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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Welcome to TGIF edition of the Jim Acosta Show. As you can see, joining me at the top of the hour right now is Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro. He's gonna be talking about a lot of the news that's out there today. You can see him right there. All the comments are already starting to come in. And a little later on in the program, a little special treat. We all need this at the end of a long week. Comedian Matt Friend is gonna be joining the program in about half an hour from now. Fortunately, Congressman Castro will be gone. Fortunately for him, Congressman Castro will be gone by then. Before Matt Friend comes on, I think he has an impersonation of me, but not of Joaquin Castro. Fortunately. But I'm calling this the Hail to the Oligarchs edition of the Jim Acosta Show. Hail to the Chief is so 2024. It's now hail to the Oligarchs, which is reminding me it is 5:00 somewhere, including right here in Washington, D.C. but I'm, I do want to start talking about shadow President Elon Musk over at the Pentagon today. Speaking of Hail to the oligarchs, it was Elon Musk looking like a shadow president, looking like a co president visiting the Pentagon, meeting with the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. It had been anticipated this, according to the Washington Post, they would discuss a range of defense topics, including the threat posed by China and the billionaires work to slash the US Government bureaucracy. The reason why this visit was really in the news. And Congressman, you know, this is the New York Times reported that the Pentagon was scheduled today to brief Elon Musk on the US Military plan for any war that might break out with China. That was according to two officials who spoke to the New York Times on Thursday. And I guess, Congressman, just to bring you into this, the question that I have is, is what in the world is the Trump administration doing briefing Elon Musk or even contemplating the idea of briefing Elon Musk on a potential war with China? That, that doesn't sound like something that he should be involved in in terms of discussions.
- [02:02]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah. I mean, you know, just to give you a sense for how bizarre that is, you know, so I've served over the years in Congress on the Intelligence Committee, on the Foreign Affairs Committee and on the Armed Services Committee. The number of people who would have access to those kinds of plans is such a small group of people and they are the generals and the military folks, the intelligence folks who absolutely need to know and would be involved in the eventuality that there was an actual war with China. That has nothing to do with the job that Donald Trump has said Elon Musk has overseeing Doge. Yeah, so. And he's not gone, as I understand, hasn't gone through all the proper channels of getting clearances. So it really is bizarre, and I don't know where it goes from here with him.
- [02:53]
Jim Acosta
Well, it's fascinating because Trump today said that Elon Musk would not receive a briefing on secret plans for a potential war against China. And Trump even added it was because of his substantial conflicts of interest with Beijing. You know, it seems to me that even Trump figured out after he caught wind of this, oh, yeah, we can't brief Elon Musk on a possible war or what that might look like with China. But it does raise this issue of what a lot of folks consider to be kind of an oligarchy taking hold in this country. And Elon Musk being the oligarch of all oligarchs, the mother of all oligarchs here. And I'm just curious what your take is on all of that. Why should Elon Musk have access to this kind of information? Why should he be? I mean, he was received over at the Pentagon like the commander in chief. It's just bizarre to see that kind of sight unfold.
- [03:50]
Joaquin Castro
Well, I mean, I think what you see, Jim, is Trump appointed a lot of people, not all of them, but a lot of them who are either billionaires to top positions, including cabinet positions, or they're very wealthy, even if they're not billionaires, but they're very inexperienced in the things that he appointed them to. So it's really as if money became a stand in for experience and expertise in the Trump administration. There's also a big part of me that thinks that Donald Trump, unlike the first term, where even though he went golfing and all that, he was still engaged in his work. There's a big part of me that really thinks that he's much lazier now in the second term and doesn't have the same ambition to actually go through the micromanagement of governing. And so he's let these guys who've got all these conflicts of interest, these deep financial interests in what's going on in the world and in the country basically run amok. And I think that's what we're seeing with Elon Musk.
- [04:49]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, it's almost like he's decided to delegate the presidency to Elon Musk, outsource the presidency to Elon Musk, and there's Also this bizarre thing going on where the people in the administration, including the President and apparently now the Commerce Secretary feel that they have to take it upon themselves to prop up Tesla's stock. The Commerce secretary, this is according to USA Today, a top ally and donor to President Donald Trump used a primetime appearance Wednesday to defend his fellow billionaire Elon Musk. And this is what Lutnick said to Fox News. We're talking about FOX News, of course, I think if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla. The secretary said it's unbelievable that this guy's stock is this cheap. It'll never be this cheap again. He sounds like Jim Cramer. Mad. This is like mad money with Howard Lutnick or something. Is this, is this a show on CNBC or is. Yeah, he's speaking.
- [05:44]
Joaquin Castro
I mean, and also, I mean you compare that to the comments I think he made, the comments about Social Security and you know, if somebody missed their check and so forth.
- [05:52]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I got that one here too. Yeah.
- [05:55]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah. I mean you think about it, they're trying to protect a billionaire's business and make sure that he can be even wealthier and that his stock price doesn't go down from $200, something dollars a share to me, I don't know, $100 something dollars a share. And at the same time, they're not willing to protect somebody's $700 month Social Security check. It's absolutely crazy how out of touch these folks are and these are the guys that are running the country right now.
- [06:21]
Jim Acosta
Well, I mean you mentioned, I mean, what Lutnick said, he said, and a lot of people were picking up this clip this afternoon. He was doing an interview with somebody somewhere. And I mean, I've never seen a commerce secretary on TV this much. I will just say that I'll put that out there as well. But apparently Letnick said to some interviewer earlier today, he said, let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month. My mother in law who's 94, she wouldn't call and complain. She just wouldn't. She just think that's something I messed up. Okay, you know, here's my thought on all that. One, one thing we should note, Fortune says Howard Lutnick has a net worth of $1.5 billion. So maybe not the same category as Elon Musk, but you know, not too shabby. I mean it says a couple of things. One is just incredible tone deafness there, but also it concerns me a little bit and it probably should concern a lot of Americans out there that he would be so blase about Social Security. Elon Musk has denigrated Social Security. Your thoughts?
- [07:21]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah, I mean, just so out of touch about how millions and millions, tens of millions of Americans are living. You know, my grandmother, as she worked as a maid, a babysitter, and a cook, as she used to say, a big part of her childhood and almost all her adulthood till she no longer could. And at the end of her life, she never owned a house, never owned a car, didn't even have a bank account. She would get her Social Security check, about $335 a month every month, and go cash it at this store, the Centennial Store. And that's basically what she used to live on. And there are so many people in our country, especially in districts like mine, that are still living that way. And so for this guy to say, oh, well, if you miss your check, it doesn't come one month. So what it's that, that is to me when I watch that clip, his words were emblematic of the kind of administration Donald Trump is running today.
