Instant Chaos: Dems Immediately Regret Shutdown

Summary

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Ruthless Podcast: "Instant Chaos: Dems Immediately Regret Shutdown"

Date: October 3, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Episode Theme:
The hosts dive into the Democratic Party’s immediate struggle and messaging chaos following the government shutdown. With trademark irreverence, they dissect Democratic missteps, highlight the consequences engineered by Trump and Russ Vought, poke fun at “Dems in disarray,” and provide commentary on viral clips and notable political stories.

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Episode Overview

This "Fun Time Friday" episode centers on the fallout from a government shutdown, emphasizing the Democrats' lack of strategy and botched messaging. The hosts analyze the Democrats’ public blunders, the rise of Russ Vought’s influence, and the evolving Republican approach under Trump 2.0. The tone is mocking, energetic, and comedic, as the crew highlights the chaos and lampoons political figures and cultural phenomena.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dems’ Shutdown Chaos and Messaging Meltdown

• Opening Theme: The "red zone of politics" is described as a period of near-constant Democratic blunders, with viral clips surfacing nonstop on Twitter.

  • Michael Duncan (00:00, 03:10): “It’s like Dems in disarray. You open up Twitter and every 10 minutes there’s a new video of them clowning themselves.”

• Lack of Strategy: Democrats are accused of shutting down the government without a clear plan or unified message and “handing the keys” to the White House (specifically, OMB Director Russ Vought).

  • Josh Holmes (01:38, repeated 03:45): “Not only did they not have a message that they also don’t have a strategy on how to get out of it.”

• Messaging Blunders: Democrats' attempts to blame Republicans for the shutdown backfire, especially when Democratic members are caught on tape admitting responsibility. The hosts play and replay viral gaffes.

  • Josh Holmes (04:24): “Never mind the fact that every single sitting Republican in Congress has voted to keep the government open. You’ve got Senate Democrats and House Democrats who have now voted multiple times to try to keep the government closed.”

2. Viral Democratic Clips & Their Fallout

• Sri Thandar’s Admission: The hosts roast Democratic Rep. Sri Thandar for publicly saying, “if that means we gotta shut this government down, so be it.”

  • John Ashbrook (05:11): “He said it. He just said it.”
  • Michael Duncan (05:19): “He said the one thing they’re not supposed to say. We did it. We’re proud of it.”

• Democratic Social Media Clowning: The panel remarks on the Dems’ tendency to act like “TikTok stars” instead of legislators, shooting self-incriminating videos for internet points.

  • John Ashbrook (07:37): “This is a major problem that the Dems have—all of them want to try to be like TikTok stars and not like legislators.”

• Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants Debate: Democrats deny wanting to extend government health care to illegal immigrants, but prior clips from debates contradict this, leading to ridicule and accusations of dishonesty.

  • Michael Duncan (09:35): “Like, what horrible liars people like Shaheen are in this.”

• Senate Democrats & “Leverage": Mockery of Sheldon Whitehouse’s unusual pronunciation (“leverage”) and the performative intellectualism of northeastern Democrats.

3. Trump & Russ Vought’s Power Play

• Trump’s Tactics: Trump is lauded for exploiting Democrats’ strategic blunder, bringing in Russ Vought to maximize Republican leverage and “make their nightmares real.”

  • John Ashbrook (17:24): “[Trump] was like, I’m going to be bringing in Russ Vought of Project 2025 fame to handle this situation… he just never relents on crushing his enemies.”

• Conservative Institutional Muscle: Discussion of the Republican shift from debating policy merits to making Democrats objects of ridicule, both in media and governance.

  • Michael Duncan (21:02): “The old Republican Party would have tried to debate these people. And the reality is we are so far beyond the debate… These people are ridiculous and we are going to laugh at them.”

• Vought’s Actions: Details on Russ Vought moving to issue reduction in force notices and target programs not aligning with Trump’s priorities, putting real bureaucratic pain on Democratic constituencies and labor unions.

• Democratic ‘Own Goal’: The irony is not lost that Democrats, as the party of government expansion, have given Republicans the opportunity to slash bureaucracy during the shutdown.

  • Michael Duncan (24:58): “Think about what an own goal that is for their political project.”

4. Democrat Party Civil War & Weak Leadership

• Internal Divisions: The split between traditional establishment Democrats (focused on growing government) and the radical, social-media-driven “violent grassroots” is highlighted as a core source of dysfunction.

  • John Ashbrook (26:16): “They have completely lost any sort of control over that party. The energy is with the violent grassroots.”

• Regional Disconnect: The “New York problem”—with both Democratic Congressional/Senate leaders hailing from NY, contrasted with Republicans’ wider regional representation.

5. Policy Debates & Listener Engagement

• What Should Vought Cut?: The hosts review and expand on listener suggestions for what government programs to cut, including decentralizing federal agencies, limiting congressional pay during shutdowns, and eliminating federal funds to media.

• Shutdown Consequences: Discussion on the real impact of the shutdown, such as freezing New York infrastructure projects and the possibility of massive federal furloughs—presented with glee.

6. Outrage, Absurdities & Cultural Commentary

• Democratic Scandals:

  • Jay Jones, a Dem running for Virginia Attorney General, dodges jail for reckless driving by logging community service with his own PAC—a move roasted as “beyond brazen.”
  • Susanna Gibson, ex-candidate, resurfaces due to a domestic violence arrest following viral sex videos (with accompanying incredulous banter).

• Harvard’s “Lahore Vagistan” Hire:

  • The panel eviscerates Harvard for hiring a drag queen professor to teach a course on "RuPaul’s Drag Race," using it as evidence of institutional decline.
  • Michael Duncan (54:41): “So much of this stuff in the transgender movement… is about making fun of women. Like, you are a misogynist.”

• Viral Clip Reactions:

  • Hilarious live reaction and schadenfreude when an actress finds herself watching a show only to realize her part has been cut.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Dems’ Realization:

  • Michael Duncan (03:10): “It’s like the red zone of politics. Dems in disarray… every 10 minutes there’s a new video of them clowning themselves.”

• On Sri Thandar Gaffe:

  • John Ashbrook (05:11): “Shut this government down, so be it. He said it. He just said it.”

• On Trump’s Approach:

  • John Ashbrook (17:29): “There’s so many reasons to admire Trump, but the way he just never relents on crushing his enemies…”

• On Democratic Strategy:

  • Michael Duncan (24:58): “Think about what an own goal that is for their political project.”

• On the Rise of “Leverage”:

  • Josh Holmes (12:35): “No one has ever said leverage… I will adopt that here.”

• On Public Sector Unions:

  • Josh Holmes (19:02–19:19): “It’s the most corrupt thing ever… Public sector unions are a whole different animal.”

• On GOP’s New Mindset:

  • Michael Duncan (21:02): “We are so far beyond the debate… These people are ridiculous and we are going to laugh at them.”

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Key Segments (Timestamps)

• 00:00–03:39 – Red zone politics, Dems in disarray, opening salvos
• 03:45–08:16 – Dems’ messaging, Sri Thandar viral moment, criticism of Dem content strategy
• 08:17–12:07 – More Dem gaffes, “healthcare for illegal immigrants” debate, ridicule continues
• 12:07–13:02 – Mocking Democratic affectations (“leverage”)
• 15:20–22:22 – Russ Vought and the shutdown power shift; Trump’s leverage
• 23:02–26:53 – Dem civil war, regional divides, political own goals
• 29:08–30:24 – Furloughs, infrastructure freezes, escalation of shutdown effects
• 34:41–37:00 – Listener feedback: What should be cut
• 39:21–44:37 – Jay Jones’ legal/political scandal roasted in detail
• 44:51–49:18 – Susanna Gibson’s sex tape/dv saga revisited
• 50:44–55:48 – Harvard’s drag queen hire mocked as evidence of institutional rot
• 56:09–56:59 – Texas “dog justice” story, culture war sidebar
• 57:48–60:48 – Reaction to viral acting class clip (comic misfortune, mockery)
• 60:49–End – Wrap-up, reminder for listeners to chime in with their ideas for Democrats’ capitulation statements; recurring calls to “like, subscribe, and own the libs”

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Final Thoughts

The episode spotlights what the hosts see as the Democrats’ self-inflicted wounds during the shutdown, relentlessly mocking their failed strategy and viral gaffes. Trump and Russ Vought are presented as shrewd operators capitalizing on the situation, while the Democratic Party is painted as rudderless, divided, and regionally tone-deaf. Between policy critique, audience engagement, and plenty of political and pop culture banter, the Ruthless crew aims to keep it incisive and entertaining throughout.

