This is Why Democrats Want to Shut Down the Government

Summary

Ruthless Podcast

Episode: This is Why Democrats Want to Shut Down the Government

Date: September 30, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Special Guest: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith

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Overview

In this episode, the Ruthless crew dives into the looming government shutdown in Washington, arguing that Democrats are strategically encouraging it for political reasons. The fellas dissect recent events, political posturing, and the continuing resolution (CR) debacle, blending sharp conservative critiques with their signature humor and irreverence. The show features a substantive interview with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a "workhorse" Republican from Mississippi, who shares inside perspectives from the Senate and personal anecdotes. The episode also includes colorful takes on sports heartbreaks, viral internet oddities, and listener interactions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Government Shutdown: Framing the Democratic Motive

• Chris Murphy’s Rhetoric and Democratic Framing

  • Democrats are depicted as framing the CR extension—in effect, a simple date change to Biden’s funding bill—as a moral emergency ("the end of democracy") [05:27].
  • The hosts argue that the Democrats’ reasoning for opposing the extension is not based on policy but animus towards the Trump administration now in power.
  • Quote:

    "Why would I co sign keeping the government open for an election that we lost?"
    —Josh Holmes [00:00, 10:00], paraphrasing Democrat arguments.

• Schumer’s Predicament

  • Schumer is described as unable to control his left flank—his “political life” depends on appeasing progressives [02:34, 52:28].
  • The panel calls the Democrats’ demands “unreasonable,” especially given their minority status ("triple minority") [53:05].

• Republican Viewpoint: ‘Government by Activism’

  • The hosts criticize Democrats for blurring the lines between activism and governance, arguing Dem leaders ramp up base rhetoric but don’t offer practical solutions [25:10].
  • They highlight the irony of Democrats threatening shutdown over issues they themselves created or supported (Obamacare, spending levels) [12:33].

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2. “Shutting Down Over Nothing”: The Continuing Resolution Debate

• The CR Explained

  • Holmes clarifies that the CR is about maintaining current funding levels—a non-controversial move, not a policy overhaul [05:27].
  • Democrats, led by figures like Chris Murphy and AOC, reject the CR over demands tied to their agenda, despite now being in the minority [05:27, 24:50].

• Policy & Messaging Hypocrisy

  • Hosts mock Democrats for labeling things like PBS funding as essential to “democracy” [06:16], and for complaining about the unaffordability of healthcare after championing the Affordable Care Act [06:28].
    • Quote:

      "It's the end of democracy if we don't fund pbs."
      —John Ashbrook [06:16]

  • Michael Duncan argues Dems want "socialized healthcare" and have always sought to bloat the bureaucracy [06:55].
  • Hosts lampoon Democrats’ doom-and-gloom messaging around a shutdown, juxtaposing it with their willingness to force one for partisan reasons [16:18].

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3. Media and Outside Influence

• Amplification and Soros Funding
  • The role of Capitol Hill reporters and liberal groups like Indivisible (funded by George Soros) in pushing the shutdown narrative is highlighted [16:41].
    • Quote:

      "George Soros is funding an organization to shut our government down and Democrats are saying sign me up."
      —Unidentified Commentator [16:49]

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4. The Trump 2.0 Approach

• Deal-Making and Hardball
  • Trump’s new administration is depicted as more focused and hard-edged, less likely to make unnecessary concessions [24:24].
  • Russ Vought, OMB Director, is said to be preparing for real staff reductions if the shutdown proceeds, using the situation to advance Republican priorities [19:49].
    • Quote:

      "Ross Vaught is not to be trifled with. He is known on following through on promises, and he gets the job done."
      —Michael Duncan [22:31]

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5. Political Theater & Democratic “Theater Kids”

• Base Politics Over Governance
  • Panel repeatedly frames Democrats as dominated by “radical lunatics” and “theater kids” who value activist posturing over practical governance [26:39, 74:18].
  • Example of Chicago teachers’ union mourning Assata Shakur highlights the panel’s view of Dems’ radicalism [26:08].
    • Quote:

      "The party is completely broken."
      —Michael Duncan [26:42]

  • Host skepticism about prominent Senate Democrats’ seriousness, with recurring jokes about Cory Booker making grandstanding speeches [27:05].

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6. Listener Engagement & Variety Segments

• Question of the Day:

  • Predicting the shutdown's duration/outcome. Majority view: Democrats will “cave” [28:43].
    • Quote:

      “I think it has to be an abject cave from the Democrats, cuz I just don't understand how Republicans could play a losing hand here.”
      —Josh Holmes [28:43]

• Listener Comments:

  • Satirical takes on Democratic leadership (e.g., "three David Hoggs in a trench coat," "old leadership are the Muppet guys, new leadership is Bert and Ernie/Stewie from Family Guy") [31:02].
  • Panel responds in good humor, riffing on the state of Dem leadership [31:12, 31:46].

• Odd News and Internet Viral Clips:

  • Viral KFC recipe "leak" from Colonel Sanders’ descendant, lambasting KFC’s marketing [39:12–42:12].
  • Clip of anti-ICE protester accidentally driving her car into a lake, used to ridicule activist tactics [36:12–38:05].

• Sports Heartbreak:

  • Extended segment bemoaning recent “bad beats” in sports—Penn State, Minnesota Vikings, Ryder Cup—using them as an allegory for losing streaks and disappointment [43:00–49:49].

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Interview Segment: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (00:12–01:22)

Inside the Senate: Shutdown, Democratic Strategy, & Mississippi

• Senate Culture & Democrat Strategy

  • Chatter and uncertainty about the White House and Schumer’s motives; Dems "over a barrel" but emboldened by base [51:57, 55:13].
  • Hyde-Smith marvels at Democrats’ private normalcy and public radicalism, calling it "just insanity" [53:29–53:56].
    • Quote:

      "They come in and then it is just insanity."
      —Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith [53:29]

• On Obamacare and Medicaid

  • Senator notes high Medicaid rates in Mississippi and willingness to discuss healthcare, but calls shutdown over a CR “ludicrous” [56:16].

• Security & Political Climate

  • Shares personal security concerns—automatic weapon shells found at her driveway, targeted for pro-life work—a sign of rising political hostility [56:49–57:51].

• Trump Relationship

  • Details her path to the Senate and unique, trusted relationship with President Trump; recounts stories of 5am calls, deep policy involvement [61:58–62:34].

• Tariffs, Trade, and Agricultural Policy

  • Argues that Trump’s tough stance will eventually benefit American farmers, even if current input costs and market pain are high [67:34–69:45].
  • Stresses direct communication with cabinet members, ongoing advocacy for local businesses and agriculture [72:18].

• 2025 Re-election Race

  • Details opponent’s strange, Soros-backed campaign, complete with “creepy bedtime video”; notes national Democratic money and attention—suggesting out-of-touch, performative opposition [72:47–74:36].
    • Quote:

      "We have a guy that's backed by George Soros... he says, good night. This is his announcement day."
      —Sen. Hyde-Smith [73:04, 74:02]

• Personal Insights

  • Would have become a developer or small business entrepreneur if not in politics [78:14].
  • Motivated by both thrill of victory and agony of defeat, with a special drive to prove doubters wrong [80:50].
    • Quote:

      "Of course, you love accomplishments. And when somebody looks at me and says, oh, this can't be done, I'm the one that'll say, oh, yeah, we're going to get it done."
      —Sen. Hyde-Smith [81:03]

  • Favorite last meal: Thin-fried catfish from Man Shack, Louisiana, and a Barq’s root beer [77:23].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On shutdown’s true motivation:

  "If you listen to them talk, it all translates to, we don't like Donald Trump, therefore we're shutting the government down."
  —Unidentified Commentator [24:50]

• On Democratic rhetoric:

  "Democrats have always been about government control of everything."
  —Josh Holmes [11:58]

• On performative politics:

  "They're all theater kids... There's nothing genuine about them."
  —Unidentified Commentator [74:18]

• On sports heartbreak:

  "It's not enough to just lose—it’s that they have to come all the way back... in order to break your heart."
  —Josh Holmes [45:47]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–02:34 | Opening discussion: Dems’ motives for shutdown | | 04:53–06:55 | Chris Murphy’s remarks, Democratic messaging dissected | | 07:27–12:33| Health care debate & Republican counter-arguments | | 16:41–17:00| Soros-funded activism behind shutdown | | 19:49–22:43| Russ Vought’s OMB "hardball" and personnel layoff talk | | 24:50–28:24| Dems’ lack of message; governance vs. activism | | 31:02–32:58| Satirical listener comments on Democratic leadership | | 36:12–38:05| Anti-ICE protester viral moment ridiculed | | 39:12–42:12| KFC recipe leak segment | | 43:00–49:49| Sports heartbreak and losing streaks | | 51:22–82:53| Interview: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith | | 77:23–78:51| Hyde-Smith’s “last meal” and career reflections |

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Episode Tone and Style

Witty, irreverent, and combative—maintaining “variety progrum” energy with frequent in-jokes, listener engagement, and a blend of sarcasm and industry insight. The hosts are unapologetically partisan, lampooning Democrats as unserious and out-of-touch, but balance critique with "yucks," pop culture references, and [sometimes dark] sports analogies.

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Summary

This episode of Ruthless provides a comprehensive (and often comedic) conservative critique of the 2025 government shutdown drama. With sharp attacks on Democratic strategy, media narratives, and left-wing activist influence, the hosts position Republicans as practical and outcome-oriented, in contrast with the performative, base-driven Democratic Party. The interview with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith adds a valuable insider’s perspective—highlighting both the seriousness and the absurdity of D.C. politics, and reinforcing the panel’s recurring themes: the importance of authenticity, pragmatism, and not losing sight of “why you’re there in the first place.”

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

But if you listen to him, it's why would I co sign keeping the government open for an election that we lost.

[Michael Duncan]

That's. Dude, straight up. That is what he said.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what it is.

