Pollster Nate Silver Pushes Back on Podcast Co-Host Dismissing MAGA Voters as ‘Cynical Piece of S**t Human Beings’
Screenshot via Risky Business podcast
Pollster Nate Silver sparred with his podcast co-host Maria Konnikova after she dismissed voters backing former President Donald Trump as “cynical piece of shit human beings.”
During a discussion on Trump voters for Friday’s episode of the Risky Business podcast, Konnikova called MAGA backers “victims” of a con artist who will never be persuaded to vote another way. Konnikova is a New York Times best-selling author, a former producer for Charlie Rose, and a poker player.
“They will never be persuaded otherwise because victims of con artists will stay victims and will always think that the person that they’re following is not a con artist. They are true believers,” she said.
“For many people it’s in their narrow self-interest to vote for Trump,” Silver countered, adding some people are motivated because they feel with a Trump win that their “position is elevated.
“Then there are those cynical piece of shit human beings — yeah, that I’m just going to — who vote for Trump just because of cynical self-interest and don’t give a fuck what happens to the rest of the world and the rest of the country. Those people also exist. Sorry listeners,” Konnikova said.
Silver rejected the description, saying he hopes “Trump people” are listening to the podcast.
“I disagree with that characterization. First of all, I hope we have some Trump listeners — no, I disagree with that. I don’t think it’s a bad thing if people vote in terms of their narrow self-interest. I think that’s a part of a political economy that can be healthy,” he said. “I think sometimes Trump understands that you do want to appeal to people’s sense of identity and people aren’t doing some Cartesian expected value calculation, right, about the impact of climate change or whatnot.”
The pair then sparred over whether backing Trump for selfish reasons is an “emotional” or “rational” response. Silver said if Vice President Kamala Harris was running on a platform of outlawing poker then he would be motivated enough to vote for Trump. Konnikova rejected there being any scenario where she could be motivated to back Trump.
Watch above via Risky Business podcast.
