How Trump is Battling the Liberal Media w/ Karoline Leavitt

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary: "How Trump is Battling the Liberal Media w/ Carolyn Leavitt"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Ruthless Podcast
• Host/Authors: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook
• Episode Title: How Trump is Battling the Liberal Media w/ Carolyn Leavitt
• Release Date: February 27, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of the Ruthless Podcast, host Josh Holmes, along with co-hosts Comfortably Smug and Michael Duncan, engage in a robust discussion with Carolyn Levitt, the White House Press Secretary under President Donald Trump. The conversation centers on President Trump's strategies to counteract what the team perceives as liberal media bias, the restructuring of media access to the White House, and the broader implications for American journalism and democracy.

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Challenging the Traditional Media Establishment

Carolyn Levitt's Announcement of a New Media Strategy ([00:00] - [09:08]): Carolyn Levitt opens the discussion by highlighting the administration's decision to reshape media access. She criticizes longstanding media institutions like ESPN's Sage Steele and outlets such as Axios and Semaphore for their limited representation in White House briefings. Levitt emphasizes the need for inclusivity, stating:

"We've heard from so many of them in the last 24 hours who are saying, and many, you might be surprised, of the outlets they work for who have said thank you, like, I've never rode on Air Force One and I can't wait to be able to do that." ([09:08])

Critique of the White House Correspondents Association ([05:28] - [12:09]): Levitt condemns the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) for monopolizing access to presidential events, arguing that it excludes genuine journalists committed to truth and accuracy. She asserts:

"WACA has controlled that for decades. And it's unfair to real people, real journalists who care about truth and accuracy and facts and want those opportunities." ([09:08])

Expanding Media Access ([13:28] - [35:29]): The conversation delves into how the Trump administration has embraced non-traditional media platforms, such as podcasts and influencers, to disseminate information directly to the public. Levitt explains that this strategy was pivotal during Trump's 2016 campaign and continues to be essential for transparent governance. She asserts:

"President Trump can fix [Medicare]. Call Congress and urge them to end the Biden pill penalty." ([01:12])

This approach contrasts sharply with legacy media practices, positioning the administration as more accessible and transparent.

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Demarjournal: Identifying Media Bias

Introduction to the Game ([15:00] - [30:02]): To illustrate media bias, the hosts introduce "Demerjournal," a game where Carolyn Levitt is challenged to distinguish between statements made by liberal journalists and a Democrat. Smug prepares the game with four statements, three from journalists and one from a Democrat, testing Levitt's ability to identify bias.

Gameplay and Analysis ([18:13] - [30:02]): Throughout the game, Levitt successfully identifies biased statements, highlighting the administration's view of media favoritism. Notable exchanges include Levitt critiquing specific reporters and media outlets for their perceived lack of fairness and objectivity.

"The legacy media will still have their seat at the table. There will still be a rotation for those outlets, but it's time for new voices to be included." ([09:08])

This segment underscores the podcast's stance on media inclusivity and challenges the entrenched power of traditional journalism in shaping public narratives.

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Personal Insights and Team Camaraderie

Carolyn Levitt's Background and Admiration ([35:29] - [42:32]): Levitt shares her journey into politics, her longstanding support for President Trump since the 2016 New Hampshire primary, and her admiration for predecessors like Dana Perino and Kayleigh McEnany. She describes the White House team as a cohesive and supportive environment, emphasizing:

"I love the way you said that." ([23:17])

Levitt highlights the positive work culture, the camaraderie developed through shared challenges, and the fun yet serious nature of their roles within the administration.

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Interview with Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Senate Operations and Confirmation Processes ([44:05] - [53:35]): The podcast welcomes Senator John Thune, who discusses the efficiency of the Senate under Republican control. He highlights the streamlined confirmation of executive branch positions and judges, despite Democratic opposition. Thune remarks:

"The Senate spends two thirds of its time on personnel. Think about it. We're like a human resources factory." ([46:19])

He addresses the challenges posed by budget reconciliation and the necessity of bipartisan cooperation for passing significant legislation.

Women in Sports Act ([46:34] - [48:11]): Senator Thune introduces the Women in Sports Act, aimed at banning biological males from competing in women's sports. He emphasizes the need to codify the President’s executive order to ensure its permanence, sharing a personal connection:

"As a girl dad, both of our daughters and now I've got granddaughters were very active in sports." ([46:34])

Tax Policy and Economic Growth ([53:27] - [61:15]): Thune elaborates on the administration's tax policies, arguing that tax cuts spur economic growth and ultimately increase government revenue. He counters Democratic narratives by presenting data on income disparities and economic performance post-2017 tax reforms.

"For every 1 percentage increase in GDP, you get about $3 trillion in additional tax revenue over a decade." ([56:07])

Government Funding Challenges ([61:52] - [63:38]): Addressing the looming government funding deadline, Thune critiques the Democrats for creating a funding pileup through inaction, thereby forcing Republicans to act unilaterally to prevent a government shutdown.

"This is a pileup that was created by their inactivity and failure to do the basic tasks of funding the government last year." ([61:52])

Closing Remarks from Senator Thune ([63:54] - [65:40]): In a lighter segment, Senator Thune discusses personal anecdotes about his time in the Senate, including his "fastest person in Congress" title and his engagement with local sports, showcasing his relatable personality and dedication.

"These are the South Dakota products that you've brought us. These are little beef jerky." ([64:50])

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with the hosts praising Carolyn Levitt and Senator John Thune for their contributions to the administration's media strategy and legislative agenda. They reiterate the podcast's commitment to challenging traditional media narratives and promoting a more inclusive and transparent information flow.

"Stay ruthless." ([66:25])

The hosts encourage listeners to stay informed and engaged, emphasizing the importance of building a brighter future through the administration's policies on energy, economy, and governance.

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Notable Quotes

• Carolyn Levitt: "The legacy media will still have their seat at the table. There will still be a rotation for those outlets, but it's time for new voices to be included." ([09:08])

• Senator John Thune: "The Senate spends two thirds of its time on personnel. Think about it. We're like a human resources factory." ([46:19])

• Michael Duncan: "For every 1 percentage increase in GDP, you get about $3 trillion in additional tax revenue over a decade." ([56:07])

• Carolyn Levitt: "This is the most transparent administration. We are not afraid to take questions from anyone." ([09:08])

• Josh Holmes: "With President Trump, with your help, is running the absolute most transparent information flow of any administration in history." ([35:29])

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Key Takeaways

1. Media Reformation: The Trump administration, represented by Carolyn Levitt, is actively restructuring media access to favor a broader range of journalists, including non-traditional and local media outlets, challenging the dominance of legacy media and the WHCA.

2. Direct Communication Strategy: Emphasizing the use of podcasts and influencers, the administration aims to bypass traditional media filters to communicate directly with the American public, enhancing transparency and inclusivity.

3. Legislative Efficiency: Through the interview with Senator Thune, the podcast highlights the Senate's swift confirmation processes under Republican control, the challenges posed by Democratic opposition, and the strategic use of budget reconciliation.

4. Economic and Tax Policies: The administration's tax cuts are portrayed as catalysts for economic growth, with Senator Thune arguing that such policies increase government revenue through expanded GDP.

5. Governance Challenges: Addressing government funding, the podcast criticizes Democratic inaction leading to funding stalemates, positioning Republicans as responsive and responsible in maintaining government operations.

6. Personal Insights and Camaraderie: Carolyn Levitt shares her personal journey and the positive, supportive environment within the White House team, underscoring the importance of teamwork and shared values in effective governance.

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the episode's main discussions, providing listeners with a clear understanding of the Trump administration's media strategies, legislative priorities, and internal dynamics as presented on the Ruthless Podcast.

Transcript

[Carolyn Levitt]

We announced the new media seat in the briefing room on day one. We've brought in the Ruthless podcast. You know, people like Sage Steele, who were at legacy media outlet ESPN forever and now left that world because she saw the bias within those institutions. You know, we've had outlets like Axios and Semaphore who have incredible reach in this city, but also outside the Beltway, and they don't have a seat in the room. Like, why. But our decision to determine which reporters get the most, to be in the most privileged spaces of the American presidency, in the Oval Office, on Air Force One. WACA has controlled that for decades. And it's unfair to real people, real journalists who care about truth and accuracy and facts and want those opportunities.

[Josh Holmes]

We finally beat Medicare.

[Carolyn Levitt]

He's right.

[Josh Holmes]

He did beat Medicare.

[Carolyn Levitt]

He beat it to death.

[Michael Duncan]

Joe Biden's legacy for seniors.

[Josh Holmes]

He raided Medicare, made premiums skyrocket, and.

[Michael Duncan]

Drove up drug costs. Worse, the Biden pill penalty is already slashing the development of affordable drugs, forcing seniors to pay the price of Biden's failed policy.

[Josh Holmes]

Biden broke Medicare, but President Trump can fix it. Call Congress and urge them to end the Biden pill penalty.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please.

[Smug]

Just to catch it straight over here.

[Josh Holmes]

You're in for a hell of a show. Keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs.

[Smug]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes with one of my co hosts, Michael Duncan. It turns out, yeah, we have a couple of missing components to this, which we'll get to in a minute. But as we always do on the Ruthless Variety Program, we try to enhance your experience as the viewer and listener and try to make things better, even if it's just.

[Smug]

Well, yeah, I mean, we've had sort of an outbreak of the flu here at the Ruthless Variety Program, and selfishly, I don't think it could be better timed because we have such an amazing guest. It's something, and it's. It's pretty incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

And, like, if you're just gonna aesthetically improve the Ruthless Friday program, I can't imagine you could do that better than our next guest, Carolyn Levitt.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Thank you, guys.

[Josh Holmes]

How are you? White House Press Secretary.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you seem like you're having the time of your life.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I am having the time of my life. We all are having the time of our life. It's so much fun.

[Josh Holmes]

At the risk of sounding like I'm just completely blowing sunshine at this point, like, I. You know, I've been around a little bit. I've watched a number of people in your position inhabit that position. And do you know, different things, different people, very good at different elements of it. Like, Dana Perino is one that I remember being, like, really good at. Just getting facts to people, working with press and doing whatever. You're terrific.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

And we get this from all of our listeners all the time. Everybody's like, wow, I can't believe what a good job you're doing.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Thank you. They told me you were gonna compliment me, so that's why I came here.

[Smug]

I'm just kidding.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Thank you. I love my job and I love Dana, and I love all of my predecessors. Dana, Ari, Sarah Sanders, Kayleigh, Matt.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, Sarah Sanders is another one. Terrific.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Kaylee was my boss. I love them all. They've all been very generous with their time and giving me advice. Before I took this job, you sat.

[Josh Holmes]

Down with people and asked them.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Oh, yes, I keep in touch with all of them.

[Josh Holmes]

Were they all pretty generous about giving you some tips?

[Carolyn Levitt]

Absolutely. Had more than an hour and a half phone call with Sarah, had a lunch with Kaylee, had a dinner with Dana, spoke to Ari, and keep in touch with all of them. Sean Spicer, too, who was in my office yesterday. And it's so great because there's only so many people living on planet Earth who have done this job right. So I just wanted to be a sponge of wisdom once I learned I was going to be in this position to take their advice. And they all gave me great advice. But we're having a lot of fun. And I work for a boss who, believe it or not, is actually doing what he said he was going to do. So it makes my job as a spokesperson a heck of a lot easier.

[Josh Holmes]

It makes it easier. We were saying this on day one when you showed up, and you're like, well, here are the facts, ma'am. It's basically you telling the American people what you're doing based upon the campaign promises that President Trump laid out. And there's no nuance, no. There's no bending of the truth. There's, this is what we're doing. And that has to be sort of like self reinvigorating in a job as hard as yours.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yes, it is. And my job is just to find the facts. I read the news, both left and right in every outlet under the sun and figure out, okay, this is what's being reported. Let me go to my colleagues inside the building, the policy experts, the National Security Council, and find out what the facts are what the BS is. And then it's my job to go out there and articulate that. And obviously, most importantly, checking in with the President to see where his head is at on the news of the day. So sometimes I feel like I'm an internal investigative reporter because I'm calling people and I'm like, is this BS or is this real? What's the truth? So I can bring that to the briefing room.

[Josh Holmes]

That's amazing. So, like, look, a lot of us who've been in this line of work for a while have had some frustrations with the corporate media.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Is that so?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it turns out they don't always.

[Carolyn Levitt]

How much time do you have to talk about these frustrations?

[Josh Holmes]

They always don't. But, like, there's several just structural things that we've always had a problem with.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That I think have been contributors to the groupthink in the leftist drift of journalism over the years and how they report out facts to the American people. For one, you know, everybody kind of hangs out together. You understand that when you're doing, like, press pools and things like that, they all hang out together. They bump narratives against each other. It's a club. And like, that part just kind of anthropologically, you understand. What is always made less sense to me is the White House Correspondents association and like, how it is that this unelected sort of unappointed group has entirely controlled the information flow all the way from who they appoint to pools to cover the president to who gets what chairs to do who does what. And like, you just pulled the pin on the grenade and rolled it in the middle of the. Like that had to. I mean, but people like us keeping.

[Smug]

Your, your promise to the American people. Right. That, like in 2025, the White House, you know, press room should reflect the United States of America.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yes.

[Smug]

You know, not like three broadcast.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Smug]

You know, network news stations. Like, this is 50 years ago. And these people are, you know, Edward R. Murrow.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

You know what I mean?

[Josh Holmes]

Cronkite ain't walking through that door.

[Smug]

And so, I mean, selfishly, we benefited from that. We benefit from that When. When John as got to ask that first question and his head grew five times in size.

[Josh Holmes]

We're going to get to more of that in a minute. But, but, but, like, look, this is something that you and your team talked about, obviously, and then actually took the step of doing, knowing that these people would set their hair on fire for sure the moment that you threatened any of it.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Oh, we knew. We were, we were Prepared. Look, first of all, this goes back to the non traditional media strategy that Donald Trump owned and won on the campaign trail. Sitting down with podcasts and influencers, comedians and owning that space because no other politician has ever done that before, 100%. And he was able to reach so many people across the country who otherwise would have never heard his honest message and who he really is as a person, because the coverage of him is always, has always been through, you know, the bias of the legacy media. So he ran in that lane and I think in large part he won the election because of that. So many reasons he won the election, obviously, but that's one of many. And we felt it would be irresponsible of us not to continue that media strategy when we were elected.

[Josh Holmes]

Why would you stop talking to the.

[Carolyn Levitt]

People who just helped us get here? Right, right. So, you know, we announced the new media seat in the briefing room on day one. We've brought in the Ruthless podcast, you know, people like Sage Steele who were at legacy media outlet ESPN forever and now left that world because she saw the bias within those institutions. You know, we've had outlets like Axios and Semaphore who have incredible reach in this city, but also outside the Beltway and they don't have a seat in the room. Like, why?

[Josh Holmes]

And also nonpartisan. I mean, we're like. The way that the White House Correspondents association would like to project upon your decision making here is that somehow you're just trying to get people to just sort of echo a MAGA message. What you just said, I mean, Axio, Semaphore, I mean, critical coverage at times. It's not about trying to get people to be sort of yes men.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The argument that we are trying to create more favorable coverage of Donald Trump or the administration or that we're afraid to take questions from legacy media, hilarious is laughable because the legacy media is still in the briefing room. I take questions from CNN just as much as I take questions from our great conservative friends who don't have seats in that room that have to stand on the sides for hours just to have a spot in there and look at what President Trump is doing. I mean, the man hosted a more than hour long press conference with his entire cabinet and took questions from everybody that was in the room. So their argument that this is about the First Amendment and democracy and this, and that is completely ridiculous. This is the most transparent administration. We are not afraid to take questions from anyone. But our decision to determine which reporters get the most, to be in the most Privileged spaces of the American presidency in the Oval Office on Air Force One. WACA has controlled that for decades. And it's unfair to real people, real journalists who care about truth and accuracy and facts and want those opportunities. And we've heard from so many of them in the last 24 hours who are saying, and many, you might be surprised, of the outlets they work for who have said thank you, like, I've never rode on Air Force One and I can't wait to be able to do that.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, I can only imagine. I mean, look, I know what we felt when you invited us into the room, but also, I mean, look, it sort of pulls the mask off what the whole motivation for this group has been all along, which, like you said it best, you go into a cabinet room meeting and he answers questions from every single person. There are two or three times a day where President Donald Trump tells you exactly what's going on. Elon Musk goes in, tells you exactly what Doge is happening. We had like eight questions over three months that were answered by Joe Biden.

[Smug]

And that is the grand irony of this whole thing is you've got the White House Correspondents association, you know, talking about a threat to democracy and the independent press and all this sort of stuff.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Have you learned nothing?

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Smug]

Nobody listens to me like, oh, Donald Trump wants state media in the room, you know, and it's like there are people in that room that covered for the fact that Joe Biden couldn't do the job.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Right.

[Smug]

And they did it for four years, most of them, and they didn't tell us anything about it. And if they want to know why they have no power and the American people don't listen to them as much. And like, shows like this and like the people that you've had in that chair are important is because we were telling them the truth.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. Yeah. I mean, that's it. But again, when they say it's a threat to democracy, it is a, you know, inhibits the flow of information. Okay, well, either you can get directly from the spigot, with the President, with you, with your team, with Elon Musk, from all of the cabinet secretaries. Either you can hear with your own ears what exactly is happening on a literal hour by hour basis, or you can filter it through the interpretation of 8 self elected, 12 self elected people who have controlled information access for, since.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The beginning of politics, basically for more than 100 years.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The White House Correspondents association was established in the early 1900s because the president at the time was not doing enough press conferences. I don't think we have that problem anymore. And I think everybody would agree. Right. And so, again, this is, and I was very clear yesterday, the legacy media will still have their seat at the table. There will still be a rotation for those outlets, but it's time for new voices to be included. And in order for those new voices to be included, you know, you have to go through this whole vetting process with Waka. And we said, no, like, they're here, they're showing up. They should have, you know, be able to come in the room. So.

[Josh Holmes]

But it's really an unmasking because it's.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

What they hide behind is the flow of information to the American people, that they are the arbiters of truth, of.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Truth, which is funny.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's hilarious. But there's no element of that. They just want to be the controllers of the information. And you guys just walked in, you were like, well, the hell with that.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, look, it takes balls. I got to tell you, in this town and a lot of you who are listening to this across the country, it's hard for you to sort of comprehend, but when it's always done one way, there is a serious ceiling that you need to crash through in order to make change. It's always hard. You guys did this. You did it relatively quickly. Thank you.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Well, you're welcome. This is clearly a non traditional administration.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

And you know, President Trump sets the tone with that. Whenever somebody says, we can't do it that way, sir.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Or it hasn't been done that way, he's like, why? Why, why? And if you don't have a good reason for telling him why, you better run out the door. So the answer, the question is not, you know, why we can't do it, it's why, why we should do it right. And we're not afraid to, you know, shake it up. That's what we are. The president was elected to do.

[Josh Holmes]

It's really just an admirable thing.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Hey, aren't you that PBM middleman?

[Smug]

At your service, Doctor.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Don't you get rebates that save money on medicines?

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, PBMs like me get big rebates.

[Josh Holmes]

So why do patients tell me they're worried about their costs?

[Smug]

No one says we have to share.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The savings with patients.

[Josh Holmes]

Congress should make sure medicine savings go directly to patients, not middlemen. Visit phrma.org middlemen to to learn more. Paid for by pharma. I'm told that you like to have a lot of Fun.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I do. I think I'm pretty fun.

[Josh Holmes]

We're fun. We're fun. Here on the Ruthless Variety program, we like to play games.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

We have a game. It's one of our first. It's called demerjournal. And I feel like you're uniquely well qualified for this.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I think I'll be good at this game. I don't want to get ahead of myself.

[Josh Holmes]

Do you want to explain?

[Smug]

So the way that the game works is four statements. I read four statements, three of which have been made by members of the media.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Okay.

[Smug]

One made by a Democrat. And you and Josh have to determine who is the Democrat. It's a very difficult game.

[Carolyn Levitt]

So it's a head to head matchup.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Between myself and Josh.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

And I'm read.

[Josh Holmes]

But no, I feel. I'm terrified. I've never actually felt like an underdog here, but I'm definitely an underdog. Yeah.

[Smug]

You have an expertise, particularly on the subject that I'll get to later. But first, we got to play that music.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's do it.

[Michael Duncan]

Dam or journal.

[Josh Holmes]

Damn. Or journal.

[Michael Duncan]

Nobody knows.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody knows.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Was this song created for this game?

[Smug]

You know, it's kind of like I'm a fan of Miley Cyrus. She has these, like, backyard sessions. She does that are sort of acoustic. Acoustic. That's ruthless acoustic right there.

[Carolyn Levitt]

That was beautiful.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Is that you guys singing?

[Smug]

We recorded that four years ago in this conference room when, you know, we didn't have all the fancy stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

As you could tell, the microphones were a little different.

[Smug]

Yeah. A little bit of an echo.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank God we didn't have cameras, but. Yeah. You know, and. And smug contends that it's a stanza too long, but, you know, a bit.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Okay, so we have agreement on that. We'll have to find out.

[Carolyn Levitt]

It's time to refresh it.

[Josh Holmes]

We'll have to refresh it.

[Smug]

So I themed the four statements today on all of the attacks, frankly, on you in the administration from the White House court.

[Josh Holmes]

This is unfair, Michael.

[Smug]

Yeah, it might be a little unfair.

[Josh Holmes]

Not gonna know what's an attack on us.

[Smug]

Well, she's a good guest. We'd like her to come back. And I just want to assure you that, you know, the White House correspondents like John Ashbrook might be attacking you, but people like us, we stand with the administration.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, we've asked a lot of questions about why he's not here, and we thought now that you've entered him into the White House correspondence, perhaps, you know, he's just showing Solidarity with these people.

[Carolyn Levitt]

If that's so, he is not. Welcome back. You need a seat? Just kidding.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, I love this.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I heard he has the flu. Feel better, John.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the long time he's going to get him one way or another.

[Smug]

I had to get retribution.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[Smug]

All right. So statement number one.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Okay.

[Smug]

Donald Trump's White House kicked a HuffPo reporter out of the pool of journalists set to follow the President on Wednesday, breaking with decades of precedent and insisting they have the ability to pick and choose which reporters cover the President.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right.

[Smug]

And statement number one.

[Josh Holmes]

So we have to. Okay, just remember, three of these are journos.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

One of them is a demo.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Do I say it now?

[Smug]

No, no, no. Wait till the end and then we.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Are you taking notes?

[Josh Holmes]

I have to. I'm up against the best.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Nobody gave me a notebook.

[Smug]

Well, I have the printouts here. I'm gonna give them to you at the end here, so it'll be fine.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I need an advantage, Michael.

[Josh Holmes]

I need an advantage. She's like Rain man when it comes to this stuff.

[Smug]

Okay, statement number two. Let's be clear about what this means. Donald Trump is hand picking the reporters that cover him and his administration. This is straight out of the Kremlin playbook of intimidating reporters and manipulating press coverage coverage. And it should alarm every American.

[Josh Holmes]

She already knows.

[Carolyn Levitt]

You don't know that one.

[Josh Holmes]

I think I do.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I'm so eager to say it. When do I get to announce my answers?

[Josh Holmes]

We'll get there.

[Smug]

Yeah, it's a slow fuse. Part about building the pageantry of the game.

[Josh Holmes]

You know how we love pageantry.

[Smug]

We do. Statement number three. An unprecedented seizing of control over coverage of the American presidency by an administration. Free speech advocates expressed alarm over what it could mean for democracy.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I know the tell is the free speech advocates.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, she is entirely right about that.

[Smug]

She gets the game intuitively. You said like Rain Man.

[Josh Holmes]

This is it. Anybody who's ever been in press.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

On a representation standpoint, it's my favorite thing.

[Carolyn Levitt]

They email Caroline. Ethical experts are saying this. And then you say, this. This is Stephen Cheung, my great colleague, our White House communications director. Love him. We write back, which experts? And then they send the names and we Google them. And they're like, Democrat donors funded by George Soros. And you're like, we copy and paste their Wikipedia wr. Like these experts, asshole. This is not a real story. These are not real stories.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so good.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The tell of any liberal reporter isn't.

[Josh Holmes]

That the magic of this game is if you've done it. If you've done this, you get it. You know the weasel words because they're saying what they want to say, but they're like. Well, the experts are the ones that are saying. Not me.

[Carolyn Levitt]

It's the experts.

[Josh Holmes]

The experts.

[Smug]

Statement number four. Trump White House on the way to establishing its own version of a Kremlin press pool. Approved media only. So we've got two references to the Kremlin here.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, wait, hold on.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yeah, that's four, right?

[Smug]

Four statements. That's all four.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right, so three of them are journos. One of them.

[Smug]

Okay, so I'm gonna give these to you.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Okay. I have it in my brain, but I'll take another look.

[Josh Holmes]

She doesn't need. She's the White House press secretary.

[Smug]

She does this.

[Josh Holmes]

She needs. I don't know if you've noticed, but she's had no binders.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The binder's in my brain.

[Josh Holmes]

She just does the binder in the brain. But, you know, we can give her paper if you want.

[Smug]

We're giving. Giving you a little.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right. So we're looking at this. My thought is that the three is completely a journo, and that's unquestionably a journo. You would obviously agree with this. Carolyn, how do you want to sequence this? Should we have her give her thought? She's just gonna know the answer.

[Smug]

You think she's just gonna know the answer?

[Josh Holmes]

I think so. I mean, she's that good. You've seen her.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Okay, let's do it.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

You've seen her.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, I'm dead here.

[Smug]

Okay, so you don't want to talk it out. You want to talk it out.

[Carolyn Levitt]

It's a game. You can't forfeit.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, I'm not gonna. All right, so I think number one strikes me as a journo, because breaking with decades of precedent is the clause by which the rest of the statement lives within.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. So what they've said here is something that absolutely nobody could disagree with, but the breaking with decades of precedent is where they live under. And that's kind of what the journos do. Okay, so I'm gonna say that's a journal. What do you think?

[Carolyn Levitt]

It's clear that this man has spent years and years, more years than I or than me in comms. Because I would agree with his rationale where I'm stuck. It's a journal.

[Josh Holmes]

Is the two Kremlins. Look, if just by virtue of the way that it's constructed, the fourth one is so simplistic.

[Michael Duncan]

What?

[Josh Holmes]

The beauty of the reason journos have existed before you taking control of the White House Press office is because they add enough sort of flowery bullshit to present to the American people something that it's like, mm, maybe that could be true.

[Carolyn Levitt]

They add language, as you said, flowery language. It's a good way to put it in between their lies to make it sound like they know what they're talking about, and you really have to carefully read and parse out what they're saying. But unfortunately for us, the average American who's living their lives and working their businesses and raising their kids don't have the time to analyze every word of crap. So that's how they do it. They get by with this. This flowery language. I love the way you said that.

[Josh Holmes]

So, I mean, I think. I think I'm gonna. I think I'm gonna go with four as the Dem. As a result.

[Smug]

Okay, you believe it's number four, but.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, I'm just waiting to get beat on this.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I hate to just see, like, I'm agreeing with you, but I am agreeing with you.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Carolyn Levitt]

This is definitely journo, as we already said. The experts, the free speech advocates. Now, there was a. There was a journo who made reference to how it reminds him of his time covering the Kremlin.

[Josh Holmes]

This was Peter Baker.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Mr. Peter Baker.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Whom I couldn't help but call him out for such a. I saw that ridiculous statement.

[Josh Holmes]

It was. It was well done.

[Carolyn Levitt]

But neither of these are his. It looks like we have more people echoing this absurd. Absurdity.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

So I think I'm gonna have to go with number two is the. The Dem.

[Smug]

Wow. Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, Here we go.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Wait, no, I didn't mean that.

[Smug]

No, no, no.

[Josh Holmes]

You're number four.

[Smug]

You're good.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Number four. Wait.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Number four is the one. That's the.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yep. Number four is the Dem.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

There's a lot of paper here, Michael.

[Smug]

Got a lot of, you know, just trying to provide.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Four is the D, four is the dumb.

[Smug]

Okay, well, number one. Correct. That is actually Brian Stelter.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. The potato himself.

[Smug]

Very concerned for the Huffington Post.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

A lot of thoughts and prayers for the HuffPo, which, by the way, you don't have to tell me if it's true or not, but I need to talk about it, because I. This is in my own head. Is it when SV Date got the super bowl assignment. Like, I was. I was just so personally offended. And I know that, like, that you can't control that. That. That's what they do that. I was like. I literally said it on the show. I was like, that's gonna be the end of the White House correspondence.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Let me just say this. There couldn't be a less fun reporter to enjoy going to the super bowl on a Sunday with the President of the United States than S.B. dante. And I say that with love in my heart. There are a lot of reporters. We don't agree with their reporting, but, like, they're. They're pretty cool, normal people.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Who would have enjoyed a day aboard Air Force One going to the Super Bowl. It is not that serious.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, like Ashbrook said, there's a ton of color in the room. There's a ton. There's a lot of stuff going on to report on. And his was, like, two lines.

[Carolyn Levitt]

We had cabinet secretaries on board with their spouses. We proclaimed Gulf of America Day. Like, how much fun is that?

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

And he just.

[Smug]

Now, what you should have done is you should have sent a playbook to the White House Correspondents association and be, like, the first one to identify a cover three defense. You're invited.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, that's.

[Josh Holmes]

That's totally.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Definitely would have lost that task.

[Josh Holmes]

If you watched a second of the game, it would have shocked me.

[Carolyn Levitt]

But I think that's something the press are having a hard time with. We are genuinely having so much fun.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

And this is why you're seeing them absolutely obsess over Elon Musk and President Trump. And they're trying so hard, but failing to drive a wedge in that relationship because they love those sensationalist stories of trying to pin people against each other and as staff. And the president himself is having the time of his life. I mean, he loves doing these Oval Office press conferences. He was like, caroline, get the hats. He comes back. I get that Trump was right about everything. Red hats. He's handing them out to the journalists like they've never seen anything like this, and they don't know how to do it. They know he's funny, and they know we're having fun but can't do it. They can't crack the smile, but we know they're secretly enjoying it.

[Josh Holmes]

There's a few that are, for sure. All right, so what else?

[Smug]

Well, I'm gonna save the two Kremlin ones. Cause I think you guys have correctly identified. Those are the pivot points. Number three. Can we go to number three, please? Spaghetti. That is Lori Kelman from the Associated Press.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow.

[Smug]

Yeah. The free speech advocates expressed, which you guys correctly identified as the weasel words, you know, where they defer to the experts.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the clause.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Maybe I'll email and ask which free speech advocates she's referring to.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that, you know, probably somebody.

[Smug]

In the Arabella Advisors Dark money network.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I'll just add a federal judge did not agree with the ap.

[Josh Holmes]

Sheldon Whitehouse, however, is an advocate that definitely thinks that way.

[Smug]

Well, here comes the bad news, folks.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no.

[Smug]

Let's put up number four.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my gosh, did we lose?

[Smug]

Number four was Susan Glassner at the New Yorker.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Its own version. You know what?

[Carolyn Levitt]

I should have gone with my gut.

[Smug]

Yeah. You were close.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I was there.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Hold on, hold on. Is she married to Peter Baker?

[Michael Duncan]

She is, isn't she?

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Carolyn Levitt]

It all makes sense.

[Smug]

It makes sense. Look at that. That's a real twist. That's a Shyamalan twist. Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I'm deeply disappointed.

[Smug]

And for the record, number two was Senator Chris Van Hollen. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So it's a tough game.

[Smug]

It's the toughest game.

[Josh Holmes]

That's why they say at the end of the thing, nobody knows.

[Carolyn Levitt]

So upset. Why did I agree with you? I'm trying to be nice.

[Smug]

Your gut was right, 100%.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I was. You saw me.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I had two piles, and then I.

[Smug]

Tried to save you. I was like no.

[Josh Holmes]

2.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I went against my own principle. Never go against your instincts.

[Smug]

I've got one additional thing here. A dessert, if you will, for this game, because number one was Brian Stelter. Again, very concerned.

[Carolyn Levitt]

That was just the appetizer in the entree.

[Smug]

It was an amus, and we had mains. And now we're going to the dessert. And so for dessert, we have Brian Stelter expressing a very different opinion about whether it's okay to leave people out of the briefing room. Can we play that video? There are, you know, these questions about Fox's. As Fox radicalizes and as it becomes even more and more of a political tool. Zurich, you wrote a column recently for the sun about this, saying Fox should.

[Michael Duncan]

Be viewed as a political tool. And that raises a question.

[Smug]

Should it be a part of the White House press pool?

[Michael Duncan]

You know, should it be afforded the.

[Smug]

Privileges that come with news gathering? Even though they do have some news reporters at the White House, you're saying they're primarily a political tool.

[Michael Duncan]

So.

[Smug]

So should that be reassessed?

[Josh Holmes]

Zerwick, listen, I really do.

[Michael Duncan]

I think it's a discussion we need to have.

[Smug]

Look, you're not supporting democracy.

[Michael Duncan]

You're not supporting the larger values of this country.

[Josh Holmes]

They don't even stand up as an opposition party. But there's nothing journalistic in what Lachlan Murdoch said.

[Michael Duncan]

And you know what I say, hey, you know what? Let's take them at their word. Let's not let them on the plane.

[Smug]

You want to let the proud boys.

[Josh Holmes]

On your plane on Air Force One?

[Michael Duncan]

No, I don't think so.

[Josh Holmes]

These guys are doing the same thing.

[Carolyn Levitt]

So that's what we call tds. Yeah, sure, if you've ever heard about it. I just diagnosed that man.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Shout out to Maze Moore on Twitter. Who found that clip?

[Carolyn Levitt]

That's a great clip. I can't believe I haven't seen it.

[Josh Holmes]

But to the arguments that you're fielding all day, every day, they were making it about a Biden administration, about the.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Number one television network in.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

On the planet. Right. Like more viewers than anybody else in the legacy media. And that's the network he's talking about.

[Josh Holmes]

And you'd like Ducey asking a few questions about, you know, whether Biden had the mental fitness to complete his term. And next thing you know, you get this, the potato out there saying, like, they should be off the plane.

[Carolyn Levitt]

I am actually stunned by that clip. I can't believe it, and I wish I found it myself. I'm gonna have our rapid response team go recycle that one for our social media. But just the Democrats. Democrats and their allies in the media are the masters of projection. They point the finger at Donald Trump and Republicans and accuse them of something. You can always find a time in which they did that thing themselves. Always.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Oh, 100% threat to democracy. They were the ones threatening our democracy for the past four years with the border invasion, with the wars that were breaking out everywhere, weaponization of justice. I mean, everything they say about Republicans, they themselves are doing, and that's no different.

[Josh Holmes]

It's why it makes so much sense that you're doing what you're doing, because you're not. They keep saying on repeat, this is about bringing in favorable coverage. It's not like conservatives actually have real questions, as President Trump has fielded through, you know, nine years on the public stage. I mean, really, like 40 years in public. But like, in politics, he takes all these questions, and conservatives actually want to know the answer to it.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Whereas we've been force fed for, you know, decades. A filtered truth that can't actually ever get to the truth. And you've just said, no, we're taking all that off. The lens is off. You can ask us anything.

[Carolyn Levitt]

100%. I mean, the day of the inauguration, the president is Sworn in, takes the oath of office, goes to the White House, is in the Oval Office, has a stack of executive orders that he's signing as promised, and lets a group of journalists into the Oval and talks them while signing executive orders.

[Josh Holmes]

Commentary, by the way, which is incredibly.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Impressive, by the way. You're like signing EOs and you're taking questions at the same time. It's like a skill not many could do. Joe Biden definitely couldn't do it.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no.

[Carolyn Levitt]

But I mean, that is the most accessible president we've ever had, ever. And it's a. It's questions on every topic under the sun. And again, he did it with his entire cabinet sitting around him. The transparency and the accessibility. And they don't say it on the air, but they will tell you off the record that they are pleased with that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Carolyn Levitt]

And we want to just. It's a continuation of that effort to be accessible and transparent. Answer questions on any issue under the sun. And that's what we want. We want more voices in the room, not less. And the legacy media will still be there, as we've said. But there are many other people in this country, across the country, who deserve a seat. You know, we had a local media row last week at the White House, and there were local radio hosts and television hosts from across the country, many of whom I actually got to know on the campaign because I would call into local radio all the time. It's like the heartbeat of the country. Right. Like people driving to work, listening to their local radio. So I've become friends with these guys over the phone. This is the first time meeting them in person. They were so excited to be at the White House and ask questions, real questions of administration officials. We had cabinet secretaries go over there. They were just so honored by the privilege of covering the President of the United States. So up close and personal. And I think a lot of journalists in the city, unfortunately, have forgotten that it is a privilege to be in the Oval Office every single day and aboard Air Force One. And so this is our reminder of like, again, it's a privilege to be in that room. There is limited space. So why should a group of DC based elitist journalists get to determine who enters and accesses that space?

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, with President Trump, with your help, is running the absolute most transparent information flow of any administration in history. I don't even think it's close. Before you go, can I ask you a couple of, like, personal things?

[Carolyn Levitt]

Sure.

[Josh Holmes]

When did you get into politics?

[Carolyn Levitt]

In college. I'm from New Hampshire.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Which you Know, very political.

[Josh Holmes]

Granite State.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Granite State. Live free or die and first to the nation primary. I went to college, St. Anselm, which is. They do polling and they have the primary every year. And I just kind of threw myself into politics in school. And then one opportunity led to the next.

[Josh Holmes]

I like this.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yes. Didn't grow up in it by any means. Family owned, small businesses. But when I got to college, I realized I really enjoyed media and news and enjoyed getting in political debates in class and just found one opportunity after the next.

[Josh Holmes]

When you first got linked up with President Trump and you went to work, all of us who've ever been involved in this world who have been attached to a principle in one way or another, knew there was like a moment or at least a couple of moments where you're like, yeah, this is gonna work. Like, I really want to work hard for this. Like, you recall sort of in the onboarding and the piece about you getting involved and more involved. And then ultimately, I mean, you're dedicating your life to this at this point. A moment where you were like this. I believe in this all the way through.

[Carolyn Levitt]

So I've been a supporter of the president since 16. I mean, I voted for him in the New Hampshire primary in 2016. So I've always believed very strongly in his message, but certainly working for him over the years, you know, as you said, when you work for a principal, you get to know them personally. Right. And so, you know, I obviously wholeheartedly, 100% support everything that President Trump does, policy wise, and the agenda that we're enacting every day. And it was great to be part of that campaign. And now we went from campaigning to governing, and we're actually doing what the President said he was going to do. Incredible to watch that come to life. But I also have grown to know him as a person.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

And seeing that's kind of what I'm getting. Yeah. Like, personally, he's like the best boss. He is so uplifting of everybody who works for him. Always flattering everybody with praise. And you see that publicly, too, Right. Like, this guy's from central casting, or, you know, she's phenomenal. Like, that's just how he is. And that's true. Like, in front of the cameras and when the cameras are off and he tells it like it is. And he is hilarious. He's truly one of the funniest people I've ever met.

