Ruthless Podcast – "Can Trump Save Hollywood?"

Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Date: November 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This lively episode digs into whether Donald Trump’s cultural influence could “save” Hollywood by shifting it away from woke content and back to crowd-pleasing, all-American fare. The fellas combine sharp conservative commentary with their characteristic banter, joking, and detours about Thanksgiving, movie explosions, foreign social media influence, and more. Special guest Brent Gardner from AFP joins to discuss Congress, government shutdowns, and end-of-year legislative priorities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Thanksgiving Banter and Movie Nostalgia

• [01:36–03:40] The show opens with light ribbing about Thanksgiving, “the plight of a man in today’s society,” and the kind of jokes that go unnoticed by their wives.
• The group laments the current state of Hollywood movies, missing the "great dramas and comedies" of the 90s/2000s.
  • [04:26] Michael Duncan: “None of it is like, stupid woke bullshit. This is before Hollywood decided that they're the moral arbiters of the world...”

Classic Films vs. "Woke" Hollywood

• [05:04] Discussion of Eddie Murphy’s career and how his old comedies still hold up.
• [05:18–05:48] The hosts bemoan how “Hollywood started to twist and turn in the Obama years,” prioritizing non-English, unrelatable, or overly politicized content for awards.
  • Josh Holmes: “Every film that came out were things that you literally would never watch.”
• [06:01] The shift led to “moralizing” movies, exemplified by Robert De Niro’s anti-Trump speeches.

Can Trump Influence Hollywood?

Trump’s Entertainment/Cultural Clout

• [06:01–07:47] The hosts argue that Trump, having shifted corporate culture on DEI, climate, etc., could theoretically impact Hollywood—if only the industry would listen:
  • Josh Holmes: “He’s the first guy who was famous for being famous... when is that going to affect the information you consume?”
• They note Hollywood's resistance to shifting away from current trends, but speculate on Trump’s ability to help re-center American entertainment.

The Action Movie Debate

• [07:47–09:01] Fun digression: Ashbrook is chided for only loving "explosions" and not “art.”
• [08:58+] Jokes about "French movies" and how most just want classic, fun, action-packed films.

Ben Smith's Semaphore Article

• [09:01–13:25] The crew analyzes Ben Smith’s article on Trump’s influence over popular culture, especially his desire to revive “over-the-top macho” movie franchises (e.g., "Rush Hour," "Bloodsport") and rewards action movies.
  • [12:19] Unnamed Host: “If Larry Ellison returns our country to the days of action movies... he will have done his job.”
  • [13:10] Dallas Sonier predicts movies with “mentally tough, traditional, courageous, confident heroes.”
• [14:12] Duncan: "We've been inundated with that stupidity... stories from the like, dawn of time... of heroes and deeds... we can bring that back."

Hollywood, Culture Wars, and Streaming

• [15:52–16:43] Ashbrook argues it's not even worth “saving” Hollywood: “These people don’t deserve to be fucking saved. Let’s not save them.”
• [16:45] Duncan: “Bad take.”
• [17:17] Holmes observes Trump’s love for 80s/90s action films, including "Bloodsport," and the idea of a reality version on the White House lawn gets bandied about [18:05–19:06].

The “Woke” Era & Racial Humor in Comedy

• [19:19–21:14] Discussion of whether jokes about race have a place anymore, with criticism of press overreacting to “gags about racial stereotypes” in films like “Rush Hour.”
  • Michael Duncan: “We used to be able to have jokes and good times with each other instead of now where... some wine drunk white lady kissing the foot of Jasmine Crockett. We think that's a healthier way for people to interact with each other.” [20:23]

American Movies Controlled by Foreigners & Outsourcing

• [22:59–24:39] Hosts highlight that much of Hollywood's culture shift stems from outsourcing production—movies are increasingly made in Europe to leverage tax incentives, with foreign cultural content requirements impacting the product.
  • Holmes: “You’re making movies that basically incentivize people to have a cultural disposition that show us in the least possible light.” [26:08]
• [26:50–27:39] If Trump were to create incentives to "repatriate" moviemaking and focus on American audiences, studios would be less beholden to things like Chinese censors (as on "Top Gun 2").
• [27:10] Duncan: “You don't want to have, like, China calling the shots on what's a hit and what's not.”

Social Media, X (Twitter), and Foreign Influence

Transparency Features on X

• [28:43–31:10] Holmes introduces X’s new feature showing where accounts are based, exposing that many supposedly American, pro-patriot, or MAGA accounts are run from overseas (e.g., Turkey).
  • Duncan: “If it's saying that this guy registered the account while he's in Turkey and he's using the app store in Turkey ... your Turkey based account.” [31:32]

Foreign “Engagement Farming” on American Politics

• [33:18–36:23] Countries like Turkey and the UAE heavily influence “American” online discourse by operating fake accounts with a U.S. persona, bot followers, and algorithmic engagement farming—impacting both sides of U.S. politics.
  • Ashbrook: “The market for American politics is thousands of times larger than the number of Americans in America... you have people that live in Indonesia or Nigeria or India or Russia... who care more about American politics than their entire lives.” [35:25]

Impact on Media and Sentiment

• [39:43–42:45] The mainstream media often laps up this “sentiment,” basing stories on large, foreign-run accounts and distorting perceptions of what grassroots Americans think. This explains, they argue, narratives like “troubling signs” within the Republican Party.
  • Duncan: “Modern journalists think whatever X shows me when I scroll through my algorithm, that must be what's happening in the world.” [41:01]

Anti-Semitism, Gaza, and Online Influence

• [44:09–45:45] Hosts note the strange bipartisan spikes in online pro-Gaza, anti-Israel sentiment as a product of this global manipulation—not a genuine U.S. shift.
  • Holmes: “Just ask yourself whether or not any of those accounts may contribute to it... there’s an awful lot of nefarious actors in the online space that look at online trends and try to say, how do we surf that wave?” [44:10]

Calls for Transparency and Caution

• [47:35] Wrap-up: If someone’s broadcasting strong opinions about America from abroad, “their opinion doesn’t matter.”
  • John Ashbrook: “America first.” [47:44]

Fixing Social Media: Algorithm vs. Chronology

• [48:01–49:45] Duncan proposes returning Twitter/X to a strictly chronological feed to eliminate algorithmic manipulation and “engagement farming”:
  • Duncan: “Make it all just chronologically based like it used to be.” [49:45]

Unhinged Variety Segment

Namibia’s Adolf Hitler

• [52:28–56:45] The crew is amazed—a Namibian politician, actually named Adolf Hitler, is running for reelection. His father “probably didn’t understand what Adolf really stood for,” and the hosts incredulously riff on the challenges of winning with such a notorious name.
  • Josh Holmes: “If Adolf Hitler shows up on my ballot, I'm going to vote for the other guy.” [56:45]

Penis Protester in Alabama

• [57:28–60:13] Footage of an Alabama police encounter with a protester dressed as a giant penis leads the crew to jokes about public decency, generational decline, and consequences.

Rogue Ambulance at the Horse Track

• [60:13–63:28] They watch and comment on a viral video where an ambulance accidentally appears in a horse race, nearly causing a disaster—a lighter note on unexpected chaos in American life.

Congressional/Government Shutdown: Policy with Brent Gardner (AFP)

Interview begins at [63:28]

Shutdown Recap & Legislative Priorities

• Gardner summarizes the post-shutdown scene: affordability is the top issue, health care and energy permitting reform are on deck, and the government will need to address continued funding soon.
  • “Affordability is definitely something that Americans care about, and that's no surprise to us after years of bad Biden economy and bad Biden-nomics.” [64:37]
  • Hints at solutions shifting control “closer to the patient” (HSAs, personal option in health care).

AI Regulation & U.S. Competitiveness

• [70:46] Discussion of the importance of not letting U.S. AI innovation fall behind due to overregulation or lack of national policy consistency.
  • “The only way we lose this tech race vis a vis China... is like we beat ourselves...” [71:54]

Takeaway: Congress has limited time but some momentum for key reforms heading into year-end.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Hollywood started to twist and turn in the Obama years, not only just to start creating a whole bunch of shit which nobody would ever watch...”
  — Josh Holmes [05:18]
• “None of it is like, stupid woke bullshit. This is before Hollywood decided that they're the moral arbiters of the world...”
  — Michael Duncan [04:27]
• “These people don’t deserve to be fucking saved. Let’s not save them... They're failing on purpose because they're bad people. Why is it that Donald Trump has to save these people from themselves? Fuck that.”
  — John Ashbrook [16:09]
• “The market for American politics is thousands of times larger than the number of Americans in America...”
  — John Ashbrook [35:25]
• “Modern journalists think whatever X shows me when I scroll through my algorithm, that must be what's happening in the world...”
  — Michael Duncan [41:01]
• “If Adolf Hitler shows up on my ballot, I’m going to vote for the other guy.”
  — Josh Holmes [56:45]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:36 | Thanksgiving banter, setup | | 03:40 | "Movies aren’t what they used to be" discussion | | 04:26 | Praise for 90s/2000s movies, anti-woke critique | | 05:18 | Hollywood “twists” in the Obama years | | 06:01 | Trump’s cultural/clout and potential influence on Hollywood | | 07:47 | Digression: art vs. explosions in movies | | 09:01 | Analysis of Ben Smith’s article ("Trump Tries to Shape Pop Culture") | | 13:10 | Predictions: Return of the “classically male” action movie | | 15:52 | Ashbrook: “let Hollywood fail” rant | | 22:13 | “Top Gun 2” as a non-woke box office hit | | 24:39 | How outsourcing and tax policy shapes Hollywood output | | 28:43 | X/Twitter’s new “country of origin” feature | | 33:18 | Foreign “engagement farming” and the real size of US political debate | | 39:43 | How media sentiment is distorted by foreign-run social media accounts | | 48:01 | Proposed fix: switch Twitter to chronological, not algorithmic, timeline | | 52:28 | Namibia’s Adolf Hitler—wildest political name of the year | | 57:28 | Alabama’s penis protester (body cam scene) | | 60:13 | Rogue ambulance at a Louisiana horse race | | 63:28 | Policy interview: Brent Gardner on shutdown, healthcare, AI | | 73:20 | Wrap-up and sign-off |

Summary and Takeaways

This Ruthless episode is a whirlwind of humor and hard takes linking politics and pop culture. The hosts paint a nostalgic picture of American entertainment’s past (“give us explosions and comedies, not moralizing garbage”) and wonder aloud if Trump’s brand of brash, crowd-pleasing culture can find its way back to the mainstream—while also noting he can do more via policy and “repatriating” the film industry than by demanding studios make "pro-Trump" movies.

The second act transitions into digital influence operations: the hosts warn listeners about social media sentiment being manipulated by foreign actors and bots, highlighting how “American” online discourse is often anything but. Proposals to fix social media include breaking the algorithmic grip and increasing transparency.

Rounding out the show are viral oddities (a politician named Adolf Hitler, costumed protests, weaponized ambulances at tracks), all delivered with the signature Ruthless tongue-in-cheek and a final deep dive into the state of Congress with expert Brent Gardner.

If you missed the episode, rest assured: you’ll get the hosts’ blend of nostalgia, sharp cultural criticism, war stories from the social media trenches, and a heavy dose of conservative irreverence.