Riots Erupt: Trump Takes A Stand, Media Spins

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary Episode Title: Riots Erupt: Trump Takes A Stand, Media Spins
Release Date: June 10, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook

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1. Introduction

In this episode of the Ruthless Podcast, hosts Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook delve into the recent riots in Los Angeles, analyze the interplay between former President Donald Trump and entrepreneur Elon Musk, and engage in an in-depth interview with iconic comedian and actress Roseanne Barr. The episode offers a conservative perspective on current events, critiquing media narratives and exploring the motivations behind the unrest.

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2. Los Angeles Riots: Analyzing the Outbreak and Media Narratives

Overview of the Riots: The episode opens with a robust discussion about the resurgence of riots in Los Angeles, marking them as a continuation ("part two" and humorously questioning if it counts as "part three") of previous civil disturbances.

Hosts' Perspectives:

• John Ashbrook ([00:00] – [04:19]): Criticizes the media portrayal of rioters, suggesting that the narrative is skewed to depict law enforcement as antagonists while downplaying the violence and property damage caused by protesters.

  "This message that the media is run with of like, if cops are actually the bad guys... It’s ridiculous." ([00:00])

• Michael Duncan ([00:09] – [11:05]): Frames the riots as expressions of frustration by the "unheard" masses, arguing that property damage should not be equated with violence.

  "Riots are the voice of the unheard. Property damage isn't violence." ([00:09])

  "They do six months of Marxist theory and then summertime is praxis." ([02:35])

• Josh Holmes ([01:19] – [25:02]): Highlights the role of Dick Durbin, labeling him as a primary adversary to Trump, and warns against a government takeover of credit cards proposed by Durbin, emphasizing the importance of protecting consumer choice and security.

  "Tell Republicans and Congress. Congress, stop Dick Durbin's takeover of your credit card before it's too late." ([00:25])

Key Events and Media Spin:

• The hosts argue that ICE's actions in raiding homes to enforce longstanding immigration laws have been misrepresented by the media as unjust and extrajudicial, whereas they believe these actions are lawful and necessary.

  "They serve these search warrants and then immediately becomes a problem. And like all good riots, they always start right there in Los Angeles." ([06:56])

• They critique media outlets for attempting to downplay the severity of the riots, using euphemisms like "peaceful protests" while showcasing violent imagery, such as cars being set on fire.

  "It's a horrible, insidious idea that the left pushed and the media pushed on their behalf... it's ridiculous." ([10:49])

• The discussion includes references to past riots in 2020, suggesting that the current unrest surpasses previous events in both scale and media reaction.

  "I feel like they may have outdone themselves even by that standard." ([08:27])

Notable Quotes:

• "Nothing like a West coast riot. Because the west coast riots don't quit." – Josh Holmes ([01:53])
• "Every time police come, it makes things worse." – Hosts ([Various Timestamps])

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3. The Trump-Elon Musk Feud: Power Plays and Media Manipulation

Background of the Feud: The hosts discuss the escalating conflict between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, highlighting allegations of human trafficking against Trump and Musk's public criticism of Trump's policies.

Key Points:

• Accusations Against Trump: Michael Duncan references a grand jury indictment accusing Trump of human trafficking and shipping migrants across the country, suggesting this undermines Trump's leadership.

  "They are accusing him of basically shipping migrants all around this country, that he was involved in human trafficking." ([16:07])

• Media Spin: The podcast critiques how media outlets are framing these allegations to vilify Trump, portraying his administration's policies as divisive and dangerous.

  "None of this is complicated, but they've created a leftist political infrastructure... treating setting fire to communities as an act of war." ([16:37])

• Elon's Counteractions: Elon Musk's attempts to undermine Trump's policies by threatening to cancel SpaceX contracts and shutting down key programs are discussed, portraying him as overstepping political boundaries.

  "Musk comes back saying that he's shutting down the Dragon man spacecraft program... that's a big blow." ([47:03])

Notable Quotes:

• "He didn't appreciate that..." – Michael Duncan ([45:05])
• "Exaggerating, but it is kind of the framework in which has been presented." – Josh Holmes ([11:16])

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4. Exclusive Interview with Roseanne Barr

Introduction: The podcast features an exclusive interview with Roseanne Barr, celebrating her contributions to television and her alignment with conservative values.

Key Discussion Points:

• Career Highlights: Roseanne Barr outlines her rapid ascent in the entertainment industry, her experiences on "The Roseanne Show," and the creative freedom she enjoyed during the show's peak.

  "The first night on stage... put me on the Tonight Show that week." ([63:39])

• Personal Struggles and Faith: She shares personal anecdotes about dealing with fame, mental health challenges, and the pivotal role of faith in her life.

  "I have no idea. I just was regular." ([69:22])

  "I have to answer to God because I believe in that and I don't want to make him mad." ([75:10])

• Political Views: Roseanne emphasizes her support for Trump, her disdain for what she perceives as systemic hypocrisy, and her commitment to representing "Middle America."

  "I wanted to show that it's not the experts... the working class is the most integrated class in America." ([75:35])

• Upcoming Projects: She discusses her new documentary, "Roseanne Barr and America," which aims to tell her story and address the impact of her firing from the show.

  "Joel Gilbert made a really fantastic documentary about my whole life getting to fame and what happened after." ([73:45])

Notable Quotes:

• "I can't live with lies. I can't live with hypocrisy and lies and double talk and forked tongue." – Roseanne Barr ([78:46])
• "I'm here to fight it. That's why I got famous." – Roseanne Barr ([79:36])

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5. Listener Engagement and Q&A

Question of the Day: The hosts pose the question, "Should Trump send in the Marines?" to their audience, anticipating decisions to restore order amidst the growing unrest.

Listener Comments:

• Various Perspectives: Listeners express skepticism about Elon Musk's motivations, the feasibility of Trump's potential actions, and the overall direction of political discourse.

  "I can't help but wonder if this feud is a way for Elon to move back to the center for the sake of his businesses." ([37:28])

  "Sadly, the situation with Elon ends in typical fashion... Republicans implode when they actually have power." ([38:30])

Hosts' Remarks:

• Critical of Media and Leftist Tactics: The hosts critique the left for lack of cohesion, using Marxist ideology to fuel unrest, and manipulating media narratives to vilify conservative leaders.

  "This is what they expected to have happen. They were watching uprising. Uprising is good because uprising means that Trump is being divisive." ([22:55])

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6. Lighthearted Variety Segment: The Escaped Zebra

Overview: Adding a humorous twist to the intense discussions, the hosts share and laugh over a viral video of an escaped zebra being airlifted by helicopter in Tennessee.

Highlights:

• Comedic Banter: The hosts jokingly debate the logistics of handling the situation, including playful suggestions about zebra-stuffing and making conversation starters.

  "This zebra has a dump truck. Truck ass." – Michael Duncan ([54:50])

  "You'd have the taxi. He just put the bullet hole right there." – Comfortably Smug ([58:57])

• Entertaining Insights: The segment showcases the hosts' chemistry and ability to balance serious discourse with light-hearted content, maintaining an engaging atmosphere.

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7. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Final Remarks: The episode wraps up with the hosts reiterating their key points about media manipulation, the importance of enforcing immigration laws, and the ongoing Trump-Elon feud. They emphasize the need for listeners to engage with their content, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and participate in the ongoing conversation.

Closing Quote:

• "Keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless." – John Ashbrook ([93:17])

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8. Notable Quotes Compilation

• "If cops are actually the bad guys... It's ridiculous." – John Ashbrook ([00:00])
• "Riots are the voice of the unheard. Property damage isn't violence." – Michael Duncan ([00:09])
• "Tell Republicans and Congress. Congress, stop Dick Durbin's takeover of your credit card before it's too late." – Josh Holmes ([00:25])
• "I have to answer to God because I believe in that and I don't want to make him mad." – Roseanne Barr ([75:10])
• "I'm here to fight it. That's why I got famous." – Roseanne Barr ([79:36])

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9. Final Notes

This episode of the Ruthless Podcast offers a comprehensive conservative analysis of current events, blended with personal insights from Roseanne Barr and moments of levity. It serves as a resource for listeners seeking alternative viewpoints on media narratives and political conflicts.

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For those interested in exploring more, subscribe to the Ruthless Podcast on YouTube and engage with the hosts through comments and discussions.

Transcript

[John Ashbrook]

This message that the media is run with of like, if cops are actually the bad guys, you see, it's the criminals who burn shit and everything. Everything. They're just having their fun little fire. Leave them alone. It's ridiculous.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, People are sick of it. Riots are the voice of the unheard. Property damage isn't violence.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. It's a statement. It's a First Amendment protective activity.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. That, that is what they've sort of tried to ingrain into the public writ large through the media here over these.

[Josh Holmes]

Last four and less conservatives are the ones protesting, in which case, better get the guard in, then it's 20 to life. He's Donald Trump's number one enemy in Congress, Chicago Senator Dick Durbin. And now Dick Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Today, consumers have thousands of choices in credit cards, all with equal strong security. But Durbin's plan is less competition and less security. And that means more risk for your.

[Michael Duncan]

Credit and your identity.

[Josh Holmes]

Tell Republicans and Congress. Congress, stop Dick Durbin's takeover of your credit card before it's too late. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

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

[Comfortably Smug]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. Boy, oh boy, have we got a show for you. We've noticed a lot of news over the weekend. My name is Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left a right across your radio dial. As always. Fellas, I couldn't help but notice the press is at it again. And in really spectacular fashion. We saw a bunch of riots.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep, Louisiana riots. Part two. It's back.

[Josh Holmes]

And as we, well, as we know.

[John Ashbrook]

There'S a part three. Does it count as part three After Summer of Love, like God knows how many times. But LA is at it again.

[Josh Holmes]

Ain't no riot like a West coast riot. That's right, because the west coast riots don't quit.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Paraphrasing there, but I mean, to be honest with you, a little overdue. I felt like we were in need of a good left wing riot.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it is the summer and Trump is president.

[Josh Holmes]

So what is it about summer riots?

[John Ashbrook]

My thinking on this is you have a lot of Dem operatives, which is to say essentially paid, semi, half homeless operatives who are out looking for a quick buck. They can hit that Craigslist. All the Soros groups are out there paying, you know, 10 or 20 an hour. Grab a brick, throw at a cop.

[Michael Duncan]

Grad school is out for the summer grad school.

[John Ashbrook]

Summer.

[Michael Duncan]

There you go.

[Josh Holmes]

There it is. Yeah. If you're working hard on that, Master's or PhD, this is a good time to throw a break.

[Michael Duncan]

They do six months of Marxist theory and then summertime is praxis.

