John Ashbrook (1:54)

Yeah, the cir. I mean, the circumstances where he was like, I scheduled a layover to watch the Colts. I was like, dude, I mean, how many layovers do you have on this leg? Like, I don't know who came up with the schedule. Flying, flying, schedule. It's always an adventure. But, yeah, I'm wishing him the best. At least the Colts got that W. Yeah.

Josh Holmes (2:13)

You may have wished that you were on some kind of a flight yesterday.

Comfortably Smug (2:16)

Oh, buddy, I wish I. I wish. It was such. Such a difficult Sunday in my house. We'll get to that later. I know, but it was very, very difficult.

Josh Holmes (2:28)

The old bang, he's went into Minnesota and they didn't come out with a whole lot about it.

Comfortably Smug (2:33)

Miserable.

Josh Holmes (2:34)

Listen, we got a good show for you today. One of the things we're privileged to do is talk to members of this administration before poignant moments that they don't always make preview news in large part because the mainstream corporate media doesn't see it in their interest to do so. They always cover things after the fact, whatever is clicky, clicky. But what's coming up this very day and throughout the week is a UN General assembly in New York, which always has fireworks when President Donald J. Trump arrives, which he is going to do. But also our Energy Secretary, Chris Wright has a meaningful role to play. And it turns out he's going to be educating the world on, well, let's just say their lack of thoughtfulness about their climate agenda.

Comfortably Smug (3:22)

Yeah.

John Ashbrook (3:23)

And also making one of the reasons this is such a huge get and why Chris Wright has so much like, you know, buzz about him is because of the idea of American energy dominance. God gave us so many resources at our disposal. It feels like Democrats have tried to keep us fighting with one arm behind our back and hamstring us. America is back and this is the person at the front of the ship.

Josh Holmes (3:47)

It's pretty funny just talking to him. And I can't wait for you to hear this interview, cuz you'll get it just out of his mouth. But what's so funny to me is just the juxtaposition between him, who is steeped in the science, who's steeped in the education of the environment. At the same time, he understands the abundance of natural resources that we have in the United States, both from an economic perspective, which is undeniable, and a national security perspective. And this is the first time that he's going to be going to the UN in any meaningful way that the entirety of the EU has come to grips with the fact that. Well, Greta Thunberg may have led them.

Comfortably Smug (4:34)

In the wrong direction. Yeah, yeah. It's an extension of this administration's common sense agenda. You only have to have two eyes and two ears to learn what the Europeans did that put them at a disadvantage against Russia. The Russians have them over a barrel right now because they've literally given everything away. And what Chris Wright is going to say to them is something they've needed to hear for a long time and they haven't listened. But. Oh, go ahead, go ahead.

Chris Wright (5:01)

No, I was just going to say.

Josh Holmes (5:03)

When Trump came in in 17 and he was like, oh, it's so controversial. He's threatening NATO and NATO allies. But think about it from a European standpoint in that you're the entirety of your national defense, you build up as a coalition of folks that stand together in opposition from something that you think is a, as they describe it, like kind of a mortal threat to their existence. In many ways. In Russia, Putin's Russia. And then at the same time, from an economic perspective, you become entirely reliant upon said adversary, like Trump. When Trump talked about, they're like, oh, my gosh, he's being so confrontational. And then you fast forward to the second term and they're all like, nah, you're right.

Comfortably Smug (5:51)

That's exactly right. And we're going to get a lot of great content. I mean, we have a great interview with Chris Wright. We're going to get a lot of great content from Chris Wright up at the UN I know we're going to get a lot of great content from President Trump because anytime he has the world stage at his beck and call, he always rises to the occasion and delivers something that everybody should listen to.

Josh Holmes (6:13)

And.

Comfortably Smug (6:13)

And I can't wait to hear what he's going to say. And let me just remind you, so if you, if you read Politico, in their preview of what President Trump is facing at the un, it was all written from the UN Point of view.

Josh Holmes (6:26)

Well, you read it. So we don't have to.

Comfortably Smug (6:28)

Well, I appreciate somebody, you know, I have to, I have to, I have to. But everything is written from the UN point of view. Like, they're in charge and we're supposed to, like, talk up to them. Yeah, but I think that the UN people should be taking notes when this president speaks, because if you just look at his record over the last few months of peace agreements, of things that he's done, like, think about Azerbaijan and Armenia, think about Cambodia in Thailand, think about Rwanda in the DRC3 peace deal, think about Israel and Iran, think about Egypt and Ethiopia. Five, think about India and Pakistan. Six, they need to be taking notes at every word that our president says today at the U.N. yeah.

Josh Holmes (7:15)

And sometimes there's a delayed fuse on their acknowledgement of what it is that he's right about. And in some cases, it takes six, seven years, I expect, particularly on what we're talking to Chris Wright about. They're like, okay, at some point in the next five, six years, they're going to be like, yeah, that was definitely right. That was definitely right.

John Ashbrook (7:35)

On a long enough timeline, everyone realizes Trump was right. That's just how it is.

Chris Wright (7:39)

It's just.

John Ashbrook (7:40)

There's even a hat for it.

Josh Holmes (7:41)

It's the international norm at this point anyway. Why don't we just get right to that interview? Well, we're thrilled to have this guy. You gotta follow him. If you're not following him, you need to get onto this, because he's doing some major things and really just fighting the. All of the good fights. Secretary Chris Wright. How are you, sir?

Chris Wright (8:02)

Thanks to be here. Honored to be on the program.

Josh Holmes (8:04)

Yeah, you're on the program. I understand you're a listener of the program.

Chris Wright (8:08)

I am, because you guys are fun, you're entertaining. I get to hang with the fellows today.

Josh Holmes (8:14)

I love it. Well, listen, you have well established bona fides in the area that you now have oversight over and trying to implement the Trump administration policies in. But I understand next week this is gonna be kind of a fun process, the United nations coming into town, and you're traveling up to New York and you're gonna have some things to say.

Chris Wright (8:38)

We will. It'll be great. I'm there for Climate Week. I'll be at the President's, of course. Do you think you would have gotten.

Josh Holmes (8:44)

That invitation if you weren't the Secretary of Energy?

Chris Wright (8:47)

No, they've never invited me before. And it's not like I've been shy about climate change, but somehow I never made the list. You know, they had Greta's whole extended family and it just took up the spots. But for whatever reason, I got invited to Climate Week this year, and I just can't wait because honestly, it's what I've always wanted to do is lay out the climate change data and the climate economics and energy systems and have a rational dialogue about it. And I've been waiting for it for 20 years, and hopefully it's gonna come.

Josh Holmes (9:15)

Well, that's the thing. So for those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr. Wright's work, you've been doing this for an awful long time, making rational arguments, scientific arguments, to what has become a climate cult on the left, where they don't read any of the reports that anybody actually puts out. All they do is just sort of like talking, point it, and then call you a liar. And you have come back in a variety of mediums over the years and said like, well, here's what the science has to say. They don't want to hear that.

Chris Wright (9:43)

No, people don't want to hear that. But that's exactly why, thank God President Trump got elected, because he's not only wants to bring common sense back, but he's bold. He's not shy from leaning into anything. So, you know, my view is, let's put it all out there. You know, we released a climate report from the Department of Energy to open up a dialogue about climate change. I love doing that. I love the five authors who wrote kind of a great overview summary. Of course, we immediately had two environmental Groups sue us right, to disband the group that shows you how much they wanted the climate dialogue then. You know, I've been on TV networks and print interviews and all that. I've yet to have an interview on TV or on print with any, anyone who's read our report. They all know it's bad and it's wrong, but none of them have actually read it. And now we've had two sort of larger reports come out to refute or be the counter to what we wrote. And sadly they're a little disappointing too that, you know, like we put out these facts and data and they don't disagree with any of the facts and data and you know, they jump up and down a little bit angry and they talk about something else. But their supposed refutations. There's just no there there. Except they, they did get us on sea level rise. I gotta, I gotta put that on.

