New Low: Libs Push Anti-ICE *AI* Propaganda

Summary

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Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: "New Low: Libs Push Anti-ICE AI Propaganda"
Date: January 13, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, J. John Ashbrook
Special Guest: J.B. McCuskey, Attorney General of West Virginia

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dives into two major stories:

• The emergence and viral spread of anti-ICE propaganda videos generated by AI accounts, specifically targeting events in Minneapolis and the broader discourse around immigration enforcement.
• An in-depth interview with West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey about the Supreme Court case (BPJ v. West Virginia) regarding the legality of transgender participation in women’s sports, reflecting on the broader cultural and legal impacts.

Throughout, the hosts provide a signature irreverent, combative conservative take on current news, with emphasis on exposing partisan double standards and media manipulation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Viral AI-Generated Anti-ICE Propaganda

Segment: [00:00–21:00]

• AI “Testimonial” Videos: The hosts open by lampooning Instagram accounts producing fake AI-generated video testimonials purporting to show regular Americans protesting ICE activity in Minneapolis. The most egregious examples feature phony clergy or ethnic stereotypes confronting ICE agents.

  • Holmes: “They're putting together AI testimonials from people who look like real people...” [00:00]
  • Ashbrook observes these videos hit “that dopamine that [liberals] really want,” appealing to their preconceptions. [00:16]

• The Demand for Manufactured Outrage:

  • Duncan points out: “The demand for outrage on the left far outstrips the supply of real outrage that they can point to.” [10:14]
  • The panel agrees these rage-bait clips are driven either by cynical mercenaries spotting a lucrative online market for “content” or by activists deliberately attempting to shape perceptions.

• Viral Engagement & Misinformation:

  • The fools who share these videos often believe these personas are real, providing comic (and cautionary) examples of gullibility:
    • "I constantly see him. He was invented yesterday. He's dumb." – Holmes [12:40]
    • Discussion of obvious tells: perfect audio, improbable camera angles, and exaggerated accents. [16:57]
    • “For senior citizens. We gotta make sure, someone's there to let them know when they're being surface[ed]” with disinfo. [17:32]

• Comparison to Tiananmen Square:

  • The left, including public figures (Kristof, Scarborough), circulating AI-generated images comparing ICE agents to CCP tanks at Tiananmen—hosts see this as classic gaslighting. [18:23]

• Impact & Reaction:

  • The consensus: such campaigns muddy the policy debate and serve to radicalize the left by giving them “main character” syndrome.
    • "You're the hero that's standing up to a brutal regime. And it's like, nah, you're actually just trying to stop these cops from arresting like a pedophile." [20:18]

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2. Political & Media Landscape: Fraud, Minnesota, and the Money Trail

Segment: [04:21–28:51]

• Minnesota Scandal:

  • Hosts discuss recent headlines about massive welfare fraud tied to Minneapolis and the Somali community, implicating local officials and even Democrats’ national leadership.
    • “...millions in cash...flown by Somali Kirby on an MSP from MSP somewhere overseas…” [08:26]

• Democratic Response:

  • Democrats allegedly obfuscate and shift blame, fund opposition to ICE, and (according to the Ruthless crew) manipulate the narrative to avoid electoral backlash.
  • The fate of party leaders (e.g., Tim Walz) is tied to how much they can “muddy the waters” rather than provide a substantive defense.

• Money in Politics:

  • Questions raised about the DNC chairman being from Minnesota, and speculation that “bags of money” from fraud schemes may drive party dynamics.
    • “I think it's because both guys have a bag of money behind them that we do not understand yet…” – Duncan [26:48]

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3. Media, Indoctrination, and the Left’s Use of the Internet

Segment: [24:41–25:07]

• The hosts argue the left views the Internet as a tool of indoctrination, likening the spread of misinformation via AI to leftist education tactics.
  • “...the left views the Internet...as a giant tool to indoctrinate people.” – Duncan [24:41]
  • “They want to use the internet in the same way to put the same bullshit into your heads…” – Duncan [24:41]

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4. Democrats’ Rapid Hamas Narrative Shift

Segment: [30:24–43:13]

• Pivot on Israel/Hamas:

  • Noting a sudden about-face among Democrats and progressive electeds who had previously embraced pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas rhetoric, now publicly condemning recent rallies in support of Hamas in New York.
  • The hosts see it as a poll-driven, election-year flip:
    • “Something happened over the weekend where you got a little bit of a shift...Is it a polling issue?...I don't know.” – Holmes [34:12]
    • Reference to coordinated PR, e.g., similar wording in DNC and Members of Congress’ statements [35:40]

• Cynicism and Political Calculation:

  • “They do it because they get away with it.” – Duncan [43:07]
  • Hosts argue this is about power, not principle, and warn listeners not to be fooled by the “surface” moderating.

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5. Listener Segment: Absurd Fake Narratives

Segment: [43:55–48:23]

• Fans submit examples of the most absurd fake Democratic narratives, including:
  • The “black face of white supremacy” label for Larry Elder ([44:13]—multiple hosts)
  • “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” ([47:25]—multiple hosts)
  • Climate change “financial fraud” ([45:13]—Nick Adams)

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6. Variety & Culture – Youth Hockey Brawl

Segment: [48:27–52:09]

• Comic relief analyzing viral footage of a massive youth hockey brawl in Pennsylvania, used to riff on “building men,” generational toughness, and contrasting with political absurdities.

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7. Interview: Attorney General J.B. McCuskey, Supreme Court Case on Women’s Sports

Segment: [52:09–72:16]

Background:

• The Supreme Court case BPJ v. West Virginia will determine if the state’s Save Women’s Sports Act—barring biological males from competing in girls’ sports—is constitutional.
• McCuskey has led WV’s legal fight, facing an ACLU lawsuit.

Key Points & Quotes:

• Lawsuit Context:
  • “...we got sued by the ACLU, not the other way around.” – McCuskey [55:38]
• Importance of The Case:
  • “If we were to lose, a loss would render every single women's sports team in the entire country illegal.” – McCuskey [55:51]
• Common Sense and Bipartisan Appeal:
  • “We have the Constitution, we have the law, and we have common sense. Right. When you combine those three...even liberal justices, I believe, will agree with us.” – McCuskey [55:51]
• Impact on Women & Title IX:
  • “Every single time that a boy takes a podium or a medal, you're displacing a woman.” – paraphrasing Washington Post [57:22]
  • “Listening to these women...I was ready to fight for this law this morning, but after hearing those women speak today, I'm ready to run through a brick wall.” [59:25]
• Culture and Motivation:
  • On losing: “I hate losing a thousand times more than I like [winning].” [69:36]
• Role of Republican AGs:
  • “...the Republican attorney generals have really become the leading voice in America for common sense.” [70:11]

Behind-the-Scenes:

• McCuskey’s humorous recounting of teasing his Solicitor General about arguing the case at the Supreme Court [63:48].
• Personal backstory: Political family, campaign history, personal motivation.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I want to read another comment here from this AI Slop video from the Italian deli. Basta. I love it.” – J. John Ashbrook [17:40]
• “If you can't pay for it in real people... There's always AI.” – Josh Holmes [10:22]
• “We have common sense. Even liberal justices, I believe, will agree with us.” – J.B. McCuskey [55:51]
• “You don't have to give a fucking inch on this stuff.” – Josh Holmes, on standing up for law enforcement and against leftist narratives [21:22]
• “You have to understand how the left views the Internet. They look at it like it's just one giant tool to indoctrinate people.” – Michael Duncan [24:41]
• “I hate losing a thousand times more than I like [winning].” – J.B. McCuskey [69:36]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00–21:00]: Viral AI anti-ICE propaganda analyzed and lampooned
• [04:21–28:51]: Minnesota welfare scandal, money in politics, Democratic leadership discussion
• [24:41–25:07]: Internet as a tool of indoctrination
• [30:24–43:13]: Hamas/Israel rhetoric pivot among Democrats
• [43:55–48:23]: Listener-submitted “fake narrative” examples
• [48:27–52:09]: Youth hockey brawl segment
• [52:09–72:16]: J.B. McCuskey interview (West Virginia AG, Supreme Court case)

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Tone and Style

• Language: Sarcastic, irreverent, and hyperbolic; clear conservative perspective.
• Dynamic: Banter-heavy, mixing ridicule and serious critique.
• Audience: Geared toward committed conservative listeners, but accessible as a lively news and culture talk show.

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Summary for the Uninitiated

If you want to understand how viral AI-generated "rage bait" is shaping the online discourse around immigration, why the conservative right is irate at the media and the Democratic Party, or what’s at stake in the current culture wars over women’s sports, this episode of Ruthless is a wild, both humorous and indignant journey through it all. The show's trademark mix of rapid-fire mockery and interviews with Republican insiders ensures that listeners leave with new talking points and a sense of the right’s current mood—defiant, mobilized, but still able to laugh at the absurdities of digital life and political twists.

