I'm Not An Anti-Vaxxer. I'm An Anti-Tasker.

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "I'm Not An Anti-Vaxxer. I'm An Anti-Tasker" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: March 5, 2025
Host/Authors: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Podcast Description: The official, On-Demand podcast of The Armstrong & Getty Show! Accept no substitutes!

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1. Trump’s First Month in Office: A Polarizing Snapshot

Overview:
Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into President Trump's first month in office, highlighting its unprecedented nature and the starkly divided reactions from different political factions.

Key Discussions:

• Success Claims:
  Joe Getty mentions, “[00:23] It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency...is the most successful in the history of our nation.”
  Armstrong adds a historical nod, comparing Trump’s standing to George Washington’s, albeit with skepticism.

• Political Theater:
  Armstrong describes Trump's inaugural address as akin to a "campaign rally," noting its dramatic flair and confrontational tone. He references a correspondent’s description of the speech as a “curb stomping of Democrats” ([01:01]).

• Media Reactions:
  The duo criticizes MSNBC's coverage, citing Rachel Maddow’s harsh response to Trump's acknowledgment of a cancer survivor child ([01:33]). Armstrong sarcastically remarks on the double standards in media portrayal: “when their side does it, it's brilliant and when the other side does it, it's a horror” ([01:57]).

2. Breaking Political Norms and Democratic Responses

Overview:
The hosts discuss recent events in Congress that signify a departure from traditional political decorum, emphasizing the impact on bipartisan relations.

Key Discussions:

• Congressional Incident:
  A correspondent recounts an incident on Morning Joe where Democratic members were overheard before a speech, leading to on-air scrutiny. The subsequent altercation involving an elderly Democrat refusing to comply with decorum ([02:13]).

• Norms Breakdown:
  The conversation highlights a shift in political behavior, with Armstrong questioning, “[04:57] ...how far will it go? How when is the pendulum swung clear to the end of breaking norms...” ([04:57]).

• Media Performances:
  Clips of Trump's speech are analyzed, showcasing moments that the hosts find "pathetic and aimless" from the Democratic side, including an elderly man angrily shaking his cane ([07:02]).

3. President Trump’s Policies and Cultural Battles

Overview:
Trump's policy announcements and their reception form a central theme, particularly his stance on education and gender policies.

Key Discussions:

• Executive Orders:
  Trump announces the removal of critical race theory from schools and declares only two genders, sparking significant backlash. Getty quotes Trump: “[15:00] ...there are only two genders, male and female.”

• Women's Sports Ban:
  A poignant segment includes a story about Peyton McNabb, a high school athlete affected by the new policy, emphasizing the real-world implications of Trump's decisions ([15:22]).

• Cultural Critique:
  The hosts critique the Democratic response to these policies, describing their actions as efforts to “prove themselves” while lacking substantive opposition ([17:15]).

4. Trust in Mainstream Media: A Declining Trend

Overview:
Armstrong and Getty explore the erosion of trust in mainstream media, supported by Gallup survey data and historical context.

Key Discussions:

• Survey Insights:
  Jack cites, “[30:15] ...Gallup survey on Americans trusted news media revealed we don't,” tracking the decline from 68% in 1972 to just 31% recently ([30:15]).

• Demographic Disparities:
  The breakdown shows that 60% of Republicans, 42% of independents, and only 6% of Democrats distrust the media, highlighting deep political divisions ([32:15]).

• Generational Shifts:
  Younger generations exhibit even lower trust in the media, with less than 50% of adults under 50 showing trust compared to older cohorts ([34:00]).

• Consequences of Mistrust:
  The hosts discuss the implications of declining media trust, noting that while some turn to alternative news sources like The Dispatch, overall misinformation risks escalate ([34:11]).

5. International Relations and Defense Policies

Overview:
The podcast touches on U.S. foreign policy, particularly regarding Ukraine and Russia, reflecting on the Biden administration’s stance and Trump's potential moves.

