Commie In Control

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Five – “Commie In Control”

Date: January 3, 2026
Host & Panelists: Kennedy (Host), Paul Morrow, Richard Fowler, Charlie Hurt, Kat Timpf
Podcast: FOX News Podcasts

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Episode Overview

The Five dives into current controversies and debates stirring up New York City and the nation following the inauguration of self-declared democratic socialist Zoran Mamdani as New York City’s mayor. The episode critically examines Mamdani’s sweeping agenda, perceived “communist” tendencies, and the broader implications for urban policy, generational politics, and upcoming national elections. Panelists also debate federal fraud scandals, affordability issues, and generational divides – all framed in the show’s characteristic mix of serious commentary and lively banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Zoran Mamdani’s Mayoral Inauguration & Agenda

(00:04 – 08:48)

• New Direction for NYC:
  Mamdani wastes no time revoking predecessor Eric Adams’ executive orders on Israel and antisemitism, seeking to swiftly enact his far-left platform. Bernie Sanders swears him in, reinforcing the city’s new political trajectory.

  “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist.”
  — Zoran Mamdani, Inauguration Speech (00:55-01:20)

• Economic Concerns:
  Kennedy predicts an exodus of wealthy residents (01:20), suggesting the city risks economic viability by embracing radical collectivism.

• Symbolism and Messaging:
  The ceremony features progressive icons like Bernie Sanders and AOC. AOC adapts the classic “if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere,” signaling New York’s aspiration to become a national model for leftist policies (04:24).

  “New York has always been about money… That means the thing we have to offer is the lifestyle: safety, nightlife, restaurants… And he's going to replace that, apparently, with collectivism.”
  — Paul Morrow (04:49)

• Criticism of 'Collectivism':
  Charlie Hurt draws historical parallels, warning, “Fascism always comes dressed as socialism” (02:45) and downplays Mamdani’s intellectual prowess.

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2. Millennial Frustration & The Housing Crisis

(06:46 – 08:48)

• Disconnect with Conservative Messaging:
  Kat Timpf asserts that conservatives fail to connect with young voters on housing: “It’s not as simple as millennials being cappuccino addicts…” (07:25)

• Structural Barriers:
  Timpf delves into how family wealth is the main predictor for millennial homeownership, noting, “If it was about hard work, then hard work would be a predictor of that” (07:25).

• Dangerous Vacuum:
  With conservatives ignoring these issues, radical solutions gain traction because “at least somebody is listening” (08:48).

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3. Debate over Universal Childcare

(09:17 – 11:46)

• Progressive Policy vs. Fiscal Realities:
  Richard Fowler praises universal childcare, citing New Mexico as a model: “We haven’t seen people run to leave New Mexico... because when you allow folks to take childcare off… both able to go to work, you increase competitiveness.” (09:17-10:28)

• Challenges and Risks:
  Kennedy and others caution, “Free child care isn’t free; someone has to pay for it” (10:46). Concerns arise about fraud, wage increases for staff, and government overreach.

• International Comparisons:
  Fowler notes, “All of the countries that we're competing against… have supplemented childcare,” mentioning nations from the UK to China (11:16).

• Key Banter:
  “You want the people who are running the DMV to raise your kid, right?” — Paul Morrow (11:46)

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4. Federal Fraud in Minnesota’s Child Care Programs

(12:38 – 22:06)

• Massive Scandal:
  President Trump promises to “get to the bottom” of the Minnesota fraud scandal, linking it to broader patterns in other states (12:38-13:23).

• Investigative Journalism Under Attack:
  Reporter Nick Shirley describes receiving threats for exposing the fraud (13:33).

  “You’ll be the next Kirk. Why are you guys coming after somebody for going against fraud?”
  — Nick Shirley (13:49)

• Partisan Deflection & PR Spin:
  Kat Timpf laments the public treating accountability as a partisan issue: “Why can't we all be mad?” (14:47-16:03)

• Federal vs. Local Responsibility:
  Charlie Hurt and Kennedy discuss inefficiency in routing tax dollars through D.C. (16:13-16:44).

• Corruption and Scapegoating:
  Fowler argues against blaming the Somali community, reminding the founder of the implicated group was not Somali (19:02-19:49). Paul Morrow points to evidence of widespread complicity and warns of Treasury involvement in tracking funds to terrorist groups (20:28-22:06).

• Consequences for Innocents:
  Concerns are raised about freezing federal dollars harming children outside Minnesota (20:07-22:09).

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5. Midterms, Messaging, and Party Identity

(22:45 – 28:55)

• Democratic Messaging Challenge:
  Democrats are urged to articulate what they stand for beyond being anti-Trump (23:00-23:08).

• Mamdani as a National Symbol:
  Republicans are expected to use Mamdani as a “national story” — a symbol to attack Democrats in swing states (23:29-24:02).

• Economic Voter Discontent:
  Fowler cites a Fox News poll: “72% of voters react negatively to the economy… high inflation and high prices” (24:03).

• The Battle for Young Men & Masculinity:
  Kennedy and panelists discuss young male voters, “cold shouldered out of the workforce and then expected to shoulder the tax burden when all these socialist policies come to fruition. No, thank you” — Kennedy (25:45).

• Backlash Against Progressive Social Policing:
  Kat observes that many non-Republican men feel demonized and are drawn to Trump as rebellion (27:11).

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6. 2026 Midterms – Predictions & Wildcards

(28:06 – 28:55)

• Affordability Debate:
  Charlie Hurt welcomes a debate on affordability, touting Trump’s economic record and border shutdown (28:18).

• Redistricting Decision as a Wildcard:
  The Supreme Court’s pending decision on the Voting Rights Act could upend pre-election dynamics (28:55).