Wolf (10:55)

Yeah.

Josh Holmes (10:55)

How did they get you?

Chris Wright (10:56)

They got the National Academies report that came out a week or so ago, was big deal. And they went through the data we had published the sea level rise from 1900 to last year. So 124 years that sea level had risen a global average of 8 inches. And the National Academies came down with the big hammer of authority and said no, it's actually seven inches.

Comfortably Smug (11:22)

Maybe that's why Obama bought a house on the coast. Maybe he feels so comfortable buying a house on the coast because he knows that it's actually not going to be washed.

Chris Wright (11:31)

But that 7 versus 8 inches probably made a big decision in his real estate purchase. So now we're clued into the 7 get rid of that 8 number.

Wolf (11:40)

Doesn't it sort of reveal the whole theater of the thing though, that like they're not actually interested in the science. This really is just about the power of these left wing environmental culture warriors to fight against people like you who will do the science and care about the actual implications of that sort of thing. It really for them isn't actually about arguing and reading the reports, it's just about opposing people like you.

Chris Wright (12:08)

It is frustrating because look, there's tons of great scientists around who are doing climate change research, who are reasonable people, but of course they're not the ones that get on the news. They're not the ones that are leaders of anything, cuz they don't say anything that's dramatic or exciting. But the sort of the scientists that you see, right, they're the alarmist ones, the crazy ones, the newsworthy ones. But yeah, it is and it has become a Broader movement, you know that it's a reason for big government, it's a reason for redesigning society because those stupid rubes out there in America shouldn't be able to make their own choices. It's a reason for big government. It's a reason for meaning. You know, before I was just an activist or something, and now I'm saving the planet from extinction. But yeah, it is unfortunately drifted so far away from any rational discussion about how to better people's lives.

Josh Holmes (12:58)

How much of this do you think is driven by just like anti capitalism or anti Americanism? I mean, I understand that shorthanding it a little bit, but like we have an obvious advantage over the rest of the world in terms of energy supply. It is a national security issue as we've talked a lot about here on Ruthless. And you get a sense from the activist left when they're talking about climate, it's just a means to the end. It's like the science is not really what they're concerned about here whatsoever. It's so much as it is just shutting down industry in the United States.

Chris Wright (13:33)

It's amazing how little the dedicated career activists actually know about climate change. I did some debates on TV and during the TV breaks the activists would have to lean over and say, what was that number again? Seriously, off the TV camera. They wouldn't have mind admitting that, but they didn't know too much. It is frustrating and it's probably telling that. Look, when I was in College in the 1980s, probably a quarter of the professors at MIT would say they were communist. Because if you're smart and you're educated and you're at a university, you've got to believe that the rest of the world is too dumb to make their own decisions. But we're gonna design a safer, better world, an economic system in this that was just. And a quarter would say they were communists, probably, you know, another half would say, you know, they were left to center. We need socialism or, you know, government designed economy. Certainly not freedom for everyone. Not for those people.

Josh Holmes (14:26)

No.

Chris Wright (14:27)

And then when the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed, right. You could no longer say, hey, I think this planned economy thing works great. That bubble burst. Where did all of those people go? Where did all that intellectual thing? It went into the environmental movement because it wasn't about dirty air and water anymore, it was about the planet. And it really filled that hole of top down. We the anointed and the government must fix the energy system and save the planet for all of you rubes. I think it filled that hole. So yeah, it's dominantly a left wing control arrogance thing. I think that motivates the climate movement.

Josh Holmes (15:05)

It just certainly seems like it.

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Josh Holmes (16:11)

But I mean look, what this administration is doing is not only forcing them to have an intellectual debate, which they hate, but also illuminating things like electric vehicle mandates and having that discussion. It's like, okay, well you're here in the United States of America. You've got employees across this country who work in the energy industry. You've watched all of these European countries predominantly have to like fund their enemies based on trying to import energy. We've got an abundance of it, but we should shut that down. And what we should do is become reliant upon an adversary. Right? And if you like just cut to the chase on that whole argument, we get far beyond the science. It feels like it's just sort of anti American at some level.

Chris Wright (16:58)

It's crazy. It is crazy. I just came back from Europe and you know, of course those are our long term allies in so many ways, but it is truly crazy. Europe has done from really the financial crisis on, right? They just dove down this net zero. We're going to do our energy transition. They stopped economic growth. They've had 17 years of virtually no economic growth, which is why populism and people are angry. On the European continent they exported all their industry. They don't make big manufacturing it all manufactured in China. They close a natural gas plant in the United Kingdom. It's now made in a coal fired plant in China, loaded on a diesel powered ship halfway around the world. They unload it and call it green in the name of green energy. I mean it's just crazy. And as I've often said in the United Kingdom and Germany, the ones who went the furthest down the road, they went from 80% of their energy from hydrocarbons to 76. So, like, they destroyed their economy, stopped economic growth, exported their industries, and they went from 80 to 76%. Like that's. That was a trade off worth making. I think we will see a pivot with President Trump, with the arrival of AI, with manufacturing, this whole Russian invasion of Ukraine. I think we are going to see a pivot back towards some energy sobriety in Europe. It will be fought violently by the others. But I get a sense there's some change of foot.

Comfortably Smug (18:20)

I think that's interesting to hear because I know that the Europeans have clamped down on farmers with methane, and they've clamped down on. They're trying to clamp down on American companies, saying that you can't do business in Europe unless you expose absolutely everything that you do as a company, as an American company. And I know that part of your negotiations in trade and everything else has touched on all of those topics.

Chris Wright (18:45)

Oh, it's critical. You mentioned one there, the technical name csdd, which is this crazy regulation that would make it impossible for American businesses to do business in Europe. You go do business in Europe and you've gotta have your own net zero plan. If they don't like the way your hiring practices are, they can fine you for your business all around the world, not just you do in Europe. I mean, it's so crazy, it just won't happen. And that's our dialogue. It's like with this law, if this law becomes enshrined, you can't have Americans supplying your energy. Right now, we're displacing Russian energy that's going into Europe with American energy. That law would kill.

Josh Holmes (19:20)

Would. Let me ask you this, because, I mean, what you're eight, nine months on the job. I imagine the first time you meet with all these people, they're like, oh, man, it's an American. He actually means business. You know what I mean? It's gotta be kind of a jarring thing for them, too, because it's been a while since you have an American secretary of energy was coming over and be like, yeah, we're not gonna do that. Now, over seven, eight months, have you gotten to the point where you feel like discussions with Europeans are, do they have an understanding of where we're coming from?

Chris Wright (19:51)

Most of them do, you know, and the ones that don't acknowledge that publicly, I would say at least half of those do privately. So I actually left much more optimistic than I arrived. You know, they want the war with Russia and Ukraine to end. They Want economic future. They want to participate in AI. Right. In their current trajectory, they're going to be irrelevant for AI.

Josh Holmes (20:14)

Right.

Chris Wright (20:14)

They can't even keep their lights on. You know, how are you going to add, you know, this gigawatts of demand?

Josh Holmes (20:19)

Right.

Chris Wright (20:19)

Right. They have three times our electricity price.

Josh Holmes (20:23)

And what do you. What do you. So then you juxtapose that with the domestic constituency within the energy community. It seems to me, from the folks that we've talked to, they're excited about the capacity of doing more on the domestic front, whether it's in oil and gas, whether it's in nuclear, which we've talked a little bit about. Everybody just wants to produce more domestic energy means more jobs, means more economic growth, all of these things. But they also. It seems like everybody's ready to go.