Key Discussions:

• Weapon Shipment Pause:
  CIA Director John Ratcliffe announces a pause in weapons and intelligence shipments to Ukraine, hinting at possible shifts towards peace negotiations ([20:18]).

• Hardball Tactics:
  Armstrong speculates on undisclosed hardball strategies against Russia, critiquing the lack of transparency and the portrayal of Putin as a formidable adversary ([21:04]).

6. Personal Anecdotes and Health Conversations

Overview:
Interspersed with political discourse, the hosts share personal health experiences, blending relatable moments with broader health commentary.

Key Discussions:

• Flu Shot Hesitation:
  A correspondent explains their reluctance to receive the flu shot, stating, “[23:00] I'm not an anti vaxxer, I'm an anti tasker,” highlighting logistical challenges over ideological opposition ([23:00]).

• Medical Advice Segment:
  The show features a brief medical segment where Katie diagnoses the correspondent’s illness accurately, adding a personal touch to the narrative ([21:29]).

• Pope’s Health Update:
  The hosts discuss the Pope’s ongoing health issues, reflecting on the Vatican's transparency and the implications for the Catholic Church's future leadership ([26:59]).

7. Government Waste and Economic Policies

Overview:
Addressing government inefficiency, Armstrong and Getty examine recent reports on fiscal waste, linking it to broader economic debates.

Key Discussions:

• Erewhon Grocery Pricing:
  A guest highlights the exorbitant pricing at Erewhon, a Los Angeles grocery chain, using it as an example of unnecessary consumerism and economic disparity ([17:15]).

• Tariff Battles:
  The hosts analyze ongoing tariff negotiations with Mexico and Canada, discussing potential economic impacts and market reactions ([18:10]).

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Notable Quotes with Attribution and Timestamps:

• Joe Getty on Presidential Success:
  “[00:23] It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency...is the most successful in the history of our nation.”

• Jack Armstrong on Media Double Standards:
  “[01:57] So when their side does it, it's brilliant and when the other side does it, it's a horror.”

• Trump on Gender Policy:
  “[15:00] I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

• Gallup Survey Insight:
  “[30:15] Gallup survey on Americans trusted news media revealed we don't.”

• Correspondent on Flu Shots:
  “[23:00] I'm not an anti vaxxer, I'm an anti tasker.”

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Concluding Thoughts

Armstrong and Getty provide a comprehensive analysis of the current political landscape, focusing on President Trump's initial actions and their ramifications. The discussion extends to media trust, highlighting significant declines over decades and the resulting polarization. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, the podcast offers both critical insights and relatable moments, making complex political and social issues accessible to listeners.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency, it's our presidency, is the most successful in the history of our nation.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

By many.

[Joe Getty]

And what makes it even more impressive is that do you know who number two is? George Washington. How about that? I don't know about that list, but we'll take it.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

There you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was very much like a campaign rally. It was entertaining. This fake not so too and so toos aren't so tos anymore. I refer to it as the so tac, the state of the ass kicking speech. As it was a. Well, one of our charming correspondents described it as a curb stomping of Democrats. I never use that term because I find it disgusting and I don't like violence. But as a snapshot of the current political landscape, it was so revealing in ways that we will discuss.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Wow. I, I didn't. I saw some MSNBC coverage afterwards. One of the hosts, I think it was Rachel Maddow, called Trump's recognition of that cancer survivor kid disgusting. Not only something you don't stand and cheer for or have tears streaming down your face because it was so damn cute. Disgusting is what MSNBC called it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. He was trying to use the goodwill toward the poor cancer stricken boy to justify his Hitlerian dictator urges or something, blah, blah, blah. So when their side does it, it's brilliant and when the other side does it, it's a horror.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay, one other thing. I just, I saw this on Morning Joe today on msnbc. Somebody, I'm guessing, somebody who hates Trump, had a live mic on JD and Johnson behind Trump before Trump walked in. And so they had some of the audio of when they're just standing there talking while everybody's milling around before the thing started. And they played it on Morning Joe. Joe, yeah. How did that leak out? Somebody's in charge of the sound. I mean, there are mics there and if there are mics there, I mean, we're in this business, if there are mics around you, they can be turned on or they can be listened to in queue and you can record them in queue and whatever. And somebody recorded it and got it to Morning Joe and they played it. Luckily for JD and, and speaker Johnson, that was nothing horrifying. JD wise enough, he started to say something and then he pulled Johnson in close and whispered it in his ear so he knew there were Live mics around, possibly, but how uncool is that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Wow. That's somebody on the House technical staff. No doubt.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

