The Real Reason Democrats Oppose Trump On Crime

Summary

Podcast Summary: Ruthless Podcast

Episode: The Real Reason Democrats Oppose Trump On Crime
Date: August 26, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, John Ashbrook (Michael Duncan absent due to illness)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the hosts’ perspective on rising crime, Democratic Party strategy, and Donald Trump’s efforts to address urban violence—most notably through his recent executive orders and rhetoric about crime in cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C. The show contrasts the “niche” focus of modern Democrats (land acknowledgments, progressive policing reforms) with what the hosts call Trump’s common-sense, results-oriented approach. There are recurring themes of skepticism and satire toward progressive urban policy and the Democratic National Committee, with a sharp focus on high-profile Democrats and local leaders. The episode also features lively banter, listener question responses, and topical lightning round segments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Niche” Focus of the Democratic Party

• Land Acknowledgments at the DNC
  The hosts open by critiquing the Democratic National Committee's meeting, specifically its land acknowledgment led by Lindy Somich.

  • [04:07] Lindy Somich acknowledges the Dakota people as original stewards of Minneapolis lands.

  • The hosts mock the segment as irrelevant and impenetrable to average Americans:

    • Josh Holmes [06:00]: “I want to put myself firmly in the camp of I don’t give a fuck. I just don’t.”

  • Comfortably Smug [06:39]: Argues the Democrats’ obsession with niche causes pulls them away from broad public concerns:

    • “This is why your party is being pulled around by radicals... This is why Donald Trump won a sweeping victory and took every swing state, because normal people cannot relate to what that party has become at all.”

  • John Ashbrook [04:54]: Questions the point of land acknowledgments when, in his view, nothing substantive has been done for indigenous populations.

2. Contrasting Party Approaches to Crime

• Trump’s Recent Press Conference and Executive Action

  • [08:19] Clip of Trump calling Chicago a "killing field" and mocking Democratic leaders like Gov. Pritzker.

    • Donald Trump [08:42]: “A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator. I don’t like a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and I’m a smart person.”

  • Hosts’ Reaction:

    • Ashbrook [08:58]: Reads crime statistics for Chicago—13 years with the most murders.
    • Comfortably Smug [09:50]: “People don’t want to live where they are scared to go outside... Trump is exposing [the reality that] decline is a choice.”
    • Josh Holmes [09:20]: Notes D.C. has recently had a record number of murder-free days after Trump’s interventions.

  • Banter About Democrat Mayors and Pushback:

    • Comfortably Smug [13:54]: Ridicules Mayor Johnson (Chicago) for calling National Guard deployment “costly, illegal and unconstitutional”:

      • “How much is okay to spend to end murder? Wait, I’m not willing to pay that cost. Let the murders continue.”

    • Josh Holmes [14:56]: Critiques misuse of “threat to democracy” as a catch-all defense by progressive mayors.

3. Policy Debate: Crime Crackdowns vs. “Decriminalizing Crime”

• Trump’s Executive Order Ending Cashless Bail

  • [20:47] Trump blames “cashless bail” for crime cycles and vows to end it.
    • Comfortably Smug [21:52]: Skewers left-wing bail reform as an outgrowth of elite academic ideology disconnected from real urban life.

• Highlighting Progressive Crime Policy in New York

  • Zoran Mamdani (NY Assembly): Wants to end all misdemeanor charges.

    • The hosts list crimes—from petty larceny (theft <$1,000) to sexual misconduct—that would allegedly be “legalized” under Mamdani’s vision.
      • John Ashbrook [25:57]: “They might as well put up a sign at the front of Foot Locker that says, walk to the back... and walk out with [shoes].”

  • Warnings About Policy Effects:

    • Comfortably Smug [26:53]: Notes trend of prosecutors “bumping down” felony charges, making stats look artificially better.

• Satirical Take on “Conflict De-Escalation” Advice

  • [29:47] Hosts mock an actual public safety pamphlet suggesting threatened citizens “spill their soda” or say, “Didn’t I go to high school with you?” to diffuse a crime.
    • Josh Holmes [30:36]: “Can you imagine? You got your family, you’re out to the theater... and some dude pulls a gun on you, and you whip out your laminated spreadsheet from Zoram Zord’s tips...”
    • Comfortably Smug [31:21]: “What is wrong with you people? First off... this is such a horrific reality that Democrats want for all of us to accept...”

4. Broader Sociopolitical Takeaways

• Democratic Party Direction

  • The hosts argue radical progressives like Mamdani (and by extension, AOC, Bernie, etc.) now define the party’s direction.
    • Josh Holmes [37:57]: “Is Zoran Mamdani the New Democratic Party? I’d argue it is.”
    • John Ashbrook [28:12]: “For the life of me, I do not understand why Democrats are like... we’re going to stick up for violent crime. That’s our party’s number one plank heading into 2028.”

• Critique of Media & Progressive Advocacy

  • Comfortably Smug & Holmes [23:41/24:06]: Heaps scorn on journalists for downplaying real crime in cities.

    • Comfortably Smug [23:41]: “I wish all the criminals would only target these dishonest journos, but they can’t, because all the journos look broke and homeless.”

  • Ongoing Segments:

    • Mocking left-wing “virtue signaling”—e.g., land acknowledgments, radical academic policy ideas.
    • Putting progressive positions (like the defense of illegal immigrants facing charges) front and center, often for comedic effect.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Josh Holmes on Democratic messaging:

  • [06:00] “I want to put myself firmly in the camp of I don’t give a fuck... why is it that the Democratic Party has gotten themselves into this situation where they’re so niche...”

• Comfortably Smug (on cashless bail):

  • [21:52] “...the problem isn’t crime, it’s racism and the system... you’re having people who, multiple times a day, were getting arrested for assault, would get processed, get back out, assault someone again, get processed and back. You had multiple felonies, cashless bail per day. Right back on the street. Enough is enough.”

• John Ashbrook on progressive decriminalization in NY:

  • [25:57] “They might as well put up a sign at the front of Foot Locker...walk out with them and don’t pay.”

• Holmes on Democrats’ “threat to democracy” refrain:

  • [16:12] “Is that Mayor Johnson? Guy says, what this president’s attempting to do is not just unconstitutional, it’s very much a threat to our democracy. Dude, do they have another note?”

• Criminal Justice Satire:

  • [30:11] Comfortably Smug mocks “de-escalation” strategies: “That’s a very helpful tip when you’re at gunpoint about to get shot in the head: drop your soda and be like, oh, I’m such a goofball.”

• Listener Feedback Segment:

  • [41:14] John Ashbrook reads a listener take:
    • “Gavin’s disgorging sitting performance will definitely push his limp candidacy upwards...”
  • [45:26] Josh Holmes: “You can’t run away from [your record]. ...It is literally the worst.”

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Highlighted Segments with Timestamps

• Land acknowledgments and DNC critique – [04:07-07:42]
• Trump’s press conference and Chicago crime discussion – [08:19-10:32]
• Success in D.C. post-Trump crackdown – [09:20-11:15]
• Chicago’s leadership and National Guard controversy – [13:54-14:56]
• DNC’s “threat to democracy” defense and mayor’s 7% approval – [16:03-17:08]
• Cashless bail executive order explanation – [20:47-22:38]
• Decriminalizing crimes in New York: List and mockery – [25:19-28:34]
• Satirical advice for handling violent crime – [29:47-31:21]
• Listener comments and Gavin Newsom social media strategy – [41:14-46:32]
• Lightning round: Dem protest signs, Virginia governor’s race, and WNBA ESPN graphic – [46:55-66:17]
• Comic relief: Little League umpire gets hit repeatedly – [67:27-69:56]

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Noteworthy Humor & Satirical Recurring Themes

• Savage running jokes about Democrats’ niche priorities, the inability of journalists to recognize real-world problems, and “de-escalation” tips for crime plagued cities.
• Self-referential digs at the podcast’s own sports loyalties and inside jokes about other podcast hosts (especially Michael Duncan’s absence and alleged readiness to spread illness).
• Recurring segment lampooning left-leaning journalists, their hunger for “free” anything, and the supposed gap between media reporting and urban reality.
• Listener questions/commentary segment that allows for tongue-in-cheek affirmation of hosts’ views.

