Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees

Summary

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

Release Date: February 6, 2025

Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook

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Introduction

In this episode of the Ruthless Podcast, hosts Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and White House correspondent John Ashbrook delve into the intricate dynamics between the Democratic Party and President Trump’s nomination strategies. The discussion is charged with critiques of Democratic policies, strategic missteps, and the effectiveness of Trump’s media and influencer outreach.

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Democrats Searching for a Message

00:00 – 02:05

Josh Holmes opens the episode by criticizing the Democratic Party for being "rudderless" and struggling to find a cohesive message. He suggests that Democrats are now convinced they've found their footing in fervently defending contentious issues.

Josh Holmes (00:00): "Democrats searching for a message. Democrats rudderless, trying to find a foothold."

Michael Duncan echoes this sentiment, highlighting Democrats' focus on issues like USAID and government spending, which inadvertently bolster Republican agendas.

Michael Duncan (00:25): "Democrats think they have a winning issue. They're like, Elon Musk is cutting wasteful spending by the government..."

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Critique of Medicare and Biden Administration

02:05 – 04:34

The hosts collectively condemn President Biden’s handling of Medicare, accusing him of "raiding Medicare," increasing premiums, and driving up drug costs. Comfortably Smug emphasizes Biden's failure to protect seniors and suggests that President Trump can rectify these issues.

Comfortably Smug (00:48): "Joe Biden's legacy for seniors. He raided Medicare, made premiums skyrocket, and drove up drug costs."

John Ashbrook briefly adds sarcastically, "We finally beat Medicare," to underscore Biden's perceived mismanagement.

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Democrats' Inconsistent Messaging and Hyperbole

04:34 – 15:57

Josh Holmes criticizes the Democratic Party for creating chaotic and hyperbolic narratives that make Republican efforts seem easier. The hosts discuss how Democrats are prone to internal conflicts and exaggerated outrage, which dilutes their effectiveness.

Josh Holmes (03:11): "They keep one upping each other in terms of hyperbole and how outraged they are..."

Michael Duncan points out the absurdity of Democrats praising Elon Musk’s actions while simultaneously complaining about their own defunding projects.

Michael Duncan (04:34): "The Democrats are really doing their best to make us laugh. We appreciate their efforts."

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USAID and Government Spending Criticism

10:02 – 13:12

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around USAID and its alleged misuse of funds. The hosts argue that USAID funds are being diverted to support progressive agendas rather than addressing American needs. They highlight instances like USAID funding LGBTQ comic books in South America and solar-powered streetlights in Afghanistan, questioning the efficacy and priorities of such expenditures.

Josh Holmes (10:11): "There is a vast majority of stuff that has been surfaced since this whole thing has come out that are just absolutely the worst shit that you've ever heard."

Michael Duncan emphasizes the frustration Democrats have with scrutinizing government spending while seemingly ignoring domestic issues.

Michael Duncan (10:02): "But our NGOs shut down the cities."

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Impact of Protests and Public Sentiment

17:43 – 20:00

John Ashbrook shares firsthand experiences of encountering anti-Zionist protests near the White House, criticizing the Democratic response to international issues and public safety. The hosts lament the Biden administration's contradictory policies, such as ramping up pro-Palestine rhetoric while failing to address domestic challenges like wildfires and Fentanyl.

John Ashbrook (18:44): "Anti-Semitism here in America, a block from the White House."

Josh Holmes sarcastically comments on the administration's priorities, juxtaposing international propaganda efforts with domestic negligence.

Josh Holmes (19:04): "They're delivering things that are propaganda about, like, gender discrimination... It's a window into the insanity of a foreign policy of a Biden administration."

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Role of Influencers and Media Strategy

43:37 – 87:31

A substantial segment of the episode focuses on the strategic use of new media and influencers in political campaigns. The hosts interview Alex Bruschewitz, a notable media strategist, who discusses how leveraging platforms like podcasts, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram has revolutionized Republican outreach. They highlight successful campaigns involving high-profile interviews and viral clips that bypass traditional media filters, significantly expanding Trump's reach.

Alex Bruschewitz (59:06): "We had a really fun role on the campaign and was, you know, able to do so many unique projects..."

Josh Holmes (70:40): "This is a guy who's most responsible for doing this, not only just for President Trump, but the whole Republican ecosystem..."

The discussion underscores the effectiveness of direct engagement through digital platforms, contrasting it with the inefficacy of traditional media strategies employed by Democrats.

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Audience Interaction and Questions

34:46 – 40:12

The hosts engage with their audience by addressing submitted questions for a hypothetical White House press briefing. Topics include:

• Abortion and Adoption Funding: Addressing how funds might be reallocated if abortion issues are pushed to states.

  Terry Wyant (35:55): "Can the money earmarked for federal funding be moved to assist individuals that want to adopt children?"

• Waste and Fraud in Government Spending: Inquiring about identified wasteful expenditures in government programs.

  Ignatius Carboni (35:55): "How many billions of waste and fraud have been identified so far?"

• Sanctuary Cities: Asking about plans to dismantle sanctuary cities and their impact on national safety.

  Colleen Sailors (38:40): "I would ask if Trump plans on doing away with sanctuary cities. What good are they to the American people anyway?"

The hosts provide strong affirmative responses, reiterating their commitment to addressing these issues under the Trump administration.

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King of the Hill: A Signature Segment

43:36 – 56:56

"King of the Hill" is the podcast's signature game segment, where hosts and guests present outrageous Democratic talking points and rebut them humorously. This recurring segment serves to highlight and ridicule what the hosts perceive as the absurdity of Democratic positions.

Round Highlights:

1. Exhibit 6: Social Security and Bank Data Breach Claims

   Josh Holmes (45:00): "Elon Musk arrested for breaching my Social Security and bank data..."

   • Judgment: The claim that the President is an enemy of the Constitution is deemed more outrageous and defamatory than concerns about data breaches.

2. Exhibit 8: The Deep State Preference

   Alex Bruschewitz (50:44): "The deep state is far preferable to the Trump state."

   • Judgment: Suggesting that the deep state is preferable undermines the very foundation of the government, resulting in the point being dismissed.

3. Exhibit 9: Hypocrisy in USAID Funding

   Alex Bruschewitz (54:51): "Trump's unilateral attempt to shut down USAID has prompted a genuine crisis..."

   • Judgment: Accusations of rape and pillaging by Trump and Elon Musk are portrayed as extreme and unfounded, leading to the dismissal of these claims.

This segment underscores the hosts' portrayal of Democratic rhetoric as extreme and disconnected from reality.

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Interview with Alex Bruschewitz: Media Strategist Extraordinaire

56:56 – 88:20

In an exclusive interview, Alex Bruschewitz discusses his pivotal role in shaping the Trump campaign’s media strategy. He emphasizes the importance of embracing new media platforms to reach diverse voter demographics, bypassing traditional media gatekeepers. Bruschewitz credits his success to flexibility, rapid execution, and leveraging relationships with influencers and podcasters to amplify the Trump message.

Alex Bruschewitz (60:15): "We also had so many unique, like, friends that wanted to help us. So, like Dana White or John Shahidi..."

He contrasts the straightforward, authentic engagement strategies employed by the Republican campaign with the more rigid, superficial approaches of the Democratic campaign, particularly criticizing Kamala Harris's lack of direct communication and over-reliance on staged media interactions.

Comfortably Smug (62:03): "We didn’t have all these barriers between the operation and the candidate... toegm like the whole pitch was, hey, Mr. President, this guy's got 10 million followers."

Bruschewitz highlights successful collaborations with various influencers and the synergistic efforts between the podcast team and the Trump administration to create viral moments and authentic connections with voters.

Comfortably Smug (75:38): "Aiden had to get that back, unfortunately. Gifting rules."

He reflects on the seamless integration of campaign efforts with media strategies, attributing the Republican success in elections to these innovative approaches.

Comfortably Smug (77:05): "He actually has a great deal of respect for the presidency and he has a vision for how he believes he can make our country great again."

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Conclusion and Call to Action

88:20 – End

Josh Holmes wraps up the episode by acknowledging the significant efforts of the media team and stressing the importance of continued support from listeners. The hosts encourage audience engagement through subscriptions, likes, and shares to help the podcast reach its milestone of 100,000 subscribers.

Josh Holmes (89:13): "We’re getting to be kind of a big program around here and it’s all thanks to you. Like, subscribe, tell your friends about it."

The episode concludes with a brief advertisement segment promoting podcast advertising services, which the hosts deliberately skip as per the summary guidelines.

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Key Takeaways:

• Democratic Messaging Flaws: The episode highlights the perceived disorganization and inconsistent messaging within the Democratic Party, suggesting this diminishes their effectiveness against Trump’s strategic moves.

• Criticism of Biden Administration: Strong condemnation of President Biden’s policies, particularly regarding Medicare and USAID, with assertions that these policies are mismanaged and detrimental to American interests.

• Effectiveness of New Media Strategies: Emphasis on the Republican campaign’s successful use of modern media platforms and influencers to engage a broader and more diverse voter base, bypassing traditional media limitations.

• Audience Engagement: Interactive segments like "King of the Hill" and listener Q&As showcase the podcast's commitment to involving its audience in political discourse and critique.

• Strategic Campaigning: Insight into the behind-the-scenes efforts to shape public perception and political narratives through tailored media strategies and influencer collaborations.

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Notable Quotes:

• Josh Holmes (00:00): "Democrats searching for a message. Democrats rudderless, trying to find a foothold."

• Comfortably Smug (00:48): "Joe Biden's legacy for seniors. He raided Medicare, made premiums skyrocket, and drove up drug costs."

• Josh Holmes (03:11): "They make the job easier than it should be. Democrats are certainly helping things out."

• John Ashbrook (18:44): "Anti-Semitism here in America, a block from the White House."

• Alex Bruschewitz (60:15): "We had so many unique projects... Dana White or John Shahidi, the co-founder of the Nelk Boys..."

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This comprehensive summary provides an overview of the podcast episode "Why Democrats Can’t Stop Trump’s Nominees," capturing the key discussions, critiques, and strategic insights shared by the hosts and their guest. It serves as an informative guide for listeners seeking to understand the episode's main themes without having to listen to the full transcript.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

This is what's gotten them going. Yeah, like they're searching for footing. And you read about this in the papers. Look, you probably don't. If you're listening to this program, we do. So you don't have to. But you read about this stuff, and they're like, Democrats searching for a message. Democrats rudderless, trying to find a foothold. Well, now they're convinced they know where to find it. And it is in the fervent defense.