It's gotta be again. When. When will the norm breaking end? When will the norm breaking in? The fact that a Democrat, an old man Democrat, stood up and just wouldn't start. Stop yelling. And Spe. Baker Johnson had to say, okay, you got to stop yelling or we're going to kick you out of here, basically. And the old man kept yelling. And so they brought the cops over, you know, the. The House cops, and ushered him on out of there. But the fact that that's barely even news today shows you where we are. If that happened 20 years ago, it would have just been crazy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. Honestly, though, it was so clearly performative. And we'll play you some. Some clips in a second. Crazy old woke cane shaking old fart. He decides to make himself a hero by getting kicked out. All right, so you're not gonna sit down now. We gotta kick you out. Let's go through. We'll waste 30 seconds of our lives there. Now you're happy, now you're out.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

My first thought is I'd like to go to his Twitter page and see how many people he just gained and how much fundraising he gets to do off of that, because that's the era we live in. Sure, but what. I had another point on that. What was my other point? Oh, but not that many years ago your own party would have disowned you for acting like that. Yeah, they wouldn't have thought it was cool. You'd have been disowned by your party. You'd have been kicked off any committee. No, that's not the way we act. It's just, you know, we live in a different era. And I just. Like I said earlier, how far will it go? How when is the pendulum swung clear to the end of breaking norms and, you know, not following any unwritten rules anymore. I just wonder how far we have to go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tbd, my friend. I let you know when it happens. Here's how it opened. Michael, hit it. Come on.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.

[Jack Armstrong]

What clip Was that number? 40, Michael. Here's how it began. That was 40. All right, this again. Good Lord. All right, play the next one then.

[Joe Getty]

Members of the United States Congress, thank you very much. And to my fellow citizens, America is back.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

That's a good opening.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is. Next clip.

[Joe Getty]

Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that was fine, and the Republicans were very pleased with it. And it was your typical gung ho opening 90 seconds or so. But here's where it turned ugly and controversial.

[Joe Getty]

The presidential election of November 5 was a mandate like has not been seen in many decades. We won all seven swing states, giving us an electoral college victory of 312 votes. We won the popular vote by big numbers and won counties in our country.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Kill him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stone him. Beat him with his little cane. So that was Al Green. Not the legendary soul singer, but a different ancient guy. Uh, would you have Rich Lowry's Joe Candy? That was so good. He's this crazed old guy who even the Democrats are like, oh God, here he goes again. He's one of those characters. But he was standing there bellowing angrily as if Trump had traversed his lawn and literally shaking his cane.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Yeah. Rich Lowry tweeted out, democrats are the party of the future. And if you don't believe them, they have a 77 year old man shaking his cane to prove.

[Jack Armstrong]

Was we're the.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Party of the hip and the young. I'm 80 years old shaking my cane.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was so silly. It was truly entertaining. And I get what you're saying about norm breaking and decency and mutual respect and that sort of thing, and I value that. I am not cynical about that at all. But in terms of pure entertainment, I was just delighted. Anyway, where were we?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay, well then release a lion in there. I mean, if the goal is to just be entertained, Ms. Michael, you're gonna.

[Jack Armstrong]

See lawmakers doing TikTok challenges.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Oh, yeah, exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh my gosh. Dumping buckets ice water over their heads or trying to eat cinnamon or God knows what else. Yeah, yeah, right. Hey, I say try the lion thing once. Let's not be can't do, guys. Maybe, who knows? But as a, as I said last hour, as a snapshot of the current political scene, I thought it was, it was really revealing and incredibly discouraging for Democrats. And again, here's your, your note of caution. These, they move in cycles. I tell you what, you want to talk about one organization on earth that can screw up a good thing? It's the Republican Party. But so the, the President was just brimming with confidence throughout the whole speech. Although I. He lost me. It was interminable it was the longest ever, right?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Longest ever. Yep.

