TRUMP HAS LOST THE MORAL AUTHORITY TO RULE THIS COUNTRY - 1.15.26

Summary

Podcast Summary: Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Episode: TRUMP HAS LOST THE MORAL AUTHORITY TO RULE THIS COUNTRY - 1.15.26
Date: January 15, 2026
Host: Keith Olbermann
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

Keith Olbermann devotes this powerful episode to sharply critiquing Donald Trump’s continued influence and power in American politics, arguing that Trump has irreparably lost the “moral authority” to govern. Drawing explicitly on the language of the Declaration of Independence and blending biting satire with dire warnings, Olbermann explores how American institutions and values are under attack, details current political abuses, and contemplates what collective action might look like. The episode is rich in political commentary, historical references, current headlines, and trademark humor—culminating in Olbermann’s unique blend of polemics, media critique, and personal anecdote.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Special Comment: Trump’s Moral Authority in Shambles

[00:27 – 11:59]

• Main Argument: Donald Trump “has lost the moral authority to continue to rule this country,” and increasingly seeks dictatorial powers through “immoral and violent actions and threats.”
• Olbermann’s Warning:

  “He may never have had the moral authority... His enablers and those like him... don't care what I think, don't care what you think, don't care what the world thinks. But it is time for us to think, to think about what to do about the fact that Trump retains control over us, and... is seeking to expand his control to true dictatorial levels...” (01:10)

• Escalation of Authoritarian Tactics: Cites Trump’s use of ICE as “private paramilitary gangsters” (02:40), description of political enemies as targets for violence, and efforts to “fix” or even “eliminate” elections.
• Enablers: Condemns the complicity of Republican leaders and a “corrupt and wholly monetized Supreme Court” (03:04).

2. The American Crisis: Institutional Collapse and Hypocrisy

[05:02 – 11:00]

• Split-Screen Hypocrisy: Olbermann points out Trump’s contradictory messaging: encouraging Iranian protesters but threatening American ones.

  “Iranian protesters, destroy your government. America will support you. And American protesters, we, your government, will destroy you.” (06:15)

• Catalog of Institutional Crisis: Reads through a litany of front-page headlines documenting assaults on legal, political, and civil rights, including the ICE shooting of Renee Good, crackdowns on protest, mass deportations, and attempts to silence dissent within the government (08:04–10:55).
• Rubicon Crossed: Asserts that recent events mark a point of no return towards tyranny.

3. A Modern Re-reading of the Declaration of Independence

[11:01 – 17:19]

• Jefferson’s Warnings for Today: Olbermann recites passages from the Declaration, inserting only a handful of changes, to show its sudden contemporary resonance.

  “The history of the present president of the United States is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states...” (11:08)

• Call to Action: Encourages listeners to “read and reread and reread again” the Declaration and to “think big picture... not how are we going to get Chuck Schumer reelected—or not reelected.” (16:17)

4. Policy and Resistance: State Action Against Federal Overreach

[17:20 – 21:48]

• Advocating Nonviolent State Resistance: Suggests “state-led freezing of paying federal taxes” as a form of pressure. (05:02 & 17:20)
• Sanctuary States and Revenue Withholding: Olbermann muses about the implications if blue states “cut off funds to the federal government,” predicting it could cripple the Trump administration quickly. (18:17)
• Escalating Media Repression: Details an FBI raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home in search of sources—a “crime 34” reminiscent of King George III abuses. (19:07)

5. Targeting Immigrants and World Relations

[21:49 – 25:07]

• Trump’s War on Immigration: US halts visas from 75 countries (mostly participants in the upcoming World Cup), described as scapegoating and arbitrary exclusion.
• Appeal for World Solidarity:

  “Dear Free World, a reminder, please boycott the World Cup matches here in the US. This is now a rogue, extralegal, xenophobic, unreliable, gratuitously violent, militaristic, anti-foreigner government that disappears people. Stay safe.” (21:28)

• Voting Fraud Myth Debunked: Ridicules the minuscule number of “improper votes” found (15 out of 176,000 in Florida) compared to the narrative peddled by Trumpists. (22:00)

6. Media Critique and “Worst Persons in the World”

[25:08 – 38:07]

• Media Satire: Roasts the CBS Evening News for dwindling ratings and for giving Trump softball interviews.
• Stephen A. Smith & ESPN Feud: Responds to insults from Smith, clarifies his (Olbermann’s) ESPN-retiree status, and mocks Smith’s botched sports analysis (26:15).

  “Stephen A. Smith could have Googled that. ...when he succeeds, I make money off.”

• Golden Globes & Bill Maher: Mocks Maher for being unable to take a joke from Wanda Sykes (31:15).

  Wanda Sykes: “You give us so much, but I would love a little less. Just try less.” (31:22)

• Congresswoman Sherrilyn Biggs Clip: Exposes a Newsmax segment where Rep. Biggs argues Democrats should be charged over ICE protests, ridicules her lack of constitutional knowledge (34:06).

  Olbermann: “Congress should somehow arrest Governor Waltz and Mayor Fry and Congresswoman Omar for inspiring violence. Holy cow.” (35:05)

• Wine Mom Gangs:

  “There are organized gangs of wine moms. Antifa wine moms. ...funded by Ernest and Julio Gallo?” (37:10)
  – Satirizes Fox’s David Marcus for outlandish commentary blaming “wine moms” for unrest.

7. Storytime & Media Manipulation: “The Tom Hanks Cummerbund Incident”

[38:07 – 55:56]

• Trump Incident at Ford Plant: Recounts Trump flipping off a protester and media reactions, comparing how right-wing media spins similar gestures by progressives.
• Oscar Night Anecdote: Olbermann narrates his surreal encounter with Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck at the Oscars, which ended with a photograph making the front page of the LA Times.

  “Tom Hanks finally said. And with that he grabbed me and started to pull me over the shrubbery... The two guys were Ben Affleck and Matt Damon... somewhere in this process... one of these three men broke my cummerbund.” (51:07)

• Media Lesson: Quick to note how moments can be misrepresented out-of-context for sensational stories—drawing a parallel to the earlier Tom Hanks Cannes incident. (41:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s Hypocrisy:

  “iranian protesters, destroy your government. America will support you. And American protesters, we, your government, will destroy you.” (06:15)

• On State Resistance:

  “State led freezing of paying federal taxes... Starve the bastards.” (05:02)

• Declaration of Independence Paraphrase:

  “A president whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” (15:44)

• On Media Manipulation:

  “Any image of this scene, taken without sound and without context, would have been greeted, perhaps, as the stuff from Cannes was about Tom Hanks...” (52:50)

• Sardonic Description of Current Events:

  “America is dying. It could yet revive. It could yet survive. We could defeat him at the polls in November anyway. Our greatest asset remains his amazing imbecility.” (04:00)

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Noteworthy Segments with Timestamps

• [01:00] – Opening Special Comment: Trump’s disqualifying rhetoric and dangers of his rule.
• [06:15] – Trump’s split-screen hypocrisy: Iran vs. US protesters.
• [11:01] – Reading & adaptation of the Declaration of Independence.
• [17:20] – Advocacy for state-level tax resistance.
• [19:07] – FBI raids journalist; echoes of historical tyranny.
• [21:28] – Protest against World Cup/immigration clampdown.
• [25:08] – Feud with Stephen A. Smith, ESPN.
• [31:22] – Wanda Sykes’s Golden Globes joke at Bill Maher’s expense.
• [34:06] – Newsmax clip of Rep. Biggs and Olbermann’s mocking critique.
• [37:10] – Satire about “wine mom gangs” and right-wing media panic.
• [38:07] – Trump’s Ford plant “bird” and manufactured gesture scandals.
• [41:20] – Oscars anecdote: Tom Hanks, Affleck, Damon, and a cummerbund.
• [55:56] – Episode close.

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Tone and Style

Keith Olbermann blends furious urgency, historical allusion, sardonic wit, and cultural references throughout. The episode oscillates between grave warnings and satirical barbs. Regular references to pop culture, personal stories, and the absurdities of the news-media landscape provide moments of levity amid severe political analysis.

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For Listeners

If you missed the episode:
You’ll find Olbermann’s signature blend of fiery critique, inventive metaphor, historical perspective, and irreverent humor. The episode’s message: America is at a perilous crossroads but historical examples and careful scrutiny have never been more vital. The time for passive outrage has passed—now is the era of principled, pragmatic action inspired by the nation’s own founding words.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Keith Olbermann]

Here's something that'll freak you out. Most people think their insurance will cover them if disaster strikes. But here's the truth.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Many are wrong.

[Keith Olbermann]

You pay your premiums, you assume you're protected. Then the fine print hits, exclusions, limits, loopholes, and suddenly that coverage you counted on isn't really coverage at all. It's not your agent's fault. Their job is to sell policies.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But you need someone in your corner.

[Keith Olbermann]

Who protects you, not the insurance company. My policy advocate takes your actual policies, home, life, auto, whatever you got, and breaks them down in plain English. They show you what's really covered and what isn't. Here's the best part. Costs just 27 cents a day. That's less than a cup of coffee. For peace of mind to make sure your family is protected when it matters most. When a disaster hits, you don't want surprises. You want certainty. So before you assume you're covered, go to mypolicyadvocate.com, let them review. Review your policy. You might be shocked at what you find. MyPolicyAdvocate.com Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a production of iHeartRadio. Donald Trump has lost the moral authority to continue to rule this country. I have asserted this before. Donald Trump has lost the moral authority to continue to rule this country, and he does not give one good God damn that that is true. He may never have had the moral authority to govern this country. His enablers and those like him who are draining the financial and moral resources of this nation don't. Don't care what I think, don't care what you think, don't care what the world thinks. But it is time for us to think, to think about what to do about the fact that Trump retains control over us, and there can be no question of it, now is seeking to expand his control to true dictatorial levels through increasingly repressive and immoral and violent actions and threats and what looks like only two options regarding the midterms and 2028. He wants to either fix the elections for Trumpists or eliminate them outright. Object to any of this. He will buy you or blackmail you or hire somebody, dress them up in an ICE uniform. Hire somebody to kill you. I mean, what are ICE agents if not private paramilitary gangsters hired by Trump to kill you? Or at least to put it in your mind that if you disagree with him, they might kill you, kill you. On what Trump promises is the day of reckoning and retribution against Minnesota. At no point in the history of this country since the Civil War ended, would anybody who talked like that still be in public service the next day? At no point. And he is enabled in all of this not merely by corrupt and immoral Republicans who are addicted to power the way heroin addicts are addicted to heroin, but by a legal structure he has perverted, manipulated and twisted with the help of a corrupt and wholly monetized Supreme Court. We are being strangled in Trump's grip. America is dying. It could yet revive. It could yet survive. We could defeat him at the polls in November anyway. Our greatest asset remains his amazing imbecility. I have suspected for years that if he and most of those around him.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Were not as spectacularly stupid as they are, you and I would be in camps by now.

[Keith Olbermann]

Or we would be chained together harvesting.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Food to be sold at the Trump.

