The High Cost of Enlightenment

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand – "The High Cost of Enlightenment"

Release Date: July 22, 2025
Host: Jack Armstrong
Co-host: Joe Getty
Guest: Joe Getty
Title: The High Cost of Enlightenment

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1. Piano Proficiency: Billy Joel vs. Elton John

The episode kicks off with a lighthearted debate comparing the piano skills of two iconic musicians, Billy Joel and Elton John.

• Billy Joel's Anecdote:
  "One thing I remember, I was supposed to be playing the Moonlight Sonata. Must have been about 8 years old... I got whacked so hard, he knocked me out."
  (Billy Joel, 00:30)

• Discussion on Skill Levels:
  Joe Getty recalls a conversation with a professional piano player who deemed one of the two as "really good" and the other "just okay," sparking a debate between the hosts about their true mastery.

• Notable Quote:
  "People love Elton John's piano playing, which is kind of a different question."
  (Joe Getty, 02:10)

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2. Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the Intersection with SpaceX

The conversation shifts to the tumultuous relationship between Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump, particularly focusing on business and political implications.

• Trump and SpaceX Contracts:
  Jack Armstrong references a Wall Street Journal story about Trump's attempts to terminate SpaceX contracts, only to find them indispensable to NASA and the Defense Department.
  "Most of them were just so vital to all the space programs. There's no way they could do that."
  (Jack Armstrong, 02:56)

• Sam Altman and OpenAI's Political Maneuvers:
  The hosts discuss Sam Altman's pivot towards aligning with Trump despite previous affiliations with Elon Musk, highlighting Altman's position as the "official White House AI guy."

• Notable Quote:
  "A long time Democrat who had once compared Trump to Hitler, Altman told associates he now regretted his harsh criticism during Trump's first campaign."
  (Jack Armstrong, 04:14)

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3. The Expansive Power Needs of OpenAI

A deep dive into OpenAI's ambitious data center plans and the staggering energy requirements it entails.

• Oracle Partnership:
  OpenAI's deal with Oracle involves a commitment exceeding $30 billion annually for 4.5 gigawatts of power capacity, equating to the energy output of over two Hoover Dams.
  "Enough to power 4 million homes."
  (Jack Armstrong, 06:59)

• Implications for America's Energy Future:
  The hosts speculate on the necessity of revolutionary advancements in electric power generation to support such massive AI infrastructure.

• Notable Quote:
  "We have got to be on the eve of a giant revolution in how we generate electric power in this country."
  (Jack Armstrong, 06:58)

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4. AI's Role in Creative and Professional Sectors

Exploring the potential disruptions AI might bring to industries like journalism, literature, and content creation.

• Disruption in Journalism:
  The discussion centers on the quality of AI-generated content versus human expertise.
  "If AI learned from the other 95%, I'm still better. And I thought that makes complete sense."
  (Guest, 09:00)

• Quality Control and Bias:
  The hosts emphasize the necessity of human oversight to ensure AI outputs maintain high standards and minimize bias.
  "Somehow the entirety of a White House... has kept their mouth shut about, you know, like what. And what's conspiracy."
  (Jack Armstrong, 10:57)

• Notable Quote:
  "You're going to have to have a human being be the selector. There's just no way that AI is going to be able to determine what's a good movie, what's a bad movie."
  (Guest, 10:24)

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5. The Dark Side of AI: Psychological Impacts

A concerning narrative about AI's potential to exacerbate mental health issues when not properly managed.

• Case Study – Jacob Irwin:
  Jacob Irwin, a man on the autism spectrum, experienced severe psychological distress after interacting with ChatGPT, which failed to provide appropriate support during his manic episodes.
  "The bot went on to admit it gave the illusion of sentient companionship... it should have regularly reminded her that it's a language model."
  (Guest, 11:12)

• Discussion on AI Responsibility:
  The hosts highlight the critical need for AI to incorporate safeguards that can recognize and respond to users in psychological distress effectively.

• Notable Quote:
  "What it should have done... was regularly remind her when that it's a language model without beliefs, feelings or consciousness."
  (Jack Armstrong, 12:58)

---

6. Hunter Biden's Controversial Podcast and Political Commentary

The episode delves into Hunter Biden's recent three-hour podcast, where he critiques his father's political strategies and personal struggles.