[Jack Armstrong]

And the second, third, fourth and fifth longest ever were like twice as long as they needed to be. So it was, it was like designed. I wouldn't do that teleco to make them listen to the old man. But anyway, so the President was quite confident and the, the Republicans in chamber were a bully.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

And did he not mostly read off a teleprompter, which means somebody wrote a.

[Jack Armstrong]

90 minute speech mostly, although in Trumpian fashion he departed from it to riff a little bit a number of times. I couldn't tell you how much, I wasn't really paying attention to that. But some, but anyway, and then they had a number of guests, including the, the beautiful little lad who's been fighting cancer and his thing is he, he's always wanted to be a cop. So he gets honorary deputy badges from various departments and, and, and Trump, we can play the tape. I think we have it around here somewhere. Although if our lists are off, Michael, I can ask for them and it's not going to do us any good. Oh, okay. Do we, do we have the little lad? There's so many clips, somebody shouting to Michael's here if he can figure it out. But anyway, just back to the snapshot thing. So you had all of that going on and it was all coming off very well just in terms of political theater. And the Democrats response was a crazy old lunatic shaking his cane at Trump, as we've discussed. B, they were like dressed in colors that nobody knew and there were several different colors and nobody. And then holding up these dopey little signs that looked exactly like Wile E. Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons with various Elon steals or no doge or you know, not lies, not true. Yeah, whatever. And it just, it came off as so pathetic and aimless. Oh. And then the other aspect of it was, and Trump riffed about this in 47, go ahead and I'll play 47. I thought it was a key moment politically.

[Joe Getty]

This is my fifth such speech to Congress. And once again I look at the Democrats in front of me and, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded. And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They Won't do it no matter what. Five. Five times I've been up here. It's very sad and it just shouldn't be this way, you know, and that's plenty of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

He missed a great opportunity. Not long after that. He was talking, he went through a list of the insane things Doge has found that we're all, you know, pretty acquainted with at this point. And he could have said, we just found hundreds of millions of dollars of waste of taxpayer money. Why are you not applauding stopping the waste of taxpayer money? Are you in favor of wasting taxpayer money? Help me understand. You know something? They could have just killed him, like for the next five election cycles, but he. He did not.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Yeah, that's a good one. So he had a long list of, like, trans coloring books for penguins and Antarctica or various things that were fun.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. $59 million for hotel rooms for illegal immigrants in New York. All sorts of stuff like that. There are some other highlights. Culture stuff that is so incredibly important. I'll get to it in a little bit.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I can't believe that they're going to continue to cheerlead dudes participating in girls sports based on all the polling. It's just. That's crazy. It's just crazy. Yeah, we got more on the way. Any thoughts? Text line 415295 KFTC.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

We're getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military, and it's already out. And it's out of our society. We don't want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It's gone. It's gone. And we feel so much better for it, don't we? Don't we feel better?

[Jack Armstrong]

That was getting toward the end during the just riffing. Just it's fine, I'm just gonna talk till I get tired of talking section of the speech. You know what woke means?

[Joe Getty]

It means you're a loser.

[Jack Armstrong]

So he did get into the social stuff. Jack, were you going to jump in there before I plunge ahead with the clips?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I was 90 minutes of the longest one anybody's ever given. Even longer than Bill Clinton's, which has been mocked for years of being a drone. A thon Trump's was longer. For whatever reason. I speculated earlier that he might understand that people don't watch these anymore and they're just going to live on in clips. And why not put as many clips out there as possible? I don't know. But Charles C.W. cook made the point that Thomas Jefferson set the precedent of sending a written message to Congress believing that a personal delivery resembled a speech from a throne too much. So he didn't want that look of a monarchy. So we'll deliver it in writing. Woodrow Wilson is the one that started it with showing up in person and ending that tradition. And that's how we end up with what we had last night.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we're going to skip ahead a little bit as I eye the clock. He's talking about ending DEI and will be woke no longer. Let's hear 52.

