Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees

Summary

Podcast Summary: Ruthless Podcast – "Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Ruthless Podcast
• Hosts/Authors: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
• Description: A variety program where Smug, Holmes, Duncan, and Ashbrook elevate next-generation conservative talk with unapologetic analysis of daily news and "fake news."
• Episode Title: Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees
• Release Date: January 16, 2025

---

Introduction

In the episode titled "Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees," the hosts—Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook—delve into the recent confirmation hearings of President Donald J. Trump's nominees. They provide a critical analysis of the Democratic Party's strategies, highlighting its perceived lack of direction and effectiveness in opposing Trump’s appointments.

Overview of Confirmation Hearings

Josh Holmes opens the discussion by listing several of Trump's nominees who have undergone confirmation hearings, including Pete Hegseth for the Pentagon, Rubio for CIA, Bondi for DOJ, Chris Wright at Energy, Duffy at Transportation, and Russ Vaught for OMB. He emphasizes that Democrats have failed to significantly impede these nominees:

"[00:00] Josh Holmes: [...] What you didn't bank on entirely was just how broken the Democratic Party ultimately is. Like they are a rudderless ship."

Critique of Democratic Party's Strategies

The hosts criticize the Democratic Party for being disorganized and solely reactive, focusing only on provocations from their own progressive base rather than formulating coherent opposition strategies.

Michael Duncan observes the disarray within the party during confirmation hearings:

"[00:36] Michael Duncan: [...] everything you saw with the Democrats was just an angry, unhinged senator screaming."

Josh Holmes expands on this, attributing the Democrats' ineffectiveness to their inability to strategize beyond attacking nominees:

"[06:15] Josh Holmes: [...] they thought reading into the record allegations that have been proven false would embarrass him. [...] they have only capability of understanding what provokes their own progressive left."

Success of Trump’s Nominees

The podcast highlights the successful confirmation of Trump’s nominees, attributing it to their preparedness and the Republicans' strategic approach in the Senate.

Josh Holmes praises Pete Hegseth's performance in his hearing:

"[15:58] John Ashbrook: [...] they couldn't figure out the basics of how to prosecute a case against Pete. And Pete did a wonderful job."

Michael Duncan adds that the nominees have convincingly demonstrated their qualifications, even swaying neutral parties like CNN:

"[15:45] Michael Duncan: [...] he's convincing CNN that he's the right fit."

Analysis of Specific Nominee Hearings

The hosts dissect specific moments from the confirmation hearings, illustrating the Democrats' lack of cohesive questioning and strategy.

• Pete Hegseth Hearing: Duncan describes how conservative supporters praised Hegseth's questioning, contrasting it with the Democrats' ineffective tactics.

  "[06:56] Michael Duncan: [...] Pete's just bringing it right back to light. How has this not gotten into their skulls?"

• Pam Bondi Hearing: The podcast criticizes Democratic questioning, portraying Bondi as handling the interrogation adeptly.

  "[21:03] Pam Bondi: Every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years. [...]"

Inauguration Day Plans

With the upcoming inauguration of President Trump, the hosts express optimism and excitement. They announce their plans to cover the event live from Freedom Plaza, emphasizing their commitment to providing coverage despite inclement weather.

"[33:27] Michael Duncan: [...] We're going to be right there for all of it, and we hope you join us."

Audience Engagement and Comments

The hosts interact with listener comments, reinforcing their viewpoints and addressing critiques of Democratic strategies. They highlight the effectiveness of their listeners in supporting Republican initiatives.

"[38:28] John Ashbrook: [...] It's tough stuff from Lady Elaine Fairchild."

Energy and Economic Policies

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on energy policies and economic strategies. The hosts advocate for America's oil and natural gas resources, arguing that these are pivotal for innovation, economic growth, and national security.

Josh Holmes underscores the importance of domestic energy production:

"[03:19] Josh Holmes: [...] Didn't come to grips with it until all of the Chicago people from Obama moved in here."

Michael Duncan and Comfortably Smug discuss the impending shutdown of TikTok, portraying it as a victory against Chinese influence and a step towards safeguarding American data.

"[51:02] Comfortably Smug: [...]Because he took it from Joe Biden. True."

Israel and Hamas Situation

The podcast addresses the ongoing situation between Israel and Hamas, criticizing the Biden administration's handling of hostage negotiations and aid distribution.

Josh Holmes expresses frustration with the delayed hostage releases and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners:

"[46:19] Michael Duncan: [...] The Biden administration leaves them behind."

Regulatory and Tax Policies

The hosts emphasize the need to extend Trump’s tax cuts and repeal Biden’s regulatory measures. They argue that lowering taxes and reducing regulations will spur economic growth and benefit American families.

John Ashbrook inquires about strategies to extend tax cuts and address economic challenges:

"[69:38] John Ashbrook: [...] What are you guys doing on tax."

Unknown Speaker (Guest Brent Gardner) explains the importance of completing tax legislation promptly to ensure economic stability:

"[70:23] Unknown Speaker: [...] the sooner we do it, the sooner that companies can understand that they're entering a new economy."

Conclusion

The episode concludes with the hosts reiterating their support for the incoming Trump administration, criticizing ongoing Democratic strategies, and emphasizing the importance of energy independence, economic growth, and national security. They encourage listeners to engage with the content and participate in upcoming live events.

"[81:25] Michael Duncan: [...] Keep the faith, hold line and own the libs. We'll see you Monday. Stay ruthless."

---

Notable Quotes

1. Josh Holmes ([00:00]):

   "What you didn't bank on entirely was just how broken the Democratic Party ultimately is. Like they are a rudderless ship."

2. Michael Duncan ([00:36]):

   "Everything you saw with the Democrats was just an angry, unhinged senator screaming."

3. John Ashbrook ([15:58]):

   "They couldn't figure out the basics of how to prosecute a case against Pete. And Pete did a wonderful job."

4. Josh Holmes ([33:27]):

   "We're going to be right there for all of it, and we hope you join us."

5. Comfortably Smug ([51:02]):

   "Because he took it from Joe Biden. True."

6. Michael Duncan ([69:45]):

   "The sooner we do it, the sooner that companies can understand that they're entering a new economy."

---

Key Takeaways

• Democratic Party Critique: The hosts argue that Democrats lack strategic direction and are ineffective in opposing Trump’s nominees due to disorganization and reactive tactics.

• Nominee Success: Trump's nominees have successfully navigated confirmation hearings, attributed to their preparedness and Republicans' Senate strategies.

• Inauguration Optimism: Excitement surrounds Trump's return to the White House, with the hosts planning extensive coverage of the inauguration events.

• Energy and Economy: Emphasis on leveraging America's natural resources and extending tax cuts to foster economic growth and innovation.

• Israel-Hamas Relations: Criticism of the Biden administration’s hostage negotiation strategies, highlighting perceived delays and ineffective exchanges.

• Regulatory Actions: Advocacy for repealing Biden’s regulations and extending Trump’s tax policies to stimulate the economy and reduce government overreach.

---

Conclusion

The "Ruthless Podcast" episode "Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees" provides a fervent conservative perspective on the ongoing political landscape. The hosts systematically dismantle Democratic strategies, celebrate the success of Trump’s nominees, and lay out their vision for the incoming administration’s priorities, particularly focusing on energy independence, economic revitalization, and national security. Through spirited discussions and audience engagement, the podcast reinforces its commitment to supporting Republican ideals and countering Democratic influence.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

We mentioned the Hegseth thing. You had Ratcliffe for CIA, Rubio was up there for Secretary of State, Bondi for doj, Chris Wright at Energy, Duffy at Transportation, Russ Vaught for omb. All of them had hearings. They're not laying a glove on any of these guys. What you didn't bank on entirely was just how broken the Democratic Party ultimately is. Like they are a rudderless ship. They have only capability of understanding what provokes their own progressive left.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep. It became crystal clear, especially if you looked on social media, you saw on conservative, you know, people who are live tweeting what was happening at the confirmation that they were like, oh, man, look, Pete just nailed the Tim Sheehy clip. I mean, that was just like an alley oop dunk. And everything you saw with the Democrats was just an angry, unhinged senator screaming.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't have to tell you, Americans are ready for what's next. Moving beyond the hardships of inflation and economic anxiety towards building a future, a better future for our families. Ensuring greater access to more affordable energy that powers daily lives. Reliable energy that fuels innovation and economic growth, and the abundant energy that keeps our nation safer and more secure. It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together, building a brighter future for us. Powered by America's oil and natural gas resources. You can learn more about all of [e-mail].

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Comfortably Smug]

Just a catching strays over here.

[Josh Holmes]

You're in for a hell of a show.

[Michael Duncan]

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

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, we're edging ever closer to a new day here in Washington D.C. and across the country with the end, thank God, of the Biden administration and a new beginning of the inauguration of Donald J. Trump. Welcome to the Ruthless Variety Program. I am Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan. John Ashbrook, left to right, across your radio dial. A full dais here today.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, the whole, I mean, the whole team is here and you really are starting to not just feel the excitement for Trump coming back to the White House. You're starting to like, see it like all the security gates are going all over. Like, I hope to God I know they are taking security very seriously because these left wing lunatics have made many attempts on President Trump. I have a feeling they're going to have the situation of control this time.

[Josh Holmes]

They got a lot to work through if they want to do something because.

[Michael Duncan]

Man, oh man, the security situation is tight as a drum.

[Josh Holmes]

Hard to go anywhere. Also, it's cold as shit. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

It's way too cold to be trying nonsense.

