Ron DeSantis began 2023 poised to crush Donald Trump. But a combination of bad luck and an inept campaign destroyed his early lead, opening the door for a clown car of other candidates to try to take his place in second. This culminated in an explosive series of debates, where an increasingly nasty feud between Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy left Haley with the momentum to finally unite the opposition to Trump, including an unprecedented intervention by the donor class. But while DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Haley, and the other candidates squabbled amongst themselves, Donald Trump solidified an overwhelming polling lead.

In the first bonus episode of TrumpLand, we begin the story of the 2024 Republican presidential primary with the aftermath of the 2020 election. After Donald Trump left office, leaving behind a wrecked party and shaken country, the conservative movement had to figure out a new path forward. The parental rights movement, Christian Nationalists, and National Conservatives attempted to harness the backlash to the Black Lives Matter Movement and pandemic restrictions into a new conservative revolution, but with mixed results. Trump stormed back onto the scene in the 2022 midterms, but his endorsed candidates underperformed, leading many Republicans to call on the party to reject him in 2024. And as a bruised but defiant Trump launched his 2024 campaign, many pointed to a promising conservative alternative: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

0:00 - Intro

3:23 - The Next Revolution

9:02 - National Conservatism and the Culture Wars

17:14 - The Midterms

28:08 - Disarray

32:19 - DeFuture

After securing the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump faced Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election. And he spent the entire campaign apparently destroying what little chance he had at victory through gaffes, missteps, and controversies, culminating with the infamous Access Hollywood tape. But, it turned out, none of that mattered. After analyzing Trump's victory, we give a broad overview of the Trump presidency, and end with a review of the series as a whole, focusing on what we should take away from the events of 2016 and how they can help us understand our world today.

0:00 - Intro

1:52 - The Democrats

5:33 - I'm With Her

14:05 - The Results

23:36 - The "Resistance"

29:17 - 2017-2018: Welcome to TrumpLand

42:24 -2019-2020: Meltdown

52:49 - Review: Why Trump? What Now?

After the Florida primary, as Trump's delegate lead grew larger and larger, and as his remaining opponents Ted Cruz and John Kasich refused to work together, it became increasingly obvious that Trump was going to win the nomination. In response, Republicans had to figure out what to do: would they cling to the dwindling hopes of stopping Trump, abandon their party to oppose him even if he was nominated, or set aside their qualms and support Trump for president?

0:00 - Intro

1:40 - Wisconsin: Never-Trump Regroups, Things Get Personal

9:08 - April: The Northeast Speaks

18:50 - Indiana: Bathroom Bills Redux vs. The Carrier Plant

28:39 - Joiners

40:41 - Spoilers and Stoppers

As Donald Trump came closer and closer to the nomination, his rallies grew more and more violent and his rhetoric more and more aggressive. In response, people began asking a frightening question: is Trump a fascist? This episode is about this question, examining the 2016 Trump campaign through the lens of historic fascist movements.

0:00 - Intro

2:33 - The Alt-Right and Trump's Announcement (June, 2015)

8:27 - The Rhetoric and the Rallies (July-October, 2015)

15:08 - The Scapegoats and the Protesters (November-December, 2015)

22:08 - Violence and the Chicago Rally (January-March, 2015)

31:10 - If It Happened Here...

35:47 - ...But Here's Why It Didn't

44:32 - Why The Question Matters

After the dramatic nailbiters of Iowa and New Hampshire, Donald Trump reminded everyone that he was, in fact, the frontrunner. From mid-February to mid-March, he racked up a stunning series of victories against his divided opposition. In response, the candidates, donors, and power brokers of the Republican party attempted to unite against him. Meanwhile, John Kasich has a good time.

0:00 - Intro

1:27 - South Carolina: Donald Trump vs. George W. Bush and the Pope

11:05 - Nevada: Oh Right, Trump's the Frontrunner

15:09 - Little Marco and Big Chris

21:48 - Super Tuesday

28:27 - Never Trump vs. Only Cruz

37:55 - Florida: Winner Take All

As 2015 turned to 2016, and the candidates looked ahead to the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary, the candidates finally threw everything they had at each other. In Iowa, Ted Cruz fought to break Donald Trump's hold on the conservative grassroots, igniting a drawn-out struggle over who better represented conservatism: a religiously devout Tea Party Senator, or an irreverent celebrity businessman. And in New Hampshire, Marco Rubio fought to unite the Establishment behind his campaign, out-matching his Establishment opponents at nearly every turn. But he can only succeed if he makes it to New Hampshire without any...Glitches.

0:00 - Intro

1:45 - Tension

13:45 - Explosion

22:19 - Cruz vs. Trump

28:08 - Iowa

34:23 - The Eighth Debate and the Glitch

40:47 - New Hampshire

In November and December of 2015, the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks immediately redefined the 2016 Republican primary. Candidates now had to prove they had what it took to be commander in chief in a world that felt more dangerous than ever. Many expected that this would be the end for nontraditional candidates like Ben Carson and Donald Trump, who voters might enjoy seeing on TV but clearly couldn't be trusted with the nuclear codes. But for Trump, the opposite was the case; after the attacks, he only rose in the polls. We examine why, focusing on how Trump managed to resurrect the decades-old legacy of Republican Isolationism.

0:00 - Republican Isolationism from Robert Taft to Donald Trump

11:58 - "Jeb Can Fix It"; Carson Stumbles

18:52 - Paris

27:29 - San Bernardino

35:58 - The Fifth Debate: A Stage of Isolationists

42:51 - Review