[Joe Getty]

Michael we have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools. And I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then let's jump right into 53 because it's on the same same.

[Joe Getty]

I also signed an executive order to ban men from playing in women's sports. Three years ago, Peyton McNabb was an all star high school athlete, one of the best preparing for a future in college sports. But when her girls volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Peyton's face, causing traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side and ending her athletic career. It was a shot like she's never seen before. She's never seen anything like it. Peyton is here tonight in the gallery. And Peyton, from now on, schools will kick the men off the girls team or they will lose all federal funding.

[Jack Armstrong]

I liked what Bill McGurn said in the Wall Street Journal. He talks about the president saying, no matter what I do, these people sitting right here, the Democrats will not clap. They will not recognize it. What the American people saw on their TV screens only confirmed what the president said. This was underscored by the absurd sight of Democratic women wearing pink to protest the negative effect they say Mr. Trump's policies have had on women. And this one day after not a single single Democratic senator voted to protect female athletes by keeping males out of women's and girls sports, All Democrats did Tuesday night was to confirm why they lost in November.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Can't believe they're going to die on that Hill, of all things.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's like 85 to 6, right?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

It ain't going to get better.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's an issue.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Among things. Coming up, I'm going to start going to Katie for my medical advice. She diagnosed me correctly in my sickness last week and I should have listened to her and much more on the way. Stay with us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed Guest]

The Los Angeles grocery store chain Erewhon is facing criticism for offering a single strawberry for $19 or for the same price, they'll let you look at an egg.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

By the way, I mentioned that the other day. If you've never been to one of those grocery stores, if you're ever in the Los Angeles area, go to one of those grocery stores. It's unbelievable.

[Jack Armstrong]

And what's it called again?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Erewhon at that, which is nowhere spelled backwards or close to it. That's where the name comes from. Yeah. Damn.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like Piggly Wiggly.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

You gotta be a rich hippie because it's. Everything in there is super expensive, but the choices are just amazing. Anyway, who knows what things are gonna cost here in the near future with the whole tariff battle going on. How long will that last? Well, here's old Lutnick, one of our new favorite guys in the. In the cabinet. He's the Secretary of Commerce. He was on TV just a little bit ago.

[Unnamed Official]

The President is listening to the offers from Mexico and Canada. He's thinking about trying to do something in the middle. He's thinking about it. We're talking about it. We're going to. When I leave here, I'm going to go talk about it with him. And I think early this afternoon or this afternoon, we expect to make an announcement. And my, my thinking is it's going to be somewhere in the middle. So not 100% of all products and not none. Somewhere in the middle. Because I think Mexico and Canada are trying their best and let's see where we end up. So I do think somewhere in the middle is a likely outcome.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

So similar to the last couple of times we've had big tariff things happen. Maybe like within a day they're going to announce, it's off, we got what we wanted, or a lot of it's off, or part of it's off or whatever. I guess we'll see.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? And not surprisingly, the markets have at least tweaked upward a little bit, feeling more optimistic. We'll see. It'll be fine.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Yeah. Or I won't.

[Jack Armstrong]

And we'll let you know at the time. Just, you know, it's. It's funny.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

What am I going to do? I'll react to, you know, I'll adjust my life accordingly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's the age of hyperbole and the age of desperation for clicks. And so whether it's weather reports, which is one of the worst, I mean, it's like the rarest thing in broadcast media is for somebody to underestimate how bad a storm might be. Because every storm that sweeps across the nation, ABC News is the worst is the killer storm that's paralyzing the Midwest or the east or whatever. Every storm is coming for you and your children and it almost never pans out. And if it does, you know what to do there.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Well, nobody ever leads with it's winter and it's going to snow, surprise, surprise.