- [08:21]
Jim Acosta
Well, and maybe Howard Lutnick's mother in law, I don't want to speak out of school here. Maybe she, she feels okay because her son in law is a billionaire, you know, so maybe she's not freaked out about the Social Security check because, I don't know, maybe he could take her out to the Palm and everything would be just fine. You know, speaking of all the tone deafness and the political fallout from now, what about these town halls? Congressman, last night, Bernie Sanders and AOC had a town hall in Las Vegas. They had a big crowd. Bernie's calling it the Fighting Oligarchy Tour. And the crowd was pretty fired up. You know, AOC said, this isn't just about Republicans. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too. I know you feel the same way. You're frustrated too.
- [09:09]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah, no, that's why, you know, we started with a telephone town hall. At one point, we had 11,000 people just from my congressional district on the line. And then I did a few weeks later, an in person town hall. We had about a thousand people that showed up. And she's right. I mean, people want us to stand up, to fight back, to really to speak up for that and to do something to stop these harmful, dangerous policies. You know, it really, what people are watching in real time is Donald Trump take the world like a snow globe and turn it upside down and harm so many people in the process right now.
- [09:48]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I guess what's your view on this? I mean, do you think the party is, is being aggressive enough with Donald Trump? What more could be done when you're in the minority, even by two seats? It's tough because they do seem to be pretty much in lockstep in the Republican side over in the House and in the Senate, there is a slight majority there. I mean, it just seems like right now you're in a mobilization stage.
- [10:19]
Joaquin Castro
Well, I mean, I feel like, I think people are right. I think it took us a good month, really, to deal with the pace with which Trump was doing everything, executing Project 2025. And really, I mean, as you saw, every day there's two or three fires, and they're doing it on purpose. And so to organize and message back, but also to support the litigation that's going on in court, some of which, fortunately, has been successful in blocking. Just take one example, him trying to do away with birthright citizenship, which is foundational to this country. So being able to block a lot of things in court. And then on the House side, at least as House Democrats, we voted no on that continuing resolution. We only had one person who voted yes. Otherwise, we were almost unanimous in voting no. So we, I feel like we. Things have really come together from the House of Representatives and Democrats. And you know, and I know that the Senate also is, obviously, they're, they're working hard. I disagree with Senator Schumer's decision on letting that thing go through. But I also think that the public is speaking up now, that they want to make sure that we're fighting at every chance, every. That we're standing up to all of these bad things.
- [11:36]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. I mean, just yesterday, Trump put out an executive order which was fairly toothless, that he wants the secretary there to shut down the Department of Education. That's obviously something Congress would do, but he can, he can start to monkey around with the inner workings of the department. I mean, that is what. That is, something he can do. And today he said that the Small Business Administration, instead of the Department of Education, would handle the country's federal student loan portfolio. This is what CNBC is reporting. I mean, you know, and Elon Musk, speaking of Elon Musk put out a meme today of Trump standing over the grave of the Department of Education. And, oh, by the way, he misspelled department or somebody misspelled department in the meme that he posted. So, I mean, you know, the irony there is, is, is pretty thick. Are you concerned about what's happening with the Department of Education? I mean, could it get to a point where it could just be a point of no return? What do you think?
- [12:33]
Joaquin Castro
Well, I mean, I think, remember, Jim, like if we step back what America has done successfully over the years, I think better than any other country is created what I call an infrastructure of opportunity, including the ability to get a good education, to go on to college or go on to a vocational school, into your career and pursue your dreams. So what they're doing is they're dismantling that infrastructure of opportunity for so many people. And it's absolutely, you know, it's something that's going to damage us not only in the next few years, but this is a thing that's going to damage us in the long term. And I would, I mean, I would ask Elon Musk if he thinks it's a joke that the U.S. department of Education serves special education students, make sure they get the services and the schooling they need, students with disabilities, that it makes sure that civil rights laws are enforced in our schools so that people are not discriminated against, that it does all of these important things for schools that are known as Title 1 schools, that's for folks who are in low income areas. And those aren't just urban areas like the area that I represent. It's also a lot of rural areas throughout the country.
- [13:41]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [13:42]
Joaquin Castro
So these things, I mean, yeah, you see kind of a meme and we laugh at them on social media. But it's no joke. The work that the department does. And without the billions and billions of dollars that they send to places like Texas and other states, there are a lot of students, including a lot of vulnerable students who are not going to get the education and the schooling that they need to succeed because of this decision that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have now made.
- [14:11]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I mean, I was talking about this with Randy Weingarten yesterday, the head of the American Federation of Teachers. And she and I were both pointing out, I mean, if you look at the top states that have the largest share of receiving funding from the federal government for K through 12 education, you know, it's Mississippi, it's Montana, it's Kentucky, it's Alaska, it's a lot of red states, it's a lot of MAGA states. And so, you know, the people have done this to themselves. I mean, and Trump was out there on the campaign trail saying he wanted to gut the Department of Education to get rid of it. And, you know, do folks not look at these kinds of numbers? I guess we're looking at them now, I suppose.
- [14:55]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah. No, you're right. I mean, look, as a country, we can't say that we were warned about a lot of this stuff, and they're executing on it now because two things. Donald Trump doesn't have to stand for reelection. I also don't think, Jim, that he cares. I don't think he. And Elon Musk and Stephen Miller and these guys, I don't think they give a shit what happens to the Republican Party after he's out of office. I really don't think they care whether Republicans control Congress, whether there's a Republican president in 2029, unless it's him, because he throws away the Constitution. I think they're just going after this radical transformation. They're trying to enrich these billionaires who he has formed as part of an oligarchy. He's trying to enrich himself and his family, and that's about it.
- [15:42]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. No, and I mean, you're right about not giving a shit. I mean, I think that, you know, they've gotten to a point and Donald Trump has gotten to a point where he's like, hey, I'm going to go for broke here. You know, I beat all the odds I got back in there. I'm going to do this campaign of revenge and retribution and, you know, in Project 2025, and to hell with everybody, you know, who cares. And if the Republicans don't, you know, catch wind of this in time and come to their senses and try to slow him down, I, I suppose he. He may well take him or take all of them down with him. I wanted to ask you about immigration because there's been this. This battle going on between Trump and Judge Boasberg over the Venezuelan migrants that were taken down to El Salvador today. According to the New York Times, the federal judge handling the case expressed skepticism about the Trump administration using this policy. Alien Enemies act, even though we're not in the middle of a war to deport these Venezuelan immigrants. What have been your thoughts on this?
- [16:50]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah, I mean, look, they defied a court order. The court ordered them to take these folks, bring these folks back to the United States while they were in midair, that there should be due process for these people. And when you first hear the story, you read the story, you hear, oh, you know, they say these. It's all these people that are criminal gang members. And there aren't a lot of people when they hear that, that are automatically sympathetic to the people on that plane that are being taken to El Salvador. But when you step back and think about the consequences of a president ignoring a judicial order, and you start to think how it may affect not only those guys there. And by the way, they never even said what those folks, what crimes they had committed or what wrong they had done to not give them some due process, but that it would not only affect them, but that it will start to affect more of us as Americans and our own fundamental constitutional rights. Because he's not going to stop there. He's not going to just, you know, stop with ignoring things that affect, you know, folks that are here that are undocumented. He's going to slowly start to. To move into other constitutional rights that affect all Americans.
