If That's Gay, I'm Richard Simmons!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "If That's Gay, I'm Richard Simmons!"

Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the controversy around Tucker Carlson's recent interview with Nick Fuentes—an openly self-described white supremacist—and the broader issues it raises for the conservative movement, mainstream media, and American political culture. Jack and Joe discuss the repercussions this has for the Republican Party, examine overlaps and sharp lines between adjacent yet dangerous ideologies, and reflect on the challenges both major parties face contending with their extremes in the digital age. Along the way, there’s classic Armstrong & Getty banter, irreverent humor, and listener feedback.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tucker Carlson Platforms Nick Fuentes

• Background: Carlson's recent wide-reaching interview with Nick Fuentes has propelled the latter into a much larger spotlight (view counts in the tens of millions). Fuentes is known for white supremacist and anti-Semitic views.
• Platforming Debate:
  • Jack highlights how the verb "platform" has entered mainstream discourse to criticize giving attention to extremists ([00:48]).
  • Tucker is described as possibly motivated by either ideology or the pursuit of clicks—it's unclear even to the hosts.

    "I don't know if Tucker's driven by money and clicks or an ideology. I really do not know." —Jack ([01:14])

• Fuentes’s Origins: Fuentes started gaining notoriety as a Trump supporter at 17 but split over Trump's support for Israel ([07:41]). His visibility exploded after Ben Shapiro, head of the Daily Wire, publicly attacked him, exemplifying the "no such thing as bad publicity" theory.

2. Mainstream vs. Fringe: Boundaries and Adjacency

• Complexity of Ideologies:
  • The hosts grapple with how some points made by fringe figures have overlap with mainstream concerns, especially regarding cultural or demographic anxieties, but argue these overlaps do not legitimize extremism:

    "The where he gets some traction though... A Nick Fuentes type person can get a crowd like that too. Although it's a lot more grotesque than being for Trump." —Jack ([03:39])

  • Joe emphasizes the necessity to distinguish defense of Western values from the poison of white supremacy:

    "That is a view that is adjacent to the more malignant types of people. Yes, true. But that does not intimidate me in the least from my point of view, which is staunch defender of Western civilization." —Joe ([05:16])

• Reflections on Cancel Culture: The Heritage Foundation faced backlash for a tepid defense of Carlson following the Fuentes interview ([10:09]), showing the risks institutions run in today's hyper-polarized landscape.

3. The Impact and Lure of Extremism Online

• Disproportionate Influence: The "online wings" of both parties are described as looking bigger than they really are due to digital amplification, compared to a mountain lion appearing bigger to avoid attack ([11:51]).
• Party Dilemmas:
  • Each major party is grappling with its extreme factions—GOP with the Fuentes/Carlson element, Democrats with hard-left figures such as Zoran Mumdani.
  • Jack warns both parties must define who they are in the face of these polarizing forces.

4. Confronting Extremist Logic

• Listener emails: Some audience members resonate with half-truths or genuine grievances raised by Fuentes, such as concerns over assimilation and changes to American society.
• Crucial Distinction:

  "I'm not a white supremacist, though, so do you have to buy the whole package?" —Jack ([16:11])

  • On the left, similar dynamics are occurring, per Joe:

    "Socialism is one [scam]. Bigotry is another that at first blush makes sense to impassioned young people." —Joe ([12:33])

5. Absurdity & Satire: The Sexually Incoherent Right

• Nick Fuentes’s “Asexual Incel” Rant:
  • The hosts joke about Fuentes' claim that “having sex with women is gay,” with Joe quipping:

    "If that's gay, I'm Richard Simmons. Okay. I'm Elton John over here." —Joe ([17:23])

  • Jack muses: "I'd like to be more gay more often, if that's the case." ([17:19])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fuentes’s Rise:

  "His rise is astonishing... where, you know, with our media landscape, you could have never gotten this going pre-Internet." —Jack ([07:15])

• On Admiring Stalin:

  "To say you admire Stalin is a nutso position. I mean just as crazy as anything could possibly be." —Jack ([03:24])
  "I don't even want you to recommend like a good Chinese restaurant after you say that." —Joe ([03:32])

• On The Nature of Online Extremism:

  "It's kind of like, you know, stand up tall of a mountain lion till you look bigger than you actually are. The online crowd just looks bigger than they actually are." —Jack ([12:13])

• On the Appeal of Free Stuff / Socialism:
  [21:19] “What attracts me? Just free. I like when everything's free and I don't have to do anything.” —Man on the street

  "The whole stuff is free thing is appealing at that stupid a level." —Jack ([21:47])

