End Game for Dems' Failed Shutdown?

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Summary

Episode: End Game for Dems' Failed Shutdown?
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Date: October 30, 2025

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Episode Overview

This Ruthless Variety Progrum delivers the hosts' signature mix of biting conservative analysis and irreverent banter, focusing primarily on the ongoing government shutdown, its political ramifications, and what the hosts see as failed tactics and deep dysfunction on the Democratic side. The team lampoons Democrats’ defense of the shutdown, scrutinizes the logic behind their policy positions, and discusses the radicalization of their base, with media clips, polling breakdowns, and a revealing segment about a controversial left-wing podcast host.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Government Shutdown: Democrat Tactics and Leverage

• Leverage as the "Code Word": The Democrat defense of the shutdown centers on "leverage" to push for Obamacare-related demands, despite lacking control of key branches of government.
  • “They think that they have that, they don’t. They don’t control any of government. But they’ve decided to shut everything down in perpetuity because they think they can bully people into making bad decisions.” – Josh Holmes [01:29]
• Democrats' "Underpants Gnome" Logic:
  The hosts ridicule Democrats for what they perceive as illogical reasoning—breaking systems through their own policies, blaming Republicans, then demanding more taxpayer money to fix what they broke.
  • “This is yet another example…Democrats break something…say, oh, I knew it. Republicans are keeping us from throwing more money into this hole.” – Smug [06:34]
• Obamacare, Entitlements, and Bailouts:
  Discussion about the Affordable Care Act’s ballooning costs and the steadily increasing government role in health insurance payments, with special scrutiny on the UnitedHealth–AARP relationship.
  • “Some of these outfits that cover like tens of millions of people are making like 90% of their money on insurance coverage that is directly paid for by the federal government. What the fuck are we doing here?”– Josh Holmes [11:32]

2. Media, Messaging, and Public Perception

• Media's Diminished Powers:
  Shift in media landscape forces legacy outlets and journalists to be more (occasionally) critical of Democrats, as alternative platforms and podcasts seize influence.
  • “Now there’s new media, there’s podcasts, there’s other sources for information. That monopoly they had is gone.” – Smug [17:23]
• CNN’s Reluctant Polling:
  Citing CNN’s Harry Enten, the hosts highlight polling that—contrary to past shutdowns—shows Republicans’ approval rising and Democrats’ falling, suggesting the shutdown tactic has backfired.
  • “Look at the net approval ratings for Republicans in Congress. It’s actually up five points since pre-shutdown… the Republican brand in Congress has actually improved somewhat.” – Harry Enten (via Josh Holmes recount) [19:36]

3. Democrat Base Radicalization & Party Fractures

• Base Pulling Party to Extremes:
  The hosts tie Democrats’ unwillingness to compromise to an increasingly radical base, referencing anonymous quotes about “fearing the guillotine” from within the Senate Democratic caucus.
  • “Democrats are deathly afraid of a political base that has become way, way more radical than even they could have predicted.” – Josh Holmes [33:58 & 35:01]
• Internal Party Tensions:
  Discussion on cracks between union-aligned federal workers (wanting the shutdown to end) and left-wing activists demanding maximalist policies, with public statements now replacing private negotiation.
  • “Why did it have to become public? It’s a lack of a functioning party on the Democratic side. That conversation in private didn’t yield that result.” – Brent Gardner [38:04]

4. Notable Clips, Quotes & Media Moments

• Let Me Be Clear:
  The panel enjoys mocking Democrat soundbites, especially overused Obama-era phrases.

  • “Let me be clear, dude, let me be clear.” – Smug [00:40]
  • “…They try to mimic the way he speaks so much.” – John Ashbrook [00:33; 17:23]

• Jake Tapper Frustrates Dem Rep:
  CNN’s Tapper questions Congresswoman Stansberry’s shutdown logic; she blames the White House, prompting the hosts to point out media/journalist discomfort as Democrats lose narrative control.

  • “Let me be clear. The administration is choosing to starve American children...” – Rep. Stansberry (via clip) [15:23]
  • “Even Jake wasn’t having this... and she’s like, let me be clear twice.” – Josh Holmes [16:35]

• Are Democrats Dumb or Crazy?
  The "question of the day" distills the hosts’ skepticism of Democratic strategy.

  • “What it really is, is are Democrats dumb or crazy?” – Josh Holmes [40:08]
  • “It's also appropriate to do a chicken or the egg thing. That they were so dumb that they became crazy or that they were so crazy for so long they've become dumb.” – Michael Duncan [41:15]

5. Guest Segment: Brent Gardner, AFP

• Breaking Down the Shutdown
  Gardner asserts Democrats are inflicting pain for “leverage,” with polling and union sentiment eroding their position.
  • "Democrats won't stop explaining how far off they are on this thing…since the Democrat-led government shutdown, Republicans have actually moved up in the minds of voters." – Brent Gardner [22:54 & 23:12]
• Mike Johnson & House Republicans:
  Praise for Speaker Johnson’s "message discipline" and refusal to negotiate against himself in public.
  • “I think the Speaker and the Majority Leader…House has done a really great job…established, I think, a message discipline in this shutdown.” – Brent Gardner [33:01 & 32:16]
• Democrats Out of Step:
  Gardner argues that Democrats ignore both the electorate and basic economic reality; unions and public workers have begun to turn on them.

6. The Rise of the New-Left Media Sphere (Jennifer Welch Segment)

• Radical podcast host Jennifer Welch:
  Smug delivers a lengthy exposé on Welch, who openly celebrated Charlie Kirk's death and pushed for “blood in the streets,” yet is closely allied with top Democrats (photos with Obama, Kamala; book blurbs from Obama; major podcast guests include AOC, Warren, Bernie, etc.)
  • “That's the mainstream Democrat Party. They want blood. They've said it again and again.” – Smug [57:24]
  • “You're seeing the radicalization in real time… her podcast, a million subscribers, platformed by CBS, CNN, guests with Kamala, Obama, AOC…” [56:01–57:13]
• Base Outracing Leadership:
  The segment underscores how media radicals and their audience are now leading, not following, legacy Democrat politicians.
  • “It’s the absence of leadership on the Democrat Party… the consequences of it just continue to reverberate.” – Smug [39:22]
• Dehumanization and Political Violence:
  The hosts connect Welch’s rhetoric to a wider trend of dangerous left-wing dehumanization of conservatives.

7. Lighter Segments & King of the Hill

• Mocking Ben Stiller’s VA Endorsement:
  Ben Stiller appears unenthusiastic in a get-out-the-vote video with a Democratic candidate.
  • “This guy has made a living as a comedian and he shows up in a hostage video...” – Josh Holmes [49:00]
• Monkey News & Other Absurdities:
  Riff on escaped biohazard monkeys in Mississippi and (real) reports of Chinese scientists creating monkeys with autism/schizophrenia, ending the episode on their signature absurdist note.
• King of the Hill (Twitter Madness):
  Smug unseats Sarah Longwell with David Frum’s hot takes about funding the troops and pasta tariffs—delighting the crew.
  • “You can’t even use food stamps to get a good cannoli anymore.” – John Ashbrook [71:25]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro: Why is the Government Shut Down?
  [01:29–03:54]
• Medicare, United/AARP, and the ACA Deep Dive:
  [07:27–11:32]
• Dems’ Media Strategy, Echo Chambers, and CNN Polls:
  [16:35–20:26]
• Guest Segment: Brent Gardner Analysis:
  [22:40–38:41]
• Question of the Day: Are Dems Dumb or Crazy?
  [39:58–41:46]
• Listener Feedback (Shutdown predictions):
  [42:55–47:52]
• Jennifer Welch “Wine Mom” & Radical Media Takeover:
  [50:07–63:43]
• King of the Hill (Twitter Madness):
  [66:39–73:14]
• Monkey News / Absurdity Roundup
  [73:22–79:30]

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Notable Quotes

• Josh Holmes (on Dems’ political fear):
  “Democrats are deathly afraid of a political base that has become way, way more radical than I think even they could have ever predicted.” [33:58/35:01]
• Smug (on media’s shifting role):
  “That monopoly they had is gone. And that’s why you’re seeing in real time now. The CNNs of the world are trying to play catch up.” [17:23]
• Brent Gardner (on Dems’ honesty):
  “It's a lack of a functioning party on the Democratic side. That conversation in private didn't yield that result to where one of their biggest constituency groups felt like the way to communicate is through the press.” [38:04]
• Michael Duncan (summing up the dynamic):
  “It's also appropriate to do a chicken or the egg thing. That they were so dumb that they became crazy or that they were so crazy for so long they've become dumb.” [41:15]

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Conclusion

This episode of Ruthless casts the Democratic Party's approach to the government shutdown as confused, self-sabotaging, and beholden to an increasingly extreme base—while painting Republicans as unusually disciplined and polling on the upswing. The wide-ranging discussion blends trenchant criticism, media parodies, listener feedback, and an in-depth look at a radical left podcast host to argue the Democrats’ problem isn’t just poor tactics, but a wider ideological and leadership crisis.

Stay ruthless: The hosts encourage listeners to engage, comment, and vote in their “Are Democrats dumb or crazy?” poll, promising more variety and sharp analysis in the next episode.

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For those who missed it:
This summary preserves the snark, insider references, and banter that define Ruthless, while presenting a clear map of the episode’s themes, topics, and must-hear moments.

Transcript

[John Ashbrook]

They'll straight face saying like, you know, it's a big sacrifice that many millions of Americans are going to have to make and we're willing to make that sacrifice. It's just such a wild thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Democrats are deathly afraid of a political base that has become way, way more radical than I think even they could have ever predicted.

[Smug]

Let's try being honest once in a while. Tapper's trying his damnedest and she's wondering, wait, what, why, why are you, why are you trying to question this? This is the lie we've been pushing on the American people. Your job is to carry it.

[John Ashbrook]

It's very funny that these Democrats came up in the era of Barack Obama and they try to mimic the way that he speaks so much.

[Smug]

Let me be clear, dude, let me be clear.

[Josh Holmes]

Our nation is standing up for American workers, restoring the pride of making products here at home. That's what we do every day. We're America's beverage companies, making American products with American workers in America's hometowns, delivering brands that have been enjoyed for gener, creating good paying jobs, the kind that require only a strong work ethic. Because we believe in the promise of America and the people who make it great.

[Michael Duncan]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Smug]

Keep the faith, hold the line and own the lids.

[Michael Duncan]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the ruthless variety program Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right, across your radio dial. You may have noticed your government is still shut down. Our president is doing deals overseas of which we'll be the beneficiary of. But there's no deals being done in Washington D.C. and the amount of clips the Democrats are providing continues apace. Well, I still have sort of one formulation as to why it is that the government is shut down. Johnny, what is that again? Leverage. Yeah, that's it. It's a leverage. It's a leverage thing. They believe that they're. Well, it's in the English language, at least in America. It's leverage. And they think that they have that they don't, they don't control any of government. But they've decided that they're going to shut everything down in perpetuity because they think that they can somehow bully people into making bad decisions.

[Michael Duncan]

Do we think that's the code word for his all white club? Like when you're greeted at the door, somebody looks at you and you say leverage and they say you may pass.

[Josh Holmes]

It's kind of like Eyes wide shut.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's how you get it in.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You put the mask on. You're like, leverage.

[John Ashbrook]

I really hope not. That's a terrifying visual.

[Josh Holmes]

Leverage.

[Michael Duncan]

Just imagine him saying that.

[Josh Holmes]

That guy walks up with the half mas gone, and he's like, hey, let me in the door. And they're like, what's the password, Mr. Leverage?

[Michael Duncan]

He'll say it every time.

[Josh Holmes]

Leverage. So anyway, everything continues, and it's all insane, and it makes no sense. It's made no more sense, by the way, over the last few weeks than it made when we called this back in March that this was going to happen. So over the intervening six months, they've come up with no strategy whatsoever. The only thing that they've done is unleashed the rank and file of the Democratic Party and to explain to us the method to the madness, which is a objective disaster. And we want to get into that. We've got a very good show. It's Thursday, so we play games on Thursday. We have some incredible variety, some of which you flagged. And I don't know exactly what it is. Smug. And if smug flags it, buckle your seatbelts.

[Smug]

Folks need to see this. And I can't wait until you three see it as well. Yeah, I think that's critical to understanding.

[Brent Gardner]

So.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So sort of bracing.

[Smug]

It's gonna be great. It's gonna be huge. Yeah, it's a big deal.

[Josh Holmes]

You're kind of dark. Well, you've kind of like a dark sense of humor about these things.

[Smug]

Yeah. But I think it's important when we get to it. I'm so thrilled. Wolf worked really hard to put this together, too. It's gonna be great.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right, so we'll get to all of that, but we want to start with another prominent Democrat. Now, recall, this particular Democrat was the chief spokesperson for President Biden's initial election. He was thought to perhaps even be his chief of staff, but he wanted to stay in the United States. Then a guy named Chris Coombs.

[Michael Duncan]

Ah, okay. Fellow Delaware guy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So he's a Delaware guy, and he explains to the American people in plain detail what it is that they're up to in clip one.

[Brent Gardner]

Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Frankly, this is our only moment of leverage.

[John Ashbrook]

Right, back to it.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Leverage, yes. Yeah, it's. It's in. He obviously haven't. Hasn't talked to White Club, who would explain to him that it's leaf rich. It's not leverage. But, Michael, you've talked about this kind of a lot and that these guys they just have, I don't know, sort of a formulation of what they're doing here makes no sense to the American people, but they're prepared to take the risks anyway.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. It's like they'll straight face saying like, you know, it's a big sacrifice that many millions of Americans are going to have to make and we're willing to make that sacrifice. It's just such a wild thing. And it is.

[Smug]

And that's it.

[John Ashbrook]

The other thing in this, you know, I got to say, like the media is actually holding the Democrats accountable for the underpants gnome logic of this thing in a way that previously they haven't. I saw a clip of.

[Josh Holmes]

But I think it's just so bad like they've had in other government shutdowns. There's always been something where they're saying like, no, you're doing this and we don't want you to do. If you stop doing that, we're happy to, to, to have the clean cr. Right. There's nothing happening in the clean.

[John Ashbrook]

They are not, they're, they're not under attack in any way and need to roll back something we did to them. Right, right. It's like we bro in America and we're gonna hold SNAP benefits hostage until you allow us to paper over that by bailing out the insurance industry. Like think about how fucking absurd that is.

[Brent Gardner]

Insane.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, which requires no bailing out.

[Smug]

I mean, Duncan is 100% right. Is this is yet another example of. And they never learn from it. Democrats break something with their. When they are able to have the. Their plans get into place, they break something, they make it far worse. And they say, oh, I knew it. Republicans are keeping us from throwing more money into this hole.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

They do this again and again and again.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the expansion of the entitlement state.

[Smug]

That's it.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And we talked about this a lot. When it comes to Social Security, when it comes to Medicaid, when it comes to Medicare. The point is to start an entitlement program and then continuously expand its eligibility. You start one for the young, you start one for the old, you start one for the poor, you start one from all these different places in American society and then you gradually expand the eligibility based on a crisis that somehow your previous entitlement program didn't cover.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And this is a perfect example. But they created the worst of all. And I will say I was just surfing through X the other day because I'm genuinely curious about this coverage crisis. I mean, I know just based on our Own insurance and people that I deal with. There's been massive increases over the last like five or six years, year over year. Right. I mean, what you were paying when we started a company 10 years ago is a fraction of which we pay today.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, but, but companies like United Healthcare are putting that money to good use. They recently spent $9 billion on AARP.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah, dude, I saw this.

[Brent Gardner]

Did you?

[Josh Holmes]

So, okay, so there's two things that I wanted to highlight. You highlighted. The first one, a straight cash from UnitedHealth to AARP.

[Michael Duncan]

I can't remember if it was 8 billion or 9 billion.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it was 9.

[Michael Duncan]

It's 9. Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Why, why were they doing that? Well, it's the advocacy arm of seniors, of course. And so they have this imprimatur of representing the interests of seniors. No, like they offer plans and they're in business with United and they advocate on behalf of policies that underwrite United Healthcare. Which is why 9 billion, we're not talking about like, hey man, good year. Here's a $10 million bonus check, which is a big number. 9 billion. Like we're talking about a number that would make you amongst the 50 most rich people in our entire country. And they're just like, that's an annual thing, man. Take it over. Aarp gotta ask some questions about that. And of course, AARP then dutifully starts advocating for all of these government policies that ultimately are a pass through to the insurance companies, because it's not a.

[John Ashbrook]

Donation to AARP, it's an investment in their business model.

[Josh Holmes]

It's 100%. It's 100%.

[Brent Gardner]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

And the thing that bothers me about all of this, I kind of go back to like, all right, you remember in the Biden administration when they were trying to do the student loan bailout? Yeah, right. And they fought back on it. And at the Supreme Court basically said, Biden, you can't do this.

[Josh Holmes]

Yada yada yada.

[John Ashbrook]

At no point in that debate were they like, boy, higher education in this country is completely unaffordable. And why does the cost of it continue to go up while the quality goes down while the federal government pays more money into the system? At no point was this a conversation about maybe we should address the root causes of this problem within the industry and system. And health care now is the exact same thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Bingo.

[John Ashbrook]

Where? Why the cost keeps going up despite the fact we were told when we passed the Affordable Care act that was going to be affordable, you could keep your doctor if you liked your doctor. And it was going to be cheaper now it's more expensive. And instead of fixing the root cause of the problems that exist in the industry, it's like, well, bail them out.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, that's it. Except for the fact that I read a, an article. It was, well, it was street focused. So you appreciate this smug. It's kind of an earnings report type rundown. United was talking about and their CEO was boasting of just the incredible year that they'd had. They exceeded all expectations from an earnings perspective and we're expecting more in the year to come. Very bullish report. Shareholders would be thrilled. So like in the context of what we're dealing with, you got to ask some questions about that. So you've got a government shutdown. Most charitably explained by Democrats that they are concerned about rising premiums on the American people. Never mind the fact that this is a system they created individually. Soup to nuts.

[Smug]

It does just expense. Look at the name. It was Affordable Care Act. Everything we came for, I mean just. It's not unaffordable now. Yeah, we just need more.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you just need more.

[Michael Duncan]

At the beginning it was called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They cut the patient protection part off when it was clear that you weren't going to be able to keep the doctor.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you couldn't be. The patients were in fact not protected. Affordable care they could live with for another day.

[John Ashbrook]

It was patients and then it was insurance company protection. Yeah. And affordable Care.

[Josh Holmes]

And they make, you know, look, they're willing to concede some things about how like we wanted people with pre existing conditions and all of these things to be into the marketplace. Yes. It makes health care a little bit more affordable in the marketplace. That's why we need to subsidize the whole thing. Sue us for wanting to help people. That's their case that they make. Except for the fact that you've got a rising cost of healthcare on everybody and insurance companies making more money than they have ever made before and telling Wall street about all of this, that they're. And now they come back and they spend. I don't know, is it like a trillion bucks or whatever it was for this one time thing to have a tax credit that would continue to expand the amount of taxpayer investment in ordinary individuals health care. And you start looking at the finances of UnitedHealth and like all of the other insurance companies and went from like 20% government money, 40% government money, 50% government money, 60% government money. And like some of these outfits that cover like tens of millions of People are making like 90% of their money on insurance coverage that is directly paid for by the federal government. What the fuck are we doing here? Like, that's what they say, that they're shutting the government down. Like just send them, send them another check. Send another check. I mean that's, it's the whole thing. So all of this is about that as explained most charitably for them, I think it's more about Chuck Schumer's politics and about everything else. But then you get like the Sheldon White House situation where he has tried to diagnose this internally and he's added to this this week and clip 2.

[Brent Gardner]

Why are working families the leverage the Democrats need to get Obamacare fixed to get the Republicans to fix Obamacare. Why is that the place you guys.

[Josh Holmes]

Have to go that far?

[Michael Duncan]

It's the only lever we have.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's the over. It's a lever. Dude, this guy, dude, he's lost this much.

[Michael Duncan]

He's just the commitment to the bit deserves a hatchet.

[John Ashbrook]

It's Northeastern boarding school talk.

[Smug]

That's exactly what it is.

[John Ashbrook]

Where like half of the language they use is borrowed from British English. It's profoundly un American.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just so lever. It's just, God, it's just so incredible leverage. Yeah, that's right.

[Brent Gardner]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so you're gonna go to the House side, which they're trying to work themselves into this story no matter what. They can't get enough of it.

[Smug]

Who could guess House members are trying to make themselves a story. Yeah, they're like, it's so unlike them.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, never mind the fact that past the House of Representatives has nothing to do at the House of Representatives. They're an important part of the story. Goddammit. So then you enter Rep. Stansberry. I've never heard of this woman before. I've never seen her before. She's definitely never done anything notable in her entire life. But she's on with Jake Tapper because that's what you do when you've got nothing else to go. You go on cnn, you talk to Jake Tapper and you've got a hard take on it. Well, even Jake wasn't having this. Clip 3 Should the Democratic senators from New Mexico, your home state, vote to open the government so that these SNAP funds are not at risk?

[Brent Gardner]

Let me be clear.

[Josh Holmes]

The administration is choosing to starve American children with money that they already have. Appropriately, I'm not applauding. I'm not applauding their tactics. This is a choice by The White House. This is also. Congresswoman, this is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government.

[Smug]

Yes, it is.

[Josh Holmes]

I understand why they're doing it. They're doing it because they want Medicaid funds restored. They're doing it because they want Obamacare premiums to be extended past the end of the year. I understand the reason.

[John Ashbrook]

I.

[Josh Holmes]

Let me just be clear.

[Smug]

The money.

[Josh Holmes]

We're being clear again, that is why the states are suing. The White House is withholding funds from two to three weeks worth of snap. All right, so, like, this is the intellectual dishonesty that these people are engaging in. And even Jake, who goes out of his way to suggest that shutting down the government, like, he's gonna give him the full. I'll make the argument. He, as the anchor, he's gonna make the argument on behalf of Democrats to this clinically insane person about how it's not their fault. And he's like, but it still kind of is their fault. And she's like, let me be clear twice.

[Smug]

Kind of. Kind of an aside undercurrent to what you're witnessing happening here is Democrats have, for their entire existence, been used to every journo being a stenographer and them having a tight control over the media. That's why this system flourished. There were no options other than your cnn, your abc, your cbs. Now, there's new media, there's podcasts, there's other sources for information. That monopoly they had is gone. And that's why you're seeing in real time now. The CNNs of the world are trying to play catch up. They're like, oh, shit. Well, we've lost our audience. Maybe let's try being honest once in a while. Tapper's trying his damnedest, and she's wondering, wait, what? Why are you trying to question this? This is the lie we've been pushing on the American people. Your job is to carry.

[John Ashbrook]

It's very funny that these Democrats came up in the era of Barack Obama and they try to mimic the way that he speaks so much.

[Smug]

Let me be clear, dude. You're 100% right.

[Josh Holmes]

Let me be clear.

[John Ashbrook]

And just one other thing. Just as somebody who now, you know, works in media to some extent, you're.

[Josh Holmes]

A media man now.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, and I'm an artiste.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, you are.

[Smug]

You are.

[Michael Duncan]

You're a journo. That's why you're my buddy.

[Josh Holmes]

Giorno, buddy.

[John Ashbrook]

But, like, you know, this is just like a small little bone to pick with a lot of these interviews now because I respect you, especially you people who are listening here on audio. Audio fidelity is an important thing.

[Josh Holmes]

It is.

[John Ashbrook]

Can we get rid of the interviews in Statuary Hall?

[Smug]

The echo was killing me the whole time.

[John Ashbrook]

It's disgusting. It's. It's bad audio quality. It's like you could set this up anywhere.

[Josh Holmes]

Also, the backdrop blows. Yeah. I don't pretend like that window, that hallway first of all is like as wide as this table and it's got a statue and a window in it. It's not like a particularly noteworthy place in the capital, but it just becomes.

[John Ashbrook]

This thing where they insist upon it. This is where my interview is going to be. And this is also when like this is the place where Pelosi and all of those in 2020 did their kunta Kinte thing and everything. Taking a knee for George Floyd. I don't know, man. I just don't think they should do interviews there. It sounds like.

[Smug]

Yep, he's not wrong, dude. He's not an artist.

[Josh Holmes]

It's pretty good. So like, how are the American people? Like, I understand how you, the listener probably felt about all this because you've been listening all along and we predicted this for six months. So like this is seems like inevitability. But how is the general public receiving all this? Our boy over at cnn, well, he's got some bad news again. Again, like cnn, they're like, oh God, I can't believe we have. Do we have to put Harry back on? Harry Anton, Take a look here. The shift in net popularity versus pre shutdown among the g. When we're looking at the Republican Party overall, that brand actually up two points. That's within the margin of error, but clearly it hasn't dropped. Come over this side of the screen. Look at the net approval ratings for Republicans in Congress. It's actually five points since pre shutdown. So what we're seeing here is the Republican brand in Congress has actually improved somewhat.

[Smug]

It's so funny.

[Josh Holmes]

It has to pain them so much.

[John Ashbrook]

But true serum, he's become like the Billy Mays of cnn. And you know, if you are on audio and you don't see that on YouTube, I highly recommend you go to the YouTube so you can see it. But like the salesmanship, what Harry Anton is doing there with the, with the clap.

[Josh Holmes]

The clap and the, the hand raise, it's like it's shot up.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like sham. Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

You know?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, but wait, there's more.

[John Ashbrook]

There's more.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, dude. I mean he's got. But it's like A week in and week out thing as it pertains to the shutdown. Like all Democrats, according to Chuck Schumer, like, this is working very well for us. He says Democrats are like, oh, the polling shows that we're winning this. And like every week Harry Anton shows up and he's like, no, dude, that's.

[Michael Duncan]

That's just not one point better for Republicans this week.

[Josh Holmes]

Wrong direction. So anyway, when we come back, we're gonna talk to Brent Gardner. You've heard him on here a lot. He's gonna get more serious than we are about sort of breaking down where it is, who's not getting paid, where he sees this whole thing ending right after this.

[Michael Duncan]

America's demand for energy is rising rapidly and at a time when American families can least afford an energy shortage. But for decades, critical energy projects have been blocked, limiting our access to reliable, affordable American energy and putting America's energy dominance at risk. The solution is obvious. Overhaul the broken energy permitting process, make it faster and simpler. Innovation, a strong workforce, abundant oil and gas. We have it all right here in the usa. Let's put America first and political agendas last. We can power our own country, create thousands of good paying American jobs, and unleash American energy to be bigger and better than ever before. Because when America builds, America wins. Read API's plan to secure America's future at permitting. Reformnow.org paid for by the American Petroleum Institute.

[Josh Holmes]

Alzheimer's doesn't start when the memory fades. It can begin decades earlier, quietly, in the brain. Science is advancing to better fight this disease. New tools can help doctors detect Alzheimer's early when we have the best chance to slow it down. Early detection means more time, more birthdays, more anniversaries, more moments that matter. Let's act sooner, not later. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. Well, there's one guy here in the ruthless variety program that we turn to who spends a fair amount of time under the dome trying to make sense of things. And talking to people throughout the country about legislative machinations, in this case, a government shutdown. You know our opinion about all of that. But Brent Gardner of AFP is going to tell us his thoughts on where things are at. It's not great.

[Brent Gardner]

No, it's definitely not great. It's not getting better every day, and it's not getting better for families. And apparently Democrats are okay with that and Republicans are not.

[Josh Holmes]

But it's about the leverage.

[Brent Gardner]

It's about the leverage.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Brent Gardner]

And you know the good news is, you know, Democrats won't stop explaining to the country how far off they are on this thing. And if they can find a microphone, they'll take an opportunity every day to tell them this. And, you know, the cool thing is we've seen some of the recent polling, you know, since the Democrat led government shutdown.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

Republicans have actually moved up in the minds of voters, which is wild. And according to CNN, Democrats are at a 20 year low.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

So, I mean, it's clear that we've, you know, they've got some challenges out there, but meanwhile, the American people are struggling, wondering when are these guys going to reopen the government? And quite frankly, Mike Johnson has done his job.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Brent Gardner]

And they've remained strong on some of the ridiculous demands from Democrats. And, you know, it's time to get this.

[Josh Holmes]

I do find it hilarious when it comes to Speaker Johnson that there's a whole bunch of House Democrats that insist on being part of the news cycle.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

As if, like they have anything to do with it.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah, we heard from some of them already.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Like you're a member of the House of Representatives, which did its job and passed a clean CR and sent it to the Senate. And they're like. But Mike Johnson. Yeah, it's like, dude, Republicans shut down the government. You're just banking on the American people knowing nothing. You know, which is so cynical.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

I mean, and look, increasingly some of their brethren in the Senate, I mean, you guys saw John Fetterman this week come out with Senator McCormick and basically call him out on this stuff. And so, I mean, you know, the dam is not as close to breaking as I'd like to see on this because I think it's long, long past time to reopen the government. But, you know, it's very clear that, you know, the American people want this. They're not loving the work that the Democrats are doing to try and, you know, basically punish the American people for them not winning the election. I mean, yeah, I think it's a tough spot they're in.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's really interesting. I mean, you've been around long enough to remember back when Johnny and I were under the dome and there was a whole bunch of different leverage moments for minority parties that we, you know, we utilize from time to time. But the fallback was always like, fine, clean cr. And everybody was like, okay, that's fine. We'll just do what we have been doing and continue to negotiate. And they have used a clean CR for all of this. And what they're saying is, you know, first of all, it was a list of four demands. Reverse all kinds of things that you did during the big Beauty, which is never going to happen. But then they wanted to talk about Obamacare tax credits and premiums as a result of Obamacare going up. That. That was like sort of the primary demand. But there's no exit strategy for that. Right.

[Brent Gardner]

I mean, that's the best part. So if you guys followed CMS this morning, so they put out their new Obamacare numbers, because starting November 1st, open enrollment's gonna get up.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the Centers for Medic in Medicare Services.

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah. So they put out the stuff. So the plans available under the ACA will be less expensive than before. COVID The plan. One of the requirements that Democrats want to do is to be able to get rid of components of one big, beautiful bill. One of them, an important one, is that there will be an option for an HSA for 1.6 million people. So the claims that they've been making thus far have turned out to not be true. It's actually less expensive than pre Covid. There's more options. There's chances for HSAs. And this is what they've been calling for this whole time. The numbers are out now. And so.

[Josh Holmes]

So. So this was published this morning by cms. This morning.

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, I. Look, it goes without saying. I mean, I, you know, surf the Internet a little bit. I saw some earnings reports from UnitedHealth and others where they've had a great year from the insurance side of things. And the idea that taxpayers need to further subsidize going forward in order for premiums not to rise seems like a little bit underpants. No. Me to me, in terms of its logic.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

We don't ever really get to that point of the discussion where we're like, hey, maybe if this thing is so broken, we should do something to fix it instead of maybe bailing out insurance.

[Josh Holmes]

Companies, because everything gets less expensive when you just push more tax dollars in.

[Brent Gardner]

I want to warn you guys right now, you are letting policy and facts get in the way. That has been a really terrible talking point. These inconvenient truths are gonna be something that we're gonna have to deal with.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you for reeling that in, Brent. But. So, I mean, look, you look at the landscape, so much of this has been illogical from the jump that I'm not surprised that it's lasted as long as it has. I mean, Ashbrook came up with a theory that some of this was related to These off year elections, which are next Tuesday.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. An awful lot of Democrats work for the federal government, live in Northern Virginia and are mad at Republicans. And I mean, what you said about the numbers, I believe to be true that overall in this country that Republicans have come up in this shutdown, Democrats have gone down, which might be the first time in history. But Democrats know that they want to win these elections in Virginia. And if they can do anything at all to win, they're going to do it. This is what we've learned about the left. Power is the most important thing to them. And so if that means keeping the government shut down so Democrats who work for the federal government have an easier path to the voter, the, you know, early vote, they're going to do it.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it just seems like that might be a line of demarcation. So I mean, as you look at the landscape, I mean, are we any closer to the end of this thing?

[Brent Gardner]

You know, I think so. I mean, I think that, you know, it just bears itself out that it has to. If you look at the folks that have come out against that key constituency for Democrats, unions, unions have come out in a big way. If you look at the impact on the American economy, they're talking like $14 billion worth of impact. And that's before what happens potentially. You know, we haven't been paying FAA controllers. You know, at the end of the day, that's why when you start to see people who are in ice not getting paid, when you see, you know, the fact that we can't keep going and paying the military without getting this stuff done, and you know, on Saturday and Sunday we see people's snap benefits go away. I mean, there are real impacts to American people that aren't about leverage. They're about the American government either functioning or not. And people are gonna have to look really hard. Republicans passed a bill to continue the current funding levels. Democrats have said no 13, 14 times.

[Josh Holmes]

Are you surprised by their candor? I'm a little surprised.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Cuz they started with all the hallmarks of what they usually do. We're not shutting the government down. Republicans are. And you're like, wait, how does that work? But you figured they'd stick on that for a little bit. Now they're like, no, we did do it because it's about the leverage.

[John Ashbrook]

The leverage?

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah, man, this smile that I've gotten right now is an uncomfortable smile. It's not taking joy in this. But you know, people talk about a DC bubble all the time. But imagine the people you have to have around you to make getting on national news, standing in front of press cameras and saying, this is going to hurt some families. But this is about our leverage. When we don't have a lot of leverage, we're prepared.

[Josh Holmes]

What do you say? Just imagine that we're prepared to make that sacrifice.

[John Ashbrook]

We know this is going to hurt you, and we are prepared to make that sacrifice.

[Brent Gardner]

Imagine the folks you gotta have around you who say this is the right thing to say and you feel good about it. You feel like every day is a better day for you. Well, it's not a better day for the American people. And according to the polls we're seeing on cnn, it's not working for them. And so, look, I'm really proud of where Republicans have been. We need to stay strong on ACA subsidies. We need to reopen the government. Democrats have to remember their Americans first, and they need to reopen the government. I mean, I think it's that simple.

[Josh Holmes]

I imagine you're hearing an awful lot from the network that you all have built over the years of people who have, shall we say, strong opinions about what they're saying in Washington, D.C. yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

AFP is not an organization. It's a group of people. I mean, it's people who, across this country, you know, they knock doors in the wintertime in Wisconsin. You know, they make phone calls every day with their kids. You know, they knock doors in Dallas in August. I've been there with those folks, those some hardened individuals. These are people that care about America. So we talk to them all the time on driveways and doorsteps. And, you know, they're pretty clear on this. You know, if they're not completely disgusted by where they are, they're recognizing the importance of the work they do to get us to where they know we need to be. And they took a big step last November. They sent a clear message to Democrats, which clearly they haven't heard.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, not only they not hear it, it's like they even went further.

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah, yeah, we've gone into the loony bin. But look, we've got a lot of work to do. They're dedicated, more dedicated than ever. You know, you mentioned the elections of Virginia. Across this country, we're getting ready for a huge election year next year, and it's again, a referendum on who we want to be in the future. And so it's heartening for us to hear from these folks. It's sad to hear the frustration, but they're ready to get out there and keep working.

[Michael Duncan]

Bren, is everything that we're seeing in the polling about Democrats losing this argument. Is that consistent with what you're hearing at the doors?

[Brent Gardner]

It is today. And I think one of the things that Republicans have done better this time than they've ever done in the past. No offense to people who've been out of the dome before, but we've figured it out. You have to communicate clearly with the American people. You have to speak truth to lies. You have to provide facts that the American people can believe, and you have to treat people like they're not stupid. I mean, the opportunity to do that and remain consistent, remain principled is what we've seen here. And I think that's, you know, the results in the polls we see today, I think, and I hope is the beginning of what it needs to be going forward. I think that Delta grows even bigger as Democrats continue to be obstructionist to a better opportunity for America to improve, to get better policy. And I think Republicans need to stay together on message, doing things that improve people's lives.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a discipline thing. And that's what sort of surprised me in this, and we've seen this in prior negotiations, is that you get to this point where Republicans start negotiating in public against themselves for whatever reason, because they have a camera in front of their face. And for whatever reason, we've established, I think, a message discipline in this shutdown as Republicans, that is. I mean, it's heartening. Like very frequently we do. I mean, even back when we were doing the Big Beauty. Oh, yeah, you had a lot of Republican members out there.

[Josh Holmes]

We should raise taxes.

[John Ashbrook]

Just freewheeling on, like, maybe we'll just raise taxes. Who knows? We'll figure it out.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, but what do you attribute that to?

[Brent Gardner]

The freewheeling part?

[John Ashbrook]

No, no. The discipline.

[Brent Gardner]

We're now saying, look, I'll give a lot of credit. I gave it already to the Speaker. I think the speaker and the Majority leader. I think the House has done a really great job of doing what people didn't see happening. I think Leader Thune is doing the same thing in the Senate right now. I mean, look, there would have been opportunities to potentially roll over and put this in a bad position. I think Republicans, emboldened by the work of people last election and delivering them, majorities have come out the other side.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, that's the funny thing is, if you're thinking about shutdowns, the proximity to the last judgment the American people rendered on all of this, pretty close. We're less than a year removed from it. So there's not a lot of question about which direction people wanted to go. And yet here we are.

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah. We had a referendum and people are saying we're going to make good on the promises that we made. Yeah. And I think that that's great. I think Republicans doing that in one big, beautiful bill gave confidence for them to be able to stay together on this and hopefully continue doing that into the future. And we can continue to expand majorities. That'll give us a chance to get even more good policy.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I ask you this from a guy who both interacts with lawmakers at. At the highest levels and people throughout this country, you have a unique perspective on it. But one of the things that it's just impossible to ignore and we've talked about on the Variety program predicting this moment all the way back to March of last year, is Democrats are deathly afraid of a political base that has become way, way more radical than I think even they could have ever predicted. You're going to see next week Mamdani, when mayor of New York City, which is like the most fascinating transformation of anything that I can remember at any time. But it looks like we knew the Chuck Schumer dynamic, and he's nervous about, A, keeping his job as a majority or minority leader, but B, keeping his job as a senator at all with AOC and the like looming out there. How much of this is just pure preservation politics? You'd think on the Democratic side, you.

[Brent Gardner]

Got to assume some of it. I mean, you saw in Politico or Playbook, I think it was last week, an unnamed Democrat in the Senate talked about fearing the guillotine from their own party. That's gotta be some of it. It doesn't seem like a good plan. Doesn't seem like it's working. The polls, again, are not showing that it's working. But, yeah, I. Look, I think Democrats are probably a few years behind Republicans and trying to figure out who they are.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

And I think the challenge is they've got. They've got some challenges growing.

[Josh Holmes]

Do you think people are connecting the dots on this? Because, I mean, look, you're surrounded by this every day. Easy for us to pick up. The fact that, like, when you make irrational moves, that irrational moves are rational somewhere down the line. They're not just, like, dumb, although they are that. But there's a reason, there's a method to the madness on what they're doing. And it's obviously that this huge base constituency of the Democratic Party that is becoming incredibly restless and violent and Everything else. Do you think that people throughout the country understand the connection from the behavior that you see out of Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, rank and file Democrats shutting down the government, ending snap funding, making sure that military is not paid in order to show fight? Like, do you think that people are connecting the dots on the politics of that?

[Brent Gardner]

I think three kinds of people are. I think Republicans are. I think Democratic leadership probably is. And I think some of those Democrats that in the past, you know, have looked at what a winning majority took to build, you know, some of the older commentators who understood what it took to be able to win independence, I think those folks have got it and I think they're scared, and I think they should be, frankly. But, you know, I think there's still a group of people who are inside a bubble who are talking to each other and reinforcing the kind of things that long term, as you pointed out, are going to cause real headwinds.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to ask you something. Josh mentioned the far left of their party, pulling them to the extremes. As part of our continuing coverage of the Democrats, we also noticed at the beginning of this week that the Federal Employees Union put out a statement calling on Democrats to reopen the government and pass the clean cr. So now they are locked between two diametrically opposed constituencies. And it seems like there might be some cracks in Democrats in the Senate. I'm wondering just, you know, you don't have to give me a hard prediction here, but do you think maybe next week some of those democrats who voted no 13 times on the CR might turn and vote yes?

[Brent Gardner]

I mean, some of them are going to have to.

[Smug]

Right.

[Brent Gardner]

I mean, that's definitely where we're headed on this, I think. So. I think there's an opportunity to see that happening. I think the bigger, deeper story on this, though, is what did it take this much to happen on? I mean, you know, there are a lot of different groups in a lot of different parties that have influence and good communication with folks. Why did it have to become public? It's a lack of a functioning party on the Democratic side. That conversation in private didn't yield that result to where one of their biggest constituency groups felt like the way to.

[Smug]

Communicate is through the press.

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah. Remember us over here?

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Brent Gardner]

I think the American people felt that way last November, and I think that's why they delivered majorities in two chambers in the presidency.

[Josh Holmes]

Matt, good point.

[Brent Gardner]

And so I think that's. That's where we're at right now.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's A really good point, Brent. So you're hopeful maybe the end of next week?

[Brent Gardner]

Cautiously optimistic.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right. We're going to have you back and we're going to re examine this entire thing because I imagine there's going to be a whole bunch of issues to clean up on the back end of it as it relates to this discussion too. And I know you got strong feelings about an awful lot of them. So. Brent Gardner, thank you so much for joining us.

[Brent Gardner]

Thanks, guys.

[Michael Duncan]

I always love whenever he comes by because he brings information straight from the doors. And it's very, very interesting to hear that the people at home think the exact same way is what Harry Anton is picking up in his polling on cnn.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's fascinating. I mean, he knows the inside and the out. And like it's been frustrating to say the least from our perspective in that every single American isn't three weeks before this shutdown concluding A, the shutdown is going to happen and B, it's because these guys are a rubber ship.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, there's no leadership in the Democratic Party. They're all scared to death of Mamdani.

[Smug]

I mean, that's, that's a very critical point and a through line that you're going to see again and again and again. The absence of leadership on the Democrat Party is the consequences of it just continue to reverberate.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's bad. It's bad and it's honestly, it's getting worse. And so like, look, you look at all this stuff and it brings us basically to a question of the day, which I think is actually we're kind of dumb this down for all of us because I don't know how else to explain this.

[Smug]

It is the million dollar question.

[Josh Holmes]

Honestly, I don't know how else to explain it. Like, we've tried to think critically about coalitions and all this stuff and it's like dumb.

[Smug]

It all gets distilled to this dude.

[Josh Holmes]

What it really is is are Democrats dumb or crazy?

[Smug]

Yeah, I mean, that's the question. It is the question.

[John Ashbrook]

Are we attributing more of their behavior to an actual strategy or is it dumb or crazy?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Is it like clinical or is it a lack of iq?

[Michael Duncan]

I think both is an acceptable answer. I think that's what we're going to find out next Tuesday when Zoram Mamdani sweeps the polls and New York City.

[Smug]

I mean, he's not wrong, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I mean, but dumb or crazy is that you guys weigh in on this, you let us know. I mean, you guys interact probably more frequently with people both sides of the aisle. And it doesn't mean every Democrat. It just means that, like the ones.

[Smug]

That are leading this situation, maybe every Democrat. We'll see. Maybe. Maybe we'll see.

[Josh Holmes]

My segment, increasingly, I'm getting on board with what you're talking about and that it seems to be an endemic issue that I don't know if it needs to be medicated or if there's some kind of like a, I don't know, we need to think about incarcerated.

[Smug]

But it's also, there's many treatment options.

[Michael Duncan]

Listen, it's also appropriate to do a chicken or the egg thing. That they were so dumb that they became crazy or that they were so crazy for so long they've become dumb.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

It would be very interesting just to.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, Stockholm syndrome type situation. Yeah. Well, anyway, that's our question of the day and when we come back, we're gonna get to your comments from last episode. Will the Democrats finally cave? We mentioned the unions coming out against them. Things are starting to move. Your answers right after this.

[Michael Duncan]

Only 58% of Americans today say they're proud to be American, the lowest number ever recorded. That's not just sad, it is very dangerous. Because if we forget what makes America special, we risk losing it. That's why Americans for Prosperity is launching the One Small Step Campaign, a bold nationwide initiative to reconnect Americans with our founding principles that sparked unparalleled innovation and prosperity. It's not just a celebration, it's a call to action. Through the 250,000 Steps for Freedom challenge, AFP is partnering with the grassroots in all 50 states to take meaningful steps that defend freedom and advance opportunity. Call your representative, attend a local event. Knock on a door, talk to your neighbors. Every single step counts. And every step moves us closer to a more perfect Union. Go to takeonesmallstep.com to learn more. Then join the [e-mail].

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program, we invite you to respond to our question of the day. We read every single one of them, summarize them, and get back to you the very next episode. Urge you to do that. For our question of the Day, Are Democrats dumb or crazy? For next episode. For this one, we asked a very simple question is will the Democrats finally cave on this government funding situation? To start those comments, we always start with a voice.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay? First one comes from cackling Kamala. Cackling Rights Dems will let the shutdown continue until after The New Jersey in California. I think they meant Virginia elections. There they can make all the excuses they want on why they either won or lost those races while spinning about the shutdown. Usually Dems get a bump in the polls on these shutdowns, but not this time. As more people are seeing through the BS and the lies. This will be their downfall in the midterms. Mark my words.

[Josh Holmes]

I cackling. I hope you are right.

[Michael Duncan]

That is our audience pays attention.

[Josh Holmes]

Good words. Comment too. Dunks R uncs.

[John Ashbrook]

This is from lebeau Sabre. Perhaps French or maybe Quebecois.

[Josh Holmes]

Who knows Canadian descent. Some French Canada.

[John Ashbrook]

LeBeau writes, the most vulnerable Senate Dems will cave first. In particular, smug cyberbully victim and human equivalent of a room temperature glass of tap water and two pieces of Wonder Bread with the crust cut off. Senator John Osso. Excellent.

[Michael Duncan]

That's poetry.

[Smug]

That is poetry.

[John Ashbrook]

Our listeners are the smartest, wittiest, the funniest.

[Josh Holmes]

And they pull back from years the lore, the lore, the lore.

[John Ashbrook]

He can't even stand up for Georgians, so there is no way he will stand up for Chuck Schumer. Interesting leau.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, smug. What do we got in comment 3?

[Smug]

Comment 3 is from John Button. John writes, I don't think the Democrats have another choice but to cave. And they went into this knowing that fact. They know the optics of this suck for them. And the damn leadership is out of ideas. They're checkmated. I mean, that's it. That is it, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the thing that we talked about since March of last year. That they're never had a strategy.

[Smug]

Nope.

[Josh Holmes]

And sooner or later, like the clock ticks to a point where you're gonna have to show your cards. And they're showing the cards and it's like, oof. That's like a two and a four and a six. All off suited.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I mean? Like they got nothing. There's nothing. Of course they're gonna have to cave. Question is how they can make it worth their while. They're gonna claim victory here. And I can't wait to see how we like you suggested a metal.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, this is a great idea.

[John Ashbrook]

Giant medal for Chuck Schumer that says I won the shutdown.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And we do the presentation at the White House like the White House does with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And Trump puts it over Schumer's head so he can claim that he won.

[Josh Holmes]

I just don't think. I think it's a good idea.

[John Ashbrook]

Just like the hero dog that took out Baghdadi.

[Michael Duncan]

But Maybe it comes with a certificate.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, something with an embossed.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Classic ribbon framed.

[Michael Duncan]

But I think like a spelling bee champion.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, something like that. You know, and maybe like a gift certificate or something like that.

[Michael Duncan]

Gift certificate is a great idea.

[John Ashbrook]

Dave and Busters or something like a power card.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, he can go play some games.

[Josh Holmes]

But I think ultimately where this negotiation is going to break down is he's going to insist upon AOC putting it upon his neck.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, no.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that's the only way out.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, that is a great, great idea.

[Josh Holmes]

I think it's the only way out. I think if Donald Trump can have a candid conversation with AOC and say, hey, look, I've got a medal. It's brass, so it doesn't cost a lot, but it looks Goldie ish and you just need to put around his neck and tell him he's a good boy and he did all he could and he's the legislator of the year. I think this whole thing ends tomorrow. And if she says yes to that, well, congratulations. Our soldiers get paid.

[Brent Gardner]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Insane. It's insane. That's it.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what we're dealing with in dc. I'm not kidding, dude. I wish I was being hyperbolic about that.

[Smug]

No, that is it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That's basically where we're at. It's just an amazing thing. So we're coming back in our lightning round. We've got a prominent left wing podcaster doubling down on violence. There was a hearing this week in the Senate on all of that and it got a fair amount of attention because we've been talking about, everybody's been talking about, obviously, in the wake of Charlie Kirk and everything else, this is something to keep an eye on. We're gonna do that. Ben Stiller showed up in the great Commonwealth of Virginia, didn't look too enthused. And we've got something on that and a lot more right after this.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

So many of you know the actor Ben Stiller is a prominent lefty, like a left wing lunatic in a lot of ways. Good actor. He's a funny guy from time to time, but like, his politics are, as is most the case with Hollywood, off the left hand side of the chart. So he shows up in Virginia, like why? But he shows up in Virginia and he's campaigning on behalf of this Vindman character.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Is he the brother of the guy who got Trump impeached? Yeah, Ukraine thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Now his brother's a member of Congress.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

What a cool Political party.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So whatever this guy is, look, this is gonna speak for itself. Clip 6. Hey, Congressman Eugene Vimon here. My friend Ben Stiller and I were talking about an election in Virginia. Ben, you had some thoughts? I just think it's important for people.

[Michael Duncan]

To get out and vote. It's a very important election.

[Josh Holmes]

It's important to protect our democracy.

[John Ashbrook]

Do everything you can.

[Michael Duncan]

Make a difference.

[John Ashbrook]

It will make a difference. So get out.

[Smug]

Let's do it.

[John Ashbrook]

That's it. That's it. That's the whole thing. Let's do it. Dude.

[Josh Holmes]

This guy has made a living as a comedian and he shows up in a hostage video with this guy. He didn't even say his name.

[Michael Duncan]

He just was like, vote, let's do it.

[Josh Holmes]

I just think you should vote also.

[John Ashbrook]

Please vote like Ben Stiller in that video has this crazy hair going on. It's like, Marty, we gotta go back in time. We gotta go back to the future.

[Josh Holmes]

They found us. I don't know how they found us, but they found us. It's the Libyans. Run for it, Marty.

[Michael Duncan]

Dude, I don't know under what circumstances you could not pull personality out of Ben Stiller, but they found it.

[Josh Holmes]

They found it. You found the most dull human being on the face of the planet to stand next to a world renowned comedian and you got nothing.

[John Ashbrook]

Zero.

[Josh Holmes]

He was like, yeah, I'll tape a 15 second thing. He's like, great, let's make sure it's fucking worthless.

[Smug]

Unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

That's incredible. All right, so I understand our next segment, this is unbeknownst to a lot of us, smug. You've pulled this and put some thought into it, which here at the ruthless Friday program. I can't tell you how big of a deal this is.

[Smug]

Yeah. So I think this is incredibly critical for everyone, especially every conservative. I want you to pay very close attention to this. I put a lot of time and thought into this. Wolf put a lot of work into this because I think it's important for every conservative in this country to see this entire thing. And I also wanted to get your guys reaction and I'm going to have follow up graphics immediately afterwards. Let's just start with the clip.

[Jennifer Welch]

Finally, if you think this Zorin thing is happening just in New York and you think people are waking up only in New York City, you're mistaken. Look at this clip of a wine mom at the no Kings March. Play the clip.

[Josh Holmes]

Bird's name was Charlie Kirk, ma'. Am. Yeah, him is horrible. Horrible. Charlie Kirk is horrible. Yes.

[Smug]

I'm glad he's not here.

[Michael Duncan]

You're glad he's dead?

[Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Why would you say something like that, man? He was horrible on the campuses, the college campuses. Horrible person. You know what? I do the exact same thing. Would you be glad if I would die? Maybe. I'd have to think.

[Brent Gardner]

Think about it.

[Josh Holmes]

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Jennifer Welch]

Ashamed of yourself.

[Josh Holmes]

Her friend just said she'd be happy if I died.

[Jennifer Welch]

So listen up, Democratic establishment. You can either jump on board with this, or we're coming after you in the same way that we come after maga, period. Stop taking APAC money. Go on an I'm sorry I took AIPAC money atonement tour. If you want to stay in power, stop missing out on this is critical rallies. Hakeem and Chuck should have been front and center introducing the next mayor of New York City. But no, they wouldn't show up because they're pussies. They're pussies that are beholden to the same corporations that Donald Trump. That helped Donald Trump get elected.

[Brent Gardner]

And.

[Jennifer Welch]

And this is just an embarrassment. Kudos to Bernie, to aoc, to Zoron, and that woman out in somewhere middle America saying, fuck Charlie Kirk. He was a racist. He was a piece of shit. There are so many more of us than there are of them. And these Democrats that continue to play patty cake with corporations and lobbyists, nobody wants that. Nobody wants you. We want politicians to speak freely. And look at what the benefit is. Look at what is happening in New York. And you dipshits are sitting on the sidelines doing. Running your social media like complete dorks. It's embarrassing. Get your shit together, Hakeem and Chuck, seriously, get your shit together, because the Democratic Party is moving on.

[Smug]

Oh, so that is from Jennifer Welch.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Explain to me, who is it? We're coming into this totally cold, and.

[Smug]

That'S the whole intention of this, you guys. What do you take of that? You think it's like, just some lady who got a microphone? She's a looney tune, right?

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, this strikes me as a suburban country club wine mom who had a fifth glass of Chardonnay who has decided to rain down all the anxieties of her life.

[John Ashbrook]

I've got a couple of takes out of this. Hold on.

[Josh Holmes]

I want to know who this is, though, right?

[Smug]

Yeah, that's her name. So first your take. First your take on it.

[John Ashbrook]

My take on it is a couple of things. Like, number one, she says, wine mom, and not in the pejorative way.

[Smug]

She's like a compatriot.

[John Ashbrook]

They're like Claiming it back, which I found to be very interesting. And then this sort of pivot to, I think this person who thinks Charlie Kirk being assassinated was good also is related somehow to AIPAC and corporations and lobbyists, which I wasn't really clear on. I feel like the neurons in her brain weren't firing. And also aipac, they control our politics, but also Zora Mandani, who's like an Islamist is going to be the next mayor of New York, doesn't really seem to track for me. I just want to say, like, if you think that there's this secret cabal of Jews through AIPAC that run America, and then somehow Zoran Mamdani is going to be mayor of New York, it doesn't seem to really track.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, kill Charlie Kirk and we hate Jews and corporations. And it's like, I have a tough time. But here's the other thing that just stood out to me. Fellas. Can lib say pussy?

[Smug]

Apparently now they can.

[Josh Holmes]

This is a new thing.

[Michael Duncan]

The permission.

[Josh Holmes]

And it wasn't that she just said it. She said it twice. And she sort of celebrated a little bit.

[John Ashbrook]

No, she said it a little hard. I actually kind of respected that.

[Josh Holmes]

She was like, pussy.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, she, like, said. Wasn't like, you know, something you were trying to reel back a little bit. I mean, she was celebrating it.

[Michael Duncan]

So smug. When you were tweeting about this, I followed up on it a little bit. So I gotta be honest, I did a little bit of research.

[Smug]

So you go, don't say anything. Then you know, it's like, the people who won't watch the movie, they go on Wikipedia and they'll look up the whole thing. They're like, no, I don't know the.

[Michael Duncan]

Movie, but it's okay. That's me.

[Smug]

I try to make a fun game for my friends. But anyways, the point I'm trying to.

[Michael Duncan]

Make, I was following his Twitter feed and now he says, that's bad.

[Smug]

I know. JD retweeted it, so everyone saw it, but anyways, so here's the thing. You hear someone like that and you're like, she just said, I love my friends so much. So she just said, she's celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk, which we were told is this, like, extremist nut job position that, like, it didn't exist. Yeah. Like, you know, media companies, TV7 were like, oh, this is something that maybe three or four people in their mom's basement said. No one is actually.

[Josh Holmes]

But nobody in the Democratic Party would.

[Smug]

Say something like that. Would say Something. Well, what if I told you this is a lady who has one of the top podcasts on the left, who had a show on Bravo, who has published a Blur.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, she had a show on Bravo.

[Smug]

And wait, come on. I'm serious.

[Josh Holmes]

And doing what?

[Smug]

So she also had a book which came out. Who wrote the blurb for it? Could I get graphic for, please? That's Barack Obama saying he wrote the blurb for her. Barack Obama saying, thank you so much for that, for the wonderful work you're doing. Is she actually around like any of these people? Can I get graphic five? September 30th of this year, a month ago. There she is with Kamala. But she's like a. She's just some fringe person no one's ever heard of. Graphic 6. There's her with her button. She hit a million subscribers on YouTube. That's pretty mainstream to me. What's she up to today in terms of her activism? Graphic 7. There's her with Mamdani. But is any mainstream media platforming her? Graphic 8. There's her on CBS Morning show.

[John Ashbrook]

You're kidding me.

[Josh Holmes]

No way.

[John Ashbrook]

Next to Nate Burleson.

[Smug]

Could I get Graphic nine. Also a frequent guest on cnn.

[Josh Holmes]

No way.

[Smug]

But who actually would show up on a podcast. She's a fringe figure saying crazy things like that we should support and stand up and enjoy the death of Charlie Kirk. Who would show up on a podcast with someone like this? Can I get graphic 10? We've had AOC, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Zoramdani, Bernie Sanders, and the guy who said 911 was good, Hasan Piker.

[Josh Holmes]

No way, dude. Are you kidding me?

[Smug]

This is the mainstream left now. So when people think that, like, oh, you know, this is just like, fringe thing. This is just some random crazy people and we got them fired. There are probably only like five or six people who are celebrating Charlie Crooks. That's a mainstream position. And when I said earlier in the show that there's a through line in the lack of leadership among the Democrat Party, she's going again and again telling Schumer, hakeem Jeffries, you need to get on board with this. When we said I weeks ago, there was that article in Politico about how the grassroots of the Democrats are saying, we want blood in the streets. We want you out there fighting. There it is. When we saw that article, which was like, they want to guillotine us if we don't fight. Because that's it. That's the mainstream Democrat Party. They want blood. They've said it again and again. And that's the mainstream position.

[John Ashbrook]

So can I ask you a question? Because I've never heard of this woman.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[John Ashbrook]

And as somebody who works professionally in politics, and I think I. I consume a lot of media. Left, right. And all. Everything in between. To have never heard of this woman is sort of a fascinating thing in and of itself. Totally like.

[Josh Holmes]

But she's apparently a huge.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, but, like, in music, like, music fans would be like, this is an industry plant. Like, who is this person who now suddenly shows up and has all of, like, the right people?

[Josh Holmes]

It's been credentialed by Barack Obama for prior.

[John Ashbrook]

It feels very strange.

[Josh Holmes]

It does.

[John Ashbrook]

Where does that originate from?

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's interesting. I just. As you said, the Bravo thing, that piqued my interest because I thought, like, okay, she's a television star first. So it turns out she was an interior designer and the star of the Bravo show Sweet Home. Apparently, that's a show that was on Bravo. It's, you know, it's not exactly recording.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. Listen.

[Josh Holmes]

But a show nevertheless. And she. She was originally on a show that was kind of a derivation. Sweet Home, Oklahoma for two seasons that then went into Sweet Home, because, of course, Oklahoma, it's pejorative for a lot of people to watch that, so they have to remove the South.

[Smug]

And then just to be, like, a little nitpicky on what she was saying of how she's, like, so against corporations and, like, you know, you need to get with this grassroots energy. If you go to her Instagram, it's basically being sponsored by every major corporation, going on trips to Italy.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, are you serious?

[Smug]

Yes. Yes, dude. Like, she is getting. She. She is getting incredibly well paid. Right? Her podcast is doing tons of money ad sales. And the thing is, is that you wonder, how could this happen? You have. This woman has lived her entire life in the lap of luxury. Why is she out here trying to be, like, a communist super soldier for AOC in the revolution? That's what the left has done. They have radicalized this group of women in this country to be like, we need you to be the frontline soldiers. When you see these, like, attacks on ice facilities, who are you seeing out there trying to stand in front of cars and throwing rocks? It's a bunch of women. They have targeted women specifically and radicalized them. And this is what we're seeing mainstreaming of. I'm happy Charlie Kirk died for them to say that.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you feel like this is all created through some sort of advertising vehicle?

[Smug]

Because here's the thing, I don't think it's a plan, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Here's the thing.

[Smug]

I really believe I'm telling you that's a big deal.

[Josh Holmes]

It makes you wonder.

[John Ashbrook]

No, but here's the thing.

[Smug]

I think that's trying to excuse it. I think that's trying to be like, there's no way.

[John Ashbrook]

But they came out of the election, right? The Democrats came out of the election being like, we don't really have a good footprint with authentic voices in podcasting and any of these sorts of things. Like Hasan Piker. He has an audience. Like, that guy has a real audience.

[Smug]

Hold up her social blade. It's taken years for her to build this.

[Michael Duncan]

Really interesting.

[Smug]

This is not an overnight industry plant. You're just seeing the radicalization in real time. And we talk about information silos. This is what I'm talking about. This silo has expanded to the point where Barack Obama is giving a blurb to her book and is a guest on her podcast.

[John Ashbrook]

Were they all giving these blurbs before or after the buccal fat removal she did on her face? I just gotta be honest. That shit's terrifying. Women in this country, please stop listening to the plastic surgeons who tell you to destroy your face. No man thinks you look attractive like that. I'm sorry, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm just looking at her Instagram and several pictures on it. And, like, when she shows up at an official thing, like with Barack Obama, it's crazy. Whatever. Like. And then she just does her podcast, which is the shit that you just saw, where she's just staring down like a fucking sparrow into the camera. Like, it does. Looks like two different people. Like, there's a real makeover effect going on.

[Smug]

The overlapping thing is just touching on why there's such cowardice from Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer. It's because they're scared of people like that.

[Josh Holmes]

They think this.

[Smug]

Those people are legion. And the thing is that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries aren't wrong. That is the majority of Democrats. That is the mainstream left today. I want everyone to get out from your head the idea that, like, no, you see, just, like, there's just two parties, but most of us want to get along. No, the position that you've seen from critical race theory of essentially saying that, well, all white people are bad. And so a lot of these well to do white women took that as, oh, well, if I want to be a good person, I have to be a communist super soldier and help with the dei. Like, they feel like they're absolving themselves of sins by being willing to kill their opponents. They think they're in some kind of like a life or death situation. Like, the left has just been amping up and amping up and amping up. You're fighting authoritarian fascists. And it's like, no, dude, we're just doing a CR here. And that's what you end up with.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, it's. I'm glad you highlighted all this. I had no idea who this person was, but this is like genuinely remarkable stuff that I'm looking at my phone. She's very much within the mainstream of the Democratic Party.

[Michael Duncan]

And I think, you know, I find what you said very persuasive. And the first thing that came to my mind is all of these normie Democrats who sort of whisper about the hope that maybe a moderate, like Bill Clinton did in 1992, maybe a moderate Democrat, can rise and sort of break this fever. It doesn't seem like that's possible.

[Smug]

No, exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's just not the way that it's working with the base.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And as the base goes, so does the party. And, like, there's much made of the Republican base under Trump. Right. Different than it was under George W. Bush or historically in the Republican Party. But it is. The distinction is like you, you brought in a working class element, a yellow dog Democrat, which, you know, used to be just straight up union worker, blue collar folks. What they're talking about is clinically insane human beings. Like, can you imagine being at a anywhere? And somebody is like, hey, what do you think about this? And they're like, yeah, I'm glad Charlie Kirk is dead. Like, saying that out of your mouth requires a brain malfunction. But then for the one young girl, I mean, I don't know who that was, but she must have been no older than 25 to say, yeah, I do that same thing. Do you wish that I was dead? And she's like, yeah, maybe.

[Smug]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, to look somebody in the eye, like the vacancy of human emotion.

[Smug]

And that's calculated and over time, we've talked about that. The dehumanization of conservatives when they call. Like, for years they'd call conservatives M a G a T E s maggots.

[Josh Holmes]

But she uses it as a jumping off point to be like, you see, look at this energy.

[Smug]

She's like, isn't that great?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, look at this energy. As if that's something to be emulated or celebrated in any possible way. And like, dude, it's fucking depressing.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes. And to your point about the lack of leadership on the Dem side, when Barack Obama, the former two term president of the United States, is chasing that.

[Smug]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, it's mayday territory for them.

[Smug]

That's something.

[Josh Holmes]

My God. Well, when we come back, we're gonna play a terrific game. In fact, you know what?

[Michael Duncan]

It.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's not even do a break.

[Smug]

Straight to it.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's just go. Right.

[John Ashbrook]

We gotta lighten it up.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we gotta lighten it up. I mean, I. Listen, I'm glad you did that. It was an important segment, but, you know, we like to have fun here in the Ruthless Friday program.

[John Ashbrook]

I do appreciate doing a segment from Professor Smug.

[Michael Duncan]

I do too. That was, that was very.

[John Ashbrook]

I enjoyed it.

[Josh Holmes]

Well done.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I really, I liked coming and cold. Yeah, you know, that was fun.

[Smug]

And he had the receipts and thanks for Wolf Man. Great, great job putting it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Good job, Wolf.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, so we have King of the Hill.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I think I'm the judge.

[John Ashbrook]

And I'm the bailiff.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And so I'm the challenger.

[Smug]

I'm bringing David from.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, okay. I've got Sarah Longwell as the champ.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, let's go ringside.

[Michael Duncan]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Smug]

Please.

[Michael Duncan]

It's time for King of the Hill. In the red corner, fighting from who knows where. David, where did you come from? And now in the blue corner, fighting from her own publication and current champion of the world, Sarah Long. Not well.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes, yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. As we always do here on the Ruthless Friday program, for King of the Hill, we start with the champion. And there's a lot to work with these days, so I can't wait. And I hope this is a spirited contest.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I. I can assure you that Sarah Longwell will bring her best, as she does every week. Exhibit one, please, Wolf. And she's quote, tweeting something from a Wall Street Journal reporter, Josh Dossey. And she says Trump doesn't care about how high your grocery or housing prices are. He cares about building a ballroom you'll never set foot in. This is a former Republican.

[Josh Holmes]

I will say the champion knows a way into this judge's heart and that I find everything to do with the ballroom amongst as crazy as anything I've ever heard in public discourse. So it's a good play.

[John Ashbrook]

It's inspired writing as well.

[Smug]

Challenger, I'm gonna get straight to it. Exhibit 11, please. David Frum at it with a horrible take. Trump planned to fund military pay by quote, gifts from unnamed plutocrats should horrify and terrify every American. Founder. Plutarch quotes the Triumvirate. I think it's Triumvir Marcus Crassus. No one is rich who cannot pay for his own army. The founders wrote the Constitution so it would never happen here. He's talking about Timothy Mellon, I believe, from New York, who handed over $150 million because he didn't want our troops to not get paid because the Democrats have shut down Congress. And for David Frum, a man who, amongst anyone is the most enthusiastic about sending our troops overseas to fight in wars he likes, is like, wait a minute, we shouldn't be paying the troops. Absolute scumbag.

[John Ashbrook]

It's just like private armies in Rome.

[Josh Holmes]

Just like that. Same thing. And they're just gonna guard Mellon. That's it. It's the United States of Mellon, according to. So look, I love the, I really love everything to do with the left losing their mind about the whole thing, the ballroom. But I can't help, and I've thought about this a lot over the last two weeks about if there was a Democrat, a liberal leaning person who gave $150 million to fund our American troops because the opposition party wouldn't allow them to get paid for unnamed reasons, unnamed strategy. And I think it would be on the front page of every newspaper. And I also think that there would be like some kind of a ticker tape parade is like, this is what patriotism looks like. And the fact that this guy's been demonized in any way, and the fact that this guy takes it a step further to suggest that somehow that Trump, by accepting the fact that this guy's going to pay our troops, is somehow selling out the United States of America is enough for me. And for that reason, round one goes to the challenger. Wow.

[Smug]

I'm gonna go for a two round knockout. I wanna end this right here. Exhibit 10, please. David Frum, triple whammy. As Trump cuts off food stamp benefits to the poor, his tariffs are massively raising food costs. Trump tariffs have doubled the price of pasta from Italy. David from standing up for the Italians.

[Josh Holmes]

If you were the judge, this would be a, this would be a nuclear.

[Smug]

And it's incredible because he's like, won't someone think of the foreign imported foods from Italy?

[John Ashbrook]

It is very funny. It's very funny that he's, he's, he's talking about food stamps, food prices. The triple whammy in that is specifically Italian food.

[Smug]

And if we're being.

[Josh Holmes]

You can't even use food stamps to get a good cannoli anymore.

[Smug]

And if we're being real, it's like, maybe if more domestic Italians would go into pasta making instead of waste management, we all know where that business is.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a pretty good one, dude. It's pretty good. It's well received.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, what you got, pal?

[Michael Duncan]

That's not much.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, he's gonna tip off.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm just gonna be honest with you. It's not much. Exhibit two, please. Wherever you fall on the Trump will can't run again in 2028. Can we all agree that Trump is certainly acting like he plans to and Republicans would do nothing to stop him if he tried? Can we further agree that Trump has regularly made fools of those who argued, quote, trump won't the same week that Donald Trump said, I can't run, so I'm not gonna do it. She's seeing something that everybody else has missed.

[Smug]

This thing, girl. It's not spicy meatballs.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, I love the genre. The genre is fertile ground for me. Like, I love this genre. And there's a whole bunch of the left online that is just infatuated with this thing. Trump's like, yeah, they told me that you can't constitutional cry, so I'm not going to. And they're like, see, he's running. And like, I just, I'm in love with that whole genre. It's missing a flair for the dramatic here. She's like, yeah, some Republicans don't know anything about it. And that just seems whiny and sort of trite. Lib. The Italian blast alone gives Trump or gives Smuggler the two round knockout. He's a new champion.

[Smug]

Thank you so much. Outstanding work, you, Honor.

[John Ashbrook]

I agree, you, Honor.

[Michael Duncan]

Well deserved and well played by Ashbrook, too.

[Smug]

That was great.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so you guys want some variety?

[John Ashbrook]

Always.

[Josh Holmes]

So Brendan Carr is the chairman of the fcc. You may have heard him in recent weeks. He said his name in the newspaper for many different things, but he's absolutely terrific. He's honestly one of my favorite people in all of dc. Guy gets it. He's very, very smart, doing a lot of really important things that people don't see on a day to day basis. He only gets his name in the headlines when, like fucking Jimmy Kimmel does a shitty job and gets fired and then rehired and whatever. Somehow it's Brendan Carr's fault that they've lost two thirds of their audience over at abc. So, like, that's when you hear about him. But he's a good friend of the program. He's been in here a couple of times. And so lo and behold, yesterday we're hanging out and over the transomon acts comes a flag. Brendan wants us to cover something. He's a loyal listener of the program and he says, fellas, it's time for the banana covered pool. And I was immediately like, click, click, click. Like, I gotta see what the hell this is about. So we click on his tweet and we see it turns out, turns out an aggressive rhesus lab monkey escapes after truck accident.

[Smug]

Plural.

[Josh Holmes]

So yeah, so lots of them. Yeah. I mean, primarily this is a story about macaque, but it's a lab engineered macaque.

[Smug]

Uh huh.

[John Ashbrook]

It's not a macaque though. It's a rhesus macaque.

[Josh Holmes]

No, they're the same.

[John Ashbrook]

They're the same.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we looked into it. I'm glad that you asked the question.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, we need to know for the audience.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's important when you know that you're talking about various different entities when something is macaque and when it's not. And in this case, very important.

[John Ashbrook]

We've had a lot of problems with that in this country.

[Josh Holmes]

We do. And in this case, it is macaque. A truck hauling monkeys from Tulane University in New Orleans flipped on a Mississippi highway, freeing several large, quote unquote aggressive monkeys. Okay, you're like bull. That sounds, you know, a zoo accident or some kind of thing like that. No, no, much worse. After the wreck, which happened north of Heidelberg, multiple rhesus monkeys escaped into the community. According to Jasper County Sheriff's Office, the monkey monkeys are approximately 40 pounds. They're aggressive to humans. They require PPE, a personal protective equipment in order to handle.

[Smug]

Here's the kicker, folks, it gets worse.

[Josh Holmes]

Why, you might ask, might someone need PPE to handle macaque? The answer is because they carry hepatitis C, herpes, and the COVID.

[Michael Duncan]

Virus. Oh my goodness.

[Smug]

So when they're like. These are aggressive monkeys, they've been given like the plague, bro.

[Brent Gardner]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

This is outbreak and Mississippi as of.

[Josh Holmes]

4:30Pm Eastern yesterday, all but one of these escaped monkeys were destroyed. So they didn't.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, that's good.

[Smug]

Is it?

[Josh Holmes]

Well. Oh, but one of the monkeys, for one monkey that is still on the loose.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, okay, so there's a photo of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh yeah, there it is, the ringleader again.

[Smug]

Folks, this is why you need to watch this on the YouTube. He looks like a problem. Remember the Congo monkey, the worst of them all, the one with the crazy face? That's this guy.

[Josh Holmes]

He's an angry macaque.

[Smug]

I mean, and here's the thing. So he's been given every disease, all the worst shit, right? All of it. He's got it all. So already he's not having a great time now. All his homeboys murdered. He watched them get murked out in front of him. What do you think is going through his head? Yeah, he's got nothing to lose. He's essentially just like, I'm going to be the problem. That's his mission.

[Michael Duncan]

But Brennan Carr has reminded us of the solution. This monkey looks crazy.

[John Ashbrook]

This is important for all the new listeners and viewers to hear from Ashbrook himself.

[Michael Duncan]

He looks crazy. He looks hungry. Okay, and what do monkeys like to eat? They like bananas.

[Josh Holmes]

They do.

[Michael Duncan]

So we want someone in Mississippi to volunteer their swimming pool, cover it with bananas. The monkey goes for the banana, drowns in the pool.

[Smug]

It happens every time.

[Josh Holmes]

But we're not done with monkey news, fellas.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh boy.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a photo of an escaped monkey that was shown. But I've got another thing. This is a Chinese scientists that have created monkeys with schizophrenia and autism.

[Michael Duncan]

Why? Sounds like the end of the world.

[Josh Holmes]

Good night, ladies and gentlemen. This is the end.

[Smug]

No, dude, this is old news. It's called TikTok.

[John Ashbrook]

Nice. Yes.

[Smug]

There's a lot of exposure to it.

[Josh Holmes]

I did not see that coming.

[Smug]

I did not see that coming.

[Josh Holmes]

That is a very hot take. So, yeah, according to Bloomberg, Chinese scientists have created monkeys with schizophrenia and autism.

[Smug]

And the thing is like, why would you, you do this?

[Josh Holmes]

I, I, I don't know. And it doesn't like, here's the thing is that there's no like hook to it. Like I was expecting the, the next like a subheader where I was like, in order to. Curses.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, schizophrenia and autism. Dude.

[Smug]

I also, in order to cure it. Especially when it comes to like research and stuff that their scientists are doing, we will never find out because they always cover it all up the same way they covered up Covid.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like gain of function, research always. It's like we're going to create the most, most ludicrous coronavirus in the world and it's going to be at this lab in China.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, and then it's going to escape out of the lab and infect the entire world. And then. Well, guess we'll figure it out. Yeah.

[Smug]

The channel will be like, oh yeah, we never do this for this. I wonder if the process really was just like mass quantities. Tylenol.

[Josh Holmes]

God, dude.

[Smug]

Just the, it's just like chocolate coated Tylenol. And these monkeys are just going in on it, bro.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's it. Just Tylenol. Anyway, that's all the news that we have here in the Ruthless Variety Program. Remember our question of the day, are Democrats dumb or crazy? Real high minded. But I imagine that you're going to provide some color to that. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety Program, we react all of your comments and we summarize them and get back to you the very next episode, which is Funtime Friday.

[Smug]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

And believe me, we've held back.

[Michael Duncan]

We sure have.

[Josh Holmes]

We've held back. We've got some stuff on Friday.

[John Ashbrook]

We got high heat to throw you on Friday.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you're gonna love every second of it with that, fellas. I think we did it.

[Smug]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thanks so much to Brent Gardiner and thank you to the listeners. Remember, if you have not yet, go to the YouTube hit that subscribe because it's more fun in video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the lids. We'll see you Friday. Stay ruthless.