[John Ashbrook]

At his heart is a dealmaker.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[John Ashbrook]

And Trump 2.0 is playing hardball. And I'm here for it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I'm here for it.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

We are talking about changing the date on a document that was passed when Joe Biden was President of the United States. Smug. Said it himself. We control the Senate, we control the House. Trump won the popular vote, he won the electoral College. And here you have Republicans in charge of every lever of government saying, you know what, Democrats, we're going to take what Joe Biden himself signed into law and just change the date. And they're like not good enough.

[John Ashbrook]

Our nation is standing up for American workers, restoring the pride of making products here at home. That's what we do every day.

[Josh Holmes]

We're America's beverage companies, making American products.

[John Ashbrook]

With American workers in America's hometowns, delivering brands that have been enjoyed for generations.

[Josh Holmes]

Creating good paying jobs, the kind that require only a strong work ethic.

[John Ashbrook]

Because we believe in the promise of America and the people who make it great.

[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Michael Duncan]

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

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the ruthless Friday Alrighty program. A lot going on in Washington this week. I am Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left to right across your radio dial. As always, you may or may not have heard, but the single dumbest component of Washington, D.C. has descended upon us this week and that they're going to shut the government down. Now, there's always a big debate about who's going to shut the government down. Is it a Republican or is it a Democrat? In this case, I think it's pretty clear cut. We're going to show you some clips and have some yucks. It turns out that if you followed the show regularly, we talked about this last June with the Majority leader John Thune, who discussed exactly what was going to happen. That Chuck Schumer doesn't have the political wherewithal internally, both as majority leader and maybe even as a United States senator to try to withstand any pressure from the left. So here we go, fellas. Good shutdown to you.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, well, I think you pointed out something really great is it speaks to where Schumer is as a result of a lack of leadership, as a result of not being able to Rein in the far left. But there is really no far left. It's just a bunch of loonies that control the party that is now just a lunatic party. And Schumer's getting bullied by him. That's what's happened.

[Josh Holmes]

It is a lunatic party. There's no question about it. I wanna jump right into the clips. We got some fun, some yucks here. We also have some variety that you're gonna love. I know there's a lot of stuff happening with Israel and everything else, but, like, this is the thing that everybody's gonna be talking about, like for the next three days. So we might as well just get right into it so you know the news before the news happens. Yeah, I think we should start with the way the Democrats have framed this whole thing up. Now. Recall the. Back in March there was a cr. A continuing resolution. All that means is that you change the date on the current funding levels for the government of the United States. This is not a particularly controversial thing, but the left wing went absolutely crazy and said, like, no, we can't do business with Donald Trump. And like, Schumer got himself in a lot of shit. AOC decides, maybe she's running for Senate, maybe she's running for President. And like, the whole thing devolves to a point where. Where like, they're like, no, here are four totally unreasonable demands that we're going to make you in a triple majority position. You got the House, you got the Senate, you got the presidency, but we want our agenda, not yours. Yeah, great. American people went the other way on all that, but here we are. And this is how Chris Murphy, remember, this is becoming quickly one of our favorites because this guy is quite obviously running for Chuck Schumer's job. He is as wonder bred as it gets, but he has to, in order to get out from underneath the just doughy, soft New England nonsense, he has to be a little bit precocious, shall we say? So he's got a lot to say. And this is. He goes on one of the late night comedy shows. It's amazing how this happens.

[John Ashbrook]

I can't wait to hear this rank and file senator. Gonna be good comedy, right?

[Josh Holmes]

On a late night. What else is funnier than that? We do find some humor in it. Clip 1.

[Chris Murphy]

I think Democrats are united in a couple simple ideas that we have to stand up for people whose lives would be ruined by these massive health care premiums. And then that we have no moral obligation to pay the bills for democracy's destruction. And so if this budget doesn't roll back at least some of the grave damage that's being done to the rule of law, then Democrats have no obligation to support it. I think we can. I think we can grow consensus in the country on those two things.

[Josh Holmes]

I want to just deconstruct this for a minute so you, the audience, understand exactly what it is that we're talking about. It is the Biden budget that we're talking about that was in a. What they call CR, meaning they changed the date of it to September 30th from March. And that was the one that, like, blew a hole in their mind. They couldn't imagine doing such a thing. They're. They're proposing on doing the exact same thing, meaning it's still a Biden budget that they all voted for, including Chris Murphy at some level going forward another 30 days, 60 days or whatever. He is saying that that in and of itself, Constitution, a grave, grave emergency because of the existence of a Trump administration which the American people voted in.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Tough stuff.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. It's the end of democracy if we don't fund pbs.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I mean?

[John Ashbrook]

It's like such small ball. And the whole thing with the subsidies for Obamacare, this thing was called the Affordable Care Act.

[Michael Duncan]

Bingo.

[John Ashbrook]

It was supposed to make health care more affordable. And of course, the sleight of hand of that entire thing was they just expanded Medicaid enrollment, and then you. The taxpayer pays insurance companies to offer health care to people. It was called the Affordable Care act, and it made health care unaffordable.

[Michael Duncan]

And Republicans warned them again and again and again that this is going to happen. And then it happens. It's because their whole plan all along is they want to have socialized healthcare. They want you to give up no choice. That's the thing is they're like, maybe if we make such a bloated bureaucracy and everyone is forced to be a part of it, that's always been the plan all along. And they keep complaining like, oh, you know, healthcare is such a. Because they got what they wanted and they just want to break the system. And this is another attempt of them breaking the system to get what they want. That's not going to work.

[John Ashbrook]

And we have Cindy Hyde Smith, senator from Mississippi, on the show today, and she'll talk about it. And she's like, look, a quarter of the people in my state are on Medicaid. Like, I'm more than happy to have a conversation about how we make healthcare more affordable in this country. Like, that's important to me. But the idea that you can't just change the date on the CR and we're gonna hold the federal government hostage cuz it's gonna be the end of democracy if we change the date is such a ludicrous thing.

[Michael Duncan]

It is.

[Josh Holmes]

I think Rule 1A when you're considering shutting down the government is to have a message as to why it is that you're doing so. Some of them have tried to get into this Obamacare discussion. They conveniently leave aside the fact that the Affordable Care act is the necessary, necessary component of new tax subsidies in order to make it affordable. Yeah, but they don't. They don't land in the same spot. See Swalwell, clip 2 I'm honestly, I don't think there's easy answers here. I want to start by saying that.

[John Ashbrook]

And I have allowed myself to be.

[Josh Holmes]

Persuaded by the idea that we should be not giving any bipartisan imprimatur to.

[John Ashbrook]

What the Republicans are doing because what they're doing to our democracy, that we.

[Josh Holmes]

Should draw the line on healthcare or.

[John Ashbrook]

That we should fund the government because.

[Josh Holmes]

Trump is so unpopular. We should not own a shutdown. What do you think?

[Chris Murphy]

Keep it open for what? By the way, they've already shut it down. They have fired cancer researchers, they've gotten rid of air traffic controllers, they've gotten rid of female response agents. They've already shut it. They've gotten rid of usaid. They've already shut it down. So keep it open for what? So they can deport more of our friends and neighbors? Keep it open so they can kill cancer research rather than killing cancer. Keep it open so they can go after their political enemies. Like, why would I want to co sign on that? And that's why I voted against it. And that's why every senator should vote against it.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, there it is. Always a thoughtful commentary from the Chinese bio. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And you know what? Like, so again, they always go with this like, well, you know, Republicans are trying to destroy democracy. Democracy is being destroyed when you win the popular vote and the electoral vote and the Senate and the House. I think that argument, like Americans clearly saw past that when they voted for President Trump, when they voted to give Republicans the House, when they voted to give Republicans the Senate. So when they say that, it's just sour grapes that they don't get to call the shots anymore.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And then when he says, oh, but you know, they're deporting our friends. Your friends, the criminals. I mean, I knew the Chinese spy, but just out and out, like, you know, all criminals are our Friends, that's not a very convincing argument.

[Josh Holmes]

It's truly magnificent. But if you listen to him, it's. Why would I co sign. Keeping the government open for an election that we lost.

[Michael Duncan]

That's. Dude, straight up. That is what he said.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what it is. Because it's not like there's a specific thing that's happening here in the context of the job that he is elected to do that he's calling for. It's the administration of the job which the American people elected Donald Trump to do that he has a concern about. And so therefore, under that logic that he just expressed anything, anything at all is something worth voting against just simply because I'm not doing it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Social left wings. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Social Security checks, veteran benefits and stuff like that. You know, we've been in this situation before as a Republican Party, 100%. And I gotta say the tenor of the whole debate's a little bit different because if this roles were reversed and it was Republicans saying this sort of thing, I think I would have seen a story on every front page of every newspaper in this country about how many millions of Americans aren't going to get a Social Security check.

[Josh Holmes]

Wouldn't you have? You would think, wouldn't you have?

[Michael Duncan]

But that's not.

[John Ashbrook]

He doesn't want to co sign.

[Josh Holmes]

There would have been a great Variety section about a family that had worked for 10 years to try to save up for their one trip to Gettysburg that they. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Now there's a sign in front of it.

[Josh Holmes]

It's closed. It's closed. And who did it? These partisan Republicans. Yeah, but they're actually trying to shut the government down over nothing. It literally isn't a policy argument whatsoever. They've already said. Thune has already said like we'll have a conversation about the subsidies. Which in and of itself is a generous.

[John Ashbrook]

Very generous.

[Josh Holmes]

Because I mean, from my standpoint, you guys passed something called the Affordable Care act. That to me sounds a little bit like the Inflation Reduction act and that that's not affordable. That didn't do anything to reduce inflation. Perhaps you just have a 1984 problem when it comes to your party and legislating.

[Michael Duncan]

That's really good.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. I mean, it's the opposite of everything. That's true. But we all know what their end goal is. And their end goal is just government control of everything. And they don't like having conversations about whether the American people like opening our borders because it doesn't go well for them. Nope, it doesn't. So he can do the thing with the what's his Lovett's or whatever.