[Jack Armstrong]

And so we're probably stupid not to engage in that much, but the tariff thing, yeah. Could have some effect, but we'll have to see how long it lasts. And, and you know, economics tends to counterbalance itself and blah, blah, blah. So we'll have to find out. Sorry if you came here to be terrified or whatever. You're not going to get it.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Other developing stories. So Trump, during his, whatever that speech was last night, mentions that Zelensky, that's.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Sotak, Jack, the state of the ass kicking. That's what I'm calling it.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Zelinsky put out a statement to Trump that, hey, I'm willing to sign the deal or whatever, I'll show up in a suit and apologize or something along those lines.

[Jack Armstrong]

Essentially, yeah.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Anyway, CIA Director John Ratcliffe was on Mario Bartiromo's show today and said the US has paused weapons shipments and intelligence to Ukraine. We've cut off their intelligence, which was really a big part of what our aid was. After the meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, Ratcliffe says he looks forward to lifting the pause and working with Ukraine towards peace, following the letter to the potus. But man, that's some serious hardball. And they're fighting literally for their survival.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I wonder, like many people wonder, where's the hardball toward Putin could be the answer is it's just secret, it's not public. I think a lot of the media class assumes that it doesn't exist at all. I doubt that. I certainly hope that's not true because Putin is an evil, child murdering, abducting genocidal lunatic.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Anti Christian, anti everything. Yeah, anti everything but his wealth. Katie, congratulations on diagnosing me correctly last week.

[Katie]

I diagnosed you with so many things last week.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

What was it you said? I had the flu. I had the flu. I went to the doctor yesterday and they told me. So you were. You had a dead on call me Dr. Green. Exactly. I didn't know this particular flu. I guess I got the current version. You have a terrible, terrible stomach that comes with your whole cold symptoms.

[Jack Armstrong]

See?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Wow. Every.

[Katie]

I've had the flu maybe a handful of times in my life and it's always come with stomach problems.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Well, I don't know if I've ever had the flu before, so I don't have any.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, there are a lot of things people call the flu that isn't the flu. So it kind of muddies the waters. But, you know, if you're feeling, you know, ill, you're feeling ill. Oh, it was horrible.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Horrible, horrible, horrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, I'm reminded of COVID engineered in the Wuhan institute, courtesy of Dr. Fauci and what's his name, Peter Daszak. That it? It causes a dozen different problems. Weird, bizarre. How can one virus affect you neurologically and give you the gallop of trots? It's terrible.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

First of all, do you think I would have not gotten the flu if I'd have gotten a flu shot? Could have avoided the week of being sick in the way I feel right now, if I'd have gotten the flu shot?

[Jack Armstrong]

Nobody knows. It depends how the formulation was this year and whether it matched the particular strain you got.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I'm not an anti vaxxer, I'm an anti tasker. And the. Getting myself there and actually getting the shot just beyond my reach. So that's the main reason I don't get a flu shot every year. It's not any philosophy of any kind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

The other interesting thing is I. So I did the day walk in care thing and went in because it'd been more than 10 days that I've been sick and it was starting to get worse. That's in the past. In my life, if you start to get better and then you start to get worse, it's something that needs antibiotics and they gave me antibiotics and so we'll see what happens. But the doctor commented on how much he liked the way I was dressed and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hello.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

And. And just briefly, very briefly. I mean, it's not like he dwelled on it or raised his eyebrows or anything like that. It was just a very casual conversation. But I've never had that happen before.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no memory. This was yesterday.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Yesterday.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no memory of how you were dressed yesterday.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Very average.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sorry, it's. I'm. I'm a poor co host.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Jeans, T shirt, jean jacket.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Cowboy boots. Pretty much my usual.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you give him your number? Because that's a. That's a bit of a, I don't know, Freddie Mercury look there. Maybe he was sending you a little subtle message, I don't know.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Yeah, there was somebody on Twitter, I think, did I mention this on Twitter the other day, that said I saw Jack at the airport? He is dressed very gay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that's a nice comment.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

But then I. But. So the reason I bring this up is then I went to the pharmacy and the 20 year old working there at the pharmacy said, I really like your style. I love the way you're dressed all the time when you're here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tudor do it at.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

This was a girl. But I just thought I must be. I got to be trying too hard or something or. Or.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Or I've got a bit of a. Look at that sick, sad old man, bless his heart. Let's say something.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think it might be that, hey, you know what? If pity's all there is available, I'll take pity.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Let's just brighten his day somehow today because he looks like he's really up against it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Just thought it was odd that it happened like twice in the span of an hour. Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, I don't know, maybe you go with that. Lucky the people have spoken.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

So you. So you don't have an opinion on the flu shot though? Do you get the flu shot over here, Katie? Do you get the flu shot, everybody?