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[Question of the Day Recap]

What will the Democrats’ capitulation statement say when they cave on the shutdown?
Listeners are invited to submit their ideas for next episode, with a competitive spirit—who can outdo John Ashbrook’s press release writing skills?

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Key Takeaway:
This episode is a tour through political mockery, right-wing strategy, and viral internet moments, all woven together with sharp banter and inside references for devoted listeners. The humor and derision are relentless, but so is the sense that the hosts believe a new, more combative Republican era has arrived.

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Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So I consider it like the red zone of politics. It's like. It's like Dems in disarray. Red zone. It's like you open up Twitter.

[John Ashbrook]

That's a good way to put it.

[Michael Duncan]

You open up Twitter and like, every 10 minutes there's a new video of them clowning themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

It is unreal.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. What are you people doing?

[John Ashbrook]

You're a member of Congress and then you have this dude with the tattoo eyebrows. Yeah, we shut it down.

[Josh Holmes]

Dems seem to have bitten off a little bit more than they can chew when it comes to a government shutdown. Not only did they not have a message that they also don't have a strategy on how to get out of it.

[John Ashbrook]

There's so many reasons to admire Trump, but the way he just never relents on crushing his enemies. Right. Like this. The pure enjoyment of. Because he knows they've blown it. Yeah, the Dems themselves know they've blown it, but he's not going to be like, let him off easy. It's time to make all your nightmares real.

[Josh Holmes]

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[Guest/Producer]

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[Josh Holmes]

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[Guest/Producer]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

Keep the fate, hold the line and.

[Guest/Producer]

Own the l. It's time for our.

[Josh Holmes]

Main event, Fun Time Friday, here on the Ruthless Variety Program. My name is Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right, across your radio dial. We're getting started off hot here. We had Smash screwing around with the. The soundboard, the soundboard with the soundboard, and we've gotten off the rails before it started. We have a very important show for you. For one, Dems seem to have bitten off a little bit more than they can chew when it comes to a government shutdown. Not only did they not have a message, we covered that, they also don't have a strategy on how to get out of it. And then they didn't really fully calculate what would happen when the Congress, of which they have minority status is not capable of playing a part of the game and they just hand the keys to the car of the federal government entirely over to the White House. And in this case, OMB Director Russ Vaught, who, fair warning, he told them, they were warned. It's like, hey, if you're gonna give me the keys, we're gonna do some stuff. And he's doing some stuff. So we're gonna cover all of that. We're also gonna cover folks, when I tell you this. Believe me, there are few times when, when every single day on the hour, you just get new clips from rank and file, Democrats, leadership Democrats, all kinds of so becloud themselves that the comedy script writes itself.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So I consider it like the red zone of politics. It's like, it's like Dems in disarray. Red zone is like you open up Twitter.

[John Ashbrook]

Good way to put it.

[Michael Duncan]

You open up Twitter and like every 10 minutes there's a new video of them clowning themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

It is un real.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And so we're trying to work as fast and furious as we possibly can. Wolf over here, he's cutting tape. He's, you know, like an old timey movie producer.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean this is, this is going to be like the epitome of a fun time Friday.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And it's all thanks to the Dems just being completely lost in what they're doing.

[Josh Holmes]

So it starts with the fact that like, I guess the first rule of shutting down the government is that you can't talk about you shutting down the government. Yeah. It's kind of like fight Club in that. But you also have to blame somebody else for it.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And it doesn't matter if like it's abjectly, completely wrong and you have no facts on your side whatsoever. You just need to simply say that the other side is doing it. And in this case, what they stumbled upon about message one point, like, you know everybody, they do these talking points. 1, 2, 3, 4. This is what we talk about. First point is Republicans shut down the government.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Never mind the fact that every single sitting Republican in Congress has voted to keep the government open. You've got Senate Democrats and House Democrats who have now voted multiple times to try to keep the government closed. So they all stumble. Like that's the first thing we need to blame them. Well, the message tree didn't quite work out the way that they had envisioned. And so you've got several Democrats, this one Sri Thandar. And we're going to give you a little bit more color about who this particular individual is in a moment. But this is clip one, please. Returning back to Detroit this morning, after the Republicans failed to show up in the US House, we got to make sure Americans have the Health care that they need. And if that means we got to.

[John Ashbrook]

Shut this government down, so be it. He said it. He just said it.

[Michael Duncan]

He said the one thing they're not supposed to say. We did it. We're proud of it.

[Josh Holmes]

First of all, he's kind of one of your people. Smugs.

[John Ashbrook]

No, he is absolutely not one of my people. First of all, this guy apparently represents Detroit. So first off, you're brave being out in Detroit with your phone out.

[Josh Holmes]

No, that was at dca.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, was that dca?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you can see the backdrop. He's at the airport.

[John Ashbrook]

No, he says, straight up, I'm back in Detroit.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we replay? Let's. I wouldn't mind hearing him again, to.

[Guest/Producer]

Be honest with you.

[Josh Holmes]

This is so good. Returning back to Detroit this morning after.

[Michael Duncan]

The Republicans looks like.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm pretty sure.

[John Ashbrook]

So he may be on his way. Okay.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Americans have. But this guy, he also. He looks like a comic.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I think his eyebrows are tattooed.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Did anyone see that? I think they're. I don't think they're real.

[Josh Holmes]

It looks like he's got a wig, too, to be honest.

[Michael Duncan]

So. So I'm actually. I'm actually kind of disappointed in ourselves here in the ruthless variety program because SRI is like a legend. He puts up terrible clips all the time. We haven't featured him, really, on the show. We've done a disservice, I think, to the listeners and viewers. And he could be like a feature presentation.

[Josh Holmes]

He could be, like one of our favorites.

[Michael Duncan]

On every episode, he's gonna have. He could have something. But the background on this guy, this cat dude, it's unbelievable. This from the Daily Mail back when he was running, and I think this was back in 2020 or whatever. Democratic congressman trying to impeach President Trump has been accused of abandoning over 100 dogs to starve after his company cruelly tested pharmaceuticals on them. No, the parent company that I guess owned his facility went bankrupt. And so literally, they just, like, shuttered the doors, and there were all these poor, like, beagles and monkeys. They just left them to die. At one point, I believe there were former employees of this. This facility that were climbing the fences to try to feed these animals so they wouldn't die in captivity.

[Josh Holmes]

No way.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's like this dude, super villain arm. He's trying to kill dogs by the hundreds. Now he got tattoos.

[Josh Holmes]

Very important that we give them healthcare.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, dude, hilarious.

[Guest/Producer]

We will shut it down.

[John Ashbrook]

And then he closes on that. Like, this is such a mess for Dems. They did not at all, make any attempt to try to message. Basically all of them were handed their phones, like, go out and just shoot some content. Like, this is a major problem that the Dems have is it is all of them want to try to be like TikTok stars and not like legislators, which they were supposed to be. That's the job. You're supposed to legislate. We saw the dude yesterday who was looking under tables, Sarah McBride. Like, first off, dude, why is your name Sarah McBride anyways? He's like looking under tables and stuff. What are you people doing? You're a member of Congress and then you have this dude with the tattoo eyebrows. Yeah, we shut it down.