[John Ashbrook]

John Lovett. And that is really the funniest thing about it, is, like, he worked for Barack Obama. He's one of the authors of the Unaffordable Care act. And now he's gonna sit there and be like, well, we could, you know, I guess we have to shut down the government because health care is unaffordable.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they talk as though they just landed yesterday, like they didn't create it. Yeah, I mean, that's the dude. Honestly, there's one thing to be outraged, and we have a hard time getting worked up over government shutdowns because it's been around every year that we've ever been involved in politics is like, oh, are we shutting the government? Oh, I don't know. And then they figure out something and it stays open, and maybe that shuts down for a period of time. I don't know. But the thing that is most outraging about this is that they literally went to the mat to decimate their party at the federal, state and local level to create a healthcare system that they utterly believed in their core was the right thing to do for the American people. Now, we completely disagree with that. I mean, Johnny and I were on the front lines of that at the time, fighting it, and thought it was completely ridiculous. The inevitable was going to be what we saw today. But they believed in it. And somehow they erased that entire experience. And 15 years later, they show up and they act like, well, this is the system we got. We just. This is the system we got. We can't let the Americans pay for this. We're just trying to work within the confines of the system that was built. They're the architects of the system. Right. And all of a sudden, it's everybody else's fault that we have health care. That's unaffordable. It's incredible to me.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Right, right. They're so full of shit. And I come right back to the point that you made at the outset. We are talking about changing the date on a document that was passed when Joe Biden was President of the United States. Smug. Said it himself. We control the Senate, we control the House. Trump won the popular vote, he won the Electoral College. And here you have Republicans in charge of every lever of government saying, you know what, Democrats, we're going to take what Joe Biden himself signed into law and just change the date. And they're like, not good enough.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I mean, it's amazing. Amazing concession from the outset. And they just can't have it. They can't have it. So the White House put put together a super cut of Democrats talking about what grave damage a government shutdown would leave the American people.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh no.

[Josh Holmes]

You're like, oh my gosh, really? They haven't seemed like that. Seemed like that's that grave a damn like they seem to be talking about. Why? You heard swalwa. Why would I, why wouldn't I shut it down? I don't know. Let's hear from them. Clip three to hold these people hostage instead of just letting them do their jobs, which they want to do, while we work out our differences. So wrong.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

This is democracy. And in a democracy, hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can't win their fights through elections, can't win their fights in Congress, can't win their fights for the presidency and can't win their fights in the court.

[Josh Holmes]

A government shutdown of any duration would harm hardworking Americans and our economy. Why should we ask TSA officers to go without their hard earned pay while they protect our airports? I'm a senator from Virginia. Some of the hardest effects of shutdown will be seen in my state. If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most. Some who right now are trying to.

[Chris Murphy]

Figure out how they're going to pay Booker, how they're going to make mortgage payments, how they're going to keep keep college payments going, how they're going to keep the lights on, how they're going.

[Josh Holmes]

To keep food on the table. Had the government shut down, Adam, hundreds.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Of thousands of people would have not gotten their paychecks.

[Josh Holmes]

Federal employees would have been furloughed, sent home.

[Chris Murphy]

Our military, Chris Murphy had start teachers won't get paid. Our Wildfire fighters won't get paid. President, federal prison guards won't get paid.

[John Ashbrook]

Interesting.

[Michael Duncan]

Interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

So it would seem like if you believed any of that that you would have some concern about a government shutdown.

[Michael Duncan]

You'd think, wouldn't you think?

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

They're so disingenuous, dude. And you know, there was an article in the Daily Caller that came out just this afternoon saying that the group Indivisible, which you may have heard of, they're behind no Kings and they're funded by George Soros to the tune of million dollars.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

They are pushing Democrats to shut the government down.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait, they're pushing us to be divisible?

[Josh Holmes]

That's crazy. It's divisible. Yeah.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

So George Soros is funding an organization to shut our government down and Democrats are saying sign me up.

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe the thing was in divisible.

[Michael Duncan]

Divisible rather than indivisible.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

In for it.

[Josh Holmes]

They're in on the divisible component. Yeah, it seems so, Rossy. Yeah. Anyway, when we come back, we're gonna talk about some of the dynamics of all of this, including some of the repercussions that the Trump administration is talking about if Democrats lead us into this situation. You're gonna wan. Because it's kind of funny in a lot of different ways.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

And also just a precursor for the kind of comedy that we're likely to experience over the next, I don't know, couple of days, at least, maybe longer than that. Anyway, right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

President Trump called for American energy dominance. Congress can deliver it by allowing year.

[Josh Holmes]

Round E15 E15 lowers prices at the.

[John Ashbrook]

Pump, strengthens rural economy and puts more money in the pockets of farm families. But political gridlock is limiting E15's potential.

[Josh Holmes]

Farmers, fuel retailers and consumers want certainty.

[John Ashbrook]

They need permanent year round E15.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's Make America energy secure.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's make rural America stronger. Congress, let's make year round E15 permanent, paid for by growth energy.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so you gotta understand there is a whole bunch of Capitol Hill reporters that have not had an awful lot to do since the big beauty pass. And in order to be relevant in the political discussion, which they all want to be, obviously everybody who's involved in politics wants to be, if you're a political reporter or if you're a policymaker or whatever, you want to be involved and relevant. And so that's why they try to amplify the importance of all of this. And I guess in the grand scheme of things, it's not a great look to shut the American government down. I'm sure markets don't appreciate, I'm sure international investment takes a hard look at that kind of thing. And it's not great by any stretch of the imagination. It's certainly not the end of the world by any stretch, but here we are. And so what has happened is all of these articles and publications are talking about shut down, shut down, shut down, shut down, shut down. And they start talking about the process of all of this. Well, the White House gets involved in the process, discussion of this, and I think this is the most important part of it because I find it the best schadenfreude that you can find in terms of where this might leave the Democratic Party. Remember, this is a party that just wants government control of everything. But by shutting down the government, they just leave out legislative control of anything. And Allow the administration to do pretty much what it wants in terms of the continuity of the government. So the White House shows up. Russ Vaught.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

So Russ is the OMB director as his second tour of duty. I love it. We've known him for an awful long time here in the ruthless variety program. And trust us when we say he's not bluffing on these kind of things. Right. This is from a Wall Street Journal article he says, raising the stakes. The White House budget director, Russ Vaughd instructed agencies to drop a list of employees to fire if funding lapses. Beyond the temporary furloughs and missed paychecks typical of past shutdowns, the government will partially shut down Wednesday at 12:01am if Congress can't pass a short term spending patch. The open question for Monday is whether Trump and the dealmakers show up and he's content to let Democrats go home empty handed. All right, so I guess this is the upshot for you, the listener, which is it underscores the idiocy of the Democratic point here. You're fighting over nothing. Thune has already told the Democrats in terms of this ridiculous tax component as it deals with Obamacare, that he's open for business to talk about it, but they just want to keep the government open and give themselves some time to not only do that, but work through appropriations bills and everything that Republicans want to do to pass their own budget for the first time during the Trump era, like, they want to do their own thing. And Democrats like, no, no, no, we can't do. We have to do it with it now. But the thing that they love the most out of anything is just the protection of government. Government workers, government. I mean, the whole public employee union was the turnabout in terms of just how committed these people were to an ideology that just protects government and government workers over their constituents in and of itself. So now you've got an OMB director who's like, well, if you're gonna hand me the ball here, I'm gonna run with it. And it means I'm gonna fire all your people. What a hilarious turn of events this would all be. That the beginning of this term starts with this hugely controversial buyouts and whatever of getting rid of public employees. We get to the end of that. And then ultimately towards the end of the year, Democrats themselves hand over a permission slip to the Trump administration to finish the job.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah. No, it's wild to think they would shut down the government and then like, give the pen to one of the guys who, you know, Basically helped write project 2025.

[Michael Duncan]

Ross Vaught is not to be trifled with. Like, he is known on following through on promises, and he gets the job done. It's like, okay, let him do it.

[Josh Holmes]

Sure.

[John Ashbrook]

The other thing I would say is how much I appreciate Trump 2.0 in all this. And we talked about this a little bit before we recorded the show, but, like, you know, the first Trump administration did a lot of great things, don't get me wrong. But, like, between, like, Comey and Schiff and all these lunatics trying to basically.

[Michael Duncan]

Steal his term, sabotage and nonsense term.

[John Ashbrook]

And all the sabotage and like, they were. They were much more distracted, I think, in the first Trump administration. I think that's a fair criticism.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And. And in this administration, it's just like the eyes on the ball. And that's not just Donald Trump. It's people like Russ. And the whole administration is just incredibly way more focused on getting outcomes that the American people voted for. Voted for.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, to put a fine point, we went through this shutdown discussion at one point, it was 2017 or 2018. I think it was the beginning of 2018, where he had a famous meeting with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, and he just aired it live. And it was incredible television.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It was an entree to what life was like with a President Trump versus every other president before them. And he was gonna just let the American people in on the discussion. But if you're a conservative, the back end of that conversation was him making some serious concessions when it came to things like immigration. Of course, Democrats were like, no, not good enough. And they knocked. You know, they managed to get to the end of that story without shutting it down for. For too awful long. But it was this openness to discussions with Democrats that was just not productive.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, because Donald Trump is, at his heart, is a deal maker.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

And Trump 2.0 is playing hardball, and I'm here for it.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm here for it. So, like, you know, just from an analysis standpoint, you look at it and you're like, okay, so Democrats have no message going into this at all. Like, none that the American people can perceive. I mean, we know the four list of items, three of which are politically untenable. Right.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

But if you listen to them talk, it all translates to, we don't like Donald Trump, therefore we're shutting the government down.

[Josh Holmes]

That is what it translates to. It also translates to the larger discussion we've been having over the last three weeks about their inability to Speak to their base about what the difference between governing and activism is.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Yeah, they've got a real problem with that.

[Josh Holmes]

And they've got a real problem with that. Right. When it comes to showing up and being like, hey, I got the microphone here, all the shit against ICE is fucked up, right? The political violence, Charlie Kirk, all these other things. Stop, stop, stop, stop. This is not life and death. This is political decisions that have, like, sort of some significance into your life, but they're results of elections that you all voted in, and they can't do it. They can't have that conversation with the American people, much less their political base, because, as we've talked about, they're scared of their political base.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Bingo. Yeah, they are in their political base. It's full of lunatics. I mean, all the violence, all of everything. And then over the weekend, there's this like, terrorist cop killer who died. And all these Dem organizations were like, this was a real leader in our country.