[Katie]

I have never had a flu shot.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I. I've had one too young.

[Jack Armstrong]

It doesn't matter.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I've had one in my life and I probably will never get another one again because the one I got was. We mentioned it on the air and somebody stopped by the station and gave it to me and I'm not sure it was a nurse or if it was actually the flu vaccine because we didn't check their credentials. She just came into the studio and gave me a shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you're blind for a week, so that made me wonder if, you know, I don't know, maybe that's the only.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Flu shot I've ever had. You do get it every year, Joe.

[Jack Armstrong]

Almost every year. Yeah.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I've got a great doctor and he's in favor of it and he sees a straight shooter, so that's fine.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I think all doctors are in favorite of it. I don't know if I've ever heard anybody who's not in favorite, but it's.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's just. It's a bit of a guessing game because they formulate it before they understand precisely what strains are going to be where.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Do you have any idea what. Maybe you could look this up, Katie, what percentage of people get the flu shot? Do most people do it or do the vast majority of people not? I don't actually even know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Again, it varies a great deal by age.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay.

[Katie]

According to the Google, 45% adults age 18 and older get the flu shot.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay, so nearly half of all adults get the flu shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's interesting, but it's 75%. 60 plus.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I did not know that. Michael, do you get it?

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay, there you go. Speaking of which, all RFK Junior fans.

[Katie]

Around here, I had a doctor's appointment last week, and they asked me, they said, oh, you're due for your Covid shot. I'm like, what?

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I'm.

[Katie]

No, thanks.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

My co shot?

[Katie]

Yeah, you're due for your COVID vaccine. I'm like, no, I'm not.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're due for a slapping place. Clip. 18, Michael. 18.

[Unnamed News Reporter]

It's been a roller coaster following the Pope's health crisis because a couple of days ago we were told that the Pope was stable, that we'd heard of, improve. And now we hear of these crises. The Pope, according to the Vatican, had an accumulation of mucus that caused these problems that had to be aspirated. Now, Francis has been in Hospital for 18 days battling pneumonia in both lungs.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

You know, similarly. Similarly, if I had died, Joe would have had to get a new co host, and you'd have seen white puffs of smoke when he finally chose one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. I feared it was an aom, an accumulation of mucus. And sure enough, it is.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Oh, man. Well, I hope he's okay. Even though I hate his politics, the Pope. But I don't want him to die.

[Jack Armstrong]

I do, too.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

But then we. So then we'd go through that whole choosing a Pope thing, and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right up there with the Academy Awards, to me, I just.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I was.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

That's kind of what I was going to bring up. Has it lost some of the reverence that it once had? The Pope choosing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's the way I would answer it. It has lost the automatic reference reverence that it once had. It could be the Catholic Church finds itself a good, smart, wise Pope. And given the enormity of the Catholic Church and its importance in many societies, that could be a force for good, I think. Or maybe at least cleaning up some of the bad. If they go with another communist South American Communist culture warrior. Exactly. Then not so good. Not so much.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

A little more Pope John Paul ii. Little less. Whatever this guy's name is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. With a little more aggression toward the getting rid of the child molesters.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No kidding. Go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, nothing.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Came across one of those great government waste stories yesterday. And this is not some Elon exaggeration, as a lot of things Elon has mentioned have turned out. He's taken down the tweets. This is for real. And it's so damn maddening. Maybe we'll get to that in hour three. But it's one of those. It's just like, no. How would you not be for Doge if they overshoot? Fine, we'll add it back in later when you hear some of these stories. And we got one of those for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