[Michael Duncan]

Of USAID right now, the news cycle. Democrats think they have a winning issue. They're like, elon Musk is cutting wasteful spending by the government. The audience cheers and the Democrats are like, no, wait, you don't get it. All our hobby horses are getting defunded. The audience cheers louder.

[John Ashbrook]

We finally beat Medicare.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's right.

[Josh Holmes]

He did beat Medicare.

[Comfortably Smug]

He beat it to death. Joe Biden's legacy for seniors. He raided Medicare, made premiums skyrocket, and drove up drug costs. Worse, the Biden pill penalty is already slashing the development of affordable drugs, forcing seniors to pay the price of Biden's failed policy. Biden broke Medicare, but President Trump can fix it. Call Congress and urge them to end the Biden pill penalty.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

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]

Oh, we're going to have a whale of a time. Good Thursday to you all, and welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I am Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan. White House correspondent John Ashbrook, left to right across your radio dial. As always, folks, I just got to tell you, there are entertaining episodes. There are some vegetables, there's some candy. There's all kinds of things that we deal with on the Variety program. I can promise you this, you're gonna laugh a lot at this episode. We've got a lot of material to show you.

[Michael Duncan]

When it rains, it pours. I mean, like, man, the Democrats are really doing their best to make us laugh. We appreciate their efforts.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just. It's incredible. It's almost like they make the job easier. Like, granted what President Trump, his administration, Republicans in Congress are trying to do, very difficult by any stretch of the imagination. They make it look easier than it should be. The Democrats are certainly helping things out, aren't they?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah, it's like they have a humiliation fetish, like just. Just for our enjoyment.

[Josh Holmes]

It is. It's like they took the time to say, you know, the ruthless variety program. We know their shtick. We'd like to make sure that we spend at least one, maybe two press conferences, perhaps per day to fill their episodes. And then they go ahead and they provide content. It's incredible, isn't it?

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, it really is. And my favorite part is they're fighting amongst themselves for the microphone. Schumer is like, no, this belongs to me. I'm an old man. I've earned it. Jasmine Crockett and the Youngs are like, no, no, it's my turn. Let me talk. We win either way.

[Josh Holmes]

And they keep one upping each other in terms of hyperbole and how outraged they are to the point where it sounds like the craziest shit you've ever heard of in your life. And we're gonna get to all of that right off the top. I can tell you this. We've got a much reaction to what's going on. We gave you, on Tuesday's episode, a lot of what's going on, a lot of what's happening here. The updates here. You know, look, turns out we're gonna have golf courses in Gaza. You know, we didn't know that was gonna be option, but I'm very pleased that we've headed in that direction. We're establishing a sovereign wealth fund. Yeah, right. There was an executive order signing yesterday on transgender situation. No men and women's sports. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that supplements what we talked about on Tuesday, but the vast majority of it, we kind of locked you down on. On Tuesday. Now we're gonna give you the reaction to all of that. We're gonna do it right up top. We're also gonna play King of the Hill. And for those of you who are sort of new, remember, we also have a YouTube. This is where this thing comes in handy, because you want to see some visuals on it, you gotta like. And subscribe. Go to the YouTube page, YouTube, RuthlessPodcast, and we're gonna give you some of that like. And subscribe. You can comment away. It's very, very important, because we're getting close to 100,000, too.

[Michael Duncan]

Very close.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

We are smug is already called. Dibs on the plaque.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep, yep. It's going with me.

[Josh Holmes]

You're taking it out of the studio.

[Michael Duncan]

I earned it.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right. Well, that'll be a discussion forthwith. We've got King of the Hill. And that is a game that we play of former Republicans who made a lot of money in this line of work. Basically, burgeoning conservative credentials upon the world and talking in a high minded way about how they're rock rib conservatives and they only wish that the whole operation worked in the way that they had sort of sought. And then President Trump came along and they've lost their minds.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And we play one against another in a game that we call King of the Hill for the craziest nuts take that you can have of the week, and we confine it to one week.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Of takes out of their mental illness. We derive joy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. And so our joy becomes your joy because we play the game King of the Hill. We also have a great guest, Alex Brushewitz. Now, some of you know him from X, some of you know him from the various write ups about his strategy behind the Trump campaign. He's near and dear to our heart for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is he's sort of the brains behind. He would never say this, he would never admit this. And, you know, you get a personality on X where he looks like, you know, arrogant or whatever. In real life, this guy is the most humble individual of all time. Never wants to take credit for anything, but I'll say it so he doesn't have to. I think this guy is the brains behind the strategy to go beyond a mainstream media filter, go out and reach different audiences through different podcasts. That Joe Rogan pod he talks about, that makes news on that. Tony Hinchcliffe, all the various. Theo Vaughn, all the various places you saw President Trump during the course of the campaign, that also was translated into the White House, where our direct beneficiary here of the ruthless variety program and White House correspondent, John Ashbrook.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right. And you know what? I think I'd be remiss if I didn't take this moment and thank Michael Duncan.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, here it comes.

[John Ashbrook]

I need to thank him. Because Michael Duncan did not choose to take the opportunity and what he did was offer it to me. So I thank you, Michael, the king of friendship right here sitting next to me.

[Josh Holmes]

He said he was gonna do it. What do you think, Michael?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Very patronizing, but I'll accept it.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I will tell you, dear listener, when the old man goes on vacation, the Voice goes to work.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, they knew it was coming.

[John Ashbrook]

He was there for you.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Went to a wedding and a funeral. You dick.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, for you OGs, you know how fun this is. Unbelievable. It's so good.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Believable.

[Josh Holmes]

So let's get right into it. Fel. Listen, it's super bowl week. There's a bunch of super bowl stuff going on in some Ways. It's hard to imagine anything better than the pageantry that happened in Washington D.C. this week. I'm going to set this up with a clip and we can react to it. We have several clips, some of which you've probably seen, some of which you haven't. Either way, the way that this crowd reacts to it, you're gonna want to be a part of. Let's play clip one, please. Spaghettz. Democrats agree that Musk is a problem, but listen to them today and they have a in search of a stick to our Republican colleagues. If you do not see the light, we will bring the fire.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Resist.

[Josh Holmes]

We are going to be in your face. We are going to be on your asses. We have days to stop the destruction of our democracy. We have work to do. Hell, Elon Musk to take his hands off your money.

[Comfortably Smug]

We don't pledge allegiance to the creepy 22 year olds working for Elon Musk.

[Josh Holmes]

We pledge allegiance to the United States of America and God damn it, shut down the Senate. We, we will win. We will win.

[Comfortably Smug]

We.

[Josh Holmes]

We won't rest. We changes it up.

[Michael Duncan]

Can we play it again? Can we play it again?

[Josh Holmes]

That's our buddy Scott on CNN between entirely Democratic panels saying, can we play it again? Yes, Scott, we all agree with that. We would play it a million times if we could. If I could found a super PAC just to fund that rally, I would do it. Context, folks, that was a rally hastily scheduled outside of USAID where you will never find a more vociferous opposition than Democrats in Washington trying to protect usaid. That should tell you something, shouldn't it?

[Michael Duncan]

I want to be. You know, everyone here knows I'm from North Carolina. I did not see a single one of these senators rushing out, holding news conferences, demanding that these people in western North Carolina get any help.

[John Ashbrook]

Great point.

[Michael Duncan]

When you. Not even for the fires in California, there's no instance when American people are suffering that you see a dozen 20, 30 elected Democrats being like, right now, we gotta help the American people. What you will see them for is all our left wing groups are getting their money taken away from by Elon musk.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

But our NGOs shut down the cities.

[Michael Duncan]

But our NGOs for the NGOs, these people, people are like, shut down the city when it's Americans in need. Not a peep.

[Josh Holmes]

So we mentioned this on Tuesday, but just to get you caught up, I mean, basically what happened is Elon Musk went in and took a look at USAID and an awful lot of what they fund Turns out to be just sort of paying off the paymasters in the Democratic Party for all kinds of nefarious reasons. I'm not saying the whole of USA IDs is nonsense, some might say that. But there's a vast majority of stuff that has been surfaced since this whole thing has come out that are just absolutely the worst shit that you've ever heard. The Politico subscriptions, the like, enormous amount of money going to do.

[Michael Duncan]

You see, it just came out. They had like. Was it like over 5,000 Disney subscriptions?

[John Ashbrook]

Wait, what?

[Michael Duncan]

That just dropped Disney? They're paying for Disney subscriptions with taxpayer money. Are you kidding me?

[Josh Holmes]

But the larger piece of this is that this is kind of a dark area of your tax dollar where it gets filtered through an organization that was dedicated to provide relief for third world countries, places that ultimately would be great if they were allies, but like infrastructure in which you could interact with these countries. And I mean, the intent behind it, whether you agree with internationalism or not, sort of altruistic, where it's in practice been worked through, is that there's a whole. There's a cottage industry on the progressive left that uses appropriations through USAID to push progressive values. Things like climate change. Right. Things like, I mean, EV mandates, everything all the way up and including press coverage of certain things. And it's only now that you have Doge and Elon Musk that are going through the books. They're like, you're getting a look at this for the first time.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And you know what the left is doing. And I think some of the people listening to the show have seen it. They are going after these 20 something, 30 something geniuses who are helping Elon sort of filter through where the money is going. They're looking at this with a fresh set of eyes. And Democrats are like, no, no, no, you're not allowed to do that. You're not allowed to expose where this money is going.

[Josh Holmes]

You're the bad guy.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's the thing is it's taking like one of the folks who Elon's got working on this project used AI to decode scrolls in Rome that were burned during the fire when Mount Vesuvius went off. It's taking kids who have this level of like, genius to go through this network and web of payments that were happening at usaid. And then I can't help but take a second and be like, democrats wanted to go through every American's Venmo transactions like you split dinner with a buddy. They're like, hmm, I Wanna know what's happening? Do I need to audit this guy? Can I get a piece of this money for taxes?

[Josh Holmes]

Let's hire 80,000 IRS agents. Because we just put in place any sort of automated transaction or any sort of transaction electronically that you do through Venmo rather than your traditional bank account. Let's make sure we have agents who can, like, really crack down on the babysitter.

