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Digital Social Hour
Is JD Vance Trump's Secret Weapon for 2028? | Rob Smith DSH #856
00:58:41
🔥 Is JD Vance Trump's Secret Weapon for 2028? Tune in now to the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly and guest Rob Smith! 🎙️ Dive deep into the political landscape and explore whether JD Vance might be the key player in Trump's future strategy. 🗝️ Packed with valuable insights, Rob shares his journey from liberal to conservative, his experiences in media, and the challenges of authenticity in the digital age. 🤔
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- [00:01]
A
You're in a place where, you know, my audience, like, my people, like my problematics. My podcast used to be called Rob Smith is Problematic. Now it can cancel Rob Smith. But, like, those are your people, you know, so you got to think about those people before you start thinking about any of this other stuff, before you're thinking about the RNC or Trumps or FOX or Newsmax or CNN or whoever. Like, you gotta think about your audience first, man.
- [00:26]
B
All right, guys, Rob Smith here. We finally made it happen.
- [00:28]
A
Made it happen, brother. Made it happen. I'm here in Vegas. Let's go.
- [00:32]
B
Important timing right before the election.
- [00:34]
A
Oh, man. Election is 32 days, man. 32 days is going to decide the future of this country.
- [00:39]
B
A month away, and we just came off a good debate last night.
- [00:42]
A
It looked like, yeah, man. So the, you know, I get into this on my podcast. Can cancel Rob Smith. The debate was very interesting because I think that when you look at J.D. vance, when you look at Tim Waltz, when, you know, people act like the VP debate isn't important, but it is. Is important, right? Because this is literally second in command. Like, either one of these men could become the President of the United States should something happen to the president. And I think that J.D. vance had a really, really tough job. Number one, I think that the mainstream media is always, you know, more than a little biased, you know, against Republicans, against conservatives. So JD Vance had to battle that. He had to introduce himself to people that may not know or have any idea who he is. And he also has to project competence and authority. I thought it was a beautiful performance. I literally thought it was magnificent. And for me, even though, like, you know, I'm a Trump guy, like, I'm fully supportive of Donald Trump, I'm fully voting for Donald Trump. Like, I think that people that are on my side of the aisle, and I know that a lot of people aren't. Like, I have listeners that are independents, that are libs, that are conservatives, and some that are even to the right of me, you know, on the conservative side. But I think that a lot of people need to feel comfortable with the fact that the next vice president could potentially be the president, and then also that JD Vance could possibly be the one to lead this country into hopefully, a new, more prosperous era, even in 2028. So I think that JD Vance did a great job.
- [02:12]
B
I can see why Trump picked him now. I was a bit skeptical at first.
- [02:15]
A
You were?
- [02:16]
B
I was.
- [02:16]
A
You know, a lot of people were. And I think that. I think that with a lot of People, first of all, with the nuts and bolts of things, is that, you know, J.D. vance is somebody that was in venture capital, somebody that didn't have the traditional politician background, even though he's currently a senator from Ohio. And I think a lot of people didn't know this person, like, who was he? And also he was super critical of Trump, you know, in his earlier, you know, political years. But again, like, I'm somebody that did not vote for Trump in 2016. I did not vote at all in 2016. I didn't feel like Hillary had deserved my vote or Trump did at that moment in time. But there are people who were staunchly anti Trump. There were people that had a lot of issues with Trump that came over to that side. And I think that J.D. vance has been very great at articulating his political evolution. And so from literally from Never Trump, the Trump's VP candidate, is quite the trajectory.
- [03:12]
B
Absolutely. So when did your support for Trump come? Was that 2020.
- [03:14]
A
So it was more around 2018. So a lot of your listeners may not know who I am. So, Rob Smith, I kind of got famous around the 20 era for being a non traditional Republican conservative, right? Because I'm this black gay dude that in 2018 came out for Trump. And how I came to this is I'm somebody that has a very traditional mainstream media background, Right. My graduate degree is from Columbia University and journalism. Like, I've worked for cnn, NBC News, Yahoo Finance, like, you name it, doing traditional media. Now I got into the social media sort of commentary aspect of things because just as a voter, like as a viewer, somebody that was like, independently minded, during 2018, I saw a lot of lies and a lot of misrepresentations, not only about Trump, but about his policies, about things that he was saying. And I was seeing these things come from sources that I trusted. I was seeing these things coming from ABC News and NBC News and all of these sources that I trusted to give me the news straight. And I hopped on Twitter, I'm on Twitter, OB Smith online, and I just started calling this stuff out. So once the dam broke in terms of my trust of the mainstream media, then I started looking at Trump in a different lens than I had before. At that point in time, I linked up with Turning Point usa, an incredible organization that mobilizes conservative youth all across the country. And that's when I kind of got absorbed into what we'll call Trump World. Know, being on the campaign for, for trail for him in 2020, meeting him multiple times, meeting members of the family Multiple times and. And starting to get to know not only who he is as a leader, but also having interpersonal reaction about who he is as a person, and the same way with the family members. And so when you will see these sort of liberal activists saying that, you know, he doesn't like black people or these people are. Are, know, racist or sexist or homophobic or whatever it is that they call people that are just, you know, guilty of not being liberals. I knew that these things weren't true.
- [05:24]
B
You saw through it.
- [05:25]
A
I saw through it, man. I saw through it. And it took, you know, not only having interactions with him and some of the family members, you know, interpersonal reactions, but also being an independent thinker and really sort of getting through these lies that the mainstream media was telling about him. And, like, there's a reason, you know, I was talking with one of your producers before we started doing this, like, there's a reason that podcasting is a new thing like that independent people like me on social media, people are more drawn towards me, you know, than the old school anchors from CBS or NBC or abc. It's because nobody trusts it anymore. Yeah, nobody trusts it.
- [06:04]
B
I mean, now you're seeing these anchors leave and get way more views, like Tucker.