[John Ashbrook]

But that hasn't stopped the faithful. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but a lot of MAGA hats around this town showed up early because they want to make sure they're ready for all the parties and everything this weekend. They're full. Celebration mode.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. And, you know, listener, viewer out there. You wonder why we're so excited about that. It's. You got to understand, DC is like 95% Democrats on any other week.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, so we. We're in enemy territory constantly. Like, that's just sort of something we've internalized in our professional career. And so we really look forward to moments like this where we finally get to be among our people.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, totally. And, you know, here's the thing. If you haven't spent any time in dc, the town takes the shape of an incoming administration relatively quickly. It took me a while to figure that out. When I first moved to D.C. george W. Bush was president, and I was like, everybody's walking around with cowboy boots and stuff.

[John Ashbrook]

I remember that.

[Josh Holmes]

And I was like, what is. I thought, like, I definitely didn't think it was a Southern state or, like a Midwestern or Western state. And I was like, what's up with all that? And, like, I didn't really come to grips with it until all the Chicago people from Obama moved in here. And then all of a sudden, it was nothing but, like, tight rolled jeans and, like, U Street up there, you know what I mean? And they were like, yeah, real gritty, urban stuff going on.

[Michael Duncan]

And then Trump comes to office and, like, Navy Yard is the young, vibrant part of town.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And then Biden comes to office and becomes the criminal part of town where people get carjacked and shot.

[Josh Holmes]

No, seriously. I mean, that's kind of. Maybe like Covid played a role into that, but Biden, because they're such a creature of D.C. it, like, reverted back to it. It's like Marion Barry days. It's like, no, this is or primal.

[Michael Duncan]

Form of just crime and fear.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the real DC With a.

[John Ashbrook]

Handful of CCP lobbyists and Ukrainians, nice suits rolling around.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's about right. So Trump's coming back and we couldn't be happier. It's going to improve morale, shall we say, with the Variety program and everybody else around here, we're going to answer some serious questions that you've got today. I'm sure everybody's been watching the nominees that President Trump has put forward through all of his various cabinet positions. And they're all getting a hearing now in the Senate. Remember the Senator Thune, Majority leader? His endeavor was to try to get as many of these to a point of confirmation at the day of inauguration as he can, starting with the security apparatus and then moving beyond that. They've done a pretty good job of lining these things up. It's been like rapid fire, almost red zone, like tv with all the various hearings going on over the last two days. And it seems like there was a lot of huffing and puffing when he was making all these announcements from Democrats and everybody. Well, this person can't get confirmed. Well, listen. Oh, they're gonna have a lot of trouble. They're coming up short on this one. We're going to tell you why it is that all of those things have absolutely not come to fruition. And it really was punctuated to begin with, with Pete Hegseth's hearing just crushed Tuesday. This is what Democrats thought was the lowest hanging fruit. This was the guy who didn't have the typical Pentagon credential, meaning he hadn't managed a big bureaucracy or sold arms, basically. Right. Or, like, been a part of the defense industrial complex.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So he came outside of the typical, you know, Secretary of Defense. And so that coupled with then them unearthing all the salacious allegations, many of which were just, like, made up of cloth. And so we read all that for, like, two months. Everybody's like, whoa, this is going to become a real problem. What you didn't bank on entirely was just how broken the Democratic Party ultimately is. Like, they are a rudderless ship. They have only capability of understanding what provokes their own. The progressive left.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep. It became crystal clear, especially if you looked on social media, you saw on conservative people who are live tweeting what was happening at the confirmation, that they were like, man, look, Pete just nailed the Tim Sheehy clip. I mean, that was just like an alley oop dunk. And everything he saw with the Democrats was just an angry, unhinged senator screaming.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, it could not be more clear. They took no lessons from election day because they ran on. The Democrat is like, no, no, no, we're the hall monitors. We're going to lecture you and tell you how you have to be. And no, no, no. And they're continuing that. That's the whole image Americans have of the Democrat Party. We saw at the Pete Hexath hearing. Poor guy had to sit through that, but he nailed it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And meanwhile, you saw the Republicans, Tim Sheehy's questions specifically where it was just like, what ammunition is being used?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, those were great.

[Michael Duncan]

And he single one, that's what you want to look for, someone who has experience in the military at that granular level because they've been there, I think.

[Comfortably Smug]

Also for the Democrats. And, you know, I mean, this always existed, but especially in the Trump era, it's like they can't help themselves. Like, they just beclound themselves in these hearings because they're looking for their 15 minutes of fame. Everybody wants to be the nominee.

[Michael Duncan]

That's it.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, you've got Senator Blumenthal, the guy who lied about serving in Vietnam up there questioning the credentials of Pete Hegseth. Are you kidding me? You know, you got Elizabeth Warren, who like, I think is one of the chief messengers of this, like the Democrats whole ploy of like, you know, Donald Trump, there's for the rich and it's corruption and all this sort of stuff. And she goes on this stem winder about like, will you promise to not serve, you know, after your term, you know, with a defense contractor, yada, yada yada. And it's like Lloyd Austin was on the board of Raytheon before he got that job. Like what? He needed a waiver?

[Josh Holmes]

Senate waiver.

[Comfortably Smug]

He needed a waiver. Yeah, right.

[Michael Duncan]

Friend of the program, Mark Wayne Mullen pointed that out.

[Josh Holmes]

He sure did.

[Comfortably Smug]

These people just don't have a leg to stand on.

[Josh Holmes]

They really don't. But I think, you know, one of the things that we were endeavoring to do by eliminating that it's not just rhetorical. It's not just that they clown themselves. When you really see a party off its moorings, for those of us who've done this for a living for a lot of years, it's the inability to understand what a strategy for victory would even look like. And like, Johnny and I spent better part of a decade putting together strategies and plans to try to win these confirmation votes against, you know, Obama nominees. Like, what would you need to do, you know, whatever your majority or minority position was, to cleave off the Democrats that would ultimately threaten a nomination to the point where they wouldn't even maybe vote on it. And it, like, it was very obvious in watching the Hegseth hearing in particular, is that they couldn't come to a conclusion of what that might look like. They thought reading into the record allegations that have been proven false would embarrass him. I'm sure it wasn't the most delightful thing to hear. It did absolutely nothing to Threaten his confirmation prospects. Right?

[John Ashbrook]

No, that's exactly right. And it's such an important point. You know, something that the run up to the Pete Hegseth confirmation reminded me of was the run up to JD Vance's debate performance with Tim Walls. If you look at all of the stories the Democrats put out there ahead of JD's debate, it was, oh, crazy cat lady. Oh, this guy can't hold his own. And then, of course, JD shows up and he surprises everybody, like, oh, he's a normal guy, very normal. Same thing with Pete Hegseth. They're saying, oh, he's so terrible because of this research story or this lie or whatever. And then he shows up and he answers every single one of their questions. And it reminds me of this old saying that to be underestimated is an incredible gift. And I think that Democrats wholly underestimate all of these Trump nominees because they believe their own bullshit that is printed in the New York Times, no question about it.

[Josh Holmes]

And they have this sort of elite posture towards, they're always smarter than all of us. They wouldn't have the kind of governing view that they do unless they have. But look, I mean, we mentioned the Hegseth thing. You had Ratcliffe for CIA, Rubio was up there for Secretary of State, Bondi for doj, Chris Wright at Energy, Duffy at Transportation, Russ Vaught for omb. All of them had hearings. They're not laying a glove on any of these guys. And the Hegseth one is instructive to me. I don't know if everyone's going to get through or not, but I am much more confident in that today than I ever was at any point before the Hegseth hearings because of this lack of strategic vision, the one grind that, that a nominee from President Trump's administration has when facing a Republican Senate. And let's be honest, that's what it is. Democrats are going to vote no on everybody. You know, it's not like it used to be, where they actually felt like we should govern the country after an election, like they'll vote no, no matter what. But this is about 53 Republican senators, and there is a huge rift in a outlook on foreign policy between your conservative defense hawks and your more libertarian strain. And then you've got Trump who's sort of like crafting sort of in the middle of all of that and depending on the issue picks up a little more and a little less. Everybody thinks they know exactly what it is that he's doing, and they claim that he's doing their thing. But he does his own thing, as we know. But there are a lot of things. If you were to question, I don't know, military presence in the South Pacific, where we're at in the Middle east, soldiers in Korea, start talking about what your defensive posture would be for Taiwan, what's the future of Ukraine, all of those things. I'm sure he had a great first and secondary answer towards. But it gets a lot more complicated for like 10, 15 members of that dais up there. And not to mention that the entirety of the Republican conference, once you get a level deeper, because all of them are engaged in this stuff and they know it. And there are things that they don't like about the Trump administration's posture, at least as it's been rhetorically put in front of them. History is your guide on this. The rhetoric sometimes doesn't match exactly what it is that the President is doing. But that being said, you could have gotten this guy into big trouble had you wedged that very significant difference of opinion and then tried to drive deeper. Because, look, unless you spend your entire lifetime doing this stuff, you're not going to have the answers that are perfect for everybody. Even if you do, you're not gonna have the answers. But that's the area where you would do it with Hexa. You wouldn't talk about what happened in 2017 in a hotel room at the Republican Federation of Women annual event. Nobody gives a shit. Like, that's what they did, is run a 1989 John Tower confirmation hearing in 2025.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. They just can't help themselves. It's like crabs in a barrel. Like each Democrat is clawing over the other Democrats to get attention for one specific thing. It's all this ancillary stuff. Right. Like, there was no cohesive plan. You go Democrat to Democrat to Democrat across, you know, the entire confirmation hearing, and it was all different things. It was this grab bag.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, and they just couldn't land a glove.

[Josh Holmes]

No. No cohesiveness.

