Conflation & Conspiracies

Summary

Summary of "Conflation & Conspiracies" Episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Release Date: July 17, 2025

In this episode of "Armstrong & Getty On Demand," hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty navigate the tangled web of political conspiracies, focusing primarily on the Epstein scandal's ramifications within the Republican base and the broader American political landscape. The discussion intertwines political analysis with personal anecdotes, providing listeners with both insightful commentary and engaging banter.

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Trump's Narrative on the Epstein Scandal

The episode begins with a critical examination of former President Donald Trump's efforts to discredit allegations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, framing them as electoral manipulation by Democrats.

Jack Armstrong [00:43]: "What he's now branded the Epstein hoax. You look at the Steele dossier that turned out to be a total hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net."

Armstrong challenges Trump's portrayal of the Epstein case as a hoax, drawing parallels to the debunked Steele dossier and highlighting the pitfalls of labeling political opponents' allegations as baseless.

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Charlie Kirk and the MAGA Movement's Response

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, and his handling of the Epstein narrative within the MAGA movement. Kirk's attempts to balance denial with appeasement of his audience are scrutinized.

Charlie Kirk [00:55]: "You're stupid if you believe the whole Epstein thing. And he doesn't want your vote anymore."

Kirk is depicted as a pivotal MAGA figure who initially dismissed the Epstein conspiracy theories but faced backlash from his base, leading to fluctuating statements aimed at damage control.

Charlie Kirk [02:21]: "I know some people are getting fired up about this. I don't believe he was trying to insult anybody personally."

The hosts discuss Kirk's struggle to maintain party unity while addressing the persistent conspiracy theories, emphasizing the delicate balance leaders must strike in politically charged environments.

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Public Perception and Polling on Epstein Conspiracies

Armstrong and Getty present insights from Morning Consulting’s polling data, revealing a divided American public on the Epstein scandal's details.

Charlie Kirk [07:22]: "A plurality of America now on just this question… over half or roughly half of America says, yes, there is [a blackmail list]."

Key findings indicate that 60% of Democrats believe in the existence of an Epstein client list or blackmail scheme, compared to 41% of Republicans. This challenges the notion that such conspiracy theories are predominantly a right-wing phenomenon.

Additionally, beliefs about Epstein's death reflect deep skepticism:

Charlie Kirk [10:32]: "Half of Democrats think he did not commit suicide."

The polling underscores a significant bipartisan distrust concerning official narratives, complicating efforts to address misinformation.

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Maureen Comey's Firing and Its Conspiratorial Implications

The hosts shift focus to the recent dismissal of Maureen Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, from the Justice Department, framing it as fuel for conspiracy theories.

Jack Armstrong [17:05]: "She took a leading role in the Ghislaine Maxwell case and was part of the Epstein investigation."

The firing is portrayed as a potential political maneuver, raising questions about internal dynamics within the Justice Department and furthering suspicions of a deeper conspiracy.

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Climate Change and the Steve Miller Concert Cancellation

Armstrong and Getty critique the decision of musician Steve Miller to cancel his tour, attributing it to exaggerated climate change concerns.

Charlie Kirk [15:04]: "His statement is ridiculous... he's an ignoramus."

The discussion mocks the notion that natural disasters warrant the cancellation of events like concerts, labeling such actions as disconnected from practical realities and overly influenced by climate change narratives.

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Gaming's Role in Cognitive Maintenance for Older Americans

Briefly diverging from political themes, the hosts explore the benefits of video gaming for older adults in maintaining cognitive functions.

Charlie Kirk [34:28]: "Gamers specifically playing Call of Duty have logged more than 25 billion hours since it first came out, equivalent to 2.85 million years."

This segment highlights gaming as a tool for mental engagement, especially among the elderly, while maintaining a light-hearted tone.

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Journaling and Handwriting: Mental Health Practices

The conversation transitions to personal development topics, discussing the merits of journaling and the cognitive benefits of handwriting.

Charlie Kirk [37:27]: "I had a teacher who I really, really like... they can't spell. And the teacher said, 'Doesn't matter.'"

Armstrong shares personal struggles with handwriting, emphasizing its importance for brain function despite the prevalence of digital communication.

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Critique of California's Cap and Trade Climate Policy

Armstrong offers a scathing critique of California's cap and trade program, referencing an article by Katie Grimes in the California Globe.

Jack Armstrong [25:32]: "California is going to lose $3 billion a year starting this year on the cap and trade auctions. It's a miserable failure."