[Keith Olbermann]

Kennedy center, down the street from the White Trump House, the Lincoln Memorial with Trump sitting on Lincoln's lap, and of course, the Washington Monument to Trump.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But seriously, it is time for us to think about what to do about this. I do not know. I do not advocate violence. I do not advocate revolution. Although I remain convinced that serious spine rattling action by state governments and state governors is necessary and warranted, including the use, ironically, of state National Guards to protect state residents from ICE and other Trump criminal gangs and from Trump himself.

[Keith Olbermann]

And I am convinced of the necessity.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Of state led freezing of paying federal taxes, wherever that is possible. Starve the bastards. But we have still crossed a Rubicon in the last two weeks. Yeah, another one. Goddamned lot more Rubicons in this country than the GPS suggested, am I right? Principally in the remarkable split screen between Trump saying to those protesting the dead on the streets of Tehran, to all Iranian patriots, keep protesting, take over your institutions if possible. Your abusers, they'll pay a very big while. At almost the exact same hour, Trump says to those protesting the dead on the streets of Minneapolis and other American.

[Keith Olbermann]

Cities, quote, that woman was very, very.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Disrespectful to law enforcement. You saw they were harassing them. Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff. Imagine if he had said to all American patriots, keep protesting. Take over your institutions if possible. Your abusers, that is me, Donald Trump.

[Keith Olbermann]

They'Ll pay a very big price.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But he didn't say that.

[Keith Olbermann]

And in short, the message here is, iranian protesters, destroy your government.

[Commentator/Co-host]

America will support you. And American protesters, we, your government, will destroy you. Because we believe America should be run like Iran. But of course, it's not just the shooting of Renee Good and the still unraveling of those few remaining American principles of law and order and protecting the right to protest rather than Trump installing a system by which Americans are summarily executed near their own homes without charge, without trial for protesting because of Trump, there are always a dozen or more American institutions burning at a time. On Tuesday, from morning to evening, the front page of the New York Times website featured the following headlines, just the front page one. US used aircraft that looked like civilian plane September boat attack that's a war crime 2. FBI inquiry into ice shooting is examining victims possible activist group ties the dead woman they want to prosecute her 3. Trump has another justification for the shooting of Renee Good disrespect 4. ICE arrests New York City City Council employee at routine appointment 5. Fed changes course and takes on Trump in political fight that would be over the opening of a spe serious criminal investigation of Jerome Powell because he doesn't like him 6. Labor Secretary investigating a complaint alleging sexual misconduct by the Secretary Laurie Chavez Dreamer 7. Senator Kelly sues Pentagon over threats of punishment from Hegseth no mention of alcoholism in that eight. Trump officials are sending 1,000 more immigration officers to Minnesota, presumably because there aren't enough dead on the streets yet. 9. Prosecutors quit over push to investigate ICE shooting victims widow 10. Trump will end deportation protection for Somalis because he's declared war on one state and it happens to be Minnesota. 11. Supreme Court seems inclined to allow states to bar transgender athletes, of which in this country, interscholastically there might be a hundred. 12. Trump loyalist asserts she can keep US attorney title 13. Trump insists affordability is a fake word 14. Facing contempt threat Clinton's refused to testify in Epstein inquiry 15. Trump insults Greenland's prime minister, says he doesn't know who he is 15. That is so many institutions Trump has set fire to this week that it may actually be more than the number of institutions Trump set fire to last week. So again, it is time for us to think about what to do about this. Apropos of that reality, I was reading something recently, an old piece of American writing, one of my favorites. You may have read it too, or heard it read aloud. Just as likely. And though it is really old, I find that with just some minor modifications and the insertion of Trump's title in key places, it could have been written about an hour and a half ago. Hell, it could be on the front page of the New York Times website right now if it could manage to squeeze out any of those 15 stories about Trump's endless cultural arson. Permit me to make those referenced emendations and see if this old piece of political writing still holds up today. Ready? We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effectively their safety and happiness.

[Keith Olbermann]

Hey, guess what? I didn't have to change any of that. Let me skip ahead a bit in this document if it sounds familiar to you by now. I hope it does. There are a couple more changes later on. The history of the present president of the United States is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance Unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained. And when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people Unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, Refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace standing armies without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction, jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us, for protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states, for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world, for imposing taxes on us without our consent, for depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury, for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses, for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He has constrained our fellow citizens to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections among us. In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A president whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Some stylistic changes might be necessary, but you could put that on the front page of the New York Times as a news story and add in a few details about the murder of civilians and the transportation beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses and the keeping of troops in our cities without our consent. You could change that and say, bye, Maggie Haberman. And in the excerpts that I read to you just there, I only changed six words. It really is remarkable. It is as if Thomas Jefferson, for all his disqualifying flaws as a human being, and they were many, was endowed by his Maker with the ability to.

[Commentator/Co-host]

See not just the future, but the.

[Keith Olbermann]

Exact future in the country he helped to create and exactly 250 years into the future. So when I say it is time for us to think about what to.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Do about this, what to do about.

[Keith Olbermann]

Trump, what to do about his attempt to strangle this nation, I would suggest it is time to read and reread and reread again the Declaration of Independence and think in terms that Jefferson thought big picture, not how are we going to get Chuck Schumer re elected or how are we going to get Chuck Schumer not reelected? Not those things. Think for time how Jefferson thought. Because there are a lot of reasons to wonder what the hell the Founding Fathers meant exactly, or how they could have made the Second Amendment so vague and mean ownership of guns without using the word own.

[Commentator/Co-host]

There are a lot of questions about.

[Keith Olbermann]

What they meant and what Jefferson felt and how Adams thought about this and what was coming out of Button Gwinnett or how we should now adapt or adjust their words to two and a half centuries later.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But almost none of what I read.

