Bulwark Takes – Tim Miller: We’re Being Governed by 12-Year-Olds

Date: October 25, 2025
Host: Tim Miller

Episode Overview

In this episode, Tim Miller delivers a pointed and satirical critique of the current White House’s communications and governing style, likening their behavior to that of “12-year-olds.” He focuses on recent social media trolling from the administration, controversial website updates, and disturbing propaganda coming from DHS. Miller connects these incidents to a broader trend of juvenile, unserious governance, warning of the consequences and expressing dismay that more Americans aren’t outraged.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The "Everyone Is 12 Now" Theory

Miller introduces a viral social media idea:
“Working on a new unified theory of American reality. I'm calling everyone is 12 now. And I'm not sure if everyone is 12 now, but our White House surely is.”
— Tim Miller [00:19]
Miller expresses skepticism and concern for this mentality, noting some people seem to enjoy the president's childish approach more than mature leadership.

Presidential Troll Tactics and AI Videos

Critique of White House and Trump’s trolling:
- Recaps a video where Trump posts an AI defamation clip targeting young Democratic influencer Harry Sisson, who was peacefully protesting.
- Miller attacks the use of AI for petty trolling rather than respecting free speech:
  
  “Instead of honoring the First Amendment ... he does AI defecations on people who are just peacefully protesting.”
  — Tim Miller [00:53]
Cautions that while humor and humanness in office are welcome, he wants leaders who can “take and make a joke,” but not descend into childishness.

WhiteHouse.gov Timeline: From Historical Fact to Juvenile Mockery

Walkthrough and critique of the official White House timeline:
- Notes that, up until 1973, the timeline is mostly factual, referencing historic expansions and renovations.
- Criticizes sudden shift to trolling:
  - Clinton entry fixates on Lewinsky scandal.
  - Obama entry falsely implies sinister Muslim Brotherhood ties using a misleading photo, suggesting racist undertones.
  - Hunter Biden “cocaine” meme & inclusion of “trans day of visibility” as a troll on right-wing talking points.
  - Trump’s own additions are braggadocious, “overcompensating” with things like the installation of “big polls.”
    
    “They just talk about how [Clinton] got a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, which did actually happen, which is kind of different than some of these other things.”
    — Tim Miller [07:09]
Milling points out the irony that students and international researchers might come to the official site for info, only to be met with “trolley pictures of Hunter Biden” and “racist shit,” calling it an embarrassment.

The DHS, White Nationalism, and Propaganda Memes

Outrage over DHS “white nationalism” memes:
- Decries “videos of 1950s America with white families” and “blood and soil nonsense.”
- Discusses disturbing “snuff film”–style ICE propaganda showing violence toward migrants and protestors:
  
  “I just don't know what else to call the DHS videos and memes that they put out besides white nationalism.”
  — Tim Miller [16:10]
Highlights recent video using MGMT's “Little Dark Age,” noting the song was originally written as a warning about Trump.
- Details how the video was pulled after MGMT complained:
  
  "[The song] was called ‘Little Dark Age’. ... You don't have to read between the lines ... they were talking about how we were entering a little dark age with Trump taking over the presidency."
  — Tim Miller [18:01]
Miller finds it psychotic and emblematic of an unserious culture that these images are used as official messaging:

“It's what fucking psychotic 12 year olds would do. And they think it's funny.”
— Tim Miller [19:10]

Call for Maturity in Governance

Expresses hope that Americans will demand leadership with the maturity befitting a constitutional minimum age:

“Maybe we should have a 27 year old. 35. 35 was the age constitutionally, so maybe we should aim for people who ... have the maturity of a 35 year old as well in the White House in the future.”
— Tim Miller [22:41]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“The president is 12 and everyone in the White House that works for him pretty much also is acting like they are 12.”
— Tim Miller [00:05]
“I like a sense of humor. ... There's nothing wrong with joshing around ... but I don't want a 12 year old running the country.”
— Tim Miller [03:25]
“[The White House timeline] is just so childish. ... Aren't these the people that didn't want kids to have to read about gay penguins?”
— Tim Miller [13:55]
“If they want to do propaganda ... get Kid Rock to do it or one of the three musicians that actually likes you.”
— Tim Miller [21:20]

Important Timestamps

00:00 — Miller frames the “everyone is 12 now” critique.
00:45 — Discussion of AI videos trolling young Democratic influencers.
05:20 — Walkthrough of the White House timeline, step by step.
10:45 — Examples of trolling and race-baiting in official government materials.
16:10 — DHS "white nationalism" propaganda critique.
18:01 — MGMT’s ‘Little Dark Age’ co-opted and rejected.
20:45 — Propaganda as evidence of “psychotic 12 year olds” in charge.
22:41 — Final appeal for mature leadership.

Tone & Language

Miller’s delivery is energetic, sardonic, and exasperated. He uses humor and profane language to express outrage, but grounds his critiques in genuine concern for diminishing seriousness, decency, and maturity in government. The episode maintains an irreverent, “calling it as I see it” style that matches The Bulwark’s editorial voice.

Summary Takeaway

Tim Miller rails against the normalization of immaturity in America’s highest office, emphasizing the dangers of a government enthralled by trolling, propaganda, and juvenile antics. He calls on listeners to reject this trend and seek out leadership with the wisdom and seriousness the country deserves.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Hey, everybody, Tim Miller from the Bulwark here. The president is 12 and everyone in the White House that works for him pretty much also is acting like they are 12. I wanted to do a little video on this this Saturday, putting together a couple of the recent trolls that the White House has done. It is an homage to Patrick Cosmos, who had one of the hot social media posts of the moment going around, which goes like this. Working on a new unified theory of American reality. I'm calling everyone is 12 now. And I'm not sure if everyone is 12 now, but our White House surely is. And I don't know about you, I guess some people want to have a 12 year old in the White House. We did the video today, which you have to go watch with Harry Sisson, who is the young Democratic influencer that Trump posts a video of himself shitting on Harry while he was protesting. Because that's what the President does now. Instead of honoring the First Amendment and people want to speak out, he does AI defecations on, on people who are just peacefully protesting, exercising their fundamental American First Amendment right. So we talked to Harry about this over there and you should go check that out. But it isn't just the AI video of Harry. Right. Trump has now done a number of things I want to go through. There are the DHS videos that we've talked about and now he's updated the White House website. And before I show you this, I just want to say, just bluntly, I like a sense of humor. I want to have a president that has a sense of humor. Both Bush and Obama had great senses of humor. Really? Both of them made me laugh from time to time. There's nothing wrong with joshing around, showing that you're human. So I want leaders that are judicious but also self aware enough that they can make and take a joke. That's not what we're getting here. We're getting 12 year olds and I don't want a 12 year old running the country. Some people do. Some people are very excited about the AI videos and these trolls I'm about to show you, some people are giddy about having 12 year olds run things. They don't care. They get a kick out of Trump saying, oh, he just wants to kill people in the Caribbean. You know, they get a kick out of the haphazard way in which these guys are governing. They get a kick out of the fact that he's like a big boy up on the truck and just wants to watch buildings go boom, boom. Like some people like that apparently not me. Not me. I think that we should probably be led by somebody that is not 12. That's my take. Possibly controversial, I don't know, because it seems like there are a bunch of people, while there are a bunch of people who are excited about having a 12 year old run things, there's another group of people who don't really care. And so maybe it's incumbent upon us to just like drive home just how 12 they are. And so I want to do that right now. Here first is the White House website. They put this up basically as some spin to push back on Jonathan Last's take on the East Wing and how what they're doing is irresponsible and wrong and unlawful and outside the spirit of how we treat buildings of this nature in a liberal democracy. And their argument is basically people have made changes to White House all the time as they go through this timeline. And you know, again, this is not, I just want to say up front, this is not particularly compelling because like the timeline begins with like building the White House and expanding it, not tearing things down. And then, then you get into a bunch of changes that are pretty mild and then you get into their trolls. So we'll just go through here. You know, it's the War of 1812 they have on here and how we do rebuild after that. The addition of South Portico. Addition of the West Wing in 02 thanks to Theodore Roosevelt. Addition of the Oval Office. Howard William Howard Taft did that. Addition of the Rose Garden, that was Woodrow Wilson, 1913. Addition of the East Wing. We've talked about this a fair amount. Eleanor Roosevelt was key to this. This was during the FDR administration. And then I knew that there had been a reconstruction during the Harry Truman administration. This is kind of interesting. Just like the degree to which he changed the inside of the White House and then added, of course, the famous Truman Balcony so that presidents can go outside, get some fresh air without, you know, being in danger of getting sniped. Addition of the briefing room of Nixon. So you get up to 1973 here and it's all a pretty straightforward recitation of the history. I'm sure we could get Doris Kearns Goodwin or somebody on here to maybe nitpick the way they frame some of the stuff, but generally speaking, it's pretty straightforward up to 1973. Then you get to Bill Clinton and they add something that has nothing to do with updating or changing the White House. They just talk about how he got a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, which did actually happen, which is kind of different than some of these other things. Then next it moves forward to 2012. It has Obama hosts members of the Muslim Brotherhood. And then it shows this picture of Obama not in the White House. This is from one of the trips he wrote about in Dreams from My Father. Again. So, like, if they were playing this straight again, it would be still a BS argument, but you would include here, like Obama putting in the basketball court, right? They don't do that. They do some Barack Hussein Obama race baiting here. And the facts of this, for what it's worth, is that some members of the Muslim Brotherhood did meet some members of the Obama nsc. This is a follow on to the Egyptian revolution during the Arab Spring. And so, you know, they're trying to figure out how to be mediators and negotiate in the region. I mean, Donald Trump has mbs, who murdered a journalist, wrote for an American outlet, coming to the White House, like next month. Donald Trump wanted to meet with the Taliban at Camp David. Like, personally, Donald Trump just rolled out the red carton for Putin last week. He's a killer. Obama didn't meet with the Muslim Brotherhood. Members of his team did. That's why this is not a picture of the White House. The picture of Obama from a younger part of his life where they're trying to do racist, anti Muslim shit. Then they mentioned the tennis pavilion Melania put in. And then they attack Hunter. They say cocaine discovered. I don't have any reason to believe this is actually Hunter's cocaine. Who the hell knows? But there's cocaine in the White House. And then they do the trans day of visibility is the big thing in right wing media that the trans day of visibility happened to land on Easter. And one year they had a transgender day of visibility event at the White House. And then they do the big polls that Trump put in, you know, overcompensating. And then they mentioned Trump's other renovations, including the Oval Office renovations. Look, these people are 12. Like, this is embarrassing. This is the White House, right? This is the White House. Like while we're talking about 12 year olds. So if you're 12, you're in like sixth grade, give or take. And so, I mean, sixth graders go to whitehouse.gov like sixth graders go to do research here. If they're given a paper, maybe some of them, just because of what's happening with the East Wing, some of them were given an assignment that's like, hey, do a paper on the White House or do a paper on the monuments. In D.C. and so they might come to the WhiteHouse.gov and go to major events, timeline and, and it's like you see this picture of Hunter Biden smoking in the bathtub and talk about his cocaine. Like, it's just so childish. Like, aren't these the people that like didn't want kids to have to read about, you know, gay penguins? Like, they want students who are trying to, like that's the kind of people who are, who are coming to this website. Students, foreigners, people were trying to learn. And this is what you're getting. You're getting fake news about Obama, you're getting racist shit. You know, you're getting these trolley pictures of Hunter Biden. It's just so childish and embarrassing, you know, it's just embarrassing. And the fact that people aren't more mad about this I think circles us back to the original tweet, which is that everybody in America is 12. Not us, but a lot of people. I want to talk about one other thing while I gotcha because this also bugs me. I've been doing a number of videos on these DHS propaganda videos that are. I don't say this lightly. I do think that sometimes like white nationalism and white supremacy gets like thrown around willy nilly a little bit in ways that are actually probably harmful to the cause of racial equity. Another video on that. Probably. But I just think that when you're making such a serious charge, the charge should be backed up by like very real evidence. I, I just don't know what else to call the DHS videos and memes that they put out besides white nationalism. I, I mean they just constantly put out these like memes of 1950s America featuring white families talking about how we're going to protect the homeland and we're going to protect our stock and you know, all this blood and soil nonsense. And then they put out these videos that are like snuff films featuring immigrants and migrants and brown people and, and the way that they're being manhandled and mistreated. I like it is really horrible. And the recent, recent video and we can only play a little bit of it. I'll explain why afterwards was it's titled End of the Dark Age, Beginning of the Golden Age and uses a song from a band I like, mgmt. The song is called Little Dark Age. Let's play. Okay, so MGMT complained and obviously they don't want to be associated with this. Interestingly, in an interview a couple years ago they said the point of this song, Little Dark Age, they wrote in 2016. And you don't have to really read through the lines about what they were talking about. Like they were talking about how we were entering a little dark age with Trump taking over the presidency. And so for Trump then to co opt that and the DHS co op that and use it again for another one of these snuff films like featuring like the ICE agents and federal agents, like attacking protesters and, and shooting pepper balls and you know, wearing these gas masks and going into our cities. It's sick. It's sick. It's sick. It's what 12 year olds would do. It's what, it's what fucking psychotic 12 year olds would do. And they think it's funny. You can tell they think it's funny because they put in some pictures of like, of the people in the animal costumes getting gassed. And you know, it's just, to me, anyway, I look at, on the substance, I look at this video and I think we are in a dark age now. Like they have this wrong. Like this is not, this is not a golden age, this government agents firing at peaceful protesters in the streets. Chaos, mass chaos. All for an effort to deport people, many of whom are here just trying to live a life, trying to feed their kids. It is childish and noxious and grotesque and I'm happy that MGMT pushed back on them and you know, if they want to do propaganda, they want to do dystopian agit prop, I don't know, get Kid Rock to do it or one of the three musicians that actually likes you. So that's that. Everyone might be 12. The president, the White House and our Department of Homeland security is definitely 12. And that ain't great. That ain't great. You know, maybe we should have a 27 year old. 35. 35 was the age constitutionally, so maybe we should aim for people who are like have the maturity of a 35 year old as well in the White House in the future. You know, presuming we get that opportunity. That's something to think about. I appreciate all very much. Oh, if you're wondering, I'm not trying to grow a beard. I just got lazy today. I just, it's the weekend. Doing a little weekend content for you guys and I didn't want to shave. So there you go. We'll see you all soon. Peace.