• Sidney Hook on Ideology:

  "I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations, capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature." —Joe quoting Sidney Hook ([22:01])

• Stat of Note:

  "A little more than one in six pregnant women are smoking dope in their first trimester." —Joe ([28:17])

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Other News & Lightning Round

(Select segments, not exhaustive)

• Explosion at Harvard Medical School: Two arrested; unclear motives, speculation over political motivation ([19:39]).
• Assassination of Mexican Mayor: Exposes the ongoing cartel crisis and deficiencies in the “hugs not bullets” strategy ([25:47]).
• Supreme Court to Hear Trump Tariff Case: Could have huge implications for U.S. trade and executive power ([25:08]).
• AI Chips to China: Rubio and other hardliners persuaded Trump not to allow top chip exports ([27:16]).
• “Zombies”: Stanford researchers propose growing brainless human “bodyoids” for transplant purposes, stirring ethical debate ([29:59]).

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End-of-Episode Banter

• Gavin Newsom’s Wife & Nancy Pelosi: Clips played of California’s First Lady and Pelosi slamming Trump, with the hosts mocking Pelosi’s age and questioning her relevance ([34:31]; [35:56]).
• Final Thoughts: Hosts share humorous, personal, and practical comments—ranging from the trials of last-minute homework to the mood around political extremes winning big-city mayoral seats ([37:51]).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Tucker Carlson interviews Nick Fuentes / Platforming debate: [00:48] – [03:32]
• Defending vs. Adjacency to Extremism: [03:39] – [06:18]
• Fuentes’s media rise & Ben Shapiro effect: [07:41] – [08:45]
• Heritage Foundation response controversy: [09:22] – [10:42]
• Both Parties’ Extreme Factions: [11:51] – [12:57]
• Listener feedback on Fuentes: [14:50] – [16:36]
• “If That’s Gay, I’m Richard Simmons” moment: [17:08] – [17:28]
• Judging Socialism vs. Capitalism quote: [22:01]
• Sobering Stat: Pregnant mothers using marijuana: [28:09]
• Stanford’s ‘brainless bodyoids’ for medicine: [29:59] – [32:42]
• California/NYC politics: Newsom’s wife, Pelosi, leftism vs. populism: [34:31] – [38:14]
• Final wrap up: [37:02] – end

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Summary Tone:
Wry, skeptical, and direct—classic Armstrong & Getty fare. The episode blends deep concern for the state of political discourse with sarcasm and humor to stay engaging and accessible.

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For Listeners Who Missed It:
This episode is a timely explainer on how fringe figures use modern media to gain outsized influence, the dangers of blurring adjacent beliefs with extremism, and how both the right and left must confront their most radical elements or risk being defined by them. The episode excels at both breaking down the dangers and absurdities of these dynamics and lampooning them for good measure. It’s a blend of political analysis, cultural critique, and sharp-tongued radio banter.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live.

[Jack Armstrong]

From the Abraham Lincoln radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Guest or Caller]

It's actually funny. It was December 18th. I remember it because that's an important date to me and it's Joseph Stalin's birthday. Oh, I'm a fan.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're a fan of Stalin's?

[Guest or Caller]

Always an admirer. But we don't need to go into that, I guess.

[Joe Getty]

Let's.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, let's get back.

[Joe Getty]

We'll circle back to that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Tucker Carlson talking to Nick Fuentes. And when Nick Fuentes said he was a Meyer of Stalin, Tucker kind of made a face like, what the F. Okay, well, we'll get back to that later. So apparently they've said bad things about each other. I don't know how many of you have any idea who these guys are or pay attention to them. I really don't know. The best thing ever happened to Nick Fuentes is going on Tucker Carlson show the other day, which is one of the knocks on Tucker is that he platformed a verb that has become popular in recent years.

[Joe Getty]

Somebody did nothing but toss him softballs, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

With no. With no pushback ever. He platformed this guy. And Tucker's got a heck of a platform. So just looking on X, 18 million people have watched this interview on X. His own website that you go to. I think that's where the bulk of his stuff comes from. It's like 20 million views there and a number of other places you YouTube places that you could come across them. So tens of millions of people have seen at least portions of this interview with this guy is probably the biggest crowd he's ever been exposed to. He's only 27 years old. It's quite an amazing story. So it's a two and a half hour conversation with this. He's a white supremacist is what he is. He calls himself that proudly. He's got interesting reasoning behind it, by the way, that I want to talk about that. That's where this all gets complicated. But like, so the topics were your origin, how, how you came to be popular, the Daily Wire's efforts to destroy you. That's Ben Shapiro's outfit. Why Fuentes decided to challenge the conservative establishment. Why did Fuentes attack Joe Kent, which is more of a mainstream, you know, MAGA person, but not white supremacist. By the way, Nick Fuentes has attacked Tucker Carlson too. They talk about that they've attacked each other. Tucker's a weird bird. So he wants to have these people on his show who even attack him if it's going to help him get more viewers, I guess. I don't know what Tucker's up to. I don't know if Tucker's driven by money and clicks or an ideology. I really do not know. The assassination.