[Michael Duncan]

It's because they have one speed. And like you said, you know, it's like from the 80s, this was like the Clarence Thomas smear. And then they run that smear back on Capitol. They have one speed where they're like, well, we can't make any arguments on our side. Clearly, they don't know how to convince the American people. Given that election, all they know how to do is try to smear. That's it.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, in the 1980s, you could have Kennedy and Dodd at the, at the restaurant on top of the tables with the waitresses. And then they'd walk in and say you're a philanderer and like your nomination to be in trouble. Turns out we have access to a little more information these days. In 2025, we've been desensitized a bit. And so these kind of things just don't work. I just shocked that if you have three months to basically prepare for a moment where you've got. You have to. There's a mandate from a Democratic side to try to take a scalp here.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Given the names that were floated in their antithesis to the beliefs of your base. There's a mandate. And if they couldn't figure out the basics of how to prosecute a case against Pete. And Pete did a wonderful job.

[Michael Duncan]

He nailed it.

[Josh Holmes]

This is not just saying they screwed up. Like he crushed everything that he needed to crush and made it. He kept coming back to the fixture of the fighting men and women. And you could clearly tell that was his home base. Delivered that message clearly to the point where even CNN has to have an article that says why Pete Hegseth is a perfect fit to be Trump's Pentagon chief. Oh.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, he didn't just convince enough Republicans. He's convincing CNN that he's the right first. That's nailing it.

[Josh Holmes]

That's just like from the left. That's not just a strike. That's three fastballs down the middle. And you got caught looking at all three.

[John Ashbrook]

That's exactly right, dude. And it exposes Democrats as morons. Like Kamala Harris maybe isn't the only complete idiot on their side. It extends all the way down their bench. And they really have to do a lot of soul searching and how to break out of this fantasy land caricature mold of this is what we're arguing about, Republicans. And get back to reality and start arguing for. They can't use it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Look, I don't think they can. And we've, we've talked about this in so many issues since election day of like, do they wake up? Does the fever break on the left? You know, and there was evidence that.

[Josh Holmes]

Some people got the joke.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But certainly not all.

[Comfortably Smug]

But it's not. It's just not going to happen. It's become a shirts versus skins exercise. And behind all of these questions are well funded left wing dark money, special interest groups who are trying to try to get a scalp. To your point earlier, Holmes, I'm thinking about like the, you know, what is it? Code Pink or whatever the fuck it's. What's it called?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Funded by China.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. And. And, you know, all these other interest groups who are interested in specific nominees and taking them down, it's like, you know, those are their ultimate paymasters.

[Josh Holmes]

Which, by the way, I was told, and this has been reported nowhere. I was in a green room with an Army Ranger last night who was at the Hulk hearing in support of Pete. Pete's good friend of his, and he was saying that there's a row of reserved seats in front that the members can reserve, like a couple of seats or whatever. And so, you know, he, like, he was, I don't know, maybe just behind these seats and they were empty and people were starting to fill it in. And all of a sudden a Code Pinker dressed in a white linen come on suit, this dude comes in and sits down in the reserved seats. Meaning, like, one of the members of the Democratic Senate conference was reserving that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Seat for this asshole white linen suit. In January at 20 degrees, you're clearly not local. You've been bust in here or flown in here.

[Josh Holmes]

And like, the moment Pete started talking, got up and started making a ruckus and was promptly hauled out, like, that's what somebody in that one of those Senate Democratic offices were like, make sure that guy's got a seat up front.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it gives you a good indicate. This is not a serious party right now.

[John Ashbrook]

Serious.

[Josh Holmes]

And like, they're gonna get their asses kicked by Donald J. Trump.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, they are.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, they are really going to get their. They don't have any idea if they can't put up. If their whole idea is that, like, I don't know, we'll wait a couple months and we'll find a. Another phone call and we'll try to impeach him again. Like, it's shit's not going to work this time. Republicans are not of the view that many Republicans were in 2017, that this is some kind of, like, you know, off its moorings type administration. It's not. It's been elected popularly.

[Comfortably Smug]

I would love to know what Senate Democrat reserved that seat for a Code Pink. Would love to know, you know, because, I mean, I'm old enough to remember January six, and yeah, it would for me, that would be aiding and abetting the obstruction of official proceedings of the United States Senate, which I'm, I'm told is a problem.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they said that. Yeah, they have said that, but it doesn't appear like maybe it is for, you know, it wasn't during. They have an.

[Comfortably Smug]

They have their own rules.

[Josh Holmes]

They have their Own. It's like they have their own rules. Huh?

[Comfortably Smug]

That's weird.

[Josh Holmes]

They might be able to see some of our own rules here in the next few days. In the upcoming days, we've got a bunch of highlights from these hearings to get you caught up. We're going to get to right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

As President Trump begins his new administration, one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the Trump agenda is Chicago Senator Dick Durbin. And now Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Today, Americans have thousands of choices in credit cards, all with equal strong security. But Senator Durbin's plan will result in less competition and less security, and that means more risk for your credit and your identity. Tell Republican senators, stop Dick Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late. Learn more at www.Internet payments coalition.org all.

[Josh Holmes]

Right, so we started with Pete. We'll start with Pete. Listen, there was a lot of moments in there, too many to play on a variety program like this. But a couple of them that we selected I think were nice little gemstones for us to pull out. And for all of you, let's go to clip one, please. Spaghett's. There's been no accountability for the disaster of the withdrawal in Afghanistan. And that's precisely why we're here today, excuse me, is that leadership has been unwilling to take accountability. It's the time to restore that to our most senior ranks.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, there it is.

[Josh Holmes]

We've been saying it for years. We've had an entire class of members of Congress come in here as candidates to say, I'll tell you the reason I'm running and they were elected. And the reason they were running is just articulated by Pete Hexa. When's the accountability on any of this stuff?

[Michael Duncan]

It's like Duncan pointed out in our last episode that that disastrous, horrific Afghanistan withdrawal was where Biden's poll numbers sank and never recovered. And they have not learned from that. And the voters have told the country, the Democrats now twice, that that was unacceptable. And Pete's just bringing it right back to light. How has this not gotten into their skulls? It's unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

They just think time and a compliant media cures all ills. Every mistake that they make. If they wait long enough, nobody's going to report on it and people will forget. Nobody's going to forget any of this. Certainly not Pete Hegseth, which he's articulated there. Let's go to one more of these in clip two, please. Spaghetti. In other words, you're quite sure that.

[Pam Bondi]

Every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years. You're not willing to make that same pledge?

[Josh Holmes]

I'm not a general, Senator.

[Pam Bondi]

You'll be the one. Let us just be clear. In charge of the generals.

[Comfortably Smug]

Expert. Expert in the military. Glad she's there.

[John Ashbrook]

Speechless. They were like, yeah, boss, you're going to land that dunk, and then it's going to stop everything. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

She's so bad. She's so bad on all of this stuff. It's just like the whole dais on that Armed Services Committee on the Democratic side, they are not sending their best.

[Michael Duncan]

No, they're not.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, they don't have a lot of great ones left anyway. Like, there's no Ted Kennedy's roaming around that side of the die. But, like, it'd be nice if they had somebody of, like, alderman status, I think.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, Elizabeth Warren hasn't had a good hit since she sent out that one amazing tweet where she was like, donald Trump, how dare you, slut shame. Kirsten Gillibrand. And I wonder if Gillibrand has ever let that go, because I wouldn't let that go. And they're sitting right there.

[Josh Holmes]

She's like, I'm sorry, what. What were you.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, also, like, for. For Pete to not have. You know, because I'm a scumbag, I'd have been like, hold on, Senator Warren, do you remember when. When you called Senator Gillibrand a slut. Do you remember this? I have the tweet right here, and I'm going to read it for the official record.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's had so many bangers. You remember when she, like, like, as a precursor to running for president, she was like, the results are in. Like, I'm 1 64th Native American. She is, like, fact checked.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, the full Pocahontas or the.

[Comfortably Smug]

One that Smug always talks about, which is when she was doing the Instagram live and she was cooking in her kitchen, and, like, her husband shows up, she's like, I'm gonna grab a beer. Thanks for being here, honey.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[Michael Duncan]

Trump went stranger. Where is he supposed to be?

[Josh Holmes]

Of course he's gonna be. It's his house. Thank you. I'm gonna enjoy this cold beer, like I always do.

[Comfortably Smug]

All she does is embarrass herself. She never should have left academia. It's a crime that she's in the Senate.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, here's another genius. Let me just say the next time that Maisie Hirona says something insightful, it will Be the first time because it has not happened yet. Let's see clip number three, please. By people who worked with your Fox News. Do you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members under the ucmj? Senator, those are no. Multiple false anonymous reports peddled by NBC News that run directly contradictory to the dozens of men and women at Fox.

[Michael Duncan]

News who I work with.

[Josh Holmes]

My question and said in your opening statement, Mr. Hicks, that you commit to holding leaders accountable at all levels.

[Michael Duncan]

That includes you, of course.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that a question? Secretary, you will be on the job 24 7. There you go. Gotta read that. There's a sharp talker.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean that's what I'm looking for is someone who will fail an eighth audit. Will you fail the eighth audit just like Lloyd Austin failed the seventh?

[Comfortably Smug]

She.

[Josh Holmes]

I would say this a lot. I don't do a lot of ad hominems. She's the dumbest member of Congress.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And I don't think.

[Michael Duncan]

It's not an easy title. It's not an easy title.

[Josh Holmes]

It's not like everybody. There is a whole host of them that are competing.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean there's people who thought that if you have too many people on a corner of Guam it would tip over. So we're talking about. You have, you've got serious competition for the title of dumbest.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, and you remember like I usually hold the Senate in a higher regard. She's long been the dumbest senator. I just included the entire House of.

[Michael Duncan]

Representatives, which is also, you know, that's stiff competition.

[Josh Holmes]

That's just for. That's a self admission that that's a.

[Michael Duncan]

Big deal around here for her to not even like. It's also tough for her staff because clearly they're like ask this and then try to dunk with this question. Then this question. She can't even read it in the form of a question.

[Josh Holmes]

She just keeps blowing past the question.