[Keith Olbermann]

You needs improvement or explanation. So let me just add one more thing about this. For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. I have to confess 32 out of the 40 crimes of King George III. I'm impressed. Only 32 out of 40 so far. The next one might be the original sin which the British Parliament was accused of. Taxation without representation. Trump claiming some right that must have been granted to him while he slept by the ghost of Jacob Marley to simply stop sending federal funds to any state with a sanctuary city effective February 1st. They still have not explained to Trump or at least to the MAGA idiocracy what would happen to the Trump dictatorship if the blue state state governors really did cut off funds to the federal government. But you would hear the word starvation within two months if you're Trump's size.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Three months.

[Keith Olbermann]

Trump continues to bid to expand his King George mania.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Recreation crime 34 might have unfolded at the home of a Washington Post reporter yesterday who was there when the FBI raided it, seizing her electronics and looking for incriminating evidence against one of her sources. And of course also looking for ex.

[Keith Olbermann]

Deputy Director Dan Bongino's hair.

[Commentator/Co-host]

The junta says she is not a prosecution target.

[Keith Olbermann]

The alleged leaker is.

[Commentator/Co-host]

The raid still is unprecedented. The Post made all the right noises about the First Amendment, but not owner Jeff. Anything for money or plastic surgery.

[Keith Olbermann]

Bezos.

[Commentator/Co-host]

My own sources say the feds were directed to the reporter's home by a source identified only as Beth Jesos. The slandering of the late Renee Good continues now from ICE headquarters in the Chancellery, where economy size Commander Bovine Bovino. Bovine.

[Keith Olbermann]

Bovino.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Bovino called for, quote, hats off for her murderer. Now comes the claim that the shooter, Jonathan Ross, has suffered internal bleeding, which they have apparently discovered a week later. The next story will be that Ross has actually been dead all this time. But he got better. One of the crimes already covered by the Declaration of Independence was cutting off immigration here. Yes, that's right. The founding fathers were pro immigration. No more visas for people from 75 countries which are now known, and this is an insider professional term, so I hope the jargon is not too unsettling. 75 countries that will now be known as scapego boats like Somalia, Brazil, Colombia. Brazil. Colombia, yes. And Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Uruguay and Uzbekistan, all of whom have teams playing in soccer's World cup, starting here in North America in June, starting in the US in LA on June 12, Paraguay versus the US but no visas for Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Uruguay and Uzbekistan. No visas. Welcome to America. Except you guys. Dear Free World, a reminder, please boycott the World cup matches here in the US this is now a rogue, extralegal, xenophobic, unreliable, gratuitously violent, militaristic, anti foreigner government that disappears. People stay safe.

[Keith Olbermann]

And I'm not expecting to see wall to wall on this from Fox News. When Republicans seized control of the Department of Homeland Security, now the Department of Homeland Security and Botox, they installed a verification tool in the computers in hopes of finding millions of illegal votes cast by undocumented immigrants in the 2024 presidential election. Well, they found some 10,000 cases which were referred for further investigation. 10,000 cases out of 49,500,000 votes. That's 2/10 of 1%. There is a caveat that 10,000 figure it might be high. The verification tool is more tool than it is verification. It has turned up a lot of citizens misidentified as ineligible voters, a more likely number, a better ratio was proudly released by Florida Republican elections Supervisor Leah Valenti, who uploaded 176,000 suspicious voter names in her state and found yes, illegal, improper, fraudulent, unregistered immigrant votes. 15 of them 1 5, 15 votes out of 176,000. Speaking of ridiculously tiny numbers, at this rate, the CBS Evening News will have to be moved off the TV network to a platform more appropriate to the size of its audience. Like just text it to people. Oh, the CBS Evening News just came in on my phone. It's 18 seconds long. It's not just an attempt to appease a dictator, it's an unwatchable attempt to appease a dictator. It is possible, just from the evidence of what's been on the air so far, that Bari Weiss is actually a plant of some kind and that she selected Tony decouple to make the people on Mike Lindell TV feel better about themselves. Compared to the CBS ratings one year ago, the CBS Evening News is down 23% in total audience and 23% in the 2554 AD demo. One quarter of viewers are gone as of day seven. The other networks, it's closer to a 10% drop. But to add insult to insult, Anchorman decouple did the now traditional massage interview with Trump and had to stand there as Trump told him that if it weren't for him, Trump, quote, you wouldn't have this job. You wouldn't have this job. Certainly whatever the hell they're paying you. And here's another number. According to the website Awful announcing fake presidential candidate stalking horse Jill Stein, 2028 version Stephen A. Schitt responded to critics of his support for the murder of Renee. Goodbye, ICE critics, including me. Awful announcing. And the New York Post responded to them with a diatribe that lasted 38 minutes. Stephen A. Smith, 38 minutes.

[Commentator/Co-host]

My God, what made him so succinct? One of his responses to my claim that he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. And he of course was defending murder of citizens unarmed. One of his responses was to claim, I'm just jealous of his current success at espn, to which I would note, I retired from ESPN five and a half years ago.

[Keith Olbermann]

I'm actually a Disney retiree. I'm actually an ESPN retiree and I.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Have mail addressed to me as a Disney retiree. I get retirement money, so when he succeeds, I make money off. Stephen A. Smith could have Googled that. Steve as to his response to my.

[Keith Olbermann]

Claim that he is pretending to be.

[Commentator/Co-host]

A Democrat and a liberal and is in fact being set up as a fake third party candidate a la Stein, his response may have been unintentional by way of a Freudian slip. Reviewing the Houston Texans playoff win over Pittsburgh and the key role played by Houston's Christian Kirk Smith said, quote, Smith said, quote, we saw Charlie Kirk catch eight receptions for 144 yards.

[Keith Olbermann]

Charlie. Charlie Kirk. Jesus H. Christ. No, no. Espn. Here's something that'll freak you out. Most people think their insurance will cover them if disaster strikes. But here's the truth. Many are wrong. You pay your premiums, you assume you're protected. Then the fine print hits, exclusions, limits, loopholes, and suddenly that coverage you counted on isn't really coverage at all. It's not your agent's fault. Their job is to sell policies.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But you need someone in your corner.

[Keith Olbermann]

Who protects you, not the insurance company. My policy advocate takes your actual policies, home, life, auto, whatever you got and breaks them down in plain English. They show you what's really covered and what isn't. Here's the best part. Costs just 27 cents a day. That's less than a cup of coffee for peace of mind, to make sure your family is protected when it matters most. When a disaster hits, you don't want surprises. You want certainty. So before you assume you're covered. Go to mypolicyadvocate.com let them review your policy. You might be shocked at what you find. My policy.

[American Home Shield Advertiser]

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[Keith Olbermann]

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[Commentator/Co-host]

Coverage details including limit amounts, fees, limitations and exclusions.

[Keith Olbermann]

Having one of your marquee guys doubling as a political idiot who doesn't know his his Stephen A from his elbow. This is going perfectly for you. Also of interest here, oh, another one of my favorites. Of course, Bill Maher didn't like the joke about him at the Golden Globes because when was the last time Bill Maher encountered an actual joke? Worst persons next, this is Countdown. Among his other credits, Moe used to host a TV show called Things I Hate about you. I'm sure I've seen that program, only I believe it's now called Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Still ahead on this all new edition of countdown, Trump flips the bird at a worker at a Ford plant and the far right twists itself into pretzels trying to congratulate him. Laura Ingraham tried to make a joke. I hope it was a Thunderbird, as opposed to what they ordinarily do, which is to make up stories about gestures made by left wing figures like Tom Hanks at the Cannes Film Festival that weren't at all disparaging. But they tried to make them out as such. And in turn, that reminded me of the saga of the day that Hanks and Affleck and Daemon and I all met and the three of them broke my cummerbund at the Oscars in front of people. First, believe it or not, there's still more new idiots to talk about. The roundup of the miscreants, morons and dunning Kruger effect specimens who constitute today's other worst persons in the world, the Bronze. Worse. Speaking of bad jokes, Bill Maher, oh, he's back. I'm way behind temporarily here, but I wasn't watching. It was the Golden Globes and Bill Maher was nominated for one of them. So it was somebody for whom I did not know they gave out awards, only noise canceling headphones, whose show I don't watch. Who was appearing on an award show I don't watch. Anyway, presenter Wanda Sykes, who's cool, apparently shared my assessment of my college contemporary looking at Mar. Somehow she Found him out there in the crowd, all five, six of him. Wanda said, quote, you give us so much, but I would love a little less. Just try less. A great joke. Simple, punchy, factually correct and an A to the director of the program who caught Bill Maher's reaction in real time. Bill was not happy. Bill made his sour face.

[Commentator/Co-host]

He made that face of his like.

[Keith Olbermann]

A duck that has just had Einstein's theory of relativity explained to it. Well, it's understandable he didn't get or appreciate Wanda's joke.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Bill Maher's not used to jokes after all. All he has every week is the.

[Keith Olbermann]

Script from his own show and there.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Certainly aren't any jokes in that.

[Keith Olbermann]

The runner up, Congresswoman Sherrilyn Biggs of.

[Commentator/Co-host]

The South Carolina third future BILL Maher GUEST and I'm not full time in.

[Keith Olbermann]

This anymore, I'll confess to that.

[Commentator/Co-host]

But I can still name couple hundred members of the House. Give me enough time, I might get 75% of them. I swear, until this clip came across the Transom, I had never heard of her. She may be not necessarily the dumbest. There's a, there's so much competition, but the dumbest sounding member of the House of Representatives. She makes James Comer sound like James Earl Jones. She's been in office a year. I've never heard of her.

[Keith Olbermann]

I know about Andy Biggs.

[Commentator/Co-host]

He's the nut. He's the non American nut. This is a different Biggs. This is, I think it's a different Biggs. It's a woman. She has her BA from the Carolina College of Biblical Studies and she was born in Mississippi, but apparently she's never read the Constitution. No, no ma'. Am. The Constitution of the United States of America. Google it. I don't know the name of the Newsmax anchor in this clip who's desperately trying to read the question that she's been handed by the channel's director of propaganda. I mean this is a pre written question. I have had pre written questions on my teleprompter and you learn how to make it sound ad libbed. You know, if you're tired or you're.

[Keith Olbermann]

Not sure what you're going to ask.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Or it's a late ad of a guest or somebody else has breaking news they want you to ask a question about, you can put it up on the prompter, but you must make an effort to not make it sound like you are reading it. She didn't do that. It's possible this woman is smart enough to appear anonymously anyway.

[Keith Olbermann]

You'll hear her and then you'll hear.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Congresswoman Biggs and you be the judge if she is in fact the dumbest sounding member of Congress.

[Podcast Host]

So as more and more video is now being revealed online, like the one we're gonna show on our screen, you can see the driver and then her wife harassing and stalking ICE agents throughout the entire day, basically egging them on. And then at the same time, you've got marriage Jacob Fry and Governor Tim Walls inflaming the situation once again by demonizing ice. I'm sorry, but do you think it's long past due for these Democrat officials to be charged for clearly inciting violence against our federal agents? I mean, is there something that Congress can do to hold these people accountable?

[Congresswoman Sherrilyn Biggs]

Well, I certainly hope so, and I hope that'll be on the table for discussion this week as well. We get back to work. But you know, in South Carolina, in the third District, we support our law enforcement, but we stand behind them. And I think it's appalling that these men and women are having to go to work every day, put their lives on the line, leave their families, and have to deal with this kind of rhetoric. The far left is just using anything they can get to push violence. And when you have a member of Congress like Congresswoman Omar that shows up unannounced at an ICE facility, it's only causing chaos and more problems. And I think it's un American. I think if you don't love this country, you shouldn't be here and you certainly shouldn't be a member of Congress.

[Commentator/Co-host]

So, ma', am, you.

[Keith Olbermann]

You're resigning? Congress should somehow arrest Governor Waltz and Mayor Fry and Congresswoman Omar for inspiring violence. Holy cow. I mean, I know it's a conservative area, but who did we run against her? And when we ran them, was that person actually still alive? We found the smartest person in our county to run for Congress. But the winner, the worst. No more regional insult. Oh, no, there's a regional insult coming up in about two seconds, a guy.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Named David Marcus writing on Fox's website.

[Keith Olbermann]

And it's the usual no evidence that there's a sixth grade diploma involved here. Fascism stuff from a guy who actually reveals, as if it were something to boast about, that he's from West Virginia.

[Commentator/Co-host]

There seems to be a bit of confusion in our society of late about what civil disobedience is and what it isn't. Last week, this very confusion got 37 year old Renee Good killed. No, actually that was Jonathan Ross got her killed.

[Keith Olbermann]

And Trump and the ICE director and Commander Bovine and the fascists and MAGA and Fox News. And that's what got Renee Goode killed. That and the sadism of the Republican Party. That's what good that's not. But this was followed by an argument.

[Commentator/Co-host]

That civil disobedience is when you are civil to police and you know, the mass murderous gangs pretending to be police.

[Keith Olbermann]

And the police and the murderers don't feel threatened or at risk.

[Commentator/Co-host]

That's what the mean by civil, that Renee Goode deserved to be shot because Marcus says she tried to avoid arrest. She made it difficult for these people who are trying to install a dictatorship in the United States. But that is not even why Mr. Marcus is our winner. That's just boilerplate Trump ass kissing. Why is Marcus here? For this priceless sentence, you may want to write this down. What we are seeing across the country is organized gangs of wine moms use antifa tactics to harass and impede Immigration and Customs enforcement agents. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. There are organized gangs of wine moms. Antifa wine moms. What are they secretly funded by Ernest and Julio Gallo?

[Keith Olbermann]

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Where can I meet them? Wine moms gangs, David. I am terrified of roving organized gangs of wine moms. Kill the wine moms. Kill the wine moms. Now Marcus of Fox News, today's worst person in the world.

[Keith Olbermann]

Choose the number one story on the countdown. And somebody shouts pedophile protector at Trump at a ford plant day before yesterday that he was of course trying to take credit for. And he shoots them the bird. And the left says, yeah, here we go again. All class, all the time. And the right says, we're number one. We're number one. Merka. And I say, well, at least his brain deterioration hasn't gone so far that he's forgotten how to count to one. You know me, I'm Mr. Half Glass Full, Mr. Optimism.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Mr.

[Keith Olbermann]

Positive. But seeing this video from like 13 different angles, each of them exclusive, I was also thinking of the number of times the right wing media has simply made up narratives about celebrities or democratic politicians or just anybody who doesn't support the dictatorship in similar scenarios in public, making a gesture. There was a time with my friend Tom Hanks at Khan. They also could have this reminded me of made up a similar story, a similar fake timeline about Tom Hanks and me at the Oscars the day we met. They were everywhere. Photos and video of what certainly looked from a distance like actor Tom Hanks and His wife Rita Wilson, yelling at, maybe even berating an unidentified random staffer on the red carpet at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in France while promoting his new movie Asteroid City. At various intervals, Hanks seems to have a fist clenched, then seems to be jabbing his forefinger at the man. Throughout, he appeared to wear a look of disbelief verging on anger. European newspapers were filled for two days with stories about Tom Hanks yells at Khan and Tom Hanks yells at staffer and Tom Hanks skulls, Khan staffer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And then his wife Rita spoke up. Then the staffer Vincent Chapelain spoke up. Then the sound on the video spoke up louder than either of them. Tom Hanks wasn't scolding anybody, but he was yelling because he could not hear himself or this Vincent Champlain or anything else because the crowd around the red carpet was too loud. The clenched hand. Tom Hanks clenched it while he was yelling. I can't hear you. Everybody's screaming. The jabbing forefinger, it went with. Where are we supposed to go? Are we supposed to go back to the start of the red carpet? Just, just point at where you want us to go? And the scolding of the random staffer. Vincent Chapelain is the manager of the red carpet at Cannes, been for 10 years. The only thing he was taking offense at was people presuming he was just security rather than management. These are the French Khan, you hear me? Now, this is an unusual story to include here, and I've gone into unusual detail about it because the moment I saw this story from Khan, I didn't have mere data deja vu. I had a full flashback, a full out of body experience, time travel. I was propelled back to March 21, 1999, where a similar overhead view of Tom Hanks on a red carpet without any audio, without any context, would have presented you a picture of first Tom Hanks and then Tom Hanks, with the assistance of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, assaulting a guy, literally pulling him over the hedges that served as the security boundary, damaging the guy's clothing and then basically throwing him back over the hedges. And all this took place on a red carpet at the Oscars.

[Commentator/Co-host]

The guy was me.

[Keith Olbermann]

In 1999, I had just started what began as a pretty good gig. Fox Sports had launched its own version of ESPN and its own version of SportsCenter, and it had thrown way too much money at me and it bought me out of my contract at msnbc, where I was desperately unhappy doing the Clinton Lewinsky story every hour on the hour. And they got me to move back to Los Angeles and anchor their version of SportsCenter and all the Fox baseball coverage too, including the World Series and the All Star Game. And it launched a five year plan to give itself enough credibility to compete with espn. And I was just there to enjoy the sun, collect the huge paycheck and publicize the thing as often as possible while they slowly built it up for the year 2004.

[Commentator/Co-host]

As the executive who signed me said.

[Keith Olbermann]

After we held an introductory press conference and press phone call with about 200 reporters, you earned about a year of your salary just doing that call.

[Commentator/Co-host]

So when one of the editors of the Los Angeles Times called somebody she.

[Keith Olbermann]

Knew in the PR department at Fox and said, I have a crazy idea.

[Commentator/Co-host]

What is Keith Olbermann doing on Oscars night? The Fox people listened. The next thing I knew, I had that night off.

[Keith Olbermann]

I was in a tux.

[Commentator/Co-host]

I was standing amid a sea of photographers at the first turn of the.

[Keith Olbermann]

Red carpet at the Oscars gathering.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Quotes from startled celebrities who expected to see only photogs right there and not somebody asking questions. Certainly not me asking questions. I was a little startled too. The editor, in a pre Oscars phone call explained that this was the 71st edition of the Oscars and the Times had covered the first 70. Then they had pretty much gotten it down to a science around the year 1932 and they really hadn't changed much since then. Except the photos are in color now. She mentioned. She asked if I wanted to hear what would be in the Times the day after the Oscars. She said I can recite the main story right now. I just have to fill in the names of the winners. And then there's the fashion review and how many daring and outlandish and classic outfits there were. Then I'll have the TV critic complaining about how bad the host was and I'll have the TV business guy explaining why the ratings were so low. Then we'll have the big pull quotes from the actors that will read exactly like the big pull quotes from 1989 or 1979. And we'll have the predictive piece on which award wins will actually help movies at the box office. And then we'll have the predictive piece on which award snubs will actually hurt movies at the box office. What we need is anything else. Can you think of anything else? Can you think of anything you haven't read in our paper about the Oscars? I thought for a second. I said, what about this Idea that they're now gonna televise the red carpet live for half an hour before the Oscars. You're gonna have like a Oscars pre game show. I heard somebody say, you know, maybe they could do that all day. I mean, what if I asked everybody, like whoever will stop to talk to me? I mean, what if I asked them, would they think it would be a good idea to make the Oscars an all day kind of thing? Like Super Bowl Sunday Oscar Sunday, Oscar bowl live, starting at dawn on abc. I mean, I could basically write you the lead paragraph now. Thanks for attending Oscar bowl one. Please ask your limo driver to tune into the post game show with Vin Scully, Uma Thurman and Angeline. No, not Angeline. Edie Williams. Arrive home safely. The editor laughed, had me repeat it and wrote it down. It was the lead of my story. So on the night of March 21, 1999, Oscars night, there I was officially a sports reporter and ex news reporter and ex local LA sportscaster on top of everything else. There I was at the first corner of the red carpet in front of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, standing where one of the 80 or so LA Times photographers should have been. And I never found out what he thought of this idea. And I was introducing myself to actors and actresses and producers and other people who had no idea who I was. Helen Hunt was particularly confused and explaining why I was there to actors and actresses who knew exactly who I was. Kevin Costner was particularly confused. Some of them gave thoughtful answers to my question about an all day Oscars. Helen Hunt actually thought about it and said something interesting. Costner said he would never watch anything like that. Instead of, say, college basketball, he recommended against doing it. And he said, we already know too much about the things we already know about. And I knew exactly what he meant. What a great quote. We shook hands and Costner took a deep breath and he moved towards the gauntlet of the next 500 reporters down the red carpet and said, wish me luck, Keith. Within two minutes I then saw Costner walking back towards me. Can you do me a favor? I mean, I'm sorry, but can you not run that quote? I've never retracted a quote in my life, but that'll make me sound like Yogi Berra. I said it didn't make him sound like Yogi Berra. It was perfect and everybody would know exactly what he meant. But of course, if that's what he wanted, I'd forget it. I wouldn't use the quote until now anyway. I had enough color and Quotes. And technically my article was going to be labeled Arrivals. So it was done already as night began to fall and I had one particular piece of gold handed to me. When the fabled actress who had done the cameo in Titanic the year before arrived on the red carpet, the photographer standing on one side of me said, look, it's Martha Stewart. Not Martha Stewart. I mean Gloria Swanson.

[Keith Olbermann]

No, you know who I mean.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Gloria Stewart. It was good that I had enough material and I thought that was probably going to be my second paragraph because the editor had given me a deadline like, I don't know, 6:37pm where I had to be back in the Times offices, which were a quick walk a block or two away. And I had to start writing because they wanted to put my piece on the page with all the early photos from the red carpet and the start of the awards and they needed my piece finished asap. But I lingered a few minutes longer than I was supposed to because there was only one actor I had really hoped I was going to get to meet, Tom Hanks. Finally, Keith comes back to Tom Hanks. Didn't see him. Everybody's already inside. I must have missed him. Or maybe he's not coming even though he has a nominated film and I'm about to leave. Literally, I'm double checking my notes and my quotes when I heard some of the photog shout, tom, Tom. And there finally he was in a tux and a beard and he gave them that half mile actor stare and pleasant smile. And without being asked, he did a slow pan from side to side so each cameraman could get him in profile and in full face. And then he stopped and his eyes widened comically and he said, keith Olberman, what are you doing here? Did you get fired again? That even got a laugh from the photographers. He then devolved into shtick. Come in with me. You can have Rita's ticket. Better than that, why don't you go in with Rita? I'll go watch UCLA play. Rita Wilson smiled, waved, and while looking at her husband, she pointed to her own head and made that crazy gesture. And on and on and on it went. I asked Tom Hanks my questions, he gave me some good answers, gave me a very nice double handed handshake and he moved on. And he was one or two people down the gauntlet of the red carpet when I thought, dummy, Tom Hanks is right there. He's a fan. You're a fan. You have a camera with you. You have a mother. Get a picture with him for mom. So I beckoned so you'll go in with me. Hot dog. I explained what I actually wanted, and I handed my little disposable cardboard camera. Remember those? To the nearest reporter I knew, Lara Spencer from Channel 7 in New York, more recently of Good Morning America. And I leaned back over the hedges, which in those innocent pre 911 days were the only things actually keeping the famous safe from us. The we merely cover the famous. Lara took a couple of shots. In them it would prove my head is about four times as big as Tom's and we both look like mutants.

[Keith Olbermann]

Straining mutants.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Wait, this won't work. Tom Hanks finally said. And with that he grabbed me and started to pull me over the shrubbery. I was unprepared for this. I started to teeter. At this exact moment I heard coming from the carpet behind me, two guys chanting, Keith.

[Keith Olbermann]

Keith.

[Commentator/Co-host]

Hanks turned around and said, hello, boys. Look, it's Keith Olbermann. Can you believe this? Finally a reason actually show up to this dumb thing. Can we take him in with us? Have you guys got an extra ticket? Here, Help me pull him over the hedge. The two guys were Ben Affleck and Matt Damon somewhere in this process, and Affleck and Damon were really young then, they really could pull. One of these three men broke my cummerbund. I swear. Suddenly I was on the red carpet with them. And with a loose cummerbund, Affleck struck a wrestling pose and made a grimace, a fake grimace. Larispencer shouted, that's a perfect shot. At which point I heard a sound effect, but in real life nearly identical to the one that signaled the arrival of the reporters throughout the movie. The right stuff. Like a thousand mosquitoes moving in unison, every photographer there panned over to us. Because even those who did not know who I was or what Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were doing to me, did notice security rushing to this scene. It's all right, fellas. Hanks shouted. He fell. They helped me back over the hedge. Affleck asked me about the Red Sox chances in the season ahead. Hanks slapped me on the back. I barely managed to shout, enjoy the show, boys. And Damon turned and said, well, we just did. And they were gone. Any image of this scene, taken without sound and without context would have been greeted, perhaps as the stuff from Khan was about Tom Hanks. It would have shown three of Hollywood's top actors appearing to attack or maybe trying to subdue some guy who looked vaguely like some. Some sports or news guy or something. And the tux didn't fit well, must have been a rental. It might have been a perimeter breach. I mean, look at the damage to the hedge. To say nothing of the guy's cummerbund. So when the story of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson yelling at the guy on the red carpet at Cannes broke, all I could think of was, here we go again. As a postscript, I should note that I have seen Tom Hanks several times since then, and Hanks always mentions the cummerbund. Affleck once portrayed me on Saturday Night Live, and I went up to his studio, which was also the Football Night in America studio, to say hello at his rehearsal and offer him any tips he needed. And the next thing I knew, that was in the New York Post, Obermann, Crash's studio, and the photo of the four of us. Well, I clearly had enough stuff for my Arrivals piece in the LA Times, so I jogged back to their offices, a little late now, and found the editor, and she asked me if the story would work, and I said, yes, I have enough. And then I sheepishly said, listen, there was a thing with me and Hanks and Affleck and Damon, and can I mention it in the piece, maybe at the end? And again her eyes widened as I explained what happened. And in great excitement she asked, did anybody get a picture of this? And I said, well, yeah, I thought about 100 real photographers got a picture of it, but I was certain that my friend Lara from New York had gotten it on my disposable, which is when the editor grabbed the camera from my hand and left without a word, running down the hallway. And the next thing I saw of my camera, or what was in it was the next morning when the front page of the LA Times Oscar section had four beautiful color pictures on it. One of Gwyneth Paltrow, Judi Dench, James Coburn and Roberto Benigni. One of Ilya Kazan. It was the Elia Kazan speech, year one of Cate Blanchett's dress as seen from behind. So it was a picture of Cate Blanchett's butt and largest of all the pictures, me and the boys with the caption, the arrivals. Fox Sports News anchor Keith Olbermann is mugged by Tom Hanks, left, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on the red carpet and lives to write about it, page F2. I still have it framed on my wall. But just to be clear, Tom Hanks didn't actually mug me.

[Keith Olbermann]

I've done all the damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. Most of our Countdown music was arranged, produced and performed, performed by Brian Ray on guitars, bass and drums and John Philip Chenale handling orchestration and keyboards. They are our musical directors of Countdown and their work was produced by TKO Brothers. Our satirical and pithy musical comments are by the best baseball stadium organist ever, Ms. Nancy Foust. The sports music is the olderman theme from ESPN2, written by Mitch Warren Davis, courtesy of ESPN Inc. Other music arranged and performed, formed by the group no Horns Allowed. My announcer today was the late Dick Cheney, everybody. This program was produced by Ted. Everything else was, as always, my fault. That's Countdown for today. Day 361 of America held hostage again, just 1,102 days until the scheduled end of his lame duck and lame brained term. Unless he is removed sooner by MAGA and Jeffrey Epstein or affordability or marble armrests or Venezuela or his ice Gestapo or, you know, the endless construction of the new Trump Memorial Ballroom. The next scheduled countdown is Monday. Bulletins as the news merits. Until the next one. I'm Keith Olbermann. Good morning, good afternoon, good night and good luck. Countdown with Keith Ulberman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.