[Joe Getty]

I read a brief review of Tucker's anti Semitic comments during his Fox years, immediately after and then recently and it's, it's undeniably a pattern.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you think that's his. He thinks the Jews are running the world and that's a bad thing?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know if I would characterize it exactly like that, but that's pretty close to what I would guess he believes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Uh huh.

[Joe Getty]

And that they control the United States and its foreign policy.

[Jack Armstrong]

To say you admire Stalin is a nutso position. I mean just as crazy as anything could possibly be.

[Joe Getty]

Where you end up, it's like disqualifying. I don't even want you to recommend like a good Chinese restaurant after you say that.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's utterly disqualifying. Right. And so are a lot of different things. I mean he's an actual white supremacist. The where he gets some traction though. Cuz with any movement you got true believers that are completely with you, which I gotta believe is a very small portion of the country. But then you get people who are adjacent to you. I mean that's the whole Trump thing, right? There's a lot of stuff Trump does and says that I don't agree with, but I'd rather have him than the alternative. So I'm on board. And a Nick Fuentes type person can get a crowd like that too. Although it's a lot more grotesque than being for Trump. But for instance, one thing he talked about that I was nodding my head to, he was talking about how white Christians, and I would say in particular white male Christians are the only group that can't stand up for themselves and say we think it'd be better if there were more of us. It's the only group that can't say that. Every other group gets to say that it would be much better if there were more of us in this school or on this board, in this Congress, elected on tv, marching in the street, whatever it is. Every other group gets to say that except for white Christians. And I again I would say in specific white male Christians.

[Joe Getty]

True.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that's annoying. Especially if when, then when it gets flipped on its head it becomes a. Not only do you not get to say, well, it sure be cool if there are more people like me around here, like every other group gets to say, you get blamed for everything. The reason things are awful is white.

[Joe Getty]

Male Christians or you, as you know, whatever hue you happen to be. But as a defender of Western civilization and its principles, classical liberalism, free speech, et cetera, self governance, you are not allowed to defend your culture as superior to those of Islamism. For instance, you know, where you've got female mutilation and the subjugation of women and the rest of it. Worth noting that Mr. Fuentes is also a hell of a misogynist. But the idea that you cannot advocate for the. The utilitarian, clear superiority of your culture over another, that's the only Western culture, is the only culture in the west you're not allowed to defend and promote. It's insane and idiotic. And that is a view that is adjacent to the more malignant types of people. Yes, true. But that does not intimidate me in the least from my point of view, which is staunch defender of Western civilization.

[Jack Armstrong]

So if you know Nick Fuentes name at all, it's probably because Trump had dinner with him and Kanye several years back, if you remember that. Lots on packs, right? And that's when I think, that's when I first heard his name. And I was told by the mainstream media that this Nick Fuentes was an anti Semite racist. When the mainstream media tells me that about somebody, I don't take it at face value because they call everybody that. But if you dig into the guy a little bit, that's his thing. I mean, he talks about it openly. He's very happy and proud that he's a white supremacist and believes that the country would be better off with more white people, et cetera, et cetera, which I don't agree with because I don't believe skin color carries immutable, immutable characteristics, etc. The whole thing. But his rise is astonishing. And it gives you just an inkling of the. Where, you know, with our media landscape, you could have never gotten this going pre. Pre Internet. But he, he talked about how when Ben Shapiro started attacking him, Ben Shapiro, who is a very big deal and Jewish, started attacking Nick Fuentes. Nick Fuentes says he said, I had like 300 people watching me on any of my live broadcasts. But somehow I reached Ben Shapiro's ear and he attacked. Attacked me, which actually boosted my following.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And got me more attention. And then it just kind of grew from there. And it's. And he started as a 17 year old. He was a big Trump supporter and did that for a while. He was anti Trump for this most recent presidential election, the 24 election, because Trump is too pro Israel and Israel runs the world, don't you know? And that's a bad thing. And why are we giving money to Israel? And it's because the Jews control the strings behind the scenes and all that sort of stuff. But like I watched some of his videos and they're not easy to find because he's been booted off of YouTube and while he does have a Twitter account, he does. His, his, his nightly YouTube videos are not there. And I wanted to see this guy in action. So I went to a couple of websites that still host him and they're like so incredibly low rent, poorly lit, bad camera, bad resolution. He's sitting there in a hoodie in front of like a, a bed sheet hung on the wall. I mean, it's just incredible.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