He argues that the policy is economically unsustainable and ineffective in addressing the broader energy consumption issues, labeling it a financial and environmental misstep.

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Musicians' Personal Lives and Public Perceptions

The hosts touch upon the personal lives of musicians like Stevie Wonder and Steve Miller, critiquing their public statements and lifestyle choices in the context of broader societal issues.

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Conclusion and Forward Look

The episode wraps up with a tease of upcoming discussions, including potential negotiations between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky, signaling continued exploration of high-stakes political narratives.

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Throughout the episode, Armstrong and Getty provide a critical lens on conspiracy theories and their entanglement with political affiliations, emphasizing the complex interplay between public perception, media narratives, and political agendas. Their blend of serious analysis and casual dialogue aims to engage listeners, offering both depth and relatability in their discussions.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong [00:43]: "What he's now branded the Epstein hoax. You look at the Steele dossier that turned out to be a total hoax..."
• Charlie Kirk [07:22]: "A plurality of America now on just this question... over half or roughly half of America says, yes, there is [a blackmail list]."
• Jack Armstrong [17:05]: "She took a leading role in the Ghislaine Maxwell case and was part of the Epstein investigation."
• Charlie Kirk [15:04]: "His statement is ridiculous... he's an ignoramus."
• Charlie Kirk [34:28]: "Gamers specifically playing Call of Duty have logged more than 25 billion hours since it first came out..."

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions of the "Conflation & Conspiracies" episode, providing a clear and engaging overview for those who haven't tuned in.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at.

[Joe Getty]

The George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Charlie Kirk]

A lot of faith in certain people. Yeah, they got duped by the Democrats.

[Joe Getty]

President Trump swiping at what he calls his past supporters, calling them weaklings for falling prey to quote Democratic BS over.

[Jack Armstrong]

What he's now branded the Epstein hoax. You look at the Steele dossier that turned out to be a total hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.

[Charlie Kirk]

You're stupid if you believe the whole Epstein thing. And he doesn't want your vote anymore. So we talked about this yesterday because it happened while we were on the air and we played all the clips for you and it's kind of hard to explain why you would use this tact to try to deal with getting out of this mess. Um, so Charlie Kirk, he is a huge MAGA leader among particularly the young crowd. He had that event the other day where a number of right wing hosts say who, who thinks there's a cover up and the crowd cheers widely, wildly, and all that sort of stuff. So then Charlie Kirk put out a statement, what like the next day, Joe. That it seemed like Trump had given him a call or something like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because he said, well, it's known that Trump called him.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, okay. And he and Charlie Kirk got a statement where he basically said, look, there's, there's nothing there. Let's all move on and make America great again or something. He was ready to turn the page. And then I don't know if he got huge blowback from his audience or what, but he has sounded different since then. And yesterday this Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on his podcast yesterday attempted some damage control on Trump's behalf. Don't take too seriously the whole truth social here. Kirk told his audience. I know some people are getting fired up about this. I don't believe he was trying to insult anybody personally. All right, well, you know, if you call me, if you call me stupid and a dupe, it seems fairly personal, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Charlie Kirk counting on the fact that those people are stupid and dupes, apparently.

[Charlie Kirk]

Still, he expressed frustration about the administration's handling of the issue himself. We are now Wednesday going into Thursday. People are very, very confused and some people are very disappointed and mad. Charlie Kirk said, we made so much progress with Gen Z and this is a big vulnerability online on TikTok. This story is not landing well, let's fix this. And we can. He does make a good point. The Republican Party doing better with young people than it has in my lick going back to Reagan. Right. And if this is the thing that blows it up. But I don't, I don't know. I guess where I break down on this story all the time is it seems so obvious to me what's happened that I don't. There was never any there. There. There's not a child sex ring being run by Democrats in Hollywood. Podcasters were saying it to get clicks and listeners. That's what I assumed all along. It's true. Turns out to be true. They're even saying it's true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Charlie Kirk]

