Funds & Chatbots

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – "Funds & Chatbots"

Date: May 20, 2026
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand dives into two major themes: the ever-expanding influence—and public backlash—against AI and data centers, and a highly controversial new $1.8 billion fund set up in a settlement involving Donald Trump and the U.S. government. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dissect the crosscurrents of technology, politics, and public trust, weaving in recent news, personal anecdotes, and their signature blend of skepticism and humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Teen Sleep & Technology (03:02–04:44)

• Armstrong & Getty begin with a discussion on teenagers’ sleep deprivation, mainly attributing it to excessive late-night cellphone use.
• Jack Armstrong: "Both my teens use the phone for their alarm...I wish I need somebody who controls my phone to shut it down in the middle of the night…Of course teens are doing that unless they can’t.”
• The hosts highlight parental struggles to enforce device shutdowns and share their own difficulties with self-control around technology.

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2. AI’s Pervasive Impact and Public Pushback (04:44–11:41)

Eric Schmidt’s Graduation Address & Public Reaction (04:54–07:59)

• They react to an edited commencement address by Eric Schmidt (ex-Google CEO) warning that AI will touch every aspect of human life.
• Joe Getty: “It's as if his speech was, ‘After this assembly, you’re going to be beaten and have all your stuff taken away from you.’”
• Both hosts express skepticism about tech leaders’ optimism, highlighting anxieties over jobs and life disruption.

The Growing Anti-AI Movement (08:56–11:41)

• Joe reads from a Wall Street Journal summary of rising anti-AI sentiment: community pushback against data centers, fears about job losses and energy consumption, and AI’s impact on education.
• They discuss how AI remains, for now, a relatively nonpartisan issue but speculate about its potential to become politically polarized.

Notable Quote:

• Jack Armstrong [10:24]: “Hey tech giants, read the room again. We’re not as optimistic about this as you are.”

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3. The Political Dynamics of AI (11:41–16:05)

• Jack mentions Mark Halperin’s analysis: Democratic campaigns may brand themselves as “no-AI,” emphasizing human-created content, partly to protect jobs—a potential split from Republican strategies.
• Joe relays Free Beacon reporting that foreign adversaries (China, Russia, Iran) are fueling some anti-data center activism in the US, not necessarily because of environmental concerns but to stifle US AI progress.

Quote:

• Joe Getty [14:18]: “Beijing and Moscow want to slow down artificial intelligence innovation in the United States as much as they can, just to weaken us and to strengthen themselves.”

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4. AI Chatbots and Propaganda (19:33–24:15)

• Discussion of a recent experiment and research showing China’s state-sponsored propaganda is present in AI chatbot training data, coloring responses in favor of Beijing—particularly in Chinese-language queries.
• Jack shares his personal experience challenging a chatbot (Claude) about Xi Jinping: it denied Xi is a dictator while instantly labeling Saddam Hussein as one.
• Joe details studies comparing English and Chinese queries, demonstrating a much greater pro-CCP bias in Chinese answers.
• They link this to broader attempts by autocracies to "flood the zone" with favorable content in training data for LLMs.

Quotes:

• Joe Getty [23:53]: “Overwhelmingly, the Chinese language answers came back more favorable to Beijing…Boy, that’s troubling.”
• Jack Armstrong [24:10]: “I don't know how you're going to stop that with these large language models...just flooding the zone.”

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5. Breaking News: Trump’s IRS Settlement & “Fund” (27:12–35:41)

Overview of the Settlement (27:12–29:32)

• The Justice Department announced the IRS is “forever barred” from auditing Trump, his family, or businesses following a lawsuit settlement.
• A new $1.8 billion fund is created for Trump to compensate those “mistreated by the Biden Justice Department,” including some January 6th defendants.
• Hosts discuss the unprecedented nature of the deal and its controversial implications.
• Jack Armstrong [29:09]: “Trump now has control of a nearly $2 billion fund to pay off anybody who, in his mind…and the Justice Department going along with him…they were wronged by the Biden people or Democrats…”

Legal & Ethical Concerns (29:32–35:41)

• Joe notes the arrangement is especially odd because “Trump sued the Trump administration and Trump agreed to a settlement…to do with as he pleases.”
• The problematic precedent set by presidents pardoning their allies and using government funds for personal or political purposes is dissected.
• Joe and Jack lament the escalating “race to the bottom” as each party shields its own from accountability.

Quotes:

• Joe Getty [30:41]: "That is troubling. Even if it's your guy."
• Jack Armstrong [32:33]: “...the feel of the republic right now reminds me of bands that were about to break up and businesses that were about to fail…”

Lawmaker Reaction

• Senator John Thune (R-ND) voices skepticism about the purpose of the fund. ([33:01])
  • Thune: “Not a big fan. I don’t see a purpose for that. I don’t know how it’s going to be used, but I don’t see a purpose for that.”
• J.D. Vance (R-OH) justifies the fund as a response to financial ruin caused by political targeting, but the hosts remain wary.