That it's so low tech. And he goes on and sometimes his nightly thing is two hours long. Two hours of him sitting by himself just ranting about this person in Baton and how Ted Cruz is destroying the country because the Jews told him to and that sort of stuff. And I guess there's some of you that watch that on a regular basis. I don't know if any of you that listen to us are watching him. I don't have any idea, buddy.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, a few. We get the emails.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I get it. To me, the ultimate thing is this is. Mark Halpern's been writing about it all week long on how this is a real problem for the Republican Party. I assume he knows what he's talking about there.

[Joe Getty]

So I've got major editorials prominently placed in both the Wall Street Journal and the Free Press about this very topic. And the response of the Heritage foundation to the Fuentes Carlson sit down, that elevated him also.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the Heritage foundation, one of the biggest think tanks in the world, conservative think tank that used to have a lot of credibility. The guy, the guy came out in favor of the Tucker Carlson Nick Fuentes interview.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, that overstates it. He, in a very mealy mouthed and cowardly way said, Tucker's been a friend forever and we were in favor of discussing topics. I mean, it was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I take that as a, as a, as a, of a pro vote. Well, a lot of people. So did a lot of people because he got tremendous pushback and had to walk that back because the Heritage Foundation's a big deal.

[Joe Getty]

We will always defend Our friends against the slander of bad actors who serve someone else's agenda. That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, as I've said before, all always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation. The venomous coalition attacking him, our sewing division, their attempt to cancel him will fail, which caused a huge pushback and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lots of donors saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is this? And National Review, among others, pointing out all the people that the Heritage foundation did not come riding to the rescue of when people were trying to cancel them, who are a lot closer to mainstream conservatism. Right.

[Joe Getty]

And one of. One of the bones of contention is that Tucker had on Ted Cruz not long ago, a couple weeks ago, literally with him. Yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Remember when he asked Ted, what was the question? Oh, it was about bombing Iran. What's the population of Iran? Ted Cruz said, I don't know. You don't know the population of a country you're about to go to war with. You know, that sort of thing. Whereas Nick Fuentes got to make all kinds of claims about white supremacy and the Jews running the world, and Tucker didn't ask a question.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right. And Tucker argued bitterly with Ted Cruz over the Jews were controlling him, Ted Cruz and American foreign policy. Whereas Nick Fuentes denied the Holocaust, praised Hitler, praised Stalin, etc. And Tucker just rubbed his chin, said, oh, interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

So one of the reasons I want to bring this up is each party claims the other party has got a problem. Both parties have a problem. The Republican Party has this Nick Fuente's Tucker Carlson wing to it that I have.

[Joe Getty]

Candace Owens.

[Jack Armstrong]

Candace Owens, yeah. You got to throw her name in there. That I don't have the slightest idea how big it is or how powerful it is or how much a threat it is to mainstream conservatism. And then you got the Democratic Party that's got, you know, Zoran Mandami. Nick Fuentes ain't gonna win any mayoral race anywhere. Zoran Mumdani is actually gonna become mayor of New York City as a Communist. And they got that wing that they've got to deal with. And both parties need to figure out who they are, where they are. And they're both fighting the whole online wing, which is difficult to fight because it looks so much bigger. It's kind of like the, you know, stand up tall of a mountain lion till you look bigger than you actually are. The online crowd just looks bigger than they actually are.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I would say that's true. A couple of things. Number one, hooray for our side conservatives. Many prominent conservatives are standing up against the crazies on our side in a way that you almost never see the Democrats do. And you have to. There are a couple of scams. Socialism is one. Bigotry is another that at first blush makes sense to impassioned young people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I guarantee you JD One of.

[Joe Getty]

The few advantages of getting a little age is that you see, oh, that's the gigantic flaw or three in that philosophy, and you go away from it.

[Jack Armstrong]

J.D. vance, who's still on the right side of Nick Fuentes and Nick Fuentes has threatened him with his gripers, which is what he calls his crowd, that if JD doesn't stay on the right position on Israel when he runs for president, tens of thousands of gripers will be at every one of his events, disrupting them, making it impossible for him to run for president. And I think J.D. vance is going to have to make a statement one way or the other on the Nick Fuentes crowd to run for president. Times they are very. They are very odd times. If you have any thoughts on any of this, our text line is 415295KFTC.

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Well, we've gotten a ton of texts on this. For better or worse on the whole Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, that whole deal. Here's a little more of what Nick Fuente sounded like on Tucker the other day.

[Guest or Caller]

The things that concern me the most. It's the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Seem like we crossed a Rubicon there. I agree with that because he's just a conservative guy. Relatively Moderate, expressing his opinions. He's not the president. He's not a politician. And it wasn't just that he got shot. It was what happened afterward, which is that 100,000 liberals went on TikTok and celebrated. And that shows that. How can you integrate or harmonize with people that hate you that much? They see some. You know, and I understand that liberals thought he was a jerk. Like maybe he was a little rude or something like that. And he really wasn't. I mean, he was pretty patient. As patient as they.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's a good clip to play because that is the sort of thing that a guy like me could hear and think. Yeah, yeah, I agree with you on that. I'm troubled by all that stuff you just said. Now, apparently Ben Shapiro on his show yesterday spent the entire show playing clips of Nick Fuentes spouting some of his crazy the Jews run the world, white supremacy, Israel killed Charlie Kirk stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is a little more out there. We got a whole bunch of different texts, like, including somebody who said there. I agree with a lot of stuff that. That Fuente says. Like I said when he was going on about, we've allowed too many people to come into this country too fast, and it's undermining our culture in a point that we might not be able to assimilate them. Yeah, I worry about that all the time, too. And I'm not a white supremacist, though, so do you have to buy the whole package? And, you know, I don't know how that. The.

[Joe Getty]

The analogy on the left right now, ripped from today's headlines, is when Zoran Mamdani about how the city is unaffordable and housing's really expensive and people are concerned about paying their bills and healthcare is really expensive and the rest of it, all of that's 100% true. The concern is absolutely true. His policy prescriptions are abhorrent.

[Jack Armstrong]

We also got this. Nick Fuentes says he's an asexual incel, saying that having sex with women is gay. Have you heard that?

[Joe Getty]

I. I don't. Well, yes, I have. Yeah. It's not very gay. It doesn't feel gay when I'm at it.

[Jack Armstrong]

No. And I'd like to be more gay more often, if that's a guess.

[Joe Getty]

If that's gay. I'm Richard Simmons. Okay. I'm Elton John over here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's an interesting take. That. That.

[Guest or Caller]

If.

[Jack Armstrong]

That. If he says that, that would lead me to believe that he's confused on a number of issues in his own mind. Yeah. In addition to it seeming to have an IQ of like 180 or something.

[Joe Getty]

All right, but even if you were as grounded as, you know, I don't, I don't know the, the Apostle Paul. That wouldn't make his crazy ass opinions right. But yeah, he's, he's an odd duck. Talking to an audience of a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of odd ducks online of millions and millions of people.

[Joe Getty]

So it would seem.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it would seem. This story is not over for either party. And Mamdani is going to win tonight. So they got to deal with their whole communist wing.

[Joe Getty]

Things are getting weird. They're getting weird fast.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Guest or Contributor]

A company called X1 recently announced a new robot named Neo to that does chores around the house, including loading your laundry. Nice try, robot, but humans know the correct way to do laundry is to put a load in the washer, then forget about it for 24 hours until it gets the stank.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is true. This is true. This is a regular occurrence at my house. Oh yeah, now I gotta wash it again. So I keep seeing this. So they arrested two guys in an explosion at Harvard Medical School.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

What was. Come on, Bl. Lefty. What?

[Guest or Caller]

What?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's like that Saturday Night Live bit where the two hosts on the evening news were hoping it was a white person or a black person committed each of the crimes. They went back and forth. Let it be a lefty. They pull up Harvard because they're. They're too in league with Israel or something.

[Joe Getty]

They're antifa. Yeah, yeah, it's. That is not clear. Yeah, it was an intentionally set fire or explosion, depending on who you ask. At Harvard Medical School, they've arrested two dudes who were shown on surveillance or security cameras. They appear to be white dudes wearing masks. The Weasley build of the leftist, in my opinion. But we'll have to see nobody. Sure. Or I should say they're not saying who these guys were and what their bent was.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was an edgy bit on Saturday Night Live. It was Kenan Thompson and Shane Gillis. He had a black anchor and a white anchor. Yeah. And then it would have a. Like a news headline. A meth lab exploded. And Keenan would say, oh, it's a white guy. Clearly a white guy. And then there'd be a carjacking. Shane Gillis. Oh, that's you guys. All day long.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that was edgy, but it was funny. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so before we get to a bunch of headlines that are absolutely worth tipping our cap to, there's a bit of a debate behind the scenes about this clip. It's 57, Michael. This is a man on the street being asked about Mumdani and socialism slash communism.

[Guest or Caller]

What attracts me? Just free.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like when everything's free and I don't have to do anything.

[Joe Getty]

That sounds really.

[Jack Armstrong]

That sounds like a dream to me.

[Guest or Contributor]

Anything free in particular you're looking forward to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Free hookahs, free prostitutes. Free flaming hot cheetah. Free Jaegermeister. Free Jaegermeister.

[Joe Getty]

All right, all right. So, Hanson.

[Jack Armstrong]

Are you serious?

[Joe Getty]

It's clearly a joke. Some sort of joke. All right.

[Jack Armstrong]

But the whole stuff is free thing is appealing at that stupid a level.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. To a lot of people. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it just blows my mind.

[Joe Getty]

And to quote once again, an absolutely brilliant piece of writing back in the day by a guy by the name of Sidney Hook, who started out as a Marxist but later became a leading critic of communism. He said I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations, capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature. To this day, this error and its disastrous consequences are observable in the judgment and behavior of some impassioned individuals, mostly young.

[Jack Armstrong]

Would you look? Look at the chart. Who wrote well about this? Jonah Goldberg has written about this, I think. Pinker. Steven Pinker has written about this. You can see. You can see graphs in various parts of the world where the free market shows up and the people being lifted out of poverty and the quality of life standard of living, they call it going up for everyone, top to bottom. Are there people that end up with a lot compared to people who end up with less. Yes. But as a whole, does everybody go up? Abso freaking lutely. Then you can have the same chart with socialism everywhere it's been tried and all. You end up with lots of dead people.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And the crushing of aspirations. You know, it's instructive that the people of Argentina have given a huge vote of confidence to Javier Milei and his reformers in the face of the Peronist socialist commie crooks who used to run the country and who turned out. I sound like just like Vin Scully. And who turned out more than anybody else to vote for Javier Millay? The people in the slums. Anyway. Owen 2 that's good.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's good that they've been tourist people.

[Joe Getty]

Said yes, free markets, please.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's great that they've lived through it so that they have that perspective. Our poor people, which are college kids who don't have everything they want, think that socialism is the answer because they haven't lived through it yet.

[Joe Getty]

Yep, yep. It is absolutely the province of the over educated, soft upper classes.

[Jack Armstrong]

And who do you think is the.

[Guest or Contributor]

Richest person in Venezuela?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we know.

[Jack Armstrong]

The daughter of Hugo Thomas. Hello.

[Joe Getty]

Hello. Anyway, Owen, I left out the hello. That's an important part of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Remind you that the great Douglas Murray, I mentioned this a couple weeks ago. We really like him. But he wrote this could not work out the way conservatives hope. Mamdani winning because he's not going to be able to do a lot of the things he says he want to do, he wants to do. And that crowd is going to latch onto the we didn't get to try socialism. And can you continue to vote for him and other people like him more and more for quite a while, perhaps.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And if socialists get to implement 98% of their agenda, they will point to that 2% and scream that that was the 2% that would have made it work but the damn greed heads prevented us. Yeah, I wish he had dodge.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wish he had the power to do a government takeover of the grocery stores to try it for a while.

[Joe Getty]

Sure. Yeah. All right, lightning round. First of all, the Supreme Court is going to hear oral arguments tomorrow over President Trump's sweeping global tariffs, including, and I'd kind of forgotten about this, that he slapped an extra 10% on Canada because he's butthurt over that Reagan.

[Jack Armstrong]

How dare you.

[Joe Getty]

Not what the Constitution contemplated since the tariff is a tax. There are trillions of dollars at st. And the ruling is going to be really, really interesting to watch. Take Shape again. The oral arguments are tomorrow. Have you heard about the assassination of a prominent Mexican mayor?

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Joe Getty]

This guy was hardcore. We're going to stand up to the cartels. We're going to enforce the law. He was a mayor in one of the avocado producing centers of Mexico, which is a huge industry there. Agriculture, agricultural sector. And he was gunned down as he officiated a candlelighting ceremony for the Day of the Dead. And the leftist president is doubling down on her predecessor leftist presidents. Hugs, not guns. Trying to accommodate the cartels enough to keep open warfare out of the streets.

[Jack Armstrong]

Man, that's a true pain, not crackdown. That is a serious patriot right there. Who sticks his neck out like that, knowing the chances of what happened are pretty likely.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because you need people like that until you get enough people, some sort of tipping point that are willing to stand up to the cartels because they can't kill everybody.

[Joe Getty]

He had publicly challenged President Sheinbaum to prove that the government's hugs not bullets strategy could succeed in reducing crime in his part of Mexico. And he. He begged the federal and state governments over and over again for help confronting organized crime. And they were less than forthcoming. And now he is dead as a rock. Another headline. Trump officials torpedoed in video's push to export the most advanced AI chips to China. Marco Rubio and other hardliners convinced Trump, no, don't bring it up to Xi Jinping. Nvidia's begging you for it, and I know your buddies, but do not do this. We cannot give these chips to China. And they succeeded, apparently, the hardliners in getting Trump to not do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cool.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Oh, I really. I'd love to get to Andrew Stiles review of the KJP book, but we'll skip ahead to this. And this is now. Multiple times I've run into this. The rising threat of cannabis use in pregnancy. Many expectant moms are unaware of the drug's dangers, and they are getting high. Wow. With a baby in their womb, the percentage who consumed it in the first trimester from 2022 to 2020 rose from 6.3% to 16%.

[Jack Armstrong]

You need a doctor to tell you that smoking dope while you got a growing baby inside you is a bad idea.

[Joe Getty]

A little more than one in six pregnant women are smoking dope in their first trimester.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder what that does. Or what they're going to call it. Feed their Fetal Alcohol syndrome fas. I wonder what this will be.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. Results from a recent survey published this year found that about 15% of pregnant women and 12 and a half percent of breastfeeding moms reported using cannabis in the past three months. A psychoactive chemical. While your child's brain is being built.

[Jack Armstrong]

You are a horrible human being and an idiot. Or just.

[Joe Getty]

People are just ignorant. This increase occurred despite ample evidence of the drug's harm on babies. Research cited by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that pregnant women who use marijuana more than double the risk of stillbirth and increase the chance of their child being underweight at birth and needing intensive care. Infants exposed to the drug in utero often exhibit signs of abnormal development, including trembling, high pitched crying and unusual reactions to light and sound. As the grow, they're more likely to struggle. Excuse me, with attention, memory and problem solving, and to be diagnosed with behavioral disorders such as hyperactivity. Longer term studies following these children and adolescents have found higher susceptibility to substance use and worse executive functioning, suggesting lasting changes in brain pathways.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is horrifying.

[Joe Getty]

Spread the word, friends, spread the word. And finally, my favorite story of the day. I can't believe I held off until now. Scientists want to make real life zombies. Researchers say growing brainless human body.

[Jack Armstrong]

What? I need a definition. What's a zombie?

[Joe Getty]

Researchers say growing brainless human bodies could help save lives. But is it ethical?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what a zombie is.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's what the term they're using.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I hear zombie thrown around a lot. I don't know what one is. I never watched the Walking Dead. What are.

[Joe Getty]

I thought you ask originally in what's the. The Sublime song. I don't practice Santeria in like Voodoo. It's somebody who has been drugged or bewitched or whatever in such a way that their brain turns off. Okay, they are still walking, yet they are incapable of thought or self determination. It's become in popular culture a the. The undead. They're dead, yet still animated. They're rotting. They come after you. They go, oh, and you got to shoot them.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they rise up out of the cemeteries. Right. And they come after or wherever they.

[Joe Getty]

Happen to be at the time. Yes, indeed. Hospital morgs, ambulances, a number of settings. But yeah, there's the undead anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

And so somebody's going to make these cool.

[Joe Getty]

So here's a headline from a recent article in MIT Technology Review in which three Stanford biologists. Well, I'll tell you what the headline is. Ethically sourced spare human bodies could revolutionize medicine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Spare human bodies.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. The strange title of a fairly recent article in which three Stanford biologists and ethicists argued for the use of so called bodyoids in science and medicine. This term refers to human bodies created from stem cells. Bodies that have been genetically altered so that they lack brains. Insert your punchline here. Bodies that have been genetically altered so that they lack brains and thus presumably are without consciousness. The authors acknowledge we do not yet have the technical capability to create such beings. But recent advances in stem cells, gene editing and artificial uteri provide a pathway to producing living human bodies without the neural components that allow us to think and be aware or feel pain.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe they can ride woolly mammoths and have a pet direwolf.

[Joe Getty]

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a screenplay I need to write.

[Guest or Caller]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Bodyoids.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, we gotta quit messing around.

[Joe Getty]

The authors admit many will find the prospect of bodyoids disturbing.

[Jack Armstrong]

In what way? Check.

[Joe Getty]

But they agreed that a, quote, potentially unlimited source of spare human bodies will be immensely useful and should be pursued.