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Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

They're putting together AI testimonials from people who look like real people who are just expressing their outrage over this whole situation.

[Michael Duncan]

You have to understand how the left views the Internet. They look at it like it's just one giant tool to indoctrinate people.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yep. This AI slop, I think plays into the fantasy of these brain dead liberals of, like, the way that they think the world is. And so it's just perfect for their brains. It hits that dopamine that they really want. For decades, the rising cost of health insurance has been a contentious issue, one that affects every single American. Big health insurance companies who have been paid trillions in US Taxpayer money are raising health insurance prices historically high on Americans. At the same time, it was reported that major health insurance companies were funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund Gavin Newsom's redistricting effort in California designed to undermine President Trump and Congressional Republicans. Just the other day, President Trump announced something historic. He's going to haul in the heads of the largest US Health insurance companies with the goal of saving Americans money by lowering the outrageous price of health insurance. The President has been crystal clear. Big insurance companies have been, quote, ripping off the public for years. Now he's taking the bold step of holding those big insurance companies accountable. It's about time. And we should all thank President Trump. Learn [e-mail] America the best to ever do it.

[J.B. McCuskey]

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[Josh Holmes]

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[J. John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

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[Michael Duncan]

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[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Unidentified Panelist]

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

[Michael Duncan]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. A Lot going on this week. We're gonna go through a whole bunch of it. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and J. John Ashbrook, left or right across your radio dial as always. First off this week, Supreme Court been out of the news for a little bit. Back in the news this week, a lot of big stuff happening, including a landmark case on men and women's sports that I think has the capacity of ultimately rendering a final judgment here one way or another about whether or not your girls have the opportunity to compete in sports. It's about time in some ways. So that is coming out. We want to cover that in some detail. So we ask J.B. mcCuskey. He's the West Virginia Attorney General who happens to be leading that case. The case that is before the Supreme Court is a West Virginia case made its way up through the fourth Circuit and all the way to the Supreme Court. It's the big one. You're going to want to stick around for that interview. He's a hell of a guy, but he also knows a lot about the topic and I think can kind of ballpark out how this thing is gonna. Is gonna play out. We're also obviously covering, you know, my hometown and all of that chaos, all that nonsense.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I think people are calling it Minidishu now. I think that's the new name that I'm.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that right? That's very minidouche. That's creative, thoughtful. But it is a mess and I can't walk away from that. I did find it funny, you know, at the onset we've talking a little bit over the last few days just sort of on text and everything else. But how funny it is that ultimately what we're fight on a national level that has drawn partisan lines is one side just continuously arguing that the illegal should be legal or the illegal by statute, by federal, state. I mean, by anybody's standards, illegal is somehow permissible because we don't like who the President of the United States is, basically. I mean, it starts with the fraud.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Anytime you get 8 billion be ripped off of you, you would think that most people would be pretty upset if you've paid a dime in taxes.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

You would be pretty upset about the fact that this is all just being stolen.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's like the onset of it. You have a mayor and a governor who've said very publicly that they're not interested in enforcing immigration laws. And it's suggested that ICE and interior enforcement at all is not allowed in their state.

[Michael Duncan]

And did you see the list of people that have been apprehended. Bill Melugian put out absolute monsters. You had to keep scrolling and scrolling to see the. I mean it was like a list.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Of the worst crimes you could. Like people who had done the most horrific things to children.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And tons of them that are being captured right now by ICE in Minnesota.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And while they're trying to take these monsters off the streets, you've got these morons trying to stop them.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And then in trying to stop them, you're aiding, abetting a criminal and trying to stop federal law enforcement from doing its job, a job that is on the books in the federal registry. Just go check out the statutes. They're there.

[J. John Ashbrook]

That's sort of the craziest part to me in this whole debate of this woman who was shot by the ICE agent and how hard did she hit him with the car and she wasn't following the orders and all these sorts of things. And I feel like it's silly having a debate about. We're not talking about people who are protesting with signs on the sidewalk.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

You know, I mean, I thought she was supposed to be a legal observer. Now she's in a car obstructing law, law enforcement. She is, you know, not listening to their lawful orders to exit the vehicle. She is gunning the gas, which is a criminal.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what a criminal.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Right. And like we're, we're honestly having a serious debate here of whether she was in the wrong or not. Obviously she was.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally. And very clearly. But when it occurred to me over the weekend, when that's your hand at cards where you're basically like, we should be outraged because these people stole our stuff and these people are trying to get it back and those people probably shouldn't be here in the first place and the people who are trying to get our stuff back shouldn't be here either. Like that's a tough hand of cards from a public discussion standpoint. You know, I mean, it just doesn't.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And I think that's why Democrats, I mean, Tim Walz is chiefly among them, have really tried to shift the perspective and the discussion, the public from. Cuz he had no space to try to argue or anything. When Nick Shirley puts this video out and it becomes clear as day Dems were allowing this to happen, they've cultivated this voter base that they've essentially just handed taxpayer money to so that they can win. There was no argument. Tim Walls couldn't even run anymore. He ended his campaign. Yeah, that's how Devastating it was. They can't. They don't want that discussion. What they want to do is muddy the waters of like and change and shift the goalpost daily of like, this woman was just a mom trying to get home. Well, turns out that we now have video that her and her, like, wife were activists with this group. And we see video of them being, like, videotaping and being activists, like, okay, well, then, now let's talk about the physics of the car. Was it?

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I know.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's where we're at now.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. And you might wonder what is driving these people. And when you see the stories about the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, that are stolen from the American taxpayer and flown overseas to Somalia. I mean, did you guys see these tweets with the pictures of millions of cash money in suitcases flown by Somali Kirby on an MSP from MSP somewhere overseas? And it's like, you feel like an idiot filling out the customs form. Well, I bought a souvenir Eiffel Tower to bring back to my nephew. And it's like, they're just taking millions in cash. I wanna know who the banker is.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And that's the thing, is, I think that Democrats came to a realization that they saw how quickly this video from Nick Shirley spread, how outraged Americans, all Americans, does not matter whether you're a Democrat or Republican, how outraged Americans were being like, I feel like a sucker. All this money that I pay in taxes that I could spend on my family, I could spend on my kids, all this money that I'm giving to the government, this is how they treat it? What am I doing here? And Democrats realize this fraud, corruption is gonna be a huge midterm issue. They're like, we could get smoked. If we allow that to be the discussion, Then the Dems push out. They're like, oh, my God, they're murdering innocent mothers who are trying to make a U turn.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. I mean, look. Yeah, I mean, that is basically it. And the only way to find opposition is to fund opposition, which, of course, is what they're doing in Minneapolis. But it's also out of necessity that they've become a little bit innovative on the political front. A little bit innovative, you know, when you don't have people to make the argument you'd like them to make. Well, the Internet is a wonderful thing these days.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Well, because the demand for outrage on the left is, you know, far outstrips the supply of real outrage that they can point to.

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly. If you can't pay for it in real people They've run out. Apparently. You can. There's always AI. Yeah. And we stumbled across what I find to be one of the most amazing things, because it's gone viral on the left. You can track these things down, but it's a. Some dude, allegedly. It could be a woman. It could be anywhere. It could be somebody sitting in the middle of, you know, the Czech Republic, for all I know. But they're putting together AI testimonials from people who look like real people who are just expressing their outrage over this whole situation in Minneapolis. Can we go to clip one? Not today. And not on this church. I don't know what God you worship. Maybe an orange one. But my God is love. Preach it, Bishop, and don't come back. Hallelujah. All right, so that was what appears to be a priest standing at the doorstep of his church, renouncing ICE and the Trump administration and all of these things to the untrained eye, of which the untrained eye is well represented in the liberal left these days. And so this has gone kind of viral. Turns out it's all AI right? And this is like, what's the name of this account? Duncan, I think you did a little. A little poking around on this.

[J. John Ashbrook]

This guy is named Mike Wayne, okay? And he's got, you know, all these AI videos up on Instagram. And he also, like, I guess, sells this service for, like, I don't know, generating content and leveraging AI and stuff. So it's like, also a showcase, I think, of his services. But, yeah, I mean, like, his reels page is just a flood of these AI videos of fake interactions with ICE officers, right? That just, like, gin up the most unhinged comments from liberal boomers. One from that video that we just played. This priest has done so much for his flocks. I see him constantly standing up for them.

[Josh Holmes]

Constantly.

[J. John Ashbrook]

A wonderful man. These are the people I look to as shepherds of God. Complete opposite of DTs, evangelicals. Evangelicals who are nothing but devils disguised as Christians.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's so good. It does so many things. Like, one, it's just like, you're dumb as a box of rocks, but. But two, it's like, I constantly see him. He was invented yesterday. He's dumb.

[Unidentified Panelist]

He's like, oh, yeah, it's the famous priest. I constantly see videos.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, he's a famous guy. He's gonna be a cardinal someday, I swear.

[Michael Duncan]

But is this Mike Wayne guy, is that a real person?