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6. Broader Reflections: Corruption and National Trust (35:41–39:45)

• The hosts reflect on the mounting levels of politicization, the normalization of self-serving behavior by political elites, and the corrupting influence of massive government spending.
• Joe Getty [39:18]: “…the only way you can keep people from being corrupted by all that money floating around is to give them less money. But that's not going to happen, right?”
• Both express pessimism about bipartisan or cultural remedies, fearing continued erosion of shared values and institutional trust.

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7. Lighter Segments & Audience Feedback (45:00–48:17)

• Brief commentary on Harvard’s move to cap the number of A grades awarded, with the hosts lampooning the rise of grade inflation (“You earn a reputation…then it runs to its eventual limit…”).
• Amusing exchange about listener complaints regarding the hosts' inattentiveness to their own show content.
  • Jack Armstrong [47:52]: “Somebody complaining that we don't even listen to our own show?”
  • Joe Getty: “Fair enough.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

Eric Schmidt (as edited for effect):

"AI will touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person and every relationship you have. ... Find a way to say yes and thank you very much and good night.” [05:24–06:54]

Jack Armstrong:

"How do they not get this? ... That everything I've known my entire life and everything we've prepared for is going to be completely blown up. And you don't ... you can't convince me that I should be excited about that.” [07:45–07:59]

Joe Getty:

“The American rebellion against AI is gaining steam. Booed commencement speakers, blocked data centers, plummeting poll numbers..." [08:57]

On Chatbots and Propaganda:

"So much of Chinese language stuff that's sucked up by these large language models is Communist party propaganda. And it's leaking out into questions like is Xi Jinping a dictator?” (Joe Getty, 21:06–22:42]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Teenagers, Tech, and Sleeplessness: 03:02–04:44
• AI Takes Over: Eric Schmidt and Public Mood: 04:44–08:22
• The Backlash Against AI/Data Centers: 08:56–11:41
• Partisan Futures for AI: 11:41–16:05
• Chinese Propaganda in AI & Chatbots: 19:33–24:15
• The Trump IRS Settlement & $1.8 Billion Fund: 27:12–35:41
• Systemic Corruption and American Cynicism: 35:41–39:45
• Harvard & Grade Inflation: 45:00–50:38
• Audience Critique/Lighter Content: 45:54–48:17

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Tone & Style

Armstrong & Getty bring their trademark blend of sarcasm, dry humor, and skepticism, especially toward overblown tech optimism and political self-dealing. The episode moves swiftly between trenchant commentary and moments of self-deprecation, as when they read aloud and agree with audience criticism of their distracted hosting.

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Summary Takeaway

"Funds & Chatbots" offers a sharp, occasionally biting, exploration of how technological disruption (AI, data centers, chatbots) and political gamesmanship (the Trump IRS settlement fund) are fueling public cynicism and institutional distrust. The hosts balance substantial reporting and deep-dive commentary with humor and candid personal perspectives—capturing both the anxiety and absurdity of this cultural moment.

Transcript

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center,

[Cindy Crawford]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong Strong and. Teenagers need more sleep than they're getting.

[Joe Getty]

But it's not just school demands that

[Jack Armstrong]

are keeping them up.

[Joe Getty]

It's phones. Yes, phones.

[Guest/Reporter]

According to a new study which shows

[Jack Armstrong]

teens are on average scrolling and texting

[Joe Getty]

and who knows what ing for nearly

[Jack Armstrong]

an hour after 10pm on school nights. And half of teens use their phones between midnight and 4am the solution according to basically everyone except maybe the teens. No phones in bed. Yeah, both my teens use the phone for their alarm which is like the iPhone. Your smartphone is a great alarm, there's no doubt. But. So I set up the. I got the thing set up on my phone. I suppose you can do it on Android. You can do it. Apple phones where both my kids, since I control their phones, all that's everything shuts off at 9:30 for one kid and 10:30 for the other kid. Anyway, my oldest. I don't know if any parents, if you've ever heard this from your teenagers. None of the other parents do this.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. So quite an argument.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. I don't know if that's true or not. So any all parents doing this where you, you shut down your kids computer phone stuff at night so they don't have the option because it's, I mean it's, it's. I wish I need somebody who controls my phone to shut it down in the middle of the night. I don't have the self control. Last night I was having trouble sleeping. I was on my phone in the middle of the night. Which I know is terrible for you but. But of course teens are doing that. Yeah, unless they can't.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Well, speaking of technology, do we have a theme music for our AI update? We really ought to come up with something short and wacky.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wouldn't you need something, a liner or something?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, you know, you got to brand it. Branding is so important these days, isn't it? That's what I read somewhere. But how about a little AI update here? Multifaceted too. First of all, I think this is revealing. This is an edit of Eric Schmidt who is the ex CEO of Google. He was given the commencement address of the University of Arizona and Was talking about tech stuff. Not surprisingly. Again, this is edited together, but you'll get the idea. Number 11.

[Guest/Reporter]

Last December, time magazine selected its Person of the year for 2025. And it was this time, it was the Architects of Artificial Intelligence. Interesting. It will touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person and every relationship you have. I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you. There is a fear. We do not know. We do not know the precise contours of what this transformation will look like. Choose a diversity of perspectives, including.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let me add.

[Guest/Reporter]

If you'd let me make this point, please.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Guest/Reporter]

If you don't care about science, that's okay, because AI is going to touch everything else as well. Whatever path you choose.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Guest/Reporter]

AI will become part of how work is done.