[Michael Duncan]

But when it comes to spending your money, they don't want anyone to see where it goes.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, dude. It's such a great point, but I think, Duncan, to the point that you were making earlier today, as we discussed all of this, it's usaid. Like, this is. What's. This is what's gotten them going.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like they're searching for footing. And you read about this in the papers. I. Look, you probably don't. If you're listening to this program. We do. So you don't have to. But you read about this stuff, and they're like Democrats searching for a message. Democrats rudderless, trying to find a foothold. Well, now they're convinced they know where to find it. And it is in the fervent, fervent defense of usaid.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah, you know, I think we're at sort of like peak theater kid behavior right now.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I thought we were going to OD on it after Trump won the election, but in fumbling around for a message, I think the Democrats are in full theater kid, kid mode. I mean, you look at those clips and it's like, man, these people unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

And, like, I know that Jon Stewart and everybody else has made fun of Chuck Schumer and the we will win. And then how aroused he was. Well, we will win chant that he change. Because no one was. Was chanting along to we will not rest or something like that. And the point that Stuart made was, this is like, the least inspiring dude of all time. But, like, we've been on this for a little bit. That's bizarre behavior. I mean, this is. This is what they count on for leadership. They just elected an acclimation after losing everything. They were like, no, this guy, he. He should be our voice going forward. Unbelievable.

[John Ashbrook]

Unreal.

[Josh Holmes]

It is tough to watch. But again, you know, part of the reason why we got Bruschewitz on the show today, Republicans have taken over the culture contest here, and he is a perfect example of someone who loses it day in and day out. Is there anyone who can look at that and be like, yeah, he speaks.

[Michael Duncan]

For me on this issue specifically. It's like, right now, the News cycle. Democrats think they have a winning issue. They're like, elon Musk is cutting wasteful spending by the government. The audience cheers and the Democrats like, no, wait, you don't get it. All our hobby horses are getting defunded. The audience cheers louder.

[Josh Holmes]

We will win.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, but they can't even agree on what they're talking about. I know we have another clip in here.

[Josh Holmes]

This one's fantastic.

[John Ashbrook]

I love this so much.

[Josh Holmes]

This is so good because it encapsulates all the various pieces that go into a Democratic coalition that don't agree on a single thing in one beautiful short clip. Clip two, please, begets what do we need? Not a one with the same answer.

[John Ashbrook]

Great friend of the program, Kate Hyde. I know a lot. You guys all follow her on Twitter. She was like, I still don't know what they need. What do we need?

[Michael Duncan]

That's their message right there in a nutshell.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, that's what happens to you, your message, when you all have your hand out for some special liberal pet project. Because nobody can actually decide what the government should do. Because government to you is all of our left wing NGOs get funded for who knows what. I mean, all of these Politico Pro subscriptions that we have all through USAID and these other agencies and departments have ever heard of, like, I don't know, login sharing. I've got a pitch for Elon Musk. Hire my brother. Every time I go over to his house, I have to log out of everything I logged into on the tv. Otherwise he's on it for the next.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no, he's had your netflixing up my algorithm for a couple of years. All of a sudden you're like, why is Bluey on my television?

[Michael Duncan]

The funny thing is, so I was hanging out with a buddy who works at treasury the other day and they had a bunch of these protests out there. And he was like, we had one group there that was complaining about Elon Musk. We had one group there who was complaining about Gaza. And then we had like, you know, dozens of the usual, like, panhandlers out there trying to beg for money. I was like, that's what you don't get, buddy. They're all panhandlers.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah, they are.

[Josh Holmes]

They are. Well, we had some original reporting. We had our White House correspond at John Ashbrook last, I guess, Tuesday night.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

That wandered on down to a protest in front of the White House. This is where Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, was meeting with President Trump. Now, what we Know, an incredibly momentous press conference, but it turns out a couple of the old familiar faces showed up.

[John Ashbrook]

I was like, two blocks from the White House, and I could not help myself, but I heard them chanting and banging drums, and I was like, what is this about? And so I walked a little bit closer, and sure enough, it's the Palestinian flags and it's every sign, and they're chanting like, we hate Zionists. No Zionists here. You know, and it's just like, oh, my God.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, just unrepentant.

[John Ashbrook]

Can you people. Unrepentant. Anti Semitism here in America, a block from the White House. Thank God that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu were in there signing things and talking to people and getting everything done.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Kamala Harris spent the last 30 days of the election after ramping up all of the outside sort of pro Palestine, anti Israel comments throughout her entire course of her vice presidency, then spent the last 30 days being like, no, no, we stand with Israel. And it's like, you know, she leaves the scene. It's like, no, these people are the Democratic Party.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

This is what it is. Here they are. Here they are. Wait till they find out what was talked about inside.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Holmes]

Not going to love Trump International sitting on the Gaza Strip, which I'd love to visit by beautiful piece of land.

[John Ashbrook]

The.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

The land of milk and honey is going to be the land of casinos and golf courses.

[Josh Holmes]

It's going to be wonderful. Such a big deal. But it's like this kind of outside the box stuff that so intrigues us about the first couple of weeks of the Trump administration, like the sovereign wealth fund. You were like, oh, that's interesting. You know, that could. There could be a hundred reasons behind establishing that on Tuesday morning. And then like, Tuesday night, you're like, oh, Gaza, I get it, okay. Oh, maybe it's not. Maybe they deny that, but I put two and two together. Yeah, right. There's probably a lot of people in the middle, a lot of countries that are sort of allies of the United States that be interested in investing in such a project. Be nice if we got a little something out of it.

[Michael Duncan]

Egypt wouldn't need to have a big wall. They could build an expressway to get to the Trump Hotel casino. Gaza.

[Josh Holmes]

Would it be nice to go to a nice place like that?

[Michael Duncan]

Terrific. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Gosh, it sure would. So it gets worse, though. Liberals are cranking up the hyperbole across the board in an effort to block Trump's agenda. We're going to show you more of this insanity and like, honestly, dude, I just can't understate it.

[Michael Duncan]

It gets, you're going to want to see this.

[Josh Holmes]

It gets so bad. We're going to get to all that 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, so look, as we said, Democrats are struggling for a message here, but their pundits have to fill airtime. And nobody apparently is putting an arm around these folks to be like, hey, maybe tone down all. We're like two weeks in, let's find something to actually drive rather than shooting at everything out there and making the most hyperbolic claims of all time. Well, it didn't reach the set of cnn. Let's look at clip three, please.

[Unknown Speaker]

We can brag on Marco Rubio, I'd be happy to do it, but I'm going to tell you right now, people are going to die in very large numbers around the world here expecting the United States to live up to our promises, to get them medicine, to get them help. And when that happens, people are going to remember that there are people right now who have hiv, who are alive only because the United States is making sure that Donald Trump says, we don't care. You go die. That's the message from the United States government. It is the wrong message to be sending. And it opens up the door for China and other people say at least we're a stable government who's not going to leave you out here to die. That's what this is, not an abstraction, abstract conversation with people around the world.

[John Ashbrook]

I, you know, he's talking about medicine and help, but USAID was funding LGBTQ comic books in South America.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, first of all, look, there's an ideological discussion that you have within this country that doesn't necessarily break down on partisan lines, although Democrats clearly have a partisan point of view on it is whether or not, you know, it's in America's interest to help third world countries and everything else sort of sort things out. Awful lot of Americans look at $35 trillion in debt and they're like, Look, I live in Chicago, it's a frickin war zone here every day. Why don't we get like the paratroopers in here and take care of that stuff? And I get that, all those arguments, but like what these guys are talking about is if you even look, remember this is the threshold, if you even look. Because what they've promised to do at this point is not to like get rid of usaid, not to do whatever. What they're doing is stopping and examining where the money goes. If there is things that are in the American interest, presumably they will pursue them. The only thing they've done up to this point is press pause and they're like everyone's going to die.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

And that should tell you about the motivations of the Democratic Party. It's not just about the people that they claim to be representing and helping, which by the way don't live in the United States. It's about where the money goes.

[Michael Duncan]

I used to think nothing scared Democrats more than Donald Trump. But it turns out what scares them most is following the money. I've never seen them.

[Josh Holmes]

Terrifying.

[Michael Duncan]

So upset, terrifying. And the American people, I wasn't even real. I didn't even know the extent to which they have turned. This entire left wing infrastructure is taxpayer supported. We've been paying for these crazy people. It's amazing, like thank God Elon Musk got in there and is just revealing this information. And Democrats have never been more terrified but smug.

[John Ashbrook]

If they don't have climate justice in sub Saharan Africa, how in the world is anybody gonna survive?

[Josh Holmes]

How about some running water?

[Michael Duncan]

You know I saw a video on X where this guy, Lord Miles, who travels to like war zones in the most dangerous places on earth was in Afghanistan after President Biden had that disastrous withdrawal and he found these like books and pamphlets that were being put out there. It had the USAID label on it and it was like preventing gender discrimination in Afghanistan.

[Josh Holmes]

A guidebook for you in Afghanistan.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

In Afghanistan.

[Michael Duncan]

So that's where your money was like.

[Josh Holmes]

Think about that in terms of like the macro policy. Yeah, the macro policy was the United States was going to abandon every single person in Afghanistan who may have helped the United States or translated for the United States or in other words tried to like modernize that culture. They abandoned them overnight, left all our shit at Bagram Air Force Base, had people clinging off planes and throwing babies over fences so they could get out, so they could do a press conference about how we're out before the 20th anniversary of 9 11. At the same time they're delivering things that are propaganda about, like, gender discrimination. They were like, when you're leaving the place to a regime in the Taliban that not only is not interested in gender discrimination, doesn't think that women should show their faces right, let alone go to school or anything like that. That gives you a window into the insanity of a foreign policy of a Biden administration and an establishment Washington.

[Michael Duncan]

They were like, here's the thing is our outreach to try to get more people in Afghanistan on our side is we will distribute pamphlets saying of how transgender ideology should be respected among the. They're like, get the hell out of here.

[Josh Holmes]

They're like, transgender.

[Michael Duncan]

No, we want nothing to do with this.

[Josh Holmes]

Can you imagine the balls on an Afghani walking around as a transgender? That's the guy I would hire for the Navy seals. To be honest with you. There's no risk taker more significant than that dude.