[J. John Ashbrook]

Who knows? We don't really know, but it's basically.

[Josh Holmes]

In order you know, the motivation. I mean, he could be somebody who's pushing a political agenda or he could be somebody who is like hilariously observing the blind retweet of the boomer.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

So I don't, I think it's actually a third option here and that is basically just swimming in the wake of the news to produce content to generate outrage. I scrolled back through a lot of the old reels and they were like really fat people, like AI slop of like fake fat people at buffets, refusing to leave. Well, it's not really funny. It's just like it's the most brain dead AI slop that people look at.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And they're like, but that's, I think you're going to start seeing a lot more of this is people who see rage bait as just a pure business model. They have no beliefs, irrespective of what they believe. They just, like Duncan described, they're just swimming in the wake of what's happening. They're like, oh, well, I'm getting a lot of clicks from libs who want to be served video about how ICE is the bad guys. If it works, it works. You know, this guy's essentially, to me, when I went and looked at the account, it feels like it's just like a mercenary. If kitten videos became the number one thing people want to see, he'd be serving up kitten videos.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, I mean, he knows a mark when you see one.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Bingo.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, and the mark in this case are the same people who are arguing justice, except entirely against the justice system within our country. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And I guess I'm not surprised that this is starting on the left given how much we heard from MSNBC over the last few years from their misinformation reporter warning us about the rise of AI. Yeah, anytime the left is warning you about something, you should think they're about right. This is part of their plan.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yeah, and I will say something about this is. And we've seen a lot about the reporting on that lady in Minnesota of how she was a member of that Minnesota anti ice group and how she got involved with all that. And she was, I guess introduced to that through the like Marxist charter school she sent her kid to. So like there's this system of radicalization that the left has just perfected because it's how you get these people to fight against their own interests in their own country.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you gotta keep them entertained.

[Unidentified Panelist]

But the thing is, like, this is part of it. It's just serving up this kind of priest.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Wait until you see the next one?

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so this is the second priest, and then we gotta get to one that I know that you will take to heart. This is the second priest in clip two. You have no right to put your hands on him. This is the house of God.

[Unidentified Panelist]

It's just.

[J. John Ashbrook]

This is entirely fake.

[Josh Holmes]

Not one more step. Archbishop, please. Me? This is Archbishop. Oh, Archbishop, please. No, I mean, it's just, it's completely fabricated. It's not a real thing. And like, I don't expect every like, you know, 80 year old serf in the Internet to understand the differences in all this. But like you, if you're proclaiming yourself to be like, oh, thank God, the clergy is coming to our rescue, you should probably know that Cat is not an archbishop, right?

[Michael Duncan]

If you're Catholic, you've never seen a bishop like that in your life, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Speaking of Catholics, the Italians also well represented here in the AI slop. Yeah, in the AI slop. Clip three. Hey, basta. Get out of my shop. Sir, we just need to ask a few questions. You come in here with your mask. Trouble in my neighbor.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Get the hell out.

[Josh Holmes]

Sir, we have authority. Authority.

[J. John Ashbrook]

You got no guts.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what you got.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Cowards hiding behind a. I'll give him credit. That is how every Italian speaks, though.

[Josh Holmes]

What is it pronounced?

[Michael Duncan]

Capiche? Cappuche.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I mean, that's the one tells like he's mispronouncing it, but like the guy surrounded by deli meat and cheese and.

[Josh Holmes]

Talking about like mozzarella.

[Unidentified Panelist]

It's like 99% of what Italians say is like mozzarella. Well, the two things, he must be real.

[Josh Holmes]

He says, basta.

[J. John Ashbrook]

The two things that are dead giveaways always with the AI slop is like, where is that camera person?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, behind the counter.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Behind the counter.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's always the first question.

[J. John Ashbrook]

And then the other thing is like the audio fidelity of the clip.

[Josh Holmes]

It's always perfect.

[J. John Ashbrook]

It's always perf. Perfect. Like there's no distance to the voices, you know, it's always like the exact same decibel level.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's what it's having. Difficult, because echoes require physics. So calculating that is insane.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, what a treasure having Michael Duncan, Internet expert on the program.

[Josh Holmes]

What a treasure.

[Michael Duncan]

He can decipher AI versus reality. As well as my own daughter, who every time I show her a video of animals, she's like, no, dad, that's AI. Like within a second, she can spot it. So the kids are on.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Well, that's also a thing is like, for senior citizens. We gotta make sure, someone's there to let them know when they're being surfaced.

[Josh Holmes]

They should have an Internet minder.

[J. John Ashbrook]

I want to read another comment here from this AI Slop video from the Italian deli. Basta. I love it.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no way I was making that up. That's actually a thing.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Seriously.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh my gosh, if I lived close.

[J. John Ashbrook]

I would buy everything in this man's shop and throw a huge party on the sidewalk for everyone. But ice, make them drool.

[Josh Holmes]

Buy everything you have, man.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Which is what I love about this comment is this AI Slop, I think, plays into the fantasy of these brain dead liberals of the way that they think the world is. And so it's just perfect for their brains. It hits that dopamine that they really want.

[Josh Holmes]

So then it's like a funnel, though. You lead him in through that, and then you gotta widen the aperture to global affairs and these kind of things to make it truly something you ought to get behind. Yeah, right. You don't understand the gravity of what it is that we're doing. This is life and death type stuff. God forbid we stop some somebody from stealing $8 billion of our tax dollars and sending it to a childless daycare. This is about, you know, things as well. It's as big as Tiananmen Square. Graphic one. There it is. Wow, there it is. So liberals are circulating an AI generated image comparing ICE to the CCP crackdown at Tiananmen. One of the most famous political uprising pictures in history. Of course, it was with tanks there, and now it's with ice Suburbans, conveniently with ice along the side of it. I'm not sure that any of those vehicles actually have that in real life.

[J. John Ashbrook]

I just love that it's quote tweeted by Nicholas Kristof. He was once considered a serious person.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, and Joe Scarborough. Oh my goodness, Joe Morning Joe is getting involved.

[J. John Ashbrook]

And also, just to borrow a term of the left, the gaslighting in this is what I love the most. And that is that these are suburbans that say ice on the side. And here's this lonely protester just like that man at Tiananmen Square. And it's like, no, the woman was in the car, the woman was ramming. The ICE guy was the one in the street.

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I'll tell you what, fellas. Not only is the Ruthless Variety Program the hottest, most influential podcast There we go on the planet, it's also a home health visit for boomers trying to make heads or tails of what they're seeing on the Internet.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, I think confidently Smug can make his rounds.

[Unidentified Panelist]

This, this just so I just to get to the.

[Josh Holmes]

Hey, ma', am, are you being confused by the Internet?

[Unidentified Panelist]

Can I, can I get that image up one more time?

[Michael Duncan]

Alert.

[Josh Holmes]

Except it goes right to Smug. Cell phone.

[Michael Duncan]

One button, one press.

[Unidentified Panelist]

This is the problem is this is like, like Duncan described the gaslighting. Because you see this like clearly like Lib White lady standing in the way. She's the hero here.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And the Dems have convinced that portion of the electorate to throw your beliefs away, throw your life away, because you're a superhero. Don't you see? You're the main character. You're the hero that's standing up to a brutal regime. And it's like, nah, you're actually just trying to stop these cops from arresting like a pedophile. That's what you're doing here. And something needs to be done about this because we're seeing this again and again and again and again. And when they're not trying to run over members of ice, you see these people are shooting people like Charlie Kirk. The left has gotten extremely dangerous and radicalized and violence is now something that not only is tolerated. You're seeing the left, you're seeing the pod bros, you're seeing Joe Scarborough all stand on the side of a woman who tried to kill an ICE agent.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what it starts with. And we've got a lot of well adjusted people who listen to this program, respected members of your community. And there's a tendency when you're in the conservative right to see something as divisive as someone dying. And these protests that are being well funded by the left and you just want to stay out of the way. Right. I mean, I can just, I can hear it in my own sort of circles of people who have very heavy opinions that that ICE is doing the right thing on this whole thing, but they don't want to talk about it a lot because they know the emotions involved in the left. And like, these people are a little bit crazy. I don't want to invite that on myself. But I think it starts in large part with shows like this and discussions like this where it's like, no, you don't have to give a fucking inch on this stuff. This is not. You saw what you saw. The fact pattern is you've got a bunch of lawless idiots who have absolutely no respect for A, the principle of law and order, but B, just common decency in your communities, your state and your country. If it doesn't fit in an ideological agenda that, by the way, doesn't include you. And the longer you get away from that and you shy away from that discussion, the more likely it is that this kind of thing persists because you can see it show up in polling. Like, I don't know what the numbers are. I'm assuming we'll see this week from everybody, like 60% of the country is extremely concerned about this new ICE regime that they've done and whatever. And that's basically a function of your 40% of Democrats all in all into the hilt to just like pure anarchy if it helps our political side. And a function of that 10 to 12% in the middle. That's like, I don't wanna talk about this stuff. Like, keep me the hell out of it. And so you see these gulf. And it exists because, well meaning people aren't speaking to any of this stuff. And you got to, you just. I'm not saying you got to go out in the street and confront these people. God, no, I would never do that. But you do have to just when you're having family con, don't let people get away with this stuff. This is not what this. If anybody says like, oh, is it? They shot an innocent woman who is just trying to, you know, legally observe, like, no, it's bullshit.

