Even Republicans Hate Trump’s America 250 Lineup | MAGA Mondays

Summary

Bulwark Takes – “Even Republicans Hate Trump’s America 250 Lineup” | MAGA Mondays

Date: June 1, 2026
Host: Sam Stein
Guest: Will Sommer
Length: ~46 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the embarrassing unraveling of Donald Trump’s planned America 250th anniversary celebration, the right’s ongoing “culture war” failures, and the absurd spectacle of MAGA-aligned figures scrambling for relevance. Sam Stein and Will Sommer blend sharp analysis with humor as they break down everything from musical act cancellations to Proud Boys drama, Greg Bovino’s fascist networking in Europe, the James Fishback saga, and bubbling conspiracy-laden attacks on Democratic politicians.

Theme: The ongoing dysfunction and spectacle of Trump-era Republicanism, culture war flops, and the increasingly clownish desperation within MAGA world.

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1. The America 250 Musical Lineup Disaster

Timestamps: 00:20 – 13:50

Key Points:

• Trump’s 250th “Show” Collapses:
  • Trump planned his own rival celebration, Freedom250, after the official Congressional commission set up a competing event.
  • Only low-tier or “washed up” acts (Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, Martina McBride) were slated, most dropped out upon learning of the Trump/MAGA branding.
  • Trump’s answer? “Screw it, I’ll do it myself” ([02:02]).
  • MAGA base is less than thrilled; even Trump diehards see the event as a “shambolic operation” ([03:49]).
• Mockery from the Right:
  • Matt Walsh tweet: “They invited a bunch of washed-up has-beens and now even washed-up bailing on them. Yet another reason why…get literally any famous person…” ([03:49]).
  • Will Sommer: “It is funny that this idea of like they're just really down in the dumps…” ([04:50]).
• Missed MAGA Opportunities:
  • Sam points out MAGA country music stalwarts like Kid Rock, John Rich, and Lee Greenwood were absent; confusion over why obvious choices weren't booked ([05:11]).
• Poor Event Planning & Factionalism:
  • Two rival organizations: the Congressional commission and Freedom250 (run by Trump allies), with little coordination and few known operatives ([05:52]).
  • Social media commentary leads to pro-Trump surrogates (Rick Grenell) accusing critics of “rooting for America’s failure” ([07:12]).
  • On other failed Trump events: “He is the best at his business, truly. You know, if you meet him in person he could be quite a nice guy, but online he's a… He’s a dick.” – Sam ([07:12]).
• Comic Attempts at Saving Face:
  • Rep. Tim Burchett suggests a grassroots “Nashville” lineup (John Rich, Kid Rock, Lee Greenwood), but it comes off as naive and grandparent-y. “Just pay for their dadgum airfare!” ([08:33]-[10:43]).
  • Even John Rich’s response is half-hearted: “The most lukewarm. I could do this.” – Will ([11:32]).
  • Rachel Holt and other obscure acts rumored; all have minimal fan bases (10,000 Spotify listeners) ([12:17]).
• Larger Meaning:
  • Will: “Trump is so unpopular that even Milli Vanilli…people with the worst reputation in American music history, they're like, I can't risk this.” ([15:21]).

Notable Quotes:

• “Once Trump got involved, you knew it wasn’t for altruistic and patriotic reasons. He wanted to put on a show that was MAGA.” – Sam ([14:38])
• “It looked like really a sort of shambolic operation…all these people bailed.” – Will ([03:49])
• “We should in theory collectively be celebrating the 250th…watching it be reduced to rubble…is kind of depressing.” – Sam ([13:11])

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2. Proud Boys’ Cookie Fiasco and Factional Meltdowns

Timestamps: 16:00 – 23:30

Key Points:

• Proud Boys’ NJ Protest:
  • Small, demoralized group of Proud Boys show up at Delaney Hall ICE facility with a tray of Costco cookies ([18:00]).
  • Are heckled by left-wing counterprotesters and promptly leave. Their appearance is mocked: “Those guys eat cookies. Okay? Those guys eat a fair number of cookies.” – Sam ([18:24]).
  • Host and guest joke repeatedly about the group’s age, weight, and shabbiness.
• Public Ridicule and Factionalism:
  • Proud Boys national disavow the NJ crew as “not real Proud Boys”—accusing them of splitting over ties to federal informants within the organization ([20:21]).
  • Will: “Of course, Enrique Terrio himself was the federal informant, folks.”
  • Extended riff on the group’s bizarre “no wanks” rule and hierarchy, mocking the Proud Boys’ seriousness ([21:53]).
• 10th Anniversary:
  • The official Proud Boys mark their 10th year by marching to “Bill the Butcher’s” grave – a nativist reference ([22:43]).

Notable Quotes:

• “You can criticize them for a lot of stuff, but don’t fat shame them…into that I say shut up. Those people would absolutely criticize people online for their ethnicity and for how they look…” – Sam ([20:21])
• “Whenever you bring this up, they'll say, well, you're kind of simplifying the no wanks rule, man.” – Will ([22:04])

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3. Greg Bevino & the Fascist Europe Connection

Timestamps: 23:31 – 27:47

Key Points:

• Greg Bovino’s Radical Turn:
  • Former Trump border official Greg Bovino is openly palling around with European far-right/neo-Nazi figures at a “remigration” conference in Portugal—aimed at repatriating non-Whites, even citizens, from Europe ([23:43]).
  • Austrian extremist Martin Sellner featured, as well as notorious American white nationalist Jared Taylor and the NY Young Republicans Club ([24:36]-[27:47]).
• Past Trauma Revisited:
  • Sam recounts the very real trauma Bovino inflicted as an immigration enforcer, including stories of community fear and resistance during targeted ICE raids ([25:13]).
  • Will adds: “This is a guy who is essentially like a fascist figure who is in charge of terrorizing American cities…”

Notable Quotes:

• “When you don't shun these people properly from society…they come back and I find it repugnant.” – Sam ([27:10])
• “This is a mask-off moment for Greg Bovino.” – Will ([26:15])

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4. The Fishback Reality Show: Campaign Bizarro

Timestamps: 28:12 – 37:34

Key Points:

• James Fishback’s Campaign Drama:
  • Fishback’s primary heats up—his events are drawing big crowds compared to Byron Donald’s ([29:13]).
  • Nasty racist rhetoric against Donalds and bizarre, martial treatment of his new wife at public events ([29:54]).
  • Sudden marriage following a public breakup with “Crypto Barbie” (Franchesca Rain); Franchesca begins a campaign of cryptic, taunting social videos aimed at Fishback ([31:21]-[34:18]).
  • The hosts riff on the online spectacle and implications for social media-era politics and “revenge” campaigns.
• Meta-Cultural Observations:
  • Will: “In the social media era, people, I think are often, they're like, I'm going to either use this to launch my own career or I'm going to, like, handle my own rollout.”
  • Franchesca’s “Fishback files” videos are likened to a kind of “financial domination” subtext, blurring politics, influencer culture, and personal drama ([35:02]-[36:01]).

Notable Moments & Quotes:

• “[The Fishback drama]…sort of seems like kind of like a sexy lady talks down to you type of video where it's like, you know, you've been a bad, bad boy.” – Will ([35:02])
• “She's a great gal. I wish her the best.” – Fishback, on his ex, per Will ([36:13])
• “This is just like Liz’s substack, where he would give you a hook and you'd be like, okay, got it”—Sam, on the anticlimactic “reveal” ([37:15])

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5. MAGA’s Culture War Meltdown: Candace in Russia & More

Timestamps: 37:35 – 40:43

Key Points:

• Candace Owens in Russia:
  • Candace travels to and appears at the pro-Kremlin St. Petersburg Economic Forum, raising questions about foreign influence ([37:49]).
  • Denies being a Russian agent, but the context and fellowship with far-right Russian ideologues spark speculation ([39:04]).
• GOP Culture Personalities:
  • Sarah Longwell’s focus groups reveal Candace’s crossover appeal among GOP voters, fueling talk of her potential candidacy ([39:29]).
  • Sam: “She’s just basically a cultural freak phenomenon and she’s just powerful and she’s winning a lot of these debates.”

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6. Attacking James Talarico: When All Else Fails, “He’s a Freak”

Timestamps: 40:47 – 44:13

Key Points:

• Right-Wing Attacks:
  • Since Ken Paxton’s statewide win, GOP media is fixated on painting Democratic up-and-comer James Talarico as “gay, trans, vegan”—anything to make him seem alien and unrelatable ([41:07]).
  • Ben Shapiro mocked Talarico’s “cosplaying” in Lone Star gear and supposedly improper rib-eating technique ([42:03]).
• Sam Claps Back:
  • Sam: “If you are reducing your vote in this race to whether or not your candidate properly appreciates meat, then I think you got some self reflection to do.” ([43:17])

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7. Wrap-Up and Next Episode Tease

Timestamps: 44:13 – End

• Brief Apologies: Sam apologizes for getting “a little salty” with chat commenters about haircut and “fat-shaming” Proud Boys ([44:43]).
• Preview: Will teases next “False Flag” about an influence campaign ripping through the “motorcycle MAGA” scene ([45:11]).
• Appeal: Sam urges listeners to support Bulwark via Substack or YouTube, “Watch Monet paint water lilies—but it’s Will painting MAGA Mondays.” ([45:27])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The most lukewarm. 'I could do this.'” – Will, on John Rich’s half-hearted willingness to organize the event ([11:32])
• “They have, like, 10,000 Spotify listeners. This is not a lot, folks.” – Will, on America 250’s backup acts ([12:17])
• “Do they wank at the grave [of Bill the Butcher]?” – Sam ([23:02])
• “He’s sort of now like, essentially, a fascist in charge of terrorizing American cities with ICE and Border Patrol.” – Will, on Greg Bovino ([26:25])
• “Honestly, it’s going to be a lot of fuel for, like, Ben Shapiro to have types…” – Will, on Candace Owens’ Russia trip ([39:29])
• “Let’s end on that note. The Proud Boys eat the cookies, okay?” – Sam ([44:04])

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Segment Timestamps Reference Table

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 00:20–13:50| America 250th Musical Event Fiasco | | 16:00–23:30| Proud Boys NJ Cookie Fiasco | | 23:31–27:47| Greg Bovino: From ICE to European Far-Right | | 28:12–37:34| The Fishback Reality Show & Social Mediatization | | 37:35–40:43| Candace Owens’ Russian Jaunt and Right-Wing Stardom | | 40:47–44:13| Smearing James Talarico—From “Trans” to Meat-Eater | | 44:13–End | Host Banter, Apologies, False Flag Preview, Sign-Off |

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Tone & Style

The episode blends Bulwark’s signature acerbic, snarky tone with news commentary and offbeat cultural analysis. Quotes and exchanges are direct, irreverent, and sometimes biting. Jokes and side digressions are integral, especially as the hosts lampoon the dysfunction within MAGA circles and the far right.

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For those unable to listen: This episode captures the mood of exhaustion, comic pity, and alarm surrounding the increasingly performative—and failing—culture war politics of MAGA Republicans as 2026’s big “America 250” birthday turns into a farce. The Bulwark team walks listeners through the spectacle, laughs at the absurdities, but never loses sight of the real harm that underlies it all.

Transcript

[A]

If you're into tech, you will love this. TikTok is a live lab where users post instant reviews of the latest trends. Download TikTok and check it out. As the global leader in check and document fraud prevention, PeriScript uses advanced handwriting recognition and signature validation to turn complex data into absolute certainty. Every year, our platforms analyze over 100 billion documents with 99% accuracy, stopping fraud before it ever hits a balance sheet. Human eyes just see a signature. Periscript proprietary AI sees a forensic fingerprint get higher accuracy with lower [e-mail] hey, what's up, Will Sommer. How you doing, buddy? I'm Sam Stein. It's MAGA Mondays, folks. We got a whole, whole set of things to go through. But I will, I'll just say this. I've been listening to Big and Rich all morning. Well, because I'm just getting myself ready for the 250th birthday musical act. It seems like there was a lot of momentum in Mega Land building to just, you know, basically everyone's canceled. So why not just get John, Richard, Big and Rich to come and bring his Nashville friends and they could perform? So I've been looking, I've been listening to some, some, some of their tunes. You know, save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. Everyone knows that one. I'm partial to get my fake id. I, I think I got that right. I don't know if I got that right. Looks like it was from the music from the Footlo movie. Do you have a favorite?

[B]

You know, as I was saying to you, I'm more of a Toby Keith fan myself. I, I, I sort of miss the Big and Rich wave. Although, of course, we all do know save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.

[A]

All right, folks, welcome back to MAGA Mondays. We got a lot to go through. Oh, we're gonna start with the 250th anniversary over the weekend. If you missed out, it looked like Donald Trump basically was saying he's going to cancel the musical acts. Well, there's not much to cancel. How many were left? Vanilla Ice?

[B]

Oh, yeah, I think Vanilla Ice. And like, maybe one more.

[A]

Okay, so we had two left. And basically he was like, you know what? Screw these people. I'm just gonna do it myself. And he kind of teased that there was going to be just a big Trump rally and that was going to be it. And we're gonna have to endure one of those meandering hour and a half speeches that Trump gives everywhere he goes. It's the same shtick, but that's what you get when you cancel all these musical rallies. And MAGA World didn't take it too well. I thought. I, you know, there, usually you would think that they're going to be like, hell, yeah, let's do it. Well, that was not the case this time.

[B]

Yeah, this is an interesting one. I mean, I think, as you said, I mean, these were already acts who were like, pretty washed up. Milli Vanilli, how dare you. I know. I. The country music singer, woman whose name is escape.

[A]

Martha McBride.

[B]

Yes, yes. And so once those people fled, and by the way, that was a pretty funny one because they were like, oh, I didn't know this was a political event, but really nothing changed. I think it just, once it came out, they were like, oh, man, this looks kind of busted. You know, the graphic looks bad. And I think a lot of these

[A]

people were like, wait, hold on a second. Imagine you're Martha McBride, okay? And I know she got a lot. No, yeah. Martin McGregor.

[C]

Sorry.

[A]

And imagine you're Martin McBride and you, you're told, hey, we're going to do this big sort of 250th anniversary celebration. It's going to be huge crowds, lots of, you know, people on the mall. You're going to be playing to, you know, it's patriotic, it's not political. And then the first news you get is an infographic and it's you, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli. And you're like, holy. Like, why am I, Why would I do that? Even if you put aside the patriotism, I'm not appearing next to. It's not even Milli Vanilli. It's like Millie and his backup singers. So it would be a huge embarrassment. So no wonder they quit.

[B]

Oh, exactly. I mean, it looked, even setting the politics aside, it looked like really like a sort of shambolic operation. And so all these people bail. You might expect that MAGA people would say, oh, this is so unfair. There was a little bit of Martina McBride, how could you do this to us? We won't forgive you. But what's interesting to me was there was just a lot of talk about, like, man, we really cannot find anyone who wants to be associated artistically with the Trump administration. People like Matt Walsh. Do we have that Matt Walsh tweet we can take a look at? Says, what a mess. They invited a bunch of washed up has beens and now even washed up bailing on them. Yet another reason why they're right wing. Get literally any famous person we can't approach is he says, the R word here. So, you know, I think the. It is funny that this idea of like they're just really down in the dumps later. Matt Walsh, by the way, would say conservatives need to retake the culture. By the way, his employer, the Daily Wire, is currently on fire because they spent so much money trying to retake the culture. But that kind of gives you a sense of the reaction to America 200.

[A]

We talked about this last week and doesn't. I mean, we'll get to it, I suppose, because it segues nicely. But yes, they're all. Much of the musical acts who are willing to be associated with MAGA are kind of like these kind of washed up figures, but they didn't even go for them. Right. Like, Kid rocks out there. He does every single MAGA thing. He did. What was the TPUSA halftime show? He did that. Yeah.

[B]

Why don't. This was curious to me why they didn't get like the TPUSA halftime shoe, all these classics like Big and Rich or John Rich, Kid Rock. I mean, there are people they could draw on. I don't know if they were like saving them for the July 4th concert or what have you, but. But it seems a little odd that they weren't involved.

[A]

Yeah. Explain this to me. So this is not the July 4th concert. This is in June. It's a bunch of dates that we're going to be celebrating the 250th.

[B]

Yeah. So. So it's these. These dates kind of leading up to July 4th. And so it's a little unclear because this thing imploded like on the launchpad. I don't think we even got the dates for like, this is the day Milli Vanilli will play. But they were like, this is what's coming. And then. So it was this lead that is not going to happen. What.

[A]

Who's in charge of put. That's the other thing about this. So there's two rival organizations. One was sort of mandated by Congress and then Trump decided to do his own organization, Freedom250. And Freedom250 is the one that put this together. And do we know who's involved with Freedom 250 by any chance?

[B]

You know, I don't think we know a lot of the names. They're not like marquee, like Trump World. Not kind of the classic operatives. But. But the. You're the Freedom250 has sort of like a stranglehold on a lot of the DC celebr, whereas a lot of the stuff elsewhere in the country is run by the other operation.

[A]

Okay, I'll just say this. It does appear like, you know, Trump allies are not taking this well. I only know this from a personal anecdote, which is I put up a pretty anodyne tweet about wanting to see some sort of journalism about what had happened here. Because it's a pretty big failure, right, that you put out an infographic with nine folks, seven of them or six of them, bow out, and then you're left with Millie with Vanilla Ice. So I was like, I put out a tree. I was like, hey, it'll be really interesting to see a story about what went wrong here. I. I feel like that's a fairly unoffensive tweet. Rick Grinnell, one of the great lurkers

[B]

on the platform who Twitter Ragers.

[A]

Yeah, I love Rick because he, you know, he.

[B]

He.

[A]

It is just. He is the best at his business, truly. You know, if you meet him in person, he could be quite a nice guy, but online, he's a. He's a dick. Anyways, he tweets at me about how I'm rooting for America's failure. I didn't see it because I brought. I blocked Rick a while ago, but it did get picked up by Mediate. And I know this because my mom, who still has Google alerts for my name, saw it on the media article and shared it with me and was wondering if I'm okay. And I told my mom, I'm fine. I'm not bothered by Rick.

[B]

All right.

[A]

You mentioned John Rich.

[B]

Well, he's a man who knows about musicians canceling after running the Kennedy Center. So it's a sensitive issue.

[A]

Yeah, Rick is in charge of the Kennedy Center. He basically had all the big acts cancel for that. They tried to revamp it. Then they're like, we're going to close it. And then I guess a judge over the weekend was like, actually, you can't do that. Although they might still close it. They just can't change the name. We'll see what happens. Anyways, let's talk about John Rich. So, yeah, so go ahead.

[B]

So I was just going to say, so Trump comes out, and then he says, you know what? Screw it, Milli Vanilli. We don't need him. I'll do the speech. And so then this leads to this kind of second wave of reaction where these MAGA people are like, oh, Jesus, another Trump speech. You know, we've all seen this show before. And so this kind of sets off the idea of we have Tim Burchett from Tennessee who's like, God, we got to save this thing somehow.

[A]

Let's play that clip.

[C]

What we ought to do is. My suggestion would be get your friend and my friend John Richard, great musician, to lead it off. He's got some great patriotic tunes he's written and he sings, and, man, it's just awesome. And let him emcee the dadgum thing and have all these folks come in. There's plenty of acts in Nashville, people that are trying to get on, you know, get on a big stage like this. This is the world stage, be the largest stage in the world. Everybody in the country will be watching this dadgum thing. And let some of those musicians get out and sing a few songs. All we'd have to do is pay for their dadgum airfare, most of them, just to get them up there, and they'd love it. And of course, Kid Rock, nobody's more patriotic in the rock and roll world than he is. And he's awesome. And then I know you got his number. Heck, I've been with him when he's called you. And then the finale would be cool to have Lee Greenwood come out and sing. He's got a bunch of great songs. But of course, the ending would be God Bless the USA and have all the other acts come out and sing along with him. And maybe they could do a single verse. Kid Rock or. Or John Rich or something could do one of the verses. And I think that would be awesome, have all those great stars up on stage. And anyway, if y' all got any ideas of some. Some groups that would. From your area that would be willing to play, how about tagging them in this. In this story, and let's see if we can make this thing happen. So, anyway, defeated. Thank you so much for sending me.

[B]

You know, you can tell how seriously he's taking it. He's walking for some reason. You know, he's like, you know, record a voice memo for a text, you know, what are your thoughts on that? Well, I was.

[A]

I. I feel bad. We should have tagged. We should have seen who tagged him with different suggestions. I really curious who's put in there, but that was like a. That was like a, you know, the most obvious suggestion of artists you could possibly imagine coming from someone. We're gonna get kid, and we're gonna have Lee Greenwood. God Bless the USA is going to finish it off. It's going to be epic. So I was blown away by how conventional it was, but that's where we're at.

[B]

You know, his vibe there was really, like, you know when people zoomers are like, I can't get a job. And then their grandpa's like, just go in there with your resume. Like, that was like, this guy clearly has no experience with, like, music promotion or anything where he's just like, well, we got to pay for. Is the dad gum. Airbnb put him up. And I was like, it's a little more complicated, Grandpa. You know, this idea that. And here's what cracks me up about this. And then John Rich, he says, you know, okay, I guess I'll get the. You know, we'll go.

[A]

Well, we'll get to that. Because cancer cats are put up. The cats are tweet. Because Gatsard starts pushing John Rich, too. Everyone start pushing John Rich. Give my buddy John Rich a call in an hour. He could have the most badass patriot musicians in Nashville ambiance. Put on a 2050 celebration for the ages.

[B]

Let's do this.

[A]

And then, yeah, John Rich gets in on it. Let's put up John Rich. This is true.

[B]

This is true. The most lukewarm. I could do this.

[A]

I could do this.

[B]

I mean, it is just crazy to me, this idea that, like, okay, so the Trump administration, now the full force of the Trump administration has had, like, a more than a year now to plan this since they took office. Now, I guess we're going to pull it together in three weeks after everyone else bailed. I mean, it's crazy.

[A]

What do you think's going to happen?

[B]

Well, you know, I think we saw a tweet this morning from someone. Now, look, this is someone who named. Oh, my God, what's her name? Her name is Rachel Holt. Now, that sounds like a very replacement level, unlike Martina. I'm proud and I'm honored to be performing at the Great American State Fair on July 1.

[A]

Is she on the bill?

[B]

Do we know?

[A]

Well.

[B]

Well, this is all just coming out. We don't. We haven't seen any bill. I mean, this is also kind of a funny thing to talk about because it seems like maybe they don't want to put the names out, because as soon as they do, that person's gonna be like, wait, what am I doing now? I. Look, I looked her up, I gotta say. I'm not a country music expert, so I was like, maybe this is a huge person right now. She has 10,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, folks. I thought about bands that I like, you know, and bands that like. I think if they headlined, people would be like, I don't know about this. And they have, like, 80,000, like the hold steady now she has 10,000. This is not a lot, folks.

[A]

10,000 is not a lot.

[B]

Alexis Wilkins, country music sensation Cash Patel girlfriend, she has about 8,000. So I think she's playing like kind of third tier wrestling matches in College Park, Pennsylvania. Now, this lady is about the same as. So make it out what you will.

[A]

I mean, look, I feel a little bit. No, I don't really feel that much sympathy, but it is a little rough that they're just blowing this. I. There, there's an honest, there's an honest push back to this, which I saw circulating on the Internet and curious for your thoughts on this one, which is like it. Yeah, we're, we're taking some delight in watching this thing blow up because it's, you know, it's, it was sort of ridiculous that they commandeered this in a way that they did and tried to have a separate track of planning. But then again, it's like we should in theory and collectively be celebrating the 250th and watching it be reduced to rubble. Like, this is, is kind of depressing in a way. And I don't know how you feel about that.

[B]

Yeah, well, look, I was really excited for this one. I'm a real. I really am sad that I missed the bicentennial. If you watch movies like Nashville or you read the book King Suckerman, it seems like everyone was having a good time in the bicentennial. It wasn't a great time in America, 1976, whatever, but they were having fun. And I thought, this could be millennials chance. And instead we're getting this, you know, someone right wing pundit, I think political math. He was like, you know, during the campaign, Donald Trump said we would have a new World's Fair and it would just be a celebration of America and this huge behemoth effort. And it's like, do you know Donald Trump? You know, have you ever seen anything this guy does? We saw this with the Army, 200, 250th anniversary last year. It's like, clearly this wasn't going to work. And now again, it's a shambles. And he's like, but don't worry, guys. You can see the big star himself, Mr. T. And I was like, oh,

[A]

God, yeah, that's the thing. It's like once Trump got involved, like, you knew, it wasn't like Trump was doing it for altruistic and patriotic reasons. He wanted to put on a show that was MAGA and like,

[B]

I'm sorry, if I could just make One more point, though.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Before we move on, this is a real. A lot of right wing pundits are interpreting this as a sign that, you know, after Trump was elected, we saw this vibe shift, right? Like people, corporations, some law firms, all these things. They thought Trump would rule for a thousand years. America was MAGA now. And now Bronze Age perma, the noted right wing commenter, he wrote an article and he said, bronze Age pervert. And so he said, or excuse me, I'm sorry, raw egg nationalist. It was raw egg.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

So he said, he was like, look, you can tell here, if you looked at this like at the inauguration or a year ago, do you think Martina McBride wouldn't have been willing to perform at sort of a vaguely Trump themed event? No, of course she would have. But now we can see that Trump is so unpopular that even Milli Vanilli, people with the worst reputation in American music history, they're like, I can't risk this.

[A]

You know, it's interesting, I've been thinking about this in a different realm. We're not going to, we don't need to dwell on this because this is not really the main, the main point of, of what we're talking about. But I'm a big New York Giants football fan, okay. And our qb, Jackson Dart spoke at a Trump rally in Mike Lawler's district. And it caused a huge fasure with the team. But what was interesting to me was that the people who were opposed to Trump, a guy named Abdul Carter and some others, decided to speak up and actually say, you know, Trump's a bigot and what he's doing is terrorizing people. And I thought about how a year ago, like there was kind of like in the sports world, you know, Trump had just been elected. It was like, you're not, we don't want. Athletes are done with that whole sort of I'm gonna speak up against Trump stuff. Like, we, they'd done it in term one, we were moving on. This was not going to be something that happened in term two. But the fact that Abdul Carter decided he was going to call out his own quarterback, and then when they were giving these press statements last week, because they finally went public and discussed it, Abdul Carter didn't back down. I mean, Jackson Dart was like, you know what? I don't want to get into it. I just wanted to respect the office. I love everybody. And Abdul Carter was like, you know what I had to say what I had to say. And I thought that was kind of an interesting signal that maybe people are finally actually willing to say stuff in the world of sports and I guess in the world of entertainment. All right, we got so much more to get to. Let's talk about the proud boys showing up at Delaney hall, or Delaney Hall, I guess that's what you call it. It's the detention center, sorry, the Delaney Hall ICE facility in New Jersey. There's a lot going on at this facility. It's been, you know, a big deal in New Jersey politics. I know the governor's office is trying to get some humanitarian aid there. There's been Andy Kim, the senator from New Jersey was pepper sprayed. Outside of there, it's like becoming quickly the epicenter of the immigration debates. And it's a flare up that we saw early in the Trump administration happening again. And then the proud boys show up. Why?

[B]

Well, this is an interesting story about factionalism within the proud Boys. So the Proud boys, We get a couple. I believe this was. This was on Saturday. Maybe six proud boys show up. Can we, can we cue the video here? So we see a couple Proud Boys. Yep. They're in their, their Proud Boys gear. They're masked up. Now here's the one with.

[A]

Look at unappealing. They look. They're huge.

[B]

He's got a. He's. Well, he's got. Okay, there we go. Perfect. One of them is carrying a sort of Costco tray of cookies now.

[A]

Yeah. I'm wondering why.

[B]

Well, I think he was. He was hungry. I mean, I really. No other. No other.

[A]

He probably wanted cookies. They look like they eat a fair number of cookies.

[B]

Yeah. So yeah, we could take that down.

[A]

Let's go back. No, go back to the beginning. Play that beginning again and let's just stop at one of these proud. How proud can they be? Look, stop it right there. Those guys eat cookies. Okay? Those guys eat a fair number of cookies.

[B]

Yeah, they're on the heavier side and so.

[A]

Yeah, sorry, this is. People are consuming this in audio form. I should note. These are big men with guts and they have their faces covered.

[B]

They're also like easily. There's another interview where they have with them. They're easily like early 50s. Like, these are not like the most like vibrant Proud boys.

[A]

And their pants are really weird looking. And they got these kind of black. Black shirts. And the shirts can't really tuck in the gut. And they're eating a lot of cookies and that's what they're doing. Okay. And let's keep playing the video for a second because I hadn't seen this before. Oh, let's get that cookie tray. Stop, stop, stop. Okay. There's just a big old tray of stupid cookies that this guy's bringing in. It is a massive tray of cookies. And the guy behind him who doesn't have a mask on. Brave, brave guy. That guy looks like he eats a lot of cookies, too. These guys are heavy.

[B]

Okay, yeah, well, so. So this kind of gets into it. So basically what ends up happening here is these Proud Boys get run out of town by the. The left wing protesters, the anti ICE people. Not violently. They're just kind of yelling at them and then they sort of go, well, geez. They leave, they're carrying like you're a coward. And this guy's like, oh, come on. You know, it. It does not look if you were the Proud Boys. And I think the Proud Boys, this idea of like the January 6th reparations and stuff, I feel like they're feeling emboldened, like they're ready to kind of have their time in the spotlight again. And so for the Proud Boys, they put out a communique after this and they said, these are not real Proud Boys. Don't be fooled. This is a splinter faction of the Proud Boys. And we don't. They don't represent us. And, you know, you can tell these aren't real Proud Boys because they cut and ran. And with the real Proud Boys are actually secretly working in intelligence for ice. Oh, sure, maybe. But they basically, these Proud Boys were disavowed.

[A]

There's some guy in the chats right now who's saying, don't fat shame the Proud Boys. You can criticize them for a lot of stuff, but don't fat shame them into that. I say shut up. Okay. Those people would absolutely criticize people online for their ethnicity and for how they look. And if they can do it, I can do it back to them. Shut up. All right.

[B]

I think when they bring the cookie tray, it sort of makes. It's hard to ignore.

[A]

I'm just not going to, like, deal with that. I'm not going to feel bad about criticizing how heavy the Proud Boys look. Is there anything else that I missed on that? Like, what is. So what, what, what. What's going to happen now? Like, there's some factionalism, like, well, so this is.

[B]

There's an interesting thing. So the Proud Boys said, well, look, these Proud Boys, they. They have. They were kicked out because they associated with a federal informant, guy named Danny Mack. This guy apparently was part of the Proud Boys. And he was telling. Yes, they say these are associates of Brian James. They chose to stay loyal to their former chapter president, Danny Mack, even after he expo was exposed as with clear evidence from Enrique Terrio, the president of as a federal informant. All right, so of course, Enrique Thero himself was the federal informant, folks. So that's one aspect. But basically these are Proud boys who actually split from the original Proud Boys because of Enrique Terrio as a federal informant. There's a lot of this going back and forth, but here's what I want to point out. Look, there's a couple ways to get kicked out of the Proud Boys. One is not about not following their rigorous rules against masturbation. Folks, remember this. You're allowed to masturbate once a month if you're in the Proud Boys. If you, if you break that rule, you're out. You're out, brother.

[A]

How do they know if the rule is broken?

[B]

Well, I don't know. Sometimes you have to, you know, it's the no wank.

[A]

What do you have to produce? Like your, your, your sperm count? Like, what are they testing here as

[B]

we wrap this up? I, I just want to know who

[A]

says we're wrapping this up? I want to linger on the sperm counts.

[B]

Well, well, this is the rule. It's called no wanks. And they. The Proud Boys. The Proud Boys, whenever you bring this up, they'll say, well, you're kind of, you're kind of simplifying the no ranks rule, man. So the, the Gavin McGinnis, the proud founder of the Proud Boys, also co founder of Vice magazine, he was very involved in this disavowal. He was saying, look at this. These aren't real Proud Boys. And then he said, actually, the real Proud Boys were doing something else on Saturday. We were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Proud Boys. Can we put up that fly that flyer for what they did on the 10th? Yes. Okay.

[A]

Ridiculous thing.

[B]

They marched, they had some beers. They marched to the grave of Bill the Butcher. Now, this would be Bill the Butcher, immortalized by Daniel Day. Lew was in gangs in New York. A nativist, right? And so they had to go celebrate their guy. I think they put some beers or some flags on his grave. So that's what the Proud Boys are up to.

[A]

Do they wank at the grave?

[B]

They better not. They better not. Gavin won't be happy.

[A]

Maybe that's why they brought the cookies. Oh, my God. Oh, we've gone off the rails. But that does kind of line up with the cookies. I was gonna say. Don't Google it, folks. Don't Google it. All right, speaking of proud boys, little boys. Your boy Bavino.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Just decides to fly to Newark to, like, hang. But then that wasn't even the craziest trip.

[B]

He's literally.

[A]

Is Greg Bonvino literally hanging out with Nazis?

[B]

Yes. Yes. So. So this is Greg Beno, the former kind of like, not even head of border patrol, but kind of like the border patrol command. Dante, who was, like, in charge in Minneapolis and was sort of this, you know, intimidating figure with the. The Gestapo trench code, people may remember. So he flew to Portugal, where there was this meeting of kind of like the European far right, focused on the idea of what's called re migration. This idea they have that, you know, obviously in the US we hear a lot of talk about deportations of people who are here undocumented, but in this case, they. They essentially want to just deport anyone who's not white, even if they are citizens. Citizens of these European countries. And so this is who he's palling around with. You got in the purple tie there between him and the woman. We have this guy named Martin Sellner, who's maybe kind of the most prominent European far right figure from Austria. You know, it's a. It's a bad crew. He's hanging with.

[A]

Yeah. No, dude, when you're openly associating with neo Nazis and you don't give a. Like, that's bad. I just want to know, am I allowed to, like, make fun of Greg Bevino's height or is that how tightism. I just want to be clear what the rules are here, because Greg Ravina loves to judge people by their appearances. So I guess I can. There was something crazy about the idea, when we look back, that we allowed this man who openly associates with these people to basically be in charge of our immigration policy. Obviously, the results were tragic. Like, I'm done. I'm dumb joking for a second. Like, we went to Minnesota. We went to Minneapolis. We talked to people there, there.

[D]

And

[A]

the trauma that this person inflicted on an entire city, and it's still traumatized, but the trauma he openly inflicted and was bragging about and going around and waving at people and, you know, enjoying it and relishing in it. That's a level of shame that he should live with forever. But he won't, of course. But you feel for these. When you talk to the people in Minneapolis, you could tell it was, like, deeply affected. Seen them. And I. You know, we've told these stories a million times, but the one that sticks with me was this retiree we talked to who would get up Every day in the morning to go to the local school where they were having these ICE raids so he could form a human shield around children walking to school. Okay, so that's the level of trauma that Greg Bavina put on these people. Now you see that he's openly associating with these people. And it's just. It shocks the system, it shocks the mind to think that, that this government entrusted that man to do that to their own citizens. Shocking stuff.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I think it's great to put it in that context. I mean, when you look back, that this is the, this, this is sort of a mask off moment for Greg Bovino. I mean, he's sort of. He's now like, essentially.

[A]

Was the mask ever on, though? That's the question.

[B]

Well, you know. Well, I agree. I mean, I think this puts a kind of stark reminder here that this is a guy who is essentially like a fascist figure who is in charge of terrorizing American cities with, with ICE and border patrol. You know, to sort of underline that. The guy who organized this conference, he runs a group called Reconquista. Now, of course, the Reconquista was when they kicked the Muslims and the Jews out of Spain. Right. Okay. So this is what the legacy he's drawing on. And he said this is a pretty common thing to say on the far right. They say Weimar's problems call for Weimar solutions. And of course, what they're referring to is Hitler and the Nazis.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And so, I mean, this is like a really, really ugly, racist, bigoted crowd that Greg Vivino encouraging and associating with.

[A]

Yeah, I, I just wish that people would now. I mean, I know we've moved on from Greg Bovino and like Pam Bondi's gone and Kristy Gnome's gone and all the people who are involved in that episode from the first year, I guess we don't have to talk about it anymore. But when you do this type of stuff and he's fly, like I mentioned, he's flying into Newark, he's like, I can take control of the situation. He's clearly like trying to get back in. Right. When you do, when you don't shun these people properly from society for doing this type of stuff, they come back and I find it repugnant that this happened. It's really grotesque. I mean, we could keep going on if you wanted. But I. There's other.

[B]

I think that, that, you know, just briefly, I would also note that Jared Taylor, white nationalist, prominent white nationalist from America, he was there and apparently A big celebrity to give you an idea of who this crowd is. And also the head of the New York Young Republicans Club, of course, which is a feeder, which is a feeder for a lot of administration positions. And so I mean that, that kind of like you talk about like the groiperization, the racist people infiltrating the Republican Party, such as it is an infiltration. There you go.

[A]

All right, I'm just gonna ask the producers to get this ready. I don't know if we are able to. I don't think we have it in the system. But I want to get that video of James Fishback's ex girlfriend where she like pledges to reveal all in one of her.

[B]

I think we have that. Yeah.

[A]

If we have ready, let's get it ready because this is the. We're going to switch to, to Fish back for a second second. Obviously he's a sort of a main character for False Flag. And when is the primary actually? Do you know?

[B]

I believe it's like, I think it's in August. So we still have.

[A]

Okay, we still have some time.

[B]

Yes. Oh, do we ever. As our colleague Brendan here at the Bulwark said, I don't ever want this primary to end.

[A]

I mean I sort of don't either. But I'm a little bit nervous about where, how far, how much more we have because it seems like there's, it's moving in one direction. Right. Like it's definitely. I don't know if it's going to be enough. I would like to think it's not going to be enough but like I'm starting to get a little bit spooked that James Fishback might actually, you know, make this a thing.

[B]

Yeah. I mean you look at over the weekend, I mean this is all anecdotal stuff but like the Byron Donald's rallies are like, it's like a dozen people. I mean and then the Fishback stuff, they're like standing room only at diners. People like a 50 person overflow at the restaurant want.

[A]

And maybe that's just like whatever, you don't have to judge it by attendance at the diner but like clearly something's going on. Like clearly something's going on and this guy's got some momentum and he's, he's bad. Like he's racist. The stuff he said about Byron Donald's is just nasty, nasty, racist stuff. And then he's got this weird wife situation. Came out of nowhere.

[B]

What.

[A]

I don't think we have this video where he was like, you didn't where he's like, told his. His wife who introduced him that she didn't speak for long enough. Can you talk about that a little bit?

[B]

Yeah, so. So he's had. So yes, as you said, so two weekends ago, he had this, like, very abrupt marriage. I wrote about it in False Flag and people really want the blow by blow. But basically since then, she's been on the campaign trail and he's had these kind of like dismissive remarks to her where it's like, he's like, and now we'll all hear from my beautiful new bride. And she gets up and someone says, like a ser. Question. And he's like, oh, that's not for you. He goes, like, literally. And then he had this more recent one where he said, and now my wife will introduce me. And she gets up and she goes, it's James Fishback. And goes, ah, geez, I thought that intro would be a little longer, you

[A]

know, so he's no one of them. He muttered under his breath, where he's like, well, that was pretty short or something like that.

[B]

It's crazy. And so. So now we're in this situation where, I mean, what was striking to people about part of partially about this wedding was previously he had this other woman, this woman kind of crypto babe named Crypto Barbie or Francesca Rain, who he had introduced as his wife, he had said was his girlfriend. He. She had done all these campaign stop. He said she was the future first lady of Florida. And suddenly she's gone and there's like a woman who looks pretty similar in her place, and she's getting married. And so now Frankie Rain, Francesca has been on a revenge tour, such as it is, where she issues these kind

[A]

I don't even know of.

[B]

Like, if obviously the movie Obsession is very hot right now. Sort of along those lines, these. These very sinister videos threatening to, you know, reveal all.

[A]

Yeah, I will. Just a warning to those watching. This is uncomfortable stuff you're about to listen to. You're gonna sit here and you're gonna cringe, you're gonna want to look away, you're gonna want to hit pause, you're gonna want to turn it off because it makes you. It sends chills a little bit up your spine. But this is the stuff we're doing with. Yeah, here's Franchesca. This is what she calls fishback files version V1. I don't know how many. How many V's we're going to get, but here's V1. Speak.

[D]

Well, well, well. I guess the Cat's out of the bag, isn't it?

[B]

Standing in a dark kitchen.

[D]

Or should I say that the fish is off the hook?

[A]

Ooh.

[D]

Or should I say I threw that fish back, Back. My name is Franchesca and it really is me. It's been me the whole time. And it's been so cute watching all of you scramble. That's not James Fishback's ex girlfriend. That's a man larping. There's no way. Oh, baby, there's a way. Oh, there's a way. And it's been so fun. It's been so funny. And I'm going to enjoy you, you. Because I've been waiting for this for the past six months. I've been really quiet. If you think about it. If you think about it, you never really heard from me. You really just saw me. You saw me everywhere with him. And then suddenly I was.

[A]

Wait, did you pulled it? I were like, I give up. Like, I give up.

[B]

I give up.

[A]

I can't do it anymore.

[B]

So a little backstory there. So Francesca, after James said he was getting married, she kind of reappeared online. She made her own account. And then there was also a Francesca Clips account. Kind of like. They're like clavicular Nick Fuente's clipping accounts. But I wondered.

[A]

Wait, sorry, sorry. So she's streaming and people are clipping the streams.

[B]

Yeah. Well, so. So there's an account that is basically like, reposting. What she's putting up, like a fan account. Right. And then the main account gets banned. And then suddenly. Yes, she reveals she was behind the fan account and just starts from there. And so she's doing this thing where she's like constantly. Like she was saying, like, on Saturday, you know, or whatever, I will drop the truth about James fish. And so far, though, she still hasn't dropped it. She's doing this kind of like joker type thing. But for me, I think there are questions. There was speculation that, you know, he was kind of paying her to be his girlfriend. What was going on here? Instead, she keeps doing these like it was me all along. James, this fish is caught in my net.

[A]

She has not thrown the fish back yet. Well, we don't have to.

[B]

It sounds kind of like. Kind of like. Well, yeah, V2 was her just sort of reading a New York Post article that was like kind of positioning her as this femme fatale. And she was. She was like, well, well, well, James, like, sort of more of that.

[A]

We don't have a V3.

[B]

Not yet. And I will say, look, I've been communicating with her. This is, I think, in the social media era. You know, in the social media era, people, I think are often, they're like, I'm going to either use this to launch my own career or I'm going to, like, handle my own rollout. And honestly, a lot of times you just. Just hand it to me, you know, and we can talk about it. Because, like, basically this is just this. She keeps doing it and nothing has come out. It's someone this griper. Look, the gr. Titillated. I want to be clear about that. They're. They're kind of comparing this to sort of a specific genre of like, you know, video you can find online on 18 plus websites. You know, they're saying, you know, can we get a countdown? Stuff like this. They're. They're saying, like, sorry, you're.

[A]

You're breezing through interesting stuff here.

[B]

Well, it sort of seems like kind of like a. Like a sexy lady talks down to you type of video where it's like, you know, you've been a bad, bad boy. Yeah. That kind of stuff. Like a pay ping kind of stuff situation.

[A]

Pay pig.

[B]

Yeah. Where you have to send money to kind of like a. A bossy lady.

[A]

Well, I'm. Tell me, tell me more.

[B]

Financial domination. I'm glad you haven't experienced that world, Sam. So.

[A]

So anyway, here we go.

[B]

So. So all of these accounts are like, oh, she's hot. But. But I saw this meme where someone was like, you know, at the wed. They're looking at the wedding and they're like, hey, what happened to the first girl? And then they see this great video and they go, oh, okay, that makes sense.

[A]

So these videos she's putting up to ostensibly go after her ex, James Fishback are. Is compelling people to say, whoa. Yeah, he really dodged a bullet.

[B]

The groipers, they are also saying, though, like, I'll treat you right, baby Francesca. You know, ditch that.

[A]

Oh, they're trying to hit her. Trying to hit on her. Oh, my God. Of course. It's the Internet. Internet. What do you. What do I expect? Right? Of course they're trying to do that. Has Fishback addressed any of this or. No?

[B]

Yeah, he said, you know, I. He said in a statement to me, he said, you know, you know, she's. She's a great gal. I wish her the best, you know,

[A]

along those lines, taking the high ground.

[B]

Good for him. Yes, yes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I officially got the marriage certificate, by the way. It's real.

[A]

Oh, you did?

[B]

Yes, I got it. Over the weekend? Yes.

[A]

Wow. Wow. Well, you are. You are on top of your reporting game. You have so much going on. Are you DMing Francesca? Are you texting her? I'm just sort of curious.

[B]

DMs. Yeah. And she said, you know, I'll be dropping it all at this. At this certain time. And so I put it in my calendar and I put the kids to bed, and I'm like, okay, it's time to watch the big video. And then I watch it. I'm like, what the heck? You know? Part one.

[A]

Do we know how many parts there are going to be? No.

[B]

And she was supposed to put out, like, where's part three? It's been a couple days since part three. I mean, this is not. Kind of reminds me of Ryan Lizza, but at. I was just gonna say that he started with the. He had some stuff up top, Right. And then it kind of petered out. But this is like. She's like, you'll never believe. And ultimately it's gonna be like, I don't know. He's kind of a weird guy.

[A]

You know, I was just thinking about the Liz and Nuzzy thing. I was like, this is just like Liz's substack, where he would give you a hook and you'd be like, okay, got it.

[B]

Tell you about bamboo.

[A]

I got 800 words about bamboo. And now it's a metaphor for my relationship. And then on the. Give you the juice. Okay.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

This is a lot. I'm loving this, but we have to end soon. Before we go, actually, we didn't put this in the rundown, but what's going on with Candace? I know you're going to write about it potentially, and then you decided not to. She showed up in Russia like Tucker

[B]

Carlson for several days. Candace was on her show. She was like, people are going to freak out because I'm going on a trip to Russia. But don't freak out too much, because my husband just loves Russia. It's like a religious thing. We're going to check out some old churches. And then it turns out she's going. Going to this sort of, like, Russian economy Davos, this event in St. Petersburg. And she's speaking there alongside people not, you know, who are also appearing at this event, like Vladimir Putin, Alexander Duggan, who's kind of this Russian ideologue who Candace, I think, takes a lot of her ideas from. And so people are like, this is a bit weird. You know, what is the. Does Candace have a Russian intelligence connection? What's going on?

[A]

Well, hell, what is going on.

[B]

Well, I don't think we know at this point. I mean, she was interviewed by Russian media.

[A]

That's not Candace, that's Francesca.

[B]

That's. Please don't mix up. There you go. There you go. You know, her, her husband's so happy. I mean, she's having a great time. Kind of a weird looking picture. Kind of little hyper real. I would say a little AI, But.

[A]

But you think it's fake?

[B]

No, I mean, I think it's real, but, but. So she did an interview. You know, it's one of these things. You know, historically, people like, like Michael Flynn obviously went over and had some events in Russia. I'm quite aware.

[A]

Yeah, I remember that Tuck Tucker loved it. Tucker thought the grocery stores were so great and the, in the, in the subway was so clean. Remember that?

[B]

Yep, yep. And so I, I think there's, there's more to be discovered there. It certainly doesn't do. You know, a lot of people are saying, oh, Candace is a foreign agent. I don't think we have like proof. A lot of people on the right are saying that. You know, I don't think we have proof of that. But it's going to be a lot of fuel for like Ben Shapiro to have types.

[A]

Yeah, well, I don't think Candace gives a. Honestly, you know, I encourage people to read. Sarah Longwell did a newsletter about focus groups and people are kind of misrepresenting a little bit of, of this online, which they do on Twitter because not, you know, that's what you do when you go on Twitter. You try to misrepresent stuff. The gist of the focus groups was this, which is that Candace keeps coming up organically among these Trump voters or people who, you know, may have voted Biden Trump or something like that as someone who they would be curious about as a political candidate in the future. And if it keeps coming up in these focus groups and it keeps being brought up organically, like there's a phenomenon happening there that I think we should be sort of cognizant of and maybe upfront about not saying Candace is going to run for office or that she would win or anything like that, but there is an actual appetite for someone like her, her and her specifically to be in elected office. And I think that's kind of crazy. Goes to the point of what you've been writing about, which is she's just basically a cultural freak phenomenon and she's just powerful and she's winning a lot of these debates.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I don't Think it does us any favors to, you know, ignore the fact that, I mean, she has this kind of broader outside of the right wing media, you know, you know, adoption and people like her.

[A]

Yeah. All right. Did I miss anything?

[B]

Well, I think producer Matt. I think we actually have a Ben Shapiro clip about James Tall Rico.

[A]

Oh, right. We got. Okay, so we'll close. You mentioned Ben. Here's Ben Shapiro talking about James Tal. Just for some context before we play it. Everyone in. In Republican circles is trying to make James Talarico out to be some. I don't. Basically, they're accusing him being transgender. This is.

[B]

This has been. And it's good that we touch on this. I mean, this has been like, since Ken Paxton won the primary. This is like the new right wing talking point. James Talarico, gay. James Jerico, trans. James Helarico, secret vegan. And this is even after, you know, the revelation, we found out who his girlfriend is and some website. She said, I like dancing at some gay bar in Austin and people like, oh, gay bar. Like, I mean, it's this very bizarre, like, campaign they're running. And. And so we have a little bit of bench.

[A]

It's not that. But before we play. It's not that bizarre. They just want to signal to you that he's a freak. That's what they want to do. There's like, he's. This guy's a freak and he doesn't eat meat and he wears these shirts that look oversized because he's small all. And he may be gay himself. He may be transgender. And some, I think Jesse Waters. Like, he has soy milk instead of blood. I thought that was so stupid. But, you know, it's, I guess, funny in some circles. Whatever. And Ben Shapiro gets in on the act and this is what he does

[B]

is trying to fight back by putting out a tweet of himself eating ribs. So here he is again. The cosplay is so strong. So he's wearing a Lone star shirt that he bought at the local army Navy surplus or something. What is James Talarico doing wrong in this photo? He's eating a gigantic rib with a napkin around it. No one in Texas has ever eaten ribs this way. No one. Honestly, it's like eating pizza with a fork and knife. What is this dude doing? Yeah, you know, I think these politicians, they run into these challenges of eating while also. But, you know, you're not going to look graceful. You know, we end up, you know, they've scrutinized his breakfast tacos orders and all these Things, but it is, I just wanted to touch on it because it has been this, this real campaign to be like, this guy's, like, he's tele freak. Go.

[A]

Yeah, well, two things here. One is, I don't think it's a rib. I think it's a turkey leg. So that if you eat it with a napkin, I guess it's silly. Whatever, I don't care. Two is a forker knife for pizza. I don't do it. But Donald Trump did, Sarah Palin did. So I, I mean, yeah, it's, it's silly to eat pizza with a knife. There is a challenge for politicians who just want to eat food because you never look graceful doing it.

[B]

What was the alternative? He's gonna have his face smeared with bbk. He's gonna look like a big baby doing like baby lead weaning. Come on.

[A]

I don'. You can eat the turkey leg without the napkin. I don't think, like that's a big deal, but whatever, who cares? It's a stupid napkin. I was putting this up on Twitter. I was like, if you are reducing your vote in this race to whether or not your candidate properly appreciates me, then I think you got some self reflection to do. Like, there are other issues that you could purchase. Like maybe I'm not even saying the same. If you care about transgender rights, like, like that, like maybe that's an animating principle for you and it's just something that you care a lot about. But if you care that your candidate doesn't properly appreciate meat, like, you gotta reevaluate things. I think, like, that's, who cares? Do you care?

[B]

No, I don't care. I, I, I, you know, they can eat whatever they want.

[A]

Thank you. I appreciate that. Let's end on that note. Look, the proud boys eat the cookies, okay?

[B]

Yeah. James Talarico eats those, those big turkey legs.

[A]

It's fine. Well, you want, we're not going to judge you too much. We did judge the proud boys. I got to be honest about that. All right, we're going to end it there. Woo. Okay.

[B]

It was a packed app.

[A]

Yeah, I know, but we still haven't broken an hour. We're only at 44 minutes. One day. One day we're going to get to an hour. Hey, for the folks in the chats, sorry if I got a little salty there. A bunch of you were making fun of my haircut and a bunch of you were telling me that I was fat shaming and I took it personally. And I just want to say I'm just sorry. I'll do better next time I try.

[B]

He's a good guy, folks.

[A]

I'm just a human at heart. And look, I didn't like the haircut either. I. When it was happening, I didn't like it. What are you gonna do? They're cutting your hair. I'm like, ah, you really did too short this time. But whatever, I'm gonna. I'm gonna put on a hat. As for the fat shaming, I apologize for that too, okay? Okay. But, you know, they're proud boys, so they should take it. Okay, I'm not gonna apologize for the cookie joke. You can go back and watch. If you didn't see that, Will, you got false flag coming to you. Want to pitch out what it's going

[B]

to be, you know, it's about motorcycles, folks. You know, look, we all love motorcycle. Sons of Anarchy, Sam Crow. But this is currently, there's a crazy influence campaign ripping the world of motorcycle maga boys apart. Stay tuned.

[A]

All right, here comes our plug, which you should actually listen to. Jot down. You gotta subscribe to this. I mean, we do this every Monday because we love the game. And Will is just. It's like watching. Like I said to the other day, it's like watching Monet paint those water lilies. What you're watching right now, Will's doing that. But we need your support. We need your support. Because it supports the operations, you can subscribe in one of two ways. You can do it on Substack, which you get the newsletters. Everything is ad free when you do that. No paywalls, anything like that. Or you can do it on YouTube. We have premium membership. Could go ad free on YouTube, folks. It's a great deal. Do it. You'll not regret it, and we'll love you for it. All right, talk to you guys next Monday, Will. Later, buddy.

[B]

Everyone. See you later.