Liberals’ Descent Into Total Madness

Summary

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Ruthless Podcast: "Liberals’ Descent Into Total Madness"

Episode Summary
Date: August 22, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook

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Overview

In this raucous Friday episode, the Ruthless crew—Holmes, Smug, Duncan, and Ashbrook—deliver their signature irreverent take on the week's news, focusing on what they perceive as a cascade of liberal political missteps, social media hysteria, viral protest moments, and media absurdities. The hosts blend hard-hitting conservative commentary with relentless humor, mocking high-profile leftists, protests, viral internet incidents, political fundraising tallies, and, of course, the latest outlandish behavior making headlines.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Elite Media, Manufactured Heroes & Fundraising Gaps

• Washington Post's Sandwich Guy Coverage (00:00, 28:48, 31:00):
  • Hosts lampoon the media's creation of heroes out of minor protesters, notably a man who threw a sandwich at a cop, suggesting this signals desperate times for the left.
    • "The leader of our movement is the guy who threw a Subway sandwich. That is rock bottom, man. That is rock, rock bottom." —Michael Duncan [00:00, 30:43]
  • They highlight that whereas liberals make icons out of trivial antics, the DNC raised only $13 million to the RNC’s $85 million—a framing of Democratic decline.
• Media "Echo Chambers":
  • Mainstream outlets are mocked for tailoring their stories to minuscule, insular audiences.
    • "They write articles for like 10 people." —Josh Holmes [00:08, 30:46]

2. Cleaning Up D.C. and Law & Order

• Union Station Revamp & Crime Stats (03:25):

  • The hosts credit Trump for cleaning up Union Station, formerly described as a "homeless encampment," and tout dramatically lowered crime/homicide rates.
    • "This is the first week in recorded crime statistics in the city… that there has not been a homicide." —John Ashbrook [06:24]
  • Mockery extends to journalists who downplay or misrepresent the realities of urban crime.

• Union Station Drinks, Lawlessness, and "Sharia Law" Bit (04:23):

  • Holmes and Ashbrook riff on the inability to get a beer in Union Station and juxtapose the illegality of alcohol with open-air drug use—a running joke setting up the show’s irreverent tone.
  • "Union Station, you can't get a beer, but you could probably get heroin." —Michael Duncan [04:46]

3. Protest Culture, Bullhorns, and Police Response

• Viral Protester Confrontations (07:28):

  • The crew dissects viral encounters between activists and law enforcement, poking fun at a protester’s cultural appropriation argument over a keffiyeh and her heavy-handed activism.
  • "The whitest lady you've ever seen in your entire life... wearing a Hamas rag." —John Ashbrook [08:53]

• Police "Chirping Back" (09:05):

  • Applauding police officers who stand up for themselves in confrontations rather than being "chew toys for libs with daddy issues."
  • "Thank God, because for so long... police are essentially like, you're the chew toy for libs..." —Michael Duncan [09:36]

4. Immigration Theater—"Heroic" Lawyers and Language Gaffes

• Immigration Lawyer Fails (12:27):
  • The hosts mock a viral video in which a self-appointed immigration lawyer insists he is "here to help," but can’t communicate due to not speaking Spanish.
    • "If you're gonna be an immigration lawyer, it would help if you speak Spanish." —John Ashbrook [13:38]
  • They frame the lawyer as grandstanding for social media and note immigrants’ confusion and discomfort.

5. "Karens Gone Wild": Rhode Island AG Incident (16:39)

• Deputy AG’s Arrested Meltdown:
  • The panel relishes the viral arrest of Rhode Island Deputy Attorney General Devin Flanagan, dubbed "white girl wasted" and acting above the law.
    • "Can you imagine? Like, they had to have thrown just an incredible scene." —John Ashbrook [19:13]
  • The absurdity is heightened by her belief that she could control police body cam protocols and aggressive claims of authority.
  • Discussion turns to the ineffectiveness of apologizing or expressing contrition in modern progressive politics—suggesting libs “run through the tape” and never admit fault.

6. Gavin Newsom’s Social Media Strategy and Party Leadership (25:18, 23:56)

• Analysis of Newsom's Attempts to "Go Viral":
  • Newsom’s social media gestures, hand signals, and podcast appearances are compared to attention-seeking protestors:
    • "He looks like he's doing the Macarena." —Michael Duncan [26:05]
  • The team argues Newsom’s efforts merely fuel conservative engagement and mockery, not actual support—“craving attention like the bullhorn lady.”
  • Launches into a question of the day: Will Newsom’s strategy work or is any attention (even negative) still good for a floundering party?
• Democratic Dysfunction:
  • Noted fundraising woes and lack of viable leadership ("Kamala's on a book tour about losing") [36:17].
  • "The contrast could not be better for Republicans." —Guest/Panel [38:25]

7. Media Critique—Washington Post’s Comedy Flop (51:08)

• WaPo’s Gen Z Video Fiasco:
  • The panel eviscerates the Washington Post’s attempt at "Gen Z comedy," calling it unwatchable and emblematic of mainstream media’s disconnect.
    • “The Washington Post is a daycare run by Jeff Bezos where the kids light his money on fire all day long.” —Michael Duncan [53:01]

8. Corruption and Cultural Excuses—Eric Adams Campaign Story (41:43)

• Cash-in-Chips Bribery Scandal:
  • Hilarious review of a NY campaign advisor caught handing a reporter a crumpled chip bag filled with cash, later brushing it off as a "cultural misunderstanding."
    • "It's not corruption, it's just Chinese!" —Michael Duncan [46:09]
  • Segment likened to Cuomo's infamous: “I'm not perverted, I'm just Italian" defense [49:16].

9. Outrage Moments & Potpourri

• Trump Penalty Overturned (32:13):
  • Hosts gloat over the appeals court’s rejection of a $500M penalty, characterizing it as vindication against political "lawfare."
• Miscellaneous Culture War/Law & Order Bits:
  • Includes ejected Navy recruiter in an F-15 (56:13), Padres security tackling a kid on the field (57:54), and the eternal wisdom:
    • "When children learn consequences, they don't become WaPo journos." —Michael Duncan [58:46]

10. Audience Engagement & Conservative Strategy

• Listener Feedback (39:54):
  • Readers call in and write with advice for GOP strategy, focusing on local elections, clear communication, and turnout—not resting on poll leads or registration advantages.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The leader of our movement is the guy who threw a Subway sandwich. That is rock bottom, man."
  —Michael Duncan [00:00, 30:43]
• "If you want to be an immigration lawyer, learn Spanish, bro. Like, pro tip. This one's on the house."
  —Michael Duncan [14:33]
• "The only thing they were trying to do... just leave. Just walk away. And they're like, no."
  —Josh Holmes [21:12]
• "Gavin Newsom’s a loser. His state has the plague right now... Newsom’s out here trying to stop Donald Trump? The guy can’t do anything when his state’s on fire."
  —Michael Duncan [27:09]
• "It’s not corruption, it’s just Chinese! That’s unbelievable!"
  —Michael Duncan [46:09]
• "The Washington Post is a daycare run by Jeff Bezos, where the kids light his money on fire all day long."
  —Michael Duncan [53:01]
• "When children learn consequences, they don’t become WaPo journos."
  —Michael Duncan [58:46]

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Timestamps of Major Segments

• 00:00 — Introduction; WaPo's "Sandwich Guy" and liberal viral heroism
• 03:25 — Union Station, DC crime, and Trump’s "cleanup"
• 07:28 — Protester-vs-cop exchange and the spectacle of protest culture
• 12:27 — Immigration lawyer viral moment and liberal social media "performances"
• 16:39 — Rhode Island Deputy AG meltdown: Virality, privilege, and legal consequences
• 25:18 — Gavin Newsom’s social media tactics & Democratic fundraising woes
• 28:48 — Deification of "Sandwich Guy"; absurd media narratives
• 31:00 — Media narratives and DNC/RNC fundraising contrast revisited
• 41:43 — Eric Adams campaign advisor "cash chips" scandal
• 51:08 — Washington Post’s Gen Z sketch disaster and Bezos’ absentee stewardship
• 56:13 — Air Force ejection video, kid tackled at Padres game
• 39:54, 41:09 — Audience feedback and conservative GOTV/local politics strategy

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Tone and Language

Laced with sarcasm, mockery, and inside jokes, the episode is fast-paced and highly opinionated, with a bombastic, irreverent conservative tone. The banter is informal, occasionally coarse, and loaded with over-the-top hyperbole—deliberately lampooning the left and the mainstream media at every turn.