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Conclusion

The episode hammers its core argument: Democrats are increasingly out of touch with everyday anxieties about crime and safety, too focused on symbolic progressive measures, and stuck in a policy loop that alienates average Americans—contrasted with Trump’s “common sense” crackdown. The hosts satirically highlight the extremes of progressive policy, from land acknowledgments to criminal justice reforms that, in their telling, reward offenders over victims. The segments are punctuated by lively, irreverent banter, listener call-ins, and comedic digressions that maintain an energetic, provocative tone throughout.

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For new listeners:
This episode provides a clear snapshot of the Ruthless Podcast’s signature style—a blend of conservative political commentary, sharp humor, and willingness to lampoon both opposition and media coverage.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

So you ask yourself, like, okay, well, being pro crime is not a great place to be for Democrats, you know, which is basically where they found this. They have to oppose everything that Donald Trump is doing.

[Comfortably Smug]

What is wrong with you people? First off? Secondly, like, this is such a horrific reality that Democrats want for all of us to accept that America is a place where you are going to be a victim of crime. And you have to take it and to accept it.

[Josh Holmes]

Hardworking Americans know when it's time to roll up our slee and get the job done. Now is the time to unleash our nation's energy, to create jobs, secure our future, and make life better, more affordable, and full of opportunity for all Americans. That's the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Comfortably Smug]

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

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Friday Program. My name is Josh Holmes. I'm along with Comfortably Smug and John Ashbrook. We're missing one here, and it's a little bit alarming here to the Ruthless Friday program because he's fallen ill. Michael Duncan. And if you know anything about the Ruthless variety program or followed along for any period of time, you know that he's perfectly willing to give us all typhoid if he has it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Duncan, if you're listening, please take your time. Take your time to get well. Duncan. This should not be another situation where you rush back to the studio, infect us all with whatever you have. Because I know he loves to do that.

[Josh Holmes]

He does.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's like, I never take a sick day. And he shows up, he's just like, you know, bleeding chicken pox out of his eyes, you know, coughing malaria. And it's like, dude, no, get well soon. Take your time.

[Josh Holmes]

We've had plenty of different things over the years where he has showed up something close to death.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And been perfectly willing. I think basically every time that I've fallen ill over the last four and a half years has been a direct attribution 100% to Michael Duncan. And the fact that he's not here shows that he's a little bit more ill. Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

If he doesn't show up, he is under the weather. Like, this is not a normal illness. Because usually he's, you know, short of, like, being on his deathbed, he'll. He's happy to show up and spread it.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. No, he'll give us whatever he's got. He'll give us whatever he's got.

[John Ashbrook]

Poor old man.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, the poor old man. But we have a lot to get through here today. Listen, kids are back in school in many parts of this country. People are coming back to work. The summer's dead and gone. Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Smug summer is dead and gone. But, you know, there's a good part to it, because the weather is phenomenal.

[Josh Holmes]

It is.

[Comfortably Smug]

You don't have to worry about getting cooked. You go outside, you can enjoy your weekend.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep. But it is dead and gone. And we're now focusing on some very serious things. We got some crime. Trump did just an epic press conference yesterday.

[Comfortably Smug]

Incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

That is worthy of discussion. We're gonna get to all of that. There is a whole bunch of developments on the criminal front. So you ask yourself, like, okay, well, being pro crime is not a great place to be for Democrats, you know, which is basically where they found this. They have to oppose everything that Donald Trump is doing. So they're like, all right, we have to have a summer meeting at the Democratic National Committee. Like, this is their biannual event. They've gotta have a real. This is our plan to tackle Donald Trump and regain the power of the Democratic Party. So where do they start with all that? Clip one, please. Lindy Somich, who is from the Saginaw Ojibwe Nation, and she's going to deliver our land acknowledgement today. Lindy Boozhoo.

[Lindy Somich]

Lindy Salmik Nindigaz Amikdotum Saginaw Chapua Dojoba Anishinaabe Kwei Endowment. Good morning, DNC members, friends and relatives. Let's talk about the land for a second. The DNC acknowledges and honors the Dakota Oyate, the Dakota people who are the original stewards of the lands and waters of Minneapolis. The Dakota cared for the lands, lakes and the Wakatonka, the Great river, the Mississippi river for thousands of years before colonization. This land was not claimed or traded. It's a part of a history of broken treaties and promises. And in many ways, we still live in a system built to suppress indigenous peoples cultural and spiritual history.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, this is where it starts.

[John Ashbrook]

Here is where I have a question. If we're gonna do land acknowledgements, let's acknowledge the land. I don't think anybody listening to this realizes that the Navajo reservation, for example, is larger than 10American states. They have land. It has been acknowledged. And I don't need a lecture from her to tell me about what we need to do about the land. The land Is there. And Democrats aren't doing anything about the people. They've never done anything about the people.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's such absurdity. This is how you find yourself on the 20% side of the 80. 20 is you're like, we're going to open the meeting with a land acknowledgement, right? Well, who did the Dakota kill to take that land? We could go through 5,000 years of native American wars and how they were selling each other into slavery. And it's just like, folks, at some point you have to be like, what are the American people concerned with? And it's not. I'll have you know that 3,000 years ago, this tribe was like, that's where.

[Josh Holmes]

These people are at. I mean, I want to put myself firmly in the camp of I don't give a fuck. I mean, I just don't. I don't understand why it is that the Democratic Party has gotten themselves into this situation where they're so niche that you have a Democratic National Convention, like, literally the annual meeting to plan how they're going to build a political apparatus to counter what Republicans just annihilated last fall. And the first thing that they have is 15 seconds of unintelligible. I don't think that. I don't know if it was English. I don't know if it was some native tribe.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, I think that's the perfect thing, is no one can understand because it is, again, so niche. Like, this is why your party is being pulled around by radicals. This is why you've got Zoramdani in New York. This is why no one could relate to your party's platform. This is why Donald Trump won a sweeping victory and took every swing state, is because normal people cannot relate to what that party has become at all.

[Josh Holmes]

Just take a step back. I grew up in that town. They're talking about Minneapolis. That's where they are. I grew up there. Have I ever even thought of anything that they're talking about? No. I know that there's a Native American population. I know that there is many different political accommodations that have made in the upper Midwest to deal with all of that. I know it's largely guilt driven by a whole bunch of different.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're not dealing with the reality. It may have belonged to the Dakota tribe, but now it belongs to the Somali tribe. They are Minneapolis.

[John Ashbrook]

This is exactly right.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's the People's Caliphate of Minneapolis.

[John Ashbrook]

This is exactly right. They're talking about, like, why we took the land from the Indians and now they're giving it away to People from other countries.

[Josh Holmes]

So, like Mogadishu's got a point of view on all of that. It's just, it's insane. But you juxtapose that with a press conference that we saw yesterday from Donald J. Trump, which is where in the land that most of us live, which is reality, things are going on like crime and whatnot. So let's see how Trump is talking about this. Clip 2.

[Donald J. Trump]

You know, I hate to barge in on a city and then be treated horribly by corrupt politicians and bad politicians. Like a guy like Pritzker. He had to spend more time in the gym, actually. So I'm thinking about, you know, when I have some slob like Pritzker criticizing us before we even go there, I made the statement that next should be Chicago because as you all know, Chicago is a killing field right now.

[Josh Holmes]

And they don't acknowledge it.

[Donald J. Trump]

And they say we don't need him. Freedom. Freedom. He's a dictator. He's a dictator. A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator. I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator. I'm a man with great common sense and I'm a smart person.

[John Ashbrook]

He is exactly right. Fellas, about the Chicago problem. Can I read you a few stats, please, Jim, on Chicago. For 13 consecutive years, Chicago has had the most murders of any US City. And for seven consecutive years, Chicago has had the highest murder rate among U.S. cities with more than 1 million people.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's just unbelievable.

[John Ashbrook]

It's bad.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, so, I mean, look, a part of this press conference was, look, there was like no cash bail. There was, he was signing a bunch of executive orders, but he was also trying to take a little bit of a victory lap over what's happened to D.C. over the last 10 days, which I think you guys noted this Morning on, on Fox, which has been, it's been 10, 11 days, 12, 12 without a, without a murder for the first time since recorded crime statistics.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, that's just, it's mind blowing because Trump, again, this is the 8020 inaction. It's common sense. People don't want to live where they are scared to go outside. People don't want to live under the belief that if I'm driving, I could get carjacked. If I'm walking outside, I could get mugged. And it could happen anywhere. We had a guy get shot in the head right, right outside the hockey arena. You could go to Georgetown. People are getting stabbed and mugged for their jackets. This entire city, like some lib was trying to dunk and being like, I see there's National Guard outside of the Diplomat, one of the nicest restaurants in the city. Isn't that pathetic? Buddy, someone got murdered outside of there. Yeah, someone got murdered outside of there.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's the point.