Chris Wright (20:53)

I think so. I think, again, another thing I give Trump credit for is. Is I think we see common sense is contagious. You know, it's not. He won the election. Right. Because Americans wanted common sense back. But the majority of the Democrats. I talked to governors and senators and House representatives, I think they're kind of ready for a swing towards common sense as well. Most of them didn't really believe, you know, the sort of strident, nonsensical line that they've had of the Democratic Party. The party hasn't abandoned it, the leaders haven't abandoned it.

Josh Holmes (21:24)

Right.

Chris Wright (21:25)

But I think a lot of people.

Josh Holmes (21:26)

Are like, rank and file is like.

Chris Wright (21:28)

Yeah, maybe, you know, maybe. Maybe the world isn't gonna end in eight years. You know, if I continue and I buy a bigger TV set or drive the car I want, you know, maybe that doesn't mean I'm never gonna have a grandchild.

Josh Holmes (21:41)

Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your background. I mean, look, it's difficult when, I mean, you've obviously had a huge constituency, People have followed your work over a long period of time, but you're now introduced to a national public, and they're like, I don't know, it's Trump's energy guy. And they always characterize people one way or another where you come from. How'd you get into this line of work?

Chris Wright (22:04)

So it's funny. So I'm in high school in the 1980s and in Denver, Colorado, and there was a mania then that the world was coming to an end, and oil, gas and coal were the cause of the world coming to an end.

Josh Holmes (22:17)

Is that the acid rain or the global cooling? I forget.

Chris Wright (22:20)

Then it was. We were running out of everything. It actually started in the 60s but I didn't know about that. But when I was in high school, man, we had a college professor come speak about how around the year 2000, industrial civilization was going to collapse and mass starvation would surely follow because we were running out of hydrocarbons. You can't have a modern world without hydrocarbons. So it's so funny now I'm an adult and like the world's about to end and it's because of hydrocarbons. But this time it's too much, not too little. The devil is the same, it's just a different kind of a sin. And so look, I went to college to work on fusion energy because the world was going to end and we're running out of hydrocarbons. So I went to.

Josh Holmes (22:55)

So you were interested, right from the jump.

Chris Wright (22:57)

I knew energy just is what controlled your opportunities in life. I wanted to travel the world and climb mountains. And I had this passion for an encounter with a homeless person when I was young, to lift people out of poverty. And the only way you lift people out of poverty is more energy, which means more food, which means more energy.

Josh Holmes (23:12)

Tell me about the encounter.

Chris Wright (23:13)

What are you talking about? So I went downtown. My dad took me to his office once in his life and I was about 12 years old and we parked, you know, an outdoor parking lot. We walked three blocks to his office and I saw a homeless person in the street. I lived in suburban Denver and I'd never seen a homeless person before. I could not believe there was someone without a roof over his head and didn't know where his next meal was coming from. I was angered, like, I love this country, I love America. I'm a 12 year old kid, maybe 11, something like that. But I just couldn't believe that I didn't know anything about mental illness or substance abuse. I just couldn't believe what I saw. And it jarred me. And my entire life since then, and my wife is my partner in this mission, has been about. At that time I thought, I want to stop poverty and cure poverty. I learned a few years later poverty is the normal human condition everywhere and always. And the question is, what gets people out of poverty? That's free markets, that's property rights, you know, that's education, that's culture and belief in the future. And so in any case, everything we do outside of family and business is on these. What are the efforts that will lift people out of poverty? But which is another reason I'm so passionate about the climate crises, because they're the opposite of that. They're pursuing policies that are not going to move global greenhouse gas emissions at all, but they absolutely can drive increases in poverty and they've done it.

Wolf (24:35)

And it goes back to what Holmes was saying earlier about maybe they're just anti capitalists. I think, I mean my whole theory of this is the reason why these lefty environmental radicals target energy so religiously is because they know that energy is the engine of capitalism. And if they think they can somehow slow that they can break the system.

Chris Wright (24:57)

For some of them for sure, it's this romantic view of the clean, beautiful past. Yeah, I take it, I tell them, come to Africa with me, come to rural Latin America with me. You know, the past when we still have people living in those conditions, it's dirty, it's ugly, it's poor, it's not romantic. You know, people don't get that. You know, global human life expectancy was 30 years 200 years ago, the same as it was 20,000 years ago. All of this change. In fact, I named my last company Liberty Energy. I think two things changed the world. The growth of bottom up social organization. Right. You couldn't even start a company in the United States or the United Kingdom, the birthplace of property rights without the government approval until the 1940s. Like economic 1840s. 1840s, economic liberty is the last 200 years. You know, we only ended slavery after that, enfranchisement women after that. But once you set people free, they can do a lot more. And then the other massive change was we were 100% renewable throughout all of time. You know, mostly wood. And then you add in coal, oil and natural gas. Global life expectancy 73 years now. Global, you know, just the growth of human freedom, human liberty and energy. Hydrocarbons just transformed everything else, enabled everything else.

Josh Holmes (26:08)

Nobody hears that argument.

Wolf (26:09)

Yeah, you know what I mean?

Comfortably Smug (26:11)

And nobody hears the facts. I mean, it's my understanding that greenhouse gases are going to be at their lowest level under President Trump. Isn't that the case? And water is cleaner and air is cleaner because of everything that you guys are doing.

Chris Wright (26:25)

Yeah, air and water have gotten massively cleaner throughout my whole life. Despite the environmental catastrophism. I talk and write well, I grew up in Denver. You know, we couldn't see the mountains one out of four days. Population's four times as big now. Everybody's a lot richer. And the air's clean. Wealth allows you to clean water, clean air, do everything. Greenhouse gases are harder because consumption of energy produces them. The United States emissions on a per person basis this year are lower than any year since I was born. So absolutely they're on a downward trajectory. The funniest thing is Biden got elected. He said to that girl, I promise you I will end fossil fuels. 82% of global energy when Biden was inaugurated. I mean of US energy, 82% when Biden left office. So not only he didn't keep that promise so well, but to your point, my guess is the world leader that'll do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than any leader ever will be. President Trump, because he's all in on natural gas, he's all in on nuclear. These are the two needle movers on global greenhouse gas emissions. If you were really about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, you'd be all natural gas, all nuclear, all the time.

Josh Holmes (27:37)

Are you gonna say that to the UN people?

Chris Wright (27:39)

Absolutely.

Comfortably Smug (27:40)

They're gonna break in hives.

Chris Wright (27:41)

I'm absolutely gonna say it. I mean, it's, it's, you know, it's true.

Josh Holmes (27:47)

I can't wait. I wish there was a fly in the wall in that discussion. Cause they are gonna lose it. I mean, these people, it's a climate cult at some level. One of the things that we hear an awful lot about in terms of this new kind of energy revolution, all the good work that you guys are doing, permitting, permitting reform, opening up our opportunity to have more domestic energy production. Like, what's your take on any of that?

Chris Wright (28:15)

Oh, it's huge. I mean, think of the Biden administration. One of the things they did in that election year, right, was stop the permitting of new natural gas export terminals. This is the fastest growing export in the United States. This is the fastest growing.

Josh Holmes (28:27)

Definitely want to shut that down.

Wolf (28:29)

Especially during a war between Russia and Ukraine. We can't export.

Josh Holmes (28:33)

Oh no, we don't want, no, we don't want that.