[Michael Duncan]

Right?

[Unidentified Panelist]

Dude, you are so right. Because for so long and it's been so frustrating, like I'd say over the past decade for conservatives of feeling like you should bite your tongue in public.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Totally.

[Unidentified Panelist]

You have to deal with, oh God, like, am I gonna have to acknowledge this individual's pronouns and like, roll your eyes and deal with all this. And it's like we were essentially told to shut up and put up with all the insanity by the left. And they bullied the companies into having to put up like flags and whatever and show that we are an ally and whatever. And you were forced to have your voice suppressed.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And we've seen what that's like. And I don't want to ever have to go back to a situation like that again. So when something's clear cut of like this lady's trying to murder law enforcement, trying to make our community safer, and then you hear someone pop off in public, we don't have to be quiet anymore. You're like, that's not what happened, friend. It's okay.

[Michael Duncan]

That's exactly right. And you have to understand how the left views the Internet. They look at it like it's just one giant tool to indoctrinate people. Smug mentioned those Marxist schools that they're using to indoctrinate kids. Remember the madrasa that indoctrinated Barack Obama? They want to use the Internet in the same way to put the same bullshit into your heads to try to turn you against America. Don't let it happen.

[Josh Holmes]

He said madrasa. It's just amazing.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Like Obama was recruited to run by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

[Michael Duncan]

Indoctrination is bad.

[Josh Holmes]

So the reason I use the funnel analogy, so you get people into this stuff, you widen the aperture, you make it a point of like international concern. It makes the, you know, the whole virtuous case for why it is that you ought to be a lawless as an American. And then ultimately you get this imprimatur of party adoption by the Democratic Party. At some level, once they think it's safe, once they've consolidated a base, then they come up with stuff like this in graphic too. This is the DNC chairman, Ken Martin, which by the way, Minnesota. Interesting.

[Michael Duncan]

Very interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

Interesting, right. Why would you hire a totally forgettable, absolutely charisma less guy named Ken Martin to head the dnc? Like I thought they were into diversity and stuff.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Maybe the Minnesota Dems got like a money machine somehow.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, weird, right? I do, I do have an opinion on this, but.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, here's what he has to say. If comparing the US to Iran makes you angry, ask why. I don't know. Killing protesters. Killing protesters, Crushing dissent, kidnapping and disappearing legal citizens, huh?

[Unidentified Panelist]

Insisted.

[Josh Holmes]

Ignoring courts, threatening critics, terrorizing communities. That's authoritarian behavior anywhere if you're rushing to defend it. Maybe the problem isn't the comparison. Trump keeps pushing it, Americans aren't buying it, and Minneapolis won't be silent. So you see what he did there?

[Michael Duncan]

I do see what he did there. And let me get back to something that you said in the wind up to introducing that guy's clip. Josh. And I love the state of Minnesota. There's so many good people there and it's an important state. Okay, but it's one of 50. Why is it that Democrats chairman is from Minnesota? Why is it that they're completely talentless? Governor was their number two. I don't think it was just because they happen to be from Minnesota that was going to go blue anyway last election. I think it's because both guys have a bag of money behind them that we do not understand yet. And we're just starting to uncover with the Shirley videos and everything else, with the fraud and all the money that's coming.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, the money's gotta go somewhere.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Keith Ellison ran the DNC Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Also from Minnesota.

[Michael Duncan]

Great point.

[Josh Holmes]

Who is now sort of an architect of the fraud scheme. We played tape of him last week. There's more tape of him out there interacting with people who are ultimately convicted in the fraud scheme. Basically, you know, insinuating a quid pro quo relationship with his ability to enforce the law versus what it is that they were doing. So, yeah, it's worth asking questions. How is it that Democrats got such a massive small dollar advantage over the Republican Party despite the fact that they have fewer votes? It's interesting, right? Is it just a cultural thing? We've covered it a lot.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I don't know.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know the answers to it. But it seems like if you're looking at where the money goes and unanswered questions, some were in Mogadishu, as we talked about. There's a lot more billions out there and it's not just Minnesota, but there has to be some ringleaders in there somewhere.

[Michael Duncan]

I think it's exactly right. I mean, the fathers of the Democrat Party, the names you do not know and never will know, aren't just going to embarrass themselves with Tim Walls on the ticket for no reason.

[Josh Holmes]

Ooh.

[Michael Duncan]

They want something in return and they know that. Okay, we're willing to embarrass ourselves for Tim Walls if there's a lot of money at stake.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a spicy take.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's a good take.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a spicy take. Well, look, there's a reason we did the Iran thing, cuz it shifts into something that we had noticed over the weekend. A prominent shift among progressive Democrats who all of a sudden became a little less concerned about their Michigan problem. They turned from Hamas talking points to something representing almost a pro Israel take, which was a jarring shift. We're going to highlight all of that right after this.

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[Josh Holmes]

So the loyal listeners of the ruthless Variety program have watched as we have documented this extreme shift from what was sort of a reasonable Democratic Party in some ways, is it at least recognized an ally in the Middle east, to something just shy of like a full Hamas support. And then it became kind of Hamas support to the point where, as we've discussed a lot, you know, a guy like Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania cannot be the nominee simply because he's Jewish. So Kamala Harris has to move on to Tim Walls, which maybe our last segment filled in a few blanks on that. But the point is, is that they were so nervous of the Hamas wing of the Democratic Party, and they spoke to it. And this was Kamala Harris job leading up to the. Before she actually got the nomination, she was trying to run cover for Biden with the Hamas wing. Like, they. This was a big deal. Like, they had shifted entirely to be a pro Palestinian, pro Hamas party. And they'd done so with a lot of consistency. Well, all of a sudden, something happened in Queens, New York, on January 8th. Clip.

[Unidentified Panelist]

For audio only Might not have heard it end in the video if you didn't, but you see, that's a rally happening in Queens, and they're saying, the crowd's chanting, say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. Which is entirely consistent with everything that we have seen on campuses, on Democratic rallies in places throughout this country. And the answer from Democrats for two and a half years for things far more destructive than that was always like, well, you know, we're concerned about the genocide. Right? Like, never mind the facts. But they wanted to speak to the.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Genocide or they would do the hard pivot of, well, we of course acknowledge, you know, anti Semitism has no place in our country. Likewise, I'm really concerned about the rise of Islamophobia.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Holmes]

But we ought to build them a pier that sinks in 48 hours, you.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Know what I mean?

[Josh Holmes]

Like, it was always very, very consistent. And then you had people like AOC is kind of a ringleader, the squad. There's a whole bunch of little Shida Tlaib and all those crew. They refused to vote yes on a resolution condemning Hamas, not Palestinians. Hamas, a terrorist organization that has been recognized as such by Democratic and Republican presidents as far as the eye can see. And most countries recognize it as such because it's nothing other than that it's funded by Iran and it's there to commit terrorism against the state of Israel and all of our Western allies. And there was a 412 to 10 to 6 vote. They all voted, like, against the resolution. Contempt. So they made it very clear where they stand on this. Something happened over the weekend where you got a little bit of a. A shift, which is noteworthy because, look, we're in politics and when you see some consistency over a period of time and then all of a sudden there's like an abrupt shift, something happened. Is it a internal meeting? Is it a polling issue? Is it a finance issue? Like, what is it? I don't know. But in the end, all of a sudden, the talking points went out. I'm gonna get them on Donnie in a second, but I wanna get to that post of all of the members of Congress who put out there. There are dozens of Democrats that immediately pivot and condemn that little rally. The thing that pales in comparison to everything that we've seen over the last two years.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I mean, the campuses alone, it was just like riots, nonstop riots. And you saw Democrats being like, no, well, you see, we actually oppose Islamophobia.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. And like, mom. Donnie Mamdani. Well, I mean, just flashback clip 6. Here's Mamdani as a rapper. Remember those days?

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, boy, that was fun.

[Josh Holmes]

About The Holy Land 5. In his rap song in 2017, he said, I'm in love with the Holy Land 5.

[J. John Ashbrook]

So let's explain what the Holy Land Fives are. Yeah, let's look them up.

[Josh Holmes]

They are convicted criminals that have been convicted in 2008 for material support for Hamas. First of all, can you imagine sitting around worrying about what you're gonna do to represent your constituency and being deeply steeped in The Holy Land 5 Writing.

[Michael Duncan]

A rap song about them.

