Why Democrats Hate Voter ID (SAVE ACT)

Summary

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Podcast Episode Summary

Ruthless Podcast – February 5, 2026

Episode: Why Democrats Hate Voter ID (SAVE ACT)
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Guest: Byron Donalds

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Main Theme

The episode focuses on the intense partisan debate over the SAVE Act—federal legislation aiming to impose voter ID and citizenship requirements for voting in federal elections. The hosts break down historical and current arguments around voter ID policies, analyze why Democrats oppose such measures, and reflect on conservative strategies to pass the bill. Special guest Congressman Byron Donalds joins for an extended interview on state politics, Florida governance, and his own political origins.

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Episode Structure & Key Discussion Points

1. The SAVE Act and the Voter ID Debate

[01:55, 03:36, 06:00, 09:49, 12:23]

• Viral Focus: The SAVE Act, imposing voter ID and stricter voter registration requirements, has energized the right and triggered backlash from Democrats.
• Basic Principle: According to Josh Holmes, the demand is simple: to restore and bolster "election integrity" after the controversies of 2020.

  "What it goes back to is just integrity of elections… But what's lost in all of it is discussion about what is basically just true and right to do with elections.” – Josh Holmes [01:55]

• Democrat Opposition: The panel discusses why Democrats are so "vehemently" opposed to voter ID. Their consensus: Democrats want to "make it easier to cheat" and have profited from mass registration and lax standards.

  “It could be because they want to cheat. Democrats have cheated in elections for a very long time and they want to keep getting away with it.” – John Ashbrook [14:55]

• Polling Irony: Polls consistently show high support for voter ID across both parties—yet Democratic leaders still resist, allegedly contrary to their base's wishes.

  “71% of Democrats want voter ID and Democrats are like, ‘no, it’s racist.’” – Michael Duncan [14:13]

2. History of Voter ID and Election Reforms

[07:01, 07:35, 08:57, 09:49, 10:12]

• Past Bipartisanship: The panel cites historical bipartisan commissions (e.g., the Carter-Baker Commission in 2005) as evidence that voter ID was once mainstream, not controversial.

  “Their number one thing: voter ID.” – Josh Holmes [09:49]

• Cynicism About Racial Excuses: The hosts forcefully reject claims that voter ID is discriminatory, pointing to polling of Black Americans who overwhelmingly support the idea.

  “Don’t let anyone gaslight you… You poll black people and it’s like 85% think there should be voter ID.” – Smug [09:51] “Yeah, like if you can’t get an id, probably shouldn’t vote anyway.” – Josh Holmes [10:12]

3. Mechanics of the SAVE Act and Critique of Democratic Process

[12:23, 13:45, 15:17, 16:03]

• Key Provisions: The SAVE Act proposes:
  • Photo ID requirement for voting
  • Proof of citizenship for registration
  • Federal mandates on states to clean voter rolls according to updated information
  • Does not ban mail-in voting, but seeks to ensure security and authenticity
• Process and Constitutionality: Some constitutional debate around federal involvement in state-run elections, but Holmes and others express confidence it will survive scrutiny.
• Legislative Journey: The bill passed the House but faces constitutional challenges and uncertain prospects in the Senate.

  “There’s an awful lot of unrest online…and misinformation…about what’s in this bill…” – Josh Holmes [16:03]

4. Conservative Skepticism—Online Discourse and Filibuster Debate

[25:50, 26:28, 28:27, 31:48, 33:29, 36:58]

• Right-Wing Infighting: The hosts vent about how online conservative influencers spread misleading theories or assign blame to GOP leadership, especially around process slowdowns.

  “Not all politics turns out like house of cards. There isn’t some secret malignant force that’s causing you all their problems. Sometimes it’s just the machinations of Congress.” – Michael Duncan [44:56]

• Filibuster Dilemma: Panel debates the wisdom of eliminating the Senate filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, raising concerns about Democrats doing the same to pass more radical agendas, and the potential for legal injunctions delaying implementation anyway.

  “If we can pass the SAVE Act, let’s go ahead and pass the SAVE Act. But it really feels like…on X, the SAVE act has become a stalking horse for just eliminating the filibuster.” – Michael Duncan [33:29]

5. Media Lies and the Importance of Debate

[16:26, 46:08, 48:48]

• Narrative Control: The hosts express disgust with the concept of “misinformation”—which, in their view, amounts to "lies" wielded by Democrats and mainstream media figures.

  “Can I just say I hate the term misinformation? They’re out and out lies. Just say lies.” – Smug [16:26]

• Desired Outcome: Either the SAVE Act passes, or Democrats are forced to explain their opposition over and over in public.

  “Either you pass the Save act or you make them own the truth. And the truth is they want people here illegally to vote.” – Josh Holmes [48:48]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Democrats and Voter ID:
  • “Why would it be that a Democratic Party would so vehemently object to showing a driver’s license when you vote?” – Josh Holmes [00:00, repeated at 01:55]
  • “It could be because they want to cheat.” – John Ashbrook [14:55]
• On Filibuster:
  • “There’s a lot of talk about the talking filibuster, a walking filibuster… all of it is the dumbest, dorkiest, stupid bullshit you will ever hear.” – Josh Holmes [26:47]
• On Public Support:
  • “Even 71% of Democrats favor photo ID to vote. It’s not really all that controversial… The American people are with Nicki Minaj, whether they are Republican or…Democrats.” – Josh Holmes [12:46]
• On Online Conspiracy Theories:
  • “This is not real. Like, none of this shit is real… You gotta be real careful about whether it’s SAVE Act or…Israel…people…proclaiming to know what it is that the fuck that they’re talking about.” – Josh Holmes [44:34]
• On the Long Fight:
  • “Honestly, I’ve spent 23 years being on the record on this. Google it.” – Josh Holmes [46:08]

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Guest Interview — Byron Donalds (Next Governor of Florida?)

[66:14–87:36]

Background & Candidacy

• Donalds discusses his transition from Congress to running for Florida Governor, emphasizing stability, efficiency, keeping property taxes low, and reforming housing and insurance markets.

  “The number one thing you have to do, maintain the foundation that’s been laid in place. That’s critical.” – Byron Donalds [66:55]

Handling State Issues

• Focus on education, ensuring high school graduates are “economically viable,” able to go straight into the workforce.

  “When they walk across that stage…they’re economically viable.” – Byron Donalds [68:54]

COVID-19 & Campaigning

• Recalls fighting against local mask mandates, campaigning door-to-door during COVID, and the unique responses he got.

  “I would have to go into the city council meetings, county commission meetings in my position… and tell them they had no legal authority to issue mask mandates.” – Byron Donalds [72:25]

Political Origin Story

• Donalds explains he became “pissed off” watching clueless members of Congress during the 2008 financial crisis. Attended a Tea Party rally to see if media claims of racism were true—found people passionate about fiscal responsibility instead.

  “It was the financial collapse 2008…I was apolitical…Turned on House Financial Services…and just got pissed off because I’m watching these members who had no clue what the hell they were talking about.” – Byron Donalds [78:22]

Lightning Round (“Three Questions”)

[81:58–87:36]

1. Last Meal: 12 oz bone-in filet, Brussels sprouts with bacon, mac and cheese, and 14 year Balvenie scotch neat.
2. Alternate Career: Coaching basketball, especially youth sports, which he’s passionate about for the life lessons.
3. Motivation: Thrill of victory—“I love nothing more than going into enemy territory and taking the entire room over. Like, I revel in it.” – Byron Donalds [86:16]

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Audience Participation and Show Culture

• Question of the Day: What would it take to get Democrats on board with voter ID?
  Hosts encourage witty, funny responses to be read on-air.

• Community Engagement:

  • Hosts read and react to listener comments—often using them as launching points for further conversation about social trends, politics, or nostalgia.

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Fun Segment – Game: “King of the Hill”

[54:20–65:13]

• The hosts run their recurring “King of the Hill” Twitter cringe-off, featuring bombastic political tweets from Adam Kinzinger and Sherry Jacobus, riffing on extremism and online political culture.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:55] – Introduction to the SAVE Act debate
• [07:35] – Brief history: Jimmy Carter and James Baker support voter ID
• [09:49] – Carter-Baker recommendations: #1 is voter ID
• [12:46] – Polling: Voter ID has majority support among both parties
• [26:47] – Senate filibuster and legislative procedural talk
• [31:48] – Arguments against eliminating the filibuster
• [66:14] – Interview with Byron Donalds begins
• [78:22] – Donalds’ path into politics and the Tea Party
• [81:58] – Lightning round questions for Byron Donalds
• [87:36] – Hosts reflect on interview and wrap up episode

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Overall Tone and Takeaways

• Tone: Blunt, irreverent, and combative, with humor, camaraderie, and expletive-laden candor.
• Takeaways: The Ruthless crew argues that voter ID is common sense with bipartisan public support, but Democrats persist in opposition for self-interested or dishonest reasons. They caution listeners to be skeptical of both mainstream and “influencer” narratives, emphasize classic conservative skepticism toward “easy” political solutions, and push for persistent debate on the issue rather than quick procedural fixes.

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[This summary omits all advertisements, promos, and non-content banter as requested.]

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

And why would it be that a Democratic Party would so vehemently object to showing a driver's license when you vote?

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, what a bizarre outlier. In all of American politics, this is the one issue where a party that claims to represent its voters has the opposite opinion of their own voters.

[Josh Holmes]

Pass the same act. Why would it be that Democrats are so insistent that we have no registration requirements and that there is no possible reason to present any sort of identification at the polls? Why would that be, fellas?

[John Ashbrook]

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[Byron Donalds]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Smug]

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

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Jo Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left to right, across your radio dial. As always, we're gonna get into it here, folks. You've heard an awful lot about the SAVE Act. Viral, I would say, online. It's become sort of a calling card for those on the right about what they would like to see done in this Congress in one form or fashion. What it goes back to is just integrity of elections. Yep. And of course, everything post 2020. And that disturbance, shall we say, has been castigated in partisan lines about who wants to do what and its partisan advantage and whatever. But what's lost in all of it is discussion about what is basically just true and right to do with elections. And why would it be that a Democratic Party would so vehemently object to showing a driver's license when you vote for federal office, not to mention state office and everything else. But that's really what we're talking about here. And that's the origins of the SAVE Act. Now, it does Some other things. There are some registration requirements. Democrats will say they're arduous because they've stood up a cottage industry to try to ensure that they register everyone, fraudulently or not allegedly. And they deliver a whole bunch of registrations. And they've done this for decades. This is nothing new.

