Sedition or Stupidity? Why Are Democrats Defending Iran?

Summary

Ruthless Podcast — “Sedition or Stupidity? Why Are Democrats Defending Iran?”

Date: March 27, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Guests: Julia Letlow (U.S. Rep. and Senate candidate, Louisiana), Lori Buckhout (Republican nominee, NC-1)

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Democrats' responses to recent Iran-related events, criticism of how left-leaning politicians and media handle propaganda from adversaries, and whether this behavior is “seditious or just stupid.” The first half is devoted to this discussion with notable clips and a lively takedown of Democratic messaging. The second hour features detailed interviews with two key GOP candidates: Julia Letlow (Louisiana Senate) and Lori Buckhout (NC-1).

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Democrat Messaging on Iran: “Sedition or Stupidity?”

[03:14–25:40]

• Hosts’ Position: The group argues that Democrats have become so reflexively anti-Trump that they’re, in some cases, parroting Iranian propaganda during a time of U.S.–Iran conflict.
• Holmes’ Critique: The hosts lampoon Senators Chuck Schumer and Chris Van Hollen for hesitating to express support for U.S. efforts to degrade Iran’s military infrastructure.
  • “[Schumer] cannot even say ... that Iran not having weapons is good. ... He’s that terrified of his left wing base.” — Comfortably Smug [07:47]
• Propaganda Point: The group raises alarm at the “rate at which Democrats who are elected by American voters are adopting [Iranian] propaganda and spreading it” (Duncan [15:35]).
• Analogy: Contrast is drawn between bipartisan support for operations under Obama (e.g., Bin Laden raid) and current hyperpolarization.
  • “I remember when Bin Laden was knocked out during the Obama administration, and every single Republican was like, hell yeah, I'm glad that you got Osama bin Laden. ... Democrats were not praising Trump [for killing Soleimani].” — Michael Duncan [15:40]
• Media’s Role: Hosts accuse mainstream outlets (CNN, NYT) and former officials like John Brennan of echoing adversaries’ talking points for political gain.

Notable Quote:

• “You go on TV and you're saying you're gonna take Iran's word over the President of the United States. Seditious. It's seditious. And that's where we've reached with this Democratic Party.” — Josh Holmes [22:29]

---

2. In-depth Critique: “Absolute Idiots” or Calculated Cowardice?

[04:51–14:37]

• Hosts play clips of Democratic leaders “pretzeling themselves” to avoid, in their view, supporting a Trump policy even if it’s in America’s interest.
• Analysis of clip featuring Schumer refusing to acknowledge the benefit of degrading Iranian military targets.
• Discussion on Democrats’ fear of being primaried by their left flank (AOC as boogeyman).
• “He [Schumer] just doesn’t even want to say what’s real.” — Michael Duncan [09:17]

---

3. Media and Former Intelligence Officials: Echo Chamber

[17:23–20:14]

• John Brennan (former CIA director) is singled out for media appearances, with hosts incredulous he’s “the last person you’d want in a position of authority” and now “undermining President Trump overseas.”
• The group points out the folly of trusting Iran’s word on negotiations or missiles, drawing on their history of anti-American action.
• “Why, if they're so credible about the facts on the ground, are we not supposed to believe them when they say they're going to eliminate our country, that we are the Great Satan?” — Michael Duncan [19:13]

---

4. Recurring Theme: Forgetting History, Spreading Disinformation

[20:37–24:58]

• Holmes references a 46-year timeline of Iranian attacks against Americans, slamming those who ignore this in pursuit of political arguments.
• “But they're banking on you being too f***ing stupid to realize that this is 46 years of history.” — Josh Holmes [23:28]

---

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Democrats’ Motivations:
  “The defining feature of the Democrats ... is they no longer have any core beliefs or any ideals. ... They define themselves as against Trump.” — Comfortably Smug [05:52]
• On Biden-era Partisanship:
  “We're not dealing with two different ways of solving the same problem. We're not talking about people operating in good faith on any issue. ... When you deal with things of war and peace, good and evil ... it’s the lowest form of American politics.” — Josh Holmes [24:20]
• Satirical Slogan:
  “America deserved 9/11.” — Sam, mocking DNC messaging drift [25:09]

---

Candidate Interview: Julia Letlow (Louisiana Senate)

[29:33–50:49]

Background & Motivation

• Personal Tragedy and Resilience: Letlow shares her transition from academia to politics after her husband (elected to Congress) died of COVID days before being sworn in.
  • “When life knocks you down, you have a decision to make. Will you give up or will you get up and keep moving forward with faith and hope?” — Julia Letlow [35:06]

Campaign Philosophy

• “This is not my seat; it’s the people's seat. Every decision that you ever make needs to be at the forefront of your mind, that you represent the people, and you cannot forget that.” [37:14]
• Letlow defends her investment account practices, calling attacks from Cassidy “ludicrous” and explaining use of third-party management for transparency [39:28].

Policy Priorities

• Oil & Gas Deregulation: “We need to deregulate. ... I would continue that work.” [44:05]
• School Choice & Parents’ Rights: Authored the Parents Bill of Rights after witnessing education issues during COVID.

Lightning Round (“Three Questions”)

• Last Meal: Fried chicken, fried okra, mashed potatoes, sweet tea [47:13]
• Alternate Career: Meteorologist (“I'm obsessed over the weather”) [48:10]
• Motivation: “Thrill of victory. I'm a positive person.” [49:48]

Notable Quote

• “We witness our mom: when life knocks you down, you get back up and you keep moving forward.” — Julia Letlow [35:06]

---

Candidate Interview: Lori Buckhout (North Carolina-1)

[60:41–82:20]

Background

• Retired Army colonel; led cyber operations; daughter of WWII POW; multi-generational military family.
• Shares story of serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber, highlighting U.S. cyber warfare capabilities.

District & Opponent

• Takes aim at incumbent Don Davis—portrayed as a “full-time politician” who’s “done nothing to move the needle” for the district [63:40].
• “He's always there for a ribbon cutting and envelope opening ... Voted against the big beautiful bill.” [64:46]
• Zingers about Davis' Uber expenses and performative border visits [65:36].

Policy & Ground Game

• Emphasizes border security, economy, and support for “working families.”
• “I'm running because I'm sick of it ... went from crazy to absolute madness.” [73:00]
• Importance of building direct community relationships; a focus on agriculture, small business, and local economy.

Personal Ethos

• “Being in a position where you can serve really feels good. ... Maybe I'm kind of like a sheepdog.” [80:04]

Lightning Round

• Last Meal: North Carolina barbecue (chopped pork), collard greens, cornbread/corn sticks, coleslaw, bourbon [76:05]
• Alternate Career: Wanted to be a veterinarian; story about horse-assisted calf delivery ended the dream [78:11]
• Motivation: “Thrill of victory. ... I for damn sure hate to lose, but the thrill of victory—I like to win.” [80:04]

---

Hack Madness Update & Media Critique

[53:58–59:04]

• “Sweet 16” round of Ruthless’s “Hack Madness”—their satirical March Madness for notorious media, political, and online “hacks.”
• Debate over figures like Abby Phillip, Brian Stelter, Hasan Piker, Jennifer Welch, Mehdi Hassan.
• “Media attention economy has kind of moved away from the mainstream outlets ... more alternative media, real lunatics in the podcast space there, and they're sort of rising to the top.” — Sam [56:19]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |----------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 03:14–25:40 | Democrat messaging & Iranian propaganda discussion | | 29:33–50:49 | Julia Letlow interview (Louisiana Senate) | | 60:41–82:20 | Lori Buckhout interview (NC-1) | | 53:58–59:04 | Hack Madness tournament breakdown |

---

Tone & Style

• Sharp, irreverent, partisan: The hosts intermix serious critique with sarcasm, mockery, and inside jokes; the overall tone is that of political “roast.”
• Original Language: Frequent use of strong language, rhetorical flourish, and colloquial expressions.
• Notable Running Gags: Playful shots at left-leaning media; pop culture references; ritual “three questions” for candidates.

---

Conclusion

This “Ruthless” episode is an all-out, combative conservative critique of perceived Democrat failings on national security and foreign policy, blending sharp policy discussion, bitter criticism of political/media adversaries, and robust interviews with high-profile Republican candidates. Essential listening for those tracking 2026 cycle narratives—and a preview of campaign talking points on patriotism, American interests, and progressive “derangement.”

Transcript

[Julia Letlow]

So you believe the Iranian officials over

[Lori Buckhout]

the President of the United States?

[Josh Holmes]

I believe that based on all the information that's available.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I tend to believe Iran more than I do.

[Sam]

That's crazy, because he could not acknowledge

[Comfortably Smug]

the truth even when it is he's

[Lori Buckhout]

slapped in the face with it repeatedly.

[Josh Holmes]

You're going to take Iran's word over the President of the United States? Seditious. It's seditious. And that's where we've reached with this Democratic Party.

[Michael Duncan]

You know that the Iranians are going to push out propaganda.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

But the rate at which Democrats who are elected by American voters are adopting that propaganda and spreading it, that is the most alarming thing to me. I remember when Bin Laden was knocked out during the Obama administration and every single Republican was like, hell yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

But it also shows how deranged the base of that party is. Exactly. That they'd go after him for being like Iran not having weapons is good. They're like, how dare you.

[Lori Buckhout]

How dare you.

[Comfortably Smug]

We stand with the brave Iranian government against imperialism.

[Sam]

According to a report from Senator Grassley's office, UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest insurer, quote, appears to be gaming the Medicare Advantage system, siphoning off taxpayer money to turn a steep profit. Experts say practices like these are increasing overall Medicare spending, which in turn raises part B premiums for everyone who on Medicare. That means millions of seniors, many living on fixed incomes, are paying hundreds of dollars more each year for the Medicare they need, adding up to billions in higher costs for seniors. And that's in addition to the trillions of dollars that taxpayers have already paid Big insurance. It's a clear example of big insurance putting profits ahead of patients, taxpayers and seniors. Learn more about how Congress needs to rein in big [e-mail] In America, parents

[NetChoice Advertiser]

call the shots for their families, not bureaucrats. But the so called App Store Accountability act puts your child at risk. This bill requires app stores to collect children's sensitive personal data while taking away power from parents over how their child's data is handled by tech companies. Parents should get to decide if their child's age is shared with apps, not politicians. Parents should attest to their kids ages, not turn over birth certificates to tech companies. Congress don't put kids at greater risk online and box parents out of making decisions for their families. Tell your lawmaker to put parents first. There are better ways to keep kids safe. NetChoice is dedicated to making the Internet safe for free expression and free enterprise. Learn [e-mail] keep app stores safe.