[Josh Holmes]

The Chicago Public Schools union tweeted out this woman, Shakur.

[John Ashbrook]

Assad.

[Josh Holmes]

Shakur.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Who murdered a New Jersey police officer, was broken out of prison and shipped to Cuba.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Smuggled her to Cuba.

[Josh Holmes]

And she was on the FBI top 10 most wanted list. And I don't know, because I don't live in those circles. Like, she may have done some stuff like writings or whatnot. I can't even imagine what the insanity would. That would look like. But the Chicago public unions were mourning.

[Michael Duncan]

Teachers unions.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, mourning it. Teachers unions mourning it.

[Josh Holmes]

They were mourning her loss over there. I mean, that just. Dude. So broken.

[Michael Duncan]

The party is completely broken.

[John Ashbrook]

It does feel like the 1960s again.

[Josh Holmes]

It does.

[John Ashbrook]

And they engage, you know, to your whole point, they engage in all these theatrics to sort of pacify this radical left wing base. I wonder, do you think we can get in and out of this whole shutdown conversation without some really patronizing, ridiculous speech from Cory Booker?

[Josh Holmes]

No, impossible. What?

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

We desert.

[John Ashbrook]

Clip away. I would bet on that. I'd stomp on that if. If DraftKings or somebody offered me a bet. Oh, yeah, I'm. I'm betting the house 100%.

[Josh Holmes]

But again, you know, when we talked over the last couple of weeks, when we're dealing with, like, all the unfortunate shit that we've been dealing with, and we would have loved to have had more yucks. The. The common thematic through all of that was a political party in the Democrats who were not only disinterested in speaking any sort of truth to their political base because they were Scared of it. But ramping up rhetoric to try to meet the base where they are. And like when you're dealing with well adjusted human beings, you understand it's just politics. And they're just dealing with what politics is. You make hyperbolic arguments that nobody actually believes. Like, this is going to kill people.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Holmes]

This is what they did during.

[John Ashbrook]

They said it on net neutrality.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, net neutrality, Net neutrality. I mean, Internet policy.

[John Ashbrook]

Internet, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And I mean, but they talked about that in great detail during the big beauty. But this is going to kill people. This is what they're going to repeat here over the next 24 to 48 to 72 hours in relation to a date change on an absolute funding bill they've all been living underneath for the last three years.

[John Ashbrook]

I kind of feel like Allen Iverson, you know, Allen Iverson, quote of like, we're talking practice, bro.

[Michael Duncan]

Practice. Yeah, we're talking about practice.

[John Ashbrook]

We're talking continuing resolution, bro.

[Josh Holmes]

It's incredible. It's incredible. So anyway, that leaves us to our question of the day. Well, if the government shuts down, how long will this last?

[Michael Duncan]

That's a good one.

[Josh Holmes]

And give us some deets. Like, I want to know how you think it ends. I think it has to be an abject cave from the Democrats, cuz I just don't understand how Republicans could play a losing hand here. I just don't. I've never seen a political party walk in this blind to something like that.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's what happens when you got no leadership.

[John Ashbrook]

Is there some fake thing we can give Chuck Schumer like a medal or something so he can pretend he won this? So he can just fund the government?

[Josh Holmes]

He just goes back to the Bronx and he's like, look what I've done.

[Michael Duncan]

Look at my medal. Honestly, that's my, my suggestion is you offer him armed security from Democrats.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, there you go.

[Michael Duncan]

If he can feel like they're not gonna come after him physically because that seems to be the party's mo, he might be able to do his job.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

His problem is, I think AOC is trying to offer him a gold watch.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, retirement.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

He'll never get out from underwater.

[Josh Holmes]

I think you might be right. So listen, that's our question of the day. When you like and subscribe, we read every single possible one of them, summarize them, and give them back to you on Thursday. So go ahead and do that now, and when we come back, we're going to give you your answers from the last question of the day, which is what will the next Left wing leader look like you got creative right after this.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

He's Donald Trump's number one enemy in Congress, Chicago Senator Dick Durbin. And now Dick Durbin has a new scheme. A government takeover of your credit card. Today, consumers have thousands of choices in credit cards, all with equal strong security. But Durbin's plan is less competition and less security. And that means more risk for your credit and your identity. Tell Republicans in Congress, stop Dick Durbin's takeover of your credit card before it's too late.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. When you like and subscribe to the ruthless Variety program, we offer you the opportunity to comment on the question of the day. And our last one was what does the next left wing leader look like there a leaderless party. So gathering all the information you can about what encompasses the modern left, you had some ideas about all that. And to start, we always start with a voice.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

First comment comes from Howard County. Harold. Harold writes, the next leader of the left is three David Hoggs in a trench coat.

[Josh Holmes]

That's perfect.

[John Ashbrook]

I like that.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Sorry to be.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean usually a hog in a trench coat's a flashing situation.

[Josh Holmes]

That's 100% right. And I would be concerned about which. What's the manner in which you assemble the three under the trench coat? Say it is it?

[John Ashbrook]

I don't know. I read that and I just. I got a visual I didn't want in my head.

[Michael Duncan]

My God.

[Josh Holmes]

I did too. I thought it was like a reverse situations. Well done, Howard. Okay, comment two, Doug's Runk.

[John Ashbrook]

This is from Bailey. Bailey writes the old leadership of the Democratic Party are the two old guys from the Muppets. Oh, yeah, right, the guys in the box.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, the theater box.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah. The new face of the leadership is a combo of Bert and Ernie and Stewie from Family Guy with a sprinkle of Teletubbies.

[Josh Holmes]

I like that.

[John Ashbrook]

I like that.

[Josh Holmes]

That's very good. All right, comment three, Smuggles.

[Michael Duncan]

Comment three is from David Schwartz. David writes Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia will be the next Democrat. Dude, honestly, that's not a bad guess. As recently as today the 20th of September on News Nation, who is referred to as Maryland dad by Marky Martin. They really love this guy. It is insane.

[Josh Holmes]

It is crazy.

[Michael Duncan]

It makes no sense.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a wild thing to go to the mat over, isn't it?

[Michael Duncan]

They love their criminals, don't they?

[Josh Holmes]

He's like, ah, human trafficking.

[Michael Duncan]

It's unreal.

[Josh Holmes]

Unreal. Ms. 13.

[John Ashbrook]

It's. It's what smug always says though. They. They always have to defend the edge case, so they can push the Overton window. They have to look to the most absurd and defend it to the hilt. Because that's how they make progress for their agenda. It's insane, but that's the reason why they do it.

[Josh Holmes]

It's wild. All right, I gotta tell you a little bit about it. Zbiotics. Fellas, I know that we are listening. We got involved with this a little bit last weekend. We had a sports weekend. That was something we may talk to you about later in the show if we have the courage to do it. It wasn't great, but we had some long days and nights. We were up in Happy Valley. Penn State, the Whiteout. We went to the whiteout. There's 113,000 people paid attendance there. Great game. Double overtime. It didn't go the way that we wanted, Old man in particular, and that Penn State took the L on it. But we had an awful lot of fun. And when you do that, you're gonna want to look into something like Zbiotics, our favorite, absolute favorite. You have to do it because it's the pre alcohol drink. From my standpoint that, well, it's science backed. Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I mean, if you're gonna have a big night, it needs to start with Zbiotics. Cause everybody thinks that when you have a big night and you wake up the next day and you don't feel so good. Oh, I'm just dehydrated. But the reality is, is that, you know, alcohol becomes a toxic byproduct in your gut. Zebiotics knocks that right out. Knocks it right out. And it just. It just. I. Look, dude, there are a few advertisers where I've been such a huge fan of the product that I use it religiously. I'm telling you, it works.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the thing is. So the past weekend when I was hanging out with buddies, we got to enjoy bourbon. I made sure before I left, I had it already packed. It's that easy.

[Josh Holmes]

I saw you zoink a couple out of the pack.

[John Ashbrook]

Did you take a whole sleeve, by the way?

[Michael Duncan]

Y.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Because it works. And that's the thing. Like, that's. That's the thing is it actually works. It's not like one of these things that you hear, oh, you know, if you start, you know, try this supplement or whatever. No, the reason we are so zealous about it is because it actually works. The truth is, it is like Duncan said, it's not dehydration. I don't really necessarily need to know the Science of it. I just know it actually works. The day after, I get to enjoy, have a blowout and a ton of fun. As long as I had Zbiotics first, I feel perfect the next morning. It's incredible.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

You know, it was developed by PhD scientists, so there were very smart people who put it together. And you don't even have to think about it. You just need to know that there's no tomorrow without Zebiotics today.

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly. It's not the sugary nonsense that you find in the checkout place at the local grocery store. And this real stuff, if you go to zbiotics.com ruthless and learn more, you get 15% off your first order when you use Ruthless at the checkout. Zebionics is back with a hundred percent money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. You got to go to zbionics.com ruthless to learn more. Okay, are you guys ready for a little variety?

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, always.

[Josh Holmes]

So the anti ice protesters have been getting a lot obviously that it's like fucking terrible and. But this is like a thing that Democrats pretend are not going on. They're not sending their best.

[John Ashbrook]

No, no.

[Josh Holmes]

For any, any possible way. So this is Bill. Bill Melugian sourced this sucker up an anti ice protester drive. Drives his car into the lake.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's take a look at clip four, please.

[Michael Duncan]

There.

[Josh Holmes]

There'S the car.

[Michael Duncan]

That lady was a protester.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, no, I'm not sure they showed the car. Not sure she's involved.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

No, no, no. It was, I think it was her what the situation was. She turned her car onto this access drive. She got out of it because she saw ice and was so activated that she forgot to put her car in park in the car roll. When she gets out of the car.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that actual lady?

[Michael Duncan]

Because she looks exactly like you. For our radio list, for our audio listeners, first off, go to the YouTube hit subscribe. Because she looks exactly like who you would expect to show up. She's like, wait, wait, wait. I'm here to lecture everyone and give you a hard time. I don't even know what I'm doing to the point that I didn't put my car in park and it's now rolled into a lake. But I'm here to tell you what you need to do.