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Conclusion

Epitomizing its "variety progrum" reputation, this Ruthless episode is an energetic ride through political absurdity, protest spectacle, media self-parody, and the hosts’ giddy delight at Democratic missteps. While deeply partisan and satirical, the show offers insight into how right-leaning commentators view and exploit the viral flailing of their opposition—bolstering their own movement with ridicule, schadenfreude, and strategic encouragement for conservative listeners.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

They're like, the leader of our movement is the guy who threw a Subway sandwich. Like, it is. It is. That is rock bottom, man. That is rock, rock bottom.

[Josh Holmes]

It is revealing in a way, though. And that is so much of our elite media places like the Washington Post, they write articles for, like, 10 people.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I mean?

[John Ashbrook]

Increasingly, that's what the circulation is, to.

[Michael Duncan]

Be honest with you. Right. But the.

[Josh Holmes]

The idea that some piece of random street art would end up in the Washington Post, you would think that'd be a crazy thing. But they're trying to make it into this huge viral moment.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

The one story they do not want us to talk about is the fundraising, which we learned this week, the DNC has raised $13 million to the RNC's 85.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

And I think that their effort to try to, like, lionize sandwich guy and Mangione and this idiot from Rhode island and Letitia James and Gavin Newsom, I think that that is a recipe for $13 million to the Republican $85 million.

[Josh Holmes]

The 2017 tax cut supercharged manufacturing in America. And thanks to the hard work of President Trump and leadership in the House.

[John Ashbrook]

And Senate, the motion is adopted.

[Josh Holmes]

Manufacturing in America is ready to soar to new heights.

[John Ashbrook]

It'll be the biggest tax cut ever approved in the history of our country. President Trump is probably a bigger champion.

[Michael Duncan]

Than anybody I've ever seen of making sure that we grow domestic manufacturing.

[Josh Holmes]

This is looks like. This is what a manufacturing resurgence looks like. Thank you, President Trump, for delivering the one big, beautiful bill, the investment of.

[John Ashbrook]

A generation of America's manufacturers.

[Josh Holmes]

And when manufacturing wins, America wins. Paid for by the national association of Manufacturers.

[Michael Duncan]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. Keep the fate, hold the line and own the lids.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

It's time for our main.

[John Ashbrook]

Fun time Friday. Welcome back to the ruthless Variety Program. We get a lot of content today. You're gonna love every single second of it. I'm Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right, across your radio dial. As always, fellas, look. What has become a custom here on the Variety program is that we do a mixture of candy and vegetables on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There's some things you just need to know know, and we cover it in depth. And on Friday, I don't know if this was the intent, but on Friday, you just got a lot of stuff throughout the course of the week that is unbelievable. You. You haven't seen this because it's not. It's not covered much of anywhere. But the stuff that We've got in front of us. You're gonna love every second. There's a ton of yucks.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a fun time Friday.

[Josh Holmes]

It's all. It's all candy. This episode will give you the sugar foot.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

But the diabetters, the diabetes, and the diabetics. So we might as well just jump right into it, because I feel like everything is a lightning round in here. We will start, obviously, there's a lot going on with law enforcement in D.C. and whatnot. The Vice President, United States had an encounter in clip one, if you don't mind.

[Josh Holmes]

Ready?

[John Ashbrook]

This is the guy who thinks people.

[Michael Duncan]

Don'T deserve law and order in their own community.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, so it's. It's the vice president, the Secretary of Defense. They're in Union Station, which, by the way, was unthinkable a couple of months ago.

[Michael Duncan]

It was, for folks, to be completely honest, it was essentially a homeless encampment. It was a homeless encampment of people on drugs. The whole place smelled like a bathroom because it was being used as a bathroom by homeless people and people who are on drugs and criminals. A person got murdered outside of there?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, well, no, I mean, our friend of the program, Scott Jennings, he didn't.

[Michael Duncan]

Get murdered, but witnessed a murder.

[John Ashbrook]

He witnessed it when he was in there several months back. I mean, it's. It's. It's become problematic.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Yeah, no, the. The Donbas is safer than Union Station until President Trump stepped in and brought law and order to town.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I've got another complaint about Union Station. Other than the lawlessness.

[John Ashbrook]

No, please, I'm with you on this.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I don't know if Union Station was financed under Sharia law or something, but it is it in a dry county because numerous times I've had to board an Amtrak train.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And you arrive there a little bit early. And a gentleman at the end of the day deserves some suds 100%. You cannot get them there.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the thing is like, Union Station, you can't get a beer, but you could probably get heroin. Yeah, yeah, sorry, we're not serving alcohol. But you see the guy who's, like, heckling folks trying to get on a train, he could probably score you some aids.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. I mean, they're driving us towards putting needles between our toes.

[Michael Duncan]

It's insane.

[John Ashbrook]

It really is actually insane. This is incredible and true that if you go to Union Station, there is exactly one place that serves a beer. It is the station Shake.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's a Shake shack.

[John Ashbrook]

Shake Shack.

[Josh Holmes]

You might be able To. To get a beer at Shake Shack.

[John Ashbrook]

So you got to, like, wait in line for an hour and a half in order to get a can of beer. They used to have just an excellent liquor store right there, where you just go in and grab what you needed for the train.

[Josh Holmes]

We used to be a country they.

[Michael Duncan]

Looked down, if I had to guess, to be honest. Like, a lot of businesses, they probably left because they're getting stolen. Everything was getting stolen. Like, I get so mad because there was this journalist, Nina Burley, I think you're friends with her. She tried to come after me. So, like, J.D. vance puts out this tweet where he was like, you know, thank God that now, you know, after President Trump has cleaned up DC you can come to Union Station with your family and it's safe. You can visit D.C. and she's like, Mr. Vice President, Union Station was always safe. I replied to her with this screenshot of when the D.C. police were like, hey, there was a murder that just happened outside of Union Station. If you have information of this guy who got shot and murdered, you know, let us know. And she was like, well, you know, just because. Were you there that day? Were you the one that was shot? Why are you so concerned? It's like, journalists are so mad about Trump ending crime in D.C. they're like, well, you're not the one that got killed. Why do you care?

[John Ashbrook]

And they're basically the only ones. And the reason we highlighted it is because we did two shows this week about the cleanup, and the numbers have just been incredible about. I think this is the first week in recorded crime statistics in the city of the District of Columbia that there has not been a homicide side.

[Michael Duncan]

That's insane.

[John Ashbrook]

That is the wildest thing. And then, you know, you had Trump walking the beat. You got JD and the Secretary of Defense walking through Union Station. He got one guy chirping, by the way, like, don't chirp at JD because he's, like, going to hear you and chirp back. It's not going to go well.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like, oh, this is the guy that doesn't want to clean up the streets.

[Michael Duncan]

I saw the guy who was bo. It's like some doughy libbed dude. Yeah. Who's mad? It's like, yeah, I would have loved for you to try to act a fool about two weeks ago when this place was full of, like, gang bangers and drug addicts.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right.

[Michael Duncan]

They do a good job keeping you in line. But now you're free to be an idiot.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Because Trump Cleaned this place.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

That guy was like, why didn't I think of the sandwich bit? Why didn't I throw a sandwich at a cop? I could have been a hero. Just like what the left is doing to the other guy.

[John Ashbrook]

We're going to get to that guy in a second. But we've got more clips. This is an insane protester screaming at a cop in Union Station. Clip duplicate, please.

[Michael Duncan]

Appropriation.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Yes, you are.

[Michael Duncan]

By wearing a scarf that is trying to stop a genocide, you think that's appropriating a culture? Okay, speaking one way, how is that appropriating Palestinian culture? How is my bearing a CF appropriate Palestinian culture? You're the one who said it. You're the one who said, I'm appropriating Palestinian culture by wearing a keffiyeh scarf.

