Useful Idiots: Shahid Buttar on Defeating Pelosi and Impeaching Trump

In the latest episode of our Useful Idiots podcast, hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper talk with Shahid Buttar, the San Francisco attorney and grassroots-organizer campaigning to unseat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Buttar’s campaign speaks to a growing schism within the Democratic party between left-wing voices and more traditional party members. On this divide, which has inspired Buttar’s own political action, he says, “We are living in a generation where the center has delegitimated itself, and we see that by the fecklessness of corporate Democrats and their complicity in everything from, let’s say, CIA torture to NSA surveillance to mass incarceration.”

When it comes to impeaching President Donald Trump, Buttar hopes accountability is held in the Oval Office and beyond. “I want to see executive accountability,” he says, “not just for our criminal president but for our criminal intelligence agencies.”

Plus, Taibbi and Halper dive into the return of Lizholio and Big Structural Bailey.

You can find the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.