Is Trump’s Trade Messaging Working?

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary: "Is Trump’s Trade Messaging Working?"
Release Date: May 8, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of the Ruthless Podcast, hosts Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook delve into the effectiveness of former President Donald Trump's trade messaging, particularly in relation to China. The hosts promise a lively and insightful discussion, emphasizing their intent to decode the Trump administration's economic strategies and their implications for the American market.

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Trump’s Trade Strategy: Good Cop, Bad Cop Dynamics

The conversation kicks off with Michael Duncan highlighting the strategic interplay between Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and President Trump in negotiating trade deals with China. Duncan praises this two-tier approach, likening Besant to the "good cop" who negotiates earnestly, while Trump embodies the "bad cop," leveraging his tough demeanor to compel China to the negotiating table.

Michael Duncan [00:00]: "Besson can be out there negotiating and his backstop is the American economy. So come to the fucking table. And that's what he has. And that's why I like this as a two-step negotiating strategy between Besson and Trump. It's genius."

Josh Holmes adds depth to this analysis by explaining Trump's relentless stance in negotiations, ensuring the U.S. maintains its economic superiority without appearing desperate for deals.

Josh Holmes [17:07]: "He’s never going to make the other side feel as though he needs a deal. That’s how Trump operates in every negotiation."

The hosts discuss the recent meeting between Trump and the new Canadian Prime Minister, juxtaposing Trump's assertive declarations about the U.S. market with Besant's call for fair trade, illustrating the balance of cooperation and coercion in their strategy.

Josh Holmes [10:37]: "Unsustainable on one side, it seems like Trump is saying very sustainable. Unless you come to us on the other side, you might think that's contradictory."

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Tax Cuts and Economic Momentum

Shifting focus to domestic policy, the hosts analyze the bipartisan support for renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Citing a recent poll by AFP conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, they reveal overwhelming public endorsement for maintaining current tax rates.

Josh Holmes [32:52]: "68% of respondents report their taxes are already too high. There’s also broad cross-section support, 84% for keeping the current tax rates in place."

Michael Duncan underscores the political advantage this presents, suggesting that Republicans can leverage this support to push for tax reforms that align with Trump's economic agenda.

Michael Duncan [33:15]: "84% of Americans agree on keeping current tax rates—that’s something Republicans can capitalize on."

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Engaging with the Audience: Humorous Take on Democratic Journalists

The episode incorporates an interactive segment where the hosts respond to audience comments. One notable comment by Gail vg humorously suggests repurposing Democratic journalists on platforms like Nextdoor.

Gail vg [38:35]: "Let the dem journos loose on the nextdoor app to repurpose their literary outrage."

The hosts playfully mock this idea, emphasizing their disdain for what they perceive as petty online activism.

Michael Duncan [39:26]: "They're already there. You will never in your life meet a more petty tyrant than a Democrat on the nextdoor app."

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Pop Culture Commentary: The Case of Peppa Pig

Injecting humor into the discussion, the hosts critique the portrayal of masculinity in the children’s show Peppa Pig, specifically targeting how Daddy Pig is treated.

Josh Holmes [29:02]: "They allow their children to make fun of their father. It’s like they’ve erased masculinity."

This segment serves as a light-hearted critique of cultural shifts the hosts disagree with, reinforcing their conservative viewpoints on traditional family roles.

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King of the Hill: Mocking Conservative Figures

A recurring segment, King of the Hill, features the hosts humorously critiquing conservative personalities. In this episode, they mock Bill Kristol and Joe Walsh for their perceived inconsistencies and deviations from core conservative principles.

John Ashbrook [54:10]: "Bill Kristol’s tweet reflects the larger problem in liberalism—they believe they can play our values against us."

Michael Duncan [63:46]: "Patrick Argyle demands these illegal immigrant criminals go to a Sandals Resort."

These exchanges highlight the hosts' skepticism towards certain conservative figures, portraying them as out of touch or compromised.

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Addressing Anti-Semitism: The Dave Portnoy Incident

The podcast takes a serious turn as the hosts discuss an anti-Semitic incident at a Barstool Sports establishment owned by Dave Portnoy. A sign reading "Fuck the Jews" was displayed during a bottle service order, prompting condemnation.

Josh Holmes [73:37]: "This is a character that you have and the, you know, the content of all of that. You didn't just process this latent racism or latent anti-Semitism, which has now come to the fore over the last 10 years."

John Ashbrook emphasizes the importance of accountability and condemns the act as a blatant display of hate.

John Ashbrook [75:03]: "They just order that, dude. I just cannot. I just cannot believe this."

The hosts critique Dave Portnoy for not adequately addressing the issue, highlighting the persistence of anti-Semitism in certain cultural niches.

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Interview with James Altheimer: Florida’s Aggressive Stance on Immigration

One of the episode's highlights is an in-depth interview with James Altheimer, the Attorney General of Florida. Altheimer discusses Florida’s proactive measures against illegal immigration, emphasizing state sovereignty over federal overreach.

James Altheimer [85:34]: "We've had Operation Tidal Wave the last week of April where we had over 1,100 people arrested in one sitting."

Altheimer also addresses corporate accountability, recounting legal actions against companies like Target for engaging in controversial social policies that negatively impacted Florida’s pension funds.

James Altheimer [96:21]: "We've brought suit against Target. They rolled out this transgender kids clothing line. Their stock value crashed 10 billion in 10 days."

He underscores Florida's leadership in combating child exploitation online, advocating for stringent regulations on gaming apps that facilitate predator activities.

James Altheimer [90:49]: "We've been arresting numerous people. Last week it was Snapchat, the next week it's Roblox."

The interview provides a comprehensive look at Florida’s law enforcement strategies, reflecting the podcast’s focus on conservative policy implementation.

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Conclusion

The Ruthless Podcast episode "Is Trump’s Trade Messaging Working?" offers a blend of serious policy discussion, humorous commentary, and interactive segments. The hosts critically examine Trump's economic strategies, advocate for tax cuts, engage with audience humor, condemn anti-Semitism, and showcase Florida’s aggressive stance on immigration through their guest, James Altheimer. This multifaceted approach ensures a comprehensive analysis tailored to listeners interested in conservative viewpoints on current events.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Michael Duncan [00:00]: "Besant can be out there negotiating and his backstop is the American economy. So come to the fucking table. And that's what he has. And that's why I like this as a two-step negotiating strategy between Besson and Trump. It's genius."

• Josh Holmes [17:07]: "He’s never going to make the other side feel as though he needs a deal. That’s how Trump operates in every negotiation."

• Josh Holmes [32:52]: "68% of respondents report their taxes are already too high. There’s also broad cross-section support, 84% for keeping the current tax rates in place."

• Michael Duncan [39:26]: "They're already there. You will never in your life meet a more petty tyrant than a Democrat on the nextdoor app."

• Josh Holmes [29:02]: "They allow their children to make fun of their father. It’s like they’ve erased masculinity."

• John Ashbrook [54:10]: "Bill Kristol’s tweet reflects the larger problem in liberalism—they believe they can play our values against us."

• Josh Holmes [73:37]: "This is a character that you have and the, you know, the content of all of that. You didn't just process this latent racism or latent anti-Semitism, which has now come to the fore over the last 10 years."

• James Altheimer [85:34]: "We've had Operation Tidal Wave the last week of April where we had over 1,100 people arrested in one sitting."

• James Altheimer [96:21]: "We've brought suit against Target. They rolled out this transgender kids clothing line. Their stock value crashed 10 billion in 10 days."

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This summary encapsulates the episode's essential discussions, providing a clear and structured overview for those who haven't tuned in.

Transcript

[Michael Duncan]

Besant gets to be the good cop. Be like, look, we get it, like this isn't sustainable forever like you said earlier. And it's basically an embargo between China and the United States. So he gets to be good cop and then Donald Trump gets to be the guy. And it's always what you say, smug. The madman theory of why he's been such a genius in politics is like, no, this guy might take it down to the studs. He might do that if you don't come to the table. And so Besson can be out there negotiating and his backstop is a guy who's like, I don't know if I.

[Josh Holmes]

Can convince this dude.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't know if I can convince him. It's the American market. You want access to this market. The backstop is the American economy. So come to the fucking table. And that's what he has. And that's why I like this as a two step negotiating strategy between Bessant and Trump. It's genius.

[Josh Holmes]

He's Donald Trump's number one enemy in Congress. Chicago Senator Dick Durbin. And now Dick Durbin has a new scheme, A government takeover of your credit card. Today, consumers have thousands of choices in credit cards, all with equal strong security. But Durbin's plan is less competition and less security. And that means more risk for your.

[Michael Duncan]

Credit and your identity.

[Josh Holmes]

Tell Republicans in Congress, stop Dick Durbin's takeover of your credit card before it's too late.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Comfortably Smug]

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

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main.

[Josh Holmes]

My oh my, good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan. John Ashbrook, left to right across your radio dial. We got a real treat for you today. I can tell you that the boys are, well, they're a little fired up. We've got a lot to say.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, the boys are buzzing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, the boys are buzzing. The pre show meeting indicates that this could be a real banger.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, I mean there's, there's so much great news to cover. There's so much good content. I mean, I'm just so excited about this one. It's gonna be good.

[Josh Holmes]

So like everything we do, there's a little bit of vegetables and a lot of candy. The vegetables front. It's gonna revolve around trade and the economy. I know a lot of you have asked us questions and try to break down what it is that you're hearing. The national media, Lord knows the mainstream press has Absolutely no idea how to interpret the Trump administration, the president, his secretaries, what they're trying to accomplish. We think we got it. We think we got it. And so we're going to give you all of that. We're also going to cover some variety, including a new pope, perhaps, which there's hard takes on here from the Ruthless Variety Program. We have a king of the Hill again, as we do on Thursdays, but the place. And we have a great interview. James Altmeyer is here, the attorney General of the great state of Florida.

[John Ashbrook]

Great, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

You have that kind of power in the great state of Florida. You're well within your rights to have an interview here on the Ruthless Variety Program. But also, like, we've known this guy for a bit, very, very smart. And you should hear what it is that he's up to because it stands in great contrast to an awful lot of what you're hearing out of blue states with, you know, trying to draw lines around what they will or will not do on immigration. I mean, like, California is trying to usher in a whole new, listen, legal pathway to pedophilia and all kinds of things. I mean, it's just.

[Comfortably Smug]

It really is that bad.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, I wish I.

[Michael Duncan]

Not a joke.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm not.

[Michael Duncan]

Not joking, folks.

[Josh Holmes]

But where I'd like to begin is where we left off in Tuesday's episode. You recall that we covered a story that was ostensibly about how journos had become Democrats in one form or fashion, either as operatives or candidates. And the jumping off point on that was Hannah Trudeau, who was a senior political correspondent. I understand that that comes with some pushback in the press, but she worked for the Hill at that point, and she had now announced her candidacy for New Hampshire Congress.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. The first Congressional District.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And we covered it. We gave you the highlights, the lowlights, a little bit of background about how the nexus between Democrats and journals have existed for a long time. And we thought that was a good opportunity for us to sort of color that in and give you a good flavor of the revolving door. Since then, Hannah has reached out to the Variety Program to indicate that she would like to elaborate on her position and why she has come to the choices that she has and that she would like to be the very first Democrat onto the Variety Program when it.