[Michael Duncan]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Comfortably Smug]

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

[Michael Duncan]

It's time for our main event,

[Josh Holmes]

Fun Time Friday. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right, across your radio dial. As always, listen. There's a lot of absurdity going on in Washington D.C. i can't remember a time where your average American would be more divorced from the conversation that is happening on a day to day basis this week. Whether it's like DHS shut down and people stuff stuck in TSA lines or the thing that really stuck out. That's actually if it wasn't so serious, it would be the best fun time. Because their interpretations of what's happening in Iran, and by they, I mean Democrats, has gone so far beyond reality that I find that it gives you a little insight into the ethos of the Democratic Party in a way that almost nothing can. I mean, there's arguments about everything in politics, but there are objective facts and objective truths that everybody sort of just relies on. And if you've been a part of a debate or if you just sort of tangentially have a newspaper level understanding of international conflict, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the reasons why we're doing the things that we're doing, you. You have some basis in fact. Well, yeah.

[Sam]

And I mean, you can get sober analysis of all these things from many places. But on Fun Time fr I think we figured out a way to talk about something that's serious but is seriously funny.

[Josh Holmes]

It's seriously funny because these people are absolute idiots.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, just clueless morons. And I don't know how it's not just like at this point a parody, almost a standup comedy show of what it is that these guys are saying. You take it from the top. Senator Schumer, the minority leader of the Senate, who's been there for God knows how long, I mean, longer than I've been alive, it feels like, has had a straightforward message when it comes to Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran for 40 years. It's just like that's just his point of view is that yes, I acknowledge they've killed a ton of Americans. Their intent, when they say death to America and they want to end the existence of Israel, they actually mean it and they follow through.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Sam]

I mean, killing terrorists didn't used to be such a partisan issue in the United States.

[Lori Buckhout]

It didn't.

[Sam]

I thought we were all on the same page for a very long time.

[Josh Holmes]

Trump broke these People.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, that's the thing, is when the defining feature of the Democrats, since they no longer have any core beliefs or any ideals, they'll do anything they think can grant them power, they define themselves as against Trump.

[Josh Holmes]

So let's have a fun time, shall we?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's watch some clips. This is clip three, where Chuck Schumer is somehow pretzeling himself into a position that is unique to these last 90 days of his life. Here's how we oughta get out.

[Sam]

No, no, hold a second. You gotta answer my question first. Is it a good thing that Iran, I think you would agree with me, epicenter of terrorism in the world since 1979. Is it good that their military infrastructure is being degraded to the degree that it is? Yes or no?

[Michael Duncan]

It's.

[Josh Holmes]

You can't.

[Michael Duncan]

Because it's a premature question, what's going

[Josh Holmes]

to happen next several months?

[Sam]

No, no, I can ask that question. I said, right? No, no, no, I can't. So you have, you have the military side, you have the political side. I'm simply asking on the military side, is it good, regardless of whether we agree with going in or not, is it good that Iran's military infrastructure has been serious?

[Michael Duncan]

And again, I have to tell you,

[Sam]

Joe can't answer it.

[Josh Holmes]

Can't answer it. You can't. What's going to happen three months from now? What, is it worth it? What's going to happen? Will the world economy collapse? Will something happen even worse?

[Michael Duncan]

Will the whole energy infrastructure of the

[Sam]

world go up in smoke?

[Michael Duncan]

So when they do it without planning, when they do it without understanding.

[Sam]

Well, let me answer the question for everybody in America, the answer, yes, it's good that the terrorist regime.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is insane.

[Sam]

Has been. And capabilities have been degraded radically.

[Comfortably Smug]

Dude, Joe Burrow, or Joe Scarborough being the voice of reason, but also Joe Burrow is terrible usually, too. That's just like shocking when again, we go back to. To understand Schumer is to understand he lives every day of his life right now in absolute fear. He thinks he AOC is breathing down his neck and he's worried that she's gonna primary him. If he does not do whatever the radical idiots who control the Democrat Party demand, then he's gone. He cannot even say. Schumer can't even admit that. When Joe Scarborough himself is having to say, this is the. Iran is the epicenter of terrorism since 1979, can you say it's good or bad? They have fewer weapons. Schumer can't even do that. He's that terrified of his left Wing base.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

It's wild that Schumer is trying to set himself up to the left of Ms. Now.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's insane. Ms. Now insane.

[Michael Duncan]

It's an easy question to answer.

[Sam]

Of course.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a very easy question to answer. The terrorists have fewer missiles. Don't you think that's good? Ah, well, we don't know.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm not sure.

[Josh Holmes]

It is a mind blowing thing.

[Sam]

It also speaks to, like, how politically inept Chuck Schumer is because you very obviously could have all of those qualifiers to the thing and still answer the question. Even if he was just like an adept politician, he could be like, of course the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world should have less weapons. And I'm glad that they do not.

[Josh Holmes]

Controversial statement.

[Sam]

But I'm concerned about this, that and the other. But he can't even answer it that way because he's so unskilled.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I think, I think it goes beyond skill. I think it demonstrates his weakness in Technicolor that this guy is so scared of AOC or Mom, Donnie or somebody else coming from his world. He can't have a clip and taking his job. He just doesn't even want to say what's real.

[Josh Holmes]

He can't have a clip that exists on the Internet of him suggesting even for a moment that something that Donald J. Trump has done has ancillary benefit. He can't have it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes. Yes, it shows his weakness. Yes, it shows he is inept. Yes, it shows he's a coward. But it also shows how deranged the base of that party is. Exactly.

[Sam]

That.

[Comfortably Smug]

They'd go after him for being like, Iran not having weapons is good. They're like, how dare you?

[Lori Buckhout]

How dare you?

[Comfortably Smug]

We stand with the brave Iranian government against imperialism.

[Josh Holmes]

How dare you?

[Comfortably Smug]

It's unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, and you get a little flavor for that. Chris Van Hollen. You remember he was down having cocktails with the Maryland man.

[Michael Duncan]

Notoriously soft down in notorious.

[Josh Holmes]

Very soft, very soft chin. Looks like he's just sort of made out of play.

[Comfortably Smug]

D'oh.

[Josh Holmes]

In many ways. But he shows up and he's going to carry that left wing thing. He's in Maryland. He's very safe from the Republican incursion, any point of view into his lexicon. And so he's, he's shown up and he's got a very specific point that he'd like to make in clip 4. Who do you think is telling the truth? Kasey. Unfortunately, we've learned that Donald Trump has been lying to the American people from the start. And he keeps lying to the American people, which is never a good thing.

[Julia Letlow]

So you believe the Iranian officials over

[Lori Buckhout]

the President of the United States?

[Josh Holmes]

I believe that based on all the information that's available and Donald Trump's track record of wine, we know when he says that the Iranians are talking with us and they're about to give Donald Trump everything he wants, yes, that's a lie. Okay, all right, hold on.

[Michael Duncan]

I believe the Iranians, They're a caricature of themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

So this was a brief moment in time this week where this all happened, where the Trump administration came out and said that they're having meaningful conversations with someone, unnamed entities, people or persons in Iran about a negotiation. At which point the Republican Guard, whomever within Iran, sends out some kind of thing through their proxies to say, we're not talking to anyone. At which point people like Chris Van Hollen, cnn, New York Times, all the others say, you see, yeah, Donald Trump's lying. He's not talking to anyone. Within 12 hours of this moment in time. You find out, in fact, they are. They're having very in depth conversations and the negotiation is ongoing and they're making concessions already because Iran needs a deal and everybody knows that. But they wanted to pretend as though the real problem here was Donald Trump misrepresenting the level of negotiations in Iran, not the fact that the largest state sponsor of terrorism, the only state in the world who has committed 40 years of atrocities against American citizens in and of themselves. They're the truth whisperer here. They're the people that are telling us what's happening.

[Michael Duncan]

Absolutely.

[Comfortably Smug]

And that's incredibly critical to understanding what's happening here, is that subsequent to these idiots making themselves look like idiots publicly, we got information, specific details about the individuals who are representing Iran and that we do have delegation that's dealing with them, and that there are all these, you know, all this work is being done on negotiating the resolution to this. The stunning takeaway from all of this is I'm old enough to remember it doesn't matter who the President is. When there's military action, when we've got US Service members in a theater overseas, everybody lines up because, you know, patriotism doesn't end at this border.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

When our troops are overseas and could be facing danger, you line up, you circle the wagons for America. They can't even bring themselves to do that.

[Sam]

Well, and I'm not shocked that they aren't supporting Donald Trump in this military action against Iran. Of course, that's par for the course. But like I am surprised because you don't need to be a foreign policy expert to recognize that when you decapitate a government and you kill, like, 50, 60 of their, like, leadership in the country that numerous powers are vying for what happens next. In Iran, you've got the IRGC and the clerics who kind of have a nexus of power, and then you have the other politicians there within the parliament and everything that are vying for power. So wouldn't it be sort of obvious that the Trump administration is trying to find somebody who they can deal with, who's a reasonable human being? Right. And that might not be. And then coming from the official statement

[Comfortably Smug]

of the irgc, and that's the thing is what I wanted to say when I said that, you know, during overseas combat, you would line up and have some decency and support your country. I'm not saying the sense that you. You do lockstep, whatever. What I'm saying is reports came out that these lines that right there, that you heard CNN or that senator going with and that you've heard the New York Times go with, these are intentional disinformation campaigns being put out by the irgc. These are propaganda that they're trying to put out to undermine America, not just Donald Trump, they're trying to undermine America's authority globally by putting this stuff out there. It's like these ridiculous AI videos that they've put out of, like, a missile going from Iran and sinking American aircraft carriers. CNN would believe that because they're willing to go with Iranian propaganda designed to undermine America's authority.