[Josh Holmes]

And the wig and the puppies. Yeah, I mean, he's got a lot going on, but he's not alone, fellas. He's not alone. So, you know the one group that matters here, Senate Democrats. Let's just hear from a couple of them. Clip two, please.

[John Ashbrook]

I haven't heard anybody in my party saying that illegal immigrants should get access.

[Guest/Producer]

To the health insurance marketplace.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm so glad you said that. Actually, I have some tape of your Lawrence Democratic Party members saying this on the debate stage.

[Michael Duncan]

So they've all said. And let's play the clip.

[Guest/Producer]

A lot of you have been talking tonight about these government health care plans that you proposed in one form or another. This is a show of hands question and hold them up for a moment.

[Josh Holmes]

So people can see.

[Guest/Producer]

Raise your hand if. If your government plan would propose provide coverage for undocumented immigrants.

[John Ashbrook]

All of them put their hands down, hands up.

[Josh Holmes]

And the best part about that, if you remember, there was like a couple of reluctance.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, they looked around like, oh.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, the people who have absolutely no shot are like, yep, I want undocumented. And then they look over and they're.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, I gotta be crazy too.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm gonna be crazy too. So, like, her point, like, no, Democrats have never talked about giving healthcare to illegal immigrants. And was like, I don't know. Every single person running for president in your party, they all said they were like, did you miss that? And she's got nothing.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, I. I want to point this out. Like, what horrible liars people like Shaheen are in this. And I don't know if you guys saw that in the clip, but in like, shout out to Lawrence for like, oh, totally doing that. And what a perfect.

[John Ashbrook]

Ready to go.

[Michael Duncan]

But I'm sorry, I know we just watched another clip again, but we have to watch this again because I want to isolate one thing of it. I want you guys, to all watch this again and see.

[Guest/Producer]

See it.

[Michael Duncan]

Her reaction. She has this. This grimace when she realizes what he's about to play.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, she knows what. She knows what's coming.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's play it one more time and. And focus on her reaction. If you're not on YouTube, you got to be on YouTube to see this, because it's hilarious. All right.

[John Ashbrook]

I haven't heard anybody in my party saying that illegal immigrants should get access.

[Guest/Producer]

To the health insurance marketplace.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm so glad you said.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm so glad you said.

[Josh Holmes]

Some tape.

[John Ashbrook]

Got the receipt.

[Michael Duncan]

Watch your face. Watch your face.

[Josh Holmes]

Democratic Party members saying this on the debate stage.

[Michael Duncan]

So they've all said.

[Josh Holmes]

And let's play the clip.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude. They even paused it. That's perfect.

[Josh Holmes]

Again.

[Guest/Producer]

Got me.

[Michael Duncan]

You dumbass. That's good.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a Scooby Doo episode. Like, oh, God, got me again. I mean, so good. All right, so he. She's not alone. Another Democrat, one of our favorites here on the variety program, Sheldon White Club.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, one of the worst people.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, he's clip three here.

[Guest/Producer]

The conversation on the Senate floor is.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, let's negotiate on that, because we.

[Guest/Producer]

Know we need to move on that.

[Josh Holmes]

Because our people are going to get hurt on that.

[Michael Duncan]

But we'd rather negotiate with you after.

[Guest/Producer]

You'Ve given away your leverage.

[John Ashbrook]

Leverage.

[Josh Holmes]

Shut down.

[Michael Duncan]

This whole Trump Republican shutdown is really boiling down to them wanting to solve.

[Josh Holmes]

The problem that we want to solve.

[Guest/Producer]

But do it in a couple of days or a couple of weeks when.

[Josh Holmes]

We'Ve given up our negotiating leverage.

[Guest/Producer]

That's the kind of position that you.

[Josh Holmes]

Can long stand on.

[Guest/Producer]

What's with the glasses in the Democrats.

[Josh Holmes]

For crying out loud?

[Guest/Producer]

Like, I've never seen that guy wear glasses like that before. But now that he's trying to send a message to the left that I'm with you, he puts on the Rachel Maddow guy.

[Michael Duncan]

He needs leverage.

[John Ashbrook]

It's msnbc, dude. I think it's required to wear.

[Josh Holmes]

So, like, a lot of people when they listen to this program, they're like, why do you say program? Why do you say Tuesdays? Why do you say, like, what's with the effete?

[Michael Duncan]

Like, it's an affectation.

[Josh Holmes]

They're affectations. Right? The reason is because we've spent an awful lot of time around people like this. And it all started with, like, John Kerry when he was doing his congressional testimony coming up in the 04 election. He was like, Genghis Khan. Like, nobody's ever said that. But, like, in his Northeastern like effete, New England, effete pronunciation of things. It just changes it altogether. This one is a perfect example. No one has ever said leverage.

[Michael Duncan]

It's exclusively people who went to boarding schools in the Northeast. It's like another one that's a dead giveaway. If you talk to somebody who comes from that sort of upper crust of the Northeast, from boarding schools. Rather. Oh, they don't say rather. They don't say rather. They say rother.

[Josh Holmes]

Like an R, O, T, H. Yeah, rother, yeah. No, rather is one of them. But leverage is something I have not and that I'm now going to start. I will adopt that here. That's good on the variety.

[John Ashbrook]

Leverage.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. All we do is we look for leverage for larger debates. So look, when we come back, Democrats made a huge mistake here in that they gave the keys to the car to Russ Vaught, the OMB director. He told them, he told him fair warning. He said, if you do that, I've got some things in mind. And it turns out the President United States confirmed that yesterday that he does indeed have thoughts in mind and they were going to have a meeting about it. And, well, it turns out some things are happening right after this.

[Guest/Producer]

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[John Ashbrook]

Last week, Darren Grubb joined us on the podcast and laid out exactly what's at stake with Medicare Advantage. He reminded us that Medicare Advantage is more than traditional Medicare. It provides dental, vision hearing in home care, prescription drug coverage and caps on out of pocket spending. Now, some in Congress are pushing policies that would cut Medicare Advantage. That means higher costs for seniors, fewer services and broken faith with President Trump's promise to protect this program. The numbers don't lie. 69% of seniors say they would be less likely to vote for a member of Congress who supports cuts to Medicare Advantage. And a majority want more funding not less. Republicans who side with the left on this will pay a price at the ballot box. President Trump kept his word and protected Medicare Advantage. Visit medicareadvantagemajority.org to learn how you can help defend Medicare Advantage.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so this is what happens now with Democrats who caught the bus, who are like, well, this is a terrific opportunity for all of us to shut the government down for leverage in this larger conversation that we're trying to have about trying to fix the epic mistake that we've made in Obamacare. Like, we just need more money, put more money. It reminds me a lot of like, their whole policy with, like, college loans.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Where it's like, at no point because all of the college and university system is basically just there to try to amplify this progressive left wing view. There's never an attempt from the federal government to say, like, I don't know, maybe like, in state tuition for a state school shouldn't be $50,000 a year. Like that. Never that conversation. You notice that conversations never happened.

[Guest/Producer]

Never happened.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, literally never happened. It's all about like, well, who should be paying for the African lesbian studies degree.

[Guest/Producer]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, and it's whether or not the taxpayers are fully on board or only partially on board. But this is the same way with health care in that they're like, well, yeah, everybody deserves health care. And the question is never about how much does it cost to provide healthcare. It's always about how much taxpayer subsidy we can just keep flooding into the system with. Lo and behold, if you have just an ounce of capitalism in you, you understand that we would just flood cash into a system. Prices aren't coming down.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, no. Crazy.

[Josh Holmes]

They're not coming down. They just keep pricing it up so you get more cash. So this is what they've basically done. And all of a sudden Trump and Vought have got some ideas and Trump comes up and basically confirms the worst fears of the Democratic Party. And I think, smug, you were on this maybe on election day of last year. Trump had something to say on Wednesday about who he was deputizing formally for all of this, which we've talked about with Russ Vaught, and he kind of blows the COVID off the thing right off the beginning.