- [06:08]
A
Yeah.
- [06:08]
B
Cuomo.
- [06:09]
A
Yeah.
- [06:09]
B
These guys are leaving and getting Candace Owens. They're.
- [06:11]
A
They're like, these people are crushing it and what a lot of people don't understand. And I think that we'll talk a little bit about entrepreneurship and sort of like the business of media a little bit later. But this is what I say all the time, because I have friends that are in traditional media, like I. I do. You know, Fox News hits every once in a while. I love my friends at Fox News. I have friends that are paid contributors to Fox News. Like, that's great for them. But what I will say is this. We are entering into an era in which if you don't have a social media following, like, if you don't have people that are following you and know who you are outside of that mainstream, traditional media sort of infrastructure, then that could end tomorrow, and then where are you? You know, so it's always been important for me to be everywhere, like, to do the mainstream media, and I have nothing against it, but to also, you know, do podcasting. Like, I just joined TikTok, you know, a couple of months ago, six months ago, TikTok at can cancel Rob Smith and, you know, got up to like 140,000 followers there. And the social media space is a space to be more authentic and less of a robot than the mainstream media space.
- [07:25]
B
Did you pick that podcast name because you got canceled?
- [07:27]
A
You know, I picked that podcast name because, man, you know, if a lot of you guys are. A lot of the Sean Kelly listeners are coming to me for the first time, like, really do get into my social media, get into the podcast can't cancel Rob Smith. But I've had quite the journey in this conservative media ecosystem, like, and I called it Can't Cancel because there's people on the right that want to cancel me because I'm a gay guy, because I'm black, or, you know, you know, there are people that want to cancel me because of these, what I call immutable characteristics. There are people on the left that want to cancel me because since I am gay and black, that I'm supposed to, you know, toe the liberal line, right? So I kind of get it from all over and I've kind of started to own it and make it a part of my brand. So that's why I call it Can't Cancel Rob Smith because literally, on the right or on the left, you cannot cancel me. I love that, man. I will remain.
- [08:19]
B
I love that.
- [08:20]
A
Yeah.
- [08:20]
B
So were you liberal growing up?
- [08:22]
A
Oh, yeah, man. And, you know, I don't know how liberal. Like, you know, I grew up in aan, Ohio, you know, single parent, family, went into the military at 17 years old. And as a, you know, black working class person growing up, like, we tend to be towards the libs, right? We tend to be more Democratic. And I think that it's something that I didn't even really think of. I think it's something that just always was. And I didn't start coming over to the conservative side until, like I said, about six, seven years ago when I started, you know, doing my research and started really thinking more. And it actually happened even before I got, quote, unquote famous. It happened around 2014. I read, you know, illegal immigration is a hubba initiative. We don't have to go into all of that. If you listen to my podcast, I go into more explicitly political stuff there. But I read a book by Ann Coulter called Adios America, which was all about illegal immigration. And she really, as a journalist, she really broke it all down. And when I first met Anne at the, I think in the green room of Fox News, I told her, like, you red pilled me, right? So I read that in about 2014, 2015, and that kind of started my red pill journey. You know, I started off, I was very liberal leaning. I was like oh, why don't I read this book? Took me on that journey to becoming more red pilled and more conservative leaning. But at the same time, I don't fit into any of these boxes. I think that sometimes as a people, as Americans, as world citizens nowadays, we like to put ourselves in these boxes. I am a Trump voter, so I am this. I am a Kamala Harris voter, so I am this. I am Republican, so I am this. I am Democrats, so I am this. And none of us fit into any of these boxes completely. You know, they're, they're really tiny boxes that are, that we want to put ourselves in. And so I will call myself a Republican till the end of time. I will call myself a Trump voter. It's whatever. But I still don't fit into that box of the stereotype that people want to create for conservatives.
- [10:31]
B
Right. Because there's people that agree with every single thing that their politician is saying.
- [10:36]
A
Absolutely. And I think that if you're a thinking person, you're not agreeing with every single thing that your preferred politician is saying or doing. I think that the most that we can all hope for is a little bit of compromise.
- [10:51]
B
Right.
- [10:51]
A
You know, and there are some of my conservative friends and you know, I love and respect them and there are things that they will not compromise on ever. And I understand that and I get that. But like, I'm not that guy.
- [11:03]
B
Yeah.
- [11:03]
A
And I don't think that I attract people in terms of, if they're listening to Can't Cancel Rob Smith or if they're following me on Instagram or on any of the socials. I don't think that, that I attract people that are looking for that guy. I honestly don't even think that you would be very interested, you know, in my perspective, if, like, if I was that guy. And I don't think any of your listeners would be either.
- [11:28]
B
Yeah. Because then you're not forming your own opinions.
- [11:31]
A
No, man, you're not forming your own opinions. And from what I see in terms of, you know, this sort of like conservative ecosphere that's happening right now, I think that when you start talking about different things, when you start talking about health and wellness, which I like to talk about, like when you start talking about physical fitness, as I'm on sort of like this constant journey to try to maintain some kind of shape. Right. As you talk about entrepreneurship, as I'm learning what, you know, what, what is the business of podcasting, what is the business of being a digital media entrepreneur, what is the business of all of this stuff in. In my journey, like, the politics are great, and I believe in that stuff, and I'll always stand on that stuff. But, you know, I've learned a lot about myself as an entrepreneur, you know, during this journey. I've learned that, you know, I'm actually a businessman that's actually really good at making money, you know, and that's a part of all this.
- [12:26]
B
Yeah, and we'll dive into that. I want to dive into the health stuff first because you used to be fat.
- [12:30]
A
Oh, man, I was a fat kid. I was. I was a fat boy. Non. Not a PC thing to say, but I grew up. I grew up heavy, man. And, you know, it was. You know, I don't even know if I can put the numbers on it. The only number that I can give you is, I can tell you, what is it, 20, 24. I can tell you that about 2008, 2009, I was about 245 pounds. If you go to my Instagram at Rob Smith online, I share some, like, before and after photos because I've been much heavier than what I am right now, but I've also been like, much leane. So it's a process. And I got to tell you, when I was heavier, what I can really point to is just a lack of knowledge about food, a lack of knowledge about the things that I should be eating, how much of it I should be eating, and what I should be doing in order to maintain shape. So when I was younger and I was always a little bit different, right, I was always kind of like the smart kid, the dorky kid. You know, when you're a black kid going to high school, you know, in Akron, Ohio, and everybody's playing sports and like, maybe you're in the books, maybe you're into different things. I had turned to food for comfort, for emotion. And I think that a lot of people do, and I do like a little bit of a fitness consulting on the side. And the first thing that I tell people is you have to take your emotions out of food, like, think about food as fuel and think about what fuel is going to get me where I need to go. So when I was a lot heavier, there was a lot of food as comfort food. You know, it's chips, it's pizza, it's junk. And I still, to this day, you know, fall prey to that sometimes. But there is a knowledge. Even when I am sort of taking comfort in food, sometimes there's a knowledge of what I should be eating and what I shouldn't be eating. And I think that with the obesity issue that we have in this country, a lot of people literally just do not know what they should and shouldn't be eating. I will tell you, you know, as you know, a black man, I come from a long lineage of, you know, we got the soul food, right. We got the, the fried chicken, we got the Mac and cheese, you know, we got the sweet potato pie. We have all of that stuff that is not doing us any favors health wise. So I had to learn, you know, what oil sees. I had to learn about vegetables, I had to learn about proteins, I had to learn about protein intake. And what I tell people when we have this conversation about physical fitness is like, you can look at me, obviously I go to the gym. Obviously I left. Obviously I do all that stuff. But all of this stuff starts in the kitchen.
- [15:12]
B
Yeah.
- [15:13]
A
And what I always do to get myself back together, which I'm going to start another one of in a couple of days because I think I'm a little heavier than I'd like to be right now. Although I think I, you know, I'm not. I don't think I'm scaring any kids right now. But, you know, I could be more ripped. I always like to do a whole 30. And a whole 30 is just 30 days of completely clean eating. Like no booze, no processed foods. You're eating lean meats, fruits and vegetables. And that will start changing your body. You will lose what you need to lose. But you will also kind of reformulate your relationship with food. Now you're like 10ft tall.
- [15:55]
B
Yeah.
- [15:56]
A
I don't think, you know, you don't have these issues. But Look, I'm a 5 foot 10 dude and 10 extra pounds on me. You know, you start looking a little wide, especially when you work on camera, especially when sort of digital video is your life.
- [16:09]
B
I feel that.
- [16:09]
A
And I'm coming off, you know, it sounds crazy that it's literally October and I'm talking about coming off of summer. But you know, one of the perks and benefits of digital media entrepreneurship is being able to work when you want to work.
- [16:23]
B
Yeah.
- [16:23]
A
And I've taken a lot of trips this summer. I was, you know, I was alcohol free for like 14 months, which was great. I, you know, came back to drinking more socially this summer. So between the drinking socially and the traveling and all that stuff, there's a little bit that was put on. And so I'm going to rein it back in and I'm going to take 30 days to kill the booze, kill the Food that I know I shouldn't be eating and to refocus my energy and efforts on health and fitness. And when you do that, that not only changes your body, but it changes your mind.
- [16:57]
B
I love that. It's cool to see politicians talking about health this election.
- [17:00]
A
Yeah.
- [17:00]
B
Like RFK stepping up big.
- [17:01]
A
Yeah. Make America healthy again. And there is this mix, there's like this, this, this inter. That's going on between the health and wellness community and the political community. There's a, you have a friend that's at Turning Point usa. Like she does a podcast with them as well, but she's all about health and wellness from kind of like the perspective of a young woman, the perspective of, of somebody that wants to be a mother one day. And you find a lot of people that will be kind of drawn into a different way of thinking. And you're not gonna get everybody by screaming at them about politics all the time. You wouldn't be as big as you are if you were just like all about politics, like all the time. You have to bring people in different ways. And the RFK thing and how he's building coalitions that are about, hey, I was this Democrat, I ran for president, it didn't work out. But you know what? I think Trump is gonna win and I wanna be an asset to him. When we start talking about health and wellness, I think that that's crucial.
- [18:05]
B
Absolutely. And it's relating with a lot of people because everyone knows someone in their family that's dealing with some health stuff.
- [18:09]
A
Yeah. Dealing with health stuff, dealing with obesity, or just dealing with the struggle that is, you know, after a certain age, you know, trying not to get above that, you know, that 10, 15 pound mark. This is what I tell all my listeners, that if we're doing the health and wellness stuff because I do like Motivation Mondays and I do Fitness Fridays because I've not had a perfect life, I've not had an easy life, but I've always overcome. Right. So I like doing Motivation Mondays and Fitness Fridays on Can't Cancel Rob Smith. And with the fitness, what I always tell people is like wherever you are in your fitness journey, like when you get to where you want to be, know what your goal weight is for you. And this is not you trying to look like some six pack fitness influencer. This not you trying to look like the rock. Like, this is not you trying to look like anybody else but yourself. But try not to get any more than 10 to 15 pounds above where your ideal self is. Because when you get above those 10 to 15 pounds. It becomes so much harder to take off, man. It becomes so much harder because those 15 become 20, that 20 becomes 30. Then all of a sudden, you're looking in the mirror and you're 50 pounds overweight, and that's a heavy lift. Now, I look at myself in the mirror right now and know that, yeah, your boys got a drop 10, you know, but I need. I know how to do that. And I think that is where the knowledge about health, fitness, wellness, what you should be eating, what you shouldn't be eating comes in. And I think, honestly, it's even more important than the gym stuff, because the gym stuff, no matter what you're doing in the gym, if you're right in the kitchen, you're going to get to where you need to be.
- [19:52]
B
I agree. I think people focus on the gym more than the health, but it should be the other way around.
- [19:56]
A
Yeah.
- [19:57]
B
Yeah, absolutely. I went through your Twitter, dude, bro, you got some raw tweets. We got to go through some of these.
- [20:03]
A
Oh, let's do it.
- [20:04]
B
You tweeted out that Kamala Harris is not black, neither is Barack Obama.
- [20:07]
A
Oh, all right. So you're gonna. Okay, let's get into it. This guy. This got me. This video got yanked from Tick Tock when I did.
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B
Oh, it did?
- [20:16]
A
Yeah, man. Tick Tock is very, if you're right, leaning. You really got to toe the line. All right, so let's get into it. Barack Obama is not black. He is a biracial man. He is equally white and black. I think that that is to be respected. I have an issue as a black man with people that opt into a black identity that are biracial, and they use that for political reasons. Right. I don't like it. Now, Kamala Harris is even less black than Barack Obama because Kamala Harris's mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican. Right. And her father is also biracial because he's got some Irish in his heritage as well. So you have a woman that is not. Not from black American ancestry at all. And if you want to really get into that. And I think I should get into this a little bit more on my podcast. A lot of black Americans are now starting to have the conversation about who is or isn't black, because a lot of black Americans right now are still dealing with some of the negative aspects of the history of slavery in this country. Right. And, like, I'm not that guy. We're not going to get into all of that. But there are people that are having that conversation in the black community. So when you see a Kamala Harris, who is biracial, Indian and Jamaican, who was raised in Montreal, by the way, and who has had, by all accounts, a very privileged upbringing, use a black American identity for political purposes. So she goes to Howard, which is an hbcu, she pledges, aka, which is a historically black sorority. And she's doing all of these things. It's very obvious in service of a potential political career. Right. This is what I believe in an.
- [21:57]
B
Elaborate plan from the start, I think.
- [21:59]
A
Absolutely. You look, when you get into the political world, you meet some of the slimiest people that you'll ever meet in your life. None more slimy than the people that have been running for office since they were 20 years old. These are people that will do anything and they have a long term plan.
- [22:16]
B
Wow.
- [22:17]
A
So I do believe that her plan was to eventually become like, look at what where she is. This woman is. Has at least a 50% chance of becoming president of the United States. If Joe Biden dropped dead right now, she would be the president of the United States. Right. That doesn't happen overnight. What I will say is that the powers that be kind of are projecting a black American identity onto her that isn't particularly authentic. This is why I did a video on TikTok that got like almost 10 million views. Just making fun of her different accents that she has with. With different audiences. You know, this is. This is her doing, like, this is not me. So as somebody that is black American, as somebody who's, you know, who has a lineage of slavery and all of that stuff, I take offense to someone that is not a black American. That's someone that does not have that lineage of slavery. In fact, Kamala Harris family owns slaves. Right. So when I see this and I see this person being pushed on me in a way that my identity as a black American is somehow questioned if I do not support this person. To me, that's completely insane.
- [23:28]
B
Right.
- [23:29]
A
And I call it out, you know, it gets spicy on Twitter. My Twitter is spicier than anything else because that is the last bastion of free speech on the Internet.
- [23:37]
B
Absolutely.
- [23:37]
A
I can't be as spicy on Twitter. I can't be as spicy on TikTok Insta like any of the other platforms as I can be on Twitter.
- [23:46]
B
TikTok banned me for my Tulsi Gabard interview.
- [23:49]
A
Really?
- [23:49]
B
Yeah.
- [23:49]
A
Did they. They brought you back on, right?
- [23:51]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [23:52]
A
Just.
- [23:53]
B
It didn't even get many views. But I think her. I think they have AI that flags the face.
- [23:57]
A
Yes.
- [23:57]
B
So she's got to be on some list there.
- [23:59]
A
She's got to be. And, you know, I told the line, like, I'm very. I'm new to TikTok. I'm not verified yet. Like, I'm trying to get verified right now. And I really toe the line. Like, I don't go that hard on Tik Tok. I keep it very sort of like casually center right there.
- [24:13]
B
Yeah.
- [24:14]
A
And I get. I go as hard on politics as I will go on Twitter and on the podcast when I do the couple of hyper political episodes a week, because I try to make it all politics all the time. But there is a conversation to be had about, like, censorship in this country.
- [24:32]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [24:33]
A
You know, and I think that Elon opened up the conversation when he bought X. Because I've been on X, Twitter, whatever you want to call it, for years now. And I remember Even in the 2019, 2020 era, as a conservative, had done all this national media stuff, again, all this press could not get verified to save my life on Twitter.
- [24:53]
B
Wow.
- [24:54]
A
My tweets were going absolutely nowhere. And I, like, backed off of Twitter for a really long time because it was like, well, if I'm going to be this suppressed, why should I even be here? So I backed off of Twitter and I focused on, you know, other things. But I personally think that all of these social media platforms should be broken up because the founding fathers that have our, you know, that creator First Amendment, the right to free speech, the most fundamental right that we have as Americans, they did not know that, you know, some shadowy people that nobody ever elected or nobody ever chose could be in that much of a position of power over the free speech rights of Americans. You know, and it's. It's everywhere. It's YouTube, it's Google, it's TikTok. It's pretty much everywhere but X right now.
- [25:45]
B
X and parler and rumble. That's a.
- [25:47]
A
In Parler Rumble. Absolutely, man. Absolutely.
- [25:49]
B
Definitely TikTok. Yeah. Facebook already announced they were doing it, so that's not even.
- [25:53]
A
And you know, is somebody that. There's a lot of people that say a lot of stuff online that I don't like about. About black people, about Jews, about gays, about, like, there's a lot of people that say a lot of things that I don't like, but it is their right as Americans to say that. And I think that when you hear speech that can be qualified as hate speech, if that's what you want to call it, let the people decide if this is something that they want to hear or not. And I've noticed in particular, like, since X has opened up, I think that there's some very controversial figures that were allowed to be on X. And honestly, I think that when more people are exposed to these people and if they're exposed, if they're exposing the crazy to a lot of people, the people will tune out. They will make their own decisions. Right. But I don't think that it's up to a lot of unelected, shadowy people to make that decision for the American people.
- [26:54]
B
Agreed. And that's how I treat the podcast I'll have on like Democrats.
- [26:57]
A
Yeah.
- [26:57]
B
Republicans. Doesn't matter, because I'm going to let my audience decide how they feel about it.
- [27:00]
A
Exactly. The people will decide. All right. If like, you know, I joined TikTok six months ago, I can't cancel Rob Smith. It was went from 0 to 140 in six months, which was crazy. Right. And what I tell people about social media is that like 90% of social media is just showing up. If people thought I was crazy, if they thought I was a crackpot, if they thought I wasn't entertaining, if they thought that this guy is crazy, I don't. Then they just wouldn't have consumed the content 100%. They wouldn't follow me. Like, they wouldn't listen, you know, so you got to let the people decide, man.
- [27:32]
B
Yeah. Do you think for the first time ever, we'll see the black vote go Republican this election?
- [27:37]
A
No, no, no, I don't.
- [27:39]
B
Oh, wow.
- [27:40]
A
And like, that's my actual thought about this. And you know, look, I don't, I'm a Republican, you know, I don't work for any conservative organizations. I don't work for the RNC or anything like that. I think the honest truth about the black vote is that it will continue to go 90% for Democrats. Because what I think that people don't understand about the black community is that voting for Democrats and liberalism is so deeply entrenched in that community, I don't think it's going anywhere. I think that what will happen is less black people will start showing up for Democrats. And the reality of the situation, and this is a non politician answer, the reality of the situation is that when Democrat, when blacks just stop showing up for Democrats, that is when Republicans win. Because you will have a lot of African Americans, you have a lot of black people in this country that know that the Democrats are wrong, that know that Democrats have taken them for granted, that know that Democrats are making moves in making this country the border of this country less secure, which brings in an influx of illegal immigrants, which, by the way, go straight to black American communities and overwhelm those resources, overwhelm those schools, overwhelm those public resources. Black people realize that. And I think that they will stop showing up for Democrats. But then again, at the same time, these black people will never vote for Republicans. These black people will never vote for Trump. They will Never vote for J.D. vance. Because the Republican brand and the brand of Trump and the brand of anybody that has an R next to their name has been so tarnished in the eyes of black people that they will step back from the process and they will say, I will never vote for Donald Trump. But if he wins, it's whatever. You know, I remember what my life was like, you know, and this is just the minds of the average American. Right? The average black. The average American in general. Right. But we'll just say black American because you asked me about black people. The average black American can truly think back to their life between 2016 and 2016. 2020. And they know that it was better. They know that gas was cheaper. They know that groceries were cheaper. They know that everything was much less expensive. And so let's get into what, you know, Biden in the Kamala Harris has done. And I think this is a very good point that our Representative Byron Donald's made when he visited the Breakfast Club a couple days ago. The $1.9 trillion act that pretty much has thrown this economy into the recession that we're seeing right now. Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaker vote.
- [30:30]
B
Wow.
- [30:31]
A
Yeah. She cast the tiebreaker vote. You know, the Vice President has the ability to cast the tie breaking vote in a divided Senate. So now am I going to put this all on Kamala Harris? Of course I can't. There was a lot of poor choices that were made on both sides of the aisle that led to the creation of that ridiculous bill that has thrown the economics of this country into chaos. But she was a tie breaking vote. And so she is the reason that a lot of people are hurting right now. So I think that since you asked me about black Americans, there are a lot of people that can think to what their lives look like in 2020 and what their lives look like now. And I think that they're going to say some of them will come for Trump. I think that black men in particular are coming more towards the Republican Party. Yeah, I think black men in particular are coming more towards Trump. Black men are becoming more drawn to the Republican Party. And I think that they're going to be like, you know, they'll vote for Republicans. But I think the vast majority of black people, I think the Republican brand is very damaged, and it's going to take decades to improve that in the eyes of most black Americans. So it's still truly do.
- [31:42]
B
It's still 90 10. It's still not drastic.
- [31:44]
A
It's still 90 10. I believe that in 20. 20. 20. Don't quote me on this. I believe it was like 88 12. Wow.
- [31:50]
B
I didn't know it was that much.
- [31:50]
A
Yeah, it was that much. It was still that much. You know, I really dug into the numbers in. In. In 2020. I think I misspoke earlier. I meant 2020. I think it was still 87, 13.
- [32:01]
B
That's crazy.
- [32:02]
A
In 2020. And I'll be very interested. I think Trump's going to win. I will be very interested to see what the breakdown of those numbers is after this election. And I'll probably do an episode of the POD where I really just break down the numbers, because I think that we is. I think that we're going to see a similar split. I think that any Republican that's saying that, you know, Trump's going to get, you know, 20% of the black vote is like living in a fantasy world. But I would be very interested to see how that breaks down between black men and black women, because I think that black men are trending towards the Republican Party and towards.
- [32:41]
B
I had Terrence Williams on yesterday.
- [32:43]
A
Yeah.
- [32:44]
B
So I do see that trend. But black woman, I can't think of many that support him.
- [32:49]
A
No. And you know what, the black women vote, I think, is very interesting. And I always bring up Ron DeSantis in Florida. Now, a lot of people don't realize, because Ron DeSantis is so deeply popular in Florida, and he's a great governor for Florida, that he won his first election by the skin of his teeth. And he actually had a higher percentage of the black female vote than most Republicans had had before. And I know for a fact that they pushed school choice very hard in Florida at that point in time. And I think that that was what flipped the sort of the black female vote, you know, because you're talking about the moms, and you're talking about the moms that want the best for their children. And I think that if you want to talk about where Republicans can really make inroads among black women, because I think that you appeal to black men by talking about, you know, meat and potatoes, entrepreneurship, you know, capitalism, you know, Secure the border. But since I don't think that it's not PC to say that women are more emotional than men, that we are, you know, we're different, women and men are different. And I think that an emotional school choice appeal that's specifically directed to black women about how school choice can positively impact the lives of their children. I think that's a really good way to, to bring some women over to the Republican side. Black women.
- [34:09]
B
I think parents are waking up to the school stuff too.
- [34:11]
A
Oh, my God. You know, I mean, man, you're talking to somebody that went to a high school that was literally rated, I think, D or F by the Ohio Board of Education. I never, I, you know, I've never. I don't say the name of my high school publicly because I don't want to put them out like that. But we could do a whole another two hours on the public school system, how it trains. It trains kids to be robots and zombies. I think that with male children in particular, no matter what the color is, I think that it sort of trains them to be, you know, to sit still. Like, it trains them to be just like a little bit more docile than young boys are. And I think that there's so many issues with that. Like, I want to be a father one day. I would never put my children in the public school system.
- [35:05]
B
No shot ever.
- [35:07]
A
Like, not in a million years.
- [35:08]
B
No shot. I got bullied. I got, I was in a fear based state because worrying about grades and I learned nothing.
- [35:15]
A
Yeah, a fear based state. And you were, your child, you were bullied in high school. I was bullied as well. You know, like when you're the black kid who. I think that I was kind of gay coded in high school. You know, I, you know, I really know what my sexuality was like at that point, but I think was gay coded in high school. I was definitely like more sort of intellectual, more bookish. My athleticism, which is actually crazy that I didn't discover, I didn't discover my natural athleticism until I was like literally in my 30s.
- [35:46]
B
Whoa, that's late.
- [35:47]
A
Yeah, it was, I was, I was late bloomer athletically because it just was never really brought out of me in high school. And I think that there was also a mentality in my mind and also again, single, single mother household. Right. Like, I think that, you know, a male and female influence is definitely needed, you know, for young kids, especially male children. Right. But you know, that fear based state is very interesting because you are in a fear based state when you're in the public school system. Don't take risks. Study for the test. Know this, know that, and then be a good little cog to go into the machine so that you can sit at a desk for the rest of your life and work for somebody else.
- [36:30]
B
Yep. And they just pulled a bunch of college students. This came out last week. I think 86% of them say they regretted paying all that money for college.
- [36:37]
A
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I was blessed enough, you know, I have military service. You know, I, I joined the military right of high school, did a tour in Iraq, did all that stuff. I was blessed enough to have the GI Bill.
- [36:49]
B
Yeah.
- [36:49]
A
Which took care of a big chunk of my undergrad. I think I had like, I think I had something like $40,000 in student loan for undergrad. I don't regret that. Syracuse was a great experience. But I was blessed enough to have a military program that paid for my graduate degree from Columbia for broadcast journalism. It's $150,000 degree. And I tell a lot of people that are interested in sort of the journalism, media industry, the worst thing you can do for yourself really is to. Oh my God. Is to shell out $150,000 for a journalism program. I will give you a story about that. So granted, you know, like I said, the military program paid for my degree, so I didn't have to shell out for Columbia. So I've got this big, flashy Columbia University master's degree in journalism. The top journalism school in the world. They make you think that that is just going to be your entree into the entire media industry. And it just wasn't for me. You know, I struggled. I got my first job after graduate school at Columbia University by learning Final Cut Pro on YouTube.
- [37:55]
B
I love it.
- [37:56]
A
And working for a digital media sort of like chop shop. We did entertainment oriented videos and all that other stuff. I got that job because I learned Final Cut Pro on YouTube. And I tell everybody, if you're interested in, you know, being a commentator, journalism, media, whatever, just go do it. Go podcast, start a tick tock, get on Twitter. All of these tools are available to you. Like that phone right there can literally like the phone changed my life because I just started, I worked in mainstream media for years and it was going nowhere. It was going, you know, where it's headed, where it was headed towards me maybe getting to the point where I was making like maybe I would, after 15 years of the industry, I'd maybe be making like 250, maybe.
- [38:51]
B
Wow.
- [38:52]
A
As a senior, like top level producer Right. It's very hard to make it on camera. But let's say I gave up trying to make it on camera and I just went to be producing. It was leading me towards a path where I was like some 45 year old senior producer at one of the networks making 180 to $230,000 a year and getting chopped unceremoniously and them hiring somebody else that they could pay a third of that to do the same job job. Because I've seen it happen to people in that industry. And I said, I got fired from or laid off, quote, unquote, from my last job in traditional media. It was Yahoo News. It was my first. Like that was when I hit six figures for the first time. And everybody thinks like, oh my God, six figures is so great. Like it was like nothing, right? Because it was taxes and all that. They chopped me via email the week before Thanksgiving. Whoa. That was my last job in traditional media. That was the last time I've ever reported to an office. And that was in 2016 or 2017, I think it was 2017. My last job in an office. And I said, I'm never putting myself in a position again where somebody is going, I was good at that job. I'm never putting myself in a position again where somebody is going to fire me via email the week before Thanksgiving and not think of another thought about me. Never again. Ruthless, because people don't care about you. So you have to build your own. You have to own your own. And you have to know, like, obviously, who am I telling this to? But obviously, like for, for the listeners, you have to build your own, you have to own your own and you have to know the business. When I got famous, quote unquote, in this industry five years ago, you know, it was great because there was all this attention I was getting, all this followers and all this other stuff, stuff, but I still didn't know the business of this industry. Like, I was still running around cable news sets thinking that that mattered. And by the way, not being paid by these networks as well. Right? Because unless you're a paid contributor to these networks, like, you're not getting paid, you're just doing it for the cloud or for the press or for whatever. And not knowing the business of YouTube, not knowing the business of podcasting, not knowing that you can make money, you know, via Facebook and via TikTok and all these other things. And so all of that is what I've had to learn, you know, over the past, you know, five years. And there's A lot of people that really do believe in journalism and believe in media, and I think that when deployed the right way, journalism can be very important. I don't think that anything that any of these people are doing right now can be construed as journalism at all. But I tell the people that come to me, I say, start that podcast, start that YouTube channel, get on TikTok, get on Twitter, figure it out, and figure out the business of all this stuff. Because we're in an era right now, and it wasn't like this even five, six years ago where I can fully sustain myself via these platforms. Yeah, but you got to know the business.
- [42:01]
B
That's where I'm at, too.
- [42:01]
A
Yeah, man.
- [42:02]
B
Yeah. Just because you have followers doesn't mean you can make money, too.
- [42:04]
A
And do you know how many people that have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media are broke?
- [42:11]
B
A lot.
- [42:11]
A
It's.
- [42:12]
B
I know.
- [42:13]
A
What's that?
- [42:13]
B
Even people in millions broke.
- [42:15]
A
Because, man, it's very hard to monetize this stuff, and it's very hard to know how to monetize it. And unless you are, you know, lucky enough to, I would say, like, get picked up by a larger network, and I'm kind of like, in the space right now where all of my stuff is Indiana. Like, I know how to make money from this. Right. I know how to budget myself and how to sustain myself. I know how to spend on what. I know how to get the sponsors. I know how to make money. But at the same time, like, I'm in the space right now where I have so many different interests that I'm like, okay, I need to, like, build this up and kind of, like, get picked up by a larger network. So all of these things, like, the content stuff becomes turnkey.
- [42:58]
B
Yeah.
- [42:58]
A
And then I can focus on, like, doing more consulting work, and I can focus on doing more speaking work, and I can focus on doing more books. I can focus on even doing more stuff in the political scene. Right. But there's a lot of people that have huge followings and huge platforms that are not making money from these platforms.
- [43:16]
B
And that's the question I get asked the most, how to get more followers. But that's the wrong mindset.
- [43:19]
A
Yeah.
- [43:20]
B
You need to be focusing on the content, bro.
- [43:23]
A
The thing about it's really funny, like, oh, how do I get more followers? Like, when I first started. And it's really funny, like, 10k is, like, that number in everybody's head when they first started. Right. 10k is the big deal. Right. And you think, like, if I can just get to 10k. I will just like I'll be made, like I'll be set and then that 10k becomes 50, then becomes 100, then it becomes 3. Because whatever. Fundamentally, if you just keep showing up, the people will come to you. But followers don't mean anything because let me tell you, there are people with. We'll say, I think I have about 1.4 million followers on all social platforms, right? We're talking Facebook, tick tock, YouTube, Twitter, whatever. There are people that probably have 10% of my following that are out earning me right now because they have a dedicated fan base and they also are selling different things to their listeners. And that's the phase that I'm in right now as an entrepreneur that I'm shifting into to where, you know, we talked a lot about the media stuff and we talked a lot about, you know, the journalism, media industry as well. So how can I create a course where I'm like Digital Media 101. What are all of these things that I've learned that I can put into a 30, 40, $50 course and really sell to people and really give them something that they can use? Because one of the biggest categories in sales in this whole thing is education. People want to use these social media platforms to learn something. And that's why I started not moving away from the politics, but not that being the only thing that I do. Because if politics is the only thing that you do, then the only thing that you have to sell people is your political content and your videos and your ideas and all that stuff. And like that's whatever. But you also get to the point where you want to help people. And like I do a little bit of fitness stuff. I think the fitness stuff, I think the fitness space is a little saturated with people that are a lot better at it than me. So I don't focus on that. But what I do focus on is I can teach you how to go from 0 to 10,000 followers. You know what I mean? If you're a journalism person, if you're a media person, if you really want to do this, I can teach you how to do that. And so that's my next focus. And that's one of my goals for 2025 with all of this. Because if I know anything about the political space is that the attention span of most people drops off the day after election. Like most people caring, you know, so you have to have something more to give people.
- [46:02]
B
Yeah, I think in November, views are going to be down probably at least 50% on political content.
- [46:06]
A
Oh, yeah. And if all you're doing is political content, Because I've seen it happen. Like I saw it happen last election cycle when I was like, hardcore politics. And then it just drops off. Like, you have to give people something outside of that.
- [46:20]
B
Absolutely. Have you had any conversations with Don Lemon?
- [46:23]
A
I have not, man.
- [46:24]
B
You have not?
- [46:25]
A
I've, you know, I've never, like, I knew Don Lemon back when I was a lib and I had a couple of interactions with him at different events. He's a bit of a snob. You know, you have to meet him three or four times before he will acknowledge your existence. Whoa. Oh, yeah. He's a snob. And the Don Lemon thing has been very interesting to see because I do believe Don will be back at CNN at some point within the next couple. Absolutely. Absolutely. I will be. Because he is not smart enough to carry his own brand via digital media. He's not smart enough. He needs the team because he doesn't want to be open and honest about who he is, which is pretty center right. Like, I think that Don Lemon is a pretty center right guy. I used to share all this political content on my Facebook page, and one of them was a clip that goes viral among conservatives all the time about. He made Some comments in 2013, black men, pull your pants up. Nobody wants to smell the weed smoke, like all that stuff. And that went viral. So I think that who Don Lemon truly is is kind of like either an old school lib or kind of like a center right leaning. But when you built the brand that he's built and you're kind of like owned by the left, you're not going to be that. And so that's why his entire digital media presence is not doing well. Because in the age of digital media, you have to be yourself.