[Joe Getty]

Bad strategy.

[Guest/Reporter]

If you have a pro problem in the world you want to solve, you can now assemble a team of AI agents to help you with the parts that you could never accomplish on your own. Let me give you some advice. First. Find a way to say yes and thank you very much and good night.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's what they're asking. Michael.

[Jack Armstrong]

Play that again. What?

[Guest/Reporter]

The type of AI it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

How. I don't understand why these AI dudes at the top of these corporations don't get that we're not as excited about this as you are. You're going to become a gazillionaire 10 times.

[Joe Getty]

Or already are.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you're going to become even richer. Everybody else is horrified by this.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. It's as if his speech was. After this assembly, you're going to be beaten and have all your stuff taken away from you.

[Jack Armstrong]

What? And when we start booing so the guy from Google goes with. Okay, okay. Well, you better get on board because it's. Don't give me that tone. I don't have to like what you're saying. See, that's the thing you don't get. I don't have to like what you're telling me.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or pretend that I do. That everything I've known my entire life and everything we've prepared for is going to be completely blown up. And you don't. You can't convince me that I should be excited about that.

[Joe Getty]

Learn to say yes. Thank you. Good night. Yeah, I know, I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

How do they not get this? I don't understand. Even Elon, who I like more than most of your tech people. I don't understand how you present this. And nobody will have to work in the future. Like, thinking everybody thinks. Oh, cool.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

GE then how is society going to be structured? How do you not get that? That's a terrifying notion.

[Joe Getty]

On the other hand, kids these days, whatever happened to rolling your eyes and looking at your watch and thinking, jeez, when is this going to be over?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, at least they I didn't go to my graduation. But nobody was standing up there and saying every single major here will be useless within 18 months.

[Joe Getty]

You have wasted your time and your money. Your dreams are already dead.

[Jack Armstrong]

In fact, what your parents do who are paying for everything in your life currently, their jobs will be gone. Thank you and good night.

[Joe Getty]

And they're only 45,

[Jack Armstrong]

so a handful

[Joe Getty]

of AI related stories. The American rebellion against AI is gaining steam. Booed commencement speakers blocked data centers plummeting poll numbers Fast growing industry has a faster growing crisis. According to a team of writers at the Wal Street Journal, the data centers

[Jack Armstrong]

one is an interesting thing. The real the pushback on those which is being portrayed as well, it's going to use so much water or so much energy or take up so much space, but there's all kinds of corporations that use that much water, space and everything like that. It's a fear of AI thing. I think that's driving it.

[Joe Getty]

I think you're right. If you have fear and loathing, to quote Hunter S. Thompson about something, you will look for more reasons to indict it, of course. But in one poll after another in recent weeks, respondents have overwhelmingly voiced concerns about AI, a challenge to claims by industry execs that their technology would gain popularity by improving people's lives. Consumers resent energy price jumps, exacerbated by the spread of data centers. That's undeniable. Workers spear widespread fear, rather widespread job losses. Parents worry about AI undermining education and harming children's mental health. In recent months, a wave of anger has brought protests, swayed election results and spurred isolated acts of violence. Yeah, people are waking up to the overwhelmingness of it, even if they're not like acutely aware of some of the specifics. They think, man, this is I think they just sense that this is an overwhelming force.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, hey, tech giants, read the room again. We're not as optimistic about this as you are.

[Joe Getty]

Right. They know what's best for us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, exactly. That's the way they're talking to us. Sure.

[Joe Getty]

There certainly is some egomania involved, Michael. I also just think they're reading the room that they're in where everybody's invested

[Jack Armstrong]

in getting richer and richer on a daily basis.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Dylan Patel, CEO of AI Infrastructure Consulting firm, you've never heard of it, recently predicted there would be a large, there would be large scale protests against open air and anthropic within a few months. People hate AI. AI is less popular than ice. AI is less popular than politicians. He said on a podcast.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, we, we touched on this topic. I don't remember why it was the interesting notion that AI so far hadn't been put into a Democrat or Republican thing because everything has to be on one side or the other right event,

[Joe Getty]

most left and coded or right coded as they say.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, most stuff ends up. I hate that because it's a Republican thing or I hate that because it's a Democratic thing. And I was watching Mark Halperin's newscast yesterday and had a really interesting point about that that I'll share with you next.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I'm gonna share something even more interesting than that and that's a twist on the anti AI protests and point of view and who is helping fuel it. Stay tuned afterward. From our friends at Trust and Will, I have a feeling, you know, you should do this, put together a will and, or a trust. You know, you need to make clear what you want to happen to your minor children, to your assets, to your money after you die. You just haven't gotten to it. Well, here's good news. Trust and Will offers affordable attorney designed estate plans online that you can create in as little as 30 minutes.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And so easy to do. You do it online as little as 30, 30 minutes. You can create a will that lets you document your wishes for where your kid's gonna go, what's gonna happen there, where's all your money going? Your house this, that and healthcare planning. Do you have any sort of plan of if you end up in the hospital? Got some interesting stuff on that later.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, a lot of people, a

[Jack Armstrong]

lot of people don't have a plan on that. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Halpern on his afternoon newscast had a Republican strategist and a Democratic strategist on there talking about the Spencer Pratt chat campaign for LA mayor and how well he's using the AI ads and how they've caught on and gone viral in this and that, and Mark Halpern is talking about that being the future of politics. But Democrats, lots of big Democratic campaigns and apparently in inside the upper echelons of the Democratic Party, they're going no AI, they're, they're going to run on. None of our ads are AI. They're all human beings for a couple of different reasons. They think that that fits in with their like, you know, their philosophy. Philosophy of the Democratic Party along with they don't want anybody losing jobs. They're all about everybody's got to keep their job forever, no matter what. You know, that's kind of a Democratic thing, no matter what event.