[Guest/Producer]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Do we actually have his tweet that Trump had? Of course. So Trump basically sends out. I think it was on Truth Social.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Where he was like, I'm going to be bringing in Russ vaught of Project 2025 fame to handle this situation. And it's like, there's so many Reasons to admire Trump, but the way he just never relents on crushing his enemies right, like this. The pure enjoyment of. Cuz he knows they've blown it. Yeah, the Dems themselves know they've blown it, but he's not gonna be like, let him off easy. It's time to make all your nightmares real.

[Michael Duncan]

100%. That is the whole thing. It's all of the fever dreams that the left has had about Donald Trump. He will find out how to make real and he'll troll you about that thing. That's his leverage. That's his leverage.

[Josh Holmes]

But look, just as a practical matter, there's a whole bunch of different court decisions that came back in various positions on what the administration was able to do with congressionally appropriated funds. And like in some cases, we didn't win all of them in large part because they were congressionally directed funding. Yeah, well, if Congress isn't currently directing any funding, that is a government shutdown. Well, maybe you've got some more opportunity there, right? They're just reading the cases like anybody else. So here comes Rus Vaught, the big picture. This is according to Axios, the White House already waging a precedent shattering messaging war. He's seeking to make the shutdown as politically painful as possible for Democrats. Threatening mass firings that labor unions, public employee labor unions, by the way, the.

[John Ashbrook]

Worst, the worst of the worst form.

[Josh Holmes]

Of organization in America.

[Guest/Producer]

Because you're paying for it.

[Josh Holmes]

Because you're paying for it. They're negotiating against you.

[John Ashbrook]

They form and you're paying them to.

[Josh Holmes]

A union against you and your taxpayer dollars off the American taxpayer.

[John Ashbrook]

It's the most corrupt thing ever.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't care how you feel about unions if you're pro union, if you're anti union, a union against you, the taxpayer.

[John Ashbrook]

Public sector unions are a whole different animal.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh my gosh, it's just unbelievable. Anyway, this labor union says it's unlawful to turn federal workers into punks. Unlawful. Well, we're gonna find out about that because Trump is signaling the administration will begin to lay off a lot, quote unquote of federal workers despite a union lawsuit arguing that such actions are, quote, contrary to the law and arbitrary and capricious. Arbitrarian, I guess. Anyway, it's driving the news. Trump said in a truth social post that he and Vought will decide which of the many Democratic agencies, most of which are a political scam, he recommends to be cut and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or perhaps permanent, unquote. He added that he can't believe the radical left Democrats gave him the unprecedented opportunity to do that. It's funny, it's just. But this is what, like you were just saying, this is what Trump does. It's like, okay, we're just going to walk into a situation that we think is a big politically messaging for leverage purposes, but a big messaging opportunity for all of us. And he's like, have you thought about that?

[John Ashbrook]

And this is so. This is such an incredibly unique position because, you know, Duncan has said many times that like Trump 2.0, this second administration is like next level. It's a whole new thing. We've never seen anything like this because they're winning on both fronts on the messaging. Like, you see all those sombreros? The sombrero is so clever because every time you see it, you instantly think Dems want to give healthcare to illegals straight up. Like that one sombrero conveys that whole idea. And there's nothing Dems can do to push back against that idea.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So the thing I really love about it's mug. We talked about this a little bit this morning before we had our production meeting is that I think that the Republican Party has come around to our worldview on a lot of this stuff. And the old Republican Party would have tried to debate these people. And the reality is we are so far beyond the debate of the merits of the thing. These people are ridiculous and should be made ridiculous and laughed at. And that is one of like the modus operandis of us creating this show is that we are far past debate here. These people are ridiculous and we are going to laugh at them.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

And that is now where the president, United States and the entire administration are like that. That's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the thing. Well, and they're putting all this together for obvious leverage purposes, Michael.

[John Ashbrook]

And so like you have that, the absolute victory in terms of messaging, but now in terms of action, they've got Rus fought there and they had him ready to go on this to really twist arms and make it hurt to show Democrats.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

There is a price to pay if you're going to act up.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, and that's what I always say is that 2016 was a pop quiz and 2024 is a take home test.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude. That's right.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, we have the muscle here, the institutional muscle of the conservative movement that was prepared for this moment that Donald Trump would be president again. And people like Russ are executing that vision.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So ahead of the shutdown, Vought instructed agencies to prepare for a reduction in force Notices for all employees and programs that are, quote, not consistent with the President's priorities. Because as we found out through a bunch of court orders, you can't just do what everything you want to do when they're congressionally directed spending. But if there's not, well, that's another story now, isn't it? So Democrats have largely downplayed that threat. Yeah, of course, because they're like pot committed at this point. They're like, well, he can't do all that, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

Stillman. Louise.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, at no point did you, like.

[John Ashbrook]

I guess we hold hands and drive off the table.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude.

[Guest/Producer]

It is, it is interesting because the Democrats, there is a civil war on their side. And it hasn't been covered in the way that a Republican civil war was covered for a decade in this country. But there is an absolute civil war. And the battlefront has moved from inside of elected Democrat politicians in their caucuses in the House and Senate now, too, between Democrat politicians and the Democrats who work in the bureaucracy of the federal government. So you start to see media coverage with like this Politico headline. It says, vought looms as shutdown stretches on. And I think it's instructive if you're trying to figure out where does the media bias come from. What are their most important sources? The elected Democrats are, are very, very important to the media, but not more important than the left wingers who work inside of our bureaucracy and are their sources and tell, you know, think they're in control of our country even though they're not elected to anything.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, because remember that just the one long standing ideology of the Democratic Party. I mean, of course, it's like men playing women's sports and all that kind of nonsense that comes up in the periphery and they stand behind it. But the real one stronghold of their entire ideology is just the growth of government. And so therefore, like their constituency is the government.

[Guest/Producer]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's just about servicing the interests of a growing government.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, but, but, but that being their view, and I don't disagree with you because that's absolutely true. What an own goal, right? This shutdown is. These people spent the first six months of the Trump administration talking about Doge and lighting Teslas on fire because they were gonna cut usaid. And then you shut down the government and you empower the ability to cut a lot of other, you know, unnecessary bureaucracy. You literally gave us more chances to do doge cuts. Basically.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Think about, think about what an own goal that is for their political project.

[Guest/Producer]

It really is.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so tremendous. That's what makes this whole thing so funny. And like, for those of you who are like, man, these guys are really getting a kick out of this. It's not just that they're acting like assholes. Like we get that stuff all the time and we can make fun of that on a day to day basis. And we do. It's the whole strategy going into it was just to take care of Chuck Schumer's left flank and AOC and a potential primary. But more importantly his, his withering hold on the leadership position within Senate Democrat politics. Like that was the whole reason. But it was very predictable to see that that was going to be the thing. What I maybe overestimated a little bit with Chuck Schumer is that when you already know it's gonna happen for six months, I thought perhaps they'd maybe sketch out an outline of a plan.

[John Ashbrook]

Like.

[Michael Duncan]

To walk off the cliff and not do the Thelma and Louise and drive off it.

[Josh Holmes]

But I thought they would just be like, well, okay, here's the one thing that we need to say. Here's the one thing that we need to do. And when they don't do that, here is step two, step three and step four. And ultimately we'll have some. Because you gotta make a case. Do you remember when you're a leadership position, you gotta make a case at least maybe you don't in Democratic Party.

[John Ashbrook]

But that's the thing is like they have completely lost any sort of control over that party. The energy is with the violent grassroots.

[Guest/Producer]

That's right.

[John Ashbrook]

And they can't say no to that group.

[Guest/Producer]

They can't. The violent grassroots and the TikTok stars of the Outsiders on the Democrat Party are at like, they are absolutely at war with the establishment. And the establishment has been built over a generation and they are now like working their way towards a pension at some point from the federal government. And they're building up every aspect of your federal government and like the, all of the institutions in universities and everything.

[Michael Duncan]

Around the NGOs and all that stuff.