[Josh Holmes]

In other words, she looks like a left guard on a D3 team. That's what she looks. She's like putting her glasses down.

[Michael Duncan]

It's like lecture time.

[Josh Holmes]

Lecture Time.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm so done with this.

[Josh Holmes]

I got the gray hair and a pony and I'm packing 250 here. I'm ready to give somebody a piece of my mind.

[John Ashbrook]

Isn't it kind of a microcosm of the entire problem of the left that, like, you watch a clip like that and her car is up to the handles in water and she turns around and sort of looks at it and she's like, no. You know, what's more important is, dude, it's like me trying to save an illegal immigrant from being deported. Dude, my entire car.

[Michael Duncan]

It's that heat map of concerns.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes, it's the heat.

[Michael Duncan]

It's the meme, dude. It's the heat map of concerns. It's like conservatives actually care about things that matter to themselves and their family and lives are just like things completely unrelated to you. That's the most important.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a mental illness.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a mental illness.

[Josh Holmes]

It really is. So this one we got a particular kick out of because, you know, we've done some business in Kentucky over the years and Colonel Sanders is a revered legend of the great Commonwealth of Kentucky. Well, it turns out his great, great, great nephew is upset. He's gone scorched earth on kfc. Doesn't care for what's happening here. And this is according to Outkick. He has revealed the chicken secret recipe. Ooh. As a result of it. So this is according to Outkick. Outkick. We've all had to deal with family drama at some point. It's nothing new. Even the most buttoned up people. Infighting comes with the territory of not being able to choose your family members. When you throw social media, it makes things even more salacious and messy. Now imagine all that is going on, but if you just so happen to be the great, great, great nephew of KFC founder Colonel Sanders. The family drama involves a particular combination of 11 herbs and spices. Can we play that clip, please?

[Great Great Great Nephew of Colonel Sanders]

I already posted this once, but I'm going to do it again because people missed it. Chicken has blocked me on social media. For those who are new, I'm Colonel Sanders, great, great, great nephew. I'm the last Sanders and his family.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

He's wearing the family tie.

[Great Great Great Nephew of Colonel Sanders]

I'm the last family member in his family line. My page has been dedicated for many years to upholding Colonel Sanders legacy and the Kentucky Fried Chicken history. And that involves more than just Kentucky Fried Chicken, but all the fast food restaurants my family was involved with either making or helping start. They blocked me for upholding his true History to let people know who he actually was. And they blocked me for calling out their advertising team as weird, disrespectful, and disgusting. Over the last decade, they have sexualized my uncle for marketing purposes. To sexualize him as well.

[Michael Duncan]

He's no wrong.

[Great Great Great Nephew of Colonel Sanders]

I cannot and will not support a company that does that. My response to Kentucky Fried Chicken blocking me is, do you want to know how to make their chicken truly generous?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow.

[John Ashbrook]

There's the rest.

[Michael Duncan]

He put it on the screen.

[Great Great Great Nephew of Colonel Sanders]

This recipe I put together through facts. There is a lot of ingredients here.

[Josh Holmes]

That could be proven.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the one. Top secret.

[Great Great Great Nephew of Colonel Sanders]

I broke it down for you in several videos on my YouTube channel. So let Kentucky Fried Chicken deny this. If they do, I'll say prove it. I have faction receipts to back up my recipe.

[Josh Holmes]

Hell yeah. Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

I love this guy.

[Michael Duncan]

I fully support him. I fully support. First off, when he came on, had the bow tie, I was like, okay, he's legit. He already won me over. Like, I can see the resemblance. Right? And then he wasn't wrong when first, like when I read they're like, he's mad because KFC is sexualized. The good colonel. And then I saw that. There it is on the screen right now, bro. He's not wrong. I hate this weird advertising stuff. This has got like, like the stuff that conservatives have hated of like when it came to like Bud Light and all this nonsense that they've put us through. He's drawn the line. There will be consequences.

[John Ashbrook]

It is. It is particularly weird to take a very old man, like an icon of fast food and somehow like make horny content for zoomers. Like, imagine doing this to like Aunt Jemima. Like, why? Why would you do this?

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, Will Ferrell did it. Wow.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, he did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I guess he kind of did.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It was hilarious stuff. But I will say that recipe is one of the closely, most closely guarded recipes.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it's like up there with that Coca Cola. There it is on the screen. Everyone try this and let us know how it works.

[Josh Holmes]

Somebody's going to have to make this and let us know. I'm going to come up, I'm going.

[Michael Duncan]

To ask my wife to try it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, somebody.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm going to give it a shot. But let's be real.

[John Ashbrook]

I got like, that's an old school cardamom. I wouldn't have expected it. Coriander or something you would more typically see in like an Asian or Indian recipe.

[Josh Holmes]

Sure.

[John Ashbrook]

It's fascinating.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he was way in front of his time. He knew the Colonel. He knew.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, the original recipe, it is good.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you. Very flavorful, smug. Do you like kfc? Like, what's your go to Chicken? Chicken spot.

[Michael Duncan]

So if I'm going for, like, real deal. So, I mean, I was in Atlanta.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Recently.

[John Ashbrook]

Chick Fil A.

[Michael Duncan]

No, dude, there was this. I can't remember the name of it. Their fried chicken was like a local haunt. Yeah. Local place. Just mind blowing. Like, when you have really good fried chicken, it makes a difference.

[John Ashbrook]

The disrespect. To go to Atlanta and not say Chick Fil a there.

[Michael Duncan]

Like.

[John Ashbrook]

No, the disrespect.

[Michael Duncan]

What has Chick Fil a done for me, bro? What have they done for me?

[John Ashbrook]

Make great chicken.

[Michael Duncan]

They're okay. They're okay. They're okay. They're not the best.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you like Bojangles?

[Michael Duncan]

Well, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you like Popeyes?

[Michael Duncan]

Bojangles is terrific. Let's be real. Like those chicken biscuits. Before I discovered zebiotics in the morning, I was housing those chicken. Sunday mornings after football, a boberry biscuit hits. Dude, they are so good. That used to be the way, but now we have zebiotics.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's kind of true. It's kind of true. Anyway, so someone come up with that recipe, put that thing together and let us know if that's the one, because I'd be interested. I'd be interested for him. Yeah. All right, so last thing before we get to our interview. Listen, you all know bad beats, you sports fans out there. And there's just bad mojo and there's good mojo and there's somewhere in between. Every once in a while you go through a weekend where you've got teams that you're rooting for, where right off the bat, you know that things are just not going to go your way. So Duncan and Smash and I went up to Happy Valley. Fantastic trip. Went ourselves up there. 113,000 paid attendants. The atmosphere was 10 of us.

[John Ashbrook]

10. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Full white out.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Prime time game against Oregon. Now a big argument against Penn State in recent years. They can't win the big one, but this was going to be the time. And they came back from 17:3. They tied it up and go into overtime. They score. It goes into double overtime. We think this thing is done. So they lose.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Good.

[Josh Holmes]

They lose.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

It was. It was a disappointing result. But I've been to a lot of different college venues around the country, and I will tell you that Happy Val is second to none. This is my second time in Happy Valley because I choose to support my friend and I like his team and I was very disappointed. Not quite as disappointed as he was. And I share his pain. But I know it hurts when your, your team doesn't turn out.

[John Ashbrook]

I think they're sort of uniquely one of the most painful teams in all of sports right now.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, you've sold me on this.

[John Ashbrook]

And. And I was born in Wilkes Barre. My grandpa went to Penn State. So it was like that. My first love of sports was watching Penn State and I watched that undefeated team in 1994. You know, Kajana Carter, Kerry Collins, and it was like, this is awesome.

[Michael Duncan]

This, this.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I love sports.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And it's been pain pretty much nothing but pain since. Since since then.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a curse. It's a curse. So I'm with the earth. They should not be allowed to have a team. They should tear down Paterno statue.

[John Ashbrook]

They already did. They already did.

[Michael Duncan]

They should tear the stadium down to the ground. Salt the earth. No athletics allowed. Their criminals. There's a horrible history of the horrible things that they've done and this is why they suffer.

[Josh Holmes]

They did it.

[Michael Duncan]

This is why they suffer. It's a bunch of criminals and disgusting monsters.

[Josh Holmes]

So we get back at 4 o' clock in the morning.

[John Ashbrook]

We went up and back in a single night.

[Josh Holmes]

My first waking moment is an alarm that I'd set for myself at 9:15 so I could watch the Minnesota Vikings play in Ireland. At which point they get frickin dog walked by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But it's not enough just to lose it. They actually have to come all the way back to get to a point where they can win in order to break your heart.

[John Ashbrook]

Because, yeah, just like Penn State, it's.

[Josh Holmes]

Not enough to like know you're gonna lose. It's the same formula, yeah. That we dealt with in Penn State, that they have to come back from 17:3. The Vikings do the exact same spread. Come all the way back, they lose at the end. And I'm like, this is going to be a bad weekend. I see the Ryder Cup Friday, Saturday, we're losing. I've come to grips with it. They're going to lose. Sunday morning I wake up. A historic run for the Americans. It's some of the most electric television you're ever going to see in your life.

[John Ashbrook]

It was like the red zone for golf.

[Josh Holmes]

It was like straight sports porn.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Just making a putt, making a putt, making a putt.

[Josh Holmes]

Boom, boom. And like all of a sudden you're just throwing the red, white and blue on you're like, oh my God, they're going to do the impossible. They're going to come all the way back in order for it to come up a point short in the end. So again, same formula Friday, we're talking Saturday, Sunday, and then the Colts, my friends, Colts in the. The parlay that we all play, they are much better team than the LA Rams. They're outplaying them in every capacity. They have two touchdowns that are called back. One for egregious holding call. It wasn't much of a holding call. The other one, which is the guy drops the ball on the way to.

[John Ashbrook]

On the one yard line for a touchback.

[Michael Duncan]

That was unreal, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. I felt bad and I say to my buddy who's like, dude, the Colts are a much better team here. I'm gonna put money that they end up winning this thing. And I'm like, don't do it. Don't do it. This is one of the.

[John Ashbrook]

He's like, live betting it.

