Lib Journo Ruins the MLB All-Star Presser & NBC Defends the Auto-Pen

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary: "Lib Journo Ruins the MLB All-Star Presser & NBC Defends the Auto-Pen"

Release Date: July 17, 2025

Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook

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Introduction

In this episode of the Ruthless Podcast, hosts Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook delve into a range of contemporary political and media-related topics with their signature blend of humor and sharp critique. From scrutinizing media biases to dissecting political strategies, the episode offers listeners a comprehensive analysis of the current socio-political landscape.

Media Critique: NBC and Democrat Influence

The episode opens with a strong critique of NBC News, with the hosts arguing that the network serves as a vehicle for the Democratic agenda. Josh Holmes asserts, “They are basically an autopen for the entire Democrat message” (00:00), highlighting a perceived lack of journalistic integrity and impartiality.

John Ashbrook adds, “The ultimate woke millennial journo move is to make every story about yourself” (00:22), emphasizing concerns about media self-centeredness and political bias. The hosts contend that NBC’s reporting is systematically aligned with Democratic interests, suggesting that listeners should view NBC stories skeptically.

MLB All-Star Presser Incident

A significant portion of the discussion centers on a controversial media event involving a journalist at the MLB All-Star Game presser. Pat McAfee's attempt to question the legitimacy of Atlanta's voter suppression laws was met with what the hosts describe as dismissive and politically charged responses. Smug remarks, “They’re going to get a response out of the Ruthless Variety Program” (04:00), indicating the show's intent to challenge and expose media misrepresentations.

The hosts analyze how media narratives can distort political issues, using the All-Star presser incident as a case study to illustrate their point about media bias and misinformation.

Partnership with Fox: Show Growth and Future Directions

Midway through the episode, Comfortably Smug announces an exciting development: Ruthless has partnered with Fox News, marking a significant milestone for the podcast. Smug shares, “We're in business with Fox, which is a lifetime dream come true” (02:18), expressing enthusiasm about the expanded reach and resources. John Ashbrook echoes this sentiment, thanking the loyal audience and promising more content, guests, and big events as the show continues to grow (02:45).

New York City Mayoral Race: Critique of Mamdani

A heated segment focuses on the New York City mayoral race, specifically targeting candidate Mamdani. The hosts vehemently criticize his platform, labeling him a “communist” and mocking his proposals for government-run grocery stores and increased taxation on affluent communities.

Smug underscores, “He made plans based on data he didn’t understand” (09:00), questioning Mamdani’s competence and intentions. The discussion highlights concerns about Mamdani's policies and their potential impact on the city's socio-economic fabric.

Michael Duncan adds, “He's like, no, but my political judgment, it's not even out of your life” (64:05), critiquing Mamdani’s approach to immigration and economic policies. The hosts argue that such policies are detrimental and liken Mamdani’s rhetoric to historical fascist movements, emphasizing the urgency of opposing his candidacy.

King of the Hill: Competitive Political Analysis

One of the episode’s highlights is the King of the Hill segment, a competitive game where hosts evaluate and judge political statements and tweets. This week, the competition features Smokin’ Joe Walsh challenging Matthew Dowd.

Smug initiates the game, stating, “So the other thing to appreciate is our ring announcer does it live every time” (55:31), setting the stage for an engaging and interactive segment. The game involves dissecting political rhetoric, awarding points based on creativity, absurdity, and alignment with conservative values.

In this episode, Smokin’ Joe Walsh’s tweet about concentration camps in America is pitted against Ashbrook’s comparison of Trump and Bull Connor. After a detailed analysis, Ashbrook clinches the round with his unique and historically charged comparison, “That's a world-class take, Ashbrook” (58:16).

Animal Fighting: Humorous and Critical Analysis

Adding a lighter touch, the hosts introduce an Animal Fighting segment, showcasing and humorously critiquing footage of animal confrontations. In this episode, they review a clip of a man attempting to fight a bull in the streets of India.

Smug comments, “He ripped his shirt off, the bull has to know he means business” (50:54), blending humor with criticism of such reckless behaviors. This segment serves as both entertainment and a subtle critique of animal rights issues.

Audience Interaction: Listener Comments and Appreciation

The hosts take time to engage with their audience, reading and responding to listener comments. Lori Vote’s praise is highlighted: “I have learned so much about the Constitution, the law, the intersection of these with politics, with a splash of outstanding humor” (35:01). This interaction fosters a sense of community and underscores the podcast’s impact on its listeners.

John Ashbrook shares humorous anecdotes about listener interactions, further strengthening the connection between the hosts and their audience.

Conclusion: Looking Ahead

As the episode wraps up, Smug emphasizes the show's growth and upcoming content, ensuring that listeners are eager for future episodes. The partnership with Fox News is celebrated, and the hosts encourage continued audience support through likes, subscriptions, and engagement.

John Ashbrook concludes with a motivational note: “Until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We’ll see you Friday. Stay ruthless” (67:20), reinforcing the podcast's commitment to its conservative audience.

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Notable Quotes:

• Josh Holmes (00:00): “They are basically an autopen for the entire Democrat message.”

• John Ashbrook (00:22): “The ultimate woke millennial journo move is to make every story about yourself.”

• Smug (02:18): “We're in business with Fox, which is a lifetime dream come true.”

• Michael Duncan (09:00): “He's like, no, but my political judgment, it's not even out of your life.”

• Smug (55:31): “So the other thing to appreciate is our ring announcer does it live every time.”

• John Ashbrook (58:16): “That's a world-class take, Ashbrook.”

• Smug (50:54): “He ripped his shirt off, the bull has to know he means business.”

• John Ashbrook (67:20): “Until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We’ll see you Friday. Stay ruthless.”

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This episode of Ruthless Podcast offers a blend of incisive political commentary, media critique, interactive segments, and audience engagement, all delivered with the hosts' characteristic fervor and humor. Whether dissecting media biases or engaging in playful competition, the hosts provide a comprehensive and entertaining perspective for listeners seeking alternative viewpoints in today's polarized climate.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

So they are writing this as their own political point of view in Newspeak to try to make it, give it an air of legitimacy. Yeah, they are basically an auto pen for the entire Democrat message.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Every time you open up an NBC story, all you should think is each of these bullet points are auto penned from Democrats.

[John Ashbrook]

The ultimate like, you know, woke millennial journo move is make every story about yourself. And Atlanta has, has detained more illegal journals than anywhere else.

[Smug]

Sounds awesome. Honestly.

[John Ashbrook]

Kristi Noem, if you're listening, check that ID right there. It looks like these are rookie numbers still.

[Smug]

And fair enough, it looks like there's more work to do. Yeah, that front.

[Dick Durbin]

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[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

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

[Josh Holmes]

It's time for our main event.

[Smug]

Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the ruthless variety program. I am Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left right across your radio dial. As always, by now you probably have found out some news about us, some stuff that we're very excited about, frankly. We're in business with Fox, which is a lifetime dream come true. And it's been a lot of work. A lot of you have been along for a journey that is now four plus years in the making. And this is all about our ability to continue to grow and bring more content, better interviews, more stuff. Right. Smog.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, if anything, this is just a tremendous Congratulations and thank you to the Minions. You folks have been the best audience in the world any show could ask for. Your numbers grow. You keep telling your friends and family. So we've grown and grown and grown and all this means for you is more. More episodes, more guests, more big events, more of everything. Thank you all so much. Keep sharing with your friends and families. This is just the beginning.

[Smug]

Might even see these mugs on the channel a little bit more. Yeah, yeah. For you cable news viewers as well. But look, this is a community. It's always been a community. I think what separates all of you and us from an awful lot of other programs is that we get invested in this stuff together, we do stuff together, we think about things, we have some laughs, play some games, we sing, we dance, we entertain. That's right, as we say here on the Ruthless Variety Program. So what we thought we would do with this show, as many of you have come to expect on Tuesdays and Thursdays and now Friday, we have fun, we give you a little veggie, we laugh about some stuff. But for those of you who are new, we thought we'd just give you a little idea with some things that are happening in the news how we would handle that kind of thing. And so look for those of you who are brand new, when a politician goes to a floor of United States Senate or House, you don't always see the dumb effery that they engage in, but we do. And when we do, we like to show you these kind of things. Let's give you an example of the kind of thing that's just not going to slip by. The Ruthless Variety Program. If we mind playing clip one, please.