[Guest/Producer]

All of those NGOs all of the universities that need that flow from those bureaucrats that were started and launched by Democrats. Now they are across purposes with the TikTok stars in the hard left and they. I don't think they're going to get out of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's super funny. So the first thing that Russ Vaught says is like, well, all the infrastructure projects, so it's like billions that are happening in New York. We just put a freeze on that. Which is funny. And if you think about it, it's like, oh, New York, big lib state or whatever. Yes. And the fact that the two leaders of both parties in the House and the Senate are from New York.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Also just a hilarious underscoring of how dumb Democrats are to begin with. Like, you have no regional representation of your party whatsoever. Both from New York.

[Guest/Producer]

None.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. Jeffries, Schumer, they both live, you know, I don't know, four and a half miles from each other.

[John Ashbrook]

Their party is, it seems like a.

[Josh Holmes]

Country of 350 million people.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing. Their entire party is Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries. And then when they go visit Soros son's penthouse, like, that's their entire party right there.

[Josh Holmes]

The rest of them are just like.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And I think Ashbrook made this point when we were meeting about the show sheet earlier. He was like, think about how different that is in the Republican Party. It's like both of their leaders are from New York, and our leaders are from Louisiana and South Dakota.

[Guest/Producer]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, like, we represent the people out there that, you know, the journalists and the left think are flyover states.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And before that it was California and Kentucky. You know what I mean? That's just the way the Republican Party is built.

[Michael Duncan]

We represent everyone.

[Josh Holmes]

Have a huge, like, there is a Midwestern representation, generally speaking, and has been for a super long time.

[John Ashbrook]

And then the next Senate leader for the Democrats is going to be AOC from New York. It's musical chairs in the boroughs.

[Josh Holmes]

And the only thing you can talk about in Democratic politics are people from New York. Mamdani.

[Guest/Producer]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

But what good leverage. What good leverage that Russ can like, freeze up a program up in New York and then, you know, somebody from Transit Authority, I'm sure is phone banking. Schumer's office. Right. What the fuck are we doing here? Yeah, like, what are you doing?

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, no. You don't understand the leverage that we have. Yeah. If you just understood all of this.

[Guest/Producer]

Leverage, the Transit Authority guys, like, no, you don't understand the patronage. Dylan Russell, people here, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

When Russ Vought sees those overtime bills.

[Josh Holmes]

That they get everybody, I mean, it's just incredible. So the second thing that he announces is that it turns out that the shutdown could see approximately 750,000 federal employees furloughed each day. I mean, that's a number.

[Michael Duncan]

This is like the Meek Mill meme. It's like, I used to dream of days like this.

[Guest/Producer]

So, you know, at some point they're gonna to concede they have to.

[Josh Holmes]

And you just know that that's going to be the way. And we talked about this a little bit yesterday and we're going to do our own. But we ask you first, because I think before we prejudice your opinion on all of that with our own statements, we asked when the Democrats do cave, and they will cave. When they do cave, what will their capitulation statements say? Because it's a long hallway from. We're not shutting the government down. Republicans are. And we want health care that they've ruined to. I guess this is fine for six weeks, bro.

[Michael Duncan]

Ashbrook. I think Ashbrook actually wrote one.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh my God, he did.

[Guest/Producer]

I have a statement. Should I read it now or should I.

[John Ashbrook]

No, wait, wait, wait. Don't give it away with the audience. It's a question for the audience.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we'll come back with our own. Before we read on Tuesday's episode, we'll come up with our own. Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

And I guarantee the audience will be better than Ashbrook. Bro. Look at this guy jumping.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, he does do that for a living.

[Michael Duncan]

He does it for a living.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, well, audience is better.

[Michael Duncan]

His is gonna be so good.

[Guest/Producer]

Our audience, it is good, but our audience is better.

[John Ashbrook]

They are, they are, they are.

[Guest/Producer]

Just so you know, it's written before my. You know, I get even better ideas from our audience.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, now it's on.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, wait.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, now it's on. We want at least 3 people to beat Ash bro. Let's pick the 3 that beat Ash Bro.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, let's do that. Let's do that. Okay, so that's the question of the day. Remember, you gotta like and subscribe to the ruthless variety program Tell a Friend or two. By the way. Get that thing out there. Our Numby's are doing great. You guys are fantastic. By the way. Your average. Listen to this sucker. You guys listen to the whole frickin thing, which I absolutely love. We endeavored to try to make this thing as entertaining all the way through. Each segment's got something for everybody. So thank you for doing all that. When you like and subscribe and then leave a comment, we read every single one of them and then we summarize them and get back to the very next episode. And this one Tuesday, we will be covering all of this with your statements and all of ours. Boys, we talk about it a lot here, but there's zebiotics that are right there on the counter. And it just so happens that we are coming up to a weekend.

[Guest/Producer]

We sure are.

[Josh Holmes]

And one of the things that I like to do to prepare for a weekend, especially one of revelry and fun is to ensure that I have some zbiotics because it is a pre alcohol drink. That in my experience is the only way that I get through a big night and feel somewhat better in the morning. And it's science backed. It's something that we've done time and time again and feel like it's a value add to all of our lives, don't we?

[Guest/Producer]

Yeah. Can we go back to that camera shot again? Because what I want to point out to the audience is that you see three bottles right there and there are four fellas sitting around the studio. So that means one of them has been consumed already. I'll let you know which, which guy consumed the first one. We have more at some point, but this was developed by a PhD and that's why we know and we know it works because we've, we've had it so many times.

[John Ashbrook]

We've got their cases.

[Guest/Producer]

We always say, there's no tomorrow without zbiotics today.

[Josh Holmes]

Fun to funtime Friday.

[Guest/Producer]

Fun time Friday.

[John Ashbrook]

And so the thing about Zbiotics is so many people make the mistake of thinking, oh, you know, I celebrated a bit too much, I'm dehydrated. It's not the dehydration. It's actually when you drink alcohol, when it breaks down in your gut, it's got these like toxic byproducts those causes all the problems. So when you have zbiotics beforehand, you don't have to deal with it. I'm telling you, like, even my whoop, like the whoop band will tell you. Wait a minute. I don't think you drank last night because like your body has processed all those toxins already because the biotics went after it.

[Josh Holmes]

And this guy's attached to more health meters than, believe me, it's somebody. You can go to the ir. You can go to like full emergency room. He's literally intensive care.

[Guest/Producer]

The modern version of a middle aged guy tied up to a bunch of electrodes, walking on a treadmill.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I think the greatest testimonial for zbiotics that we can ever do is the fact that anytime this product gets into.

[Guest/Producer]

The studio, it is gone.

[Michael Duncan]

It is gone. We are like just taking it. Like we are some of those like monkeys in Thailand, you know, just ripping it out of people's hands. Like, I like, you can't keep it.

[Guest/Producer]

Like, yeah, Journeys with a box of donuts.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right. So remember to make pre alcohol this Zebiotics your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. You got to go to zbiotics.com ruthless and use the code ruthless at checkout. You get 15% off when you do something like that. So you're in good shape. Take it from us. Get on board. Go to that website right now. We gotta get to your comments from Thursday's episode. It was a very good discussion that. It's tied into the discussion that we're having here in the top of this episode, which is what should Rus Vaught cut during the shutdown?

[John Ashbrook]

Great question.

[Josh Holmes]

We set it up for you, and now it's pertinent. You had some great answers. To do that. We always start with a voice.

[Guest/Producer]

Okay. First one comes from Kay Borgeson. And Kay writes, I think Senate Republicans should go to the Democrats and say, we want to get the filibuster enshrined into law. You have six months to vote yes on this with us. So we're blowing it up. And if they don't ram through repealing the ACA E, verify, redefine birthright citizenship, a federal crime bill, make sharia law legal, illegal in the United States, and anything else we want because they've abused us for far too long. So either they agree to enshrine the filibuster into law, or we blow it up before they get back into power again.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Guest/Producer]

Borgeson.