[Michael Duncan]

Do I just keep reading up and down the sheet of paper?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like there were four questions that she's just reading one after the other while he's still answering the first question perfectly.

[Josh Holmes]

Imagine doing all that. You're on the armed services. Like you are literally in charge of this situation.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And your goal is to make a cogent argument. You can't do it without somebody typing up a talking point that says you're on the job 24 hours a day.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like that's, that's your talker that you need to read. You can't remember that. Can't recall that. But you also then because of your assisted notes. Don't ever get into, like, serious defense policy issues. No, don't get into, like, military procurement. Don't get into, like, I don't know, bases around the world, you know, manpower. Like, what's his thought on this? Like, all very important pieces of information. None of it.

[Comfortably Smug]

They don't give a shit about that, dude. They're looking for a clip for social media, which is the only reason you would frame the question. Do you know you're not allowed to get drunk if you get this job?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you know. Oh, thanks.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, thanks.

[Josh Holmes]

That's awesome.

[Comfortably Smug]

All right, cool. Waste of your time. Waste of my time.

[Josh Holmes]

I wish Lloyd Austin was drunk. We probably would have had better outcomes. Yeah, I mean. Anyway, let's go to the next clip. Clip four, please.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

The senator from Virginia starts bringing up the fact that, what if you showed up drunk to your job? How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign for their job? And don't tell me you haven't seen it, because I know you have. And then how many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No, but it's for show. You guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy, because a man's made a mistake and you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified. Give me a joke. It is so ridiculous that you guys hold yourself as this higher standard. You forget you got a big plank in your eye. We've all made mistakes. I've made mistakes. And, Jennifer, thank you for loving him through that mistake. Because the only reason why I'm here and not in prison is because my wife loved me, too.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's just. First of all, as Senator Mark Twain Mullen, friend of the program, was on last week. I was. Sorry I missed that one. I ran into him last night.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And I was like. He was like, man, I. I've been got here early this morning. I was planning on being in bed. And he's like, now I could do all these interviews. I was like, well, you just got to talk about your talking, I guess. But what I found amazing about it, I was like, did you know that you were gonna, like, get involved? He's like, no plans for that at all. No. No script. He's like, I just sat there and I got so pissed.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

I listened to these guys, and I was like, someone's got to say something. And so that, that was all totally extemporaneous. So you could tell, I mean, for.

[Michael Duncan]

Our listeners, you know, number one, subscribe on YouTube, so you could see it. But if you see that video, when he says that, like, also, how many of you senators have showed up here drunk? And then it goes to a split screen with Tim Kaine. Yeah, they're like, tim Kaine.

[Josh Holmes]

And he looks drunk there.

[Michael Duncan]

His hair is like, come back and he's like tipping over in his seat. Tim Kaine's gotta look at the camera and be like, get that shit off me, man. Don't talk about cheating on my life.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, my gosh, why am I getting roped into this?

[Josh Holmes]

So, but it's not confined to Hagseth like we talked about. This was a seminal moment in my view of the confirmation process and why I like the chances of most nominees. But it extended into the next day. Yesterday we saw Pam Bondi just absolutely wreck anybody coming at her. Here's a clip of Sheldon Whitehouse, the worst clip. 5. You have said that Department of Justice.

[Comfortably Smug]

Prosecutors will be prosecuted in the Trump administration. What?

[Josh Holmes]

Department of justice prosecutors will be prosecuted and why?

[Pam Bondi]

I said that on tv. I said prosecutors will be prosecuted, to finish the quote, if bad investigators will be investigated. You know, we all take an oath, Senator, to uphold the law. None of us are above the law. Let me give you a really good example of a bad lawyer within the Justice Department. A guy named Klein Smith, who altered a FISA warrant. One of the most important things we can do in this country. So will everyone be held to an equal, equal, fair system of justice if I am the next attorney General? Absolutely. And no one is above the law.

[Michael Duncan]

That's how you do it.

[Josh Holmes]

Just jammed it.

[Michael Duncan]

And can I say specifically, when it comes to Sheldon Whitehouse, who is quite possibly, and this is again a tough title, the most corrupt member of Congress. It's a known fact that he sold a judgeship to his donor, Jack Reed in Rhode Island. It's a known fact that his wife works for one of these left wing dark money climate groups that directly try to lobby on environmental issues that he puts into bills. That's cash and carry government right there. And for Hunter trying to talk about, like, justice, he should be in jail.

[Josh Holmes]

He's also the most, like, slimy, just a scumbag. A feat like scumbag Northeasterner that you could ever lay eyes on.

[Comfortably Smug]

You just look at him, you hear his voice and you just want to give him a swirly.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, just, I mean, dying to put him in a Locker.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, and he's. And then you hear like the Sheldon White Club stuff. He's like, yeah, but then, you know, everybody's been a racist during his career. Anybody who opposes totally does, has been a racist. But then he's a member of like an all white operation.

[Michael Duncan]

Two.

[Josh Holmes]

Two operations.

[Comfortably Smug]

One wasn't enough.

[Michael Duncan]

One wasn't enough.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just unbelievable. So anyway, that'll give you a little flavor for how things are going. Look, there are challenges ahead. And you know, I think you look at the RFK nomination, whether Democrats or are Democrats who will support, you know, given his previous, you know, work in the Democratic Party, I don't know, I kind of doubt it. But there's challenges there. Tulsi Gabbard, somebody who's been pretty outspoken on a bunch of intel stuff that when you're ahead of intel, she's going to have to answer some tough questions. Like, I don't know. But if the game plan was to do with them what they have done with the first batch, I don't think we got any problems, boys.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it's becoming crystal clear. These are, number one, they're strong candidates for these cabinet positions. Number two, they have done their homework and the teams around them who've been prepping them, these guys have been showing up ready to roll and the Democrats haven't. And it's clear as day.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, I think also, like, it's important. I mean, obviously, you know, senators have an advising consent role and I respect that. But like, you also have to recognize, and I'm speaking specifically to the Republican senators out there is like rfk, Tulsi. They represent parts of this coalition that won on election day.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like Donald Trump brought them into the fold of this movement for a reason and they represent a constituency as well. So they deserve a fair shake. And ask all the questions you want, but they deserve a fair shake.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I think, I think that that much is guaranteed. And what I've. Out of this first batch of hearings, Republicans are holding up their end of the bargain by making sure all these folks are getting fair hearings and then, you know, shouting down their Democratic colleagues when they're being unfair about stuff. So so far so good. We'll see how it goes from here. Big news. We mentioned this a couple of times. The inauguration, obviously, Monday, big day around here. Big day for our country and the Ruthless Variety program will be a part of it. We're very excited and we've already announced that we are going to do our game day set.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

We're going to be down there. Do we talk about the specifics of where we're sitting at this point, or we leave that out? Is that a security concern? Yeah, we're at Freedom Plaza, big time. So you know where that is? We're right on Pennsylvania Avenue there. Clean look at where all the festivities will be going on at the Capitol with the inauguration, the big speech. I know there's going to be hundreds of thousands of people out there cheering on, and then we're right on the parade route. All part of the procession after inauguration as the president, vice president. There are all teams and families and bands and all kinds of pomp and circumstance to follow. We'll be right there for all of it, and we hope you join us. If you come to our YouTube page, RuthlessPodcast, you can find us there live. We'll send out a couple of alerts, won't we? Yeah, sure we will. And you can also see us at the main page. The inauguration, where we'll be. We'll be the entertainment.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like you kick straight from the.

[Michael Duncan]

It's. It's noon, from 2. Right. That's our. Like, immediately following the president's speech. Yeah, I mean, that's the best possible time slot.

[Josh Holmes]

And kick it from Carrie Underwood right to the Ruthless ride.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, that's right.

[Michael Duncan]

And if.

[Comfortably Smug]

Sets up the ax for us.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's important that you set the mood.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And further for listeners of the program, we've got tickets if you want to be there and get a seat and see it all live and be right there in Freedom plaza. What's the URL for that one?

[Comfortably Smug]

Ruthlesspodcast.com and then you'll see it in the navigation. It just says parade. Click there. Fill out the form. Do it as soon as you. Possibly as soon as possible, please. You know, and we apologize.

[Josh Holmes]

We got all this stuff late, too. Everybody's getting this late because we're, you know, everybody is trying to get this thing put together in the safest possible manner. Yeah, we're just getting this stuff, but we wanted to provide you the opportunity. Remember, if you do want to take us up on that, go to RuthlessPodcast.com, click the parade link. That'll give you to an outsourced. Not us. It's the inaugural committee that deals with it. And if you're gonna come, plan ahead. It ain't easy to get around in this town.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's gonna be cold.

[Josh Holmes]

And if you think you're just driving into D.C. and parking curbside, you're crazy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, it's not gonna work.

[Josh Holmes]

It's not going to happen.

[Comfortably Smug]

But, you know, you can always just watch on YouTube. Yeah, you know, YouTube.com backslash ruthless podcast. It's basically for those who don't know where Freedom Plaza is. If this is like a football game, you're at the 50 yard line. Our YouTube stream is going to be the 50 yard line. The entire parade is going to be coming towards us from the Capitol. The Capitol's in the background. A lot of pomp, a lot of circumstance, the pageantry. I can't wait.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's going to be fantastic. It's a tremendous honor. Big thanks to the inaugural committee, Trump administration, all of them, for thinking about us to be a part of this, because we are certainly overjoyed at the opportunity. Brings us to our question of the day, fellas. What's your plan for Inauguration Day? I know, I know that it includes tuning into the Ruthless variety program, but like, what else you got going on? Yeah, you know, do I want to. I want to make sure you're drinking some beers or something. Like, it's a celebration. You know, hard work starts Tuesday morning for everybody. Gotta let out a little steam. It's like putting a bow on everything that 2024 was for electoral success and everything else. All the hard work that all of you have done, talking to friends and neighbors and getting out there, making sure everybody votes. Tomorrow's your or Monday's your day to celebrate it and we'd love to know how.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a double celebration. It's not just the Trump administration is back, it's the end of the Biden administration. That's a lot to celebrate.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. If you're inclined to celebrate negatively, that.

