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Ruthless Podcast
A New Golden Age Dawns
00:48:43
Donald Trump sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Biden disgraces himself one last time as he leaves office. Join the fellas as they celebrate Liberation Day in America! Stop Dick Durbin's government takeover of credit cards before...
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- [00:00]
Josh Holmes
Americans have been through so much over the past four years, and President Trump said it himself, it's the dawn of a golden age. This is Liberation Day. Great days are ahead.
- [00:10]
Michael Duncan
From this moment on. America's decline is over.
- [00:15]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [00:17]
Josh Holmes
Here, here.
- [00:18]
John Ashbrook
I mean, that's it. That's it, right? First of all, I love that he started off red hot.
- [00:24]
Comfortably Smug
What I heard is a president who is committed to delivering for the people that put him back in the white.
- [00:32]
John Ashbrook
I don't have to tell you, Americans are ready for what's next. Moving beyond the hardships of inflation and economic anxiety towards building a future, a better future for our families. Ensuring greater access to more affordable energy that powers daily lives. Reliable energy that fuels innovation and economic growth, and the abundant energy that keeps our nation safer and more secure. It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together, building a brighter future for us, powered by America's oil and natural gas resources. You can learn more about all of this@API.org.
- [01:15]
Unknown Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.
- [01:19]
Comfortably Smug
Just a catching strays over here.
- [01:22]
John Ashbrook
You're in for a hell of a show.
- [01:24]
Josh Holmes
Keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs.
- [01:26]
Unknown Speaker
It's time for our main event.
- [01:32]
John Ashbrook
Welcome to A New dawn in America and the Ruthless variety program. Boy, is this exciting. We may look a little different to you. It's because we're celebrating. There is a new president of the United States. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. And I'm Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan. John Ashbrook coming to you here from Washington D.C. where there is a very celebratory nature amongst basically everybody in town. Because if you don't, if you're not with us, you're against us here. And they got the hell out of here.
- [02:01]
Josh Holmes
It's Liberation Day. It's the dawn of a golden age. We have worked everyone, all our listeners, we all put in the work. President Trump put in the work. He survived. You know, God saved the man to make America great again. And we are here to celebrate. All that work was for this day and it just. I cannot tell you how great it feels, how happy everyone is and how great it is to see President Trump back.
- [02:23]
John Ashbrook
Now we have one little quibble and that is the last time you heard from us. We were obviously under the impression that we were going to be doing the game day set. My. I'm told it was just a spectacular location and everything was terrific. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't cooperate with us. And with that security changed and perimeters changed and all those things, we Were not able to do the live game day set for what was going to be a spectacular parade. What can you do, you know, wish we could have done it. Awful lot of people. I ran into some on my way here today that were like, yeah, man, we were waiting for it, but we couldn't make that happen. That piece of it. What are you gonna do?
- [03:05]
Josh Holmes
And I actually have some very insider info on this. I don't think it's been reported either. I spoke to someone very familiar with the situation, and they said that President Trump spoke with, you know, one of the official doctors, and he asked the doctor, if we held it outside, would people get hurt? And the doctor said, without a doubt, I can say yes. And President Trump said, then we have to change it.
- [03:25]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. What a great president. I mean, it is disappointing, but on Sunday, I was near the Capitol and I was talking to a couple of people who were standing outside, and one guy I went up to, I was like, are you. You know, you look like you've been standing outside a long time. You're soaking wet. I was like, are you disappointed that this isn't going to be outside and it's not going to be what you expected this weekend? He was like, a little bit. But to be honest with you, I don't need what I want tomorrow because I get what we need for the next four years.
- [03:55]
Josh Holmes
That's excellent.
- [03:55]
Unknown Speaker
And I. I mean, I was like, man, you said it exactly right. I got to remember that so I can say it on the show. But you just look at all these people. There are people standing in line for this Capital One rally the night before it happened. So they were out all night standing. And I know people who stood in line for the Capital One rally on Sunday, they didn't. They got like, basically up to the door and then were turned away. But they were. They were there outside all day. And the Trump faithful are just so euphoric that finally their voices have been heard. Finally there's going to be change in Washington that, I mean, a little bit of disappointment's not going to take the.
- [04:36]
John Ashbrook
Shine off their four years and an absolutely gorgeous ceremony. Nevertheless, just recall, I mean, look, they had about two and a half months to try to plan an inauguration the way that we'd all been laid out, including, you know, our little show and everything else. And then in a course of 24 hours, they had to change absolutely everything, go to an arena and an indoor event at the Capitol. They had overseeding in the Capitol Visitor center, all the programming needed to change, including, you know, Like Carrie Underwood. It went acapella.
- [05:06]
Josh Holmes
Impressive.
- [05:07]
John Ashbrook
That was amazing, because they were. You know, we were all wondering how she was going to sing in 5 degrees, 10 degrees. Like that would have been a trick, but music didn't work, and she just hammered it. I mean, literally the whole thing, it couldn't have been more beautiful. This country was treated to a magnificent show of a peaceful transfer of power, the likes that only America can do. Right?
- [05:29]
Josh Holmes
Yeah. It was an amazing, amazing event. And just, I mean, looking online, the reaction from people who are just so overjoyed that this day has finally come. Americans have been through so much over the past four years, and President Trump said it himself, it's the dawn of a golden age. This is Liberation Day. Great days are ahead.
- [05:49]
Unknown Speaker
You know when it really got to me was right after he was sworn in. I came to the studio a little bit earlier today just so I could watch the speech and just sort of think about it. Right after he was sworn in, they started playing the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
- [06:03]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [06:04]
Unknown Speaker
And I was walking up to the studio, which, as you guys know, is very close to the White House, and I mean, I was just over overcome with emotion because there's so much history and there is so much tradition in this country that was preserved today. And we actually are headed into the greatest four years that we've had.