And it's over. And maybe you can be mad at them. If you fell for it. Fell for it is a prejudicial. You don't fall for something. You, you. It's not on you. If somebody you trust lies to you, that's not your fault. Correct. You're not a dupe or weak or any of those things. You trusted somebody and they lied to you. You trusted Dan Bongino or Pam Bondi and they lied to you. Now, you know, I don't know what you do with that, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. Yeah. Gosh dang it. This thing has so many tentacles. I think one of the more interesting aspects of this is that the sort of people that would pitch this sort of infotainment, they're so much closer to power than they've ever been before on. On the right in Republican circles. That sort of witch hunty. All Republicans are racist. Big evil, you know, beer swigging, cross burning, you know, fictions existed on the left very, very close to power for a very long time. But the Republican Party for, you know, try to be the party of realists and grown ups and the rest of it. You know, I've been reading more about this sort of thing. Not necessarily the Epstein conspiracy theory in general. And it's called, it's referred to as what's it. There's a term for it. So pedo critical pedo theory that's got the fair history on the right going back probably 15 years and stuff. It is just those who would hook you have realized that certain elements. It's like writing a hit song. Certain elements like child victims, you know, the, the powerful in the government, evil doers who are fairly easily identified like the Jews. Which doesn't factor into every version of this, but it factors into a hell of a lot of them. That, that's the, that's the Markers of a hit song. It's like, you know, all pop music now is completely formulaic, computer generated. They've realized what trips your triggers. This has all of it. And so it's. It's super compelling. And then you got people now who are very, very close to power who used to be pitching it.

[Charlie Kirk]

We're working up to the latest polling which will show you if you. Your attitude is where most of America's is. We did get this text yesterday just to represent a chunk of you that we know are out there. YouTube Protecting and Siding with Pedos is shocking and horrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we're not and never would. That's the point.

[Charlie Kirk]

I would be calling for the death penalty for all of them if I thought that was happening. If hundreds of thousands of children were being sex trafficked by the Democratic Party and business leaders and maybe some Republicans.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. You know what? Again, Charlie, Kirk and Turning Point USA have done some great stuff among young people. You know, it's a shame. It reminds me of certain people I've known who have been wonderful in some ways and just utterly corrosive in others, but they've done some fabulous things, giving conservative kids, young people confidence to speak their beliefs, et cetera. On the other hand, Charlie, I think in the last several days has been the perfect illustration of my point of view. This was the most important thing in the world and it must be exposed and it must be brought down. Until Donald said, hey, would you cool your jets on this? Is this causing MAGA some real problems? And he said, I'm done talking about this for now and I think everybody should be and everything's fine. And then he got a backlash like later that day from his audience who said, no, no, no. And so he came out and changed his mind again and said, I demand these 15 things because we've got to get to the bottom of this. So entertainment.

[Charlie Kirk]

Two things that get conflated a lot, which I think confused the conversation, and maybe some of this polling I'm about to tell you is the difference between documents, the case files, and a list. Sometimes those get used interchangeably. Is there an Epstein file? Of course there is. There was an investigation. So there's a file showing an investigation that ultimately led nowhere. Is there a list, apparently of clients in blackmail? No, there is not. So according to people inside and outside and people leaking and everything else, but people conflate those two regularly. They said there wasn't a file. There is a file. So where's the list? Well, those are two different things.

[Jack Armstrong]

And as Alan Dershowitz pointed out lots and lots of names come up in an investigation. So you could say there's a list of names, but those are being kept secret for the reason they always are. As we discussed earlier, if you're not being charged and you just happen to be somewhere, the feds aren't going to come out and say, hey, Joe Getty was at that party, by the way. Just saying they're not in that business. Except when James Comey is in charge.

[Charlie Kirk]

But when you're firing people up about a list, you mean, is there a list of clients? And the listing, you know, is, is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is proof of blackmail for child molestation. Right.

[Charlie Kirk]

And the blackmail and all that. So here's the polling from Morning Consulting, a respected polling organization. The statement, there's no evidence of a client list or blackmail scheme involving Epstein and prominent people. The plurality, the biggest number, no, at 51% only. So. So, you know, I don't know why they presented it as no, but. So over half or roughly half of America says, yes, there is. There is a blackmail list. It exists. Only 25% of people say, no, there isn't. A quarter of people say, I don't have any idea. But. So a plurality of America thinks there is a black male list out there. Uh, you want to break it down by party. Democrats, it's 60% of Democrats think there's a list, which is interesting given the fact that the prevailing thought is that it's a Democrats in Hollywood running the child trafficking scheme. And 60% of Democrats think there is a blackmail list. Of that. It's only 41% of Republicans that think it is. So that's where it gets confusing on this whole thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

But I guess completely befuddled.