[Josh Holmes]

But make no mistake, there will be.

[Smug]

A trial and when that trial ends, senators will have to decide if they believe Donald John. Donald John Trump incited the erection insurrection.

[Michael Duncan]

Against the United States.

[Smug]

So it's an oldie, but it's a goodie. But it's a perfect example of the kind of thing. It's just not going to slip under our radar.

[John Ashbrook]

No, no.

[Smug]

People are aroused. We've got a board too, you know, for those of you. Oh geez, right from the beginning, you know that the board at times has played a role here in addition to the four co hosts. People are aroused. It says from time to time.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. For our new, you know, listeners and viewers of the ruthless variety program, bucket one, I would say a 1A of most of our content is just making fun of Democrats. Yeah. And the well of content in that area is very deep.

[Smug]

It really is. It's never ending. They are a content machine. There are times where I believe the progressive movement is working on behalf of the Ruthless Variety Program and all of you to provide fresh content three times a week for us to weigh in on.

[Josh Holmes]

And might I suggest bucket number two, making fun of the media. Yes, always. Plenty of content for that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

No question about it. So but we also, look, the name is the name for a reason.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Smug]

And the reason is, is that we look, people have to be held accountable, don't they? Smug.

[John Ashbrook]

Always. Always. And that's the thing is we've always said, you know, it was a guiding point for when we started this, that there's no point in trying to debate the left because they've completely lost their minds. The only way to approach it is to mock them. And we love to do that.

[Smug]

Ruthlessly, we do. So, for example, this week many of you tuned in to the Baseball All Star Game in Atlanta. Some of you know the history of Atlanta and the Major League Baseball All Star Game, how it was scheduled there. And there were some things that happened, but not everybody knows. Look, there are a lot of content providers out there. Everybody likes to sing and dance and entertain in their own way. Some even call their shows programs after we've called ours a program.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it happens.

[Smug]

But if you ever invite the Ruthless Variety Program to the Major League Baseball All Star Game and you have something to hide under the rug and you ask a question like this in clip.

[Pat McAfee]

2, there is a law on the books here in Atlanta that is a voter suppression law that, that Joe Biden has called Jim crow of the 21st century. Dave, in 2021, in the MLB Network special, you said it's about being relentless with our voices and speaking up. And this is not an isolated moment and it needs to be something talked about on an ongoing basis and being relentless with it. What happened to being relentless with our voices? And why are we in Atlanta when this law is still on the books? And it is a dangerous situation to be a journalist in Atlanta because Atlanta has detained the most journalists by ice.

[Smug]

So if you ask a question like that, you're going to get a response out of the Ruthless Variety Program. And I think Pat McAfee SPN's Pat McAfee Field did that and basically said, I think what you're talking about is a political question. And you know, we don't weigh in on that because we're happy to be here in Atlanta. Well, that's just not going to work with the Ruthless Variety Program. We're going to go into the history of it, which is Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, knuckled under into, I think, what you called Duncan, the dumbest era of American politics ever.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah. This was, you know, Covid era, 2021, BLM protests, and then, you know, after Joe Biden becomes President United States, everyone was bending the knee to the left wing mob.

[Smug]

They were. And so Stacey Abrams and her cohorts within Georgia and across the country started creating what is, I think accurately described as a shakedown racket for corporate America, where they started introducing in very real way, DEI and making sure that basically every corporation in America had to pay the toll, so to speak. And amongst that, there were a bunch of states that following the 2020 election that had appropriate governors and state legislators started examining their election laws and where they could improve what was quite obviously an imperfect set of rules that were administered in 2020. They did. So what did Georgia do? Governor Kemp at the time with the state legislature had one of the most magnificent reforms of election law, most transparent and obvious reforms that had things like voter id.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. It expanded early voting.

[Smug]

Expanded early voting. All they did is make sure that they knew who was voting.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Crazy idea here.

[Smug]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

This is Jim Eagle and I think there's some important context there with this so called journalist who is asking this question because she's citing Joe Biden from 2021 when he called it Jim Crow in the 21st century. First of all, an offensive thing, thing to people who actually had to live through Jim Crow in the civil rights movement to, to, to, to talk like this reform of an election law is the same thing as Jim Crow. Remember he called it Jim Eagle.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know this reporter, this, her name is Jen Ramos Eisen.

[Smug]

She seems like a straight shooter.

[Michael Duncan]

She's wearing a mask in that thing. Number one.

[Josh Holmes]

You're kidding. I didn't see that.

[Michael Duncan]

Number two, she's a journalist for Defector Media. Now, what is the backstory is that Defector is made up of former Deadspin employees.

[Smug]

Oh, no.

[Michael Duncan]

Who all walked out when they were told, I don't know, maybe you should stick to sports at your sports blog. And so what they do is, didn't.

[Smug]

That thing go tits up? Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And so what do they do now? They start their own company where they can just inject woke left wing bullshit into sports again. And that's exactly what happened there. Now, I like Pat McAfee, but like, I don't feel bad for him here, if I'm being quite honest.

[Smug]

No.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, because when you go and you work for espn, which has done the same bullshit and entertain, that's this stuff, that's how you end up with a reporter that's disqualifying in the room, asking the question, you know, and if you are going to, you know, operate in this, in this nexus between politics and sports, like, you got to get wise to that.

[Smug]

Well, you shouldn't be unaware of the backdrop that this lefty progressive movement is trying to do. If you were to ask the ruthless variety program a question, sweetheart, you better buckle your chinstrap cause we're coming back at you.

[John Ashbrook]

That was pathetic. I think McAfee, that was pathetic. You put up with that dude and then she like the ultimate like, you know, woke millennial journo move is make every story about yourself. And also, Atlanta has detained more illegal journals than anywhere else.

[Smug]

Sounds awesome. Honestly.

[John Ashbrook]

Kristi Noem, if you're listening, check that ID right there. It looks like these are rookie numbers still.

[Smug]

And fair up. It looks like there's more work to do.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that front.

[John Ashbrook]

The work continues, but honestly.

[Smug]

So what happened was they shook down the city of Atlanta. They stole. Which was a multimillion dollar opportunity for minority owned businesses in the city of Atlanta. They took it. They just stole it from them under the guise of being responsive to racial concerns about a voting rights law that was passed that resulted in more registration and higher turnout.

[Michael Duncan]

Higher turnout. And that reporter calls it a voter suppression law. Yeah, in 2025, we've had two elections, we've had two elections since then where the voter turnout has gone up and she's still peddling this lie that it's a voter suppression. I mean, I'm just telling you, Pat, as a fellow person from Indiana, like, you got to school up on this because these reporters are going to keep trying to lie to you.

[Smug]

Yep. I just don't understand. So look, this is what you get with the ruthless Friday program. We are not going to miss any of this. This is important context. What the left relies on on each one of these things, especially when they try to infiltrate pop culture or sports or anything else, is that it's the first time you've ever heard it and that everybody does what they just did at the podium and olays the whole thing and talks about how great they are, they're not going to talk about. I imagine there's a fair number of businesses that went belly up as a result of that decision. And that didn't happen in some suburban, white, rich neighborhood. It happened in urban Atlanta. And that although I'm sure they're very happy to have the All Star game this week is probably cold comfort to an awful lot of people who lost their way of life planning for years of having that event in 2021.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I'm just glad finally the MLB has to pay the price for what they did because hopefully they've learned a lesson too. And that is when you bend your knee to the woke mob, it's never enough. Never, never enough. They're gonna come back again and again and they'll lie again and again.

[Smug]

No question about it. So when we come back, we're gonna get to more of this fake newsery and the way that we would handle it with contemporary things, things that are happening right now, right after this.

[Dick Durbin]

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[John Ashbrook]

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[Dick Durbin]

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[Smug]

Okay, lasering in on this second bucket that Ashbrook was talking about, which is the pervasiveness, which fake news has infiltrated society in the hopes that people like ruthless do not exist. There are headlines like this one in graphic one. Okay, for those of you who are audio only, it says, Trump kept gold Club World cup trophy for himself, so FIFA had to give the winner a replica. Okay, well, so this is from the venerable publication of the Daily Beast. I don't think they've ever told a lie over there before, have they, fellas?

[Josh Holmes]

Never. Not once.

[Smug]

So the actual story has nothing to do with this headline. They gave him the World cup trophy because while America's hosting the World cup. Next, right, Dunks. Look, you're the soccer guy.

[Michael Duncan]

I am the soccer guy.

[Smug]

Not all of us are big soccer guys. Some of us are a little bit more Euro than others. For Euro culture and soccer updates, we always go to you.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Smug]

Give us the fresh stuff on the lies here.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, okay, number one, you know, the US has the World cup upcoming. And so part of this, I think, was a goodwill effort by FIFA to build that relationship with Donald Trump, who's gonna preside over the whole thing. So they give him this trophy to put it in the Oval Office. It's gonna be good promotion ahead of the World Cup. Everybody wins. America is a place where soccer isn't, you know, the top four sport, but they want to expand it here in the United States. We have a great youth development program in this country, and our national team is getting better. We didn't win the Gold Cup. We were in the final this year. But, like, you know, things are turning around The United States for soccer.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, and Donald Trump goes to the final for the Club World cup.

[Smug]

Which I thought was magnanimous, because, you know, Donald Trump doesn't like soccer.

[Michael Duncan]

You know what he does love? And he appreciates pageantry.

[Smug]

He does like pageantry.

[Michael Duncan]

And you get to a final of a major competition in some of this European soccer, it's a lot of pageantry, no question. You know, you got fireworks going off, you know, when the team's presented with the trophy. And I don't know if you saw all those clips, but Donald Trump absolutely loved it.

[Smug]

Yeah, he looked great on it.

[Michael Duncan]

It honestly seems like it sort of turned around. His opinion aside, might have.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know, it looked like the players around him loved having him there. I mean, they were smiling, they were cutting up. Daily Beast wasn't the only publication to mischaracterize that event. Msnbc. Here's their headline. Trump Crashes Teams FIFA Club World Cup Trophy photo.

[Michael Duncan]

They just hate how natural Donald Trump is in an environment like that.

[John Ashbrook]

So that's the thing.

[Michael Duncan]

Whether he's waving at a McDonald's and he's giving people fries through the takeout window.

[Smug]

Yeah, they hate it.

[Michael Duncan]

Or doing this sort of thing. They just hate how natural he is.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing is, for so long, the left maintained this monopoly on culture, on sports, on entertainment, and we've seen all of that go away whenever. I mean, the McDonald's thing is a perfect example. When he shows up, people get excited. This is a guy who's been in, like, the focus of the media. He's had a show. He's been on the spot for, like, 20, 30, 40 years. The guy has experience, he knows how to get an audience going, and he loves being in the thick of it. You saw him on that stage. But I have to be honest, when they said that, like, Trump stole the trophy, I was like, this is what I voted for.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a W for America.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I was like, exactly what I voted for.

[Smug]

It reminded me a little bit. You remember there was that story from years ago. I think it was Bob Kraft.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Smug]

That Putin stole his super bowl ring or something like that. And I was like, well, that's pretty good.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a power move.

[Smug]

We took your trophy, the one that you guys care about. You're right. I would have loved that. But again, you know, misconstrued. We set it straight here in the ruthless variety program. Another thing that showed up in the fake news, which is some of our favorite genre, is when it's not enough for the media just to mischaracterize things like this. They have to actually engage in the activism. And then when there becomes a liability, like, for example, when it became apparent that Joe Biden had auto penned pardons of, like, you know, criminals and of, like, prospective pardons of people, that became an issue, obviously, that they needed to clean up. Biden lied about it. We talked about all this on Tuesday Well, NBC News, which is just a real. I mean, they. You gotta hand it to them. They never take a day off when it comes to defending Democrats. Well, they need to muddy the water here a little bit. Bit, Right. So they do something, like, graphic, too. All right, so this is a headline. Lead investigator into Biden's use of an auto pen. Signed letters with a digital signature.

[Michael Duncan]

Whoa. Bombshell.

[Smug]

Same. Same. Right, fellas? Same. Same.

[John Ashbrook]

This is turned on for the, like, absolutely pathetic. Clearly into humiliation Journal put this out on X. It just turned into a dunking context contest of, like, every conservative on the Internet showed up and was like, please tell me you're not saying that, like, Adobe Acrobat that this guy sent a letter with is the same as the President of the United States having oatmeal for brains and his staff just, like, running pardons through an autopen. Don't tell me, like, that's the story you guys are pushing.

[Smug]

I mean, it's so true. It's like, you know. Yeah. Constituent letters. The 50,000 of those that you get a month in a congressional office. Yeah, totally the same as pardoning career criminals with an auto pen.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I mean, one of the things they're referencing in here is, like, basically a perfunctory letter that's, you know, written for somebody to voluntarily come and testify before the committee.

[Smug]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

As if that is the same thing as pardoning your own family.

[Smug]

There's a gravity.

[Michael Duncan]

And criminals.

[Smug]

There's a gravity to that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Seems imbalanced.

[Michael Duncan]

But to your whole point, Holmes, and, you know, you called it muddying. Muddying the water. What. What it is for people who aren't as familiar with how the news game goes. It's just this conflation of two things which are in no way the same. In an opportunity for the Democrats to get a little bit of COVID from the media on this terrible, you know, story that. That came out. Right? And it's just. You see it all the time where they take that small minutia that they can find on the other side of the aisle and use that to be like, well, you know, it's all the same. What can you do? And they prey on the ignorance of the liberal base that watches shows like this.

[John Ashbrook]

To me, so when I saw this, the thought that was most stunning to me is now, for months, we've been subjected to the media, NBC included, of being like, we had no idea Joe Biden was out of his mind. We had no idea that he couldn't function as a person, let alone as president of the United States. We had no idea. He fooled us all. We were all fooled, guys. And then you see this where he's gone. Everyone now knows, and still they're trying to cover for Biden running the auto pen while he's like, lost and probably taking a nap. His staff's just like ramming through all these pardons for each other, using a machine for a signature. And the NBC's still coming for him. They're like, listen, we didn't know. He's out of his mind. But here's the thing. We're gonna still cover for him.

[Smug]

It's so. It's magnificent because you went through this two month period after that Tapper book came out.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Where like every mainstream media organization spent, I don't know, 48 hours with a little introspection being like, you know, maybe we got that.

[John Ashbrook]

How did we miss?

[Smug]

It was. But it was. They never assigned, like, direct culpability to it. It was mostly like, we can do better. Yeah, we can do better. You know, and there was some interest, like, some people were like, worse off than others. And there was clips being played on the Internet that we were all dunking on. And then you get to this and it's a perfect illustration of what you're talking about. Smug, where it's like, yes, they did all that and they did it deliberately. Don't think for a second that anything they did with Joe Biden was anything but intentional. And they still have to find a way to do it.

[Josh Holmes]

And, you know, a lot of times you have to ask yourself, why? Why is NBC doing this? There are supposed to be a broadcast network that's licensed by the taxpayers and serves the public, right?

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

90% of the people who work at NBC are Democrats. So they are writing this as their own political point of view in Newspeak to try to make it, give it an air of legitimacy.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

They are basically an auto pen for the entire Democrat message.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Every time you open up an NBC story, all you should think is each of these bullet points are auto penned from Democrats.

[Smug]

Amazing.

[Michael Duncan]

And it serves the people who are running the Biden administration. It serves those Elizabeth Warren staffers who were secretly running the country. They're the sources for stories like this. So it's not really even about Joe Biden at this point. If they could all line up and shank the guy in the chow line, they do it. All these people in the media, because they hate Joe Biden, because they blame him for Donald Trump being president.

[Smug]

That's right. That's Right.

[Michael Duncan]

But he is only now being defended because of it. It defends the other interests in the Democratic Party. Yeah.

[Smug]

And that's the third bucket that we're talking about that this has led us into. That you get with the Ruthless Variety Program are people who have been practitioners in the field for a couple of decades. We actually know what's under the hood. Right. I mean, there are a lot of people in our line of work that have great opinions and they have great entertainment value and they have a way to do all that. We think that sort of one of the things that separates us here at the Ruthless Variety Program is that we've been there, we know it, we've seen it. We've sat in the room, in Congress or in the Oval Office where big deals are being done. We have dealt with the media on a one, on one basis where we know what they're doing. We know that the stenography is coming out at some point. If you're getting close to a conservative accomplishment in any real way, this stenography is impeccable. It might as well be calligraphy. They do a great job at trying to just push the Democratic message, but we know it when we see it, and sometimes it's subtle and sometimes it's not.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

And this, there's a subtlety to the. Well, Jamie Comer also uses an auto pen. Same muddy the water. They know they can't win the battle.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, that's the thing is like this auto pen scandal, because that's what it is. We had a President of the United States who had no control of his mental faculties and his staff was running the country. The Democrats achieved their dream of an administrative state. That's a scandal. Dems know there's blood in the water. So the media's job is to then muddy it with.

[Josh Holmes]

With a air of legitimacy that just drives people nuts. You know, the NBC News. The timpani come in and they're like. Tonight from Washington, Jamie Comer used an auto pen from some letter that nobody's even read.

[Michael Duncan]

The timpani.

[Smug]

Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.

[Michael Duncan]

Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.

[John Ashbrook]

Tonight from Washington, we looked at a PDF.

[Smug]

Investigators are pointing to several letters that were submitted by James Come, the Congressional Chairman of Oversight. It's all just pageantry and bs and the funniest part about the way that Donald Trump has operated in this world is that it allows us all to be let in, as you say, all the time, Duncan, it breaks the fourth wall. The pageantry that they use to sort of submit what they say is official information. It's been cracked wide open. That allows people like us here at Ruthless to just jump right on through.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

And give you the real story. There is another bucket. And the other bucket is we like to have fun with people that we have gotten to know over the years. And Ruthless started out, you know, with Tom Cotton, senator from Arkansas. Everybody knows Tom Cotton, taking a real flyer on trying to get us a little promotion.

[Michael Duncan]

Our first guest, right?

[Smug]

I mean, we had USB mics in the side of computer. It sounded like shit. I mean, it was terrible. And less than professional presentation, shall we say. But he decided to grace us with his presence, and he did. And we, like, shot to, like, number one or number two in the charts in our first couple episodes, and we're like, wow, we actually have to do this for a living now at some point because it got there. But over time, what it has become is a destination for Republican lawmakers to come in and show a lighter side. They can talk about their serious stuff. We always say that there's carrots and vegetables in every episode. We have some laughs, some candy and vegetables. I should say we have some laughs in the candy bucket, but then we also talk about real stuff. And it's become a destination for people to come in, have some yucks, talk about the serious stuff, and provide you, the audience, with maybe a different texture for somebody that you thought you knew in the seven minute sound bite that you saw on cable news and you formulated an opinion, but now you see it a little bit differently. I want to play the clip of our roundup. This is something that came up six, eight weeks ago. We were like, you think JD Would want to go fishing? One of your guys was like, he said, hell yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Let me say to everyone, you guys.

[Smug]

This is why you listen to the.

[Michael Duncan]

Ruthless podcast, because nobody else would ask that question.

[Smug]

They've written my eulogy 10 times. They said that the Republican majority cannot deliver.

[Michael Duncan]

But we keep doing it.

[Smug]

Of course we want to. As you know, Josh, we want to get you out there. So just say when you want to bring the show.

[Michael Duncan]

Great.

[Smug]

Thanks, Josh. Thanks, Mike. Think battleground state when you're drinking this. All right? I mean, you've seen, like, you're having the time of your life. I am having the time of my life.

[Michael Duncan]

But, hey, you guys come a long way.

[Smug]

It's the difference. Keep up the great work. I love the rootless variety program. Program.

[Michael Duncan]

I like how you say that.

[Smug]

Yeah, well, it's kind of right. During the entire campaign, the most fun, I had the Most insight.

[Michael Duncan]

The most everything was with the ruthless.

[Smug]

The people demand it.

[Michael Duncan]

That's what they want. You got to give the people what they want. Provocative. My wife among them, by the way. She knows way too much about your personal movement, because we make each other better now. We just happen to be number one right now. That's okay with me.

[Josh Holmes]

The famous guy at the end.

[Smug]

How about that? Oh, my God.

[John Ashbrook]

Artist, working journalist in the business. He is.

[Josh Holmes]

He most certainly is.

[Smug]

So we get on the media, and I was like, rufus, podcast.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, there you go.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Smug]

And they were like, really? I was like, first thing. This is fun having me back sometime.

[John Ashbrook]

I love hanging with the fellas.

[Smug]

So I'm very proud to see what you guys have grown this into. Honored to be your first guest. Yeah, this is sort of the camera.

[Michael Duncan]

One day, I'll be your last guest.

[Smug]

So you get. Look, we've had basically everybody in here, and the most consistent thing we get back from the audience, when somebody comes in, if they know them, they're like, wow, I didn't know they were that funny. Or I didn't know that this side of their personality existed. Right. Cause everybody. It's like an outrage manufacturer in Washington, D.C. oh, yeah. Where you don't often get somebody booked on anything that they're not just having to be angry or outraged or whatever.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And the only question they're asked is, well, Trump did this. What's your reaction? Well, Republicans are on their heels. What's your reaction? Like anybody cares what their reaction is. The only people who care about the reaction to that are other journalists. If you listen to what journalists in Washington, do you think that they are, you know, giving you a story? All they care about is how they look in front of other journalists and how they look in front of Democrats. And so the beauty of this show is that it really reveals a lot that these people have to offer that you would. You'd never otherwise hear. I mean, it's one of the genius things about Joe Rogan.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I mean, he sits down, he actually asks real questions, listens to the answer, and listens to the answer. That's the most important thing.

[Michael Duncan]

So the thing that Holmes always says and sort of related to your point, Ashbrooke, is like, one of my favorite things is when we have a guest come in and do the show who doesn't really know us.

[Smug]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, they don't really know the vibe, or maybe they're not a listener of the show.

[Smug]

Very few of them are not.

[Michael Duncan]

But you'll get somebody in here. And sometimes they come from outside of politics. They're like, what the hell is this?

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, and they get into the chair with us and you know, it starts for two minutes and there's sort of a different posture that they have. Like they're prepared to be defensive. They're in like flight or fight mode. You know, like they're doing some six minute hit on television.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

And then they get into the first question, the second question. We're asking them funny stuff about their background and all of this sort of stuff. And then you see their whole posture change.

[Smug]

It's like a light in the eyes.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And they're like, oh, I recognize I'm going to have some fun today.

[Smug]

Yeah. It's like fellow traveler. Yeah, right. And they want to have fun. But that's how you get information.

[Josh Holmes]

It is.

[Smug]

This is 2025. We're not doing Frost Nixon here every day. You know what I mean? Like, people react to different. If you want some real information to candidly get some thoughts from somebody who has been defensively postured on everything, you're gonna have to make people feel comfortable coming in and showing them the real you without fear. And like, look, there's plenty of things to fear if you're an idiot on this show, but if you're just being you, it's the authenticity that we're after. And that's how you, the audience, get real information. It's just a different point of view that we bring to this game.

[Josh Holmes]

And just another reason why the ruthless variety program is the hottest, most influential podcast in this entire country.

[Smug]

Many people, many people are saying. Many people are saying. So I guess the question of the day, which is something we do in every episode, is what's your favorite bucket? Out of all of those, what's your favorite bucket? Is this a bucket that you like us just dunking on? Democrats like the general fun making of their decline. Do you like the interviews and seeing a different side of things? Do you like the fake news busting? What's your favorite? Because everybody's got a little different one. People come to us for all different reasons. Sometimes it's like the intense. We had somebody the other day that was like, man, I really didn't understand the Big Beauty until I loved hearing that. I loved it too, until. Cause we spent a full segment, the vegetable segment of a show, breaking down what everybody was talking about as it applied to the Big Beauty and debunking a bunch of arguments that were, frankly, nonsense.

[Josh Holmes]

I love this question because we get some of the best material directly from our audience and people who like and subscribe and they choose to opine, they throw the comments in and they are so substantive. I mean we truly have the greatest audience in all of broadcast, 100%, no question.

[Smug]

So when we come back, we're gonna get to your question of the day from Tuesday, which was about that. What was his name? Litt.

[Michael Duncan]

David Litt. David Litt.

[Smug]

Yeah. It was this cat that wrote speeches for Obama that's now selling a book and then did this big New York Times op ed about how he was wrong to be terrible to his brother.

[John Ashbrook]

In law family members.

[Michael Duncan]

Maybe I made a mistake snubbing my right wing family. It's just a mistake in so many ways.

[Smug]

Over. Well, we asked you the question of like, do we snub back or how do we handle this kind of thing? We'll get to your answers right after this.

[Michael Duncan]

America's beverage companies are investing in America.

[Smug]

We're American companies making American products with.

[Michael Duncan]

American workers in America's hometowns. We're local bottlers and manufacturer operating in all 50 states, employing more than 275,000Americans.

[Smug]

In good paying jobs delivering for the nation because we believe in the promise.

[Michael Duncan]

Of America and the people who make it great. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Beverage Association.

[Smug]

Okay, so your comments. Remember when you like and subscribe to Ruthless, I know there's a lot of you that are new to us. If you like and subscribe on YouTube, you subscribe on the audio platform and you leave a comment on our question of the day, we read every single one of them. I genuinely mean that. And then we sort of summarize it internally. We figure out what people are trying to say and then we provide some examples on the next show. It's another way for all of us to sort of work together and be a community. And you understand that, you know, much of our programming derives from you, the listener and what it is that you care about to do that on this show. We always start with a voice.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay? First one comes from a longtime friend of the program, David Titzer. Maybe real name, maybe not, but David is our friend nonetheless.

[Smug]

Just a survivor. To get through high school with a name like that, you know, you gotta. It's just a generational run of keeping that last name.

[Josh Holmes]

Titzer writes. No, don't snub relatives over this. You'll want to be there for every winning moment or at least every hypocritical comment they make. Bring booze and remain mostly silent for every precious, delicious moment.

[Smug]

That's so much. That's so good. All right, comment to Haruncs.

[Michael Duncan]

I love this comment because it's about how great we are. This is from Lori Vote. Lori writes, I started listening to you gentlemen about a month ago after I saw you on Meghan Show a couple of times. You are now numbers 1, 2, and 3 on my list of favorite podcasts. Love that no one compares to you. Seriously, though, I have learned so much about the Constitution, the law, the intersection of these with politics, with a splash of outstanding humor. You're all just great. Thanks for sharing those amazing brains with us.

[Smug]

I love that.

[Michael Duncan]

So nice.

[John Ashbrook]

Such a kind thing, right?

[Smug]

And I noticed there was musical notes on that. I think that's maybe an homage to Sinead o'. Connor.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that was my thinking, not adventure.

[Josh Holmes]

I love that.

[Smug]

Cause we've been known to do a tune or two.

[Michael Duncan]

We like a tune, sing and dance and entertain.

[Smug]

We sing, we dance, we entertain.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, comment three, Smugs, comment three comes from Neil. Neil asks, where can I get those baller sunglasses? And I am gonna have to ask my wife. She got them for me. I'll figure that out. And Neil, we will shoot you a message.

[Michael Duncan]

This is actually the nicest comment usually that we get on the sunglasses. And for our new viewers, maybe we should tell people, like, this is Smug's thing. Yeah, you know, every time I read on the YouTube, because like, like Holmes said, we do read every single comment, every episode, there's one like, who's the blind guy?

[Smug]

Oh, dude, the number of Ray Charles blasts. I mean, it's one of my favorite things about every Tuesday and Thursday, because you get new listeners every time. I mean, this is a growing show. So people are. They get see us for the first time and they're like, what's up with the blind guy? Yeah, every time.

[Michael Duncan]

Every time.

[John Ashbrook]

The thing I frequently have to explain is, like, when we have a guest who's like, you know, a senator or a governor who might not necessarily, you know, like, follow me on X and know the whole shtick. Like, well, here's the thing is, I like being able to go to the grocery store and no one knows who the hell I am. You know, like, I love entertaining folks, but I don't want anyone to know who the hell I am. When I go to the grocery store, I don't want to. I mean, we remember years ago when Maxine Waters, when Trump first got elected, she was like, if you see a Trump supporter get out in the streets and you confront them.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, and like we've seen all these. Whether it came to like attacking Teslas and you name like these people are shooting at ice and stuff.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

So in fairness, I don't know that this is the best of. It's not like you're wearing a nose and mustache.

[John Ashbrook]

You would be surprised. You would be surprised.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, he's awfully committed to it. I mean, he wears them on television.

[Smug]

No, I know, but if this is a security mechanism, let me to suggest you could maybe do some more things.

[John Ashbrook]

It worked for Clark Kent.

[Smug]

All right. All right. Well, listen, when we come back, part of the buckets that we talked about is just celebrating what is a Democratic party in ruins. And it's done purposefully and they do it. It's just so mind blowing to us. Just the ideological cliff that these people have fallen off. And the most recent example is what's happening in New York City. We're gonna get to Mamdani and some new polling and what looks to me like a real treacherous slope for the Democrats right after this. Hardworking Americans know when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. Now is the time to unleash our nation's energy, to create jobs, secure our future, and make life better, more affordable, and full of opportunity for all Americans. That's the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. Okay, so Mamdani is communist. Socialist. Communist.

[John Ashbrook]

Communist is communist, man. He's a communist.

[Smug]

He's a communist.

[Michael Duncan]

He's a communist.

[Smug]

Right? I mean, I. I don't think there is. I'm not trying to be unsympathetic to this, but like I am. The dude wants to nationalize grocery stores with the wrong data.

[Michael Duncan]

Doesn't even know.

[Smug]

Didn't even understand the whole talking point.

[Michael Duncan]

In his whole plan on his campaign was based on data he didn't understand. This is. This.

[John Ashbrook]

That's huge. So Duncan pointed this out that like one of Mamdani's main goals is like, he's like, I'm going to establish city run grocery stores and it can be already paid for because there's a part.

[Smug]

Of the budget and no profit motive.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, he basically, he's like, he went into the numbers and he saw that what was actually happening is there were these subsidies for like healthy New Yorkers or something at what he called the corporate grocery store. So he's reading through the volumes of.

[Smug]

Data that he surmised taxpayers paid that went into Citigoff coffers that then were just paid out to these big corporate, greedy bodegas.

[Michael Duncan]

Family owned bodegas. And what it turns out is the money he thought was actually taxpayer money was money that these corporate grocery stores had put into the program. So he's thinking he has this huge pot of money that he can use for his Soviet grocery stores, and he does it again.

[Smug]

This is the kind of dumb fuckery that they don't present to you anywhere in the natural world outside of the ruthless variety program. Because we look at this stuff and know the arguments that these people have made are completely nonsense. So when you dig in a layer deep, you find stuff like that, what an Easter egg.

[John Ashbrook]

It takes that level of thinking because they're like, why in history has every communist country starved? I found a line in this bill right here. Maybe I can be the first communist to make it work.

[Smug]

Nope, you made it worse. Mom. Donnie.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Anyway, the kids. The chances of this cat actually winning and becoming mayor of New York City seems real, is very, very real. There's some new polling that's out, if we can put the graphic up. So Mamdani got a massive lead at this point over Cuomo, who he beat in the Democratic primary fairly handily, who's now Cuomo, suggesting he's gonna stay in and run as an Independent.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, just the other day he announced he's in as an independent, so.

[Smug]

But he's 16 points up on Cuomo to start with. And then you've got the sitting incumbent, Mayor Adams, who's even lower at 15. And then you have Curtis Sliwa, who's at 14, running on the Republican side. I don't know, guys. I mean, look, we've done this for a living. And what you get is a look under the hood from people who've run campaigns who understand these kind of things. These are the kind of numbers when you look at the ideological makeup of the city and the chances of being able to penetrate a media market as dense as New York City, you're gonna have to fundamentally upend information flow in a very real way in order to change these. And this guy, the best hits on him he proudly wears as a badge of honor.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep.

[Smug]

He's like, yes, I'm a communist.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Smug]

Yes, I can't do math. Yes, I don't care about math. And yes, I want to take all your stuff and give it to other people.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, he was so specific on the taking your stuff and giving it to other people component during his campaign, he was like, we need to change how we tax New Yorkers. We need to find whiter communities and tax them more.

[John Ashbrook]

So that's the thing is, to me, that was one of the most insane things I've heard.

[Michael Duncan]

I think it's fantastic because all of those rich white people voted for it. But that's the thing Mamdani got. His whole voter base was the. The whitest, most affluent New Yorkers enjoy.

[Smug]

The white tax folks, the poor folks.

[Michael Duncan]

And the minority folks didn't vote for him.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, I don't want to be hyperbolic, but like, this is the kind of stuff that you heard when ISIS would take over territory. Like, oh, well, if you're a nonbeliever, you're getting that tax. I'm being for real.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And like, you see, socialist governments have done this. They're like, wow. Like Mugabe's like, why did everyone flee who I was taxing and threatening with violence?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right.

[John Ashbrook]

Why is my country now failing? And this guy is not making any secret of it. And like Holmes said is like, all of this information is out there. This is not like, whoa, he doesn't want anyone to see his, like, secret thing. It's on his website. I will raise taxes on wider areas of the city. And he still won.

[Smug]

I mean, part of the problem here is a bifurcated field. Right. He's 40%, which is, you know, it's not 50, but you've got these four established candidates. @ this point, they're gonna have probably more people because they have like, as, you know, you worked up there. Yeah, there's like a million ballot lines in that banana republic.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

And. And that's the other thing is, is you have concerns of. It's not as easy as being like, you know, like Curtis Sliwell. Why don't you just drop. Because it's important as a party to be able to get a certain percentage for ballot access. And then that also matters for, like, down ballot, you know, candidates where you might have parts of, you know, like Staten island, for example, where Republicans are still, you know, competitive. But if you're not getting a certain percentage now, you're gonna have issues with ballot access, and then that's gonna be another uphill ballot. So this is. And the whole thing is this, you realize the way that the system is set up, the way it is in New York City, is to protect incumbency, which is to protect the left.

[Smug]

It totally is. So let's get a little clip outta Cuomo here. Clip four.

[Andrew Cuomo]

Hello, I'm Andrew Cuomo. And unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that the Democratic primary did not go the way I had hoped.

[Smug]

Is he drunk?

[Andrew Cuomo]

To the 440,000 New Yorkers who voted for me, a sincere thank you. Thank you for believing in me, in my agenda, and in my experience. And I am truly sorry that I let you down. But as my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in the game. And that is what I'm going to do. The fight to save our city isn't over. Only 13% of New Yorkers voted in the June primary. The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it.

[Smug]

Okay. All right.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I just say something? One of the greatest speeches ever delivered at a Democrat convention was by his father.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And apparently, he didn't watch a single second of it because he literally. He's a career politician. He's been a governor. He's been in front of cameras his entire life, and now everything's on the line in the city he's supposed to care about, and that's what he's got.

[Smug]

Zero authenticity.

[John Ashbrook]

And this is another thing, is, I've said it before. When you're in a single party town or a single party state, you see this in New York City, you see this in state of California, where Kamala Harris keeps getting appointed higher and higher positions without having any talent or skill. When you're a single party town, you're right. It atrophies.

[Smug]

The atrophy is all.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

You know, it's so true. The atrophy of skill is demonstrable in these. And that's a perfect example.

[Josh Holmes]

That's how you get Kamala Harris.

[John Ashbrook]

That's how you get Kamala Harris.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what happened to her in California.

[Smug]

So Isaac Devere on Twitter made note of the fact that the entire thing that was shot there, the entire sort of relaunch of Cuomo is between 91st and 94th street on Second Avenue in the Upper east side of Manhattan, which.

[John Ashbrook]

If we're being honest, I mean, it's kind of the slummier part of the Upper east side. But if I'm Cuomo, I reply to that and be like. Because it's like, the only safe part of town now, man.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Like.

[Smug]

But again, this is what he's running on. Clip 5. This is what Cuomo is running against.

[John Ashbrook]

I think we're done here.

[Smug]

We're gonna go. We haven't had a chance.

[John Ashbrook]

Wrapping up.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry.

[John Ashbrook]

Folks, we're wrapping up.

[Smug]

I'm so sorry, guys.

[Josh Holmes]

They're like, what do you mean by globalize the intifada? And they start playing a trumpet.

[Smug]

They ask a question about comments that he made about globalizing the intifada, which. Folks, that's not New York or anywhere else. That's what we do in Gaza and terrorist organizations.

[Michael Duncan]

Can we play that one more time, just. Just for me? Because I want to know what the trumpet was. It sounded like the beginning of the Saints Go Marching In.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Can we play just one more time? I just want to be 100% sure.

[Smug]

We'Re going to go.

[John Ashbrook]

We're wrapping up.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry, folks, we're wrapping up.

[Smug]

I'm so sorry, guys. It really is.

[Michael Duncan]

That's remarkable.

[Josh Holmes]

It looked like she was cued by someone standing in front.

[Michael Duncan]

Somebody goes like this. And she's like, all right, it's time for it.

[Smug]

That you can see the two. You got a tuba guy back.

[Michael Duncan]

Wouldn't that be hilarious? Wouldn't it be hilarious if some politicians in, like, a scandal on Capitol Hill and they have to walk around and reporters are hounding them. If you just rolled around with the guy with a trumpet, that's a great idea. Yeah.

[Smug]

They should do it on Capitol Hill, like, have a tuba and trumpet everywhere you go. If somebody asks a question you don't want to hear. Great, great idea. All right. So the last thing that we haven't covered in terms of buckets is variety. We play games, we do all kinds of different stuff, but included in the variety. Bucket. Animal fighting. It's been an animal fighting podcast for quite some time.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. It all started when Smug said he thought he could fight a horse.

[Smug]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

There was a poll which was released years ago. This is like fall of 2020, October 2020. Like, right when we launched and they asked Americans, what's the largest animal you could beat in a fight? And they asked British people, what's the largest animal you could fight or beat in a fight? And Americans, like, you saw, there were folks, you know, decent double digits who were like, I could take a bear.

[Michael Duncan]

I could take a wolf.

[John Ashbrook]

And then you'd have, like. Meanwhile, in 70% of the population was like, I couldn't beat a rat.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right. They haven't had any confidence since 1776.

[Smug]

It was a real confidence buster, no question. Off with the red coats and down with the confidence. So. But anyway, and the fighting, the horse stuff in genre, we try to find something that happened this week. You know, we don't like to just. There's a Million clips over the last 10 years that you can go to to find good animal fighting. This is one from this week that we saw on the Internet. Clip six, please. There is a gentleman for our audio only listeners. He looks like he stripped off his shirt. He is challenging a bull in the streets of India and he's attempting to fight the bull. He's got it by the horns and.

[Michael Duncan]

It looks like he's actually.

[Smug]

He's given it a run. Right. I mean, you applaud the man. Courage. Spain. This is not. There's no pageantry here. He's just attempting to fight the thing. Good move, bad move. I mean, looked like he kind of had the thing handled.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, he wasn't dead.

[Smug]

No.

[John Ashbrook]

So, I mean, that's already, you know, point in his favor. Outstanding work for wolf trimming that video. When I first saw it, There was like 45 seconds of traffic and like 10 seconds of grabbing the bull by the horns.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I give this man zero credit, and here's why.

[Smug]

Okay.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't think that bull knew it was a fight. Oh, this is the middle of the street.

[Smug]

You know, he just dragged that thing out.

[Michael Duncan]

You got mopeds weaving in and out.

[Smug]

It's like, what's going on here?

[Michael Duncan]

No pageantry, no arena, no. No timpani. Right. So I think the bull was more than anything confused. I give this man zero credit.

[Smug]

Well, how about when he rips his shirt off, though? When he rips his shirt off, the bull has to know he means business.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, but where's his cape? Where's that funny hat and the sword?

[Smug]

Yeah, yeah. He doesn't. There's no red involved, which we know that they. They go towards.

[Michael Duncan]

I think this is stolen valor from real bullfighters is what that is.

[Smug]

Well, it's an animal fight, nevertheless.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

I applaud the man's courage for getting in the ring. Even if it's not much of a ring anyways. You're gonna get more of that. We talk about all these things. Smash, you've had a long running view on animal fighting and our place in the world.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that we dominate and we have to continue to dominate or we will be dominated. And this is not just on bulls. This is on basically every member of the animal kingdom would. Base would eat us if they had the chance to do it. And, you know, we've seen like in India and also in Japan and other places, monkeys have sort of like run rampant.

[Smug]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

This has been a while since we've seen these stories. So maybe they're taking it seriously. But we have this basic solution that you have an Olympic sized swimming pool and you cover the top of it with bananas. The monkeys go into the pool for a banana and they drown. Very simple.

[John Ashbrook]

I bet it's work.

[Josh Holmes]

It's an elegant solution. And I think that's what they're doing.

[Smug]

We've come up. We solved the problems because you don't want to engage a monkey in hand to hand combat. They'll rip your arms off and beat you with them. They always look small, but they are not. They're very tough customers. You know, there's like different solutions for different things. We had Hank the Bear in the Upper Northwest and it was breaking into people's cabins and stealing stuff. We had a solution for him. You know, I mean, you listen and if you have an animal problem can be small as a rodent. We've got an answer. If you listen to the variety program, the other thing we have an answer for is Games. Games, the signature game. We play a lot of different ones. Dem or journo. When Harris was vice president, we played a game called Veep or Veep, which is of course Selina Meyer's HBO Veep, where she is notoriously an idiot. And we pulled quotes from that show and tried to match them up with quotes that Kamala Harris said in the wild. And we had to stop playing the game because we ran out of Veep quotes. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Kamal had even more than a character with five seasons being stupid.

[Smug]

Exactly. But our signature game is a game called King of the Hill. And the way that we arrived on King of the Hill is that there were a bunch of people who made a living over a series of decades proclaiming to be conservative thought leaders in this country. They made a living out of it. Foreign publications were advisors to politicians, this kind of thing whose Trump mere presence broke their brains into a million different pieces. But then they showed you exactly who they are, and it begins to fill in some of the blanks at just why it is the conservatives lost so many battles over the years because these are the people that we had relied on to sort of guide victory.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

So they're like turncoat Republicans, essentially, as we use as competitors in a head to have Face off where we have a judge and a jury and two of us pick somebody over a course of a calendar week that we think has the most insane takes of the week and the winner is awarded King of the Hill. We do it every week here.

[Michael Duncan]

It's fun, it's good content, it's great. And you're Our defending champion this week, right?

[Smug]

I am, I am. And I brought back somebody who sort of helped solidify this game in its greatness, which is Matthew Dowd.

[Michael Duncan]

That feels like Jen Rubin erasure.

[Smug]

Well, they were kind of head to head competitors at the beginning and Dowd was really more of an identity for me. And he went away for six, eight months and now he's back. And so I won last week and I'm champion.

[Michael Duncan]

And so the, the contender here is Ashbrook. Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And I'm bringing smokin Joe Walsh.

[Michael Duncan]

Smoking Joe Walsh. Man, this is going to be great. I'm judge Smug is bailiff.

[John Ashbrook]

I'll maintain order in the court.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's go ringside.

[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. It's time for King, King of the hill. In the red corner, fighting from who knows where, former congressman Smokin Joe Walsh. And now in the blue corner, fighting from an empty campaign office in Texas and current champion of the world, Matthew Mail Patter Doud.

[Smug]

So the other thing to appreciate is our ring announcer does it live every time. Every time you hear it.

[John Ashbrook]

Best in the business.

[Smug]

It's the best.

[Michael Duncan]

Can you imagine? I, I just leave a comment. If this is you, if this is the first time you've ever watched our show, you know, and you're seeing that for the first time, what's your reaction? Because he does it live every time and it really is remarkable.

[Josh Holmes]

It really is.

[Smug]

It really is. So our champion always starts first.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

So I will start first. Wolf, if we wouldn't mind putting up exhibit number four, please.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh God. It's blue sky. That's how you know it's good.

[Smug]

I said this a month ago and it's even more true today. Trump is George Wallace of today and Homan is Bull Connor. Fantastic.

[John Ashbrook]

Former Republican advisor George Wallace and Bo Kar.

[Smug]

It is, it's amazing. It's amazing. I don't have anything more to add. I think it speaks for itself.

[Michael Duncan]

What else do you have to say for itself?

[Josh Holmes]

Challenger, exhibit number nine, please. Former Republican congressman Smokin Joe Walsh is commenting on one of President Trump's posts about Rosie o'. Donnell. And his conclusion is this is fascism, plain and simple. Defend it all you Trump supporters defend it. I dare you. Or take the cowards route. Look the other way and scream mamdani. Socialism, government run grocery stores. Because you can't defend this. Because if you do, you're defending fascism. It's basically Trump taking a shot at Rosie o'.

[Michael Duncan]

Donnell. Right?

[Josh Holmes]

That is fascism. Yeah, he's not even. He said that before he was president, he said he was gonna sue her. He said he hated her. He always has. This is not fascism. This is Trump taking a shot at Rosie.

[Michael Duncan]

She's been, like, doing interviews from Ireland. She's living in Ireland now.

[Smug]

Yeah. She apparently decamped after the election.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, at least she had the courage to actually do it. I know so many lives say it every four years. All the libs are like, I'm gonna go live in Canada if Trump wins.

[Smug]

Half of Hollywood has said that, and they all still live here. Yeah, but she actually got it done.

[John Ashbrook]

I want to know, though, is it because she actually had the courage, or does she just want access to a lot of whiskey and bars that are open at 10am.

[Michael Duncan]

Probably also a tax advantage over there.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, don't forget the shepherd's pie.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, the shepherd's pie.

[Smug]

Don't forget that. Don't forget that. Okay, what do we got?

[Michael Duncan]

So it's fascism against the racists during the Civil War rights movement. This is just a heavyweight battle.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a tough call in round one. I guess what I would say is that it feels like a tie to me, and in that case, like, the tie goes to the runner, and the runner is the take that is more original. I think Ashbrook had a great tweet there with the fascism thing, but it feels like that's what everybody's saying now. You know, saying that Trump is George Wallace and saying that Tom Homan is Bull Connor is. Has a unique flair to that tweet. And for that reason, you win round one.

[Smug]

I love it. I love it. I'll take it. All right, what do we got?

[Michael Duncan]

Challenger.

[Smug]

Challenger.

[Josh Holmes]

Exhibit eight, please. Smokin. Joe Walsh is tweeting or tweeting about his pod. Looks like a podcast or something. He says there are concentration camps in America. In America. Shame on us. Concentration camps in America.

[John Ashbrook]

So I'm guessing this is a reference to Alligator Alcatraz.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I guess you called it Gator Gitmo, which I think is a better name.

[John Ashbrook]

They should call it Gator Gitmo to begin with. But like you, there's been multiple rundowns of, like, who are the folks in here? And it's like, multiple murderers. Yeah, like multiple, you know, people who've assaulted children. Worst of the worst. And to be like, wow, they're being put in jail.

[Smug]

Concentration camp.

[Michael Duncan]

Remarkable.

[Smug]

All right, so one of the things that Daud has is multiple gears. Right. You'll find that each competitor has a different genre that they specialize in. He's Somewhat of a faux intellectual who likes to do the poetry and likes to do, like, you know, music references and these kind of things to just sort of appear more cultured. Can we put exhibit one, please? Happy B Day. Folk music artist Woody Guthrie. Birthday, 1912. Okama, Oklahoma. Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. And look at this pic of him that he's got there in his tweet. Look at his pic of him with his guitar which says, this machine kills fascism. Amen.

[John Ashbrook]

Hold on.

[Smug]

Amen.

[John Ashbrook]

Can you reread that quote?

[Smug]

Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it.

[John Ashbrook]

So. So there's a number of rumors about Matthew Dowd when he was working on Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Smug]

Oh, my God.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm not going to make any claims, but if you Google Matthew Dowd Schwarzenegger Affair, maybe you'll find something.

[Smug]

Let me just take that extrapolate, because it's been reported in the New York Post. Venerable. There were allegations about. Was it Maria Shriver Was. And of course, they split Schwarzenegger. There was allegations of infidelity on all sides of it. But one piece that had come to light, we're not mentioning making news here, is that perhaps Matthew Dowd had had some kind of physical engagement with Arnold.

[John Ashbrook]

Schwarzenegger, the candidate's wife.

[Michael Duncan]

Wife.

[Smug]

While he worked out there. And so if you take that and just take the quote literally, life has got a habit of not standing hitched. Well, in this case, it does seem so. You've got to ride it like you find it.

[John Ashbrook]

You can't say it. He doesn't live by his word.

[Smug]

It does seem apropos.

[Michael Duncan]

It does seem apropos. It's, you know, it's not a surprise that he's Republican turned Democrat when he was already disloyal.

[Smug]

Special sauce.

[Michael Duncan]

That's a good one. And I got a soft spot for Woody Guthrie content. And this is a thing that Dow does a lot. Does it, you know, where he's doing Happy Birthday to, like, historical figures. It's very funny.

[Smug]

Yeah, it's very funny.

[Michael Duncan]

I just don't think it could compete with concentration camps in America. That's such a wild take. And, and, and to. To cue the audience into so some background here on King of the Hill, because I suspect this is the case is sometimes a participant will save a nuke for when they're down so they can win a round. They preserve it in their back pocket. And I think that's what our friend John Ashbrook did for round two, it was a smart strategy.

[Josh Holmes]

He wins, had to keep it alive.

[Smug]

So I'm going to lead off our deciding round. Round three. The other aspect that I love about Matthew Dowd is his unfailingly terrible political advice. Always something that he has provided for good 25, 30 years now. Republicans used to listen to it until they lost everything that you could lose. And then Democrats started listening to it. Go figure. It hasn't worked out great. This is his polling breakdown in Exhibit 2.

[Michael Duncan]

Nice.

[Smug]

In latest Gallup polling, 35% approve of Trump handling of immigration, while 62% disapprove of. Democrats need to be proactive on this issue. Getting rid of ice, a path to citizenship and no border wall.

[John Ashbrook]

Amazing.

[Smug]

The election that we are not seven months separate, eight months separated from, had 70 plus percent of Americans agreeing on deportation, a border wall, basically the entirety.

[Michael Duncan]

His position is to the left of.

[Smug]

Kamala Harris and like you've got Democrat like psycho Democrats who are like, we.

[Michael Duncan]

Don'T wanna get rid of ice, now's the time for amnesty.

[Smug]

He's like, no, but my political judgment, it's not even out of your life. It's my political judgment that if they're proactive on letting everybody back in, that this is going to serve the Democratic Party quite well.

[John Ashbrook]

And where did he get those numbers from? Cause that's absolute bs Like I've seen fresh polling and that is completely wrong.

[Smug]

No, it's just cherry picked like hell. Because if you look at every single immigration policy, I mean this is really a real problem that Democrats talk about, about how Americans basically have bought into the immigration strategy that Trump has laid out and there's nothing they can do to get that back. They just try to like muddy the water a little bit. He's saying wrong.

[John Ashbrook]

Amazing.

[Smug]

They need to run on immigration like the thing that cost them the election. They need to run on that. Amazing.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, it's good. Hashbrook, what do you got, pal?

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, exhibit seven, please. And at 8:15am, after he's completed his breakfast, Phil Walsh tweets this. I don't give a fuck right now. Where you stand on forgiving student loans, government run grocery stores of the Middle East. Not right now. Our very democracy and the rule of law are teetering. If you support freedom, pluralism, democracy, the rule of law and basic human decency, I'm with you. I'm in your tent. Come on, wake the fuck up. We're fighting fascism here in America. Nothing all caps else matters right now. After breakfast at 8:15am that's so wild.

[Smug]

That's a real heavy, loaded, caffeinated product that he was working on.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, it may have started the night before. I'm just saying, no proof. Satire. We're laughing. But that's possible.

[Smug]

Possible.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, sometimes when you're judging this game and you're. You're trying to really evaluate a tweet, it feels a little bit like being a judge in the figure skating competition.

[Smug]

In the Olympics, because there's specifics, there's parts. You look for elements.

[Michael Duncan]

Look for elements. You're looking for the content. The brain worms. How crazy is it? And you're looking for pageantry.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And you use all of those component parts to make up the final score.

[Smug]

Totally.

[Michael Duncan]

I think ultimately, Joe Walsh got a 10 on pageantry. I mean, that is the most dramatic tweet we've played on this game in a long time.

[Smug]

It really is.

[Michael Duncan]

Usually. You see that from Sherry Jacobus.

[Smug]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I think for that reason, that's it. We have a new champion.

[Smug]

Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

Huge.

[Josh Holmes]

W dethroned Matt Dowd.

[Smug]

That is something. That's a big deal. It's a real accomplishment here on the variety program. So now you get a little flavor. If this is the first time you're listening to the variety program of what it is that we do here, we're gonna have a lot of fun. Remember, there's nothing that changes for you, the listener. If you've gotten this on YouTube or anywhere you get podcasts, you will continue to do so. Change nothing. The only thing it means is you're gonna get more. More of it. You're gonna see us probably in a few more places. We're gonna have a more fun bunch of interviews. This allows us to expand the offerings, so to speak.

[Michael Duncan]

And don't forget, you're also getting a Friday episode.

[Smug]

Get a Friday episode.

[Michael Duncan]

You get that every week now.

[Smug]

You get it every week. We get it every week. So our question of the day. What's your favorite bucket? What's your favorite thing that we do here on the ruthless variety program? You like and subscribe, you add it. We read them all. And we will respond accordingly and read those on the very next episode. Fellas, it has been a pleasure. Big, big fun. And thank you to Fox News for believing in us and allowing us to take this and you, the listener, to the next level. Fellas, I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much to the listeners. We would not be here without you. Keep spreading the word. Tell your friends to like and subscribe on YouTube if you have not already. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Friday. Stay ruthless.