[Comfortably Smug]

Anywhere it could happen and then what happens is you have someone with common sense like Donald Trump come in and says, say, we're not going to take it anymore. The first time you step foot into D.C. if you get out at Union Station, it shouldn't be a homeless encampment of people on drugs who might mug you or your family. That's not how we roll. And he put his money where his mouth was. This city is now safe and it's because of him. And the rest of the country is taking notice of this. And so when you have these libs who you look at these crime ridden hell holes that have been Democrat run for generations and they have endless crime and they have murdered, they've made their constituents think that that's just how you have to accept it. But Donald Trump is exposing. It's a choice. Decline is a choice in D.C. was a choice and he fixed it and he can fix it wherever he wants.

[John Ashbrook]

I was talking to a friend of mine over the weekend who grew up in the city and he was in the city over the weekend and he said he was looking for anything. He was looking for federal troops, he was looking for cops, he was looking for signs of crime. He said he didn't see any, anything. He said he just saw regular people walking around going about their days and he was blown away because he was like, oh, surely I'm going to see a tank around the next corner or something. He was like, I didn't see anything. Which is mind blowing, that not only are you not seeing all federal troops on every street corner, but you're not seeing the crime rolling through the streets. Now I know there was one video that showed some of like dirt bikes rolling up.

[Comfortably Smug]

They asked more to do, there's to do.

[John Ashbrook]

But he, but you know, one guy's, one guy's story, he didn't see anything.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's, that's what's so amazing to me about any of this is that Democrats are now in a position where they're making land acknowledgments at their, you know, opening ceremonies for their annual meeting. And you, and you have the other half of them who aren't there arguing that like crime's not that bad and nobody, nobody's gonna make that argument. I mean, that Is like a. If you talk about a Hobson's Choice, if you're an opposition party, it's like, well, maybe a little crime's okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

As long as you're not the victim.

[John Ashbrook]

Right, right. Think about these libs who are out protesting this weekend in some parts of D.C. who were saying, like, stop federalizing our city. What are they protesting?

[Comfortably Smug]

What are they protesting?

[John Ashbrook]

They're literally protesting no murders over the course of 12 days. That is what they're protesting. Which is insane to me, that Trump pulled off this Jedi mind trick to make Democrats be the party for violent crime.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's insane.

[Josh Holmes]

How about the fact. So the reason that Chicago is a part of this discussion is that there's A story from ABC 7 in Chicago about US official confirms Pentagon planning National Guard deployment in Chicago. Mayor Johnson responds. And so, like, the backdrop of this is, well, we've had some success in D.C. let's go to the real roots of these problems in these cities, which is Chicago, where you have an elected Democratic, progressive Democratic government base, both in the city and in the state, that have done nothing about, like you said, 13 years of leading the nation in murders. Maybe we should do something about it and force their hand. Well, Pritzker got up in arms. Trump calls him a slob.

[Comfortably Smug]

You should go to the gym.

[Josh Holmes]

Spends a little more time in the gym. Right? I mean, just classic stuff. It turns out like, this is. This is a very real option that's on the table. Mayor Brandon Johnson, this member, this is the cat, the progressive school board crony. School board crony who got the job despite the fact that he was like, no, we wanna continue the murders. And people are like, yeah, that's great. That sounds good. He says he's in contact with county and state officials, but says he's heard nothing from the White House. He called the possible National Guard deployment in Chicago costly, illegal and unconstitutional. Okay, well, it's none of those things and certainly not costly in terms of what it is. That is city's budget because he's defunded the police. And so therefore, the American taxpayer need to pony up for national card troops to ensure that somebody does the job. Because, by the way, it's like sort of the capital of the Midwest. Chicago's, what, the fourth largest city now in America? It's like New York, Louisiana, Houston, Chicago.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, you've seen the number of, like, residents and businesses which have essentially just like, turned up and left Chicago, a number of them for Florida. But this statement where he says he calls it costly, illegal, unconstitutional, is A prime example of how Trump is a genius, where he's maneuvered his opponents into this position where the mayor of Chicago's like, well, I've seen in D.C. crime and murder has been ended, but I think it's a bit costly to do that here. Yeah, it's cost. How much is okay to spend it? End murder. Wait, I'm not willing to pay that cost. Let the murders continue. Also, I hate to tell him you lead in murders.

[Josh Holmes]

I hate to tell them, like, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is pretty well engraved in what we promised these citizens of the United States. And it hasn't been the case for Chicagoans in a long time.

[John Ashbrook]

Right. And not for nothing, Trump is exactly right. That Pritzker is a slob. I mean, this guy owns Hyatt hotels all over the country. Every single one of them has a gym inside. Think of how many thousands of treadmills are inside of the hotels he owns. He's never walked on a single one of them.

[Comfortably Smug]

Honestly, for a billionaire, there's no excuse left. There's no excuse left.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, so this cat, he goes on this. Is that Mayor Johnson?

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Guy says, what this president's attempting to do is not just unconstitutional, it's very much a threat to our democracy. Dude, do they have another note? Do they have another note, trick pony? It's just threat to democracy. Threat to democracy. Like, I don't even think that they understand what democracy is anymore.

[John Ashbrook]

They don't. Because if they did, they would acknowledge that democracy. Democracy picked Trump. To the 78 million people, the popular.

[Comfortably Smug]

Vote, and the Electoral College, democracy won. Like, the people want to live and not get murdered going outside their homes. That's what they know life is like. That was the reality in D.C. is there was so. There were so many murders and carjackings. Crime everywhere that can be. That's a choice. Trump ended that. And in Chicago, for them to be like, well, it's a threat to democracy, that didn't work. That has already failed. This guy had a seven. This mayor, Mayor Johnson had a 7% approval rating.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, man. Seven surprises.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's what happens. Like Trump said, your town is a killing field.

[Josh Holmes]

So I wanted. I'm going to one more quote from this story, and I want it noted that Rahm Emanuel is someone who we've invited on the program. We haven't heard back yet. We've heard a little bit of interest, but never directly from him.

[John Ashbrook]

Former mayor of Chicago, former mayor, former.

[Josh Holmes]

Chief of staff to President Obama, former ambassador. This is somebody who's like sort of at the center of the Democratic apparatus in many ways.

[John Ashbrook]

He'd be our first Democrat.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And so we have invited him on the program. Cuz we want to have a discussion about some of this stuff. Maybe it is some kind of an impetus to get him in here. To quote him as saying, as commander in chief over his two terms, he has only deployed and put boots on the ground in American cities, never overseas. And just think about what that means as a country. Well, we've thought about it, Ben. We've thought about it. And that is like one of the pillars of America First.

[Comfortably Smug]

That sounds like America First.

[Josh Holmes]

That is one of the pillars of America First. It's so like, you know, love it or hate it, but that's what people voted for. They didn't put.

[Comfortably Smug]

I didn't vote for foreign wars. I voted for safety and like, thank you. Yeah, wonderful.

[Josh Holmes]

So, so. But that is something we would love to debate with him.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like that whole perspective is something that we would love to debate.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, that's a good point, Rahm. He is following through on his election.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So he's doing kind of what he said he's gonna do. And like, I understand, like you don't want boots on the ground in your cities, but like maybe don't lead the fricking continent and in murder. Yeah. And then elect complete savages for all across the dial up from Pritzker on down in places like Illinois that just perpetuate the problem and we wouldn't have to do stuff like this.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, like maybe that's worth discussion. So anyway, Rahm, open invitation still out there coming up is Trump cracks down on crime when one prominent Democrat is embracing a failed policy of decriminalizing violence. It rhymes with Shamdani. We're gonna tell you about it right after this.

[Comfortably Smug]

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[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so listen, there's a huge juxtaposition of what's happening on issue of crime in America. And it comes at a good time because there's a huge epidemic, epidemic of crime that's been happening years now.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Way too long in the, in the making. Somebody's addressing it. Somebody's not. Somebody has one idea on how to deal with it. Somebody's got the opposite idea. We're going to throw it open to you, the listener. Here's clip three on Donald Trump signing his executive order yesterday.

[Donald J. Trump]

One of the executive orders has to do with cashless bail. That was when the big crime in this country started. And I can tell you who did it when, but I don't want to do that because others followed pretty quickly. But that was when it happened. Somebody kills somebody, they go in, don't worry about it, no cash, come back in a couple of months, we'll give you a trial, you never see the person again. And I mean, they kill people and they get out cashless bail. They thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money because they just killed three people lying on a street, any street, all over the country. Cashless bail. We're ending it.