[John Ashbrook]

There you go. Dude, that's dead on. Excellent.

[Josh Holmes]

Summer, summer, summer, Summertime.

[John Ashbrook]

Excellent. Excellent.

[Josh Holmes]

So, listen, we're going to cover an awful lot of that. We're not breaking any news. You saw the news over the weekend and turns out there's a big riot. They don't like us enforcing our immigration laws, which, you know, hey, I'm sorry. There was an election and everybody was pretty clear on what they wanted to have done. It's being done. We're going to explain the method and the madness of how this whole thing has come about. But then, like, the media react, which if you're looking for some yucks.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you've come to the right place. You have come to the right place. Not only for that, but we'll talk. We had a question of the day about the Elon Trump thing. We'll get into that because you guys had some responses. And then there's been some developments. We were way ahead of everybody on this. We like a day before it's really incredible, everything erupted last week. We were talking about it. And, you know, you've come to the right place for that, too. And then we've got Roseanne Barr. This is somebody who was, like, iconic in my childhood, probably the most famous woman in all of America as I grew up, as we grew up. And, you know, she's still doing what she's doing. She's come in promoting a new thing and she talked to the fellas. We had a great interview. Good time.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So you'll get that at the back end of the hour, too. So listen, this is a good show. We probably should start with the riots.

[Michael Duncan]

Just because if it bleeds, it leads.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Tonight, fire in Los Angeles. City of Angels is no longer now. But listen, what happened, basically, if you watch the news what you may, you come away with the distinct impression that there was something that was extraordinary happening here, that ICE had basically come out in a totally extrajudicial way and started raiding innocent people's homes and throwing not at all what was happening. They basically decided to do in Los Angeles what they've been doing across the country, which is enforce existing immigration law that has been on the books for millennia.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I don't know why the left would be upset. They spent the better part of the last three Years telling me no one is above the law.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right.

[Michael Duncan]

That's exactly right. And how critical these federal judges are to enforcing the rule of law. Judges which signed search warrants, warrants that ICE was executing.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I think that is a very, very important point, because every time that a judge goes against Trump, the left is like, no, the courts are going against what Trump wants. You have judges signing warrants to execute against these criminal illegal aliens. And now the left is like, oh, no, you can't do that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right.

[Comfortably Smug]

You can't carry that out.

[Josh Holmes]

No, you can't do it. And of course, you know, riot is not a riot if it's done off the left wing. It's just peaceful protest, as we all know. But according to the. A spokesperson here for ice, Yasmine Pitts o' Keefe told the Los Angeles Times, the federal agents were executing search warrants related to the harboring of people illegally in the country. So it's not just like there's somebody there who they think is illegal and they're just raiding randomly. It was like a harboring. There's something more to it. I mean, this is sort of like a network or an underground component. And at the warehouse in the Fashion District, agents had a search warrant after a judge found that there was probable cause that the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers. U.S. attorney's Office spokesperson Karen McInvoy. McEvoy. McAvoy. I don't know, it's. It's McAvoy, I think.

[John Ashbrook]

Seems like an Irish name.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, Karen with a C. Come on.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, you got it. Well, anyway, she told the Associated Press that. So they serve these search warrants and then immediately becomes a problem. And like all good riots, they always start right there in Los Angeles. They're ready to go at any moment's notice.

[John Ashbrook]

They're like, listen, folks. What? The wildfires didn't burn, we will tonight, right? It's the LA way.

[Josh Holmes]

They're, like, looking for a reason at all times. Well, they did, and they started setting things ablaze. You saw nothing but foreign national flags flying through the streets. You saw cars burning. What was the outfit?

[John Ashbrook]

Waymo.

[Josh Holmes]

Bad day for Waymo.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, like, this is the worst because. So, like, you know, if you have not seen it yet, please see our interview with Secretary Duffy. Absolute banger. Yeah, but he, you know, we had a discussion. Part of it was Waymo, which is terrific. Every town they've gone to, you know, drunk driving deaths have gone down. Self driving car. This is what the future looks like, you know, and it's cheaper than even Uber anyways. These people were calling them specifically to line up and set him on fire. Like, yeah, that's all they want. They just want destruction.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, like Snake Blenson himself would not have been in that situation.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, so all of this calls back memories to 2020, when, in the wake of the death of George Floyd, cities across this country were burned to the ground.

[John Ashbrook]

A guy overdoses, and now we have to burn down, you know, mom and pop shops across the country.

[Josh Holmes]

But there was a system and there was a whole lot of media coverage of that at the time that was roundly mocked and in retrospect seems completely ridiculous. I feel like they may have outdone themselves even by that standard. They may have outdone themselves. Let's call up a few clips just to have some yucks. Clip one, if you don't mind spaghetti large group of people. It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there in the wrong way and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation, watching altercation between officers and demonstrators.

[John Ashbrook]

You don't want to invite law enforcement if there's cars on fire. Guys, they're just having some fun. It's like a barbecue, except cars.

[Michael Duncan]

They're treating this like it's a block party, you know, like, we're out here, we're just barbecuing, you know, having the kids play toss around the ball with some burning cars.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, just throw some ribs on and watch a car burn. Like, order up a couple of ways, chemos, and set him ablaze. But, like, just to reset. I mean, just in case you missed, sort of the logical construction of what that anchor was saying is basically the problem that L. A had in these riots were the fact that law enforcement responded in any way to them setting the city ablaze. This was the problem. People just enjoying cars burning.

[John Ashbrook]

And can I say this one thing is this horrible, insidious idea that the left pushed and the media pushed on their behalf of when police show up, it makes things worse. Yeah, the whole BLM message of like. And this sprung out of, like, the universities and, you know, these idiot professors at these worthless liberal arts colleges who put kids in lifelong debt, teach them nothing, leave them unemployed. The idea that they put out of, like, no, you see, communities want to police themselves. You go to any community in the inner city and ask, would you like police to be removed from a community? Hell, no. Please send more police. But this message that the media has run with of like, if cops are actually the bad guys, you see, it's the criminals who burn shit and everything. They're just having their fun little fire. Leave them alone. It's ridiculous.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

People are sick of it.

[Michael Duncan]

Riots are the voice of the unheard. Property damage isn't violence.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. It's a statement. It's a. It's a First Amendment protective activity.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. That is what they've sort of tried to ingrain into the public writ large through the media here over these last four.

[Josh Holmes]

Unless conservatives are the ones protesting in.

[Michael Duncan]

Which better get the Guard in than it's.

[Josh Holmes]

It's 20 to life.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah. Sending the Guard. Throw them in gulags. No trials.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, look, I wish I was exaggerating, but it is kind of the framework in which has been presented. Check out this professor in clip two.

[Roseanne Barr]

We could see the President potentially again.

[Josh Holmes]

Pull the court and say, I need to invoke the Insurrection act, as I'm.

[John Ashbrook]

Sure you've been talking about.

[Roseanne Barr]

The Insurrection act would give the President more authority to not just federalize the.

[Josh Holmes]

National Guard, but to say that the.

[Roseanne Barr]

National Guard can actually act as domestic law enforcement, that the military on US.

[Josh Holmes]

Soil can search, can seize, can arrest.

[Roseanne Barr]

That's not something that we're accustomed to. So I'm looking to see obviously what's happening right now, but also how the.

[Josh Holmes]

Situation evolves and how the President reacts. And we have seen the President allude to the fact that. And we're watching. Sorry, professor, on the. There's a split screen here. On the right side of your screen, we're seeing continued demonstrations and a fire demonstration down off of the 101 freeway overpass onto one of those CHB vehicles below. Demonstration for your audio only listener. What we were watching on a clip was as this professor was talking about sort of perils of federalizing law enforcement. On the split screen, you were dealing with a car that was Molotov, a.

[John Ashbrook]

Police car that one of these rioters throws a Molotov on, catches fire while this law professor's like, well, you see, we can't have laws in this country.

[Roseanne Barr]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Actually, one of three police cars that were immobilized because there was an entire mob of people on the overpass throwing rocks and paint cans and everything down to basically try to kill these policemen.

[John Ashbrook]

America's freight railroads invest 23 billion of their own capital, not taxpayer money, to maintain the world's most productive freight network. That massive scale is key. It enables railroads to move goods with unmatched efficiency, driving down Costs for American businesses and consumers. From energy and agriculture to retail and automotive, Freight rail serves every corner of the real economy and it's essential to America's re industrialization. Put simply, manufacturing depends on rail. Freight rail is America's engine built on private investment driving the nation forward. Learn [e-mail] that video that you know, for our folks on YouTube who saw that overpass was where you saw a bunch of these like leftist nut job rioters were throwing bricks, full bricks off an overpass, hoping to hit. And they did, many times. Police cars. They broke the windshield. There was an officer who they hit in the head with a brick from this overpass. And for her to be like, listen, it'd be super dangerous right now if the President did anything to try to try to stop this violence.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, it's funny because it's the way that the left always operates is they obfuscate through this language of academia. Right. And talk around the thing. The problem with a split screen is you're seeing the difference between theory and practice.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right, Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Like she's talking about the ins and outs of the Insurrection Act. Meanwhile, here's an insurrection happening.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly. And it's not like the news then cuts to the family of the officer who was hit in the head to talk about how difficult it is as a cop in this country to try to keep the peace and help people stay safe. They are literally trying to inflame it. It's the worst possible scenario. And the press just makes it worse.

[Josh Holmes]

They do make it worse. But if you take a half step back again, you're informed by history at some level. And what the left always counts on is that you never remember anything that happened more than yesterday. Yeah, right. And so the whole 2020, they're trying to do a sort of a replay of how things were covered and framed in 2020 in that all of these are just freedoms of expression, disappointment. And if you take a half step back, what we're talking about here is a far less inflamed national discussion than we had in 2020. What we're talking about is actually just enforcing existing law that had been on the books for generations in America, that you can't live here illegally, you can't come here without any paperwork whatsoever and not know who we are and everything else. And so we're just gonna. There's nothing that's happening in Los Angeles that this president didn't run on and the people elect him upon to get rid of particularly the most violent offenders across the country. But anybody who's like harbinger of like these trafficking components. I don't know whether or not these specific cases were epicenters of that or not. But if you know what it is that they've been prioritizing, I mean there were significant enough where they were going after him.

[Michael Duncan]

Look at the grand jury indictment on Embryo Garcia. You know, I mean they are accusing him of basically shipping migrants all around this country, that he was involved in human trafficking.