[Michael Duncan]

That is two celebrations in one.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's like a wedding and a funeral on the same day.

[Josh Holmes]

Funeral of an enemy.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. No, it's this. It's fantastic. So when we come back, we're going to get your comments from last episode. Recall, this is about Gavin Newsom, the ever running next challenger the Democrats are attempting to put up and his efforts to make a bad situation much worse in California. Did he destroy his chances or not? We're going to get to your comments right after this. I don't have to tell you Americans are ready for what's next. Moving beyond the hardships of inflation and economic anxiety towards building a future, a better future for our families. Ensuring greater access to more affordable energy that powers daily lives. Reliable energy that fuels innovation and economic growth, and the abundant energy that keeps our nation safer and more Secure. It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together, building a brighter future for us, powered by America's oil and natural gas resources. You can learn more about all of [e-mail] all right, fellas, we're gonna get to the comments. Remember, you gotta like and subscribe here on the YouTube page to get these things into ragging, and we go through every single one of them. Great comments. Once again, a lot of smart stuff out there. To do this, we always start with a voice.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, this first one comes from Lady Elaine Fairchild. And straight from Mr. Rogers. Lady Elaine writes, agree Newsom is going to pull the ultimate RICO scheme, benefiting from protecting from the violence he caused. He's going to recreate himself as the rebuild savior, cutting all the rags he put in place in the first place, villainizing anyone who makes any common sense objections, and acting like he's the reason Louisiana rises from the ashes. And hope with enough media spin in four years, people forget he caused the fires in the first place. It's tough stuff from Lady Elaine Fairchild.

[Josh Holmes]

I love the little flourish.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

He's so good at it. Yeah. All right, Dex, what do we got?

[Comfortably Smug]

This one's from? Plausible deniability. Looking forward to this one. Question of the day. Answer. Newsome will be completely unfazed for 2028. It is so far away that no one will remember. If his performance were going to be a factor, his nosedive of California would have eliminated him years ago.

[Josh Holmes]

Great point.

[Comfortably Smug]

Not to mention the other options for the Dems will also boost him. I call it the Biden Effect.

[Josh Holmes]

That's really good. Again, typically smart.

[Michael Duncan]

Smart, probably sharp listeners.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, smuggle, what do we got?

[Michael Duncan]

This comment comes from Christine Claussen, and Christine writes, if Newsom gets the Dem nomination For President in 2028, J.D. vance, the presumptive Republican candidate, will make mincemeat out of him even before the first presidential debate, pointing out Newsom's total ineptitude as the governor of California. And that's the thing is, like we discussed earlier, man, did they underestimate JD if he is a nominee and Newsom is the Democrat nominee, that's going to be just absolute destruction. I could not enjoy that more. But also at the same time, I think Trump is well within his rights to run again.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, 100%. A third Trump is exactly what we need in this country.

[Josh Holmes]

You're rigging his bills.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, the other thing is, I don't think Republicans will underestimate Gavin Newsom. He is an accomplished liar. And I think will be ready to prosecute the case that he has done nothing to prevent fires in California. In fact, Smokey the Bear, who's a cartoon, has done a lot more in this country to prevent fires than Gavin Newsom ever could in his entire Smokey name check.

[Josh Holmes]

That's good.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, we all remember Smokey the Bear.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yogi and Boo Boo and the rest appreciate all of that. When we come back here, there is absolutely huge news out of Israel. We've been covering this since day one, October 7th. And you know, some good news. Also want to just put some context to a lot of it. But we're going to get to all of that right after we hear from our terrific sponsor, one that this program holds very near and dear to our hearts. Zbionics. That's right, zbiotics. Look. And we just break. There's a bunch of stuff that they want you.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, we don't need a script for this.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't need a script because it's the truth. It's just three chords in the truth on this one.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

This stuff, you get a lot of things out there like, oh, you take this, your hangover's gone. Or yeah, false advertising, basically. And I thought, you know, when I first heard about Zebiotics, I was like, okay, here's another one of these deals. They gave us an opportunity to try some at the convention. I'm sure it'll violate every rule they have when I say it's magic. So I'm not going to say that. But know that my thought, my internal thought processes is close to magic.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I mean, I don't care if it breaks a rule. I think it goes beyond science. Like, yes, PhD has developed it, but it 100% is some form of magic.

[Josh Holmes]

Touched by the hand of God.

[Michael Duncan]

We have really put it through the test.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

We've stress test this thing and it.

[Michael Duncan]

Always works every time. It's a tiny little bottle, tasteless, and you just have one of them right before you go out, you start drinking and it breaks down all the toxic byproducts. All the toxic byproducts that the alcohol has in your gut. Because it's not about like, if I drink a Pedialyte before I go to sleep, I'm good to go the next day. If I have three glasses of water before I go to sleep, I'm good to go the next day. No, the only thing that actually works is ZBiotics. And you better believe I'm gonna have like four of those in my pocket when I'm Going to these inauguration events.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, yeah, right, like you don't have to take it from us when you watch our livestream from Freedom Plaza for the inauguration and we're bright eyed and bushy tailed after a whole night, the night before partying. It's because of Zebiotics work.

[John Ashbrook]

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

[Josh Holmes]

That's exactly right. You got to just remember to make ZBiotics your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly, you'll feel the best tomorrow. That's right. So you go to ZBiotics.com Ruthless to learn more and get 15% off your first order. When you use Ruthless at the checkout, ZBiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee. So if you're honest, unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. You won't be unsatisfied. Let me just tell you, you're not going to be. Remember to head to zbiotics.com ruthless and use the code ruthless at the checkout for 15% off. Thank you very, very much. Okay, this is real situation we got to get to. So look, it's been 15 months since a horrible terrorist attacks October 7th in Israel. Hamas terrorist organization, worst people on the planet carried out unspeakable acts. In doing so, they also took a ton of, killed a bunch of people and took a ton of hostages. And what we saw of the Biden administration were an administration that initially sort of got it and were like, look, we stand with our ally Israel. These are terrorist attacks. And then quickly found out that their base constituency of progressive leftists wanted Hamas to be Israel. Unbelievable. But the actions spoke to what they did next, which is basically spend a hell of a lot more time trying to figure out how to provide aid and comfort to the enemy in building a pier, a pier that's not a pier that sinks, or dropping off food and supplies that immediately just go right to Hamas. Stolen from Palestinian people that Hamas then.

[Michael Duncan]

Steals to buy more arms.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, to buy more arms and do all this. That was their priority and they kept doing that. Meanwhile, the hostages just sat there. Right.

[Michael Duncan]

American hostages as well, by the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, unbelievable. The Biden administration leaves them behind.

[Josh Holmes]

So Trump, shortly after he's elected, said they better call me back here by the time I take office or they'll be held to pay.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And he meant it. Well, very quickly everybody starts getting around to negotiating and as I said on Fox last night, my one big lament is that there's anybody left in Hamas to negotiate with. That's the real first failure of leadership, in my view, is the fact that there is still anybody drawing breath over there, because that was a real opportunity to get rid of a whole lot of bad people. But we are where we are. It's good that people are coming home. They've made. They announced yesterday that a deal had been made, a three step process to begin returning people back to Israel. It's been widely celebrated, which it always should be, when innocent people go back to their homes. But the circumstances I don't think are worth glossing over. You know, like, I don't want to put any lipstick on this pig. The fact that it took 15 months is unspeakable to me. You know, I grew up in an era in America where if there was one hair harmed on an American's head, you knew you had a serious military problem coming your way and there was no negotiation with terrorists. You know, remember that?

[Michael Duncan]

Hell, it wasn't even that long ago under Trump, he literally sent a dog to kill a terrorist who hurt an American. Not only are you going to die, but a dog and a robot are getting you.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[Michael Duncan]

It's not going to be nice.

[Josh Holmes]

So look, I think it seems like the incoming Trump administration was supportive of these talks. They're obviously hugely supportive of people coming home. But there's a bunch of stuff here that is like, sort of unbelievable to me in many ways. Where they've got, they're going to the first round of this. Apparently there are hundreds of Palestinians in Israel that are being detained for one reason or another. Israel doesn't take hostages. Right? This is a democratic country. This is a fierce ally. They have a moral compass. This is for whatever reason they have, these folks, they're all out and they're all going back. And it's like, you know, three to one, the number that was committed to by Hamas to release back to Israel. So in and of itself I'm like, okay, so the value proposition seems off a touch given what these folks have done. But be that it's May, the second piece of it was that they were going to release 50 more. When they released 50 of our hostages, it included a number of women who are serving in the Israel armed forces and five in particular. And those five are being released in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners. And let's just call that what they're terrorists, including 30 militants who are serving and already been convicted to life sentences. So they're breaking like they're doing the essential Essentially taking people off the equivalent of death row, violent offenders already convicted in a court of law, 30 of them, and sending them back to Hamas in exchange for our people. Like, I don't know, man, like, it's a win that our people are coming home. No question. But does that feel that great?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, but it's always going to be asymmetrical because, like, Hamas is a terrorist organization. So the people in Israel's possession are terrorists.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And the people that Hamas has are Israelis or Americans who've been, you know, hostages now for a year and a half. And so this is always a situation you're going to be put in because, I mean, in Hamas's own words, they love death more than we love life. And that's just the reality.

[Josh Holmes]

It's true. I just don't care for the antiseptic way in which it's all being described. And, you know, I heard yesterday in a newscast, they're like, at 33, they hope that 22 of them are still alive.