Chris Wright (28:35)

Centered around Europe's dependence on Russia for natural gas. And globally since the financial crisis, it's the fastest growing energy source on the planet by a fair margin. Natural gas as far as new energy added. So just insane that they would do that. So day one thing for President Trump, we're going to start permitting natural gas export terminals again. It's awesome for American jobs, it's awesome for security across the pond to our neighbors. When I was just in Europe, they, they wanna finish getting off Russian gas. We have enough gas to completely get em off. That's gonna happen, that's gonna shrink Putin. But these were things that were opposed by the Biden administration. I'll tell you one other crazy thing. So they, before that pause, they Did a study on what's the impact of surging US LNG exports. And of course, they only cared about two things. Greenhouse gas emissions number one. And then a distant second, like the price of American natural gas. They did a big study involving the national labs hundred some page study. And what did it show? That in almost all scenarios, surging US LNG exports would lower global greenhouse gas emissions and have a negligible impact on prices. What they do, they buried that report, pretended it never existed. Four months later, that report was done in October of 2023. Four months later, they came out with the pause because they're concerned about its impact on climate change and American prices. They'd already done the study. And then they did a new study which just took the few scenarios in the big study that showed an incremental tiny increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Because of course in that scenario the world was running on wind turbines and solar panels, like less than 3% of global energy today. So the crazy scenarios that showed like a minuscule increase and then it still showed no increase in natural gas prices. In fact, the funniest thing is the headline was in 2050, 25 years from now, they're going to be 30% more expensive. You want to buy anything else for which. Which basically means less than the rate of inflation. And then their headline was they paused LNG exports, you know, at the end of their thing because the study, they did a study that showed the opposite and they buried it to this point.

Josh Holmes (30:45)

Incredible.

Chris Wright (30:46)

They weren't really about reducing greenhouse gas emissions or worried about prices for consumers.

Wolf (30:50)

Or where in that calculus is the benefit to the American workers, you know, in the industry itself.

Josh Holmes (30:55)

That's exactly.

Chris Wright (30:55)

Wasn't in the cactus, right?

Wolf (30:57)

Exactly. And that just kind of speaks to like how backwards their entire philosophy is when it comes to things like energy is like this is a major driver of the American economy. And to have a study like that where you don't center what it means for Americans and American workers is just incredibly crazy.

Josh Holmes (31:11)

Yeah, it really is. It's nuts. So we have three questions that we ask everybody. And these are a little esoteric, so you have to bear with me. But I think this is going to be good with you because it illuminates.

Wolf (31:22)

It's been a while since we've done.

Josh Holmes (31:23)

These sessions and I love that we're. I love them so much. But when we get a guy like this and gotta have it, right. So if you could plan, plan your last meal on earth, what would it be? Any meal, anything you want. It can Be a restaurant. It could be a kind of food. It could be your mom's food. It could be anything.

Chris Wright (31:43)

Oh, definitely my wife's Thanksgiving turkey, gravy and stuffing. Oh, I love food. I love to eat, but nothing beats awesome turkey and gravy.

Josh Holmes (31:53)

It's a great answer. That's a great answer.

Chris Wright (31:55)

I'm gonna get buried with a big stomach.

Josh Holmes (31:58)

No, you need to slide in sideways. That's the whole point of the question. So. All right, so second question. With the benefit of retrospect. Now, having lived life, you're at the pinnacle of your industry and sort of what you've been focused on. But if you look back on life, everything that you've been through, if you could just choose another profession, something else, some other way to do it, what would it be?

Comfortably Smug (32:21)

And it could be anything. Ted Cruz said he would have played in the NBA.

Josh Holmes (32:24)

And we all know that. We all know is not unless he's posting up Jimmy Kimmel. Yeah, it's not going to work for him.

Chris Wright (32:31)

Yeah. Oh, wow. Well, my original plan was professional tennis player. Well, wasn't closely good enough to do that. So you got to deal with that, you know, Then it was going to be a scientist, an astronomer originally was going to be a scientist. I love that stuff.

Josh Holmes (32:45)

Yeah.

Chris Wright (32:46)

That's why visiting national labs. I love it, but I just don't have the patience to do it. But I love it.

Josh Holmes (32:51)

You can tell there's not a lot of guys who just get absolutely. Just psyched about science.

Chris Wright (32:56)

I love it. I love it. So, look, I think I was just wired to be an entrepreneur, which is why I'm surprised eight months in, I haven't been fired from my new job in Washington. But the reason is the president is a businessman and he wants to make stuff. I thought government is slow and boring. This guy. Oh, you got that done. Well, get two things tomorrow. And he's bold and he's risk taking. To me, he's like the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial politician.

Josh Holmes (33:23)

Yeah.

Chris Wright (33:24)

So.

Josh Holmes (33:24)

And he's willing to take the heat to get something done. Which is. Which is a great position for somebody like you. Wants to get things done. All right, third question. Our view is that almost every successful person in this country is motivated by one of two things. The thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. And it's not that anybody likes to lose, and it's not that anybody doesn't like to win. It's like, what motivates you to take the next step. Your, like, true core of I'm going to show somebody or I'M going to do. And if you think about the agony of defeat, like the prototypical person's Michael Jordan, who used to invent reasons to be angry at somebody. Right. Thrill of victory. We've batted this around a little bit, but, like, I don't know if you're a golf fan, but Phil Mickelson strikes me as a perfect example of somebody who hits a two iron, you know, 280 yards over water, not because he thinks it's a smart shot, but because I've done it before, I think I could do it again. That's like the two poles. If you think about your own life, the way you generate your own motivation, where do you think you fall on that spectrum?

Chris Wright (34:27)

Oh, thrill of victory for sure. Thrill of victory for sure. Like, I've been aggressive and bold and maybe overconfident in some things, so I've experienced the agony of defeat a lot. That's okay. To me, that's just a price on the way for thrill of victory. I've been motivated to win in sports, in business, and in life.

Josh Holmes (34:45)

Life. Yeah.

Chris Wright (34:46)

I'm definitely on one pole.

Josh Holmes (34:47)

It's so funny. It's an even 50. 50 spot.

Wolf (34:50)

Yeah.

Comfortably Smug (34:51)

Yeah.

Josh Holmes (34:51)

We asked this question. Just about every successful person that comes in here, it is a straight 50. 50. It's one of the two.

Wolf (34:57)

You know what I find? I find people who are entrepreneurs tend to be the thrill of victory or people who like lawyers. Lawyers almost always agony because they're worried about what the other side's going to say in court. And so they have to plan for the win. Worst case scenario at all times. I can't get beat. I can't get beat.

Chris Wright (35:15)

You know, and so it's a sort.

Wolf (35:16)

Of different mentality, but both of them, you know, make people succeed.

Josh Holmes (35:20)

That's awesome.

Chris Wright (35:20)

Yeah. See, when I played tennis, that was the motivation, right? You get in the court and you play in a different play every time. You gotta beat that person. Right? And I was super undersized. I was a tiny kid, but I was a scrappy tennis player. But it was work. It was intense. You know, I was a young kid. I mean, I. I was not having fun out there, but I did not want to lose to that person. And I stopped playing tennis because it's intense. I feel it too. Seriously, I go play golf now, right? I'm not a real good golfer. I have lots of terrible shots. I forget those. I just remember the victories, you know. Oh, man, I kicked ass on that hole. I sucked on those. But I forgot that I remember the Thrill of victory. And I'm able to forget the agony of.

Josh Holmes (36:00)

And you know what?

Wolf (36:01)

It's the good shots that keep you coming back to the golf course.

Josh Holmes (36:03)

That's exactly right. So you're having fun.

Chris Wright (36:07)

Yeah, everyone asked me that the first month or two. I'm like, no, it's not fun at all. The first month or two. It's like crazy, you know, it's crazy. I don't trust you. Not sure how it works. Totally crazy. It's so honored. Thrilled to be here. But it is increasingly gotten more fun.

Josh Holmes (36:22)

Because you're seeing how this.

Chris Wright (36:23)

Yeah. Figure out how the game works. We're racking up victories. We have people that appreciate what we're doing. I've got people coming at me in the climate debate that I've always wanted to have. I mean, bring it on. So I would say it increasingly gets much more fun. And the Senate last night voted in. You know, I've got 10 new people on my team that I've been waiting eight months for. Totally. So, yeah, things are getting better.

Josh Holmes (36:47)

Moving in the right direction.

Chris Wright (36:48)

Still here. Much more for the thrill of victory than for the fun part. But it went from miserable to, like, tolerable to starting to see fun from here.