[Michael Duncan]

It's hardball. I love that.

[Guest/Producer]

Borgeson. Just the plunger right into the TNT.

[Josh Holmes]

He thought about it. All right. Comment 2, Duncan Runks.

[Michael Duncan]

This is from Rick Krens. Rick writes, I would start moving federal agencies to the interior of the country. BLM to Utah, DOE to Oklahoma, EPA to Montana, then sell the DC Properties or convert them to veteran housing.

[John Ashbrook]

That's a great idea. Excellent idea.

[Michael Duncan]

I. I love this so much. Yeah, I love this so much because I, you know, as. As people who none of us grew up here. Right. But we live now in Washington, D.C. and do this job and you start to. To see that there's a sense a culture of like. Like the club of. Of D.C. and if you could take some of the bureaucracy out of here and back closer to the people, I think it would fundamentally transform the culture of so much of this bureaucracy. It just really would.

[John Ashbrook]

It's just entitlement.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. And just being that far removed from the people that like the decisions you make are impacting their lives, I think is a bad thing for democracy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, it looks a persuasive case. No question about it.

[Michael Duncan]

But you're Doing blm, You're doing energy policy and you're sitting here in some office building in D.C. you're not talking to people who are like roughnecks who are working fucking drills in Oklahoma or like out there in the Permian Basin. Like, get the fuck out of here. Like, go out close to those people and then tell me that they're not doing things right. We got past this new reg.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. You don't know how to take care of the environment. We do.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right, Exactly. That's my whole point.

[Guest/Producer]

Yeah, but why would the government go to the Permian Basin when they can have cocktails with journos?

[Josh Holmes]

That's fair enough. If anybody knows that.

[Guest/Producer]

Smugglesworth, they happen and they get away with it.

[John Ashbrook]

Comment 3 is from Vanessa Barbie. Vanessa writes, if Congress shuts down the government, they should lose a month's pay with no back pay when they reopen. Cut all benefits and freebies to illegal aliens no matter how long they've been here. Also cut public funds going to the media outlets. Cosign all that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, that's really good.

[John Ashbrook]

100%.

[Josh Holmes]

I love that. When we come back, you got one Democrat who had. They're running for office. They're actually on the ballot here in about a month.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

In the Commonwealth of Virginia that. Well, they played little games with the corridor community service that they were given for driving Mach 10 down the freeway. And then another one in the same Commonwealth of Virginia that we've talked about before on the program and we can't wait to talk about again, finds herself with a new mug shot. It's a little less risque than the previous photojournalism that she's been part of, but perhaps you'll be interested right after this. Okay, so look, the got these off year elections. We're gonna talk a little bit more about it because it's coming up in Virginia, in New Jersey. But there's one story that just came up this week that is fantastic. I've seen his ads everywhere. I'm sure they're paid for by the worst people on the face of the planet. But this guy, Jay Jones, he's running as a Democrat for attorney General in Virginia, which, by the way, Jason Miares, absolutely terrific guy, one of the people in all of that sort of world of ags, ran in a very difficult state and did exactly what it is that he said he was gonna do. He's been an absolutely terrific. He's running for reelection. He ought to be reelected by a landslide. But here's a guy who's Just spending a whole lot. And his name is Jay Jones. There's a story. According to the New York Post, he dodged jail for reckless driving with 500 community hours of service that he was sentenced to at his own pack. Political action.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait, he did his community service at his own pack?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, he did. 116 miles per hour.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Let me read this. Let me read this.

[John Ashbrook]

So incredible, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

He was caught going 116 miles per hour on January 21, 2022. 116. Like, this is a guy who's running for Attorney General.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, he's gonna be the top lawman.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. 116 is like that. That's. Well, it's well beyond the limit.

[Guest/Producer]

He's racing to disarm victims.

[Josh Holmes]

He's frantically going to middle schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia to make sure that they have transgenders in every women's bathroom. Anyway, 36 year old. He's 36. And his lawyer struck a deal to Dodge Virginia's mandatory one year jail sentence for reckless driving in exchange for 1,000 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. All right, so you're like, okay, well, I think everybody would try to do that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I get that whole part of it.

[Josh Holmes]

That makes sense. I also think mandatory jail for speeding is. If nobody gets hurt is a lot, but like, I don't know, bro.

[John Ashbrook]

160 miles an hour. Like, you're lucky nobody died.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's fair. It's fair. All right.

[John Ashbrook]

So anyway, life in prison for this.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude while Jones spent.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, that's two strikes. 160 miles an hour. Number two, known Dem, but no Dem. I should be the judge.

[Josh Holmes]

He gets to three if we start kicking.

[John Ashbrook]

You should be the judge.

[Josh Holmes]

Capital punishment territory. Anyway, while Jones spent 500 hours volunteering with the NAACP Virginia State Conference. Again, by the way, I will say, for his own political benefit.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that's more like promotion for himself.

[John Ashbrook]

Incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, the NAACP Virginia State Conference is one that I'm unfamiliar with, but if it operates anything like the national chapters, that. This is basically an adjunct to the Democratic Party to begin with and probably gives you a good foothold within certain communities to be a politician.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I volunteered to make an in kind contribution to my political campaign.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Holmes]

He's like, oh, thank God somebody's forcing me to do this. Cause otherwise I would never. Would I just drive 120 down the street Freeway? Anyway, he conveniently logged the remaining time with his own political action committee. The name of it was Meet Our Moment.

[John Ashbrook]

That is just incredibly Shameless.

[Josh Holmes]

His longtime adviser, Leslie Shinbaum Stewart also signed the declaration confirming that he completed his volunteer duties. Mom. That's the. What they call the pack.

[Michael Duncan]

Meet our moment.

[Josh Holmes]

Meet our moment.

[John Ashbrook]

Mom.

[Josh Holmes]

She called. Mom is grateful to the time that Mr. Jones gave to the organization in furtherance of our mission to train civic leadership.

[Michael Duncan]

Funniest thing I have seen, I have seen hilarious left wing Griffs in American politics my entire career. I don't think I've seen anything this brazen.

[John Ashbrook]

Community service, your own pack is just. I mean, that's beyond brazen.

[Josh Holmes]

I can't. I'm just looking this. I mean, this guy can't win.

[Guest/Producer]

I think he's leading in the polls.

[Michael Duncan]

He's leading.

[Guest/Producer]

No way. Because people in Northern Virginia are brain dead. And they're like, oh, you know what? When he says violence is a sign of friendship, I think he's right. I believe in his ideals. Like, it's so stupid.

[Josh Holmes]

We never do this on the Ruthless Variety Program for obvious reasons. But I'm gonna do it after that story. Jason Miyares is a fantastic candidate. He's been a fantastic Attorney general. And you gotta take it from us, we don't say that about everybody and we certainly don't do it when they don't come on. We will ask now to have him on so you all can hear for yourself. But if that bothers you at all about the state of the Democratic Party and the kind of representation that they're gonna have, not just in Virginia, but in your state and everywhere else that they've just sort of looked back. You gotta go to this guy's website, jasonmiares.com it's Jason, like Jason Normal. And then M I Y A R E S dot com. Go there. If you can help volunteer or if you can give them a couple of bucks, do it. Because this is the kind egregious dude.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, and, and it's important, like it doesn't matter whether you live in Virginia or not, because like if a guy like J. Jones, this lunatic, you know, gets into the AG's office, you know he's gonna spend his entire time in there suing Donald Trump or trying to do these fake things for the radical left. Like, this is what we have to stop.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

We have to stop people like this getting into power in the first place.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And you just have this brainless political party, rudderless, leaderless, walking into a government shutdown. They recruit candidates like this that go 120 miles an hour and then work off the volunteer hours raising money for Themselves. I mean, it's like. It's like, dude, no, no.

[John Ashbrook]

We're gonna draw a line.

[Michael Duncan]

Ruthless meet our moment is grateful to the time that Mr. Jones gave the organization.

[Guest/Producer]

They wrote a statement.

[Michael Duncan]

His organization, they wrote a statement about it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. His long time. His longtime advisor. This is somebody who works for him.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Turned around and wrote the court a statement testifying to how great he was. All right, so we got another one. You guys will recall a couple of years ago, there was a young woman by the name of Susanna Gibson.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes, it was last year, I think. Right?

[Josh Holmes]

It might have been last year. Gosh, time flies when you're having fun. She's having less fun than she was then, I'll tell you that much. This young lady rose to national prominence. She was running a very competitive congressional race. Or it was a congressional race. Or was it like a state.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, Congressional.

[Josh Holmes]

Congressional race. And then it came out that she was on a couple of different websites that allow. It's kind of like an. A tangential only fans type thing where you can subscribe and then tip out people for sexual acts. And she was on that. And well, it came to be a discussion within their campaign and then it became quite public, obviously. And, well, she didn't win. She didn't win. It turns out people of Virginia took a dim view, that kind of thing. And let me just tell you, she came close.

[John Ashbrook]

1100 almost got there.

[Josh Holmes]

Let me just tell you. I'm not sure if the video helped or hurt her campaign, to be honest. There was a lot may have raised.

[Michael Duncan]

Virginia's gotta stop, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

Virginia's gotta be stopped.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, we did a lot of important research here on the Ruthless Variety program. We had to run all that to ground. And anyway, she's back in the news.

[Guest/Producer]

What'd she do this time?

[Josh Holmes]

So ex Virginia legislature. Yeah, she wasn't a congressional Ex Virginia. Or maybe she was wrong. Ex Virginia legislature candidate Susanna Gibson, who made her online sex vids, arrested for domestic violence. Yeah. So we've got our mug shot here. Graphic 1A. There she is. And you know, it's kind of a sleeker look. I mean, look, it's a mug shot. You don't know when that she picked. She certainly wasn't ready for like a. Like a photo shoot, but she's still.

[John Ashbrook]

Kind of got anyone thinking, I can fix her. Just stop, bro. He did and she kicked his ass.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, they're like, like, I mean.

[John Ashbrook]

Can'T get the mug shot again.

[Josh Holmes]

She knows what she's doing, bro. She knows what she's doing. She knows what she's doing. And you know that there are like a non zero number of people listening and watching to this right now that.

[John Ashbrook]

Were like, yeah, this is why you want. This is why you get the YouTube. Maybe she. All the YouTube people are like, I could fix. Could be me.

[Josh Holmes]

She needs a role model or something.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, it could be just a menace, dude. She's a menace. You could tell she's a menace.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we get graphic 1B, bro?

[John Ashbrook]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so this is why you know her. That was just a. We're a first of all family program above all else. And so what we've done is ensure that we have everything blocked out. B gets the picture, right?

[Guest/Producer]

Lee cannot click play on that.

[Josh Holmes]

Please do not click play on that particular deal. But that. There she is. And that was how you got to know this young lady when she was running for office. And then graphic 1C.

[John Ashbrook]

In happier times.

[Josh Holmes]

In happier times with her and her husband.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, that one makes me sad, doesn't it?

[John Ashbrook]

Does it really?

[Josh Holmes]

No, it does.

[John Ashbrook]

It does not, dude. It does not, dude. You see it?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you.

[John Ashbrook]

She's a problem, bro. Yeah, you can see it. She's a problem.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, he bit off a little more than he could chew.

[John Ashbrook]

He knew what he was getting into.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know that he did, dude. I don't know.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, I think he did, but he didn't.

[Josh Holmes]

If you're familiar with the genre, you know that he did get into it. Oh, my God. He did get into it. I mean, he did. I just.

[Michael Duncan]

You've done the research. You've seen the videos.

[John Ashbrook]

He was not.

[Josh Holmes]

He was not a. He was an accomplice in all of that. Anyway, her online sex videos with her husband sparked an uproar when they were leaked. She's now been arrested on domestic violence charge. Gibson told the Post that her lawyer husband, 44 year old John David Gibson, has been harassing her since she filed for divorce. She filed for divorce? Yikes. Anyway, he was the one who got aggressive with her, she says.

[Guest/Producer]

Interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, she got. Yeah, we'll see. The courts will be the judge of all of that.

[Guest/Producer]

We have to look for those docs.

[Josh Holmes]

It was a competitive. She was a. It was a competitive Democratic underdog on track to snatch a Richmond delegate seat in Virginia's 20.

[Michael Duncan]

This is the greatest episode.

[Josh Holmes]

Come on, man. The New York Post.

[John Ashbrook]

This is Alexander Hamilton's paper, bro.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, she lost the race by less than a thousand votes. Which brings me back. It brings me back to my original point and Then I'm not sure it hurt her.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, here's the thing is, even after the news of that broke, you had a lot of Democrats elected, Democrats in Virginia who showed up at events with her and was like, this is no big deal. This doesn't mean anything. This is just like a normal relationship.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they had a big conversation about slut shaming, too.

[John Ashbrook]

Remember?

[Josh Holmes]

It was like, oh, slut shaming. You can't say. And she's running for office, right? She puts herself out there, and then somebody's like, hey, what's this website? She's like, oh, Dee Stone, can't believe you're bringing all that up again.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, okay, I'm just gonna say it. Nobody said it yet.

[Josh Holmes]

Do it.

[Michael Duncan]

Those videos were also, like, poop hole loophole stuff.

[John Ashbrook]

Are you serious?

[Michael Duncan]

I'm just saying it's different.

[John Ashbrook]

This is a family show different.

[Josh Holmes]

It's different. And she didn't get away with it.

[Michael Duncan]

She didn't. She didn't do it in secret either.

[Guest/Producer]

You know who is getting away with it?

[Michael Duncan]

Huh?

[Guest/Producer]

Have you heard about this new professor at Harvard University?

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, we need to get into this. All right, so Harvard had hired. This is again, the New York Post, Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton's paper covering all the important news of the day. What they have uncovered is that Harvard had hired a drag queen named Lahore Vagistan as a visiting professor. So, you know, look, we've had a national discussion, and Donald Trump has indicated to the higher education community that he doesn't really appreciate this sort of thing and that they should probably focus on educating students rather than making political statements from time to time. Well, Harvard at some point was like, yeah, we get it. We get it. We're.

[John Ashbrook]

This is why I've said before, you have to send JD Vance and send Russ Vaught and send the army with them to the campus of Harvard. You have to seize the endowments. You have to dissolve Harvard. It's not like you can fix it anymore like this. And, like, look at what Harvard has become. It's just like a factory for these, like, bureaucratic monsters. Mayor Pete's another fine Harvard product. Like, these people, that campus basically just creates these monstrous lizard people who go out into government and into society. And then those professors are the very ones who start all this, like, critical race theory and all this garbage 30 years ago.

[Michael Duncan]

Dude, it's true that now we've been.

[John Ashbrook]

Tortured with for the past decade, and then they hired this, like, drag queen because, like, these are soulless, vapid, demonic people who believe in nothing. Right. They have nothing. They have no core.

[Guest/Producer]

Wait a minute. Wait. Okay, okay. What is Professor Vajastan teaching? Is it like financial accounting or architecture?

[Josh Holmes]

No, I'm glad you've asked because, you know, there is a. My first thought was maybe Lahore is some kind of a. Like an engineer, a structural engineer who has mastered the art of skyscrapers or something.

[Michael Duncan]

Something that's, you know, useful to society.

[Josh Holmes]

Useful skill and, like, you know, in that case, you overlook some things because they're just better at what they do. Well, she is expected to teach a class on a TV show entitled RuPaul's Drag Race.

[John Ashbrook]

My God.

[Michael Duncan]

Nice.

[Guest/Producer]

It's a class about a TV show?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. RuPaul's Drag Race.

[Michael Duncan]

Could you imagine being a parent and getting a bill from Harvard? And they're signed up for Lahore vagis.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Here's $150,000 invoice. And with the first class, period one. Vajistan. RuPaul's Drag Race. I don't think. I think I'd send my kid back.