[Michael Duncan]

And I think that's the most troubling aspect. It's that, you know that the Iranians are gonna push out propaganda.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

But the rate at which Democrats, who are elected by American voters, Voters are adopting that propaganda and spreading it, that is the most alarming thing to me. I remember when bin Laden was knocked out during the Obama administration, and every single Republican was like, hell, yeah, I'm glad that you got Osama bin Laden. I'm glad that you got him. And you guys remember when Soleimani was turned to salsa, Democrats were not praising Trump.

[Comfortably Smug]

They started saying, world War III is beginning.

[Michael Duncan]

And now that he's knocking out their military capabilities, they're like, no, I think the Iranians are onto something. Like, this is. This is extremely troubling, especially given the backdrop of how much money foreign influencers are spending in this country to try to gin up the left against America.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, you're right.

[Josh Holmes]

They're also counting on you having a sub 75 IQ.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, true.

[Josh Holmes]

They're counting on you not knowing anything about the world ever. I've never hearing the word Iran. If you just heard it in the last 30 days, like, you know, I don't know. It's an argument. Partisan argument. There's a lot of them in Washington, D.C. it is what it is. If you've lived any part of history, you would know how absurd that statement is. So I thought. My initial reaction to Chris Van Hollen is like, he fucked up in the same way that Harry Reid when he said the war is lost as we have 20,000 soldiers in Iraq. If you were to ask him, genuinely, he'd be like, that was a mistake. I shouldn't have said that. So I'm guessing, despite the fact there's no repercussions for Van Hollen that I've seen within the media as there was with Harry Reid, I just figured he screwed up and they're gonna try to walk away from it. Not the case. Our old friend John Brennan, the worst of the worst.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

This guy is an absolute cancer on the body politics.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's a menace.

[Josh Holmes]

He shows up. What do you think his talking point is? Clip 5 Iran.

[Julia Letlow]

Like, they are an authoritarian regime who's known to lie. But, like, I'm confused. What is going on? Help me. Calm me down.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I tend to believe Iran more than I do.

[Sam]

That's crazy, because he could not acknowledge

[Comfortably Smug]

the truth even when it is.

[Sam]

He's slapped in the face with it repeatedly.

[Comfortably Smug]

And they put his title up there for our YouTube listeners. And it shocks you every time you see John Brennan referred to as former CIA director, because that's like, the last person you would want in a position of authority, let alone as CIA director. And now that guy has basically made his purpose undermining the American government, undermining President Trump overseas, doing the bidding of America's adversaries. Honestly, I don't know why he's not in jail. The number of things he's done. Lying to the public, spreading lies about Donald Trump. He was a Russia gator and he uses that title. I mean, right now, he's cashing in off of it. That's why he's doing that tv. That's why he's a contributor. Being like, former CIA director. And you have Simone Sanders being like, can you inform me?

[Sam]

Because make sense of this for me. Guy who's gotten everything wrong over the last 20 years.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly. And so he's dining out on his name, making money, essentially lying to the American people. It's Unbelievable.

[Michael Duncan]

So blinded bipartisanship, this guy. And it is very troubling. But it's like, if we're going to believe the Iranians with their intelligence reports, why are we then not allowed to believe them when they say death to America over and over again? Why, if they're so credible about the facts on the ground?

[Sam]

John Brennan, what a good point.

[Michael Duncan]

Are we not supposed to believe them when they say they're going to eliminate our country, that we are the Great Satan?

[Sam]

Or I'll raise you one. Why should we believe a single thing Iran says about anything? Their nuclear program, their funding of proxies, their missile stockpiles, when they told us for years they limited their capacity in ICBMs to a range that wouldn't imperil the rest of the world. And they did that because they are a responsible player in the regional politics of the Middle East. Then what do they do? Fire an ICBM into Diego Garcia, the military base far beyond its reach.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

So they clearly, 2,000 miles away, lied

[Sam]

about the whole program from the get

[Josh Holmes]

go, from the jump.

[Comfortably Smug]

And on that, all these idiots online, mostly left wing journalists, being like, we had a deal in place with Obama and the Ayatollah issued a fatwa against long range missiles and then they fire one at Diego Garcia. It's like you're really trying to trust an Ayatollah who enjoys murdering Americans and you're trying to convince Americans to trust him too.

[Sam]

Which also, and if you're a listener or a viewer of the ruthless variety program program, you got this weeks ago when we had Senator Kennedy in here and he raised the issue of Diego Garcia because the UK wants to, to sell it to Mauritius, which basically makes it a proxy for China.

[Michael Duncan]

Right?

[Sam]

And then lo and behold, here, weeks later, what's Iran doing deciding to attack it? Why? Because they're doing what China wants.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, yep. No, I mean, look, dude, you're right. Why I raised the idea of like banking on you either having collective amnesia or having a sub 70 IQ is because, look, there's a fact sheet that the White House put out that caught my eye. I've been well aware of this since I've been involved in politics. But at the beginning of March, they put out basically what Iran was responsible for in killing Americans over 46 years of time. Can we just toss this? It's just a scroll that you're gonna look at here. But it starts obviously with hostages in 1979, which we've talked about. By 1983, they killed 17Americans at an embassy bombing. And then just later in that year, they killed 241 U.S. military personnel in a Marine barracks bombing. And you can go along the pathway each and every year for 46 years, including when John Brennan was presiding over the CIA for Barack Obama, where they were killing Americans individually. We're not talking about the collective reign of terror that they have upon allies in the region, Israel. Anything else?

[Sam]

Not to mention, as John Brennan knows, they kidnapped and murdered a CIA station chief.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, yes, they kidnapped and murdered a CIA station chief. But it's each and every year. It's not like we're talking about some era of the Ayatollah's reign. We're talking about each and every year on this White House fact sheet, they've got individual things listed where they have just subsequently killed Americans over and over again. If you are a member of Congress, if you are a CIA director, if you have access to the intelligence far beyond a newspaper level, you know that. And then you go on TV and you're saying you're gonna take Iran's word over the President of the United States. Seditious. It's seditious. And that's where we've reached with this Democratic Party. And I'm not being hyperbolic.

[Comfortably Smug]

You're not in the world.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, we are now in an era where they're shutting down the Department, Department of Homeland Security, because they object to something that showed up in the news six weeks ago. They fired a Homeland Security chief, did all kinds of things to try to renovate and change a mission, but they're still there because of this narrow little minority of progressive psychopaths that they are using to try to govern their strategy in opposing Donald Trump at all costs. And the cost to it is you.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's it.

[Josh Holmes]

But they're banking on you being too fucking stupid to realize that this is 46 years of history. This is 46 years of Americans dying, and they have the audacity to straight face a talking point, which is a talking point. If it shows up once, it's a mistake. If it shows up twice by two leading Democrats. That's part of the talking points. It's part of the progressive left. We trust Iran more than we trust Donald Trump.

[Michael Duncan]

Ridiculous.

[Comfortably Smug]

Or if you have a family member or a friend, like, I have a friend who was in Iraq and was hit by a roadside bomb. And those are all courtesy of Iran. And for a former CIA chief to be like, oh, you know, I trust Iran. Here is just despicable thing to say. There's no excuse for It.

[Josh Holmes]

It's completely insane. So, look, take it for what it's worth. When we're dealing, we're not dealing with a he said, she said anymore. We're not dealing with two different ways of solving the same problem. We're not talking about people operating in good faith on any issue. It really boils down when you deal with things of war and peace, good and evil, and you can figure out how to get yourself into the evil to wedge yourself against the good because it politically motivates people who might vote for you. It's the lowest form of American politics.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't think that I've lived through it, to be honest.

[Michael Duncan]

None of us have lived through this. This is brand new.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, this is.

[Sam]

You can't.

[Michael Duncan]

This is brand new.

[Josh Holmes]

It really is.

[Sam]

I think I've honed in on what the Democrats midterm message bumper sticker should be. America deserved. 9 11.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, dude.

[Sam]

I mean. Cause, like, I think ideologically, like, that's their entire philosophy now with a healthy

[Josh Holmes]

segment that it was an inside job.

[Sam]

Ye. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, these people have lost the plot all the way through. They have no idea what it is that they're doing here. But I will say, the one beauty that we get on Funtime Friday is that you have a countervailing balance to some of that that always comes from the President of the United States. There's a hilarious moment this week. A lot of serious topics.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But Hegseth's talking about something. Trump's got a reaction to it. You got to see it for yourself. Clip 2.

[Comfortably Smug]

President has made it clear that you will not have a nuclear weapon. The War Department agrees. Our job is to ensure that. And so we're keeping our hand on

[Josh Holmes]

that throttle as long as. As hard as is necessary to ensure

[Comfortably Smug]

the interests of the United States of America are achieved on that throttle.

[Josh Holmes]

So Hagseth gets animated, right? I mean, Hagseth gets animated. He does his thing. He's talking about, you know, he's trying to re. Emphasize how serious they are about all this. But he's talking about long and hard and he's doing the fist bump. And you just look at Trump and know, having sat in meetings with him, I know exactly what he's. He looks at it like, not sure that the gesture was perfect there.

[Sam]

Holding it long and hard.

[Comfortably Smug]

Holding it long and hard.

[Sam]

His stuff is just 10.

[Comfortably Smug]

And that's why Democrats hate him so much. No matter what, he's a show. He can capture the attention of every American. The second he walks into his eyebrows,

[Sam]

he's a normal dude. So when a normal dude hears something like that, it's going to pique their attention.

[Josh Holmes]

It's funny.

[Sam]

It's funny.

[Josh Holmes]

It's funny. All right, so when we come back, recall early in the week in Tuesday, we talked to Senator Cassidy. His opponent, Julia Letlow is going to be with us. Where you get to fill out that map. Remember we promised you, you're going to hear from all the candidates. You're going to hear from all the candidates in Louisiana. Second installment coming up after this.

[Michael Duncan]

American energy is growing with a renewed focus on American oil and natural gas. We're rebuilding our industrial strength and driving investment. Energy demand is rising and the United States has the resources to meet it. Here's the challenge. If we can't build the infrastructure to move that energy pipelines, transmission lines and power plants, Americans won't feel the benefits. And while projects stall, China moves faster. Not because America lacks energy, but because Washington's permitting system is outdated and broken. Energy affordability depends on getting energy where it's needed, when it's needed. Yet critical projects remain stuck for years in delays and endless litigation. We have the energy. We have the workforce. Now it's time to build. Let's secure American energy leadership for generations to come. When America builds, America wins. Pass permitting reform now. Learn more@ permittingreformnow.org paid for by the American Petroleum Institute.

[NetChoice Advertiser]

In America, parents call the shots for their families, not bureaucrats. But the so called App Store Accountability act puts your child at risk. This bill requires app stores to collect children's sensitive personal data while taking away power from parents over how their child's data is handled by tech companies. Parents should get to decide if their child's age is shared with apps, not politicians. Parents should attest to their kids ages, not turn over birth certificates to tech companies. Congress don't put kids at greater risk online and box parents out of making decisions for their families. Tell your lawmaker to put parents first. There are better ways to keep kids safe. NetChoice is dedicated to making the Internet safe for free expression and free enterprise. Learn [e-mail] keepappstores safe.

[Sam]

Well, I wanna welcome to the program a candidate for U.S. senate and congresswoman from the great state of Louisiana, Julia Lutlow. How are you?

[Julia Letlow]

I'm so good. It's great to be with both of you today. Thank you for having me.

[Sam]

Yeah, this is awesome. Thank you so much for coming in. This is a big race. Currently you're in the House of Representatives. Why make the jump?

[Julia Letlow]

Yeah. Well, I'd love to give you a little bit of my backstory. I never in a million years thought I would be here. I was an educator at heart in higher education specifically, and loved that calling that the Lord had placed on my life at an early age. Thought I would spend out my career teaching. It's something that I'm passionate about and that I love.

[Sam]

You were at Tulane?

[Julia Letlow]

I was actually at the University of Louisiana in row. I spent four years at Tulane as well. So just kind of been all over the map in Louisiana, but pretty sure that my late husband Luke popped out of the womb knowing he wanted to run for Congress one day, but just had an amazing 20 year career. I worked for my predecessor, Congressman Cooksey, and then was the chief of staff for Congressman Abraham, worked for Bobby, Governor Bobby Jindal, and so, you know, worked his way up the ladder into a potential run. And so, so he did, six years ago, ran for this seat and won it. And we were on one of life's mountaintops. You know, I was so, so proud of him, but also learned so much from him along the way. You know, I was in the car with him working all 24 parishes, we have parishes in Louisiana, just meeting the people where they were and hearing their concerns and needs. And they stole my heart during that time. They never gave it back. And so again, we were on one of life's mountaintops. He won with 60% of the vote, and I was just so excited for him. And then tragically, I lost him five days before he was set to be sworn in to this, to this seat due to Covid. And so, my goodness, I was. Life doesn't prepare you for that immense tragedy and pain. You know, before I lost him, though, I tragically lost my younger brother in a car accident when he was 17. And it rocked my family to the core. But one thing that I do know about grief is that everyone does it differently. And I really dug into the literature. I wanted to read what other people had said about losing a sibling. And you'll find a lot out there about losing a parent or losing a child or a spouse. But there wasn't a lot about sibling grief. And I had these amazing college professors, I was in graduate school who said, julia, why don't you write about it? And so I did. And it was cathartic for me to write about grief. Parlayed that into a PhD program. The university of South Florida wrote a dissertation on how people find meaning after loss. And so 20 years later, here I am Met again with the most tragic of circumstances, thinking, lord, I thought I was going to get a pass, you know, what in the world? And I just for some reason said, go back, read what those people said to you all those years ago. I interviewed five families and there were so many nuggets of wisdom in their words, but one that really stuck out to me was find a way to get outside of yourself and serve other people. And that is where the healing lies. And so when Congressman Abraham approached me about potentially running for Luke seat, he said, Julie, you have, you have what it takes. You have the background, you have the experience, but most of all you have the willingness to serve and the desire to serve.

[Sam]

And so what was that like where you're sort of picking up the pieces of your own personal life and then also, you know, running for, for Congress at the same time, that must have been just an out of body experience.

[Julia Letlow]

The toughest experience of my life. You know, people say she has, she's not battle tested. Are you kidding me? Been through some, some hard times.

[Comfortably Smug]

But it also strikes me as like the least selfish thing a person could do in that moment, you know, because I remember when I've lost a family member, it was, I mean, it almost feels like the next day won't come. But to then make your time about service of others is incredible.

[Julia Letlow]

And to see the Lord's hand in every part of my life leading up to that, you know, always believed it for everybody else, especially for Luke and other people. But now to see, well, I do anything to get my brother Jeremy back and Luke back, I see the Lord's hand guiding me because I would have never been able to make such a life altering decision in that moment of pure tragedy and grief with a clear mind if I hadn't already been through grief before. And know that that intense physical pain that you feel right now is not going to last forever. You have to make clear, sound decisions. Because I had two little ones depending on me. A three year old and about to be a one year old at the time. And when I tell you, oh my goodness. So we ran and I won. And it was an incredible experience. The people of Louisiana lifted me up, they prayed for me, they encouraged me. But when I tell you the last five years of my life, it has given my life so much meaning and hope and healing. And another thing for my children to see that when life knocks you down, you have a decision to make. Will you give up or will you get up and keep moving forward with faith and hope? And that is my prayer that on my deathbed, they'll be able to say, we witnessed our mom. You know, when life knocks you down, you get back up and you keep moving forward.

[Comfortably Smug]

So hearing that now, it makes sense to me that President Trump endorsed you for the Senate race even before you announced you were running.

[Julia Letlow]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, that's an incredible story that

[Sam]

sort of locks you in.

[Lori Buckhout]

Right?

[Julia Letlow]

Well, now I gotta do it, right? Yeah. So this time around, you know, I'm clicking along in the House of Representatives and just having the most incredible experience serving the people that I love so dearly in Louisiana, thinking that, okay, maybe I'll finish out my days here, as long as the people will have me. And. And this time, it wasn't Congressman Abraham who came to me, it was President. You know, Julie, I just. I need someone who I can depend on. Over on the Senate side, you've proven that you can be a strong ally and partner. You know, you've been with me every time I've needed the vote. And, you know, I would just like for you to pray about this. And, you know, and I'm thinking to myself, oh, they're going to hit me every way Sunday. I've never had a negative ad run against me, you know, and then I'm thinking to myself, think about who you're talking to right now. President Trump has had everything thrown at him, so none of my crybaby was gonna work on that. But, wow, what an incredible honor to run for the Senate, you know, But I think that's what's so unique, a little bit different about my story, is that, unlike Luke, I didn't spend my entire career planning this or fighting for it. And so I don't hold onto it so tightly. And I think that's why I've been able to relinquish my incredible seat in the House and move forward again with faith and hope, with this new adventure of running for the Senate, if the people will have me.

[Sam]

So what did you learn during your time in the House representing the good people, Louisiana, that you think sort of prepared you to take this next leap? What is it that Donald Trump saw in you for this endorsement?

[Julia Letlow]

Yeah, well, I can tell you what I hope he saw, and a lot of that I learned from my husband. You know, I was a little skeptical about politics.

[Comfortably Smug]

I don't blame you.

[Julia Letlow]

Yeah, you know, I'd seen what we all saw on TV and bad actors and things of that sort, so. But being along for the ride with Luke, you know, we had eight years together, and seeing that, if your heart's in it for the right reason. You really can make a positive difference for the people that you represent. And one of his main goals was to procure a seat on appropriations. He was actually in his hospital bed calling the speaker, trying to, you know, secure that spot. It probably wasn't going to happen as a freshman, but, you know, he had big dreams, but, my goodness, he taught me that this is not my seat, it's the people's seat. And every decision that you ever make that needs to be at the forefront of your mind, that you represent the people, and you cannot forget that. And it's not about you. It's not about fame or ego or, you know, where you see a lot of people up here get lost in that. Put your head down, do a good job.

[Comfortably Smug]

I wish. I wish all representatives were of that mindset. Like, we've been talking on the. On the last week about the whole situation where Rand was mad about this Mark Whammont. It was like, honestly, you guys are all there to do the work of the people. Can't think about what someone did to

[Sam]

you bigger than you.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, it's great to hear someone headed towards the Senate of that mindset, because we do need more of that.

[Sam]

Yeah. I mean, look, it's a positive vision, but as you know.

[Julia Letlow]

Right.

[Sam]

You're getting accustomed to this. Campaigns, especially statewide campaigns like Senate races, can be dirty business. You know, there's going to be attacks on you, and I'm sure it'll be highly contested. Three candidates in this race. I wanted to play for you a clip because we had Senator Cassidy in here, and he had an accusation against you, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to respond. Can we play that clip?

[Julia Letlow]

Sure.

[Sam]

Now, my wife and I have not

[Josh Holmes]

traded individual stocks for quite some time. By the way, my opponent, she's done quite well. And by the way, she's done well.

[Sam]

Just to point out. Just to point out, trading stocks that have had business before the subcommittees upon which she sits, like defense stocks, which

[Josh Holmes]

had a subcommittee hearing two weeks prior to Iran hostilities breaking out. This is let low we're talking about.

[Sam]

Did pretty well on those.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Sam]

The accusation, sure.