[Roseanne Barr]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

We brought him back to the United States. Pam Bondi said it to, to face justice for that. Like there are networks across this country of people harboring illegal immigrants and shipping them all across the country and they're doing it right under our nose. Donald Trump was elected to root that out and deport these people. He has the mandate to do it. None of this is complicated, but they've.

[Josh Holmes]

Created a leftist political infrastructure in California that sees that as a act of war and they're going to treat it as an act of war. They're going to go out and set their communities on fire because that's what you do every five years in LA anyway. But like this is, this is something that literally brings people to the streets. And so like all of this is in how the media is trying to frame, they're trying to frame it like they did in 2020, except for we live in 2025, right? Like we're in a very different place as a country. We've already seen and acknowledged the mistakes of the last five years and the fact that like, I don't know, there was components of the conservative atmosphere that looked at it and was like, ah, I don't know, like how to deal with it. Well, now we know, now we know. But again, they just keep on one more clip on this cuz this is just, it keeps getting better. CNN Clip 3 Police begets we are.

[Roseanne Barr]

Having an administration that's targeting peaceful protests, people that are there to protest peace.

[Josh Holmes]

The President is sending the National Guard because he doesn't like the scenes, he.

[Roseanne Barr]

Doesn'T like the scenes of people peacefully protesting.

[Michael Duncan]

Car on fire.

[John Ashbrook]

For all your listeners, man. First off, please get on YouTube. So you see that she starts saying that, well, these are peaceful protesters. And then the split screen shows this car that set on fire while a motorcycle is doing donuts around it. And she says, so these are very peaceful people. And CNN like cuts away from the video.

[Michael Duncan]

Shout out, shout out to whoever's in the control room at CNN who's like watching this lady say and is like, oh shit, better get that off the screen.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, get that off the screen. The burning car with the motorcycle doing donuts around it. And she's like, it's very peaceful protest. I mean, he doesn't like the scene.

[Michael Duncan]

He doesn't like the scene of all the peace.

[Josh Holmes]

No, he cares. He doesn't want the peace. Who amongst us wouldn't want this peace?

[Comfortably Smug]

You notice something? The media always carries the furthest message of the left. Two or three weeks ago, with Abrego Garcia, it was all about due process. Due process. She's not complaining about due process. You know why? Because they were carrying out a warrant issued by a federal judge.

[John Ashbrook]

Nailed it.

[Comfortably Smug]

So they can't do the due process argument on CNN anymore. They have to say, oh, it's peaceful protests. And then you see it's a fire. There's nothing peaceful about it. So they have to change it again. They're constantly carrying the furthest argument the left has to offer.

[Josh Holmes]

So, like, you just flash back, right? I mean, this was cnn. Same network that did the. The mostly peaceful.

[Michael Duncan]

Fiery. But mostly fiery.

[Josh Holmes]

But mostly fiery. They didn't mean it literally. Fiery, but mostly peaceful protests. And the backdrop was a burning police station. Right. Which became a national joke for how the media handles this. That what you were seeing is just another installment in the exact same thematic. Yeah, I mean, that it's the same. Oh, no. All these things are very. They're very, very peaceful. And then you look and you're like, but I'm watching on the split screen some fire.

[John Ashbrook]

That is so key. Like, we showed that video clip specifically because the left is cognizant. They recognize the fact of how horrible it looks when they are trying to dupe the public into being like, these are peaceful things. And they hide the image because they know now from examples like that scene in Anchor standing in front of a burning police station, mostly peaceful. Like, they understand the power that image and that message has, because that did become just like a meme and a joke that the right, you know, rightfully put everywhere so everyone could see what liars they are. And you're seeing the images that are coming out of these riots in LA and how damaging they are for the left. When you see a guy on a motorcycle waving a Mexican flag, doing donuts around cars that have been set on fire, the American people see that.

[Josh Holmes]

They do.

[John Ashbrook]

Normal people. You go to a Walmart and you show everyone this video, 99.9 of the people will be like, this is trash. That guy needs to be arrested. This needs to be put to an end. This is America voted for yeah. And like, okay, if you're waving the Mexican flag and you're like, no, we're here illegally. Mexico rules, and Homan's gonna put you on a plane to Mexico. You're like, no, anything but that. I thought it was the best place on earth, bro.

[Josh Holmes]

But again, I mean, look, the media descended upon this story in large part to try to highlight the anger against Trump administration policies, Right? They tried to highlight the divisiveness, as they say, amongst the American electorate to make it seem as though something extraordinary was going on within this administration. They spent the last two months saying that they were operating outside of the legal bonds of justice. Right? And you noticed in the Abrego Garcia case, all the headlines after he was just indicted for human trafficking omitted the fact that he was indicted for human trafficking, but they all included the illegally removed. Illegally removed from the United States is being brought back. That was an Axios with just, like, a 10 of 10 headline on that. And, like, didn't. The reason he's being removed and coming back is because he's gonna go to prison for the rest of his life for human trafficking. But be that as it may, after Chris Van Hollen and the margaritas and all, the thing like, this is the altar by which we sacrifice as part of the left. That's what they expected to have happen. They were watching uprising. Uprising is good because uprising means that Trump is being divisive and something that our country can't withstand. We have to run him out because look what he's doing to these communities. Then they start setting fire to. What are the name of these cars?

[Michael Duncan]

Waymos.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes. Starts setting fire to Waymos everywhere. And, like, all of a sudden, it's like, oh, jeez, the split screen, it's not looking great. We gotta get some people on there to speak nonsense, academic crap and then get that shit off the side of the screen.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right? And it's not just setting fire to Waymos. They were ransacking and stealing things from Seven Elevens and stores and everything. And so it's like, oh, Trump so divisive. People are so upset about his immigration policy, they have to steal everything out of the 7 11.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know what? They're just driven to this because they're.

[Josh Holmes]

Used to using any sort of. Like. It must have been, like, ingrained in young socialist journos, like the lessons of their grandfathers in the late 60s, where, like, any protest is a good protest, and it doesn't matter whether or not you're protesting something. That's completely insane.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, Even closer you had what's his name? Weather Underground. Who was Saul Alinsky? Obama's teacher?

[Michael Duncan]

Bill Ayers.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, Bill Ayers.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, but for real, I mean.

[John Ashbrook]

That Obama turned it into practice. He took the Ayers theory, he turned it into practice.

[Michael Duncan]

That's why I always say, if you want to know where all this started, go back to Barack Obama.

[John Ashbrook]

Bingo.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, it totally is. But that's the way that they cover this stuff. Listen, we come back, it's not only not 2020 in terms of how we react as you, a ruthless listener, and like all of our people, how we're reacting, it's also how the federal government and law enforcement at the state and local level is reacting to all this Very, very different story than it was back in 2020. We'll get to that right after this. Hardworking Americans know when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done.

[Comfortably Smug]

Now is the time to unleash our.

[Josh Holmes]

Nation'S energy, to create jobs, secure our future, and make life better, more affordable, and full of opportunity for all Americans. That's the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. Okay, so Listen, recall in 2020, every time that there was any sort of uprising, it was like, you know, cops had been so undermined at this point, not the least of which is the cops that gave rise to the discussion of George Floyd and they were being prosecuted and everything else. You saw people that were longtime police officers wanting to exit because it just didn't feel like anybody had their back whatsoever.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Times have changed in the five years since then. Society has changed, obviously. Donald Trump is back. Donald Trump has got a different view than he had back then. And you see law enforcement acting very differently when it comes to this stuff, like they're going to do something. This is not about setting our entire city ablaze while we sit there and watch. It ain't happening now. And you saw it in. In la. Clip four. Please get down. Get down. Oh.

[Roseanne Barr]

He got fucked.

[John Ashbrook]

For audio only, that was, like I mentioned before, at the overpass, you saw a brick just hit an officer in the head.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So that's what they're doing. And then let's look at how these responses take place in clip five. Okay, this is outside. Officers are outside of a federal building, and they're starting to push back on a mob. They open a gate, the mob is there, and you've got, like, what appears to be dozens, if not, you know, Probably a hundred.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. All stacked up, federal officers that are.

[Josh Holmes]

Just ready to go. Right. And that this is like, it falls into the lessons learned category where no longer are federal law enforcement or state and local law enforcement willing to just take it because they don't feel like the politics are going to be good for them. I mean, you come out and you try to defend a state or Federal Building in 2020, you could find yourself sitting next to Derek Chauvin being prosecuted.

[Michael Duncan]

For whatever, or they'd set the fucking building on fire, as we saw with the police station in Minneapolis.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

But I mean, you could be personally liable if you try to uphold the law. No longer the case. Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

And it's so good that these cops in LA are showing leadership the way that they are right now, because there are rumors about June 14th. I don't know if you guys have seen this, but Randy Weingarten, who is ostensibly supposed to be helping teachers get raises, which they never get, she is, is trying to organize a nationwide left wing riot. And they put out a map. This guy, Corey DeAngelis, friend of the program he put, posted this on his Twitter account. And they have hundreds of sites around the country where the left is going to do riots, just like they did in LA this coming weekend on June 14th.

[Josh Holmes]

But like, she's this, she's a. For those of you unaware of who this person is, she represents teachers unions.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

What is the basis upon their riots?

[Comfortably Smug]

She's just a leftist. She's a communist. She's unhappy, she doesn't like Trump. And she has turned her attention from helping teachers get better jobs to ruining our country. And like, they are like, this map shows something in every single city this coming Saturday. And so what happens?

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, this is the funniest part about the left, though. I mean, we've joked about this before, is you get people with Mexican flags waving around being like, no, no, no, we're like taking over stuff. And they're like, no, they're just like, you know, they don't want, like peaceful people to be disrupted. And then somebody rolls in and they're like, yeah, and kill all the Jews too.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And you're like, wait a second, where did, how did this get there? And then all of a sudden you got Randy Weingarten rolling in being more teachers pay.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's like, what? I'm sorry, there are some pieces that we can talk about here, others we cannot. But like, the. What the left is made up of these days, there's no congruence to it at all. I mean, it's completely disparate griefs with a system that they don't, unfortunately for them, control.

[Michael Duncan]

But for them, everything is the one thing through intersectionality. You know, you can have a guy, I saw a clip of a guy with a Hamas, you know, bandana on his arm waving the Mexican flag in front of burned out cars.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Right now this is just what they.

[Josh Holmes]

Do and go back and forth.

[Michael Duncan]

At the end of the day, it's all just Marxism in the end. And they want to tear down the system. Fundamentally everything that they believe is anti American. It's the problem. Why they have such an issue with electoral politics? Because that's why they pick the 20 side of every 8,020. That's why they have all of these disparate groups trying to act, you know, with some sort of solidarity together. But that's what they, why they fail at the ballot box.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's a good point. So the mayor of this situation, you would think you would have a problem with your city being burned to the ground. Karen Bass, let's see how she takes it in. Clip 7 We do not want to.

[Roseanne Barr]

Play into the administration's hands. We're working with officials, we're organizing resources. But what we're seeing in Los Angeles is, is chaos that is provoked by the administration. When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and you cause panic.

[Comfortably Smug]

And this is, this is this talking point that you've heard from now, Karen Bass, the liberal mayor of Los Angeles, you've heard it from Gavin Newsom, you've heard it from left wingers like Chris Murphy on the East Coast. This is a talking point that they're driving because they know that the left is going to start doing this in cities around our country and they want to blame President Trump for their actions.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. The one thing, the one thing you see in all of their talking points is escalation. Escalation?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like not all of these cities breaking our immigration laws. That's not escalation. Like throwing, doing something about throwing, throwing bricks off of overpasses onto the heads of police officers. That's not escalation. Burning down all these cars, that's not escalation. Donald Trump trying to save the lives of these officers by calling in the guard. That's escalation. Because like you said, Ashbrook, it's going to get worse. Someone's going to get killed. Yeah, someone's going to get killed. And all these people who are watching their cities burn are going to be like, orange man bad. He caused it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Not me. Not all of the policies we believe in.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, and you go back to like the media roundup. That's why they got into this in the first place. Is that message, in that message alone, Orange man bad that he's caused an escalation here. That this is everything that you're seeing on your TV is a result of Donald Trump, not a result of a bunch of illegal practices by a bunch of criminals who are taking it up another step and another step because they've been caught in their game. You know, I mean, this is what the left tries to do in terms of manipulating information that you're getting. And it's wild, but doesn't stop there. Also hilarious. Remember Maxine Waters? This lady shows up. I mean, first of all, she's one of the most laughable figures.

[John Ashbrook]

Complete moron.

[Josh Holmes]

But she apparently is trying to visit an SEIU president who had been arrested for assaulting a cop in the course of all this stuff. And she gets caught up on camera. Check this out in clip 8.

[Roseanne Barr]

No, I want you to.

[Josh Holmes]

Hello, hello, hello.

[Michael Duncan]

Here she comes for her viral moment.

[Roseanne Barr]

I just came to use my congressional authority to check on David. I love you.

[Josh Holmes]

Security now to all visitors.

[Roseanne Barr]

Excuse me. I need to get in contact.

[Michael Duncan]

Our public apparel.

[Roseanne Barr]

I need to get in.

[Josh Holmes]

Owned.

[John Ashbrook]

Owned, Owned.

[Michael Duncan]

So hard showing up with her Fiji water bottle. I demand to get in.

[John Ashbrook]

I got. You got to love it, dude.

[Michael Duncan]

She just wanted her viral moment. I mean, they can't help them. These left wing politicians can't help themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

They can.

[Michael Duncan]

They just want to find a way to turn all of this violent protesting and rioting and burning down cars about how they can, they can get their 15 minutes of fame. It's hilarious.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is the only move they have. So you can bet that it does not stop in Los Angeles. It's going to be all across our country in short order.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Also, don't you just kind of love with people like Maxine Waters who are like, I don't know, must be in a district that just like will elect cadavers one after another?

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Because like, she's, she's like valueless.

[John Ashbrook]

That's what happens when you're in like a D + 99 district. You end up with clowns like that.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just activism and nonsense. I mean, she was the one that said you ought to kick the out of conservatives when they say something, you know, I mean, she's like the Worst of the worst. And she shows up in this situation trying to talk to somebody and they're like, no, but the justification is I'm gonna use my congressional authority. Well, I missed somewhere in the handbook that the congressional authority allows you to march into prisons.

[Michael Duncan]

What are you talking.

[John Ashbrook]

She should be marched into that prison.

[Michael Duncan]

To be honest, I am allowed to obstruct justice. It's what I do best.

[Josh Holmes]

I kind of respect it in some ways.

[Michael Duncan]

It's hilarious.

[Josh Holmes]

You know when you were a kid and you were like, not supposed to be somewhere. Yeah. And. And they told you, like, just walk with confidence, act like you're supposed to be there.

[Michael Duncan]

Act like you've been there before.

[Josh Holmes]

And like, people look at him, be like, well, he's surely. He seems like he should. That's basically what she's doing as a 75 year old Congressman who's been there for like, I don't know, four decades. Yeah. She's like, no, it's my congressional authority. They're like, pop, door closed. Sorry, Maxine, not today. So anyway, our question of the day is, if this thing erupts is what Ashbrook is talking about, if it gets worse than LA and it starts showing up across the country, what should President Trump do about she sending the Marines?

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, there's a lot of discussion.

[Josh Holmes]

You noticed Tom Cotton, who broke the New York Times editorial board in 2020 by suggesting federal law enforcement be in charge of trying to secure the cities, particularly in the upper Northwest at the time, from this just like bizarre set of anarchy that they were doing. Like, he literally shut down the whole New York Times substack or their slack.

[John Ashbrook]

Their slack was like, okay, we need to hold accountable anyone who got this published. It can't be allowed. How dare you fire people. National Guard put down riots and stop the Chaz break away from the country.

[Josh Holmes]

So he, like, he tweeted his article from 2020 back out over the weekend while this was happening, which I love. The troll. Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's great stuff. But the question does remain, like, what do you do if you're from a Trump standpoint? And look, a lot of lessons being learned here, something tells me they're not going to sit on their heels and watch this happen in city after city. What would you do if you had the reins of power? We're going to get to your comments from last week, which again, way ahead of schedule in terms of giving you the news and information. We identified that the Trump Elon thing was starting to get to a fever pitch. And Thursday morning, we gave you the whole layout of the arguments by Thursday night sort of boiled over, but we asked the question of the day, how does the whole thing end? We're gonna get to it right after this.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, folks, time to sound the alarm. Trump's big, beautiful tax cut is coming down to the wire in Congress, and my friends at Americans for Prosperity want your help to get it across the finish line. If the bill doesn't pass, the average American family is looking at a $1,500 tax hike. Americans for Prosperity says not gonna happen. Right now, some members of Congress are getting very shaky with every special interest in D.C. pounding on their doors. But AFP thinks it's time for hardworking Americans to do some pounding of their own. So AFP and its grassroots army is already out there pushing back on crazy ideas like raising tax rates and supporting the congressmen who want to cut taxes. AFP is the only organization I know that can bring this kind of grassroots pressure to bear. If you want to join the fight to Protect Prosperity, visit ProtectProsperity.com to help Trump get his big, beautiful bill. That's ProtectProsperity.com.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so you remember, like, and subscribe to the YouTube page and put a comment in there. And we read it. We read them all, and we try to cultivate what we think are representative of a whole bunch of different points of view and read them back on the show. To do that, we always start with a voice.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, friend? This first one comes from telling it like it is and telling it writes. I can't help but wonder if this feud is a way for Elon to move back to the center for the sake of his businesses. You have to figure a guy like Elon understands the nuances here and remembers how the economy took off when the tax cuts were first passed. This allows Elon to say he was trying to help the American people, and then he, quote, stood up to Trump when they disagreed. Trump can say, Ellen, quote, doesn't get it and move onward with his work. A lot of people are expressing this take out there.

[Josh Holmes]

There's a lot of people that think that this is the take.

[Michael Duncan]

I think the events of Thursday afternoon would suggest that is not what was going on there.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, there's a. There's a couple of items because it.

[Michael Duncan]

Went from 0 to 100, which we'll. We'll go into here shortly.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we'll get into that in a second. Comment to Dunks or un.

[Michael Duncan]

This is from Politic. Politic. I do have a few problems with the obbb. That's the big, beautiful bill. And I love Elon, but I think he's wrong here also. This isn't the budget bill. And trying to balance the budget takes multiple bills. It's a hard goal with such a split and small majority.

[Josh Holmes]

That's somebody who knows what they're talking about there. I mean, that's. That's somebody who's followed the process, obviously. And what we're trying to talk about on Thursday. Smuggler got comment 3.

[John Ashbrook]

Comment 3 comes from plausible deniability. And they write question of the day. Sadly, the situation with Elon ends in typical fashion. He trolls Republicans on X. Trump defends his guys and responds in kind. Democrats win. It is the same story. Republicans implode when they actually have power and we end up being subjected to Democrat rule. My one caveat, and I know this isn't true, is that Musk is projecting because he believes the Dems will win back the House and he is trying to fend off the onslaught on incoming investigations. I don't know. Just hate that it is ending this way.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, look, there is. That's like a 2.0 version of the first comment. Right. Which is the inevitable. If Democrats were to take over the House or the Senate or God save us both, there would be investigations. Elon would probably be front and center. Maybe this is a way to mitigate that. We're a little skeptical of that. First, if you're going to attack something like the big beautiful bill and you're going to do it knowing it's a cornerstone of the Trump agenda, you would be right in saying that, like, you come out against that kind of thing, like, you'll engender yourself a little bit to the left, perhaps lower the temperature of people that, you know, want to see you investigated and that kind of thing, maybe increase people's willingness to buy Teslas again or whatever. But not when you do it from the right.

[Roseanne Barr]

Mm.

[Josh Holmes]

Not when you do it from the right. And he came at the BBB suggesting that it didn't cut enough Medicaid and he didn't get specific, but that's basically what he's talking about. Because the only cuts that you can do in the. In the context of a reconciliation bill are on the mandatory spending side. And so when you come at it from that point, like, there's nobody on the left that agrees with that. Like, literally nobody.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So, I mean, if he were to be like, yes, you can't do this to the American people, like, they deserve their Medicaid. Okay. Like, there's a case to be made there. Reality is a lot more to the story. We laid out three scenarios, all three of which were discussed by the President of the United States later in the afternoon after we discussed it on Thursday, which is basically, hey, look, the EV tax credit thing, that going away is not great for Elon. He didn't appreciate that. The fact that he's, like, kind of doesn't know exactly how to effectuate the Doge cuts and all of that, because this isn't a Doge bill, something Stephen Miller put a fine point on, that was ultimately discussed. And then we talked about, like, how there's other things afoot. And we talked about Bannon discussing the Besant interaction, where they apparently had a shoving match. And there was some of that, the extracurriculars, as I'll call them, that were elevated. And there was a fourth that was added, which was somebody who's very close to Elon, was nominated to be the NASA administrator. Somebody that you had talked about.

[Comfortably Smug]

Jared Isaacman.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. On the show Smash. And there was an internal allegation that Sergio Gore, who was the head of presidential personnel, has a vetting process, which everybody has a vetting process, but his vetting process, you know, in large part, the first step is to make sure that you're not, like, a active, registered opposition party member. And apparently this individual had given, like, hundreds of thousands of dollars to, like, Chuck Schumer and Democrats, and that would, like, tripped his wire on somebody they didn't want to nominate. But Elon sort of fought through that. And so when Elon was wearing thin on some of the Cabinet secretaries, Sergio saw the opportunity to go to the President and basically say, let's pull this thing. President did pull his nomination, and that's what sent him into orbit. New York Times had an article suggesting that that was the catalyst for the next. I would suggest it's all the above. Right. That this thing was just sort of breaking down on many different places. Now, what you couldn't predict is, is the Richter scale level to which the whole thing hit in a matter of hours. The President addresses the fact that he is opposing his cornerstone suggests some of the things that we just articulated. One comes back and is like, oh, yeah, well, he's in the Epstein files. Yeah, like, pretty tough allegation.

[Comfortably Smug]

Let me just tell you, fellas, as someone who unfortunately missed that show. Yeah, I watched it sort of like I was. I was. I was sick. It was sort of like I was sitting in my bedroom as a kid watching my friends ride their bikes through my window and have all the fun in the world. I will tell you that that was not only prescient, it was some of the best material that the Ruthless podcast has ever delivered. And might I say kind was excellence in broadcasting.

[Josh Holmes]

We appreciate, we appreciate that.

[Michael Duncan]

It wasn't just the Epstein thing, though. Elon, like doubled and tripled down. At one point he was calling for Donald Trump to be impeached.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

And then Elon also takes credit for Donald Trump's victory, saying, he wouldn't have won without me.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, this is what I was trying to tell people when they were saying, like, boy, it's an act of nuclear war for him to suggest that he's in the absence of files and that all these other things, I was like, no, no, no. The act of nuclear war was suggesting to President Trump that he would never be president without Elon Musk. You know, Trump and you know, his operation and you know, the way that he's operated. The mere suggestion that somehow the guy who hasn't taken 47 indictments to the face, a shot to the ear, right. Another assassination attempt, a full blown media campaign the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, that that wasn't what got him over the top, his sheer will to do that. It was Elon.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. And Elon is extremely talented in act of war, obviously. Elon's extremely talented, you know, I mean, just putting the rockets up there. Right. And he bought Twitter, as you said, the most patriotic thing somebody's ever done.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[Michael Duncan]

But that suggestion is like, it's just an absurd thing. And in fact, we have evidence that Elon is incorrect about that. Look at the special election up in Wisconsin where he said he was going to take vaulted operation, that he powered Donald Trump's victory and he's going to win this special in Wisconsin.

[Josh Holmes]

What happened?

[Michael Duncan]

Same numbers as the previous special election, you know, five years prior.

[Roseanne Barr]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

It's like you can't, like at some.

[Josh Holmes]

Point, I'm not blaming him for trying. Like, look, look, I think net net. Elon has been an incredibly powerful force within the conservative movement, given a whole different constituency, a reason to believe in certain aspects of it. He's done an incredible amount of good for people who respect the Constitution, the rule of law, America, the way it should be an opportunity to come into the fold. Right. But you got. I mean, this is just a departure from reality.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Can we get that graphic number one, where. So this was the post on X that Elon sent up. Time to drop the really big bomb. Real Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, djt. So he thought he really did something here, right?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Folks probably can't find this because he deleted it. First off, that's how you know you've taken an L, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

But here's the thing is, if that were in any way, shape or form, in any way the least bit true, you don't think Democrats who tried to be like Mar A Lago is worth only $10 million. Let's put Trump in jail. You don't think they would have used that in one of the hundreds of charges that they tried getting on him? They controlled the FBI to the point that they were going after his election campaign in 2016. You don't think if they had that they would have gone after Trump with it to try to destroy him?

[Michael Duncan]

No, of course.

[Josh Holmes]

So it goes back and forth. Trump threatens to cancel all the SpaceX contracts. Musk comes back saying that he's shutting down the, the Dragon man spacecraft program, which, you know, if you know or have followed anything to do with this, it's like literally the only way America can get into space safely these days. And so that's a big blow. He comes back and says, okay, I'm not going to do that. Maybe we've gone a little bit too far.

[John Ashbrook]

I sent a post that I was planning on starting a rocket company.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That could step in.

[John Ashbrook]

And that got Elon to back pedaling. So seconds.

[Josh Holmes]

They didn't want the smug program.

[Michael Duncan]

They've done it again.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you've done it again.

[Comfortably Smug]

What would you have called your capsule?

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, that's a good thing I'd ask. You know, that could be question of the date number two.

[Josh Holmes]

What would you call.

[John Ashbrook]

I'd let the people make the decisions. That's who I work for.

[Josh Holmes]

The smug capsule.

[John Ashbrook]

No, it'd be for the people to decide. Yeah, it's always for them.

[Michael Duncan]

I think you'd call it the Bobcat.

[John Ashbrook]

Not a bad name.

[Josh Holmes]

Not a bad name. No. But. So anyway, there's also. You see Elon Monday starting to post about rockets again. Feels like the temperature went down over the weekend. If you know anything about the way Trump is operated, there's these moments of maximum contention. People either get over it or they don't. The people who don't find themselves in the Lincoln Project. Yeah, you know, largely. And they're people who we play king of the Hill with, or there are people like Elon who sort of like, let the thing simmer a Touch. And then may my bet. I don't know. Interested what you guys think? I bet this resolves itself. Like it may never be the same, may never be Thanksgiving dinner as it was for the last year. But I think they probably put this thing back together in some form or fashion, don't you?

[John Ashbrook]

I think Elon would want to. I think Trump's indifferent.

[Josh Holmes]

Really.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, listen, the thing is, Trump has a sheer force of will.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, who has gone against him guns blazing and come out on top? The guy. I mean, you just don't bet against him.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, no, you.

[John Ashbrook]

The history is insane, bro.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't think you can call a guy a pedophile and then get back in his good grade.

[Josh Holmes]

So that's, I think it's over.

[Michael Duncan]

I think it's, it's cut, it's, it's done for. I think Elon got on that stage in the run up to the election and he started to get a big head and think, you know, he's his own political force. And then he got in and he started doing the Doge stuff, which was extremely, extremely important. But I think the ego mixed with the overselling of Doge and the under delivering, as we saw in the Bannon piece about the argument with Besson gave.

[Josh Holmes]

Rise to the shoulder and the chest.

[Michael Duncan]

I just think you only see this sort of petulance from somebody when they've been embarrassed in that way. I think that's it. And at the end of the day, I don't know, you can, I don't think you can come back from that. And God bless him, keep building rockets and doing all the things you're doing because it's fantastic. We need that in America. But I don't think you're gonna be next to Donald Trump again.

[Josh Holmes]

Interesting. Yeah. Smash. What's your take?

[Comfortably Smug]

I'll tell you what, you can never engage Trump in a war of words and win. And I don't care how brilliant Elon is. And he is brilliant. He is the most left brained, brilliant person who is probably walking the face of the earth right now. But he met the most right brained, brilliant person who's walking the face of the earth right now. And I'll tell you, like, from a publicity standpoint, not since Hammurabi's code has somebody written publicity and the conversations in this country or the world quite like Donald Trump has. You do not go mano a mano with Donald Trump.

[Josh Holmes]

We're back to Hammurabi, dude. I'm just gonna take a moment for all of you to Google Hammurabi in the code. Just so you're up to speed on where smash is brain.

[Michael Duncan]

I didn't know we were going to get a Cuneoform reference on the Variety program.

[John Ashbrook]

That was for Luke Thompson. Like Professor Luke Thompson. Enjoy.

[Comfortably Smug]

What I am telling you is that Trump's abilities are historic in nature, and you aren't going up against him. I don't care if you're Xi from China. I don't care if you're Vladimir Putin. I don't care if you're Elon Musk. You are not walking into that room, in walking out as the Alpha. Donald Trump is a supreme leader of the American. He's something very special. You will never see anything like him again. And he will not lose to somebody. Mano a manu.

[Josh Holmes]

It's interesting. I don't know, man. I've seen a lot of people come and go and come again, you know, I just. I feel like everything that you think is broken, it relies on the other person thinking it's broken because he's so. Trump is practical in so many regards. Now, he may have never have the same trust that he had when he just sort of allowed him to go do the Doge experiment on all of his government, but if it's better off for Donald Trump and the American government that he foresees to bring Elon back in in some capacity to sort of have a discussion, I think he's gonna do it. I don't know. I mean, we'll see. I mean, time will tell. But you're right. These are.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm just saying, bro, you call me a pedophile, you're dead to me.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, I mean, but that's the way that we operate. Like Trump, you've seen him deal with stuff. People write, tell alls. Next thing you know, they're like, Elon.

[Michael Duncan]

Stroval stroke a check for the entire presidential library. That's your only chance.

[Josh Holmes]

Y. Yeah. Now, gentlemen, before we get into the variety, there's breaking news from CNN that our question of the day again, prescient in that Trump is considering sending in the Marines to try to restore order. We'll see if that happens on a nationwide basis. But again, like we said, not 2020. It's not 2020. Very, very different response to this.

[Comfortably Smug]

No, he's not just going to let people surround the federal courthouse with the black umbrellas. You remember this. His visions were iconic. He's not letting that happen this time. And the left is going to blame him for trying to defend federal property and they're just going to continue to escalate and escalate.

[Josh Holmes]

I think you're probably right. All right. You want some variety?

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Always smoking once again, on the weekends. Your mind is unbound by that of child care. And you find some of the most interesting things that are anywhere on the Internet. And what you found here is a zebra that was escaped. I couldn't help but notice that this is again in Tennessee. Feels like all of our animal stuff is happening in Tennessee these days. It's mildly concerning. I feel like maybe we should talk to Governor Lee about that because Tennessee, they're having a real problem. But this one involves a zebra. And according to the New York Post, escaped zebra dangles from helicopter as daring rescue crew earns its stripes. Let's put up the graphic, if you don't mind. The first thing that you're able to see here, if you're watching us on YouTube, is a zebra.

[Michael Duncan]

This is like Operation Dumbo Drop.

[Josh Holmes]

Ridiculous.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, it looks like it's having a great time, to be honest.

[Josh Holmes]

The zebra looks very content, sort of being taken care of and almost a fetal like, but it's dangling from a helicopter.

[Michael Duncan]

I got, I gotta say, for our audio only listeners, this zebra is thick. Yeah, this zebra has a dump truck. Truck ass.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well fed.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, well fed.

[Josh Holmes]

It is a dump truck zebra. No question about that. I'd like to get sort of the font fighting composition. That smug will break down later on whether he was able to manhandle this thing by himself. But on clip nine, you'll see how the authorities took care of it.

[Michael Duncan]

Zebra in a bag.

[John Ashbrook]

Best breakdown ever. There it is.

[Josh Holmes]

So there's the helicopter flying with the zebra. And I can't disagree with the assessment of law enforcement that it's a zebra in a bag. It is twisting.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it's spinning. So that's the interesting thing because, you know, you see this sometimes. I remember years ago when they airlifted that lady and like, I mean, she was hitting like 300 rpm.

[Michael Duncan]

It was a record.

[John Ashbrook]

But this even is getting a bit of a spin. So that's the interesting thing. So the part of the story that really surprised me is it said this zebra had been on the lamb for a week.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it was a goner. It had escaped and it was all but lost. And you know, in the fields of Tennessee.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, he was eating well, I can tell you that.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. Dump. Dump truck.

[Michael Duncan]

Dump truck.

[Josh Holmes]

Dump truck. Zebra.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, imagine being a zebra and going back to the pen after that ride, trying to explain that to your other zebra pals, I was flying in the air and spinning.

[Josh Holmes]

They've named this thing Ed. Yeah, I presume after, like, Mr. Ed. Whatever. They said Ed was airlifted and flown by helicopter back to a waiting animal trailer. I just have to, like. And this goes Ashbrooke, your point? Always. There has to be an easier way to deal with all this stuff. Like, there's helicopters involved. We put it in the bag, dude.

[Comfortably Smug]

First of all, I don't understand how it was on the run for a week. It's not like it was blending in in Tennessee with all the flocks of zebras rolling around Johnson City, for crying out loud. And when you see it, why is your first move to put it on a helicopter? Why can't you hit it with a tranq dart and throw it in the back of a truck or in, like.

[Michael Duncan]

A horse stall trailer?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, forget the tranq. For the folks in Tennessee. That's who I'm disappointed in. You had a week where you got a free shot on a zebra. You shoot this, it's yours. You stuff it. Now you got something, you're like, yeah, that's a zebra you're shooting right there. And I killed it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

If you go to one of those exotic, you know, animal preserves.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Shooting that thing cost you $2,000.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

You had a free shot.

[Josh Holmes]

Free shot.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I know. And all the people at Tennant, and we know they're well armed.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

They could have taken that.

[John Ashbrook]

You think that. What's happening? Tennessee, like, right.

[Josh Holmes]

Go, guys.

[John Ashbrook]

You never hear about that in nc. No. Someone would ended up with a trophy.

[Josh Holmes]

Somebody needed to take care of that zebra. Do you think if, like, you came head to head to that with that zebra that you just, like, try to jack it in the jaw?

[John Ashbrook]

I'd call Duncan and say, duncan, get the gun.

[Josh Holmes]

Don't get your gun, because zebras are mean.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, that's why you shoot them.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I would love to have a stuffed zebra.

[Josh Holmes]

You want distance, Unlike a thoroughbred, you want distance on that?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, for sure. I mean, like, I wouldn't let the opportunity waste itself for a free trophy. Wait, you would zebra stuff zebra, dude.

[Comfortably Smug]

You would stuff it before you skin it and make a rug.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. You like a big rug?

[John Ashbrook]

You know, that's a tough thing you can do. I'm still holding out hope for that bear rug for the living room. You know, I don't want to, you know, zebra settle for zebra. Because every time I see the zebra rug, I'm like, it's not the Bear rug I wanted, but it's like the.

[Josh Holmes]

Last five exotic animal variety segments that we've had. It always ends in him making a rug.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Good observation. Now it's like he wants to, but.

[John Ashbrook]

Every time, every time you'd see the zebra rug, you'd be like, I. I settled because I really wanted the bear, but I settled. So, you know, you won't get that. You don't get the accomplishment. But a stuffed zebra is a great thing, though.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Maybe you'd like the head for the practical reasons. The teeth kind of stick out. You could open a beer on the front teeth.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, seriously, that's a great. You should. Going in the bar. That'd be great.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a conversation starter.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it is.

[John Ashbrook]

100%.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

If you can get in there, Ashwood.

[Josh Holmes]

If you can get some kind of a bottle cap tooth work, then you've really got.

[John Ashbrook]

Especially if you call Duncan, the thing would have a bullet between its eyes and you'd be like, that's why this is Duncan.

[Comfortably Smug]

You'd have the taxi. He just put the bullet hole right there. Just so they knew.

[Josh Holmes]

I love the idea of just calling Duncan out in his underwear to shoot a Z.

[John Ashbrook]

If you got a problem, Duncan will solve that shit.

[Josh Holmes]

He probably would, to be honest with you. All right, so we got a great interview for you. This is like a childhood legend. It's rare that we can meet somebody like this who is quite literally the most famous woman in America during the late 80s, all through the 90s, who the left has done their very best to sort of like smear and make into some version of a right wing reality. When in all honesty, she got what our politics are today way, way before America was willing to open its eyes to it. It was a middle class viewpoint that resonated with her because that's who she was, but that's what she presented on television. Her life has taken that course. And you can disagree with things that she says and things that she does and all these things, but like, to understand her is to understand that. And I think you're gonna get that out of this interview. Roseanne Barr. It is my profound honor to welcome somebody to the show who I grew up. This is a hero of mine in my family. We all gather around the television set weekly to watch her and her incredible career as it's progressed. Roseanne Barr, ladies and gentlemen. How are you?

[Roseanne Barr]

Please sit. Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

The standing O. Listen, I mean this sincerely. You were a pioneer before that became sort of a political term in terms of being the center of the TV universe As a woman who just sort of naturally understood middle America and it was kind of in your DNA. I mean, I think that's what made Roseanne so successful to families like mine, sitting in the middle of Minnesota, is that we could relate to it. It's like the conversations that we had on a day to day basis.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Seems like your entire life has been sort of capturing that center.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, I lived in it, you know, and hung out with and went to school with and, you know, makes it a little easier. Yeah. And I always loved the American people, the working class people, and always trusted them. I did crazy things in my life. Like one time when I was up in the mountains of Colorado, there I was a souse chef in a French restaurant. I applied to be a busboy, but the guy had. He was a psycho. And the bus, the desseus chef had just left. When I went in to apply for busboy, he goes, have you ever cooked? He was a French five star chef. And I said, no, not really. He goes, well, I'm going to train you to be a chef. So I went, wow, this is something. So I did that. And I didn't know being a chef meant scrubbing toilets.

[Michael Duncan]

The restaurant industry, it's a real education.

[Roseanne Barr]

Feeling, you know, that was. It was like bottom level. And first I was really happy, man, I'm gonna be a French chef. And then so I, on my way to work, which I had to hitchhike to three miles, I just kept going.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

And I called in sick. Oh, I think I said, my mom has died 150 times on different jobs. But I said, I'm sorry, my mom's died and I have to go home. And I just kept going. And I hitchhiked back and forth across the United States and just hung out with people. It was a joy of my life. And it filled my head with all kind of stories. I love to tell stories and write stories.

[Josh Holmes]

So it was meeting people.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. And I just love them because, well, they're so smart and they have such spirit and they're fighters like I am, you know, working class people. And such a great disdain for the government, which I always respected, you know.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that gets it. So you gather stories from around the country.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You find your way onto stage. You become, you know, I'm sure it didn't feel like an instant hit, but in terms of the TV business, no.

[Roseanne Barr]

It did pretty quickly. It felt instant. It was mind boggling to me. I mean, yeah, it was within. Going to Los Angeles within three weeks. Wild But I. In that three weeks, I had to go home and arrange my kids to be taken care of. The first night on stage, Mitzi Shore, when I was auditioning for her, she put me in the big room, which the waitresses says she never did before or after.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, this is like the most fame Comedy Store.

[Roseanne Barr]

Can you do 20? Yeah, Comedy Store. And I said, yeah. And she goes, well, go in there and do 20. I was like, oh, my God. So I did. And during that 20, George Slaughter was doing a special about women in comedy. He was in the audience and he said, I want you to come back and do my special. So I went home, came back two, two weeks later. And during the rehearsal, this talent scout for the Tonight show was in the audience. I mean, so it was really three days. And he put me on the Tonight show that week.

[Josh Holmes]

That is a while.

[Roseanne Barr]

And I was sitting next to Julio Iglesias there, and he asked me to tour with him for 18 cities. So it was four days in LA and I got an 18 week tour. And during that, I did press everywhere we went. And I got my sitcom. I mean, that is unbelievable.

[Michael Duncan]

But did you always know you were funny growing up? Did people tell you that? Or is that something you sort of discovered by way of the process of, like, just living your life and telling stories?

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, my whole family was really funny.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

Uncles, aunts, grandparents, parents, cousins. You know, we loved to make fun of each other. And it was vicious comedy.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

I mean, it was all slam comedy. Like, now they do the roast. It was like that all the time. And. But we never made fun of my grandma. Hell, no. And. But my uncle, he was a big fat guy and he was her son, and he did make fun of my grandma. And I couldn't stand. I was only 2 or 3 or 4. And he called her a greenhorn. That's what you call. That's what they called the Jewish immigrants from Lithuania there. And he'd say, you know, Americans don't make chicken soup with 2 inches of fat on the top of it, you know? And I became irate. And I said, then why do you eat three balls of it, you fat pig? And instant family hit. No, they were angry as hell. And I didn't understand it because a lot of times everything I said, they go, so cute. You're so cute. And this time, all the women were stunned. And they were like, you don't talk to men like that. We don't talk to men like that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that lesson did not.

[Roseanne Barr]

And it went in there. It went in there. Hey, I'm gonna make fun of man. Like my uncle and. And even my grandma wasn't happy that I stuck up for.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man.

[Roseanne Barr]

She was like, you have such a mouth. They always would say that to me. Why are you crazy? You have such a mouth.

[Josh Holmes]

But anyway, so your lesson was more of this. I got the reaction I wanted.

[Roseanne Barr]

My lesson was, as I say to my friends, I finally learned my lesson. And my lesson is I never learned my lesson.

[Josh Holmes]

That's so great. So you have this rocket ship that you're riding and it was 11 years of Roseanne.

[Roseanne Barr]

No, 10 total. I only ever wanted to do 10 seasons because I thought it would be a 10 year story unfolding about this family.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

But so they cut me off at 9. They really fucked with me on the 9 because nobody wanted to come back but me. And they took it down to the wire. I call Iger. Am I getting a tent season? Well, we're still working on it. Am I getting a 10th season? There's three weeks to go of this one. Well, yes, we're giving you a 10th season, but we're gonna ask you to cut your pay in half. And I thought about it. Cause I really wanted a tenth. And then I had it where I would be doing the 10th season with Whoopi Goldberg and that the family had died and I had to move to Las Vegas to a black neighborhood and that she would become my best friend there. And no. So they said no. And then.

[Josh Holmes]

Was that a concept you came up with?

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, that would have been hilarious.

[Roseanne Barr]

I always wanted to do racial material because I grew up in, you know, inner city with a lot of black people who I loved and I have black people in my family. And I just find American racism hilarious.

[Josh Holmes]

Because he wanted to cut through the BS essentially. Right.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. Because it's all spoon fed and nobody really believes it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

And we, when we live together because the working class is the most integrated class in America. And I wanted to show that it's not. It's not the experts and the spokespeople of, you know, the anti racism, you know, it's more a class thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

And so I wanted and I did in several episodes and seasons on Roseanne address that. And they would always freak out, you know, because whatever they are.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Because everything is dangerous.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, they're Satan worshiping baby blood drinkers. And so not to put too fine. Yeah. They don't really like Jewish people. Really. But yeah, it was a fight every single day and I won. Fuck em.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I wonder. I wonder here's one thing that I've always wondered about you, where you come from, look, you're just kind of a normal lady. You're the peak of stardom when TV is the thing, right?

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. There's only, like, three or four channels.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So, I mean, like, literally, I had.

[Roseanne Barr]

46 million viewers a week.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't that. That's a wild. It's hard for younger generations to even conceptualize having a Super bowl every Wednesday.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah, it kind of was. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But. But that's what it was at the height of the power of Roseanne. And. And I just wonder, how does it. How did you adjust and deal with being literally the most famous woman in America at one point?

[Roseanne Barr]

I didn't handle it very well. There's no way to handle it. But, I mean, gave me more of a voice on my show. I had the power of the audience behind me, so they had to listen to me, and I got what I wanted through, which was a conversation with the audience. It wasn't a conversation with advertisers or executives, which was a new thing, and it kind of still is, but. So I had the power of the numbers of my viewers behind me, but in my real life, man, it was crazy. I didn't even know. I never even left Barely Utah before I was a mother of four, and I never left home being a mother of four, just writing these jokes and going out and telling them at night, but I wasn't prepared for any of it, and I did not handle it well because I didn't even know how. I don't know how to lie and thief and steal and be a whore. I had no idea. I just was regular.

[Josh Holmes]

Had to learn all that on the fly.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. And how they do. How they do something, how they say things, they're like, you know, I prayed a lot, and a lot of times I felt like Daniel and the lions down there, But I always had that other guy behind me because, you know, I did always pray.

[Josh Holmes]

But you can't even go to, like, a store. You can't walk out of your house. I mean, you'd have been mobbed at that point in your life.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, I had a lot of assistants, and they did all that. I just, you know, for real, just stayed at my room smoking.

[Josh Holmes]

That sounds great.

[Roseanne Barr]

It was great. It was great. Yeah. I had my kids there, and, you know, so I was still doing the mom thing, but I did have a lot of assistance and help and stuff, and most of my time was on the set and in the writers room, and I did Love it. I did. We had a blast on the set. The cast and the crew, we just tore it up. We did all these ridiculous things. They made me a. Because I said, I'm tired of walking. And so my crew was so funny, they made me a wheelchair with a place to put my drink and an ashtray built in. Yep. And then I had a loudspeaker on there where I'd go, move. And we'd play this thing where I was. You know, we had this whole fake family we invented that were circus folk that were doing a show about normal people. So I drive around in my wheelchair. And then they built me a throne where it was this big throne. And they said, when the network comes, they have to climb up this ladder to kiss my feet on the throne. We'd build these fantasy things, and we had so much fun.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it seemed like it. It seemed like it was a genuine pleasure for you to do. I mean, it came through on. On screen, obviously.

[Roseanne Barr]

Everything was a blast till the network folk showed up, and then it was.

[Josh Holmes]

Christ. Yeah. All things good things have to come to an end. Right. Somebody's gonna ruin it.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. They always tried to. If they understood what I was doing, they tried to stop it. So I'd always try to couch it so they didn't understand. And I told my sister, they'll get it in two years and then be pissed. And that's what happened.

[Josh Holmes]

Two years later, they're upset about it. So you're working on this new documentary, Roseanne Barr and America.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, it's done. It was done by Joel Gilbert, who's done a lot of great documentaries, such as Dreams of My Real Father about Obama. And then. Oh, my God, that's a great movie. And. And then what's the one about Michelle Obama?

[Josh Holmes]

2024.

[Michael Duncan]

Her real life story on Plan for Power.

[Roseanne Barr]

Oh, her. Her grasp and lust for power.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[Roseanne Barr]

And then the Trayvon Martin Trayvon Hoax. Trayvon hoax. So he's a. He's a news buster. And my friend Melanie Crell knew Joel, and she said, you ought to have Joel do a movie about your story of what happened to you. Because she's like, stop talking about it. All my friends stop talking about it. They're sick of me.

[Josh Holmes]

But sounds like you have good friends. Yeah, that's what my friends would do.

[Roseanne Barr]

It's been eight years. Come on. But then she hooked me up with Joel, and, you know, he hadn't heard any of the stories and wasn't tired of them.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. So you could read. You could get Some fresh eyes on these things.

[Roseanne Barr]

And he made a really fantastic documentary about my whole life getting to fame and what happened after. And I finally get to tell my story about what they did to me, and none of my friends are forced to hear it again.

[Josh Holmes]

But, you know, the linear through line through all of this is. Again, I think you just. You said it when you said you were always having a conversation with the audience.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's always been. I think the common thread in everything that you've done is that you're not interested in everybody else's politics or everybody else's. This is how you do it.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, no, I'm gonna have a conversation because I know these people may know me.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. And talking to them, that we're always on the same. We all know. I mean, they think we're. We're stupid, but we know what they're doing.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Roseanne Barr]

We just. We also know that if we tell, we're the ones that'll get in trouble. We also know that because we're smart and we see what happens. They got a country that don't even include us.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Roseanne Barr]

I mean, but the real country is us. We make everything go. We do all the work. They're just a bunch of parasites.

[Josh Holmes]

It feels like for the first time, politics in the era of Trump is sort of caught up with this view that you've had for 30 years about Middle America.

[Roseanne Barr]

70.

[Josh Holmes]

Publicly. How about that? For 30 or 40 years, where all of a sudden we are having those conversations. For me, for the first time.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yes. That's what I intend to do. When I went to television as a little girl, watching TV and seeing Fathers Knows Best and all that stuff, and going, what the hell are these people on?

[Josh Holmes]

Honey, where's dinner this evening?

[Roseanne Barr]

Yes. Oh, darling. And I'm like, these are nothing like my neighbors. You know, Dad's passed out. He's dead tired. He's had to work two jobs. He's asleep on the couch. Kids are taking off his shoes and hitting each other with them. You know, Mom's trying to make macaroni and cheese and, you know, talking on the phone to the school so our kids don't kick out, get kicked out. I mean, just real life is art to me. The real life of real people. Well, it's about the salt of the earth, and, you know, it's biblical because there, it says all along in there, there will come a day when the salt of the earth takes over. And that's what I saw in Trump and why I loved him and Why I wanted to go on TV and why I'm a Trump supporter and all of it. It's the salt of the earth, baby.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It feels like it's come full circle.

[Roseanne Barr]

I think so. Not all the way full. When they go off to prison, it'll be full circle, Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Well, there's always something to strike.

[Roseanne Barr]

There's always something. Yeah. Unfortunately they are the police, the judges, the FBI, the CIA, everything, the State Department, they're everything. And they still think we're deplorable. I love when people go around shoving their wieners in the kids face and then they call us freaks somehow we're the weird ones. Yeah, they call us the freaks.

[Josh Holmes]

When did you sort of apply your entire life. It's, it's, it's not political at all.

[Roseanne Barr]

It's basically political.

[Josh Holmes]

No, but now it is.

[Roseanne Barr]

It always was.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, that's my question.

[Roseanne Barr]

I was a Jew in Utah, for Christ's sake. I had to go to school and say Mormon prayers at school, right?

[Josh Holmes]

And you're like, this is not so.

[Roseanne Barr]

I went out in the hallway with all kinds of religious books. I didn't even know what the hell they were, the Bhagavad Gita and whatever else I could find. And I was praying in the hallway at school. I go, well, these are my religions. So I want the prayers of the Indian folk, whatever they were called. Hindu. I want to say Hindu prayers in school too.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that was not possible.

[Roseanne Barr]

That was a Mormon Utah. So anyway, I woke up in the State hospital. Utah State Hospital.

[Josh Holmes]

I was always felt like you maybe have gone there more than once as a child.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah, I've been in many mental institutions, some of the finest places I've ever visited.

[Josh Holmes]

There's remarkable clarity of immense mental.

[Roseanne Barr]

It's just like I can't live with lies. I can't live with hypocrisy and lies and double talk and forked tongue. I just can't. I have to say something about it and I always have and I'm always in trouble.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you never played by anybody else's.

[Roseanne Barr]

Rules, that's for sure. No, I have to. I have to answer to God because I believe in that and I don't want to make him mad. I mean, making a network ghoul piss, that doesn't bother me. I love it. But I mean, I got answer to God.

[Josh Holmes]

There's a higher power there.

[Roseanne Barr]

And he'll say, how come you didn't cause any problems when you heard that? He'll say that to me, I made you with a big Fat mouth and a bad attitude. And you let that slip. I'm saying, I'm sorry, Lord.

[Josh Holmes]

I gave you some gifts to do some things here basically, right.

[Roseanne Barr]

You're supposed to do that.

[Josh Holmes]

Talk to me a little bit. Because you, you have remarkable faith. I mean, you grew up, as you said, the Jewish family in Mormon Utah. It seems like you've sort of explored faith and the journey and the. The relationship that you've had with God throughout. Not everybody who doesn't know you would immediately assume that. Right?

[Roseanne Barr]

I know. And they're always shocked when I tell them.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Roseanne Barr]

They're like, huh, we figured you for a rational thinker. No, they don't. They don't. I never talked about it either. But then recently, maybe the last. Well, since I got fired, I guess I'm like, you know, I'm not going to hold back. It comes from someplace it's not. I'm not just a regular nut job that screams in the street. I have a core. And I felt like I got to say it because the storm clouds are gathering against people with beliefs and ethics and decency, and I got to fight it, you know, that's what I'm here for. That's why I got famous. I think that's why people listen to.

