money. If you appreciate the work we are doing, and want to be a part of this effort, please consider supporting us by becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe