Host (2:54)

And so I can only imagine when pudding boy isn't having dementia fits just how disparaging and condescending he must speak about Mike Johnson. But there's something about these MAGA men pumps where they kind of like the humiliation by him. If you think about like Marco Rubio and particularly Ted Cruz, there's something they must get out of it. All right, let's go to the next slide of analysis from the Guardian. The US speaker of the House paraphrasing here, Moses, Mike Grinder. Johnson has developed a go to response when asked about something controversial. Donald Trump. Donald Trump or members of his administration said or did. It's some version of I don't know anything about that. Here are some responses that Johnson has given when asked about Trump and his administration's tactics. I don't know anything about the dinner. I was a little busy this past week, as you know, getting the reconciliation package over the finish line. Another quote from Little Grinder is, I don't know anything about that. I didn't see the interview. And this is about Trump. Here's some more. This is on the jet, the Qatari jet. He says, I'm not following all the twists and turns of the Qatari jet. On Trump saying the military would prioritize combating the quote, enemy from within. Little Grinder says, I didn't see it. And then on the US Attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, he says, I was pretty busy yesterday. I didn't follow a lot of the news. Next slide. This is from Matthew Green, the politics professor at the Catholic University of America. He said it's pretty unusual for a speaker to plead ignorance about what a commander in chief is doing, especially as often as Speaker Johnson. It strains credulity that the speaker of the House would be unaware of what the president is doing when it's common knowledge among reporters and on social media. And so pumps my thing on this and you can probably shed some light is I think there's an intersection here with the inherent denial that a lot of white evangelical Christians live with day to day. And then Moses Mike's ability to, to he knows exactly what's going on. To sit there and he could do you think when he answers these questions, he could pass a polygraph Pumps when he says, I don't know.

Pumps (5:26)

No, I don't think he could pass the polygraph I think he knows exactly what's going on. He knows exactly what the disasters are. And here's the thing, as damning as his, I don't knows are he. If he's not saying, I don't know, he's fucking lying. When he lies about. I want to be so transparent. I just met with the Epstein survivors. I want to be so transparent. Parent dismisses the House so that they don't vote on it, doesn't swear in. A colleague says, we're going to do, you know, we're so good for the economy while he increases the aca. I mean, so he lies constantly. But in terms of him knowing, I think that he knows. He just doesn't know what to say. He's not a talented propagandist like a Caroline Levitt. He can't. He has to just straight up lie. But when he's not prepared for the lie, he ducks and text enrolls too. I don't know.

Host (6:19)

But okay, let me ask you this. What do you think the bargain is in his mind? Like, you know, he's all about Christianity, evangelical Christianity, what would Jesus do? Right. And so is the bargain. I often wonder with a lot of these people who know how immoral, amoral Trump is, is the bargain that we're delivering a Christian nationalist nation to God, is that the bargain? Or is it. Do we think he has compromising information on little Grinder? It's just fascinating to me to see somebody with a title that has so much power. I've really never seen this in American politics ever, where somebody gets to a position, speaker of the House, you have so much power. And he abdicates it every day, multiple times a day. And I just wonder what the internal bargain is, or if there is one.

Pumps (7:20)

Well, he's third in line to the presidency, so for him to say I don't know, is straight up incompetent competence if it's not a lie.

Host (7:28)

I've.

Pumps (7:28)

We've talked about this before about I'm delivering a Christian nation so I can, you know, lie and cheat and steal the American people.

Host (7:38)

Gotta do Grinder stuff.

Pumps (7:40)

Yeah. And the Grindr stuff, I mean, that's an obvious one. But honestly, having been raised an evangelical Christian, and the cognitive dissonance that if I please Trump, regardless of how bad his actions are or my actions are, I'm immune to consequences because I'm better. 40% of my districts on Medicaid, I don't give a. I'm gonna them because Trump's one. Trump wants me to. He can dismiss the morality questions, the ethical questions. Because a Christian, that's what you do. You don't examine feelings.

Host (8:19)

Every morning I have to get up to prepare for Ihip news. There's so much information and most importantly, there's so much misinformation. Here are two headlines that I want to prove this point to you. Here's a left leaning headline, Trump diverts Congress approved funds for Warrior Dividend. Because I use the Ground News Vantage plan, I know that this article has a high factuality. Obviously I'm going to pick to read that. Here is a right leaning publication with the following headline. TRUMP Over 1 million military service members to get quote Warrior Dividend because of the Ground News Vantage plan. It tells me this has mixed factuality. Obviously not going to read that because who wants to be misinformed? This is why I love Ground News. They're like the Spotify of news, telling you who owns each outlet where it leans politically and whether you're reading original reporting or recycled messaging. Listener, join us by going to ground news.comforward/ihib to get 40% off the ground News Vantage plan that pumps and I use every single day. They're subscriber funded and our favorite part is that they are female. Founded by subscribing, you're not only getting a tool we all need today, you're also supporting our work. That's ground G R O U N D news.com forward/IHIP Seth is linking this right below in the show notes. Do you think they're prime because there's a lot of obedience in white evangelical Christianity. You have to be obedient to God, obedient to your parents, obedient to authority. Do you think that this little Moses might Grinder Johnson? The obedience with which he has has been grilled into him his whole life. Because to me, when I see him I think, boy, he is sure obedient. And when I think about really, really deeply religious women that I know, you know, like socially, the, the, the stuff that they say about being obedient to their husbands and getting permission to do things and it's not like, hey, let me check in with my husband and make sure we don't have plans. It's a, it's a permission seeking question. And I just, I see that in him, this obedience and having been raised in all of that and having been an obedient good girl as you were pumps, do you see that as kind of priming him to this role to be so obedient to such an immoral person?

Pumps (10:51)

I Absolutely see it being interrelated. And you also have to think not only is he obedient because that's how he was raised, he's also doing some nefarious on the down low, in my opinion, because his whole life he has covered up for his mentor who had the law school. Oh, guess what?

Host (11:09)

Remind the listener about that. Start at the beginning, because this is some pretty interesting tea.

Pumps (11:14)

Okay, so Mike Johnson was tapped to be the dean of a law school to be based on biblical law, which. I don't know how that works, but okay. And I. I believe it was John Judge Paul Pressler. I'll fact check that name. And so it turns out it took like decades. The law school never opened. This guy that the law school was named after was a religious zealot nut.

Host (11:43)

And the mentor of, and the mentor.

Pumps (11:45)

Of Mike Johnson, before he even came to the law school. Their thickest thief. Turns out at the Southern Baptist Convention, he's sexually assaulting people.

Host (11:55)

Little Grinder has a history of covering up for pedophiles. This is familiar to him.

Pumps (12:01)

It's very familiar. And here's the thing. Covering up bad behavior becomes a way of life, and you just compartmentalize it and it just doesn't exist. So I. I honestly think he knows what's going on. But in his mind, he's doing the right thing. So then with the Epstein files, it feels familiar to cover up for sexual predators. That's what he does. That's all he's ever done. He really hasn't had any success in his adult life. This being third in line to the presidenc is the first time he's ever had a powerful job. And it's just. He just said, I'm going to throw it away. I don't give a. Yeah.

Host (12:43)

And it's amazing to me that you get this type of power and you absolutely 100 abdicate it and choose not to use it. I've never seen anybody in American politics so impotent and so neutered as I have little Moses Mike Grinder Johnson. All right, that's all we have for this episode. Please, like, subscribe, buy our book. Last minute holiday shopping. And we'll be back later with more news.