[Josh Holmes]

Me and kind of serving a higher. I mean, with the benefit of retrospect, you look back on life and realize so many of the opportunities aren't a mistake. Right?

[Roseanne Barr]

No, I knew God was telling. I always go, what am I doing? You know, and then something comes up, somebody calls, I go, thanks a lot. You know, because I've always lived and walked trust and faith because I know he knows what he's doing. I don't. I never know what I'm doing. But it always comes.

[Josh Holmes]

But it probably also gives you the confidence to proceed in what has been. Look, you've had tumultuous times until you talked about getting fired and sort of run out of time.

[Roseanne Barr]

Canceled in many ways and killed my character, Kelty.

[Josh Holmes]

Right, right.

[Roseanne Barr]

That was a good.

[Josh Holmes]

Gets killed. But I imagine faith plays a pretty big role in sort of reconstituting for you. Where's the next step? What's my next step for.

[Roseanne Barr]

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely it does, because it's. It is a journey and it's a journey of faith. And it's like got a lot of tests in it to see if you're going to survive it, if you're mentally and spiritually strong enough to survive what you walked into when you opened your big mouth. But when I look Back. I'm like, oh, that's why I opened my big mouth. I mean, I don't even know what I'm doing day to day. And I'll look back and go, oh, that's why God made you say that. I mean, I do think like that because I think God made me send that tweet. And he was, I'm like, okay. He goes, get ready to write. That's how it always goes. I'll feel a presence. And it goes, ready to write. And when I don't feel it, then I can't write. I mean, I'll go like through writer's block for months. Self torture and tearing my hair out. Why can't I write? Oh, it's just torture. Writers all know, but when I get that feeling, I might be just at the drugstore or, you know, doing laundry or something, I'm like, I'm electrically on fire.

[Josh Holmes]

You gotta go find a pen.

[Roseanne Barr]

And of course I never have a pen. That's rule one of being a writer. Never have a pen and never have paper.

[Josh Holmes]

So then I'm just thinking on the bed stand. I've heard a lot of writers say that they have a pen and a pad on a nightstand and you have a dream or something, you wake up and you just start scribbling stuff. Do you do that?

[Roseanne Barr]

I do, yeah. Then I can't read it, but whatever. When I'm in the conscious mode of I'm being given something, you know, I'll fill like 25 pages and just. It's just an overwhelming creative eclipse of everything. And it's just joyous. It's the best feeling. It's better than anything that's.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, you are, you are incredibly talented at that. And that's something that stayed with you throughout your entire career. You're still at it.

[Roseanne Barr]

I, I just feel I'm connected. I, I don't know if you call that talent or what. I always feel it's God given, he's given me a download because I'm like, wow, that's great. I could never thought of that. What a great analysis of the political geosphere. I go, thanks God. I was just sitting here thinking about corns on my toes, I swear.

[Josh Holmes]

And here we are, we have three questions that we ask just about everybody. The first I'm interested in, where you land on this first one is if you could plan your last meal on earth. Oh, what would it be?

[Roseanne Barr]

Buffet.

[Josh Holmes]

A buffet, like old country, buffet style.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, it'd have. Oh, it had the best of everything. I like on it. Really loaded up supply of it. Yeah. And I'd have to know that I was going to die 24 hours before.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, that's the thing.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. Gorgeous.

[Josh Holmes]

You have to slide in sideways.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah, that's the deal. Yeah. Caviar would definitely be beluga. Caviar is my favorite thing on earth.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that right?

[Roseanne Barr]

Oh, my God. Since I was a little girl, I.

[Michael Duncan]

Would never want to guess that.

[Josh Holmes]

A thousand different things.

[Roseanne Barr]

I used to give my kids that, too, and they all loved it when they were little Russian, you know? But yeah, beluga caviar. We'd have to catch our own whale, I guess, but they don't serve it anymore. But then. Oh. Oh, my God. What else do I like? I love carbs. Carbs in any form. I like rare. Rare. Prime.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

With horseradish.

[Josh Holmes]

Speaking language there.

[Roseanne Barr]

Fried chicken.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Do you do like a. Like a bottle of wine on the last night or what?

[Roseanne Barr]

At least one.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what I'm saying.

[Roseanne Barr]

Hell, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

What are we. What are we talking in the carbs department? Pasta. We talking bread?

[Josh Holmes]

All the above.

[Michael Duncan]

Macaroni and cheese.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah, all that stuff. And perhaps a cinnamon roll to cleanse the palate.

[Michael Duncan]

Nice.

[Josh Holmes]

A little dessert in there?

[Roseanne Barr]

Oh, yeah, that's great. Some good desserts.

[Josh Holmes]

You're not getting cheated on the last night.

[Roseanne Barr]

Oh, hell no. Oh, hell no.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so second question is, you have this incredible career, and we ask everybody with the benefit of retrospect, you look back if you could do anything else other than what you did, but knowing the talents that you have and how you've applied them, what the world looks like and things you didn't know when you were kind of growing up in the entertainment business. The benefit of retrospect, is there anything else that you would do or be interested in pursuing from a career standpoint?

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, I always wanted to be a school teacher, believe it or not.

[Josh Holmes]

I'd love to take the Roseanne Barr class.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, I have taught some stuff to kids, but I do like the freedom of children when they're able to think and when they've been raised to be able to think. I just love it. I love kids more than I like humans or adults, whatever it's called.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

And I love just their creativity when they don't know that they can't imagine they're a bird. So I thought, oh, I would be good to teach a comedy class to children. I think about it a lot. Like how fun that would be for me. And that's a.

[Josh Holmes]

That would be.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah, I would do that.

[Josh Holmes]

Learn how to laugh, kids. Yeah. Talk about something you could use.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. How to act free and create. How to be free and freely creative.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Unprogrammed.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. Yeah. Deprogrammed.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Deprogrammed.

[Roseanne Barr]

Right back to the original program in which was God created a thinking and creative being.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you've certainly followed that. That is. That's fascinating. All right, our last question. Our view is that all successful people are in some way or another motivated by one of two things. It's either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.

[Roseanne Barr]

That's true.

[Josh Holmes]

And it seems it's not like anybody enjoys losing or anybody doesn't enjoy winning. It's what motivates you to take the next step. I think I know the answer from where you find yourself. But, you know, we always said, like in a sports analogy, the Michael Jordans or the Tiger woods is our big agony of defeat, guys.

[Roseanne Barr]

Right, right.

[Josh Holmes]

They had to, like, invent slights in order to go practice more. And the thrill of victory is somebody that just wants to keep going because they think they can do it. It's not what really what anybody else is thinking. It's. It's their own sort of self motivation to do it. Where do you think you find yourself on that?

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, of course, I think of it as all one thing. You get big defeats and setbacks because you're supposed to come back stronger.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Roseanne Barr]

So.

[Josh Holmes]

But it motivates you a little bit, right?

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. As soon as I'm defeated, I'm like, oh, boy, when I get over this nervous breakdown, I'm gonna come back even fucking meaner.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So, like, when an executive would tell you, roseanne, you. You can't do that, that would motivate you to be like you. I can.

[Roseanne Barr]

Well, they wouldn't exactly say it like that because they knew that I knew.

[John Ashbrook]

What they were dealing with.

[Roseanne Barr]

Authoritarian. So they would say it in other ways. You know, in that libtard speech, the people they would speak for, the people that they despise and have never met or hung out with. We feel that the. We really have the. Whatever they call it, data that the people in. Wherever. They would always reference Kansas or wherever.

[Michael Duncan]

Peoria.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. Middle part of the country are not ready for that kind of a thing. They're not ready. They don't. They're not going to appreciate it. And they're going to call the sponsors and they're all going to hate you. And we just feel like you should rethink this. So I'd say thank you. Thank you for bringing that up to me. I will rethink it. And so then I'd go, rethink it, double down and make it a hundred times worse. But it would be more flowery because the one thing I did learn is how to make things palatable. And I had the help of the sensor they put on me. His name was Neil. Yeah, Neil. And he was all tidied and buttoned up in a suit and had real short hair, like, you know, with a briefcase. And he'd sit there all the time and I assumed he was one of them till we had this party. Well, we had a wrap party and Neil had a couple drinks there and he comes over and he asked me to dance and he whipped it, you know what I mean? It was like whip it, whip it good, you know. And I was like, neil had no idea.

[Michael Duncan]

You're the censor, Neil.

[Roseanne Barr]

Yeah. And so after that we made friends and I was like, y' all don't know. Neil's got it going on. And then after that we became friends and I did a sketch with him on the show where I said, neil, am I able to say this? And he'd say no, instead say this. And he would suggest we wrote it something worse. Yeah, worse. But then he would say, well, Roseanne, I see where you're going. Perhaps I could advise you to. And he knew the language, so he really helped me to get horrible things on television. And I still love him. Hi, Neil.

[Josh Holmes]

What an awesome deal. Thank you, Neil. Everyone needs a Neil.

[Roseanne Barr]

Everyone needs a Kneel.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, Roseanne. Roseanne Barr is America is the news.

[Roseanne Barr]

I am. You know why? Because I'm not going to let these bastards win down to my last breath. They're all commies, they're all pedophiles, they're all lying, cheating whores, thieves. Fuck em. I'm back. They couldn't shut me up and they never will because you know why? God don't want me to shut up. Fuck you.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you, Roseanne. Omar, thank you so much for joining us.

[Roseanne Barr]

It was fun. Thanks guys.

[Comfortably Smug]

Man, she is so entertaining. And you're exactly right about the middle class viewpoint. It is all over everything that she does and lives. And I mean, what a treat to have her here on the variety program.

[Josh Holmes]

I also just love like there's a element of like self examination and components of what she's talking about where she's, you know, we asked her about what was it like going from nobody to be the most famous person in America. And she's like, I didn't handle it well. You know, were you like, ah, yeah, that's.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, she certainly lives authentically.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, so what you're getting just truth that she sees it. You don't have to agree with everything that she has to say, but you do have to appreciate those people that come along in the course of American history that just sort of define eras but also just live authentically to themselves. And I think she's one of them. She's got a great new documentary out, America Roseanne Barr is America that people should check out because I imagine that's gonna tell a story even longer than we were able to tell here on this program. But we enjoyed her coming in. So thanks much to Roseanne. Remember our question of the day, Should Trump send in the marines? Sounds like that's where things are headed. But I'd love to hear your point of view. You gotta like and subscribe. And when you do, we're gonna read all of your stuff with that. Fellas, I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much, Roseanne Barr, and thank you so much to our listeners. Remember, if you have not yet hit that subscribe button on the YouTube. It's more fun and video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless.

[Josh Holmes]

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