[Josh Holmes]

It's, it's one of the things that Trump does better than anything else is cut to the heart of the argument.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Like you can have an esoteric conversation about the criminal justice system or you can just tell the American people exactly what it is that the impact is and what the decision point is. The cashless bail part being one of them. It's obviously true.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes. Like this horrific left wing dark money pipeline of where you have these professors on the campus, they're all stoned and they come up with the idea, what a cashless bail. Because the problem isn't crime, it's racism and the system. It's racism that, you know, we're arresting these people and then it instantly goes into electing prosecutors. The source prosecutors who are like, I'm gonna do that stupid kooky idea of like, it's actually racism to charge bail. And, you know, just like Trump described, you can commit felonies in New York City. It was insane. It was insane. Where you're having people who multiple times a day were getting arrested for assault, would get processed, get back out, assault someone again, get processed and back. You had multiple felonies, cashless bail per day. Right back on the street. Enough is enough.

[Josh Holmes]

And another thing that Trump is absolutely right about is that there are many people across this country that have never been let in on this little secret. This has been happening in cities across this country for quite some time with Soros prosecutors that have been funded to the ill. But how it's reported out in terms of the information flow to the American people is very, very different. Clip 4 if you don't mind.

[Donald J. Trump]

Everybody before me is happy what I'm doing. Most of you won't say that because you're radical left. The newspapers are so dishonest. The press is totally dishonest. But that's all right. We've gotten used to it, and we wanted a landslide. So they obviously lost their power. I mean, it's impossible to imagine they're staying there, taking 97% negative stories, purposely negative stories, even though you've done 97% positive things. Many of you have been mugged in Washington. You just don't want to talk about it. And I know that every time I do this with you, you almost everything. But every time I do this with you, people are saying to yourselves, he's right, he's right. And then you write a negative story.

[Comfortably Smug]

Here's the thing. He is 100% right about that. And it grinds my gears so much when I see these journalists being like, oh, well, what? In D.C. and Georgetown, it's the safest place. Why do you have police here? I wish all the criminals would only target these dishonest journos, but they can't, because all the journos look broke and homeless. So, you know, you target. What are you gonna rob a journal for five bucks? Like, that's a horrible target.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, bag of chips, man.

[Comfortably Smug]

They have a bag of chips full of cash. These dishonest journals.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I mean, look, he's right in that. None of this. And it's amazing to watch, by the way. People who have been actual victims of crime in the journalism community try to pretend like this is somehow a bad thing and it's happening across the country. But you juxtapose that with what it is the Democrats are up to. And that's where this thing gets visceral, where you can see the makings of the argument of a midterm election. In many ways, the face of the Democratic Party, whether they like it or not, is Zoran Mamdani. It just is. He's the biggest city, the biggest Democratic.

[John Ashbrook]

State standard bearer right now.

[Josh Holmes]

The place where they all go to get funded. The place that has been sort of the incubator of Democratic thought along with Gavin Newsom's California. What's happening there? Well, they decided to go with Zoram Mamdani. So what is it that he's up To. He wants to end all misdemeanor charges. Hmm. An easy pass for criminals, according to the New York Post.

[Comfortably Smug]

Think about that.

[Josh Holmes]

And I wanna put up a couple of graphics just so you understand exactly what it is that he's talking about here. Can we put up graphic one, please? Graphic one. These are crimes that would be legalized by Bondani. Third degree assault, petty larceny.

[John Ashbrook]

Can I stop you on petty larceny? Because in New York, that has a specific definition. It's anything under $1,000. So if you are somebody who's looking to steal things and you want to steal something that's cost less than $1,000 under Zor and mom, Donnie free you. It's free.

[Josh Holmes]

That's not a crime.

[John Ashbrook]

They might as well put up a sign at the front of Foot Locker that says, walk to the back of the store and find shoes that fit your feet and walk out with them and don't pay. You know, like it is the worst nightmare to somebody because all these companies.

[Comfortably Smug]

Will tell their employees, don't stop them, because then that person's going to sue us. Yeah, they're going to be like, oh, I got assaulted by your employee.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, totally. If you do anything about it, you're the criminal. Third degree drug possession, dwi. Hilarious, by the way.

[John Ashbrook]

Forcible touching, of course. Oh, I thought Democrats want that.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, I. I thought this was the party of women. I thought this was. I thought this was a party that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Doesn'T even know what a woman is.

[Josh Holmes]

Always believe women.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, Democrats want that to go away.

[Josh Holmes]

Forcible touching, sexual misconduct, second degree. Sexual misconduct, second degree sexual abuse, third degree, ID theft. All those things according to the presumed.

[Comfortably Smug]

And also something I'm sure many people became aware of from the DC crime crackdown is they are encouraging prosecutors to bump down felony charges to misdemeanor.

[John Ashbrook]

This is a great point.

[Comfortably Smug]

So you could go. You could have a felony assault charge, gets bumped down to a misdemeanor, and Zorron's easy pass on crime. No, actually, nothing was done.

[Josh Holmes]

So just think about this from a.

[Comfortably Smug]

And so then the stats are like, oh, yeah, assaults are down.

[Josh Holmes]

This is gonna fall into our vegetable category here on the ruthless variety program. But just think about this in terms of a juxtaposition of two things in our body politic across this country right now. You can love Trump, you can hate Trump, you can think of any sort of variation. Vast majority of Americans, there are things they love, things they hate. But like, your opinions are kind of polarized in the era of Trump. But he's saying like, all right, we're gonna crack down on crime in a very serious way. If it takes National Guard to do it, we're just gonna do it. On the other hand, you have a standard bearer here in Mamdani who's saying, like, not only are we not gonna crack down on crime, we're actually gonna decriminalize crime when it comes to things like second degree sexual misconduct. Like, I don't know what constitutes a second degree right now. It doesn't seem good.

[John Ashbrook]

No, none of it's good, dude. None of it's good. And I, this is, for the life of me, I do not understand why Democrats are like, you know what? We're going to stick up for violent crime. That's our party's number one plank heading into the 2028 election. Violent crime right at the top of the platform. I don't know how they got to this point, but they are squarely there.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, it's because of the past decade of this whole left wing radical thought of saying, it's not crime, it's racism. You know, essentially they tried to divide and conquer this country. They tried to pit everyone against each other along demographic lines. And this victory for Donald Trump was the biggest repudiation of that ever. Where they're like, no, we have a record number of Latinos, we have a record number of black people voting for Trump. What have we done wrong? You've turned this country into chaos and you've turned everyone against each other.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's well said. Because if you think of the plan that they've had in place, well, it ain't good, but it's a long lasting. Like they've worked on this. So this is, I think when he was in the state legislature. Am I right about that?

[Comfortably Smug]

State assembly is his policy.

[Josh Holmes]

So, so he put together, Mamdani put together a policy paper, advice on dealing with criminals and if we could put up graphic too, this is the most amazing thing. So he's got a series of pieces of advice. Yeah, it's not like, hey, we're going to prosecute people who assault you. We're going to prosecute, we're going to hold people accountable, we're going to clean up the streets, we're going to do all those things that typically somebody would do if they're running for public office. He has a different set of goals in mind.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing is he has, he openly advocated and said he wants to defund the police and he believes in all that nonsense of like, we should have a community resource. Officers who aren't cops who just, like, will walk up to situate who you go call these people. If you're getting robbed or there's someone in your house with a gun, you call this person. They'll try to, like, defuse the situation and talk everyone down.

[Josh Holmes]

There's one that caught your eye in particular. Smuck.

[Comfortably Smug]

Graphic three, please. This is if. Are you encountering a conflict that appears to be escalating? This is like, if someone has pulled a gun or a knife on you, they say, distract, divert attention. Example. Spilling your soda, saying, hey, didn't I go to high school with you? So, like, that's a very helpful tip when you're at gunpoint about to get shot in the head is to, like, drop your soda and be like, oh, I'm such a goofball.

[Josh Holmes]

Folks, this is real. This is real. Like, we're not making this shit up. We're just reading what it is that they've already put up. Like, this is. They literally said, I can't wait to get the more of it. But it's. It's what they think the solution to crime. Spilling your soda. Spill your soda.

[John Ashbrook]

Just above that. The advice they give is name the behavior. Give the person causing harm the chance to correct their behavior. Say, no, stop. That's not okay. Use I or we when possible. Repeat the same statement until the person causing harm corrects their behavior or. Or exits. Example. Have a good day, bro.

[Comfortably Smug]

Even at gunpoint, they're like, use the right pronouns.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, are you.

[Comfortably Smug]

What is wrong with you people? First off, secondly, like, this is such a horrific reality that Democrats want for all of us to accept that America is a place where you are going to be a victim of crime. And you have to take it and to accept it and say that America is a broken country that deserves a world like, that deserves this reality that America's a racist country. And you have to accept that if you step outside of your house, you're gonna get robbed. And if you're getting robbed, to spill your soda and say, did I go to high school with you? There's actually a better way to fight crime. It's called sending the police. It's called send in the National Guard. It's to make it unacceptable. This is America. Don't bring in a Ugandan communist and be like, now we're going to be a Ugandan communist country. Get out of here. Incredible. I said it on Fox, but it is, to me, absolutely stunning, disgusting, and unacceptable for voters in New York. City on the 25th anniversary of 9 11. Do you want a mayor overseeing that? Who wants to globalize the Intifada? Is that what never forget means? Is you're gonna have that guy oversee that 25th anniversary memorial? Is that never forget?

[Josh Holmes]

It's unacceptable in today's Democratic Party. The answer is yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

Bingo.

[Josh Holmes]

They have forgotten. They have, and they're not interested. They're more interested in tearing down the fundamental pillars of, like, family values 100% and community values and a opportunity society and all of those things than they are actually, like, enforcing crime. I mean, this whole thing is hilarious if you look at it. Can you imagine a situation? You got your family, you're out to the theater, you're having a big night. You saved up all year for a chance to go out and go to a show, go to a big dinner, and some dude pulls a gun on you, and you whip out your laminated spreadsheet from Zoram Zord's tips, and you're like, hey, you're pulling a gun on me. Okay, well, that didn't work. Give this person a chance. You should not do that.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And then they're still asking for your wallet. You're like, stop. That's not okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Don't you understand? Sir, our mayor is from Uganda. You shouldn't accost me this way.

[Comfortably Smug]

Dude pistol whips your wife and steals her necklace, and you're like, did I go to high school with you? Yeah, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, but it's. Honestly, if. Look, this is. I'm not like, making news to any of you in the center of the country that are listening to this. Like, this is the most insane idea of dealing with a problem of all time. Like, you confront the problem and then you're super pissed at the fact that any of your tax dollars have not gone to trying to prevent you from encountering that problem.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Like.

[Josh Holmes]

Cause that's what you actually pay for is law enforcement in a city structure that keeps your family safe, that allows you to enjoy your lives. You work hard, you pay taxes. There's not much that you expect from it. A road to drive on. And I'm not gonna get fucking mugged on my way downtown to go do the following things. And if these guys are saying, like, you can't count on any of that shit.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

You need to talk your way out of it with some charming. Excuse me, sir. You're holding a firearm. That's illegal in this state.

[John Ashbrook]

I've thrown down my coffee.

[Comfortably Smug]

Because that. When you say that, like, how is it that dems have taken this is because they're all socialists now. They need a system. I mean Zoron, it's very clear they need a system where, oh, every drugstore you go to, anything under a thousand bucks is locked up because all misdemeanors are legal. Anything a thousand bucks, you can steal it. If you want groceries, you have to come to Zorin's grocery store. If you want food, if you want protection, you have to support this left wing government. If you don't, good luck, buddy.

[Josh Holmes]

Good luck to you. I mean, that's still one of the funniest things of all time that they came up with the formula for the natural grocery stores.

[Comfortably Smug]

It turns out the grocery stores is actually completely wrong.

[Josh Holmes]

They're like, well, we'll pay for it with an account here that's like, apparently it's a grocery account. We can just use that to like put it under city control. And they're like, well, no, actually the grocery stores, the private grocery stores are the one that pay into that account. So like it doesn't.

[Comfortably Smug]

That doesn't work.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean it's like basic rudimentary math that they haven't figured it out. But if you extrapolate it up out on all of their policies is exactly the same. Like nothing goes beyond step one. It is all the dumbest shit things that you've ever heard of in your life. But the National Democratic Party has gathered in Minneapolis that we let our show with is doing land acknowledgments in a different language that none of us understand. And like hand waving all of this.

[Comfortably Smug]

Through like that's the foundational thinking of their entire party is based off of a bunch of stoned college professors. And now they have to run with it. That's why they're in this pickle.

[Josh Holmes]

I will, I will acknowledge it's very funny that they're doing all this stuff in Minneapolis. Did you guys see the, you know the pirate? Yeah, the pirate?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, the Somali mayor candidate.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we talked about him a couple of weeks ago about the Somali pirate who was the Democratic nominee for mayor of Minneapolis. There was a thing last week where they rescinded their nomination. The Democratic nomination.

[Comfortably Smug]

I guess the election was stolen. We can legally. I guess they're allowed to say that.

[Josh Holmes]

There is nothing funnier than watching Democratic establishment figures in Minnesota. And they've got this guy Erlinson and like all these like total white bread guys were like, well, you know, integrity of elections is extremely important to us. And it turns out that 30% of the ballots that were registered on the first ballot weren't counted. And so therefore enough ambiguity exists that we're rescinding our nomination. And it's like, oh, oh, so elections can be contestants.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, yeah, Ms. Earl. Yeah. Democrats always find the ballots.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's interesting, isn't it? So anyway, the pirate is up against it. Up against it, but not his policies. Not his policies. They're alive and well, and Zoran Mamdani is gonna lead the biggest city in the world. I mean, it's just. It's incredible. So that brings us to our question of the day. And that question is, is Mamdani the future of the Democratic Party? Now, I understand there's an awful lot of people will be like, ah, like, look, it's New York. It's not representative of the whole country, is it?

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Is it? Because, you know, like, I would argue in many ways, there are Democrats that by omission don't tell you what it is that they're up to. And then there is somebody like Zoran Mandani and Bernie Sanders and AOC Jasmine Crockett, an awful lot of others who have all of the energy of the Democratic Party behind them, and they tell you exactly what it is that they want. And then you go to, you know, your purple state Democrat and you're like, well, we don't agree with all that. And they'll change the subject, right? They won't. Like, where are they on all that stuff? There's no, like, journal tracking them down. What do you think about the, like, decriminalizing crime? They'll be like, well, I think it's important to keep people safe. But, you know, what's really troubling is Donald Trump and. But that's what their answer is. So the question is, is Zoran Mamdani the New Democratic Party? I'd argue it is.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's such a good question. Such a good question.

[Josh Holmes]

I'd argue it is. But I'd be interested in your point of view because all of you live in places where. And look, we've worked in places where there are Democrats that would vehemently oppose what it is that we're talking about here. But, like, I don't know if everybody's let in on the joke, you know.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, I think seems like more of them are willing to take it than otherwise.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah, we'll see. So coming up, your comments from last week. Whereas, is Gavin Newsom's social media strategy going to work? We've seen even more over the weekend. Is it going to work. I don't know. He's just trying to emulate Trump in the hopes that people sort of gravitate towards it and because he can block out the sun by getting attention. We don't like to contribute to that, but we're interested in your thoughts because you're actually the smartest people on social media anywhere. And we'll get to all that right after this. Our nation is standing up for American workers, restoring the pride of making products here at home. That's what we do every day. We're America's beverage companies, making American products with American workers in America's hometowns, delivering brands that have been enjoyed for generations, creating good paying jobs, the kind that require only a strong work ethic because we believe in the promise of America and the people who make it great. Okay, so when you like and subscribe to the ruthless variety program, remember, you gotta do that. Just click like and subscribe. Do all your things. And when you do that, leave a comment for our question of the day or anything else that you want for that matter. We read all of them. Them, we summarize them, and we put them into the very next episode. The last one that we did on Friday, by the way. Banger.

[Comfortably Smug]

Great episode.

[Josh Holmes]

Banger on Friday. If you haven't seen it, you should go back and just for. If nothing else, like the Rhode Island Ag something else, you should go back and check that out.

[John Ashbrook]

More than you bargained for.

[Josh Holmes]

More than. More than they bargained for, for sure. But our question of the day was of Gavin Newsom's social media strategy and whether it was going to work to do that. We always start with a voice first.

[John Ashbrook]

Comment comes from darkness, and darkness writes, gavin's disgorging sitting performance will definitely push his limp candidacy upwards to the leader of the Democrat. They just can't help themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

I love that. Worked in one of the vocabulary words. We had a difficult time ascertaining a definition to on Friday. Disgorgement.

[Comfortably Smug]

I can't wait to read this one. This is a good one.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, what do we got?

[Comfortably Smug]

Smug comment two from Jan Bridges. Jan Wright says, I'm not certain Gavin's new podcast performances will help him win the presidency. I am, however, certain his hand motions and ladylike togetherness of his knees will get him a tryout as a Vikings cheerleader.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you son of a gun.

[Comfortably Smug]

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, man, Jan Bridges, she sure knows what she's saying.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

I've been getting absolutely crushed for weeks about this. I want to make myself Very clear. It's not my favorite and this is not. I have dealt with enough in my lifetime.

[Comfortably Smug]

Again, God bless your Mrs. For making your boys Eagles fans.

[Josh Holmes]

This is. It keeps getting where I get like, you see, I just. There's nothing. I get nothing but. But flack over this whole thing. I will say I'd rather host a gay orgy on the 50 yard line if I meant I went to the super bowl than anything else.

[Comfortably Smug]

Again, God bless your business for making those boys Eagles fans.

[John Ashbrook]

I say man, man loves his team, prioritizes the Vikings.

[Josh Holmes]

Just simply need to deliver some kind of a Super bowl championship in my lifetime. I'm starting to get desperate. So if it means that we have male cheerleaders, I don't care what they do on the field. If it means that I get home on that deal.

[John Ashbrook]

I think you speak for a lot of Vikings fans with the hopes of getting to the super bowl this year.

[Josh Holmes]

I just, I. I just need it and I'm willing to look past the whole cheerleader thing. I understand.

[John Ashbrook]

You've got to. What else are you going to do?

[Josh Holmes]

I've got to. I just.

[John Ashbrook]

I simply have pretend like it's not there.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so comment 3 comes from Lynn Gillis. Feel like those. That moment, by the way, is why we really miss the old man. He would have gone deep.

[John Ashbrook]

He would have got.

[Josh Holmes]

Gavin Newsom. Social media tantrum strategy will get him attention, but one look at his record should give anyone pause. California is a prime example of what happens under a single party run state. Highest tax rate, lowest opportunity rate in the country because of high costs of living. Gavin has run that state into the ground and yet he is trying to flex and act like he's a badass. He is beyond help. So this is where I think the rubber meets the road in just putting a boat on this whole thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Which is. I think you can make an argument that what he's doing is captivating Democrats and it's making him the center of the conversation in terms of opposition to President Trump. It's clearly. I mean, we're talking about it. Right. For crying out loud. And that may help in a Democratic primary, may even win him the Democratic primary. But there is no, there's no oppo, there's no liability, there's no social media strategy that can fundamentally correct his governance of that state.

[John Ashbrook]

You are making the exact right point here because this guy can sell as many hats as he wants. It definitely gets journo attention. But what we've learned over the last 10 years is there is a gigantic, gigantic gulf between what journalists care about and what voters care about. And voters do not want their states to turn into a degenerate, crime ridden place like California is. And they will do anything to beat this guy in a general. And I firmly believe that, like he can pretend to sell these fake hats and everything like that, but the voters know that he's trying to ruin their states the same way he ruined California. They don't want, the people don't want poop on the street of Kansas City. You know, they're gonna vote for somebody who's more like Trump, not a favorite.

[Josh Holmes]

You can't run away from that. You can't run away from that. Highest energy prices, highest cost of living.

[Comfortably Smug]

Number one unemployment, number one homelessness, number.

[Josh Holmes]

One homelessness, number one unemployment. 200,000 people leaving it every year. It's an uninhabitable place unless you have $15 million in the bank where you can isolate yourself from the day to day living that he is creating. It is literally the worst.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, that's my theory is I think he's doing all this to try to get attention, namely from conservatives who he's using to essentially boost his social media posts by trying to get conservatives to reply to him, get the algorithm to push his tweets out in front of more people. He's trying to do it to get their goat so that right now it's the attention economy. He's trying to box out anyone else. He's trying to make himself the number one opponent.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I think he's doing a good job.

[Comfortably Smug]

And that's the thing is like a month ago, Kamala Harris nationally was polling higher than Gavin Newsom. Now it's flipped.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I think. No, look, I think it's work. The question is, if the guy works his way to the Democratic nomination, is that a bad thing for us? I don't know.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't know that it is.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know that it is because this record's still there. Like, there's going to be a. I don't care who the Republican nominee would be in 28. Like, it's not hard to run against the way this guy has governed California. Easy contrast. I don't know. We'll see. Great comments, as always. Like, and subscribe. Put them in there and we read them all. You ready for a little lightning round?

[Comfortably Smug]

Always.

[Josh Holmes]

This one caught our eye. I think Wolf actually flagged this one first happened right in the backyard of many of US in Arlington, Virginia. Dem supporter had an interesting sign Graphic 5 please.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, boy.

[Comfortably Smug]

The sign reads, hey, winsome, if trans can't share your bathroom, then blacks can't share my water fountain, man.

[John Ashbrook]

The lips show their true colors.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's like, just drops that of being like, what a hero. I've done it, folks. I've solved.

[John Ashbrook]

But I.

[Josh Holmes]

She's like, come back on that one, dude.

[Comfortably Smug]

The best is like, I saw a video of, like, I think it was the head of the Arlington Democrats. Later on, like a journal got video of this happening where he walks up to her, he whispers. He's like, that sign's getting a lot of attention. She's like, what? He's like, that part about, oh, yeah, I saw this negative attention. And she's just like, we got that.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, that's getting a lot of play. Negative.

[Comfortably Smug]

And she shrugs. I don't care.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, no. The best part is, he had to clarify. Negative. Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's like, wait, they're not standing and clapping for me.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, negative.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's like, I don't care. I don't care.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like you have a sign that suggests a pre segregation America. And he's like, no, it's negative. People say it's negative.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's a boomer lib. She's like, no, I could never be wrong. I don't care.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't care.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude. It's just so good. So that blew up all over the place, of course. A very important governor's election in Virginia that's coming up in November. It's the off year elections. People try to extrapolate too much into what that all means. I mean, look, Virginia's a pretty blue state at this point, but that gives you an indication of what you're dealing with.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, it totally does. And, you know, I think it also validates something that Smug has said for years that at the base level, libs want power. They don't care who they run over in the process. They don't care if they run over equality in our society. They actually don't care about equality. They never have cared about it. They want power, and they will stop at nothing to get it. And I think this proves it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, just imagine what that sign would read if they had an African American candidate instead of the Republicans. Yeah, it would be. It would be like kind of a flip flop.

[Comfortably Smug]

And the reason that the whole, like, trans bathroom thing is because there was a case of, I mean, this horrific looking dude, it's like bald dude with some, like, long hair in the back who had exposed himself to girls in the Girls bathroom multiple times. Multiple times. He's gotten arrested twice identifying as a woman.

[Josh Holmes]

How do you do that more than once without going to the bridge?

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm surprised he's not their nominee. The Dems are like, no, I'm willing to go back to Jim Crow for this guy to be allowed to keep doing that. It's the funniest part.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

This boomer lady's ready to go to war.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. She's like, bring back slavery. You know, it's just right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Tix expose himself. No water fountains. She's like, I will fight on that.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just, again, the insanity. We keep coming back to this top to bottom. We start with land. Acknowledgments. We're now dealing with somebody who's embracing pre Jim Crow America in order to advocate on behalf of the Democratic Party. It's completely insane. So, anyway, the graphic six. This is something else here. Virginia Democratic Party vice chair Mark Brocloski blames the racist sign on Winsome Sears.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, yeah. No, it was her fault.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. What happened in Arlington wasn't just about a meeting. It was about the climate. Winsome Sears is creating one where contempt is currency and neighbors are turned against each other.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, yeah. Of course it's her fault.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Because people who show up.

[Comfortably Smug]

Incredible. Take.

[John Ashbrook]

They tried to drink out of that water fountain. We told her, no, we want trans at that water fountain.

[Josh Holmes]

Only they made her. Look what you made me do.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

That is the ultimate look what you made me do from Democrats.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, I didn't want to be racist, but by God, you're going to make me do it.

[Comfortably Smug]

You've created the climate to make me do it. You've created the climate.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God, it's incredible. So Winsome Sears comes back and she says that Abigail Spamberger's Democratic Party is blaming me for the racist sign her own volunteer made. I know Abigail and her elitist cabal are desperate and deluded, but this is a whole new level of crazy. She's absolutely right about that. It's just. It's. You see this in Time After Time, where you have a new Republican Party that threatens the establishment of the Democrats.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Where it. Whether it's a Hispanic in South Texas or an African American in Virginia, they don't know how to handle it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Nope.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. So they have to call them. Call them, like, horribly racist names. Like an Uncle Tom, which. Which was like, what? That was like spit out like a PEZ dispenser every time you had an African American candidate in A lot of these places, cases or something like this. The Hispanic community, multi generational Hispanic community in South Texas have been dealing with this for like four or five election cycles where it's like, oh, you're selling us all. Meanwhile, the Hispanic community is like, what the hell are you talking about?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right, right. You no longer lower taxes and less crime.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

What are you even talking about?

[Josh Holmes]

It'd be great if we could talk about like actually putting people in jail. Would try to steal my car out of my driveway.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, it's just, it's. It's unbelievable. On that same score, they're still at it with this Abrego Garcia guy.

[John Ashbrook]

Of course they are. They'll never stop.

[Josh Holmes]

So Abreco Garcia, there was a bunch of fanfare out of the progressive left because he was. I don't know how he was Dem.

[Comfortably Smug]

Senators were going down to have margaritas with this guy. He's an illegal. And there's video of him trafficking people in this country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. But they were like, okay, well, we're back to celebrating this dude. He'd left the headlines. Recall, this is the guy who was deported to El Salvador because he was an illegal immigrant who was an alleged human trafficker who had alleged gang ties that the Trump administration is very forward leaning on. By the way, they're very descriptive on this. So they're not. They're not confused at all about the guy that they've got here. But recall, you had Van Hollen, Senator Van Hollen from Maryland. This guy was domiciled in. In Maryland who went down to El Salvador and had a margarita with the cat.

[John Ashbrook]

Of course he did. Van Holland's like the weakest guy in the entire Senate. Softest hands.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, so it's just like, just very soft hands. Soft hands. Like just a doughy. Yeah, just a doughy character.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Anyway, he's being processed for deportation to Uganda.

[Comfortably Smug]

Now he's gonna wish he stayed in El Salvador.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't know, dude. I think he might come back and run for mayor of New York.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it seems like a good platform.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, exactly. This is. That's the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, that's a good dude. That might be the road to the nomination as a Dem is you commit some crimes, you go to Uganda, then from Uganda, you go to New York. Like that's the demons pipeline for their elected. Yeah, not a bad idea.

[Josh Holmes]

But this is my favorite part about this because this just remains within the mainstream media. This is CBS News that has written this thing up. They say are Brago Garcia, native of El Salvador, which is where he was shipped and he was not. Nobody's arguing whether or not he was an American citizen. Like literally nobody. Democrats have not.

[Comfortably Smug]

They stopped trying to play that.

[Josh Holmes]

They do not.

[Comfortably Smug]

Maryland man.

[Josh Holmes]

Maryland man. They do not argue that he was an American citizen. Cuz he is not by any definition was mistakenly, this is according to cbs, mistakenly deported to his home country in March and held a notorious Salvadorian prison for months before being returned to the US In June. Before he was jailed on federal human smuggling charges, a judge ruled that he should be released from detention ahead of the trial set in January. So this is what they were applauding, that he was out awaiting a trial on human fucking smuggling. Right. So it's like of course. Fanfare ensues. Abrego Garcia was freed from a pre child detention last Friday. CBS News reported Saturday that his attorneys were then sent a court required notice of his potential deportation to Uganda. He arrived at the ICE facility on Monday morning to check in, speaking Spanish to supporters who had gathered in a show of support outside the facility. Supporters?

[Comfortably Smug]

You got to support the human trafficker.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's definitely not a Soros fund organization.

[Comfortably Smug]

Seriously. I'm sure it was the how obvious.

[Josh Holmes]

It was the trafficked that showed up to wish him well. The US District Court of Maryland soon issued an order preventing the government from immediately removing Abrego Garcia from the US or altering his legal status, meaning his deportation is on hold for now. The order will remain in effect until 4pm Wednesday unless Judge Paula Cenis starts with an X. I think that's how you pronounce it. Who is assigned to the case extends it. The court has issued a standing order in all cases involving migrant detainees challenging their legality of their detentions in recent months, a move that the Justice Department is challenging as unlawful. So like here's the deal, they continue to do it. Again, follow the thread from the beginning of the show to the end. We start with land. Acknowledgments. Crime is good. Now we're like back to Abrego.

[Comfortably Smug]

Human trafficking is good.

[Josh Holmes]

Human trafficking is acceptable as long as it's somebody that the Trump administration is trying to deport. Like granted, this man. They didn't throw out the case. They didn't say that he's innocent of human trafficking. Nobody's claiming that he's an American citizen. Everybody's just sort of like, yes, we like Abrego Garcia on the Democratic side because he was deported. And they still say wrongfully, by the way, in CBS News, without quotes.

[John Ashbrook]

And now they're Sending him to a country that the wealthiest people in Brooklyn celebrate. Uganda.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Their favorite country. The country of their new mayor.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just something else, man. You can't get enough of it.

[Comfortably Smug]

So I have an idea just struck me real quick, Chris. You know, I know you have a lot to deal with with all of these like left wing radical judges. And it's expensive having to fight all these court cases. The Uganda Games, right? Where what you do is you get these illegals and you like the plane, like the C140 that's full of them. The door goes down, you push all the illegals out and they've got cameras following. Like what happens? Like you also.

[Josh Holmes]

Reality show.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, yeah. You guys are like in Hunger Games how it's like the like bang goes off, everyone runs to the middle and there's weapons there. And then they all start just like hammering each other and shit like that. Do that in Uganda, the Uganda Games. Because there's like no laws in Uganda. We all know this.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't think, Yeah, I don't think it's going to work out.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like there's some facility that you're transferred to now you've begun your life in Uganda. There's no rules. Rules, bro. It's like a PvP zone. So let's just televise that pay per view. I'll pay top dollar to see that.

[Josh Holmes]

I do want to know if Uganda is like aware of this.

[Comfortably Smug]

There is no law in Uganda.

[Josh Holmes]

Like if Uganda's like, wait, what? Like we're getting the deportation.

[Comfortably Smug]

Everyone knows It's a PvP zone, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Guys, like full anything 13 and. Yeah, like allegedly.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, that's the thing is it's kind of like, you know those like juice to the enhanced games. This is kind of like the enhanced games. It's like now we got representing Ms. 13, drago garcia. His rap sheet, he's like a 15 time human trafficker. Drop him off the plane. How long is he gonna last? I wanna see that.

[Josh Holmes]

We can get Ashbrook to do the announcing.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, we could do that.

[Comfortably Smug]

This would work. Great idea.

[Josh Holmes]

Can you give me a little Abrego Garcia? Give me a little, just a little something.

[John Ashbrook]

Abrego Garcia, 15 time human trafficker right here in Uganda. Let's see if he can keep it up, folks. He's got a record to stand for.

[Josh Holmes]

I, I like, I like the idea of maybe a little Jimmy Lennon Jr. In that.

[John Ashbrook]

Kill my.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, just a little flair to it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Anyway, that's it. We've got another one on Journos by the way. And I felt like, given the heat and our audience has been treated to like just a special kind of heat that you've been giving journos lately.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, they've been very deserving of it.

[Josh Holmes]

This is a story that didn't miss us. New York Post U.S. journalists survived on own urine and popped blister to drink blood after falling down a cliff on a solo hike. My left foot was just flopping around. He said, let me read the first graph. And I want smug to take this climate journalist.

[Comfortably Smug]

There it is. Yeah, he deserved it.

[Josh Holmes]

Climate journalist Alec Loon survived six harrowing days stranded in Norway's wilderness with a broken leg by drinking his own urine, eating grass and moss and even popping a blister to drink his own blood.

[Comfortably Smug]

So on my Friday take, when I said that journals are like boll weevils, they're like locust people that, like, they will eat anything that's put in front of them. Right off the bat, I am like, there it is, there's the proof, people. They're disgusting. They're subhumans. They're not, they're not people. Like, listen to what this guy did.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's very difficult to starve a journal, let's just put it that way.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's a great take, right? It's extremely difficult to start a journal.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, they're not going to go out.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're locust people. They'll eat anything if it's free. If it's free, they will eat anything.