[Julia Letlow]

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. You know, When I was 18 years old, my dad took me down to. To Merrill lynch and said, julia, we're going to open an investment account for you, and I would encourage you every two weeks to put a tiny portion of your paycheck into your account. It's what millions of people across this country do, we save. And so he was teaching me that at an early age. And I have for over 20 years. I've put away money. I think that's important. Important to teach our children and to do. It's a fiscally prudent thing to do for your family. So I've been working with the third party over 20 years, and when I got to Congress, it was very important to me that I have absolutely no jurisdiction over that account. I make no. I do not direct it. I do not direct stock trading. None of it. It's actually twice removed from me. So Meryl worked with a third party in my investments because I knew how important it was to make sure that I didn't have accusations like that. It was brought to my attention last year that they were not reporting the filing on time for the disclosures. And so once that was made apparent to me, I immediately rectified it, filed it myself, and have not had a problem moving forward. It was just. My advisor did not know that that was part of the process, according to the Stock act, that you have to do that within 45. It's kind of. It's not funny by any means, but to say that I'm benefiting off of my public service is pretty funny. We actually did the math for the year that the disclosures weren't coming in on time. I think my returns were at 9% when the S&P was at 17%. So I'm a pretty lousy Nancy Pelosi. And it's just ludicrous to say that, okay, I'm a single mom. I'm running all my offices, Congressional offices in Louisiana. I'm running my office up here, also running for the Senate. And yes, I have time to go back in the corner and day trade. Are you kidding me? You know, like, what in the world. It's just absolutely wrong. It's ludicrous. And the committee that they're. The committee that he's saying that I was at, I wasn't even there. They're running this ad that I was at a committee hearing and then went back to got up, went and day traded. I wasn't at that committee hearing. And also I'm not on the defense subcommittee, so I wouldn't even be invited to that one. So it's true. People will make up stuff when you're in these races. And I knew that going in, I knew I'd have a target on my back because I had President Trump's endorsement. This is a desperate attempt to try to paint me in a different light. But LA's smart it's not sticking. You know, people say people understand my character. They understand when you make a mistake, you own up to it, you fix it, and you move forward. So I think that our numbers are going to continue to climb. His will continue to go down because he, he made the ultimate mistake, and that is not representing the people. And what they wanted when he voted

[Comfortably Smug]

to convict Trump, that was the question that I would say in our comments popped up the most when we had Cassidy on is. Well, I think it was when the episode four, when Holmes kind of like preview that we're going to have Cassian is they were like, ask him about voting to convict President Trump. Ask him about voting to, you know, convict President Trump. That was like the number one comment we got about Cassidy. Is that the same concern that you're seeing when you.

[Sam]

Are you hearing that there on the trail?

[Comfortably Smug]

Is that like, also a Louisiana concern? Or is it just like, you know, our audience is all across the country?

[Julia Letlow]

So when I was running six years ago, I was running on my platform. I couldn't go anywhere in the state without someone bringing it up. And I just thought, okay, well, you know, time will move on. People, they're still very, very upset that he turned his back on the president and subsequently them. You know, again, I go back to, you represent the people, you vote accordingly. So, yeah, it's very. It's a huge hot topic that people have not forgotten. And the numbers prove it. You know, the polling note that all of that was presented to me before jumping into the race.

[Sam]

If you get to the United States Senate, what would you say would be your first priority for the people? Louisiana?

[Julia Letlow]

Oh, gosh, the people of Louisiana, they are hard working, just salt of the earth, amazing people. Wherever I go, they want the government to get out of their business. You know, less federal government. I'm a firm believer in that. So oil and gas is huge for Louisiana. Oh, man. We need to deregulate that we're on the right path with this administration. I would continue that work. I can't help but be passionate about my background, and that's in education. Huge supporter of school choice. I was so honored to author the Parents Bill of Rights on the House side. It was one of the top five bills that we got through when the Republicans took back the House. Y' all remember during COVID you know, for the first time, parents were sitting down and on these tablets, seeing what our children were being taught.

[Comfortably Smug]

The kids are being taught.

[Julia Letlow]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

It was eye opening.

[Julia Letlow]

Yes. And so what did they do? They went to their school Boards and lawfully voiced their concerns. And then what happened? They were pushed away, rebuffed and. And many put on a domestic terrorist.

[Sam]

Yeah, you got Merrick Garland and the FBI investigating parents, concerned parents. It was crazy.

[Julia Letlow]

So I was so proud to author that, passed it through the House. Would love to continue that on it. Died in the Senate. Would love to codify that. So I just will continue that. Good work in education as well.

[Sam]

Awesome. Well, I hear that you've brought us a great gift from the state. Can we go ahead and get that here we got hot sauce. Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And not just any. Could you tell us specifically about. Because we are hot sauce enthusiasts.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Julia Letlow]

Love it. I love it. So this is panola. They covered up the with. With my logo on there, but it's panola sauce. It is from Lake Providence, Louisiana, a homegrown family owned business. Agriculture has been my number one industry in my district. And so I've just met some of the most amazing farmers producers and this is just an incredible American dream story. And they sell all over the country and the world. So I can't wait for y' all

[Sam]

to try it and see they do like a direct to consumer thing. You can buy it online and stuff.

[Julia Letlow]

Absolutely.

[Sam]

I love that because I just, I love hot sauce. You know, I'm like a sommelier. I have a nice paired hot sauce for a lot of the meals that I have. And I mean, if you're going to eat good, you know, creole food or something, you, you're, you're gonna need hot sauce. I feel like it pairs. Right. What's your favorite hot sauce mug?

[Comfortably Smug]

I was telling a congresswoman when she came, and it's Crystal, also from Crystal's Great. Phenomenal.

[Sam]

Crystal's Great.

[Julia Letlow]

Tabasco's from Louisiana.

[Comfortably Smug]

Tabasco.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Julia Letlow]

We do it right. I'll tell you what, food in Louisiana, second to none, really can't beat it.

[Sam]

Yeah, it's the best. All right, so we always ask three questions to every guest on the Ruthless Variety program. These are important. The audience. These are like the litmus test. Now, they're easy questions.

[Comfortably Smug]

Don't worry.

[Julia Letlow]

Breaking out in the sweat over here.

[Sam]

But I think they reveal a lot about people in their background and character and that sort of thing. So number one, if you could plan your last meal on earth, what would it be?

[Julia Letlow]

Fried chicken and fried okra.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, that's a great pick.

[Julia Letlow]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Julia Letlow]

Nothing. Nothing healthy.

[Sam]

No. No other. No other sides or anything.

[Julia Letlow]

Maybe some mashed potatoes.

[Sam]

Okay.

[Julia Letlow]

With the fried chicken, you know?

[Sam]

Yeah. And we're using hot sauce.

[Julia Letlow]

There and then a big sweet tea,

[Sam]

sweet tea, washing it all down. I like that. I like that. Well, so, you know, somebody with your background and everything that you've done in your life at some point along the way, you're busy, you're doing so many things, you're raising a family, you know, all this sort of stuff, you think to yourself, man, I would have been good at that. But I don't have the time. Or maybe when I was a little kid, I thought I would be good at that. Blue sky. If you could have picked a new career, could be crazy. Ted Cruz told us he'd play basketball. So it doesn't have to be realistic, doesn't have to be. But if you could blue sky it and do something else with your life, what would it be?

[Lori Buckhout]

This is wild.

[Julia Letlow]

I always wanted to be a meteorologist. Yeah, I'm obsessed over the weather. I just, I mean, I study is. But you know, I just didn't have quite what it takes to make it through the. That science and math changes fast in Louisiana.

[Comfortably Smug]

You definitely get all the seasons well.

[Sam]

So I always worried about that, you know, like, it's got to be a tough job if you get it wrong. And then people see at the grocery store and they're like, hey, Duncan, what about that rain you said was coming?

[Julia Letlow]

That's true, that's true. You get a lot of criticism in that role and this role.

[Sam]

It's high stakes. All right, final question, and this one's a little esoteric, so bear with me. Our theory is that all successful people are motivated by one of two things. The thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. And that isn't to say anybody likes losing or doesn't like winning, but it's the mentality that gets you over the hump to the next success in your life. We like to think of Michael Jordan as sort of the ultimate agony. A defeat. Guy accomplished so much, six NBA championships, but it was all the negativity. He'd have to invent slights of other people to motivate him to win. He wanted to beat the other guy. And then like the thrill of victory is sort of the happy go lucky, we like to say. Phil Mickelson, he, you know, he could see a 230 yard shot over water and pull out a two iron and be like, I'm going to hit it. And it's like, Phil, you're up by three strokes, like just, you know, hit it up the fairway and you're going to win. You know, the whole thing. But he's like, I could hit that shot. Thrill of victory, agony and defeat. Where on that spectrum do you find yourself?

[Julia Letlow]

Oh, I'm a thrill of victory. I'm a positive person. I was just talking to my team on the way here. I was like, don't send me the next negative stuff. You know, what fuels me is that, you know, we're delivering a positive message. That's what's so difficult about races like this. Yeah, I just, I wish we could just tell our stories and thrive on the positivity and what we're going to deliver for Louisiana. But I will say this. I've learned more in my failures and in my suffering than I have on any mountaintop. And while you said it perfectly, no one welcomes suffering and no one welcomes failure. But you will grow more as a person and you will be battle tested when it comes time to walk through the fire again.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the truth.

[Sam]

That is. Well, well put. If people want to help your campaign or follow along and learn more, where do they go?

[Julia Letlow]

Julialetlo.com we make it easy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank you so much, Congressman.

[Sam]

Congressman, thank you for joining us.

[Julia Letlow]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, very interesting conversation you guys had. And right here on the Ruthless Variety Program, you have two major candidates running in a primary in the state of Louisiana. Very important state this fall.

[Josh Holmes]

Shots fired. Shots fired. It is an important race and it's gonna have a lot to do with the complexion of the Senate. I hope dearly that none of us are concerned about the state of Louisiana in November.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, you're probably right, but a lot

[Josh Holmes]

from a policymaking standpoint that people have to consider in that important primary. I'm glad we could get both of them locked in in one week. We got one more to go on that one. We're ticking through. We're ticking through as best we can here on the Ruthless Variety Program. Well, when you think about elections, you think about where Democrats have taken this country. Boy, it makes you want to drink. But before you do, you ought to take ZBiotics because I know firsthand and all the fellas do here, it can really help you out in a lot. It is a first kind of game changing pre alcohol drink that when you take it before you drink, it sort of works out in a little bit better way than it would without it. It's based by science, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I mean, yes, they have had PhDs develop this and there are science to back it up. But all I know is that it actually works like nothing else.

[Josh Holmes]

I'll just Say that it's.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, we, everyone should drink responsibly. However, we have stress tested this numerous occasions on the road.

[Sam]

Stress test.

[Comfortably Smug]

It is so reliable. Like I said, I legitimately will not drink without it. And I'm always happy when we're doing shows on the road to hand it out for folks to try for the first time if we're going to go out for drinks afterwards. And without fail, they tell me it works. Because the reason you're feeling terrible the day after a big night is not because dehydration. You can try chugging all the Gatorade in the world. It doesn't matter. It's because when you drink alcohol, your stomach breaks it down into these toxic byproducts.

[Sam]

Right, right. And ZBiotics knocks all that right out. And if you're like us who like to have a good time but also keep pretty busy schedules on weekdays and on weekends.

[Josh Holmes]

Gotta get up and get going.

[Sam]

Dr. Evan. You gotta get up and get going. You better feel good the next day because you're have a day full of fun.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And that's why we always say there is no tomorrow without ZBiotics today.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, and that's why you gotta go to ZBiotics.com ruthless to learn more. You get 15% off your first order when you use Ruthless at the checkout. Zebiotics is backed by 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they're going to refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to zbiotics.com ruthless and use the code ruthless at your checkout for 15% off.

[Sam]

And we're back. And our friends left us smug. What the heck?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. I know that you and I take this show incredibly seriously and no matter the circumstance, no matter what comes up, it's true. Day in, day out, we're here for our audience and that's why we're here. And we're going to have a great time.

[Sam]

Yeah, we are. So Ashbrook and Holmes unfortunately had to leave us a little bit early on today's episode, but we wanted to make sure we gave you another hack madness update. We are now to the Sweet 16 smug. This is where the wheat separated from the chaff.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, it's actually become extremely serious now because one matchup I really want to key in on over in the fake news division is we've got number one seed Abby Phillips versus number five seed Brian Stelter. It's a straight up CNN showdown, but at the same time, it's Kind of like a battle between the old versus the new. Stelter famously was fired like a dog, returned back to cnn. Abby, Phillip, whose job is basically like, unleash Scott. Let Scott dunk on everybody, and then act mad about it. I want to see who actually wins there, because in my opinion, if this is about who is is. Is more of a hack, it's like, are you a hack on your own? Right? Are you riding someone else's wave? Yeah, it kind of feels like Abby rides someone else's wave. But at the same time, is Steltzer the same Stelter that won the championship so many years ago?

[Sam]

It's a good question. And you know, I talked about this a little bit on the previous show, but you have to wonder how much the clip economy of cable news takes over here for Philip in that she's in the clip always with Scott Jennings, you know, trying to somehow moderate this thing and let left wing lunatic win the argument, even though Scott's fantastic at his job. And you wonder if being in all those clips helps her get the edge here.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing. A lot of this comes down to notoriety. Who's the bigger name, who's more well known? And like we've reflected in this year's bracket, the media attention economy has kind of moved away from the mainstream outlets. You're seeing less of the WAPOs. You're seeing less of the CNN. You're seeing more like, you know, a big story is Hasan's rise this year. Like, a lot of people are out there voting for Hasan, and that's why the showdown in the way to online, you've got Hasan piker versus Rick Wilson. I think this is going to be almost the same thing. A huge story here. It's the old versus the new. Hasan is kind of like the future of left wing derangement.

[Sam]

It's interesting you mentioned that, because for our new listeners and viewers, we've been doing hack madness for a very long time now.

[Comfortably Smug]

The seventh annual.

[Sam]

Yeah. And everybody, every bracket has its different quirks and everything, but I think this year is sort of set apart in how many new faces there are, how many alternative media faces there are, how many, like, real lunatics in the podcast space there are, and they're sort of rising to the top. It's like we got a Star wars wars bar here in the sweet 16. We got Jennifer Welch against Mehdi Hassan. Yeah. I mean, that's Titans of misinformation.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing. And you had Mehdi Hassan. I can't even remember what publication he was with until he started Zetting Zetteo. Well, he started that and before. I can't remember who was bankrolling his opinions. But currently it's Zateo and you have him facing off against Jennifer Welch, who's essentially basically just like a drunk wine mom, willing to go further left than anyone else. Like she's willing to be like parody, parody.

[Sam]

We're laughing.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's willing to be like Chuck Schumer hasn't gone far enough.

[Sam]

She's angry a lot.

[Comfortably Smug]

And that's kind of like what the left wants right now.

[Sam]

Yeah, no, it's true. I think you've highlighted some good ones here. The Hassan piker, Rick Wilson I think is a great one. I think that Mehdi Hassan, Jennifer Welch, great one. I got a note. We lost some, I think real stars in the second round here. Aaron Rupar. Yeah, sad to see him.

[Comfortably Smug]

Surprising. Surprising because he's a prolific clipper. His job now is basically being a video clip guy.

[Sam]

Sunny Hostin, crazy on the View. We lost her. That's, that's a shame. We lost some titans. Margaret Brennan, a former champion of hack madness. Nicole Wallace. But the one that I'm really sad

[Comfortably Smug]

we lost, I bet I can guess this one.

[Sam]

Olivia Nuzzi.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's it.

[Sam]

Olivia Nuzzy, who had the misfortune of having to battle in a play in game against Ryan Lizza, her former lover, and then got into the next round against Keith Olbermann who she all, you know, also had a relationship with, who

[Comfortably Smug]

ends up on top and defeated her. Takes her out. Tough out for her, I'll say at the same time like the last thing, she's not really like publishing anything anymore. She's not really out there doing anything. She put that book out. I guess the book sales were not great. I mean they were essentially just like torpedoed by Ryan Lizza, her ex lover who put his substack out of all the dirty laundry. So I can understand. You know, I think the voters have done an excellent job winnowing this field. And for the folks who are listening, folks who are watching right now on YouTube now is this Week 16 voting is underway. You should go to my X account fortablysmug and I'll have it pinned right at the top. Vote for every single one. I have them one after the other. It's super easy. And it's coming down to it. I mean we're in the sweet 16.

[Sam]

Yeah. And if you filled out a prediction bracket@ ruthlesspodcast.com and you navigate there to the hack Madness. You can see the live prediction rankings. You know, we had over 1500 people submit brackets to this thing. And there's a list. I mean, some people had perfect brackets after the first round. That's very, very impressive. Our listeners and viewers, they know what they're talking about. We have to get to another interview here, but before we do, another plug for the map. This map is very important to us. It's our pride and joy. It's where you can find all the interviews for all the most highly contested and important races around the country in this midterm. You just go to RuthlessPodcast.com backslash map, and then you can peruse the states in which we have interviews. We're talking like Senate battlegrounds. We're talking important gubernatorials, important battleground races in the House. Which brings me to this next interview from North Carolina's race. 1st congressional district, Laurie Buckout. This is an important race. Don Davis is the incumbent Democrat there. The district has been redrawn. It's.

[Josh Holmes]

Are you stuck staring at your W2? Are tax refund worries holding you back?

[Michael Duncan]

You probably have FOMO, the fear of

[Josh Holmes]

messing up the fix. Using TurboTax on Intuit credit Karma. They find every credit and deduction to

[Michael Duncan]

help you get every refund dollar you

[Josh Holmes]

deserve or your money back.

[Michael Duncan]

It's time to overcome your fear of

[Josh Holmes]

messing up and get your taxes done right.

[Michael Duncan]

Start filing today in the Credit Karma

[Sam]

app, more favorable to Republicans now. It's a huge opportunity to keep the House. Let's go to that interview. Well, I want to welcome to the program the Republican nominee of North Carolina's 1st congressional district, Laurie Buckat. How are you?

[Lori Buckhout]

Hey, doing great. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

[Sam]

Thanks for coming in. You ran in this district before, lost by a razor thin margin. Now you're coming back. You're the nominee. We just had the primary in North Carolina and we have a new district map there that looks pretty advantageous versus the old map that you had to run in.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah, it does. So it is. Last one was like a D1 Democrat. So, you know, lean Democrat. This is a lean Republican by five points. It's an R5. Brought in some counties in the southeast of the beach. Counties down there, beautiful down there and very Republican. So it's a great, it's a great gang to have on board. We're really, really enjoying the district. It's huge. It's 25 counties. It's about a quarter of the land mass of North Carolina. Whole bunch of folks, of course, but I'm having A great time. We're out everywhere in the district all the time. It goes from the border of Virginia all the way down along the beaches for the most part. Think Morehead City, that area, and halfway across the state.

[Michael Duncan]

So I know we're going to get into your background, which is incredible, in a minute, but you mentioned 25 counties. That is a pretty big and spread out district. Lots of different types of people voting in that district. And I know you're traveling the whole thing from tip to tip and I just wonder what are you hearing most from voters as you're traveling county to county? Is it safety, is it the economy or some combination of the two or what's on their minds?

[Lori Buckhout]

Well, it's a real trumpy district for starters. Okay. Trump has won this district in the last three elections, so it's very, very Trumpy. They love them. They really appreciate the closed border. Right. Drugs have infiltrated this district big time from Biden's open border. So they love having a closed border. That's a big deal. Cracking down on the illegal alien criminal aspect has been a big deal. Having ICE come through our sheriffs, cooperating with them, et cetera, has been really well received. You know, they are focused on the economy, gas prices going down and then creeping around a little bit. But I think they understand the big picture because they are Trumpy and they, hey, I mean, they watch him, they understand he's a strategist. So a lot of good stuff in support of President Trump. The economy is a big discussion right now, the affordability question. But I think everyone sees a big picture there as well. You know, the stuff with Iran and with tariffs and everything. It's a positive, it's positive message.

[Sam]

So this is a pro Trump district and currently they're represented by Don Davis. Right.

[Lori Buckhout]

Do nothing Don yet.

[Sam]

I barely know his name and I couldn't list a single thing he's done well. You Congress?

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah.

[Sam]

So tell me a little bit about this guy.

[Lori Buckhout]

Okay, so Don is, let me see, he went to the Air Force Academy. He kind of grew up in Texas. Apparently his mother moved to Texas when he was a child and grew up in Texas, went to the Air Force Academy, served a little time in the Air Force, got out immediately, went back and became a small town mayor and then he went into the General Assembly. So except for the time in the Air Force, he's been a full time politician living off tax dollars. So went to the General assembly, did some time there, I think, as a rep and then a senator, worked his way up the District, the old district I was running in had been a Democrat for 143 years. So he was just another line of people who have really done nothing to move the needle in the district. I mean, top 10, bottom 10% of the country in terms of poverty, or top 10, if you want to say, 10%, poorest, whatever, for many, many years. And he's done really nothing to move the needle. Every once in a while, when bills come through that he may have voted on, he walks around with a giant check like the publisher Clearhouse. He shows up and it's got his name on it. You're dancing dollars and he shows up.

[Sam]

He's always there for a ribbon cutting.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah, he's there for ribbon cutting and envelope opening. Yeah, he'll be at those. So he is coming out to those right now with the, you know, the checks. Voted against the big beautiful bill. Of course, not real popular because this is a working class district. These are people who are working for a living. You know, working families, shrimpers, boaters, farmers. Agriculture is number one industry in North Carolina. A lot of farmers, truckers, you know. And I just found out today that 91% of all trucking companies. Trucking companies are own with 10 vehicles or less. So these are small businesses, quite a few of those in North Carolina. And so he's voting against all the things that really hurt small businesses and working families.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

Tax cuts, et cetera. So great guy.

[Sam]

I read something recently about some controversy with like Ubers and him.

[Lori Buckhout]

Oh, my God.

[Sam]

What's this whole thing?

[Lori Buckhout]

Oh, my God.

[Julia Letlow]

Yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

So when he was down in the. He was down the border last year for photo ops.

[Sam]

I mean, you know, ribbon cuttings and photos.

[Lori Buckhout]

Ribbon cuttings and photo ops. Yeah. So he's got selfies of him himself down there on the border, you know, doing this kind of thing. I mean, it's like AOC crying at the migrant cages, you know, those staged photos. Right. So you see him doing the same thing. So he racked up like, I think over a thousand buck in Ubers in one day. Or Maybe I think 2,300, 2,800, something huge, like in one day. And we figured out that he could have actually ubered home from Texas to North Carolina with that amount of money and just gone home and stayed home, which would have been the best thing for the district. So we don't have to know what he's doing. I mean, that's a whole lot of Ubering around in one day for photo ops.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, well, he's obviously not the best guy to represent this district, to put it mildly. But I know that you have an extensive career that you built in the US Armed Forces. You were in the army, and you actually did some time in the current Department of War just recently, and you were a part of Operation Midnight Hammer from the department. I know there's probably not a lot

[Sam]

you can talk about, tell us all the secret stuff, but I'm wondering if there's any.

[Michael Duncan]

Anything you can share about that successful mission and your time in the Army.

[Lori Buckhout]

Well, so I was in the army for 26 years and came in under Ronald Reagan, which was great. You know, who signed my commissioning certificate.

[Sam]

Pretty amazing.

[Lori Buckhout]

Pretty cool stuff, right? In fact, I had folks who had been commissioned before or retired before they wanted me to go back and have Secretary Hegseth or President Trump sign their certificates retroactively and, like, white out the Biden signature or whatever. I'm like, dude, I'm sorry, I can't do that. I would love to. I could. Couldn't. But at any rate, so had a full military career, and the last year after I lost the last election, got called up by the Trump administration, said, what do you want to do? Which was great. And so I said, what do you got that's cyber? They said, well, we have a deputy Assistant Secretary of War for cyber at the War Department, formerly the Defense Department. War Department's way cooler. So went in and did that, but got. Got fleeted up because the Senate confirmed person didn't come in for many months. So I did the job for the whole summer for about, I don't know, seven months or so. Had a blast doing it. And I was in control over U.S. cyber Command. U.S. cyber Command is amazing. It's got thousands of folks who are on networks globally taking care of business, not just defending America, but making sure our adversaries are not out there coming after us. So they have a global presence, and they're doing really fantastic work. And you'll go up there to Fort Meade where they work, and you'll see these young Marines in their battle dress uniform, you know, all muscled up behind a keyboard and just as fired up about that mission as they would any other fire mission in any other type of combat. Because this is open combat on the Internet.

[Sam]

Yeah. Can you explain that? Because I don't think people hear cyber, and I think they understand that that's a part of warfare now in the modern age, but people don't know what that is comprised of, really.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah. So you have everything from rogue agencies to anonymous hackers out there. To nation states that are coming after us. Russia's coming after us, Iran's coming after us. And when I say us, they can go after anything from our banking infrastructure to our hospitals, hold hospitals ransom by taking charge of their databases, their data, shutting down their computers, that sort of. Or they can come after our federal enterprises. They can go into our Department of War databases, they can go into the Federal Trade Commission and things like that, and they do. So you not only have to have the private folks defending their own infrastructure, automobile companies, they have to defend their list. Hospitals have to defend their data, but you have to have the federal government engaged as well. So our organization helped them now in something like Midnight Hammer, and we're going to talk hypotheticals, right?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

Right, right, right. So, you know, you've got, you know, Iran, fat, dumb and happy. They're like, oh, American's bad. La, la, la, whatever. Defending their little, you know, uranium stuff. And all of a sudden they're like, huh, how come our radars aren't working? Or, how come our computer screens are dead? Or, hey, Akbar, I can't talk to you. What's going on over there on your computer?

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Lori Buckhout]

All of a sudden, that stuff's not working? Or it shows that the radars don't show any incoming aircraft.

[Sam]

This is how everybody looks at me in the office when the WI fi goes out.

[Lori Buckhout]

Right, right. They say, akbar, what are you doing?

[Sam]

Duncan, what's up?

[Michael Duncan]

ID guy?

[Lori Buckhout]

See, there you go.

[Sam]

I know.

[Lori Buckhout]

There he goes. So you have these. The guy's, you know, calling for the IT guy. He's like, I don't know what's going on. Then. Then the bombs start to drop. So, yeah, it's pretty cool. They do a lot of good work. I am vastly oversimplifying this, as you can only imagine.

[Sam]

Yeah, I can imagine.

[Lori Buckhout]

Okay.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

But bottom line is it takes a whole lot of work in advance to do that. Yeah, they got to be, you know, sussing out the landscape there, making sure they can get into it, making sure they can get into networks, working with other folks. Yeah, it's great.

[Sam]

So, Department, Department of War. You've run for Congress.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Colonel, have you always, like, what is it about your early life that sort of led you to a life of public service?

[Lori Buckhout]

You know, I think my parents both serve.

[Sam]

Both.

[Lori Buckhout]

My parents were World War II. My dad was a POW in World War II.

[Sam]

Where did he serve?

[Lori Buckhout]

In the Ardennes Offensive. Battle of the Bulge.

[Sam]

Yeah, my grandpa did, too.

[Lori Buckhout]

Infantry company commander.

[Sam]

Yeah, in the Lightning Division.

[Lori Buckhout]

Oh, my goodness. Okay. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah. So POW there, fought his way out, escaped three times, and the third time he lost a tooth. A German POW guard hit him in the face with his rifle butt. He left the tooth and took off and took a bunch of folks with him. Just original badass kind of stuff. Right. And then he was in Korean Vietnam. I was a little girl when he was in Vietnam, when he came back. So that service ethic for me, going in the military was sort of a natural thing. Got an ROTC scholarship under Ronald Reagan, which is very cool, like I said. And it just kind of kept going. I married a former Delta operator, West Point graduate. Right. And so he had a history of service going back to the 1700s, going back to the French and Indian wars. The buckouts have served in the military, in the army, infantrymen, in the army going back 250 years. It's crazy.

[Sam]

It's incredible.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah, it's crazy. So for me, it was natural to stay in. And there you go. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So I'm wondering.

[Lori Buckhout]

A lot of folks have done more. A lot of folks have done more. So I'm, I'm humble about myself.

[Sam]

Well.

[Michael Duncan]

But it is an incredible story.

[Josh Holmes]

It's.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it's, it's quite a lineage, you know, something you can really hold your head high about. Because if your family has done this much service to the country, it's only natural for you to take the next step and try to offer the kind of representation that eastern North Carolina actually deserves in Washington. And you mentioned the big, big beautiful bill, working families tax cut. I know that's huge for so many people in that part of the state. You know, this is money in their pockets. And I'm guessing you're hearing an awful lot about that when you're talking to them.

[Lori Buckhout]

Absolutely. And they love it, which is why it's kind of a trumpy area too. You have, this is working families you have down there. And they really, really need some relief. And frankly, I'm running because I'm sick of it. Biden was a turning point for me. I think Obama was bad enough and was very, very frustrated when Biden came in. I think it went from crazy to absolute madness. You know, the wide open border, healthcare, Covid stuff, everything was just out of control. So we moved to a Republican district that became a Democrat district. Saw the vulnerability and like, you know what? I'm a mom and that's probably the big thing too. I've got two twenty something young men who are. They are constitutional conserv. Us, which is cool. Eagle Scouts. Good boys. Yeah, good boys. And we need to be fighting for the kind of future that, that we had when we were growing up. I mean, who of us could have imagined the madness that the Democrat party has become today?

[Comfortably Smug]

Right? Yeah.

[Sam]

It's unrecognizable really, especially in places like North Carolina where you could typically see like some blue dog Democrats historically, people who you could deal with, who are reasonable. And I feel like the national party has swept swallowed people like that whole. And they're all just radical.

[Lori Buckhout]

Absolutely. Used to be able you could talk and you know, you still can in these small towns.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

So that's why the unaffiliateds are really big party.

[Sam]

Right. Because they didn't follow the Chuck Schumers of the world.

[Lori Buckhout]

No, they did not. And you know, so, you know, Meemaw would be turning over in her grave if you registered Republican. But if you went independent, that means you can vote for a Democrat sheriff. And down there again, these are a blue dog Democrat, and that's cool. And then you can vote for a Republican president. So you do have a lot of independents down there.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

And so, you know, you work on them again, they're very receptive to the Trump message, very receptive to America first, closing the border is just common sense. You know, giving more folks of their paycheck to keep in their pocket is just common sense. And then you have folks who are voting against those working families, like Don Davis voting against, you know, no tax on tips. What?

[Sam]

Right.

[Lori Buckhout]

Who does that? That's just nuts.

[Michael Duncan]

Crazy.

[Sam]

This is literally designed for working class people.

[Lori Buckhout]

It is, it is. And that is the district. It is working class people and they're

[Sam]

great it now, so we have three questions from the Ruthless Variety Program. You know, these are important.

[Lori Buckhout]

Okay, okay, got it.

[Sam]

You know, I feel like you're going to nail all of these. But I think before we do that, I heard you also brought us tribute, that I think I did bring you tribute. I did bring you get the tribute.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yes. From whence comes the tribute? We must see it now.

[Sam]

We must see it. Here it is.