[Josh Holmes]

I gotta rap about the Holy Land 5.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Dude, this is exactly why I hope the worst happens to New York City. Because they voted for a dude rapping about giving shout outs to The Holy Land 5? Yeah, they're like, yeah, that's the guy I'm gonna vote for. You get what you deserve.

[Josh Holmes]

It was.

[J. John Ashbrook]

It was really fascinating, though, this. This anti Hamas heel turn from, you know, the liberal left in that all of these statements went out, you know, about how this is anti Semitism, Hamas is a terrorist organization. It was like some PR person sent six similar tweets.

[Josh Holmes]

They were all the same words, all.

[J. John Ashbrook]

The same words to Chuck Schumer, Letitia James, AOC Mamdani. All of these people just in rapid fire. It's like they all got some pol from the DNC that like, hey, maybe being against Jews is a bad idea.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I think it's. It's very interesting to see what they're doing PR on. I also think it's interesting to see what they're not doing PR on. I don't know if you guys saw the edict that went out from this Minnesota ice antifa group that said to do micro intifadas on ice in Minnesota. This is. These are the same group of people who five years ago, were lecturing everybody against microaggressions, and now all of a sudden, they're doing micro intifadas. You talk about a shift on the left, and now all of a sudden, their lawmakers aren't saying anything about that. They're saying what they want to say about what they choose to say something about because they think it gets them some ink and gets them out from under something. We know exactly what they think because we saw what they rapped about when.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody was looking well and voted and discussed and chose a vice presidential nominee. Because, I mean, these aren't small decisions that they've made over the last two years. And the shift away from Israel, away from Western values and for terrorist organizations, like, they've done that, and they did it deliberately, and they did it publicly. And then all of a sudden, one day, you wake up and there's like, two dozen people that show up in New York and are like, this is the pivot point. And you can. Only a cynic would say, like, yeah, it's an election year.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's an election year. They're gonna go back to what is a traditionally democratic constituency in the Jewish vote and be like, see what we did? We put a post out condemning all that stuff. We're not actually. You know. And they're hoping that the AX Post will do it, by the way, because they're continuing to try to jam funding into the Somali bill for, you know, all kinds of just continued fraud continued. They've made themselves very clear, is my point. And they're trying to now sort of trick people into believing that they actually. No, it's all the same. We're being reasonable about these sorts of things. No, they're not being reasonable about it. These people basically authored a new generation of antisemitism in this country by tipping their cap to a constituency that's better aligned with Hamas than anybody in America. That's what they did.

[Unidentified Panelist]

100%, man.

[Michael Duncan]

Buddy, I would like to say that people will see through it this time, but I remember the last time when so many people voted for a president who Supported the mullahs in Iran and counseled Qatar to house and keep safe the leadership of Hamas in Doha. And actually, like, just was terrible to Jewish people. And then they all of a sudden were like, no, we're going to vote for Obama. I'm worried that the same people are going to be like, you know what? I heard what AOC tweeted, and I'm okay with her this time. Yeah, I hope they don't, because the reality is that Democrats have a burr in their saddle for Israel, and it will never go away. The second you vote for them next January, they're gonna be like, you know what? Hamas has a point. They deserve all of it completely.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you've got AOC saying marching into a neighborhood and leading a chant saying, we support Hamas is disgusting and anti Semitic thing to do.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Really?

[Josh Holmes]

Hamas voting for it in a district that has a lot of Jewish people involved. It seems more official than marching.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I mean, that's the thing is when it came down to action of in her role, her actual job. Are you gonna vote to condemn Hamas, who every. Like Holmes said, every administration is recognized as a terror group. Do you vote to condemn? And she said no. She voted no. And now she thinks that if I put up a little tweet, maybe that'll get me some leeway.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Also, like saying, we support Hamas here. If anybody at that rally said that and they've been naturalized as an American citizen or have a visa, then they have committed visa fraud. They should go out because that means they support a terrorist organization. Deport their ass.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Get them out of here. Get them out of here. You're looking for some quota numbers, Ice, I got a good place for you to start. Just show up every single time they organize a rally. Just go ahead and take them off the streets. It would do us a huge favor.

[Michael Duncan]

Great point.

[Josh Holmes]

He tracked their bank account right back to George Soros. Allegedly. Anyway, Mandani is a perfect example of this too. I mean, he's got, like. He says chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place place in our city. Is that right? The guy made up a rap song about the Holy Land 5.

[J. John Ashbrook]

It's hilarious.

[Josh Holmes]

Holy Land 5. Like, I don't know anybody who knew what The Holy Land 5 is. Unless you are like, no.

[J. John Ashbrook]

It means you're in the deep lore of terrorism.

[Josh Holmes]

You know?

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

You're in the deep OG Yeah. Right?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

You know it.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what's up? But it's Letitia James, It's Kathy Hochul. It's Gila Brand. It's Rosen. It's. And there was a whole bunch of others.

[Unidentified Panelist]

You know, I think you're right in the cynical sense of why some of these Democrats who've been so outspoken and pro Hamas in the past, because it's an election. Because they see that, okay, maybe we need to try and at least on the surface, moderate on this. I don't know if you saw this Ashbrook, this past weekend in the Times, but Mamdani actually met with Steven Spielberg at Spielberg's place.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Come on.

[Unidentified Panelist]

In the Upper west side. And they had. It was. It was. They Mumdani team tried to hide it from the Record in the New York Times.

[Michael Duncan]

No way.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Because it wasn't put on his publication. And then they reached out to Spielberg's publicist to confirm the meeting. And then Mumdani's like, oh, yeah, we were there.

[Josh Holmes]

He's like, yeah, I did. Because I like famous people.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Because Spielberg's one of the biggest Democrat donors.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And like, you see Mountbatting ever since he got elected, the dude's been just like, hat out begging for cash from donors to help push all of his agenda that he needs to get done.

[Josh Holmes]

He hasn't had a good news cycle since he became mayor.

[Unidentified Panelist]

It's been tough.

[Josh Holmes]

Everything he's done has been a complete catastrophe. And it's going to continue. I think you're going to get your wish, by the way.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Everything.

[Josh Holmes]

This guy turns to shit. And like, you kind of deserve it if you've helped in any way facilitate all of that.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so that leads us to our question of the day. Why do you think that Democrats are suddenly anti Hamas? It's a heel turn, folks. And like, look, I can understand. You can just kind of write it off. It's cynicism, election year or whatever. But it's a kind of a big deal when you're talking about international lines being drawn. Because you can see it play out in the un you can see it play out in all of our European allies and everywhere else. This is a big question of the day. Like, where do you stand? Are you stand with sort of western values or you stand with terrorist organizations? And people have made themselves very clear about where they stand. So when you switch on something of that magnitude, dude, it's almost like being like, well, I was pro life yesterday and now I'm pro choice today. I mean, it really is. These are moral consciousness decisions that you either make on one side or the other. You don't just flip around on election years.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Well, you're not Democrat. I mean, they do it pretty easily.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

I mean, all they care about is power.

[Michael Duncan]

You know why they do it? They get away with it.

[Josh Holmes]

Do they do it in secret?

[Michael Duncan]

They do.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a loophole.

[Michael Duncan]

You.

[Josh Holmes]

You would say.

[Michael Duncan]

It sure is.

[Josh Holmes]

So that's our question of the day. When you like and subscribe to the ruthless Friday program, we read all of your responses and get back to the very next episode. In this case, it'll be Thursday. Why are Democrats suddenly anti Hamas? When we come back, your comments from the last episode where we asked, what's the most absurd fake narrative Democrats have ever come up with? Your answers right after. Okay, question of the day from last Friday. A fun time Friday. Which was? What's the most absurd fake narrative Democrats have ever come up with? When you like and subscribe. We read them all. And we read them back to you the very next episode. We always start with a voice.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay. First one comes from Tony Jacobson. And Tony has a fire take, fellas. Wait till you hear this. The most absurd fake narrative has to be from the 2021 LA Times about Larry Elder, referring to him as, quote, the black face of white supremacy.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That was so insane.

[Michael Duncan]

Hands down, the best.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That was insane when they did that.

[Michael Duncan]

It was on. I mean, they should have. The paper should have been shut down.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That's amazing.

[J. John Ashbrook]

It does like 2021. Like these brain deadline.

[Josh Holmes]

They can't get away.

[J. John Ashbrook]

No, really, they were feeling themselves back then. They would call anybody racist. You'd be a black man in America, and they'd be like, no, white supremacist.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Do you remember after 2024, when they're blaming all the Hispanics, they're calling them white supremacists.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yeah. And that's the thing is, like, that's part of the reason why Trump won, is it reached the point where people are like, shut up. Call me whatever you want. I don't want my country to go to hell.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You'Re right.

[Josh Holmes]

Amazing comment to dunks, Runks.

[J. John Ashbrook]

This from Nick Adams. Nick writes the grandest fake narrative of all time. Easy. Global warming followed by climate change. Parenthetical only. After 10 years of hard data from the 2010 Paris Accord revealing that the troposphere has actually cooled. I like that. He knows troposphere, by the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's.

