Bill O'Reilly: The REAL dangers of MAMDANI and The FAKE Shutdown Scam!

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Keeping It Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels

Episode: Bill O'Reilly: The REAL dangers of MAMDANI and The FAKE Shutdown Scam!
Date: November 11, 2025
Host: Jillian Michaels
Guest: Bill O’Reilly

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Overview

In this episode, Jillian Michaels sits down with veteran journalist Bill O’Reilly to unravel the “real dangers” associated with newly elected NYC Mayor Mamdani’s policies and the political theatrics of the recent government shutdown. The candid, sometimes combative conversation explores socialism in American cities, the implications for public safety and taxation, the ongoing immigration debate, and how both Republicans and Democrats are playing the American public.

Jillian pushes O’Reilly to break down complex political narratives into plain English, punctuated with O’Reilly’s signature bluntness and Michaels’ animated skepticism about both right and left media narratives. The episode is packed with memorable quotes, historical analogies, and predictions about the future of New York, American politics, and US-China relations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who is Mamdani and Why is There “Panic” about His Election?

(Begins ~02:00)

• O’Reilly’s Position: Mamdani is “a communist, all right? He wants to, quote, seize the means of production. If you understand what communism is... That's what he is.” (Bill O’Reilly, 02:05)
• O’Reilly asserts Mamdani’s policies will severely undermine public safety and property rights, with police already “despising” him— “That is not going to lead to improved public safety for anyone.” (02:45)
• Michaels’ Observations: The swell of support is based on “a bizarre entitlement that these voters have” and “everything is free.” She worries about “pandering to young people” and wonders who really sets tax policy. (04:24)

Notable Quote:

“He wants to send social workers to domestic disturbances. You know how dangerous they are. Jillian, you ask any police officer anywhere, you’re likely to have been killed, if you’re a cop, is much higher in a domestic disturbance... This is the kind of stuff that if you listen to him and you know the world, you go, that's not going to happen.”
— Bill O’Reilly (03:10)

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2. Taxation, Property, and the "Castro Parallel"

(Begins ~05:00)

• Who sets tax rates? – O’Reilly clarifies only the state legislature can raise income or corporate taxes, not Mamdani himself (05:51).
• O’Reilly draws parallels between Mamdani and Cuba’s Castro, saying these policies “never work anywhere.”
• Mechanics of city taxes: Mamdani can increase city-level taxes, like on “Broadway tickets, games or hot dogs,” (05:51) pushing costs onto everyone.
• Property rights: O’Reilly believes Mamdani’s threat to seize rental properties for non-compliance with city codes is mostly rhetoric; “private property is in the Constitution... But what will happen is Mandani will make so many regulations on landlords... nothing’s going to get done.” (10:04)

Notable Quote:

“Good luck getting your refrigerator fixed. Good luck if you have mice in your apartment. Good luck on anything, because nothing's going to get done. I'll predict here... garbage won't even get picked up, because the unions are going to figure out... We don’t have to do anything, and they won’t.”
— Bill O’Reilly (11:10)

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3. Migration, Safety, and Socio-Political Shifts

(Begins ~07:37, resumes at 15:37)

• O’Reilly notes suburban counties are “rebelling against Mamdani,” with property values “up 20%” because people are fleeing the city (07:51).

• Michaels references Patrick Bet-David’s concerns that the “net migration” is rich people out, “undocumented migrants” in, making the city less safe and more hostile to business.

• O’Reilly: NYC “will tell the police, don’t cooperate with the federal Homeland Security agents,” and, if Trump is president again, federal funds could be cut—“Trump can ruin Mamdani, and I believe he will ruin him.” (18:09)

Notable Quote:

"You're going to be left with a bunch of people who don't want to compete... the real commonality of a socialist communist? We don't want to compete. We don't want to do what it takes to succeed in a capitalistic system."
— Bill O’Reilly (08:41)

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4. Federal-State Power Struggle & “Trump-Proofing” NYC

(Begins ~16:46)

• O’Reilly explains federal funding mechanisms and warns of grave consequences if the city refuses to cooperate on immigration enforcement (16:46–18:52).
• Supreme Court precedent suggests that Trump could legally withhold funding for non-cooperating “sanctuary cities.”
• O’Reilly predicts, “the first time he [Mamdani] does that, the Trump administration will stop all federal money coming to New York.”

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5. The Government Shutdown: “Fake Show?”