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7. Lighter Segment: Dancing in a Social Media World & Workplace “Barefoot” Trend

(29:26 – 33:17)

• Dancing Anxiety:
  Kat admits: “If someone videotaped me dancing, they might call CPS. But I’m just vibing.” (29:46-30:15)

• Panel Jokes About Bad Dancing:
  Kennedy: “They tell me I dance like Elaine from Seinfeld” (30:36).

• Shoeless Offices:
  The barefoot-at-work trend sparks panel skepticism and more jokes, with Kennedy quipping, “The only thing you're spreading is foot fungus.” (33:04)

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8. Fan Mail Friday – Panelist Q&A

(34:09 – 36:48)

• Decluttering Resolutions

  • Richard: “I’m cleaning out my coat closet.”
  • Paul: “Digitize everything… take all paper out of my life.”
  • Kennedy: Planning to donate her daughters’ oversized sweatshirts.

• Weird Daily Habits

  • Kennedy: Eats sea moss and drinks green tea.
  • Paul: Yodels at maximum volume.
  • Charlie: Brews kombucha, uses raw milk and honey.

• Wild Animal Encounters

  • Kennedy: “Almost trampled by a rogue male elephant in Zimbabwe.”
  • Richard: “Attacked by birds at the Utah Zoo.”
  • Charlie: “Bitten by snakes.”

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9. One More Thing – Good Samaritans and Viral Moments

(38:28 – 40:47)

• Dramatic rescue at Lake Tahoe after an SUV plunges off a cliff; everyone survives thanks to bystanders.
• Kat adds new dates to her stand-up tour.
• Viral videos include a woman surviving 70mph wind and a coyote strolling on a frozen Central Park pond.
• Will Ferrell attends a hockey game dressed as a referee — for no discernible reason.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Fascism always comes dressed as socialism.” — Charlie Hurt (02:45)
• “If it was about hard work, then hard work would be a predictor of [homeownership].” — Kat Timpf (07:25)
• “You want the people who are running the DMV to raise your kid, right?” — Paul Morrow (11:46)
• “Why can't we all be mad?” — Kat Timpf (16:03)
• “You’ll be the next Kirk… why are you coming after somebody for going against fraud?” — Nick Shirley (13:49)
• “We all hate kids, of course.” — Paul Morrow, tongue-in-cheek (22:12)
• “They tell me I dance like Elaine from Seinfeld, and I used to think that was a very big compliment.” — Kennedy (30:36)
• “The only thing you're spreading is foot fungus.” — Kennedy (33:04)
• “I yodel at maximum volume, and my neighbors absolutely love it.” — Paul Morrow, on his weirdest daily habit (36:25)

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Timestamps: Important Segments

• 00:04 – Zoran Mamdani & NYC’s hard pivot to socialism
• 02:45 – “Fascism always comes dressed as socialism”
• 06:46 – Millennial frustration and housing
• 09:17 – Debate on universal childcare
• 12:38 – Minnesota child care fraud scandal
• 16:03 – Kat on partisanship ruining accountability
• 22:45 – Democrats’ message and the role of Mamdani in midterms
• 25:45 – Masculinity, young men, and political backlash
• 28:55 – SCOTUS redistricting wild card
• 29:26 – Dance anxiety and social media
• 34:09 – Fan Mail Friday: Panel Q&A
• 38:28 – Dramatic rescue and one more thing

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Conclusion

This episode of The Five offers a spirited and combative roundtable on the future of progressive governance in America’s biggest city, the generational frustration feeding radical policy proposals, and the partisan brawls over fraud, accountability, and affordability. Interwoven are segments where the panelists inject humor, personal stories, and lighter reflections on contemporary culture — all ensuring the show remains punchy, provocative, and highly relatable.

Transcript

[A]

Hello there, everyone. I'm Kennedy along with Paul Morrow, Richard Fowler, Charlie Hurt, and Cat Timf. It's five o' clock here in New York City and this is the five. Well, the commie is in control as socialist Zoran Mamdani looks to go mainstream. New York City's former freshly minted mayor not wasting any time enacting his far left agenda during his first two days in charge of the largest city in America by immediately seizing the means of executive orders, revoking the ones his predecessor Eric Adams signed on Israel and anti Semitism. And the revolution started very fast. Iran literally getting sworn in by the OG Krusty Krab socialist Bernie Sanders.

[B]

Thank you to the man whose leadership I seek most to emulate, who I am so grateful to be sworn in by today, Senator Bernie Sanders. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.

[A]

Yet the rich will abandon the city in droves. Just watch. Naturally, the democratic socialist A list was in the front row. Bernie and AOC addressing the comrade ceremony. New York City has chosen the ambitious pursuit of universal child care, affordable rent and housing, and clean and dignified public transit for. And we have chosen that over the distractions of bigotry and the barbarism of extreme income inequality.

[C]

Iran's opponents have called the agenda that he campaigned on radical communistic. Oh, and absolutely unachievable. Really. That's not what we believe.

[A]

Is Bernie okay? He thinks that he might have had a nip at a little bit of the mayoral sherry there, Charlie.

[D]

He got into the eggnog a little early.

[A]

Well, let's talk about the line that is setting tongues wagging across the landscape. It's the frigidity of rugged individualism versus the warmth of the collective.

[D]

America versus the Soviet Union. Yeah, and seriously, I know that both of his parents were professors. I don't know if they ever looked up the word collectivism, but there's another word for it, fascism. And of course, fascism always comes dressed as socialism, as you know better than anybody.

[C]

It is.

[D]

It's kind of. It's sort of amusing to watch all of this. To me, the more alarming part of it is, I don't know that he sells outside of New York. I think he's probably a little bit more impressive than Barack Obama, who is, you know, famously not very smart. I don't think this guy is very smart. I Don't think this guy is going to transform his silly, you know, college dorm room ideas about governing into anything more serious. To me, the far more serious concern about it is that you have people like AOC, who I think is probably a whole lot more effective at politics outside of New York, that she's so enthralled with him and whether or not he does manage. And I love the fact that you have Bernie up there, you know, and Mamdani saying that he's not going to sell out to the party bosses and the wealthy, even though, of course, Bernie Sanders. That's exactly what Bernie Sanders did. He sold out to the party officials in order to hand the party over to Hillary Clinton and to Joe Biden. So whether or not this actually goes beyond the borders of New York City, I don't know. But it is truly, truly sad that the economic capital of the world has been turned over to this ridiculous person.

[A]

Well, it's interesting, Paul, because the economic capital of the world was quoted a very famous slogan by AOC during her speech where she said, if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere. You know, of course, sort of bastardizing some of the lines from New York, New York. But I think what she's letting people onto is that New York is a very competitive place to succeed.

[C]

Yes, of course. And one of the sort of hidden metrics in this is that New York has always been about money, Right? Cities are about a certain thing. L A is about movies. Chicago's at the mercantile system, Boston's about universities, Washington about governance. I could go on. But New York has always been about money. And that's always been the lever to pull us out when we had really bad mayors and we've had our share. De Blasio, excuse me. So you have this thing that we had, downtown Wall street, and that was the great savior. The problem now is that Wall street is completely diffused. You can run a hedge fund from the moon. You don't have to be here. So what does that mean? That means the thing we have to offer is the lifestyle, right? Safety, the nightlife, the restaurants, all that other stuff. And he's going to replace that, apparently, with collectivism. And in his speech, by the way, there's something very clever. It was a very, very sort of managed speech, right? They spent a lot of time on that. They had a lot of time. He's had since he got elected, he had collectivism and then housing. Very close together, you get collectivism plus housing. There's a word for that too, Charlie. Communes that's what a collective housing is. Right. So look, where he's really going to go into trouble in my estimation to close the loop is public safety. Rikers Island's closing. We're going to lose 70% of our jail beds. CCRB, that's the citizens going to be responsible for all police discipline. We're down 10,000 cops now as it is since 9, 11.

[A]

Not breaking up homeless encampments.

[C]

We're going to lose. Right. Homeless encampments. I could go on ice. All right. They're not going to cooperate there. 7,000 felons in custody that they don't want to hand over, yada, yada, yada. And this neo racism of I'm going to tackle attacks white neighborhoods more. It's patently illegal. There's going to be a lot of turbulence. He's going to try to get past the midterms so he doesn't lose the governor, but that's when you'll really see his true color.

[A]

Yeah, but the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, is right now on board with it because it seems cool.

[E]

Yes. And okay, look, I'm all, he's up for reelection. Yes, of course. And of course, everyone knows I'm all for small government. Right. So I'm full, fully aware that his policies wouldn't work. Aren't going to work. But we should also look at why he does appeal so much to younger generations, my generation and generations younger than me, because he really tapped into a frustration of ours, which particularly I would say, on housing. Right. If his policies were to be enacted, yes, they'd be a disaster. The only thing that lowers prices is competition. But conservatives have been very bad at pushing that message. They have not pushed a solution at all.

[A]

Really.

[E]

Or actually they haven't even really acknowledged.

[A]

That it's a problem.

[E]

Right. About 45% of millennials own homes. And a large share of those people, it's not just that they're late bloomers, it's that they're actually structurally locked out. And yet the conservative message tends to be that millennials are lazy and they buy too many lattes and they buy too much avocado toast. But the fact in the numbers of the matter, that's not true. Right. In a lot of areas, prices doubled, wages didn't double. His homes were three or four times the median income. Now we're looking at six to ten times the median income in a lot of areas. Right. Buying or making coffee at home is not going to be enough to close that gap. And the number one predictor of whether or not a millennial does own a home is family wealth. If it was about hard work, then hard work would be a predictor of that. Other factor is, of course, homeowners are locked into lower rates, they're not going to sell. And then of course, a chronic undersupply of homes, particularly where there are a lot of jobs in an area which.

[A]

Would get worse with rent stable.

[E]

Absolutely, absolutely. Fully agree, completely agree with all of that. Of course Mamdani solutions would make this way worse. Of course the only answer is to decrease prices using competition and the free market. His solutions are ridiculous and they're horrible. But until conservatives are able to acknowledge, yes, this is a problem and it's not as simple as millennials being cappuccino addicts, then unfortunately you can have ideas that are this ridiculous and win because at least somebody is listening to you, that there's a problem.

[A]

Yes. And I think that the president is trying to seize on that. And he has actually used the term affordability.

[D]

He called it a hunch.

[A]

Unfortunately, the far left progressives, some of whom you have railed against on this very show, they think that this is a mandate. But are we really waiting for the city to crater in order to prove that this brand of governance really is. That's the zero sum enterprise. It's not the wealth gap that AOC talks about.

[F]

A couple of things. One, I agree with Kat a lot around when it comes to millennials being locked out of the housing market too. I do think the president says affordability, but he also calls it a hoax in the same breath. So he's. Hold on, wait a minute. Allow me to finish. But two, before we throw around, I think both parties throw around labels and I think it's important to sort of delve into some of the policies that Mamdani is advocating for. One of those that I think is something that we should be talking about more is childcare. He's advocating for free childcare. It's a program that we've seen happen be implemented in other states. One state that did this just recently was the state of New Mexico. They implemented free childcare for every New Mexican. No matter how much money you make, no matter where you live. And we haven't seen people run to leave New Mexico. Actually, people move into New Mexico on. And the reason for that is when you allow folks to take childcare off of their sort of balance sheet, what happens is they allow mom and dad are both able to go to work. You increase competitiveness. You also put more people into the workforce and you decrease the like how much money people are paying for childcare right now, in a lot of households, childcare is the cost of a college tuition. Childcare in some households are more than their mortgage payment. And as a nation, until we have a conversation of what it costs for daycare, we are, we're not going to move this country forward.

[E]

We're well aware of how expensive child care is.

[F]

Exactly. And what Zoron is advocating for is something that other states are already doing and it's working. So before we just say Zoran is bad, everything is socialist. There's some good things that he's advocating for that a lot of Americans are saying we should do something about this.

[A]

First of all, free child care isn't free, number one.

[F]

No, of course somebody's got to pay for it.

[A]

But the ideal of, I mean, the ideal of that would be the variable, Richard. That's not minority.

[F]

The ideal of a working family or two teachers or two waitress, a waiter and a waitress both going to work and have to pay 2 to $3,000 a month to take to put their child in daycare.

[E]

That's thankfully, daycare is never, there's never any fraud involved in daycare.

[A]

Yeah, sure.

[F]

I'm not saying, by the way, how.

[A]

Are you going to increase wages for childcare workers if it's free?

[F]

Well, at the end of the day, when child care is as much as college tuition, that is a problem. And until the government says we're going to do something about it, we're gonna constantly deal with how do you, how we're gonna deal with competitiveness, we're gonna deal with how do you have a country that works. And remember, all of the countries that we're competing against, whether it's the United Kingdom, whether it's Germany, whether it's France, whether it's Australia, whether it's Japan, whether it's China, they all have supplemented childcare in those countries. That's why they're seeing economics. Maybe Donald Trump should solve that problem. But hey, do you want minimum wage laws?

[C]

You want the people who are running the DMV to raise your kid right?

[D]

All right.

[A]

No. And I also am not going to let My child incur $400,000 in student loan debt.

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

Anyhow, still ahead, looks like Governor Tim Walls is running away from the Minnesota fraud controversy. Speaking of child care, as President Trump turns up the heat. That's next. This is Ainsley Earhart. Thank you for joining me for the 52 episode pod series, the Life of.

[F]

Jesus, A Listening Experience. That will provide hope, comfort and understanding of the greatest story ever told. Listen and follow [e-mail] or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[C]

Two floors above the butcher, first door on the right.

[D]

President Trump is vowing to get to the bottom of that massive $9 billion fraud scandal in Minnesota. He's surging federal resources to the state and HHS is freezing child care payments in all 50 states.

[G]

Take back our country. Can you imagine? They stole $18 billion. That's just what we're learning about. That's penance in California's worst. Illinois is worse and sadly, New York is worse a lot of other places. So we're going to get to the bottom of all of it. It was a giant scam.

[D]

Other than that, we're going to have a great.

[G]

Actually, I do that. I view that as a reason for good news. We're going to get to the bottom of. We're going to get that money back.

[D]

But the left would rather attack the messenger than tackle the fraud. Journalist Nick Shirley says he's received death threats for reporting on the alleged Minnesota fraud.

[F]

Have you gotten any threats? Like, actual death threats?

[H]

Yeah, well, in person. And also, can you tell me about that?

[F]

Like, are they messaging you, saying, we're going to get you. What are they saying to you?

[H]

Yeah, like, they're saying, oh, like Kirk, you're going to be Kirked.

[F]

You're going to be Kirked. That's what they're saying.

[H]

Yeah, like, you're the next. You'll be the next Kirk. Why are you guys coming after somebody for going against fraud? Like, I didn't make this a right or left issue. I just showed you guys that fraud was happening.

[D]

And Governor Waltz seems to be dealing with fraud very seriously by posting this video on social media where he boasts about having wool socks on his hands.

[C]

Quick fact fit check.

[D]

Hope always says this.

[C]

People ask, how do you run in this weather?

[D]

Brooks Glycerins Craft windproof pants, Nike quarter zip thermal Under Armour hat, great wool socks on both feet and hands and.

[C]

And just run.

[D]

So Happy New Year. So Cat is who's winning this, this PR fight right now? Is Tim Waltz doing his fit check about wearing wool socks on his hands going to make all these questions go away?

[E]

No, I certainly don't think so. But I also think it really is just such a sad sign of the times that this has become an issue of PR to begin with, where it's like, who's winning this PR fight? This should be something we can all unite around. That this was bad. Like, it shouldn't have to be. Oh, yeah, we found fraud. Okay, well, what about this other fraud that happened? It's like, why can't we all be mad? I mean, these were federal funds. This was all of our money. Why can't we all be. We allow the two parties, we allow them to kind of control us in the sense of like, okay, I can only be mad about stuff that happened that the other team did. And it shouldn't be like that. If you're a Democrat, including Tim Walsh should be mad about this. He should have been like, oh, miss this one, Instead of like, oh, well, this wasn't that bad. Nobody should be minimizing this because taxpayer money is our money. And you get gaslit when you question these programs where it's like, oh, I don't know about this program, if it's got kids involved or it's like, oh, you want people to starve or you don't care? It's like, no, maybe I just have questions about the way it's being enacted, or people say that you're selfish or, oh, I pay so much in taxes. I wouldn't care about how much I paid in taxes if I thought that this money was actually going to help people. My issue is that I simply do not believe that that is the case because I walk around on the streets and it looks like a lot of people need a lot of help that aren't getting any help.

[D]

Yeah, it's not a point of believing or not believing. It's knowing. Absolutely correct, Kennedy. Kat raises a really important point that I know that we're all passionate about.

[A]

Why?

[D]

You know, I think maybe people would be less confused about what you're talking about if we didn't have to launder all of these federal tax dollars through Washington, D.C. to get them to Minnesota. If Minnesotans want to take care of children from Somalia or wherever in their neighborhoods, then why can't the taxes just be local? And then the people that are responsible for spending the money are responsible locally, but it just all gets run through.

[A]

Laundered through D.C. why is a welfare state implicit in immigration in this country? It absolutely should not be. And these governors of the states that the President was talking about, whether it's Minnesota or California or Illinois, they swear an oath to the Constitution to uphold and defend the Constitution, the U.S. constitution. So those federal tax dollars that are emanating from the place where the Constitution lords over, they are turning a blind eye to the fact that what they are seeing is essentially free money is Being laundered and going to God knows where. I mean, it starts with some of these meal and housing programs and, you know, some of the daycare facilities. But that's where it ends. And that's the problem with mass government is you have so much bureaucracy in so many layers that it becomes so big and so vast that no one is able to employ any oversight at some point. And so you have people who, like a magnet, are attracted to these corrupt systems because they know they can absolutely milk this spigot for as much unaccountable money as they can possibly get their hands on. And then we don't know what becomes of it. All we know is Ilhan Omar started with anywhere between 25,000 and negative $65,000 when she came into office in 2018. And now her husband, who is not her brother, is sitting on $30 million, according to new York Post reporting. With businesses that run out of D.C. we work. That is quite a phenomenal return on investment. And, you know, we'll see where these investigations go, but I don't think it's going to be necessarily positive.

[D]

Yeah, these spigot milkers. Richard, earlier you were talking about how you're concerned about the cost of childcare. Where is the, like, normal liberal Democrat outrage over this? When Democrats talk the loudest about caring about these people, about caring about educating children and feeding people from a third world country, where's the outrage?

[F]

I mean, I'm outraged, I think, and I hope they get the fraudsters. And let's be very clear, this investigation against this particular, this particular organization, what is it called? Feeding Our Future, has been going on since 2022. It started under the Biden administration. The executive director and founder of this organization, Amy Brock, a Caucasian non Somali woman from Apple Valley, Minnesota, has been found guilty of these charges along with others. I think we've done a lot of scapegoating here of the Somali community.

[E]

We.

[F]

A lot of folks have been. No, no, you brought up. We heard of Ilhan Omar, we heard about Somali children, and we haven't heard about.

[D]

Hold on, wait a minute. Started the program.

[F]

This is about.

[D]

And some of the people that have been arrested were donors to Illahano.

[F]

Margaret, Feed Our Future was founded by Amy Brock. But let me continue.

[A]

Was she the only person involved in the program?

[F]

She's the executive director and founder of the program. But allow me to continue. And yet there's a lot of scapegoating and blame to go on. And now the Trump administration has frozen early childhood dollars and Head Start dollars to every state in the country so.

[D]

That we can make sure that it's going down.

[F]

I don't talk to anybody, including places like Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia. As folks get ready to go back work, they're going to have to deal with shortages in childcare workers. They're going to have to deal with potential Head Start centers close because those federal dollars are needed. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. They're needed today. To keep those centers open does not have consequences. Well, yes, they have consequences. People have nothing to do.

[D]

Don't get Paul in here.

[F]

Scapegoat.

[D]

As a cop, I would think that the first thing you'd want to do is stop the bleeding before and then getting to the bottom of who stole what.

[C]

Yeah. My understanding is there are about 16 at the least federal investigations ongoing. And the leering center, by the way, had been something else closed and then reopened. The majority of the people being investigated are Somali. So let's just recognize that although there is this front that apparently one woman is ubiquitous across and they're going to get her.

[F]

She's already been gotten, by the way.

[C]

And they're going to get again. They're going to get them. The whole thing is a massive rico. And I got to just go right to it here. The Democrat politicians over there are complicit. They used our money to buy these guys for their votes. We pay for it. Minnesota, you owe us money. All right, that's the bottom line here. And the other thing is this treasury is going to be the thing that really comes to bear here. Bessant and apparently those guys are on it. They control the movement of money and terrorist finance. That's their job. That means any banks, any money remitters that sent money overseas, and there's going to be a lot of them who would. All of these people. Look, it's out of a mailbox that they ran this business. It's out of a wework. Yeah, but you know what? They had bank accounts. That's Treasury. They've already said they're looking into it. When they start looking at that, they're going to see the money going to Al Shabaab. That's what treasury is supposed to stop. If you're a banker or somebody else in Minnesota who's been doing this stuff and moving the money overseas and turning a blind eye, you're looking at literally billions in potential fines. You could put them literally at. When treasury comes down on you, it's six, seven figures. Watch that happen here because that's the only thing that's going to stop it. Follow the money.

[A]

Welcome to the collective, Paul.

[F]

Why should kids suffer in Mississippi While you're right.

[C]

Well, you know, it's because we all hate kids, of course.

[F]

I'm just asking because if you actually.

[D]

Care about the children, you're going to make sure that it's the money, which isn't.

[C]

How about American kids in Mogadisha?

[D]

The world's richest man is getting back in the game. Elon Musk is going all in on the midterms.

[E]

Rolling, rolling. Only Rubber wheel, Tom. That baby. You know how to dream.

[C]

So the new year is here, and with it, the fight for the midterms begins. And so far, the Democrats don't seem to have much of a message other than attacking President Trump. But now one Democrat is saying that that alone is not going to cut it.

[D]

You've been saying for a long time.

[F]

That Democrats need a Project 2028 to lay out their agenda. Did you hear elements of that in Mamdani's speech?

[I]

I did. And I think what we have to. It's not enough for us to be anti President Trump. People want to know what we're for and how we're going to deliver. So I think it's very important. We've got to start articulating what we're for as we go into the congressional elections for 26. And presidential candidates are going to have to be very strong on that.

[C]

Meanwhile, Elon Musk is signaling that he's ready to help the Republicans again ahead of the midterms. He posted on, quote, america is toast if the radical left, they will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. We won't be America anymore. So the battle lines are drawn. Richard, let me come to you real quick here. For no particular reason, I gotta ask you about Mamdani. I want to conflate him with this story. Mamdani is going to be a national story going into the midterms, and the Republicans are looking to hang that albatross around every Democrat neck. Is that going to be a drag?

[A]

I don't know.

[F]

I think you have to wait to see. I think what we saw in the past, the 2025 election is not only just in Virginia and New Jersey and here in New York, but we saw Democrats break the supermajority in Mississippi and in Iowa, and they made gains in every single county in Virginia. And that didn't happen because Ken Martin was the party chair, because Vice President Kamala harrisformer. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned herself out. I think what happened was, is that voters woke up and everyday folks realized that the rent was too high, the grocery bill was too high, hospitals were closing in their neighborhood. For many of them now, their healthcare premiums have skyrocketed today or yesterday. And our Fox News voter analysis talked about this. It says 72% of voters react. They have a negative view of the economy. The two issues they have high inflation and high prices. A majority of them says the essentials cost of things are too high. And so I think if Democrats want a path forward, they got to listen to what the voters told them, a cross section of voters told them in 2020 and this past election, 2025, and carry that forward. What is going to be their solutions to decrease the cost of pricing In a world in which Donald Trump and the White House is calling affordability a.

[C]

Hoax, I still think that, you know, that all said, Mamdani is saying he' solve all that. He's going to be a national figure. The media is here and that's going to really impact things. Kennedy, I want to come to you. They're saying that young men are particularly up for grabs here. I can't believe that. With the likes of Adam Fry out there, this alpha male, what do you think? Can men be gotten by the Democrats?

[A]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. All they have to do is tune into Tim Walls, fit, check and know where their masculinity really lies. Tim Walls famously said on a podcast, like, look at me, I'm the most masculine guy in the room and Republicans are so scared of me because I'm so manly.

[C]

Teed that one right off here.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you very much for that. And you know, there are a lot of guys who look at these policies and they're like, oh, wait a second, so I will be cold shouldered out of the workforce and then expected to shoulder the tax burden when all of these socialist policies come to fruition. No, thank you. And that's why they gravitated toward President Trump because, you know, they had the sort of populist message that I may disagree with as a libertarian, but it resonates with people who have been demonized in places like academia. So they want to make money, they want to work hard. They, you know, to Kat's point, they want to start families, but they can't in this political climate. And it's not enough for people on certain leftist podcasts go, well, maybe we need to talk about these politics at the gym. You know, maybe we need to stop demonizing protein and stop using terms like mansplaining. Yeah, but you know, Debbie Dingell is absolutely right.

[C]

And recognize that there were two genders. Right. I mean, that would be a star, for instance. Kat, what do you got?

[E]

Yeah, I think it's definitely. I think it definitely is a star. And especially because, hey, we got a couple more years of Trump left and then he's out of office. So definitely there's gonna need to be something other than that. And I do think that, as you mentioned, talking like normal people is something that's gonna help them because they kind of weren't doing that for so long. There was a lot of policing, particularly of men and the way men talked and the way men behaved.

[C]

Toxic.

[E]

Well, it was at a certain point, and I spoke to a lot of guys who had never voted Republican before who said that they were voting for Trump because they did feel where it was. Like at a certain point, what do I need to do? Everything I do and say is wrong. At a certain point, it's like, okay, I give up, I quit. So it almost felt like an act of rebellion for these men to vote for Trump, or maybe they weren't even Republicans themselves. And then also I think you mentioned albatross, A big albatross for a lot of people was being told for so long that there was something wrong with you if you think thought that Biden didn't seem like he was doing okay and then they just slotted Kamala in. So a lot of people were like, okay, you think that Trump's so bad and you're trying to say all these things. Oh, that just that what he says, I don't like some things. He said that that's enough. A lot of people, that's not enough anymore to have your most important thing to be. I have to only vote for a politician who has never offended me. That's a luxury belief to have. And a lot of people, particularly younger voters, are not in a position for luxury beliefs right now.

[C]

So, Charlie, if the 2026 midterms go Dems, I think we're going to see impeachment palooza. I mean, that's. And I think that loses them 2028. So handicap us out a bit.

[D]

And I welcome a debate about affordability. I think that President Trump and Republicans who are part of the America first agenda can have a magnificent argument on that. Trump single handedly closed the border, which was a massive, massive welfare suck on the economy. He has slashed inflation, he has brought down the price of gasoline. And I think those are marvel arguments to go into, especially when you consider all the damage that Joe Biden and Democrats before him have done to the economy, especially when it comes to health care with Obamacare, which has, of course, become a bailout fund for insurance companies.

[C]

I think all those are good points. And there's one last thing that I would just throw out there, that it's a nuance. You don't hear that much about it. But before the summer, we're going to get that decision in the redistricting Voting Rights act from scotus, and that could throw the whole thing into turmoil. We don't know how that's going to go. It's going to be interesting. The fastest is up next.

[F]

Welcome back. Here's another reason to hate social media. It killed the groove. The Wall Street Journal is reporting how suddenly everybody's afraid to dance at concerts and clubs. Apparently, people are afraid of looking goofy when the video gets posted on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, all the things. Kat, are you still dancing in the club?

[E]

Lol. At the thought that I'm going to.

[F]

The club, I was gonna ask, are you still going to the club?

[E]

But I'm dancing places that aren't the club. I'm the worst dancer that you've ever seen, and I love dancing more than most things about being alive. So I'm not gonna stop doing it. But, yeah, like, if. If there were a video of me dancing, you can attest to this. You've seen it. If someone videotaped me dancing, they might be like, they might send CPS to my house. They'd be like, she's definitely on something. But I'm not. That's just me vibing.

[F]

It's you vibing, Kennedy.

[A]

It's enthusiasm. It's not apoplexy. I've been with Kat at concerts, and it is infectious. And that's the way it should be. Like, there is something about dancing where you should completely give over. I've always thought I'm an amazing dancer. And I unfortunately have been corrected by my fiance, my children, and everyone I know.

[E]

My husband moves away.

[A]

They tell me I dance like Elaine from Seinfeld. And I used to think that was a very big compliment.

[F]

Charlie, I don't want to know your answer, but.

[D]

Well, my clubbing days are over.

[F]

I thought that much.

[D]

But still, dancing on the club foot, right? That's all I've got. No, I don't think it has anything to do with social media. I think it's like there's certain people who just don't dance and so they don't dance. It's not. Like, I do think that maybe There was the Coldplay effect, where people aren't, like, taking their mistress and jumping on the jumbo cam at concerts or wherever. That would make sense, but.

[F]

Got it.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

All right, Paul, I love this story, and I think a lot of men do, because you always get stuck. You go to the wedding, right? Your wife wants to go, and then what happens when you get there? Oh, they're playing celebration time. Come on, Come dancing, right? And now you can say, honey, listen, I can say, I'm on the five, man. I mean, I can't have a TikTok video out there. No, I'm sorry, I'm not going. And that is it. And by the way, on the way.

[D]

Back, I got a law degree, man.

[C]

Drink on the way back, if you would. Which part? She pours it over my head. But that said, I love this story, and it's my excuse going forward, I guess.

[F]

It's Friday, so a drink on the way back. One more topic. And finally, no shoes in the office. The barefoot trend is spreading in tech offices with boozy. Start with buzzy startups telling employees to leave their Vans and their Uggs at the door. No shoes for uk.

[E]

Well, as much of America already knows, I have been suffering with an ingrown toenail for quite some time now. Yes, thank you. I finally appreciate all your T's and P's. I finally got it handled, which means I'm wearing slippers around the office. These shoes that I have on now, I put on sitting here. I'm not walk. People think we walk around Kennedy, the office wearing these shoes. I would be dead if I was trying to do that. I wear. These are sitting. These are sitting shoes.

[A]

Yeah.

[F]

I can attest on the talent floor, most of us are in sneakers or flip flops, but I think down here, we have nice shoes on.

[C]

So as far as I'm concerned, this was all done by a sock company so that people can say, oh, I don't. Oh. If you're wearing socks at the office, you're making a statement. So make sure you have the. Because here's what will happen. You'll see advertising on the socks now, right? It's going to say coexist.

[F]

All right?

[C]

Climate change is real, folks. It's work. It's not a pajama party. Where your shoes at work?

[F]

How'd you make this political, Paul? We were talking about socks.

[C]

Come on, wear your shoes.

[A]

What would Sean Duffy say?

[D]

Richard, I can't trust anybody who's not wearing his shoes in the house or at work.

[F]

Kennedy.

[A]

No, it's like, the only thing you're spreading. It's not good, Cher. It's foot fungus. Like, keep your shoes on. No one needs to see your paper. Also, on the airplane, like, there's a good chance there are dudes in loafers with no socks. I don't want to see man feet at the office. Sorry.

[E]

Fair enough.

[F]

We don't want to see man feet either, but fan mail Friday's up next.

[J]

Shopping is hard, right? But I found a better way. Stitch Fix online. Personal styling makes it easy. I just give my stylist my size, style, and budget preferences. I order boxes when I want and how I want. No subscription required. And he sends just for me pieces, plus outfit recommendations and styling tips. I keep woodworks and send back the rest. It's so easy. Make style easy. Get started [e-mail] Spotify. That's Stitch Fix.com Spotify.

[E]

It's fan mail Friday. We're gonna have some fun. All right, first question is from Janet M. In the spirit of decluttering, what will you get rid of in 2026? You said, Richard, look, you have something to say. I didn't, but now you have to.

[F]

I'm cleaning out my coat closet. So I love folks who know Kennedy knows I really enjoy coats. And actually, Kat, you know from Love, when we hosted New Year's Eve in 2018. So, yeah, I'm cleaning out my coat closet. I should end it today, but I'll do it tomorrow.

[E]

Coat closet. Paul, do you have anything I am.

[C]

Attempting to digitize for 2026? It's one of my, you know, you live in an apartment in Manhattan. You gotta declutter as you're saying. Digitize everything. So I bought one of those tablets that you can write on. It's electronics, Bozoli Translate. So I'm going to try to take all paper out of my life because it's drowning me.

[D]

I have agreed to provide my organizational skills to my wife's kitchen, and I am organizing the entire thing for her, which is going over really well.

[E]

Oh, probably not, huh?

[C]

Yeah, we don't believe that.

[A]

My girls have been so gracious in borrowing so many of my things this year that I'm going to borrow some of theirs and donate them. I'm going to start with her sweatshirts. I don't know when teenage girls started wearing men's triple XL sweatshirts, but they take up a lot of room.

[E]

Yes. They wear them with boots. They wear, like, above the knee boots with, like, a sweatshirt. Like, that's the outfit.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

And they'll wear them with, like, men's underwear.

[E]

Yeah. Well, I don't know what you're watching.

[F]

But interesting fashion shows.

[A]

I think I need what you do on the weekends.

[C]

I like that.

[F]

Huh?

[E]

I need to do some decluttering, but I'm, like, really not good at it. I keep everything. I don't know. My husband's, like, really mad. He's like, it's too much stuff. And what are you gonna do? All right, next question. What's the weirdest thing that you secretly do daily? Daily, Kennedy, what do you do every day? That's weird.

[A]

Every day?

[E]

Yeah, I just daily so many weird things. Yeah.

[A]

I drank gallons of green tea, and I started eating sea moss. And I really like the sea moss. It's like jelly. It's like, that's.

[C]

You're the one who eats that. They have it at the deli near me. It's hideous. Yeah. Oh, God. Looks like orange Vaseline.

[E]

What about you?

[A]

I also eat that.

[C]

What do I do?

[E]

I bet you do some real weird stuff, and you just present like you never would.

[C]

I do. No, I do.

[E]

He's probably. You have the weirdest thing.

[C]

I yodel. I yodel at maximum volume, and my neighbors absolutely love it. I do nothing weird. All right. And I'm sticking to that story.

[D]

I'm not telling you.

[A]

What do you.

[D]

I have a whole weird, like, thing. Like, I do. I brew my own kombucha. I do raw milk. I do raw honey. I do all that weird stuff.

[A]

Raw dogging.

[D]

Raw dogging. Yeah. Kennedy, that's what.

[F]

So I. You know, last year, I picked up going to the gym a lot more. So, you know, I usually, instead of, like, I use body lotion. I also use magnesium butter to help with muscle release.

[A]

Oh, that's nice.

[F]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm gonna add that to my theme off.

[E]

I don't feel like I do anything weird because I feel like I make perfect sense to myself. So I don't know.

[F]

That's a cop out.

[E]

Probably having extended conversations with my cat where I talk and then I also answer for him, and then, like, in a separate voice. In a separate voice. And then I, like, film it. But everybody. But everybody does that.

[F]

Don't film yourself dancing.

[E]

Not everybody does that. Follow my Instagram eenstemp. You can watch some of it if you want, but don't. Okay. Another question from Wendy B. Scariest animal encounter.

[A]

Kennedy almost trampled to death by a rogue male elephant in Zimbabwe.

[D]

Oh, nice.

[E]

Anybody beat that?

[F]

I was attacked by birds at the Utah Zoo. What yeah, it's a crazy story, but they put bird seeds in my hair and the birds attacked me. I was in high school. It was a long time ago.

[D]

I've been bitten by a lot of snakes.

[E]

Okay. A lot of snakes.

[C]

My patrol partner and I had to remove a red tailed hawk from the front seat.

[D]

That's good.

[C]

Of somebody here. And we just put it into Central Park.

[F]

Birds.

[E]

Mine was probably like when the elephants started, when we went on a safari together as gal pals, which everyone thought we were on our honeymoon. Apparently nobody does that. And there were some elephants that were looking upset. And then I was pretty scared.

[A]

But the male lion who stopped and that you fooled 30 full seconds just at her. It was.

[E]

I know, but I felt like we had a thing going. Okay, one more Thing is up next. I wasn't scared.

[A]

Welcome back. It is now time for one more thing. Richard.

[F]

All right, check out this dramatic video. Look at this. Rescue effort at Lake Tahoe after SUV veered off an icy mountain road and plunged down a steep cliff. Witnesses say bystanders rushed towards the wreckage, working together to pull the people inside to safety before first responders arrived. Everyone was rescued. They're all okay, thanks to the good Samaritans at the scene. Talk about good Samaritans in action during the wintertime. Happy New Year, everybody.

[A]

Snowy. Well done, Kat.

[E]

First of all, I just added a bunch of new cities to my stand up tour for next year. You could see me in St. Charles, Missouri, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Springfield, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Santa Ana, Pueblo, New Mexico. Very excited. Never been to New Mexico. All right, now check out this video. It's another weather related video. She's battling 70 mph winds in upstate New York. She almost got inside in the wind.

[C]

Oh, my gosh.

[E]

Time to mention that she's not dead. She's okay. She's not seriously injured. So you can feel okay about watching that video. She's all right.

[A]

Then she was rescued by a good Samaritan and questionable law.

[F]

Yeah, I thought this was like Grinch leggings.

[A]

All right, let's go to Georgia. Cops got a call about a man and a golf cart on a golf course. So what'd they do? Once he commandeered one of the slow moving vehicles, they got some of their own, gave chase, caught up to him and gave him a new pair of Christmas silver bracelets. He's fine.

[C]

There has to be more to that.

[A]

I hope it's just a fun golf cart. You know, probably Drunken chase.

[D]

Allegedly drunken golf carting.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So you never know what you're going to see in New York City. This case in point here, wild coyote taking a leisurely stroll on a frozen pond in Central Park. The unusual sighting was captured on video by a local photographer. Apparently the sighting wasn't as surprising as you might think. Central park is home to a small population of coyotes tend to keep themselves and not not bother park goers.

[C]

He's looking for my hawk.

[A]

Quickly, Paul.

[D]

Yeah, exactly.

[C]

All right, real quick. Will Ferrell went to a hockey game dressed as a referee. I don't know why either. Nonetheless, there he is. He was hoping they were going to put him in the game. He's not tough enough to be an NHL referee. The NHL referees are the toughest guys in the world.

[D]

Thank you very much.

[F]

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