[Josh Holmes]

He's live betting it. I'm like, don't do it. Because it's one of those bad B weekends. I can just feel it. It's everything that you touch, everything that you're part of is going to go the wrong way. And he's like, okay, kind of skeptically. The next three plays are the holding call. A 88 yard touchdown pass and an interception.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And I'm like, okay, well, I think we're done here. What a great weekend of sport, right?

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

The lone bright spot, Cincinnati Reds got a wild card.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't care.

[Josh Holmes]

None of us. Listen to this, listen to this.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Listen to this. This guy's shit college football team loses and they should have lost. They're going to lose to Ohio State. This guy's team with Bo Nix fist fighting his coach is a disaster.

[John Ashbrook]

For that time he tried turn this into a conversation about Ohio.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

I literally, literally said, dude, the Broncos, the Reds. Last night. I said, the Reds made the playoffs. I said, I was happy for you. I said I was happy for you. I said, I was happy for you. And then I said, hey, the Reds won. The play was there in the corner.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen to this. Listen to this.

[Michael Duncan]

Prime.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

This is outrageous.

[John Ashbrook]

He's like, we have a sports station.

[Josh Holmes]

He's in Cincinnati.

[John Ashbrook]

How will I make this about Ohio?

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

If you are from Cincinnati, you understand nothing more than what I'm saying right now. You're snuffing needlessly aggrieved people in Indianapolis.

[Michael Duncan]

In the world, bro. Like, Cincinnati's got beef with Indianapolis. Like what are you fighting about?

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Well, no, we don't have a beef.

[Josh Holmes]

With Indian Tri State Compact.

[Michael Duncan]

Like you're down bad when you're like. Well, Indianapolis is who are rival.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

No, they only have a. AAA baseball team.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Oh, my God.

[John Ashbrook]

Here we.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Colorado Rockies are terrible. Minnesota Twins had no chance.

[John Ashbrook]

Like I'm not low enough.

[Josh Holmes]

I guess the. Why is he.

[Michael Duncan]

Now I want you to take.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Now I want you to be lower.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. Okay.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

I want you to be lower. Your team will never win another game.

[John Ashbrook]

Can I. Can I please just put the segment like back on the Franklin terrible coach for a second.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I put the.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

I can't believe you like him.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm going to put the segment back on track here. And that is there was a primetime game on Sunday night that ended in a tie.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

Which is so weird.

[John Ashbrook]

And. And then also in the Ryder Cup, Victor Hovland decided he couldn't play the individual match on Sunday. And a weird wrinkle in the rules of the Ryder cup is if you withdraw, you get a half point. The other guy gets a half point. Yeah, it's a. It's a wash. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It was a huge, huge controversy.

[John Ashbrook]

So what do we think about ties?

[Josh Holmes]

Ties suck.

[Michael Duncan]

Nope. Not allowed. Dude. It should be like, you go until, like, people can die. This is sport. You finish.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Well, that's.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't understand it.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

That's. That's my point. The Europeans. There should be an alternate player. Honestly, like. Or if he can't play, they should have to forfeit. Can you imagine what would have happened if Eisenhower said up, I'm sick. I can't do D day now.

[John Ashbrook]

Europe would have collapsed.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

So now we have to suffer through Victor Hovland. Stupid neck. And then you look at him sitting in front of everybody's neck. Look fine to me.

[John Ashbrook]

I just love it. Ashbrook totally redeemed himself.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Are you kidding me? I like I mentioned my team one time.

[Michael Duncan]

Everyone hates the Reds.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

That's what you think.

[Josh Holmes]

I love this. The dog pile on the Reds of all franchises.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Haven't won it. Haven't won a postseason series since 95.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm not watching till they bring the corpse of March shot back. Listen, I think we've covered the sporting event, but we gotta get to Sidney Hyde Smith. Cindy Hyde Smith is one of those senators who just works, makes relationships, tries to represent her state as best she can. She's not the one that's out taking credit for everything, but she's a real workhorse in the United States Senate and you ought to get to know her. Take a look. I want to welcome the program. Somebody who's got a lot of influence under the dome in the Capitol and a lot to talk about on all that. Senator Cindy Hyde Smith. How are you?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

We are good. Today's Monday, but it's a good Monday. Flew in last night and we're ready to roll.

[Josh Holmes]

Flew in from the great state of.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Mississippi, actually, through Atlanta. Yeah, I sure did.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you have to connect. They make you connect.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

There is a direct. But I have to get up at like 3 o' clock and I'm not a morning person. I just skipped right over that one.

[Josh Holmes]

So the connection flight, all for the terrific level of camaraderie that you're about to experience under the United States Senate Dome. Sounds like they're going to be shutting down the government. What do you think about that?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Rumor has it, a lot of chatter going on. Can't wait for lunch tomorrow. Yeah, it'll be very interesting, especially after the 2 o' clock meeting today at the White House. And, you know, we'll all be texting each other tonight. You know, we're just a big club is all we are. And, you know, we'll be texting each other and a lot of chatter going on and we'll be glued to the news to see, you know, what tidbits we can get. And it's always interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, look, we kind of ballparked this out. We had Thune in here in June.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

And he, I mean, basically predicted it.

[Josh Holmes]

Sort of predicted exactly what was going to happen. And that you had Chuck Schumer, who was fighting for his political life, both in terms of representation of New York and the majority leader, trying to fight off the left. And it seems like it was preordained that he had to shut down the government at some level in order to show the left he was fighting, whatever that means. They put out four different things that it is that they need in a triple minority situation and pretend like any of that is acceptable. I mean, you'd have to laugh if it wasn't kind of a serious thing. Right?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I mean, it is what it is. But you're right, triple minority and you come across with something ridiculous. I guess I keep expecting more of thinking, okay, you guys look normal, you wear normal clothes, you drive cars. Undoubtedly there's something normal about you. But they come in and then it is just insanity.

[Josh Holmes]

It's wild, right?

[Michael Duncan]

It's funny.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

It's so crazy beyond.

[John Ashbrook]

It's funny you say that because we had Bernie Moreno in here recently and he made a Similar sort of observation. And that is you see some of these Democrats, you have a relationship with them in a personal capacity. Right. Like, or you meet them and they seem normal and then they get out there in front of the cameras and suddenly it all changes. Right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a sociopathic ability at some level.

[John Ashbrook]

And I'm just curious, you know, do you witness that same sort of thing in a period like this where now we have a shutdown showdown, which was really totally unnecessary. And there's people who are normal people in the Democratic Party who are looking at this and they're like, who? What is this?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Oh, exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

For pbs.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

We're going to shut down the microphone. And I'm looking Gene Shaheen, you know, the woman lived in Oxford, her husband went to Ole Miss law school. You think, what is coming out of your mouth? Because one on one at dinner and I mean, I've gone to dinner and you know, I do have friends across the aisle and they just seem like, okay, we're going to be able to work together until it comes showtime and Schumer gives them their marching orders and they march. I mean, and they do not sway from it. But one on one conversations, you know, behind closed doors, they'll share a lot of things with you. And it's like, but, you know, this is my base, this is the state I represent. And on most occasions, you know, they're going to go with that. But then there's times that they're going to say, I really wished I didn't have to. Yeah, I don't understand that.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you think there's any chance, do you think there's any chance that happens in this shutdown?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I don't.

[John Ashbrook]

That there are responsible Democrats who are like, all right, this is too much.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I don't look for that. I hope I'm surprised, I hope I'm shocked, but I don't look for that. You know, they think we've got them over a barrel, we're going to shut them down. There's not many folks in that U.S. senate that you're going to get over a barrel.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, and they should take a look at what barrel they're over in the process. I mean, generally speaking, when you shut down the government, you want to have a conversation where you've got a reason for it.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Exactly. And you know, they're coming up with a health care issue and, you know, we've got to extend, you know, those credits for people who are on Obamacare that they can get those premium cuts and we've got to extend that and not even talk about the waste, the fraud and the abuse that we can give example after example over. Let's just do a clean cr. Let's sit down and we'll talk about that. I'll be glad to talk about that. I'm from Mississippi, you know, one in every four is on Medicaid in Mississippi.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

But, you know, they think this is the opportunity that we can really come in with the crunch and they're going to fold.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

And they seem just, just completely captured by their base, like you were saying. I mean, all of this violence against ice, for example, you know, it just, it's terrible. And the left wing in this country is out of control, and yet Democrats don't seem to want to condemn that.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Just like the church shooting yesterday in Michigan. I mean, when you think you're the safest, when you think I'm doing the right thing thing. And you know, that happens. And it's like you can't defend that much longer.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

You just can't.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Charlie Clark, how long can you defend this? There's so. And it's getting so volatile. I mean, every time I leave home, my husband looks at me and he says, cindy, just be careful. It really, it's really changed. And we had a major security incident in my house, been over a year ago, but, you know, we picked up over 25 shells from automatic weapon at the end of my driveway. So, you know, and it. That will change your life.

[Josh Holmes]

No kidding.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

On a Sunday. We're so predictable on a Sunday. They know I'm going to be at Macedonia Baptist Church. They know what time I go down that driveway. They know what time I come back. And it's really changed that. You have to just be aware, you know, as we say, put your head on a swivel. And I'm chairman of the Pro Life Caucus, so, you know, that even makes me a larger target there. When you just think it's going to settle down, it's going to get better, and then we have the incidents that just take place one right after the other.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I ask you something? I think I probably already know the answer, but when you experience something like that and then you see the volatile world that we're in, and then you see your colleagues reluctance to sort of address it in any meaningful way, what makes you want to keep doing this?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

It is so important. I tell myself that all the time. And when you have the winds that you really, you know, you made a difference, you know, you made something happen for your state that. And I'm One of those. You talk about non conventional. I'm the most non conventional senator you will ever have on this program.

[Josh Holmes]

Give me. Give me some background.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Never, ever had any thought of coming to Washington, D.C. you know, I was appointed and I was commissioner of Agriculture. We're ranchers. We raise beef cattle. We have a live cattle auction every Tuesday, tomorrow. Sale day since 1942.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Wow.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And, you know, I was commissioner of agriculture just in my wheelhouse, so comfortable, loving life. And the governor came to me and, you know, he said, cindy, I want to talk to you about something. He said, you know, senator Cochran, his health is failing him and I'm going to have to appoint somebody. And I'm like, not me, right? You know, I'm so flattered that you would even approach me with this, and I'm so flattered that you would consider me, but I really don't think I'm your girl. And, you know, here I am, it's over seven years, but I never planned to be here. And, you know, I'm really glad that I did say yes. But I'll be honest with you, I didn't know for a long time. And you talk about on your knees and praying. You just feel God's index finger in your back doing this. And I thought, God, I do not want to get on an airplane every Monday of my life. I'm so glad that I did. When I got here, it's right in the middle of Kavanaugh. I was the first woman that went to the floor to defend Brett Kavanaugh. And I mean, I knew then I know why I'm here. You know, there's so many things that have happened. Of course we impeach the same president twice. You know, we went through Covid. So many things that I remember Marco saying, cindy, this just isn't normal. And I just looked at him one day and I said, marco, when's it going to get normal?

[Josh Holmes]

Welcome to the United States Senate. Yeah. Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

So I am your. Your unconventional center to be here, but thrilled to be here, love. Representing the state of Mississippi, running for election again, fighting off unbelievable things right now that the games have already begun. But I'm a worker, yo.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the thing that we've always appreciated you is that you didn't show up and want to talk radio host job or go, you know, be a national media personality. You were one of the few in relative years who got there, sat down, wanted to do work.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

That's it. And I got here in 2018 when we were doing the farm bill.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And I.

[Josh Holmes]

Which you knew a little something about.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I just looked in and it was like, on the table, and I thought, gosh, I'm in front of it. I can actually be a part of this.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, because you're all downstream from all of it for so many years now. You can actually change the front end.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

It's a lot of fun. And. And of course, being close to the President has really got its benefits. And, you know, I say he is so loud and proud about so many things. I mean, economic development, you know, everything to do with getting business, the climate that we can succeed in. But when it comes to agriculture, he's pretty quiet, but he trusts me.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And that's.

[Josh Holmes]

So you've developed that relationship over the years to a point where. Well, the one thing about Trump is that he weighs in heavy about the stuff that he knows and cares deeply about. But there are a whole bunch of things out there, like agriculture, where he's got to have trusted people that he talks to and takes their point of view into account when he's weighing in again. And this has been a relationship you've developed over a number of years.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

It really has. He came to Mississippi three times for me to help get me elected, and I assure you, if I get in trouble in this election, he'll be there the next day. He. For some reason, we have developed this bond. And if he trusts you, he trusts you. And, you know, it's just, he reaches out to me on things that it's pretty surprising at times. And I get to see a vulnerable side of him that I really enjoy, that he feels confident and reaching out to me. I'll always cherish an early morning call, like at 5 o' clock in the morning.

[Josh Holmes]

Really?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

You know, when it's him, 5:00am oh, yeah. You know, and you open one eye and you say, good morning, Mr. President.

[Josh Holmes]

That's gotta be like a 99% screen rate.

[John Ashbrook]

All of a sudden you see the.

[Josh Holmes]

POTUS and you're like, okay, I guess.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

I gotta take that.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

But it was his mother's birthday.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Oh, wow.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Yeah. And so, you know, whatever we're talking about, you know, I feel like, you know, I know he's gonna answer the phone and I don't call him a lot, but I feel like that, you know, it's a benefit to everybody that you do have somebody out there you can bounce things off of and trust, but it's a benefit to Mississippi.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Because nobody understands. Nobody. No president, I mean, in my lifetime, I feel like, understands the stakes more than he does. And now that you've got this relationship with him, you've worked with him for a number of years now, you know that you've got a great champion in the White House that maybe, you know, the state of Mississippi hasn't had in a while.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Well, and to think that he cares. He cares about rural health care, you know, in Mississippi, that is so important. He cares about things that are near and dear to me. And he is always helpful, you know, when you reach out to him and, you know, that's the reason you're so careful on what you reach out about. But we've got the things in Mississippi that Mississippians are. They're concerned about. Of course, they want safe neighborhoods with that border being open so long and, you know, we're so close to I10, you know, that has just been a concern there. And of course, now in my farming world, it's commodity prices. I mean, the row crop guys, they are really in a tough situation. And that's not crying wolf, hand me something. They don't want you to hand them anything. They want the ability to have the markets to produce. They can prosper. At the end of the day, it's all about profitability, you know, and you have to stay in business. And if you want to support anybody, it better be the one that feeds you. The cattle folks, prices of cattle, they're higher than they've ever been in my lifetime. Right now, there's a shortage, of course, we've had to do with the world. Screw room worms that, you know, they're parasites, get into the animals. And these details there that Brooke Rollins really has a handle on.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Well, she understands. She seems to really understand.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Oh, yeah, she definitely does. You know, she has four kids and they all show cattle, and I was really glad to see her land there. But Brooke's smart. She makes good decisions. She weighs in carefully. And, you know, I tell you, we have some impressive cabinet members.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no question.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

You have to give credit where credit is due. We really do. And they want to work together. They want to get things accomplished. And to go through four years of Biden.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Right?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Yeah, because, see, I got here in 2018. So I was in here two years, you know, with.

[Josh Holmes]

You said two years of good, four years of success.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

We were rocking and rolling. And I mean, fuel prices driving down I55 in Mississippi. Looking at the signs on those fuel prices, looking at interest rates, I thought, the sky's the limit. You can do anything you want to do in this country. And then here comes Biden in. And that was Four years of torture. Yeah, I mean, it really was. But I'm thinking, yeah, I'm sticking around. This ballgame is going to change. And I always wondered, you know, why did God let us go through that four years? But it was so we would realize how bad it could be that America awoke and then we came in and won this thing back. Because we went through that. And I say awoke in a good way. Way. Awoke.

[Josh Holmes]

That awoke. Not just woke.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Awoke.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

That you could see how bad it could be and how bad it could get. And I mean, just the intentional things, just like the open border and you know, the transgender issues that we've had to deal with with girls athletics, you.

[Josh Holmes]

Know, Tommy Tubberville on a local level.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Yeah. Tommy Tuberville and I, you know, we got on that bandwagon and just. That is just so surreal thinking, how did we get here?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

You know, how did we get to this point?

[Josh Holmes]

Look, I imagine the relationship that you develop with the president and all the cabinet members, it gives you a unique opportunity to speak to him about things that the agriculture community in your entire state. But, you know, one of the things that has come up, big attack from the left and you know, it's a real discussion is on tariffs. But I imagine that you've had just a running ongoing conversation with the administration about exactly what you're seeing in Mississippi and how they can sort of craft policy at some level to be sensitive to that kind of thing. Because this is a big thing across the country. Most people feel like they don't have any input. You do.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

They definitely come to me to voice their concerns. And long term, you know, I really think we're gonna see some benefits out of this. But, buddy, if we could just do a fast forward about 18 months, 24 months, 36 months. Gosh, I wish we could make that happen. But we've gotta go through the pain, and it's true pain. But as long as we can provide a bridge to get the farmers through this, that's what we're going to have to do. I mean, the input costs are so unbelievable.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

They can't be.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

We write the checks at my house for fertilizer cost and they keep going up the equipment cost. You know, just within the last five years, the cost of equipment increase. And then when you have low commodity prices, when you have China, that pulls out. This is where we are.

[Josh Holmes]

You're convinced that the back end of this, the better deal for America, is something that frankly, no other president has had the courage to try to have a conversation about. Let alone try to implement. You're convinced that we're in this transition phase, that we're going to get out the other side and there are going to be deals internationally where we need a better deal for American agriculture than we currently have, and that this whole process is probably something we had to go through inevitably to get to a better economy, better agriculture economy.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Absolutely. We have been taken advantage of for so long.

[Josh Holmes]

Long.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I mean, it's really some examples out there that are unreal.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, look, there's no question.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And to think that we have a president that says, hey, we need better deals than this because we were just takers. We didn't offer our product on a market. We were just takers for what we were going to get for it. So I really do think there will be benefits. I think that some of the farmers out there may not can hold out till we get there. And that's the concern there. And that's the reason, even last year, before December, with the supplemental that I worked so hard on, it's like, we can get there, but we've got to put up these guardrails to get us to the other side.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, look, good people in Mississippi have got a somebody they can count on for sure, which is. And has audience with the president and everything else. It feels like so many. I mean, these Democrats, they deal themselves out one way or another. I mean, they just. They have no representation in their state whatsoever.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's like when you get somebody who can have a conversation and actually bring their concerns to the fore, the chances of the government, as big as the federal government is making sure that you do something for them increases exponentially.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And you have to know what to do. I mean, relationships are good, there's no doubt. But you have to be in that proactive mood to say, move that, you know, you can create legislation that's going to be beneficial. You know, where the pitfalls are. You know, we need good interest rates. You know, we just need a strong economy and get out of our way. We can prosper at that point. But you, as I described in a meeting right before we left to go on recess last week, I said we were in an ag meeting and the comment was made, he says he loves the farmers. I said, but we have to teach him how. We have to let him know what we need. We have to let him know the tariffs that are truly crushing us right now. We've got to go in another direction. We have to step forward with Brooke Rollins to make sure we can create a product that's precise and say this, this, and this is what it's going to take and actually implement it. Capitalize on what you can capitalize on, but implement a plan to get us in the direction. Because so many times we assume that cabinet members know things or we assume that members of Congress were going to get behind a certain bill, but you have to articulate your message and there's so many important things out there. But I talk to small business guys all the time. I talk to a guy, just bought him a new motorhome, headed to the LSU football game. And I said, boy, tell me about your business. He's just a small business guy, mechanical seals. And he said, I'm having the best year ever. He said, you tell the President that we are doing great. He said, we're working hard, but keep doing what you're doing. He said, I had the best month I've ever had and I've been in business over 20 years.