[Josh Holmes]

No, that part is so underrated. I mean, look, I've never, obviously never worked for President Trump, but I had the occasion over a couple of years to every six weeks go in and speak with him. And my only conclusion after like the third meeting was, this guy's gotta be the funniest public figure I've ever been around. I mean, I was in tears, laughing almost every time. Yeah, he is stand up, comedy level stuff.

[Carolyn Levitt]

He has a great sense of humor.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

And it's just fun to be around. And that's what I go back to what I said earlier. Like, we are genuinely having fun. We're working our butts off. I mean, it's 15, 18 hour days.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you gotta love it to do that.

[Carolyn Levitt]

You have to love what you're doing and love the people you're working with.

[Josh Holmes]

There it is.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Carolyn Levitt]

The President has put together a phenomenon, phenomenal team. The cabinet is great and everybody's friends. You look at the Cabinet, they're all, they've all worked together in some capacity or campaigned for the President together over the past several years. And then the team, you know, that Susie Wiles has put together, whom everybody respects and admires and loves, is great. And many of us worked on the campaign together. So we got in on day one with a battle rhythm already under our belts. And we're genuinely all friends and want to see each other succeed. And you know, the communication staff whom I work with, with, you know, Steven, my, my direct colleague, and Taylor Buttowich, who's our deputy chief of staff, great guy and just great visionary and like, we're all in it together and it's just a really great place to be.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you can tell. Yeah, you can tell. I mean, anything in this line of work, if you're going to succeed, it's because of the people around you and everybody enjoying and knowing that nobody's like.

[Smug]

Searching behind and coming from the campaign into the White House. And like having served in the foxhole with all these people, you build that camaraderie.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Totally.

[Smug]

And it feels like this. And we talked to Bruschewitz about this, but like, it feels like y'all are running the permanent campaign. Like you're moving at the pace of a campaign in the White House now. And just because, like, you've accomplished so much so quickly, you know, the fastest rate of confirmation since 2001, you know, and it's like you only get that sort of continuity when you bring in people who were like, in that foxhole with you.

[Carolyn Levitt]

You know, we were in the foxhole. I mean, the President had. Has faced so much adversity throughout his entire political tenure. But certainly, you know, over the course of the last campaign, the trials, and we sat in a dirty Manhattan courtroom for weeks.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my gosh.

[Carolyn Levitt]

You know, watching Alvin Bragg just like, persecute your boss like that builds some camaraderie amongst the team. And then, of course, the president almost nearly losing his life twice was something that we all endured together. And watching his determination through those moments to just keep going and fighting, and it totally fuels you. Good leadership. It stems from the top and trickles down to the rest of the team. And that's obviously a stark contrast to the previous administration who had no leadership. And it impacted our country and people's lives. And it's all fun. But we do take obviously, the responsibility of governing incredibly seriously. And the president is working literally around the clock. He's negotiating a peace deal with Ukraine and Russia as we speak. The talks in the Middle east he continues to be very involved in. We're rolling out new policy and eos every day. So Everybody is working 24 7. But like you said, you have to love what you do.

[Josh Holmes]

Incredibly impressive. And listen, you're welcome back anytime you want. I want you to know, though, the absence of our colleague. We'll send somebody else. We'll send somebody else.

[Carolyn Levitt]

So don't be so hard on him.

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe Duncan, you know, maybe you can get retribution this way. Maybe smug.

[Smug]

If called. I will serve.

[Carolyn Levitt]

We'd love to see you guys back at the White House at some point. Briefing room. We're gonna do some more and creative things in the weeks and months ahead.

[Josh Holmes]

So I cannot compliment you enough about everything you guys have done up to this point. I can't thank you enough for coming here.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Sure.

[Josh Holmes]

Sharing some views.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And welcome back anytime.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Thanks for having me, guys.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you. I don't have to tell you Americans are ready for what's next. Moving beyond the hardships of inflation and economic anxiety towards building a future. A better future for our family. Families. Ensuring greater access to more affordable energy that powers daily lives. Reliable energy that fuels innovation and economic growth. And the abundant energy that keeps our nation safer and more secure. It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together. Building a brighter future for us. Powered by America's oil and natural gas resources. You can learn more about all of this. PI.org so dunks. You know, our colleagues are away, so we figured what we would do here is fill in the banger of all bangers.

[Smug]

Yeah. Right. I'm very.

[Josh Holmes]

Got Carolyn in here just like spitting darts.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And she's fantastic.

[Smug]

She's fantastic. And like she said, they're having fun. They're keeping Donald Trump's promises and they're having fun doing it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And you can just tell it's infectious. They're smart. Gosh, they're smart. Smart. She's so quick and so personable. I mean, that goes a long way in this line of work. You don't find that a lot. Yeah. But just in case he didn't get enough, you might as well hear from the Senate Majority leader.

[Smug]

It's just an embarrassment of riches today.

[Josh Holmes]

You want to hear from the Senate Majority Leader of what's going on? Well, that's what we've got here. Well, we have the luxury here in the ruthless variety program of every once in a while having some super VIP guests.

[Smug]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

And as you can see, it's getting.

[Michael Duncan]

Deep in here already.

[Josh Holmes]

We have the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, John Thune. Welcome.

[Michael Duncan]

Thanks, Josh. Good to be with you. Mike. Nice to see you. This is great.

[Josh Holmes]

This is great. So, listen, you're a couple months on the job. I've consistently said this might be the hardest job, maybe in all of America, but certainly in Washington is wrangling a bunch of senators to try to get mutual goals accomplished, particularly the front end of an administration. But you look around, I mean, you guys are way ahead of pace on nominations, confirmations, you know, not without controversy, but somehow you've just managed to line these things up despite Democrats trying to stop you at all turns.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, yeah, I mean, it's good. It's a good team ball. I mean, we've had really good cooperation. And I'll tell you, it's nice to have 53.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[Michael Duncan]

Almost at a 50 or 51 in the Senate. But the confirmation process is challenging because the Democrats want to. They can drag it out, and they have been. But we've been able to use and manage the clock, I think, well, and force them to, you know, to concede on a lot of things and to give us essentially what we wanted in terms of the schedule. So we got through it pretty well. We got a couple left, and we'll try and finish those up. But, you know, I. Senator McConnell always reminded us that the Senate spends two thirds of its time on personnel. Think about it. We're like a human resources factory. And there's 1100 executive branch positions that come through the Senate for confirmation. And then you add on top of that, all the judges, the entire judiciary, and it's just a consuming thing. So it makes it really hard to legislate. And to your point, in the Senate, you've got all these procedures and rules you have to follow that the Democrats can use to stall and slow things down. So it makes it hard to do anything. I frankly am of the mind and I would say this for a Republican or a Democrat president, we ought to cut that about in half. I don't think when the founders put advice and consent into the Constitution, they were thinking about 1100. I mean, you get presidents who don't get their people in place until the third year, four year term. And that's just, it just doesn't, it doesn't make sense.

[Josh Holmes]

It is absurd.

[Smug]

But you're still confirming here on the fastest clip since 2001, right?

[Michael Duncan]

Correct.

[Smug]

And while doing that, you're also getting good legislation in place here. Can you tell us about this Women in Sports act that I know y'all are working on?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So we're going to put that on the floor early next week. And it's an issue the House has voted on and the President issued an executive order. And what this would do is codify the executive order, but essentially, you know, it bans biological males from competing in women's sports.

[Josh Holmes]

Just the right thing to do.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, well, you know, as a girl dad, both of our daughters and now I've got granddaughters were very active in sports. I've got, my oldest daughter is in both her high school and college hall of fame. And so.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, the thunes are into sports. I didn't know that. Go figure out.

[Michael Duncan]

But so, you know, intuitively I think people just, this is why this, this is an 80, 20 issue. People like. Yeah, of course. Right. And it's unfortunate that it's something that needs to be codified, but we're going to try and make sure that the President's EO is endures over time. And the way to do that is to have Congress to take action. You know, my assumption is we'll get a lot of resistance, obviously from the.