[Charlie Kirk]

But I guess they're all the young crowd and very worked up about it. And that's why Charlie Kirk speak into it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Charlie Kirk]

But overall, it's half of America now on just this question. Epstein committed suicide in prison. No. Is the plurality 42% biggest chunk of voters say no. 23% say, I don't know. Only 35% say. Only a third of people say, yes, he committed suicide. I'd be in that crowd. I believe he committed suicide. But the biggest chunk of people. And again, you break it down by Republicans and Democrats and the theory is that like, if he was killed, it's the Democrats that did it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Charlie Kirk]

The jokes about Hillary Clinton's sensible shoes clacking away through the prison. I don't think Hillary Clinton stuffed him, but that's the biggest chunk that believes he didn't commute commit suicide. Democrats. Half of Democrats think he did not commit suicide.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Virtually all of the big names you ever hear whispered, well, spoken out loud these days that might have been partying with them are Democrats, virtually all of them. So, yeah, this again, I'm completely befuddled.

[Charlie Kirk]

And only 37% of Republicans think he committed it, didn't commit suicide. So it doesn't fit with the narrative of everything we're hearing the last couple of days.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Charlie Kirk]

Except that shouldn't Trump, shouldn't Trump be talking about all the Democrat dupes who fell for it based on this polling?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, 100%. And shouldn't be addressing his followers at all. Why would he? Again, I get his frustration, but it was dumb politics. So what I was about to say was the thing you have to remember because they're just polling Democrats and Republicans is that there are subsets of both of those parties. I mean, it's obvious within the Democratic Party because it's just a mosaic of completely unrelated grievance groups that have said, all right, I'll yell about your grievance if you'll yell about mine. Okay? And we're all borderline Marxists, so everybody knows that that's a patchwork. But within conservatism, within the Republican Party, I should say now, you have classic conservatives, you have salt of the earth red state MAGA folks, have online Pizzagate types, you have various other stripes of Republicanism. So yeah, it's a plurality of Republicans that say, no, it's more or less unfolded the way it seems it unfolded. But there is a substantial minority that thinks very, very differently.

[Charlie Kirk]

But I'm ready to be done talking about this. But the media narrative of the last several days, since it's mainstream media and left media that loves this story so much and talking about conspiracy minded Republicans, it would appear there are more conspiracy minded Democrats than there are Republicans. And, and since they probably weren't listening to Dan Bongino or Pam Bondi, where did they come by their conspiracy? That's what I'm confused by. They're not listening to the Dan Bongino podcast every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. So another plank in the conspiracy platform coming up in a little bit. Got a great email about to what it boils down to. It's because become a symbol. Pretty good insight. We'll get to that in a little bit too.

[Charlie Kirk]

If you can figure out the confusion around this where it seems to be more Democrats and Republicans that are into this story. Text line 415295 KFTC ARMSTRONG and getty.

[Joe Getty]

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[Charlie Kirk]

We finally switched to T Mobile because they know that those of us here and there want to stay well connected.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's watch a movie.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thanks to T Mobile we get Netflix included so we can all enjoy our favorite shows and movies.

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Quinta Lesta Bacanis now the hard part.

[Charlie Kirk]

Is getting them to agree on a movie.

[Quinta Lesta Bacanis]

Switch today and get a Samsung Galaxy S25 plus with Galaxy AI on us. Plus your plan prize is guaranteed for 5 years. Save today guarantee for tomorrow. Tap the banner to learn more or visit a store. Guarantees monthly price of contacts and data exclusions like taxes and fee supply. See exclusions and details t mobile.com some more political news.

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump is still facing criticism for his handling of the Epstein files, yet the excuses are getting worse and worse. Today Trump was like a dog ate the Epstein files, then people in Ohio ate the dog. That's a pretty funny joke.

[Charlie Kirk]

Here's a story for you we'll get to do you know who Steve Miller is? Some people call what is the pompitis of love? Some people call me the Space Cowboy. That's Steve Miller has canceled his tour because of climate change and his statement is ridiculous. Even though I'm a giant fan of his music, he's an ignoramus. So we got that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Coming up, the number of guitar heroes who are morons is surprising. Anyway, a couple of things very quickly, a couple of emails. Robert Ghislaine Maxwell wasn't even arrested until a year after Epstein's death. Yes, I got that timeline wrong. I apologize deeply and humbly. Thank you for the email. I like this. From frequent correspondent me to the initials. Just thought I would chime in about the whole Epstein infatuation. The way I see it, Epstein is transcended. Being the image of a person become a symbol. My opinion symbolizes two things that deeply unnerve the right, if not all of America. One, we American citizens never get answers anymore on things like this. Like pervos in power. There's always some investigation that manages to find nothing while relevant facts are locked away behind a court order. True. Two, the belief that there's a two tier system of justice. We all know there is. Has Hunter Biden been convicted of anything? Well, actually he was, but then he was pardoned. Did Jussie Smollett serve any time? Diddy is innocent of everything, right? Remember O.J. simpson? Of course, there's old Ted Kennedy who never answered for anything. Epstein is a symbol of the idea that no matter how bad you are, as long as you're well connected, you'll never truly have to answer to the American people.

[Charlie Kirk]

There is that feeling out there. Who leaked the Supreme Court decision to try to discredit the Supreme Court? No answer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. Yeah. Yeah, it's really frustrating. So if I were in the business of like perpetuating QAnon Pizzagate Epstein conspiracy theory type stuff, I would be going heavy on this. And they probably will be by noon today, if they aren't already. The justice just fired a prosecutor in Manhattan, a woman by the name of Maureen Comey. Does that last name sound vaguely familiar? She's the daughter of James Comey.

[Charlie Kirk]

I hope.

[Jack Armstrong]

Something, something, it's just it writes itself.

[Charlie Kirk]

I don't know about a cover up, but I hope that she was fired just as part of the. They're firing people in Justice Department and lots of different departments and not specifically because he hates James Comey so much.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wait, there's more, Jack. She was also a prosecutor who worked on the. And she took a leading role in the Jelaine Maxwell case and was part of the Epstein investigation.

[Charlie Kirk]

All right, so were a hundred FBI officers. According to hundreds of FBI officers, which is nuts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but my point, if, if indeed I have one, is that is that you would have to work as hard to debunk all of this as the people are working to bunk it. In other words, James freaking Comey's daughter, who was investigating both of these scumbags, just got fired by the Trump administration. I don't have enough time in my day to build a case where that has an innocent explanation because it sounds dirty.

[Charlie Kirk]

As hell it does. You don't get to see Steve Miller on tour because of climate change among other things on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Joe Getty]

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[Charlie Kirk]

We finally switched to T Mobile because they know that those of us here and there want to stay well connected.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's watch a movie.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thanks to T Mobile we get Netflix included so we can all enjoy our favorite shows and movies.

[Quinta Lesta Bacanis]

Quinta Lista Bacanissima, Perrojaladi.

[Charlie Kirk]

Now the hard part is getting them to agree on a movie.

[Quinta Lesta Bacanis]

Switch today and get a Samsung Galaxy S25 with Galaxy AI on us. Plus your plan. Prize is guaranteed for 5 years. Save today, guarantee for tomorrow. Tap the banner to learn more or visit a store. Guarantees monthly price of contacts and data exclusions like taxes and fee supply. See exclusions and details@t mobile.com Stevie Wonder.

[Jack Armstrong]

Denied rumors that he's not really blind. True.

[Charlie Kirk]

The guy had nine kids with five.

[Jack Armstrong]

Different women and he thought he was being faithful.

[Charlie Kirk]

We did that whole story the other day. Stevie Wonder apparently is blind, but has played into that joke for many, many years, which is kind of funny. He does have nine kids with five women, which lots of musicians, athletes, etc do and we just kind of turn a blind eye to that very odd lifestyle. Speaking of musicians named Steve, a different one. Steve Miller. What's your favorite Steve Miller Band song? It's Hard to Beat the Joker.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, Yeah. I mean it's like you're asking me to pick my favorite kid. I. I don't. I love them all.

[Charlie Kirk]

Steve Miller, whose Greatest Hits album was like the number one selling Album in the, in the world for. For years and years and years and years because all his giant hits were on there. Interesting story. I remember when he was on Charlie Rose a couple of years back and he played the Joker alone with a guitar for Charlie Rose and it was very, very good. But you see, some people call him the space cowboy. But he told the story about how he had. He put out an album. Giant hits. He was like the biggest thing in all of music. And then the record company tried to tell him what to do and he just said no and had to leave music. He left the music business rather than do what they told him to do because he's just like, I don't have to. I'm rich now. Screw you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and he was an actual like hippie. Yeah, I mean, nonconformist.