[Josh Holmes]

That's great.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And this is like three weeks ago this guy was telling me this. So that's what I'm hearing everywhere is, yeah, we're going in a good direction and we've got another three years of Runway in front of us that we definitely need to capitalize on everything we can.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Can you tell me a little bit about. So you mentioned you're in cycle, you're running for reelection. Obviously what Democrats have done better than anything is just sort of screwed with the whole infrastructure of elections in that when they know they can't beat somebody in a general election, they tend to run people in, in Republican primaries. And it seems like you've got something going on with a Democrat running against you.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Oh, no doubt the strangest, creepiest, video of a phone call for him to tell me good night. How he opened up his campaign. I mean, I mean, that's got. Yeah, we have a guy that's backed by George Soros.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, unbelievable.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And a sitting district attorney is what's the scary part of that. He is a district attorney in four counties in Mississippi. And I get this video and it's him saying, I'm calling Senator Hyde Smith to wish her a good night to tell her goodnight. And he shows his cell phone and it's got my name across his cell phone. And this woman's voice on the other end answers. And he says, senator Hyde Smith, you know, I'm just calling to say goodnight. And he said, I know you blocked me as being a federal judge. Yeah. George Soros, federal judge.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And he said, I'm a Christian, and I just want you to know I forgive you. And he has this weird conversation with some woman on the other end, on the. You know, the other voice coming in. And he. Twice he tells me that, you know, he forgives me for that and that he's not taking it personally.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it just gives you a good insight into how weird this is.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

This is his announcement day. And he says, good night.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, remember, we would just have, like, a normal rollout where somebody was like, hey, vote for me. I can do good stuff. And he's like, no, I'm gonna send a creepy bedtime video. That's where we're going.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

But these libs are all theater kids.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

They're all acting some kind of role. There's nothing genuine about them. And it starts with a guy who's a George Soros attorney pretending to be a Republican and pretending to have a conversation. I mean, that if. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the left, I don't know what does.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And Chuck Schumer has committed 10 million to him, and James Carville's gotten involved. And, you know, it's like, here we go. But the primary seems to be gonna work okay. There's two people there, literally right now. I cannot tell you who they are. I'd never heard of them. One of them, I think, is a Smith. But to think, you know, here, this George Soros transgender defender is what we call him. He opposes any legislation that would keep boys off of girls team sports. And Chuck Schumer has just picked him out. So, you know, but he's mad at.

[Michael Duncan]

Me because we're in such a weird place.

[Josh Holmes]

We're in such a weird place. Here you have this senator who reluctantly accepted the role because she thought she could do good job. Right. Knew a little something about the state's economy, develops a relationship with the President, United States, and all of her cabinet, where they have a one to one communication about what's good for the state. And this dude shows up with a bunch of Soros money and is like, good night. Tape sending this to the sitting senator. As if, like, that's not creepy enough.

[John Ashbrook]

That's been the entire Democratic Party in the Trump era is. Is they run these people not to win the election, but to appeal to, like, donors in San Francisco. You know, it's just like you were saying, Ashbrooke, it's theater kid behavior where it's like, if you were actually trying to win this election in the state of Mississippi. Mississippi, you'd never do that. But you would do that for the radical left base that is the small dollar donors of the party.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Only in California and only, you know, overseas, wherever George Soros lives, do you think that you can put a theater kid up against a farmer and win in the state of Mississippi.

[Michael Duncan]

It's true.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a fair point.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Yeah. It's pretty strange to think that that's kind of the way he kicked off the campaign, but he found out real quickly, like, the next morning that it's a federal offense to impersonate a US.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, there you go. There you go.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, you're a tough lady. You've been doing a lot of good work for a long time. I feel good about your chances. If somebody wants to go to a website and help you out, where do they go?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Cindyhidesmith.com.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Cindyhidesmith.com.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I think that's it. Is that it, Chris?

[Josh Holmes]

That's it.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Chris Got you there.

[Josh Holmes]

Chris has got it.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

But this has been great and I've enjoyed. You know, I always say, I don't make speeches. I just sit down and talk to people. You just speak from the heart.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Refreshing.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I'm painfully honest.

[Josh Holmes]

No, you are. I've always been. Can I ask you three just quick questions that we. Anybody new and I can't believe we haven't had you on yet because we've been a fan of yours for years. We ask everybody, if you could plan your last meal on earth, what would it be?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Ooh, Man Shack Thin fried catfish. Man Shack, Louisiana. Don't tell my husband. We raise beef.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I'd have to throw a steak in there somewhere. But Man Shack, Louisiana. Thin fried catfish with a bark shroot beer. There's nothing finer.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, man, I love that.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, my second question. With the benefit of retrospect, you've done a ton in your career. With the benefit of retrospect, if you could go back and just be something, anything, like Ted Cruz wanted to be a power forwarder. Shooting.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. For the Houston Rockets.

[Josh Holmes]

Guard. For the Houston Rockets. And we're like, that was never gonna happen. Right. So it can be anything you want.

[John Ashbrook]

You beat Jimmy Kimmel, though.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Guy can dream.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. If you didn't get into this line of work, like, is there another just sort of pathway that you would have loved to have pursued?

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Oh, it'd be a developer.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

You know. Oh, yes. I love small business. I love finding niche markets that have not been filled. And I have all these ideas that I drive my husband crazy with that, you know, of Ideas to go into business. I could do it night and day.

[Josh Holmes]

He's like, honey, you know, we can't execute on any of that.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And most of it's not formulated. I mean it's just like I said, just niches that you see a void that you think that is a money making potential right there and nobody's doing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's a good answer.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I've got several plates spinning out there that I just don't have time to pursue. But one day. But yeah, I would have, I would do that full time of just. And you know, you love to help other people too.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I tell the story about Earl Bell and I probably shouldn't say his name on air, but he was, he graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and he was waiting tables and he lost his dad to cancer as a senior in high school. He just a tough situation. And a friend called and said Earl's looking for a job. Will you get a million of those phone calls? Yeah, I said send a resume. And I look at his resume and he speaks Arabic.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Well, I take Earl to Jackson and we go to the FBI and I think he's been with him about 15 years.

[John Ashbrook]

Wow, amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

That's incredible.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Earl, you speak Arabic?

[Josh Holmes]

Talk about constituent service. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

There you go.

[Josh Holmes]

Delivered. No kidding. Alright, so third final question. Our view on the Variety program is that almost every successful person is motivated by one of two things. We say it's a thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. It's not that anybody enjoys losing or anybody doesn't enjoy winning. It's what motivates them to take the next step in their career in their path, what fuels them in a lot of ways. And this is like a 50, 50 spot. And the way that we describe like the two poles of this Michael Jordan is the prototypical agony of defeat person. He needed to invent arguments, invent slights against him in order to get him motivated to do the next step of greatness. The other side of that, I think as best as we can come up, was like a Phil Mickelson. As a golfer, I don't know if you're a golf fan or not, but somebody who had hit like a two iron 280 yards over, not because it was a smart play, but because he'd done it before and he's like, I think I can probably do that again. That's the thrill of victory person. If you look at that whole panoply of your career and what you've been through, what do you think is the motivator Thrill of victory, agony of defeat.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Probably a little bit of both. Of course, you love accomplishments. And when somebody looks at me and says, oh, this can't be done, I'm the one that'll say, oh, yeah, we're going to get it done.

[Josh Holmes]

That's agony. Yeah, that's.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I love being doubted. Accomplishments and thinking, well, if I could help this many people, what else can I do? You know, it's like, bring me your problem. Let's just figure out how to solve it. But when you put your name on the ballot.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It's a different thing. Right.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

And you think, no, I'm not losing this.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

You know you will. When I got elected the first time statewide, first time I'd ever ran statewide, and in 1999, I'd never ran for anything and I beat a 20 year incumbent. And then when I ran statewide on election day, I weighed 96.4 pounds.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

I mean, I worked like nobody's business. There's maybe days you out think me, but you're never gonna outwork me. I weighed 96.4. So I think once you put your name on the ballot, you're so determined, it's like, oh, no, we're gonna win this thing. No matter what, we're gonna win.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm ready to conclude she's an agony gal. And you're sitting with three agony guys. So we understand it.

[John Ashbrook]

You're in good company.

[Josh Holmes]

We understand it. Sidney Hyde Smith. I can't tell you for all how much work you've done and communicate to the audience, you don't get to see it on a day to day basis. Cause there's everybody that's doing interviews, talking about everything that, that they've done and all their arguments, whatever. You're sitting there doing the work for the great state of Mississippi, talking to the President, trying to make this world a better place. Thank you for everything you're doing.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Oh, you're so kind. Thank you for the opportunity because it truly is an honor to serve. And I always quote Senator Stennis. He says, never let the sight of that dome become common.

[Josh Holmes]

Ooh, good words, good words. Cindyhidesmith.com make sure you go there and help her out because she's got the Soros left coming after. Thanks so much for joining us.

[Senator Cindy Hyde Smith]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so look, Senator Sydney Hyde Smith. Really great. She had a lot of good things to say. Talks to the power of like keeping your head down, trying to get things done right. I can't believe that somebody's like the George Soros candidate trying to run against her in Mississippi. What a hilarious construction that is.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, that's their whole party now, just theater kids, like Ashbrook was saying earlier.

[Chris Murphy]

That's.

[John Ashbrook]

That's all it is, just gimmicks and they're a disaster.

[Unidentified Male Commentator]

Yeah, that's why she's going to win.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally is. Totally is. Well, thanks to her for showing up and coming on, having a conversation. Remember our question of the day, which is, if government shuts down, how long will that last? What does it look like? Who caves? Who doesn't cave? We'd be interested in all of these, that we're gonna read them all as long as you like and subscribe. We'll summarize them, get back to you on Thursday, at which point we'll have a pretty good idea of what it is that's happened with this showdown that as of tonight, go into effect. So we'll see. Thank you all for joining us. Remember, like, and subscribe when you do that. Check out our merch while you're there. We got some new items that are coming out. We handed out a couple at the game. Yeah, people seem to like them.

[John Ashbrook]

Good merch.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we'll see to get those up with that, fellas, I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, again, thank you so much, Senator Hyde Smith. And thank you to the Minions for subscribing. Remember, just like home said, go to the YouTube. Hit that subscribe because it's more fun in video. So until next time, Minions, keep the faith, hold line and own the libs. We'll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless.