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Jack Armstrong
This is an iHeart podcast.
Joe Getty
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Jack Armstrong
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.
Joe Getty
Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.
Ian Bremmer
Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.
Jim Cramer
President Trump riding high on his agreement with the European Union, the bloc agreeing to pay 15% tariffs across the board while opening their March markets to American imports at 0% and pledging to buy 750 billion in American energy plus 600 billion in private investment by 2028.
Jack Armstrong
So that's a little bit of the report on Trump's big deal with the eu, which even some Trump hating journalists say is a big win for the Trump administration. Here's a little more from Jackie Heinrich of Fox. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability.
Jim Cramer
France's prime minister slamming the deal as lopsided posting It's a dark day when an alliance of free peoples brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests resigns itself to submission.
Jack Armstrong
15% is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get. But wasn't it? Or at least Trump's claim is, it was unfair the other way before. So when it was unfair the other way, you were, you were okay with it. You thought that was perfectly good. But when we try to get it more even, because this isn't like, you know, when Trump's taken on some of these tiny little countries whose GDP is less than Alabama. I mean, this is the eu, which is, when you add it all together, is as practically as big an economy as us. So a couple Play that Jim Cramer clip. This was Jim Cramer on CNBC yesterday talking about the current Trump economy.
Ian Bremmer
Our biggest problem is we have so.
Jack Armstrong
Much growth that the Fed won't cut. What the. Oh my.
Ian Bremmer
Oh my God.
Jack Armstrong
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Ian Bremmer
I take it right back. Everybo. I take it right.
Jack Armstrong
Okay, that was. Okay.
Ian Bremmer
I take it right now.
Jack Armstrong
That was.
Ian Bremmer
It's key with a cable, with a.
Jack Armstrong
Ticker, as Cronin would say. Take that back. That's right.
Ian Bremmer
People doing live tv.
Jack Armstrong
Jim, though, to your point, okay, so Goldman today, he dropped an F bomb because he was talking about how great the economy is. All the economic numbers are just pointing the right direction. Ian Bremmer yesterday, after this deal was made, who's no Trump fan, said the Trump administration just secured a landmark trade deal with the European Union and its Trump's biggest win to date. Let me tell you why. And then he went through the numbers of why this is a huge victory for the Trump administration and for America. That's something. And I just saw consumer confidence is way up from previous months because apparently people, people like me, barely paying attention to the tariff thing and not understanding it at all, feel like, well, I guess it isn't going to be a disaster. People are feeling that way right now anyway.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, I love Jared Gerard Baker, who raised for the Wall Street Journal. His headline is if Trump's tariffs are so bad, where's the Recession?
Jack Armstrong
Right.
Ian Bremmer
And. And he, he lists three possibilities, as I recall, including. First, it's too early to tell. Most of the tariffs announced haven't been in place very long, if at all. And so we'll just have to see what happens. The average tariff paid by importers has indeed risen sharply, which leads us to the second possibility. The tariffs thus far have just not been big enough to cause the harm economists warned us about. So everybody's taken a tiny little hit, shared the, the pain, etc.
Jack Armstrong
Jim Cramer seemed to be enthusiastic and Ian Bremmer enthusiastic. They, they must, I don't know, they, they don't think this is gonna. The bad, the bad part's gonna happen. I don't know.
Ian Bremmer
Well, and Baker says, third, tantalizingly, perhaps the conventional wisdom is wrong. Or more precisely, since no one can deny the effect of taxes are real, perhaps in the rush to emphasize the negatives, economists have overlooked the countervailing forces at work with tariffs. The redistribution of the burden of duties between foreign exporters, US Importers and consumers may be reordering the balance of benefit between domestic and foreign businesses. And between companies and consumers. That's kind of the word salad and sophisticated stuff, but we just don't know how it'll play out at this point.
Jack Armstrong
So Howard Lutnick often, I think, is an overly enthusiastic cheerleader for things in the Trump administration. But what he says here matches up with, you know, a couple of people I've already mentioned who aren't fans of Trump saying, this is a good deal and a big deal. Here he is.
Howard Lutnick
I just flew back from Scotland and wow, was that deal. It's so amazing for America.
Jack Armstrong
Why is it so great for America?
Howard Lutnick
Well, remember, the European Union is $20 trillion economy, 450 million people. I mean, it is head and shoulders bigger than all the other Western civilizations. So the fact is, the European Union is the monster deal. President Trump did that deal yesterday. We were all together in Scotland. We got the deal done.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, that's. Well, we'll see how it plays out.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah. Part of the reason I'm not like, crazy into this is that it's all fairly short term because the next administration can take a completely different approach to it. And honestly, if things start to look ugly, this administration can completely change their sales and tear up the agreement. I mean, Trump, Trump's deal is, and this is an oversimplification, but you will pay 15% tariffs to access the US market. We will pay none to access your market. It's just bullying because we're such a big superpower, economically speaking, the Euros have no choice but to go with it, which, you know, may cause damage, I don't know. But that could all change if the economy heads south. Trump could say, yeah, this is not working. Never mind. Which is part of the reason a lot of people are uncomfortable with this much power to tax because the tariff is 100% attacks. This much power to tax being granted to the executive, it's, it's a bit perverse, constitutionally.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Well, that, yeah, that's its own different topic. But, yeah, it is amazing that one guy can, can, can upend world, the world economy like this.
Ian Bremmer
But anyway, to wrap up the discussion, at least from my end, a lot of people seem to really, really want one outcome or the other. Howard Lutnick and company want it to be great for America. The media wants it to be terrible and they want to indict Trump. I'm just curious.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, and I hope it works out. I don't, I don't root against anything working out for the economy for political reasons. I hope it works out. We all get rich. Couple of things. Green, energy wise, before we take a break that I thought were interesting, you mentioned the other day how the price of electric vehicles and where they are and everything like that. Like there's a whole bunch of used electric vehicles out there that people aren't as interested in as they were a couple of years ago. And the big tax credit that you used to get on buying a new electric vehicle is going away. So the whole electric car thing could change a lot in the next six months or so. And fitting in with that, I came across this graph of where people are on the whole climate change thing in general, the share of voters who are very concerned about climate change. I was thinking about where would I be myself. I'm pretty close to not concerned at all. I'm close to zero on climate change. I never think about it at all. I don't read about it, I don't worry about it. I never worry about it. So I think I'm close to a zero concern on climate change.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, yeah, I would agree. I just. There's nothing I could do about it. The weather changes all the time. If it gets hotter, I'll sell my coats and buy shorts.
Jack Armstrong
But for people who are very concerned, it has been dropping year by year for a while now. I mean, it had its peak shortly after Al Gore and the Hockey Stick and the movie Inconvenient Truth and all that sort of stuff. And it's been dropping little by little. For all voters, it is now at 37%. Very concerned. You wouldn't get that from taking in the media, would you? Because everybody in the media is in that 37%. Everybody in academics is in that 37%.
Ian Bremmer
All the, and I'll bet the rest skew very, very young.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. And all the experts come from that 37%. But 37% of voters are very concerned about climate change. So obviously you do not think it's an existential threat to human beings even being alive on the planet. If, if you're not in a very concerned camp, I would assume.
Ian Bremmer
Right, right, sure. Yeah.
Jack Armstrong
For Democrats, it's even down to 58%. And it was way high not that many years ago.
Ian Bremmer
And I'll bet a chunk of that 58% is tribal signaling. Sure, they might harbor secret doubts, but you're not. And we, we did a great feature on this, a few, with all due modesty last week or something like that, that in certain social settings, including social settings where only one set of beliefs is allowed and everybody lets you know what those beliefs are. Hello? Sound familiar? Any questioning? Nevermind, dissent, just Saying hey, this strikes me as odd. I have questions is frown so thoroughly. People are taught to just shut up. So I'll bet there's a lot of people who are thinking, you know a lot of people seem to be making a ton of money and the promises never get kept and nothing has affected anything but they don't dare say it.
Jack Armstrong
But so Democrats are propping that low number up anyway. So overall 37% Democrats are at 58 because Republicans are 18% very concerned and I'm shocked it's at high CUZ Again I'm a zero. Independents are down to 36%. So there's a big chunk of America that just what are you going to do? China's building coal plants every day, so what are you going to do?
Ian Bremmer
I have a feeling that's at least a factor in the fact that the Democratic Party has hit a 35 year low approval rating with American voters according to a new Wall Street Journal poll which is very, very similar to another couple of polls that had come out recently.
Jack Armstrong
So it takes you back to 1990, right. Coming out of the Reagan era. Wow. Lost to Reagan twice. And then the third Reagan term of H.W. bush.
Ian Bremmer
In fact it was, if I'm correct, right around the time. Is this right? That Hillary Clinton was getting so much derision for trying to get Hillary care through? And Newt Gingrich absolutely walloped the Democrats in the midterm and it looked like Clinton couldn't possibly get reelected then he did. But yeah, yeah, 35 year low approval rating of a third.
Jack Armstrong
Well and then a zoftig chick decided to apply her skills to a president and that helped him politically.
Ian Bremmer
It helped him, yeah.
Jack Armstrong
Is that the reading of history most people have that the overreach for the impeachment helped Clinton?
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, I suppose so.
Jack Armstrong
I think that's the belief at this point.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, I'm not sure I'd, you know, trace the whole comeback back to the.
Jack Armstrong
Softed chick who plied her skills.
Ian Bremmer
That was a good sentence though.
Jack Armstrong
Okay, I do want to talk about the famine. I'm using my finger quotes that all your world organizations declared today that is going on in Gaza and the response of the media to that and Trump to that and how that's all going to play out among other things on the way. Stay here. Armstrong and Gettysburg.
Joe Getty
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Aisha Hosny
Eight months after the election, Democrats are still trying to dig themselves out of a hole. But a new poll from the Wall Street Journal paints a bleak picture. It reveals only 33% of registered voters today view Democrats favorably, while a staggering 63% see them negatively. That's the worst rating from the same poll since 1990.
Ian Bremmer
Yes.
Jack Armstrong
We're.
Ian Bremmer
At Saisha Hosny on Special REPORT last night with Brett. Brett Bear, FOX NEWS reap slash. So yes, analysis in a moment. I found this next segment pretty interesting though. Go ahead, Aisha.
Jack Armstrong
We're in the doghouse yet again. We certainly do have a problem, and it's a messaging problem.
Aisha Hosny
If messaging is the problem, the new poll signals Democrats President Trump isn't working at least yet. That's because even when more voters disapprove of Trump on issues like inflation, they still trust congressional Republicans more than Democrats to handle that issue by a whopping 10 points. On immigration, the same thing. More voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the matter, but Republicans once again are trusted more than Democrats to manage it.
Jack Armstrong
You know, I don't know, I don't know if I believe this analysis that people have been going with. I think it's the crazy factor. It's the, I don't know, you got a friend who, who does a few things that are just so crazy you don't trust his judgment on anything else. I think that's what's driving it. It's not that. Yeah, the Democrats view of the economy is specifically blah, blah, blah. It said, you're the people that want boys playing girls, sports. You're the people that want me to say Latinx. You're the people that think we shouldn't have police. I don't trust you on anything. I think it's the crazy factor.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, you put a grown man in my little girl's locker room. Yeah, exactly. But, but to her point, though, and it's not in contrast to your point, it's agreeing with it. So, like on inflation and rising prices, Trump is 11 points underwater. Okay. But the Republicans in general are 10 points to the positive. So what Trump's doing right now on immigration, he sees just three points underwater. But generally speaking, Republicans are Democrats. 17 point advantage for Republicans. So there are momentarily momentary quibbles with the way Trump is approaching this, that or the other. But in terms of general philosophy, I don't care. I want the Republicans, which I, again, I don't think disagrees with your point. I think it agrees with it. Why do they have that perception or why did they lean so strongly that way? Because they think the Democrats have lost their effing minds. Let's see. So The Democrats are 33% favorable, 63% unfavorable, far weaker assessment than voters give to either President Trump or the Republican Party. Yeah, they're underwater. But of course, political parties ought to be underwater. Number one, you got their opponents, and number two, you got neutrals or independents and their own party members who'd like them to change what they're doing a little bit. But Anyway, Trump is 7% underwater and Republicans are 11% underwater. But again, keep in mind, the Democrats are 30 points underwater.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. As always, that, that number of people that are unhappy with the Democrats, it's a certain chunk who think they're crazy like I was just talking about, and a certain Chun. Smaller chunk, but a certain chunk that thinks they haven't gone far enough. They haven't stuck to their guns on trans issues and defunding the police and climate change and all the other important.
Ian Bremmer
Things, which is even worse news, really. But a mere 8% of voters view the Democrats very favorably. Two and a half times as many have the same level of enthusiasm for the gop.
Jack Armstrong
I. We got a long way to go on what direction. You know, what the Democratic Party is going to look like next presidential election. But I keep hearing people like smart people throughout. AOC is the current frontrunner, slash face of the Democratic Party, and she probably is. Who, who else would it be?
Ian Bremmer
They're doomed. They are doomed.
Jack Armstrong
Doomed. If that. Unless you. You hit that.
Ian Bremmer
That.
Jack Armstrong
Go ahead, try it.
Ian Bremmer
I don't know if. Who else would it be as a rhetorical question, but the answer is a blue state governor who's moderate.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, but it's got to be a human being. So that yeah, you're right. But it's got to be an actual name at some point.
Ian Bremmer
I mean, I could throw out a list, but nobody, nobody was talking about Bill Clinton. Hell, nobody was talking about Bill Clinton even after he entered the race. The only issue in which voters prefer Congressional Democrats to Republicans are health care and vaccine policy.
Jack Armstrong
Good luck.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, they are screwed by themselves I'd say self inflicted wound.
Jack Armstrong
A lot more on the way. Hope you can stay here if you missed a segment gets podcast Armstrong and Gettysburg Foreign.
Joe Getty
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Howard Lutnick
By the way, I never went to the island and Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times. You expect me to believe that Bill Clinton went to the island only 28 times? No way. I mean, if anybody had VIP Diamond island status, there's probably still parrots alive on that island going, hey Bill, back again.
Jack Armstrong
Hey Bill. Hey Bill. How you doing Bill? What's up Bill? Interesting take from Jon Stewart on the whole Epstein thing. Bill Clinton only went 28 times. Really? I find that hard to believe. God, that is something. 28 visits to Epstein's island knowing. I mean, you had to have some idea that he was living life on the edge of. Okay, yeah, yeah.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah.
Jack Armstrong
Water under the bridge, I guess.
Ian Bremmer
I have a feeling a scumbag like Epstein would tell people who would not approve of his more reprehensible activities. Oh no, no. They're all 18. Absolutely. We carefully document that. And then to anybody he knows is down with the perversity, he'd say yeah, they're 18 and Wink.
Jack Armstrong
So you think Bill Clinton was going to the island specifically to have sex with women?
Ian Bremmer
Why'd you say. Why'd you just say that? Are you talking to me? Did I imply that in any way?
Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
Ian Bremmer
No.
Jack Armstrong
Why do you think he was going?
Ian Bremmer
I. I don't know. I've never thought about it. For the party. Because it was sexy? I don't know. I mean, do you assume everybody was going there to have sex with women?
Jack Armstrong
I don't actually know. I haven't spent much time looking into what the whole Epstein island thing was about. Right. I wanted to get this on. I got a random. None of this stuff holds together. I just came across this Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast the other day. Man. I started watching the Billy Joel one that's worth watching. I haven't seen the Billy. Billy Joel's having quite the moment. I haven't seen the Billy Joel documentary on hbo, but I did see the Billy Joel interview. Hour and a half long interview with Bill Maher. Super interesting. Really, really good about writing songs and.
Ian Bremmer
All kinds of different things.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, it's. It's something. But on his podcast, Club Random, the Bill Maher thing I was just talking about Mars surprised listeners by saying Trump's early push for tariffs wasn't as dumb as I thought. Turns out decoupling from China has some bipartisan logic, Mar added, citing rising public support for domestic manufacturing and national security concerns. There are quite a few people, it seems, that are either backtracking or keeping their mouths shut about how dumb the whole tariff thing is at this point, as we were talking about earlier.
Ian Bremmer
So, yeah, how it plays out, Nobody knows. No. Got a great note from a listener, Al Anonymous, about the Walmart thing that we've been talking about. Yeah, it'll take 20 seconds.
Jack Armstrong
Let me just do it.
Ian Bremmer
First of all, he says some lovely things about the show. Thank you, sir. All true.
Jack Armstrong
They're all true.
Ian Bremmer
Per your conversation on Walmart eating the costs of tariffs. It's not what you think. The company I work for has been dealing with Walmart and other national retailers for many, many years. Please understand that Walmart is not all caps eating the majority of the tariffs costs, but in fact demanding the vendor take on the brunt of these increases. As an example, Walmart negotiate, slash, demanded that we take on over 70% of the tariff costs from China. They know full well that most vendors cannot take the loss in market share and revenue and essentially strong arm you into agreement. Our bottom line has taken a massive hit this year, primarily due to national.
Jack Armstrong
Retailers demands, but with the result being the same thing. They're trying to drive lots of smaller businesses out of business. Like the final nail in the coffin for anybody who is trying to compete with Walmart and Amazon.
Ian Bremmer
Well, you could say they're just trying to keep their costs as low as possible.
Jack Armstrong
Sure.
Ian Bremmer
I don't know why you had to put it in such a Marxist, you know, faux predatory con context.
Jack Armstrong
Well, I don't think it's, you know, untoward in any way. I just think.
Ian Bremmer
Vladimir Ilyich.
Jack Armstrong
I think it's just the reality of the. Where the world is right now. Different topic. We talked about AI earlier. Just came across this poll. A majority of college students pursuing higher education degrees, 62% to be specific, believe that learning how to use AI responsibly is essential for their future career and success. So almost 2/3 of college kids think they need to learn how to use AI to make their way in the world.
Ian Bremmer
Are the other third stupid?
Jack Armstrong
What I thought was interesting was 90% already use it for general tasks, with nearly 90% of students surveyed saying they use it for schoolwork and more. Almost 90%.
Ian Bremmer
Is anybody else as perplexed as I am? So you're using it right now, but a third of you, a little more than a third of you don't think you'll need it in the future?
Jack Armstrong
Well, the word responsibly was in there, so maybe that's what. Oh, maybe they don't believe they need to learn how to use AI responsibly. I don't know.
Ian Bremmer
I'm going to use it irresponsibly.
Jack Armstrong
I'm going to use it however I decide to use it, but I'm going.
Ian Bremmer
To design weaponry, bizarre breeding experience between men and beasts, whatever. I can think of generating truly troubling porn, you name it.
Jack Armstrong
I'm somewhat late to joining AI, even though I talk about it so much, you know, downloading Chat GPT and other stuff, but sees college kids have been on it for a while. Apparently 90% of them are using it. Further, schoolwork and other stuff like I'm. I am committed right now to reading Ulysses. This is the 15th time in my life I've committed to reading James Joyce's Ulysses, often held up as the greatest work of English literature of all time. It's very difficult. Ready? But with the help of Chat GPT, it's a lot easier. I come across something and I think, I wonder what this means. I just type in the phrase and Chat GPT immediately gives me the. The. The short version of what it is, where it comes from.
Ian Bremmer
It's so a lot of work, huh? Sounds like a lot of work.
Jack Armstrong
It is a lot of work. I saw a funny video about reading Ulysses yesterday. It said, okay, here are the steps to reading Ulysses so you can understand it. Step one, read the entire Bible and understand it. It. Step two, read all of Irish history, folklore and mythology and understand it.
Ian Bremmer
When I read my Miss Marple mysteries, it says, you know, you think it's the gardener, then it turns out to be the brother. Oh, that's a lot more fun.
Jack Armstrong
Step three was to read the entire works of Shakespeare and memorize it. You have to do all these things before you read Ulysses to be able to understand it. Okay, that sounds fun, doesn't it? I feel like I had one more thing I wanted to get on, but I don't remember what it was. Doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. I do have this, which is really apropos of nothing. Something with feathers existed 247 million years ago as a reptile. They just discovered and found some new bones. I don't know if I think I've talked about this on the air when we were at the big museum in New York, the Natural History Museum, the one with all the dinosaurs from those fun night at the museum movies. The, the. A lot of the dinosaurs now have feathers. And I know they didn't have feathers when I went there 30 years ago, but like your T. Rexes have feathers on them now. They've completely changed their view on that.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, it seems to be the, the, you know, the accepted view of scientists that the closest relatives to the dinosaurs now on Earth are birds.
Jack Armstrong
Birds are. Yeah, the birds are. Continue to be done. Don't get my son Henry started on this. He'll still get out a piece of paper and a pen and draw the entire lineage of everything and how this is that. And this broke off there and. But yeah, interesting. If you watch Jurassic park and the dinosaurs aren't brightly colored with feathers, you were just being lied to. I would turn off the television or write a stern letter to Disney or whoever made those movies.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah, yeah, I would do that too. I, I have the idiotic would be controversy of the day ready to go. I don't think it's going to catch on, and I think that's important.
Jack Armstrong
But you want to get ahead of it in case it does.
Ian Bremmer
No, I want to point out that it seems like it ought to be a good controversy, but the bloom is off the. That's white supremacy, Rose.
Jack Armstrong
I hope you're right.
Ian Bremmer
I think it is.
Jack Armstrong
We really ought to get into the. What Trump said about Israel and Gaza and all that sort of stuff. And what the world is saying. The world is very unhappy with what they're calling a famine and genocide and all that sort of stuff. We got to address that at some point. This could be certainly the big political story for the next couple of days or weeks or thousand years. Stay with us Armstrong and Getty.
Joe Getty
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Ian Bremmer
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the lovely, the sexy Sydney Sweeney. Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue. Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.
Jack Armstrong
I don't know.
Ian Bremmer
I don't know.
Jack Armstrong
From Sydney Sweeney, young hot America's beautiful.
Ian Bremmer
Blonde skinny girl with big boobs. Sydney Sweeney, all right, is now in a jeans ad as sexy girls often are. And you heard the voiceover of her ad in which she equivocates between jeans with a G and jeans with a J. I found it confusing various dopey jokes as she zips up her jeans having apparently just been pantless which I think is supposed to turn me on anyway, blah blah blah selling jeans. Well apparently the lefty Internet tried to go wild over this.
Jack Armstrong
Oh no, the Internet. Internet's mad. I hate it when the Internet gets mad.
Ian Bremmer
Like a blonde haired blue eyed white woman talking about her genes is good and any appropriate. Well to way to sell pants.
Jack Armstrong
What are you talking about?
Ian Bremmer
Some going so far as to outright call it Nazi propaganda.
Jack Armstrong
Wow.
Ian Bremmer
I thought it was going to be like kind of bad but wow, that's going to be in history books. I will be the friend that's too woke. But those Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle ads are weird. Like fascist weird, like Nazi propaganda weird. I must need another user with multiple piercings. Yes.
Jack Armstrong
Would this make more sense to me if I saw the ad? Or is it. Is. Is the reaction as dumb as it sounds?
Ian Bremmer
No, the second one.
Jack Armstrong
Okay.
Ian Bremmer
I mean, she says my genes are blue and they show her blue eyes, but I mean that's she only elders, like 12 words in the whole thing. Let's see, like a blonde haired, blue eyed, white woman is talking about her good genes. This is Nazi propaganda. Another added blah, blah, blah. This is pure Nazi ass, blah, blah, blah.
Jack Armstrong
Some of you are trolls, but anybody who believes that on any level, W. Wow.
Ian Bremmer
Wow.
Jack Armstrong
Just relax.
Ian Bremmer
This is the sort of thing, though, I'm telling you, that would have caught on in the mainstream media and been questionable, problematic five years ago. And now everybody's like, yeah, okay, now that's. No, we don't do that anymore. I think it's a turning point. Fake reverse. Won't get going. Won't get anywhere. Might sell some jeans.
Jack Armstrong
I just. So Hanson played the ad for me. I like the fact she's not a super skinny chicken.
Ian Bremmer
She's curvy.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, yeah, good for her. I think I saw her on Saturday Live. I think she hosted once. Now that I've seen her, I recognize her. But anyway, actor. Yes, whatever. So I know it's so hard to know when you're seeing the reaction to this stuff is if it's just an attempt to be a troll or whoever's who's reporting the trolls. It's just an attempt to get a controversy going so you can get some clicks or if anybody actually means anything. I don't know. I don't even know anymore.
Ian Bremmer
Yeah. On a similar topic, the fabulous Andrew Stiles of the Free Beacon writing about the Democratic Party's male voter outreach. And you may recall how Democrats and journalists described Hulk Hogan's epic performance at the Republican convention. I saw as just awful misogynist, you know, toxic masculinity. Dana Bash on the Unwatchable and Unwatched. CNN referenced it weeks later at the Democratic convention where she lavished praise on Tim Walls and Doug Emhoff for their ability to speak to men out there who might not want to be the sort of testosterone laded, you know, gun toting kind of guy who wants to listen to Hulk Hogan and the kind of players that came out at the GOP convention. I don't know what she meant by players, but that was a quote. Her colleague Jake Metrosexual Tapper agreed, citing unnamed critics who describe the Republican speaking lineup as testeroni testosterone. Anyway, so let's check back with the oh, I like this line. I'm sorry. After getting blown out with male voters who actually identify as men, Democrats finally realized they had a problem doing what comes naturally. Excuse me, my poor Froat. Doing what comes naturally. They formed a bunch of committees and hired some data nerds and other so called experts to help them understand why they're nagging. Lectures about toxic masculinity have failed to resonate with normal straight men who cannot get pregnant. And so on Wednesday, the Progress Action Fund, this is a Democratic pac, hosted an online press briefing on how to win back young men ahead of the 2026 midterms. They were joined in this online press briefing by Veronica Zell, founder and CEO of Sweety High, a website that bills itself as the cultural destination for teen and TW mean girls. We swear we aren't making this up. Here are a random sample of Sweetie High headlines from the past week or so. The best Instagram captions for all your cheerleading photos.
Jack Armstrong
Okay, that's handy.
Ian Bremmer
Japanese girl group Cosmosi discuss breaking through toxic Love in their new single.
Jack Armstrong
Okay.
Ian Bremmer
Why your hot girl tummy problems might get worse in the summer heat and what your favorite childhood doll reveals about you. The this is the CO of the how to Win Back Young Men ahead of the 2026 midterms teleconference.
Jack Armstrong
Do hot girls have tummy problems I'm.
Ian Bremmer
Unaware of during the summer? Apparently they do. Yes.
Jack Armstrong
Yes.
Ian Bremmer
There are more headlines similar to what.
Jack Armstrong
We were talking about.
Ian Bremmer
Everything you wanted to know about the Princess Nail trend.
Jack Armstrong
Wow. Similar to what we were talking about earlier. That AOC is the leading face of the Democratic Party. Go ahead. Go ahead. Try that. That. Try this. Try having these people give you advice on how to win back men to your party. I wasn't like masculine enough in their vision.
Ian Bremmer
But this is Anyone who's the mom of their friend group will relate to these 11 truths. The mom of their friend group.
Jack Armstrong
Okay, unfamiliar with that, but Dems with.
Ian Bremmer
Their lowest favorability ratings in the last 35 years. I wonder why I heard.
Jack Armstrong
I was driving to work today. NPR was making reference to that jeans commercial. I didn't try to. I didn't quite catch on to what they were talking about. So I don't know if they were taking that seriously or not. The whole blue eyes Nazi thing.
Ian Bremmer
Knowing npr, probably.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. I don't.
Ian Bremmer
You people are parodies of yourself. And we are enjoying it very much and we encourage you to contribute.
Jack Armstrong
Continue Yeah. I can't tell how much is the world has gotten just really intolerably intolerable or I've just grown out of things that are just part of the normal cycles of life. Like the next new hot girl in a Gene ad that, you know.
Ian Bremmer
I've been controversial.
Jack Armstrong
I've been exposed to sexy. Yeah. Brooke Shields 50 years ago and everything since. Right, right.
Ian Bremmer
You've lost the ability to feel joy.
Jack Armstrong
I have lost. I'm incapable of experiencing joy. That is exactly.
Ian Bremmer
Yes.
Jack Armstrong
That is a good way to sum me up. That would be my hinge profile. I'm incapable of experiencing joy.