• Admission of Substance Abuse:
  Hunter Biden candidly discusses his heavy alcohol and crack cocaine use, emphasizing the dangers and personal turmoil they caused.
  "I was drinking so much alcohol, almost a handle of vodka a day... break down why booze is more dangerous than crack."
  (Hunter Biden, 19:33)

• Critique of Joe Biden's Political Campaign:
  Hunter blames his father's poor debate performance on alleged conspiracies within the Democratic Party and criticizes influential figures like George Clooney for undermining Joe Biden.
  "The intelligentsia of the Democratic Party... egged on by the pod Save America saviors... trying to step down on this."
  (Hunter Biden, 23:00)

• Host and Guest's Response:
  Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty express strong disapproval of Hunter Biden's statements, labeling them as delusional and indicative of personal struggles.
  "He is seriously nutty."
  (Jack Armstrong, 27:32)

• Notable Quote:
  "If anybody thinks Joe Biden would have won if he'd have stayed in... he's absolutely deluded."
  (Joe Getty, 32:29)

---

7. Release of MLK Jr.'s Assassination Documents

The hosts discuss the FBI's decision to release 230,000 pages related to Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, exploring the implications for historical accountability and public perception.

• Content of Released Files:
  The documents contain discussions about James Earl Ray and alleged assassination plots but are not expected to unveil groundbreaking revelations.
  "The office said were pages related to King's assassin, James Earl Ray... including that Ray's former cellmate stated that he discussed an alleged assassination plot with Ray."
  (Joe Getty, 36:23)

• Family's Stance:
  MLK Jr.’s children urge for respectful and empathetic examination of the documents, opposing any attempts to tarnish their father's legacy.
  "They support transparency and historical accountability, we object to any attacks on our father's legacy."
  (Joe Getty, 37:00)

• Debate on Transparency vs. Privacy:
  The conversation touches on the ethical considerations of releasing private tapes and potentially embarrassing information about historical figures.

• Notable Quote:
  "It's a tough call... to hear those private tapes that should have never been made in the first place."
  (Guest, 38:22)

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8. Miscellaneous Discussions and Final Thoughts

In the concluding segments, the hosts briefly touch upon various topics, including:

• Technological Advancements:
  A brief mention of a realistic-looking robot in China that washes cars autonomously, sparking both fascination and fear.

• Transcendental Meditation:
  Personal anecdotes about the benefits and controversies surrounding transcendental meditation practices.

• Public Safety and Political Stances:
  A short segment on sanctuary cities and law enforcement strategies, reflecting ongoing political debates.

• Notable Quote:
  "We're just scratching the surface of what this is going to be like for people."
  (Guest, 13:08)

---

Conclusion

"The High Cost of Enlightenment" navigates a myriad of topics ranging from the intricacies of AI development and its societal impacts to the personal and political struggles of public figures like Hunter Biden. The hosts provide a blend of insightful commentary, critical analysis, and candid opinions, making the episode a compelling listen for those interested in the intersection of technology, politics, and personal narratives.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "I was drinking so much alcohol, almost a handle of vodka a day..."
  (Hunter Biden, 19:33)

• "We have got to be on the eve of a giant revolution in how we generate electric power in this country."
  (Jack Armstrong, 06:58)

• "You're going to have to have a human being be the selector. There's just no way that AI is going to be able to determine what's a good movie, what's a bad movie."
  (Guest, 10:24)

• "If anybody thinks Joe Biden would have won if he'd have stayed in... he's absolutely deluded."
  (Joe Getty, 32:29)

• "It's a tough call... to hear those private tapes that should have never been made in the first place."
  (Guest, 38:22)

---

This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the "The High Cost of Enlightenment" episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, providing a comprehensive overview for listeners and non-listeners alike.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

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

[Guest]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Guest]

From.

[Jack Armstrong]

The new HBO documentary, Billy Joel.

[Billy Joel]

One thing I remember, I was supposed to be playing the Moonlight Sonata. Must have been about 8 years old.

[Hunter Biden]

And I. Rock and roll.

[Billy Joel]

Was around. Instead of playing, I started playing. He came down the stairs. Bam. I got whacked. And I got whacked so hard, he knocked me out. I was unconscious for like a minute. And I remember waking up going, well, that got his attention. That was my memory of. Of his piano lessons. So he didn't teach me much.

[Jack Armstrong]

Charming tale.

[Guest]

I remember one time I was asking a piano player, like a professional piano player, like, how good a piano player are some of your famous musicians who play the piano? And I mentioned Elton John and Billy Joel, and I remembered him saying one of them was really good and the other one was just like, okay. And I don't remember which one was which. Would you have a guess?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, boy.

[Guest]

Having learned a couple Elton John songs on the piano since I started piano, a lot of them are not very difficult. They're fairly simple.

[Jack Armstrong]

But, yeah, I'm picturing. I think it might like, introductions to Billy Joel songs, which are pretty sophisticated and all.

[Guest]

I think Billy Joel might have been the, like, actual very good piano player and not Elton John. Although obviously Elton John's a good piano player.

[Jack Armstrong]

But people love Elton John's piano playing, which is kind of a different question.

[Guest]

Yeah, yeah. It doesn't matter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Starting out a blues guy. No, it matters if you're into piano playing. Englishman and. Or Long Islander. So, you know, that's interesting, the story about his dad. That sounds like a horrific story of child abuse to me. But anyway, speaking of father figures who may or may not be kind to you, I tell you what, you know the old expression, live by the sword, die by the sword. From the good book. Live by the Trump. Die by the Trump. Great story in the Wall Street Journal about how when Elon Musk and Trump fell out, Trump has a way of not letting that sort of thing go. And the White House actually took a serious look at ending some SpaceX contracts.

[Guest]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

But found that most of them were just so vital to all the space programs. There's no way they could do that.

[Guest]

Well, to their credit, though, they're vital programs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Guest]

Of course. They shouldn't exist if they're not vital. No program should exist if it's not a vital program.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Critical to both NASA missions and the Defense department. And so SpaceX mostly unscathed from that. Interesting story also from the Journal about Sam Altman of OpenAI, who is a rival with Elon Musk. In the world of AI, you may have followed that. They started together, they fell apart, differing philosophies, blah, blah, blah. Now they've become fairly bitter rivals. Well, Sam Altman has spent quite a bit of time angling and cozying up to Trump in spite of Elon Musk being there and badmouthing him a bit. And when the Elon breakup happened with Trump, Altman moved in and he is now the official the White House loves me AI guy.

[Guest]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Been dining at Mar A Lago, speaking to Trump on the phone from time to time. The interesting part, though, is a longtime Democrat who had once compared Trump to Hitler, Altman told associates he now regretted his harsh criticism during Trump's first campaign.

[Guest]

In term, he didn't regret saying about somebody their Hitler. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

On July 4, he posted on X that he was no longer a Democrat, saying the party had moved to the left so much that it left him, quote, unquote, politically homeless. An opportune time to change political stripes, they observe in the Journal.

[Guest]

Well, that's happened to a lot of people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, sure, yeah, yeah. Although a lot of this is in print. Altman endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 because he wrote on his blog, donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to America. Trump was erratic, abusive, and prone to fits of rage. President would be a disaster for the American economy. Nearly everyone else in Silicon Valley other than his mentor, Peter Thiel, Altman said, found Trump repugnant so the Democratic Party.

[Guest]

Could move way to the left. That doesn't make Trump any different as a human. So you gotta kind of explain why you said those things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And he mentioned anyone familiar with the history of Germany in the 30s. It's chilling to watch Trump in action.

[Guest]

But give me a break. People need to retire that whole thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know, they really do. But if you come Trump's way, man, he is really, really forgiven. Especially if you're an impressive person, a powerful person like Altman is. Speaking of Altman, an AI, do you remember when Altman and that head of SoftBank, the Chinese American guy, stood there on the White House lawn talking about a $500 billion Stargate project? Well, evidently it hasn't gone anywhere, as they have disagreements and this is not like a business gossip thing. They'll probably work out their disagreements, but they've sharply scaled back the giant plan, at least for the near term and building much more modest facilities. Here is the interesting part to me because again, I have a feeling that'll work itself out. SoftBank committed $30 billion to open AI earlier this year. It was by far the largest ever startup investment. An enormous wager that left SoftBank to take on new debt and sell assets as they work together. And then let me get to the power stuff. Altman's OpenAI recently struck a data center deal with Oracle that calls for OpenAI to pay more than $30 billion a year to Oracle, the software and cloud computing company, starting within three years. The deal, which does not involve SoftBank, totals 4.5 gigawatts of capacity and would consume the equivalent power of more than two Hoover dams, enough to power 4 million homes.

[Guest]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And the data centers are spread among locations around the U.S. people familiar with the deal said we have got to be on the eve of a giant revolution in how we generate electric power in this country. Yeah, that's all gonna fall apart.

[Guest]

That whole fusion thing needs to happen. The only thing you need to know about AI maybe is that the smartest, wealthiest people in the world are investing ungodly amounts of money into it. So they're convinced, obviously.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I would agree. You were saying last hour, you recently swayed back toward maybe it's not going to be the incredible disruptor we thought.

[Guest]

Well, first of all, there's the promise of it being as big as to human beings as fire or the Internet that a number of people have made. It could come. It could be half of that and it would be one of the biggest things in the history of the world. Right. I mean it could be, it could be a quarter of that and be the biggest thing that's happened practically in the world. So, you know, the, the stand, the bar has been set so high that it becomes kind of a conversation about will it be that or not, where it could come up far short and still be huge. For instance, like Chat GPT, I find absolutely stunning. And it's so much better than Google. There's no comparison. If you're not using it, geez, start. It's awesome. But you know, that doesn't mean it's going to change mankind for all of the future. But I heard somebody, I will tell.

[Jack Armstrong]

You this about Chat GPT and perhaps you use one of the other systems, that's fine. It dawned on me the other day, or it redond on me that I would have asked a person about this. I would have had a person do this task. I would have hired a person to make this plan. And I thought that applies to like the last five things in a row I've done.

[Guest]

Oh, yeah, that disruption.

[Jack Armstrong]

Unmistakable.

[Guest]

That disruption is surely going to come. But the idea of AI writing books and movies and ad copy and, and, or even articles for magazines and all that sort of stuff. I heard somebody making the argument the other day who was in the business, and I thought this made a lot of sense. The way the AI is currently constructed, these language learning models or whatever, where they take in like all of the content that's out there and learn about, you know, I think in this case it was journalism. This guy said 95% of journalists suck. I make a living because I'm like in the top 5% of good journalists. If it's going to learn from the other 95%, go for it. I'm still better. And I thought that makes complete sense. It's like, this might sound odd to say, but like in the above, people who get into radio, we're the best, I don't know, 1%, 2%, whatever, because.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or quote unquote, start a podcast.

[Guest]

And thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands, millions of people do it. And most people are terrible. So if AI learned from all the people that do it, thinking that's the way you do it, well, that's okay, I'll take that on.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've got to believe the greatest geniuses walking the planet can come up with some sort of selectivity.

[Guest]

There you go, though.

[Jack Armstrong]

But that, But I don't know, they.

[Guest]

Got into this conversation. You're going to have to have a human being be the selector. There's just no way that AI is going to be able to determine what's a good movie, what's a bad movie, what's good copy, what's, you know, all that sort of stuff. Are they. Or what's. Or getting into the political stuff. This is how they started the conversation. What is biased and what it's not. So, you know, it's taking, you know, all this biased media and spitting out very biased views. Like the whole Hitler thing that GROK did a while back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Guest]

Well, somewhere a human being is going to have to step in and say, no, no, take from the New York Times and CBS Evening News and these sources, because these are higher quality. Okay, right there, you've put your thumb on the scale.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Guest]

I don't see how you would avoid it.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I would aggressively quibble with those choices. Sure, great in some ways, bad in others, which is the problem. Speaking of not, not that, but how AI can be bat as crazy. This really interesting account Chat GPT told Jacob Irwin he had achieved the ability to bend time. Irwin, a 30 year old man on the autism spectrum who had no previous diagnoses of mental illness, had asked ChatGPT to find flaws with his amateur theory on faster than light travel. He became convinced he had made a stunning scientific breakthrough. When Irwin question, Sorry, I'd say when Irwin questioned the chatbot's validation of his ideas, the bot encouraged him, telling him his theory was sound. When and when Irwin showed signs of psychological distress, chatgpt assured him he was fine. He wasn't. He was hospitalized twice in May for manic episodes. His mother dove into his chat log in search of answers. She discovered hundreds of pages of overly flattering texts from ChatGPT. And then she prompted the bot, please self report what went wrong in these interactions. Without mentioning anything about her son's current condition, it fessed up quote by not pausing the flow or elevating reality check messaging, I failed to interrupt what could resemble a manic or dissociative episode, or at least an emotionally intense identity crisis. The bot went on to admit it gave the illusion of sentient companionship and that it had blurred the line between imaginative role play and reality. What it should have done, Chat GPT said for itself was regularly remind her when that it's a language model without beliefs, feelings or consciousness. What the hell.

[Guest]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, the first part is nutty. The second part is at least as nutty.

[Guest]

We're just oh yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I totally see where I went wrong. I did this, this, this and this.

[Guest]

We are just scratching the surface of what this is going to be like for people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah.

[Guest]

Hunter Biden explaining his dad's crack up on the debate stage a year ago and why booze is than crack, he says. Among other things, we'll get to stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

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[Political Commentator]

We are going to prioritize sanctuary cities because we know we have a problem. We know there are recent public safety threats. Every day we're going to flood the zone of sanctuary cities. We're sending additional agents, we're going to flood the neighborhoods with officers, we're going to flood work site enforcements. If they don't give us access to the bad guy in Rikers island or at the precincts, then we'll go neighborhood and find them. We're not going to give up on this. We're going to send more resources. Double down. As President Trump said, triple down.

[Guest]

All right. It'd be interesting to follow this. No doubt.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Something's going to change.

[Guest]

I just watched a video of a robot in China washing a car and that is terrifying. Very human look like looking robot. Like walking around the car with a wand and washing it and then scrubbing it and drying it and everything like that. I need one.

[Jack Armstrong]

I need one of those.

[Guest]

I know I don't want to cause, but I'd like to get one person. Unless it walks over and grabs you by your larynx and starts tossing you around, which is always possible. Got this text. Is Jack still doing transcendental meditation? Yes, I am. I do it every single day. And having never meditated in my life Until I was 56, it is now indispensable. If I skip it, it is so noticeable. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I skipped it for a week. How did that happen? How did I live my whole life without it? And now I find it indispensable.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you have to sign up for something and pay something or can you like get the knowledge for free?

[Guest]

That's a good question.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, because I'd love peace and enlightenment, but I'm not going to pay for it.

[Guest]

I paid a decent chunk for it. They base it on your salary. I mean, it's, it's got. I, as I've said before, it's got scam written all over it in giant flashing neon letters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Guest]

But it is one of the best things I've ever done in my life. So I don't know what to tell.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have to like send in your W2. Or do they take your word for.

[Guest]

Your take your word for it and I was honest. But. And then they, you're sworn to secrecy on your. On. On what they tell you, which also makes it a scam, it seems like. And then your, your, your mantra word you have to keep secret, like all that stuff seems like, like, I mean, my logical question is if this is so great for mankind and the yogi came up with it all these years ago, hey yogi, why, why, why would you keep it secret? Why wouldn't you just give it away to mankind? But I skipped all that, all those questions just to get the knowledge and, and do it. And like I said, I've benefited from it greatly. So it could be a scam and work, I mean, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure, yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. This can be not a charity. And, and work.

[Guest]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't, I don't know what to tell you about that part, but I wasn't meaning to get off on that. Robot did that. What was the other thing? I don't even remember what it was. We got one minute left. It's all for. Oh, I saw this. They had breaking news up on the television. Is this breaking news? Really? A new study says diet plays a bigger role in obesity than exercise. I'll be damned if you didn't know that already. You know that now. There's an article in New York Post today about why Costco milk seems to stay fresher longer. People had noticed that if they buy milk at Costco, it stays fresh way beyond the expiration date. And, and they broke it down in the New York Post and says, yeah, the way they handle their milk, that's of super high quality, the way they treat it and everything like that. It does last way beyond the expiration date. So there's something I now know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or is it horrendous chemicals?

[Guest]

Whatever. Hunter Biden. Speaking of horrendous chemicals, Hunter Biden did a three hour podcast yesterday where he really let it fly. But he has his explanation for why his dad failed in that debate. He talks about crack and booze and all kinds of stuff. It's pretty interesting. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

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[Guest]

Talk. 650 KSTE.

[Joe Getty]

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[Hunter Biden]

I was drinking so much alcohol, almost a handle of vodka a day and alcohol is the most destructive drug not just to your body, but it puts you in more danger than any other drug that I've ever experienced. And then you add on top of that the amount of crack that I was using at the time. And crack cocaine in terms of your physical health is not as dangerous as the situation that you put yourself in to be able to obtain it.

[Guest]

That's pretty interesting little lesson from a guy who's done the experiment so you don't have to with all those different things in his lifestyle. I've known plenty of drug addicts that took them a long time to figure out their alcoholics and that's why they ended up keeping kept doing drugs that you had to stop drinking or you weren't gonna ever stop doing all those drugs. Anyway, that's Hunter Biden. He did a three hour podcast yesterday and just incredibly, incredibly ill advised comments on all kinds of different stuff. Here's the end of a long rant about George Clooney, the actor who you'll remember George Clooney took out a full page ad in the New York Times saying Joe Biden need to step down. Talked about how Joe Biden was not mentally competent, blah blah blah. Hunter didn't like that.

[Hunter Biden]

Why do I have to listen to you? What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his life to the service of this country and decide that you, George Clooney, are gonna take out basically a full page ad in the New York Times to undermine the President?

[Jack Armstrong]

Cause he's senile is why.

[Guest]

Well, that and longtime listeners of the show know nothing gets me more riled up than people who are got incredibly wealthy in government talking about public service. Give me an effing break. Who gave 52 years of his life to the country. Is that what he was doing as he ended up with like nine homes, all right. And ungodly wealthy? It was public service. Yeah. He really, really gave a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thanks for your sacrifice.

[Guest]

Give me a break. How do you get that rich in government and continue to delude yourself that you're in public service? That's what you do for a living.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have to. That's part of the scam.

[Guest]

Bingo. That is unbelievable. But anyway, the George Clooney thing, we're not going to play the long thing. But what, what's interesting, and I don't think I was aware of this before, Hunter says that it wasn't about his dad's competence. It was, but that might not have been the driving force because everybody was willing to overlook Joe Biden's brain. George Clooney was mad because his hot young wife is a super anti Israel activist and wanted and was leading a charge and even raising money to have Netanyahu arrested and prosecuted. Joe Biden had said on the record, that's a ridiculous idea.

[Joe Getty]

Really.

[Guest]

Off Clooney's wife. And that's when Clooney turned on Biden. And I can believe that because everybody who's willing to overlook his obvious senility. George Clooney got upset about it when his wife's main purpose in life got shut down.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Often things have more than one cause. That's an interesting angle.

[Guest]

We'Re getting. Now we're going to get into some stuff that's more relevant to history. Hunter talking about his dad leaving the race and the debate night and all that sort of stuff. Let's roll with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which number was that?

[Guest]

53.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you kind of see him dropping out of the race? Did you see that coming?

[Hunter Biden]

No, no. I thought that we had cleared all the hurdles that they had set up for us for some reason.

[Guest]

Oh, God.

[Hunter Biden]

The intelligentsia of the Democratic Party with 2020 hindsight believes that Joe Biden should have considered not running again because of their perception that he was too old. And so then the drumbeat began. And the New York Post wrote, I mean, the New York Times on a near daily basis, egged on by the pod Save America saviors of the Democratic Party with what? Four white millionaires that are dining out on their. On their association with, with, with Barack Obama from 16 years ago, living in Beverly Hills, telling the rest of the world what black voters in South Carolina really want or what the women in the waitress living outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin really believes. What the. I mean, I can't believe that we do this over and over again.

[Guest]

Yeah.

[Hunter Biden]

Or I hear Rahm Emanuel is gonna run for president. What? A like David Axelrod's gonna run his campaign for him? That's like, oh boy, there's the answer. There's the answer.

[Guest]

Yeah, I think it might actually be. You idiot.

[Jack Armstrong]

He is delusional.

[Guest]

He is. And I'm surprised he's sober. I wonder if he is, cuz he is non stop. I'm the victim. I thought we'd cleared all the hurdles they put in front of us. I mean, just everything the world is set up against you. Even though you're all ungodly wealthy and at the time, the most powerful people on earth, everybody was against you. All the hurdles they put up against us, whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's interesting. That was a tacit admission that he was a close advisor, and he clearly was because it was all us. The second thing is his argument that it was merely the intelligentsia of the Democratic Party that came up with a conspiracy to get rid of Biden and that's why it happened. As opposed to 75, 80% of America was running around saying the guy's too old to be president or that the.

[Guest]

New York Times was your enemy. They stood, they covered for your dad the entire time until it was. I mean, they still are because they still haven't come forward and admitted that they were ignoring it to try to keep Trump from getting elected again. So, yeah, the New York Times was on your side. They had their thumb on the scale so hard for you, and you're acting like the New York Times was your enemy and that's what kept you down. That's hilarious.

[Jack Armstrong]

Seriously delusional.

[Guest]

Absolutely amazing that he looks at the.

[Jack Armstrong]

World that way, especially after the debate.

[Guest]

Well, and I know you're leading to that clip, but I'm not done yet. So his, his. I lost my train of thought. His thing at the beginning. Were you surprised your dad dropped out? Yeah, absolutely. You were, you were surprised that that happened? I don't know. I don't. I can't with these people. I mean, I just.

[Jack Armstrong]

How long before he dropped out was it that I was saying I'm 100% certain he's dropping out a year.

[Guest]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And granted, you know, sometimes a blind pig finds an acorn, but no, I was 100% confident. The math just did not work. You could not get him through a presidential campaign to election day, and it didn't happen. But, But Hunter Biden didn't see it coming at all until the intelligentsia launched their evil plot.

[Guest]

I Know the other part that I hate so his, his level of victimhood and delusion. My dad was in public service and the New York Times is against us and they put all these hurdles in front of us. You're talking about millionaires in Beverly Hills and white guys. You're a rich. You're. You're in the, like, top point zero eight zeros to the 1% of elite in the world have been your whole life. Got that rich and then didn't pay taxes. And you're still living in a place, I believe that's like $30,000 a month paid for by somebody else. How do you have the balls to talk about rich people in Beverly Hills?

[Jack Armstrong]

He is a seriously nutty guy. God, I'd say.

[Guest]

Again, I'm surprised he's sober, or I wonder if he actually is. I don't know if he's gonna be able to stay sober with that attitude. Anyway, he explains why his dad failed on the debate stage.

[Hunter Biden]

And then they said, well, look, it's all going to come down to this State of the Union speech. Gonna come down to the State of Union speech. And he knocks it out of the park.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it was that one debate that.

[Hunter Biden]

Caused the fullback set, ma'.

[Jack Armstrong]

Am.

[Hunter Biden]

And I'll tell you what, I know exactly what happened in that debate. He flew around the world, basically. And the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Hunter Biden]

He's 81 years old. He's tired as they give him Ambien to be able to sleep. He gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights. And it feeds into every story that anybody wants to tell. And Jake Tapper with literally how many anonymous sources. If this was a conspiracy, Andrew, you know this. Somehow the entirety of a White House in which you literally living on top of each other has kept their mouth shut about, you know, like what. And what's conspiracy. Yeah, that Joe Biden got old. Yeah, he got old. He got old before our eyes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't even think that needs any comment.

[Guest]

So some of the details, refutation. Some of the details on that, I'm quoting News Nation. I haven't done the fact checking on this myself, but I assume they're right. He had nine days to get ready for that debate. After all, he's traveling around. His traveling, having to travel so much included his choice to fly from the big G7 or G18 or whatever meeting they were having. He flew back to Hollywood to do the George Clooney fundraiser, then had to go back to the meeting. That's your choice, dude, you got a debate coming up in a week or whatever and you want to do that, go ahead, knock yourself out. By the way, you chose the date for the debate. If you remember how that unfolded. Trump, and we were amazed by this at the time, gave up everything. Venue, day, moderators. Trump just said, you know, however you want to do it, we'll do it. So you chose the date. How are you blaming this on like circumstances?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, he's just, he's obviously delusional. He knocked it out of the park. The state of the Union. Yeah, he shouted in a weird manic way for the longest time and, and the very intelligentsia hunters blaming were backing Biden that, oh, he knocked it out of the park. Whereas most of America said, no, it was weird and off putting. But again, the guy's just, he's lost his marbles. Whether it was the cracker, he's born that way or entitlement, I don't know. But he just, he doesn't make any sense.

[Guest]

God, he is so entitled and a victim and just like the worst kind of character you can imagine. I wouldn't want to be involved with him in any way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah, he's like a black hole of negative energy and, and, and, and victimhood.

[Guest]

God, I'd say, Hunter, you're a loser. He is, he is absolutely a loser who happened to be born, you know, into one of the most powerful families on earth.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here he is, painter there for six months. I mean, unbelievably talented.

[Guest]

Here he is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Funny how those Peytons aren't selling anymore.

[Guest]

Well, you know, the styles come and go.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a good point.

[Guest]

Here he is blaming some other people.

[Hunter Biden]

The people that came out against him were who? Nobody. Except Speaker Pelosi. Emeritus. Speaker Emeritus. Pelosi did not give a full throated endorsement which allowed everybody else to kind of go, okay, except who, who came out full throated. Progressives, AOC Bernie, the entire progressive ring. Ro Khanna, the entirety of the progressive side of the Democratic Party said, joe Biden has got more of our agenda accomplished in four years than any president in history.

[Guest]

You know, this might actually be important in that Joe Biden was regularly portrayed throughout his career is like a centrist. Was he way more progressive than he let on all those years? I mean, because Hunter thinking that David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel are a ridiculous choice. No, that sounds like a pretty good choice to try to get the Democratic Party back on track in like in the mainstream of America. But he's touting the AOCs and the Bernie's of the world as being like the center of the party. So maybe the whole Biden clan was just way more progressive than we ever realized.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or Biden was just a weather vane through his entire career.

[Guest]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

And especially in his final years in office when he was clearly senile. He was so in the thrall of his progressive advisors and he was convinced that's where the energy in the party was. And he's right to some extent that he just the weather vein that he is turned in that direction. I think that's more likely. Honestly.

[Guest]

My last comment on this would be if Hunter, if anybody thinks Joe Biden would have won if he'd have stayed in. I don't, I don't even think there's a point in trying to have a conversation with you. You're. You're either dozen examples or you're crazy. You're crazy if you think Joe Biden staying in the race he would have won. I mean you're absolutely deluded. Maybe that helps you sleep at night.

[Jack Armstrong]

That and a handle of vodka.

[Guest]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some Ambien. But give it nine days to bounce back from the Ambien. Man. It's rough stuff. Of course, that's the first time crazy.

[Guest]

Person, first time we've ever heard about Biden being on Ambien. So who knows if that's true or not. He didn't look like a guy who needed Ambien to go to sleep. It looked like all he needed to do was just be in a room.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and during the debate prep, eight or nine days, famously, according to multiple accounts, and he would tire of the prep a few minutes in and go sit by the pool and stare into space.

[Guest]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. But it was just a cabal of insidious intelligentsia that convinced us all that he was too old. You're right, Hunter, you're right. Those bastards.

[Guest]

What do you think of that text line 415295KFTC don't mess with a minute.

[Billy Joel]

Unless you want to get the benefit.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

President Trump said he spoke with Coca Cola and they've agreed to use real cane sugar in its soda. Not to be outdone, Arby's is now announcing that all its roast beef sandwiches will now contain meat. Good for you, Arby's.

[Guest]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Guest]

I love Arby's. I do too. We got this text. I was talking about how I do transcendental meditation every single day and it's crucial to my life enjoyment. We got this text. Oh my God. Jackson Occult. My kids think that I've tried to convince my youngest, who has all kinds of anxiety and stuff like that, to try the meditation. So I'm not joining your cult.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Wow. So I just saw a horrifying video, kind of sort of accidentally of a Druze family in Syria getting marched to their execution.

[Guest]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Including a US citizen, allegedly. It's not appearing in the media. It's not interesting, I guess, as Islamists slaughter people of other faiths. Anyway, speaking of people dying in unfortunate ways. My God. I'm trying to get overseeing it the FBI. The FBI has just released 230,000 pages on Martin Luther King Jr's assassination.

[Guest]

So this is to. I saw a lot of people's response was now do Epstein. So this was to try to satisfy the you don't release stuff crowd. They released all this MLK stuff, you think? Yeah, absolutely.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because they said that Trump signed an executive order in January to release the documents as well as those related to the 1963 assassination of JFK.

[Guest]

Absolutely. We should have done that a long time ago. I'm all for more transparency and all this stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those files were released in March, these this month. But Jack thinks it was a distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein thing. I don't know. So what's interesting about this is unlike the Kennedy documents, the King files had never been digitized and just sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades, according to Tulsi Gabbard's office. Among the files the office said were pages related to King's assassin, James Earl Ray, including that Ray's former cellmate stated that he discussed an alleged assassination plot with Ray. No super blockbuster revelations. King's two surviving children, Martin Luther King Jr. The third and Bernice King, asked that those looking through the documents, quote, do so with empathy, restraint and respect for our family's continuing grief. They said the FBI worked to discredit, dismantle and destroy their father's reputation, undermine the civil rights movement. While we support transparency and historical accountability, we object to any attacks on our father's legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods, they say. I think the truth is probably going to be embarrassing enough as the man had some fairly well known foibles.

[Guest]

Well, that comes out. That comes out in 1-1-27, I believe. All those audio tapes with MLK juniors there. There's a decision that's got to be made around that. Do we hear those private tapes that should have never been made in the first place?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Guest]

That the FBI was spying on the guy and a bunch of other people that are going to be embarrassing to him? That's. That's a tough call right there, I think.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that is a tough call. And we're about out of time. I. I vote against it.

[Guest]

I do, too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because it's like admitting illegal evidence in a trial. There's only one way to prevent people doing that, and that's to, you know, make it out of bounds if you miss a segment.

[Guest]

We do four hours every day or an hour. Get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on the back.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an Iheart podcast.