[Charlie Kirk]

Tippy. Well, he has canceled his tour. I would have actually paid to go see Steve Miller, but he's not going to tour because of. It's not safe. The unacceptable risks of natural disasters.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Charlie Kirk]

Yes, he put out this post yesterday. He's supposed to tour starting like in August, in a couple of weeks and for many, many months around the country. He cannot put his people on in the band and the crowd who would come to see him in harm's way with all the natural disasters that are happening due to climate change. Here's his statement. You make music with your instincts. You live life by your instincts. Always trust your instincts. The Steve Miller Band has canceled all of our upcoming dates. The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires. A forest fire was going to get your concert made these risks for the audience and my band and crew unacceptable.

[Jack Armstrong]

So when was the last time a flood canceled a concert like in progress? Steve.

[Charlie Kirk]

So you can blame it on the weather. The tour is canceled. I don't know where. I don't know when. We hope to see you again. Wishing you peace, love and happiness. Please take care of each other. Steve, the band and crew.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, my instincts say you're an octogenarian hippie whose mind doesn't work right anymore.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, you're. You're an 80 something hippie who's like, really? You're probably taking in the most ridiculous Twitter feeds yourself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

Chrissy Hind, also an ancient rocker of the Pretenders, said a couple of weeks ago at an outdoor concert. Outdoor concerts will be coming to a close soon. We won't be able to do it anymore because it's so hot. I've had to stripe ass ice packs to my waist to survive this. It's because you're an old woman. You're now an old woman out in the heat. It's not the same as being 25. Those are hot flashes she's feeling. She's a little old fraud flashes. But anyway, it's pretty funny. These old hippies, I mean, that's. You can believe climate change all you want, but the idea that it's not safe for your crew because of the floods that happen in Texas or earthquake somewhere, whatever the hell.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, it's just.

[Charlie Kirk]

What? What is how. When's the last time anybody died at a concert in America because of anything climate change related? Or you could even claim was climate change related?

[Jack Armstrong]

I know, that's hilarious.

[Charlie Kirk]

I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's so wildly disconnected from reality, it's almost beyond hilarious. It's troubling. And I'll bet there's somebody listening. And if that's you, feel free to email us mailbagarmstrongyegheti.com but there has got to be a known psychological profile about the sort of person who defines themselves so completely with being cause oriented that they'll, you know, even at their advanced age, seize onto what seems to be the hot cause of the day and throw themselves into it with 100% a conviction. But more importantly, 100% belief in whatever they have to believe to make that conviction seem righteous. You know, it defines them completely.

[Charlie Kirk]

I can't imagine what all goes into scheduling a major tour. The logistics, the venues, the ticket sales, the sponsors. There had to be tons of sponsors like Ford and Verizon Wireless. Last night they were like, what, you're canceling? There are like 8,000 concert tours that are going to be going on this summer of various sizes, and they're all going to be fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Good Lord, that is just Looney Tunes. Well, you can't argue logically to somebody who comes to that conclusion. That's like the ancient Armstrong and Yeti principle of the if you see somebody doing something so incredibly crazy, you can't explain to them why it's crazy, forget it. You're wasting your time. The doing of the act is evidence that you can't reason with them. Slightly less Steve Miller. Although your sponsors. Look, you're doing business with a crazed old hippie. They're gonna do crazy things, right? You just gotta accept that you probably ought to have a rider in the contract or insurance or something. Anyway, I found this so interesting. Katie Grimes doing some great writing for the California Globe as us and it's about calunicornia and Gavin Newsom and the shameless climate grift and how many trillions of dollars have been spent needlessly. And one of the more interesting aspects of it is and she quotes Gavi, who's just been an avid cheerleader for this grift. But she points out that one of the main parts of it is that we've got to replace all of the like fossil fuel generated electric power with green electric power, windmills, unicorn farts, you know, solar, whatever. But as this a couple of scientists are quoting in this article, but as one of them points out, only 20% of the world's energy consumption is electrical at all. So if that were entirely green. Well, thanks. I mean that helped a little bit, but very, very little. Supplying 80% of the world's primary energy, coal, oil and natural gas make up the lifeblood of modern civilization. They power everything that's not electrical. And so it's just a myth that if we can go green on the electric grid, we will have won the battle and we can eliminate fossil fuels. It's not even, it's a tiny, tiny fraction. And then let's see, who is this? Vijay Jairaj writes consensus on climate change has become a form of bullying, intimidation and censorship. Katie writes, which is exactly what Julie from Canada tried to do, blah blah, blah. It's been used to bludgeon and attack the character of anyone who questions the very shallow claims. It is a cult completely divorced from science and reality. And the larger problem with these climate change cultists is they lack humility in any interest in self reflection. And it goes into a great deal of detail on that and how it's an excuse just to control things, which is usually what the left wants to do. But there one other update. This is also in the California Globe written by somebody else. You know California's vaunted famous cap and trade program where corporations have to pay for the right to pollute and if some other company isn't polluting, they can sell their shares on the free market cap and trade program. And that is going to take care of climate change and also raise a bunch of money for California. Well, it reminds me of that Internet meme, how it started, how it's going. So there's an auction every year and in past years the state has actually turned a profit with these auctions offset with business revenue. Ten years ago the state made one and a half billion dollars with cap and trade auctions. But the market for has gone down, down, down as fewer and fewer companies are interested in participating in it. And California is going to lose $3 billion a year starting this year on the cap and trade auctions. It's a miserable failure. It hasn't worked.