[John Ashbrook]

Happens to be in the great tradition of people like Pete Buttigieg, who did. Right. Leaning podcasts, people like the governor of California.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Newsom did Charlie's podcast Conservatives on his show.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, this is a new thing, so.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. I mean, this is Democrats got the message in one component, not in terms of the policy, not in terms of the tds, not in terms of anything other than the fact that their means of distribution were antiquated. They understand that they cannot now go to just the nightly news, CNN and MSNBC and hope to reach the general public. They're going to have to do some long form interviews, perhaps some that are not entirely laudatory of everything that they've done. And so we, as the variety program, welcome that conversation, think that that would be constructive. Now, I understand there's an awful lot of you who are probably wondering why it is that we would ever provide a platform for somebody who's just sort of nakedly running for office as a Democrat who wants to move this country to the left. Well, here's our point of view. It's a conversation worth having. This is someone who is a younger demographic that, as we've covered with David Hogg and everything else on show me your Hog has gotten a lot of pushback from the Democratic establishment. There's an unwillingness to let younger voters into the Democratic discussion at some point.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait your turn.

[Josh Holmes]

You wait your turn. Barack Obama, as they said. But this is somebody who's gonna get Democratic establishment pushback. And so our invitation is to you, Hannah Trudeau. We will take you up on the offer to come in and have a discussion. We'd like to talk a little bit about this. The dynamic that you're facing within your party, the pushback that you get for younger generations running against the Schumer, Pelosi view of what the Democratic Party ought to be.

[Comfortably Smug]

That, to me is the most interesting part of all this is because it's becoming clear that the Democrats are in this soul searching phase of, okay, what is it our party stands for? Who's running our party? Because clearly it's not like Schumer and Pelosi. Like, they're. Schumer and Pelosi are clearly trying to still maintain power. But it's very clear that like, the younger generation of Democrats are kind of done with that. So that whole dynamic, I think is just very fascinating.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we put up the graphic of her, of her tweet she says would love to debate and discuss.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So yes, the answer is yes. Hannah, thank you for reaching out to us. We appreciate that we, we would be happy to debate and discuss this. And many components of journalism, the Democratic Party, the nexus within, I think it's gonna be respectful and I think honestly, our audience and whomever you hope to reach as voters will get something out of it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And you guys always give me a hard time for my journo buddies. But I'll be honest with you. I'd like to hear her message. I'd like to hear what it is that she has to offer for the people.

[Comfortably Smug]

If nothing else, you'll have Ashbrook to defend you because he's friends with all journ.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right. We'll have it. You'll have at least one ally on the panel.

[John Ashbrook]

I think it's a good opportunity right here on the ruthless Variety program. Gigantic audience across the country and maybe fundraising opportunity for Hannah Trudeau.

[Josh Holmes]

Big, big numbers in New Hampshire too.

[Comfortably Smug]

That is true. All the early states. We actually, by going and doing stuff, early voting states are pretty huge.

[Josh Holmes]

They are pretty huge. So a chance to reach some of those center of the road voters that you hope to capture. Anyway, let's start with the real stuff, the things that we are focused on. I understand how you, the voter, the consumer of, you know, any kind of news and information that's not the Variety program could be a little confused as to where things sit with tariffs, taxes, the general economic environment. Because, you know, there's a couple of different messages here. Let me set the table by playing two things that happened this week. The first is President Trump in the Oval Office with a meeting with the new Canadian prime minister in Clip one, please. We also have a situation because everyone says when, when, when are you going to sign deals? We don't have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now, Howard, if we wanted. We don't have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market. We don't want a piece of their market. We don't care about their market. They want a piece of our market. So we can just sit down and I'll do this at some point over the next two weeks and I'll sit with Howard and Scott and with our great vice president who has done a really good job. We have some good news to report on a lot of fronts. But JD Will be there and Marco and we're going to sit down and we're going to put very fair numbers down and we're going to say here's what this country, what we want and congratulations, we have a deal. Okay. Pretty straightforward. His point of view is we don't really need a deal. You need one much more than we do because of the American marketplace, the largest economy in the world, you understand. And we're going to get into this. But let's see Clip two To provide another side of this story, this is Bessant, who is on Laura Ingraham on Fox News. This isn't sustainable, as I said before, especially on the Chinese side.

[John Ashbrook]

And you know, 145%, 125% is the equivalent of an embargo. We don't want to decouple.

[James Altheimer]

What we want is fair trade.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so unsustainable on one side, it seems like Trump is saying very sustainable. Unless you come to us on the other side, you might think that's contradictory. We at the Variety program have a definitive view on how it is not we're about to explain that, but also given a little bit more context on the specifics that Treasury Secretary Besant was talking about with the China specific deal in graphic 3, if you don't mind, this is from the Chinese Embassy in the United States. Based on full consideration of global expectations, China's interests and the appeal of the US Business community and consumers, China has decided to engage the US Side as China's lead in China. US Economic Trade Affairs Vice Premier HE Lefang will hold talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant during his visit to Switzerland from May 9 to May 12. Oh, the reason that that is of significance is the initial response that you got out of Beijing was that there was under no circumstances would they entertain any discussions whatsoever. They did not want this to be a leverage play or be drawn into a discussion where they were going to renegotiate anything. And you got the sense that like Xi Jinping in some ways in China would rather take his economy down to the studs than admit that the United States is not getting a fair deal here and renegotiate all of that. Now, that much may very well still be true, but we've also seen the downturn in the Chinese economy and the reality that if you're China, there's great opportunity in the United States forcing the issue with the rest of the world in that you could try to get into those markets yourself. They may have found some resistance there, which means that opens up a discussion that you need to have with the United States. Do I expect a trade deal with China from May 9 to May 12? No, not at all. I do expect some kind of a de escalation and I think Besson said this very well, that what we have currently is nothing short of an embargo, which was not something that anybody. I mean, embargoes are something that you do with countries that you're at war with. We are very much not at war with China. We are at a economic. Well, it's a perilous moment from the economy. They have been waging economic war with the United States for an awful long time and there has been very little response from our side. This is an opportunity to sort of reset the dial.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. I will say this. I think that, you know, there's been a lot of talk about all these other countries that the President has deals with that are in process. And I think that the Chinese coming to the table is the best evidence we've seen so far that our President is very close to deals with other countries. The Chinese must know this. Their intelligence isn't non existent.

[Josh Holmes]

No, they're everywhere.

[John Ashbrook]

So they must know that the President is close to deals with other countries that will put the pressure on China. And they are coming to the table because they believe that now is the time that they have to deal with a strong.

[Josh Holmes]

Like they don't want to be isolated.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Yeah. I mean, look, I think that's well said. When we come back, we're going to deconstruct the seemingly disconnected statements of President Trump and Bessen to make you kind of understand the full picture which within the Trump administration, as we understand it, it's our take. I mean, look, take it for what it will. But we haven't been wrong a lot here on the Friday program. We feel like we got a pretty good record of observing these things and giving you a good indication of where things are going. And we'll tell you what we expect over the next few weeks, months and into the remainder of the calendar year 2025, right after this. The Biden pill penalty is crippling the development of life saving drugs for cancer, Alzheimer's and other deadly diseases. It's already slashed funding for pill based medicines by 70%. Thankfully, President Trump is leading the fight to end the Biden pill penalty. President Trump's plan will unleash innovation, lower costs and save American lives. Call Congress, tell them to stand with President Trump and include a repeal of the Biden pill penalty in the budget reconciliation bill. Okay, so we played for you the two statements from President Trump this week and from Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. One saying, we don't really need deals. We could sign 100 deals today. It doesn't really matter. We want to make sure these things are good for us. They got to come to us. We don't really want their markets, they need ours. And then you have Besson saying basically the current position with tariffs is unsustainable. We understand that we're going to work these things through. You had, I think, a pretty good point on some of this, Duncan, that sets the table in the good cop, bad cop.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah. I love this from a negotiating strategy. I think what Besant and Trump are doing is brilliant. Besant gets to be the good cop, be like, look, we get it, like, this isn't sustainable forever, like you said earlier. And it's basically an embargo between China and the United States. So he gets to be good cop and then Donald Trump gets to be the guy. And it's always what you say, smug. The madman theory of why he's been such a genius in politics is like, no, this guy might take it down to the studs. He might do that if you don't come to the table. And so Besson can be out there negotiating and his backstop is a guy who's like, I don't know if I.

[Josh Holmes]

Can convince this dude.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't know if I can convince him. It's the American market. You want access to this market. The backstop is the American economy. So come to the fucking table. And that's what he has. And that's why I like this as a two step negotiating strategy between Besson and Trump. It's genius.

[Comfortably Smug]

Totally.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I think it's. I think, look, if you've been around politics at all and followed this at all in the last eight years and you've read, you know, the Art of the Deal or anything else, you know that the one thing that Donald Trump is never going to do in any negotiation, whether it's foreign or domestic, is make the other side feel as though he needs a deal. That's like, look at the first couple of chapters of the book.

[Comfortably Smug]

Never.

[Josh Holmes]

Right? I mean, this is not a. Like, you don't have to be a genius to figure this out. Also, like, if you ever negotiated anything, I don't care if you're like buying a used car or anything else, you want to make them think you're going to walk off a lot at some point because they're going to try to give you a better deal. And like, you know, a good deal maker gets pretty close to walking off that lot before they actually get the deal, the best deal that they can. And that's what Trump is doing across the board. Now. It got pretty hard to sort of dissect from just an average consumer of information early on when you had Peter Navarro out there basically saying trade deals are terrible, that tariffs are great. And the best part about the US Economy is just Sort of drawing a big circle around the United States and not allowing anything in or out. Now, we know from various sectors within the economy, and we're not talking about Wall street here, that is, if we are prepared to have economic downturn. That is exactly how you do it, right? I mean, you could survive. I mean, we do have a nice economy and you could make each other T shirts and mow each other's lawns and all those kind of things, which is, which is fine. But you're not going to have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, maybe double digit GDP growth as a result of that. Which is what I think a huge segment of the electorate suspects that Donald Trump is capable of and why they voted for him. What his goal all along was to use tools to try to reset the American economy to a point that's not just working on the Wall street trading desk of all of your, your money, but actually create wealth within this country, create jobs, reinvigorate manufacturing, insource all of the components, whether they're rare earth minerals or tech or ag, all of those things as the things that we do better than everybody else in the world and commoditize it in a way that has value for the average American, not just for people who are trading options, not for people who are, you know, buying futures. It is something that creates real wealth in communities across this country. We know that because he's talked about that. And I'll be honest, if you doubt that, look at the record of the things that he's talked about since the beginning of this campaign. And look what this administration has done all the way through. Are they controversial? Sure, absolutely. But if you look at what he's doing with immigration, he's following a letter of what it is that he's promised. This is part of what he promised on the economic agenda. That's what is happening here. You may all say, like, oh, well, he seems to be a long term believer in tariffs. Well, you know, he might be in certain circumstances, but he's also totally in favor of economic growth. And the only way to get that is to ensure that there are markets outside of the United States for things the United States does better than everybody else in the world. Let's take agriculture just for a, you know, one off the center of this country. Huge component of the Trump coalition. A disproportionate amount of wealth is created out of the agriculture community, whether it's the farmer or everything that goes into the town that supports the farmer and machinists, the, you know, suppliers all of it. All of it.

[John Ashbrook]

Tremendous bounty in this country.

[Josh Holmes]

Massive amount. Now, we do that better than anywhere else in the world. And there are massive, massive current markets that take up huge components of the export of our agricultural goods. It's also what makes the price of food in this country not only sustainable, but much lower than very many places across this globe. And it's one of the centerpieces of our economy. Now, you can't just do the Peter Navarro, draw the circle around the United States, have no exports and make that work. It'll never work. Energy is another one. Tech supremacy is another one. There are many components of the United States economy that we know and I know, Donald Trump knows, Scott Besant knows, and the entire economic team know are our advantage overseas. And you contrast that the way the Democrats run policy in this country where they try to limit our energy development.

