Mike Francesa
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Mike Francesa does not like what he sees in Washington.

Some political commentary from his latest BetRivers podcast:

I am disappointed in both sides. I really am.

I am disappointed that we haven’t learned our lessons, that we haven’t done a better job trying to make things better in what is a very tough time in this country. I don’t see us any better off in terms of having a truce between the two warring factions and the two doctrines.

It seems to me the outside of each of those parties, the far-right in the Republicans and the far-left in the Democrats, are still trying so hard to take the parties to the extremist level. And to the outside extreme they can go to. So the fringe, I call it – although they’re fringe in number but not fringe in impact – are dragging the Democrats left and they’re dragging Republicans right instead of dragging people to the middle, where there can be consensus. We’re moving away from consensus all the time.

And frankly, (former president Donald) Trump had a great opportunity and I thought he lost it. (Current President Joe) Biden had a great opportunity and I don’t think he has seized it. I think we’ve had very poor leadership at the presidential position in recent years. And it is very disappointing.

Francesa received a listener email asking if he plans to talk politics with the midterm elections approaching. Which is a niche Francesa expressed interest in back in early 2020, when he transitioned out of WFAN afternoon drive and into a digital-first role for Audacy, the station’s parent company. But that never came to pass, although Francesa received national attention when he blasted Trump for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Francesa openly supported Trump in 2016. But he did not offer much commentary on his presidency until the pandemic hit. Francesa was not on the air during the 2020 election, Trump’s subsequent lies about the election being stolen and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol (Francesa did tweet it was a “national disgrace”). Francesa has since revealed he voted for Biden in 2020, but he does not believe he has done a good job in office.

Francesa indicated he does not plan to do much politics talk on the podcast. Which make sense, given it is a sports program owned by a sportsbook.

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James Kratch can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch.

James Kratch is the managing editor of ESNY. He previously worked as a Rutgers and Giants (and Mike Francesa) beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.