Ian Bremmer
Would you like to get together for coffee sometime? I won't enjoy it, or you or anything else. Wasn't Brook Shields your soul mate?
Jack Armstrong
I feel like she could be. We've never met. I've never met her roughly the same age. I've just always felt like we could be. But.
Ian Bremmer
It'S not too late.
Jack Armstrong
She's married. Very happily married.
Ian Bremmer
For now.
Jack Armstrong
Wow. So we do four hours every single day. A whole bunch of different segments. If you missed any of it, get our podcast. You should subscribe to Armstrong and Getty on Demand. That's the easiest way to do it. Subscribe to Armstrong and Getty on Demand. Armstrong and Getty. This is an I heart podcast.
Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "If It Gets Hotter I'll Sell All Of My Coats & Buy Shorts"
Release Date: July 29, 2025
The episode opens with Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delving into President Trump's significant trade agreement with the European Union. Highlighted as a pivotal moment, the deal includes the EU agreeing to implement a 15% tariff across various sectors while granting American imports 0% tariffs. Additionally, the EU has pledged substantial investments in American energy and private sectors by 2028.
Notable Quote:
However, not all reactions are positive. French Prime Minister criticized the deal as "lopsided," expressing concerns over the imbalance in tariffs and the potential long-term implications for the alliance between free nations.
Notable Quote:
The discussion shifts to the broader economic landscape, with Armstrong referencing Jim Cramer's optimistic portrayal of the current Trump-led economy. Despite some uncertainty, consumer confidence appears to be on the rise, suggesting that the public remains cautiously optimistic about the trade deal's impact.
Notable Quote:
Ian Bremmer adds a critical perspective, emphasizing the short-term nature of the deal and the potential for significant changes under a future administration. He questions the sustainability and fairness of the tariffs imposed, highlighting constitutional concerns regarding the executive branch's power to impose such taxes.
Notable Quote:
A substantial portion of the episode is dedicated to exploring American voters' attitudes towards climate change. Armstrong shares personal skepticism about climate concerns, aligning with survey data showing that only 37% of voters are "very concerned" about climate change—a figure that has been steadily decreasing over the years.
Notable Quote:
Bremmer concurs, noting the generational divide and the decline in concern even among traditionally supportive demographics like Democrats, where only 58% express high concern compared to 18% of Republicans.
Notable Quote:
The conversation intensifies as the hosts discuss the Democratic Party's plummeting approval ratings, now at a 35-year low according to recent Wall Street Journal polls. Only 33% of registered voters view Democrats favorably, while a staggering 63% have a negative perception—a historic low not seen since 1990.
Notable Quote:
Bremmer analyzes the root causes, suggesting that internal party conflicts, shifting focus on social issues like gender and policing, and ineffective messaging have alienated a significant portion of the electorate. The hosts discuss the challenges Democrats face in reconnecting with male voters and the broader implications for upcoming elections.
Notable Quote:
Towards the episode's end, Armstrong and Bremmer engage in lighter, yet still politically charged, discussions about cultural phenomena. Topics include:
Advertising Reactions: They critique a Sydney Sweeney jeans ad, highlighting the polarized online reactions labeling it as "Nazi propaganda," which they argue is an overreaction stemming from heightened social sensitivities.
Notable Quote:
Generational Perspectives: They touch upon how younger generations are engaging with AI, referencing a poll where 62% of college students see learning AI responsibly as crucial for their careers, yet pointing out the irony that nearly 90% already use AI without necessarily recognizing its long-term importance.
Notable Quote:
In the final segments, the hosts address listener feedback, including a detailed account from a listener named Al Anonymous about the impact of tariffs on small businesses versus large retailers like Walmart. They acknowledge the complexities of retailer negotiations and the broader economic implications for vendors.
Notable Quote:
Jack Armstrong wraps up the episode by previewing upcoming topics, including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the global response, setting the stage for future discussions.
Conclusion
This episode of "Armstrong & Getty On Demand" provides a comprehensive dive into the Trump administration's trade policies, the American economic outlook, shifting voter sentiments on climate change, and the Democratic Party's declining popularity. Through engaging dialogues and critical analyses, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, alongside guest Ian Bremmer, offer listeners an insightful perspective on current political and social dynamics shaping the United States.