Teddy Schleifer
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16
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Search complete. 21 mentions across 16 episodes found for "Teddy Schleifer".
Oct 22, 2026
Gideon ResnickHOST
For example, President Trump's super PAC has spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to support Republicans since the beginning of September.
Gideon ResnickHOST
So just where does all this money end up going, and how does it influence voters? I called up Teddy Schleifer, a New York Times reporter who covers billionaires and their impact on the world.
Gideon ResnickHOST
I started by asking if he could help put a number to all of these contributions.
Gideon ResnickHOST
So big picture here, we've seen headlines about Elon Musk, President Trump, Michael Bloomberg, others pouring millions into the midterms.
Jacob RubashkinHOST
Intra, what shouldn't we miss?
Inshara AliHOST
As Teddy Schleifer reliably predicted on the podcast last month, former New York City mayor and Democratic mega donor Michael Bloomberg has made a last minute $80 million donation to Democrats.
Inshara AliHOST
So $50 million of that sum is earmarked for House races specifically, including $16 million to House Majority PAC.
Inshara AliHOST
Democrats are favored to win the House, but the funds are surely providing Democrats with a sigh of relief after hundreds of millions from Elon Musk and President Trump's super PAC were unleashed over the last few weeks.
Ravi GuptaGUEST
And they're spending it poorly.
Ravi GuptaGUEST
I think it was Teddy Schleifer or somebody did the graph on the direct side versus outside spending.
Ravi GuptaGUEST
When you net it all out, it's almost 50 50 in terms of actual ad time purchased, even though the Republicans are spending a lot more.
Ravi GuptaGUEST
But they're just spending so poorly because they're spending late and they're spending on the independent side.
Katy TurHOST
They are close.
Katy TurHOST
So is there something more this White House is seeing? In other words, is the private polling that they're getting a look at even worse than what we are seeing publicly? Joining us, executive editor of The Nation, John Nichols, New York Times reporter and MSNOW contributor, Teddy Schleifer, anchor of The Washington Post's early brief newsletter, Dan Merica, and senior advisor to the Lincoln Project, Stuart Stevens.
Katy TurHOST
Teddy, let's talk about these ads.
Katy TurHOST
A whole lot of money is going out there blanketing the airwaves in places like Texas and Ohio and all the other states that are currently in contention, which is basically all of them right now.
Zvi MowshowitzHOST
As more evidence of this, Meta pulled back some of their anti-regulation money.
Zvi MowshowitzHOST
Teddy Schleifer.
Teddy SchleiferSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
News.
Teddy SchleiferSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Meta quietly and unusually has withdrawn $25 million from its AI push in the midterm elections.
Alicia MenendezHOST
But in the last hour, we have learned about a huge infusion for Democrats, too, with Michael Bloomberg's team telling the New York Times he is sending $80 million to help Democrats in the midterms.
Alicia MenendezHOST
The New York Times reporter who broke both of those stories, Teddy Schleifer, joins us now.
Alicia MenendezHOST
He's also an MS now contributor.
Alicia MenendezHOST
Jason Johnson is also back with us.
7 MINS LATER
Teddy SchleiferGUEST
Um, so we'll see.
Alicia MenendezHOST
People Have Ideas may be the name of this podcast episode.
Alicia MenendezHOST
[laughs] Teddy Schleifer, thank you so much for bringing us the multitude of your reporting.
Alicia MenendezHOST
All right, up next, how Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is looking to spin attacks on his campaign into ads
Stephanie RuhleHOST
Pablo Torre, ESPN analyst and host of Meadowlark Media's Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.
Stephanie RuhleHOST
And Teddy Schleifer with The New York Times.
Stephanie RuhleHOST
He covers campaign finance.
Stephanie RuhleHOST
and how the mega wealthy are influencing American politics.
speaker_1MODERATOR
The AP reports that at the end of February, Biden's campaign had $155 million cash on hand, while Trump and his super PAC had only 37 million cash on hand.
speaker_1MODERATOR
Teddy Schleifer covers the intersection of big bucks and politics for Puck News.
speaker_1MODERATOR
He joins us now.
speaker_1MODERATOR
Teddy, thanks so much for being with us.
Teddy SchleiferSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I don't think I don't think there are there are shanahan voters out there.
Teddy SchleiferSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Unfortunately.
speaker_1MODERATOR
Teddy Schleifer, thank you so much for your reporting.
speaker_1MODERATOR
You can check it out at Puck News to read more about that.
John IadarolaHOST
One race in one state, $158 million.
John IadarolaHOST
Um, Teddy Schleifer is a, uh, reporter for the New York Times.
John IadarolaHOST
He posted the numbers, uh, on Twitter.
John IadarolaHOST
Two of the largest political donations in history, uh, Musk donated $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund on September 9th, and then two weeks later, another $83 million.
Jacob SoboroffHOST
The staggering amount of money makes Mr. Musk, the richest person in the world, by far the largest known donor in the midterms.
Jacob SoboroffHOST
But unlike Elon Musk and his cheesehead in 2025 or rallying alongside Donald Trump in 2024, this time Musk is spending, quote, "quietly." Teddy Schleifer is the New York Times reporter who broke this story.
Jacob SoboroffHOST
He joins me now.
Jacob SoboroffHOST
Uh, Teddy, talk about the scale of this spending by Elon Musk and, and where it's actually all going.
Teddy SchleiferGUEST
And that donation at least coincided with the Senate Leadership Fund making this big play, uh, big spending push into Texas to support Ken Paxton.
Teddy SchleiferGUEST
So, um, there's been a couple different ways that Musk has kind of aligned with what is good for Paxton right now.
Jacob SoboroffHOST
[smacks lips] Uh, Teddy Schleifer, thank you so much for being here and for all your reporting.
Jacob SoboroffHOST
Appreciate it.
6 more episodes mention Teddy Schleifer.
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