Josh Holmes (36:57)

Yeah. Well, you got to keep us updated. You're the absolute best. You've been doing terrific work. You and all your team. Crushing it. Good luck at the U.N. thanks so much.

Chris Wright (37:06)

I appreciate you guys. Keep bringing these awesome, fun conversations to everyone on your show, and I'll keep listening.

Josh Holmes (37:11)

Awesome being here.

Comfortably Smug (37:12)

Thank you, sir.

Josh Holmes (37:15)

Okay, so, Chris Wright. Terrific to have him. 1. It's super nice to have somebody in a position like that where actually they know what they're talking about, which is undeniably, if you take that conversation. I mean, he's a guy who actually has done it, who knows consequences. One of the things that I always find so fascinating when you juxtapose those conversations with conversations that the media has with the far left, which, make no mistake, it's like a religious cult. This is their Jesus, in a lot of ways, is climate.

John Ashbrook (37:51)

That's their religion because they are godless. This is what they believe.

Josh Holmes (37:53)

Believe. I mean, dude, I think there's a lot of case to be made, but. But they always act as though conservatives in this space have no concern for the environment. And you get just the opposite out of somebody like that. And, you know, we've done this with sportsmen, too. I mean, I think of our JD Vance interview and all that. You. You get the sportsman's point of view. An actual conservative's point of view is like, no, actually we care more about the climate than you do. Because what you're trying to do is just eliminate the United States ability to compete abroad, take away an advantage. So it just boils down to the fact that you're anti American. Like, we burn fuels more efficiently. If the world got it from us exclusively, you would have an enormous reduction in greenhouse gases in this world. And this is the kind of thing that he talks about that you don't get in the pages of the New York Times, in the Washington Post. Am I right? Yeah.

John Ashbrook (38:52)

I mean, again, they're captured by these left wing lunatic interests. And there's a very specific reason why. When Chris Wright was announced for this position, everyone I know in business, whether they're in manufacturing, whether they are in oil, they were thrilled. They're like, this is going to drive down costs for energy in the United States. This is going to help my business. Everyone's thrilled. And you just saw one. The guy knows what he's doing.

Josh Holmes (39:15)

Yeah. And also the foreign policy people were thrilled. They're like, oh, my gosh, you mean we have American reliance?

John Ashbrook (39:22)

Nobody we can. It's all on America and it's America first. Terrific interview.

Josh Holmes (39:27)

Yeah, it's really, really good stuff. All right, so listen, that leads us to our question of the day. And our question of the day today is what should Trump say to the UN I know we've got super looking.

John Ashbrook (39:37)

Forward to the comments on this.

Josh Holmes (39:38)

I know we've got some ideas. It's a tumultuous time. There's a lot going on. We've had our own domestic issues, obviously, as we've covered over the last 10 days, but the world has not exactly figured itself out. And any time there's a convening of any authority to try to figure something out, Trump does it. And they're all like, yeah, no, thanks for bringing everybody together. And then everybody promptly goes back to doing absolutely nothing about it, you know. So, like, what's his message this time around?

Comfortably Smug (40:09)

I cannot wait to hear what people say.

Josh Holmes (40:12)

You guys are lucky ducks. Well, we're gonna end up going to is a little bit of variety.

Comfortably Smug (40:16)

Oh, boy, can't wait for this.

Josh Holmes (40:18)

Yeah, yeah, we've got this one Wolf has put his head around. And in many ways I didn't see this one coming.

John Ashbrook (40:27)

This is a good one.

Josh Holmes (40:28)

But it comes from his own backyard. Turns out from Kron Fork, that's a local news station where they talk about how a woman faces prison for chicken rescue.

Comfortably Smug (40:39)

Oh, rescue, yeah.

Josh Holmes (40:41)

And as long as we're on the topic of, like, environmental extremism, so perfect.

John Ashbrook (40:45)

Great theme for the show.

Josh Holmes (40:46)

This woman really hits the nail on the head. Animal rights activists is. According to Crown4 folks, animal rights activists marched Saturday into Petaluma in support of a woman on trial for allegedly taking four chickens from a local poultry slaughterhouse. Zoe Rosenberg faces up to five years in prison.

John Ashbrook (41:07)

Good.

Josh Holmes (41:07)

She's accused of entering into a Purdue owned Petaluma poultry slaughterhouse in 2023. Her trial begins in Sonoma county this week. It's happening. So according to a criminal complaint filed by the Sonoma county district attorney's office, Rosenberg visited the Petaluma poultry place without authorization four times. During those visits, she allegedly attached GPS devices to 12 different farm delivery vehicles. She's also accused of taking the chickens off the vehicle and leaving with them.

John Ashbrook (41:46)

So this is. This is amazing for so many reasons. So first I was like, okay, this lady isn't, you know, clearly a nut job. Yeah. She's putting GPS devices on trucks for this poultry farm, following them and trying to snatch chickens off the back of them because she thinks that makes her, like a hero. So first off, yeah, that's crazy. To be honest, I am shocked that in Sonoma county they brought up charges against her because, I mean, I'd imagine the judge there would be like riding shotgun while she's chasing these trucks and stealing chickens and doing this nutty stuff.

Josh Holmes (42:22)

So she stole chickens? Chickens is basically what it comes down to. Am I right here?

Comfortably Smug (42:27)

Well, do we think, fellas, do we think that the chickens thanked her? Do we think that. Are they going to put the chickens on the stand?

Josh Holmes (42:36)

Is there some kind of.

Comfortably Smug (42:37)

On her behalf?

Josh Holmes (42:38)

Is there some kind of a love relationship?

Comfortably Smug (42:40)

There could have been. This is what we don't know, because.

Josh Holmes (42:44)

What were the gender of these said chickens? A lot of people used to be.

Comfortably Smug (42:48)

Unless they tell you if it was.

Josh Holmes (42:50)

Like a formidable cock, for example. Is that something that's worth discussing? I don't know.

John Ashbrook (42:56)

I don't know. We don't want these Greenpeace people. I don't know how much interest you'd have in that.

Josh Holmes (42:59)

Oh, that's fair. That's fair. No, it's, you know, but all of these are questions that I understand that we're going to be finding out from a jury.

Comfortably Smug (43:09)

Yeah. Well, I will tell you guys, we talked about this a long time ago on the show and something that we have started here at Point Some. It's a movement, People for the ethical treatment of People. People eat chickens.

Josh Holmes (43:23)

Yeah.

Comfortably Smug (43:24)

That help. If someone is hungry out there, they can eat a chicken and they can be filled. This lady took that from them because she's a lunatic.

John Ashbrook (43:34)

I think five years is too lenient. I mean, because the thing is, is you're going to face one of these, like, San Francisco judges, Sonoma county, and they're gonna probably, if they don't let her off, she'll have the most lenient, like, oh, you know, released with, like, whatever pearl. And what does that. Cause more people are gonna do this. You know what I mean? Like, put her in for 50 years. Like, we need a. Like, you fuck around and you find out. Law and order system.

Josh Holmes (44:00)

50 years.

John Ashbrook (44:01)

Think how crazy this is.

Chris Wright (44:02)

She's out there.

John Ashbrook (44:03)

She's essentially trying to hijack trucks, right?

Josh Holmes (44:05)

We all know the price of poultry.

John Ashbrook (44:07)

She's stalking trucks, and then she's stealing property. Like, this country used to be a nation of law and order where you were safe. And it's a slippery slope, folks. Think about from 20 years ago to today, how much it's changed of how you go into stores in any town in this country, there's a high chance that everything's gonna be locked up. You try to get a can of deodorant, it's gonna be locked up. You go into a Walgreens for it, and it's ridiculous. And it's because people like this get away with stuff like this.

Comfortably Smug (44:36)

It all falls apart.

John Ashbrook (44:37)

Bring down the hammer.