And coming up in a story that is less shocking than anything I've ever heard, Americans trust in mainstream media is at its lowest point in over 50 years.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

I gasped and clutched my pearls. That is coming up next, Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed Guest]

So there you go. Another two hours we'll never get back. I would like to apologize to our audience for making them watch it. That's time you all could have spent with your family not eating eggs. In the end, Trump's first address to Congress was much like his first six weeks, filled with useful lies and applauded by useless idiots.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stephen Colbert there. Fine. Stevie boy.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Making no attempt, though, to, you know, court half, at least the country who doesn't feel that way. At least, at least half.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's entertainment, obviously. Allegedly. It's an attempt at entertainment. Okay, that's not the news media per se. But some of that cultural juice is absolutely all over the news media too. And not shockingly. Recent Gallup survey on Americans trusted news media revealed we don't. Although some of the numbers behind the numbers, and I'm not kidding, are really, really interesting. But they go through a little historical perspective. In 1972, 68% trusted the media, either a great deal or a fair amount. 68% in what year? 1972 hit an all time high of 72% in 1976.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Wow. Post Watergate.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, in the wake of Watergate and honestly, you know, the, the pretty good investigative journalism that was done through that. And then the, the Ford v. Carter election. But that was the high water mark. 72% in 1976. Fast forward to the year 2000, we're down to 51%. Three, four years later, 44%. Then it waffled a little bit. But last listen to the last several years and 2018, it was 45% trusted the mainstream media a lot or some.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Okay, that's because you're a liberal and you like hearing what you want to hear because it thinks it's ridiculous.

[Jack Armstrong]

40% in 2020. 36% in 2021. 34% a year later, 32% a year later. And 31% last year. Joe Biden's last year in office, which was the best version of Joe Biden ever. And if you don't believe it F you or whatever.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

So the numbers, the numbers are below that. You know, the chunk that's going to vote for a Democratic president. So they don't even like what they're getting fed like at least 10% of people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, roughly. Although don't forget that we have independence as well. But anyway, it is ticking down, down, down and to just rubbish level. Whereas third. Oh yeah, my goodness. Yeah. We don't even need to explain why. Although the mummy being perfectly fit for office, then the minute he's out of office, the Jake tappers of the world rushing to say, do you guys want to know the truth? He was old and senile all along. Oh, thanks, Jake. Anyway, whereas about a third of us adults say they have no trust at all in the mass media, 60% of Republicans hold that view. A view that saw a particularly sharp increase between 2015 and 2017. Funny, I can't think of a single thing that happened during that period that would erode trust in media other than the Russian collusion hoax. Lack of trust is also up sharply among independents. It's now 42%, while it continues to be low. 6% this year among Democrats.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's 60% of Republicans, 42% of independents and 6% among Democrats. If I were to characterize those numbers, I would say that Democrats are seven times more gullible or ideological than even independents. Gallup also found that younger generations are less trusting of the mass media as well. That's good. I don't watch the news.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Good job.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh son. Good decision. People younger than 50 are much less trusting in the news media than people aged 50 and older, particularly the oldest Americans.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

Though. I mean, these numbers are tough to. I mean, on one hand, I'm very happy that more people have realized that mainstream media is often spinning things at best and flat out lying to you at worse. On the other hand, the fact that people are then going to even more distorted news sources and leaving mainstream media is not helpful.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, that's a really interesting point. And, and where people have gone or what they've done with their mistrust is a great, great question.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

It's not entirely true what I just said. I mean, there's a lot of people going to the Dispatch or the various writers and stuff like that. They're. They're doing a really good job of trying to call balls and strikes regardless.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of their ideology or they come here, duh.

[Unnamed Correspondent]

But, but they're not. It's not, you know, as big as. I mean, I could name a lot of different things, whether it's Tucker Carlson on the right side of things or whoever on the left side of things. Getting a lot of earballs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep. Yep. For better and worse, Armstrong and Gettysburg.