Ruthless Podcast: How the Left Took the Democrat Party Hostage

Date: October 17, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Main Guest: Rodney Scott (Former Director of Customs and Border Protection)

Episode Overview

This episode of the Ruthless Podcast dives into the internal dynamics of the Democratic Party, focusing on how the party’s progressive wing—epitomized by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Bernie Sanders—has steered the party’s agenda and messaging. The hosts analyze recent interviews, highlight policy contradictions, and critique Democrats’ media tactics, especially during a government shutdown. The show also features a detailed interview with Rodney Scott, offering an insider’s look into U.S. border security, contrasting the Trump and Biden administrations’ approaches, and exposing realities about smuggling and cartels.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. AOC as the New Democratic Power Center

• The hosts discuss AOC’s rising influence and speculate about her political future, including potential runs for president or a Senate primary against Chuck Schumer.
• Michael Duncan (00:00): “AOC has taken on a new role in the Dem party. She's now the leader. She is the heir apparent to the Dem nomination for president.”

2. Progressive Base and Party Dysfunction

• The “insane, deranged progressive base” dominates, rendering party elders and establishment figures ineffective.
• Smug (01:11): “Their talent is essentially just like brain dead tiktokers...the old loonies in the party just...let it happen. Because no one can get these people under control. Schumer can't get her under control. What's crazy Bernie gonna do?”

3. Media Performances and Policy Hypocrisy

• The crew dissects CNN town hall clips with AOC and Bernie Sanders, focusing on AOC dodging direct questions about healthcare for undocumented immigrants.
• AOC’s Evading (05:27): “I believe in a single payer health care system...if you go in and you need a doctor, you can get the medical attention that you need.”
• Commentary (05:47):
  • Smug: “She's just trying so hard...leadership told her we can't say the whole we want to give health care to illegals thing. But I kind of want to say it.”
  • Josh Holmes: “She just, like, previewed that with drinkable air.” (09:22)
• Hosts note that the progressive base presses AOC not to compromise, which pushes her into awkward hedges and evasions.

4. Polling and Shifting Rhetoric

• Discussion of Democrats’ recent attempts to moderate positions in response to poor polling and electoral losses tied to issues like healthcare for undocumented immigrants.
• John Ashbrook (07:15): “What does it tell you about how conservatives are winning on this issue? ...In the 2020 Democratic primary, they all raise their hands...now you have the young progressive future leader...can’t answer.”
• Smug (07:53): “They have been clearly getting hammered. They see the polling, and if they didn’t see the polling, they saw election night. They got destroyed.”

5. Media Echo Chambers and CNN’s “Reality Check”

• Hosts enjoy CNN polling analyst Harry Enten’s on-air honesty about Democrats’ weak position on key issues:
  • Harry Enten (20:56): “At this particular point, the Democrats are the New Orleans Saints of political parties...Republicans are running with the ball on the top issues: economy, immigration, and crime.”
• They mock CNN staff’s discomfort when forced to acknowledge non-progressive narratives.
• Smug (23:23): “There’s an understanding for CNN and MSNBC that we’re here to be like a safe space for Democrats and libs to lose their mind and be like, it's okay, you're crazy...When they have this, like, moment of clarity...they’ll change the channel.”

6. Intra-Party Power Struggles: AOC vs Schumer

• The crew speculates openly about an internal Democratic party battle and the significance of AOC’s platform as signaling her intention to challenge Schumer, leveraging her activist support and the fear it provokes in party leadership.
• Josh Holmes (11:14): “She is actually the power center of the Democratic Party, and...Chuck Schumer wouldn’t be doing...what he’s doing if it wasn’t for the presence of this woman and her connection with the Democratic base that they fear, just fear, because they’re violent, for one.”

7. Fetterman as a Wild Card & Party Enforcer Culture

• John Fetterman’s frankness about Democratic responsibility for the government shutdown results in talk of his potential ouster—a reflection, the hosts argue, of the party’s intolerance for open dissent.
• Fetterman Clip (25:04) & Discussion:
  • Smug (28:49): “The instant reaction from Democrats was, it’s time to get rid of him...Creating a system where there becomes, like, an incentive to lie and go along with the bullshit. That’s what the Democrats [do].”
  • Josh Holmes (29:36): “It’s also like an intellectual honesty that has become the coin of the realm within politics in and of itself...Fetterman looks at an intellectually dishonest argument...and he’s like, no, they shut the government down. Everyone knows this.”

8. Democratic Messaging: The Party of Projection

• Listener comments reinforce the hosts’ perspective that the Democratic Party relies on projection rather than progression, using psychological coping mechanisms and media spin to distract or mislead.
• Listener "Minanking" (39:03): “The Democrat party, as their arguments show, are not the party for progression, but the party of projection.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Drinkable air.” (03:04 & throughout)—The hosts mock an AOC clip where "air that's drinkable" is referenced, using it as a running joke to highlight what they see as progressive inanity.
• “Say pardon.” (05:41, 07:53)—AOC's tactic of feigned confusion ("pardon?") when asked a tough question becomes a bit for the hosts.
• “If only they could trick people, everybody would want to be communist just like them.”
  —Michael Duncan (29:04), lampooning the notion that leftwing ideas fail because of communication rather than content.
• “Not the party for progression, but the party of projection.”
  —Listener Comment (39:03), endorsed enthusiastically by Smug.

Main Guest: Rodney Scott Interview

[47:00 – 71:02]

Scott’s Background

• Grew up in Nogales, Arizona, saw the border up close, joined Border Patrol in 1992 when it was focused mainly on narcotics.
• 9/11 fundamentally changed U.S. border strategy, uniting the issues of drugs, migrant flows, and terrorism.

Border Security Under Biden vs Trump

• Biden Era:

  • Record numbers of migrants from 180+ countries, often inadequately vetted, released due to lack of consequences.
  • Scott (53:09): “The Biden administration very intentionally created a system to basically catch and release...”
  • Agents felt morale collapse, became demoralized by being turned into facilitators, not enforcers.

• Trump Era/Current:

  • Restored consequences—deportable upon court order, border became much more controllable.
  • Change in administration led to rapid improvement ("sparkle in their eye" has returned to agents).
  • Scott (70:13): “I had probably one of the easiest jobs in government. All we had to do is say go.”

Cartels, Human Smuggling, and Drug Flows

• The same cartels control both drug and human smuggling; they use migrant flows to overwhelm enforcement (“renewable resource”) so high-value “second wave” crossers—terrorists, criminals—can enter undetected.
• Cartels stronger than ever, using military drones and violence against Mexican authorities.

Media & Policy Disconnect

• Scott criticizes the media for finding "experts" to fit a narrative, ignoring career field expertise.
• He details the operational realities: the impossibility of separating narcotics, illegal immigration, and security threats at the border.

Additional Segments

J.B. Pritzker’s Gambling Winnings

(40:00–46:40)

• Pritzker reported $1.4 million in gambling income on his taxes—revealed to be from Las Vegas blackjack.
• Hosts mock hypocrisy: “He’s out there making a million and a half at the casino...people in Illinois, nah, you can’t bet five bucks on a Ruthless parlay.”
  —Smug (42:39)
• Discussion on the logistics and optics of a sitting governor betting huge sums at a casino.

Listener Commentary & Question of the Day

(37:01–39:36)

• Comments focus on Democratic messaging tactics, performative outrage, and “projection.”
• Question of the Day: What will happen to Fetterman? (36:11)

STRUCTURED LIST OF IMPORTANT TIMESTAMPS

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |--------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | AOC’s new role: Dem leader, heir apparent | | 01:12 | Media clips of Democrats (AOC, Bernie, government crisis) | | 05:27 | AOC dodges direct questions on healthcare for immigrants | | 07:15 | Democratic backtracking and polling consequences | | 09:09 | Politicians hedging: AOC’s “pardon” evasion | | 11:14 | Fear of AOC among Dem leadership, squad’s influence | | 13:32 | Dems avoid confronting tough questions, speculate on Schumer primary | | 18:02 | Bernie and Schumer media performance critique | | 20:56 | CNN’s Harry Enten – reality check on Dem polling | | 25:04 | Fetterman speaks frankly, angers Dem leadership | | 29:36 | Fetterman’s honesty vs party orthodoxy | | 33:05 | Speculation: Fetterman Primary, Dem Party’s intolerance of dissent | | 39:03 | Listener comment: party of projection | | 40:00 | Pritzker $1.4M gambling story | | 47:00 | Rodney Scott interview begins | | 53:09 | Biden’s border policy: “catch and release” | | 61:53 | Cartels run both immigration, narco-trafficking | | 66:43 | How quick change occurred under new admin | | 70:37 | Rodney Scott signs off; praise for front-line agents |

Conclusion

This episode provides a “ruthless” (pun intended) conservative analysis of current Democratic Party dynamics, highlighting infighting, strategic backtracking, and the party’s navigation between a progressive base and electoral realities. The hosts make heavy use of media clips for satirical effect, using repeated bits like "drinkable air" and "pardon." They emphasize the disconnect between leftist political theater and operational realities, especially regarding border security and the media. The in-depth interview with Rodney Scott grounds the episode in expert insight, exposing real-world consequences of shifting immigration policies and offering rare clarity on border operations and cartel activities.

Memorable sign-off:
“Keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs. We'll see you Tuesday. Stay ruthless.” (72:08)