[John Ashbrook]

But I mean, there were all of these military guys who were over there at the time and probably felt like they couldn't speak out at the time, but are now on X. And they're like, yeah, the USAID was spending all this money on these, like, solar powered street lights in Afghanistan that would be stolen basically day in and day out. And then all of a sudden, USAID put up another solar powered street lamp so they could put out a press release that the Washington Post would write and CNN would cover about how the good. Exactly.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Meanwhile, people in California couldn't get water out of the fire hydrant to put out the wildfires.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's exactly it. That's why this is such a loser of an issue for the Democrats when the American people are now saying, my God, you could be in western North Carolina, you could be in California, you could be at any part of this country where Fentanyl has flooded your community, where illegal aliens are committing murders, rapes. You could be in any part of this country. And see, for four years, the US Government did nothing to help you and your money was being lit on fire on these kind of like ridiculous projects.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't this part of the genius of Trump, though? Like, everybody wanted to put him in an ideological box for the last four years that he's out of office. Like, he believes in this. Like, every libertarian in the world was like, well, he doesn't believe in internationalism. He doesn't believe in anything outside of the borders of the United States. And then, you know, the Democrats are like, oh, he's a racist. He's all these things. Like, ultimately he becomes president again and he's engaged in the international community in a positive way, as we saw in that press conference with Bibi Netanyahu, where, like, he's not in that box, but also he's securing the border, which is, like, vitally. It's like, the nuance that every American just instinctively understands because it's common sense. But, like, Washington has been governed by so long by people who are like, either you believe in this or you believe in that. And he's like, I don't even know what those walls are.

[Michael Duncan]

I just love when it comes to how Trump interacts with international communities. You don't have to worry about him doing stupid shit like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did, building this dock, this pier that sinks into the ocean, spending hundreds of millions of US Dollars. His interaction is, oh, so we have some terrorists drop the biggest damn bomb you can cave in their caves, and then I'm gonna send out the tweet that says, if you're a terrorist, we will kill you. That's how you interact on the world stage.

[Josh Holmes]

I can't wait for the whole Gaza Strip to look like Las Vegas.

[Michael Duncan]

Everyone will be so much happier this way.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, if you can get over some light terrorism in the morning, I think it should be pretty good. I think it should be pretty good. Anyway, there's reason for optimism. There's more. Do you want more Schumer?

[Michael Duncan]

Always.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's check out more Schumer in clip four. And the American people, mark my words, the American people will not stand for an unelected secret group to run rampant through the executive branch. Oh, okay. So he's like, oh, okay, that's great. You know, like, I understand what he's getting at. You know, it should be a concern to people where they don't, you know, sort of know what people are doing. I think this administration has been very transparent about what they're doing. But, like, I get it. Like, the point is made, and then he puts it out on X. Have a look at the dude who retweeted this thing. Look at the graphic one, please.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, man.

[Michael Duncan]

So for only listeners, it's Chuck Schumer tweet saying an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government. Retweeted by Alex Soros. He's like, yeah, Chuck's right. I should be the unelected shadow government.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

He's like, this must be an old tweet. I already did that.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, if you're an OG listener to this program, we've made a great deal out of all of the almost baseball cards that Alex Soros has collected over the last six months, of every single politician in the Democratic or progressive side that has needed his money to try to get to an election, and they show up in, like, his penthouse taking a picture with him.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, the thing. The thing that really struck me is, like, I don't know, the lack of tact. Like, he would tweet these out, like, throughout the DNC as the person was talking. It was like, that person you see on the screen. Yeah, I own them.

[Josh Holmes]

I own that person.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I own that person. Own the next one, too.

[Josh Holmes]

Here I am with this one.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah. Who's on deck? I got him.

[Michael Duncan]

You visit a buddy's house and you'll have a photo frame of him catching this massive marlin.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

For Alex Soros, it's. Every elected Democrat in the country is.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, look at this.

[Michael Duncan]

This guy's my catch.

[Josh Holmes]

Perhaps an unelected shadow government figure.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Josh Holmes]

The irony is just so good. It's like they're running a parody of themselves. It really is like a Christopher Guess film.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

The whole thing, from the protests to stuff like that, it's like they just don't get the joke anymore at all. And Trump has broken them. Absolutely. So our question of the day. Now that you've seen a couple of different Schumer submissions, and it's been widely discussed in D.C. about the lack of a leader on the Democratic side, is there any person drawing breath on the liberal left that would be worse as the face of the Democratic Party than Chuck Schumer?

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, great question.

[Josh Holmes]

Interested in your thoughts? Remember, you gotta, like. And subscribe to YouTube. Put that in there, and, like, you know, you could take it ideologically and be like, yeah, you know, aoc, whatever. Would be a lot worse. Or you could just be funny about it. Either way, we're gonna read through all these and get to your submissions next Tuesday. It's a great deal. This is one of those that I would love to weigh in on. So I've got thoughts.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

That's a tough one.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a tough one. I mean, worse. Like, think. Try to put. Try to, like, empty your brain to a point where you're actually a liberal Democrat and then think about who advocates on behalf. Is there somebody that's worse?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I don't. I mean, I saw Chuck Schumer try to grill hamburgers, and I saw him try to hold a beer. The bar is gonna be pretty high for somebody who can do worse. You know, it's so bad.

[Josh Holmes]

A raw Burger with cheese just on.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Top of it, 16 ounce corona. And he's holding the thing out like this, like it's a priceless work of art. Never held a beer in his life, I'm sure.

[Josh Holmes]

Just a salmonella cocktail he's got going on. Anyway, your comments from last episode, which was about our dear friend, the White House correspondent John Ashbrook, in terms of questions that you would ask if you were sitting in that briefing room, because we take all these things seriously. And surely enough, we'll be sitting there forthwith. And when we do, we will take your thoughts in mind and we will read a few of them right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

So we just got some big news from Americans for Prosperity, the most effective grassroots organization in the country. They've just launched a massive $20 million campaign to protect your hard earned money. Here's the deal. If Congress doesn't act, the Trump tax cuts will expire. That means families could pay 1500 more in in taxes next year. We all remember the benefits of those tax cuts. More money in your pocket, higher wages and thriving mom and pop businesses across the country. But Biden nomics has taken us backward. Record inflation and rising costs mean families are paying over $13,000 more per year just to make ends meet. Now is not the time for higher taxes. That's why AFP is unleashing its grassroots army to protect the tax cuts with hundreds of local events, millions of voter contacts and direct pressure on lawmakers. Join the fight. Visit ProtectProsperity.com to demand Congress renews and strengthens the Trump tax cuts so we can reignite the American dream. That's ProtectProsperity.com okay, so we asked you.

[Josh Holmes]

What you would ask if you were in our position at the White House able to ask Carolyn Levitt a question about what's going on. A lot of thoughtful submissions, some funny stuff, some very serious stuff. We thought we would call through some of the serious stuff here because these are like things that you might actually ask. And to do that, we always start with a voice.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, this first one comes from Terry Wyant. And Terry writes, congratulations, John. Thank you, Terry. My question is, since President Trump wants to push abortion issues to the states, can the money earmarked for federal funding be moved to assist individuals that want to adopt children? Terry, that is a great question. I am going to make a note here for the next time.

[Josh Holmes]

That is very, very good.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And thoughtful. I mean, we've had a lot of listeners talk about this over the years and the difficulty of adoption. And, you know, how do you be more pro family as a country. Right. And this is good. That's very good. All right. Comment 2 Dunks her runks.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

This is from Carboni. Ignatius Carboni writes question for the next White House press briefing. How many billions of waste and fraud have been identified so far?

[Michael Duncan]

Good question.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

This can be the recurrence recurring theme that will energize voters on all sides as they are struggling to pay their taxes only to find precious revenues are just being wasted. Remember the Democrat senator from Wisconsin with his famous quote golden Fleece Award. I still remember it. It's a good one.

[Josh Holmes]

It is very good. It's very good. I think. Look, if you're, if you're on X, there are periodic updates like Elon provides periodic updates about the thresholds by which he thinks that they can find based on what they've already found. And like the numbers are pretty staggering.

[Michael Duncan]

It's something else. It's really mind blowing.

[Josh Holmes]

It really is.

[Michael Duncan]

And on that note, when I see someone from DC say something like oh this was only a 40 million dollar program, nothing makes me angrier. I know, nothing makes me angry. Because every American, especially now that tax day is coming up, every dollar that you pay towards the federal government is a very hard earned one.

[John Ashbrook]

People work so hard for what they earn.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right.

[John Ashbrook]

So offensive.

[Josh Holmes]

It is. And I don't love the like class resentment politics because I just don't think that like conservatives do that. I don't think Donald Trump does that. I think he's an embodiment of success.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And this is what you should all strive for. But I will say it's hard to ignore if there is a class of Americans that are walking around just simply by birth what you always call the make work, fail sons dunks that have been just bestowed upon them millions of taxpayer dollars to go push a leftist agenda. Boy, that makes me mad.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean that really because it affects property values, it affects everything. It's not just about is this an injustice. Clearly that's to be sure. But it also affects the broader economy where you've got everybody working hard to try to provide product, to try to do what they do to earn a living for them and their families and communities across this country. And then you have a class of people that simply just by being, being adjacent to democratic power structures are just forever feeding off the government teat like that makes me.

[Michael Duncan]

And those are the people that these elected Democrats go to bat for. That's who they'll fight for.

[Josh Holmes]

God, it just makes me so mad. Alright. Comment three, Smuggles.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a really good one. I'll have an update on it. Comment 3 comes from Colleen Sailors. Colleen writes, I would ask if Trump plans on doing away with sanctuary cities. I mean, what good are they to the American people anyway? Keep America safe again. Great point. And as I said, Trump's administration is moving so fast. Right before we started recording, I saw there are now going to be congressional hearings where they're bringing the mayors of every sanctuary city in America.

[John Ashbrook]

Hell, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So, you know, Colleen, there you go. There's your wish.

[Josh Holmes]

Your wish is her command.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, it is amazing that the Trump administration is accomplishing so much so quickly. Every concern you could bring up, because this is a great one. Boom, right there, you know, hearing on it.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, maybe this is just because I'm from there, but you know that weasel in Minnesota, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Who made a lot of news this week about him holding a press conference. And we will not comply with the federal government's efforts to try to get illegal immigrants out of our city. And this, that, yeah, first of all, he's not complying because he's just complicit. Has been forever in that city. But this is the same guy that was doing all the George Floyd stuff and all of the. Everything about the degradation of the city that he's supposedly presiding over. I'd love to see that guy before a congressional panel.

[Michael Duncan]

It's gonna be great.

[Josh Holmes]

If you're in charge of that. And I know you're listening, if you're in charge of that. We've got some recommendations.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I can provide some contact numbers if you're interested. All right, thank you for all of your comments. One of our sponsors is so important to the Ruthless Variety program that we like to include it any chance we can get. And that's zbiotics. Zbiotics. What is our phrase on zbiotics?

[John Ashbrook]

There is no tomorrow without Zebiotics today.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's exactly right. And what do we mean by that? So it is a game changing product that you use before a big night out with fellas or with couples or whoever. Big night out. Nevertheless, we are standing behind this product because we use it.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And this changed our lives last summer.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. So whenever you're traveling, as folks know, you've got to drink at the airport and then you got to drink when you get there. And we like to take part in that. But here's a little secret, is you have to take ZBiotics beforehand. We were passing, I was passing these Things out when we were at the convention, left and right. And I'd say, but I'll give you one of this before you go out tonight to the party or whatever, before you have some drinks, but tomorrow you gotta tell me whether it worked or not. Without exception, every single person was like, I don't know how they make this stuff. I don't know what it is, but I feel amazing. Like a million bucks this morning because it works. It actually works.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Smug. It's funny you say that, because that wedding I was at, over the weed.

[Michael Duncan]

Were you handing them out there?

[Josh Holmes]

Were they begging you for it?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Better yet, ran into some day one listeners of the Ruthless variety program shout out to Lily, by the way, he brought Zebiotics to the wedding.

[Michael Duncan]

Genius.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Isn't that amazing?

[Josh Holmes]

Did he hashtag? Was he like, thanks to you, I've got these things. Yeah. Oh, it's so good.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

And he's like. He's like, I like what you said. It. It rounds off the edges. That bad feeling the next day, you don't have that because people think it's about being dehydrated, that you wake up and you don't feel good after a big night. But no, no, no, it's not that. It's because alcohol gets metabolized into this toxic byproduct in your gut. See, biotics knocks that right out there.

[Josh Holmes]

They knock it out there. And, you know, look, if you've got like a work conference, as we did in Milwaukee for the RNC convention, you got a choice to make at some level, right? Do you have a really big night, have fun, you know, meet some new people and really blow it out? Or you be on your A game the next day with Z Bionics. You can do both. That's right, you can do both. Which is why we stand by this thing. It is absolutely terrific with pre alcohol. I could stay on track and not let the winter travel celebrations like a wedding that you had or Valentine's Day Super Bowl Sunday. Still should be a holiday, by the way. 100% should be a holiday in the next Monday. But even that or Mardi Gras at the end of the month, I'm not gonna let that throw me off course. You go to zbiotics.com ruthless to learn more. Get 15% off your first order when you use Ruthless at the checkout. Z Abiotics is back with 100% money back guarantee. So if you find yourself unsatisfied for any reason, I highly doubt that. Yeah, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. So remember, you gotta head to zbiotics.com ruthless and use code ruthless at the checkout for 15% off. We stand by it. We stand by it in the biggest possible way. All right, so what do you want to do? You want to play a game?

[Michael Duncan]

Want to play a game, dude?

[Josh Holmes]

Want to play a game? It's our signature presentation here on the Ruthless Friday program. King of the Hill.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah. And I'm a champion. You're the defending champion. And you've got Sherry. My Sherry. And I'm bringing the challenger today and bringing a special challenger. Bill Crystal's coming back. Bill Crystal is back. And so our judge is Ashbrook. And your bailiff.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I think it's time to go ringside.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. It's time for King of the Hill. In the red corner, fighting possibly from an NGO funded by the USAID bill or now War Forever Crystal. And now in the blue corner, fighting from her own Twitter account, van current Jamp champion of the world, Commie Cherry Jacobus.

[Michael Duncan]

Best in the business. Best in the business.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, it's so good. The best part about the intro is that he does a little nuance change.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And they're all recorded live. This is not pre recorded.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, God, it's just so good. If you've seen it in person, it's as good as it gets present. And we may have an announcement on that. We'll get to that.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

You're the defending.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm the defending champion. So I have to start. If I'm not mistaken, this is my favorite Democratic talking point with no existence in reality that we've had in decades. I mean, decades. They make shit up out of whole cloth all the time. This one is fantastic to the point where my wife the other day was like, you know, she follows a bunch of like fashionistas and stuff.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And they were like all up, up in arms about it. And I was like, I actually don't even know how they get to that. Anyway, check out exhibit six. I want Elon Musk arrested for breaching my Social Security and bank data. Bank data. So wait, wait, wait, wait. I sincerely, and I mean this sincerely because I do spend time thinking about this stuff on like, how Democrats get a talking point. Like what, like thin rule are they using? I can't come up with something on this. Like, just by virtue of Doge looking for inefficiencies in government, Democrats have somehow gotten to a talking point that they're messing around with your Social Security. Sharon Mushari is taking that beyond. First of all, like, I don't think she's a Social Security recipient yet.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I think she's concerned that Elon Musk, who's worth over $100 billion, might be taking out a credit card in her name.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, but my bank data, like, what the hell?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

What are all these charges for? Cat food? Yeah, I didn't make those.

[John Ashbrook]

Could I ask counsel think about the insanity involved. Could I ask counsel what time she made that?

[Josh Holmes]

I'd love to, but I have to ask because. My, my. So it looks like it's a 5 40. So it's firmly in happy hour. Firmly in happy hour.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

And for her, you know, some people it starts a little earlier. Some maybe never stops. I'll just leave that to your discretion, your honor.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Okay, I don't need the preamble here. I think that's done here by Bill Kristol. So let's just go right to exhibit number 14. Spaghetti. Members of Congress take an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That the Constitution's enemies now include the president does not relieve members of Congress of their responsibility to that oath. And then he links to his article at the Bulwark.

[Michael Duncan]

This is an insane take.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

The president, who was popularly elected, won the popular vote in the electoral college in a landslide, is an enemy, a domestic enemy of the Constitution.

[Michael Duncan]

That is. You know, that's one thing that I don't think they will ever be able to get through their thick skulls is this is what the American people voted for. They. They said democracy is the most sacred thing. Well, it's pretty damn clear that people wanted Donald Trump as president.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't this. This guy's thing, though, as he's fallen out of favor?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Oh, here he goes.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I'm just saying, like, you know, as he loses a public argument, it's always like, well, this is not what the Constitution envisioned. Like, you don't have any other argument, basically.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, all he's got, it's. And I think, you know, when. When. When Ashbrook in the intro is like, this guy's possibly making money off usaid, if I had to guess, that's the motivating factor behind this guy.

[Josh Holmes]

Fair enough.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you, bailiff. As judge today, I have the authority to rule on each and every round. And for this first round, Cherry taking a shot at Elon for sneaking a look at her personal data and bank account. And bank account is as offensive as it gets. But it is not quite as offensive as suggesting that the president of The United States is an enemy of the Constitution. And for that reason, Bill's Bristol wins round one.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, but Elon, if you're listening, just release that bank data. I want to see. It's like $4,500 a month on Whiskus. $1,100 a month on kitty litter, $3,200 a month on Franzia. I think we would be entertained by seeing these numbers.

[Josh Holmes]

I would like to see.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I'm just gonna call my shot here and say this is gonna be a two round knockout.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, wow.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

We'll see, pal.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Exhibit number eight, spaghetti. The deep state is far preferable to the Trump state.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, my God.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

From Bill Kristol. Now, you may recall we were told the deep state was a conspiratorial fiction that Donald Trump and maggots made up. The deep state isn't real. It's just hardworking bureaucrats here in the bowels of various agencies trying to look out for America. Now he can let the mask slip and say, the deep state is real. And it is good.

[Michael Duncan]

It really is. Like the meme, like, first they're like, no, this doesn't exist. This is not happening. And then finally they get to actually, this is happening. And it's very good.

[Josh Holmes]

Very good. I'm sorry that I've led you to believe that you're gonna have a two round knockout and that you had to play such an. I mean, it's legitimate. Great.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Deep State.

[Josh Holmes]

It's no good.

[Michael Duncan]

Deep state is good.

[Josh Holmes]

This is my take.

[Michael Duncan]

Amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

In any other game, it would be a two round knockout. Cause that is a hell of a take. I'm sorry you had to burn it. I'm going to bring up Exhibit 2 where she is retweeting a story about migrants being taken to Guantanamo Bay. No word yet on the gas chambers and ovens.

[Michael Duncan]

Holy.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

So it's a Holocaust tweet against a deep State tweet. This truly is. This is Ali Foreman. This is Ali Foreman.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

I am sorry. I'm sorry to burn that one with that. It's just. Oof.

[Michael Duncan]

There was no better encapsulation of how crazy these people have gotten.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm just not sure. I'm not sure we've ever had ovens involved.

[Michael Duncan]

King of the Hill.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a long lasting. We've probably played 200 rounds of this thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Counselor, these are both former Republicans. And Crystal's tweet was outrageous. But nothing, nothing compares to suggesting ovens at Guantanamo.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

That's why Sherry, my Sherry, is unfair. She literally should be she should be removed from the game for cheating. It's just unfair.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, I think.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I think that might be the craziest take we've ever had on the show.

[Josh Holmes]

I think it might be. It is so good.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I mean, I literally picked Bill Crystal for that take alone. Like, that's why I picked.

[Michael Duncan]

It's an incredibly crazy take, but I have never heard anything.

[John Ashbrook]

You watch an entire slam dunk contest on All Star Weekend, and all of a sudden Vince Carter gets up and he spins six times and does a backflip and then dunks it.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And I think we're looking at the Vince Carter of takes here.

[Josh Holmes]

That is.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Okay. It's as good you're up for round three.

[Josh Holmes]

It's as good as it gets. All right, so, like, you know, part of the challenge is, is figuring out what's the right. What's the right stuff here in terms of what the judge and jury is looking for. I think I'm, I think I'm going to go with exhibit seven, please. Trump and Elon and their goons are raping, pillaging United States as they plan to do the same to Greenland, perhaps Canada, if they can break them.

[John Ashbrook]

Counsel, could you please tell me what time this Tweet was entered?

[Josh Holmes]

7:20Pm yeah, it's. She's a big PM person.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

She's a big PM I mean, for obvious reasons, right. She's got to settle down after the work nights, pour a couple of tip toppers and get into the groove.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

There's a large, large body of work that she may be. Maybe many people are saying mentally unstable. Maybe that makes her unfair, but it doesn't matter because what I have was alluded to earlier here on the show, and that is the ultimate hypocrisy. In exhibit number nine, spaghetti, Bill Kristol writes, Trump's unilateral attempt to shut down USAID has prompted a genuine crisis about Congress's role and authority. Unfortunately, it seems that the lawmakers actually in a position to do anything about it, have very little interest in intervening. And you think to yourself, why? Why would Bill Kristol care about this so much? Well, if you've been on X today, you've seen that through a variety of third party groups, Bill Kristol is funded by USAID for real. He is through defending democracy, fucking whatever.

[Josh Holmes]

He runs way, dude, they get USAID great.

[Michael Duncan]

And if I'm, if I'm not mistaken, Holmes early, he's like, lawmakers, please do.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Something to keep the gravy train flowing.

[Michael Duncan]

If I'M not mistaken. Holmes himself earlier said the worst people possible are those who are fail sons making money off of getting on the dole like this.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that an amicus?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That the bailiff was adding.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, you know, Holmes, I mean, I.

[Josh Holmes]

Feel like the bailiff has really got a thumb on the scale.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

You filed an amicus.

[Josh Holmes]

He's filed an amicus.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Didn't know you had.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

And that's what makes it such a great.

[Michael Duncan]

It's called accountability.

[Josh Holmes]

This is outrageous.

[John Ashbrook]

It's also very, very difficult to decide. I'm wondering if we can put the Jacobus tweet.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's get that back there because you gotta refresh on just how insane this thing is.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, that's.

[John Ashbrook]

I just want to look at it again.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, hold on. I'm saying the first tweet is that this is always Bill Crystal's thing, the constitution, her thing is always talking about rape and all of these sorts of things. It's crazy. She's an insane person.

[Josh Holmes]

But at some point we've normalized rape.

[John Ashbrook]

We're not normalizing.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I'm just saying she has. That's a, you know, a panache to her whole thing.

[Michael Duncan]

I think Holmes brought up a good point, is that those are the worst people is these. These like fail sons who are on the government.

[Josh Holmes]

I'd like to hear from the judge in the jury rail within the bailiff or advocate.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Good court. Bailiff.

[Josh Holmes]

Jesus.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. Given that Crystal has played directly into his brand new fighting corner by talking about anybody trying to take money away from USAID was in his intro. It is very, very hard for me to make this decision. Very hard for me to make this decision. But the idea that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are raping people in Greenland and in Canada and non sequiturs.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Bullshit.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen to this. This guy deserve a reprimand. If I had a real bailiff, he would cut him off.

[Michael Duncan]

Keep it in your eyes.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

It's the second time he stole from me this week.

[Josh Holmes]

Unbelievable. I'd like this court to know that I will not stand for it in future rounds. I will remember it.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, well, all of the internal antics aside, raping and pillaging Greenland, Canada, just is a skosh above Crystal trying to feather his own nest once again. And for that reason, Cherry Jacobus wins.

[Josh Holmes]

A just court once again despite, and I will add great integrity to this court because they had a lot of pressure from within. This is the first time in a long time that we've had and I.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Look forward to being judged just a disgusting Disgusting miscarriage.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm gonna read the next Sherry thing and he's gonna be like, wrong, wrong, boring.

[Michael Duncan]

The court doesn't need to hear this. Dismiss with extreme prejudice.

[Josh Holmes]

So if you're a first time listener, a first time listener to this particular game, this is what we do here. You're gonna love it a lot. I'm the two time champion. I think I'm probably the most winningest member of King of the Hill. I wish we still had T Rex keeping the stats. I beg of T Rek to come back and keep the stats because those were great.

[John Ashbrook]

He's a good man.

[Josh Holmes]

Those were great. But anyway, that's our signature game. We play a lot of games. We sing, we dance, we entertain here on the Variety program. We also do interviews with like super important people that one you know or two you may not know as a household name, but are integral to the success of this president, of how all these things come about. And we're doing so now with Alex Bruschwitz. Well, you've heard him here before on the Ruthless Variety Program. He's a good friend of ours, somebody who's got an incredible story to tell, one of which I feel like is a little bit self serving in that, you know, we've talked a lot about new media and different way to do politics and everything else. Well, this is one of the authors of all this stuff. Yeah, Alex Bruschewitz. Welcome to the program, pal.

[Comfortably Smug]

Hey, thanks for having me back.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, buddy, we talked during the course of the campaign, probably early on in primary season. You made your name in this line of work of being sort of a, shall we say, pugilistic voice at some level on the old X machine.

[Comfortably Smug]

Great machine.

[Josh Holmes]

A great machine. But as we got to know you, there's a lot of depth there. This is a guy who sort of understands how it is that people consume information differently. And we've talked a lot on this show about legacy media. And it's just sort of aging out different ways to sort of reach voters. One of the things that the Trump campaign puts you in charge of is how to figure out how to reach a different segment of voters. And pick up the New York Times, right? Younger voters, black men, women, everything else. That seems to be something you figured out.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, we had a really fun role on the campaign and was, you know, able to do so many unique projects and, you know, Susie and the whole team kind of let me run with it. And so when I get able to run with something, I like to go as fast as I can. So we also had so many unique, like, friends that wanted to help us. So, like Dana White or John Shahidi, the co founder of the Nelk Boys, these guys would just send us suggestions of different interviews that we should do.

[Josh Holmes]

People have mastered this element.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right. Some of the best marketers in the entire world wanted to give us advice for, like, just because they love our country and they love the president. And so it made my job really easy because they put me in a group text with one of the biggest podcasters in the world. Like, what's up, man? But, like, it was really that easy. Like, we, like, the whole pitch was, hey, Mr. President, this guy's got 10 million followers. Big deal. Big deal, sir. And he would agree to do it. Like, we didn't need to do, like, these big briefs and say, sir, like, these are. This is. Or his demographic or that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

All he cared about was sheer numbers and also having, like, conversations with people that would be good. There'd be good chemistry. And fortunately, right now there's like, a lot of podcasters, be it Andrew Scholes or Theo Vaughn or Sean Ryan or even you guys, that, like, are rejecting the woke agenda and rejected the Biden administration and were became Trump curious. So that's. That's kind of the demographics that I was looking for. People with voices that were Trump curious. I didn't want to go necessarily talk to our friends because we have those, and I didn't want to go talk to people that, you know, make podcasts. Like, there's a girl named Call her Daddy. Are you familiar?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Hey, we beat her on the charts last week.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, congratulations. And they'll probably continue because she's hemorrhaging an audience because of her terrible Kamala Harris interview, which was basically a paid for promotion of the Kamala Harris campaign. But I just didn't think it was.

[Michael Duncan]

A good idea to build a set for one time use and get fewer than a million views.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Yeah. And that's the funny thing, right? To your whole point of, like, you know, your operation was more shoot from the hip and, like, go and capture as much audience as you could, do as much volume as you could. You didn't have all these barriers, you know, between the operation and the candidate.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Like, you got put on a group text and it's like, all right, let's make it happen. Kamala Harris has to, like, stagecraft, $100,000 set with. With a podcast.

[Michael Duncan]

It's like they're landing in Normandy for her to be able to talk.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

But, like, also to her team's defense. Like, would you trust Kamala Harris to go like, well, that is what you.

[Josh Holmes]

Said to me many times off air, that when you have a candidate like President Trump, you have the luxury of going out and doing it.

[Comfortably Smug]

This guy's the master of the media. Donald Trump was influencer number one. Okay. He created the entire influencer industry, if you will. Like, you know, he was the Trump brand. Like, now all of these different influencers have their own brands and their own products. Trump's been doing that since like the 80s.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, I know.

[Comfortably Smug]

He invented this game. And it was such a, like a seamless. It's so seamless for him to like, get it with these other guys. And so like, Kamala is clueless. She is not somebody that can have a normal conversation with somebody. She is a buttoned up politician. She's been doing politics.

[Josh Holmes]

And if you color outside the lines at all, it just like starts to devolve.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Right, Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Whereas you can sit with Theo Vaughn and talk about his. Theo Vaughn's previous cocaine use.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right. And create viral moments just like that that get seen. You know, another fun thing was that the media didn't know how to cover our reach. So they'd just go on YouTube and they'd be like, oh, well, Trump reached 2 million people today on this podcast. But in reality, that's just the scratching the surface. Like, the clips were insane.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

So the Theo Vaughn interview on YouTube might have a hundred or have. Might have 12 million views on YouTube, but the clips that I would calculate via TikTok or Instagram Reels or X would be in the hundreds of millions of impressions. And so that's how I was calculating the views and our reach. And the media is like, oh, well, that's not really that impactful.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, because they don't understand that. Right. Because they only understand, you know, you know, a 30 minute show on broadcast or cable with, you know, 11 minutes of ads in between, six minutes of content. Right. Like, they don't understand that the show is the show, but the real show is the clips and the distribution of the clips. And they fundamentally didn't understand that part. And it's one of the reasons why they're losing so much market share, I think.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, no, I think that's right. They are totally clueless in this space. And maybe it's because they don't want to believe what's happening because they want to think that they're still important and that they still are the voice of the people.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they spent 40 years trying to lock down every institution in this country is a liberal left progressive. Whether it's mainstream media or the entertainment center or edge higher education or whatever, they thought they had this thing buttoned up.

[Comfortably Smug]

And then four jackasses like you start a podcast now, you guys are significantly more impactful than a multi million dollar, you know, startup newspaper here in town. Right?

[Josh Holmes]

It's funny, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. But the media doesn't want to believe that's true. And it's been happening, it's been forming for a long time. I think that's something that is hilarious to me because, you know, I've been in the right wing influencer space, if you will, for eight going on nine years. And this has been something that's been present and existing for the entirety of the Trump. Trump actually kind of created like when he got involved as running for president, a lot of reply guys came up, right?

[Josh Holmes]

So yeah, it took it into a cultural space rather than like a political box.