- [18:04]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I mean, you know, and we should note, it's been reported that, that the lawyers for some of these immigrants have said, no, they were not in a gang. They had tattoos that looked like, you know, gang members. I think one of the immigrants had a tattoo that was an homage to his favorite soccer team or something like that. And so, you know, of course, they just. It sounds like what they did was they racially profiled, they gang profiled, and they said, oh, well, they look Hispanic and they've got some tattoos. Let's deport them. Let's put them on a plane to El Salvador. Meanwhile, I mean, we should know Pete Heath has a bunch of tattoos as well that are sinister looking and he's the Secretary of Defense, but we'll put that to the side. How much of this is just flat.
- [18:49]
Joaquin Castro
Out racism from Trump and those guys? I mean, a good bit of it, yeah. I mean, it's racial profiling. That's why not only have undocumented people been affected, but also legal permanent residents have been affected. US Citizens have even been affected by it. And again, if it continues, I think he's just gonna get worse and worse, and that's what we're risking. I mean, look, if you judge somebody just by the tattoos that they've got, literally like half of San Antonio, you would round up or profile, you know, and, and want to get them out of here. I mean, you've got. So. But that's where we are. That's what they're doing. There's no thought that goes into it. There's no verification. There's no due process. They're just pulling these people and, you know, just get out of here. And then they're not even sending them to their home country. They're sending them to El Salvador.
- [19:43]
Matt Friend
Yeah.
- [19:44]
Jim Acosta
What's that all about? Is that even legal?
- [19:47]
Joaquin Castro
Yeah, I mean, that's out There as kind of this mercenary offering to be the world's jail. And, you know, and, yeah, I mean, just sending him to a hellhole with no process at all, like no charge and nothing.
- [19:59]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And apparently Trump said today, or he put it on Truth Social, that the people who are vandalizing Teslas may end up in that El Salvador in prison, too. So, I mean, you know, you know, it's another day that ends in why. But, you know, Congressman, I did want to ask you about this, because I know you and I talked about this. What the Pentagon has been doing with the erasing of history, taking down these websites or articles on websites that pertain to veterans and, and, and people who have obviously passed away long, long time ago. People like Jackie Robinson, the Navajo Code talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen, all in this, you know, all in the name of this DEI purge, this quote, unquote, DEI purge that Pete Hegseth has been trying to do over at the Pentagon. It has been so slappily, sloppily, sloppily handled that people are just, just fired up. And I just wonder what you think about this. I mean, Colin Powell is another one of them. I was talking about that earlier in the week. I mean, it's just an outrage. And it just goes to show you, like the Venezuelan migrants, they're just. It's a. It's a shotgun flamethrower approach to all of this. That doesn't make any sense.
- [21:14]
Joaquin Castro
Well, and it's a real slap in the face to so many of our veterans and our communities, because literally every community and group of people in this country, women, Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, I mean, everybody, people from all communities have given their lives for this country in different war and in service throughout time, throughout the history of the country. And when I first started hearing those stories, I was one of the folks that led the effort to get Fort Hood renamed for General Cavazos. There's all the Latino Americans that have served over time. There's only one base in the United States named for this Latino general, which Hegseth is looking at, perhaps changing back now. But I thought about, in my district, there is a group of veterans from Edgewood High School who graduated in 1968. And the Edgewood veterans honor those, their brethren who died in the Vietnam War. And every Memorial Day, they have a ceremony and they have a large crowd that comes out to remember these folks, to honor the service of those who served, but most of all to remember those who passed. And so many folks volunteered or got drafted back then to go to Vietnam. And to think that the contributions of those people or folks like them would be erased, literally erased and whitewashed because Donald Trump considers them per se, unqualified is just offensive. It really is a slap face. And everybody that I've talked to about it since it broke, that news broke, folks have been so angry that, you know, that this, that people's contributions and their service.
- [23:06]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [23:07]
Joaquin Castro
Would embrace like that.
- [23:08]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I mean, Jackie Robinson, I mean, the Pentagon has to had to reverse course. They put out a statement saying, of course we love Jackie Robinson and all this other stuff. And, you know, it's just laughable because, I mean, one of the things that I've been thinking about is I remember I was there when Donald Trump said after Charlottesville there were very fine people on both sides, and the reason why he got fired up over this, or he claimed to get fired up over that, was because they were trying to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. And his take at the time was, well, we shouldn't be erasing history, we shouldn't be taking down statues. But if it's minority people, if it's black, Latino, Native American, Asian people who have made contributions to American society, fought and died in wars or served their country, and then went on to do remarkable things like Jackie Robinson, it's okay to just erase that. I mean, has anybody in the White House press corps asked the President about this? I mean, this is just one of those things where it just goes to show you the hypocrisy and the inconsistency is maddening.
- [24:13]
Joaquin Castro
Well, no. And absolutely. And already, by the way, if you look at history textbooks that are used in public schools, for example, throughout the country, a lot of this history is already missing. It's already not being told and shared. And so now the shreds of it that are out there are being erased by Donald Trump and Elon Musk and this whole cabal of people. And it's an incredible shame. And, you know, and really what Donald Trump is trying to do is to set this standard where if you're African American, if you're Latino, if you're a woman, if you're gay, that you're just automatically because of who you are, your skin color or your identity, that you're unqualified, it doesn't matter what your experience is, what your credentials are, what your resume says, because of who you are, you're unqualified. And that's going to have a profound effect, not just on erasing history and on who holds public Jobs, who's working at the Pentagon or the Department of Health and Human Services. But also, Jim, it's going to affect the private sector when people from the groups start applying for jobs at accounting firms, at marketing firms, at law firms, whatever. I'm telling you, you're going to start to feel it, right?
- [25:35]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [25:36]
Joaquin Castro
In some industries, it was already tough to break in, right?
- [25:39]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [25:40]
Joaquin Castro
But you're going to feel it even more people, because of what this guy is doing.
- [25:44]
Jim Acosta
There's no question about that. And what they're trying to say is if you are black, Latino, Asian, if you're of a minority race, if you're gay, lesbian, any kind of background that differs from a white Christian male, you got that job because of dei. That's what they're trying to say. They're trying to say any accomplishment that you have is dei. And that is outright just bullshit. I mean, it is just unbelievable bullshit. And you're absolutely right that the lingering effect of all of this may be on corporate America, which Stephen Miller was doing. He was attacking DEI when Trump was out of office, when he was just a disgraced ex president. And so, of course, they're going to be leaning on this in both the public and the private sector. And it's got to be. It's got to be stopped. It's. It's outrageous.
- [26:37]
Joaquin Castro
No, it absolutely is. I mean, it really is a kind of answer that is. That is growing in our society because he. He started it.
- [26:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And we should note, Joaquin, you didn't you go to a place called Stanford or. Where did you go again?
- [26:55]
Joaquin Castro
Many years ago? Yeah, it's a pretty good school.
- [26:58]
Jim Acosta
Did you study to get in there? What did you do? Did you.