[Guest/Producer]

Freshman year, perfect score in the act, 4.5 GPA. You know what I'm taking.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, get out of here.

[Guest/Producer]

Are you kidding me? Why would you even go there? Why would you hire somebody from Harvard?

[Michael Duncan]

You would think. You hear the word ladies, Lahore, and you're thinking Pakistan. You're not thinking Lahore like prostitute, but it's. It is spelled like the prostitute. And the reason for that, the explanation here is, quote, I am Lahore Vagistan. My preferred pronouns are she or auntie. I chose Lahore because my family traces its origins to Pakistan. Lahore. This is the normal spelling, of course, with the h rather than a W, is an important city in Pakistan. And, well, I'm a bit of a whore. The drag queen said, can we put up the graphic of what this person looks like?

[Josh Holmes]

By the way, right there, that's Lahore.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a man who wears a costume pretending to be a woman teaching.

[Guest/Producer]

$150,000 class about a TV show.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just, she goes on, you know.

[Michael Duncan]

And I don't say this lightly. Let me get. Let me get to this thing real quick. Is like the thing that really angers me about this, with so much of this stuff in the transgendered movement is. Is how degenerate it is. It's not actually about affirming care.

[John Ashbrook]

Nope.

[Michael Duncan]

It's about making fun of women.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, like you are a misogynist. Like, like, like that costume you put on degrades women and you're not satisfied just degrading women. Now you're going to degrade Pakistan in this place by calling yourself Lahore? I think these people are so fucking disgusting.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing.

[Michael Duncan]

I think they're some of the worst people, and they should be in mental institutions. And instead our society incap. Like, we. We affirm them and we give them tenured stuff. At Harvard, like, it's an. It's just an insane thing. It's a sick culture, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing is, like, Harvard is, like, at the pinnacle of high society, and it's just the layers of degradation and cultural rot which have happened.

[Michael Duncan]

This person is doing that on purpose. They're making fun of women. They're making fun of the place they came from. That is disgusting.

[Josh Holmes]

Do you want to hear why she chose Vagistan, please, in Vagistan? Because I see the subcontinent is one big, beautiful vag.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay? A Stan, these people are second gross, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

They should be jailed.

[Michael Duncan]

It's disgusting. They're disgusting, people.

[Josh Holmes]

We had to read it. So you had to hear about it here on the Ruthless Variety Program. One more little thing that we need to get to. Actually, I want to get to a couple of them. One of them. Let's do this quickly. You flagged this one smug. A guy who owned a dog. The post covered this guy who hit his dog, and he forced him to dig his animal's grave at gunpoint. Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you see that?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, so this is the one that you did. And it was an unhinged Texas man outraged that his pet dog had been run over, held the driver hostage at gunpoint, and forced him to dig the animal's grave right away, I guess, huh?

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, lesson learned, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I guess that.

[John Ashbrook]

That. So. So there was this great discussion happening online where, like, some people were like, no, this guy's out of control. Like, pet owner, he's out of control. Like, you can't do this to people. But I think, you know, just what Michael was discussing is we're in a society where there's no consequences and everything goes and, oh, well, it's fine. It's not hurting, dude. This guy learned there were consequences fast. It's like, you're gonna dig the grave for this dog or you're gonna dig one for yourself.

[Josh Holmes]

Now he went a step further, and he also. After the grave was dug and the dog was buried, he also walked out with an AR and forced the guy to go to an ATM to pay compound compensation for the debt.

[John Ashbrook]

This is fair. This is how it works, dude.

[Michael Duncan]

That's street justice.

[John Ashbrook]

That's it dude justice. It comes fast.

[Guest/Producer]

He wasn't gonna get it from J. Jones.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, you can't kill a dude's dog.

[Josh Holmes]

This is a clip that made me laugh.

[John Ashbrook]

Unless it's a pit bull. Then it's just. I mean, it doesn't even count as a dog. Dude, those things just.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, we're gonna get comments on that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, just ask Michael Vick. He did some time.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, pit bulls are essentially just like infant eating machines, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Infant eating machines. My God. Fun time Friday continues. We saw this clip out there, and I thought this was completely lit. Can we play the clip, please?

[Guest/Producer]

Well, David played me with hot tub. What's happening here?

[Josh Holmes]

I'll explain in a second.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, this poor girl.

[John Ashbrook]

This is literally my scene.

[Michael Duncan]

Are you sure?

[Josh Holmes]

Who the are these guys?

[Michael Duncan]

Did you come in later?

[John Ashbrook]

No, this is literally my scene. I was flying.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, I gotta make an announcement. Rough holiday?

[John Ashbrook]

Just a fist. All right, cut it. I don't like this lady. What is going.

[Guest/Producer]

I don't understand what's going on?

[John Ashbrook]

All right, cut. This lady, she's too loud. What is she.

[Josh Holmes]

What you're watching. There was a comedian, Brittany Ray, who put on Instagram. There was a. Her friends were filming her. And they were supposed to be watching her film debut.

[Guest/Producer]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

From something called Chad Powers.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, Chad Powers is this new show that Glenn Powell is doing where, like, he has. He's a football player and, like, his career blows up. And then he comes back to play again and assumes this fake name and all this sort of stuff. And this.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you get a casting call for that one, old man?

[Michael Duncan]

I did not. Okay, Wait, are we gonna. No, I was gonna get back into.

[Josh Holmes]

This, which is a simple ask. That was it.

[Michael Duncan]

Glenn's a very nice guy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, I know.

[Michael Duncan]

Be nice to Glenn.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm being nice to Glenn. You're the one that's making it weird.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, anyway, all I'm saying is this. This poor actress, this woman was apparently on.

[Guest/Producer]

Michael, you won.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, don't say that. I hope Glenn doesn't listen.

[John Ashbrook]

Anyway, so.

[Michael Duncan]

So this poor woman who was apparently cast in. In the Chad Powers show, Filmed this whole scene and only later finds out at a watch party for the show itself that she's been replaced by the Hawktua girl.

[Josh Holmes]

Good.

[Michael Duncan]

She has her entire family there ready to film, like, her appearance in this show. And then she's not even in the show.

[John Ashbrook]

Good. I'm glad she got cut. Dude, did you hear how screechy her voice is? She's, like, screeching.

[Michael Duncan]

She got replaced by the hawk to a girl.

[John Ashbrook]

Good. She deserved it.

[Josh Holmes]

Imagine working your whole life to be.

[John Ashbrook]

Glad it happened to her. Dude, like that clip's going on and on and on. She's just screeching louder and louder. I'm wearing my headphones. I was like, cut that, cut that. I'm done with this lady. It happens.

[Michael Duncan]

You got replaced by the woman who was famous for two things. Number one, talking about BJ's and number two, an alleged rug pull of a crypto coin.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, you got reported. She deserved it, dude. I was done with this. Screechy Lady Carrera, 31 year old comedian. Come on, dude. I imagine this girl take the L. You deserve it. I hope you're never on tv.

[Josh Holmes]

You heard it here first. Smug says, spit on that thing. And that's the news. Remember, it's been a great week. Our question of the day, when Democrats cave, what will their capitulation statement say? We're going to have our own. We're going to read yours. Going to be a fun Tuesday episode with all that. You got to like and subscribe in order to put all that in there. But when you do, we read all of them and we get back to you in the very next episode. You got to go to ZBiotics.com Ruthless and use Ruthless at the checkout code for 15% off. Trust me on this. Gotta do it. Very, very important. While you're at the YouTube channel, have a look around. We got some merch out there. There's some fun stuff.

[Michael Duncan]

Like and subscribe.

[Josh Holmes]

Like and subscribe. Like and subscribe with that, fellas, I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, again, just like Holmes said, if you have not yet go to the YouTube, hit that subscribe because it's more fun in video. So until next time, time at Minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Tuesday. Stay ruthless.