[Lori Buckhout]

Bring it forth. Bring it forth. There you go. There you go. That is a Weldon Mills from North Carolina. That's a whiskey. Yeah, and it's called soldier whiskey. Okay. I don't know what makes it soldier whiskey, but look, it's got the, the branches of the army, the seals on the service, right.

[Sam]

Check that out.

[Lori Buckhout]

Marine Corps there, the whole nine yards. Look at that. And that's a North Carolina whiskey.

[Sam]

That's pretty cool.

[Lori Buckhout]

I know. It's very, very cool. So I imagine you guys are going to pour and get liquored up on me right now.

[Sam]

I'm going to ask you the first question and then as you think about about it, I'm gonna take a nice pour from this. So our first question, the final three here.

[Lori Buckhout]

Giddy up.

[Sam]

If you could plan your last meal on earth, what would it be?

[Lori Buckhout]

You know, I tell you what, I'm a big barbecue fan. I'm a meat eater. I don't know if it would be brisket or chopped pork. Now, I wanna tell you down in North Carolina, it's whole hog.

[Michael Duncan]

All the whole hog.

[Lori Buckhout]

They chop it up and you don't know what part you're gonna get. But they're all chopped together and it's

[Sam]

really delicious kind of sauce. We do. Are we doing like a vinegar base? Vinegar. That's the Easter North Carolina, right?

[Lori Buckhout]

Vinegar with a little bit of cayenne in it, you know, a little spicy vinegar. It's really good. And if it's a crunchy part, it might be an ear, but it's a really good one. So you know what I mean? Or the brisket's great. Collard greens. I'm a big collard green fan. They're delicious.

[Michael Duncan]

Hard to beat.

[Lori Buckhout]

It is hard to beat. And they cook them in pot liquor, which is, you know, the bones from the pig and all kinds of wild stuff goes in there. And I mean, it's just great.

[Michael Duncan]

Incredible flavor.

[Lori Buckhout]

It really is. It's really, really good. So, yeah, I'd be happy with that. That'd be good.

[Sam]

I like that. Are we doing any other sides there? Is there like a cornbread? Is there a potato salad? Are you thinking anything else, man?

[Lori Buckhout]

Coleslaw.

[Michael Duncan]

Coleslaw.

[Lori Buckhout]

Coleslaw is great. Yeah, Coleslaw, cornbread. They also have corn sticks.

[Sam]

What's that?

[Lori Buckhout]

It's. It's a. It's a like French fry shaped cornbread, kind of deep fried. I don't know how they make them and stay in that shape. I'm a little scared to add. Ask how they make these things. They're like popsicles and then they deep fry them. But they're cornbread. They're really good.

[Michael Duncan]

Sounds incredible.

[Lori Buckhout]

It sounds delicious.

[Comfortably Smug]

All right.

[Lori Buckhout]

It sounds delicious.

[Sam]

I like doing the bread and then you put the barbecue on it and then you lump on a little coleslaw, make a little sandwich.

[Lori Buckhout]

Bam.

[Sam]

That's the best.

[Lori Buckhout]

It is the best. It is the best. Yeah.

[Sam]

All right, so question.

[Lori Buckhout]

I could die after that.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Lori Buckhout]

I'll be down. A little bit of bourbon there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. Yeah, okay. That would work.

[Sam]

Question two is are blue sky. Question. You know, you've had an incredible career in public service, but somewhere along the way, I'm sure you thought to yourself, hey, I'd be really good at that. You know, maybe it's a pipe dream, you know, maybe it's, you know, playing sports or something crazy you never really thought of, but somewhere along the course of your life, you're like, I would have been good at that. Blue sky. Anything. What would you do?

[Lori Buckhout]

You know what? Blue sky. And it turned out to be a complete fail. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a little girl.

[Sam]

Oh, nice.

[Lori Buckhout]

I grew up on a cattle farm. Right. Now, let me tell you a wild story. We got a second here? Okay, Wild story. The vet came out, we had a calf that was stuck inside a cow like a cork in a bottle, right? So we call the vet Dr. Dan. The vet comes out, and I happen to be on a horse, and he's like, are you saddled up? He called me. He's like, yeah, I'm saddled up. We got this because I was going to ride the range, checking all the cattle, and he goes, all right, get a rope. So I'm literally on the horse, and I've got the rope around the horn of the saddle, and. And we are backing up, and it's tied around the feet of the calf, and we are, like, backing up, and that horse is pulling that calf out of that cow. The cow is not pleased about all that going on. And having had two kids, I can only imagine.

[Sam]

Yeah, the cow doesn't get an epidural.

[Lori Buckhout]

The cow doesn't get a damn thing. But anyway, after that experience, I'm like, I don't think I really want to be a vet. That's pretty harsh. So, yeah, that was a blue sky that. That faded away.

[Michael Duncan]

I like that.

[Lori Buckhout]

That's hardcore.

[Sam]

All right, so last final question here is we think everybody who's successful in life is motivated by one of two things. Yeah, the thrill of victory or the agony and defeat. And it's not that anybody likes losing or doesn't like winning. It's that what motivates you to take the next step in your life or your career. And our typical agony and defeat guy is Michael Jordan. You know, he had to invent slights in order to propel him into future success. You know, he's always motivated by that one that got away.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah.

[Sam]

And your thrill of Victory person, we like to say, is like Phil Mickelson. He might have 230 over water, but he's going to pull out a three iron and try to hit it because he's made that shot before. The thrill of victory is what motivates a guy like that. So where on that spectrum do you find yourself?

[Lori Buckhout]

Thrill of victory? I mean, I. I for damn sure hate to lose. I really do hate to lose, but the thrill of victory, I like to be on top. I like to win. Feels good. And you know what I tell you, being in a position where you can serve really feels good. Maybe I'm kind of like a sheepdog. If you put a sheepdog loose in a room of people, they gotta hurt em, you know what I mean? I like to serve. It hits something inside me and I really enjoy it. So, yeah, thrill of victory. So then you can do that. Absolutely. But the agony and defeat from that last race did not love that.

[Sam]

Yeah, sure. What do you think you learned in that experience? Because I do feel like many times you learn more from your defeats than from your victories.

[Lori Buckhout]

You know, you do, you do so very, very collaborative with absolutely everybody in the district. I think it was last time, but, you know, had to learn more about the district because it was big last time. This time, really, really, really making sure a lot of groundwork is out there. Like I said, the district is more red and my folks will laugh. I'm staying off of social media a little bit more, except for this show right here. Oh, boy. And yeah, so I'm just focused really on how to be, eventually serving. So looking at the key parts of the district, Absolutely. Digging in very deep into the, into the economic drivers of the district. Talking to folks who are running businesses, talking to fishermen, which is kind of a new sector. Lot of those last time I ran, but this is the whole coast now, so there's a whole lot of that. Talking even more to farmers, which I really enjoyed last time. Digging more into the business aspect and just even being out more and talking to families, which is great. I mean, that's my bread and butter. If you. I love that part.

[Sam]

If people want to help your campaign, where do they go?

[Lori Buckhout]

They go to my website, which is Great. Okay. It's www.loribuckout for Congress. Buckout has a weird H in it. B U C K H O U T. You don't say it. It's just in there. And yeah. Lauriebuckoutforcongress.com or, or look at Don Davis's tweet because he's always going after me because he's scared to death. And then you can, you can follow me off of that.

[Sam]

There you go.

[Lori Buckhout]

Yeah, I mean, that works too, right?

[Sam]

Well, thank you very much for joining us. This was fantastic. And this is a must win district. This is how we keep the United States, you know, House of Representatives. So I hope you win. We need you. We need you.

[Lori Buckhout]

Well, I tell you, I've had a great reception up on the Hill, talking to leadership and stuff this week. It's awesome town. So how does it taste? I got to know.

[Sam]

Oh, that's good.

[Lori Buckhout]

Is it good?

[Sam]

Oh, that's good.

[Michael Duncan]

It's very good. Very smooth.

[Sam]

Very smooth.

[Lori Buckhout]

I got to go meet some people and I cannot drink right now, so, you know, I'm glad it worked out.

[Josh Holmes]

Introducing Home Care Plus, a new subscription service from Lowe's that helps make life

[Sam]

easier by giving members a hand.

[Josh Holmes]

And with home maintenance, let Lowe's tackle the tasks you keep meaning to do, like electric dryer, vent cleaning, replacing hard to reach light bulbs, and more. Subscribe to Home Care plus for just 99 a year and consider your to do list done.

[Lori Buckhout]

Members get more at Lowe's.

[Josh Holmes]

Available in select zip codes only. Cancel anytime.

[Lori Buckhout]

Non refundable fee.

[NetChoice Advertiser]

Product purchase required.

[Josh Holmes]

Terms and service restrictions apply.

[Sam]

Details@lowe's.com Terms subject to change.

[Lori Buckhout]

Orea, I'm glad it worked out for you. That's great. That's great.

[Comfortably Smug]

Appreciate it.

[Lori Buckhout]

Thanks for having me.

[Sam]

Thank you so much for joining us.

[Lori Buckhout]

I really enjoyed.

[Michael Duncan]

Awesome.

[Lori Buckhout]

Thanks a lot.

[Sam]

Well, she's great, you know, and I think it's, it's good that we have a candidate who has some experience in this race. Like I said, frontline battleground District one that's going to be key to keeping the majority in the House. Great lady. Loved having her on.

[Comfortably Smug]

And we're going to need this win. We need all the voters in North Carolina get out there, make sure we keep our Senate seat, win this congressional district. We need it. This is going to be a very difficult midterms. The Democrats are going to have all their left wing dark money out there flooding the zone. We need to get the votes out there, make sure we hold it down.

[Sam]

Yeah, no, it's true. It's true. Well, I hope everybody enjoyed it like. And subscribe to the ruthless variety program. Make sure you do that. It helps us get the word out. Help helps us find new people here for the show. Don't forget, suite 16 of Hack Madness is live on Smug's Twitter account. That's comfortably Smug. Go to that account, you can do all of the voting. It's getting. And it's getting to be close to the cream of the crop here in the tournament. And with that, I think we did it. Smug.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode, me and Duncan. And thank you, Julia Letlow. And thank you, Lori Buckout, our guest today. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs. We'll see you on Tuesday. Stay ruthless,

[Sam]

Sam.