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Hi, this is Joe from Vanta. In today's digital world, compliance regulations are changing constantly and earning customer trust has never mattered more. Vanta helps companies get compliant fast and stay secure with the most advanced AI, automation and continuous monitoring out there. So whether you're a startup going for your first SoC2 or ISO 27001, or a growing enterprise managing vendor risk, Vanta makes it quick, easy and scalable. And I'm not just saying that because I work here. Get started@vanta.com. do you know what the word of the year was from the Oxford English Dictionary? It is one of the most damning, but also confirming pieces of proof of where we are and where we're headed in our politics. And if you want to get it, you need to get with what I'm about to tell you.
Chris Cuomo here. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo project. Listen, the 2025 Word of the year for the Oxford English Dictionary, okay, like the gold standard for our lexicon, for our vernacular, for what matters to us in terms of the spoken word, is rage bait. That's two words. It's actually a compound noun. But that's not the point. The point is. Are you kidding me? How is something that most of us want to believe is not that big a deal and it's exaggerated? How's that the word of the year? Because the use it has become dominant in our culture. That's what the OED people said that it has become. Oh, and get the definition of it. Oh, gets worse. Not only did they make it the word of the year, that is because it has tripled in its use in the past year, but how do they define it? It's what you think it is, right? Rage bait, which is things that drive outrage and anger. But why? To increase traffic and following. That's what you have to grab. You have to see this. When I talk about the game, when I talk about not being a lemming, when I talk about fealty, when I talk about division for dollars, this is the proof that it has become the dominant mechanism in our discourse. Why social media has replaced vox populi. You know the big problem in politics? Always to figure out where the minds, the hearts and minds of the people are when it comes to politics, right? And we would travel all over the country and you do man on the street interviews, only with specific tailoring to what mattered to that community. And it was a lot of work. The easy way. Social media just use what 1500 or 5000 of you or 50,000 of you are saying on Social media and use that as a proxy for vox populi. Why do I have to try and figure out 200 million people when I can just go off what's on 50,000? It's lazy, but it's easy. And once it becomes common, now it's a standard and now everybody does it. I can remember back in 2009, okay, when I said something on a TV show, I remember the day it happened. We just all signed up for Twitter and I got a call from a PR lady and she says, oh, did you say this morning that this is a dumb point, that mouth, this is for mouth breathers? I said, yeah, I was making a joke about how you'd have to be very simple minded, kind of a dope, a mouth breather. You know, someone breathed, right? It's a kind of a, just a metaphor for being a dope. Right? Well, people are upset about it online. That's what she said. And I remember thinking to myself, really?
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Who?
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What? How? Well, what are they upset about? And it turned out that there were literal, I'm not kidding you, there were literally like 150 tweets of people who were pissed off about this because there is a form of behavior dysfunction called mouth breathing, where it's a condition, it's clinical, and these people were offended by the pejorative of using them as some type of example of stupid. Now, was that my intention? No. I didn't even know it existed. But I said, all right, so what do you want me to do? You know, some people get offended about everything. Well, it's a lot, you know, and we got a call from the Washington Post. The Washington Post is picking up on 150. That's when it started. And now, right, 15 years later, wherever we are, 16, 17 years later, what do we see? It's all social media. And by the way, I know social media is not reality. I know it's exaggerated for effect. I know it's done for profit, but I also know that it's working and I also know that it's encroaching on the rest of the country. Look, you're still going to have disconnects. Look at what we just saw with this special election in Tennessee. Based on the polling that was mostly derived from where social media. It was supposed to be a neck and neck race. She was the AOC of the South. The guy won by nine points. He got over 50% of the vote. He got like 55% of the vote. Oh, but Trump won by 22. So what? That's Trump you win a district with over 50% of the vote and you win by almost 10 points. You fucking crushed your competition. Okay, now I know you may not like that and you want to see this as, oh, we're gaining on them. Look, close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades, okay? If you are losing, you're losing. You lose by nine or ten. You lost, okay? You lost definitively. Why? Because social media is not reality. It's getting closer. Why? Because reality is becoming conditioned to social media. That's why the influencers who are growing the fastest are in the rage bait business. That's almost all I do on social media now in terms of what I comment on, I just point out this is rage bait. This is rage bait. And you see it everywhere. Once you get that lens affixed to your third eye, you'll see it everywhere. How? All right, let's go through what's making money now. Rage bait. Biden made us a drug den by allowing in all these immigrants. And I'm going to make us drug free. Now, is that a real promise? No, it's not even a reasonable aspiration. Okay, because why? Because as long as there's demand, they're going to be supply for drugs in this country. Illicit, illegal, dangerous, deadly drugs. And you can't control the demand. So what do you do? You go after the supply. I mean, you can control the demand, but it's hard. So you go after the supply and you demonize Biden, say it's his fault and promise to do something. That's rage bait. That's rage bait. It's an irrational, negative assertion to generate outrage instead of insight. That's rage bait. But what about Venezuela and what Trump did in Venezuela? That's a war crime. Since when do you want to go to the mat defending drug dealers? I don't remember you guys doing this when we were killing everybody in a burqa in Afghanistan and Iraq. We didn't have social media back then, though, not the way we do now. But you're also upset about this second bomb on a drug boat. Okay, so how's that rage bait? Well, because they're making it seem like it's such a big and important deal to them when these were not people who were that upset about who Obama was killing with his drones. Some of them were, but not because he was killing the wrong people or even doing it the wrong way in terms of the methodology, but the process. Chris Murphy, Senator of Connecticut Tim Kaine, Senator Virginia Democrats Rand Paul Senator, Republican Kentucky They've always been Pissed off by unilateral action by presidents with the military. Why? Because the War powers Act, Article 1 for them, Article 2 for the executive. These are pretty limited in terms of what a president can do unilaterally. Unless you're being attacked, there's an imminent threat like missiles or some shit like that. And that has been grossly abused by presidents right and left. Why? Congress has let it happen. Why? Because they're weak, that's why. So there are some who've been real ones on this issue, but most of them, they're just playing a rage bait. So now the left wants you to believe that they care about due process in these things when it's about whether or not you killed drug dealers with one or two missiles. Now look, do I believe that there's a real issue here to unpack? Yeah. It's just not that part of it. It's, why is he using the military around Venezuela? Why is he doing it in the name of helping with drugs? Forget about the hypocrisy on the pledge, because he just let go a huge narco terrorist. He just pardoned him. Why? I don't know. But certainly if he was a real woman when it comes to fighting drugs in America, he wouldn't have pardoned a guy who was convicted for bringing drugs to America. Right. And why Venezuela? They're not one of the main hubs of drug action in this country. Certainly not fentanyl. So why is he doing it? I don't know, but he should have to explain it to Congress. He shouldn't be able to have 10% of our military surrounding a place that he hasn't asked permission to do it. Right. That's the issue. But that's not as rageful. That doesn't work as well. And that's what you have to see. And that's what this confirmation is from the oed.
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Who sent me.
Look at who resonates on social media. Look at the platforms that are growing the fastest. They all do the same fucking thing. Pete Hegseth should go. And I don't think Pete Hegseth should go tomorrow. I think he should go tonight.
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So I really do kind of not only want to see them killed in the water, whether they're on the boat or in the water, but I'd really like to see them suffer. I would like Trump and Hegseth to make it last a long Time so that they lose a limb and bleed out a little. Like, I'm really having a difficult time ginning up sympathy for these guys who 10 seconds earlier, almost got taken out by the initial bomb, but because they managed to get ejected, you know, a little too soon, had to be taken out in the water. I think Pete Hegseth, it's impossible to imagine that he survives this as Secretary of Defense. I think he must resign. And I think Republicans will ask for that ultimately once they investigate this. But this is a disaster for this generation of people serving in the United States military, and that is a tragedy.
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More than a farce. Right and left, they are not about being reasonable. They are not about accommodation. They are not about compromise. They are not about nuance. They're not about that. They're about rage bait. Megyn Kelly, kill all the drug dealers. Don Lemon, Trump's a Nazi. Hegseth has to go tonight. Rachel Maddow has to go tonight. We need that scalp. Why? Because that's a win and they want to piss you off. Why? Because it works. It works. I am not begrudging them playing the game as it is designed. I just reject that game. And let me tell you who's not growing as fast. Me. Why? Because I don't do rage bait. I call out rage bait, but I don't do it. Why?
I don't know. On some level, maybe I. I'm against my own success. No, that's not it. I work too hard to not want to be successful. It's about how I'm successful. And of course, look, there's a. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I mean, most of you will blame me and say, oh, you just like them. You just like that at cnn. I reject it. I have never done things just because I thought that they would be good for my bottom line and they were divisive to get there. Never. And you may say otherwise, and I disagree. And I would know, not you. Oh, yeah, but you were for the vaccine. Why the fuck wouldn't I be for the vaccine? All the data that we were given, all the things that government was saying, not me. I knew you didn't know shit. Okay? There were a handful of people later on, the same people who were celebrating Trump bringing us Operation Warp spe. Then, with time and different variants and strain on our economy and our lives and our kids because of school or lack thereof, then they started to be pissed about it. Okay, that is not the same as. Because, remember, this is a huge material fact that goes to the rage bait point. Those people who come after me. The. Yeah, Butters, about me. Yeah, but you know, you were with the COVID When was I fired and taken off TV? 2021. That year that I wasn't on TV is when all of this backlash happened. This is when we learned that the vaccine was not giving you the kind of protection that we thought it was with variants. That's when we learned all the boosters and all that shit. I wasn't even on tv. I wasn't even on social media, so why am I blamed for that part? Rage bait, convenience. I get it. I signed up for it. But I want you to see it. I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm not saying I don't make mistakes. Of course I do. I just happen to correct them whenever I get a chance. No, you've never apologized for pushing the vaccine. I will never apologize for pushing the vaccine. Until some magical day comes that no scientist, no matter how they feel about it, ever, not even McCullough. None of these guys have ever said to me, man, that vaccine was poison. That vaccine was poisoned. It causes cancer more than it does anything else. And it didn't save anybody. It killed all that shit that Bobby was saying before he wanted be taken seriously. He doesn't say it now. Right. Why? Because there's accountability. That was about rage bait. Just like Megan Kelly on one side. Just like the lefties with the I've had it podcast, which is like the lefty version, a mirror image of me, Megan Kelly, right. I just want to make sure everybody.
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Knows that I believe Stephen Miller is a white nationalist. He reminds me of a Nazi.
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He sounds like a Nazi.
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His wife is the exact same thing.
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Super fucking angry, attractive blonde that want to be outraged about everything. And this new faux muscularity that we have on social media, which is where I talk the talk of violence, that's what I do. Fuck you, you suck. C word. You know, you're a Nazi. You're a commie. You're a piece of shit. You should go to hell. All this stuff that used to be ended with a punch in the face, now that doesn't exist in our society now. That's not true. That's not true. It exists. Just not on the social media banter there. The rule is the biggest mouth wins. The most angry, the most violent, the most you know, with their words. But what else are we seeing? Human beings are pretty simple animals. And if you think you're going to talk the talk and nobody's going to walk the Walk. You're wrong. Why are we seeing increasing political violence?
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I mean, think about it. Everybody's pissed off about bombing these alleged drug deals. Killers, right? None of the same people are outraged about some guy who it seems was radicalized here, maybe by jihadis somewhere else, who killed a National Guard member and put another one in critical condition. The guy's still in the hospital.
Why aren't you outraged about that? I'll tell you why. Because it's not as useful as rage bait against the other side.
And the left is the one prosecuting the case against the administration, right? That's the way it is. It's a binary system. They don't want to go after Islamists and I don't know why. Completely they say what you're supposed to say. I disapprove. There's no place for this in our politics. Violence is always wrong no matter who does it. Which is a little nod that they're worse than we are. But if you flip it and it's some neo Nazi or some MAGA guy who does something to a lefty murderer. Evil, right. All those words come out. All the invective, all the rage. But not here. Why? I think that they're worried about upsetting people who are open to fundamentalist ideas within Islamism, not just Muslims. And I have to tell you, you guys have to get up to speed on this. Demonizing Muslims is as wrong as any group. I know there's a growing amount of people, I even get lumped in with this, which is crazy. But Muslims aren't like Christians, Muslims aren't like Jews. I reject that. I reject it. Okay? One pretend faith is no different than any other pretend faith. And let's be honest. I choose to have faith. I choose to believe in something I cannot prove and may absolutely be untrue. I don't know. I choose to believe it is because it works for me as an influence on my own life to the extent that anything works. But it's a choice. It's not a certainty. I'm not arguing it to you. I don't proselytize, I don't put my faith on you, I don't ask you to be faithful. I don't believe in any of that. But I'm not going to condemn an entire group of a billion and a half people because of the actions of some. Why? Because it's just not fair. They got some crazy ass Christians also. Are there more crazy ass Muslims or people who call themselves Muslims? And I would argue you bomb an abortion clinic, you're not a Christian. You're not acting as a function of your Christianity. You're a fucking hypocrite. And as far as I'm concerned, you're godless. Same thing with the Islamists. Yeah, they're Muslims. They look like it, they live there, they practice it, but they don't really because they've become complete anathema to the virtues of that faith. They're Islamists. They're extreme Islamists, okay? They're ideologues that are toxic and often terroristic. That's what this guy was radicalized into. He didn't start that way. He was working with our government, going after Islamists, the Taliban. Then he came here, he got radicalized. Who? Why? I don't know. We're not even asking why doesn't work as rage bait. See the game. Is it frustrating to me? Yeah. Why? Because I could triple my following and my reach. I have a lot more fans if I would just go all in for a side, the natural side for me, given the fact that my family is Democratic and that the persuasion of Donald Trump, what his policies are about, is easier for me to oppose ideologically also, practically on most counts, not all, but I could. And there's more of a need on that side. It's kind of crowded on the right, right? He's got his people. You've got your podcast, your pod bros, and you've extended it as much as you can because you know, you get. Once you get out there, you get so far, right, you start bumping into the left. Right? Tucker Carlson, Fuentes meeting, talking. It's different. I talked to Tucker Carlson to show that you can completely disagree with somebody and still want to sit down and understand where they're coming from. I would never sit down with a guy who is a straight up white supremacist unless I wanted to prove that he doesn't really believe those things. He's just doing it as rage bait and for effect, to divide for dollars. That's the only reason. Otherwise, I don't want to give them a fair hearing. I don't want to give hate a fair hearing. There's no need. So we all make choices and you know, if you're explaining, you're losing in politics, but they're not all the same. Rage bait is real. And once you look for it, you'll see it is everywhere. Even in health care. Right? That's what the shutdown was supposed to be about. But really it was just about rage bait. Because what are they doing now? Health care is going nowhere. They won't work with us. This sucks. There's no progress. We only got 25 or whatever days left. We're going to sh down again. But it's never really been about who's got the best ideas in making something happen. It's just about which side you can blame and who you can piss people off at. You shouldn't allow rage bait to condition your conscience. You should reject it the same way you do everywhere else in your life, right? Someone comes up to you, I mean, if you're not in grade school, high school, and says, hey, this guy said this and that about you at work and you should go beat his ass, you're not going right over to find the guy and throttle him.
Right. You're going to make inquiries. You're going to try and get fair brokers, you're going to try to understand. You're going to try to hear them out and see what it is and what it isn't. That's all lost on social media.
You've got people who are all in for one side, where whatever their side does is okay, and whatever the other side does is evil. And they're posing to you as moral agents. Oh, this isn't about right and left. It's about good and evil. This guy's a Nazi. They're commies. And now you'll see they're fundamentalists, they're extremists, they're Muslim terrorists. That's where. Why do you think Trump sent in the next wave of ICE enforcement to Minnesota? You know what there are a lot of in Minnesota? Muslims. Why? The same reason he's going after Venezuela. He wants a socialist who happens to have a lot of oil to be a bad guy, a bad thing. You should be against him. He's our enemy. Socialism. Why? Because he's afraid that this populist movement on the left can beat him in the midterms and erase the rest of his legacy. That's why he's in Venezuela. Oil, a distraction and the face of socialism. Okay, now that's done increasingly on both sides. Why it works.
That's why the OED made Rage bait the word of the year. And this is a really damning appraisal of where we are, but also where we're headed.
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The reason I tell you is not as a scold and not for you to feel bad about being on social media, but to make you aware of, look, it's just like staying out of the junk food aisles in the supermarket, okay? You can go there, you can eat it, but you gotta know that you're poisoning yourself. And if what you're trying to do is lose weight or get in better shape, then you shouldn't be there. And anybody who cares about you should tell you that because you should be a critical thinker. A critical thinker rejects rage bait. Who wants more than just somebody shouting at you like it was at a football game. But look at the platforms that are growing. Look at the influencers who are getting more and more influence and what they're doing. Look how few, even on the left, okay? And again, I believe it's a tougher fit for them on the left. You can criticize me about that and say, no, they're the meaner ones, they're more violent. You know, I'll argue with you about that, but doesn't make me hate you, okay? And you can feel whatever way you want. Look at the top podcasts, look at everything. Everybody is selling rage. That's what it is, because that's what works. And the use of it tripled in the last year. And the way they define it is exactly for what it is done to increase traffic and expand followings. Literally, the definition of the word from the kings of the dictionary, the masters of our language, the Oxford English Dictionary, define it as something that is used to provoke you for profit. Doesn't that disgust you? Doesn't that make you want to reject.
Should? If you're a critical thinker and that's why I'm selling gear. To help you wear your independence and reinforce that it's good to be different, okay? When the norm sucks, it's good to be different. Don't be a lemming. Be a free agent. This is why I sell the gear. To reinforce that you got to be about you and using what makes sense to you, not just what makes you feel a certain way in the moment. Rage. Bait is real. It is resonating, and it is everywhere. And it is only being done because it's easier and it sells. See it for what it is, okay? And treat it for what it is. It is the problem, not the solution.
Tell me if I'm wrong. You can tell me here. I'll be having special sessions about this on Substack. Please subscribe. I'll see you on TikTok Instagram. I'll see you on News Nation every weekday night, 8p and 11pMy friends, the problems are real. The outrage is real. Our approach must stay the same. Let's get after it.
Date: December 4, 2025
Host: Chris Cuomo
Episode Theme: Examining the dominance of "rage bait" in American discourse, politics, and media—the cultural implications of its being named Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year.
Chris Cuomo dedicates this solo episode to unpacking the rise of "rage bait" as the prevailing force in media and public conversation. He discusses the term's selection as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2025 Word of the Year and analyzes how outrage-driven content has become the default mode for media engagement, shaping the political landscape and public perception. Cuomo shares personal anecdotes, criticizes both right- and left-wing outrage tactics, and urges listeners to develop critical thinking skills against the pull of divisive content.
Cuomo closes by challenging listeners to be independent, critical thinkers, warning that the dominance of rage bait predicts a dim future for public discourse unless more people reject the lure of simplistic, anger-driven content.
This summary provides a comprehensive guide to the main themes, examples, and takeaways of the episode—equipping those who haven’t listened with essential context and insight.