[Jack Armstrong]

So do I just keep one of these up like in my spare bedroom? In case I need a liver, I feed it on a regular basis. Keep it tied to the bed.

[Joe Getty]

No, I think in this. How a little grim. No, I think in the same way if you need a new radiator, you go to the place that keeps them in stock and you pay the price for a new radiator. Slash liver.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right. I'd rather have it at home at my own.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, we're gonna feed the thing and like wash it occasionally so it doesn't get sores.

[Jack Armstrong]

If it listens to me, we can't.

[Joe Getty]

It has no brain. You're not paying attention.

[Jack Armstrong]

We will finish strong. Next, Armstrong and Getty.

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We got some clips we got to get on before we get out of here as it is election day. Here is Gavin Newsom's old lady, his wife.

[Gavin Newsom's Wife]

And I will tell you right now, I will not raise my children to think Donald Trump is an acceptable American.

[Joe Getty]

Leader.

[Gavin Newsom's Wife]

Nor that he is what the leader of the our great country should behave like. Yes, I won't raise them to think his terror enables his power and that his greed equals success. He is the exact opposite of what real strength looks like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, that's probably enough of that. But I.

[Joe Getty]

She is the woman who gets paid lots of money by taxpayers to produce videos for classrooms that introduces little children to radical gender theory. That's what she does for a living.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or to make documentaries. Nobody's ever going to see it. The donation.

[Joe Getty]

I don't give a crap about that part. Oh, yeah, well, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Phony. It's a phony thing. You claim you're a documentary filmmaker. People give you a bunch of money to make your documentary. You either do or don't make a crappy documentary, but you get to keep the money.

[Joe Getty]

That's d on it. As I say.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Yeah. So I don't know if that's the first time I've ever heard her in that sort of setting. She's not real good at that. So I don't know if she'll be much of an asset to Gabby on that. Here's Nancy Pelosi, who is 162 years old this weekend. 162.

[Joe Getty]

And she sounds like a day over 135.

[Jack Armstrong]

She was talking about Trump yesterday.

[Joe Getty]

Just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the earth. But anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

You think he's the worst thing on the face of the earth?

I do.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why is that?

[Joe Getty]

Because he's the President of the United States and he does not honor the Constitution of the United States. In fact, he's turned the corporate Supreme Court into a Roe court. He's abolished the House of Representatives.

[Jack Armstrong]

She is Pastor Prime. She was among the best ever at going on those talk shows and arguing her case in her prime. And as speaker of the House. I don't know if we've ever had anybody her match on our side of the aisle, but she is Pastor Prime.

[Joe Getty]

As I recall last session, the rogue court, the 6:3 conservatives, that was 15 of the cases.

[Jack Armstrong]

Worst thing on earth. And on an earth with China having slaves and Hamas and whatnot.

[Joe Getty]

A vile creature.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. Here's your host for final thoughts, Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap up the show. There he is, Michelangelo, our technical director to lead us off. Michael, final thought. Yeah. There's something completely different, but I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. I can't believe it. This is the earliest I've ever done it. Every year you do this, you're almost done. Yeah. More than over every show.

[Jack Armstrong]

I haven't even thought about it yet.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Gosh dang it. I'm still getting ready for Halloween myself. Katie Green, our esteemed newswoman, has a final thought.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie, I think you guys motivated me to do make some homemade fudge.

[Joe Getty]

I think I'm gonna do it. It's not that hard.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yes. So delicious. Are you gonna go? Just a standard fudge, chocolate fudge, peanut butter ripple kind of thing. Peanut butter ripple advanced fudge. Jack, a final thought for us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. My son was up super late doing homework last night partially because he had put off a big project he was having and there I was watching a young version of me. Tree, acorn, etc. Could have done that homework during the weekend when he was watching television. But no, he put it off till the night before and then he was hours, hours working on his project. Yeah, I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

It makes you good under pressure. My final thought is the commie is probably going to become the mayor of New York City. Conservatives. It's absolutely ridiculous. But the concerns that got him into office are real. We need to think about those.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Yeti wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

[Joe Getty]

So many people.

[Guest or Caller]

Thanks.

[Joe Getty]

So little time. Go to armstrong and getty.com Drop us a note mailbag at armstrong and getty.com. hit the swag store. Oh man, we got some great new a hoodies. You're going to love them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep, we will see you tomorrow with election results and a bunch of other stuff. God bless America. Today's edition of the Armstrong and Getty show was brought to you by Hoody. So watch glorious Armstrong and Getty hoodies and T shirts and hats. Purchase the all new lineup of [e-mail].

[Joe Getty]

The Armstrong and Getty. This is an iHeart podcast.