[Josh Holmes]

Scarf.

[Michael Duncan]

A moss rag. And so I am appreciating Palestinian.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Never met one of them.

[Michael Duncan]

How is it? I was wearing a scarf given to me, in fact, by my Palestinian friend. I have a Palestinian friend. I want you to know it was given.

[John Ashbrook]

And I have them over for dinner often.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Can we talk about the size of that bullhorn she has?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

I mean, like, there is no satire that has ever been written that has ever accurately captured what this woman has captured in real life.

[Michael Duncan]

Seriously, dude, this is a cop just doing his job in the train station keeping people safe. She's like, I want to have a discussion. Did you say that this is appropriation by me wearing this? It's like, what? What are you doing with your life, lady? What are you doing to me?

[John Ashbrook]

The whitest lady you've ever seen in your entire life.

[Josh Holmes]

She's like, how dare you? I have friends in Hamas.

[John Ashbrook]

They come over for dinner. We invite them into my home often.

[Josh Holmes]

And just as an aside, like, shout out to law enforcement for chirping these people back. This is now the second episode where we've had law enforcement who's like, oh, really? How about fuck you? How about that?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. So this is such an important part of it, because here's a lady that, like, regardless, I don't know what her story is, but she's like, clearly the whitest lady of all time is wearing a Hamas rag stand in the middle of Union Station screaming at people with a fucking bullhorn. I mean, are you kidding me? It's just not appropriate. Right? I don't care what your message is. Get out of the Union Station with a bullhorn.

[Michael Duncan]

And when you bring up that, like, the cop is speaking back, it's like, thank God, because for so long, in blue Cities police are essentially like, you're the chew toy for libs who have daddy issues. Your job is to take it. We're not going to support you if you try to arrest criminals. We're going to demonize you. We're going to support BLM who says that you're all racist criminals. And you have to sit there and take that. That is a horrible thing to do to people who keep us safe.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a horrible thing to do to people. Almost as horrible as having to be in Union Station at happy hour and be sober. And you have to hear this woman cackling and crying into her bullhorn, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

But it's accommodated here. And I'm wondering how this is gonna change too, right? Cause there's First Amendment implications to all of it. But I don't know if you guys have noticed. So there's a building in D.C. that houses on the bottom floor. NBC News. And it's a connected building, but in a different place. There is other outlets, including Fox that's a part of it. Well, over the last five weeks now, somehow someone has permitted a full fledged, like, protest slash riot team out in front of this, like a pro Palestinian group. But it started out where there was a lot of people that were making a lot of noise, like drums and speakers and all kinds of things. Couldn't hear yourself think. I was thinking about the poor people in the lobby that have to listen to that all day long. But then like, as weeks have gone on now, it's just like two people that are hanging out banging on drums. And then they have a speaker with a stereo system that's like turned to 11, so it's like deafeningly loud within three blocks of this area. Like, you can't. You would think that the world is ending if you, if you walked anywhere near it. But they're just permitted to just sit there and do it. And it's like, look, I'm all for the First Amendment. I might reach my limit with that. Like, you've made your point, folks. It's the most insane thing I've ever seen. And this lady, I have no doubt because it's in close proximity to Union Station. I have no doubt was swung by Union Station with her bullhorn, thinking you can like scream at Amtrak passengers in their. At like Mach 10. After she got done with that situation, I mean, it's just. It's ridiculous.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

If only more people could hear her. If only more consultants coming down from New York, she's so persuasive in D.C. were able to hear through the bullhorn. What it is she had to say about the virtues of Hamas.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. How do you think she'd do over there, by the way? That lady? She'd have a fun time.

[Michael Duncan]

I'd be interested in finding out. I'd be really interested. I'd donate to that cause.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, seriously? All right, we got another clip. This is immigration related. It's a immigration lawyer in clip three.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, I'm.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm a lawyer. I can talk now.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, I'm a lawyer, but I'm their.

[Josh Holmes]

Lawyer now, so I'm going to have a conversation.

[Michael Duncan]

You're not their lawyer. You're not their lawyer. You guys have representation.

[John Ashbrook]

Stay back.

[Michael Duncan]

We're not. You guys have representation. Do you want a lawyer? Sir, you in danger standing here.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm not in danger standing here any more than you are.

[Michael Duncan]

Do you guys want a lawyer? Working back in official business for a year now.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't care.

[Michael Duncan]

Do you guys want a lawyer?

[Josh Holmes]

No, you.

[John Ashbrook]

You want a lawyer? You want a lawyer? Okay, if you're gonna be an immigration lawyer, help me speak Spanish. That's so good.

[Michael Duncan]

These guys are the best. You don't want an attorney right now.

[John Ashbrook]

Look at them all.

[Michael Duncan]

Look at him.

[Josh Holmes]

You wanna. You sure you don't want to look Como.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

If you're gonna be an immigration lawyer, it would help if you speak Spanish.

[John Ashbrook]

The best part about this. All right, so the. The context of it is this lawyer, who's got to be some, like, library, of course, attorney or whatever, he's confronting ICE agents who've made an arrest of multiple illegal immigrants. And they're all standing there and they're handcuffed or whatever, and the ICE people are doing their job. This guy runs up and he's just, like, demanding that he be their lawyer.

[Michael Duncan]

He's filming content because he's a hero. He's the main character of this dude.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the first thing I was going to say. It's like he's treating himself like he's Clark Kenton. He just came out of the phone booth. He's like, I am here now. I am a lawyer.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep. No, I don't care that you guys are here to keep the community safe, because the lawyer has arrived, and I can. I'm their lawyer. First off, he says, I'm their lawyer. And, like, no, you're not. And he's like, do you guys want lawyers? And they don't speak English. They look at him like, what?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And then he's like, if you want to be an immigration lawyer, learn Spanish, bro. Like, Pro tip. This one's on the house. She's. Yeah, she's.

[John Ashbrook]

She does like a 360 tomahawk dunk on top of him. Like, it would help if you spoke Spanish.

[Michael Duncan]

He's spending, like, he's recording with his little phone because he's the superhero. He's like, do you guys want a lawyer? Do you want a lawyer? Someone please give me a touch. I need to put this on TikTok.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't that the thing?

[Michael Duncan]

I want you to stand up and clap for me.

[Josh Holmes]

So confounding to me is that he recorded that exchange that isn't off of a body cam. He chose to record that and then he watched that video and he was like, this makes me look good.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, like, why would you ever post? I don't know.

[John Ashbrook]

But the best part is, is like, as the longer the video goes along, you see the faces of the dudes who are arrested and they're like, way more afraid of the guy that's coming at him demanding to be their lawyer than they are the ICE agents. They're like, what's up with this ca. I don't, first of all, don't understand what he's saying, but secondly, he's demanding something of me. I don't know what that is.

[Michael Duncan]

That guy got home and like, his wife's boyfriend was like, you should put that up anyway.

[John Ashbrook]

And so he put it online 100%. All right, so when we come back, we got a lot more fun. We've got. If you've not seen this, like, debit Deputy ag Yes, lady from Delaware. Oh, my God, it's so good. And we have a ton more tape on a ton more things and including Gavin Newsom was completely insane. We'll get to it right after this.

[Michael Duncan]

America is back. Thanks to President Trump and Leader John Thune's working family tax cuts. We stopped the biggest tax hike in history, but that's only the beginning. The big beautiful bill also cuts taxes on tips and overtime, secures the border, finishes the wall, and protects Medicaid for Americans, not illegals. Leader Thune and Senate Republicans got President Trump's conservative agenda done, providing real relief for every hard working American that's up early and home late. We're bringing manufacturing jobs back home and making America great again. Tell Leader John Thune and Senate Republicans thank you for delivering President Trump's agenda. Learn more@one nationamerica.org.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, so in case you haven't seen this, you're in for a treat. According to ap, the road it's Rhode Island. I think I mistakenly said it was Delaware before Rhode Island. Prosecutor under review after warning, you're going to regret this during an arrest. Now, that's not. You know, that doesn't come with a lot of surprise. If you're a Democrat anywhere in a blue state, you're above the law. And you've thought that for quite some time. And so this is frequently the response that they get to anything like this. But not quite like this. This lady's terrible. So Rhode island prosecutors under review after police body camera footage recorded her warning officers, you're going to regret this. While she was arrested, Devin Flanagan, a special assistant Attorney General, was arrested outside a restaurant by Newport police Aug. 14 for trespassing, according to law enforcement. Please tell me we have the fucking video of this.