- [27:02]
Joaquin Castro
I did.
- [27:03]
Jim Acosta
How'd you do that?
- [27:05]
Joaquin Castro
I'd never really been away from home when I went. My brother and I, we showed up. My dad bought us the cheapest plane ticket he could afford and, you know, showed up with three bags each and then came back home for a year. And then I'd never been east of Houston, Texas, when I left for Boston, Massachusetts, to go to Harvard Law School. And I got better at packing, so I had two bags this time, and showed up for the first time at Logan Airport in 1997, and was there for three years and, you know, and then with a lot of brilliant and bright people. But I learned, Jim, one last thing, because I know you've got Matt coming on. I realized when I was there, I was sitting in class at Harvard Law School, and I was. I realized these are some of the brightest and smartest people from all over the world. I realized that they were just like the people that I sat in class with at Jefferson High School on the west side of San Antonio. And that if you had put some of my classmates from Jefferson in that classroom with us, they would have done just as well as I did or just as well as the people that were in that room at Harvard Law School.
- [28:08]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, that's right. You got a brother. I think his name is Julian. As he, he did okay, too. He's done some decent stuff. Right.
- [28:14]
Joaquin Castro
He's not as smart as I am, but.
- [28:15]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I know you point that all. If only he could keep up with you, then we'd have something there, but.
- [28:21]
Matt Friend
All right.
- [28:22]
Jim Acosta
Well, Congressman Joaquin Cash, I noticed you were trying to wrap up the interview as we were talking about you and your, your background. That's how humble you are. And I just want folks to know out there, I know Joaquin Castro fairly well off, you know, when we're off camera and so on. And you're very humble, and it's very nice of you to be that way, but you should be proud of what you've accomplished in this country. And I think a lot of Latino people in this country look up to you and your brother as, you know, something they would like to be. So hats off to you.
- [28:52]
Joaquin Castro
Good to be with you, Jim.
- [28:54]
Jim Acosta
All right. Good to see you. Thanks, Congressman. Good to see you. All right. Am I allowed to say nice things about a congressman? Am I allowed to say, you know, he's a Latino? You know, I, I, I take that. I tend to take a little pride in that, in seeing somebody who was of Hispanic descent. Latino descent, doing well. And he's, he has done well. All right. As. And the congressman did the tease for me. He did the, the segue for me. Everybody. It's been a rough week. It's been a rough couple of months. I mean, maybe for yours truly as well. I, I don't know, has it been rough or has it been great? It's been a little both. I don't know if you saw the news, but the show's been doing well. We're, my substack's doing pretty, pretty okay. We're up to, we're getting close to 300,000 subscribers. And earlier this week, I had my first paid subscriber event where, you know, the paid subscribers really appreciate all of you. Everybody who's watching, paid free, mooching off your friend's password. Whatever you're doing, it feels great. And I just, I'm Just so tickled by the whole experience and how well this has gone so far. And my thanks to Congressman Joaquin Castro. He was terrific there. All right, time to bring in. Oh, boy. You know what? I didn't even think. Let's see here. Because I probably should have asked Matt what his login is, because how am I going to find him? Is that him right there? Let's see. Oh, boy. No, it's not Merry Friend. It's Matt Friend. Let's see here. We're going to try to bring in Matt Friend, the man, the myth, the legend. How is he that he's that young and he's already this accomplished? That's. That's one thing I want to know. He's. He's been doing great. He's on the comedy circuit. He's coming to Washington, D.C. let's, let's see. Is it this mad friend? I probably need to text him and find out what is. It's Friday, folks. As I said, It's 5 o'clock somewhere. Trying to figure out. Let's see. Matt Friend. Let's see. Is he on? Oh, he's not on yet. Let's see here. Hang on. Stand by, everybody. What is your handle for substack? It's Acosta. See, I'm texting him as we speak to make sure I get him on there. And the beautiful thing about this show is that the, the number of people who are watching is going up as I'm, as I'm doing this. Let's see here. Hopefully he is coming on here shortly. Ah, the Matt Friend. Okay, so whoever just regular Matt Friend is out there, I have totally screwed the po pooch here. You're, you're, you're behind the scenes. You're in the inner workings of the gym. Oh, it's, it's the, it's the Matt Friend that has the, the really cute picture of him there. He. He just looks so nice. Such a handsome young man, work so hard, telling his jokes, doing his impersonations. Has anybody seen Matt? I'm sure you've seen Matt. Of course you've seen Matt. He does, he does this impersonation of. I can't remember, what's the guy's name? Oh, yeah, the President of the United States. All right, Matt's gonna. And I think he's. Oh, he's popping up now. There's the magical box. And there he is. Oh, my. It's fitting.
- [32:32]
Matt Friend
Jim, it's thrilling to be with you. This is Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. This is the only way I can begin the show with one of America's finest. Well, not African American journalists, but a regular American. Okay. I'm sorry. Jim, how are you? Good to see you.
- [32:46]
Jim Acosta
I'm doing great. Good to see you, buddy. When you were doing.
- [32:50]
Matt Friend
You're the best.
- [32:51]
Jim Acosta
You are the best. When you were doing the Mitch McConnell freeze thing, I was like, is it the WI fi? Is it. Is it. No, It's a Mitch McConnell impersonate.
- [32:58]
Matt Friend
It's not the Wi Fi. It's just Mitch McConnell.
- [33:00]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [33:00]
Matt Friend
It's so good to see. Congratulations on the new show. It's deserved. I'm glad everybody's following you. I actually told you, I remember we were sitting months ago and I said, this is kind of the way of the future and you're going to do a great job. And now here we are.
- [33:14]
Jim Acosta
And now here we are. It's going well and I have to handle the equipment, which is never a good idea. Yeah. And I realized as I got into this, I said, oh, yeah. I didn't ask Matt, how the hell am I going to find him? But, you know, here we are. That's okay. It all worked out. That's why I have the second phone.
- [33:30]
Matt Friend
You'd think the 26 year old would be the one more. Easier. Easier to access the technology. But I was just waiting.
- [33:38]
Jim Acosta
You were just waiting and just sort of like, you know, hoping and praying that I would come to you as soon as possible.
- [33:44]
Matt Friend
It was like you were waiting and praying, Jim. I was hoping and praying. I was. I was.
- [33:51]
Jim Acosta
How have you been? So you're on the road. I see all these tour dates. You're coming to D.C. in May. There's exciting.
- [33:57]
Matt Friend
Yeah, no, it's been crazy. I've been on the road doing an hour of stand up. A lot of people know me from my impressions, you know, a lot of people know that I call Jim just a terrible, nasty guy. One of the worst people I've ever seen. Just a horrible guy. But of course, that was Trump saying that. But yeah, an hour of standup on the road when I come to dc, hopefully we can properly film and reenact that moment of Trump going crazy on you. Maybe we can reenact that properly in the show.
- [34:26]
Jim Acosta
We really should know. There's no question about it. We. That that will happen. Just put that down. It's going to happen. Maybe we'll do a live show. We'll do a live substack. Can we do that or is that a violation of some.
- [34:35]
Matt Friend
We have. We got to do it. We have. That'd be really Fun.
- [34:39]
Jim Acosta
All right, so let's. Let's do. Let's talk about some news, because I. I don't know if you saw this. Trump still wants Canada to be the 51st state. It's been a while.
- [34:48]
Matt Friend
Trudeau.
- [34:49]
Jim Acosta
Right, Governor Trudeau.
- [34:52]
Joaquin Castro
What is go.
- [34:53]
Jim Acosta
What the fuck is going on with the 51st state? You're not Canadian, are you?
- [34:57]
Matt Friend
I mean, I honestly, I don't know if he really wants to do this stuff or if it's just, like, the inner TV person in him who's just looking at buzzy topics to get us all freaking out and talk about it on each other's substack. Because, like, I just did a weekend of shows in Naples, Florida. The most red crowd I've. I've had. And basically I said, you can't get mad at me for doing my impression of Trump, because all I'm doing is repeating exactly what he says. He's saying the craziest shit. We're gonna make Canada the 51st state. We're gonna ban transgender masters. Men punching women in the face in volleyball. It's a disaster. Mike Johnson is probably a lesbian. I don't know. I just made that up. But okay. By the way, I'm a comedian, everybody. So kudos to Jim for letting me do this. No, it's crazy. I don't know what the deal with the Canada thing is. It's like, every day it just gets even crazier.
- [35:55]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I know. And it's. I. I've been comparing them lately, and this may be a dated reference to the old cn. Say, remember the. The circular plastic thing, and you'd pull the string and the thing would spin around, and it'll be. This is a jock remembering gym.
- [36:08]
Matt Friend
But I know what you're. I know.
- [36:08]
Jim Acosta
Well, you. You. You were born with, like, I don't know, a PlayStation in your crib. But. No, but I mean, it just seems like you pull the string. Canada is the 51st state.
- [36:20]
Matt Friend
It's unbelievable.
- [36:21]
Jim Acosta
You pull the string, he says some other crazy cockamamie bullshit. I mean, that's basically who he is right now.
- [36:26]
Matt Friend
And then you have Ted Cruz, who's staring at a Tesla, saying, by golly, that is the coolest dang thing I've ever seen in my life. By the way, amazing image. Ted Cruz post to his social media. How cool is this Tesla, the cybertruck. And the funny part about the picture is that even the cybertruck is trying not to get close to Ted Cruz. Like, distance.
- [36:46]
Jim Acosta
It's true.
- [36:47]
Matt Friend
And. But it's crazy. Conor McGregor is at the White House.
- [36:50]
Jim Acosta
What is that?
- [36:51]
Matt Friend
I'm convinced that Trump just wants to add three sides to the Pentagon so McGregor can fight in it.
- [36:57]
Jim Acosta
There you go. I think that's exactly what's going. And what about Elon Musk? Is there any kind of an Elon Musk impersonation in the works? Are we workshopping?
- [37:05]
Matt Friend
If I do that, I will never be able to have a sense sex again. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna keep working on that because my. My sex appeal just gets greatly lost. I've been working my headset. My Tucker, your hexeth. Oh, just slick that. Just slick the hair back. My J.D. vance. Like, let me just sit. My memaw, my pee paw. They all agree. They love Jim Acosta's substack. They really do. And I would do more JD but the thing is, I don't have enough eyeliner in my bathroom room. Oh, he's into beauty. He should do like a makeup tutorial on YouTube.
- [37:38]
Jim Acosta
I think it's true. I don't know. I mean, you know, he. Jd, he's, he's like in a quest to be relevant. I think that's what it is with him. It's. He's like, he knows Elon Musk is basically the co president.
- [37:50]
Matt Friend
Something's going on. Yeah, well, you know, it's funny, like, because the broligarchy at Trump's inauguration, he had, like, every oligarchy had Musk. You had Bezos, you had Zuckerberg, you had Zuckerberg stuff staring at Bezos, his wife's breasts, or as I call them, her Instagram reels. And I'm thinking, I'm just happy that one tech CEO was not there. Noticeably absent was Bill Gates. Because I do this in my standup, but I feel like, Jim, Bill Gates sounds like Kermit the Frog. And it's very distracting. Bill Gates is always going to break out into Rainbow Connection. He's like, well, Jim, it's really exciting to be on your sub stack. I've been researching a lot about different vaccination options, and it's really just wondering, why are there so many people without vaccines? What's on the other. It's like it just comes out of nowhere. I don't know. It's brightening.
- [38:39]
Jim Acosta
Someday we'll find it. The rainbow connection. Yeah. Yeah. No, that was brilliant. That was amazing. You brought us a little Mitch McConnell earlier.
- [38:49]
Matt Friend
I did.
- [38:50]
Jim Acosta
And. And he's, you know, there are the glasses.
- [38:54]
Matt Friend
That's true. Jim, what's the question?
- [38:57]
Jim Acosta
The question is what's the deal with the glasses? I mean, I think we need to know what to deal with the glasses.
- [39:04]
Matt Friend
Well, listen, let me just begin by saying what a real privilege it is to be dipping my toes into this new medium. I've always loved speaking with Gilma Costa reporter who cares about all of it.
- [39:21]
Jim Acosta
And he's frozen, folks. That is not. That is not an unstable Internet connection.
- [39:26]
Matt Friend
He's been freezing, by the way I talk about this in my stand up. Like, I do think we have a problem in our Congress and that is that I feel like our government is too old. And I'm fascinated by the fact that there's a minimum age to run for president, but there's no maximum. And it's not ageist. It's just the fact, like there are literally people dying on the job. Like, there's just no way to get them out. And I observed, like, you can tell how old Congress really is whenever they invite a young technology executive or CEO to come in and testify. And it just looks like their chance to get tech support. Like you have like 22 year old Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa interviewing the CEO of TikTok. Like, he's at the Genius Bar. He's like, I understand that China is stealing our data, but how do I turn the brightness up on my iPhone? I mean, it's like, what's happening right now? This is not.
- [40:15]
Jim Acosta
What's the deal with the circle thing? The circle thing keeps going and it's going in circles. Yeah.
- [40:19]
Matt Friend
Well, who is Alexa and why does she keep talking? It's just crazy. Yeah. Term limits are probably necessary. What do you think about the Steve Bannon statement that Trump is going to seek a third term? That's going to happen, I think.
- [40:32]
Jim Acosta
I will tell you this. Listen, I think Steve Bannon is a little jealous that he's not the Elon Musk in all of this right now. So he's starting, he's starting to stir up some. But at the same time, when Steve Bannon is saying things like that, it's coming from somewhere. And I think Trump absolutely wants to run for a third term, which means that, Matt, you're going to be doing a Trump impersonation until like the year 2040.
- [40:56]
Matt Friend
It could be Dan Jr. Jim. It could be Dan Jimmy. It could be. It's unbelievable what's going on. You know, Tim Walls is on like Newsom's podcast.
- [41:04]
Jim Acosta
I mean, I saw that.
- [41:06]
Matt Friend
I don't know what Newsom is doing with his. He's like moving his hands. He's on like some. Something is going to. What's up?
- [41:12]
Jim Acosta
The Newsom thing, he kind of has like, this. I'm this 1940s gangster voice, and Newsom.
- [41:17]
Matt Friend
Both need to just probably put handcuffs on and just stop moving their hands so much. Like, they both have this hand problem. Not sure what's going on there, but True. But yeah. In my show, though, I do. I kind of talk about all this stuff, so I hope if everybody's in D.C. that they get tickets and they come on.
- [41:31]
Jim Acosta
Well, one thing we didn't talk about is Bernie Sanders. Bernie had a town hall last night with aoc. That was. Yeah, that was fiery stuff.
- [41:39]
Matt Friend
Yeah. Well, my. My worry about Bernie was that if he ever does run for president again, that Trump's insult will be too accurate. Like, he'll be like, this guy looks like he's having a heart attack. And then Bernie's going to be like, oh, that's because I actually am having a heart attack right now. I don't know why Bernie always looks like he's conducting a very tiny Jewish orchestra with his hands all the time. Yeah, Bernie.
- [42:01]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [42:01]
Matt Friend
Interesting. I don't. I will say, like, you know, it's an interesting moment because again, it just feels like the Democratic Party just so slobbered.
- [42:13]
Jim Acosta
And when you say, you know, Trump might run for a third term, I mean, my answer to that is Barack Obama. If Barack Obama. That's true.
- [42:21]
Matt Friend
Thank you. Now, let me just say on behalf of Michelle, Sasha and Malia, Jim Acosta is not only one of the finest journalists that we've ever seen, but the guy is damn good looking, too. And George Clooney, ditch the good night, good luck. Let's go to the journalists of the present and let's get the Acosta show on Broadway. Thank you. Thank you so much.
- [42:50]
Jim Acosta
And you'd be the closing act. I mean, that's how we would have to do. We'd have to say, ladies and gentlemen, Matt, Fran can bring the hat.
- [42:55]
Matt Friend
I think I would be. Yeah. No, but isn't it weird, Jim, like, we've met years ago, and it'll be interesting to see how the political landscape takes shape in about a year or a year and a half. I mean, because the election's gonna start again in like a year. Yeah.
- [43:10]
Jim Acosta
I mean, I guess that if we do slip into some kind of dystopian oligarchy or kings monarchical situation where Trump is the king and he's just never. You would be set. I mean, you could just, like, you could. I mean, do we have any idea what he Thinks of your impersonation, which is the best. It is the best. Best Trump impersonation out there.
- [43:29]
Matt Friend
I don't know.
- [43:31]
Jim Acosta
And he wants to be at the Kennedy center, so, you know, maybe you could be at the Kennedy Center.
- [43:35]
Matt Friend
I mean, we all know that. I would say he doesn't like to be made fun of that much. Right.
- [43:39]
Jim Acosta
But I mean, the funny thing is.
- [43:40]
Matt Friend
Again, like, I'm just repeating what he's saying. Like, I performed at the correspondence dinner earlier this year, last year, and just stabbing. And I got in trouble because I made these jokes and I said, I am killing this dinner harder than Kristi Noem kills the puppies. I'm on fire. Like the guy outside the courthouse. And all that was. Was repeating news headlines. I'm sorry that the news is so outrageous that a comedian basically repeating it is such a controversy.
- [44:10]
Jim Acosta
No, it's true. And I mean, why they're even bothering having a correspondence dinner this time around, to me is. Is beyond me. Like, if Trump is. Is saying the Associated Press, screw you, you're out of here. What he's telling, you know, the press corps, we're going to decide who comes in the Oval Office. I mean, I'm sure you saw this, that Marjorie Taylor Greene's boyfriend was asking Zelensky questions about why he wasn't wearing a suit. You know, when Marjorie Taylor Greene's boyfriend is in the Oval Office asking questions, we're in a bad place. And why. Why have a correspondence dinner? Just let the mat. Friend, you know?
- [44:43]
Matt Friend
Well, well, we can't stop these great American traditions because there might be a loon. I mean, there might be, like, because the presidency is, however you view it, dangerous. Whatever's going on, we can't stop this great tradition.
- [45:00]
Jim Acosta
Well, that's true. Maybe we can.
- [45:02]
Matt Friend
That would be backing down, Jim. That wouldn't be right.
- [45:04]
Jim Acosta
And we don't back down. We don't back down.
- [45:07]
Matt Friend
I don't believe in that. We don't. When they go high or when they go low, we go high. I do think that the Democratic Party needs a fundamental shift because they just seem. I'm going to be Bill Maher. Okay, Right. And finally, you know what the problem is with the left? They seem too lame. They do. They gotta. It needs a revamping. It really does, because you have these, like, Charlie Kirk people. There's, like. It just doesn't. It doesn't. It's not.
- [45:35]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, Charlie Kirk, he's begging to be made fun of. And I mean, like, all of these people, you know, like Megyn Kelly, And Joe Rogan. What the hell are they going to do for the next four years? They're just going to be like, yeah, Trump is right. He's amazing. He's so. He's so incredible. Like, I just don't know. Like, to me, I would much rather listen to a Howard Stern, you know? Right.
- [45:56]
Matt Friend
Well, nice of you to cue me up. Right? That was our. Let me ask you this, right? Jim Acosta. I mean, he's a sexy guy. And I just want to know this. You've been to many interviews, right? Do celebrities contact you wanting to date you because you're a good looking guy? I mean, who doesn't want to bang Jim Acosta, right? That was Howard. I didn't say that. Howard said it. I didn't say it.
- [46:17]
Jim Acosta
There's been a lot of, like, having sex with me references in this.
- [46:21]
Matt Friend
I'm just going to say queuing it up. It's substack, baby. It's a new world. Howard. Bill, you've gonna get mad. I mean, go, come on.
- [46:28]
Jim Acosta
This is like substack. And only fans coming together is basically what's happening.
- [46:32]
Matt Friend
Kind of all the same thing.
- [46:34]
Jim Acosta
I mean, really, it is kind of the same thing. I.
- [46:36]
Joaquin Castro
It's true.
- [46:36]
Jim Acosta
It's true.
- [46:37]
Matt Friend
No, but, yeah, but it's.
- [46:39]
Jim Acosta
And the only fans is coming. I didn't mention that. But that's later.
- [46:43]
Matt Friend
Can't go away because that is a moment where the comedian roasts the president. Now, obviously, in this case, the president will not be there, but it's comedy. And if we lose comedy and stop doing that, then we really will veer into a dictatorship. And that's a problem.
- [46:57]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah. And then all we can do is stay home and watch, you know, movies like Jurassic park starring Jeff Goldblum. I mean, there's that.
- [47:08]
Matt Friend
Thank you. Thank you. Very Queuing me up. Of course.
- [47:10]
Jim Acosta
That was a terrible segue.
- [47:12]
Matt Friend
Lynn Goldblum would love to appear perhaps with a Mr. Acosta live and a jazz show. Yes, of course. Yeah. I'm just like the Goldblum. It's just the greatest.
- [47:24]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. I was going to say, I think you and I have talked about this before, but let's do it on substack. What is your favorite person to do? Because I think my favorite, I mean, my favorite of yours might be Howard Stern, but I think you like Jeff Goldblum.
- [47:37]
Matt Friend
I do like doing Goldblum. I went on stage with him. It depends. Like, Paul Giamatti is very fun. That's a very fun one. I'd like to do him. He Screams. He gets loud. He gets crazy. You know, I like to do the Stern, obviously, the Trump happens different actors. I like to do weird executives like Tim Cook. Good morning, Cupertino. It's great to be here. I don't know, it just depends on who I'm talking to. And now, Jim, I'm being myself, God damn it. I'm myself.
- [48:11]
Jim Acosta
You do you.
- [48:12]
Matt Friend
When I'm on stage, I have this hour of stand up, and that. That's what I'm focused on.
- [48:18]
Jim Acosta
No, and I will say if. If Matt Fern is coming to your town, definitely go see him, because you will have just a great time and laugh.
- [48:25]
Matt Friend
We're going to get you in the show in dc.
- [48:27]
Jim Acosta
I'm going to do this. I'm going to get on stage. Should I just, like, emerge from the backstage and just join the act as.
- [48:33]
Matt Friend
A. Jim, here's what we're going to do. We're going to reenact it. Okay? Jim, you're a terrible, nasty person. You should be ashamed of yourself. The substack's a disaster. And so are you, Jim.
- [48:43]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, and we'll have some. We'll have an intern come in and try to grab the microphone.
- [48:47]
Matt Friend
We'll do something like that. Yeah, let's do that. Absolutely.
- [48:52]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely, Matt. I mean, it's always an incredible pleasure to do this with you, Jim.
- [48:59]
Matt Friend
Now you're making it sexual. What the hell's your problem?
- [49:02]
Jim Acosta
Oh, my goodness. Hello.
- [49:06]
Matt Friend
How liberating is this? Because you have this. We've hung out a few times, and I always said we've hung out. Like you've had this. You're a hilarious guy. And in other, you know, ways of communicating, I'll put it. Yeah, it's tougher. And now with Substack, I really think people are going to get the full Acosta experience.
- [49:25]
Jim Acosta
The full Acosta is like the full Monty. Is that what you're trying to say?
- [49:28]
Matt Friend
Did I say what I wanted your name of your new show to be called?
- [49:33]
Jim Acosta
We can say it. Yes, we. You and I talked about this. We were going to call it.
- [49:37]
Matt Friend
Yeah, well, I was. Basically, I said to Jim, the world is so crazy. You need to just have a show called Fuck it with Jim Acosta. And there's like a little button. Fuck it with Jim Acosta. Like what? Honestly, who cares? Fuck it.
- [49:51]
Jim Acosta
I know. Fuck it. Exactly. Fuck it.
- [49:54]
Matt Friend
That'll probably be the. By the way, this is going to catch on now.
- [49:56]
Jim Acosta
I guarantee it is going to be. This is going to be the thing that catches on. And basically the show is Fuck It. I mean, it is kind of what I'm doing right now. It, you know, it's not called Fuck it. Maybe we'll.
- [50:06]
Matt Friend
I mean, fantastic. Because I'm not wearing any pants, Jim.
- [50:09]
Jim Acosta
Okay. I'm not wearing any pants. Please don't. Oh, my goodness. Wow.
- [50:16]
Matt Friend
The news, it's. It's unbelievable. Like, every time I know the Department of Education dismantling, like, it's like every.
- [50:24]
Jim Acosta
Day, Donald Trump is saying, fuck it. Why can't we say fuck it?
- [50:28]
Matt Friend
How about, like, he takes away Hunter Biden, like, the security clearances for his kids. Rather, Trump taking away the Biden security clearance. It is pretty. It's pretty wild. It's pretty wild. I mean, and it'll be interesting, too. I'm just most interested in the succession plan. I mean, I've just been thinking about this topic because he was asked in an interview like a month ago, Trump, would he endorse J.D. vance? And then he said, well, we're going to take a look at that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. So who knows? Do you have a prediction, Jim? Who would you say is the successor, assuming there is not a third Trump term?
- [51:02]
Jim Acosta
I, you know, I am. I think it would be just poetic justice. Sweet. Poetic justice of JD Vance just does not happen for him. Because, I mean, this is the guy who literally said that Donald Trump may be America's Hitler. And he. Yes, he decided to be his vice president.
- [51:20]
Matt Friend
We're kind of. Now. Now, let's say it is J.D. vance on the Democratic side. Who's your prediction? Because I really do think it cannot. I don't think it can be a political figure right now unless there's no 2008 Barack Obama type figure, which I think is highly unlikely. I have not seen a single person with that level of charisma.
- [51:40]
Jim Acosta
No, there's nobody. And that's what I think we're in the middle of right now. Not to get too serious, but like, these town halls and everything, everything to me is like the beginning of the next movement.
- [51:49]
Matt Friend
People are saying, who cares about town hall? Like, it's like, we gotta stop all this bullshit. I mean, it's like, I'm 26. No one cares about that. We want a funny, cool person. I want to get up on one of these debate stages just so I could do Trump to, like, just annihilate all these people. Like, yeah, you know what, Donald? You're a fat pig.
- [52:09]
Jim Acosta
And not be worried about being sent To El Salvador.
- [52:12]
Matt Friend
That's true.
- [52:12]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [52:12]
Matt Friend
I mean, but it's like, I would love to be on a debate because remember that moment on the debate stage where it was Marco Rubio and he was caught in like this robotic answer where he basically gave the same delivered answer like three times in a row. And then Chris Christie called him out and he said, like, you're stuck in a loop. They all are doing this.
- [52:33]
Jim Acosta
They're all on this. That's true. They're all in this bullshit, you know, going through the motions, kind of predictable thing, and people are like, fuck it. They're fucking, they're saying Polish.
- [52:43]
Matt Friend
But he was cool, though. Like, I haven't seen anybody do that. And it might have to be somebody who's not currently, like, maybe like a Democratic version of a Reagan, like an actor who goes political. I don't know. I feel like I think you're onto something. I think it will be somebody running, which is hilarious. I'm not running. I'm not running.
- [53:03]
Jim Acosta
No, I know there are lots of little messages at the bottom that tell us, I mean, people tell me I should run. And you know that, you know that. And 25 cents won't get you a cup of coffee. But, no, but I mean, what you, what you see by and large, I think is people who just want something different, they want, they're like, what's, what's happening right now ain't working.
- [53:25]
Matt Friend
Is that funny? Isn't it funny that we have this conversation, like, every four years, they want something different, as if anything is actually going to change?
- [53:32]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, that's true. That's true. It is, it is. You're absolutely true. Which is why, you know, and some of the messages at the bottom are saying that every Friday should be Friday. Perhaps that is what we will do on the Jim Acosta show. Every Friday will be it.
- [53:45]
Matt Friend
Friday it.
- [53:46]
Jim Acosta
And we will just say it every Friday. Yeah, I, I mean, I do think that. Well, you asked me a serious question and I, I'm trying to bend it back towards comedy.
- [53:56]
Matt Friend
You got to bend it, folks. You got to, you got to bend it. You got to bend it, right?
- [54:01]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, you gotta really bend it. No, I, I think that I, I, I'm more hopeful for your generation than any other generation that I've ever seen before, Matt. And I, I think Gen Z is going to help us out here because I thought, you know, here I am, the Gen Xer I. You know, we had Nirvana, we had Pearl Jam, we had all this crazy, you know, revolutionary grunge stuff back in the 90s. And we were all like, yes, we're to be the gener. And then my generation has just turned out to be a sack of shit, too. And I'm just like, God damn it. You know?
- [54:34]
Matt Friend
But, you know, by the way, am I freezing like McConnell, or am I glitching? Or am I.
- [54:38]
Jim Acosta
There's a little bit of.
- [54:40]
Matt Friend
Oh, God, is it a problem? There's a little bit. Should I turn my on? I feel. I feel like we need to upgrade your wi fi.
- [54:47]
Jim Acosta
No.
- [54:48]
Matt Friend
Chuck Grassley myself now, I. I don't know about that, though. I mean, because look what happened with Gen Z in the last election, sir. I mean, the Kamala campaign not going on podcasts. I mean, that was a fundamental mistake and a complete misunderstanding of the way the world works. I mean, I'm on YouTube. Like, I consume sub stuff. You know, this is what. How I consume things. Like, I'm 26. No one is watching, like, TV. Like, even we're watching. When you're watching Netflix, you're watching shit on your phone at the same time.
- [55:23]
Jim Acosta
That's right. And I don't give a shit if you're glitching. I mean, I think the glitchy part of this is what makes it fun. So glitch. That's true.
- [55:31]
Matt Friend
You gotta glitch away. You gotta glitch.
- [55:32]
Jim Acosta
Glitch. Nobody glitches like you, Matt.
- [55:35]
Matt Friend
Nobody glitches. No, but seriously, I just think that it's gotta be totally. Whenever I see, like, Democrats now going on talk shows, like when the guy was waving his cane at Trump's joint address, or when, like, they're holding up signs like, it's not gonna work.
- [55:55]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. You're screaming through the TV like, please stop. No, I. I know. I hear you. And everything feels like it's wrong. I mean, that's kind of where we are right now. But that's why I brought you on today, Matt. We need. We needed some Matt Friend in our Friday.
- [56:12]
Matt Friend
Friday. Jim.
- [56:13]
Jim Acosta
Fuck It Friday.
- [56:15]
Matt Friend
This is Johnny Carson here on the program. This. This Friday is a wonderful news personality. You know him from world famous celebrity. Jim Acosta, the new host of Fuck It Friday. Jim, come on out, please. Fuck It Friday.
- [56:29]
Jim Acosta
Weird, wild stuff. Weird, wild stuff.
- [56:31]
Matt Friend
Yeah, that. That's irrelevant.
- [56:33]
Jim Acosta
Something for the boomers there. Well done, you know? Yeah. Literally, this. This just shows you Matt Friend's range when he's out there performing. Yes, Boomers, you can come to the show. He will do an occasional impersonation that appeals to your. Your generation.
- [56:46]
Matt Friend
It's on my instagram at the mad Friend and my website, matt friend.com. so get tickets to D.C. and San Diego, everybody. It's going to be sick. A cost is going to come to dc. We're going to do a live onstage bit and it's going to go viral.
- [56:59]
Jim Acosta
We're going to melt some faces. The great Matt Friend. Thank you for making Fuck It Friday. I think this is the inaugural edition of Fuck It Friday. The amount, the number of times I've said on this show today. But does the SEC regulate this shit? I hope not. For Christ's sake. I'm in trouble.
- [57:20]
Matt Friend
That is the world now. It's crazy, but it's true.
- [57:24]
Jim Acosta
I mean, it is true. Did they do this on Smart list? Did they say fuck a lot on Smart?
- [57:30]
Matt Friend
They say whatever you want on.
- [57:31]
Jim Acosta
Oh, okay. Okay, that's good.
- [57:33]
Matt Friend
Fuck It. This is Will Arnett, and I'm here with Jim Acosta and he's a great guy. No, but again, I want to clue by saying you're fantastic guy. Your fans don't. I don't think personally know you, but guys, he's a. He's. He's one of the great ones. He's fantastic. And I hope this show keeps growing. Yeah, I really do. And follow Jim on Instagram and that's.
- [57:53]
Jim Acosta
What you should do to all the places. Matt, great to see you, my friend.
- [57:57]
Matt Friend
Great to see you. Thanks, Jim.
- [57:59]
Jim Acosta
All right. Love you, buddy. All right.
- [58:00]
Matt Friend
You too. Love Yaddy.
- [58:02]
Jim Acosta
We'll do this soon. I know we don't want to hang out. We're like too two teenagers who don't want to hang up. You hang up first. No, I'll hang up first.
- [58:10]
Matt Friend
Wait, actually, we got to hurry this up because I have. I'm going on Steve Bannon's podcast next.
- [58:14]
Jim Acosta
Oh, way to go. Way to go. In the war room. Thank you, Gavin Newsome. All right, See you later, buddy.
- [58:20]
Matt Friend
Okay.
- [58:21]
Jim Acosta
All right. Yeah, I guess, you know, that was Matt. The great Matt Friend. We all love Matt Friend. He's amazing. I knew. I knew when I booked Matt Friend that this would go completely off the rails. And it totally went completely off the rails. My. Our only hope at this point. Somebody says in 2025, use fuck like a kava. Yes. That's. Basically. That's what we've done now. I've used. I'm hoping and praying. My mom has been asking me, how do I watch your show? How do I watch your show? Can I. How do I do the substack thing? How do I get on YouTube? How do I do this? And Now, I'm never going to explain to my mom how to watch this program because of the number of times I've used the F word today. But I hope all of you will forgive me. I was just letting off some steam on this. Eff it. Friday. Thanks to all of you for watching this week. My thanks to Congressman Joaquin Castro of the great state of Texas, who was very humble during that interview. I hope everybody noticed that at the end when I brought it back to him, I was talking about his background. He was, he was, he was subtly saying that he didn't want to go there. But I, I'm very appreciative of Joaquin Casher for coming on and also, of course, sending out lots of love and hearts to my brother from another mother, Matt friend, who is a juvenile delinquent and brings out the juvenile delinquent in me, which is unfortunate, probably. But anyway, everybody, thanks again for watching this week. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Duke's dad, Jim Acosta. Have a great weekend, everybody.
- [59:54]
Matt Friend
Bye.