(Begins ~23:00)

• Michaels calls the shutdown “a big show,” noting nothing was resolved, just deferred.
• O’Reilly agrees it’s political gamesmanship. Democrats wanted to keep Obamacare spending elevated post-COVID (24:33). The standoff allowed Democrats to win PR points for state-level elections (25:14).

Notable Quote:

“It’s all political gamesmanship with a serious note at the end that the Democratic Party wants socialized medicine. They want the government to run the entire health care system.”
— Bill O’Reilly (24:22)

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6. Voter Sentiment & Economic Angst

(Begins ~27:24)

• O’Reilly: High prices (“food prices, insurance prices”) are driving voter anger and punishing incumbents (27:24).
• On Trump’s new $2,000 handout promise: “It's basically, look, I know you’re suffering, I'm going to give you $2,000 to make you suffer less.” (28:48)
• Michaels compares political giveaways to “pacifying a tantruming child,” frustrated by the “free stuff” rhetoric on both wings.

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7. Is the Trump Economy Really Good?

(Begins ~30:19)

• O’Reilly: “The economy is fairly consistent... If you have a 401k, if you are in the investment class, you’re doing well. But the people who don’t have stocks... are falling further behind and there’s more of them than the investor class.” (30:19)
• Michaels highlights the disconnect between financial-market health and lived economic experiences for most Americans.

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8. US-China Relations & Geopolitics

(Begins ~31:28)

• O’Reilly: Relations are tense, but Xi Jinping is a “businessman,” not like Putin. He’s “not that concerned” about China for now and expects more negotiations may be fruitful. (31:47)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Political Entitlement:
  “There’s a bizarre entitlement that these voters have.” — Jillian Michaels (04:24)
• On City Decline:
  “You’re going to have a filthy, dirty city. You’re going to have a decline, and the poor people always get it worse.” — Bill O’Reilly (11:54)
• On Both-Party Pandering:
  “It just seems... you guys have a meltdown, we’re gonna give you all this free stuff. Vote for us. Oh, they voted for those guys. Let’s give them $2,000. I just, how—I feel like we’re treating everyone like idiots.” — Jillian Michaels (29:26)
• On Media Manipulation:
  “The perception on the American people is it’s Trump’s fault, Republicans fault, because they don’t get a real sharp analysis on the news agencies which favor the Democrats.” — Bill O’Reilly (25:14)
• On New York’s Identity Crisis:
  “My home since Mandani announced he was running is up 20% in value because people are leaving the city, going to the suburbs, getting out of the city limits because it’s too dangerous.” — Bill O’Reilly (07:51)
• On the End Game:
  “What I’m looking at is I want people to be safe. I want criminals to be punished, and I want workers to have a fair paycheck. Call me crazy. That’s what I want.” — Bill O’Reilly (21:52)

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Key Timestamps

• Opening & Mamdani Concerns: 01:18–04:24
• Taxation & Castro Parallels: 05:51–07:37
• Property & Regulations: 09:25–12:13
• Migration/Safety: 15:37–19:41
• Shutdown Analysis: 23:00–26:18
• Economic Angst & Trump’s $2K: 27:24–29:26
• US-China Relations: 31:28–32:42

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Tone & Style

The conversation is frank, animated, and skeptical—O’Reilly brings historical analogies and directness; Michaels is irreverent, pressing for bottom lines and wary of “free stuff” rhetoric from all sides.

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Conclusion

A wide-ranging episode for listeners curious about the high-stakes drama playing out in New York City politics and Washington DC’s fiscal policy. O'Reilly sounds dire warnings about socialist policies, makes predictions about suburban revolt, and exposes the histrionics behind political standoffs—often with colorful, quotable language and forceful conviction. Michaels provides the everyday American’s perspective, translating and challenging both left- and right-wing narratives, leaving listeners both better informed and (rightly) skeptical about the promises of today’s politicians.

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Transcript

[Bill O'Reilly]

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Credits end and balance due. If you pay off early or cancel contact us. But in New York City, with about half of the voters being born overseas now you have a movement to get into this socialism, communism area. Gandani doesn't want to punish what he calls low level crimes. You know what a low level crime is? Punching somebody in the face, breaking their nose, and taking their wallet. That's a low level crime. You're not going to get prosecuted for that. I mean, this is insanity.

[Jillian Michaels]

Keeping it real with Jillian Michaels. All right, guys, we have a special episode. The one and only Bill O'Reilly is here, our number one guest boss. How are you? How have you been?