[Michael Duncan]

This.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's see it. You guys just want to know, do.

[Michael Duncan]

You want them trespass?

[Josh Holmes]

Anything we can do Trespass?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I just need.

[Josh Holmes]

Please, please.

[John Ashbrook]

No, I'm not. There she is. Look at the hand talk.

[Michael Duncan]

So you're trespass.

[John Ashbrook]

So we got to leave now.

[Michael Duncan]

If I ask you to turn off the body cam, you have to turn it off. And that's your protocol. She's a lawyer, so she knows.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, well, that's lawyer stuff, so.

[Michael Duncan]

That's not true. So we gotta go. No, it is. That's. That's law. I'm an aging.

[John Ashbrook]

Look at that.

[Michael Duncan]

Good for you.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't give a.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's go. Hell yes, we're leaving.

[Michael Duncan]

Please don't put your hands on us.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, well, now it's gonna go the hard way.

[Michael Duncan]

This is what I voted for. Let's go do it, buddy.

[John Ashbrook]

You're gonna regret this. You're gonna regret it. Not as much as wearing that skirt suit when you shoved him.

[Michael Duncan]

Feral, bro.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

What's with the screaming?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

You're sitting in the back of a Ford Explorer.

[Michael Duncan]

So this is screaming. I mean, it's like, do you. At what point do you think that you screaming and kicking the door is gonna get you out of this? Like, you've gotten yourself into a situation where you thought. You thought that, oh, you know, I'm an ag.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, Rules don't apply to me.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, me and my friend here are white girl wasted out of our minds. And I see the people at the restaurant are like, please, God, just get them out of here. But no, wouldn't you love me?

[John Ashbrook]

What is unclear about the story at this point is what preceded all of this. Can you imagine? Like, they are white girl wasted. No question about it. It Happens from time to time. Fact, I encourage it on some occasions. But I will say, like, what did they have to do in a local restaurant to be specifically. One, the police were called because of them. But second, the maitre D or whatever the outfit is, it's like he was.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, putting his hands together. He was like, please, please, get them out of here. Get him out of here.

[John Ashbrook]

Can you imagine? Like, they had to have thrown just an incredible scene.

[Michael Duncan]

Then when the camera goes to them, within half a second, the energy off of them, you know exactly why they gotta go. They're like, get your hands off me. The hand talk.

[Josh Holmes]

You mentioned it, Holmes. The hand talking. The hand talking.

[John Ashbrook]

This is. You get this. You get this in two places, right? You get the. For those of you who are listening to this, you can't see what I'm doing with my hands, but you get it in two places. You get in hierarchical DEI, corporate workspaces. You get it in HR of, like, Fortune 50s. And you look at it. Dude, you're looking.

[Michael Duncan]

There it is. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Or you get it in entitled white women.

[Josh Holmes]

Karens.

[John Ashbrook]

Karens.

[Michael Duncan]

This is. Dude, this is a pure. This is. Karen's. In the wild. We observe them in their.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't even. I don't blame these women. This is my controversial.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, you're gonna take. You're gonna take their side. I'd like to hear it.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm not taking.

[Michael Duncan]

There Always takes a side of crazy lives.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I don't. I don't blame these women.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's hear it.

[Josh Holmes]

I blame their husbands.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Oh.

[Josh Holmes]

For standing there silently. If my wife was doing that, she'd get a fireman's carry down the block for sure. Down the block. We're just gonna. We're gonna diffuse this situation. And you're just. We're going home.

[John Ashbrook]

I got it, officer.

[Josh Holmes]

We're going home.

[John Ashbrook]

No, it would be very quick. I got it, officer.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Don't you worry.

[Michael Duncan]

I got it.

[Josh Holmes]

Absolutely 100%.

[John Ashbrook]

And the cop would be like, thank you for not making this a scene.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

But by the way, that's the only thing they were trying to do. Like, this thing started escalating when they're like, look, just leave.

[Josh Holmes]

Just walk away.

[John Ashbrook]

And they're like, no.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So when I saw that. When I saw that, I was like, no, no. And then we will not leave. This is the law.

[John Ashbrook]

And then the same thing that you do when they talk about they're doing.

[Josh Holmes]

Cirque du Soleil with their hands.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And it's like, we're going to Talk dance. We're going to circle back and talk about safe spaces.

[Michael Duncan]

I. I just, I wish that, like, the rules of engagement would have allowed tasers there because that could have gone to 11 in terms of entertainment, like, especially when, when the one, the. Her friend went feral in the back seat and wasn't letting him close the door. It's like I was, when I was watching, I was like, taser, Taser, Taser.

[John Ashbrook]

I thought maybe it's just a good old fashioned hog tie would have done it too. Also, she has to have, and I mentioned this too, she has to have deep regrets about the skirt suit if she's going to get thrown in the back of the cop car. I feel like her constituents saw a little bit more than they wanted to.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm just saying.

[John Ashbrook]

What, you didn't see it?

[Michael Duncan]

Taser. You guys act like you didn't see it.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, I'm just saying our Friday.

[Josh Holmes]

Episodes are the best.

[John Ashbrook]

Everybody acts like I'm the only one that you saw it. I'm just the only one with the courage. All right, anyway, she's off to the brig. We'll follow up and see what happens to her. Some kind of disorderly conduct and trespassing. Seems like. That's right.

[Michael Duncan]

Resisting arrest has to be thrown in Alligator Alcatraz. Oh, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I'd like to see, though.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to see how she fares there.

[John Ashbrook]

The other piece that we joke around with is, like, because we've done a lot of PR for all kinds of different politicians who've been in all sorts of, like, issues. And you get piloted into somebody who's got a problem and you got to figure out how to get them out of it. And, like, there's a step. Process. What. What's her thing? Like, she's going to have to reappear at some point. She's a deputy ag. I don't know if she's been fired. Seems like she's probably still there. But she wants.

[Michael Duncan]

She might get promoted, throw it out.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, well, she wants some kind of a career, obviously. And this is now out there. It's like, it's going to be a big deal. She's going to have to try to, like, work through that and, like, have a new public presentation. Is it AA Found God A and Found God, or does she just, like, run through the tape and keep going straight left at, like, defund the police?

[Michael Duncan]

I think you're thinking of, like, what a conservative elected would do of, like, trying to express remorse and correct your behavior. But, like, no, for the left. They Never apologize or back down. They run through the tape.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you think she's a defunct the police thing after this?

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[John Ashbrook]

It's their fault, 100%. She had 100 glasses of Chardonnay.

[Michael Duncan]

She'll say that they were. That they were sexist and. And misogynist. That's what she's gonna say.

[John Ashbrook]

Sexist. Misogynist.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, totally. Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

With the fold, I think she's gonna be fine.

[Michael Duncan]

She's like, I was trying to practice sign language with my friend and. And help people.

[Josh Holmes]

It's Rhode Island. There's only 10 people that live there. She's the lawyer. She's the lawyer. She's gonna be the aggressive.

[John Ashbrook]

You people in Rhode island are so underrepresented, I feel, you know, it's such a tiny state. Everybody gets, you know, because of its landmass or whatever. Everybody just, like, dunks on Rhode Island. But, like, you know, it's a pretty place. There's, like, good stuff there. And then you see what this. This is what you send people. Like, this is your representation.

[Josh Holmes]

I think the mob needs to take control of Providence again. We need patriarcha back.

[Michael Duncan]

That's. That's not a bad idea, honestly.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's a good call.

[Michael Duncan]

Call in the Buddy Cianci.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, get buddy Cianci back on the cage. Buddy Seancey would know what to do here. To Ms. Devon Flanagan.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Oh, they like handling the Irish.

[Josh Holmes]

This is what happens when the Irish are.

[Michael Duncan]

The Irish are the most.

[John Ashbrook]

You give the Irish a little bit too much to drink.

[Michael Duncan]

They could have guessed it'd be a drunk Irishman. Everyone is just astounded.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, so you had something you wanted to do with Gavin Newsom.

[Michael Duncan]

So here's the thing is you want to get into the graphic. Duncan, I think you put this in there, and I have my thoughts on it.

[Josh Holmes]

What?

[Michael Duncan]

So let's just put the graphic for the graphic up. So Gavin Newsom is, like. He's trying to go viral. He's got his comm staffers trying to be, like, tweeting like they're Trump or something, thinking that they're owning people. And so this was brought to attention. I think this is from John Hassan. These are photos. I mean, look how ridiculous he looks with his little hand signals, like he's Rhode island assistant DA or whatever.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he's. He's doing, like, a podcast, I think, with, like, Harry Sisson and all these other.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, it's a big. Can we put that up one more time? One more time. So the bottom four for the YouTube audience. The bottom, like, the bottom right. Fourth is a perfect Harry Sisson.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, he looks like he's doing the Macarena, right? He looks like he's doing the Macarena.

[John Ashbrook]

But look at, like, the light. I just. Okay, Anyway, this guy's tried to resurrect himself in a masculine way and that just that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, what he's trying to do is he's trying to be the person in the Democratic Party that fights, right? Yeah, Just on audio. I'm doing, like, the air quotes well into his credit.

[John Ashbrook]

He's making an ass out of himself everywhere. So people are talking about him, and sometimes that's all that matters.

[Josh Holmes]

And when you're the party out of power, like, everybody in the party got a powers looking for the candidate, you know, who's going to be the person who fights. Right. And so from a marketing standpoint, for him, it's smart. It's also pointless. I mentioned this when we were on. On Martha's show on Fox the other day, but, like, we all know that the only audience for this sort of behavior is, like, the chattering classes of lib journos and stuff to talk about, like, how awesome you are, like, what a great dunk that was. Like, remember Kamala, Brad, Summer and all that sort of stuff? And it amounted to bupkis, right? She got smoked in every battleground state. So it's interesting, it's hilarious, but I think it's pointless.

[John Ashbrook]

What's the take here?

[Michael Duncan]

So my thinking is all he's doing is trying to get attention. If you look at his tweets and stuff, 90% of the replies are conservatives being like, you can't imitate Trump. This is stupid. You're humiliating yourself. But the more attention he's getting, then the more it's getting a bump in the algorithm and the more it's getting served. And so then now his team's putting it out there to journals that, look at this tweet from Gavin Newsom. It got 10 million views. It's doing numbers. Wow. Does this mean that Gavin Newsom has found the effective strategy that's gonna take down Trump? And then, like Duncan said, now you've got the chattering class being like, seems like Gavin Newsom's genius social media team has cracked the code on how to stop Trump. And wow, looks like Trump can't keep up with Gavin Newsom because there's 5 million conservatives all, quote, retweeting Gavin Newsom dunking it, being like, oh, Gavin Newsom stuff. This isn't going it's like, if someone's out there crying, pay attention. He's no different than the girl in Union Station with the bullhorn. Yeah, like, are you gonna roll up and try to have a discussion with them? Are you gonna try to be like, everyone, let's listen in on what this person with the bullhorn has to say. Are you gonna give him attention? Are you gonna just go on with your day? Cuz they're begging for attention. Newsom's a loser. His state has the plague right now. Have you heard about this? There's a case of the plague in California right now. He's out here trying to stop Donald Trump. Hopefully the guy can't do anything when his state's on fire.

[John Ashbrook]

Hopefully he's not arrested in a skirt suit anytime soon because I feel like that would probably break the Internet. All right, so next story. Remember the sandwich? A fat sandwich, pink shirt guy.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Oh, yeah, can't forget that.

[John Ashbrook]

We talked about it a couple of different times. So now apparently he's a hero. Can we put up graphic too, in the Washington Post how a throne sub made Sandwich Guy a resistance icon in Trump's D.C. hilarious, dude. I mean, think about spilling ink over something this dumb.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

So a week after a sandwich was slung, Dunn's likeness has popped up around the city on social media. Memes and art have flooded D.C. accounts. Protesters have held subway sandwiches to the sky at protests in a symbol of defiance. And now, yes, you can buy a shirt. Oh, weird. Somebody's monetizing it. One poster that nods to Sandwich guy plastered on buildings in Adams Morgan, which is always a fucking stone's throw away from a riot, by the way. That was fun 20 years ago. Now you just. If you want to get robbed, that's a good place. Dupont Circle, Union Market, and other popular neighborhoods. Spoofs, street artists, Banksies, flower thrower. Yeah, and that's what this, like the. A kind of conography.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just a homage to the Banksy.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it's a Banksy thing. So the piece is originally seen in West Bank. Depicts a man winding up to throw a bouquet of flowers instead. Now this guy's got a hoagie.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Man, this is where these people are, dog. But I don't know what to tell you. Like, if you're anywhere on this planet, I mean, or in this country, and you're like, I'm truly, like, motivated, and I think I take inspiration. And some fat fuck who works at DOJ throwing a sandwich at a cop. Like, dude, go to Gitmo, man.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, they're like, the leader of our movement is the guy who threw a Subway sandwich.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, it is.

[Michael Duncan]

It is. That is rock bottom, man. That is rock, rock bottom.

[Josh Holmes]

It is revealing in a way, though. And that is so much of our elite media places like the Washington Post, they write articles for like 10 people.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. You know what I mean? Increasingly, that's what the circulation is, to be honest.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

But the.

[Josh Holmes]

The idea that some piece of random street art would end up in the Washington Post, you would think that'd be a crazy thing, but they're trying to make it into this huge viral moment. I've not. I live in this area.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Our office is a block and a half from the White House. I have not heard about this once.

[John Ashbrook]

Never once.

[Josh Holmes]

Not a single time.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, literally not once. I had to see this thing that apparently Wolf put in here. Just know that this was a thing.

[Josh Holmes]

I have a suggestion, though.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

So you remember when all the Hamas people were doing their stuff targeting Jewish students on campus and doing their riots and bullshit and everything, and they were putting up, you know, the fist and like, solidarity with lots of stuff, and people drew dicks in the hands of all of that street art.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

They should do that here, too.

[John Ashbrook]

They should get. This is a good opportunity for dicks and street art. This is a good. If you are a dicks and street art artist.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Here is your. Now is your time.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, all I'm saying is he's throwing a Subway sandwich in. In this street art. It could be a dildo.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, well, I mean, somebody's.

[Michael Duncan]

They could be attending a WNBA game.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

It wasn't commissioned. Right.

[Michael Duncan]

It was just one stripe of green scraping.

[Josh Holmes]

Community art.

[Michael Duncan]

And he's now a WNBA enthusiast.

[John Ashbrook]

It's the new logo. Oh, my God, that's so good. All right, so another libs gone wild thing. So New York appeals court throws out the $500 million penalty against Trump. Let's go in that Letitia James suit. Recall, like, this is amongst the first things that indignities that President Trump had to go through during the course of the campaign, when Democrats just assumed that they could prosecute their way to presidential victory. And so they made up all kinds of stuff and had all kinds of different civil cases. This one was the high profile case. That was Letitia James, New York. A lot of this centered in New York, where the New York Appellate Division overturned a penalty ruling. Disgorgement was an excessive fine, and that violates the 8th amendment. The five member panel all upheld the findings that Trump and his company were liable, affirming that James had acted with minor authority. Injunctive relief to curb Trump organization practices was appropriate. All right, so they didn't change the ruling, but they were like, dude, are you out of your mind? With trying to levy a $500 million fine for something that, like, honestly was never prosecuted for anyone else? It was just such a stupid. We talked about it.

[Michael Duncan]

It's the most obvious lawfare possible.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And the fact that you had Letitia James, who ran on. When she was running for this office, she was like, I'm gonna just do cases against Trump. Like, that is insane that you can run on, like, I will prosecute your political opponents.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Somebody you hate. And it was kind of a strategy, if you think about it. I mean, their first move was to try to, like, bankrupt him.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep. Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

And then bring 42 other felony counts against him in the hopes that he couldn't pay for a defense. You know what they didn't count on is that you had 80 million Americans who were like, hey, man, I'm here for you. I want you to be the next President of the United States. Right. And like.

[Michael Duncan]

And then, even better, the Department of Justice finds out she was actually doing.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So now she's. When she was accusing Trump of. And now is facing charges.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, the worm turns, doesn't it?

[Michael Duncan]

So good.

[John Ashbrook]

Such a shame what's happening to her and old Adam Schiff. Such a shame.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, I'm just gonna say it like you read the word dis. Engorgement. Disgorgement. What is that?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I think that is disgorgement.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

What is this?

[Josh Holmes]

Is that, like, the opposite of engorgement?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I'm just reading the story.

[Josh Holmes]

Just.

[John Ashbrook]

It's in a publication of record here at Fox News.

[Michael Duncan]

I just say it.

[Josh Holmes]

It sounds vaguely sexual.

[John Ashbrook]

Discouragement. Discour. Well, I can tell you, after I saw the Rhode island lady, I had some discouragement. The hand gestures alone was discouragement.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm just saying I know a lot of words. I don't know that one, and it piqued my interest.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you for pointing it out. Thank you. The audience thanks you for taking the time to point that out. Disgorgement. Something I'm sure you can look up. I will have to take until after the show to find out what it means.

[Josh Holmes]

This segment brought to you by bluechew. Just kidding.

[Michael Duncan]

Parody.

[Josh Holmes]

Parody.

[John Ashbrook]

We're laughing. We're all laughing. All right, so our question of the day, because it comes down to some of this social media stuff, all the insanity of the libs Is the question basically, that Smug came up with, which is, is this strategy from Gavin Newsom going to work? Because there is a school of thought, particularly when a party is as down and out as we have just showed you over the last two segments. Just any attention is good attention. You just rise to the top of people. What people are talking about at this point, you can be a complete dumb shit, but as long as they're talking about you, they're still talking about you. Is this gonna work? That's our question of the day. Is Gavin Newsom's strategy going to work? Is he gonna rise to the top of Democratic primary leaders as you look towards 20, 28? Or be a leader of the party that they. You know, I mean, honestly, these people are dire.

[Michael Duncan]

Straight.

[Josh Holmes]

Kamala's on a book tour about how she lost.

[John Ashbrook]

No, I mean that. No, it's true. Like, her whole. That's the funniest part about, like, the other person they nominated for president is on a book tour called 107 Days, about the 107 days that she got her ass kicked. And, like, that's where the Democratic Party is. And so then you look over and you've got Guy doing a Macaulay Culkin on. Can we put that graphic up real quick? The Macaulay Culkin comparison. Yeah, there he is. Perfect. Perfect. Like, that guy's the guy that's gonna raise them from the dead. That's the Phoenix.

[Josh Holmes]

What's with the hand in the groin, too?

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

It's a great question.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just not a very masculine.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, there was a lot. There was a. Several pictures there where the knees were a little close for my liking.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, and I don't want. You know, I'm not like, particular about that. Particular that situation, but that's not a stance that any grown man makes. That right there.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Listen, I know Democrats are fist fighting each other for engagement and attention and everything, but the one story they do not want us to talk about is the fundraising, which we learned this week the DNC has raised $13 million to the RNC's 85.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

I think that their efforts to try to, like, lionize Sandwich Guy and Mangione and this idiot from Rhode island and Letitia James and Gavin Newsom. I think that that is a recipe for $13 million to the Republican $85 million, where we have a great president who was out there walking the beat last night shaking hands with the guys who are keeping us safe. And everybody in America is like, hell, yeah. This is the country I want so as far as I'm concerned, I could not want anything more than Gavin Newsom doing his TikTok hands and the Ag from Rhode island jumping ugly on, you know, some maitre d at some restaurant.

[John Ashbrook]

Like the just showing you a full bear trap, as you can see in the back of a cop car.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

The contrast could not be better for Republicans. It really couldn't. Every single day that Democrats get worse.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I listen. It's, it's, it's well said. This is the particular moment in time. Do not lose your vigilance though. These people always figure out how to cheat and steal.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

They do. They always cheat.

[John Ashbrook]

Work their way back. So when we come back, we're going to get to your responses from Thursday's question which was how can Republicans capitalize from Democrats cratering support? It's right on point of where we left off. We'll get to it right after this.

[Josh Holmes]

Our nation is standing up for American workers, restoring the pride of making products here at home.

[John Ashbrook]

That's what we do every day.

[Josh Holmes]

We're America's beverage companies, making American products with American workers in America's hometowns. Delivering brands that have been enjoyed for generations.

[John Ashbrook]

Creating good paying jobs, the kind that.

[Josh Holmes]

Require only a strong work ethic because we believe in the promise of America and the people who make it great.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, so when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program, we invite you to leave your commentary on the show and our, in particular our question of the day Thursday's was how can Republicans capitalize from Democrats cratering support. We have that incredible New York Times story that we talked about. If you didn't hear it, you should go back and listen to it because it's just, it's fantastic. Anyway, you left a lot of really good comments and we start with the voice.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Okay, first one comes from Greg Wickham. Greg writes Republicans can capitalize by not grabbing defeat from the jaws victory as has been the practice. Develop a clear communication strategy and avoid backing fringe single issue candidates. Never miss a show, fellas. Stay ruthless.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude, it's so good.

[Michael Duncan]

Excellent.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you. Thank you so much, Greg. Like you're exactly right. That is exactly right. Great comment 2.

[Josh Holmes]

This is from Clarence Obair. Clarence writes, registration and voting are two different things. There still needs to be a push for midterm Republican show up and vote campaign. Don't be lured by the quote, historic vote change message. You know, the Democrats will show up and mail in and this is 100 true.

[John Ashbrook]

Totally.

[Josh Holmes]

Our listeners are the best and they get so smart and they stay like Eyes focused on the ball. You can't rest on your laurels with any of this stuff. It's all hypothetical, it's all theoretical, like you. Oh, we have a registration advantage. Well, are those people going to show up in the polls? I mean, historically we've had a hard time in midterms during the presidencies of Donald Trump getting our voters out 100%. So it's important.

[John Ashbrook]

Very, very well said. Comment 3.

[Michael Duncan]

Smug comment 3 is from Bayou Blooms. And they write Republicans need to concentrate on the local elections, school boards and city councils. K12 schools need to teach actual American history, civics and critical thinking. The only way to win the culture war is to take back our culture at grade level. Right on with that.

[John Ashbrook]

Really, really good. The local stuff is something that the Republicans in recent years have gotten a lot better at, but something we neglected for many, many years. It took until basically Covid.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, but Covid opened everybody's eyes.

[John Ashbrook]

It did.

[Josh Holmes]

Suddenly when all these kids had school on zoom and parents could figure out what the hell was going on, they.

[John Ashbrook]

Were like, you're teaching my kid what?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

All of a sudden they see it in their house and they're like, huh? Yeah, yeah, no, really, really good. We've covered that a lot. Great, great comment. All right, so we gotta get into a story that just blew my frickin mind. It was in the New York Post and like this is gonna be a journey folks. So just stick with this on this. All right, so top Eric Adams, he's the current mayor of New York. As you well know, advisor Winnie Greco caught handing a reporter a bag of chips stuffed with cash. Okay, I'm just gonna read you a little bit. A former top eight mayor Eric Adams and current advisor to the re election campaign handed a Big Apple reporter a potato chip bag stuffed with cash on Wednesday. According to a report and sources, Winnie Greco gave the bag to Katie Honan, a reporter at the city. It's a publication in New York. Just steps away from his and hers new campaign office in Harlem. The Post confirmed neither Adams nor his reelection campaign are implicated in the incident. So they've taken a distance from themselves. But we gotta get into the details here. So Greco, 62. I was thinking like this is that campaign advisor, right? I'm thinking like 25. You gotta be young and dumb and like you're just trying to get ahead or whatever. I read this. 62. Well, she's been around the block a few times. Anyway, ran into Honan outside the Harlem campaign office and the reporter later received a text Asking her to meet across the street at a nearby TD bank, according to the report. So Honan met Greco at the bank and then was brought to a nearby Whole Foods where Greco and handed her a crumpled bag of hers. Sour cream and onion rippled potato chips. Like first of all, very alarmed. If anyone hands me an open bag of crumpled potato chips. I don't care who you are. That's alarming to me.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't think so.

[John Ashbrook]

You just eat it.

[Michael Duncan]

No, you're thinking as a human. You're not thinking as a journo. They're subhuman. If you put any food in front of these journals, they'll eat it if it's free. These are animals.

[John Ashbrook]

My God. Thinking to your point, she was being offered a snack. Honan told Greco more than once that she could not accept the chips, but Greco insisted, according to the report. After the two parted ways, Honan opened the bag and discovered a red envelope containing at least $100 bill and several $20 bills, the city reported. In the comments to the city on Wednesday evening, Greco apologized for the so called mix up. I made a mistake, she said. I'm so sorry. It's a culture thing. I don't know. I don't know. I don't understand. I'm so sorry. I feel so bad right now. I'm sorry, honey. Greco told the city, can we please forget about this? I try to be a good person. Please, please, please don't do in the news nothing about me. She goes on, I just wanted to be your friend. Greco said, addict. I just wanted to have one good friend.

[Michael Duncan]

What?

[John Ashbrook]

Just one good friend. It's nothing. She told the outlet. I can see how this.

[Michael Duncan]

She's just still going, this is insane.

[Josh Holmes]

She's like, don't write about me in the news. Also here's a bunch of quotes.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

He's like, come on, help me out.

[John Ashbrook]

That's an old Kentucky reference. You should google help me out in Kentucky and you'll find the full reference.

[Josh Holmes]

Don't Google it. Don't google.

[John Ashbrook]

Don't go.

[Michael Duncan]

Help me out.

[John Ashbrook]

You mean you don't. Anyway, I'm sorry we're far afield because this has nothing to do with poor Winnie. Anyway. This must be a campaign spokesperson or something that says, I can see how this looks strange brill this cat. I don't know the first name told city. But I can. I assure you that Winnie's intent was purely innocent in the Chinese culture.

[Josh Holmes]

Come on.

[John Ashbrook]

Money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude.

[Michael Duncan]

Bro, they're really Going with, it's not corruption. It's just Chinese. It's just. That's unbelievable. Incredible. Incredible.

[John Ashbrook]

Graco, a former Asian affairs advisor under Adams, resigned in October 2024 with speculation swirling at the one time trusted aide could be indicted by the feds.

[Michael Duncan]

Come on.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, good news. She's got a job back on the campaign. So that all went by the wayside.

[Michael Duncan]

This is. Keep going.

[John Ashbrook]

Bronx home was raided in February that year after she faced a probe by the city's department of investigation over allegations that she improperly used her position to get perks.

[Michael Duncan]

This is such love of the game. Send. Send the cops to raid me. I will not stop.

[John Ashbrook]

No, I'm in. It's not because I'll pay them too.

[Michael Duncan]

You think I can be stopped?

[John Ashbrook]

You could throw up all the roadblocks you want. I'm gonna corrupt the fuck out of this thing.

[Josh Holmes]

That really is the funniest part of all of this. It's like, this is not a first offense.

[Michael Duncan]

No, it's general.

[Josh Holmes]

She spends all this time talking about it was just a mix up, an honest mistake. And it's like, also, my house was raided by the fucking Fen.

[John Ashbrook]

Wanted one good friend. And then they got a spokesperson out there being like, hey, she's Chinese.

[Josh Holmes]

Hey, what could we do?

[John Ashbrook]

Hey, she's Chinese. What are we going to do about it?

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it's a shame because also part of the story here is the, you know, is the Bidenflation where there was a time when like 100 and some 20s and some free food will get you a journo. Like that used to be roughly the going rate.

[John Ashbrook]

I can't believe a bag of chips full of hundos didn't. Doesn't do the trick anymore.

[Michael Duncan]

What has happened, man? Prices have gone up.

[John Ashbrook]

What was she hoping to have happen there? That person would be like, oh, here's crazy. A glowing profile. Thanks for the bag of chips.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Eric Adams, man of action. Says TheCityMagazine.com I mean, I'm going to be.

[Michael Duncan]

I'll be honest. I'm going to be honest. 100 bucks. That's what if you have free food at a journo event, watch them descend like locusts, bro. Like, and. And they eat with such fury.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh my God.

[Michael Duncan]

Like it's the last meal on earth. You want to see a journo do about 2,000 calories. They could do it in about 15 seconds. Like a boll weevil, bro. They just inhale. They're animals, dude. They're not people. And so like, she Thought she thought. She was like, I guarantee is a big bag of chips, too. Because journals got appetites, dude. They got up. If it's free, a journal will feed, dude. So she got her a bag of chips, and she threw some cash in. She's like, I know it's tough. You're a journal. Just dissect the whole thing.

[John Ashbrook]

First of all, she's like, hey, meet me at the bank.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And they're like, okay, well, I guess that's a weird place for a reporter to meet a campaign aide, but okay, I'll come to the bank. And she's like, here, here. And it's a ruffled, wrinkled bag of potato chips that's open.

[Josh Holmes]

She's like, I know you're a reporter and you're ravenous, but do not eat the money.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, there's an envelope in there with hundreds. You can't eat that. You can use it to buy other food that you can eat.

[Josh Holmes]

I just love how their defense was, this is not corruption. I'm just chines.

[Michael Duncan]

Which.

[John Ashbrook]

Which reminded us of an old, incredible headline. A Chiron from our own Fox Graphic 3, please. Cuomo. I'm not perverted. I'm just Italian.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, New York, man. That is a. That is such a place. That is such a place, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

The Chiron should have gone on and said, but I repeat myself.

[Michael Duncan]

And then. And then, folks, wonder how Mum Donnie wins a primary.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, no, I. At this point, he's like, the cleanest.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Living thing in there.

[John Ashbrook]

It's unbelievable. You're gonna elect, literally, an Ugandan socialist as mayor of the greatest city in the United States. If only because your other choices, well, they're not so great.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, tough, tough.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

I'm not a pervert.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm just Italian.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's what we do.

[Josh Holmes]

You think on the Statue of Liberty said, give us your tired, your poor, your perverted Italian.

[Michael Duncan]

And if.

[John Ashbrook]

And if we're downtrodden, give us your Chinese. Because they give us money because they want friends.

[Michael Duncan]

It's not corruption.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a friendship.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a friendship thing. It's a friendship. Cultural misunderstanding. Long history, cultural misunderstanding. This is the best show. A cultural misunderstanding.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, man. Like you're. You just stumble across a foreign exchange, too. They just walk up to you and.

[Michael Duncan]

Hand you a thousand bucks. You know, Chinese New Year, you get a bag of chips full of cash.

[John Ashbrook]

It apparently.

[Michael Duncan]

Misunderstanding. Cultural misunderstanding.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Incredible. And according to this person in China that they're like, okay, now you're my best friend here. There's more chips where that Came from.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Unbelievable. Okay, so the Washington Post. We're gonna move on. Desperate for relevance, it tries its hand at sketch comedy. Boys.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, God.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Boys, I have not seen these videos. I wanted to wait to see them in real time.

[John Ashbrook]

This is a Friday, boys. This is unbelievable. Can we put up clips of six, please me to work with you on Gen C corks.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, what quirks? What quirks?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God. What is this?

[John Ashbrook]

It's so far unwatchable.

[Michael Duncan]

Abigail. Abigail.

[Josh Holmes]

We need to discuss the project.

[Michael Duncan]

Abigail.

[Josh Holmes]

The Gen Z stare.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, my God. It's been such a long day.

[John Ashbrook]

Has been so bad lately. You drive.

[Michael Duncan]

You're so brave to even do that queen. Yeah, I'm just checking the bus times. I personally take the scooter. Ooh, I think my Uber's here.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God, that's horrible.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't think that's a Gen Z thing. I think that's just bad people that watch those.

[John Ashbrook]

Hold on. I. I like.

[Michael Duncan]

I need.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, audio only audience.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

That was comedy. And you have to think. We have to provide some context here, because the Washington Post is a newspaper owned by one of the wealthiest men on the planet, Jeff Bezos, and he has unlimited resources. And what the management under his new leadership has determined is Glenn Kessler should be out. And we can't pay him, but we're gonna pay them to do comedy.

[Michael Duncan]

So let me. Let me actually translate and tell the truth on that statement. So the Washington Post is a daycare run by Jeff Bezos, where the kids light his money on fire all day long.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you think that this is what you get? Beyzos even stepped foot in that joint.

[Michael Duncan]

No.

[John Ashbrook]

I bet he forgot he bought it. You look at the management career of him and whatever built with Amazon and all space stuff and all these other things that he, like, strikes me as a guy with some attention to detail. This is a publication, dude.

[Michael Duncan]

Bezos is on a yacht off Italy with his wife, who he sends up in rockets. And, like, this is what's going on to his paper. It's why they've had. How many journals have left this place this year?

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

All of them.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, like, pages. Yeah, I mean, it's. This is what you're left with is. So if we want to talk about a real problem. So this is a lib brain thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Mm.

[Michael Duncan]

Where libs are afraid of everything. Like, they said that, like, Gen Z is afraid of driving cars. No, no. So there's this part of the country called 99%, and it's outside of the Acela corridor, and people drive Cars and live normal lives. It's just that you are so self absorbed with your little circle of losers who decided to move to D.C. and become journos when all you're doing is these like pathetic little tiktoks of like, all my friends are idiots. Can you relate? Dude?

[John Ashbrook]

The funniest part about Smugs 1, it's gotten progressively more aggressive over the last. The last couple of weeks. It's. It's delved into the psychology of like the younger generation who become journalists and who they are.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

It's gotten.

[Michael Duncan]

The youth of this country are wonderful. It's just that, like, the tiny percent who live in D.C. and in New York try to be like, we are emblematic of our entire generation. No, this is the generation that's getting more conservative that voted Donald Trump into office. They're wonderful. This is not a Gen Z.

[John Ashbrook]

No, you're just terrible.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a stupid lib expectation.

[Josh Holmes]

You are right though, Holmes. Like, when Smug watches a clip of journalists, he's like having this Vietnam War, like, PTSD moment in his head and like adagio for strings starts to play in his head and he sees like, I'm gonna freak out.

[John Ashbrook]

He sees, like, children covered in napalm.

[Michael Duncan]

I can't hide it anymore, man.

[John Ashbrook]

It's gotten really hot.

[Michael Duncan]

It's gotten tough. I need to get better at masking it. Again, my contempt for these animals, they're so bad.

[John Ashbrook]

So the whole context of that they put it on their video description was Gen Z Quirks? No. Are they real? Like, I don't even know what the fuck.

[Michael Duncan]

Anyway, you and your friends were stupid.

[John Ashbrook]

That's what the publication of record, you know, somebody's gonna end up buying the masthead, the Washington Post masthead for like 40 bucks because they're gonna run that thing.

[Michael Duncan]

I hope it's. I hope it's one of those private prisons.

[John Ashbrook]

Fantastic.

[Michael Duncan]

We're just gonna keep the doors locked. After everyone's here.

[John Ashbrook]

They'Re just called the private prison. The Washington Post. That seems right.

[Josh Holmes]

They just come into every office and they put bars on the front and they're like, now you're in jail.

[Michael Duncan]

If they put cameras of that, I would watch those vignettes, dude. I'd pay for that.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, so couple more things, I think. Look, the Air Force released footage of a passenger. We did that one.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. There's a new video, but they just.

[John Ashbrook]

We have a different look at it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Where? Recall in the previous one we talked about how he ejected and it was just the plane coming back. We actually See the injection? Can we put that one up? There he is. Oh, there he goes, right on the Runway.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Dude, that is pain. No, no, no, that guy. I think that guy was in pain.

[Michael Duncan]

No, I don't think so. I honestly. So I thought that he was the dude. It was, it was the, like the, the bubble that went flying. I thought that was. Yeah, the canopy. I thought it was. That was the dude. But no, no, the dude had a parachute. That actually looks kind of fun. Watch here, let me see it again. See, I thought, oh, no. But he's fine.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

The parachute barely opened.

[Michael Duncan]

This looks fun.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

It might as fun.

[John Ashbrook]

I think he just got shot 50ft in the air and like barely had a parachute open.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Even though it's made by like Lockheed or Boeing, one of these, like second rate money all day long, I bet it was still somewhat safe.

[Josh Holmes]

I think the worst part about this, I was talking to Lee about it is this wasn't some like tourist on a JoyRide in an F15. This guy is an actual Navy recruiter and he like re.

[Michael Duncan]

Re.

[Josh Holmes]

Re upped to be enlisted. And part of the incentive program was you could go back up that you. Yeah, you could. You could be riding the back of an F15. So like, he's not like he'll be the last.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, right, he'll be the last, but I'm saying it's not.

[Josh Holmes]

He's not like some civilian on a joyride here.

[John Ashbrook]

Now. Are you sure he'll be the last guy that's afforded the right to eject out of the F15?

[Michael Duncan]

It looks so fun, dude, it looks fun. I gotta be honest. That looks fun and safe and cool.

[John Ashbrook]

Last thing we've got for you here in this section, security, they bodied a small child who ran onto the field at the Padres game. You know you like to keep things tidy. You know, you don't want any threat to the players. Clip 10, please. There's a kid running around.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh no.

[Michael Duncan]

Got him.

[John Ashbrook]

Boo.

[Michael Duncan]

Booing.

[Josh Holmes]

The crowd immediately turns on them.

[Michael Duncan]

Why are you booing him? Is right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a child.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

They're Padres fans, cuz it's a child.

[Michael Duncan]

And children learn lessons when they do the wrong thing. You should get a parade. Congrats. You jumped on the field. You know it's wrong because you're running from security. Let's give you a parade. Let's teach kids to break the rules so we can get more Washington Post reporters. Perfect.

[Josh Holmes]

Take.

[Michael Duncan]

When children learn consequences, they don't become WaPo journals. Beck is not going to become WaPo journal. He probably learned something important that day. Just don't act a fool.

[John Ashbrook]

Parenting advice here from the Ruthless Variety program. Thank you. Smug as always, fellas. Just recall our question of the day that everybody needs to like and subscribe. And once you do, you leave your comment to his. Gavin Newsom's social media presence going to help him. Is this strategy working? Interested to hear what you have to think because there is different takes on that kind of thing. You probably heard a lot more of them than you want to, so it might be in some ways. Anyway, leave your comments to that like and subscribe while you're doing it and check out the merch. We got some gear. We're going to try to put some. Maybe a fall edition. We got to put our heads around. Yeah, it's football season, fellas.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Let's go. We had a fantasy draft last night, and I think it went pretty well for the defending champions, yours truly.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

It did go well. You know, there are still some people left on the board.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's not go through your roster. I don't think the audience.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

I don't need to go. I don't need to go through my roster, friend.

[John Ashbrook]

He is going through his roster, though.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Look, I'm not going to go through my roster.

[Josh Holmes]

He's just mad because I took Joe Burrow, okay?

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

I would have liked to have had him, but I'm also happy for my friend who picked up Joe Burrow. I did pick up Buddy.

[Michael Duncan]

We got it.

[John Ashbrook]

We got to get out of here. What do you got?

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

I'm telling you that nobody took Spencer Schrader, okay?

[Josh Holmes]

The Colts kicker.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Nobody took him. So he's available on the waivers, and it says right now that he is 0% rostered on Yahoo. And I think that that's a travesty. I think we need to get that up to 1%, 2%. Spencer Schrader is going to get a field goal or two this season.

[Josh Holmes]

And I also noticed the Bengals defense was on the waiver.

[John Ashbrook]

We have heard it all here in the ruthless Friday program, sports entertainment and otherwise. I think we did it. Smug.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, remember, if you have not yet, subscribe to the YouTube because it's more fun in video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you on Tuesday. Stay ruthless.