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What you\'re about to hear is a teaser for our new bonus episodes we are doing for subscribers to Beast Inside, the Daily Beast\'s membership program. We have a very special guest with Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse who is going to be talking to us about a wide variety of subjects including how dark money is affecting this country and how the GOP has become a toxic force. Want more? Become a Beast Inside member to enjoy a limited-run series of bonus interviews from The New Abnormal. Guests include Cory Booker, Jim Acosta, and more. Head to newabnormal.thedailybeast.com to join now.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse thinks the biggest problem with climate change deniers is the people that line their pockets. The Rhode Island Democrat joined The New Abnormal co-host Molly Jong-Fast and producer Jesse Cannon to talk about the environment, the GOP dropping the ball, and how putting an end to secretive political cash could be the key to solving it all. \\u201cThe key thing to do on the environment is to focus on the dark money problem,\\u201d says Whitehouse. \\u201cI don\'t care whether you\'re talking to Tea Partiers or Bernie Bros, the notion that big, powerful, special interests can spend unlimited money anonymously through front groups and deploy huge political power out of sight is equally offensive across the board.\\u201d He explained how certain groups are in the pockets of political donors (cough cough, Republicans) and how the party\'s disdain for science has similarities to their COVID-19 response. \\u201cThe power of the science denial industry is manifest in both examples, Coronavirus and climate, and the willingness of Republicans to bear pain and scorn and deny truth.\\u201d But does the GOP stand a chance of ever going back to being that Grand Ole Party? For the sake of the climate, at least? In Whitehouse\\u2019s opinion, there are two options for that to happen, one of them involves a complete overhaul. (\\u201cYou wait until the Republican party is so discredited and its climate denial that a surge of new Republicans come in and sweep out.\\u201d) Then, the three discuss Trump\\u2019s eerie Supreme Court scouting and the funding of the Federalist Society: \\u201cThe whole thing is being basically run like our intelligence community would run a covert operation against a hostile nation.\\u201d Plus! Molly really wants to know how Whitehouse can work with Rand Paul and if Rhode Island calamari is really as amazing as the DNC made it seem.

Want more? Become a Beast Inside member to enjoy a limited-run series of bonus interviews from The New Abnormal. Guests include Cory Booker, Jim Acosta, and more. Head to newabnormal.thedailybeast.com to join now.

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