[Bill O'Reilly]

I'm the same, Jillian, which is tragic for everyone. I never evolved. There's no evolution here. It's just, you know, I was eight years old and now I'm much older, but I'm the same. But thank you for having me on the program.

[Jillian Michaels]

Well, thank you for being here. And I gotta be honest, I'm so glad that you don't change, because once again, I need your help trying to understand two pretty big stories. And it isn't as though I haven't tried. So I want to start out with Mom, Donnie. Everyone's freaking out. Is this justifiable or is this guy like a Republican boogeyman? It's not going to be that bad. You know, we'll get through it. Or, you know, the end of the world is not.

[Bill O'Reilly]

He had a perfect right to run for office. And so that's who our system is. And I have no beef with him. I thought he ran a good campaign, but the guy should tell the truth. He's a communist, all right? He wants to, quote, seize the means of production. If you understand what communism is, which is a government that forcibly takes private property, all right, and then distributes it to people that it wants to. But you don't have any rights. You are to do what the state tells you to do. That's communism. That's what he is. Now he's not going to be able to get that into motion in New York State, because he's got to go through the state legislature and all of that. But the fact that people don't understand who he is and are buying this nonsense about, I'm going to give you this and that I'm going to do, and this I'm going to do in four years, he's going to do a lot of damage to the city. I can't predict exactly how, although I can tell you the police despise him. And that is not going to lead to improved public safety for anyone. Okay? And that's a fact. But unintended consequences are going to come out of him not wanting to punish criminals, even violent criminals. He doesn't want to punish them, wants to close the prisons. He wants to send social workers to domestic disturbances. You know how dangerous they are. Gillian, you ask any police officer anywhere, you're likely to have been killed, if you're a cop, is much higher in a domestic disturbance, saying, you're going to send social workers in there.

[Jillian Michaels]

Right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I mean, this is the kind of stuff that if you listen to him and you know the world, you know stuff, you go, that's not going to happen. But the people who voted for him, more than a million, many of them are really living in a bubble world. They really don't know what it's all about. And he came across as a much more viable candidate than Cuomo or Slieba.

[Jillian Michaels]

Right. Okay. So I have questions about all of the things you just mentioned. I've watched the crowd at his rally, his acceptance speech, and they're chanting, and tax the rich. Yeah, buses will be fast and free. Freeze the rent. Like, it was just they were in this state of, like, everything is free. This is what we want. There's a bizarre entitlement that these voters have. I don't understand. I get it. And I've heard the whole talk. Capitalism isn't working for young people. How can we all pander to young people? But I'm starting to feel like that is what's happening, because Hochul initially, I thought, said, I'm not going to allow him to tax the rich more. They're over 50% of the budget we have for New York, their tax dollars. And now I'm hearing that she is going to let him tax the rich and is going to let him bring in a corporate tax that I guess is from 7 to 11% that comes from New Jersey because they're going to PR marry her if she doesn't allow this. So who decides what the tax Rates are. Is it the governor or is it Mom? Donnie, that's question one. And then do you think if it is the governor, that they can. These kids can pressure her into making this decision?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, the legislature in Albany has to decide whether there's a tax rise on income or profits, not men, Donnie. He doesn't have that power. What Mandani can do is charge you more for Broadway tickets, which he will, or part or games or hot dogs or whatever it may be. There's a New York City tax on this, New York City tax on that. And so you're going to get. Someone's going to get just hammered. And the people that voted for Mandami, they believe that the wealthy are bad.

[Jillian Michaels]

Right?

[Bill O'Reilly]

But that's always been in play. That's how the Russian revolution happened. That's how Cuba lost all freedom and Castro came in. Madami very much like Castro. And now Cuba is the second worst most impoverished nation in the western hemisphere behind Haiti. And that's what been 75 years of poverty there. So it never works anywhere. But for as far as Mamdani is concerned, he's got to propose what he wants to do. It goes then to Albany. They vote on it. Now, Hochul could veto any of it and said that she isn't going to raise taxes. But as you pointed out, the lieutenant governor of New York is going to primary her and he's a left wing loon too, and he'll run to her left. But if Hochul allows any tax rises on anything, she will lose to Elise Stefanik, who's gonna run against her next November. I think Elise is gonna beat her anyway. She's a weak governor. Her number approval numbers are terrible, and Mandani's gonna make them even worse.

[Jillian Michaels]

Okay, all right, that's encouraging. Cuz after the last the elections last week, I just thought there's no hope in a blue state for a red mayor, red governor. It was a wipeout, you know. You think Stefanik has a chance New York?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Sure. Because New York is not. Doesn't tell a tale for the whole entire state. I live about five miles east of New York City, the Queens border and my county, Nassau, went all red, okay. 100% because they were rebelling against Mandani. Right. And you know, my home since Mandani announced he was running is up 20% in value because people are leaving the city, going to the suburbs, getting out of the city limits because it's a too dangerous p. The taxation on anybody making a decent living is onerous and punishing. And so you're going to be left with a bunch of people who don't want to compete. You know, the real commonality of a socialist communist. We don't want to compete. We don't want to do what it takes to succeed in a capitalistic system. And it takes hard work. It takes. You got to be very persistent. It takes education. It takes developing a skill set. They don't want to do that.

[Jillian Michaels]

Right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You just give me mine, guaranteed income, you know, this kind of stuff. All right, well, it's always been that way, but in New York City, with about half of the voters being born overseas, now you have a movement to get into this socialism, communism area.

[Jillian Michaels]

Okay, I want to talk about the immigration aspect, but before we do, you mentioned seizing the means of production, and he's talked about abolishing the concept of private property. And I thought, okay, you know, this is just rhetoric. Now there's a video circulating of this guy talking about rental properties. He's standing in front of one, and he's like, see this bad landlord? See how this place is in disrepair? You know, when I'm mayor, come January 1st, if this guy doesn't make these repairs, the city's gonna take this property. How is that eminent domain? Yeah, he can.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, said he can condemn the property if the property doesn't live up to the code. But that's not what Mandami is in business to do. He wants the city to run the properties, and the landlords who bought the properties, they're going to go, no, it's my property, and you can't take it. And the Constitution backs up, the landlords will do that. Okay? Private property is in the Constitution. Government can't seize private property in this country. Can't do it. Okay? But what will happen is Mandani will make so many regulations on landlords, and most people in New York City live in rental units they don't own. All right? He'll make so many regulations that the landlords won't do anything. So good luck getting your refrigerator fixed. Good luck if you have mice in your apartment. Good luck on anything, because nothing's going to get done. All right? I'll predict here on the Jillian Michaels podcast, garbage won't even get picked up, because the unions are going to figure out pretty fast there's no supervision there at all. We don't have to do anything, and they won't. So you're going to have a filthy, dirty city. You're going to have a decline, and the poor people always get it worse. So the rich people on Park Avenue with the doormen and the private security and the cars that show up and take them wherever they want to go, they'll be kind of protected. The people in the Bronx, the people in Brooklyn, in Bed Stuy, wherever it may be, they're going to be just miscreants all over the place. Because Mandami doesn't want to punish what he calls low level crimes. You know what a low level crime is? Punching somebody in the face, breaking their nose, and taking their wallet. That's a low level crime. You're not going to get prosecuted for that. I mean, this is insanity. So once it starts, that train starts of anarchy, then you're going to see a change. But it's all going to come back to Hochul and those people who supported Mandani in the first place.

[Jillian Michaels]

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[Bill O'Reilly]

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[Jillian Michaels]

Code STAPLE 2020 Patrick Bet David just did a video and he goes, I think your net migration is going to equal out. He goes, however, you're going to lose a million rich people and what you're inviting are undocumented migrants criminals. Because it's like, hey, you know, there's no crime for the kind of things you're talking about. There's no crime for robbing a cvs, which happened in California, for punching someone in the face and taking their wallet. They had cash, free bail. All of these things are going to invite the worst of the worst. And he basically was like, hey, I'm going to trump proof this city. You want to get to one of us, you got to get to through all of us. So what in Kent, what can he do? To quote Trump proof his city with regard to illegal immigration. Can he stop the guard or that's the governor, can he tell the police to stand down? Like, what is his power there? I've heard he's raising millions of dollars for legal defense funds for people here illegally. Or is this all just baloney again?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, a couple of questions in there. Number one, in your state, since Newsom has been the governor, almost a million people, most of them high taxpayers, have left, but they've been replaced. Not 100%, but I'd say 70% by poor people. So when Jerry Brown, the governor of California, retired, there was a budget surplus. So you had no debt after Newsom. Okay, it's like 350 billion dollar debt or some insane number. I wish I could pull it out of my head, but I can't. But it's insane, right? Okay. The debt, and most people don't know what the debt is, doesn't how it affects them, but it does. It does affect them. So New York City, Mandani will tell the police, don't cooperate with the federal Homeland Security agents. Just don't cooperate. They're doing that in Chicago. All right, the first time he does that, the Trump administration will stop all federal money coming to New York. Right. They only get a dime of federal grant money, which will wipe out unbelievable amount of programs.

[Jillian Michaels]

But he can sue over that, right?

[Bill O'Reilly]

You can.

[Jillian Michaels]

What can Mamdani sue the administration?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay, he, they can file suit, and Congress is the one that okays spending, but they don't okay specific spending. Congress doesn't say, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna let New York City have this amount of money for its school lunch program. Congress doesn't do that. It just allocates money that goes to education. So Trump can say, hey, public safety is a problem here. I'm not pumping money in there. And so far, the Supreme Court has ruled that he can do that. And it was going to take. Trump's got three more years and Mandani's got four. Trump can ruin Mandani, and I believe he will ruin him.

[Jillian Michaels]

And he'll ruin him by cutting off aid from the federal government.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Already that big tunnel project is dead. They're going to build a second tunnel over to Jersey to make transportation a lot easier done because they need the federal money. Trump, I'm not giving you any money because I don't have any confidence. You can do anything. You're corrupt, you're communist. We don't want it. We're not going to deal with you.

[Jillian Michaels]

Does that hurt Trump more? Or the incoming Republican hopeful, Vance? Presumably when they turn around and say, look, how vindictive they were. Look how they hurt New York. And does Mamdani spin it? I mean, we've seen, like, the government shut down. They're doing it. They're doing it. Is it they destroyed New York out of spite, or do you think Mamdani effectively takes the hit?

[Bill O'Reilly]

There's a lot of spite on both sides. They both hate each other. But the MAGA people, the Republican people, they don't like New York. And the New York people voted for Mandami. They don't like Trump. It's a net. Net, you know, it's. That doesn't really matter. What does matter is quality of life and security for New Yorkers. I have family living in Manhattan, and I told them, you better be careful now. You better. You can't go out at night by yourself. You got to have, you know, two or three people with you. Expect your paycheck to shrink about 20%. Just regular people making maybe 80 grand to 100. About 20% more you're going to be paying out of your pocket to fund whatever, you know, visions this man Donnie has. So get ready, because that's what's going to happen. And it can't not happen, because the guy has to try to institute what he's promised.

[Jillian Michaels]

Okay, one. One more Mamdani question before I ask you about the latest developments with the government shutdown. There's now a video of him circulating. I thought Bill. I thought it was AI. Because he goes, remember when I told you guys to stop giving me money? You can start again. Go to transition2025.com. I think that's the site. And it's gonna take me money to put together a transition team. And I thought, this is fake. This has gotta be some sort of a troll. There's no way he just promised all these people all this free stuff and is now asking them to fund the transition of his incoming administration. Is that even allowed? What is that? I've never even heard of that.

[Bill O'Reilly]

That doesn't bother me. Trump's doing it with the White House construction.

[Jillian Michaels]

He is. I thought they use tax dollars for that stuff.

[Bill O'Reilly]

No, Trump's building a big ballroom, and he. And he got his corporate friends to fund it. And Mandami, I don't know what he wants to fund, but if you're dopey enough to give him money, give it to him. I don't care about any of that. What I'm looking at is I want people to be safe.

[Jillian Michaels]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I want criminals to be punished, and I want workers to have a fair Paycheck. Call me crazy. That's what I want.

[Jillian Michaels]

And he is, in fact allowed to close Rikers. He has that power.

[Bill O'Reilly]

That's going to be interesting because the federal government is going to get involved with that. The Justice Department are going to say, where are you going to put him?

[Jillian Michaels]

Right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And he's going to let them all go. So I expect lawsuits to fly over that.

[Jillian Michaels]

Oh, my gosh, Bill. Okay, so I guess we're basically waiting to see what happens, you know, but.

[Bill O'Reilly]

It won't be long.

[Jillian Michaels]

Okay. You know, I wish I could. I keep wanting to think like, oh, come on, you know, it's like, it's not going to be that bad. He has limited power. But I've seen what's happened in California.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You bet.

[Jillian Michaels]

And it's nothing good. Nothing good. It chased me and many others out.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You're just lucky. It's lucky we don't have forests in New York City. That's all I know. They're not far, so you don't have to worry about that.

[Jillian Michaels]

Okay, well, that was positive. Government shutdown. I can't. I don't. So we're. Day 41. I got it. You know, it's a disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people aren't getting paid. So eight Democrats or something caved and they. What is going on? Can you please tell us?

[Bill O'Reilly]

They'll open a government probably by the end of the week. So the eight Democratic senators said, look, we've had enough of this. And they got 16 out of like the filibuster in the Senate and there are more Republicans in the Senate and you'll get some crossover to open a government. So I assume the government will open by the end of this week, and that will be that. Now, it didn't have to happen. It's all about the Democrats wanting an enormous amount of spending for Obamacare, which is totally out of control. The expenditures on that have doubled from the projections, and we owe $38 trillion already. And the Republicans are going. We're not going to. We're not going to fund it. And now the Republicans had to give in a little bit and say, okay, well, discuss certain things. So they'll do debate. And then in January, this whole thing starts again. So I don't blame Americans of being just frustrated and turning things off, but it's all political gamesmanship with a serious note at the end that the Democratic Party wants socialized medicine. They want the government to run the entire health care system. That is what this is all about.

[Jillian Michaels]

Okay, so here's how this looks to me, the Democrats have a tantrum about Obamacare subsidies that they voted for or put in and put in to expire. Now, the reason they never made them permanent is because they were would have cost so much money it never would have been passed. Okay, now, I guess a couple of people have gone over, as you mentioned, they got the 60 votes that they needed, but none of this is resolved for them. So this whole thing was, what a big show, because you're just gonna kick that can down the road to January. So you're full of it. That's honestly how it looks to me. You guys are full of it because nothing got resolved here.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, no, you're wrong in the sense that nothing got resolved. The Democrats used it to win the governorships in Jersey and Virginia. And the perception on the American people is it's Trump's fault, Republicans fault, because they don't get a real sharp analysis on the news agencies which favor the Democrats. So most people, they're not watching and absorbing information, they hear stuff. So the Democrats won the PR war there, which is what they wanted to do. But the bigger picture is that the reason Republicans said no was because this Obamacare spending leapt up under Covid when it had to. And the agreement was, after Covid subsides, the spending will go back down to where it was, to what the congressional law said. And Democrats said, no, we want to keep it at the high Covid level. And if you don't do it, we're shutting down the government. That's what happened.

[Jillian Michaels]

It just, to the average person, it's like, we're going to debate for 30 hours, and then we're going to debate again for 30 hours, but then nothing's really going to change. But we're going to make sure you get snap. And then in January, we're going to discuss it again. And you're just like, so you guys, you animals put the country through this for 41 days and like, we're going to visit this again in January? I think I must be an idiot. I must have bumped my head, because if this is where you are. But now that you mention it, I mean, of course, Byron Donald did say to me a while back that this was some sort of tool that, that the Democrats had put in to expire right before these elections, hoping to create, I guess, exactly what happened. But that brings me to this question. Was that really what these results were about, the government shutdown? Or is it like a referendum on Trump? Or is it the promise the Democrats are making of free stuff, this leaning into socialism. It was a wipeout or is it just like, hey, they're blue states, like it was expected?

[Bill O'Reilly]

No, people are angry because of the high prices they have to pay for the essentials of life. So when the American public gets angry, they take it out on the incumbent party. So Republicans hold the White House, the Senate and the House so that the people in the middle who aren't ideologues, they go, I'm angry. Trump said he was going to bring down food prices. Food prices aren't coming down, so I'm going to vote for the other guy. That's what happens. It's always happened since John Adams. Okay? If the population is angry, they're going to take it out on the people who are in power. And Donald Trump has done a lot of good things, but he not selling a strategy to bring down food prices, Insurance prices are killing people. Killing people. Particularly in your state, California, okay, Just to buy it. Sure. Is to protect your car. Your house is taken five times as much money as it did 10 years ago. And all of those things have to be dealt with by the federal government. And it's messy, so they're not dealing with it. But I think President Trump got the message because now he's saying, well, I'm going to send you 2,000 bucks.

[Jillian Michaels]

That was my next question. Is that PR?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, of course. It's basically, look, we, I know you're suffering. I'm going to give you 2000 to make you suffer less. Now, I don't want the 2000, okay? I don't want anything. I want only what I paid into Social Security and Medicare. That's it. But Trump says, I'm going to give you the 2000. I don't know how he's going to do it yet. And to try to take the edge off that, I don't know if it's going to work or not.

[Jillian Michaels]

But this to me is like pacifying a tantruming child.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Known for its tantrums. That's for sure, boss.

[Jillian Michaels]

It just seems, it's like, okay, you guys have a meltdown, we're gonna give you all this free stuff. Vote for us. Oh, they voted for those guys. Let's give them $2,000. I just, how I feel like we're treating everyone like idiots. And I'm also a bit confused about the Trump economy just simply because on one hand I watched Scott Jennings, who I, who I love, go on CNN and go, oh, markets are at an all time high, inflation is stable, gas is down. Look, he's reassuring all These jobs. And I'm like, okay, economy's good. And then they're like, everyone's pissed. Trump's approval ratings in the toilet. Economy is a disaster. Nobody can afford ABC and D. Unfortunately, I'm a bit insulated because I have savings and, you know, I live off of the money that my money makes me. So I don't, I don't experience these things as badly or as much. Is the economy good or bad?

[Bill O'Reilly]

The economy is fairly consistent at this point. So inflation hovers around 3,4%. It's much lower than it was under Biden. Unemployment, you know, if you need a job, you can get a job. It's not that there are people in the unemployment office that can't find work, but it depends. You know, some AI is exploding, but some other companies are not doing well. It's always been that way. But the high prices that the working people are experiencing overwhelms everything else. So yeah, if you have a 401k, if you are in the investment class, you're doing well. Money's coming in, stock market's going up because people are looking ahead to. We're going to be in the forefront of all this AI tech stuff, which we will be, I think. But the people don't have stocks who live week to week. They find they're falling further behind and there's more of them than the investor class.

[Jillian Michaels]

Right. Okay, last question. China, you know this whole situation intimately. Are you. Another thing that's very hard to understand. Are you encouraged about the progress the President is making with Xi Jinping, or is this like, eh, we're a long way from where we need to be?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, we are a long way from cooperation with China, there's no doubt about it, but it's not. The meeting in Korea went pretty well. Now there's supposed to be a big summit for April. If that happens, that would be very good for both countries. And it looks like Trump and Xi have a relationship whereby. It's not like Putin, who's just totally out of his mind at this point and wants to kill people. She's a businessman. And I think they'll reach some kind of agreement on the economic front. But they're tough boys over there and they like to cause trouble. They're hardcore communists. I'm sure they are a very happy man. Donnie won, so it's hard to predict, but I'm not that concerned about China at this point in history.

[Jillian Michaels]

Thank you so much, Bill. I really appreciate it. You always make it so easy to understand. Where can everybody go to get their news from you on a regular basis and feel educated as well as sane.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, Billorilly.com is where we live. And we are telling people, look, coming up in a very, very key year here for you, this whole country is going to change so dramatically in the next 12 months. You want to be on it and you want to get honest analysis. So premium and concierge membership on billoriley.com great holiday gifts. Tremendous. You get a free book. You get my book, confronting Evil, free if you sign up. And it's not very expensive. I'm trying to make it easier for people this holiday season not to overspend. So billorilly.com and then we have a YouTube channel which is exploding. I do a big anti Semitism thing this week which is going to get a lot of attention. It's YouTube.combillorilly we do that a few times a week. And then finally, you know, we have enterprises on News Nation twice a week there we're all. I'm overexposed, Jillian. I mean, I'm tired of seeing me. I am, I'm just, I gotta be honest.

[Jillian Michaels]

I thank God every day. And just a parting thought because I'm sure you've seen apparently the BBC doctored footage of Trump.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I do it tonight. It's awful.

[Jillian Michaels]

Bill, this is why you just, you, it's so upsetting because it's this kind of crazy is tearing the country apart. And this is why I just, I love your, I love your work so much and why I always go to you first to help me understand this stuff because I know I can trust you and I know you put principles over politics and I think that's why you are always, always my top rated shows. So I am exceptionally grateful. And I'll be tuning in tonight and I can't wait to see the piece on anti Semitism. Thank you for all you do.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Thank you for having me, Jillian. Anytime.

[Jillian Michaels]

Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed the podcast, please, like comment, subscribe and share and make sure to let me know what guests you want to see on in the future.