- [47:58]
B
Facts.
- [47:59]
A
You got to be yourself. Because if you are lying and if you're phoning it in, people see it, people smell it, and it is repulsive to people. If you are not being your true self, it's repulsive to people. Social media, Don Lemon is not being his true self. I believe that he will be back at cnn. He needs this, the structure behind him. He needs that behind him. And I think that he'll probably, you know, absorb whatever digital media operation that he has built back into cnn. I think that they both need each other. And I think that when you look at cnn, they're so obviously going back to kind of like that Jeff Zucker playbook of being very anti Trump. Look, I. I Don't want to get too overconfident, but I think everybody kind of knows that Trump is about to be president again.
- [48:45]
B
Yeah.
- [48:46]
A
And I think that for the mainstream media, a lot of people, particularly cnn, MSNBC or whatever, they're just going to go all in on the Trump hate train because this is what they know how to do. Like, this is what makes them money. All right? And so I think that Don Lemon bag at CNN is a win, win for both of them. He got the bag from CNN because they. I think that why he got shown the door at cnn, I think that that was kind of like he got a little railroaded. And I feel the same way about when Megan Kelly's relationship with NBC ended because of the blackface comment. She got railroaded there, too. Like, that wasn't fair. So I can be equal enough and say that both of these people got shown the door and got a big bag on the way out, by the way, in ways that were not fair. I think that CNN and Don Lemon are going to make nice again. I think that he will be back there before the midterms.
- [49:39]
B
Wow.
- [49:40]
A
Absolutely. Like, you heard it here first. That is my prediction.
- [49:42]
B
Clip that up. And then you got the opposite trajectory with Candace Owens. She is just blowing up, man.
- [49:47]
A
Candace is okay. Like, when I look at Candace's path, I'm like, man, she made now, she isn't always, you know, she's controversial. She's going to tell you what she believes. But the trajectory of her career is brilliant because she got the bag from Daily Wire for three. She was with them for three years. From what I hear that that was a, we'll say, multimillion dollar contract over those two years. So she got the bag from Daily Wire, learned the business, okay. Learn the business of podcasting and media. All of this stuff off, completely demolish that bridge. Like, that bridge is burnt. Like, that bridge is destroyed. In politics, sometimes people can kind of come back together again and all that stuff. Like, look at who the vice presidential candidate is right now, right? Candace Owens and Daily Wire, like, they're done, right? So from a business perspective, now she's come back what people don't understand. And will you understand this because you independently own your podcast now, Candace Owens has come back to the tune of an. A podcast that she completely owns 100% of, by the way. She has learned the business from Daily Wire, got the bag from them, learned the business, and is, like, now doing her own thing and is killing it. And what I always say, look, do it. You don't have to agree with everything that somebody says to, like, look at the business. You know what I mean? Like, I'm, like, focused on the business, and the business acumen, like, was executed beautifully.
- [51:22]
B
Yeah.
- [51:23]
A
Now she pissing a lot of people off right now. Absolutely. Like, that's what Candace.
- [51:26]
B
She got demonetized on YouTube last week.
- [51:28]
A
Yeah. Did she. Did they bring her back?
- [51:30]
B
I don't know. But either way, she'll be able to sell that thing for a lot of money when she's ready.
- [51:34]
A
Yeah, man. So, like, now she's going Indian. She's built, and now when she decides that she doesn't want to do that anymore, then that's, like, it's brilliant.
- [51:42]
B
Yeah. There's been six podcasts acquired for over 80 million this year.
- [51:45]
A
That's wild.
- [51:46]
B
So she'll be next. I think Theo Vaughn will be next. I mean, there's some podcast empires being built before our eyes, man.
- [51:52]
A
If you. In, like, if that podcast empire is, like, the thing that you want to do, like, just you can build it up and you can sell it. Like, I'm. You know, we have a conversation more about kind of like, what I want to do with my. My thing, because, honestly, I don't, you know, the media thing and the podcasting thing. Like, this is what I'm doing right now. I think that there are maybe some other things more explicitly in the political realm that I think that I may want to do in the future. So I definitely see the trajectory with this podcasting thing. And, like, a lot of people think that podcasting is saturated, but I really don't.
- [52:32]
B
I don't think it is.
- [52:33]
A
I don't think it is. I think that the people that are blowing right now, like, are we going to see, like, a lot of 80 million, $90 million podcast deals? No. But I think that people are so starved for authenticity, and I think that when people find their person, like, you know, I've been doing. Can cancel Rob Smith for years at this point, but it's been. I will say that when I first started, you know, when you have a lot of people around you and, like, when you're around Trumps and when you're doing the mainstream media thing right now, like, I think that sometimes you are not respectful enough of your audience, and I think that sometimes when you get knocked down a couple of pegs and when some of the other stuff, somebody. You're just like, man, you're in a place where, you know, my audience, like, my people, like, my problematics, my. My podcast used to be called Rob Smith is problematic now it can't cancel Rob Smith but like those are your people, you know, so you got to think about those people before you start thinking about any of this other stuff before you're thinking about the RNC or Trumps or Fox or Newsmax or CNN or whoever. Like you gotta think about your audience first, man.
- [53:38]
B
Of course Got to Rob it's been a pleasure man. Where can people find you find your pod and everything?
- [53:42]
A
Yeah you can find can cancel Rock Rob Smith on Apple Podcasts, iHeart podcast. Wherever you get your podcast, you can find me on Twitter or excuse me on TikTok at can cancel Rob Smith and on all other social media handles at Rob Smith online. So Facebook, Instagram X and YouTube is @robsonline man. Thank you so much for the the opportunity, man.
- [54:04]
B
It's been a pleasure. Check out the links below, guys.
- [54:06]
A
All right, man.
- [54:06]
B
See you guys next time. Peace.