- [06:19]
Comfortably Smug
Well, and selfishly, just for the ruthless variety program, it's a big moment for us. You know, I mean, we started this show on the eve of the 2020 election, which obviously didn't go our way. And so it's been tough sledding for the last four years.
- [06:34]
John Ashbrook
No question about it. We've seen this thing through some pretty dark times.
- [06:39]
Comfortably Smug
Through some dark times.
- [06:40]
John Ashbrook
And now look at how handsome. Handsome, you bastards. But everybody looks better. What's.
- [06:46]
Comfortably Smug
What's the line from Shawshank Redemption? Oh, you crawled through a river and came out clean on the other side. And that's it. And that's why we're in tuxedos. You know, we're going to celebrate, and I hope everybody else out there is celebrating.
- [06:59]
John Ashbrook
Yeah, we're going to go to some balls tonight, some parties. You guys have been doing this all weekend long. I. I've listened. It's a great crowd. Everybody around here is just so happy. We're going to play for you. We're going to start off with some summaries here and some of what you heard from President Trump. I think the way he started this speech yesterday was amongst as powerful a message as you could to unite not only what he believes, but everybody who voted for President Trump believes in America. Let's play Clip one, if you wouldn't mind.
- [07:33]
Michael Duncan
My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed, their freedom. From this moment on, America's decline is over.
- [08:00]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [08:01]
Josh Holmes
Hear, hear.
- [08:02]
John Ashbrook
I mean, that's it. That's it. Right. First of all, I love that he started off red hot.
- [08:08]
Josh Holmes
Yep.
- [08:08]
John Ashbrook
Right. Because there's a tendency, look, it's all about pageantry, pomp and circumstance. Very bipartisan event. There's just as many Democrats in there as there are Republicans. When you have a capital Rotunda thing, because you've got, you know, members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, presidents, both sides of the aisle, dignitaries, both sides of the aisle, there's a tendency to just sort of, like, gloss over the real stuff that got him there. Not with Trump. Not with Trump. He started off laying down that. That line of demarcation that he sees his administration as an answer to, which obviously, when the guy who's, you know, the former president, United States, as of two minutes before he starts talking, is sitting like a yard behind him to the left. Like, that's not the easiest thing in.
- [08:51]
Comfortably Smug
The world to do, but it's necessary because, I mean, Donald Trump has this relationship with. With his supporters that he is their vessel for their frustrations with a system that they believe has failed them and has, you know, and so he's going to use this as an opportunity to say, in the same way Bill Clinton said, I feel your pain.
- [09:14]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [09:14]
Comfortably Smug
And that's what Donald Trump did after the 2016 election as well. And, and I noticed this, by the way, after the speech was over, and I, you know, I was in a. An Uber, and NPR was on, as it frequently is in this town. That honeymoon period for Donald Trump lasted about 30 seconds. The speech gets done, and they're like, well, It's American Carnage 2.0. Donald Trump's, you know, inaugural address, the same in 2016. A dark and doomed America. And it's like, that's not what I heard out of that.
- [09:46]
John Ashbrook
Not even a little bit.
- [09:47]
Comfortably Smug
What I heard is, is, is a president who is committed to delivering for the people that put him back in the White House.
- [09:54]
Unknown Speaker
Right. No, it's absolute garbage. And it demonstrates that NPR learned absolutely nothing from what happened in November. I mean, this is a guy that is so important at this moment in American history for so many Reasons, but including stylistically, Donald Trump is a very declarative speaker. And you get some politicians who will go up there and say, well, on one hand, X. On the other hand, yeah, Donald Trump stood up and he made a series of declarations. And that is exactly what this country needs to hear from their leader. On the heels of a guy who couldn't put two sentences together for four years. That's what the world needs to hear from our leader.
- [10:30]
John Ashbrook
I think that's well said. I also think, look, this is a very different time than it was in 2017 when Donald Trump, I think the vast majority of not only political experts, but people who follow it relatively closely, Republicans, Democrats, thought they weren't unsure about all of this. Right. They didn't. Donald Trump was new to this scene. They didn't know what to expect. There was a, you know, sort of a nervousness about who this guy is and what he intends to do. And so when you got like, the NPR's and all the folks that were out doing what they do, predictably, they had an audience that was a little bit more of a bipartisan audience in that regard. Not only do they not have a bipartisan audience right now for that sort of American Carnage 2.0 take, nobody's listening to any of that shit, not even on the left. They know that we're in a very different point of view. Like, this is a guy that not only resoundingly won reelection, he won the popular vote, and he won it for the second time after everything you knew about Donald Trump. And they want him, and they want him much more in comparison to the guy who's walking out the door in Joe Biden. So you can continue to do that from a media standpoint, I fully expect them to do. But the resonance of all of that, not just in, like, who's listening to the media, but even if you're listening to it, it doesn't take hold like it used to.
- [11:46]
Comfortably Smug
And I loved what Ashbrook said about, you know, Trump speaks in these declarative statements. And I think it's such a contrast to, like, Barack Obama, who would say, you know, pablum, like, we're not red states and blue states, we're the United States. And it's like, it's not. It's not this wishy washy thing. It's, we are no longer managing the decline of America. We're making America great.
- [12:15]
John Ashbrook
Yep.
- [12:15]
Comfortably Smug
And that's it.
- [12:16]
John Ashbrook
That's it.
- [12:16]
Comfortably Smug
And that's the message. We're all on that team because we want America to Be great. We don't have to do this wishy washy. I believe in this, you believe in that, and we're going to come together. No, there is a principle that the United States is this thing that we all want it to be. And you're either with that idea or you're not.
- [12:34]
John Ashbrook
Yep.
- [12:35]
Josh Holmes
And you know, along the lines, when we're talking about the media and American decline, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, I'm sure all the folks were seeing over the past weekend these stories of how the media is like, oh, and did you know that Joe Biden didn't know where he was and that Joe Biden had to use teleprompters because his staff knew he was doing that. And it's like this is exactly why the American people lost faith in the media as they all knew what bad shape Joe Biden's decline was. This country's decline and the media oversaw it. And they didn't tell the American people. They kept it to themselves. They tried to win this election tricking the American people. And like Donald Trump said, those days are over.
- [13:12]
John Ashbrook
Yeah, well, we've blown right through that. And Donald J. Trump went on to outline exactly what it was that he was talking about later on in the speech. We're going to get to more of those highlights right after this.
- [13:24]
Unknown Speaker
As President Trump begins his new administration. One of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the Trump agenda is Chicago's Senator Dick Durbin. And now Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Today, Americans have thousands of choices in credit cards, all with equal strong security. But Senator Durbin's plan will result in less competition and less security. And that means more risk for your credit and your identity. Tell Republican senators, stop Dick Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late. Learn more at www.internetpaymentscoalition.org all right, so.
- [14:09]
John Ashbrook
This, this Trump speech, in my view, hit the mark for so many different reasons. Some of it was the specific with which he reflected back all of the key issues that he not only ran on, but people were begging him to talk about things that, you know, polite society would say. Yeah, you can't talk about in public. Right. Things like DEI and, you know, all of these sort of race baited stuff that he firmly stood against. And, you know, there were some clues after the election, like, I don't know, is he going to get into all of this stuff right away? Yep. No questions asked. He outlined exactly what it was that he heard from voters, and then he used it in his inauguration speech to talk about what he was going to do. I thought that was incredibly powerful because sometimes you get people to blow right past their election mandate and just talk about, well, now I'm in power, so let's all get along. Not this case. And I love that. I think that's one of the lessons learned from 2017, is that they're not going to let you do anything. You don't just force upon the bureaucracy.
- [15:14]
Josh Holmes
That's right.
- [15:14]
John Ashbrook
Of the United States. And he used that address to say, like, we're not doing, as you said, Duncan, the flowery language and all the nonsense, here's what we are doing.
- [15:23]
Comfortably Smug
Well, because progressivism, like, in order for progressivism to succeed long term is for us all to go along, to get along. And Donald Trump will, in the affirmative, reject it.
- [15:38]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [15:38]
Comfortably Smug
And it's just so important. I'm so glad he does, because, you know, the left for so long has tried to project what the idea of America is, and it undergirds everything from DEI to the like. They've made the idea that America's a melting pot like a slur. You're not supposed to say, and I'm sorry, but America is a melting pot. People come from all over the world. God bless you for doing it. But we actually stand for something here, and this country has principles that we believe in. And, I mean, like having a president like Donald Trump who can articulate those things, I think is just so important.
- [16:14]
John Ashbrook
And happening on MLK Day, when he referenced MLK and he says, it's the content of your character, not the color of your skin. That's right. When we grew up, fellas. Yeah.
- [16:24]
Comfortably Smug
Colorblind society.
- [16:25]
John Ashbrook
That was what it was. Right. And not too long ago, even in 2017, when Donald Trump would say something like that on Martin Luther King Day, people would be like, oh, boy. Oh, Bo. Very controversial. Nope, it's not anymore. There's two generations, the youngest of the voters in Gen Z and Gen X and older millennials who grew up with like, we didn't do any of that stuff. And you've dragged us back into the late 1960s as a result of this credibly divisive social policy that are looking at Donald Trump and saying, thank God, Thank God we now have a president who's speaking to the asinine idea that somehow we are now a full color. We have to. Whatever you can do, it's just based upon what you look like, you know, what you're born in, like, a caste system. I mean, that's the antithesis of America. He spoke to all of that, but he did it with purpose. And this is one of the reasons why, I think. Clip 2.
- [17:21]
Michael Duncan
The Journey to Reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.
- [17:57]
Unknown Speaker
I just love that moment.
- [18:00]
John Ashbrook
I mean, look, not only does he genuinely believe that, so do millions of Americans across this country. It's hard to look, you know, doesn't matter what you believe in. Like, fate is a very real thing. Right. And how he overcame what he overcame. It's the greatest political comeback story in the history of American politics, unquestionably, no matter what. That's. Before you get into assassin's bullets as he was talking about, there's just no question that there is some reason why this man is back. And I think all of us sort of collectively felt that yesterday. Yeah, you. I mean, it's just like a. It's like a higher purpose. Not just, you know, an election victory. It's like there's something to do here. And I don't care if you're, like, lukewarm on Donald Trump or if you're red hot on Donald Trump. You have to believe that there is a purpose for all of this.
- [18:56]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, exactly Right. And I think, you know, despite what NPR is reporting, I saw Politico write the same thing attacking his speech. We all know they're Democrats and they're just making partisan shots. It was a very unifying speech. It was ambitious. It was bold, it was uplifting. It was unifying. And he spoke to everybody in this entire country in a way that almost anybody could understand.
- [19:19]
Josh Holmes
That's right.
- [19:20]
John Ashbrook
And he ticked through the issues, too. A huge one. One of the main, if not the main, issue, for reasons why he's returning to the White House, is the issue of immigration. If we can play clip three, please. Spigots.
- [19:35]
Michael Duncan
First. I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release, and I will send troops to the Southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
- [20:38]
John Ashbrook
I mean, look, you get a lot of speeches from presidents where they're like, we'll work with Congress in a bipartisan fashion to try to accomplish the following things. Nope. What he's talking about is what he just did on day one by signing a whole lot of executive orders. And you're reminded when you look just to, you know, stage right, and you see Joe Biden looking at his shoes and Kamala Harris sitting next, they had the power to do this all along and chose not to.
- [21:03]
Comfortably Smug
What's so interesting to me, and it, you know, it was revealed on Election Day when Donald Trump not only won, he won the popular vote, and he won literally every swing state across the map. What he just laid out there has broad support, like 95% in the Republican Party, 75% of independents, and majorities of Democrats.
- [21:26]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [21:27]
Comfortably Smug
And you've got Kamala Harris and Joe Biden sitting there looking at their shoes, like you said.
- [21:32]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [21:32]
Comfortably Smug
And it's like, well, why do you think you lost?
- [21:35]
John Ashbrook
I was struck by that.
- [21:36]
Comfortably Smug
Nothing that he said in that speech is controversial at all.
- [21:39]
John Ashbrook
No. And nor did it come as a surprise. But just the depiction, Right? This just big, beautiful Capitol rotunda, you know, just all the pomp and circumstance, all the dignitaries and everything. But as he says that, you know, look, in a blink of an eye, America's sovereignty is returned, because he's just done that, and that is a very significant thing. But I was struck by Biden and Harris sitting next to him looking at their shoes. What a failure.
- [22:06]
Josh Holmes
Yeah, Right. What?
- [22:08]
John Ashbrook
It's just an amazing failure. And it takes somebody in there using their inaugural address to really stamp what a failure it actually is, because he's doing it just two minutes after the guy takes the oath of office. He's done what, for four years? They told you they couldn't do. Oh, Congress killed it. We can't do anything.
- [22:27]
Comfortably Smug
And hands are tied.
- [22:29]
Josh Holmes
And it's so also for the American people. It's cathartic to hear that.
- [22:32]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [22:32]
Josh Holmes
Because for years they've been told, hey, if you bring up the fact that there are criminals, illegals in your towns who are killing people, who are bringing in drugs, if you were to even mention that you're racist, aren't you being hurtful? You need to be censored. So for American people to finally have they made their voices loud and clear on election day, But President Trump is Affirming every one of their concerns and saying, listen, I know this is what you've been crying out, and you are free to say it, and I'm gonna make sure it happens.
- [23:00]
John Ashbrook
No hedging.
- [23:01]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. In a lot of ways, it was an unfortunately poetic moment because Kamala Harris spent her four years claiming that she was looking for root causes, and at the end of the day, she was looking at her shoes.
- [23:13]
John Ashbrook
Looking at her shoes.
- [23:13]
Josh Holmes
There you go.
- [23:14]
John Ashbrook
That is well said. Absolutely. Another piece that I know us on the variety program have gotten fired up about. And if you listen to the mainstream media, they, you know, they're wringing their hands about all of this. But I think it's core to what we talked about at the very beginning, about how Trump doesn't see this as just sort of managing a decline of a country. He's looking at this in terms of how do you make America great again in the fullest extent of the sentence. And amongst those things is the very obvious issue that we deal with with the Panama Canal.
- [23:46]
Josh Holmes
Yep.
- [23:47]
John Ashbrook
He spoke to this here in clip 4.
- [23:50]
Michael Duncan
We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama's promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we're taking it back.
- [24:27]
John Ashbrook
Ah, dude. Yes. Yeah, right. Because if you listen to, like, the pollsters and the pundits or whatever, let's say it's pretty controversial. You know, you get in day one, you don't want to be messing around in foreign affairs. Nonsense, nonsense. The idea that the American people have financed an entire building of the Panama Canal. You lost tens of thousands of American lives in order to get that done. We made a treaty with Panama at some point, ill advised or not, in order to give it back to them. And next thing you know, you got Chinese operators on both ends of it, and we are having trouble with our own navy. No, that's what presidents do.
- [25:03]
Josh Holmes
He said, not on my watch.
- [25:04]
John Ashbrook
That's what presidents do. The fact that it never came up under anybody else is a damning indictment.
- [25:09]
Unknown Speaker
It really is.
- [25:09]
John Ashbrook
It really is.
- [25:11]
Unknown Speaker
I mean, it really is. And it shows. You know, the. He talked about the Panama Canal. He did not mention Greenland, but one thing he did mention was planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars. So you have this guy who is thinking so much bigger than his predecessors ever really thought. You know, he is. He is pushing America forward, whether it's Canada, you know, Greenland, Panama Canal, or something like Mars. He is forcing people to think bigger, think about what you can do with what you're given here as Americans. And I think it's a very, very special moment in time.
- [25:47]
Comfortably Smug
I think, like, every politician would admit that we are in an existential competition with China, but it seems like Donald Trump is the only one who is going to speak to the specificity of the things we have to do if we want to win that competition. When it comes to things like Panama or Greenland, I mean, these aren't just, like, fanciful things. There are very tactical, strategic reasons why he's interested in this sort.
- [26:16]
John Ashbrook
Oh, totally. And look, governing is even worse than campaigning. You know, I've heard the fellas, all of us talk for years about, you know, you don't see awesome, really sort of innovative campaigns anymore because, you know, all your political consultants, you do what sort of conventional wisdom. You don't color outside the lines because nobody ever gets fired for doing conventional wisdom. Everybody gets fired. If you do something and it doesn't work, governing is even worse in that standpoint. If you're just managing over top of a problem that everybody knows, as long as it doesn't get any worse, nobody blames you for anything. That's just not the way Donald Trump operates.
- [26:54]
Unknown Speaker
Right.
- [26:54]
John Ashbrook
And it's not the way that he's operating on all of these issues. He's not interested, as you said, he's not interested in just sort of presiding over a problem. He's gonna tell you a way we can fix it. And I'll be. You know, I don't know how that thing's gonna resolve itself with Panama, but I can tell you he's not going anywhere. Like, he's gonna make that thing an issue. Anybody thinks that it's going away, they're nuts. It's not going away.
- [27:16]
Unknown Speaker
You know, Holmes, there's something that you always talk about in the context of a presidential election that no candidate can win based off of the other guy's.
- [27:24]
John Ashbrook
Playbook surfing the other person's wave.
- [27:27]
Unknown Speaker
Exactly. And I think that he is taking that to the next level. That like, no truly great president can be great and can move this country forward if he's playing some other person's game. And this guy is gonna be one for the ages.
- [27:44]
John Ashbrook
It's his own thing.
- [27:45]
Unknown Speaker
It's his own thing. You talk about the Monroe Doctrine. You know, like, we all still say the Monroe Doctrine. Well, it's because the guy had balls and actually executed on something. You know, this is what Trump has, Big, gigantic balls.
- [27:59]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [27:59]
Unknown Speaker
And he laid them out for the world to see. And he's like, what are you gonna do?
- [28:04]
John Ashbrook
No question about the other thing before we transition out of here. The crowd was interesting to me. Right. I mean, you basically had like a who's who, Titans of industry.
- [28:15]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah.
- [28:16]
John Ashbrook
Sitting behind. It was the first sort of combined group that I've ever seen at an inauguration. Usually you get like split delegations, and some people are like, ah, I don't want to be political, but everybody from Bezos and his wife, which we'll talk about in a minute, or girlfriend, whatever she is, I don't know. But, like, everything for her to Elon, we know the critical component that he played in the course of the last few months. But you get Mark Zuckerberg there, you've got Miriam Adelson there, you've got, you know, far beyond just the partisanship, people who sort of like red shirts and blue shirts. It looked an awful lot like a cross section of a business community that's very concerned about their country and knows that it's going to take somebody like Donald Trump to change it. Which I thought was. I mean, that in and of itself was a pretty striking thing.
- [29:05]
Comfortably Smug
I think it goes back to what I was saying earlier about the existential competition we have with China. And I think, like, the business community recognized this as a national project, and it requires somebody who looks around the globe where America's getting screwed and tries to fix it. Because if he can fix it for America, he's going to fix it for the rest of us. He's going to fix it for these companies, he's going to fix it for their ability to do business across the globe. And so it makes sense, you know, I mean, a good deal for America is a good deal for these businesses is a good deal for us.
- [29:41]
John Ashbrook
Yeah, yeah. And I just think, look, look, you get busy growing or you get busy dying as a country. Right. I mean, and that's the thing. It's like, economically, if we're not moving in a direction, it's not just like the manifest destiny component that we've ever. The media is all talking about. It's like, are we gonna. Are we gonna leave this thing or not?
- [29:57]
Comfortably Smug
Right.
- [29:57]
John Ashbrook
And the rest of the world's sitting around like, I don't think they're gonna do it. And all of a sudden, you look at this inauguration speech, and you're like, no, I'm pretty sure he's gonna do it. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's gonna do it.
- [30:06]
Comfortably Smug
And you can't do it without making a lot of enemies. It's not like Europe is rooting for us.
- [30:10]
Josh Holmes
That's right.
- [30:10]
John Ashbrook
You know? Yeah.
- [30:11]
Comfortably Smug
And so I, like. I'm just. I'm so excited.
- [30:14]
John Ashbrook
Although the chirpin's down. Yeah, not a lot of chirping.
- [30:16]
Unknown Speaker
I don't know, Kier. I don't know how you say his first name. Starmer.
- [30:19]
Comfortably Smug
Yeah.
- [30:20]
Unknown Speaker
The prime minister put out a nice tweet saying that he actually likes Trump now.
- [30:24]
Comfortably Smug
Nice.
- [30:25]
Josh Holmes
Well, he better.
- [30:26]
John Ashbrook
Yeah, there's no option. A lot of people have had that revelation in the last few weeks. So our question of the day is, what was your favorite part? We just covered a few of them. There's an awful lot left out there. Would love to hear from you. What was your favorite part of this inaugural speech? Maybe it's just a rotunda ceremony that in and of itself, we haven't seen since 1985. It was absolutely gorgeous. The acoustics of the place, it was just, you know, it was very, very well done. And the fact that you can throw that together in, like, 36 hours. Hats off to the incredible work. They did a great job on that. That's our question of the day. You gotta like and subscribe. Like and subscribe to the YouTube channel, and we'll read your stuff on Thursday with an update. But we also want to get to your questions that you answered from last Thursday, which is, what were your plans? What were your big plans for Monday? Most people had off of work, and so there was something you could do. We thought we were going to be coming to you live. So I'm sorry about that. Again, that's out of our control. But we asked you, and we read your responses and do that. We always start with a voice.
- [31:28]
Unknown Speaker
Okay. The first one comes from Jen Lin. And Jen writes my answer to your question of the day. My plans are the same as the last time Trump was inaugurated. Drinking Korbel pink champagne, the exact same brand that was served at the luncheon during dessert the last time.
- [31:46]
John Ashbrook
Oh, attention to detail from Jen.
- [31:48]
Josh Holmes
Tradition. Now.
- [31:50]
Unknown Speaker
Jen doesn't forget.
- [31:51]
John Ashbrook
No, that's good. That's good. All right, Harun, what do we got?
- [31:54]
Comfortably Smug
This is from Edie Bonin. What's my plan for Inauguration Day? I'm working on Hurricane Helene damage repair on that day. Although the inauguration is extremely important historical event, the people here continue to Live outside the norms and should not be forgotten. As a supporter of President Trump, I am sure he will appreciate the ongoing efforts in this area and will not begrudge the working men and women trying to stabilize this hard hit area. I look forward to his diligence toward the communities of North Carolina where I'm volunteering to help. I came from Florida, the free state of Florida. God bless this country and God bless our President.
- [32:30]
John Ashbrook
And God bless you, Eddie. And you know, you'll be, I'm sure you were delighted to hear President Trump address that very specifically, immediately.
- [32:39]
Josh Holmes
The people in North Carolina, I mean, it was so wonderful to hear that and they are struggling. The situation is still dire in western North Carolina. To hear President Trump right off the bat say, I'm thinking about you and we're going to get to work helping you folks.
- [32:50]
John Ashbrook
That was terrific. And what a great line of demarcation there too, because, you know, like Biden and their whole mo, everything off the left, if you make a mistake, if you really fuck something up like Afghanistan withdrawal or like this hurricane relief or wildfires in la, the whole thing is to just put your head down, pretend like it didn't happen and hope the news cycle and the news media does the work for you and get on something else as quickly as possible. Not with Trump. That's right, not with Trump. He's gonna talk about it and he did. That was great. Next comment, smuggles.
- [33:21]
Josh Holmes
This is from Keith Koblitz. Keith writes, my wife and I are celebrating by going on a cruise. Then we'll watch the inauguration and then my Buckeyes winning the national championship. What a great way to start a new golden age. I mean, did he call it the golden age? Look at that.
- [33:36]
John Ashbrook
Well, we know at least one member of the Trump administration is gonna be pretty happy if Ohio State dots the Eye tonight. J.D.
- [33:42]
Josh Holmes
Vance, there was just a great tweet. I can't remember who put it out, but it was an image of JD when he was walking into the rotunda and it said, thought bubble, if I leave for the airport right now, from the airport to the stadium, we've heard.
- [33:55]
John Ashbrook
A lot of hilarity by, by the way, behind the scenes of like in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of JD Continuing to explore whether or not, like he fired. Yeah, he'd get fired if he likes, maybe missed the last ball. Man was committed. I absolutely love it. So look, thank you for all of those. Remember, like, and subscribe. We'll get to your answers on what you did on Monday, on Thursday. But there's another side of the coin here, fellas. And we've been covering here for the last couple of months just how poorly a president could leave office. I'm absolutely, totally certain now, based upon the actions of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their way out the door, this will be regarded as the worst president in the history of this country.
- [34:41]
Josh Holmes
I think so.
- [34:42]
John Ashbrook
I just don't. I don't think there's any other way to look at it. And in some ways, it provides Trump an opportunity, but if you look at what this guy saved for last, it's truly remarkable. Yeah, I'm guessing that the pardons and all of this that happened at the end, which we're gonna get to in a minute, I'm guessing that all of that stuff was, like, hidden, so they hoped it wouldn't get into Trump's inaugural.
- [35:10]
Unknown Speaker
Boy, sure.
- [35:11]
John Ashbrook
They waited until, like, the draft had been submitted.
- [35:13]
Unknown Speaker
It sure seemed like it. I mean, it seemed like Biden signed these things in the car on his way from the White House to the Capitol, just so he didn't risk Trump saying something about it in the speech. Yeah, I mean, cynical as it gets.
- [35:28]
Josh Holmes
I mean, there's a reason that we call them the Biden crime family. I mean, this is despicable. It's despicable that this is his last act as president. The most important office in the planet, one that has tremendous power and responsibility. The chief among them is serving the American people. And who does he serve, right to the end is himself and his family's interests. It's disgusting.
- [35:52]
John Ashbrook
Just look at the contrast. Right as Trump literally took the oath of office, he signs a executive order to end the electric vehicle mandate. Horrible. We've talked about this for four long years, thank God. Right? The way the New York Times puts this is walk back protections for transgender students, or what he said was basically that there are two biological genders, a male and a female. Not particularly controversial. Sometimes the New York Times may realize that or may never, but that's what he did. All of the immigration stuff that we just discussed and a whole lot more that we're going to talk about on Thursday, but he's doing that right after Biden gets done scribbling an amazing. An immense number of pardons for his family for crimes not specified, of course, for Fauci, for Milley, and then a host of these just sort of political.
- [36:54]
Unknown Speaker
Like, losers, you know, I don't know if you guys caught Trump's remarks to the crowd after he was sworn in. He walked to a different part of the Capitol and had a huge group of people and he started talking through some of this stuff, like the Adam Kinzinger.
- [37:11]
John Ashbrook
Oh, yeah.
- [37:12]
Unknown Speaker
And he was like, crying Adam Kinzinger. And he was like, he cried so much. And it was. It was very, very funny. And I feel like because he said crying Adam Kinzinger, we have to officially change the moniker in King of the Hill from Cuck Cuck Cuck Kinzinger to Cryin Adam Kinzinger.
- [37:29]
Josh Holmes
That's a good one.
- [37:30]
John Ashbrook
Yeah. Well, what's so fascinating. So he also pardoned members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee. What he's talking about is the J6 committee, because there's a lot of talk out of Trump camp about what they've done with evidence and got rid of evidence. And what they're doing is basically using that as an argument for what I assume is coming with J6 pardons and everything else. What? The way that Biden interprets it. Remember we talked about how, like, Mika and Joe went down to Mar a Lago because they were afraid they were going to get thrown in Guantanamo. Yeah. Or at least that's what they're like. But this is the silo, the information silo that they live in. Like, he's issuing all of these pardons to anybody and everybody who's worked in the Democratic perversion of justice that has happened under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to President Trump, in the script of what he delivered was, we're done politicizing the Department of Justice. No longer will that happen. What he's doing is answering the question, even before this happened, that there's only one guy, only one administration that's politicizing justice in this country. And if you had any question about that, look at the actions of the two men on the day of the inauguration.
- [38:41]
Josh Holmes
No, that's a dude. That contrast is perfect. Perfect.
- [38:45]
Unknown Speaker
It is a perfect contrast. Although I'm a little bit disappointed because I was hoping that Smug would be named warden of Guantanamo Bay.
- [38:52]
Josh Holmes
I'll still take the position. And like Ashbrook brought up, Obama didn't get a pardon.
- [38:58]
Comfortably Smug
He did not.
- [38:58]
Josh Holmes
Obama did not get a pardon.
- [38:59]
Unknown Speaker
I noticed Obama's name was off of that list and maybe it was Michelle lobbying. Lobbying, yeah. She has a pen and a phone.
- [39:09]
John Ashbrook
It was weird to see everybody walk in and then know Michelle Obama again. I mean, something, because the presidents are all their spouses. Like, I mean, it's. Look, it's a very picturesque, historic, momentous deal when you've got multiple former presidents and their spouses walking through in this pomp and circumstance and then all of a sudden, no, just Brock.
- [39:30]
Comfortably Smug
That can't be true, though, because I've been told reliably that the Democrats believe in the peaceful transfer of power and norms and respecting the will of the voters and all of these things. You're kidding me. She didn't show up?
- [39:41]
Josh Holmes
Yeah. Can you believe that?
- [39:43]
Unknown Speaker
Maybe Obama's hoping that Trump will pardon him since Joe Biden didn't.
- [39:48]
John Ashbrook
Did you put graphic one up? Let's take a look at graphic one one more time. You just pop that sucker up one more time. I mean, this is. This is who he's talking about with his. James Biden. That's his brother. Right. The one that was in business with Hunter and a whole bunch of other stuff which came under scrutiny because of. Only because of House Republicans and asking these questions in the first place. Remember, the media did nothing, absolutely nothing to raise any question. Right. But he goes on down the list for all of these people and like, oh, for crimes unnamed. Right. But guess what? They accepted it.
- [40:21]
Josh Holmes
Yep.
- [40:22]
John Ashbrook
They accepted it. If you didn't do anything wrong, would you accept a pardon?
- [40:26]
Josh Holmes
No. Every night I sleep like a baby. I got a clear conscience. I'm not trying to sell the country to China like the Biden family.
- [40:32]
John Ashbrook
The last guy on this list is one that's near and dear to some of these guys on the program. We ran a campaign in 2014 where the father of the candidate used his business to finance his daughter's campaign. Millions of dollars, totally off books, totally illegal. Like red letter law. I mean, just absolutely against the law. Got convicted, got sentenced. His name was Jerry Lundergan. Oh, he got a pardon. Yeah. Really important for upholding democracy. Yeah. It's a good continuity of American government. Make sure that guy gets out.
- [41:05]
Josh Holmes
The man gave a lot of money to Democrats.
- [41:07]
Comfortably Smug
Yeah.
- [41:07]
Josh Holmes
That's a giant Biden.
- [41:09]
Comfortably Smug
He literally interfered in an election.
- [41:12]
John Ashbrook
Yeah.
- [41:12]
Comfortably Smug
And he got a pardon for it, literally. Because he's a Democrat.
- [41:16]
John Ashbrook
Just think about that, guys. But this is not. I don't care what. The outrage will come and go. And, you know, I'm sure when whatever happens on J6 happens, like Democrats will go absolutely nuts about it, but it just doesn't hold a candle to what these guys just do, you know, I mean, it's like Jerry Lundergan. This guy's a dirtbag. You don't want to talk about the dredges of the political earth. This is a dude who, like, swamp creature around Frankfort, Kentucky forever. Like, doling out cash. His daughter runs for Senate against a majority leader of the Senate. So he decides, I'm just gonna bankroll this thing off books, which he's been convicted of this shit before, by the way. I mean, not convicted. He was alleged indicted and maybe got off maybe same circumstance. I don't know. But like, what happened is he was convicted. And so that guy clearly goes to the, the top of the pile. Like, why would it even occur to.
- [42:11]
Josh Holmes
You what rhymes with campaign finance crimes? It's this guy and his daughter, Allison Londigan Grimes. Just how many crime families exist in the Democrat party and they get each other off scot free, get out of jail free cars. It's disgusting.
- [42:24]
John Ashbrook
But again, you know, when Trump says he's not interested, take his word for it. I mean, that's what that's about. I'm sure there's a lot of people looking for retribution. What this president made very clear in that inaugural is what he wants to do is rebalance the scales, as he said. Yeah, rebalance the scales. I think that makes a hell of a lot of sense from my perspective. You guys ready for some variety?
- [42:45]
Josh Holmes
Always.
- [42:46]
John Ashbrook
Just a couple things that were eye popping.
- [42:48]
Josh Holmes
I like how you put that.
- [42:51]
John Ashbrook
Couldn't help but notice, like, look, people were dressed to the nines.
- [42:58]
Josh Holmes
Yeah.
- [42:58]
John Ashbrook
First of all, Melania. Fantastic.
- [43:01]
Josh Holmes
Yeah.
- [43:01]
John Ashbrook
Could she. Because there ever been a more graceful and classy looking first lady? I mean, that whole get up.
- [43:08]
Comfortably Smug
Yeah. The hat.
- [43:09]
Josh Holmes
If Vogue wasn't like a left wing rag, Melania would be on the COVID like every month. That was unbelievable.
- [43:14]
Unknown Speaker
But here's the thing. I mean, like, how many. Do women read Vogue?
- [43:19]
John Ashbrook
Not anymore, I don't think. I mean, they certainly did for years. And if you're a partisan Democrat, you probably.
- [43:25]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, I guess. If you're. But I mean, like, I wonder if you look at their subscriber base, if it fell off when Melania is the first lady in the 45 presidency and they just treat her like dirt. The thing that I'm actually, I'm actually, you know, Amazon is putting out like a documentary about her. My wife and I have been talking about, like, hey, we kind of can't wait to watch it to find out the real story.
- [43:50]
John Ashbrook
I mean, nobody ever does any reporting on her.
- [43:53]
Unknown Speaker
Exactly. She. She is one of the most significant women in American history and nobody knows the full background. I really hope they do a good job with that. I didn't mean to go down a rabbit hole.
- [44:03]
John Ashbrook
No, no. I think all that stuff is super valuable. I mean, the first time I Ever met President Trump in the White House. He was complaining about the fact that he's like, I'm married to a fricking supermodel. And, like, it's just sort of rote norms for these magazines to do these big covers. And it's like, my wife's been in those magazines for 30 years, and all of a sudden she's. Because she's married to me, she's not. You know, because I'm a Republican president. She's not. I thought it was a very funny. Like, it may not bother Melania at all. It clearly bothers Donald Trump. And if you saw the way she looked today, like, to the nines. If you want to resurrect your publication, I'd throw her on the COVID real quick. Here's somebody that may go on a cover of something. So it's Bezos. Significant other is this. I mean, you guys definitely saw. I'm not breaking any news. Everybody saw this. Lauren Sanchez, she showed up in an interesting outfit. If we can put up graphic two.
- [45:03]
Josh Holmes
Please subscribe to the YouTube.
- [45:06]
John Ashbrook
Okay, so what we're looking at here, very tasteful pantsuit. Appears to be just lingerie underneath that sucker. Now, I don't know this lady. I'm sure she's very nice. Bezos is somebody who's obviously a titan of industry, an incredibly accomplished person, and wanted to show his respect and support for the incoming president by showing up. That might not be my first choice. If my wife walked out in that on the way to the inauguration.
- [45:38]
Comfortably Smug
It's a little low cut. Little low cut.
- [45:41]
Josh Holmes
Can we get the image back up?
- [45:42]
Unknown Speaker
I don't know, man.
- [45:43]
Josh Holmes
I want to give a shout out to the CEOs of Google and to Elon Musk, who are like, now's the time. Just look at the phone.
- [45:49]
Comfortably Smug
Look at your phone.
- [45:49]
Josh Holmes
Check the email.
- [45:50]
Comfortably Smug
Look at your phone.
- [45:51]
Unknown Speaker
But look at Jeff Bezos. I mean, what an alpha. He's like, look what I have brought you.
- [46:01]
John Ashbrook
It could not be missed. It could not be missed. And there's just like, I'm sorry, but there's no way you can walk through the crowd. And, I mean, you're gonna look up from your phone at some point, and that's just going on. Yeah, right. And like, poor Zuck. So Mark Zuckerberg sitting right next to her. And I think this is unfair, frankly, but all the cameras. There's a big meme going around of graphic three, if you wouldn't mind. There it is. There it is.
- [46:31]
Josh Holmes
And look at where Bezos eyes are.
- [46:33]
John Ashbrook
There it is.
- [46:34]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, he's like, what are you doing, son?
- [46:38]
John Ashbrook
Well, it looks like there's a dude behind trying to get in on that, too. I mean, like, look, I don't blame the guy at all. No, I mean, there's nothing you can do. It's an involuntary reflex.
- [46:46]
Comfortably Smug
It's very normal. Yeah, he's just admiring.
- [46:49]
John Ashbrook
It's what.
- [46:50]
Josh Holmes
Check your Facebook notifications, Mark. Check, like, see what Elon's doing. Elon's probably grinding Diablo or something on his phone. He's like, I'm not going to look. Not going to look. Not going to look.
- [46:59]
John Ashbrook
I mean, do you know how hard he probably. All those people fought it and it's probably not a gender specific thing. There's probably men and women. They're like, I'm not looking. I'm not. Let's see it. You know, I mean, they have to. That's ridiculous. You wear lingerie under a pantsuit to inauguration. You're going to get some interest, some significant interest. So anyway, that was more sort of the color coming out of there. Yeah, she was a big hit. Big hit. I don't know if they intended to make headlines, but they certainly did. No question about that. So remember our question of the day. We have to get off to some inaugural festivities and we apologize we couldn't come to you live, but I think we covered this. We're gonna cover an awful lot more on Thursday. Can't thank you guys enough. This is sort of like putting a ribbon and a bow on what has been, you know, four years for us. You all have been a huge part of it. I know a lot of work that went into it from the listeners sticking with us Tuesdays and Thursdays and listening to our takes and the things that you ought to be concerned about. We're gonna continue in a big way in 2025. This was the bow that went in on all the hard work of 2024.
- [48:05]
Comfortably Smug
The bow tie, if you will.
- [48:07]
John Ashbrook
It was the bow tie.
- [48:08]
Comfortably Smug
Yeah. But we've only just begun to fight.
- [48:10]
Josh Holmes
That's right.
- [48:10]
John Ashbrook
That's exactly right. So remember our question of the day. What was the best part of the inaugural speech? You let us know by liking subscribing. We'll read all those and get back to you on Thursday with that. Fellas, I think we did it.
- [48:23]
Josh Holmes
I think we did do it. And you know what I'd like to say toast to President Trump, much success to his presidency, and toast to all the minions. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you on Thursday. Stay ruthless.
- [48:43]
John Ashbrook
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- [48:44]
Comfortably Smug
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John Ashbrook
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Comfortably Smug
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Unknown Speaker
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Comfortably Smug
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