[Joe Getty]

Creative. Right. Destruction capitalism. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Possible. And Mark Halpern's thought was that would be a terrible idea to let the Republicans run away with all these great free ads while you're still doing it the old fashioned way. But that's how it might split along the parties.

[Joe Getty]

Great reporting here from the Washington Free Beacon. Propaganda outlets controlled by China as well as Russia and Iran are promoting campaigns in the US to oppose the construction of new data centers. Beijing and Moscow want to slow down artificial intelligence innovation in the United States as much as they can, just to weaken us and to strengthen themselves.

[Jack Armstrong]

So some of the anti data center stuff you've seen, maybe a lot of it is coming out of China and Russia.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's, it's at least aided in the same way that, you know, Russian bots have, you know, in the wake of Black Lives Matter. They were hardcore pro. Black Lives Matter post and hardcore anti. They just want to set each other's throats. And this is not to say that all the concerns we've been talking about are illegitimate, but it's an interesting aspect of the modern world. You remember. Well, as they put it in the Free Beacon, the campaign appears to have made inroads with at least one American lawmaker. When Bernie Sanders participated, participated in a discussion a week ago so with two Chinese academics on the existential threat of AI. From the CCP's English language newspaper China Daily and its subsidiary Global Times to they name check a bunch of others. They're pushing the message within the United States that the data centers that power artificial intelligence are harmful, energy hungry, causing major spikes, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

The more I think about it, the more I think it could. If it's, if, if it's gonna, if AI is gonna end up being like every other topic where it's, you know, this party is for it, this party is against it. I could easily see the Republicans being more the for it party and the Democrats being against it for some of the reasons we already mentioned. But the, the people that control the Democratic Party, your master's degrees crowd, they gotta hate AI that's gonna blow up that whole world. Whereas a lot of your working class people who are now Republicans used to be Democrats back in the day, but are now Trump Republicans. They're the crowd that's saying it's going to eliminate my job. Universal income sounds great. I don't care what I do. I hate my job. So that might work.

[Joe Getty]

Got one more Chinese angle to this after the break. That might explain your wrestling match the other day with Claude about whether Xi Jinping's a dictator or not. A fascinating revelation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Okay. All on my way.

[Joe Getty]

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from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail]

[Orderly Meds Announcer]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Facebook's parent company will

[Joe Getty]

email workers at 4am Wednesday to let

[Jack Armstrong]

them know that they're being laid off. It's weird, right?

[Joe Getty]

When I fire my employees at 4am,

[Public Investing Announcer]

I just roll over and wake them up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Oh, what did that mean?

[Joe Getty]

Sleeping with his employees? Clearly it's an interesting joke.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyways, is Facebook laying off people because of AI? That's usually what the layoffs are.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, yeah. And they're just switching their emphasis so much to AI. If you're not in on that, your job is a little shaky. I'm helping grandmothers post pictures of their kids to Facebook. Anyway, speaking of AI, I found this very, very interesting, particularly in the wake of something Jack brought up the other day, which was you. You got into an argument with Claude, right? About Xi Jinping?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember I did that on the air? I said, is President Xi a dictator? And said, no, President Xi is not a dictator. He is elected. While he does have great control over the country, he's not a dictator. I said, they aren't free and Fair elections. He has rewritten all the rules. Oh, I guess you're right. In some ways you can, you know the way, the way chat, you can talk any of these chat bots into agreeing with you, which is a little troubling.

[Joe Getty]

He, he, he says policies and they become law. He, he, what's the word?

[Jack Armstrong]

What's the word?

[Joe Getty]

He dictates policies. Claude, He's a dictator.

[Jack Armstrong]

But I did find it a little troubling that the chat bot immediately went with no, he's not a dictator.

[Joe Getty]

So here is a, a little thing written by a Chinese American computer exper who says Last week the world watched Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Beijing and a much quieter piece of research dropped in nature. It should have been on every front page. A team of seven researchers from University, Oregon, Purdue, California, San Diego, New York University, Princeton and others published the first peer reviewed evidence that China's state controlled media has worked its way into the training data of AI chatbots around the world. The research shows that the scripted articles, official slogans, party line phrasings turned out daily by she named checks a bunch of Communist party news outlets are now demonstrably inside Chat, GPT and the other top chatbots and describes her experiment where she typed in the first half of one of Chairman Xi's signature loyalty slogans and it immediately auto filled it without hesitation. And she points out this isn't a folk saying, it's a piece of working party doctrine, centerpiece of the indoctrination campaign. Every cadre has to recite chatgpt. Then offered helpfully to explain the phrase's political significance. And then she said that's a parlor trick. The serious finding sits underneath it. And the long and short of it is so much of Chinese language stuff that's sucked up by these large language models is Communist party propaganda. And it's leaking out into questions like is Xi Jinping a dictator?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's really interesting. So the question I actually asked, I just looked it back up and this was for Claude, how old is the dictator of China? I said, it said China doesn't have a dictator in the formal sense. It's a one party state led by the Chinese Communist Party. And that gave me his age. And then I said, was Saddam Hussein a dictator? Yes, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq from blah

[Joe Getty]

blah, blah blah blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then eventually got to, you're right, they both held managed elections and used the title President. The parallel is real on these points.

[Joe Getty]

Right? So it's even worse than, than we think because you obviously were doing this in English. If you did it in Chinese, same chatbot, you'd get even stronger pro Commie results. In a second study, the team posed politically sensitive questions like Is China democracy? Is Xi Jinping a good leader? Is the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China a rubber St? They asked that to every major commercial chatbot, once in English and once in Chinese. Overwhelmingly, the Chinese language answers came back more favorable to Beijing, and they had a panel of judges. They judged the Chinese replies to be more Pro China and 75% of the paired comparisons Boy, that's troubling.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I don't know how you're going to stop that with these large language models, whether it's China or a or a company who wants a better image out there or whatever. Just flooding the zone with S as Steve Bannon would say. Yeah, there's a whole bunch of stuff on your side out there floating around that the the AIs pick up on

[Joe Getty]

and these people know it. Similar results for Russia and North Korea. They're flooding the zone.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is really interesting. We got a lot more on the way. Stay here.

[Public Investing Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures when people turn to telehealth for weight loss, they're looking for real support. That's why more people are choosing orderlymeds.com Orderly Meds connects you with real doctors and access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzeptatide. No guessing, just a more supportive experience. And all ship directly to your door in discreet packaging. Do your research, ask questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. That's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice eligibility required.

[Joe Getty]

C site for details

[Cindy Crawford]

Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm the founder of meaningful beauty. When Dr. Saba and I decided to do a skincare line together, he said to me, we are going to give women meaningful beauty. And I said, that's exactly right. We want to give women meaningful beauty. Which means each and every product is meaningful. It has a reason to exist. It's efficacious. You're going to get results and then you just go out and live your life. Meaningful Beauty confidence is beautiful. Learn [e-mail]

[Martha Stewart]

this is Martha Stewart from the Martha Stewart Podcast. Ever wonder how to make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret. When prepping for cooking and baking, get ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens countertop prep paper. Just lightly wet the counter so the paper grips. Lay it down and drips and spills stay on the paper, not on your counter. Cleanup is as simple as lifting it away to reveal clean counters. Effortless it is. Thanks to Reynolds Kitchens countertop prep paper. Wet it, set it, prep it, done. Available in the Reynolds wrap aisle at Walmart, Target, Amazon and Costco.

[Joe Getty]

In an extraordinary move, the Justice Department declared the IRS is, quote, forever barred and precluded from auditing President Trump, his family, his oldest sons and their companies, or pursuing any claims for past actions. It's part of the unprecedented settlement after President Trump dropped his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. The deal was orchestrated by the head of the DOJ, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is Trump's former personal attorney.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I hadn't even heard that. St that's John Carl from ABC News. Here's the part that we're going to talk the most about that's been getting attention since ABC broke the news on Sunday.

[Joe Getty]

The President's settlement also creates a nearly $1.8 billion fund, taxpayer money to pay for Trump allies or anyone else who claims they were mistreated by the Biden Justice Department. It's a group that includes the roughly 600 people charged with obstructing or assaulting police on January 6th.

[Martha Stewart]

So

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump does not mind handing his enemies a weapon to beat him with. I mean, cause this true, this if used well, doesn't look good. And I doubt it's going to be used. Well, so Trump now has control of a nearly $2 billion fund to pay off anybody who, in his mind, and the Justice Department going along with him, I suppose that they were wronged by the Biden people or Democrats or they could extrapolate it, I imagine, to all kinds of different things and who's.

[Joe Getty]

Sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was just reading Mark Halperin's assessment from talking to people is while this really, really looks bad, it's difficult to come up with a legal way that anybody's going to be able to stop Trump from doing this if he would decide to take all the January six protesters and say, give them each a million dollars.

[Joe Getty]

Good Lord.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, I don't know that he's going to do that. And I don't want to do what cable news does, where you take the worst Trump hypothetical and then talk about it as if it's real for half an hour. That's, that's, that's the danger from the Trump Hayton left is that's what he's going to do with it. But the idea that he's just got $2 billion to use on whoever he thinks was wronged by Democrats is, is an odd thing.

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's certainly unprecedented, although I read a great piece in the Free Press that was saying, yeah, he should not do this, but it might be hard to stop legally. And one of the pieces of the wisdom in it. And granted, the sin of the IRS took place under Biden when they leaked Trump's tax return. The guy went to prison for five years. He wanted to highlight income inequality and strike a blow for equity and blah, blah, blah. Frigging idiot.

[Jack Armstrong]

But anyway, and I believe he and I, but. Because that needs to get mentioned every time, every news story should start with, the IRS did something awful in releasing President Trump's taxes, his personal taxes. That was outrageous. And I don't believe it was just one person. I believe there are probably many people involved in making that possible.

[Joe Getty]

Right. But the point that the article made, and I thought it was a good one, is that since the IRS is under Trump at this point, the Trump administration and Trump sued the Trump administration and Trump. And then Trump agreed to a settlement where he got $1.8 billion to do with as he pleases.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

That is troubling. Even if it's your guy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's an interesting development. I mean, that's.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God. The Joe administration would sue the Joe administration constantly. But I would be willing to settle over and over again. Oh, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and then that John Carl stuff that I hadn't heard before. Part of the deal is the IRS is barred from auditing the Trump family. How is, what is that, that they slipped in there.

[Joe Getty]

Any current investigations are swept away. What that's my understanding is it doesn't outlaw anything in the future. But yeah, well, Trump, no matter how legitimate, if it's not going right now,

[Jack Armstrong]

on the way out the door, Trump will pardon all that, just like Biden did with his son. See, that's the problem with this whole race to the bottom thing. If you don't call out your own side ever. So the Democrats not calling out Biden for this when he pardoned Hunter and did all these shenanigans, then you don't have any, you don't have any standing when you make a big deal out of it with Trump doing it and vice versa.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. My fear, and it's a real one, is that or, or it's a legitimate fear is that in the halls of Washington D.C. each side is saying to the other, isn't this great? Yeah. Now we've, we both set the precedent that now we can do anything we want and then pardon ourselves on our way out the door, or not even on our way out the door. Like Trump is up the ante now. He pardoned people like on his first day in office.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, Biden pardoning his son, who's clearly 10 different kinds of crook, pardoned him for everything in the past and in the future. And all the stuff that he pardoned him for was outrageous. I mean that's Banana Republic sort of stuff. Stuff. And now Trump taking it like to a new level. It looks like it's just. This is not good.

[Joe Getty]

No, it's terrible. We had a 250 year run. That's a great run.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's hear from Senator John Thune, Republican leader of the Senate. He was asked about this new fund, Trump Fund yesterday.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, not a big fan. And I'm not sure exactly how they intend to use it, but my understanding is that was just announced. But yeah, I don't see a purpose.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pretty hard to hear that was John Thune, Republican leader of the Senate saying, not a big fan. I don't see a purpose for that. I don't know how it's going to be used, but I don't see a purpose for that. Yeah, well, it's hard to imagine that it's not going to be used in a way that's going to make you unhappy. If you are a fair minded American. In my mind, let's See, I'm trying

[Joe Getty]

to come up with something encouraging to say. I love the springtime. The weather is so great.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's wild where we are.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You know, I've said this before, and I don't mean to be a negative Nelly, because in my real life, I'm not. But the feel of the republic right now reminds me of bands that were about to break up and businesses that were about to fail and marriages that weren't going to work out. The, the, the common ground that which holds us together is, is tougher and tougher to see.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, let's, let's be fair here and let the administration say what they're going to say about this. Let's get 73 there. When John Carl talked to J.D. vance about this, just as easy to

[Joe Getty]

say that people that attacked police officers should not get taxpayer money from this fight. Well, look, John, we're not trying to give money to anybody who attacked a police officer. We're trying to give money, not give money. We're trying to compensate people where the

[Guest/Reporter]

book was thrown at them.

[Joe Getty]

They were mistreated by the legal system.

[Jack Armstrong]

We do have people who were accused

[Joe Getty]

of attacking law enforcement officers.

[Jack Armstrong]

That doesn't mean that we're going to

[Joe Getty]

completely ignore some of the claims that

[Jack Armstrong]

they're going to make. Well, we'll see.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You know, the impetus behind this is not completely un, you know, recognizable. If you are targeted politically through the justice system, it's enormously expensive. It can be financially ruinous, which is, you know, one of the ways they bring you to heel. So I get them saying, look, all these people who just got murdered financially because Biden went after them, we're going to make them whole again. And I don't mind that idea. It's just, well, the order stop again,

[Jack Armstrong]

the whole race to the bottom thing. And they're just so if the nobody on the left or mainstream media calling out all of that lawfare against Trump, that was just insane, just crap cases that they brought against him just to try to make his life miserable or keep him from being president. That's how you end up with this. You wouldn't call that out. And now you got this. This. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yep. More to come on that topic. But first, a word from our friends at Simplisave Home Security. I was corresponding with our homeowners insurance people and because of our, our remodel, they wanted like some changes to security. And Simplisafe makes it so easy to customize the system. And with the 247 monitoring, it totally checks all the boxes, we're getting a big fat discount on our insurance rate. You know, your results may vary, but SimpliSafe is so clearly the best option. You got to check it out.

[Jack Armstrong]

The simply is simple to order. Go online, customize it for your house. It the simple. The simply is it comes to your house, you can set it up yourself very easily, very quickly. They've got help if you, if you want it or need it. But. And then the simply, is it simple to use? Because a lot of these systems are so complicated and go off when you don't want them to and everything like that. Simply safe is better.

[Joe Getty]

And right now, you can get 50 off your new SimpliSafe system at SimpliSafe.com Armstrong Armstrong. That's SimpliSafe.com Armstrong it's the best home security system of 2026 for the umpteenth year in a row. SimpliSafe.com Armstrong there's no safe like simply safe.

[Jack Armstrong]

I got, I got down yesterday just thinking about doing this job because I was listening to a podcast where they're making the point that if the Democrats take the House, and they probably will, we're all going to get intimately acquainted with the details of a whole bunch of this Trump stuff in investigations and probably multiple impeachments. And we get to, as a country, go through all that sort of stuff, and some of them will have legs. I don't know whether they're impeachable offenses and we get to go through that whole thing. But, man, I mean, some of this stuff, you can understand why you'd want to investigate it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. The next couple of years could be very discouraging and politically speaking.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and where are we going to go? I mean, the, again, I was listening to a podcast where they're going through the history of this, the Clinton slush fund thing. I mean, they, Clinton, what do they call that, their global initiative or.

[Joe Getty]

Right, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever that was called, was just a way they, they, they convinced people around the world, look, Hillary's going to be president someday. You want some favors, give money. That's what they did.

[Joe Getty]

Did.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they raised tons of money and got to live like really, really wealthy people that way.

[Orderly Meds Announcer]

Yes, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then we keep just going further down, not even trying to hide it down the road of what Biden and Hunter were doing. And it looks like the Trump family's even taking it further. What's the next step down the road? Just, I don't know, having a, one of those little things that you can, you Know, click your credit card on at the door of the White House for the next president, and you just come and pay. And I don't know. I don't know how much further down the road we can go, but each presidency seems to just take it further.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. And since we have fewer and fewer shared values as a country, it's really difficult to come together and say, you know, the Democrats are against this, the Republicans are against this. This will not stand. This is too far.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just.

[Joe Getty]

And I think it probably all goes back well there. It's a complicated thing, like virtually everything in the modern world, but part of it has to do with. There are such infrastructure, enormous sums of money at stake that flow through the government to the point where the trillions of dollars that they collect isn't enough. They got to print money and borrow money, so they have even more trillions of dollars to throw around and siphon out and give to their supporters and buy more power. I just. That's. It's just. It's too big a prize.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you're probably right. All that money floating around is just too corruptible. And the only way you can keep people from being corrupted by all that money floating around is to give them less money. But that's not going to happen, Right?

[Joe Getty]

Right. How many people would kill a human being over $10? Very, very few. How about a thousand? How about a hundred thousand? How about a million? How about 15 million? What if you convince that person that the other person's really bad person anyway and there's $15 million and the world would be better off, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I don't. I don't know. I don't know how we fix this. We've always, quote, unquote, fixed it in the past. That ought to give you, I mean, hell of a track record. That ought to give a guy a little optimism, huh?

[Jack Armstrong]

Living through all those investigations and impeachments, if that happens, is gonna suck. Of course, we have the option as a show of ignoring it, but, God, it'll dominate the news cycle.

[Joe Getty]

Or just keep you up to date, touch on it and move on. Yeah, keep fighting a good fight. What are you gonna do?

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll give you an update, then get to the latest. Woman who fell in a manhole, for instance, whatever the news of the day is. All right, Somebody called us out on a really horrible segment we did yesterday. It's kind of funny. Stay here. Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

No, stop it.

[Public Investing Announcer]

The most depressing radio show.

[Joe Getty]

No, we're not ever Armstrong and Getty.

[Public Investing Announcer]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.com disclosure lost

[Orderly Meds Announcer]

support through telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when applied appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice eligibility required. See Cite for details.

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[Martha Stewart]

make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret. Getting ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep Paper Just lightly wet the counter beforehand so the paper grips and stays in place. Then lay down the Reynolds Kitchen's countertop prep paper so drips and spills stay on the paper, not all over your kitchen counter. You can roll out dough, prep a party spread or cook alongside family. When you're done, cleanup is as simple as lifting the paper and revealing that clean counter underneath. Effortless. You can use it for cooking and baking, prep and even crafting, especially when you need extra working space. Because when the mess is already handled, you can focus on what matters. The food, the people and the moment. It may look effortless, but now you know it's Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep Paper. Take a tip from me. Wet it, set it, prep it, done. Make it easy. Make it with Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep paper available now in the Reynolds wrap aisle and Walmart, Target, Amazon and Costco.

[Jack Armstrong]

So a couple of things. Harvard just announced they committee voted and they are going to reduce the number of A's they give out. We need to get into that story in hour three because it's re worth revisiting that story. And it's true for colleges and high schools and all schools across the country. This whole great inflation thing, which is nuts, the chart on it is, it's just amazing. Different topic. I'm not on Facebook.

[Joe Getty]

Really.

[Jack Armstrong]

The only reason I have a Facebook account is so I can use Facebook Marketplace, which is practically the only place you can buy and sell stuff in the modern world, replaced Craigslist for a lot of people. I don't have an actual profile. I don't look at other people's profiles, but so I click on it to go to Marketplace and the Armstrong and Gettysburg. We have a couple of different pages on Facebook, I guess. And one of them shows up.

[Joe Getty]

Fan page.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I guess, because I'm half the show. It shows up on my Facebook thing. The fact that Zuckerberg figured out that even with my anonymous account with no information and nothing at all on it, that I'm part of that show and should see that is disturbing to me. But I. The top thing was this, and it has to do with a clip we played yesterday. So first, this is the clip we played yesterday coming out of commercials.

[Public Investing Announcer]

The world knows the story of Punch the monkey now. Well, tonight we've learned that two Americans have been arrested at the zoo where Punch lives in Japan. Police say a man dressed in a costume climbed into the exhibit while another man recorded the stunt. The zoo saying Punch and the other animals are okay. The New York Times reporting tonight the zoo is now adding patrols, netting, and restricting the viewing around Punch's enclosure.

[Jack Armstrong]

So here's the post on the Armstrong and Getty chat room. I know I complain about this, but seriously, how hard is it, is it to pay attention to your own show? They play a clip. Two Americans went to Japan and snuck in to punch the monkey enclosures while the other filmed it. Jack comes on. Jack comes on and says, who's punched the monkey? Joe tells him, which they've played and talked about before. Then Jack says, I didn't know he was in China. And even in China they have people jumping into the cage. No one says it's Japan, not China, and no, they were not American. Joe actually says, I wasn't paying attention to the clip, so I don't know what happened. And Jack wasn't either. I remember that yesterday because you didn't have your headphones on for some reason. So you said, I didn't hear the clip.

[Joe Getty]

Well, no, I was reading for what I was going to do next, and I was like, china. That's why I said, what?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's fine. So I kind of heard the clip, got it wrong, didn't know who Punch the monkey was, even though we've talked about it in the past. You didn't hear the clip. So anyone? Somebody complaining that we don't even listen to our own show?

[Joe Getty]

Fair enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not pushing back against this. I was listening to music. Listening to music because he prefers that to talk. And, you know, that's where we are. So who punched the monkey?

[Joe Getty]

I can't hear you.

[Jack Armstrong]

I thought. I don't. I don't ever look at the Facebook chat room, but if that's the sort of material they have, maybe I should

[Joe Getty]

read it more often. Yeah, fair criticism.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Apt complaints about what we got going on. So here's what a little bit of what Harvard just voted on. Harvard votes to cap A's in an effort to curb grade inflation. They're only going to give out 20 A's now, maximum. There are some ways you can get around that for a couple of more A's for different courses or whatever. It says here it won't apply to A minuses, which committee members predict will take over as the most awarded grade. Oh, clearly that's what's gonna happen. So instead of everybody getting an A, everybody's gonna get an A minus. They got the chart here it. So back in, way back in the olden days of 2006, they would give out 25 A's. God, what was it? I'd love to know what it was like in the 60s or the 40s or Harvard's been around forever. What was it back when John Adams went to Harvard, I'll bet it was really, really hard to get an A. I'll bet it wasn't over 60%, which it was in 2021. Over 60. It looks like about 63% of the grades were A's in 2021. So that was at the height of COVID So they're all zoom and everybody's paying all that money for the classes and they ain't learning a damn thing. 63% of the grades were A's. What a load of crap.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, professors didn't even. Didn't care either. They're like, you don't care, I don't care. The university doesn't care.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's an A. Thanks for coming to Harvard and paying for it. So they had pared it back down to about 55 A's last year and now they voted it to make it 20. Although as we said, it doesn't count for a minus eight. That's ridiculous. That's just ridiculous. How can you claim to be the gold standard of education in the world when 60 some percent of your grades are A's?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, unless you're in the hard sciences, you're going to a resort that has occasional lectures of interest, like Judy and I are taking a cruise. I'm sure they'll have lectures on the fascinating polar bear, for instance. That's what Harvard is. You go if you want, you don't if you want. It's all about your extracurriculars and everybody gets an A.

[Jack Armstrong]

You earn a reputation that you think will last forever regardless of the education you give people. And then it runs to its eventual limit, which I think it has. You tell me you went to Harvard. Doesn't really mean anything to me at this point.

[Orderly Meds Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty Are you trying to get weight loss support through telehealth? But it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who weren't clarified care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice, eligibility required. See Cite for details.

[Martha Stewart]

This is Martha Stewart from the Martha Stewart Podcast. Ever wonder how to make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret when prepping for cooking and baking, get ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens countertop prep paper. Just lightly wet the counter so the paper grips, lay it down and drips and spills stay on the paper, not on your counter. Cleanup is as simple as lifting it away to reveal clean counters. Effortless it is thanks to Reynolds Kitchen's countertop prep paper. Wet it, set it, prep it done. Available in the Reynolds Wrap aisle at Walmart, Target, Amazon and Costco.

[Jack Armstrong]

Combat Sports Fans this January, it's the

[Public Investing Announcer]

Brews Cruise Party with fighters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Watch a bare knuckle fighting event live in the Caribbean, plus DJs, bands and chaos at Sea.

[Joe Getty]

Prices increase soon.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hop aboard now. Go to bkfsea.com youm know what quality feels like.

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