[Michael Duncan]

Jesus.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, they hope that. Okay, so you've negotiated the release of 11 dead people, which it's important to return the bodies. No question about that. But, like, this is what we're talking about here.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, and then you gotta also think about the future security, you know, for Israel and allies like the United States. I mean, the Mastermind of the October 7th attack was released in a previous prisoner exchange. Yeah, at Israel. He was in prison.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, this is what I'm talking about. I mean, look, you don't have to actually be a diplomat to figure out that when you are paying a heavy price for hostages taken of your country, there will be an incentive structure built for people to take more hostages. There just is. Now, I understand. I don't blame Netanyahu or anybody in Israel for wanting their people back. They've had a long history of, like you said, having to pay an asymmetrical price to get their people back. But in the end, with American leadership, I feel like we could have done better than this. And it started on October 8, to be honest with you. And again, the fact that there's anybody still drawing breath within Hamas is a problem from my standpoint. But, like, you know, they have two more steps. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the second step is, like, extended, you know, where they're going to try to get more people out in exchange for all kinds of other things. And then the third step was something about basically setting up their own government in Gaza. Okay, well, I'll tell you what that looks like. I know who they're going to elect. The ballot just says Hamas. Right.

[Michael Duncan]

And the guy at the ballot box is wearing a ski mask and a bomb.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Make sure you know how you're gonna vote.

[Comfortably Smug]

And he. And he has your dinner for that evening.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Because he took it from Joe Biden. True. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, we laugh because it's ridiculous, but anyway, they're all acting as though, again, Monday cannot come soon enough. It cannot come soon enough. Hopefully this resets the dial a little bit and it's the end of people getting killed for a while. That's our hope. But then just this overarching strategy that we've heard from Hegseth this week, and what Trump has talked about needs something to sort of, like, calm the waves and know that there are real consequences in this world. Again, you can't just run over us, you know? Anyway, wanted to touch on that quickly. Another thing that is really going to hurt the Democrat, I think, hearing strategy and maybe electoral strategy is TikTok. TikTok's going away. We've talked a lot about this. You know, our views on it. It's good riddance to this outfit. But since Congress passed its divestiture or close, meaning it has to entirely be sold out of the hands of people who are tied to the ccp. There's been a lot of court cases and everything else. All this is settled down. And now we've. The rubber's hitting the road as of Monday. The whole thing needs to be done and Sunday announced. TikTok announced Sunday the power switch is getting flipped.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's the thing. It's very telling to me, because the bill states divestiture. It's not a ban on TikTok. It's that it can no longer be owned by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on Americans.

[Comfortably Smug]

That makes it impossible to do business. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

They're like, what's the point? Purpose of the app? Because it would still function if you just move it to American servers and be like, okay, here. I say give the keys to Elon Musk. He's got the money to buy the damn thing, that's for sure.

[Josh Holmes]

They're like, no, we're shutting.

[Michael Duncan]

They're like, no, you know, what's the point of having this?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. If we can't hurt you and steal all your data, we don't want to run it anymore.

[Josh Holmes]

So, you know, it's just. I mean, it perfectly unmasks the whole charade, you know, with all these people. Oh, it's an American company. We have no ties to the ccp. And they're like, all right, we'll just divest of that. Then they're like.

[John Ashbrook]

Somebody, somebody, somebody on Twitter posted code from TikTok. And it was all of these, like, backdoor lines of code. And they're like, hey, wait a minute. I thought there was no connection to the ccp. And there's. What is it? What's all this backdoor code?

[Michael Duncan]

And, you know, they tried this strategy last time we talked about what a failure it was when this bill was first in Congress, TikTok did of where they were like, they put a screen that when kids. Because they're targeting kids. When kids would try to use the app first, it said, you press this button to call your local congressman and tell them to save TikTok. So if you see an outrage following them shutting down when they could just sell their operations and make a ton of money, you know, that'd be good for them anyways. And you see outrageous from kids. It's because this app was designed, it's working to control the kids.

[Josh Holmes]

It's working exactly the way that they intended it to. And now that it's going down Sunday, thank God. But there is a wrinkle into all of this that I think you made mention of a week or two ago. Your boy Mike Solana picked up on it this morning. So there's an alternative in case you haven't had enough of the CCP controlled social media apps they're building another one for.

[Michael Duncan]

So they have one already set to go. I think it's called, like, essentially it's meant to say Little Red Book after Mao's Little Red Book of Communism. Just straight up, like, communism. They're like, why don't we just name the app Communism?

[Comfortably Smug]

Real mask off moment, you know?

[Michael Duncan]

And like, all these Americans are signing up and using this now. You saw Taylor Lorenz pushing this app of being like, hey, kids, sign up for this.

[Josh Holmes]

Are we sure that she's not some kind of a spy?

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I would not surprise me.

[Josh Holmes]

Because you can't be that morally bankrupt on purpose.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think she could be for the.

[Michael Duncan]

Right price, I think.

[Comfortably Smug]

I don't think she is. I think she's just an ultimate edge Lord. Now, just like with the, you know, like Luigi, you know, who shot that, you know, health care CEO, and she.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, she pops up and says, good.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I think he's onto it.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think she just likes attention. I think she's addicted to attention.

[Michael Duncan]

And also, like, she's like 50 so she's not really relatable to the influencers. So. So she's got to try to act like she's some edgy 18 year old.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, hey, kids, how you doing?

[Josh Holmes]

So, listen, Solana had a good. This was on pirate wires. He had a good takeaway to all this. It basically said, you know, why stop there? If you're going to get on a little red book because you can't have TikTok, why stop there? Just migrate to China. And then let's run an experiment. Try protesting your new government. Let's see what happens.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's a great idea.

[Michael Duncan]

Great idea.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, listen, this guy, he captured it, but it's true. And this is. Look, I'm not. I've gotten to a point with Trump and I trust Trump and Trump's foreign policy. Cuz it worked. Because it's a lot. It's not about just trusting a politician, which I very rarely do. Like, I watched it over four years. I'm not in one of those spaces where you're like, all right, entirely split. We're gonna have parallel economies. Like, let's not even talk to them. Let's go Cold War with China. Like, I don't think that shit works. And I don't think it's actually possible in this, in today's world. Like, I think that there are very significant American interests in China and vice versa. And if you can figure out how to talk together, make sure the economy works for both, that's kind of an ideal way of handling it. So I'm not like, oh, go get the reds. That's not my point of view. But like, stuff like this, it's so obvious, the fact that it took four or five years for everybody to be like, hey, did you know your kids are using a Chinese spy app? And everybody's like, yeah, but they like it. Remember they said that. Literally. They literally said that. Yeah, but they like it. Like, get rid of this shit. Like, we can deal with the big. Trump can deal with the big stuff. You know, it's not to be feared. He can deal with it. But this stuff, no brainer.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, 100%.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, let's play a game.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's play a game.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. It's Thursday. It's Thursday. And I feel like our listeners and viewers deserve King of the Hill. It's been so long.

[Josh Holmes]

It has been so long.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I'm the reigning champion, which makes it all the more important to play.

[Josh Holmes]

I'd like a dethroning. I feel like you've been There too long.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, you're the bailiff today and I would humbly request that you remain impartial.

[Josh Holmes]

I, I retract. I'll retract. I'm going to run a tight court, so I will retract.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's go ringside.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. It's time for King of the Hip. In the blue corner, fighting out of Nancy Pelosi's kitchen pantry, Adam Cook. Cook, Cook. King Zinger. And now in the red corner, fighting from who knows where, and current champion of the world, Ron, Philippa Villaba. How do you say it anyway, Philipowski, well done.

[Comfortably Smug]

Nice.

[Josh Holmes]

Well done.

[Comfortably Smug]

And smug. You bring in Kinzinger.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

I came to play.

[Josh Holmes]

I like it.

[Comfortably Smug]

I like it.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so we always start with the champion.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, hold on, let me just pull up my.

[Josh Holmes]

While he's doing that, I'll remind our listeners who haven't heard this game because you just tuned in in the new year. It is about social media personalities. Media personalities, sometimes lawmakers in this case, but usually falls into all of the above category who used to fashion themselves as conservatives that Trump basically broke the brains of.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

And so all the things that they cared about or said they cared about, they now run entirely opposite. It's kind of an ironic game. And these are the hottest takes. We choose two competitors and here we go.

[John Ashbrook]

Homes is the bailiff and your announcer is the judge.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, so we referenced this in the previous segment. The cease fire deal with Israel in Hamas. And that's big, big news. Everyone's really excited about it. Well, everyone but like the never Trump, former Republican, liberal left.

[Josh Holmes]

What's the exhibit number?

[Comfortably Smug]

Exhibit number three, please. Baguettes. So what you see there is a chiron from CNN and the chiron says, did Trump's bombast lead to likely hostage deal with Hamas? Question mark. Which is just like, you know, they're investigating a story. Donald Trump makes a, an ultimatum that like all hell is going to break loose if you don't deliver these hostages back home where they belong.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

And so CNN has the gall in his mind to be talking about that. He quotes that and he says what the fuck are we doing here with this bullshit?

[Josh Holmes]

Like it couldn't possibly be.