[Josh Holmes]

What do you think about the popping blister? I mean, this situation.

[Comfortably Smug]

But like, you know, if there were ever a person who deserved it, it's a climate journal. These are criminals. These are criminals, these people.

[John Ashbrook]

Why was he in the forest in Norway?

[Josh Holmes]

Climate reporting.

[John Ashbrook]

Climate reporting.

[Josh Holmes]

It was climate reporting.

[John Ashbrook]

It's cold in the winter. Yep, that's what he was trying to prove.

[Comfortably Smug]

100%.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Warm in the summer out there. Climate reporting, you know, insanity.

[Josh Holmes]

Clip 5 We've Got Mom Donnie. You guys have seen this before, but we gotta wait. You gotta hear the fellows talk about this is mom Donnie. He thinks that he can bench press, right? And it is very much a mystery to us. I mean, you take one look at this guy, you know, he's not going to be able to bench press anything, but he decides to go out in front of a crowd of people and try to do two reps of 135 pounds. It doesn't go well. Clip five, please.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, let's go, let's go, let's Go. Let's go, let's go.

[Donald J. Trump]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, this guy's just lifting the bar. Let me get three. Let me get.

[Comfortably Smug]

Dude.

[Josh Holmes]

That.

[John Ashbrook]

It's incredible. I mean, it's exactly like the spotter did all of the lifting. And nothing is a perfect metaphor for Mamdani Communism quite like that. That somebody else does the work, and mom Donnie takes the credit.

[Comfortably Smug]

There it is. That's the take.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so good. It's just perfect. All right, so ESPN boys, this outfit, you know, they're trying to do everything they can to sort of correct the direction that they were headed over the last couple of years. Remember the Jamel Hill. And, like, they just basically perverted everything that they'd done as being the worldwide leader in sports.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's the worst network on television, but.

[Josh Holmes]

They still can't totally shake it, Right? So this is according to Al Kick. ESPN deletes graphic promoting WNBA players Monica McNutt over Scotty Scheffler after Outkick post. Here's that headline. Doesn't actually do this justice. So what this was was a. A promotional graphic that was to promote its newly launched direct to consumer service. And it highlighted icons featured in the app. Right. All the Ika sports icons.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the quote. It says all the icons, all the moments, all espn, all in one place.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So what they did is put up the following graphic. Okay, so you're probably not. Even if you're not on YouTube, we're gonna explain this to you, because if you are on YouTube, you can see it. The bottom line is these are the icons that ESPN has put on. All the icons.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. To them, this is sports.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a collage of faces of supposedly recognizable sports figures who are supposed to be, like, the faces of sports today. It includes 11 WNBA players, 10, but only 10 NFL players, and five college football players.

[Comfortably Smug]

No Scotty Scheffler either.

[Josh Holmes]

Icons of sports. There's no Tiger woods on there. There's. I mean, and. And, like, I was confused because I was trying to figure out. I was like, all right, icons. Is this, like, are we talking about generationally icon? Like, it was Tom Brady or whatever? And then it looks like, okay, they're trying to be, like, contemporary with it, right? So it's not like retired athletes or whatever. So you're like, well, clearly, like Scottie Scheffler.

[Comfortably Smug]

And they even had Monica McNutt on there as iconic. And she's the lady who a week ago couldn't recognize a Barry Sanders jersey.

[John Ashbrook]

Are you kidding?

[Comfortably Smug]

Dead serious. She's up there, she's up there. But, dude, I mean, you look at.

[Josh Holmes]

This thing, it's just like.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing. ESPN is failing for a reason, is because they're trying to push the WNBA in front of what people are actually paying for. Let's be honest. Everyone's just paying for, like, NFL access. And the bastards ran off with NFL Red Zone. I'll never forgive them for that shit.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they're working on Major League Baseball, too. I mean, the thing is, is I understand how they're trying to resurrect their brand, and then they go ahead and do something like this, and it's like, dude, nowhere in America other than somebody who covers the WNBA or plays in the WNBA knows the names of 11 WNBA players. Nobody, right? And I'm not being hyperbolic. I'm not trying to.

[Comfortably Smug]

What's his name, that comedian at the ESPY Awards?

[Josh Holmes]

Shane Gillis.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Shane Gillis is like, yeah, I want to give a shout out to my friend's buddy. He's married to a WNB player. Everyone please applaud. They all applauded for her. And he was like, she's not a WNB player, dude. Like, what are you talking about? No one here knows WNB player. No one outside of, like, three journalists who write about the WNBA know anyone in the wnba.

[Josh Holmes]

They should have had a green dildo in there, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

That's a sports icon.

[Josh Holmes]

That would have been much more iconic in many ways.

[Comfortably Smug]

The one WNBA icon.

[Josh Holmes]

So. So Wolf set something up in what he calls cold variety. And he does this occasionally. If something. He just wants her. Reaction to what I've ferreted out is that this is a clip that I have watched 300 times over the last 48 hours and sent it to basically everyone that I have in my Rolodex because I cannot stop. It is a theatrical play. This is something. It's one of my favorite clips that I've seen in a long time. It is set in a Little League game where an umpire is going to experience a very unfortunate set of circumstances. Can we play the clip six, please? So the first. First for our audio only, he takes a. A foul tip to the balls. Foul tip number two to the balls.

[Comfortably Smug]

And here's a fat dude. He's like, are you okay, dude?

[Josh Holmes]

Pitch number three.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's now healed over.

[John Ashbrook]

He's in the fetal position.

[Comfortably Smug]

Here comes a fat dude. Here comes a fat coach. This. This umbrellier is gonna die on that field, and no one cares except for the fat dude that like, cry of Pain on the third one where he's like, please, God, now help me.

[John Ashbrook]

Just the most unlucky guy on the planet.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, I just. Look, you couldn't create. This is. This is worthy of a Broadway play. This is. Can we just play it one more time? I want to do, like. Everybody has to see this thing twice. It's not enough to know that a guy got hit in the balls three times. I think, like, the terrorism in which this guy experiences. Oh. So first one of the shot, and then. And then this is my favorite in many ways, because second shot to the balls. Do you hear the parents in the background? Way to stay alive, Ryan. Yeah, they're not concerned in the least. Stay alive, Ryan.

[Comfortably Smug]

Stay alive.

[Josh Holmes]

Third one, and then you get the collective sigh, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

He has to keel over. He feels it in the kidneys, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

Way to stay alive, Ryan. The guy's getting 50 bucks to stand out there on a Saturday morning.

[Josh Holmes]

He's doing this as a community.

[Comfortably Smug]

It is, dude. And the ankle. He's crossed the ankles, bro. He feels it in the kidneys. That shit's detached, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude. It took the third nutshot for the crowd to acknowledge.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, like, goes down.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, Jesus, he's down.

[Josh Holmes]

This poor guy. This poor bastard.

[Comfortably Smug]

Everyone in the audience is okay with watching him die.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, keep it alive, Ryan. Keep it alive. The second one way, stay alive, Ryan.

[Comfortably Smug]

And they're like.

[Josh Holmes]

The coach is like, hey, is he all right? All right.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's a play sport.

[Josh Holmes]

They're good.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're sacrificing that umpire. That's. That's a great, great point.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man.

[Comfortably Smug]

Way to stay alive.

[Josh Holmes]

Right? Let's get the third one one more time. This is. This is where you hear the crowd.

[John Ashbrook]

Here's the thing. It looks like he's not wearing chest protection or a cup, which usually hangs. Hangs down.

[Comfortably Smug]

It usually hangs down, but adds a.

[John Ashbrook]

Little bit of extra padding for the cup.

[Josh Holmes]

Is it.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, poor guy. Maybe he left it in his car. He was rushing to the field to get there on time for the first pitch.

[Josh Holmes]

He takes three foul balls to the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Gentleman in one little League game. The foulest of ball.

[John Ashbrook]

He's like, nothing's ever happened before. I don't need the chest protection. I'm gonna get there on time.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, poor bastard. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that as much as we did. Thoughts and prayers.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Honestly, for that. That gentleman, who I'm sure has still got some icy hot that he's working around the old ball and chain. Anyway, that's what we were doing. Remember, our question of the day is, Mom, Donnie, the future of the Democratic Party? When you like and subscribe, subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program. Read all of your stuff, and you put some great stuff in there. We summarize it, and we give it back to you on Thursday. In this case, with that, fellas, I think we did it.

[Comfortably Smug]

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