[J. John Ashbrook]

I mean, he's an educated man, a learned man. Scholar. I continue here. The greatest financial fraud of all time. Trillions of US dollars wasted, jobs lost, enriching China and India. Mic drop.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's the truth and it's true.

[Josh Holmes]

Such a good take. And it's easy to miss the forest through the trees on that. That's a big.

[J. John Ashbrook]

I do think they're all related. Like, this is my new grand unified theory of things is that I think like the liberal left in America considers things like the fraud where we ship millions of dollars back to Mogadishu, or they look at things like climate change really not as solutions to any problem, but in furtherance of like an undoing of colonialism as a redistribution of wealth across the country globe to countries in which, you know, they're impoverished and it's all big bad America's fault. I really do believe.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I mean, that pretty much is the center of all of their thinking. Is that like, well, the jumping off point for any liberal ideas? America is bad. Like, that's the foundation. They're like a America's bad and thus. And then whatever their Looney Tunes shit they're putting.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's true that all of their solutions never really get to a point where it's better for America or Americans. It's like they've got to be these grand pronouncements about, no, we need things, right? If you're talking about economy, but you're taking all of the money away from people who are actually building things and giving people jobs and doing all that stuff. And it's like, oh, well, how does that work from an economic development standpoint?

[Unidentified Panelist]

It's like that housing advisor from Dani who is like, homeownership is white supremacy. Ownership of private property is white supremacy. And then some reporters ask her from the New York Post, they're like, so your parents own a $1.6 million house in Nashville? And then she just starts crying because these are all just like play school fake communists who wanna ruin your life because they think they're being a superhero in some way.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so good. All right, comment three, Smug. What do we got?

[Unidentified Panelist]

Comment three is from tm. TM writes, the granddaddy of all the damn fake narratives is still quote, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Unidentified Panelist]

The left have been exaggerating and stretching for decades. This was the first time it was so blatant, direct and deliberately false.

[Josh Holmes]

So good. Gosh, I remember that one. I still have scars from that one.

[Michael Duncan]

Written up in every newspaper paper is a promise it would be kept.

[Unidentified Panelist]

They're like, oh, this is fact. This is fact. You'll keep your doctor.

[Josh Holmes]

Those liar Republicans don't know what they're talking about if you like it, you can keep it.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Just even imagine being able to make that proclamation with a straight face when you're talking about, like, 20% of the American economy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Like the EU just as President of the United States could assure people they'd be able to keep their doctors.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, they knew it was a lie.

[J. John Ashbrook]

They just knew it was a lie.

[Unidentified Panelist]

And then the thing is that, like, the lie lives on to this day, because right now you're seeing them being like, republicans have broken the health care system. They need to help us save it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, they say, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Unless for the Republicans, where they don't want to shovel more of your tax dollars into it, in which case you can't keep it. So they're really the liars.

[Unidentified Panelist]

It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

Amazing. All right, so coming up, we got some variety. It's really good stuff.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

I feel like I need a little, like, Minnesota retribution here in some ways, and hockey is a good way to do it. Okay, so we've got something for a hockey brawl for the ages that you're gonna absolutely love and a lot more right after this. Okay. So absolutely fantastic. The Hershey Bears, which are a AHL affiliate of ira. Washington Capitals.

[J. John Ashbrook]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Big fan of the Washington Capitals. They do what an awful lot of teams do during intermissions, and they host youth hockey, which is great for the fans, it's great for the kids. They get to be on the big stadium ice and they can kind of sort things out. It's always entertaining. If you've been to a game, you know exactly what you're talking. What I'm talking about. Well, between periods at the Giant center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a standard mites game became very unstandard. This is according to Yahoo. Sports, when a bizarre brawl broke out between two youth teams. I gotta tell you, this is what I grew up with. Clip seven.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Other kids are going at it.

[Josh Holmes]

He's on it.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, they're fighting like, oh, yeah. Oh, you gotta. You gotta watch this on video.

[Josh Holmes]

They're not done. The goalie gets involved and he can throw his weight around.

[Michael Duncan]

The ref hadn't even made it over yet.

[Josh Holmes]

They're kind of pairing off here. There's a couple of them that are pairing off, doing one on one battles. Yeah. You know, like, these two have got something on him now. The goalie's involved. Watch the goalie get involved here. He's got some guy there. Amazing that he's taken Out. And now he disappears from scream. But he will be back. The goalie's gonna be back here at some point. He's trying to help a team.

[J. John Ashbrook]

There he is, man, he laid him out. It's like a free safety coming over the middle might.

[Josh Holmes]

Hockey, baby.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Teaching them young there in Hershey.

[J. John Ashbrook]

My. My first thing I noticed here, refs didn't get involved.

[Unidentified Panelist]

That's. So that's what my question is. Like, why did they. Why did refs not break this up?

[J. John Ashbrook]

Because they're building men.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I think that's part of it. I also think that the. I also think the between period matchups are lightly reft.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yeah, they're like, I'm on my break.

[Josh Holmes]

They're lightly reft.

[Michael Duncan]

Not expecting these kids to fight each other.

[Unidentified Panelist]

So this is the thing is like, okay, if you've got kids in hockey throwing punches, you know, they're all wearing like 50 pounds of padding, that's fine. When I see the kid, like run up like that, like, okay, now someone could get a concussion. Someone could get cut. Someone could get messed up here.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yeah, they're wearing a full cage.

[Michael Duncan]

They're wearing a full ca.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, These kids know what they're doing.

[Unidentified Panelist]

At the same time. They've got knives attached to their feet. Okay. When you've got kids with knives attached to their feet and they're starting to drop kick each other, that could be a problem.

[Josh Holmes]

Big hockey guy.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yeah, no, I never really cared for hockey.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, you watch that and we started this show talking about the boomers and how they're just like. You just shake your head at what they believe. You watch that and you're like, okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, we're building a generation.

[Michael Duncan]

Maybe the next generation is gonna be better than the one before us.

[Josh Holmes]

There are signs.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Well, they're in Minnesota, so I imag.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, these guys were in pa.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Oh, that was PA. Okay, okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, they're in pa. So I was going to say, if.

[Unidentified Panelist]

They'Re in Minnesota, then.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, no, please finish at the.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Kind of schools that kids go to in Minnesota. They're going to be taking those tactics to attack ice when they're off the ice.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, Leering center is a number one ranked team, highly accredited leering center, strong hockey program. No, they're better at track and field. I'm not sure they'd make it on.

[Michael Duncan]

The outside these days.

[Josh Holmes]

We gotta get to a great interview. I hope you are prepared for what is, I consider one of the most significant Supreme Court discussions. It's happening as you're listening to this because it not only is about what's right and wrong here, but this will really set the law of the land. If you have a daughter and you want them to have sports, youth, high school, collegiate, Olympic sports, professional sports, this decision matters to you. Because if it goes the wrong way, I'm not sure there's anything stopping it. There's no law at this point that's stopping men from just getting involved at all levels. I mean, you could have LeBron posting up in the WNBA next year and there's not a damn thing anybody could do about it. It just is what it is. But fortunately enough, we have J.B. mcCuskey, the West Virginia Attorney general, who has led a case that is legally sound and very, very good all the way to the Supreme Court. You gotta hear from him on this. One of the most noteworthy things that is happening in Washington, D.C. this week is a Supreme Court case that we've talked about for a long time on this program, an issue that I think Americans have become well acquainted with. And it's coming to the Supreme Court in the form of BPJ v. West Virginia. And the Attorney General for the great state of West Virginia has some thoughts on all of this. J.B. mcCuskey, welcome to the program, sir.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Thank you guys so much for having me. I've been, as they say on sports talk radio, longtime listener, first time caller.

[J. John Ashbrook]

First time caller.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Good.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you're gonna fit in just right around here. That's the way we operate. But listen, this issue is basically the sports issue. Men and women's sports always been a no brainer. This has been completely perverted by the left for so long to a point where it became a political issue, I think, as evidenced by the last election. Vast majority of Americans don't see it that way. This thing came to a head within your state. And I know that as this case has worked its way up, you've sort of been leading this charge from the very beginning. Tell me a little bit about the specific case, the issue. You're in D.C. doing a bunch of stuff.

[J.B. McCuskey]

So to begin with, tomorrow we're arguing in front of the United States Supreme Court, which is a big deal. And so the team of. The first thing I really need to mention is that the team of lawyers that I have assembled are truly unbelievable. And watching them juggle everything else that our office does, you know, fighting for the energy industry or fighting for the Second Amendment or all the things that the West Virginia Attorney General's office does, along with getting ready for a Supreme Court Argument.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I mean, it has been remarkable to watch Michael and Caleb and Holly do their thing. And so the people of West Virginia should be enormously grateful and proud of the team of lawyers they have representing them. But as it goes with the case, what you have is West Virginia in 2021 passed the Save Women Sports Act. It's a simple law. It says biological males are not allowed to play sports against biological females. Within hours, the ACLU had a plaintiff and a case. And so it is interesting. You know, one of the things we talk about a lot that's really wild is when you go on sort of a left leaning media source, and I'll talk to anybody. I mean, I go on CNN and ABC and, and NBC. Anybody wants to talk to me, I'll talk to them. Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Glutton for punishment.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Well, you know, the truth has a way of sneaking its way through, but they're always, why is this a big deal? Why are you making this a big deal? It's important to note that we got sued.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Right. We are here because West Virginia got sued by the aclu, not the other way around.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And so what the law does is it says that your biological sex matters. And you know, it is.

[Josh Holmes]

It is.

[J.B. McCuskey]

We are very, very confident that we're gonna win. I tell everyone I think it's gonna be a 90 case. We have the Constitution, we have the law, and we have common sense. Right. When you combine those three, those three things, even liberal justices, I believe, will agree with us. But if we were to lose, a loss would render every single women's sports team in the entire country illegal. Think about that, right? If states are not allowed to regulate athletics this way, it means that you're not allowed to have a team with just girls.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Do you ever pinch yourself and think how crazy and absurd it is that it went this far? You know that you have to go.

[Unidentified Panelist]

To the Supreme Court.

[J. John Ashbrook]

You have to go to the Supreme Court to be like, women should play in women's sports.

[J.B. McCuskey]

If I hadn't been involved in politics for the last 20 years, probably, yes. But I have spent enough time around Congress people and senators and state legislators, et cetera, to never really need to pinch myself at any level of ABC that comes out of a politician's mouth. But, you know, this is an 80, 20 issue, a 9010 issue. Public opinion is on our side. And it really is remarkable to watch an entire political party hang their hat on something that, number one, doesn't make any sense, number two is bad for women, and number Three is irrational.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I don't think I've ever seen anything quite at this level of irrationality.

[Michael Duncan]

What's your point about it being a 9010 issue and the possibility that you get a 90 ruling in the Supreme Court? The Washington Post editorial page, famously left leaning, wrote in support of your position.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah. I mean, just in striking terms. Right. I mean, their argument was essentially that every single time that a boy takes a podium or a medal, you're displacing a woman.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And people forget that 50 years ago, before Title IX, there weren't really women's athletic scholarships at all. And one of the most salient, and I think the powerful parts of our brief at the court is where we talk about the amount of women who've ascended to CEO levels at American corporations and into the highest level of politics. The percentage of them that played competitive college or high school athletics is well over 50%. And so what we know is, is that playing sports where winning matters and we're losing creates the ability for you to learn how to lose. Right. It's very hard to find another team.

[J. John Ashbrook]

The other thing that really bothers me is you hear some of these voices on the left and sort of minimizing the whole thing and being like, well, you know, we're talking about high school athletics. Like, we're not. You know, what's the big deal here? Because, of course, these people probably never played sports growing up. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

No. What gives them away?

[J. John Ashbrook]

They don't understand the sacrifice that actually goes into it. You listen to the stories of these female athletes and what's been taken from them, and I assume that's very powerful testimony.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I was just with five of the bravest women I've ever met who played. One was a silver medalist in the Olympics in gymnastics. One was a competitive college swimmer, one was a competitive college soccer player, and the other one was a competitive college volleyball player. And then three girls who are in college now, one play soccer and two play track and field. Listening to these women who aren't trained communicators like we are. Right. Like, my job is to get on podcasts like this and talk to you guys about what we're doing. But to hear their story. And they don't need notes. Right. They can come up and they can. And I mean, frankly, a lot of these lessons were probably learned in athletics by them. Right. The ability to be a leader, the ability to take criticism, the ability to do all the things. Because five years ago, if you're Riley Gaines, five years ago, Right. Standing up and saying the things that she was saying, can you imagine the abuse that she took?

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And that is what leadership is. And for them to finally have the opportunity to have some validation that they're opinions matter and that their hard work matters and that women's sports matter. I was ready to, I was ready to fight for this law this morning, but after hearing those women speak today, I'm ready to run through a brick wall.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, you fought for it for sure. And you guys are doing it the right way. You've gotten to a place where winning is again, at the doorstep. The arguments are sound, and I agree. I mean, most legal analysts that you hear from say, yeah, this is a pretty good case, and I can't even imagine how you could come down on the other side of it. But I think that the blend that you bring to this is interesting to me too, because you're a father.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And you see this in practicality play out through your kids. Sports.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah, that's right. My daughters are competitive athletes, and I was an NCAA athlete too. I wasn't a very good one, but, you know, I have experienced what sports is like at very, very high levels. And, and when you lose and you know that the playing field was fair, you look at the other person, you're like, God, I'm not doing enough.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I'm not working hard enough. Right. Why am I not on the driving range? Why am I not out hitting putts? Why am I out drinking beers, hanging out with my friends while these guys are getting better at golf? Could you imagine if you knew even before it started that you couldn't win? Yeah, right. That would. And that's what this does. That is what the stories that these women told was, is. It doesn't make any sense for me to work hard if I know that I've lost the race before the gun has even gone off.

[Josh Holmes]

I find it so fascinating too, because the left tries to brand this entire argument as though it's like an intolerance argument when that is precisely what they are doing. I mean, you fight for generations for Things like Title 9 or equal opportunity for women in sports and beyond sports. And then you turn around, you're like, no, dudes can play and all that stuff. It's totally fine if a young girl is displaced by a man.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yep. And if you're wrong on the facts and on the law, you attack the messenger.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And that's how you know I bet.

[Josh Holmes]

You'Re getting a fair amount of that.

[J.B. McCuskey]

You know, it's. I, I like to read the comments. I grew up ago, I have a friend group from high school that we treat each other as high school boys treat each other. And so the meanest thing anyone says to me any day comes from my best friends, not from anybody on the Internet.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm liking my question.

[J.B. McCuskey]

They need to try harder to really get under my skin because Bartolds can definitely do that. But you know, the long and the short of it is, is that we're here. Right? I mean, and it really is. It. I, I knew it was a big deal. And when you're, you know, a young law student, I mean, you want to talk about pinching yourself the day I got elected Attorney General.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I mean, when you're a 23 year old walking across the stage, graduating from law school, you're not sitting there going, oh, I'm gonna be the Attorney General.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And then you wake up one day and you're like, holy crap, I'm in charge of this whole, whole place. And you know, that was certainly eye opening. But it really is gratifying to know that I have gotten myself to a position where I can make a real difference for women all over the country. Real national impact, including my daughters.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, like you said, you get involved in this to fight for West Virginians, whole range of issues that you've got to deal with on a day to day basis. And then lo and behold, an issue comes along where this has major national issues import.

[J.B. McCuskey]

So I'll tell you a funny story and Michael's going to hate that I told you this. So I, we got cert in this case like two months after I became the Attorney General, my solicitor was already there and so we were just sort of starting to feel each other out and he comes in the office and he goes, boss, he's sort of soft spoken, he says, hey, we got cert in, in bpj. Got really good news. And I said, oh, that is good news. And he goes, do you think you're going to want to argue this case? And I said, of course I am, Michael. I said, I'm a politician. I, that's how I'm going to get on tv. And I could see he was like, oh no.

[Josh Holmes]

And.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And so he looks at me and he goes, oh. And he takes this deep breath and he goes, we're gonna have to, you know, set aside four or five months to get you ready to do this. And I was like, four or five months. I was like, I was born to do this. You can throw me the brief, you know, the night before the Argument. I'll be just fine. And you could just see his eyes. And I waited, like, two hours, and I went back in his office, and I was like, michael, there's no way on earth I'm arguing. I said, this case is 100% yours, man. This is your job. And he goes, oh, my God, are you serious? And I was like, yeah, I'm totally serious, man. I was just messing with you. And he goes, I have, like, 50 or 75 phone calls I got to make. So I think he called, like, everybody in his, like, in his, like, solicitor nerd group and was like, my new boss is a complete idiot. We're going to screw this case up. I don't get to argue it. And so he had to call everyone and tell him that I was.

[J. John Ashbrook]

That I was.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I was getting a lot of Margarets.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, What a great move, replaying the old Atticus Finch tapes. You're like, I think I work that through.

[Michael Duncan]

No problem. It's.

[J.B. McCuskey]

No, no, this is no brainer, man. I got it. Don't worry about it.

[Josh Holmes]

Headline of the New York Times, West.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Virginia loses BPJ because Attorney General doesn't let his solicitor do the case.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, so listen, just a little background on you. How did you get involved in politics? Were you a political guy growing up?

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah. So my mom was Senator Capito's chief of staff and her first campaign manager. My dad was the state party chairman in West Virginia. And when I was growing up, my dad ran for office and lost a lot.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[J.B. McCuskey]

West Virginia was, like, 70% Democrat.