[John Ashbrook]

No, they've all, they've always, they've always tried to limit us. And you mentioned that it's controversial, the things that the President wants to do. And it's controversial because there is a media complex in this country that is against advancement and against using the resources and against using America for what it's capable of doing. They, they are constantly crying about the climate. And I gotta tell you, man, there is so much that this country can do if the governor of the media and the cultural pressures and the social pressures that they put on our workers and our country, there's so much that we can do if you just lift that cap. You know, in every other country in the world, they do not have the same. Maybe in Europe, but in every other country in the world, they do not have the same cap. There's so much that American workers, with their own ingenuity and with American resources that we can offer the rest of the world that we've been limited from doing for such a very long time.

[Josh Holmes]

No question about it. So where does that leave us? My bet, I'd be interested to hear what you all think about this. But my bet is that we're going to see the outlines of major deals. It won't be the whole enchilada. And as I said with China, I think that's a work in progress. It's very complicated. You may get a detente from the embargo stance that we're at right now. But I think, you know, you look at like India, for example, the EU for another, many of the South Asian countries that we've been in discussions with, there are components of deals that have been formulated enough in public discussions That I wouldn't be surprised the some of those things start rolling out and what the media is treating as a status quo, a very static environment, economic environment is actually quite dynamic. And I think there is a good chance that like six months from now all of us could be sitting here laughing about. Do you remember when these guys all thought that we were basically going to become an isolationist country that doesn't have any sort of upward mobility from an economic growth standpoint? I think those things are pieces of the puzzle, but I think they also intersect very neatly both in terms of their in practice and in terms of the political wherewithal to get it done with the tax cuts. And if you look at the timing of all of this, you might say like, I've heard a lot of different analysis from people on the street and elsewhere where they're like, they keep talking about deals. I haven't seen a deal. You know, they keep saying that they want to make these deals. Why aren't they making these deals? And you hear very little from the international community about any of it. It strikes me that that dynamic is because it's on our plate about what a deal is and the international community isn't particularly interested in spoiling that discussion. And two, it's going to be on the timeline that Donald Trump chooses. And that timeline is important for the political wherewithal that you use to try to build a momentum for domestic tax policy that you are going to try to put into place with a two seat majority in the House of Representatives. They got to shoot the moon on.

[John Ashbrook]

This very, very tight majority.

[Josh Holmes]

But if you do it with the backstop of oh my gosh, this thing is starting to work. All of a sudden you get some reluctant Republicans that are starting to see the world in a very different way. You build momentum towards an inevitability rather than, hey, you got to pass this thing because we're going to go down without it.

[John Ashbrook]

Look, it's not just Republicans, but there were 35 Democrats who voted to stop, stop this California car ban last week in this Congressional Review act bill in the House of Representatives. So there are some Dem normies out there who are ready to let America work. I just, I think that, I think there's a cultural shift back to push back against the left and everything the left has done to just keep our country down.

[Michael Duncan]

And I would love to get a deal from like India.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Or Japan or.

[Josh Holmes]

Massive country.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Massive amount of opportunity.

[Michael Duncan]

Huge. I'm a little suspect on the EU component of this because it is complicated it's complicated. And, you know, Donald Trump in his first term, tried to work with these people on so many things, and they.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, there's a national security component to it, too.

[Michael Duncan]

There's so much.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I remember when Donald Trump went to these folks and was like, look, you're going to be relying on Russian natural gas.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And they laughed in his face.

[Josh Holmes]

They're like, oh, you're going to remember the talking point at the time was like, he's going to be the first president.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

To walk away from NATO.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's like all he really said is, how about you pay your fair share.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly. And. And he called it. He was like Babe Ruth pointing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

To the outfield. And he was like, no, this is what's going to happen. I'll tell you exactly what's going to happen. And then, look, war in Ukraine. And what happened here.

[John Ashbrook]

Here's the thing, dude. Here's the. Here's the hard truth. Europeans are weak and lazy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

They just are. They're like, yes, we want North Africans in our continent to do the work. Yes, we want the Russian energy in our continent to pay for all of everything that we're doing because we don't have the strength to just say, let's have a nuclear reactor. Let's use the resources we have. Let's actually work for a living. Europeans are weak and lazy and they are suffering the consequences.

[Michael Duncan]

True.

[Josh Holmes]

Pippa, can you deliver me my 401?

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly, dude.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

We can't. We can't be like that. Like that.

[Josh Holmes]

That.

[John Ashbrook]

That is. That is something that we have to, like, look at Europe in America, and there was so many like that.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

We can't be like that. There are so many writers. There's so many great conservative writers who 10, 15, 20 years ago were warning us about this, and they were on Bill O'Reilly. They were on every Fox show. And like Mark Stein, perfect example, right? You guys all read Mark Stein. Mark Stein warned everybody what was going to happen to Europe. And what he warned about, we're seeing.

[Josh Holmes]

With our very own immigration, economic vitality, the production of unique demographic sort of advantages over other. Like, it all faded.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, so one. One other thing, because you. You were alluding to Peppa Pig.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you have.

[Michael Duncan]

I have a take on Peppa Pig, and I've been waiting for this for so long. And you delivered it for me.

[Josh Holmes]

Please.

[Michael Duncan]

They are so mean to Daddy Pig.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I noticed this. I don't care for it.

[Michael Duncan]

I. It's disgusting. We banned it from our house and I hate it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, Peppa. Every episode is how Daddy Pig is. Is. Is just, like, terrible. Oh, Daddy Pig, Daddy, Daddy Pig. You've gotten your trousers muddy. Daddy Pig, Daddy Pig. I. I watched the episode of Peppa Pig in which they do, like, father daughter, you know, take him to work day.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, Pep, like, Peppa Pig's dad is like a nuclear scientist.

[Josh Holmes]

They treat him like garbage, and they.

[Michael Duncan]

Treat him like on that show. It is, it is, it is. It is terrible.

[Comfortably Smug]

He lets them.

[Josh Holmes]

He lets them, you know, Daddy, they've erased masculinity.

[Michael Duncan]

Shout out to Daddy Pig. Yeah, we recognize your. How he's your threat to take them to the.

[Comfortably Smug]

To the bacon factory and be like, keep. Keep running your mouth. Is the mama pig also giving him a tough time?

[Michael Duncan]

They're so mean to Daddy Pig.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, she provides no defense for Daddy Pig.

[Comfortably Smug]

She goes to the factory, too.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

She lets their children make fun of their father.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

1. How many kids are there?

[Michael Duncan]

2.

[Comfortably Smug]

One goes to the factory and the other learns a lesson. That's all he's got to do. Step into the plate a little.

[Josh Holmes]

A little baby back. Peppa.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

How. Let him get away with that. You don't want anyone get away with that.

[John Ashbrook]

Europeans. Europeans look down on effort. Yeah, they really do. They look down on your ingenuity.

[Michael Duncan]

They look down on Daddy Pig.

[John Ashbrook]

They look down on Daddy Peppa.

[Michael Duncan]

Hold her accountable.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you brought that up.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it's been bothering me for a while.

[Josh Holmes]

No, we. We put a next to it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Hell yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

In our house, we didn't. We didn't care for. I don't like how they. They treat Papa Pig at all. At all. So anyway. But it leads us to. To tax cuts. And so the point that we're making with all of this is there's a momentum, and it may not be, as it appears to be, a haphazard coincidence. It may. The correlation may be sort of a plan here to sort of build momentum towards something thing with a very slim majority. And it's hugely complex, very diverse set of views on a generational tax reform. And what they're trying to get to is the overwhelming support from the American people of tax cuts for the American people. And you can't have that conversation because it's nothing but a process conversation in D.C. it's like, what are you going to do with salt? What about B. Salt? What are you going to do with this? What are you going to do with that? Like, this person thinks this. This person thinks that oh, what does Chip Roy think? And it's all like, none of it's all process and none of it has a single impact on your life. But if you're trying to consume information as a voter and how you're like, I don't know, thinking about balancing your books as a business over the next year, you can derive zero value from that conversation. It's all process based. Our take, and I don't know what's going to be in this thing, is that they're trying to get to the basic construct of an extension of the 2017 tax cuts that ushered in an incredible economic growth in this country, along with some campaign promises that President Trump made. And get that all packaged together and kind of like jam it through. Our partners at AFP did some pretty incredible polling that sort of supports this point of view. They released a new poll showing massive bipartisan support for renewing the TCGA. That's the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That's a 2017 bill that we've been talking about. Thousand people, POS, reputable firm. Despite the POS. I've always told my friends at Public Opinion Strategies, like POS is probably not your best.

[Michael Duncan]

Don't ever use the acronym.

[Josh Holmes]

It's probably not your best stuff.

[Michael Duncan]

But they are great, though.

[Josh Holmes]

But they have like, you know, I mean, they become a preeminent pollster, very sharp that people across the aisle, everyone respects. And what, I mean, what they have found is you get 68% of respondents, the report that their taxes are already too high. There's also a broad cross section of support, 84% for keeping the current tax rates in place.

[John Ashbrook]

Pretty high.

[Josh Holmes]

Number 84. I mean, you can't get 84% of Americans to agree on anything.

[John Ashbrook]

No.

[Josh Holmes]

95% of Republicans, 79% of independents and 74% of Democrats.

[Michael Duncan]

74, yeah, yeah.

[James Altheimer]

Something.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, that, that's, that's wild. So as they're putting this whole thing together, I think that they've provided, AFP has provided a pretty good 50,000 foot. The look of the conversation. You need to get back.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't lose track of that.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Because like you were saying, Holmes, like everybody's getting stuck in the morass of the process. And this, that and the other thing. The reality is the American people very clearly want this extended.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

They're planning on it.

[John Ashbrook]

Right, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And to your point earlier, businesses plan on it. You can't run a business in this country and plan for, you know, who's going to get elected in a midterm. That's not how business works. Like, you have to look out four years, six years, 10 years into the future and make plans for that. That's how you invest as a company.

[Josh Holmes]

So, like, and those are such big macro things. Like, if you listen to the debate, if you, if you read, like, trade pubs, the stuff that follows, like, the average and tittle of all of this stuff, what they talk about is like, well, they're considering FMAP for Medicaid or they're doing like, this little piece, like, none of it makes a fucking difference for you whatsoever. Like, just get to the end of the story. Bring yourself out of that process argument that the press wants to make and talk about whether you want your taxes to go up or not, whether you think that that is a good economic condition for this country or not. Recall that, like, the corporate rate goes up 15% at the end of this year if you don't do anything about it. And before you say that, that's the rich fat cats, recall that the corporate rate is not paid by individuals. It's paid by the people that ultimately are getting a W2 paycheck from those corporations which employ millions of Americans.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, and I don't know, it might also be a pretty good political message. I mean, we're talking about the legislative component of all of this, but, like, if you're a Republican on Capitol Hill, fucking put your shoulder to the wheel.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, this is a great political message. It is like, it's like, my colleagues across the aisle want to raise all of your taxes. How do you feel about that?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. So, like, offense. Yeah, offense.

[Michael Duncan]

Play offense.

[Josh Holmes]

But do that. Coupled with what I think is happening with the Trump administration in terms of how they're dealing with tariffs. Again, we talked about this last week. You could see a scenario in the fall where you're cooking with gas, and that is the America that we all voted for, and one that I think Donald Trump is well on his way. So our question of the day is, who's the first. Who's the first to announce a trade deal? Do you think that makes a difference? Do you think the Democrats will ultimately, in the media try to downplay any sort of deals to try to. And ultimately what that's about is, you.

[James Altheimer]

Know, they're going to downplay it.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, they're gonna down.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, they're trying in doing so, by the way, is like a message internationally that you're trying to tank the American economy.

[Michael Duncan]

That's their goal from day one. So, like, no mistake, these people hate America.

[Josh Holmes]

They really do.

[Michael Duncan]

And if that was our lesson of the first Trump term, every success he had for this country and for our people, all they did was negate like the whole way through. So I 100% think he'll put a deal together and they'll be like, terrible.

[Josh Holmes]

Not enough.

[Michael Duncan]

Not enough.

[Josh Holmes]

Not enough. People still concerned.

[Michael Duncan]

Like they've been telling, they've been telling the hard working people of America for fucking 25 years that they're going to negotiate a better deal for American workers. They've never delivered it for a second, one goddamn second. And Donald Trump will show up and do it and they'll be like, not good, not bad, bad deal.

[Josh Holmes]

People still. People are still concerned about this.

[Michael Duncan]

Unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

There is. I found someone who's living in east Fuck not is extremely concerned about their pocketbook issues. They say they voted for Donald Trump and now they're not. No, like that's 100% the first paragraph of some story coming up.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

Anyway, we're gonna get to all of that in your comments from last episode, which are a doozy by the way. We talked a lot about the journos, Hannah Trudeau getting into democratic politics and the journos basically falling away. He's a real profession and we asked him what should they do with themselves? You got some great responses ready for this? Hard working Americans know when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done.

[John Ashbrook]

Now is the time to unleash our.

[Josh Holmes]

Nation'S energy, to create jobs, secure our future and make life better, more affordable and full of opportunity for all Americans.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the power of America's oil and natural gas.

[Josh Holmes]

Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. Okay, coming back at you with your responses to the question of the day from Tuesday's episode. What should journals do with themselves? You gotta like and subscribe. And when you do and you put a comment in there, we read every single one of them. We distill them down to a few choices. And to read them, we always start with the voice.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, Remember, like and subscribe if you wish to opine. The first comment comes from Gail vg And Gail writes, let the dem journos loose. On the nextdoor app to repurpose their literary outrage. What could be better for them than a forum full of imbalance? Butt in skis, petty complainers and people debating about the horrors of letting a cat go outside.

[Josh Holmes]

I love this. I love I. For anyone who is like in the point of life that you've entered a Community that the next door situation, or like a list serve, like a mom's list serve, governs a huge component of information flow. This is so funny.

[Michael Duncan]

I know. Here's my one complaint on this comment. They're already there.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they are.

[Michael Duncan]

They're already there.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You will never in your life meet a more petty tyrant than a Democrat on the next door app.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's so true.

[Michael Duncan]

It is fucking terrible.

[John Ashbrook]

This is true. And I do remember my brother in law.

[Michael Duncan]

Don't encourage them is my point.

[John Ashbrook]

I do remember my brother in law sending me some screencaps a couple years ago where there were people talking about squirrels in their neighborhood. And he posted on the next door app, I've taken care of the squirrel problem. I've killed 17 of them in our neighborhood. 17. And the people underneath. He didn't kill any. He didn't kill a single squirrel.

[Comfortably Smug]

Sure, sure.

[John Ashbrook]

But the people underneath were like, how.

[Michael Duncan]

Could you do that? Exactly. Exactly the worst thing.

[Josh Holmes]

You hate animals.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And he said it to me and he was like, can you believe these? It was just like, that's awesome.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also the kind of people that just sort of rag doll you about not having your pronouns in the next door app by. And I'm. To be clear, I'm not on this. This thing, but I've seen this happen.

[Michael Duncan]

I've seen these push notifications.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Where they like ragdoll people about their sensitivity, cultural sensitivity, and then are the first ones to hit the next door app when a black guy's walking.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

This is exactly right.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I mean?

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, it's just the latent racism and you get, you begin to get a formation. If you want to know the modern left, a local level is the best perspective because these are people who literally just, you know, they drink chardonnay, they hang out, they talk about all of your insecure, you know, insensitivities that you're having towards certain communities. And then all of a sudden they get just like a random wealthy black guy walking a dog and they're like, does anybody call the police?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

What it do? What it.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's just like they put.

[Michael Duncan]

The sign out front. We believe that no one's illegal. And then like somebody who's, you know, their skin has a melanin that they don't appreciate and they step on their block and they're like, oh my God, we got to call 911.

[Josh Holmes]

So true.

[John Ashbrook]

It just.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, it's just so true.

[John Ashbrook]

It Just proves to you that no matter what you look like, the fellows are brothers in arms. And the left is against all of us.

[Michael Duncan]

All of us.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally smoke. You'd be dead to rights if that.

[Comfortably Smug]

So I've seen there's, I think, a Twitter account which is like, next door fails or something like that. And I just don't understand how people can spend so much of their time just like, 24 7, just. Just. They go through the app and just get mad about everything.

[James Altheimer]

Everything.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like, I think I spoke the day after the election. How, like, the HOA in our neighborhood had some rules of, like, okay, you can't put up election signs until, like, one week before election day. And then 24 hours after election day, you know, they have to come down. And so then the jerk, you know, half a block away and the, like, biggest brick place in the neighborhood clearly has, like, Kamala Central. Like, you thought it was a Kamala like, voter volunteer site.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Covered, like Billboard.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. They're phone banking way ahead of time.

[Josh Holmes]

He's not moving it.

[Comfortably Smug]

And like, my wife, when we're driving by, would be like, don't do anything. You don't need to. I was like, I'm not going to. I'm not going to because I'm putting the Trump sign up all over our yard and I'm gonna have the cameras pointed at because, you know, these people can help. So I'm gonna wait to get one of them and then I'm gonna create a situation.

[Josh Holmes]

I wanna feel. I wanna feel the complaint. Let me field the complaint so we can have a discussion about the gentleman down the road.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

And so smart. I follow the rules. But the day after the election, when I saw that dude having to pull down his signs, oh, it's so good. Like a sad loser. I had mine riding shotgun so I could go one mile an hour and just, like, wave as I drive by. Would you say just hold your ground.

[Michael Duncan]

It's so good.

[John Ashbrook]

Hold your ground.

[Josh Holmes]

And his wife, meanwhile, is in the backyard with a tip topper, a chilled chardonnay. Just getting chef.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, don't see my face.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, I mean, she's getting drunk and trying to figure out how to cheat on her husband.

[James Altheimer]

Anyway.

[Josh Holmes]

Comment 2. We go to Doug's Harungs. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

This is from Howard Yersetti. Howard writes, I believe the Dem Journos have a golden opportunity to become the PR spokespersons for MS.13.

[Josh Holmes]

They've done a good job.

[John Ashbrook]

They have.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Their passion for the plight of MS.13, plus their left wing woke media access. Access make them perfect for the job.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's good.

[Michael Duncan]

Using SEO and other Internet tools to highlight their good works. I love this comment. The only potential downside is the historic, unforgiving nature of Ms. 13 for failure. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

If you don't convince them, there may be repercussions.

[Michael Duncan]

A couple more teardrops.

[John Ashbrook]

I like that.

[Josh Holmes]

How Wolf is sort of custom made.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, you get SEO.

[Michael Duncan]

It's artisanal. He knows me.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

He knew that was the comment for me.

[Josh Holmes]

These are the things.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

All right. Smug. What do we got?

[Comfortably Smug]

Comment 3 is from the Cookie Army. And the Cookie army writes the new journo job is real estate agent. They've been selling America houses that they cannot afford for years. That's brutal. Hitting them right there.

[Michael Duncan]

Brutal.

[Josh Holmes]

That is pretty.

[Michael Duncan]

That's brutal.

[Josh Holmes]

That is pretty brutal. Also. Very true. Listen, when we come back, the Ruthless Variety program is going to embark upon something that we have not done. And it is a rare endorsement, potential endorsement. We're going to talk it through about one of the highest offices in all of the world right after this.

[Michael Duncan]

You did all the right things. You worked hard, you worked your way up, and you invested your money in a 401k or other retirement plan. Your future is all set, right? Wrong. The retirement system as we know it is currently under attack from misguided policymakers in D.C. the Trump tax cuts are set to expire this year. Renewing them will be a big fight in Congress right now. The tax code protects 401ks IRAs and other plans that help you save. Some people want to change that. Your representatives in Congress must protect the tax advantages that more than 100 million Americans rely on to save for retirement. You deserve policies that build on the current retirement system to secure your financial future, not jeopardize it. If Americans know one thing, it's resilience. To stay resilient, we need immediate action from our leaders. Head to helpusretire.org to take action and reach out to your representatives in Congress today. Help Us Retire is sponsored by the Investment Company Institute, representing asset managers, serving individual investors.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, fellas, look. We've been real reluctant to weigh in with the power of the program, the power of the minions, with any sort of endorsement within.

[Michael Duncan]

We respect the conclave.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we respect the conclave. I think we might be having what you would call a seminal moment here in that. Well, the papacy has been something of great discussion lately, and there is going to be a new election for a new pope. They have now quarantined all Of Cardinals.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

What I understand.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So now they're finally quarantined and they're not going to be listening to the Variety program. So we feel like now is the time to make our pitch.

[Josh Holmes]

It's our pitch.

[Michael Duncan]

We didn't want to sully the process.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, we didn't. And it was very important to us that, you know, it's a. It's a democratic and pseudo, maybe a republic style election. But we do have a favorite.

[Michael Duncan]

We do.

[Josh Holmes]

We do have a favorite. I don't know how to say this man's first name, but I do know his last name. Cardinal Pizzabala. This is a gentleman who I think deserves all of our attention.

[Michael Duncan]

Pierre. I think the first name is Pierre Batista. Pierre Batista.

[Josh Holmes]

Pierre Batista.

[Michael Duncan]

Pierre Batista. Pizza Balla.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Pizza Balla.

[Michael Duncan]

Don't say it like that. Give it the honor it deserves.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I will not.

[Comfortably Smug]

Cardinal Papa John. Pizza Ball.

[Michael Duncan]

The board work. The board work is so good.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, I just think that when you are. You have an opportunity to deal with an Italian named Pizza Balla, you gotta. You gotta take that opportunity.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, poor Mario.

[Josh Holmes]

So he's a Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and he cuts an unmistakable figure. This is according to cnn, in the dark corridors of ancient and stone patriarch that is in this troubled corner of the world. He's played a very valuable sort. All that, very important to us. No question. We've considered all of this. Ultimately, where we've come down on is Pizza Balla is a name that you just cannot ignore. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

That'S good board.

[Comfortably Smug]

Can I read this bio right here? It says he was born in Bergamo, northern Italy. But after 35 years immersed in the concerns of his flock here he says, quote, I have no idea what people in Italy are talking about most of the time.

[Michael Duncan]

Good.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, this is. This may be like a supplemental endorsement for you personally. Yeah, this may be so.

[Comfortably Smug]

So I feel like I want to escape the nonsense that I hear in Italy. The crime, the danger of living in Italy. He wants to be in a place less violent than Italy. He's like, I'm going to Jerusalem.

[Michael Duncan]

Honestly, this is a huge value add for Pizza Balla because I read some of the reporting around the Conclave and everything. And the number one complaint, young, from all the. Oh, no, no, from all the cardinals was how tired they were of the Italians taking up all the time and filibustering because they like speech.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we take a moment to acknowledge that these are like Super Mario brothers? The board is echoing back a Video game.

[Michael Duncan]

It's doing great.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, God. It's good. It's good. Smash. That's fantastic. No, I can understand that you would tire of those sorts of things, but he is a prolific body of work. Smug. I'd like to just get your impression, like, is this some. Are you ready to support Beat Sabala?

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, if he allows folks to call him Papa John, Papa John Pizzabala. 100%, he's got my support. Normally, I think Italians are. I mean, let's be honest, whenever you put them in a position of power, you're going to get corruption. You know, nine times out of 10, you know, you let an Italian get a crew of two, they're going to. They're going to rip off half. You know, he's going to try to find out no show jobs for the other cardinals.

[Josh Holmes]

No show jobs.

[Comfortably Smug]

Half the diocese in New Jersey, New York, are all going to be no show jobs for cardinals. Yeah, you know, we're going to run waste management. Like that doesn't fall under your.

[John Ashbrook]

Here's the thing. I actually really like this guy, Robert Serra. He's a very based, very based cardinal. And I really liked him until I read this about Pizzabala.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

In general, the public knew anything of Pizza Balla ahead of the death of Pope Francis. It was about a gesture he considers so obvious as to be almost meaningless. Nine days into the Israel Gaza war and two weeks into his tenure as cardinal, he offered himself in exchange for the Israeli children who'd been taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th. And it reminded me of this great saint, this guy Maximilian Kolbe, who you guys may be familiar with, who offered himself in place. Place of a Polish guy at Auschwitz. One of the greatest stories in. In world history. And I do absolutely love this about the.

[Comfortably Smug]

About courageous.

[Josh Holmes]

That is that. I mean, listen, very culturally relevant to this moment in time. If his name didn't get us, perhaps that story did. Either way, I mean, look, I didn't know that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Pretty incredible, right? Can you put up graphic 4? Just take a look at this cat.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

He looks Popey.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep, he does, right? If he decides to go by the Pope name of Pope. Hey, I'm walking here. I will support.

[John Ashbrook]

He looks like a king.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean that. I had no idea about that story. That is incredible.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you think it is incredible?

[Josh Holmes]

You know how they always change your name? I mean, the real problem with this is that you get this guy, Pete Zabala.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. You'd hate to lose that.

[Josh Holmes]

You'd hate to lose the name, right? I mean, he's gonna go by John Paul or by Francis.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. But smug has an answer for this. Papa John.

[Comfortably Smug]

Papa John.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Papa John the first.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Just. You can't lose Pizza ball. Anyway, first here in the variety program, you're gonna hear about some of us with deep roots and Catholicism, I might add. So just take that for what it's worth.

[John Ashbrook]

I hope he gets it. I really hope he gets it.

[Josh Holmes]

That's our endorsement. All right, we gotta get to a game. King of the hill. It's Thursday. Boy, oh, boy. Boy, oh, boy.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. You're the defending champion.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm the defending champion, and I am excited to play. It's been a wild week. As you recall, the way that we play this game. These are people who build themselves as conservatives for years and years, and Trump broke them some years back, and they have the most insane takes on the Internet. We surf through all of their X takes, basically, and then provide you the best of the best. We have a judge and jury. We just, you know, work our way through it. We crown a champion.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And I'm the defeated. So now I think I'm bailiff. Yep.

[Comfortably Smug]

I am the. I'm the judge this week.

[Michael Duncan]

You're the judge. And Ashbrook, who you bringing to the table?

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, challenger is Bill Crystal.

[Michael Duncan]

Bill Crystal coming back in.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

Wonderful.

[Josh Holmes]

You notice how this is taking a new shape? Like, lately the names that are keep coming up.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Very different than it was in year one and two. Like, they've got a new energy with, like, the crystals and the. Some got smoke and Joe Walsh, and I feel good about it.

[Michael Duncan]

Some would say that their energy comes also with the death knell of their entire grift.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And they're working very hard. I think we can only go ringside.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your. Your attention, please. Once again, it's time for king of the hilt. In the red corner, fighting from Pierroma Dyer's checkbook Bill wore now war forever Crystal. And now, in the blue corner, fighting from his own Twitter account, smoking Joe Walsh.

[Michael Duncan]

It's good.

[Josh Holmes]

It's always good. So it's always good. If you haven't seen it live, when we announce a new live event, you're going to want to be there because it is good every time. Good every time. So smoking Joe Walsh is. He's got a real panoply of things, but I thought I would do is play off less segment.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Got a little bit something for everybody, and I felt like the continuity of the show deserves something like this. So let's put up exhibit Three, I've spent much of today informing Trump voters that the image of Trump as the next Pope isn't fake news that he really did put out. That image tastes like today, mate. We want to just hang it all up, open a coffee shop in a small town in the middle of nowhere, and never be heard from again. Here's what I love. Here's what I love. Like, one, he just doesn't understand the Internet, and he's on the Internet all the time. This is, like, how he makes his living. He doesn't understand trolling or anything else. And, like, he really does think in his core of core that Trump is campaigning to be the Pope. But I just. But two, he is suggesting what all of America would prefer, which is that he disappears from the face of the planet.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, and then at a base level, like the whole dependent clause at the beginning of his tweet, do you think that there's Trump voters who fucking talk to Joe Walsh? Like, the idea that he's got this, like, you know, soundboard of Trump voters he checks in with every day about what they think about the meme that Donald Trump put up about.

[Josh Holmes]

About Frank Lunce in a cafe every afternoon.

[Michael Duncan]

It's such an absurd premise.

[Comfortably Smug]

This guy, dude, that is actually really.

[Michael Duncan]

Somehow, this guy's got his finger on the pulse of. Of the Trump voter in America in the year of our Lord 2025. This guy hasn't been a Trump voter in a decade.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I've checked in, and here's what I found. The guy ran for president. Against him. Against him. It's just incredible.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, Spaghetti. Bill Kristol, exhibit 10, please. Continuing with the theme, he, quote, tweets the President of the United States with his funny meme with him as the picture of the Pope saying, hey, J.D. vance, you find with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father, so he takes it seriously. Bill Kristol, noted critic of anyone who should demean the Catholic Church. And I will tell you this about Exhibit 10, Bill Kristol, I don't think is actually trying to get to the bottom of whether J.D. vance is uncomfortable with the president's joke. I think he is trying to create something that clearly did not take off.

[Comfortably Smug]

So I think. I think Bill Crystal's tweet there is offensive because I think if there's something that J.D. vance has to be mad about, it's that Bill Crystal advocated for war that JD had to go fight while Bill Crystal was sitting at home.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I also really love this play by Ashbrook of this tweet from Crystal because it reflects this larger problem in liberalism, which is like, they still do believe they can play this old playbook of, like, using our values against us, which is so fucking offensive. When they come to you and they're like you as a Christian, a person who I hate and despise and I make fun and mock everything you believe in. Are you offended by this, by the way? You know what I mean?

[Comfortably Smug]

It's like I don't believe in your beliefs or whatsoever, but I think if I can blackmail you, I can have you do what I want you to.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Get the hell out of here.

[Josh Holmes]

Where do we come down on this?

[Comfortably Smug]

You know what I mean? Listen, your take was great, but I just think it was for me personally, such a mistake for Crystal to try to go after J.D. vance on that, given that what he did. And it just makes my blood boil, makes me hate Crystal so much.

[Josh Holmes]

It was a good judge play. I will. I will say that we have. We have a. We've defined ourselves in many ways of what offends ourselves is the. The judge. It was African smug has. And this was a very, very solid play. I will concede that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Round one.

[John Ashbrook]

Round one goes to Crystal Spaghett. Let's throw up. Exhibit number seven, please. And. And war now. War forever is, quote, tweeting a picture of a story about a Kansas county jail. It's where they're holding illegal immigrants as they're awaiting deportation. And Bill Kristol writes, I'm not yet quite at, quote, abolish ice, but I'm getting awfully close to the anti. Anti Abolish ice. So what he's against, apparently, is detaining illegal alien criminals while they're awaiting deportation. So the picture, I guess, offends him because he doesn't think it's good enough for Ms. 13 and trend, who are looking to murder regular old people trying to live their lives.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, what a comfortable life. Just like getting paid by Pierre Omadiar to just sit in your, like, house in McLean and drop takes online. Yeah, well, I mean, because he's not affected by illegal aliens who are out there killing people, you know, robbing people, murdering people. He's not affected by any of that. Yeah, Bill, Crystal demands and drop takes.

[Michael Duncan]

He demands these illegal immigrant criminals go to a Sandals Resort.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's exactly right. Again, this guy used to publish a conservative magazine and now he is against deporting illegal immigrants.

[Comfortably Smug]

Incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

I've got a choice to make. I need to survive the round. I have Two, what I feel like are just nukes. Yeah. And I'm going to go with one, which is not on topic, but I do feel like just sort of ends this discussion fairly quickly. All right.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Exhibit four, please. There should be coverage of Trump's cognitive. Massive coverage, because it's an issue, a huge issue.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's incredible. Why do they keep trying this play?

[Josh Holmes]

Why?

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, like, especially after the whole Biden thing and how it becomes like somebody who's defended.

[Josh Holmes]

Who defended Biden actually passed the debate performance.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

As a better candidate for president.

[Michael Duncan]

So I have a theory on this. And that is the ones who offended the most during that period and defended Biden to the hilt the most now feel like they have to overcompensate state on the other side to justify how they be clowned themselves in the spring and summer of 2024. So a lot of those are never Trump people. They. They fought to the hilt for Biden more than Democrats did.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

That's more than Democrats.

[Comfortably Smug]

That is sad.

[Michael Duncan]

And so now these people feel like they got to do this same bullshit on Trump just because.

[Josh Holmes]

Just because it's like it's a muscle.

[Michael Duncan]

Memory because it was so fucking embarrassing what they did.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Like, this work. I need to get out from underneath. I'll dig. Dig, dig, dig.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

I love it.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, like, that's just money.

[Comfortably Smug]

That is such a great. The guy who's doing like 50 press conferences a week and just like wrecking journals left and right. Yeah. Oh, definite signs of cognitive decline there. Round two, Joe Walsh.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so for round three, I've got many choices, but this is the one that I'll go with because I think it has the most flair and I think highlights. One of the things that we love most about our contestants here on this is that not all of these are made from a sober mind.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, God, I'm excited.

[Michael Duncan]

Drunk takes. Let's get it.

[Josh Holmes]

So at 9:58pm on May 2nd, Joe Walsh sends out Friday night. This is Exhibit 5, please SpaghettiSz. Friday night. Tequila Tweet.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, my God.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's go.

[Josh Holmes]

If you don't treat the least among you with love and respect, then respectfully, fuck you. Take care of those who don't have what you have. It's my favorite from so many different ways. First of all, he's like, I'm super drunk. So everything that comes after this, like, just have in mind that I'm drunk. Second of all, it's at 10 o' clock. Third of all, be respectful of people Guys, fuck you. It's just like such a perfect encapsulation of a former conservative when this guy was a right wing lunatic that became like a liberal apparashik.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Which is what he is. Think what I think. Or fuck you. And I think he's talking about. If I'm reading between the lines, I think he's talking, like, trans.

[Comfortably Smug]

Is he really? You think so?

[Josh Holmes]

I think it's either trans or it's El Salvador, but it's one of the two. Because that's the only thing in that time period that would lead you to a point where you were like, the least amongst you. Fuck you.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I read it a little bit differently. And that is the least among you I took as him doing a Cliff Notes version of the biblical phrase, but the least among us shall be first. And so he was trying to do some of this.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, you think this guy has got a. Like a theologian?

[Comfortably Smug]

No, the dude's just hitting tequila on a Friday night. Now we're left to read like, is he trying to see.

[Josh Holmes]

He and Pizzabala were out having a serious discussion about the scriptures.

[Michael Duncan]

I think he's trying to sort of do that thing.

[Josh Holmes]

It's even more.

[Michael Duncan]

And he does. He does Case. And that's my point. It's absolutely horrible.

[Josh Holmes]

If that is what he's doing, then it's like, respectfully, you then, like, enter into a little scripture action and then drop the F bomb. Fantastic. Good work.

[Michael Duncan]

Good.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. Okay, spaghetti. Let's do exhibit 12, please. And Bill Kristol is, quote, tweeting something from the governor of Illinois. Yes, Fat Man Pritzker. He said it might be time to try that again. And what Bill Kristol writes is that Democrats haven't nominated a governor since 1992. Bill Clinton, who he ostensibly opposed as the publisher of a conservative magazine, and before that, 1976, Jimmy Carter, another one he ostensibly dunked on as the publisher of a conservative magazine. They both won. So Democrats being Democrats, they promptly stopped nominating governors. It might be time to try that again. So here you have endorsement, former conservative, former publisher of a conservative magazine, calling for JB Pritzker to eat his way to the White House. And I like your stuff. Replicate what Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter did. Bill Kristol, former conservative, now endorsing jb.

[Comfortably Smug]

So this is tough because it is. The charm of that tweet is more. It's fun calling him Fat Man Pritzker because, like, that's good.

[Michael Duncan]

The other thing that I think is kind of funny about it, just. Just to to give Ashbrook his due on playing this is Crystal has such little respect for the education of his own followers that he feels like he has to say, in 1992, we elected Bill Clinton.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

In 1976, Jimmy Carter. Like, people don't know. Like, that was actually necessary parenthetical being like, hey, by the way, we elected Bill Clinton that year.

[John Ashbrook]

That's exactly right. You might what, Duncan, what you might call that is the weekly standard for people he doesn't respect.

[Josh Holmes]

I do. I do feel like. Look, I. I'm going to say it's hilarious and he's an idiot, but the. The Friday night tequila tweet. Hard to.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the other thing is so, like, I mean, I. I just love the idea also of, of him thinking he's like, okay, guys, I've had some tequila. Like, hold on to your seats. Like, he's going to drop some fire. Then it's just like, be nice to people. And if you're not f you, it's like, dude, really? Like, I thought you were gonna drop a barnstorm. Or you're like, oh, does it know I've been drinking tequila? I'm about to tweet.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also one of those things that, you know when you have too much to drink and you say something you think is really profound, and then you listen to it and you're like, oh, my God, that is like the most troublesome.

[Comfortably Smug]

See, that's best case scenario, I think he's a lightweight. And he's like, I just had, like, a little sip of, you know, of a reposado. It's not like, I don't think he was like, the worm is down, and here it comes. I'm about to be a problem, you know? So, like, it was disappointing for me because it's like, tequila tweet. And I was like, oh, boy, he's gonna really drop it.

[John Ashbrook]

Your honor. No one will accuse.

[Comfortably Smug]

All of it goes. My entire choice is on Ash Brook's on fat man Pritzker.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Just cause it's funny.

[Josh Holmes]

It's fair. Just because it's fair.

[Comfortably Smug]

New champ.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you, your honor.

[Josh Holmes]

And I feel like just because it's funny, he said it's the gamesmanship that makes. Makes it like he really did.

[John Ashbrook]

I will say no one will accuse Bill Crystal's 2028 candidate as a lightweight.

[Michael Duncan]

I disagree with the judge's decision, I have to say.

[Josh Holmes]

I, I. That's why I personally disagree with it. I find it to be sort of shallow in terms of its. It didn't actually consider, but you got to play.

[Michael Duncan]

You got to play to the judge.

[Comfortably Smug]

And he did.

[Josh Holmes]

He did it formidably. And anytime you can say fat in front of smug dude fmp.

[Comfortably Smug]

He called him Fat Man Pritzker, which is hilarious.

[Josh Holmes]

So much FMP.

[Comfortably Smug]

We're gonna drop the FMP on him.

[Josh Holmes]

Calling an airstrike for you OGs of the ruthless Variety Program. You realize that, like, two thirds of this show is just trying to make each other laugh.

[Michael Duncan]

It's.

[Josh Holmes]

He did. So I will. Good to see decision. It is what it is.

[John Ashbrook]

He's not small. Let's just be honest here.

[Josh Holmes]

It's very overweight. And also, is he. Is he not, like, acquainted. He's a billionaire. He's not acquainted with, like, any of the Ozempic.

[Comfortably Smug]

Just wait.

[John Ashbrook]

Just wait. He's gonna start taking it, and then he's gonna start looking like Jack lalanne Nine months when he hits the campaign trailer.

[Josh Holmes]

But he's gonna be like, whoa. But you know what's funny about that is politicians who were once fat who became prominent and then they get skinny. People don't trust.

[John Ashbrook]

They don't.

[Josh Holmes]

They don't trust them. They look at them, they're like, what's up with this?

[Michael Duncan]

What else are you hiding?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. What's up with this guy?

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, I think he just doesn't even care, dude. I think he's like that. Like, his family's always had money, so he's one of these, like, you know, fancy boys. His whole life he's always been soft. He can't change that.

[Josh Holmes]

Might be right. All right, we gotta get to our last story. Our last story. It's somewhat serious, but it involves Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, a place that we have respected for years and had some interaction with over the years. But it fits back into a category of things that we've talked about a lot on this program with just this latent sort of anti Semitism that's happening throughout the country in different ways that deserves to be called out. You listen to the Ruthless Friday program. You have absolutely no doubt about where we stand on this shit. If you harbor any of that stuff, we're gonna fucking call it out. I don't care if it's in the universities or if it's in West Texas. We're calling it out. And this is what Dave Portnoy has done. Now, he's obviously Jewish. He's got an investment personally in how this whole thing is perceived. But in one of his establishments, a Barstool location. There was an incredibly offensive sign that was put up. Now, for those of you who've probably seen a little bit about the story, before we get into the seriousness of it, we wanted to contextualize, like, what is a sign? Like, what does this mean? Like, a sign up and a. How could some patron of a bar just put a sign up at a bar and make it make sense? And what it was is one of those, like, bottle service deals. And there was a lot of questions that I've got over the last few days from people who are like, what the hell is that? Like, what does that mean? Like, somebody just erected a bottle service sign. Well, you'll be happy to know here on the Ruthless variety program, we actually have experience in this very specific item, and we know exactly what they're talking about. If we can put up the clip here involving Michael's bachelor party or his birthday party. So there's. That's exactly the kind of sign that we're talking about. If you notice, it's not only just that sign, but in the backdrop there, it's a picture of Michael as a wrestler. We may have that separately. Do you have that?

[Michael Duncan]

Well, we got to put it up.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, there it is. There it is. He's a wrestler. You know, listen, Dale Duncan, God bless you. You put this kid to good work at a very early age. He had a lot of energy. There was nothing left to do but make him wrestle larger humans.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I would also. I would point out there, this is me at 5 years old, and I'm wearing an American flag singlet. I've been a patriot from the earliest days of my life.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Despite the fact I could barely tie my shoes.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, not.

[Michael Duncan]

Not. Not very intimidating, I would say, that photo, but. But a good one.

[John Ashbrook]

It's good, but ready to fight. And then to Josh's point, you pay money to have that sign in that picture to goof on your friends. So what happened?

[Josh Holmes]

So that's what you do when you go get bar. When you go get bottle service. They tell you. They ask you what it is that you want to put on a sign to goof on your friend that you're, like, actually throwing a party for. That's the context for the story, Right? What happened was in Dave Portnoy's barstool bar on Sansom street in Philadelphia was a sign that read, do we have the picture of the sign? Let's put that sign up.

[John Ashbrook]

I can't. I just. They just order that, dude. I can't. I just cannot. Believe this.

[Josh Holmes]

It says fuck the Jews. And they brought it out and like.

[John Ashbrook]

Somebody paid for this.

[Josh Holmes]

This is. Somebody paid for this sign. Which like blows one's mind that in public anywhere, right where you would think this would either be funny or you think this would be appropriate or whatever. It's insane. It's an insane thing to do. Particularly when you've got the situation in the Middle east and you've got riots on campuses and all of these things where you've already uncovered by the course of the 2020 for election that there is massive amounts of anti Semitism latent in the left side of a younger demographic of this. Like, you know, people who show up at places like this.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So Portnoy did a little homework on it. He figured it out and he figured out who did this and he uncovered this person. The patrons ordered bottle service along with a custom sign. Not uncommon for bars to have personalized signs, as we've said. And he found out who this dude was. So can we play clip 4 please? Another update from the sign situation at.

[John Ashbrook]

Barstool Sampson street, which I am so.

[Josh Holmes]

Sick of dealing with but obviously going to deal with. So last time I'm like, I thought about it.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm going to send the two people.

[Josh Holmes]

Responsible to Poland to Auschwitz concentration camps and try to make it a teaching lesson. I talked to both of them on the phone. Both of them took accountability. Both of them were like, yeah, we.

[James Altheimer]

Did this.

[Josh Holmes]

And we're willing to go and try to learn. Well then I see a now deleted. I think it was an Instagram or Snapchat story of one of the kids, Mo Khan, the one who posted the video. And he has this long speech, we'll put it in, claiming he was just being a citizen journalist. He was just documenting his college life. He had nothing to do with the sign, didn't buy it and nothing to do with it. Didn't even know what it was. He's just being a citizen journalist, quite literally a 180 from when I talked to him. So I called up Mo.

[James Altheimer]

He presses record.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a little message. Hey, this call is being recorded. Like I'm with my parents or whatever.

[James Altheimer]

I'm like, mo, what's going on? Like we need some accountability.

[Josh Holmes]

You hand up.

[James Altheimer]

I did it.

[Josh Holmes]

I up.

[James Altheimer]

I'm stupid.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, let's try to learn from this. Yeah, okay. And where this ends is Mokon, the person that Dave had identified not only doing a 180 but then doing subsequent interviews that honestly hosts that were very anti Semitic in nature. So sympathetic to an anti Semitic message, trying to defend him, where he claims to be the victim of all of this, that Dave is the one that called him out without actually doing what he had done on the phone with Dave Portnoy, which is cop to the fact that he made this sign or ordered this sign or was a part of ordering the sign. This is obviously set El President day off and so now he's on this like full blown campaign to try to blow all this up. But we're not gonna air what this guy did to camera in large part because I don't think it's worth hearing and I certainly don't to want, want to amplify this guy's voice in any way. But basically it was like a Gen Z leftist who is trying to disassociate themselves with any accountability for something that they had done and then demanding restitution.

[Michael Duncan]

Restitution.

[Josh Holmes]

Dave Portnoy.

[Michael Duncan]

Hilarious.

[John Ashbrook]

His bar, he deserves it.

[Josh Holmes]

In his bar where you ordered a sign that said the Jews. He wants money from Dave Portnoy to reinstate him. Not only in his college, but then for pain and suffering.

[Michael Duncan]

Like what a bizarro world we live in right now. I mean like number one, like shout out Dave Portnoy. Like, like there are not a lot of people who have hugely successful multimedia empires worth millions and millions and millions of dollars who had the sort of transparency to be like, hey, something got fucked up and here I am, I'm going to go live and explain what happened. Like, like that is not the threshold of responsibility for a guy who's actually like the CEO of a huge.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's usually a statement from a holding company that is like, this happened at our bar. We're taking the appropriate steps to find out what happened.

[Michael Duncan]

But that's like sort of the radical transparency that a guy like Dave has made his entire career on. So like my hat goes off to him for doing it in the first place. That's incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

The other thing I would point out is like that sign didn't say two state solution. It didn't say justice. It didn't say justice for Gaza.

[Josh Holmes]

No. You know, it didn't say think of the children.

[Michael Duncan]

It didn't say I disagree with Benjamin Netanyahu. What did it say? It said fuck the Jews. Right? Which tells you everything you need to know about what these people actually believe.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

It's the core. It's the core. And we've been trying to tell you this for a long time, that if you, like me, grew up in a generation that, fortunately for us, didn't have to think an awful lot about this because we were taught that we're all sort of equal. It's a character that you have and the, you know, the content of all of that. And you didn't just sort of process this latent racism or latent anti Semitism, which has now come to the fore over the last 10 years, saw the DEI and racism and all that stuff. Well, the anti Semitism piece is very real. We saw it spill out after October 7th. And then you saw an administration, with the Biden administration conduct an entire electoral strategy, particularly with the selection of Tim Walz over Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania. They codified it. They codified it. It wasn't a pushback knowing that you have a bully pulpit the world has to listen to. It was an understanding that this is where people are. We need to sort of adjust ourselves to ensure that we can basically appeal to these folks. And that's what's so disturbing. We've talked about this over and over and over again on the Variety program, but you're now seeing this in a pop culture way, which I think is. Honestly, this is refreshing because it's going to spill into, outside of the political context of all of you who listen to stuff like this, into a modern day world where all of you live, that don't follow politics, that are on there for sports or commentary, you're just having fun. They're going to realize, dude, this exists, this exists and you got to get it out of there. And like, until you shut this shit down, I'm not talking about like cancel culture and shit like that. What I'm talking about is you gotta hold people accountable for what they do and say. And in this day and age, when you do something like say fuck the Jews, that is no different than many other connotations that you could say with different ethnic groups in this country. That is gonna provoke a reaction. It is certainly not on the perpetrator proprietor of the establishment to pay you restitution for the decision that you made. To put that on the side.

[John Ashbrook]

Great point.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And so we're. I mean, again, this whole like zoomer, lefty, kind of. This is like dei. I've been kind of like, what's that word of their. They think everyone owes them everything. Yeah, this kind of entitlement, do what I want backwards weird kind of of entitlement that. I mean, it's got to be. The intention of that belief system is essentially to destroy the country. It just wants to tear this entire country out, you know, root and stem, that it's, you know, you can accomplish whatever you want if you put yourself towards it, which is the fundamental of this country, why it became the greatest country on earth. It just wants to destroy all of that. Be like, no, actually I'm owed everything. I'm so sick of that.

[Josh Holmes]

So we, I mean, look, we've interacted with an awful lot of barstool guys over there years and appreciate the good work that they've done. I think they've changed media in many different ways and we've been huge fans of them. But this is an invitation to Dave, listen, there's nobody that is listened to more by politicians in Washington D.C. opinion makers and everybody else to try to get this story out one way or another. I know you're working to try to do it. Come on the program, let's talk about it. I think it's an important story that sort of illuminates this larger issue that we, the Variety program has been trying to communicate for a long, long time now. Anyway, so we gotta get to a great guest. Listen, this guy's good guy, young guy, next generation Republican leader James Althelmire. He's a attorney general for the great state of Florida. A lot of power in that, you know, if you're like the chief law enforcement guy in the great state of.

[Michael Duncan]

Florida and they're leading the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean they're doing a lot of really great stuff. So listen to this. One of the things you know and love about the realist variety program is that we bring in folks from all around the country with very important roles. In this case, a guy we've known here for a little bit, very good dude with a very important job. Attorney General of Florida, Luffmeyer. How are you, sir?

[James Altheimer]

I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. I've been a big fan of the program for a while. So it's an honor to be here for the first time.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's an honor to have you. And as you know, we like to have smart people talk about smart stuff. One of the things that has bubbled up on the federal radar, obviously with the Trump administration and immigration enforcement and all this kind of thing is ultimately awful lot of this is into the states and the partnership between ICE and local law enforcement and all of that kind of thing. You're kind of in the middle of all of that. And I know there's been a rash of, shall we say, activism off the left hand side of the map that you and many attorney generals, Republican attorney generals across the country have been dealing with. Give us a little insight into all that.

[James Altheimer]

Yeah, look, you've got judges across the country that nobody elected that are exceeding their authority, exceeding their jurisdiction. They've been doing it for a long time. You know, these nationwide injunctions, you've got a judge in one venue, you know, somewhere in the middle of California, and they issue an order and say it applies to the entire country, and they begin getting away with it because people let them. You know, there's something about just. It's a judge and they issue an order and everybody respects it, but many times they don't have jurisdiction. And it's great to see the Trump administration fighting back a little bit. You know, when it comes to getting a terrorist out of the country, that's executive power. That is the. The prerogative of the executive. So we, yeah, we've had some situations down in Florida. I know other ags are fighting it across the country, and, you know, it's about time.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Well, you wouldn't think it would be controversial to try to get actual terrorists out of your country, but, you know, this is where we find ourselves. So tell us a little specifically. I mean, I know that this has been a big priority of yours. What kind of stuff specifically you dealing with in Florida? I understand there's a couple of judges that are headhunting.

[James Altheimer]

Well, we, you know, in Florida, we're taking it seriously, our obligation to help the Trump administration. We were the first state to get all of our state police, state law enforcement, county sheriff certified, you know, under 287, where they get delegated authorities under ICE. They go through the training and they can actually carry out the federal duties and help detain and deport. So we've got thousands of people we've been arresting and helping to deport. We had Operation Tidal Wave the last week of April where we. We had over 1100 people arrested in one sitting. And most of these individuals, you know, they're already criminal aliens. They have detainers. We've had, you know, over a dozen criminal aliens the last couple years that have committed serious crimes. You know, murders, sexual assaults. And almost every time, it's still there. Almost every time they've been in the justice system before they were picked up for drunk and disorderly or resisting arrest, and then they get let out the back door. So we're not letting that happen anymore. You know, dhs, ice, they've been great to work with, but we do have a judge that is threatening to hold me in contempt because I won't Follow an order. She has to direct our law enforcement not to enforce a new law we passed earlier this year that says you can't be illegally in the state of Florida.

[Josh Holmes]

So this is a judge. Let me get this straight because I want to make sure I'm clear about this. This is a judge in Florida.

[James Altheimer]

Florida.

[Josh Holmes]

Who has decided that a law that was passed by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Governor DeSantis, that law enforcement not obeying that, she's basically directing them not to obey that law.

[James Altheimer]

That's right. The ACLU brought the challenge. It's clear this judge doesn't think the law is valid. We'll appeal. This is novel territory. We, we believe we're on good footing. A state has to have the obligation, the opportunity to protect its sovereignty. But the interesting thing here is no law enforcement agency in the state has been sued. They're not a defendant. So she's issuing this order and saying, you got to tell them all to stand down. I'm not going to do that. First day of law school, you learn that judges have jurisdiction and you can't order somebody around. That's not properly before the court. Court. So I, I've said no. I mean, my argument in court is I'm not going to, you know, waive my obligation. I took an oath to the Constitution. I respect separation of powers. I respect these independent law enforcement bodies and their prerogative to follow the law. And they should do that.

[Josh Holmes]

A lawman knowing law things.

[James Altheimer]

I know you guys don't like reading the federals papers. If you read them, you'll see the founders, they believed in separation of powers.

[John Ashbrook]

I'll tell you, man, it's refreshing because we have an illegal immigration problem in this country and somebody has to do something about it or we're going to be completely overrun into the future the way we were over the last four years. And it's just so nice to see the state of Florida taking this so seriously and you taking your job so seriously to remove lawbreakers from, you know, polite.

[James Altheimer]

Yeah, look, we got the border tightened down. I think the president's done a nice job there. But, you know, you still have hundreds of thousands of people in our state that should not be there, and a lot of them are causing problems.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no question about it. Another priority of yours which has just sort of recently come on our radar in large part because we have the unfortunate set of circumstances of employing a Californian here. Now, he's one of the very few who are actually very concerned conservative. So he follows up with These kind of things. Generally speaking I think we ignore almost everything that comes out of California. We try, we try our very best. But in this case child trafficking, child exploitation, soliciting sex of children has become an issue unbelievably in California, Florida, taking a very different intact on all this. I know this is a big priority of yours.

[James Altheimer]

It is. I got three little kids. You know, I was not a big social media guy, Snapchat guy. But the more I'm digging in working with our investigators, it is the preferred means that a lot of these predators will go to, to try to solicit and prey upon kids. So we've been arresting numerous people. Last week it was Snapchat, the next week it's Roblox, this gaming app where you have these predators and they pretend to be young kids, they use different photos, they develop relationships, they appeal to kids insecurities and then they start asking for the pictures. In the worst cases they try to set up meetings. It's scary. If your parents are out there, they need to wake up and realize this is a new world and you got to know what your kids are doing with those cell phones. So we are going to be the anti California. They might want to create rights to pay minors for sex and if they want to have those predators living out there, you know, so be it. But not, not in Florida. We will be very, very tough on this.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean it's incredible. I mean the California thing, for those of you who haven't followed, you've got a state senator out there who is basically in full opposition to any law that would penalize somebody for soliciting a 16 year old or 17 year old for sex. Meaning like they're paying for. I mean it is, it just blows my mind demented. But it also just shows what a different value set that James and your crew in Florida, which is now really established as a red state, doing good things. I mean you can see with the economic growth and everything, it's hard to relate to any of that, isn't it?

[James Altheimer]

It is. I mean it's unfathomable. As a parent, the last thing you want is some creepy trying to trick your kid into meeting at the Starbucks down the street. When I got in office just a few months ago, I asked our team give me the files and you've got these financial crimes and things that are out there. We'll get to them. But every one of these sick predators that's out there, I want to get them behind bars as fast as possible to keep our streets Safe. So we've had dozens of arrests at this point. We busted a big international, a child pornography ring. Just a couple weeks ago. We, we got a guy on this gaming app, you know, last week who, you know, this was a 17 year old that was soliciting, you know, younger teenagers to, you know, send sexual abusive content and no tolerance.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, I hear a lot about that, actually. Illegal gaming apps and whatnot, where they're soliciting sex of minors and things like that. It's just, it's. I got to imagine, I mean, look, you're a lawyer by trade, right? Your background, you're an attorney.

[James Altheimer]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Probably didn't envision getting into politics.

[James Altheimer]

I tried to avoid it. I kept trying to go back to law. The governor kept giving me new jobs. But we're blessed. We got a good thing going. We got great leaders. We actually, we passed a law. We were first in the nation to pass a robust law to make it illegal for apps to let younger kids and younger teenagers on the applications. It's just, they're not mature enough. They don't fully know what's out there. And then, you know, we believe in parents rights. So 14, 15, 16 year olds, they can access the applications so long as their parents give permission and have access to the tools so they know how to track and monitor what's going on. So we're ahead of the curve. Other states are following. It's been great to see. And if companies, you know, don't want to follow the law, we'll go after them.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I ask you just stepping back a second because I find it interesting for guys like you, very substantive. An attorney obviously approach all of this stuff from a legal point of view, which comes in handy when you're Attorney General of the state. But I mean, I imagine growing up, you didn't think like, hey, I'm going to be. I want to get into politics. Like, were you particularly political? Did you come from a family that was interested in politics?

[James Altheimer]

No. In fact, I, I thought it was kind of disgusting and wanted to stay away from it. And every time I'd start to follow somebody, you know, they'd end up in some terrible sex scandal or something, so. No.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, it was Florida, so I'm not gonna ask you to.

[James Altheimer]

Was not something I wanted to do. But, you know, I've always been competitive. I'm a fighter. Nothing really scares me. If, if you're fighting for what's right, then at the end of the day, the people are either gonna like it or not. And I don't do this job. I don't get so much out of this job. I get a lot out of going home. So I'll go, I'll serve. But I think there's too many public figures today. They need the job. They're obsessed with it. It's who they are. For me, it's not who I am. That's my wife, that's my kids. I'm just trying to get to the back porch. But if I can fight a fight and put some bad guys away, man, there's nothing greater.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, so Florida's been first into the breach on a lot of this stuff. You know, you, Governor DeSantis, and you'd mentioned some other states who are starting to follow the lead. What's that been like working with others?

[James Altheimer]

Yeah, you know, we, we took advantage of time. We had, you know, we had the governor and some great legislative leaders, and, you know, we got more done the last couple years than probably the, the rest of the history of the state put together. And when it comes to parental rights, when it comes to universal, fully funded school choice, when it comes to cracking down on, you know, some of the woke things that corporations were doing, yeah, businesses do have some free speech rights, but if you're publicly traded company, you know, you have a fiduciary duty and you can't be trying to sell little bras to little boys. So we've, you know, we've done everything we can to take advantage of the time, and it's been great to have a blueprint. And other states have come in, you know, looking to learn from us, you know, first state to have a, an election crimes office. And we've prosecuted dozens and dozens of people that are trying to vote twice or are, you know, felon sex offenders that shouldn't be voting in the first place. And, you know, as a result, we went from being down, you know, quarter of a million registered Republicans. Now we're up, you know, 1.25.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's wild. More.

[James Altheimer]

And, you know, the governor, he didn't run to the center. He. He did what was right and just and conservative and people voted with their feet. I want to.

[John Ashbrook]

You mentioned corporations, and I just want to ask you about something because it's not just rhetoric for you. You are actually going after a major corporation for their unfair practices. And that's Target. I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about that.

[James Altheimer]

Yeah, so I think people at home remember, you know, Target rolled out this transgender kids clothing line. I don't Think they did that because there's this huge market out there for it. You know, it was a political statement. And unfortunately for them, you know, the stock value crashed 10 billion in 10 days. And where we have standing as a state is, you know, we invest in the stock as part of our pension investment fund. So this is the retirement for our law enforcement, our teachers. And so we took a hit. And if companies are going to engage in some of this radical ideology business and not just like get in the business of doing business and making money, which shouldn't be that controversial, then yeah, they've got a duty to their shareholders. So we've brought suit. We got a great judge. I think he understands what's going on. So we feel very, very good about the case. And then we've worked with our pension fund where we've set aside, I think it's 20 million or so for a corporate oversight and accountability fund to make sure other companies that are out there that want to get engaged in some of this political stuff that's going to hurt our state, hurt our pension funds, that they think twice about it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It's interesting. You grew up colloquially known as the Redneck Riviera. I mean, you've been in Florida, Florida, guy, your whole.

[James Altheimer]

Yeah, I grew up in Destin. It's a little fishing village in the Panhandle. Though people found out about the beaches, so they did. It's a. It's busier today. Covid put it on the map.

[Michael Duncan]

A lot of mackerel out there.

[James Altheimer]

I'm now looking for the new. New secret. Yeah, a lot of Mackie's.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[James Altheimer]

If you look at the new secret beach.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. If you find the secret beach, let us know. We too are interested.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[James Altheimer]

But it's a conservative area. You know, a lot of military bases. Very, very strong military feel. Patriotic. Great place to grow up.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's. It's great. I wonder if you're sort of tracing back your career. Where did you go to school in Florida too?

[James Altheimer]

I did, yeah. I went to uf. I'm a gator.

[Josh Holmes]

You're a gator.

[James Altheimer]

Came, got sucked into DC up here. Here for law school.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, if you look at your career trajectory and, and where things have, have put you, I mean, what. At some point you probably had dreams of being like a sportscaster or a, a basketball player or whatever, and you've now ended up here. I mean, put this in context of your career trajectory. I know that once you are a chief of staff for the governor and you get to know a Whole bunch of things, all the good and the bad that comes with your state. You feel an obligation to do something about it. I remember being in that space in the same, in the same kind of way, when you have the ability to see the whole field, you feel like public service is actually really important when you can do something about it, which I assume was what you've chosen here. But I gotta imagine that at some point you see your career ending. Like, what is the. That you really wanted to do?

[James Altheimer]

You know, I really did want to be a prosecutor. I loved speech, I loved debate, and, you know, I love putting bad guys away. Now, out of law school, I ended up at a great, great firm in D.C. i was attracted to the firm because they were suing Obamacare, you know, six ways to Sunday. And is that how you started your. I started there and then, you know, crazy set of circumstances. Ended up doing some legal work for Trump's first campaign. Was outside counsel, but, you know, kind of got sucked in. Went into the administration, and I was a senior advisor for Wilbur Ross at the Commerce Department. He was kind of on the back end of his career. I would have loved to have gone off and made some money with him. Just an absolute genius. He could, he could see the matrix there. I started learning more about business and the dangers our country faced, because there'd be some of our, you know, military assets, tanks and things, you know, we'd look at where we were, were getting the metals, and there would only be, like, one or two manufacturing shops in the entire country that's producing this for our military. We're getting everything else from overseas, some from foreign adversaries. So that was a great learning experience. But DC Kind of wore me out, so I got married and was ready to get home. And then the governor, who had met up in D.C. and thought a lot of. He got elected, so the timing worked out. Head home. And little did I know what was coming with the COVID fights and how Florida would have to, you know, lead the way and be the beacon of hope for the rest of the country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah, man. I mean, so you're a Gator guy, like, through.

[James Altheimer]

I'm a Gator, I'm a Gator.

[Josh Holmes]

Florida State fans. Not, not.

[James Altheimer]

So I, I, I've been teaching at the law school of Florida State, so.

[Josh Holmes]

He'S covering his bases. This really is a statewide guy.

[John Ashbrook]

Right, Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Also a huge Cam Ward fan.

[Josh Holmes]

Here. Right. Coral Gable's beautiful this time of year.

[James Altheimer]

I remind my students at FSU every day they couldn't get into Florida. But you know, man, he is fighting.

[Michael Duncan]

I think that Lagway is a good quarterback.

[James Altheimer]

It's going to be a good year. I mean, you know, when I was there, we, we won two basketball, two football. These were the Tebow eras.

[Josh Holmes]

I remember that.

[James Altheimer]

I ran cross country and track and we had some great track, world class superstars. We won some, some championships there, which nobody really pays attention to, but it, it feels like yesterday and we've been in a drought, so it was great to get a championship, seriously, coming out of the final four and, you know, I feel good about football season.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, we'll see.

[James Altheimer]

We'll see.

[Josh Holmes]

I feel like that's. I got a couple cousins that are Gators and I just. Everything they've ever accomplished, I get like texted over and over, chomp, chomp, chomp, text. Yeah, yeah. Which I imagine is what it feels like to be a Florida State fan in Florida, but, you know, it is what it does. All right, two questions. I kind of asked you one, but these are the things that are people sort of judge things on. If you could plan your last meal on earth, what do you think it would be?

[James Altheimer]

I'm a good traditional Italian. Probably be a carbonara or a cachoe pepe. Oh, yeah. Italian food.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah, man. After spaghetti.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look as he's brightened up over there. Spaghetti loves.

[Michael Duncan]

He's beaming.

[James Altheimer]

He's not the one from California.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, no, no. I mean, they don't allow Italians. I don't know if you know that, but now you all have rooting interest in a Pope, so. I appreciate that. Here's a question that. It's a little esoteric, but you could stick with me for a second. You probably heard it, you listen to the program. But our view is that almost every successful person at some level is motivated by one of two things. And there's like no right answer. But it does go to your motivation of how you get to excellence or a pursuit of excellence in your career, which is you're either motivated by the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat there. When you get like a typical politician thing, they think there's a right answer and they kind of try to dissect the middle of this and they're like, well, you know, I obviously like the good things and I don't like the bad things. But, like, if you're real honest with yourself, it's like what you remember.

[James Altheimer]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. The things that are in your head that when you wake up in the morning, you're like, either that's Never going to happen to me again. Which is like a Michael Jordan type, Tiger woods type. But there's also like the Phil Mickelson type, which is like, I've hit that two iron 280 yards over water and stuck it to two feet before. I think I can do it again. And that's the thrill of victory, guy. Where do you think you put yourself.

[James Altheimer]

On 100% thrill of victory?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[James Altheimer]

Yeah. To me, what I remember, the great memories, you know, finding a way to maneuver a bill in at the 11th hour to get a landmark piece of legislation done and find ways to whip votes or, you know, or, you know, prosecute a case and have good evidence and argue before the jury and see them hanging on your every word. The memories, to me are like slapping fives and toasting the team at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. And I. I think if you're fearful of defeat, you're afraid to take risks. I'm a big believer. You know, you got to do what's right.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, that's actually rare. That's rare for a legal mind.

[James Altheimer]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Generally, what we found. We've found is most of the folks who come from the legal profession are agony of defeat folks.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. Because they're like. They're going into the courtroom and they're thinking of everything that can go wrong. What's the other side going to say? How do I fight back against this thing? And so they're sort of naturally more agony and defeat folks.

[Josh Holmes]

It is funny how we have, like, an even split. We've probably had 500 guests.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's almost an even split in terms of where people find themselves, but how they articulate. I think you did a really good job of, like, what it is that motivates you and gets you up in the morning and gets you ready to work that much harder to try to get something done. I mean, I understand that lawyers don't.

[James Altheimer]

Like to lose, and because of that, they're cautious and they won't bring a case if they think, you know, there's a percentage likelihood of loss. But this is where the left has been kicking our tail for generations, because they will just. They'll throw stuff.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

They don't give a shit.

[James Altheimer]

They'll dig inch by inch by inch. And they say this is what they want, but they're really looking to get here, and it's a slippery slope. So I believe sometimes the fight is worth it. And you're gonna lose cases.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[James Altheimer]

And we should be Losing cases. Otherwise, we're not pushing the envelope.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[James Altheimer]

So I believe in taking risks. And I tell the law students, you know, especially when you're a government lawyer, you know, you never cross your ethical boundaries. You got to know where those are. You got to know where the boundaries of the law are. Don't do something illegal, but do what's right. Use every tool you have and get to yes where you can.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's really good. I'm glad there's a guy who understands an awful lot about this is in the great state of Florida. It's a place that we absolutely love and have loved going down to and spending time with your voters, your constituents. And it's, it's been somewhat of a beacon, I think, in, in recent years for conservative policymaking. You've been a big part of that. James Uffmeyer, thank you so much for coming in.

[James Altheimer]

Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it.

[Michael Duncan]

Of course.

[John Ashbrook]

I'll tell you, the thing I like about this guy is it's not just rhetoric, it's action. I mean, he is taking action on a number of issues, as you heard, and just very fortunate to have somebody like him from the great state of Florida keeping people in line.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also just nice to have next gen stuff, right? I mean, this is a lawyer, lawyer. Like you'd never be confused for us, right? Like, this is, this is the guy who like went to law school and actually understood all of it and actually applies all of it and has seen it from different capacities. And look, they're doing a great job. You should have a lot of confidence if you're in the great state of Florida that this guy's going to try to clean up your communities, which I like an awful lot. Thank you, James, for stopping on in. And with that, fellows, I think we did it.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much to the good attorney general and thank you so much to the minions. Remember, if you have not yet, go to the YouTube, hit that subscribe button. It's more fun in videos. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Tuesday. Stay ruthless.

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