[Comfortably Smug]

But guys like me, we started building our followings and our audience being defenders of the president. And so the president basically built up this organic army of, you know, trolls like me that built decent sized followings, built decent sized platforms and then organically would disseminate his message. But the media would always dismiss us as like right wing extremists. And you know, some of us are fair. Right. But like not all of us. But there'd be, you know, they totally dismissed us for eight years and all of a sudden they're like, wait a second, how are there 50 accounts with a million followers that all regurgitate Trump talking points? I'm like, well it doesn't just happen overnight. This has been something that you guys neglected or dismissed for the last decade.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you know, we have an in house troll, a right wing extremist.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Here in comfortably smug who's true. I think seen the world your way for quite some time.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean that's the thing is I think you've completely nailed it in how yes, the left did capture institutions like you got the New York Times and you've got Hollywood, but like no one's going to see the movies anymore. No one's reading the paper anymore. And it's not an overnight story like they try to present it. You've been cracking at this for the better part of a decade now at this point. Specifically, I have a question for you. There's been a lot of like mysterious chatter over Baron was helping advise that hey, we should reach out to these different groups, we should go on this podcast and stuff and that Baron's like a 90 chess, you know, kind of like a mastermind.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a good question.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to know how much truth there is to that.

[Comfortably Smug]

There's truth to that. Baron's a really smart guy and he's really plugged in. I mean, I mean, he's an 18 year old dude.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, you can't find a better person to reach out to.

[Comfortably Smug]

Every 18 year old dude likes, you know, these podcasters and he has input and the President has a great deal of respect for his family. Believe it or not, this president has smart children, unlike the previous one. And so, you know, the Biden administration had a senior advisor named Hunter Biden who was a cocaine addict and he doesn't pay taxes. And he was the smartest guy the president or that President Biden knew. And that was an unfortunate situation for the administration in the country, given, you know, look what happened. But the president, President Trump actually has smart and impressive kids. All of them had input on the podcast and the strategy of the campaign and what we did. You know, I don't know if you know, Jared Ivanka wants me to share this, but like, they were involved in helping set up the Rogan interview. And so, you know, and Don had input on a lot of the different influencer meetups that we did. And so the whole family played a role in that. And it's a luxury for the President that he has smart and capable kids and not Hunter Biden.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also fascinating to me that they, I mean, look, generationally, you understand how they could understand a new media dynamic as it involves politics, just because they're younger and they're sort of into things, but they sort of all instinctively get it right. And I think why that's so remarkable is, look, this is a presidential election. It's not like we're running for, you know, governor or like a city council somewhere where you have to try like weird different things, grassroots thing. I mean, he's running for President United States as a former president United States. And to take those kind of risks at that level, like, you gotta be pretty confident in the strategy that you're trying to unroll. More importantly, he has to have some confidence and you know what you're talking about.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, well, we had actually a lot of positive press early on from those, from those interviews that we did. And so the press actually kind of helped reinforce the podcast strategy. And they probably don't want to hear that. But had the press covered it negatively like they've covered everything else negatively, maybe it wouldn't have the same efficacy, but they covered it very positively. Talked about the reach that the President was getting, and that was. Our emphasis was reach. I think that, you know, a governor's race. Right. Like going on a national podcast, like a Theo Vaughn. I don't know if that necessarily makes the most sense, but when you're talking about reaching the American public.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like, some of these people have. And they all have unique audiences. And so for us, it was just a numbers game. And if you spent an hour of your day talking to some guy that was going to reach 15 million people on average on his YouTube show, you might win some new voters.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Especially when you have a candidate who can handle it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right. And we have an experience where we had a candidate where the more you heard from him, directly heard from him.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

The more you understood him and the more you liked him or you. You saw a side of him that the media didn't portray. And so we showcased that a little bit more. Kamala's situation was the more you heard from her, the less you liked her. And so I think, you know, it's so true. The whole comps team, Chris and JC Mason and Chung. When Kamala first got into the race, she didn't do any interviews. So every day they were hammering. Where's Kamala? Where's Kamala? Right. Well, simultaneously, we're doing all these podcast interviews, so we're getting great press on how we're doing the podcast interviews. They're driving the narrative that she's hiding, basically. It forced her to come out of hiding, and then it was a disaster for her. And so it was amazing how all the different parts of the campaign just kind of worked together. And we had obviously good success.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it seems seamless. One of the things that I found so interesting part of this is just the nature of President Donald Trump, and he attracts people from all walks of life to sort of find out more and have conversations. But, like, it's been a long time since Republicans have been owners of pop culture. And this happened in this election in part just because of the candidate, but also because of what you're talking about. And then, like, the introduction of new voices. Tall. I mean, you mentioned Joe Rogan. You know, look, I thought that the Hinch. The Tony Hinchcliffe situation, which everyone, like, it was Atlantic magazine, was like, oh.

[Comfortably Smug]

Not a good paper, by the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it was like. It was like, oh, it's all this Alex Brusch guy got Tony Hinchcliffe involved, and he's destroyed the election prospects. We were on this show, like two boots in on that story because it was like everything you know about politics tells you that this is like an absolute bullshit story.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Well, remember the. The Kamala campaign was claiming that focus groups were turning away from Donald Trump as a response to what a comedian said at Madison Square Garden. It was complete bullshit. And the idea that you would spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last week of the campaign to run a fucking focus group. The people who are self selecting for a focus group as an undecided voter in the last week of an election, they exist to waste your time. I'm sorry.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, for the Tony thing, I was not the one that booked him. For the record, the Atlantic is fake news. Tim Alberta is a low IQ individual. He's just trying to sell books.

[Michael Duncan]

But he's a, you know, he's a friend of Ashbrook. Yeah, he was the best man.

[Comfortably Smug]

Ashbrook's. Ashbrook's a nice guy, but he's also.

[Josh Holmes]

An esteemed member of the press now.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, that's true. That's true. Thank you. We. I don't know if we can trust Ashbrook much.

[Josh Holmes]

We're keeping watchful.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

The silver lining is now we get to send him to Gitmo.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, no comment. I'll refer you to the White House. But no. So, like, but with Tony, like, I obviously not gonna throw Tony or anybody under the bus because one, it was totally fake outrage.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, it was.

[Comfortably Smug]

And you know, some of his better jokes actually didn't get the attention I think that he deserved from that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, but not only that, but he's a cultural icon. Like, for those of us of certain generation who enjoy comedy, we like to laugh. This is somebody who's instantly recognizable. That for me anyway, the first time I saw him on stage, I was like, holy shit. They got Tony Hinchcliffe here to open.

[Comfortably Smug]

To open that right after the prayer.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. You're right. Maybe the sequence. Maybe the sequence.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

It's a hard pivot.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, my thought process was, is it really the best use of their time to complain about Tony Hinchcliffe with a week to go?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And then a couple things came.

[Michael Duncan]

Take credit. You'd be like, I booked him. And now they're spending all their time talking about Tony.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I mean, that's kind of what I just in the back of my mind, I'm like, well, you know, this piece, not that great, but like, there's no way it's going to have, you know, any effect in the election.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

What was a big moment for me was we went to Allentown, Pennsylvania, massive Puerto Rican population. Two days after, right? And for 48 hours, the media was like, this is it. Trump is done. Puerto Ricans are going to come out in massive numbers for Kamala.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Comfortably Smug]

So my. All right, our only test is going to be an Allentown two days later, Trump does this big, big rally. We get endorsed by the senator from Puerto Rico. Only two people show up to protest. Yeah, only two people. So I'm like, all right, this has been the number one story in the world for 48 hours, and only two people in Allentown, which is a very heavily populated Puerto Rican city, cared to show up. And then later that evening, a guy named Joe Biden went on a Hispanic, like, coalition zoom meeting from the White House and decided to say that Puerto Ricans aren't garbage, they are. And he called half of the country garbage. It was very offensive to me and many of you, I'm assuming 100%. That was a turning point in the election, actually. I think it revved up the base and the garbage turned out to vote.

[Michael Duncan]

I have a specific question when we're talking about all these different groups, like, you know, whether it's the Ovaugh or Joe Rogan specifically. I remember he did. President Trump did a meeting with Aiden Ross, and XQC showed up. And I was watching it happen live, and then it hits 1 million people viewing concurrent. I was like, this is insane. They're getting a million concurrent viewers. This is unprecedented. Did they reach. Did Aiden reach out to you guys first or did you reach out to Aiden? And also, what happened to the MAGA cybertruck that he presented President Trump with? Is that like, doing security at Mar a Lago now or.

[Comfortably Smug]

Aiden had to get that back, unfortunately.

[Michael Duncan]

Is it some, like, gifting rules or something?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, gifting rules. But, yeah, Aiden reached out to us. And Baron's obviously a big fan of Aiden's because, like, that's Aiden's target demo.

[Michael Duncan]

You don't need a focus group. You've got, like, family right there.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right. And so like Aiden, I mean, I'm also. I also play video games. Something a lot of people know about me. But I'm an elite NBA 2K player. Oh, yeah. So little pump and I run it on the court sometimes, you know, it's a great way to reach, you know, new friends. I once met a guy who caught. Here's the video of the guy catching the alligator in a trash can.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

So one night, like 2am I playing Xbox and this guy Gio's on And he's like, where are you from? I'm like, florida. He's like, me too. You ever see the video of the guy catching the alligator in the trash can? And I'm like, yeah, it's an awesome video. That's me.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

No way.

[Comfortably Smug]

So just your NBA 2K. I met that guy.

[Josh Holmes]

So are you a Madden guy at all? You play any Madden?

[Comfortably Smug]

Madden. For me, it's been the same game over and over and over again.

[Josh Holmes]

Like an innovation.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. So what about the college game? College game, it was, you know, it was kind of fun for two weeks. But the Madden comes out, right? Then you want to buy Madden. And then a week later, you know, NBA 2K comes out. And I like to k. Because you play more. I play with the center. So you play as a squad. So there's. Everybody has one position and you go.

[Josh Holmes]

And are you an NHL or an NBA guy? Like, because I play both. But like most people, you either play NHL or you play the NBA 2K. Yeah, you're an NBA.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm an NBA 2K guy.

[Josh Holmes]

No NHL.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

But you.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, look, you grew up in Wisconsin.

[Comfortably Smug]

We actually didn't have a hockey team where I played. Where I grew up, we have a hockey team.

[Josh Holmes]

You should have come over to Minnesota. It's a nice place.

[Comfortably Smug]

I heard Tom Emmer is actually an incredible hockey player to this day.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

So.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, it turns out like the vast majority of us have to be on skates by like three or four.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

So no, I was playing. I was on the sticks by three or four. But Aiden Ross, I mean, his reach is incredible.

[Michael Duncan]

It sounds unreal.

[Comfortably Smug]

So we had one of my favorite moments in the entire campaign. Trump, obviously. Fannie Willis was involved with prosecuting Trump. She was also involved in another high profile case where a rapper named Young Thug. Right?

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

And so Trump, Aiden Ross is friends with Young Thug. So I briefed the president on this Young Thug situation.

[Michael Duncan]

That is so genius.

[Comfortably Smug]

Before he was on Aiden Ross. And he's like, that's terrible. It's happening to him. It's not fair. And he goes on Aiden Ross's podcast and he goes, look, we gotta treat Young Thug fairly.

[Michael Duncan]

Briefed him on that.

[Comfortably Smug]

That clip did numbers. 25 million views on an X clip in less than 24 hours. That was all over Billboard, all the hip hop pages. Talk about earned press. Like, Kamala would have to spend $150 million to get that type of reach that we got off of the president understanding the situation and be like, that's not well.

[Josh Holmes]

Meanwhile, she's like, well, I'm a champion of small businesses.

[Comfortably Smug]

Young thug's out of jail, by the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, there it is.

[Comfortably Smug]

There it is.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude, I gotta ask you this because obviously this is a historic presidency. It was a historic campaign. And when we all grew up, the one thing we learned about presidential campaigns was that John Kennedy took it to Richard Nixon because he had an understanding of the media that Nixon didn't quite grasp at the time. And I don't think. I know there was a lot of coverage about what you guys were doing, but the media has not given you the sort of credit that you deserve for changing the game the same way that John Kennedy changed the game so many years ago. And I just wonder, man, I know you're a humble guy in reality. I mean, you like to mix it up online, but in reality, you're a humble guy. Do you ever think. Think about your place in history because you revolutionized politics in a way that people will be studying for years to come.

[Comfortably Smug]

I actually don't think about that. It's actually pretty surreal. I'd have moments where I was flying on the President's plane. I'd be like, how the hell does life get cooler? And so it really hasn't sunk in, just even being involved in this moment. It hasn't really sunk in. And. And it still feels kind of surreal. And maybe, you know, whatever, if I ever leave this game of politics and I'll have some more time to reflect on what's happening, maybe it'll sink in. But I appreciate those kind words. And you're also part of history. You were the first journalist to ask in a new media scene, the difference.

[Michael Duncan]

In ego, where Ashbrook was sending us this look, it says I'm the first podcaster in history. And Alex is like, no, actually, don't think about myself.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I've been blessed. I think we had to throw a ticker tape parade for this guy.

[Comfortably Smug]

I've been blessed with so many, you know, just. Just meeting so many incredible people that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's the thing. Rolodex has gotta be just insane at this point.

[Michael Duncan]

It's been fun.

[Comfortably Smug]

I meet people through the Internet. I meet people like you. We gotta tell the story how we met.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, this is good. I mean, we. So believe it or not, this is a great story. We were not born allies, and I've alluded to this on the program before, but we got into a situation where we were both at the same bar and you had some things to say.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, look, my thought process was right. You know, in this world, you meet up with a lot of people, they talk crap online.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I'm. Believe it or not, occasionally somebody that says mean things about people online just don't believe it. Specifically Adam Kinzinger.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

But, you know, we've exchanged words online. And so, like, if I show up here and I see these guys and I don't talk crap in person, I'm going to lose.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm going to.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're going to call me a pussy.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm going to lose.

[Comfortably Smug]

And so I'm like, all right.

[Josh Holmes]

No, he's. Dude, he's right.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

This is exactly the way you were thinking.

[Comfortably Smug]

I got to mix it up.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And, you know, I wasn't expecting you guys to talk crap back.

[Josh Holmes]

And I.

[Comfortably Smug]

I was like, I'm just going to look like a total jerk. But you guys were. You guys reciprocated the energy, and I was like, okay. I kind of like these guys.

[John Ashbrook]

A friendship was formed.

[Comfortably Smug]

A friendship was formed.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I remember the text. The next I was thinking about it, and I remember a text, like, the next day or the day after or whatever. It was like, hey, man, like, maybe we should talk again. I was like, yeah, yeah. It's just like, it got our kind of guy, to be honest with you.

[Comfortably Smug]

You got to respect. Respect the people who can at least talk crap to your face because there's a lot of keyboard warriors out there.

[Josh Holmes]

Right, Totally.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

That's true. Sometimes fighting solves everything.

[Comfortably Smug]

Absolutely. That's exactly right. A lot of my best friendships in this game have been people I've sparred with in the past.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't that funny how that works?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Game recognizes game, I think.

[Josh Holmes]

I think so, too. More often than not, the people who are like, the biggest reply guys or the biggest people who are trying to support you in when you're on top are the people that are first to run when things happen.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

But, like, when you recognize somebody who's willing to just get in there and fight, like, there is a certain level of respect for it, and it's not necessarily even partisan, where it's like, I. I've got some Democratic friends who, like, back in the day, they used to just bring heat. This is like pre Biden, pre. You know, whatever. They used to bring heat all the time. To this day, I still talk to him because I'm like, man, that's great. Like, you could actually.

[Comfortably Smug]

Where these guys go, they're really weak right now. They could maybe use them.

[Josh Holmes]

They could use them. Well, I mean, you know how Democrats work. They, like, work for a day and a half and then they go sit on a corporate board for the rest of the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Not David Hogg. David Hogg is going to be out there, out there in the streets.

[Josh Holmes]

I want to talk David Hogg before we get off of this, because you trolled him into running.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes, we did.

[Josh Holmes]

And incredible. You've been onto this for a long time. You ran for chair. He ended up as, like, vice chair of the dnc. This is a gentleman, shall we say, who is not in the center of the electorate.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's not. And he's also a dork.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I like to say he doesn't belong in the vice chair. He belongs in the cuck chair, the Tim Wall special.

[Comfortably Smug]

But, yeah, David, he did a semifinal. Poor piece, right? Talking about how Democrats need to regain their coolness. And I'm thinking there, like, do the Democrats think that David Hogg will help them reclaim their coolness? We need to do everything that we can to make sure that David Hogg is as elevated as possible.

[Josh Holmes]

You were relentless online, too.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm a big supporter of him. I want him to continue. I want him to be DNC chair by this time next year. Like, this guy.

[Josh Holmes]

If they really want to reclaim their mantle, that's the direction.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's him look. You know, as a Gen Z whisperer for the president, like, I understand that David Hogg, like, he's my number one competitor.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm terrified.

[Comfortably Smug]

I want, like, ugh, it's this guy.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so good. It's so good. But then you look at, like, David.

[Michael Duncan]

Hogg is going to see that clip, and he'll be like, see, guys, he's right. I'm the guy for the job.

[Josh Holmes]

We talked about it in the show. If you look. Look at, like, the USAID protest yesterday or Chuck Schumer with this weird chant, like, you don't understand, like, cool.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is not a avocado in the Corona. But by the time he gets the avocado in the Corona, though, there's a new thing to be outraged by. Like, the. The administration's moving at light speed. Like, speed.

[Josh Holmes]

So that's my last piece is how gratified are you to see what's happening? I mean, you invested, literally took a gamble of your life, you had a successful business, you built this whole sort of online ecosystem. I know that President Trump was, like, at the heart of why you got into this in the first place, but then when he's elected president, to immediately see him executing upon what all of the things you were talking about. With all these people that you helped bring into the fold.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, no, it's a lot of fun. I'm just so happy for him because I know how much he loves the presidency. He actually has a great deal of respect for the presidency. I don't think his predecessor did very much, and I don't think that's. I think that's underreported how much he respects the office and he has a vision for how he believes he can make our country great again. Now he's got the team around him that's going to help him execute. I don't think he necessarily had the highest caliber team the last go around, but he learned from his mistakes and this team is. Is getting results very quickly. And I don't think this town is ready for a lot of those results, but I think our country is.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And. But he's having fun and I'm just happy for. Just happy for him because you can see that he's got a swagger back.

[Josh Holmes]

No kidding.

[Comfortably Smug]

And. And I don't think he's gonna let that go, man.

[Josh Holmes]

It's fantastic. Listen, this is one of the preeminent media strategists of our time. And I mean that sincerely. This is a guy who's got it from day one and figured out how to broaden a reach for President Trump. Important when you have to figure out how to get through mainstream media filters that at the end of this campaign in particular, we spent a lot of time on this. We're nothing short of a Democratic campaign. Absolutely. So if you're getting your information through mainstream sources, just not gonna work. You gotta go beyond that. This is a guy who I think is most responsible for doing this, not only just for President Trump, but the whole Republican ecosystem and understanding that, like, dude, go do the different stuff. Go speak to the million people who are downloading Ruthless, for crying out loud.

[Comfortably Smug]

Absolutely. More people are gonna download now that Ashbrook as the new media czar. You guys are doing a great job.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It has to be some kind of a medal ceremony involved in that.

[John Ashbrook]

We'll see.

[Comfortably Smug]

I just want to end with Michael Duncan. He disappointed us because he said he was going to go to the White House and he was going to wear a specific hat. And so I think a good consolation, like, I think just something you can do to make amends. Make amends is wear the hat on the show. Yeah, I think that'd be good.

[Alex Bruschewitz]

I will. I will do it after my appearance at the White House.

[Josh Holmes]

I love it, buddy. Thank you so much for stopping in here. Don't be a stranger. Anytime you're up and around here in town, stop on by and give me your thoughts.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thanks, brother.

[Josh Holmes]

Thanks, guys.

[Michael Duncan]

Thanks so much, man.

[John Ashbrook]

Just a great interview and obviously he made news there and I can't wait to have him back again because, you know, every time he comes, he's got a little something new to share.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. And a humble guy.

[Michael Duncan]

Humble guy. And again, he's played such an integral role, not just in this election helping get President Trump elected, but also in the right, capturing culture and taking it back from the left. And, you know, the importance of that cannot be stressed enough. And he's. He's never the first guy to take credit for any of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Paving the way for a new generation of conservatives that are the cool ones, the fun ones, and the ones that like a new generation of America wants to be a part of, which has been a long time in the Republican Party, probably since Reagan that we've had any of that. So, Alex, thank you for joining us. Welcome back anytime. Thank you all for joining us. Look, we're getting to be kind of a big program around here and it's all thanks to you. Like, subscribe, tell your friends about it. Let's get those numbers up with that smug. I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thanks again to Alex. Thank you. Dear listener, we are a hair away from 100k subscribers. Please go on YouTube, subscribe and like now. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you on Tuesday. Stay ruthless.

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