[Smug]

And when you say cottage industry, you're 100% meaning there's a cottage industry. There are attorneys who've made millions fortunes.

[Josh Holmes]

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent.

[Smug]

In this country, including President Obama's bagman, Eric Holder.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

He's exactly right. Where the whole idea is that you register as many people as you want. When I first got started in politics, what Democrats wanted to do was auto registration for the moment that you got a driver's license, which of course, as we know in many states in this country does not require citizenship.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, weird how that works.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. They wanted to auto enroll you in a registration to vote.

[Smug]

And really quickly, the funny little trick that Democrats try to play with this is they say, why wouldn't you want every American instantly, automatically registered? Because, friends, anyone can show up to your local voting committee, whether it's the board of elections, whatever, and request a list and then cross reference who hasn't voted in the past 10 years. Oh, just asking. I'd just like to know if you don't require an id. I'd like a name and address for people who are not likely to show up. Just out of curiosity.

[Josh Holmes]

Just out of curiosity. So look, where this has gone over the years is that Democrats have basically tried to pass a series of state laws because states have control of their elections that make it easier to cheat. And we saw this all come to fruition during the COVID area. And of course in 2020, we where the full pantheon of a Democratic wish list was all coming to fruition. You'd had no clean voter rolls, meaning if you were registered to vote at one address, it didn't matter if you moved 15 times, you were gonna get a ballot at that address. Meaning somebody who's now living at that address has two ballots and that was the minimum. I mean, there are people, we lived in D.C. at one point 15 years ago where they had this same process and nobody pays attention to D.C. because it's a 9010 Democrat deal and like, nobody cares. But I remember in my apartment building getting seven ballots in the mail in my mailbox under this same thing. Right. And so a part of the SAVE act is to ensure that you clean voter rolls and make sure that new information be It a change of address, a move out of the state, a change in tax filing, whatever is imported into the voter list and you clean the voter rolls to make sure that the intended recipient is the person who gets the ballot. They're not talking about whether or not you can still have mail in ballots. They remain silent on that. And that I think that's important because there's a lot of states that vote by mail and have for generations. And it is what it is. We used to win the hell out of it. It's become super controversial over the years, in large part because of what Democrats have done, which is try to expand eligibility, same day registration with no proof of citizenship, and then allow the mail in.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, because those two things are related, Right? Like if you refuse to clean up the voter rolls, but you demand a mail out to people not requested, a mail in ballot, then you end up with that situation where you get seven ballots.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, in Republicans, you know, framework of mail in votes, it was always like opt in for a permanent early voter list where you get a ballot mailed to you. We know you live there because you said, I live here and I'm opting into this program. It's not a mail out to everybody on the Voter rolls Because 10 people have lived there in the last 20 years.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right. And today's Democrats will tell you there is no voter ID on stolen land. But Democrats haven't always said that. Jimmy Carter we were talking about earlier, we were talking about at the very beginning of. And maybe we're gonna get to this a little bit later. So I'm just teasing it. Jimmy Carter was for voter ID? Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, look, I've worked on this for 23 years longer than I'd like to admit on one of the most popular podcasts in America, frankly, it just betrays a little bit of age that, frankly, I'm not interested in doing. But the Jimmy Carter thing is an important deal because when I first started in politics, this was a problem. I understand there's an awful lot of people who have come to age and gotten interested in politics post 2020. This is now like a Donald Trump prism that we see these things through. But this is something I was working on 23 years ago. And more importantly, if you pop up graphic five. Just real quick. All right, so this is an op ed by Jimmy Carter and Jim Baker. In their era, the two most credible people on both sides of the aisle to come to a consensus about anything.

[Smug]

James Baker, the goat about anything.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. It didn't matter if they were talking about Iran or if they were talking about taxes or if they were talking about. But in this case, they put a commission together and they were talking about how best to ensure the integrity of American elections. And I think it was 2005, they had their findings and they put it out and they led a bipartisan commission on the federal election reform. Because there was a lot of talk back then about election reform. Remember McCain, Feingold, which fundamentally ruined the American electoral system. We're still unwinding from that stupid fucking mess.

[Smug]

Just attack on free speech is what it was.

[Josh Holmes]

It's all it is. But in 2005, they were like, okay, so all that being said, here's a couple of ways that you can ensure integrity. Their number one thing, voter id.

[John Ashbrook]

No id.

[Josh Holmes]

Voter id.

[Smug]

And for a lot of the Republican listeners who are like, it seems like such a no brainer, because it is. Don't let anyone gaslight you into these excuses that Democrats have tried to create of being like, don't you know that's racist? Black people can't get IDs, it's difficult for them. And then you poll black people and it's like 85% think there should be voter ID.

[Josh Holmes]

They're like, man, I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, like if you can't get an id, probably shouldn't vote anyway. So there's been a lot of developments on this front and everyone again on a national punditry level, wants to see us through a 2020 prism. It's not that. If Americans don't have confidence in the integrity of an election, what is it worth? Yep, it makes a lot of people less likely to vote. Makes a lot of people less likely to believe the results. And a democracy only works if you've got the confidence of the American people in the results of it, whether you like it or not. I mean, that just is what it is. You think that would be a bipartisan proposition? It's not. So SAVE act makes its way into the House of Representatives. Graphic 4. If we can pop this up, the House of Representatives takes action on this. Again, I'm telling you, and I'm not spinning you exactly what is in this. What is in this is voter id. It's the assurance that you present your identification as American citizen in order to register. It is a clean voter roll component that mandates that states continue to clean their voter rolls based on new information. It's that simple. It is not much more complicated than that. Now there are arguments about the constitutionality of the Federal government discussing with states the specifics of which they manage elections. And those arguments are what they are. This one to me seems to stand up to constitutional scrutiny in a lot of different ways because it does. It's, it's sort of nameless in how you go about voting. If you vote by mail, what your windows are, all that doesn't speak to that. It's basically if you're going to register to vote in our state, you need to come with proof of citizenship. And when you have that, we register you.

[John Ashbrook]

Can we put that graphic back up? I just want to point out one thing. On the Democrats who voted against this, each of them inserted their ID into the voting machine in the House and then click no. So they were all tabulated based on id. And if they're willing to do it for that, why can't everybody else do it for the big elections?

[Josh Holmes]

Well, well, well, well said. And it turns out the popular sentiment is with you. Here is Brett baer in clip 9. Voter ID the Senate saying they may press forward and try to push this act forward that's passed the House. Take a listen to the polling on voter id. Normally you might expect, hey, there'd be a big divide by party with Republicans really forward and Democrats really against it. But not really here. I mean, just take a look here. Favorite photo ID to vote. You got 95% of Republicans, pretty much all of them, but even 71% of Democrats favor photo ID to vote. It's not really all that controversial. The American people are with Nicki Minaj, whether they are Republican or even if they are Democrats. Okay, so, but this has been the case since I got out of college when I first started working in politics. Those numbers haven't changed. This is not something that has ebbed and flowed over the years based upon arguments of our day. There's always been roughly 80 plus percent of the American people who have thought that it only makes sense that if I have to go buy alcohol or cigarettes or if I want to get into the military or if I, I mean, to get into Fox to do the interview that you're gonna see a clip of later, I had to show an ID to deal, go do that. We built a society around it.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, what a bizarre outlier in all of American politics. This is the one issue where a party that claims to represent its voters has the opposite opinion of their own voters. And not just a small majority. 71% of Democrats want voter ID and Democrats are like, no, it's racist.

[Josh Holmes]

You might ask yourself, why? Why would it be that Democrats are so insistent that we have no registration requirements and that there is no possible reason to present any sort of identification at the polls. Why would that be, fellas, you imagine? I would think that they would want integrity in elections, wouldn't you?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, it could be because they want to cheat. Democrats have cheated in elections for a very long time and they want to keep getting away with it.

[Josh Holmes]

They do it in secret. All right, so it goes to the Senate need to do the whole how a bill becomes a law routine here, but when the House passes, something goes over the Senate. Here's Senator Thune.

[Senator John Thune]

Well, I'm for that. I've co sponsored the SAVE act in the past. I think my understanding is that they are still modifying the bill. It includes right now a requirement that you be a citizen to register to vote, but it doesn't include a requirement that to vote, you be a resident. So in other words, if you're going to have what we call voter ID or photo id, when somebody goes into the ballot box to vote, that's not currently covered in the bill. So that's being fixed and addressed. And I think the new bill that comes out, hopefully we'll deal with that. But I mean, at some point we'll have that vote. I'm for it. I think most of our colleagues in the Senate are. And I don't, you know, it hasn't had consideration in the relevant committee yet, but I know there's a high level of interest among our members in getting a vote on cigarettes.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so that's a commitment out of the Senate majority leader to bring this thing for a vote. And that's where things sit currently now, ton of unrest online and a ton of, shall we say, misinformation out there about what's in this bill, how it goes about doing its business and how it gets processed.

[Smug]

Quick aside, can I just say I hate the term misinformation? They're out and out. Lies. Just say lies. Because whenever I hear the term misinformation, I think about how Liz was clubbing us over the head for a year for telling the truth.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I feel like I, I definitely agree with that.

[Smug]

It really, like every time I hear, I'm like, oh, back to like on Twitter when Liz.

[Michael Duncan]

Nina Jankowicz.

[Smug]

Yep. And they're like, this is misinformation. Covid didn't come from China.

[Josh Holmes]

So we're gonna get into the nitty gritty of the SAVE act and where it all stands with voter id. Why did Democrats not like it and the whole history behind it right after this. I've worked at Coca Cola for 21 years.

[Byron Donalds]

We're delivering Dr. Pepper from our brand new facility in Dallas, Texas.

[Smug]

We're really proud to still make Pepsi products in America.

[Josh Holmes]

You don't need a college degree to work here, but I put four kids.

[Lee]

Through college by working here.

[Byron Donalds]

This is a great place to work with great people and great American brands.

[Smug]

Grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, they all depend on us.

[Josh Holmes]

We deliver great paying jobs.