[Josh Holmes]

Democrats, which is unbelievable at some level.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it really is. I mean, you know, like I said, I think there are some things, you know, clearly there are partisan political issues in our times and things that we deal with legislatively which create the sort of the deep political divide that we have. But this one, to me, yeah, it just seems like it's just common sense, you know, I mean, logic, once in a while you ought to yield logic and just say this makes, you know, just makes all the sense in the world. Washington. Yeah, exactly. So it's hard to, hard to feature how you could formulate an argument against that, but we're going to find out here in a few days what the Dems think.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no kidding. So, I mean, look, one of the underrated parts of the job that you have is, you know, Senate at some level has to work with some consensus left and right in order to move anything. You've been able to roll through that with the nomination and confirmation process despite Democrats doing everything. And so there has to be some level of comedy. How difficult is that? Because, you know, right now you saw all these nominations where you'd settled, you had the votes, it was gonna happen. They make you run the clock no matter what, and then they head out to a press conference at usaid, which, like, I mean, they're beclowning themselves. So politically it's not the worst thing in the world, but you're watching, you gotta be watching this and saying, like, come on.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I mean, I think that you, you pick and choose the issues you want to highlight, and they're picking and choose issues that I just, you know, I'm like, really? This is what you want to talk about? But, you know, there are times you're right and you know this as well as anybody, Josh, where in the Senate, particularly because of the rules you have to find on some issues, including spending bills, bipartisan cooperation. It takes 60 votes, not 51, to do anything consequential in the Senate, with the exception of budget race reconciliation, which wouldn't you have. When you have unified control of the government, House, Senate and White House, you can do things at 51 that you otherwise wouldn't be able to. And obviously that's a situation we're now in and we intend to do everything we can to take advantage of that. But you still have to, you know, when it comes to doing a farm bill, for example, that's a bipartisan exercise or like I said, funding the government. There are any number of things that if you're going to do them, you're going to have to have some Democrat cooperation. And right now it's really hard because the Democrats are just so spun up. I mean, you know, they, they're and they're hat and over the strangest things. But this Trump derangement syndrome is real on their side and it is. I mean, they can't see straight now. Even when we were going through the budget resolution process last week, and when I adjourned the Senate at 4:51am we stayed up all night and voted. It's a fun on Democrat, man, you've been there on Democrat amendments and and some of. Are just. And some of these, these folks on their side, I mean, they were just. It's. They, they can't contain themselves. I mean, they are just so much anger and hostility right now.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And I think they're coming out of an election and they're just trying to find their footing and find something they can get traction with. And, and, and trying to find an.

[Josh Holmes]

Identity most folks take when they take an electoral beating. They sort of sit back for a minute and say, all right, what do we do wrong?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's think about what we're not communicating to the American people. Maybe our issue set is a little off. And it strikes me that Schumer and these guys have done the exact opposite. They just fire at everything.

[Smug]

Yeah. They're crabs in a barrel, and they're fighting over each other to get out. And it's just. It is. It's just like these very niche things and the anger and they just can't help themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

And not everything is a constitutional crisis.

[Michael Duncan]

Right, right. Yeah. Well, and I, as I pointed out in a floor speech not that long ago, they are attacking the Trump administration for use of executive power.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And I was like, where were these guys in the last four years?

[Josh Holmes]

That's an interesting.

[Michael Duncan]

Where there are all these abuses of executive power. And, you know, every president comes in and there's this tension between the branches of the government, inevitably. And, but, you know, right now, they, you know, picking, for example, Doge and USAID, you know, you get outside, you get 800 meters from this building, and people agree with that. They think the government ought to be downsized and we ought to do things in a more efficient, smarter way and make our government more cost effective and modernize it with technology. I think those are things that most people agree on, but they've opted to pick USAID or whatever that particular program is and turn it into some sort of a cause to raise money from their base. But I think what they're losing sight of, and it's sometimes easy to do this, is the broader, the middle of the electorate, the people in this country who are paying the bills, the taxpayers who are ultimately on the hook for the cost of government, see this through a different lens. And those are the folks that gave Trump the win and gave us the majorities in the House and the Senate.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It turns out those people aren't their voters.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that's right.

[Josh Holmes]

They don't represent them any longer.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, they really. There's been a change, and you're right, coming out of that, you Think. Okay, let's do a little self reflection here.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

No, they're doubling down. They really are doubling down. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So look, now you get to the portion of the program where you're going to be dealing with core sort of Trump administration priorities. Priorities of your members.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

House Republicans. And there's a bunch of big stuff that needs to happen. You took a huge step by passing the budget last week, which big accomplishment there. I don't think people would actually realize each piece of this step is as difficult as it actually is. But then this unlocks the ability to do reconciliation and ultimately get the tax cuts done, get the important pieces with energy, immigration, all of this various stuff. It's not going to be easy. I imagine with your conversations with the speaker and with the President, you guys are kind of working through the formulation of how you're going to handle that now.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And there's some decision points ahead.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the one big beautiful.

[Michael Duncan]

The one big beautiful. Yes. Yeah, yeah. But you know, you do, you know, historically, if you go back 100 years, there have been five times when Republicans have had unified control of the government. By that I mean House, Senate, White House. And four of those five times it only lasted two years. And the other time it lasted four years. So it doesn't come along very often and sometimes doesn't last very long. And so the use of budget reconciliation to accomplish things at a 51 vote threshold in the Senate is unique historically, but it's a real opportunity for us. And so locking in and hopefully making permanent the 2017, the tax cuts and jobs act, the Trump tax cuts, whatever you want to call them, is a part of that. But doing some things on, you know, deficit reduction, getting us on a more sustainable fiscal path, I think too is part of it. And that's where Doge comes in. And some of the other ideas with respect to trying to rein in spending, energy policy, the things that we can do to make America more energy dominant, I think is, you know, a part of this conversation, things that we can do to secure the border. There are a whole range of things that we believe are eligible for and that we ought to be able. And part of it is in the Senate, you got to get past the parliamentarian. She's like the referee of all this. But there are things I think we can do based upon the use by the Democrats when they had unified control of the government.

[Josh Holmes]

That's how we get Obamacare funds.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, that. And then, but then we got, you know, the American, quote, American Rescue plan, Inflation Reduction act, those were all done through budget reconciliation. And they created a template by expanding the scope of what is is eligible under budget reconciliation for us to do some things that we think really need to be done. But chief among those really is if we can make that tax policy permanent and create certainty in the economy, predictability around tax policy. And to me, tax policy always ought to be about growth. You know, economic growth, the old axiom that a rising tide lifts all the boats. You get a growing economy, economy better paying jobs, people are making money, they're taking realizations and they're paying taxes and government revenue goes up. I mean, one of the ways that you deal with deficits long term is you restrain spending, obviously, but then you also create growth in the economy. When the economy is growing and expanding, it generates more revenue and it makes a lot of these problems that we have look smaller by comparison.

[Josh Holmes]

No question.

[Smug]

So in extending those tax cuts, you know, from Trump's first term and everything, the thing that really bothers me is in the conversation, you know, the media and the Democrats and every once in a while some Republicans too, talk about these pay fors for tax cuts. Like this isn't the people's money in the first place.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

And I'm glad you mentioned that other side of it, which is like unleashing the American economy on things, things like energy and all that. So could you give our listeners sort of a preview of what that might look like, that component, the growth component to the American economy that really allows us to take off.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So if you think about it, Mike, and you know, obviously to me, and we went through, when we went through 2017 and I was on the Senate Finance Committee and helped negotiate a lot of the, the policy, particularly around the small business provisions, the 199A for pass through businesses and those, those things.