[Charlie Kirk]

Have you ever, when you bought an airline ticket, checked that box where you, like, donate some money to offset your carbon footprint?

[Jack Armstrong]

Who are you talking to? You must not be talking to me.

[Charlie Kirk]

I wonder how many people do that. And if I ever met anybody who did that, I think. Okay, all right.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, I will not do that.

[Charlie Kirk]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Amazing. So, speaking of doing the right things for humans of the future, perhaps your loved ones, our friends at Trust and Will want you to know. Well, you know, you should have a trust and or a will so your wishes are known after you go and your loved ones don' end up in probate hell. But you've hesitated to do it because it seems complicated and expensive and attorneys, blah, blah, blah. Not with Trust and Will. Com.

[Charlie Kirk]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Yep. And you can create and manage a custom estate plan starting at $199. Wow. That's a huge savings over the regular way. Secure your assets and protect your loved ones with Trust. And will get 20% off on your estate plan documents by visiting trustandwill.com Armstrong that's trustandwill.com Armstrong get started. It's easy. 20 off. Trustandwill.com Armstrong so why don't you jump.

[Charlie Kirk]

On your big jet airliner, Fly like an eagle. You joker. Take the money and run back to your jungle hideout.

[Jack Armstrong]

Very well crafted, very nice.

[Charlie Kirk]

I'll bet Steve Miller does. I'll bet if he flies Southwest, he checks the little box of I need to offset my carbon credits and donate a hundred dollars. What do you think they're doing with that money, you joker?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. That's hilarious. It kind of makes me sad that a lot of things make me sad with the modern world in the Internet. But it used to be I didn't know a damn thing about what Steve Miller thought or any of my musical heroes. You could guess, like, between the lines of the lyrics. Maybe they do an interview with the Rolling Stone and they say something. But, you know, they're smart, they're savvy, they're like Michael Jordan. They're like Hey, I make music. I'm not going to lecture people about who ought to be in Congress. Why would I do that? It's getting in the way of my thing.

[Charlie Kirk]

One of the best developments to happen yet between the United States and Ukraine. Absolutely. I don't see how you could argue with this thing that Trump and Zelinsky are trying to get a deal going. If this is true, I hope it is. Tell you about that, among other things. Stay with us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Benefits allowing them to use the brain.

[Joe Getty]

Stay engaged and maintain cognition. Research shows puzzles, skill and chance and arcade video games are the most popular with older players.

[Charlie Kirk]

Hadn't thought about video games for old people to help their minds stay engaged.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. It's funny, I heard gaming and I thought gambling because the gambling industry has tried to rename it gam because it sounds better.

[Charlie Kirk]

I guess because I have teenagers, I hear gaming and I think call Call of Duty. Yeah, which speaking of, just came across this stat. Thanks to our friend Tim Sandifer who tweeted it out. Gamers specifically playing Call of Duty have logged more than 25 billion hours since it first came out, equivalent to 2.85 million years, surpassing the entire timeline of human history.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Wow. Meanwhile, a few of those people. Well, you know what I was gonna say, few of those people have actually answered a call to duty. Although I'll bet a hell of a lot of our military guys play those games in their free time.