[Byron Donalds]

We deliver beverages people love.

[Michael Duncan]

We deliver for our community.

[NetChoice Representative]

In America, parents call the shots for their families. Not bureaucrats. But the so called App Store Accountability act puts your child at risk. This bill requires app stores to collect children's sensitive personal data while taking away power from parents over how their child's data is handled by tech companies. Parents should get to decide if their child's age is shared with apps, not politicians. Parents should attest to their kids ages, not turn over birth certificates to tech companies. Congress don't put kids at greater risk online and box parents out of making decisions for their families. Tell your lawmaker to put parents first. There are better ways to keep kids safe. NetChoice is dedicated to making the Internet safe for free expression and free enterprise. Learn [e-mail] keep app stores safe.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so listen, we're going to get back into the SAVE Act. It's worth mentioning that Byron Donald, probably the next governor of Florida is with us today. Great interview, really enjoyed it. And he's strong on these issues as they say.

[John Ashbrook]

Outstanding guy and like the detail that he takes an interest in is perfect for a state like Florida that has a ton of problems that need needs a detail oriented guy in charge. And Byron Donalds would be the perfect guy.

[Josh Holmes]

Seems like 100%. All right, so back to the SAVE Act. So the voter ID thing has been a issue I literally have worked on for 23 years. It has been a thing that has been needlessly partisan in large part because Democrats have always had an argument. It went back to the civil rights discussion where they were like, well, some people can't get IDs. Nonsense, nonsense. They of course everybody can get IDs. And then they said like, well, underprivileged people, they don't want to show up in person. They're intimidated by the process. You're voting for the elected leadership of the United States of America. If you are intimidated by the process of providing some documentation that you are an American citizen, you shouldn't be fucking doing it.

[Smug]

And also polling has shown that's an out and out lie. There's like 3% of the population who said that they can be intimidated by it.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's like, for God's sake, it's completely ridiculous. And so anyway, I went on with Brett to answer his piece in clip 7. Voter ID. I've been working on this thing longer than I can. Why do you think I asked you? It is a no brainer. It's always been a no brainer. It doesn't matter how you break down the constituencies. The American people have always been in favor of it. You have to use an ID to get a beer. You have to get on a plane and you have to. We built a society around it, as it turns out. And so it would only make sense if you had to vote with one too. I think they ought to make these people vote on this as many times as they can because there is no defense for not wanting voter ID at the polls. But it continues to be an issue over and over again. They ought to make this a dividing line. I don't know if it's in the context of this DHS bill. They got enough stuff to try to figure out with, with ICE and everything else in a short time period, but it really needs to be a central focus. All right, so let me clean up the back end of this so you know what we're talking about. This has been an issue all year long. This became an issue in the context of shutting down the government or not, because Democrats saw what was happening with ICE in Minnesota and they said, we're gonna shut down the government over all of this. The president, President Trump did a deal with Chuck Schumer to ensure which, by the way, all House Democrats opposed. Completely hilarious about where the juice is with Chuck Schumer. He's negotiating the Democrat side and he can't bring a single fucking Democrat on board in the House. Like maybe he's not your negotiating partner for anything in the future anyway. What happens is that they have a two week stay of execution essentially on the DHS component. Ice. They're going to litigate that over the next two weeks. That's going to come to a head. We're going to end up covering that because I don't see that going particularly well as it sits right now. But the rest of the government is funded. That was the deal that President Trump cut. The House Republicans saw. Well, you want to reopen the negotiation about a must pass bill, Toss in the old save act. Smart play. Exactly what you should do. Only a few trains are leaving the station and this is one of them. So you might as well toss this thing in. It's 70% plus approval rating. What's the big objection? Of course Democrats can't have it, won't have it, won't do it. And the big question is why? And from my standpoint, what I was getting at there is let's let them explain it, okay? Let's have a national discussion about why it is that Democrats do not believe you need to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote or proof of your identification to cast that ballot. Let's have that discussion. Let's do it every day. I don't care what else is going on. I know they've got a lot of, oh, we got a market spill, we got a this that. All kinds of every fucking constituency in America has got some piece of shit thing that's not gonna improve your life one way or another. Who gives a shit if you don't have confidence in the integrity of the ballot that you will cast next November, who cares? And if you can't get that done, then you ought to know why.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it's a great point.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it's not just like one element of the thing is the source of the fraud in the elections. It's all these component parts that the Democrats want. They want voter rolls that you never clean. They want no proof of citizenship when people vote. They want mail out ballots to people without them requesting it. They want people to be able to go door to door to those apartment buildings and harvest those ballots and turn them in on those people's behalf. Now, all those component parts make up for a system that's rife with opportunity for fraud. It's just as simple as that.

[Josh Holmes]

It's as simple as that.

[John Ashbrook]

The one piece we shouldn't forget is as soon as Democrats got power in the state of Virginia.

[Smug]

Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

In November, what's one of the first things they proposed? Outlawing the hand counting of ballots. Oh, why would it be anybody's guess?

[Josh Holmes]

Why would you outlaw the hand counting of ballots while you oppose those ballots being cast, having any identification of who those people are and the registration of the people who cast those ballots, being assured that they're American citizens. Why would you do something.

[Smug]

And the same day having the governor, Abigail Spamberger, the Democrat, announce they're going to no longer cooperate with ice. And also, we want to allow voter fraud unrelated. Dude.

[Josh Holmes]

But here's the thing. It just becomes so obvious to all of us. And they've made all these civil rights arguments and these impoverished. They no longer represent working class America. So that was a part of the early 2000s debate that I had with all these people was like, people don't have time to go do all that for so long.

[Smug]

They got by on that grift of just being like, no, you don't understand. Voter IDs mean to black people and low income people. And it was all a lie. But for so long they'd be like, you're a racist if you don't disagree with me. That was their weapon and we're over it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally.

[Michael Duncan]

But just like how there's an entire cottage industry around reforming elections with these nonprofits and nice sounding places that just care about democracy, that are funded to the hilt with huge donations from billionaires, foreign and domestic. You know, just like the cottage industry that propped up around things like USAID and DOGE and all. Whenever you try to look at a system and make it secure, there's an entire cottage industry of left wing groups that make all of their money on stopping you.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, 100%. But just as almost every debate that I've ever been a part of in Washington, Republicans will figure out a way to fuck it up, Conservatives will figure out a way to fuck it up.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, not all conservatives. There's just a sort of. I think there's a subset of the conservative electorate that likes to demoralize people by trying to snap defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Smug]

Yeah, almost.

[Michael Duncan]

Right. You know, because what gets engagement online is persistently telling people how much they're being disappointed by their elected leaders.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I think that's right. I think that's right. You heard what the House did. You heard what Thune had to say. There's a lot of talk about the talking filibuster, a walking filibuster, the fiddle your bean and jerk off into a cup filibuster.

[Smug]

All of it is Cory Booker's like, I'm on board.

[John Ashbrook]

Jeez.

[Josh Holmes]

All of it is the dumbest, dorkiest, stupid bullshit you will ever hear. I spent 15 years around the Senate. This is all dumb fuckery at its highest level. There's a threshold question about whether or not you want to eliminate the filibuster. And if you're comfortable doing that in an environment where you know damn well they're going to admit D.C. is a state, Puerto Rico is a state, they're going to pack the Supreme Court and everything else based on the decision you made Now, I think there's a really good argument about whether they'll do that anyway. Smug. You've made this point a lot. And I don't disagree. I think there is a good chance that they do that anyway.

[Smug]

So the whole crux of the argument is should Republicans do everything? All options on the table, because you know that if the Democrats ever take power again, they will. And I think recent memory on this kind of subject stings because you saw Duncan's Indiana Republicans refuse I did it to redistrict.

[Byron Donalds]

I did it.

[Smug]

And then Virginia hops in and instantly does it. Right? Like the Indiana Republicans thought that, like, if we don't do this, you know, if we do this, then Democrats will have no excuse. So we can't do this. They didn't do it. And then Virginia jumped and said, yeah, we're doing it anyways. Yeah, like the second. There's never been a single mitigating factor where Democrats were scared of breaking the glass and pushing the button. They've never once shown a willingness to do that. It's always been on the Republican side, this restraint of, oh God, let's be.

[Michael Duncan]

Careful, let's get to the contours of the inside.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that nobody here would disagree with what it is that you just said. I think that has proof is in history on all that. The question is, what does it bring you. And you know, I've made arguments about the difference between conservative ideology and how you legislate and liberals and how do you legislate. And conservatives have a much more, shall we say, conservative legislative ambition than liberals do. And if you eliminate the filibuster altogether, all the things that we want to do are basically accomplished through reconciliation anyway and taxes. And like you've seen a lot of it last year. Liberals would literally fundamentally remake the American economy. They would abortion on demand. They would have new states to the union which have Democrat whatever. So do you make that easier? And that is one set of arguments. I am sympathetic to the argument they're gonna do that anyway. But let's talk about this specific case as it relates to the SAVE act, because when people bring up talking filibuster, I can tell you, look, the only reason you have a 6, 3 Supreme Court is because Harry Reid came to the floor and said, for appellate court judges only for appellate court judges. I'm very frustrated about appellate court judges. And just for that, and that alone, we're going to change the filibuster rules from 60 to 50.

[Michael Duncan]

The nuclear option, as I recall.

[Josh Holmes]

Nuclear option. And everybody was like, well, no, it's just basically this is walking, talking jerk off in a cup filibuster Change.

[Smug]

And there was a guy who, when that happened, a Republican who was like, I think you're gonna regret this and sooner than you think.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. Because there's obviously for every action a reaction in partisan politics when your partisan fortunes change. What happened in 15 months was that those filibuster changes that they made for that particular appellate court judge now applied to the Supreme Court because there's nothing else that you can do. I mean, of course you've already said you've. I mean, look, you already said you were a whore. We're just haggling over price. That's what we're doing now. And so my price is I want a Supreme Court justice. And the only reason that Merrick Garland wasn't a Supreme Court justice and Gorsuch is, is because of that. So there is a downstream impact on that now as it relates to the SAVE act, if that's the whole scale of your legislative ambition. And I understand an argument that this is the most important thing, I do, I really do. I think to have a functioning democracy, you need to have the whole of the American people believe that you have no integrity in those elections. But this is all you've got. I don't see a legislative lineup around the corner of shit that Republicans want to do to make this country a better place other than the shit that they did last year. There's not like a new tax bill around the corner. It's not like they've got coalescence around a health care bill to combat Obamacare. It's not like we've got this value based thing that's happening with all kinds of different. There isn't.

[Lee]

It doesn't exist.

[Josh Holmes]

There is no legislative agenda beyond what we've already accomplished. So if it is just the SAVE act, let's talk about how that happens. Let's say we do the talking, walking jerk off in a cup, filibuster change. Then you pass the SAVE Act. It's done. Great. That's it. There's no filibuster. There's nothing. You're done. You are entirely vulnerable to what will be a very tough midterm election in a 2028 that is cascading upon you much quicker than you think. And you've done it for one reason and one reason only, because you wanted to do the same. What the fuck do you think is going to happen at the SAVE Act? What do you think is going to happen? Think they're going to undo that? Of course they are. Now you federalized it and now you made it Majority only. But more importantly, there's also a constitutional question which inevitably will come up. I think it passes constitutional measure, no question about it. I think that ultimately that SAVE act will be codified, no matter if it has to go to the Supreme Court or not. But what happens is the challenge is inevitable. There will be a victim. There'll be somebody whose job it is to go register a thousand Democrats somewhere in an apartment building that can no longer do so because the parameters, they will file an injunction. George Soros will fund it. You'll have nine months of court battles about that. So in 2026, what do you get?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I mean, because that's the thing, right, is like, if we can pass the SAVE act, let's go ahead and pass the SAVE Act. But it really feels like on the right, in sort of conservative media ecosystem on X, the SAVE act has become a stalking horse for just eliminating the filibuster. Right. And so then you eliminate the filibuster and then there is one of those legal challenges. I can tell you the circuit, it's going to come out of the ninth.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

And they're going to try to do some injunction to stop the SAVE act from being implemented before this election anyway, I would assume, I don't know. But then you've eliminated the filibuster for a law that won't take an effect for the election. You're about to have in a tough midterm in which you may lose seats.

[Josh Holmes]

As you may hand over majorities, lawmaking majorities. And that is why we think about things a little bit differently here on the ruthless Friday program is, is that it's not just about what we want. I have worked for 23 fucking years on this very thing. One of the things that attracted me about the job that I took in the Senate was that the guy was the little petitioner in FEC vs McConnell to try to take down the left's entire perversion of a campaign finance system, that they no longer really wanted Americans to have the ability to vote. They wanted to make sure that they stacked the decks in one way or another. I've been involved in this for 20 years doing this. It's not new. This didn't happen in 2020 for me. Like, it's been a multiple decade experience.

[Michael Duncan]

But the other thing that kind of bothers me about the discourse around the SAVE act, again, if you can pass it in the senate, pass it 100%. But the problem with the discourse around it, I think, is it becomes a preemptive excuse for like If Republicans don't win the midterm, you'll be like, well, you didn't do that. You didn't do it. You didn't pass the SAVE Act. That's the reason why we lost the election.

[Josh Holmes]

Meanwhile, you get a lot of don't vote because it won't count anyway.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I mean, here's the thing. Does anybody forget we won in 2024? We won the House, we won the Senate, we won the presidency without it.

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

So I don't think it's the determining factor. It obviously would be better if we had more voter integrity in our election, no question. But very clearly we've won previous elections without it.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Michael Duncan]

And so, like, the logic of that whole thing doesn't follow. But like, tweets don't have to follow logic. They just have to get retweets.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's where I think you see what I'm saying, the worm turns on this thing is it's gotten a little bit weird on the right. Anything that becomes, remember, cut cap, save, cut, cut, balance or cut cut balance or whatever. It was totally unworkable, completely ridiculous thing. But it was a nice bumper sticker. And so everybody was like, well, if you can't pass that, then what do we have? Republican majority. Never mind that you had President Obama, who's ultimately going to veto all that stuff.

[Smug]

Also online, especially, like on X and on social media, you can't have part of the reason this podcast so successful. You can't have a 10, 15 minute discussion going into the details like we just did. Most people only see 90 characters from someone saying that, like, well, if we don't pass the SAVE act today by any means necessary, they're going to put us against the wall. We're all shot. That gets your attention more than a 10 hour or a 10 minute conversation of going over whatever.

[Michael Duncan]

And one other thing, because I am sympathetic to your argument, smug of like, they're gonna do it anyway. They're gonna get rid of the filibuster. I 100% agree. I mean, I agree the last time they had the Senate, right? Like, they ran Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin out of the. Because they wouldn't vote to eliminate the filibuster. So obviously they want to do it. But like, let's just talk about it for a practical matter here for a second. It's like, okay, they do get control of the Senate. They're not gonna eliminate the filibuster in the next two years because Donald Trump is president, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, they can they can.

[Michael Duncan]

But, like, they're not gonna get much out of that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he'll veto, right? He'll veto.

[Michael Duncan]

So really, what would be the point? Why would they. Why would they risk the political capital of going first in this game of chicken with Donald Trump still there?

[Smug]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

So I think ultimately, if you don't eliminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE act or whatever, like, ultimately this is gonna be litigated again in a 2028 situation where, like, then the American people kind of get to decide and ask politicians whether they support doing that, which I am more in favor of than, like, fundamentally changing the rules of the Senate. Yeah, because we're frustrated we can't get what we want.

[Josh Holmes]

And like, look, everybody gets a little frustrated about this, but this is where you have to be a little wary. I don't know if you all have noticed there's a fair number of influencers on the right that have gotten a little.

[Michael Duncan]

A lot of that going around.

[Josh Holmes]

I've noticed hazy lately. I mean, we got people all over the place. I mean, you know, we covered the whole Candace and whatever thing, but, like, there's more out there. Gotta be very careful about where you get your information when you're talking about specific things like this. That's why I hope you tell all your friends, like, and subscribe to Ruthless Friday program, because we're going to give it to you honestly and really. But I wanted to provide this as like a case study one, because it's been a long time since I've been the wizard of Oz. And like, I just had a. It's been. I used to be accused of this all the time and like, this was a nice. Some fun times for me to get reinserted into the middle of it. So there's this guy. Let's put up his. I want to pull him out because I feel like he deserves special mention. Graphic 6 All right. Tony Ruga. Suruga. Suruga. And what does it say? He's a.

[John Ashbrook]

Come on.

[Josh Holmes]

No, go back, go back. It says he's an investor, a board member, a big data Pioneer, Intel Ops, CIA and NSA contractor.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Contract a whistleblower, AI implementer. AI M&A. M and A. Healthcare M and A.

[Michael Duncan]

Space warfare tech. M and A. He's doing a lot of M and.

[Josh Holmes]

A. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff there. And he's got over 300,000 followers of which he's dutifully worked to try to cultivate over the years with clear and concise information that you all know, because he has the capabilities as a CIA contractor of getting the to the bottom of all this and ensuring that he knows the real truth. Okay, so he put up a tweet this week where he said that it was McConnell. That's ultimately the reason the SAVE act has not passed the Senate. Now, I don't know what his position is. I've never asked. I haven't talked to him in a while, but I've never asked what his position is on this or whether they have committee action or what it is. But in this I would say 4,000 word diatribe to get to the bottom of why the SAVE act has not gotten done. He states a couple of obvious facts. One is that he remains the Senate Republican leader, which was news to John Thune because he did run for it and in fact was elected to it 13 months ago. But Tony apparently wasn't totally up on all of that because he's now saying that he remains the Republican leader and he has a small, tight inner circle. The real command structure today, as he says, looks roughly like this with these Trump hating picks. First one.

[Byron Donalds]

Me.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, me. Yeah, I'm the guy.

[Michael Duncan]

You're stopping to say that I spent.

[Josh Holmes]

23 years doing this. And like, I will say like again because I don't know what the guy's position is on this. I can tell you that when I was a Chief of Staff 12 years ago to Senate Leader McConnell, his position was that real ID needed to be implemented immediately into elections like that, we would have voted on it and codified it. And that was our position. It was always our position. So I don't know what if it's changed or whatever, but that was the position when I was there. But let me take this a step further because this is where it gets funny. McConnell's longtime consigliere and one time chief of staff remains his public strategist and fixer on the outside. Someone should probably tell him that. Holmes consulting firm Capital reacts as a informal command node.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's go.

[Josh Holmes]

A bridge between donor networks, media and Senate staff decisions. So I'm pulling the trigger because he's leader of the Senate. I'm pulling the trigger on what is and is not ultimately considered.

[Michael Duncan]

And you're also a consigliere, so you're a secret Italian.

[Smug]

I think that's the most heinous accusation.

[Michael Duncan]

I think the most heinous accusation of all of them.

[Josh Holmes]

So this thing goes on, as I said, For 1400 words, I don't have it in front of me. But then he's got like Four or five other names that are key components of people who are involved in the conspiracy, all of whom have never worked for McConnell. If those names are actual people, I've never met them. I have no. Like, it was. I wish I had it in front of me because some of it was the most hilarious shit I've ever seen in my life. CIA contractor, 318,000 people. I'm telling you the ultimate truth about why it is that the SAVE act is not getting done. So let me tell you about his chief of staff, Sjorky Bannister, and his dick fuck friends. It was like, dude, this is not real. Like, none of this shit is real. And it went on for like 17 paragraphs. And I had thousands of replies in my mentions about this being like, dude, can you address this? And people who are listening to this program who are like, hey, man, like, I know this is probably crazy, but, like, I listen to you every day. Like, can you just sort of sort this out for us? And I listen. You're not supposed to be an expert. That's why you're listening to us. So I get it. I understand where you're coming at us with this stuff. It does get a little frustrating, don't get me wrong, because a Google search on any of that would disprove it. But you gotta be real careful about whether it's SAVE act or whether it's Iran or whether it's Venezuela or whether it's Israel or whether it's whatever of people who have gotten into the space of conservative influencing proclaiming to know what it is that the fuck that they're talking about.

[Smug]

Can I say a big portion of this is, whenever there's a problem, folks always wish that there were like, a button you can push to solve it. You know what I mean? I want the easy button. And that can be like, oh, well, we would have everything we wanted if.

[Michael Duncan]

Not for this one thing.

[Smug]

This one thing?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Not all politics turns out like house of cards. There isn't some secret malignant force that's causing you all their problems. Sometimes it's just the machinations of Congress. Like, they don't do things a lot.

[Smug]

And back in the Old west, there would be these guys who'd have like a covered wagon. They'd show up to town and they'd be like, oh, you've got arthritis. Oh, you're blind. Have a sip of this. The snake oil salesman. And this is what has now become prevalent online is the person who's like, I bet I could get 1000 retweets if I say, here's why we haven't gotten what we wanted and cook up some crazy shit and be like, here you go, this is why. These are the people to blame and they'll get those retweets. But here's the problem is diminishing returns. Because if you want to have a reputation that lasts longer than the 30 minutes you're getting those retweets, if you want to have a reputation of where people listen to you for years, I mean, we've had this show for five years now. And it's because our audience continues growing, because we won't sell you the snake oil. And it's because our reputation is based on being there, explaining things and being right and giving the info and give.

[Josh Holmes]

You the arguments, regardless of whether or not you agree with them. The arguments are just present. We just presented the arguments. We obviously have our opinions. But Honestly, I've spent 23 years being on the record on this. Google it.

[Michael Duncan]

You know what I mean? All right, Kurt Signetti.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't know, fellas. It said this guy says he worked for the CIA. And you know, that organization usually has the best interests of American conservatives on a day to day basis. I mean, it's in their mission statement. Every person who works there just wants conservatives to get ahead.

[Josh Holmes]

It brings us to our question of the day and I could talk about this forever. I feel like we could do a special episode on like careful of what you read on the Internet and there's like Boomer editions.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, well, we tried to help with the AI for Ashbrook.

[Josh Holmes]

We did, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you for that, by the way. It's always instructive, a lot of comments. They were saying, I'm not the only one who wonders.

[Josh Holmes]

I think bottom line is like our thing, pass the Save Act.

[Smug]

Everyone here wants to pass the Save act and is doing everything possible to help make that happen. Contrary to what you may hear by a. What is this? M and a healthcare. Healthcare. M&A Space warfare tech. M and A who never heard of this gentleman. And I know people who have actually closed deals and all of that.

[Michael Duncan]

You gotta always. Here's another, you know, online tip from digital guru Michael Duncan. You always gotta be skeptical of people who feel like they have to credential themselves over and over and over again on their Twitter account.

[Josh Holmes]

If you don't know, you don't know. Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it's just.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot. But either you pass the Save act or you make them own the truth. And the truth is they want people here illegally to vote. They want to sabotage elections. Why would you want to do that? When you have policies like the Democrats, it starts to make sense. No, it doesn't benefit anybody, niche constituents, not even the left. The left doesn't even like what it is that they're up to. Like, nobody likes what it is the Democratic Party is up to. Their natural constituency in elections is like 20% or less. So they gotta take what they can get. So you get some illegals, you get some voter registration, you try to muck around with ballots and multiple ballots and mail out ballots and all kinds of different things. Like, this all starts to, to make a lot more sense. So make a moan it. Let's have a national discussion about it. I can't imagine there's anything like, other than like, keep the government open. Obviously we need troops paid and stuff like that. ICE needs to continue to do the work. They need to mandate, do the mandate that Trump was here to do. But if we can't have a national discussion about whether or not there is a major party in America that doesn't want integrity in ballots, I don't know what we're doing here. Like, of course we need to have that discussion.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

So keep voting on it. That's the critique I would say to Senate leadership. Once a week, file cloture, fill a tree. And I'm not explaining what that is. File a cloture, fill a tree, make them vote, and then move on to whatever else. Next week, same thing. Just keep doing it over and over again until these people explain to you why it is that they want illegal people to vote?

[Michael Duncan]

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly, exactly. It brings us to our question, question of the day, which is, what is it going to take to get elected Democrats on board with voter id?

[Smug]

Great question.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know. I mean, you're going to be funny about it. When you like and subscribe to the ruthless Friday program, we read all of your answers. We're going to get back to you on Funtime Friday. And when you're funny about it, you get on the program because we read absolutely every one of them. So use a little bit of humor and we'll talk to you on Friday about all of that. When we come back, we're going to get to your responses from last episode and then we're going to play a game. Got a little theater kid, leftover stuff that we dealt with on Tuesday. All right. After this. Okay. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program. We read all of your comments. Get back to the very next episode. To do that, we always start with a voice.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. First comment comes from. From whose house? Whose house writes, I think we're parenthetically America. I think we're missing an opportunity to monetize these protests. We've already got four to five teams. Portland, Chicago, Minnesota, L.A. we should turn this protesting into a game or a sport. Develop rules and pit protest groups against one another. There's even a fledgling college feeder group.

[Smug]

Hilarious.

[Josh Holmes]

Like a trip.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right. It's the kind of creative thinking that makes America wonderful.

[Josh Holmes]

It's good. We could wager on all of it. Like, who's gonna set fire to the police station. Yeah, but that is smart stuff. Whose house?

[Michael Duncan]

We could start doing an nil program for those college protesters.

[John Ashbrook]

You could do that. Maybe a video game.

[Josh Holmes]

This guy shows a lot of promise. Yeah, I love it. All right, comment to Dunks Runks.

[Michael Duncan]

This is from Toshvaratu. Toshvaratu writes, many of these protesters are the same people who hold up their phones throughout an entire concert so they can let everyone know that they were at the concert.

[Josh Holmes]

That's so good.

[Michael Duncan]

It's an addiction to petty online novelty, dude.

[Smug]

That is it, dude. That's it. Nailed it.

[Michael Duncan]

That's great.

[Josh Holmes]

Toshferatu, I want you to know you're my spirit animal. This has been a thing that is just.

[Smug]

Can I sound like a boomer for a minute here, please? I used to go to so many concerts, so I love live music. And I can almost remember the year when it became that now you've got idiots with their phones out, and it's like, dude, I am trying to enjoy a live show. Everyone here probably paid way too much to see this band play. And now you've got your phones up and whatever. So I think I've mentioned it before. I was very lucky. I got to go with my family to see Fleetwood Mac play in New York City, Madison Square. And I guess the median age of that audience was 60. And there wasn't a single damn phone in the air. Everyone was in their chair. I ordered a bourbon. It came to me in a real glass, not one of the plastic ones. And I got to hear them play Rumors. And I was like, you know what? This is the best.

[Josh Holmes]

I love these people.

[Smug]

This is what the world used to be like. People used to show up to a concert and have a good time with their friends and family. Imagine that. Imagine that, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

I sat behind. I Went to a baseball game last spring with my kids, and I sat behind a couple of people who are literally just phoning, seriously, phone videoing the game. And I was like, fucking, go home.

[Smug]

Go home.

[Josh Holmes]

Watch it on tv. The coverage is gonna be a lot better than that iPhone, I can assure you of that. Like, what's the purpose of this?

[Smug]

And I think it's just like, what Tosh Faratu described is the quality of the video is shit. You're ruining it for everyone. But you want to put it on your Instagram story and be like, I was there. I want everyone to tell me how special I am. No one cares, dude. Enjoy the show. You're there to enjoy it.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody cares. We all fucking hate you anyway. Yeah, yeah. And I hate you double now that you videoed and took up my time ten times that nonsense. Fuck you.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a great episode.

[John Ashbrook]

Comment.

[Josh Holmes]

Three smuggles, what do we got?

[Smug]

This is from 12 laborers. I'm guessing that's a Hercules reference. Good for them. The worst part is they don't actually believe this shit. They just think it's an exciting way to feel good about their lives and hang with their in group quote, weak people create hard times. Thing couldn't be more true.

[Josh Holmes]

Bingo.

[Smug]

Nailed it.

[Josh Holmes]

Really, really. Well, dude, our people smart.

[Smug]

That's why we asked them. That's why we asked absolute best.

[Josh Holmes]

Smart, smart. I'm smart smart.

[Michael Duncan]

Not dumb like they say.

[Josh Holmes]

Not dumb like they say. I mean, I. I will say that. That is fantastic. All right, so we gotta play a game, fellas.

[Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

It's Thursday and so it's our feature presentation. It's been a long time since I've not been the feature presentation. Yeah, the king of the hill.

[Smug]

Yep. We had some. Someone who cared about the law.

[Josh Holmes]

I got rode out by an activist court.

[Smug]

It's a conservative court. You follow the law around here.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that'll be for others to decide.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I'm the judge today.

[John Ashbrook]

Very fair.

[Josh Holmes]

And I'm going to be the bailiff and I'm going to run a tough one.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, that's good. And who are you bringing?

[Byron Donalds]

Smug?

[Smug]

Adam Kinzinger.

[Michael Duncan]

Adam Kinzinger.

[John Ashbrook]

I've got the champ, Jerry Jacoba.

[Michael Duncan]

And I gotta say, before we begin, the champ over here. We was very concerned about whether my court would be a court of integrity.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, is that right? I wouldn't question your law.

[Michael Duncan]

No, he questioned my integrity.

[Smug]

That's Ash. He always just mouths off for no reason.

[Michael Duncan]

Because. Because I was robbed in the previous game. But I would never let some sort of Personal thing get in the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Never fairest judge in the game like lady justice himself.

[John Ashbrook]

Prepare yourself for a two round knockout, folks. Adam Kinzinger is a about to win.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, let's go ringside.

[Byron Donalds]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for King of the Hill. In the blue corner, fighting from a former congressional district, Adam Cook. Cook.

[Lee]

Cook.

[Josh Holmes]

Kinger.

[Byron Donalds]

So hilarious.

[John Ashbrook]

And now in the red corner, fighting from her own Twitter account, and current champion of the world, Commie Jerry Jacobus.

[Byron Donalds]

Nice.

[Josh Holmes]

This is fantastic.

[Michael Duncan]

All right, so the champ goes first.

[Josh Holmes]

I'll instruct the champion to deliver this exhibit forthwith.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, thank you, bailiff. Thank you very much. If we could start with exhibit number five, please. Cherry Jacobus. Putin has won.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, Jesus.

[John Ashbrook]

The Mueller report mentions the phrase in a message sent to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, immediately after Trump's 2016 election victory. The message, sent by an individual whose identity is redacted in the report, is presented as president, part of the report's documentation of the jubilation among Kremlin insiders over the election results. Cherry Jacobus, our champion, still playing the same old tune.