[Josh Holmes]

Remember it well.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And then, you know, my parents taught me from. And I grew up wildly blessed, right? I mean, I had two parents who cared about me and cared about my upbringing and my values in my life. But the biggest thing they always taught me was, like, look, man, we're in a place where people deserve so much more. Like, West Virginia has this incredible potential, and we're being dragged down by people who are unwilling to stand up and fight for what it means to be a West Virginian. And so I lived my whole life with this sort of idea that, like, I have to be part of the change that's gonna make West Virginia a better place. And so politics was sort of a natural fit for me. I hilariously met my wife, who's sitting out there, probably leering at me, probably unhappy with some of my jokes, but that's okay.

[Josh Holmes]

That comes with a business.

[J.B. McCuskey]

But she's a Texan, and she moved to West Virginia to work on Bush. Oh, four.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And so I came home from college to work on the Bush oh 4 campaign. And so in 2000, the reason why Bush was so big in West Virginia is Shelley Capito was running for the first time for Congress.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Yeah, I remember that.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And my mom was running her campaign. And the Bush campaign wasn't going to do anything in West Virginia. They just wrote it off because it was 70, 30, and my mom convinced Cottie Johnson, this was in 1999 when I was a senior in high school, that West Virginia was winnable. And she said, if you come in here and tell these folks that you're pro coal and pro gun, we think we can get you across the line. And because my mom is the greatest political strategist I've ever met, she was literally incredible. Also the best person I've ever known. And so they came in and we won West Virginia and Bush won by three electoral votes in 2000. We gave him five.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, very important.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And that was the first time a first term Republican had won since Reconstruction. It hadn't happened. And so Bush just loved West Virginia. So he was always there. And so I got to meet my wife on the campaign, something that a lot of people on the left and some people on the right now don't think it's all that great of a story, but the rest is history. And she's been my greatest political supporter in my political advisor my entire life. And now we got a young family and we're doing the thing here in West Virginia.

[Josh Holmes]

How cool is that? Yeah, that's an awesome story. I mean, so we do three questions with everybody who shows up for the first time. And I'm curious, I don't know if we've had a real panoply different answers from West Virginians over the years.

[J.B. McCuskey]

What other West Virginians you've had?

[Josh Holmes]

We've had like basically all of them.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Oh, good. Okay, great.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Riley Moore.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Riley lived at my house when we were in the state legislature.

[Josh Holmes]

No way is that right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Riley was actually sitting there when my daughter, my then two year old daughter cut the tip of her pinky off. And he was. His wife was pregnant and so he. And she was back at home and so he was sitting there like, oh my God, what the hell am I getting? My wife was pregnant and our little daughter and her. And then my wife passed out and I had to carry them all to the car to take. It was a whole thing.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a fun party trick.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Riley's the best.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so the first question is, if you can plan your last meal on earth, what would it Be.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Oh, simple. It's Menard spaghetti, Menards garlic bread, Menards Italian salad, and a Bonnie Bell's cake. Shout out to Clarksburg, West Virginia, and the Menards restaurant, which is truly elite.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's nice. Different than the lumber chain. Where I grew up, Menards was.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Sold boards and stuff like that.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Save big money at Menards.

[Josh Holmes]

That's it.

[J. John Ashbrook]

That was the jingle.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Menards. Ours is Menards. Ours is Italian. Theirs is probably Dutch.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, the Italians, they get you again, don't they? That's so good. I love it. All right, so second question. With the benefit of retrospect, now that you are a big deal.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Your team's arguing before the Supreme Court, everybody kind of takes a look back and sees different life paths, skills that you've acquired along the way. And you're like, what if I did that instead of where it is that I'm doing? If you could just paint a picture of some other lot in life than you've currently ended up up with, what would it be?

[J.B. McCuskey]

I would be a club pro at an elite country club. I played golf in college. Golf is my thing. And honestly, the skills that politicians have are very similar to being the pro at a country club.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

You have to manage a whole bunch of people with different opinions, and you have to manage a bunch of frequently drunk people and keep them from fighting each other and just being around the game. Golf, to me, is the ultimate sport that exposes your personality.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally.

[J.B. McCuskey]

And so golf, for me, it's what I do. It's my only hobby. And I would absolutely love to be a club pro at some course in Arizona.

[Josh Holmes]

McCutsuki's gonna fit in around here. This is, like. This is not gonna be your best.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Athletic director at WVU would be pretty awesome.

[Josh Holmes]

That'd be pretty sweet.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah. We have a great athletic director. Ren, I'm not coming for your job. I'm a little jealous. You're on private planes a lot more than I am. You get really good seats at all the games I want to go to, but, yeah, that would be a great job too.

[Josh Holmes]

Third and final question. So our view is that most successful people are motivated by one of two things. You may have heard this question before. It's either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. And it's not that anybody doesn't like winning or doesn't like. Doesn't not like losing. It's the whole polls and what motivates you.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Right.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I know where you're going with this. This is another easy one.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the Michael Jordan thing. And I think we've already identified where.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I hate losing a thousand times more than I like.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I knew it.

[Josh Holmes]

You're an open book.

[J.B. McCuskey]

I also always win. It's great. I don't even know how much I hate losing. I only ever got to watch my dad do that.

[Michael Duncan]

So.

[Unidentified Panelist]

Good.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, good luck tomorrow. I know this is a huge thing for the country. You've done an incredible amount of work with you and your team to make sure that this is in the eyes of the law, as much of a no brainer as it is in the eyes of many, most Americans. Just on a principal level. And those are two different things.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yes, I agree with that. And we have in our country today have gotten so far afield from the general common sense of the world. And I think one of the things that's really interesting here, and don't tell Riley I said this, but you know, the reason I'm sitting here is because Congress has refused to act for decades. And it's hard to even imagine a world where you can't get a majority of our senators and Congress people to pass a common sense law to make this a national thing. Right. But in that absence in the last two decades, the Republican attorney generals have really become the leading voice in America for common sense. And when you look at all the large scale changes, whether they're in the energy industry or on the second Amendment or on sports or on the NCAA or you name it. Right. It's an attorney general who brings a case to the Supreme Court and changes it. And it's something that should have been done by Congress a long time ago. And I'm enormously proud to be a part of the Republican attorney general's group. My colleagues are absolutely.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, they showed up in Mass for this one.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah. And they're all just incredible people. And it's been such an honor over the last year to get to be a part of that group and to get to do things like this for the amazing people in West Virginia who I love more than anything in the world.

[Josh Holmes]

So for those of our listeners who want to follow along with your commentary on how today's arguments went, you know, everything going, where do they find it?

[J.B. McCuskey]

Yeah. McCuskey4WV at Twitter is the best place. And it's McCuskey y got it. Just frequently misspelled on all of my, my junk mail I get. So I realize how hard it must be to spell if AI can't figure it out. But yeah, I'm pretty active on Twitter. You'll if you don't like sports, you'll probably be relatively bored by a majority of my tweets, but most of our official stuff comes through the there too.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we will not be bored in the least. Thank you so much for joining us and good luck.

[J.B. McCuskey]

Thank you guys for having me and thank you for everything you do. You guys bring an enormous amount of common sense to almost everything you talk about. And I love listening to your show and I can't wait to listen, I guess, to myself, even though I hate the sound of my own voice. But keep doing what you're doing. You guys are a real outlier in the space and folks that I really respect.

[Josh Holmes]

So very, very kind of you, J.B. mcCuss.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, this guy has an awful lot on the ball. And I couldn't help but think throughout the entire conversation that he told us the ACLU picked a fight with them. And I cannot think of a worse state that ACLU could have picked a fight with than West Virginia. I mean, those guys come to play and he seems like he's about to win.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I got to say something like West Virginia has been doing it it pound for pound, man, with the people that they're electing, the work they're doing. There's a lot of good stuff happening in West Virginia. They're really, they are sending their best.

[Josh Holmes]

I love the fact that he was busting his attorney's balls.

[J. John Ashbrook]

Yeah, he had the Solicitor General.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, the Solicitor General comes in because they're all kind of like career guys that they go from one Attorney General to the other. And then he shows up and he's like, do you want to argue? Oh, of course. I said big. I'm going to be on tv. It'll be a big deal. And the guy's like, ah, shit. And he waits for him to be like, dude, I've never. I'm not going to argue. We're going to get Supreme Court. That's so good. He sense of humor while he does it. God, you gotta appreciate again, next generation of leadership. There's no despair here. We're building the right things. Listen, like and subscribe. And when you do, we read your question of the day responses. This question of the day is why are Democrats suddenly anti Hamas? Is that a blip? What is it referring to? Interested in your perspective? Maybe you see some of this in your own community. So get back to us on that. We'll read them back to you on Thursday when you like and subscribe with that. Fellows, I think we did it.

[Unidentified Panelist]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Attorney Joel McCuskey, and thank you to the Minions. Remember, if you have not yet, go to the YouTube hit that subscribe 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 Thursday. Stay ruthless.