[Charlie Kirk]

Probably.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

We. We played a clip earlier of Shane Gillis the comedian. He hosted the ESPY Awards last night. He was the emcee and he had some funny stuff. We'll probably have more clips later, but one of his jokes that he does in his stand up routine is how it's. One of his problems is like he really loves his girlfriend and they have a great relationship, but as soon as they're done having sex, he just wants her to leave. And the crowd always groans and he, and he says, oh yeah, I'm the only guy that likes playing Xbox alone. And then all the dudes cheer. I guess that is a thing. Playing Xbox alone by yourself. I got one kid who loves video games and one that doesn't like them at all, for better or worse. So another thing you can do that's supposed to be helpful is journaling. Have you ever journaled consistently for a couple of months? Oh really? And why did you do it when you did it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Years and years ago, I thought I was going to be delivering my drivel in print as opposed to verbally for a living. And you thought she's trying to write more.

[Charlie Kirk]

Good practice. Okay. Interesting. Yeah, it's so a lot of people claim it's good for your mental health, get thoughts out of your head or whatever. New York Times has a thing today how to start journaling and actually stick with it. And it's setting goals and all these different things. I'm still very interested in whether handwriting is necessary for this stuff or if typing counts. This particular person in the New York Times says just do whatever. It doesn't make any difference. I'm not sure that's true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, given the fascinating discoveries scientists have made about the. The way handwriting connects various centers in your brain and gets them to work in, in concert, it's really intriguing and discouraging since I'm left handed and I despise handwriting.

[Charlie Kirk]

But one of the things I want to bring up about handwriting, somebody mentioned this to me. Well, I had noticed this in myself but just kind of blown it off. I thought maybe it was age or something. I go to write, which I very rarely do. Like I fill in out a check or whatever. My handwriting is so horrible. And I didn't know if it was just age or like I need a new pen or, or what. But somebody had pointed out to me that they, they thought they had gotten real, their handwriting had gotten really bad, worse just from lack of doing it. I don't think that's it.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're out of practice.

[Charlie Kirk]

I'm out of practice. I haven't, I haven't written regularly in decades. And so I go to do it now and I look like a third grader. I wasn't that bad when I was in third grade, but man, I am now. It's just looks like who. There's no way an adult wrote this check.

[Jack Armstrong]

Third grader or a maniac.

[Charlie Kirk]

Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

The pinched, angry handwriting of the maniac. We've received those letters back when we used to get letters.

[Charlie Kirk]

I know how you're gonna react to this. I had a teacher who I really, really like, say the other day, and I don't, I don't because. Well, I won't say this particular student doesn't spell well and it's not their fault, but they can't spell. And the teacher said, doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I don't care about spelling anymore. That's never going to be a thing again. You just got to get close and the computer tells you, you fix it and you move on. So I don't drill spelling anymore. Do you think that makes sense or not?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, because using the various autocorrect stuff is cumbersome. Well, and I don't. Certain autocorrects are pretty quickly. It depends what platform you're using. It's. I tell you what, if somebody really struggled with spelling and it would take an enormous amount of time and energy to get them up to speed. No, I probably wouldn't devote that time and energy.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, I think that's what they're saying.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a real time saver to be a good speller. But I see their point. You know what's funny is I mentioned I'm a lefty and, and I, I always reacted horribly to stories of. Back in the day, parents would force their kids to write right handed. They'd even like, you know, whatever, put a mitten on the, the left hand and make them write right handed. Or, you know, certainly I wouldn't be in favor of beating a kid or whatever, but recently I've been on this kick of I will occasionally because I do things. I'm partially ambidextrous. It's practically at random what I do with my right hand, what I do with my left. And, and I will occasionally realize, oh, that's funny, I use my right hand for that. I'm going to try it left handed for a week. And so I'll try to do that because I've heard that's good for the brain too.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's interesting. I've never tried to do things left handed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe I will, but I got really good. I got pretty damn good at brushing my teeth with the opposite hand. And I thought, you know what? Writing right handed is much more efficient than left handed. And if I put a little time into it, I can learn to do that. As a kid, it would have been, you know, a little more difficult than learning to write left handed, which was what my brain wanted, but it would have been fine.

[Charlie Kirk]

I'll try brushing my teeth with my left hand tonight. See if I. Or Saturday. I brush my teeth every Saturday.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fair warning, you will jab yourself in the gums, right in the eye. Brush it. Well, that could happen, too. I. I have had the thing come out of my mouth and smeared toothpaste. Toothpaste all over my cheek.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

Brush gently. Gently.

[Charlie Kirk]

Trump's making a deal with Zelensky that I think everybody will be on board with, no matter how interventionist or non interventionist you are. That's that I'm pretty excited about. We can talk about that in hour three and a bunch of other different things. If you missed a segment or an hour, get our podcast. You can subscribe to Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. This is an iHeart podcast.