[Smug]

Delivering a prospectus, he himself said, same old tune. He's like, yep, the same old shit. So I've got something much better.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, what have we got?

[Smug]

Challenger Exhibit 9, please. Exhibit 9. Adam Kinzinger saying ICE isn't in Minneapolis because of an immigration crisis. They're there because of a Fox News talking. Watch my latest interview with Z Hunter dc, available on my substack page here. It's amazing how like Fox News talking point. Yeah. Nick Shirley and everyone with their own eyes seeing how you can have a leering center stealing money from taxpayers is a Fox News talking point. But to get the truth, see my Z Hunter DC interview on substack.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, I gotta ask one point of clarification here. Was that tweet in all caps or is that just how it was translated when it was loaded up in the graphic?

[Smug]

Bro dropped it in all caps.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a comment.

[Smug]

He's really going hard on the all caps.

[Josh Holmes]

A potential misuse for the court.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, you know how that's warm and close to the. The judge is hot.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, he is. He hates misuse.

[Michael Duncan]

And what I also love about the Kinzinger take is that he still has the Slava Ukraine.

[Josh Holmes]

He's still up there.

[John Ashbrook]

Still.

[Michael Duncan]

He's gonna get.

[Josh Holmes]

He's getting a point simply for his handle.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah, he's just still fighting that fight. But so is Sherry Jacobus. Sort of like that last Japanese soldier on the island, she's still in on the 2016 Russian collusion.

[Josh Holmes]

Also with the prospectus, you know, she was basically given a financial report.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, and it's just interesting that in this age, you know, if you wanted to talk about redacted files, like, you could go in on the Epstein files.

[Josh Holmes]

I think we're gonna do Friday.

[Michael Duncan]

We gotta do it. Dude. There's so much good stuff in there.

[Josh Holmes]

Everything we warned of.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, but she's still in on the Russia 2016 thing. And so, like, credit to her in that. And also some artistry she had in there where she italicized and bolded the top of the tweet. I didn't know she had that in her. Yeah, you know. Cause usually italicized, you know, usually it's pretty raw what she puts up there.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, that's a lot of Internet.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a tough one. I think I gotta give the edge to Kinzinger.

[Smug]

Beautiful.

[Michael Duncan]

Gotta give the edge.

[Smug]

That's a fair judge.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, That's a fair judge.

[Smug]

I'm gonna go for the finisher because I want Ashbrook mad forever about this two round knockout.

[John Ashbrook]

Sure.

[Smug]

Exhibit 11, please. And it's topical to today's episode.

[Michael Duncan]

Wait, this is another one in all caps.

[Smug]

It's correct. Like I said, he's lost it. And again, very germane to our earlier discussion. Trump just said Republicans should, quote, take over the voting and nationalize it. That's authoritarianism, full stop. The silence from elected Republicans is cowardice, and it's dangerous heading into November.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, okay, okay. Exhibit four, please. Jerry Jacobus quote tweets an image of some ice rental facilities. She writes, someone asked on Facebook if Trump's concentration camps are near railroads.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, no.

[John Ashbrook]

For easier transport of massive numbers of human beings in box cars.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, no, no, no.

[John Ashbrook]

Hagerstown Maryland, is a hub city for trains. Trump concentration camp is a done deal there. Okay, that's Cherry Jacobus.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, okay, first of all, like, every major city in America is a hub for trains in some way, you know, either freight or passenger. So, I mean, that aside, Hagerstown's a nice pull, though. It's a good pull. Concentration camp and boxcars. The reference to two obviously being the Holocaust kind of takes this thing to.

[John Ashbrook]

A whole nother level.

[Michael Duncan]

And for that reason, Sherry wins round two.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, she's always good for a few.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that one really was. Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, champion. What do we got to finish this thing off.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, exhibit three, and she's doing a modified quote from President Trump here. Remember, this is a former Republican.

[Smug]

It's the same topic again. It's like a one trick pony.

[John Ashbrook]

She writes.

[Smug]

And a whole paragraph.

[Michael Duncan]

Bailiff, will you please.

[Josh Holmes]

Silence, please. Yeah, yeah. Please hold commentary until afterwards.

[John Ashbrook]

She writes. Trump quote, I need the kind of generals that Hitler had, close quote. According to reports in the Atlantic. And books by journalists.

[Josh Holmes]

And books by journalists, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Trump expressed frustration with the lack of loyalty from his own military leaders, telling Kelly he wanted, quote, German generals, close quote, like those who served Hitler, who were, quote, totally loyal and followed orders. That's Cherry Jacobus.

[Smug]

I'm going to go straight for the W here. Exhibit 10, please. This is caps, italicized and bold. He says here Don Lemon wasn't arrested for disrupting a church service. He was arrested because the Trump administration wants journalists afraid. This is intimidation, plain and simple. Those people attacking a church and make seeing that image of that child crying as his father tries to comfort him while these people are going around in a church.

[Byron Donalds]

Hold on.

[Smug]

Telling churchgoers that they're not and parents are Nazis.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I ask for either smug or wolf to elaborate? Is the text that is printed there? Is that on the top of the graphic? It is entitled press with two hands and hands.

[Smug]

Here's the thing is he includes this. He includes this image.

[Josh Holmes]

Judge, I just wanted to clarify, your honor.

[Michael Duncan]

I appreciate that.

[Smug]

Hands cuffed together, trying to make this a thing. No one's buying it, but it's hilarious of him trying to make the guy who attacked this church the victim. And I'm completely sick of seeing that. Nothing radicalized me like that image of that young boy being comforted by his father. That's what I was like. I mean, even on our show, I was like, we need people in handcuffs now. Thank God Don Lemon is in handcuffs.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, it's so preposterous. Cuz Donald Trump as president of the United States takes more questions from the press than any president expressing handcuffs, though, Michael. Every single day, day, he's taking questions from adversarial reporters. Okay, can I get the Sherry tweet back up there real quick?

[Josh Holmes]

I'm glad you're taking a second deliberation on.

[Michael Duncan]

It's only fair.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right, of course.

[Smug]

Yeah. It's the same thing.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a tough Nazi.

[Smug]

Hitler.

[Josh Holmes]

It's Hitler heavy. No question about it.

[Michael Duncan]

I guess the one question I had about this was this just apropos of nothing. Is there some context in which he resurfaced this, you know, fake report from the Atlantic or she just tweets this.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a great question.

[Smug]

She's just a one trip pony.

[John Ashbrook]

No. If you're able to zoom in on the avatar there, where she's smiling and looking off to her left, you'll see a glass of wine. And I'm not sure if it's Chianti.

[Michael Duncan]

Well played.

[John Ashbrook]

Or what that is. However, that's our only context clue as to the state of mind that was required to tweet something this nature.

[Michael Duncan]

Contact good salesman.

[Smug]

It's a done deal. I stand with the folks in that church who are attacked, and I won't let anyone say that Don Lemon is the victim. Thank God he got locked up for it, and I hope he sits in jail.

[Josh Holmes]

This is a tough call for the judge and jury.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I didn't give you round one, Ashbrook, because I did feel like it's kind of warmed over. Maybe I'm just building up a resistance to Sherry Jacobus a little. Well, no, I mean, like I gave him the one on the boxcars in the Holocaust.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, well, at the boxcars, but we haven't dealt with the box guards resurfacing.

[Michael Duncan]

The Russia gates stuff feels a little warmed over.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And I think that's sort of my take here on the third one too. It's like she's still arguing ancient history stuff and not present day concepts.

[Josh Holmes]

She'd hop over a higher bar, I think.

[Smug]

Yep.

[Michael Duncan]

I think she should maybe just tweet about stuff that is happening today and not in the generals mind palace of her brain.

[Josh Holmes]

The generals thing does seem. And I appreciate the question as the. The bailiff, because that's what I would like to get to too, is, is there something that happened in American history that gave rise to this sort of thought process? And I think the answer, that maybe a glass of Kean is all that it took is probably enough.

[Michael Duncan]

I wanted to give her a fair shake in this court, in the highest court in the land. Yes, unfortunately, we have a new champion.

[Josh Holmes]

Y. I think so too.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a very fair court.

[Smug]

We are so lucky.

[Josh Holmes]

We are so lucky. We are so lucky. No question about it. Great game. King of the hill. A new champion. Like and subscribe. Be a part of our process because you're going to love every minute of it. We have to get to a great interview. He's going to be the next governor of the great state of Florida. I kind of don't care what anybody says about that. I know they get a primary and all kinds of things happening. This guy's smart. He. He knows what he's doing. He's got President Trump on his side. Byron Donalds wanna welcome to the program. Very good guy. I can't believe it's been as long as it has without talking to this gentleman because he's a mover and Shaker in D.C. but I think he's about to become the next governor of the great state of Florida. Place that we absolutely love. Congressman Byron Donalds. How are you, sir?

[Byron Donalds]

I'm good. How you doing?

[Josh Holmes]

I'm good, man. I mean, so listen, you guys have a lot going on. You've seen Congress, you've done that, you've got a lot done. Maybe moving on to governing the great state of Florida. What do you think?

[Byron Donalds]

Well, one, I'm excited about the opportunity. You know, Florida's a great state, best in the country, very well run. We've had a 30 year run of Republican governance, conservative governance, paying off. Yeah, I know. And so, you know, now Governor DeSantis is terming out, he's done a great job and now it's about, okay, how do we keep this thing going?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And I find when you're dealing with great institutions, great organizations, the number one thing you have to do, maintain the foundation that's been laid in place. That's critical. But then you have to examine every aspect of what you're doing. You have to make sure you're being efficient with people's time, efficient with governmental resources. In our state, property taxes is a big conversation. Governor wants to repeal it. I support him in that. If we're, let's do that. Let's get that done.

[Josh Holmes]

You guys get property taxes out. I mean, we're, we're. Duncan.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, but that insurance cost, we got to, you know, continue to find ways to lower those in our state. So we're going to have to look under the hood and how we, how we rate insurance companies, how we manage their capital requirements. What's going to happen with our, our catastrophe fund housing? People continue to choose Florida. We have to find ways to be far more efficient in how we build housing so that the costs aren't just rolling up on people. About a third of the cost of a new home is government. That's just crazy. And so we have a responsibility to get efficiency into the governmental side of building housing. Because spending two years dealing with governments before you put a shovel in the ground is not free. It costs money. And I tell people as I travel a state, you know, time is money and money costs. And so government has a responsibility to be far more efficient. But the biggest thing Overall, we're the best state in the country. I want 30 years into the future, when I'm long gone, I'm sitting by my fire pit back in Naples, you know, with a glass of tequila and a cigar.

[Josh Holmes]

There you go.

[Byron Donalds]

I want Florida to stay still, be the best state in the country. And the biggest thing we're focused on, we want to make sure we also get done making sure that our young people who are in elementary schools right now, middle schools right now, that when they walk across that stage, graduating high school, they're economically viable. They have either the credentials or the skill set, the background knowledge, mastery of core subject matter, so they can go directly into the workforce, make real money, start families, build families and build their America. Dream in Florida.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, people have gotten to know you a little bit. You've been up here making a name for yourself, been doing serious things. President Trump, obviously taking great notice and that he's endorsed you for governor. You're leading in all the polls, I imagine, when you get back. I mean, look, my experience with states like Florida, once they become red states, which every state will be if they have Republican governance at some point over a period of time, is nominations are worth having. Right. So everybody comes out of the woodwork to try to get these things and taking shots this way and the other. But it seems to me, at least at the onset of this campaign that you're involved in, everybody has sort of come to the conclusion you'd be the best person to take this to the next level.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, having President Trump's endorsement's great. You know, he's been fully supportive of what I've been trying to accomplish. Our former governor, Rick Scott, fully endorsed me. He's behind me. Most of the congressional delegation, most of the state legislative delegation, the majority of our sheriffs, our Republican sheriffs back home are back in my campaign. And we've just been going county to county. I've been in about 52 of the 67 counties so far. We've been doing town hall meetings the last six, seven months, going to voters directly. They get to come in, ask people, forget how big.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, there's a lot of travel.

[Byron Donalds]

On that, a lot of travel, but it's been awesome. It's been great. But I think it's really more about people in Florida. My legislative career when I was in a state house is one thing, and then when I came here to Washington, what they know about me is that I'm a conservative. I'm unapologetic about it. I've battled the left on their turf in the lions den. And so when you see me coming, you know, he's gonna be committed to the Constitution, he's gonna be committed to conservatism, he's gonna be committed to common sense, and that's what has created the Florida that we know. So if you're gonna say, who's gonna run the place next? You kind of want somebody who's been out there. So, you know, well, what happens if he's on msnbc? What's he gonna say? Yeah, or what is. What's gonna happen when it's time to actually make the sausage? Where is he gonna land?

[Josh Holmes]

Well said.

[Byron Donalds]

And I think that's where, you know, voters in Florida and a lot of my colleagues who served with me really, over the last decade, whether in the statehouse or not here in Washington, obviously, President Trump, they've come to rely on my consistency, my common sense, my conservatism, and they've decided to back me to be Florida's next governor.

[Michael Duncan]

See, what I love about that is Florida really became the blueprint during the era of COVID and then everything DeSantis was doing, and I think that's inspired a lot of other governors and Red Sea states around the country to sort of adopt this Florida model of governance. So I love to hear that. You know, you talked about, you know, issues with home building and the insurance and all that sort of stuff. I'm curious, in traveling the state, you know, what other sort of things, either on the national level or the state level, are you sort of hearing from the grassroots right now?

[Byron Donalds]

The number one thing is I would say people want Florida to remain Florida. So you talk about how the COVID and the leadership of Governor DeSantis, a.

[Michael Duncan]

Lot of inward migration from New York.

[Byron Donalds]

And places, but in some respects, it's supercharged. What was gonna already naturally occur in Florida, that supercharged it. I remember, you know, the governor put out his order banning mask mandates in the state of Florida. When I was running for Congress at the time, I was still a member of the State House. We had a couple of jurisdictions in my house.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a wild time to run for office, by the way.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm gonna tell two stories. The first story was I had these local officials, and they were trying to put out mask mandates. And I would have to go into the city council meetings, county commission meetings in my position as a state representative, and tell them they had no legal authority to issue mask mandates. And I would go meeting to meeting. I had a couple guys Call me. They go, byron, you know, we hear these mask mandates, these mask mandates are kind of popular with people who are older. They're concerned about their health. So you're running for congress, you should be mindful about what you say. And I'm like, mindful of what? It's wrong. We're not doing it. The governor already said we're not doing it. These local officials, they need to understand that we're not doing it. And so I felt a responsibility, regardless of the campaign, to go to these meetings and tell them directly from a member of the legislature, you have no legal authority. The governor's already issued his order. You need to stand down. But here's the funny thing about campaigning during COVID I remember it was Memorial day weekend because, you know, even though Florida was opening back up, everybody was still, like, nervous. So I was sitting in my office and I said, man, this campaign is gonna be over before we know it. And at the time, you know, I was raising some money, but there were guys who were self funding. They put up $5 million, $4 million, and you gotta figure out how to compete. And I said to my team, I go, I'm gonna just go knock doors. I'm gonna knock doors by myself. I didn't have my volunteers, I didn't have anybody go with me. So I go down to Marco island and I said, if I say if knocking doors is possible, Marco Island's gonna tell me if it's real or not. And I would go to a door, knock on the door, people would open up. Oh, my gosh, thanks for coming to my door. People have been locked up, people have been isolated. They wanted to see somebody. And I knocked doors that whole weekend. People were so excited that somebody came to their door about anything. I did have one lady, she kind of looked through the peephole and she was just like, I don't want it. And I said, okay. And I kind of walked. I was walking down the street to the next door, and I saw she kind of cracked it ajar and had like one of those lysol wipes kind of like wiped around the side to wipe the door handle and make sure that nothing was. I mean, it was a wild time.

[Josh Holmes]

You're getting some even in Marco.

[Byron Donalds]

But by and large, people. People wanted to see you, they wanted to engage. And so, you know, I've always been a grassroots campaigner, knocking doors, making calls, and so doing it in that Covid environment told me people were ready. And so we just hit the ground running, knocked.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm surprised that whole process wasn't sidetracked by somebody pulling you off into their dock and snook fishing for a couple hours, because that was some lonely times. Like a fishing buddy at that point.

[Byron Donalds]

They'll try, but you got to stay focused. You know, some people really wanted to talk about because they hadn't seen anybody. And I was like, listen, I love you. Here's my Palm card. I got to get to the next door. Time is money, so you got to get there. But it was a great experience.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's exactly right. And that's the kind of work it takes to be able to win statewide in a big, diverse state like Florida. You seem to really know that. I have a question for you on a less serious matter. Okay. I'm probably not the only guy in this town who, when cold weather hits, I open up my weather app and see what's the temperature in Florida. Because I'm like, okay, that's not all.

[Josh Holmes]

You're also on Zillow and Redfin and everything else.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Checking out Islamorada.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

But it's been pretty cold down there. And, I mean, I don't need to tell you that, but, like, you open up the app and you're like, maybe it's going to be 72, and I can just dream about what it would be like someday. You make it and you go to Florida. There have been a lot of iguanas falling out of trees because of the cold weather.

[Josh Holmes]

He's the ultimate Florida man.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Situation.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, Lee, I think. Lee, you got some video on this, right?

[Lee]

It is currently so cold here in South Florida that iguanas like this one are falling out of the trees. So today we're making iguana tacos. Whenever we have these cold fronts and they start falling down, a lot of people will go out and collect them to help control the number in the population. But they do have the nickname Chicken of the Trees because they're absolutely delicious. Rather than let this one go to waste, we're gonna make chicken. It's a good thing I managed to remove this one when I did, because inside, I found over over 20 eggs. So by removing this one iguana, we've actually saved the environment from over 20 iguanas come spring. And you guys know that I like to waste as little as possible. So in addition to making the tacos, I'm also going to try to preserve the skin, and any leftovers are used as crab trap bait. So zero waste. After 30 minutes, I removed the iguana meat, set it to the side so.

[Josh Holmes]

That it could cool down.

[Lee]

Water to soft boil. Once it was done, I topped it with black pepper and lime. And we have our sauce. And there we have it. Iguana tacos. Now that right there is a Florida man taco. If you can't beat them, eat them.

[John Ashbrook]

So, I mean, are we thinking. Are we thinking iguana tacos is something worth trying? I mean, it's. It sure seems like a renewable resource to me.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm not trying it. I mean, you know, might end up in one of the Chinese food restaurants.

[Josh Holmes]

No, they lost me at the egg sale sauce thing.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

What's that all about?

[Josh Holmes]

I felt like that.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, it's not weird enough to just.

[Josh Holmes]

Have a chicken of the tree situation, but you all do some crazy stuff with the animal. I mean, you got pythons.

[Byron Donalds]

Well, the pythons in the Glades is the big problem.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And so, you know, they don't resp. Like iguanas. They don't respond well to cold weather like this. So we're thinking that might have helped our python problem in the Glades.

[Josh Holmes]

You have to go fish them out or is like, they actually die for.

[Byron Donalds]

Apparently they just die from the cold. So, you know, they'll be frozen out. So what'll happen is some other animal will, you know, when they warm up a bit, some other animal will probably.

[John Ashbrook]

Get them, maybe a gator.

[Byron Donalds]

Sustenance.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

How'd you get into this line of work? I mean, it. Like, you're, like a social. You're fun guy. Everybody I know who knows you likes you. They know that you like to have a good time. And pop politics is a tough business. Like, what drew you?

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, politics can really suck sometimes.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[Byron Donalds]

It was the financial collapse. 2,800.

[Josh Holmes]

Interesting.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah. I was working for a radical settlement firm in Naples, Florida, and our client was a Taiwanese pension plan. The Taiwanese were freaking out about the American economy. Like, everybody was freaking out. Like, what's going on? Yeah. So my cause I had worked in banking, commercial banking before that. I had a banking background. The company owners came to me, they said, we need you to research what's happening in America's economy because our client is freaking out and we gotta keep the investment. So, okay, I do it. So I'm doing all my research like I did when I was in banking, and I turned on C Span. Now, at this point in my life, I was apolitical. I was like, most Americans didn't care about politics. I cared about my wife, my kids, my church, sports. That was me. That's All I cared about.

[John Ashbrook]

Typical stuff.

[Byron Donalds]

I turned on House Financial Services and Life's irony. I now sit on House Financial Services. But I turned on that hearing when they were talking about the financial collapse. And I just got pissed off because I'm watching these members who had no clue what the hell they were talking about. And you were seeing them read their scripts and their scripts, none of it made sense. And it really made me mad. I finished my report to my company owners, and then I was just like, what's going on in this politics stuff? So I started watching cable news, got into it. Cable news started pissing me off. Cause everything was surface level. They never gotten the details. And so this is around the time when the Tea Party movement started up in 09. And they were advertising it in Naples, Florida, in the paper, on the news, they were saying it was racist against Obama.

[Josh Holmes]

You're like, really?

[Byron Donalds]

So I was just. My mom always taught me, don't believe what anybody says. Go find out for yourself. So I went out to the rally and I just started meeting people who cared about the Constitution, cared about the national debt, didn't want bank bailouts, things of that nature. A lot of people who wanted to end the Fed or audit the Fed, a lot of that stuff.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Byron Donalds]

And I really just got into the Tea Party movement. And so I became a Tea party activist from 2009 on. Gave my first speech ever in the back of a flatbed pickup truck in 2010.

[Josh Holmes]

That's awesome.

[Byron Donalds]

And the head of the Naples Tea Party is Barry Willoughby. He's. He's now passed away, God rest his soul. Good man. I sent him a speech that I did. Who most people don't know is I'm a Toastmaster or I was in Toastmasters.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Byron Donalds]

So they always tell you in Toastmaster, speak about what you're passionate about. And my passion started leaving business and started going into politics. Yeah. And so I started talking about politics and I did this speech. It was about 20 minutes, and it gave me the recording. And I watched it and I was like, well, that's pretty good. So the guy that was running the Naples Tea Party, this looks good. So the guy that was doing the Naples Tea Party, Barry Willoughby, he was the head. I sent him an email with the speech. He called me back a couple hours later and goes, my entire schedule is full, but I'm going to give you five minutes. And I was just passionate. I didn't really know who would be listening or who would be whatever. I wasn't thinking about running for office. I was still in my career, but I just had this passion for American politics that really got spurred because I watched that congressional hearing.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, what an incredible story.

[Josh Holmes]

That is an incredible story.

[Michael Duncan]

It's an incredible. It's one of those sort of only in America stories that like a concerned citizen turns on their tv, sees the House financial services here and then does something about it, gets pissed off enough to get involved in politics and now serves on that committee.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow. It's incredible. So everybody that comes in here for the first time, we ask three quick questions.

[Byron Donalds]

Go.

[Josh Holmes]

These are easy, but I imagine you thought about them. First one is, if you could plan your last meal on earth, what would it be? It's not iguana tacos. I know that.

[Byron Donalds]

Damn. Sure. Not that, you know. We're gonna go with 12 ounce bone in filet.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

I like your head.

[Byron Donalds]

Some Brussels sprouts. I'm liking sprouts these days. My mom would be so proud of me.

[Josh Holmes]

Throw some bacon on those things.

[Byron Donalds]

A little bit of bacon. A little bit of bacon. You gotta get those on because it's the last meal. I get to, you know, get to get into it. Have some Mac and cheese.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

You can go in sideways.

[Byron Donalds]

I can get it. Because it don't matter.

[Josh Holmes]

You're leaving anyway.

[Byron Donalds]

Check it out. So you might as well enjoy yourself.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And probably a glass of 14 year Balvini Caribbean casks.

[Josh Holmes]

What a great order.

[Byron Donalds]

Meat, no ice meat.

[Josh Holmes]

I just feel like you might have hammered it. This in a way that we haven't.

[John Ashbrook]

Heard in a while.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, second question. With the benefit of retrospect, you've accomplished a great deal. You're going to go on to accomplish a lot more. But you look back at your life, there are always things that you're good at or you're interested in that you just didn't get a chance to do because you're doing what you're doing. You look back like, is there something different? Something totally different avenue? Like Ted Cruz wanted to become a NBA power forward. That was never going to happen.

[Byron Donalds]

Never in his life.

[Josh Holmes]

Right, right. But is there something, is there, is there something in there that you would have pursued in a different life? A parallel life?

[Byron Donalds]

Oh, I would have. I probably would have coached basketball.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm a junkie. Yeah, I am a junkie. I was down at the practice of Prolific Prep. They're in Fort Lauderdale.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And I was watching their practice from like the elevated position and the guy who runs it. Great guy. We were talking a little bit of business, but mostly talking Basketball. And I'm watching the practice and I would see players do certain things. I'm like, nah, he took an extra dribble. You can't do that. No, he missed a. He missed a cross court skip pass. Oh, he opened up too quickly on defense. The coach comes on. Yana, what are you doing? You did it wrong three times. It was great. It was awesome. But I'm sitting there up there watching it like I'm a junkie. I love it.

[Josh Holmes]

We gotta get him together with Bruce. But Pearl.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, I know Bruce. Bruce is amazing. Love him.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And so, like my sons, I trained each one of my sons, like, how to play the game. My youngest son, I don't get to train him as much because, you know, political life is crazy. But I'm just. I love sports. I love coaching young kids.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And it's not even so much being like a college coach or not even thinking about an NBA coach. To me, it's like coaching young kids. You're teaching kids travel, ball recognition, helping them develop, begin that journey towards learning how to work hard and learning how to be successful.

[John Ashbrook]

You learn so many lessons in kids sports that you don't. Everybody thinks, oh, well, why am I spending so much time? I'm not gonna make it to the NBA. You learn so much about life, totally playing sports growing up that you just can't get anywhere else.

[Byron Donalds]

But I will tell you, if I could travel back in time to 14 year old me, 13 year old me. Oh, man, we're in the gym every day. We're getting them up. Yeah. We're getting up 500 shots a day. Ball handling, drills, slides, doing tape. Oh, yeah, we would be. Yeah, that's.

[Josh Holmes]

You can always tell people youth is.

[Byron Donalds]

Wasted on the young.

[Lee]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I can always tell people I like in this line of work based on their experience with team sports.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, they just sort of get it in a way that nobody else does. All right, third question. Our view is that almost everybody, every successful person on the planet, is motivated in some way by one of two things. It's either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. And it's not that anybody doesn't enjoy winning or anybody likes losing. It's what motivates you to push harder. Right. To take that extra step, the ultimate agony of defeat. Guys. Michael Jordan. Yeah, ultimate, right. He would invent slights in order to take it to the next level. Right. We think of, like, Phil Mickelson. He endorsed you.

[Byron Donalds]

I think he did.

[Josh Holmes]

We think of Phil Mickelson as the ultimate thrill of victory Guy and that he'll be up two strokes and he's 240 over water, and he'll pull three iron. You're like, dude, just lay up and hit the wedge and hit the putt and you win. And he's like, yeah, but I hit this shot before, and I know I can do it. And that's the thrill of victory, Guy. Right. So if you think about it through that prison, where do you think you find yourself on that?

[Byron Donalds]

Oh, man, I love the challenge, definitely.

[Josh Holmes]

So you might be a thrill Guy.

[Byron Donalds]

Definitely the thrill of victory. I want to. I think every step I've had in politics, probably, except this one. I've always been underestimated. I love nothing more than going into enemy territory and taking the entire room over. Like, I revel in it.

[Josh Holmes]

There's an element of identity.

[Byron Donalds]

I revel in that.

[Josh Holmes]

There's an element of it.

[Byron Donalds]

There's an element of it. For me, when I would mentor young kids, I used to be a youth leader also for a decade before politics. In my church, we would always tell the kids, you either win, you lose, or you fail. Forward.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And the only way you really lose is when you quit.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

So for me, it's been the challenge. Like, what's the next challenge that I can climb? What's the next thing that I can sink my teeth into?

[Josh Holmes]

That's a thrill, Guy.

[Byron Donalds]

That's me.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that's a thrill, Guy.

[Byron Donalds]

Get on yourself. You know, when you come to a crossroads in life, take the hard road.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

The hard road will tell you more about yourself than anything else.

[Josh Holmes]

Byron Donalds. Incredible. So if anybody wants to help out with the campaign, Where'd they go?

[Byron Donalds]

Byrondonalds.com Everything's Byron Donalds. Byrondonalds on X Instagram, Facebook, Byron Donalds.com I'm glad I got all those domains and stuff. I got them all, like, a decade ago, man. So I'm glad. I'm glad I got them all. Thinking ahead.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate. Good luck.

[Byron Donalds]

Thanks, guys. Appreciate you guys.

[John Ashbrook]

Smug. I know you loved his story about what got him into this business.

[Smug]

The right reason. Like, you hear that? You're like, oh, my God.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, he's talking about you, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

He's talking about you.

[John Ashbrook]

I heard that and I was like.

[Smug]

Oh, yes, yes, yes. A million times. Yes. Like, how many times I had to hear Maxine Waters. I was like, he knows what I went through.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, they. Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

He feels me.

[Smug]

He knows.

[John Ashbrook]

Of course, you're referring to the stupidity of this financial committee in the House and not knowing what they're doing in regards to the financial crisis in 2008. And it just got so many guys like Byron Donalds like you and others involved because they're like hey, I can do better than these idiots in Washington.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. And he got a little sense of who he is and answered the three questions I thought very forthrightly. He had hard takes and all of that, which is terrific. Listen our question of the day when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program, we read all of your answers. Our question is what's it gonna take to get Democrats on board with voter id? Wanna hear some funny stuff? Cause it's fun time Friday. So you know we like to have a fun time and if you wanna.

[Michael Duncan]

Get red make us laugh.

[Josh Holmes]

Make us laugh.

[Byron Donalds]

That's it for simple people.

[Josh Holmes]

That's it. Like and subscribe. Check out some merch while this there. We're going to have some new offerings up there shortly. Can't thank you enough for joining us. We're going to see you on Friday with that fellows. I think we did it.

[Smug]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen. Thank you so much Congressman Donalds and thank you to our listeners. Remember, if you have not yet go to the YouTube and hit subscribe because it's more fun and video. So until next time minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you on Friday.

[John Ashbrook]

Stay ruthless Sam.