Josh Holmes (44:39)

50 years.

John Ashbrook (44:40)

Put her in for 50 years.

Josh Holmes (44:42)

There's a dude. I can't tell if it's his. Her attorney or not, but he says that there's an explicit right to rescue laws that give ordinary people the right to intervene, to break a car window, to get an animal who's overheating out of that situation. And we know this applies to any animal who's on the brink of death, who needs rescue. And that is what we are asserting. So it sounds like an attorney. And like, the funny thing is, she rescued these things from this deal. What was it, a Tyson deal?

John Ashbrook (45:18)

No, it was Purdue.

Josh Holmes (45:19)

Purdue. Purdue. Chicken on the right. Yeah. That's sort of what they do there. That's how the supermarket gets.

John Ashbrook (45:28)

Well, it's stupid because he's trying to compare a chicken to a dog with the, like, dog rescue law.

Josh Holmes (45:32)

They love to do that.

John Ashbrook (45:34)

This isn't China, bro. We don't eat dogs. There's a difference between food and a pet. Like it. Stop trying to. You know, they obfuscate everything. The lawyer should be locked up, too. The lawyer should also be locked Up.

Josh Holmes (45:44)

Do you want more lock up, bro?

Comfortably Smug (45:47)

Yeah, absolutely.

Josh Holmes (45:48)

So according to ABC7 News, a vicious squirrel sends two San Rafael residents to the error after neighbors report a series of attacks. This is in the North Bay. Did you just get this out of your hometown? Everything is in your home. It's a coincidence. Wolf says it's a coincidence, but he's only surfing for news within five miles of his birth hood home. Anyway, in the North Bay, some neighbors are on alert after this week a series of frightening attacks on people, all perpetrated by a vicious squirrel. The injuries needed quick medical attention. When I saw the blood coming off her arm, I said, oh, my God, said Carmen Campoy. Flyers are now posted alerting residents about the incidents. Neighbors say about five people have been attacked, possibly by the same squirrel with a goldish color.

John Ashbrook (46:43)

Can we see that flyer? I heard about this flyer. I was told it was.

Josh Holmes (46:46)

Yeah, can we get the clip? Okay, we go to the North Bay now where some neighbors are on alert.

John Ashbrook (46:50)

After a series of attacks on people.

Darren Grubb (46:53)

A vicious squirrel.

Josh Holmes (46:54)

Yeah. ABC 7 News reporter Cornell Bernard spoke with some of the victims today in San Rafael. I love local news.

Chris Wright (47:01)

He clomped onto my leg and was just hanging on. His tail was flying up here, you know, And I was like, get off of me. Get off me. And I kind of didn't want to touch it.

Wolf (47:10)

It's the last thing Joan Heblack expected.

Josh Holmes (47:12)

On her morning walk through Lucas Valley in San Rafael.

Comfortably Smug (47:15)

Came out of nowhere.

Chris Wright (47:16)

Out of nowhere. I didn't see him running up to me at all.

Wolf (47:19)

Joan suddenly attacked by a squirrel.

Josh Holmes (47:21)

Look at him. Clawed and bit her legs. The wounds bad enough she had to.

Darren Grubb (47:25)

Go to the er.

Josh Holmes (47:26)

Scary.

Chris Wright (47:27)

Oh, yeah, very scary. And how do you get the squirrel attached to your leg off this?

Josh Holmes (47:31)

This is beautiful.

Chris Wright (47:32)

Now he's following us.

Darren Grubb (47:34)

Until she almost killed me.

Comfortably Smug (47:36)

Oh, guys.

John Ashbrook (47:38)

Nearly murdered by the squirrel, bro.

Comfortably Smug (47:40)

Guys, here's the thing. Everybody says that it's Trump who's going after his political opponents. Do you remember what the Biden administration did to Peanut the squirrel from New York? The animal kingdom is ruthless when it comes to political opponents.

Josh Holmes (48:01)

Okay.

Comfortably Smug (48:01)

Squirrels all over the country are rising up.

Josh Holmes (48:04)

We may have created the squirrel Al Qaeda.

Comfortably Smug (48:07)

Biden did that.

Josh Holmes (48:09)

He did that. And now we're all suffering the consequences. Those two women really took the.

John Ashbrook (48:16)

She said he tried to kill her.

Chris Wright (48:20)

Dude.

John Ashbrook (48:21)

Cause a death squirrel. You can't go down to a squirrel, dude.

Josh Holmes (48:24)

I would do.

John Ashbrook (48:24)

Look at that flyer.

Chris Wright (48:25)

There it is. Attack.

John Ashbrook (48:26)

Squirrel beware.

Josh Holmes (48:30)

I'll be honest. Like, if I went down to that I should actually have a provision in my will that if a squirrel killed me, that you can't have a funeral. Like, I don't want any notification of anybody that I went down.

John Ashbrook (48:42)

Natural causes.

Josh Holmes (48:43)

I don't know. He's a good man. I don't have no idea how he passed. I mean, because that's. That's humiliating. But he's also preying on some vulnerable victims there, it looks like.

John Ashbrook (48:54)

What a great point. I forgot about Peanut. We should never forget about Peanut.

Comfortably Smug (48:58)

The squirrels aren't gonna let us.

Josh Holmes (49:00)

No. We created a sleeper cell of squirrels. Just keep an eye out, folks.

Chris Wright (49:08)

Did you.

Josh Holmes (49:08)

Oh, that was the flyer.

John Ashbrook (49:09)

That was. That was the one right there.

Josh Holmes (49:11)

That was incredible. Okay. All right. So I know we talked a little bit about football on the top. I just want to say, Johnny, I'm sorry about the interaction that my Minnesota Vikings had with the Cincinnati Bengals. I understand it was a battle of the backups. It didn't go well.

Comfortably Smug (49:30)

No.

Josh Holmes (49:31)

For the good people of Cincinnati, it sure didn't.

Comfortably Smug (49:33)

You know, and a week ago, when Joe Burrow went down, everybody sort of knew that this was. This was going to be a season that. That didn't work out the way we hoped. And then you turn the ball over five times and you lose by more than you've ever lost by in franchise history.

Chris Wright (49:49)

Oh, my.

John Ashbrook (49:50)

Is that for real?

Comfortably Smug (49:51)

It's for real, dude. It's for real.

John Ashbrook (49:53)

And for the Bengals, that means something. It does. That's like, double. You're talking to a Bengals fan.

Chris Wright (50:00)

So.

Comfortably Smug (50:01)

Hopefully they can pull it together. But, you know, I'm not feeling optimistic.

Josh Holmes (50:04)

I do find it hysterical that, you know, the ruthless parlay is a very big thing here on the Variety program, and we all take a lot of benefit in placing our wagers, and then we have those things where we face each other's teams. It kind of throws off the nature of it, but it seems like every time my Vikings are involved in something like that, it's historical and some. So the historic loss for the Bengals on this one, the last time that one of our teams faced each other or faced the Vikings, the Colts had the largest lead every race.

Comfortably Smug (50:42)

That's right.

Chris Wright (50:43)

Oh, wow. Yeah.

Josh Holmes (50:44)

In the history of the National Football League, they were up 33 to nothing and ended up losing to the Vikes that day. So I'm just saying.

John Ashbrook (50:51)

So Minnesota had two pick sixes, and it was the same guy, right?

Chris Wright (50:53)

Right.

Josh Holmes (50:53)

Yeah, same dude.

Comfortably Smug (50:54)

My God.

Josh Holmes (50:55)

Yeah. Isaiah Rogers. It was great stuff. I did notice that your Broncos went down, but it's a Good game. I watched the whole.

John Ashbrook (51:01)

Not really. Dude. Broncos are playing terribly. Bo Nicks has way too full of himself. He needs to spend more time, you know, studying film and less trying to shout at the coach.

Josh Holmes (51:10)

And the reason that we're doing this, like just little football analysis for all of you is in large part because Michael's not here. Yeah. His team is. His team is three. And. Oh. And frankly, it would be a 25 minute.

John Ashbrook (51:21)

He doesn't get to talk about it.

Josh Holmes (51:22)

He doesn't. It would be a 25 minute segment of him breaking down why it is that they're the best team in football. We'll just simply say they're three. Zero.

John Ashbrook (51:32)

Yeah.

Josh Holmes (51:32)

Congratulations to the Colts.

John Ashbrook (51:33)

Good for Duncan.

Josh Holmes (51:36)

All right, so we got one more interview for you. I think this falls into the category of the thank a Boomer T shirt.

Comfortably Smug (51:43)

Sure does.

Josh Holmes (51:44)

That we threw out there.

Wolf (51:47)

Super popular.

Josh Holmes (51:47)

Something that you're not going to hear a lot about anywhere else. But it's an important program and we have Darren Grook who is going to tell you all about it. Okay, so this segment is brought to you in partnership with Medicare Advantage Majority. And I want to welcome the spokesperson for all that, Darren Grubb. How are you, sir?

Darren Grubb (52:07)

I'm doing great. Great to be with you, gentlemen.

Josh Holmes (52:08)

Yeah, it's great to be with you, too. So I understand that, listen, you spent an inordinate amount of time making sure that seniors are getting the kind of coverage that they're looking for. Tell us a little bit about what you're up to.

Darren Grubb (52:21)

Yeah. A Medicare Advantage Majority. We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing the 35 million American seniors and people with disabilities around the country who are on Medicare Advantage. And our job is to help protect and strengthen the program. We represent a grassroots coalition of local advocates nationwide powered by these advocates, including beneficiaries and caregivers and healthcare providers and community leaders. Really, the entire caregiving ecosystem is kind of how we come at it. And, you know, for those who don't know, you know, the appeal of Medicare Advantage, the program is that it delivers comprehensive, high quality, affordable care that goes beyond traditional fee for service. Medicare, which is exactly what it sounds like. Every time you need a service, you pay a fee. And so Medicare Advantage offers, you know, benefits including dental coverage, hearing vision in home care, and it includes prescription drug coverage and an annual cap on out of pocket costs, which is significant for seniors on a fixed income and particularly in times like these where we're still trying to get a handle on the inflationary environment.

Josh Holmes (53:25)

Yeah, I remember this was quite a popular program. Was this part of 03 Medicare or was this before that?

Darren Grubb (53:35)

Yeah, that's about right. That timing is about right. So it's been around for quite a while. Over half of all eligible beneficiaries for Medicare are on Medicare Advantage. They choose Medicare Advantage and so it's, it's quite popular. And enrollment is high. Satisfaction is very high too.

Comfortably Smug (53:51)

It's been around for 20 years and a lot of people have come to rely on it. And it hasn't been without its share of opponents. And I've never understood why politicians would oppose extra benefits for people who need them. And I know that your group has been at the forefront of protecting everybody's access to those.

Darren Grubb (54:15)

We have been, we have been in our, the most recent fight, as you guys know, was during the budget reconciliation process where we worked with our network of grassroots, you know, coalition around the country to help rally seniors in opposition to any potential funding cuts that were considered. And the hinge point on the Senate side, you know, several members floated the idea of including provisions of a bill called the no Upcoat act, which would undermine critical elements of that Medicare Advantage program and essentially cut funding. So we mobilized seniors around the country who reached out to their members of Congress writing letters and making phone calls and showing up at town halls to make their voices heard. They also spoke to local media to make their voices heard. On top of that, in addition, MAM launched a seven figure TV and digital campaign to help elevate and amplify those efforts in D.C. but also in key markets around the country. And you know, take it together. You know, that was a critical element in helping to take Medicare Advantage off the table for reconciliation. But we're going to stay open and engaged.

Josh Holmes (55:21)

Yeah, you always have to. No question about it. I remember Medicare Advantage just my early years in politics. It became a target for the left in a lot of ways. And they saw supplementary care and it was, was divorced from their vision of a single payer health care system in a lot of ways. And so the first probably decade of the existence of Medicare Advantage was exclusively attacks off the left. But as it has grown and as it has been adopted, you can see politicians of all stripes try to figure out if there's revenue in there, which is, I'm sure what it is that you all are working on a day to day basis.

Darren Grubb (56:04)

That's right. And look, I mean given the environment, we're in the kind of the cost cutting environment which we understand, look, we understand the desire in many cases the need to cut costs in the federal government, our viewpoint and which we've made clear is that it cannot be done on the backs of seniors or the health care that they and their families rely on. Using seniors health care as a pay for is bad policy and it's really bad politics. Funding cuts to Medicare Advantage would pass billions of costs onto seniors. They're going to pay higher deductibles, they're going to have higher premiums, they're going to have higher out of pocket costs, and they're going to have less access to the doctors and services and benefits that they need. And so, you know, in particular, cuts to Medicare Advantage would have, you know, a profound impact, an outsized impact on groups that need it most. So those living in a rural community or veterans or, you know, seniors with chronic conditions, low income seniors. Here's the bottom line as we see it. President Trump campaign on protecting and strengthening Medicare. Any effort by Congress to cut funding would be counter to what President Trump has promised the American people and the seniors.

Comfortably Smug (57:13)

Yeah, and Darren, you know, we are 13 months out from a midterm election. Seniors are a huge voting block and a huge determining factor in which party will succeed in that election. And I gotta imagine that you guys are working overtime to make sure they're aware of everything that is affecting them right now.

Darren Grubb (57:37)

We are. In 2024, nearly 40 million seniors turned out to vote. That was the highest turnout of any age group. And the President's own pollster, Tony Fabrizio, who you guys know, he's called his voting bloc, you know, the deciders, they decide elections. And, and I think Republicans should be mindful of what Fabrizio said. What poor messaging on both Medicare and Social Security in 2022 hurt Republicans in some ways. And so protecting Medicare Advantage remains critical policy, but it's central to any credible electoral strategy. And the Democrats know this too. When the no upcode provision was introduced or considered being included in reconciliation, the Democrats fundraised off it. The Democratic Party and the DSCC sent out fundraising emails because they know, you know, that this is a third rail of American politics. And so, you know, that's what we're trying to make clear to all members of Congress.

Josh Holmes (58:33)

So for folks who are either enrolled in this kind of thing or close to being enrolled in Medicare Advantage, what are the upcoming fights that we're talking about? You clearly crossed a major barrier during the Big Beauty. But like, now that we're into the fall, we're dealing with government shutdowns, we're giving. What's the next fight? As you see it.

Darren Grubb (58:55)

Well, you know, we're on guard because despite high satisfaction rates, you know, record enrollment, Medicare Advantage has been cut, was cut several times by the previous administration. And again, you know, President Trump campaign on protecting and strengthening the program. We feel that, that members of Congress should focus on ways to improve and expand access to the program. But we're going to make sure that seniors stay engaged.

Josh Holmes (59:18)

What is it about? This has always been confusing to me, Darren. What is it about the sort of progressive left, what progressive left argument do they have against Medicare Advantage? I mean, they are for entirely single payer, entire government run health care in many ways, but Medicare Advantage has always been a target.

Chris Wright (59:42)

Why?

Darren Grubb (59:45)

I'm not going to speak for them, I will tell you that. But here's the bottom line. These are critical programs that support seniors at every income level and every tax bracket. You know, in some cases it's the only zero premium insurance product available to meet their needs. And so, you know, our polling has shown that 86% of beneficiaries are less likely to vote for a member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, who supports cuts to Medicare Advantage. And so back to our earlier conversation. Seniors are a critical voting bloc. They show up reliably and what is promised to them should be honored and kept.

Comfortably Smug (60:22)

Yeah, yeah, it just, it is stunning. I think your question, Josh, is one that I've never really understood. I mean, back to win this. I mean, we're just starting in politics at the time that this program was being discussed and then rolled out. And I never understood the opposition to it because what you're talking about is more service, more benefits to people who need it. And for the life of me, I have never ever understood why anybody would oppose something like that. And I know that there's been so much effort, so much learned over the last 20 years in administering the program and there are so many people who have come to rely on it.

Darren Grubb (61:05)

Yeah. And look, you know, seniors, you know, choice is a big part of the Medicare program as a whole. And every year seniors have the choice between a Medicare Advantage program or a traditional Medicare Advantage program, you know, based on their needs and circumstances. And so, yeah, the fact that the supplemental benefits that come with Medicare Advantage is really, you know, all the best parts of Medicare rolled into one with a prescription drug benefit and the cap on out of pocket costs. The numbers speak for themselves. You know, in terms of how many people are enrolled, again, over half of all eligible beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage.

Comfortably Smug (61:40)

That's a huge number.

Darren Grubb (61:41)

Yeah, huge number. Huge number. So.

Josh Holmes (61:43)

And I got to imagine, I mean, look, you've been a White House spokesperson. You've been involved in previous administrations. And I got to imagine seeing the evolution of Medicare in this day and age, the overwhelming popularity, that's probably why you're involved in all of this and that you're trying to do what you're doing. But just describe to me what you've seen here over the last 15, 20 years in terms of both the political potency and then the overwhelming popularity of what you're involved in here.

Darren Grubb (62:15)

Well, let me tell you what I think I could probably answer both by sharing why it resonated resonates with me. And so, you know, I'm a little bit older than you gentlemen, but, you know, I'm a member of the sandwich generation. So my wife and I have two young kids to take care of at home. But we also have aging parents and aging family members who need more medical care and attention than they did even a few years ago. And so, you know, the fact that Medicare Advantage provides the benefits and the comprehensive service and the financial security predictability, you know, for our aging parents is significant for, for us is emerging caregivers. And you know that, that is why it resonates with me. But, you know, I'm, you know, creeping my way toward being eligible myself. What we say, as you are, too. And so, you know, what we say is that, you know, what happens now in terms of protecting and strengthening this program matters not only to those who are currently eligible, but those who are in the pipeline, those who are five, 10 years out. And so we want to protect, protect and secure Medicare Advantage for the horizon.

Comfortably Smug (63:18)

Darren, you mentioned something that caught my attention. What happens now if Democrats in the left, it's not all Democrats, some Democrats are supportive of this, but if the left is successful in dismantling this benefit for American seniors, what happens next?

Darren Grubb (63:36)

Well, the cost burden will go straight to the seniors. Right? And so the billions of dollars, and the CBO has done some research on this, but it will pass, you know, billions in costs onto the seniors. And again, let's not forget, seniors have worked their entire lives. They have paid into this program. This is a benefit that they deserve, the peace of mind and the security knowing that their healthcare is going to be taken care of and that they can age gracefully and independently and on their own terms. And again, as I mentioned, there's a family component, too. And that's why we represent the entire caregiving ecosystem, including family members and the caregivers and the community leaders who have to deal with this in their communities, rural or urban. And so it does touch just about everybody. And if it doesn't touch you right now, it will at one point.

Josh Holmes (64:25)

Yeah, and Darren's not saying this. I'm saying this. But you've seen a repetitive pattern where if you create a crisis, well, you've got to solve the crisis. And the solution of the crisis is always way worse.

Comfortably Smug (64:39)

Right.

Josh Holmes (64:39)

Than whatever it was that was servicing the community that created the crisis. I mean, am I right? Is that you agree with that?

Darren Grubb (64:47)

Sounds like you guys have been in politics for a while.

Josh Holmes (64:51)

It turns out. It turns out. But, I mean, that's part of the deal. And I look again, I just. I keep hearkening back to when this was created and the overwhelming popularity of it, and time after time, people coming sort of into the fore to try to figure out a way to dismantle the single most popular. I don't know if polling reflects this, but I remember defending this back in, like, the early aughts or the late aughts and early 2010s, where it's like, are you really gonna come after the one piece of government here that people appreciate?

Darren Grubb (65:31)

Right, right. No, and look, I mean, it does have pretty broad bipartisan support, is pretty broad, you know, bipartisan opposition on different elements. And so, you know, the fact that we were able to mobilize seniors, and I think that's the, you know, that's the political conversation that we should be having and members who are running for reelection should be considering, is that, you know, a promise was made to seniors to protect and secure and even increase access to the Medicare Advantage program. And they've got seniors got a long memory, they've been around for a long time. They're an important voting block for a reason because they reliably turn up and they know who kept what promise to them. And so President Trump has been very clear in his support and was on the campaign trail and brought along a lot of Republicans with him to Congress as a result of promising to protect and strengthen Medicare Advantage. And so, you know, I think the political calculation cannot be overstated in terms of those. Look into the midterms and beyond.

Comfortably Smug (66:29)

Yeah, Darren, on our show, we have a pretty wide range of listeners. We have a significant population of boomers. We had a shirt thank a boomer just to try to drive some appreciation to the generation that preceded us. I know you're organizing those folks, too, and I wonder if you could provide a little bit more info about how people can get involved in what you're doing. If they're hearing this and they want.

Darren Grubb (66:56)

To get ready, you got it. So you can go to our website, which is www.MedicareAdvantageMajority.org to learn more about the issue, to learn more about our organization, to learn how to get involved. If you feel so compelled to reach out to your own member of Congress to share your viewpoint, we make it easy. Click a button and you send off an electronic note to your, to your representative. So yeah, I would encourage people to do that, to learn more about the organization.

Josh Holmes (67:23)

Well, thanks for joining us, Darren, and thanks for what you're doing. DARREN Grubb Medicare Advantage MAJORITY Spokesperson. You got the details right there. If you want to get involved. Thanks so much for joining us, guys.

Darren Grubb (67:33)

This is like smart list for the thinking man.

Josh Holmes (67:37)

Appreciate it, buddy.

Darren Grubb (67:38)

Really enjoy my time. Thanks for having me on.

Josh Holmes (67:40)

Thank you. Take care. Okay. Big thanks to Darren Grubb and Medicare Advantage Majority for giving you that little segment. You know, you don't hear about all that stuff on a day to day basis. We like to give you a little information here on the Ruthless Variety Program. We've got a big week in front of us. Remember, there is a government shutdown looming. We already talked about the UN Meeting that President Trump and Chris Wright are going to. And there's just a lot of things that are circulating. They're not necessarily in public discourse. I can guarantee you by Thursday there's gonna be a lot of stuff. Now there's also manic Democrats.

John Ashbrook (68:21)

Yes, manic.

Josh Holmes (68:23)

I mean, these people have lost their mind like certifiably. And in the spirit of that we talked about last week, we're just simply not going to air the kind of things that they've been talking about over last weekend and everything else. I don't think it deserves anybody's attention. And like our goal here is not to just sort of like inflame you to the point of no return. We make fun of stuff here. Bingo's Variety program and this it's not. You can't make fun of Democrats who have lost their mind in such an egregious and evil way. You just, everybody knows about it. We'll just leave it at that. But I expect. But by Thursday, particularly with the government shutdown, we're gonna have some hilarious yucks for you, 100%. So we're gonna get back to you on all that. Remember our question of the day, what does Trump need to say to the UN when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety Program? We read every single one of them and we give you a little summation of what it is that we think you are trying to express to us in the very next episode. And we're gonna do that on Thursday with that. Fellas. I think we did it.

John Ashbrook (69:30)

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much, Secretary Wright. And thank you so much, Darren Grubb. And thank you to the Minions. Remember, like Holmes said, if you have not yet go to the YouTube hit that subscribe. It's more fun in video. So until next time, Minions, keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs. We'll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless.