Escalating Tensions

Summary

Lovett or Leave It: "Escalating Tensions"

Date: September 27, 2025
Host: Jon Lovett (with Jon Favreau)
Guests: Rep. Eric Swalwell, Bassem Youssef, Paul Scheer
Live from: Dynasty Typewriter, Los Angeles

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Overview

This episode launches a new season of "Lovett or Leave It" with a live show that blends political satire, biting commentary, and candid conversations. Jon Lovett, joined by frequent collaborator Jon Favreau, welcomes guests Rep. Eric Swalwell, comedian and satirist Bassem Youssef, and actor/comedian Paul Scheer. The episode tackles the week’s most absurd and alarming stories from U.S. politics—especially those centering on Trump-era escalations—while satirizing the media’s response and drawing wry parallels to pop culture dysfunction.

The mood is high-energy and irreverent, with the recurring theme that even in dark times, humor and resistance remain vital.

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Main Segments & Key Discussion Points

1. "What a Week": Political News Wrap (01:09–27:37)

Escalator-Gate at the UN

• Trump and Melania’s escalator incident at the United Nations becomes a symbol of conservative victimhood.
• Trump accuses United Nations staff of sabotage; fact-checked and debunked on the show.
  • Quote: “It’s sad to see Trump go woke like this. When you think about it, escalators are just DEI stairs.” —Jon Lovett (03:27)
• Fox News and MAGA surrogates blow up the incident, with Jesse Watters joking about “bombing the UN.”
• Satirical commentary highlighting MAGA grievance culture: “I see the problem here. You’re confusing the President with sharks.” —Jon Lovett (05:00)

Trump-Era Corruption and DOJ Manipulation

• Trump posts on Truth Social, demanding prosecutions of political enemies, echoing authoritarian tendencies.
• U.S. Attorney Eric Siebert resigns under pressure after not indicting Trump’s foes; replaced by a loyalist.
• Lovett references Robert Jackson’s DOJ speech on the dangers of targeted prosecutions.
  • Quote: “[Jackson warns] the real crime becomes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group... where law enforcement becomes personal.” —Jon Lovett (09:54)
• DOJ’s selective law enforcement noted: lavish pardons for allies, dropped investigations into cronies.

Homan Bribery Scandal

• Tom Homan, Trump WH official, reportedly accepts a $50,000 bribe in a bag from Cava during a sting.
• DOJ and FBI delay action, allegedly to see if a Trump victory would change outcomes—critique of Merrick Garland’s caution.

Trump, RFK Jr., Autism, and Pseudoscience

• Trump and RFK Jr. peddle debunked theories linking autism to vaccines and Tylenol.
  • Quote: “This plus the escalator fucking broke me this week.” —Jon Lovett (16:31)
• Fact-checked absurdity: Trump claims Amish and Cubans lack autism.

Disney, Jimmy Kimmel, and Political Backlash

• Disney pulls Kimmel’s show following pressure from Trump, triggering a backlash and boycott.
• Satirical fake TV lineup mocking liberal culture wars.
• Kimmel returns, openly mocks Trump (“Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly.” —Paul Scheer as Kimmel, 20:12)
• Discussion of political leverage, corporate cowardice, and the lesson: “Capitulation...is predicated on two things: that Trump is very scary…and that Democrats...are nothing to worry about. But that’s just not true.” —Jon Lovett (25:48)

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2. Interview: Congressman Eric Swalwell (29:21–49:55)

Clashing with Kash Patel and the Epstein Files

• Swalwell recounts televised jousting with Trump loyalist Kash Patel over the Epstein files, noting how transparency is being actively resisted.
  • “They’re afraid of telling us what Trump knows about this. He went into this hearing with one job: keep his job, and that means keeping us from knowing who’s in the Epstein files.” —Eric Swalwell (31:17)
• Patel’s social media disinformation, Fox News leaking, and intra-GOP power plays are unpacked.
• The DOJ and FBI’s credibility crisis: “There doesn’t seem to be a way out of this scandal, because [they] are seen as spokespeople for Trump.” —Jon Lovett (32:57)

FBI Failures: Mass Shootings and Credibility

• Critique of FBI leadership prioritizing job security over honest investigation. Discussion of high-profile shootings and social media-fueled conspiracy theories following tragic incidents.
• “They want to create reasonable doubt...putting that crazy ass tweet out there actually just made the prosecution’s case much harder.” —Eric Swalwell (34:51)

California Politics & Redistricting

• Reflections on Schwarzenegger’s legacy and Prop 50. Swalwell endorses independent commissions but argues for practical Democratic competitiveness.

Government Shutdowns: Democratic Leverage

• Debate over how hard Democrats should fight during looming government shutdowns.
  • Swalwell: “So keep it open for what?...Why would I want to co-sign on that? That’s why I voted against it and every senator should.” (37:27)
• Schumer and Jeffries’ tactics evaluated. Swalwell is blunt: “I don’t have confidence in Schumer...but Jeffries held the caucus together.” (40:21)

Segment: "The Cringe and I"

• Swalwell ranks high-profile “cringe” moments by Democrats—from Pelosi reading Bono’s poem to his own infamous silent taco TikTok.
• “We don’t all have to be messengers, guys…some of you do great things, but I don’t think I need you doing something cringe.” —Swalwell (41:40)
• Discussion of authenticity versus over-engineered messaging: “Donald Trump is cringe all the time...but he’s always on. And I think we can learn from that.” —Eric Swalwell (47:33)

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3. Panel: Bassem Youssef & Paul Scheer (51:51–74:40)

Free Speech, Satire, and Authoritarianism

• Bassem Youssef shares experiences with censorship and political satire in Egypt; warns of American trends.
  • “In a capitalist democracy there’s capital as king...you’re free to say what you want, but I own the platform.” —Bassem Youssef (56:54)
• Discussion of business-driven speech repression—corporate, not just government, threats to free expression.
• Parallel drawn between authoritarian crackdown and American “soft censorship” by corporate interests.

Social Media, Podcasts, and Political Engagement

• Youssef’s viral confrontation with the Nelk Boys about interviewing Netanyahu uncritically.
  • “You cannot go through life pretending you don’t know...You were recruited…so they would use you when it came time.” —Bassem Youssef (62:03)
• Broader concern: politicians exploiting podcast platforms with compliant hosts seeking clout, not hard questions.

Moral Relativism & Comedy Festivals in Authoritarian Regimes

• Lively debate on comedians performing in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh Comedy Festival).
  • Youssef on U.S. hypocrisy: “America has been doing [bad things] for years...I don’t think the United States is that much different.” (66:56)
  • Lovett disagrees: notes the context is different—“That government will decide how many people outside that room see it. That does not happen in the United States. Not yet.” (65:53)
• Youssef expresses diaspora disillusionment with American moral authority, especially in the context of Middle East policy.

Bad Movies & Pop Culture Outrage

• Paul Scheer describes his appreciation for “so bad it’s good” movies (Netflix’s War of the Worlds, Two Live Jews CD, etc.)
  • “I can appreciate the beauty of…one battle after the other...that is the best, worst movie I have seen in a long time.” —Paul Scheer (60:18)

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4. Final Segment: "180 Degree Twist of the Wheel" (76:12–87:30)

Guests share a personal “180”—a topic or attitude they’ve completely reversed on:

• Eric Swalwell: “I’ve done a 180 on checking luggage...All I want to fucking do is check as much luggage as possible [with kids].” (76:35)
• Paul Scheer: Initially didn’t appreciate “Talladega Nights,” now believes it’s a brilliant satire of American culture.
• Bassem Youssef: “My dream car used to be a Tesla—not anymore...I think we shouldn’t be investing that much money in cars.” (81:27)
• Jon Favreau: Grew up believing Jewish people shouldn’t buy German cars, bought a Mercedes after dumping a Tesla, but jokes about how soullessly over-engineered it feels.

Lovett closes with a wish: "I hope a lot of these Republicans do a 180 on therapy. These people could all benefit from just sitting down and talking to somebody once in a while about why they’re so sad and mad." (87:24)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s Bluster: “Trump is faking it till he makes it…he pretends to have more power than he actually does in the hopes that others will fall for the act and give him power he couldn’t take.” —Jon Lovett (22:41)
• On Democratic Messaging: “We try and win the Harvard Law School moot court competition rather than just trying to win the gut check at the bar stop or the bar room. And we’d be better off if we did the latter.” —Eric Swalwell (49:10)
• On Satire and Authoritarianism: “With each passing year, your experience [with censorship] becomes more relevant in America, which is a bummer.” —Jon Lovett to Bassem Youssef (54:57)
• On Political Cringe: “We don’t all have to be messengers, guys…some of you…shouldn’t be.” —Eric Swalwell (42:44)
• On Moral Relativism: “I continue to believe there is a very big difference between going down to the Laugh Factory on Sunset and going to Riyadh…to lend credibility to a kind of monstrous dictatorial regime.” —Jon Lovett (65:53)
• On Diaspora Disappointment: “As people in the Arab and Muslim diaspora, we feel we are helping our people with Western Union and we’re fucking them with TurboTax.” —Bassem Youssef (68:22)

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Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |-------------------------------|-----------| | Intro/“What a Week” | 01:09–27:37| | Eric Swalwell Interview | 29:21–49:55| | Bassem Youssef & Paul Scheer | 51:51–74:40| | “180 Degree Twist” | 76:12–87:30|

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Tone & Style

The episode is densely satirical, sharp-tongued, and unafraid of earnest moments. Lovett employs gallows humor and pop culture references to keep the audience engaged through discussions of democracy’s erosion—while guests maintain the “if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry” ethos.

The conversational flow, banter, and playful ribbing give space for both cathartic laughter and moments of moral clarity.

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For the Listener

This episode provides:

• A whirlwind tour of current events rendered with biting wit.
• Candid conversations on the challenges facing democracy, free speech, and progressive resistance.
• Deep dives into Democratic strategic dilemmas, punctuated by cranky affection for cringe and deliciously bad pop culture.
• Satirical sketches and pop-cultural critiques, mixing levity with gravity.

If you need to catch up on the week’s big and dumb stories, understand why liberals and comedians are worried—and maybe laugh through the pain—this is the episode for you.

Transcript

[John Lovett]

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[Jon Favreau]

Love it. Or leave it. Or leave it. What's up Los Angeles? Welcome to Love it or Leave it live at Dynasty Typewriter. We got a great show for you tonight. Congressman Eric Swalwell is here. Talk about winning the argument with Kashmutel and losing the war on Cringe. Bassem Youssef is here, Paul Scheer is here. And we get into some bad movies and even worse reality. Then we wrap up with a 180 degree twist of the wheel. Hmm. Whatever that means. But first, let's get into it. What a week. We live in cruel, capricious and dangerous times with new threats around every corner. To wit, there was this national security incident at the United nations earlier this week. Yes. When Donald Trump and Monday's Melania Trump stepped onto the escalator, it stopped. The escalator stopped and you're laughing. Here's White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt. No relation.

[Caroline Levitt]

And if we find that these were UN staffers who were purposefully trying to trip up, literally trip up, the President and the first lady of the United States, well, there better be accountability for those people. And I will personally see to it. Jesse, good.

[Jon Favreau]

This is a first. I have never seen someone ask to speak to the world's manager. On Wednesday, Trump went on social media and called for UN staff to be arrested in a post about the escalator that was somehow this long. Look at this fucking thing. He accused the United nations of three sinister events, adding the escalator, a teleprompter malfunction and a wonky sound system to the mix. It's amazing that Melania and I didn't fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps. Forward face first, said the leader of our armed forces. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or it would have been a disaster. This was absolutely sabotage. It's sad to see Trump go woke like this. When you think about it, escalators are just DEI stairs. Also, it's beyond disturbing that Trump needs a teleprompter to do his usual rambling nonsense. It's like catching your dog reading bark, bark, bark from his phone. The UN released a statement saying it was a member of Trump's team who ran ahead of him and accidentally triggered the escalator stop mechanism at the top. And White House staff, not UN officials, operate the President's teleprompter, which I can tell you is true. The President's teleprompter is operated by the White House military office and they do a very good job. And I felt bad whenever I had to make last minute changes while sweating through my wrinkled suit because these were very serious, disciplined, well appointed people and I did not belong in that kind of a professional setting, which is why I do this now. According to Maria Bartiromo, that stopped escalator almost became an international crisis. But for the quick thinking of our.

[Caroline Levitt]

First lady, the President wants answers after the escalator stopped as soon as he and the first lady stepped on it. Look how great Melania was. She is unfazed. She walks on it, it stops, she turns around to the President and she just leads the President up and walks. So she was unfazed by it, but this was, this could have been a massive, massive issue. And you know, the President being frozen there in one place makes him vulnerable.

[Jon Favreau]

I see the problem here. You're confusing the President with sharks. I feel like I'm in outer space unfazed by a stopped escalator. Presidents stand still all the time. Have I lost my fucking mind? But don't worry, Republicans are nothing if not solutions minded. Here's Jesse Watters answer for the United nations gaffe. I mean, this is an insurrection. And what we need to do is either leave the UN or we need to bomb. Was noted moments later that the UN is located in New York City. Boy, that escalated quickly, which is not something Trump could say at the U.N. huh? Thank you. Now, if Trump has new enemies at the un, they're at the bottom of a very long list. After all, if Epstein can get on his bad side, it can happen to anybody. On Saturday night, Trump posted a missive on Truth Social addressed to Attorney General and woman who parked too close to your car, Pam Bondi, in which he demanded that she prosecute his enemies, which is obviously gross. Let Pam enjoy her weekend. This is how loyalist attorneys general get burned out. Authoritarian hustle culture is still hustle culture, Pam said Trump, I have reviewed over 30 statements in post saying that. Essentially same old story as last time. All talk, no action, nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam Schifty, Schiff, Letitia? They're all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done. We can't delay any longer. It's killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice and indicted me five times over nothing. Justice must be served now. Everything about the Trump era is worse than the Nixon era, up to and including the fact that we won't even get any good paranoid thrillers out of this. Trump is his own Deep Throat. Which makes sense. The post came a day after U.S. attorney Eric Siebert resigned under pressure from Trump. Trump was pissed that Siebert hadn't brought any criminal charges against Attorn General from New York, Letitia James, and former FBI director and guy who will never admit that he is personally responsible for electing Trump because it would require him to face that his decision to announce a renewed investigation into Hillary's emails, only to announce a week later and days before the election that he would not change. Their original finding was not only a brazen violation of DOJ policy, all the more indefensible given that there was an ongoing investigation of Trump that he did not make public, but amongst the most catastrophic mistakes by a law enforcement official in American history, based not in some apolitical and righteous ethic, but a naive and ultimately self defeating fear of a perception of bias. A mistake so grand and so rooted in personal flaw that it obliterates any other aspect of his legacy, including his ultimate defiance of Trump, and will define him as a villain for all time. James Comey. Sure, Siebert's office had been investigating Tish James over mortgage fraud allegations, but hadn't found any actual evidence to support an indictment, said Trump. I don't understand. The AI can't make a video of Letitia James doing mortgage fraud. She doesn't even have to be naked or anything. Sebert was also overseeing the investigation into James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress after Trump forced Siebert out. Siebert was replaced by Lindsey Halligan, a White House advisor and former Trump lawyer with no prosecutorial experience. Prosecutorial experience? Where we're going, we don't need prosecutorial experience. So Trump gets Siebert out and Halligan in so she can indict James and Comey. But she's got two big problems. Well, three if you believe in a just and everlasting God. First, there's a ticking clock, and not the one inside the alligator that follows Trump around Mar?

[John Lovett]

A Lago.

[Jon Favreau]

The five year statute of limitations on Comey's alleged crime falls on Tuesday. Second, federal prosecutors in Virginia presented Halligan with what's called a declination memo explaining why after a two month investigation, there is insufficient evidence to justify indicting Comey for lying to Congress. It's a tough first day for Lindsey, isn't it? You don't know where the bathrooms are, you've never prosecuted a criminal case before, and you were given one job by the world's least loyal boss, but your brand new team mouths still full of we'll miss you, Eric Sebert Sheet cake tells you it can't be done. And yet she persisted. On Thursday evening, at just about the worst time for this show, James Comey was indicted after all. At which point, Lindsay Halligan slowly took off her mask and oh my God, it's Hillary Clinton. All right, everybody, buckle up. So FDR's Attorney General, Robert Jackson gave a famous speech in 1940. This is real, he said. We know that no local police force can strictly enforce the traffic laws or it would arrest half the driving population on any given morning. With the law books filled with a great assortment of crimes, a prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone. In such a case, it is not the question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who had committed it. It is a question of picking the man and putting investigations to work to pin some offense on him. It is this realm in which the prosecutor picks some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass or select some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense that the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies it is here that law enforce becomes personal and the real crime becomes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group, being attached to the wrong political views, or being personally obnoxious to or in the way of the prosecutor himself. That's why law and order starts with a murder and ultimately leads to a suspect. It's a much less satisfying watch if you start with Brisco combing through his ex wife's trash looking for evidence of tax fraud. I found that full text of the speech by Jackson on the Department of Justice's website, by the way, so you probably should download it for safekeeping. This is a little aside FDR later appointed Robert Jackson to the Supreme Court. He dissented in Korematsu before taking a leave of absence to prosecute the Nazis at Nuremberg. He had a massive it's true he had a massive heart attack in March of 1954 and a second heart attack that killed him in October of 1954. But in between, he literally left his hospital bed so that he could sit in his chair when Earl Warren issued the court's 90 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. So RBG was in good company when she hung on for too long. Oh, where'd you think it was gonna land? Somewhere that somewhere that didn't require your complicated feelings to emerge. Trump bad Every joke has to be Trump bad or you go home. Fuck you. They can't all be Trump bad, just most of them. And it's not just that Trump's lackeys are looking for any reason to charge his enemies. They have zero interest applying the law when it benefits their allies. The pardon list is long from friends to insurrectionists. DOJ also dropped its case against Eric Adams in what a federal prosecutor who resigned over it called a quid pro quo. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and housing official Bill Pulte's parents reportedly made the same error on their mortgage documents that the administration is using as pretext to target everyone from Lisa Cook to Adam Schiff. No one at DOJ seems particularly bothered by that. Maybe it's just because they didn't grow up around it, but I've never really understood the draw of vacation homes anyway. It just seems like another place to keep errands and dishes. I have a vacation home in every city on earth. It's called a hotel and you can use the towels like napkins for bed dinner. It's not a crime yet. Speaking of rich guy problems, we also learned this week via MSNBC that Borders are a guy who doesn't like his daughter's boyfriend because he drives a red car. Tom Homan was under investigation for accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents who posed as business executives seeking government contracts. According to the New York Times, the money was delivered to Homan in a bag from Cava. What would you like as your base? Greens. A lot of greens, if you catch my drift. On Monday, the White House denied that Homan had accepted a bag of cash, but Homan himself did not.

[John Lovett]

They said that you took $50,000 in.

[Eric Swalwell]

Cash in a bag from an undercover.

[John Lovett]

FBI agent to help them win government contracts in Trump's second term. And I imagine you want to respond to that.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm sorry. Look, I did nothing criminal.

[Donald Trump]

I did nothing illegal.

[John Lovett]

And there's hit piece after hit piece after hit piece.

[Jon Favreau]

Interesting. You know, it's actually very easy to say, I did not take $50,000 in cash. But he doesn't say that. And none of the sources familiar with the case who spoke to MSNBC or other reporters, even sources explaining why the charges weren't pursued, say that he didn't accept the money. So where's our fucking money? That's tax dollars. Where's my money? The good news is that according to reports, there is hidden camera footage of the exchange, and Democrats in Congress are already demanding that evidence. The bad news is that the Trump administration has a habit of making incriminating videos disappear. So I say release The Homan files. $50,000. Didn't kill themselves. One other note, the sting against Homan took place in September of 2024, but the DOJ and FBI waited to see if, in the event Trump won the election, Homan delivered on the bribe, even though accepting a bribe is a crime, even if you never deliver on it. Which means the Biden DOJ sat on this through the election and the transition and Homan's appointment to a senior White House role, only for the investigation to be closed by Trump's loyal appointees. Another win for Merrick Garland. Maybe he'll share a cell with Comey where they'll go back and forth for five to seven years explaining to each other how they're such good people and just know that if I end up in that cell with them, I did kill myself. All of this corruption, it's enough to give you a splitting headache. Which is too bad, because in a rambling and deeply false speech on Monday, standing side by side with a guy who, you know, has fucking insane poops, rfk, Trump claimed. Trump claimed that there are people who don't have autism because they don't take Tylenol or vaccines.

[Donald Trump]

And by the way, I think I can say that there are certain groups of people that don't take vaccines and don't take any pills that have no autism. That have no autism. Does that tell you something that's currently. Is that a correct statement, by the way?

[Jon Favreau]

The Amish?

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, virtually. I heard none. See, Bobby wants to be very careful with what he says, and he should, but I'm not so careful with what I say.

[Jon Favreau]

This plus the escalator fucking broke me this week. Like, we can't be afraid of this fucking guy. Trump went on to explain that this is also why the Amish don't have trains. In addition to the autism proof Amish, which isn't true, of course, Trump also claimed Cuba has virtually no autism due to Cuba's lack of access to acetaminophen.

[Donald Trump]

I mean, there's a rumor, and I don't know if it's so or not, that Cuba, they don't have Tylenol because they don't have the money for Tylenol and they have virtually no autism. Okay, tell me about that one.

[Jon Favreau]

Does Tylenol cause it or do cigars cure it? We'll note that there is, it turns out, autism in Cuba, which explains the.

[John Lovett]

Pretty significant black market for Legos.

[Jon Favreau]

Havana. More like having autism. In case you're getting confused by all of Trump's technical jargon, Trump broke it down in a way that everybody could understand.

[Donald Trump]

Nothing bad can happen. It can only good happen. But with Tylenol, don't take it.

[Jon Favreau]

You hate to see him plagiarizing FDR like this. Speaking of it can only good happen. Disney's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel from the air led to a massive backlash as people all over the country spontaneously launched a consumer boycott, canceling their Disney at Hul subscriptions. If Steve Martin and Martin Short carry Selena Gomez through five seasons of Only Murders in the Building, but no one is there to hear it. Does it make a sound? Oh, we're just. That's what we do now as liberals. We just don't tell the truth about what we see with our own fucking eyes. Are you kidding me? When there were but two footprints on the beach. That was when Martin Short carried Selena Gomez. By Monday, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live would return to the air. I almost forgot what it's like to have something go our way. I haven't felt this jazz since planters announced that Mr. Peanut was trans, which I'm now realizing was a dream. I had. Nexstar And Sinclair announced that they would continue to preempt Kimmel, meaning his show won't air on ABC affiliates that reach about 20% of the country. Given that this wasn't part of any plan to get Kimmel back on the air everywhere, it suggests that Disney's reversal on Kimmel was, at least in part, a reaction to our collective pushback. We all moved, and as a result, they moved, and pretty quickly. And we have some even more exciting news in order to make amends with Disney's audience of enraged libs. We have some new programming coming this fall to Hulu and Disney with TV shows like Abolish the NYPD Blue, the Amazing Race, which Is Not White, who Wants to Eat a Millionaire, America's Wokest Home Videos and Grey's Anatomy, Oops All Abortions and new films like Beauty and the Beast Gets Me Too'd, Snow White and the 1. Miners Union, Inside Out 3. Meet Climate Guilt, who Framed Roger Rabbit, it's the Zionists and Sex Toy Story. On Tuesday night, Kimmel returned to the.

[John Lovett]

Air with words for Donald Trump.

[Jon Favreau]

You almost have to feel sorry for him.

[Paul Scheer]

He tried, did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein.

[Jon Favreau]

Files to distract us from this now. It's like when J.D. vance called my Pod Save co host Jon Favreau a dipshit on social media this week. Not exactly the same. It didn't dramatically boost our numbers or anything, but the New York Times covered it, so that's pretty fun. Jimmy called out Trump for threatening to.

[John Lovett]

Target Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon next.

[Jon Favreau]

And thumbed his nose at Trump's humorlessness.

[Paul Scheer]

The President of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who.

[Jon Favreau]

Work here fired from our jobs.

[Paul Scheer]

Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can't take a joke.

[Jon Favreau]

Say what you will about Joe Biden, but at least he couldn't stay up that late. Why don't you imagine a future where you're, like, cooler? I'm in a bullying mood. I'm sorry. That was too much. That was too much. Trump proved him right by posting, I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy.

[John Lovett]

Kimmel his job back.

[Jon Favreau]

The White House was told by ABC that his show was canceled. I think we need to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million. This one sounds even more lucrative. But even as Trump continued to issue Such obvious threats. Out comes J.D. vance, Trump's intellectual Zamboni, to tell us not to believe our lying eyes.

[J.D. Vance]

What people will say is, well, you know, didn't the FCC commissioner put a tweet out that said something bad? Well, compare that. The FCC commissioner making a joke on social media. What is the government action that the Trump administration has engaged in to kick Jimmy Kimmel or anybody else off the air? Zero. What government pressure have we brought to bear to tell people that they're not allowed to speak their mind? Zero. We believe in free speech in the Trump administration. We are fighting every single day to protect it.

[Jon Favreau]

Right after we take out Trump's greatest enemy, Osama bin Escalator. In a separate interview, Vance added this.

[J.D. Vance]

Now, the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, put out a couple of tweets, but the government took no action. We did not literally nothing to try to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air. We believe in free speech. We also believe in the right of a television station or a network to cancel somebody because of low ratings.

[Jon Favreau]

First of all, it wasn't a couple of tweets or jokes on social media. It was an interview where Carr said, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, and then named Kimmel specifically also. Jesus Christ. That's how threats work. You say the threat so you don't have to take the action. He didn't say, we can do this the easy way or forget about it. That's the whole purpose of or else. Just because you don't provide the or else doesn't mean you didn't threaten somebody into doing something. The action was the threat. The threat is the action. I feel like I'm in outer fucking space. But clearly, as Kimmel pointed out, and as Vance is reflecting here, this didn't just blow back on Disney. It blew back on Trump, too. There's a lesson in this for all of us. Trump is faking it till he makes it. Through his bluster, he pretends to have more power than he actually does in the hopes that others will fall for the act and give him power he couldn't take. And we have seen it work. He's intimidated law firms and colleges and media companies. He got 16 million out of Disney, not to mention virtually every Republican who has caved to his demands. It's what he's doing right now over a potential government shutdown. And by the way, the last time Democrats fell for it, allowing the fear that Trump might use a shutdown to lawlessly eviscerate the government even further, to become leverage against them in the negotiations. But as data journalist G. Eliot Morris pointed out this week, a lot of powerful people just don't realize how unpopular Trump is. Writing about Disney siding with Trump only to get blindsided by a massive consumer boycott. In an unhinged screed on social media, Trump wrote that he won an historic landslide. These text boxes are getting fucking crazy. Look at this, look at this. You know what you're in for. This is not the text of a president. This is a text of a cast member of Vanderpump Rules from three in the fucking morning. This is like early Kristen douted, not current president. Caroline knows what I'm talking about. Trump is demanding that Democrats go along with whatever he wants, while his administration is threatening to use a shutdown as pretext for mass firings, all meant to intimidate his opposition. Or as Chris Murphy put it, he's shutting down the government because he thinks he's a king, which, as king behavior goes pretty fucking lame. Have a big feast. Eat a pig with an apple in its mouth. Marry your second cousin from Prussia. Live a little. All of which had me thinking about a conversation I had with Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday's Pond Save America episode about the decision by Democrats to focus on the health care fight in Congress, which may be politically unifying, but is ultimately a policy disagreement as Trump runs roughshod over the Constitution.

[Caroline Levitt]

So I think of this as nothing succeeds like success. You gotta get some wins, you've gotta. But you gotta show that you can stand together, you can stand up when the going gets tough, that you can still all, all push hard, because that's how we're gonna have to take this fight on.

[Jon Favreau]

I was really living out this week, seeing Kimmel back on that stage and seeing him deliver what I thought was a truly excellent monologue, the second best.

[John Lovett]

Late night monologue of the week.

[Jon Favreau]

But seeing him unbowed when so many others have caved, it was a reminder that capitulation by corporations and institutions is predicated on two things. One, that Trump is very scary, which he is. If you're backstage at Miss Teen usa, remember what we were going to try to imagine together earlier. And two, that Democrats and all those who care about democracy and oppose attacks on basic freedoms are nothing to worry about. But that's just not true. Or really, we have to prove it's not true. Yes, that is up to elected Democrats. And I was glad to see Warren challenging Sinclair and nexstar and informing the companies that suspending a late night show in part to seek regulatory favors not only erodes the First Amendment, but also creates the appearance of a possible quid pro quo arrangement that could implicate federal anti corruption laws. Because it's kind of fun to imagine a day when those laws are enforced again. Like imagining yourself being the star quarterback. But it's not just up to them, it's up to all of us.

[John Lovett]

We all have to fake it till we make it.

[Jon Favreau]

It's the best policy in sex and it's the best policy here. It's like a wise man once said, it can only good happen. We gotta get some wins on the board. That's why I fed that mogwai after midnight and unleashed its unholy progeny on the utility ducks at the United Nations. All right. And inexplicably, that is the end of the monologue. All right. Yeah, thanks. All right. We've got a great show for you tonight. Up next, California's own representative Eric Swalwell's here. Hey, don't go anywhere.

[Eric Swalwell]

There's more of Love it or Leave it Coming up.

[John Lovett]

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Where do you go to solve life's problems? The group chat strangers BetterHelp has been helping people find solutions to their problems for over 10 years. And BetterHelp has a 4.9 rating out of 1.7 million client session reviews. Therapy can really help people need it. We're therapy boys.

[Eric Swalwell]

We sure are.

[John Lovett]

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[Jon Favreau]

Nice.

[IKEA Advertiser]

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Okay. Find your big dreams, small dreams, and cozy retreat dreams in store or online at ikea.us dream the possibilities.

[Jon Favreau]

And we're back. Please welcome to the stage California's own Congressman Eric Swalwell. Hi. Thank you for being here. Come in. Hi, Congressman.

[Eric Swalwell]

How you doing? First time here. Thank you.

[Jon Favreau]

Welcome. I'm glad you're here. So you got into it with Cash Patel this week. Yeah.

[Eric Swalwell]

Good fight with Swalwell is what he wrote.

[Jon Favreau]

Well, so I've seen people say, did.

[Eric Swalwell]

He write it before or after?

[Jon Favreau]

I wonder, though. I feel like he may be getting the bad rap here.

[Eric Swalwell]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Impossibly. Which is, did he write it, or did somebody write it on a piece of paper and hand it to him? Because it feels more like somebody handed him a note. Right, right, right.

[Eric Swalwell]

But my thought was like, is he pumping himself up before I go, or was this, like, Marvis Frazier after getting knocked out by Mike Tyson 30 seconds into the fight being, like, good fight with Tyson?

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, I see what you're saying. Well, that's right. So it's not good either way.

[Paul Scheer]

Right.

[Jon Favreau]

So he wrote the note himself. That's revealing. But if there's somebody that feels like they need to write the note to buck him up that says, good fight with Swalwell, hold the line. Brush off the attacks. Rise above the rest. You know, that's a sad thing to have to write on a piece of paper, though. There have been moments in this show where that had been a smart thing for Bill to put on a card. Never get a pump up like that in this show. Just a card that says, wrap it up. Sorry to make this about me. During those hearings, you asked Patel no less than nine times if he told Pam Bondi that Trump's name appears in the Epstein files, and he declined to directly answer the question. All nine times. What do you think's going? That's not like a. It's not like he succeeded in, like, in dealing with the question. So what do you think's going on here?

[Eric Swalwell]

They're afraid of telling us what Trump knows about this. He's not authorized to say anything about this. And he went into this hearing with one job, and that was to keep his job. And keeping his job means keeping all of us from knowing who's in the Epstein files. And so even saying that he told the Attorney General that Trump was in the files would mean that Trump's in the files. And that probably got to Trump and that's why Trump is having them bury the files. I mean, he gets it right. And also the good fight with Swabble thing, he needed to go into the hearing, have a fight with me. Because if you recall, like two days before the hearing, there was a Fox News story with no fewer than 10 sources. Like, I've never seen a story that said we have 10 sources that said his job was on the line. Quote, pam can't stand him. So he knew. I mean, Pam can't stand him. So he knew his ass was on the line and he needed to pick that fight and not make things worse on Epstein.

[Jon Favreau]

So there's something interesting that's happening and I'm curious what you think about this, which is, obviously we see how dangerous it is to have a completely politicized FBI Director and Attorney General. They're not even pretending that there's any kind of independence between the White House and the Department of Justice. But it also is a double edged sword because nobody views him as a reliable narrator, and nobody views Pam Bondi as a reliable narrator. They're seen as spokespeople for Trump, which means there doesn't seem to be a lot of ways out of this scandal. Whereas a previous administration might be able to say, we threw it over to the independent agencies.

[Eric Swalwell]

That's right. Their job is to bury this a mile beneath the earth. And by the way, if anything comes out now about the Epstein files, I don't think anyone buys it at this point. I mean, it has probably been so scrubbed and erased that they have no credibility. I don't think he inspired confidence at all in the American people that he's able to do his primary job, which is fucking protecting us from terrorism, mass shootings, public corruption. And so we're still trying to understand what did we know about the Kirk shooter prior to the shooting? Like, what was his online activity and should that have been seen by the FBI? And now this Dallas shooting, which you referenced, it was clear that this troubled individual was also very online. And what should the FBI had known about that individual? So I think we actually have to start asking questions like, why do you guys keep missing these, you know, political assassins and what does that mean for the rest of us?

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, there's a vicious circle, which is.

[John Lovett]

You have someone like Cash Patel, so.

[Jon Favreau]

Clearly in everything he does, desperate to keep his job and prove that he belongs in the job. And so in the aftermath of a shooting, he's posting and posting and posting to prove like he's part of it. I'm part of it. I know what's going on.

[John Lovett]

I'm helping, I'm helping, I'm helping.

[Jon Favreau]

Meanwhile, he's kind of part of a culture of jumping to conclusions about these serious crimes. And then we have absolutely no idea if we can trust what he says in the days after because he is so worried about his job.

[Eric Swalwell]

And by the way, not to go too far in the weeds, but that nonsense that he posted over the weekend, I don't know if you all saw this. He posted this 1500 character tweet about how they're looking into and going down the rabbit hole of all the conspiracies around the Charlie Kirk shooter. And he's just responding to right wing social media theories about. Even Candace Owens said maybe the shooting came from like a tunnel underneath. I mean it's batshit crazy.

[John Lovett]

But the fact that Jews are a burrowing people, so.

[Bassem Youssef]

Right.

[Eric Swalwell]

But the fact that he's, the fact that he's responding to it. What this does is a prosecutor, he just opened and exposed himself as a witness because the defense attorney's gonna say, oh, that in a trial, they're gonna call him as a witness and they're gonna say, so what else was out there? Like, they wanna create reasonable doubt. And putting that crazy ass tweet out there actually just made the prosecution's case much harder.

[Jon Favreau]

So he's bad. All right, so then at the same.

[John Lovett]

Time here in California, you know, we're heading towards the midterms here in California.

[Jon Favreau]

We're trying to kind of fight to redraw the maps to compete with Republican gerrymandering. What are your thoughts about Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger coming out against Prop 50?

[Eric Swalwell]

It's not helpful. And I just want to first say I benefited from what Governor Schwarzenegger did. I was a 30 year old city councilman prosecutor back in 2012 when the first independent redistricting lines were drawn. My parents didn't know a congressman until I got elected. Right. Like, so we were not connected politically at all. And the independent redistricting commission gave someone like me a chance. And so a 40 year incumbent who had always had redistricting to protect him got drawn into my hometown. 54% of the district was new because it was drawn by like math and geography. Like, what a concept. And so I won and I'm grateful to that because it brought in a new generation of members of Congress in California. But I'm also not going to wake up the morning after the midterms and watch democracy in ashes and say, well, at least we protected the California Independent Redistricting Commission. Because Democrats too often fight these battles with one hand tied behind our back, and it's usually the upper hand. And we need both hands in this fight. And that's what Prop 50 is about on November 4th.

[Jon Favreau]

So speaking of Democrats fighting with at.

[John Lovett]

Least one hand.

[Jon Favreau]

We'Re staring at a shutdown on October 1st. I've seen endless debates about how and.

[John Lovett]

Whether Democrats should be using their leverage right now.

[Jon Favreau]

Save it for not for the cr.

[John Lovett]

Which is the shorter term continued resolution, but for the longer term negotiation.

[Jon Favreau]

Honestly, I don't think there's easy answers here.

[John Lovett]

I want to start by saying that.

[Jon Favreau]

And I have allowed myself to be persuaded by the idea that we should be not giving any bipartisan imprimatur to what the Republicans are doing because of.

[John Lovett]

What they're doing to our democracy, that we should draw the line on healthcare.

[Jon Favreau]

Or that we should fund the government because Trump is so unpopular. We should not own a shutdown. What do you think?

[Eric Swalwell]

Keep it open for what? And by the way, they've already shut it down. They have fired cancer researchers, they've gotten rid of air traffic controllers, they've gotten rid of female response agents. They've already shut it. They've gotten rid of usaid. They've already shut it down. So keep it open for what? So they can deport more of our friends and neighbors? Keep it open so they can kill cancer research rather than killing cancer? Keep it open so they can go after their political enemies. Like, why would I want to co sign on that? And that's why I voted against it, and that's why every senator should vote against it.

[Jon Favreau]

So I hear that we cannot. There is no path right now to a vote in which we can fund the government while addressing those issues. Right. It's just simply not possible. What Democrats in the Senate have rallied behind is pressing on undoing some of the cuts to healthcare, the biggest public health cut in history. And they wanna fight on that measure. And if they get what they want, presumably they would vote to reopen the government. And I have to think if that came to the House, you would vote for that.

[Eric Swalwell]

No, I want to end massed agents getting rid of my friends and neighbors. I want to put the cancer research funding back in place. I want to end the political prosecutions. So there's a lot more that I want to see before I'm going to vote for it. And also anyone who says, oh, politically shutdowns are not good. Remember when the Democrats won the House in 2014 after they shut down the government in 2013? No, we didn't win the House in 2014 after they shut down THE government in 2013. So I don't buy this whole argument that, like, it puts us in political peril by standing up for what we believe in and saying, fuck that, I'm not funding this government.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, I guess I just. What I want to understand is, is that a call to basically have no Democrats no longer support any kind of a budget measure until there is a change in Congress, until Republicans fully abandon Trump. Right. Like I'm trying to get to the.

[Eric Swalwell]

End of, we should get more than just subsidies. Right. And we should ask for more than just subsidies is how I see it. And that's the mindset of most of my colleagues right now. And they also want to see us fight. And it's a show, don't tell mentality. I think that's why Gavin Newsom is being rewarded. He's not sending eight page strongly worded letters to the administration. He's going to court and he's winning. He put the redistricting battle on the ballot. And so doing something demonstrative, I think, beats just having these theoretical arguments about what we should be doing.

[Jon Favreau]

Do you think that the way Schumer and Jeffries were agitating for a meeting was the right way to go into this fight? Or are they drawing a hard enough line right now?

[John Lovett]

Are they the right people to be in this moment?

[Eric Swalwell]

I'm gonna speak for. Jeffries has held the House caucus together. I don't have confidence in Schumer and I didn't have confidence in the first vote. I don't have much confidence right now. But I will say Jeffries held almost all of us together. We only lost one vote in the most recent shut down vote. But also, it was perfect. They perfectly did set Trump up. Right. I mean, they got him to agree to a meeting and then he disabused us of the taco meme when he backed out of the meeting. So I don't think we need to say anymore because he doesn't want to have a meeting. Enough said.

[Jon Favreau]

I just want it to win, you know?

[Eric Swalwell]

Yeah, I have a bias toward winning, too.

[Jon Favreau]

I have a bias towards winning. So one thing I wanted to talk to you about is, so can we show the clip of Schumer talking about the TV thing? Can we start with that one?

[Eric Swalwell]

Please don't.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm showing it.

[Paul Scheer]

We know Donald Trump watches a lot of television.

[Jon Favreau]

Mr. President, if you're watching television, shut.

[Paul Scheer]

It off and come sit down and negotiate with us.

[Jon Favreau]

I found this to be not even that high on the list, but like a pretty cringey moment. And there is some sort of a problem, I think, sometimes with Democrats and cringe. Do you notice this amongst your colleagues?

[Eric Swalwell]

Yes. We don't all have to be messengers.

[Jon Favreau]

We don't all have to be messengers.

[Eric Swalwell]

Yes.

[Jon Favreau]

Okay. And can you tell the ones that shouldn't be?

[Eric Swalwell]

We had a. So at the State of the Union, we brought in and actually you got. The Pod Save team was there at State of the Union for the first time ever. We learned our lesson after 2024, right before it started. We brought in all of these influencers to have access to members right before the State of the Union started. And so rather than going to traditional media, we had tons of folks who had 10,000 followers to 10 million followers, which was great. And that was the approach we should have taken in the past. Credit to our caucus for doing it. What concerned me, though, was I started. It was an invite, a cattle call to all of my colleagues. And I started to see some of these colleagues come in. I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Like, we don't all have to be messengers, guys. Like, some of you do really good things, but I don't think I need you doing something cringe. That's only gonna be a 10 yard sack or like a, you know, pick six. I'm using sports analogies for you.

[Jon Favreau]

Sorry, don't.

[Eric Swalwell]

I know, I know.

[John Lovett]

I don't know what Those are.

[Jon Favreau]

Pick six, 10 yard sack. Is that close? Is that hard? Is that difficult? I don't. I'm like, truly genuine.

[John Lovett]

Like, sometimes I play a little dumb, you know, to fag it up a.

[Jon Favreau]

Little, but I really actually genuinely don't know what those. What you're.

[John Lovett]

Is it a hard play?

[Jon Favreau]

But they're not good enough? Is it an easy play? They're messing up. It doesn't matter.

[Eric Swalwell]

We don't all have to be messengers.

[Jon Favreau]

I got it. I got it. Which brings us to a segment we're calling the Cringe and I. Okay, all right. We have five cringe moments and you have to rank them from one, the cringiest, to five, the least.

[John Lovett]

Cringe.

[Eric Swalwell]

Got it.

[Jon Favreau]

But it's blind ranking. Once you've given a number, you can't go back.

[Eric Swalwell]

Okay.

[Jon Favreau]

All right, first up, we have Nancy Pelosi reading a poem Bono wrote about Russia's invasion of Ukraine at a St. Patrick's Day event in 2022. I got this message this morning from Bono. Ireland's sorrow and pain is now The Ukraine and St. Patrick's name is now Zelensky.

[Eric Swalwell]

I think five's a safe bet on this.

[Jon Favreau]

Wow, five. So you think that there's four cringier moments coming? I do. Okay, five Pelosi. Okay, let's keep going. Next up we have the Democrats kneeling in kente cloth during the George Floyd protests in June of 2020. It was given by the members of the Congressional. I want to note that it was about a justice and policing act, but nevertheless, the moment is the moment at 4. Kente.

[John Lovett]

Okay, okay. You're doing great.

[Jon Favreau]

You're doing so good. Next up, Congressman Hank Johnson strumming his guitar and singing a rendition of Jason Isbell's Dreamsicle with the lyrics changed to be about Epstein died by suicide. Believe that Andrew must be blind. You've been telling us to release the file, but where are they?

[Paul Scheer]

Two.

[Jon Favreau]

Two. Okay, two. Honestly, I thought it was pretty good. I thought he did a good job. Next up, we have Hillary Clinton giving America its marching orders in June of 2016.

[Caroline Levitt]

I don't know who created Pokemon Go, but I'm trying to figure out how we get them to have Pokemon Go to the polls.

[Eric Swalwell]

That's three. And I imagine I'm gonna be the next clip.

[Jon Favreau]

Dammit, shut up. I hate this show. It's never supposed to be fun for me.

[John Lovett]

Pokemon.

[Jon Favreau]

I could, I could. You know, it doesn't have to be, you know, it could be a Heisenberg uncertainty principle moment where you've changed what you were about to observe. I can be cringe too. Everyone eats shit. Next up, we have a member of Congress posting a TikTok of him wordlessly eating a taco in May. A jab at Trump's ever changing tariffs and the short lived Dem slogan Taco Trump always. Trump chickens out. Hey, Congressman, trying to help you. What the is up with Trump always chickening out on tariffs?

[Eric Swalwell]

Can you get the guy a button?

[Jon Favreau]

I don't. Yeah. Wow. A lot of. That's a lot. That's a very 70s look. No, can I, can I just. I want to understand. Just wonderful inside of the story of the video where you're a character who's been asked a question. How does eating the taco answer the question?

[John Lovett]

It's a lot to think about.

[Jon Favreau]

I do like. Hmm. I do sometimes think what cringe though is, is people caring in a hyper earnest way sometimes. Also don't we want Trump to chicken out? Isn't the fact that Trump chickens out kind of a thing that people use to say, oh, he doesn't ever do what he ever says? Sometimes I think it's like a bad slogan. Like, we need people to think like, no, he doesn't chicken out. He really does politicize the Justice Department. He really is gonna shut down all these agencies, you know, like, he's not just a bullshit artist. He actually does what he says.

[Eric Swalwell]

Yes, but it's also a psyop. Right? You have to get in his head as well. And so there's no easy way to take this guy on. We've never had a villain like this in the White House who has challenged us in every imaginable way. And so I'm not bullshitting you into believing that we have the right answer, but I think we have better answers today than we did in 24. And I also believe that we need to apply what I call an always on model. So in 2024, people would say that the biggest mistake Kamala Harris made was when she went on the View and was asked, what would you do differently? And she said, nothing, essentially. I don't think that was the biggest mistake. I think the biggest mistake was that she wouldn't be on TV or interviewed for like three or four days since that happened. And so she was defined, and right wing media defined her over and over as. It's just more Biden. Donald Trump, for example, makes five mistakes an hour, but he's always on. And so the lesson that I've taken away from that is to be in more places, more spaces, and that always on projects, as always, honest. And so authentic authenticity, I think, beats just having, like a straight policy message. We're not voting for policies, we're voting for people. Even if it's cringe sometimes. Donald Trump is cringe all the time. I mean, he's cringe nine out of ten times. The truck, the McDonald's appearances, the dancing on stage for 30 minutes, but he's always on. And I think we can learn from that instead of trying to project what we think.

[Bassem Youssef]

Right?

[Eric Swalwell]

But I think Democrats, we try and win the Harvard Law School moot court competition rather than just trying to win the gut check at the bar stop or the bar room. And we'd be better off if we did the latter.

[Jon Favreau]

I think it's a really important point as someone who was rejected from Harvard Law School just to wrap up our game. Five, it was Pelosi's reading the poem. Four, it was the kente. Clause three, it was Pokemon go to the polls, which I continue to believe.

[John Lovett]

One of the most memorable Democratic slogans.

[Jon Favreau]

In half a century, which I didn't write. Two, Hank Johnson performing his Epstein song. And number one, it is Eric Swalwell silently eating a taco as the answer to a question. Eric Swalwell, Congressman, thank you so much.

[Eric Swalwell]

Of course, man.

[Jon Favreau]

He'll be back at the end. That was great. Really appreciate it.

[Eric Swalwell]

Thank you.

[Jon Favreau]

One more time for Eric Swalwell. Hey, don't go anywhere.

[Eric Swalwell]

There's more of Love it or Leave it coming up.

[John Lovett]

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[Jon Favreau]

To leave the house.

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Me too.

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Code love it.

[IKEA Advertiser]

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So I always dreamed of having a man cave, but the wife doesn't like it. What if I called it a Woman cave.

Okay, so let's not do that, but add some relaxing lighting and a comfy IKEA hofburg ottoman. And now it's a cozy retreat.

[Bassem Youssef]

Nice.

[IKEA Advertiser]

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Okay. Find your big dreams, small dreams, and cozy retreat dreams in store or online at ikea.us dream the possibilities.

[Jon Favreau]

And we're back. Please welcome to the Sage. It's the incredible Bozem Youssef and the incomparable Paul Scheer. Hey, come on out over here. Come on. Here you go in. You can go wherever you want to go. Just sit down, you queers. All right.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, man.

[Jon Favreau]

Good to see you both. Thank you both for being here.

[Paul Scheer]

Very excited.

[Jon Favreau]

It's been a very rough couple of.

[Bassem Youssef]

Weeks and only a couple of weeks.

[Jon Favreau]

It's been a rough couple years, and there's a lot to get through. Trump is committing Watergates on a seemingly daily basis at this point, and that's where you two come in. We're gonna talk about both serious, vitally important news topics and chat about movies. In a twist on a Lover to leave it classic called reality versus Reality tv. Tonight we bring you real life versus real life. One of them has the two E's.

[Bassem Youssef]

Wow.

[Paul Scheer]

All right.

[Bassem Youssef]

Real life versus the evil guy.

[Paul Scheer]

I like that pose, though. I like it. I look very casual.

[Bassem Youssef]

I look very diabolical.

[Jon Favreau]

I think you just look intense. I think you look intense, Bossim. Okay, who will I ask about each topic? There's only one way to find out. Basim, you've been a. Hold on.

[Paul Scheer]

What is this game you're gonna tell us real life or real life, and we have to pick?

[Jon Favreau]

No. I'm gonna ask each of you questions. Okay. And one of them is gonna be questions about real life.

[Paul Scheer]

Got it?

[John Lovett]

But for.

[Paul Scheer]

It seems like you're not into this game. Like, the way that you presented it was like, I'm gonna do the thing in real life. In real life. And I was like, I don't even were here. Like, do you not like this game? Cause I don't want to put you through a game.

[Bassem Youssef]

Also, English is my second language, so I don't understand what's happening here.

[Paul Scheer]

It seems like you're like, well, now this is a good one. But this does not seem like you were like, this is a good one.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

So I'm trying not to be defensive right now, and I'm gonna receive what you're saying.

[Paul Scheer]

I want to cater to you, so.

[Jon Favreau]

I hear what you're saying. We're gonna play a game.

[Paul Scheer]

Okay.

[Jon Favreau]

Okay. And it is Called Real life versus Real Life. I'm gonna ask you one of you questions about real life.

[Bassem Youssef]

I look very diabolical about real life.

[Jon Favreau]

Got it. One of you will get questions about what's real life, and the other about real life.

[Paul Scheer]

This is a fun game, John.

[Bassem Youssef]

Oh, there's a real and re.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. EE's awesome.

[Bassem Youssef]

I still don't know. Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

You've been a heart surgeon, an advocate for the Palestinian people, and an exile for your own political satire of powerful rulers. You've been known as the Jon Stewart of the Middle East. Turns out you were the Jimmy Kimmel.

[John Lovett]

Of the Middle East.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

What?

[Bassem Youssef]

At least Jimmy came back.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. Yeah. But so can you just. I feel like it is amazing how with each passing year, your experience becomes more relevant in America, which is a bummer.

[Bassem Youssef]

I'm feeling like home.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. That sucks. So, wait, what?

[Bassem Youssef]

Oh, not all me. It is.

[Jon Favreau]

So you were taken off the air for political satire?

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

So what happened?

[Bassem Youssef]

Well, I actually. I was took out, like, a couple of times, and one of them, I was interrogated by the junior prosecutors, and I sat in front of him, and it was chaotic. I was let in by a lot of policemen going into the investigation room. And then before we got into the room, the policeman kind of took me to a different room, and I don't know what's going on. And then the officer, like. Mr. Youssef, before we go in, I need to ask you a question. Can we have a selfie? My children love your. So, like, they got, like, got all of his friends, and I got, like, selfies with, like, six officers. And then I went down, and then I sat with the investigator, and he. And my first question, I was trying to explain my jokes for them, and.

[Paul Scheer]

Which always works, right? Like, if people ask you tell me a joke.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

Surefire. Set up to. To kill. And then when you have to explain a joke, also. Surefire.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah. Yeah. It was like, what did you mean by this joke? And then the thing is, when they ask you something like this and you're. And if you're on a show, you can explain what's the meaning? But. Yeah, but in this situation, I'm trying to play dumb, because it's like, I don't know. I don't want to say something that will kind of incriminate me, but you.

[Paul Scheer]

Also don't want to throw your writers under the bus, because then they'll be brought in and there'll be no selfies with the writers because no one cares.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah. And then it's like, when I Try to explain the joke. He would send me, like, that's not very funny. And then everybody's a critic.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, yeah, but so can you. Like, look, there are people that are saying, oh, you know, people like J.D. vance. But even some that are sort of conservatives and others that are. Some comedians are like, oh, this is.

[John Lovett]

All blown out of proportion. This isn't a First Amendment violation.

[Jon Favreau]

This isn't so serious. What does it look like to you what's happening in the US Right now in free speech?

[Bassem Youssef]

I mean, in a capitalist democracy. Democracy there is capital is king. So the thing is, like, yeah, you're free to say what you want, but, like, I own the platform and I can kick you out because, you know, I want that. So the thing is, now you. Because ABC reinstated them, and then Nexter and the other. Yeah, okay, we're not gonna put them on our affiliate. So now the problem is money rules everything. Like, we'll have a freedom of expression, but, like, I'm not gonna give you the space to experience this freedom of expression.

[Paul Scheer]

But I guess you could also say the same thing for the reinstatement, which was, I think Disney had lost like, 7, like, 7% over, like, the course of a weekend. Like, people pulled their subscription. So I think they were motivated, from a business perspective to get him back on the air, too. Right.

[Bassem Youssef]

But what will happen the next time it happens? Like, you know, like, you know, because there's always the fact. Oh, it's the ratings, the money. Like, they did. They used that too with Colbert. So I don't know. Like, I think we should maybe not, like, think of it as, like, a binary thing, which is people against the Authority. It's the people who are funding the Authority. It's the people, the billionaires, who are buying those platforms and putting their own agenda. And then the people in the authority are just puppets because they're paid off by these people.

[Paul Scheer]

This is the thing I don't get. Everyone wants to say about how bad the ratings are in late night, but it seems like everyone's listening, too. That's the other thing. It's like, well, no one's watching. But when some turn of phrase gets said immediately people are watching and we have to take it off the air, it seems like it's all a show or it's not. It's either people are watching it bigly or they're not watching it at all. Like, I don't know what that middle ground is.

[Jon Favreau]

How can it both be a business failure in ratings disaster, but also something heavily monitored by The White House that demands an immediate national response if it crosses a line of our choosing. Paul, why did you give Netflix's War.

[John Lovett]

Of the Worlds remake Starring Ice Cube.

[Jon Favreau]

5 stars on Letterboxd?

[Paul Scheer]

Because it is. It is great. It is great. This is a movie where Ice Cube has said the director wasn't there, and I had to figure it out myself. This is a movie that is shot through a computer screen. He is an NSA expert working on a Sunday when aliens attack. Spoiler alert. And the entire movie is saved by an Amazon delivery driver. Now people say, well, that's great advertising for Amazon. Here's the thing that's amazing about it. This movie was written for Paramount and they sold it to Amazon later. So this Amazon, the writer of it was like, Amazon, I wanna put more Amazon in here. So I think that that's really interesting. Like, they had so much Amazon specifics. There are drones controlled, like, Ice T. Sorry. Ice Cube has to buy. Ice Cube has to buy a. Like, a USB stick to put it in his computer, and he has to get it via drone. It's great. Watch it. It's fantastic.

[Jon Favreau]

I love a movie where a plot point is getting a USB stick.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

That's how you know things are classic. You couldn't crack no way to sit in a room and think of a way to avoid that.

[Paul Scheer]

We gotta send the drone. We gotta send the drone. It's great. And he's also a weird dude who spies on his daughter a lot.

[Bassem Youssef]

Are you serious?

[Paul Scheer]

Yes. That majority of the movie is him spying on his dog.

[Bassem Youssef]

You really like that movie?

[Jon Favreau]

You know what?

[Paul Scheer]

When there's something that is so off, right? Like, I can appreciate the beauty of, like, one battle after the other. The new Paul Thomas Anderson movie. And this, because they are both. They are both doing the best version of what they can both be, which is. That is the best, worst movie I have seen in a long time. And that is a great movie. That is the best, best movie in a long time. So it's like I have to applaud them both. If you're gonna go down, you have.

[Bassem Youssef]

A lot of time on your head.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, come on. I got. You know, this is. I thought I was giving him up.

[Bassem Youssef]

I like the abrupt spark.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. Well, I want to ask about War of the Worlds, but I don't want to spoil it. Basim.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yes, sir.

[Jon Favreau]

You were.

[John Lovett]

You had a Nelk Boys interview go viral over the summer because you chided them for interviewing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. About his favorite fast food, which was.

[Jon Favreau]

Burger King, which is blasphemy, of course. During that episode, you told the Nelk.

[John Lovett]

Boys, you guys are not little kids. You're fucking 30 years old.

[Jon Favreau]

It was very satisfying, I think, for.

[John Lovett]

People, because there is this kind of.

[Jon Favreau]

It's funny, it's similar. It's sort of the reverse image of what we were just talking about, which is you have comedians doing these interviews with politicians, and these are serious times.

[John Lovett]

And the interviews have serious stakes, and.

[Jon Favreau]

People are influenced by them. But if you challenge what's happening, why they maybe don't ask hard questions. Well, they're just entertainers.

[John Lovett]

They're just comedians.

[Jon Favreau]

They're just people having a conversation. What was that conversation? What was the response?

[John Lovett]

What was that moment like?

[Bassem Youssef]

Well, the thing is, there was a common friend who told me, like, the Nell Boys, they messed up with getting out and give him softballing the. So can you be, like, the counterpoint? So, because they were, like, losing people right and left, so I just, like, went there and kind of, like, put them in, you know, in detention, and I was kind of like. Because they were using the thing. We didn't know. We didn't know. It's like, you cannot just, like, go through life pretending that you don't know, because what you have been used. It started right before the podcast because the Nelk boys with other influencers were paid huge amount of money to go to these free trips to Israel. And they had, like, a trip, like, a couple of years, like, just like, six months before, like, you know, like, before October 7th. And I told them, you were recruited in 2023, and you were activated 2025. They recruited you there and then, so they would use you when they come here, because you are the same Nelk Boys that actually Donald Trump used in his campaign. So now I think the politicians are, like, realizing, oh, it's not, like, mainstream anymore. We need to go to these, like, Gen Z's and. And the young millennials and go to this popular podcast. And of course, those people, oh, I'm having the Prime Minister of this country, having the President of the United States. That's a great reach for me. So they don't care about doing the work, and they just want to do the exposure. But they're being used. They're being used.

[Paul Scheer]

I mean, everybody wants their Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on Arsenio moment, right? It's like, well, let's not talk about politics. But at the same time, this is the thing that I don't know if people have said this to you, but it's like. Like, stay in your lane, okay? You're supposed to entertain. So just entertain. And that's a really interesting thing. Cause I think that that's what those people are trying to do, but it's not responsible.

[Bassem Youssef]

But here's the thing, what he's saying with the podcaster, like, the podcaster, many of the podcasters, like, you know, they pretend that they are tough asking the tough questions. And, you know, like, being the people, they actually. They stepped out of their lane already. And when that politician comes in, they're just, like, all so sweet and nice.

[Paul Scheer]

Can I ask you. Can I say no one has ever asked Netanyahu about his favorite fast food? Yeah, I mean, that was a hard question. I mean, that. Yeah, you would not get that. You know, never get that from somebody else.

[Jon Favreau]

The guy is from fucking Philly, and.

[John Lovett]

He'S saying Burger King. Are you.

[Jon Favreau]

Terrible answer from Bibi. Among other terrible answers from him.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah, that's the only bad thing he did.

[Jon Favreau]

And that was the worst thing I've ever heard from Benjamin Netanyahu now. So, Paul, you're headlining the Riyadh Comedy Festival, is that right?

[Bassem Youssef]

Yes.

[Paul Scheer]

Let me hear me out.

[Jon Favreau]

Wait, I'll ask both of you about this. So we've got a bunch of big comedians are doing the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Yes. And I find it interesting because it's divided between God. They must be paying an absorbitant amount of money to get these comedians to go to Riyadh. But it really does seem to be divided between people that could use the money and people who have more money than God already. Basim, what was your reaction to the Riyadh Communications?

[Bassem Youssef]

Well, we actually had a conversation about that exact topic. And then the whole idea was like, oh, they're whitewashing the regime. I said, okay, so let's say now you're gonna give people pain for going for a certain country with, quote, unquote, questionable politics. Isn't American politics questionable, too? The fact that we also. The whole idea about, like, we are better than everybody if you don't talk about, like, you know, destruction or talk about war. America has been doing that for years. So should we, like. So the fact is, like, trying to pretend that we are better than the rest of the world just because our media tells us so. I think we are actually, like, guilty. Of what? Many of the things that we accuse.

[Paul Scheer]

Other countries, like, are you supporting. If you play in California, are you supporting ICE because you're like, well, you know, because, I mean, Is that at least something you could equate on some level?

[Jon Favreau]

I think that you can interrogate whether we are at times naive or rosy about America's terrible conduct domestically abroad without going so far as to not be able to draw this distinction. One important distinction is that if you go and perform in the Riyadh Comedy Festival, that government will decide how many people outside of that room see it. That does not happen in the United States. Not yet. They murder journalists. They imprison them. There are, you know, that is a regime that cracks down actively in a violent way on dissent. Now, you can criticize America in all the ways that I think it is justified. But, yes, I continue to believe there is a very big difference between going down to the Laugh Factory on Sunset and going to Riyadh to perform at this festival for a lot of money, which is to lend credibility to a kind of monstrous dictatorial regime. And we are not fully an authoritarian state just yet.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah, but it's not just, like, about the authority. Like, I remember, like, Biden with the fist bump and everything. You know, like, we. Weren't we supposed to be, like, the police of the world? Like, we are, like, responsible. The morality of the world. And then we still do business with all of these regimes. We are actually, like, we can say whatever you want about any regime in the world, but we have been, like, supporting them. We have been taking their money, whether than in the Middle east or anywhere else. I'm just, like, saying that you can point fingers to any regime in the world, but I don't think the United States is that much different.

[Jon Favreau]

I would say, sure you can.

[Bassem Youssef]

Immigrant here.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh.

[Bassem Youssef]

English, second language.

[Jon Favreau]

No, what I was gonna say is only. I think that, like, you have to be able to be honestly critical without having your mind so open your brain falls out. Yes, there are. The United States has done terrible things. But you can still draw moral distinctions between performing in Saudi Arabia and performing in the United States. And even as our government does terrible things in our name, that doesn't mean individuals don't have a moral responsibility for where they perform for money. And that can mean different things to different people. And that can be up for debate. I think it is hard to justify extraordinarily wealthy comedians taking huge sums of money to go to Riyadh to perform for a regime that is looking for global credibility despite its many horrible and monstrous crimes. That does not negate any criticism of the United States, but it does not change that moral choice.

[Bassem Youssef]

You know, a couple of years ago.

[John Lovett]

Do you disagree with that?

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah, yeah, but like a couple of years.

[Jon Favreau]

No. Would you agree or disagree with that?

[Bassem Youssef]

I agree with many points.

[Jon Favreau]

Points.

[Bassem Youssef]

But the thing is, I have to say as someone who came from the Middle east right in these last two years, living here and seeing what our government let happen in front of all of our eyes, I am pretty much like disfranchised with all of like whatever moral thing that you can say about this government. I'm sorry, like I, I even told you yesterday, like, you know, as of like the people in the Arab and the Muslim diaspora, they feel that we are helping our people with Western union and we're fucking them with TurboTax. Like, you know, we're helping them with money and then like our taxes go there to fuck them over. And that is happening through our government. And you can say whatever you want about the Egyptian regime, about the Saudi regime, whatever, but they did not like assist in billions of dollars in genociding a whole nation right in front of our eyes right now.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

And I'm only doing five minutes, like not headlining. Middling. It was because of the snacks. Snacks are good. They got good snacks there. Whatever I wanted. Fresh popcorn.

[Bassem Youssef]

And the dates, they're amazing. Oh, very good. Oh my God, the dates are wonderful.

[Jon Favreau]

We'll be right back. Hey, don't go anywhere.

[Eric Swalwell]

There's more of Love it or Leave it coming up.

[John Lovett]

Love it or Leave it is brought to you by Sundays. Sundays is fresh dog food made from a short list of human grade ingredients. Sundays was co founded by Dr. Tori Waxman, a practicing veterinarian who tests and formulates every version of each recipe. Sundaes contains 90% meat, 10% superfoods, and 0% synthetic nutrients or artificial ingredients. Dog parents report noticeable health improvements in their pubs including softer for a fresher breath, better poops and more energy after switching to Sundays. John Leo likes Sundays, doesn't he?

[Eric Swalwell]

Leo loves Sunday for dogs. And we love it because you know, it's not wet dog food and so.

[Paul Scheer]

You can store it easily and it doesn't smell as bad and he eats it right up.

[John Lovett]

Unlike other fresh dog food, Sundays does not require refrigeration or preparation because of their air drying process. Just pour and serve. When you start a Sunday subscription, you'll automatically get 20% off and free shipping on every reorder. Cancel or pause your subscription anytime with our 100% satisfaction guarantee. Every order ships right to your door so you'll never worry about running out of dog food again. So easy to store, so easy to serve. Dogs love it. Get 40 off your first order of Sundays. Go to Sundays for Dogs Dot Com. Love it or use code Love it at checkout. That's Sundays for Dogs dot Com. Love It Code Love it.

[IKEA Advertiser]

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Okay, so let's not do that, but add some relaxing lighting and a comfy IKEA hofburg ottoman. And now it's a cozy retreat.

[Bassem Youssef]

Nice.

[IKEA Advertiser]

A cozy retreat, man. Cozy retreat, sir.

Okay. Find your big dreams, small dreams, and cozy retreat dreams in store online at ikea.us dream the possibilities.

[Jon Favreau]

And we're back.

[Bassem Youssef]

Where did we go?

[Paul Scheer]

I don't know. We had so much good conversation in between.

[Jon Favreau]

Before we get to our final segment, first of all, everybody should check. You know, Paul talked about the great, great movies and the great bad movies. And you can listen to how does this Get Made? Which is the greatest show about the worst movies and unspooled the greatest show about the great movies.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Plus there's Dark Web.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

And you were talking about Dark Web today about 2 Live Jews, which I remember from my childhood. Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

So 2 Live Jews was a comedy rap alb that I thought was amazing because my parents wouldn't let me hear two Live Crew. Now, two Live Crew, they rapped about some hardcore stuff, but Two Live Jews would sing songs like, Oi, it's so humid. Oi, it's so humid. Oi, it's so humid. It's like a sauna in here. And someone brought up today, they said, oh, they should have said they were schwitzing. It's not really a sauna, It's a schwitz. But that's to be said.

[Jon Favreau]

It's esteem.

[Paul Scheer]

It's esteem, yeah. So the two. So Two Live Jews brought back a really buried memory for a lot of people. Cause, yeah, I found an old clip of Two Live Jews, which at the time I thought were two old men. They were just guys in, like, nutty professor makeup. So I'm learning that in real time. Yeah. So, yeah. But, yeah, you could check out. They have a few albums. Kosher As I Wanna Be is, I believe, the first album.

[Jon Favreau]

There's this controversy right now about this book about MDMA and recovered memories of abuse. And it's all very serious. I'm just imagining you doing MDMA recovery therapy, singing that song and bringing up all these lost memories of two broke Jews.

[Paul Scheer]

Two Live Jews.

[Jon Favreau]

Two Broke girls. Two broke girls. Two live Jews.

[Bassem Youssef]

Two broke Jews. No, that's science fiction.

[Jon Favreau]

Awesome. Wow.

[Bassem Youssef]

Hey, I was anti Semitic of the month one month, by the way. Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, really?

[Bassem Youssef]

Stop. Antisemitism.org has chosen me. And I was actually in the finals. And then when you made it to.

[Paul Scheer]

The final, they have finals and then.

[Bassem Youssef]

Like Dan Balzarian won. I just like. No, I lost you today.

[Paul Scheer]

He bought it. He bought it just like all those girls.

[Jon Favreau]

It's like the Webbies, you know, I don't even know what I'm getting in trouble for. For this episode. There's gonna be a lot I don't even know. Get in there.

[Paul Scheer]

Cut, cut. Do some edits.

[Jon Favreau]

Tight, tight, tight. Tighten it up. Hey, Bill, we gotta tighten this episode up. Also, you can see Basim live at la at the Comedy Store here at Dynasty Typewriter in Durham, Tempe, San Antonio, Irvine. And it says Islamabad. Is that right? No, I'm kidding. No, Wait, are you actually.

[Bassem Youssef]

But I'm doing the typewriter next Friday.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, great.

[Bassem Youssef]

To test it like here next Friday. Yeah, yeah, It's a test show, so it's code for it still sucks. So help me build the show, please. Thank you. Yes.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, help him. All right. Please welcome back Congressman Eric Swalwell.

[Bassem Youssef]

Oh.

[Jon Favreau]

Before we get to our end.

[John Lovett]

Game.

[Jon Favreau]

Look, as we see, there are all kinds of ways in which corporate media is compromising and capitulating. We here at Crooked Media, we are independent. We have no FCC licenses that I'm aware of. I wouldn't even know how to get one. And you can support us at Crooked Media as we try to build an independent, progressive alternative to right wing media and to corporate media, mainstream media. And you can support Crooked by becoming a subscriber.

[John Lovett]

If you go to crooked.com friends, you.

[Jon Favreau]

Can now subscribe on YouTube. Substack the others. So many. Spot the spot everywhere, anywhere you where Apple, Apple, of course.

[Bassem Youssef]

The biggest corporate of all.

[Jon Favreau]

Well, we're still part of society.

[Bassem Youssef]

I know.

[Jon Favreau]

We're not in a fucking hole. Just subscribe already. A lot of you haven't. This week, Donald Trump completely reversed course.

[John Lovett]

On Ukraine, declaring that Ukraine has America's.

[Jon Favreau]

Full support and reclaiming all the land Russia has invaded so far. In honoring Trump's surprise about face, we wanted each of you to share something. We've pulled a 180 on something in your life where you just were wrong and did a full flip on. Could be anything you want. Let's spin the wheel.

[Paul Scheer]

Got it.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, great. It has landed on Congressman Eric Swala.

[Eric Swalwell]

Well, I've done a 180 on the picture for sure. I mean, I look like it's my high school prom photo. Right.

[Jon Favreau]

Is that not a headshot? Look at that, baby. You think you're young in that picture? I think you look the same. That's not. I'm not what I would say.

[Eric Swalwell]

I've done a 180 on checking luggage.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric Swalwell]

So when I met my wife on our first date, so I'm 33, she's in her late 20s, we both travel a lot for work. And I thought, like, this is an important question to ask someone who could be your spouse. And I asked her, I said, how do you feel about checking luggage? And to me, it was like a dq. Like, I never want to wait at a carousel for luggage.

[Jon Favreau]

Right.

[Eric Swalwell]

I just want to, like, get on the plane, land, and you're off. And in my job, like, you just kind of like build that in as a habit and so you don't want to be slowed down at all. I have three kids now, 8, 6 and 3. All I want to fucking do is check as much luggage as possible. Because going through an airport with little kids is impossible. I don't know if any of you have done it.

[Paul Scheer]

I'm going to tell you now. I have a 9 and 11 year old. And now we've determined, we called ourselves this year, we're like, we are the no check baggage family.

[Eric Swalwell]

That's a good question.

[Paul Scheer]

We went to Europe and now that the kids can carry their own thing, life is better again. But yes, in your moment right now, forget about it.

[Eric Swalwell]

I want to check the kids, right?

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, get them in. But they don't like to.

[Paul Scheer]

I put on. I got like these cheap dog costumes on Amazon. You put them in a little crate and they go right under. It's cheaper, it's easy. And they don't mind the cold.

[Jon Favreau]

They don't mind. Kids are always.

[Paul Scheer]

My kids are always hot. That's my middle.

[Jon Favreau]

You get them in a little dog costume. Yeah. And go right under. If the kids are small enough, they can go under the seat.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, yeah, you could get them in there.

[Jon Favreau]

I agree. Like, I sometimes like the feeling of once you've checked the bag and you're kind of loose at the airport. Oh, it's nice. You're loose. But I also.

[Paul Scheer]

Here's the other thing, too. I don't get this complaint with people like, oh, I don't want to wait for these bags.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm like, how long is it?

[Paul Scheer]

It's like five, 10 minutes. What are we doing. People make it out. Like, I never check.

[Eric Swalwell]

Not in this economy, not with this administration. Sean Duffy's in charge of your bags now, right?

[Paul Scheer]

I mean, I get it. I mean, look, I know that things are bad, but I feel like my bags are getting there. Roughly gives me a chance to take a pee, go, maybe grab a coffee, and then I'll wait for the bag to get them, and I go, and I'm happy. And it was great.

[Eric Swalwell]

When you travel with kids, you're also, like, the very back of the plane.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric Swalwell]

So you don't give a fuck when. By the time you get off the plan. Yeah, the bags are there. I've completely changed my tune on that.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

You're not moving anywhere quickly once the kids are going because they're stopping five more times than you ignore. Yeah. You can't just, like, bust off.

[Eric Swalwell]

Our hack is to sit at the very. Like, the farthest back as possible so that you're disturbing, like, the least amount of people. Right.

[Jon Favreau]

Like, that's.

[Bassem Youssef]

I. As a Middle Eastern, I have different priorities than you guys at any airport. And this is like. This is like. This is like first world country. Shit problems. First world problems.

[Jon Favreau]

Bag, luggage.

[Bassem Youssef]

I'm wondering if I'm gonna go through. I mean, just. That's.

[Jon Favreau]

Let's spin it again. It has landed on Paul Scheer.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, here is my. I'm gonna keep it light and. Well, that was light. So the thing that I have made 180 on is the movie Talladega Knights. When I first saw it, I was like, I don't think this is very funny. I think Anchorman is way better. And when I've watched it, I'm like. I actually think that this is, like, an amazing kind of look of America and how we get very, you know, jealous and uncomfortable. There's so many layers in there.

[Eric Swalwell]

Favorite scene.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, gosh. My favorite scene. I mean, the two kids are the best. Walker and Texas Rangers, they're pretty amazing. Anytime kids are telling they're kicking an old man's ass, I'm ready for it.

[Eric Swalwell]

But the baby Jesus, right?

[Paul Scheer]

Baby Jesus, yeah. The prayer scene, the dinner table scene is amazing. And I just think in rewatching it, I appreciate. And you can tell it's like Adam McKay, who has this point of view about. Yeah, this is all, I think, putting it in a NASCAR world and showing America for great things and weird things and all of our weird things that we were scared of. I thought it's actually way smarter than I ever gave it credit for. So that's my 180 on Talladega. I think I just stuck my nose up at it. Cause I don't like nascar. This is dumb. Whatever. But it's a much more layered movie.

[Jon Favreau]

I'll have to go back and rewatch Talladega Nights.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, well, there's definitely an ethnophobia there because Sasha Baron Cohen plays a French guy who wants to hold hands. He's gay. And that's very upsetting to Will Ferrell's character that it's interesting. There's some good stuff in there.

[Jon Favreau]

Let's spin it again.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, we know where it's going to land. Oh, no. Yes. We don't. We have two options.

[Jon Favreau]

It's landed on Boston. Boston. What's something you've done a 180 on?

[Bassem Youssef]

I used to have like my dream car. Used to be a Tesla. Not anymore. No. But even before the, the thing, even, even, even before that, I, I, I, I, I think it's like hyped up, overrated, and like you, you lose an arm and a leg if, if with any scratch with it. Like, it's like, I, I, I think the whole, we shouldn't be investing that much money in cars.

[John Lovett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bassem Youssef]

Like, yeah, half of you have Teslas. Fuck you.

[Paul Scheer]

I have a bumper sticker on mine.

[Jon Favreau]

I.

[Paul Scheer]

This is for the politics.

[Jon Favreau]

So I had a Tesla. I bought it in, I believe, February of 2020, at which point it sat in my driveway for whatever, an incredible length of time. I really liked it. Then the news happened and then it started to really rattle. You know, it would really shimmy and it would rattle and it would make.

[John Lovett]

A lot of noise.

[Jon Favreau]

It always sounds like there's a screw.

[John Lovett]

Loose that's rolling back and forth.

[Jon Favreau]

And I ultimately got rid of it, man.

[Bassem Youssef]

Maybe it was, it was already bad, but you were blinded.

[Jon Favreau]

That could be, that could be, could have been biased.

[John Lovett]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, could have been biased.

[Paul Scheer]

I will say this about the Tesla too. It's like, it is a take away everything about like, Elon, whatever. But it's a relatively new car. Like, there's very few new cars that like, hey, we figured it out. Like, no, these companies have been around for decades. They've figured out like, oh yeah, that's how the steering wheel doesn't make a creaky noise every time. I feel like any new car is gonna have this. And it's surprising when you drive the Tesla. Oh, these are sounds I've never heard.

[Bassem Youssef]

A car make before.

[Jon Favreau]

But I got rid of it and I didn't Know what to get. And I got a Mercedes, which I've never had before and I've never had Arab.

[Bassem Youssef]

That's a very Arab thing to do. Mercedes.

[Jon Favreau]

Let me tell you something.

[Bassem Youssef]

Let me tell you something Mercedes.

[Jon Favreau]

I'll tell you something. So you know what? Let's spin it again. It's landed on me. It's rigged. So I always thought that like when I was a kid, as a Jewish kid, like Mercedes were like not allowed. Like they were Nazi sleds. Like you did not get a German car like these were. You did it. You did it. And by the way, like I still think it's kind of crazy to have a Volkswagen because like who named that.

[John Lovett]

Company.

[Jon Favreau]

Change the fucking name. It's right there on the thing. That's crazy to me. Always bugged me a little bit. But I was like, you know what? I'm going to get rid of this Tesla and just fucking. Just eat shit on the price because that's what happened. I'm getting rid of it. I'm going to get this thing. I fucking hate this car so much. And it is the most. And it really like makes me Tesla or the Mercedes. The Mercedes. I miss the Tesla, to be honest. Deal with it.

[Paul Scheer]

I feel the same way. I really like driving my Tesla. Again. Politics sucks.

[Bassem Youssef]

Well, this is how you're gonna get paid in Riyadh.

[Jon Favreau]

I hate this.

[Paul Scheer]

Now I will say now you've made me second guess. My other car which I want to get is that Volkswagen bus. I can't get that now either. Now you know what?

[Jon Favreau]

But you're never going to be young again. Don't get that bus.

[Paul Scheer]

All right.

[Bassem Youssef]

Why do you hate the Mercedes?

[Jon Favreau]

It feels very German in that it seems like it was just trying to.

[Paul Scheer]

Kick you out of the car.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm in it. I just, I always feel like, I always feel like when I'm in it like you can just hear a little voice being like achem. It's very like it's very. Clearly some very smart engineers were deeply involved in every aspect of it. But the one thing they didn't think about was the fact that a human being at some point might need to drive. Feels like it's completely over engineered by like a, by like a deeply methodical and inhumane people. And maybe that's projecting because they seem like they've really kind of lightened up over the last 60 or 80 years. But when I drive this car I feel like, I don't know, I think it's still in them when you turn.

[Paul Scheer]

It up and when you get in, it automatically. Nick Fuentes podcast is on, right?

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It just goes. Yeah. It's always playing Deutschland Uber Alles whenever I turn the car on. It's super weird.

[John Lovett]

It's super weird.

[Paul Scheer]

I do love the Leni Riefenstahl commercials for it.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, no, you know, because here's the thing. Because here's the thing. The Trump administration puts out these sort of like snuff films on whitehouse.gov and it's like, hey man, Leni Riefenstahl knew the rule of thirds. You know what I mean?

[Paul Scheer]

Knew about that.

[Jon Favreau]

Framing, light and dark, you know the angles, beautiful shots. Right. If you're gonna make a beautiful piece of right wing propaganda, fucking shoot it.

[Bassem Youssef]

Well, speaking about the, the ads, did you see this, like the, the White House ad for the. We are now called the Department of War. Like we're working with the business of war. And they're like, this is. Did you see that?

[Paul Scheer]

No, I didn't know that these films existed.

[Bassem Youssef]

And it's like on the White House, like, of officials. How like. And they're giving like hex, you know that guy. And, and he's saying like, you know, we're, we're like, we're not the Department of Defense. We're in the business of war. And like. And then at the end. Department of Defense and then war.

[John Lovett]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Wow.

[Bassem Youssef]

This is like dystopian thing.

[Paul Scheer]

That's. I mean that's like something you would see in a movie.

[Bassem Youssef]

Yeah, it's like. But I like that there's no masks anymore. Yeah, we're war. We're going to you world.

[Jon Favreau]

It's just, it's just like there are confident people with tiny penises and there are, there are insecure people with big penises. I'm sure they exist.

[Eric Swalwell]

Which ones? Hexa.

[Bassem Youssef]

There's insecure people with nuclear weapons.

[Jon Favreau]

Right. Well, I just. There's such a projection all the time. Like I just. Therapy and this. Let's end by saying I hope a lot of these Republicans do a 180 on therapy. These people could all benefit from just sitting down and talking to somebody once in a while about why they're so sad and mad or maybe admitting that they're not mad and that they are sad. And with that we will end it. Thank you so much to Congressman Eric Swalwell, Paul Shir Basam Youssef. We'll see you in two weeks at Dynasty Typewriter. We're off next week for Yom Kippur. There are 402 days until the midterms. Have a great night everybody, and have a great weekend. If you're already scrolling endlessly, which we.

[John Lovett]

Know you are, don't forget to follow.

[Jon Favreau]

Us at Crooked media on Instagram, TikTok and all the other ones for original content, community events and more.

[John Lovett]

You can also find Love it or.

[Jon Favreau]

Leave it on YouTube for videos of your favorite segments and other YouTube exclusive content. And if you want to type our.

[John Lovett]

Praises or rip us a new one.

[Jon Favreau]

Consider dropping us a review. Finally, you can join Crooked's Friends of the Pod subscription community for ad free Love it or Leave it and Pod Save America episodes. Subscribe or exclusive pods and more. Sign [e-mail] friends love it or Leave it is a Crooked Media production.

[John Lovett]

It is written and produced by me, John Lovett and Lee Eisenberg.

[Jon Favreau]

Kendra James is our executive producer, Bill.

[John Lovett]

McGrath is our producer and Kennedy Hill is our Associate Producer.

[Jon Favreau]

Hallie Kiefer is our head writer, Sarah Lazarus, Jocelyn Kaufman, Peter Miller, Alan Pierre and Subha Agrawal are our writers. Jordan Kanter is our editor, Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis provide audio support. Stephen Colon is our audio engineer. Our theme park song is written and performed by Cher. Sure. Thanks to our designer Sammy Cadorna Rees.

[John Lovett]

For creating and running all of our.

[Jon Favreau]

Visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast.

[John Lovett]

And thanks to our digital producers David.

[Jon Favreau]

Toles, Claudia Shang, Mia Kelman, Delon Villanueva.

[John Lovett]

And Rachel Gajewski for filming and editing video Each week.

[Jon Favreau]

Our Head of Production is Matt de Groat and our production staff is proudly.

[John Lovett]

Unionized with the Writers Guild of America.

[Jon Favreau]

It's Love it or Leave It.

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[Bassem Youssef]

Nice.

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