[Comfortably Smug]

We are back. We are, we are so back, fellas. Because we are returning to this era where all these left wing lunatics on the Internet police the their liberal media every single day that they're normalizing Trump. They're trying to work the Trump is being normalized. You're doing it you're participating in the normalization of Donald Trump, who's Hitler and he's a fascist. So that is my submission for round one.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, Challenger, math exhibit 10, please. Adam Kinziera writes, Trump could easily stay quiet on these fires until he is president, but he is so weak, he needs a misspelled villain and needs to be the victim. Never have I seen a whinier child in my life. So I love this for so many reasons, because as a failed never Trumper, this guy can only have one speed if he wants to keep cashing those checks. And it's that Dems can't do wrong. We've got a Democrat mayor, we've got a Democrat governor and a Democrat president, and that's led to absolute disaster in California. And he's like, you know what? It's Trump. This is cuz Trump is saying these things. I can't even spell villain correctly, but it's Trump's fault, too.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, Judge, for this first round, I was really taken by Philipowski's as a former Republican, almost Republican, something like that. He is trying to say he's a Republican lawyer. He's trying to say that CNN is too right wing. And that always just goes right to my heart. But the idea that Adam Kinzinger is like, Trump could have stayed quiet on the fires. The biggest, like, natural disaster in Southern California history. Incoming president supposed to stay mum. Outrageous.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's like the biggest disaster since probably Hurricane Katrina in this country.

[John Ashbrook]

Totally right. So for that reason, round one goes to Kinzinger.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, 10 Kinzinger. And we lead off the second round.

[Michael Duncan]

I think I'm gonna try to close it out here. Exhibit 11, please. Kinzinger writes, trump isn't even president and he's already driving Europe and Latin America into the warm embrace of China.

[Josh Holmes]

What?

[Michael Duncan]

Mind you, this is right after we saw a picture of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden with Xi Jinping. And we've seen over the past years and lived through Biden essentially selling America to China, importing all their solar panels, their batteries. And Kinzinger's take on all this is like, well, when Trump says he wants to expand America and take Greenland, that's just pushing them into China. Like, how do you. The math doesn't math. How do you come to this conclusion that somehow Trump, who is the largest hawk on China that we've probably ever had in the White House, is the problem here that. No, no, no, he's going to actually push them into the arms of China and also the Panama Canal should Belong to America.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. All right, what do you got, Hurranks?

[Comfortably Smug]

Spaghetti. Let's go to exhibit number four, please. Ron Filipowski writes, and I love this whole genre where they provide their consulting advice to Republicans as if they're still Republicans. The best Repubs in the Senate and House just know that once you cross the Rubicon of politicizing aid to victims of natural disasters, that is a road that you don't want to go down. Especially since your states seem to have a lot more of them and you tend to lose your majorities quickly. Okay, so number one, I love the threat in all of this. You know, like, would be a shame if something was to happen to Florida. You know, something like that. But then also, like, they're the first to politicize every disaster.

[Josh Holmes]

Everything. You had the go back and look at Covid, the nominee of the Democratic Party, politicizing a hurricane as it was coming on land in Florida just 60 days ago.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

The hell is he talking about?

[Comfortably Smug]

He's like, you will be the first in the history of our democracy to politicize a natural disaster. It's like, what the fuck are you talking about?

[Josh Holmes]

Wow.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like, I'm old enough to remember Kanye west being like, George W. Bush doesn't care about black people.

[Josh Holmes]

Remember that Katrina. All right, that's my submission.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. As outrageous as that Filipowski take is and off the mark and everything else, the idea that Adam Kinzinger is going to change the narrative on Trump in China with just one tweet is Jen Rubin esque brain worms. And for that reason, Kinzinger wins round two and gets a two round knockout.

[Josh Holmes]

Huge win.

[Michael Duncan]

It's probably the only W in that man's life.

[Comfortably Smug]

I will respect the will of the court. And you know, I just gotta say, Filipowski had a good run.

[Josh Holmes]

He did have a great run. Much better. When you first surfaced him, I thought I was like, oh, this is a token.

[Comfortably Smug]

He beat Sherry, my Sherry and Jen Ruben.

[Michael Duncan]

Never expect him to be a beast like that.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it was like that Buster Douglas run back in the day. Just like showed up. You're like, what's he doing here? There he goes. He played with the big, big boys and came out on top multiple times. All right, thank you for joining for the game and thank you for doing all of this stuff. We've got one more deal that we gotta show. It's a graphic of the perfect crime.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we get graphic one up, please? What you're looking at, what you're looking at In Canada, unknown activists have been adding drawings of penises to symbols of solidarity with Palestine. This has sparked a wave of outrage in the Arab segment of X. The graphics speaks for itself. It's the perfect crime in that if authorities are looking into this and looking for a graffiti artist who happened upon putting a phallus into the gripped Palestinian hand, while the charge would likely be graffiti, and in order to do that, you'd certainly have to find the person to put the hand there in the first place, wouldn't you?

[Michael Duncan]

It's genius.

[John Ashbrook]

It is brilliant.

[Comfortably Smug]

What a hero.

[Michael Duncan]

And if you're only listening, that, again, is a reason you need to subscribe on YouTube. Because you want. I mean, that's just genius.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. It's like there's some sort of conservative Banksy out there doing the Lord's work.

[Josh Holmes]

So good. Let's get to our guest, Brent Gardner. Well, we're just days away from turning the page from Campaign 2024 to what the heck are we going to do about it? And that's been on the mind of all of our listeners, why we get engaged in these kind of things. And so we figured, you know, what better to do than talk to somebody who's engaged in all sides of this stuff? And so where else to look but AFP's Brent Gardner. How are you, sir?

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm doing great. How are you guys doing?

[Josh Holmes]

It's great to see you again.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's great to be back in this new era.

[Josh Holmes]

You're looking happy, smiley, optimistic.

[Unknown Speaker]

It feels like the world's looking a little bit more happy and optimistic everywhere I go.

[Josh Holmes]

It does.

[Unknown Speaker]

Imagine that.

[Josh Holmes]

It does. So look, all of our previous conversations, clearly there was a heavy emphasis on the results of the election and the opportunity that that would bring. But you've stayed laser focused also on what you do if you get that opportunity.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And you all spent an enormous amount of time not only talking to grassroots and everybody, but then also in the Capitol, lawmakers, newly elected lawmakers, about the critical issues that people ultimately cast a ballot over and how we can help bring some of that to fruition.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. No. And I think this season that we're entering right now is about the promises made becoming promises kept. And I think that's the exciting thing about where we are right now. We're on the precipice of all the things that drove people to the polls to care about this, to deliver to the US Senate, to see the kind of change we've seen in Washington, you know, ultimately come to fruition. And members of Congress are excited about it, too. I mean, it's been a tough few years for folks involved in this game, no question. So I think the opportunity to go out there, roll up your sleeves and get stuff done, I think that's upon us.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, no question. But you also think about, I mean, really is an opportunity because this thing went the other way. There are a bunch of things here, and I know that are high on your agenda list that are not only not attainable but could slide backwards to a point where you can't recognize your country.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, and we were headed that direction. I mean, and the good news about it was, you know, all the doors that we knocked and all the folks that we talked to last year, they were connected to the challenges that we all faced. And they were looking for people that wanted to be able to drive those solutions. But if you look at the challenges of the border, if you look at the expiration of the Trump tax cuts, which would actually mean a significant tax increase for every American family and business, these were the things people were aware of. They were already struggling coming out of the pandemic with the inflation. They were struggling with everything from the Bidenomics economy. And now is the chance for those folks to see those things addressed. So, yeah, things could have gone, could have gone real bad real fast. I think people were connected to it.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm going to ask you about the agenda that's coming up. Obviously there's been a lot of back and forth about process. Is it one big beautiful bill, is it two bills? What are you going to do? But I want to ask you about the meat and potatoes. There are some things that have to be extended. And I'm thinking specifically about the Trump tax cuts from his first time around. And the economy is a really big deal right now. A lot of people out there struggling and a lot of people are really hoping for these Trump tax cuts to either be extended or improved in some way. And I'm wondering what you guys are doing on tax.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, so we just announced on Monday the launching of a new initiative. We've already committed about $20 million.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we talked about this on Tuesday.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I mean, it's really exciting. And the goal here for us is to be able to do just. You said extend and improve on what we saw from the 2017 bill. And you know what we look at, you mentioned things could have gone the other way. You know, this represented about a fifteen hundred dollar tax cut for American families across the board. More in some places, in places like Nevada, it was more like 3500 bucks.

[Josh Holmes]

That's wild.

[Unknown Speaker]

So had this, if this were not something we were able to deal with, I mean, ultimately this would have represented a massive tax increase for folks. But I think the good news is it's not just one plan, it's two plans. Do we think that there's a better way to do it? Here's our perspective. Get it dealt with as soon as possible. Folks who voted last November wanted to see progress early. And so whether it's one bill or two, we think the best opportunity is to deal with it right away, to deal with it aggressively and to be able to push forward with the members who talked about this in their elects or their reelects, you know, to get out there and get it done.

[Josh Holmes]

So it's really a smart perspective. We've talked about this a lot on the show. But ultimately, what the president's year one is going to be judged upon and maybe the whole four years is what has he done to reverse the damage the Biden administration has done to the economy? How do we get back to that sort of optimism that we had from 2017, 2020, you know, pre Covid, when everything was growing and felt like we were limitless in our economic capabilities and all the other stuff, like we gotta deal with the border. Something has to be done congressionally. A lot of stuff can be done on day one through executive orders. And we see Stephen Miller and others talking about doing that. But I think your point is really well made. This is not something that can slip.

[Unknown Speaker]

No.

[Josh Holmes]

Ultimately, markets react to certainty. And the certainty of getting something like this done will have a huge ramification economically across the globe. Really?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. No, absolutely. And I think that's why it's so important to make sure we deal with it early, because companies are going to make their decisions on investments. Now, in many cases, as these things are expiring throughout the year, it could affect their behavior. The sooner we do it, the sooner we have have certainty, the sooner that companies can understand that they're entering a new economy, a Trump economy, that they can make those types of investments and that's going to matter. We don't want economic headwinds as we head into the midterms. We want the good policy that's out there that we're advocating for to have an impact for businesses and those businesses to be able to hire people and the growth of the American economy to kind of reverse a lot of the damage we've seen over the last four years. So sooner the better. And I think any time that Congress can focus on efficiency and trying to pass. That's probably a good thing.

[Josh Holmes]

No question about it. So I know that you've other things on the list, too. You mentioned border security.

[Unknown Speaker]

Absolutely.

[Josh Holmes]

Extremely important to the folks that you've been talking to now for years.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, no, The LIBRE initiative has done trips with members of Congress down to the border. They've seen firsthand the challenges we have down there. We absolutely have to secure the border, we have to fix our broken immigration system. And it sounds like what the American people talked about is making this a top tier issue during the election is something that both the President and Congress are focused on addressing early on. But, you know, I think from our perspective, we want to see that early work. We have to stop the flow and then we have to do what's necessary to make sure ultimately that we have a system that allows the best and brightest to come, but that ultimately gives us an opportunity to have that kind of determination as a country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And some sovereignty on the southern border wouldn't be a.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wouldn't be a bad thing. Wouldn't be a bad thing. It would be good.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. So what I'm curious of is, like, outside of Washington, when you're talking to people about this agenda and everything, how are you translating the success of Trump's first tax cutback from 2017, you know, to make people understand why it's so important that we go ahead and we renew this and extend it?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, we talk about the numbers, we give people an opportunity to look back and see kind of what was the impact. You know, I mentioned it was about 1500 bucks across the board for all families. You know, those $1,500, they're a lot more important today than they were even back then because, you know, the money doesn't go as far. And so I think from that perspective, people recognized the importance of it back then. But the opportunity to see a chance where it wouldn't ultimately happen, we wouldn't see them renewed this year. That's a real challenge. And the good news is, here's the best part that we found is we've, as we've talked to folks across the country, they're connected to it, they're active on it. That's why it's not.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's encouraging. It's because of organizations like yours. It's encouraging because, you know, I mean, look, there's a media filter here. It's so bad. I think, you know, post 2024, everybody's sort of like, they got the joke right. Clearly, the election was an example of that. With the full campaign they were running. But during those tax cuts, I mean, you couldn't go even read a supposed unbiased AP story without them calling, like, tax cuts, cuts for wealthy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, you know, I noticed that. But I also noticed that Joe Biden didn't repeal him.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. You know, it turns out it didn't hit the wealthy at all. Yeah. You know, weird how that works.

[Comfortably Smug]

But you never heard the media go to anybody in the Biden administration and be like, hey, about those tax cuts you say is a huge, you know, windfall for billionaires. Why you can go ahead and repeal that if that's.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. And they didn't. They didn't touch it. But I think it's because of Bryant's point.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

The good work that you all are doing and that others are doing, people understand it. It's not like you can just read it in the New York Times, be like, yeah, no, it's for somebody else. Like, you actually see your bank statement.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, no, for sure. And look, I think that that's true through an even bigger through line than that. People have realized the impact of the yoke of government on them and everything from the COVID shutdown to the impact that taxes play to the growth of the administrative state and the regulatory state.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, the regulatory piece is a huge, huge part of what.

[Unknown Speaker]

You guys are picking up steam here in the last, last few days of the Biden administration. It's crazy. It's crazy.

[Comfortably Smug]

They are the regs part. Like, so obviously we talk about taxes a lot, and the regs is something, you know, most voters don't really think about as much. If you run a business or maybe you're a farmer and you're dealing with, you know, the EPA a lot, then this is front of mind. But for our, you know, listeners and viewers, could you explain, like, what sort of, you know, what is top of mind in those regs that Trump can go ahead and. And reverse on day one?

[Unknown Speaker]

Two things I'd say about this. There's an opportunity to utilize the Congressional Review act and deal with a lot of the regs that are being done here at the end, these midnight regs. But on the regulatory state, this issue in particular is having a moment right now between the decision last year in the Loper Bright case and the elimination of Chevron deference. Congress taking an interest. You've seen leaders like Steve Scalise go out there and talk about a need for Congress to do things different, differently, to not push this to the agencies. And Doge. Doge is one of those moments where you're recognizing that people, you know, on the front end of this, they recognize the impact of government growth, the size of government, these programs intruding in their lives. One of the most underreported things about Trump's first term that he did so well was his one in, two out. I don't remember the exact number of this, but it turned out to be like 1 in 7 out or something like that. It was incredible. Yeah, incredible. And so when you free up the power of the American economy and you don't put the boot on the neck of the American entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur. The amount of growth that can come out of things like that is just, it's unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

It's wild how productive we can be when we're not actively trying to reverse the economic ingenuity of this country.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I think there's a lot that can be done on day one. Congress, I think is starting to put together the plans to go through the legislative practice. I'm hopeful that these agency heads that are moving in, they seem focused on how to be able to eliminate the bureaucratic red tape. And look, I think just ultimately the American people recognizing the need to right size government is a cultural moment in this country that can't be overlooked.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. So we talked about the border, we talked about the economy and what it means for taxes, what it means for regulations. But energy sector is a huge part of the American economy that the Biden administration has kept their thumb on for four years. I'm wondering what you think can be done about unleashing American energy on this economy.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I mean, a lot of people can say that whatever they're talking about is the most important issue for the next generation. Energy is a very well defended perspective of what is the most important thing, you know, whether it's the baseload generation that we need to be able to have issues around transmission issues around permitting, you know, across the board. Our challenge is that the economy of the future requires more affordable and abundant energy. And so that's one of the reasons why some of the actions be great.

[Josh Holmes]

If it's domestic too, wouldn't it?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, it would. Ultimately it has to to be domestic. You know, everyone's excited about the, you know, about AI and what it could mean. But, you know, the growth and the cost of being able to service, the type of compute you need to be able to do that is enormous.

[Josh Holmes]

I was just told you plug it into the wall.

[Unknown Speaker]

I heard that, I heard that. Yeah. Well, Tesla self generating in their electric. So I, I mean but listen, I. Look, I love every opportunity be able to do that. The truth is, our nation has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the ability to, you know, produce energy. We lead the world in innovation when allowed to do so, and the barriers that we create artificially to that are the barriers that will keep us from leading the world when it comes to success. So energy has got to be a critical component of that. And good news is both members of Congress and the Trump administration seem focused on making that a Day one program.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's also a huge national security component, for sure, which is another thing that you guys have got your minds wrapped around. It's amazing. It's like you're involved in almost everything.

[Unknown Speaker]

Feeling pretty good about where we're at. We got a lot to talk about in the next several years and hopefully beyond that. But look, I think from a national security perspective, you know, I'm also really optimistic. I think we've got some great folks that are going to be coming in in this new administration. We've got a Congress that seems to be dedicated to not making foolish investments in things that we shouldn't and focusing domestically on building strength at home. And I think if we follow through on those things, and I'm hopeful that we will, yeah. The world's going to be a safer place.

[Josh Holmes]

What I like most about Bren is this, like, clearly and concealed, concisely puts together in, like, four little boxes. Pretty much what all of our us Are thinking.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Holmes]

But then, like, you know, you guys hear Trump knocking on doors and making sure people do this stuff.

[Unknown Speaker]

Hey, man, the great thing about our job is that the energy we have comes from people out there who care and are doing great work. You know, we've done 30 million voter contacts in the last two years. I didn't do that by myself. That means. That means there's some energy out there in the grassroots to go out and not just be active on your own, but. But spread that to other folks. And that is exciting. That's an opportunity for this country to not just take a step out of the dark, but really leap forward.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Well, we thank you for everything that you've done up to this point and know that you're going to do here in the future. Stay in touch, you guys, too. Let us know what you're up to, how we can help, because very important mission.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Thanks so much, guys. Really appreciate it.

[Josh Holmes]

Thanks, Brandon.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you. All right, man. I just love that guy. And, you know, he is doing a ton of stuff ahead of this New agenda.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, look, they've been doing great work. And the fact that they just seamlessly transitioned to the governing part was. Is in and of itself part of the promise that they keep to voters when they're mobilizing people to go out and do this. We're going to make a difference in this country. They're following through with it. We're going to keep up with them all the way through because they're really working hard.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Recall or question of the day, what are you going to do for Inauguration Day besides kids tuning into the ruthless variety program? Inauguration Game Day special. Because that one you're not going to want to miss. We're going to have a bunch of special guests, too, people you probably haven't heard from before. So we're going to do all that. We're going to suffer the cold for you. Dear listener and viewer.

[Michael Duncan]

It's projected to be 20 degrees.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep. Yeah. Are you going to bring the whites out?

[Michael Duncan]

No, I'm going to be suited up. We got to celebrate.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm doing this professional style. Not every day you get Donald Trump back in the White House. Maybe we'll get a third.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm gonna look like a snowman.

[John Ashbrook]

You think so?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, like a Michelin man, maybe. Thermals underneath the suit.

[Josh Holmes]

There's not a scintilla of professionalism in my book happening on Monday, so you might want to tune in for that, too. Anyway, that's what we want for your question. You can answer that if you like and subscribe on our YouTube channel. Check out some merch while you're there. We'd love it. And with all of that, fellas, I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode, gentlemen. And if you don't want to just tune in, you want to enter, hit up our website, grab a ticket and see the show live in person. So thank you, Brent Gardner, and thank you, dear listeners and viewers on YouTube. Like and subscribe. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold line and own the libs. We'll see you Monday. Stay ruthless.

[Josh Holmes]

If you have a locked AT&T phone, we're here with bolt cutters. T Mobile will help pay off your locked phone and give you a new 5G phone from for free. All on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com carrierfreedom Be a virtual prepaid MasterCard in 15 days. Free phone up to 830 via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax and a 10 device connection charge.

[Unknown Speaker]

Qualifying port and trade in service on.

[Josh Holmes]

Go 5G next and credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on required finance agreement as deal bill credits and if you pay off.

[H]

Devices early Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn Ads, go to Libsyn ads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today.