[Josh Holmes]

And we could slap podcasts in this.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I was gonna say there's, there's a carve out for podcasts. But the, the whole objective was if you want to get faster growth in the economy, lower rates and faster cost recovery. And so bonus depreciation, interest deductibility, R and D expensing were all provisions that generated significant amount of economic growth. And when you get that growth, you know, the standard rule of thumb is that for every 1 percentage increase in GDP, you get about $3 trillion in additional tax revenue over a decade. So this is math, everybody. Yeah. And you know, and people are, you're, you've got incentives for investment which is creating those better paying jobs. And again, it improves people's standard of living, quality of life. And if you look at what happened in the aftermath of 2017, at least prior to the pandemic, we were actually closing the income disparity in this country. People in the lower end of the income categories were seeing the biggest growth in income and unemployment was at a 50 year low. So there are, in my view, these policies don't happen in a vacuum. They create the conditions that are favorable for making America an attractive place to invest. And I think it's tax policy. I also think it's regulatory policy. And lightening that touch. And that's another thing that when Trump came in, a lot of executive orders that are designed to do away with some of this heavy handed, burdensome regulatory framework that the Biden administration created. And a lot of it space and a lot of it around energy.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And so unleashing American energy, you know, allowing, trying to figure out how to reform our permitting process so that you can get through the siting and the all those things faster and then also open up more areas for energy development. And my view is it's if it's American, it ought to be in all of the above. We ought to support and encourage and incentivize investment in American energy and become not only a country that can take care of our own energy needs, but hopefully help with some of our allies who are too dangerously dependent upon countries like Russia.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no kidding. Look, I think you've done an absolutely terrific job of wrangling Senate Republicans, many of which are just sort of ideologically aligned on this stuff, but understanding the opportunities ahead and being able to not quibble over every thing on the way to actually getting the opportunity to do these big things. You hear a lot of Republicans you were mentioning talking about you're paying for tax cuts this, that and the other thing. It's like, man, what you just explained is the reason that conversation doesn't work. I mean, what you just explained is the revenue growth, which Democrats will never concede. CBO won't even concede, is your economy is growing much faster than you could tax your way out of when you're lowering the rates. And that's ultimately the conversation that'll happen primarily in the House with House Republicans. But ultimately, you guys need to get together on that. I'm assuming you and Johnson.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I mean, we'll figure it out. And you're right. We've got some folks who think, oh, this got to be offset, we got to pay for this or that. But this is extending existing tax policies. I still hear John Kyle in my ear on that. You know, we don't pay for existing. Extending existing tax policy. But the Democrats, oddly enough, their argument now is that we're cutting taxes to give tax cuts to billionaires. And I'm like, what do. I mean, this is the law today. What are we cutting? I mean, all we're doing, you know, so this is the current policy. This is the current law. And to think.

[Josh Holmes]

One trick pony stuff.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. To think that you somehow can make an argument that by. Because what's going to happen at the end of the year if we don't do Anything is a $4.5 trillion tax increase, the majority of which falls on ordinary Americans, people who make families who make less than $400,000 a year. So there's a huge part of this tax policy. And this is the thing I feel like in 2017, unfortunately, the Democrat narrative, they did a pretty good job of getting out there and making this about tax cuts for the rich. And nothing could be further from the truth.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I know.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, if you look at. And we paid a lot of attention to the distribution and how does this, you know, the proportion of taxes paid by different income categories. The tax code actually became more progressive after 2017 than it was prior to. In other words, people in the lower income categories were paying less of the tax burden, and people on the higher end paying.

[Josh Holmes]

You made the mistake of doing math.

[Smug]

That's the funniest. The funniest part of all of this is we're about to find out how much they actually believe the lie.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right. Yeah, totally.

[Josh Holmes]

So the last piece of housekeeping you've got, you've got, in March, government funding. That's never a pleasant exercise.

[Michael Duncan]

No.

[Josh Holmes]

Left over from a previous Congress. Left to you all to try to figure out how to get funded for the rest of the year. What do you think?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So, as you guys all know, the federal fiscal year starts October 1st. So we're halfway into fiscal year 25. And even though last year in the Senate and. And under the leadership on the Republican side of Senator Collins, 11 of the 12 appropriation bills were reported out, and they were reported out before the end of July of last year, and a number of them came out unanimously. In spite of that, Chuck Schumer never put a single one on the floor.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Weird. It's almost like he was trying to.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, yeah, he's trying to create this pileup. And after the election went the way it did, I think then he doubled down on not wanting to do anything, and so now we're faced with this funding deadline and the Democrats are out there publicly, if you can believe this, talking about shutting down the government in a mess that was entirely left to us by them. This is a pileup that was created by their inactivity and failure to do the basic tasks of funding the government last year. And so now we're having to clean up after that. And we're figuring out the best way to accomplish that, to make sure that we keep the government funded, but in a way that is consistent with the overall goals that we have with regard to fiscal sustainability, fiscal responsibility, and moving us in a different direction as a country. And then fiscal year 26, which now will be on our watch, we can start getting underway with. But it's just unfortunate that we have to clean up up fiscal year 25 under people's mess.

[Josh Holmes]

Super good at not doing anything.

[Michael Duncan]

They are really hard. They've turned it into an art form.

[Josh Holmes]

So listen, last question. For all the years I was in the Senate, I think you were the land speed Senate holder for running around the Capitol. There was nobody who could touch soon. I'm wondering, with the new. We've gotten younger. Is anybody threatening your 40 time?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, well, we've got some, we have a, we haven't laced them up lately to see if anybody's got the. Got what it takes. But that's good.

[Josh Holmes]

You got to blow off some steam, though. Maybe just take it right down the Ohio clock corridor, straight across.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right. So, you know, great, honey. Yeah, you gotta take a spoonful of that before you do it. But seriously, one of the, you know, for a while there they had this race that I used to run. It was the three mile run and the Capital Challenge they called it. And for a while I was like the fastest person in Congress. And so I would always remind people that's like being the best surfer in Kansas. You know, it's a, it's a nice title to have, but it really doesn't mean much and, and it.

[Smug]

Great.

[Michael Duncan]

So. Yeah. But we've got some really great young senators who've joined us and seems like.

[Josh Holmes]

A lot of energy.

[Michael Duncan]

There's a lot of energy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Very exciting.

[Josh Holmes]

And education, as we always know. But you're doing an absolutely terrific job. These are the South Dakota products that you've brought us.

[Michael Duncan]

These are little beef jerky.

[Josh Holmes]

The honey is going to keep us healthy.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that's right.

[Smug]

We got some bison in here too, which I always appreciate.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Smug]

And this doesn't exactly look like skinny pop over here.

[Michael Duncan]

This is.

[Smug]

This is Galen's. This is honey farms. 80 honey farms. Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

That may not be Maha type. That's going to be. It's going to go down smooth, I can tell you that. Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

How's the jackrabbit basketball team?

[Michael Duncan]

You know, they're decent. I think the turn, it's wide open tournament this year. Our conference tournament.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Start here in another week or so. The women are ranked. Jackrabbit Women are 20. They're top 25 in the country. And the men have had a nice season and I think they very well could win the tournament. So. Yeah. Go Jacks.

[Josh Holmes]

Go Jacks. Go Jacks. Listen, Majority Leader Thune, thank you so much for joining us.

[Michael Duncan]

Great to be with you. Thanks, Josh. Thanks, Mike.

[Smug]

Well, that was fantastic.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, they're doing a great job. Majority Leader Thune, his entire team, two months in, I can't find a flaw. They've processed everything. I mean, look, it's gonna get harder. He explained that. Yeah, but the basic arguments of what he's laying out are exactly right. And what he's cajoling colleagues to get behind here in the Trump agenda and making sure that we've got an economy that works and everything. I mean, it's just fantastic. Also, first rate dude.

[Smug]

First rate dude. Great personality. And like you said, he's moving the Senate at a pace that's just absolutely incredible. I mean, you kind of have to with everything that Trump's doing on his end in the administration.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. Well, with that, I think we've done it.

[Smug]

I think we've done it. And we don't have our colleagues, and I think it's appropriate we go to.

[Carolyn Levitt]

Hollywood hen another banger of an episode, folks. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. Stay ruthless.