Podcast Summary: The Rubin Report

Episode: CNN Liberals Go Silent as Guest Points Out Fact After Fact on Left Wing Violence
Host: Dave Rubin
Date: September 29, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, Dave Rubin dissects the current state of political discourse in America, focusing heavily on what he sees as the decline of sensible liberalism and the rise of left-wing extremism and violence. Rubin highlights high-profile media moments, critiques progressive policies in Democrat-run cities, and responds to recent events like the federal intervention in Portland, attacks on ICE facilities, and the James Comey indictment, using these as evidence of a broader cultural and political collapse on the American left. Rubin’s tone shifts between humorously acerbic and deeply critical, arguing for a return to moderate, pro-America values and calling out what he sees as mainstream media hypocrisy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. CNN Panel: The Absence of Sensible Liberal Voices

• Context: Rubin plays and analyzes a CNN panel segment featuring Scott Jennings (center-right commentator) and Adam Mockler (22-year-old lefty YouTuber from Midas Touch).
• Key Takeaways:
  • Jennings asserts there's an epidemic of left-wing violence, highlighting attacks on ICE and other incidents, and Mockler deflects responsibility, citing his youth and Donald Trump’s rhetoric.
  • Rubin sees this as symptomatic of the left’s intellectual collapse: “There is almost nobody sensible left to put on any of these shows.” (10:20)
  • Mockler’s defense is lampooned: “So you have a 22-year-old kid, who when he gets confronted with some facts, ‘well, I’m just a 22-year-old YouTuber…’” (11:15)

2. Portland: Failed Progressive Policies & Federal Response

• Summary: The ongoing chaos in Portland is framed as the epitome of progressive failure—drug addiction, violence, and anarchist groups taking over the city, ignored or enabled by local Democratic leadership.
• Rubin’s Remarks:
  • Describes the city as “an epic crap hole for about a decade.” (04:05)
  • Applauds the federal intervention: “Finally the federal government has done something. It took Donald Trump getting elected to do it.” (20:45)
  • Highlights the human cost: “You're trying to walk your kid through a park and all hell is breaking loose.” (18:55)
• Notable Quote:
  • “What he would prefer is to be able to walk his dog without someone injecting his dog with meth. That’s baked into the American dream right there.” (22:05)

3. Mainstream Media’s Narrative & Antifa

• Discussion: Rubin rebuts mainstream narratives that downplay antifa and leftist violence, using MSNBC clips and commentary.
• Memorable Line:
  • “If you’re against antifa, you’re against anti-fascists. That they're fighting the fascists, which is just completely backwards, because they are the foot soldiers of the Democrat Party.” (24:30)
• Critique of Media Figures:
  • Mimics MSNBC's rhetorical minimization of violence as "just some busted windows" and contrasts with their outrage when conservatives act.
  • Connects this to broader claims about media complicity: “somehow the road has been slicked up and oiled up by the mainstream media.” (27:30)

4. Contrast with Clinton-Era Democrats

• Key Segment (56:30): Rubin airs a Bill Clinton/Al Gore ad from 1992 to underscore how far Democrats have shifted—highlighting their support for the death penalty, ending welfare as a way of life, and balanced budgets.
• Insight:
  • “Do they sound like Democrats of 2025 or Republicans of 2025?”
  • “Think how out of touch that is... There was something sane once, and now they’ve got the bus and they’ve got the chasm. They don’t know what to do.” (57:30)

5. Bill Maher vs. Jon Stewart: Two Old School Liberals

• Bill Maher:
  • Praised as nearly the last voice of reason on the left, trying to “tell your own side you’re a bunch of morons.” (47:45)
  • Clip: “Stop coming up with radically new and often terrible ideas and in the next breath insist there be no debate about any of it.” (48:30)
• Jon Stewart:
  • Criticized for fully embracing the new left:
    • “Jon Stewart is fully one of the guys with his foot on the pedal. Just like, let’s keep going. Let’s keep demonizing everybody else.” (37:40)
    • Jon Stewart on Trump: “You don’t have to bend over backwards trying to make Trump’s authoritarian power grabs seem like the rule of law. He does not give a f anymore.” (36:00)

6. Recent Left-Wing Attacks on ICE & Political Rhetoric

• Andy Ngo’s Reporting:
  • Ties attacks on ICE facilities to months of far-left incitement, with explicit evidence of doxxing and calls for violence:
    • “Antifa and far left extremists have been releasing names, photos, addresses of agents urging comrades to kill them.” (1:13:00)
  • High-profile Democrats like Rep. Seth Moulton compared ICE to the Gestapo—Rubin highlights how such language feeds radicalization.
• Eric Swalwell’s Comment:
  • Attempts to blame Trump for left-wing shooter’s radicalization; Rubin notes, “You sort of obfuscated around the point that they are both lefties.” (1:19:55)

7. James Comey Indictment: Media Hypocrisy & the Russia Hoax

• Comey Charged:
  • Indicted on two counts, including making a false statement to Congress about authorizing anonymous media sources (linked to the “Steele dossier” and origins of “Russia collusion” narrative).
• Rubin’s Take:
  • “Was James Comey involved in perhaps the biggest political scandal of our time…? The Department of Justice is trying to figure out…” (1:28:00)
  • Mocks media defending Comey, playing a Joe Scarborough clip: “You turn the person you hate into a martyr… a martyr for the rule of law. No, you douchebag.” (1:32:50)
  • Plays a compilation of mainstream media repeating “Russia hacked the election” and “Trust the science!” to punctuate his point about narrative control and media laundering of partisan talking points. (1:36:00 and 1:41:00)

8. Media & Pharmaceutical Ties

• RFK Jr. (now HHS head): Clip exposes media reliance on pharma ads.
  • “Anderson Cooper makes about $20 million... and 80% of that is coming from the pharmaceutical companies, that's who his real boss is.” (1:47:00)
• Rubin’s Critique:
  • Points out how left-leaning media “controls the machinery,” with hosts paid to reiterate state and corporate talking points.

9. Call to Action: Widening the Political Tent

• Rubin’s Proposal:
  • The “right” should broaden its coalition to include “as many old school libs and conservatives” as possible—people who care about clean streets, functional policing, and an “agree to disagree” attitude. (54:00)
  • Laments: “It would be healthy for the country if there was a sane, moderate Democrat party, not the one we have right now.” (1:57:20)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Current Democrats: “There is almost nobody sensible left to put on any of these shows… It just becomes attacking Trump. There’s just nobody left in the Democrat Party that is a moderate or a centrist.” (11:20)
• On Left-Wing Violence: “We are in the middle of an epidemic of left wing violence. They're attacking ICE. They shot Charlie. It's happening all over the country.” (13:50)
• On Media Complicity: “The road has been slicked up and oiled up by the mainstream media.” (27:30)
• On the Clinton Era: “The Democrats were not always like that. They do not have to be like that in the future.” (1:57:20)
• On Media & Pharma: “That's who his real boss is. Pharmaceutical companies.” — RFK Jr. (1:47:10)
• On Antifa & Left-Wing Extremism: “Maybe, maybe guys, maybe it's just enough. Maybe it's enough progressing. Maybe you guys have progressed to the point where you're radicalizing people who are then shooting ICE facilities…” (1:18:05)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• (10:20-11:40) | CNN Panel: Jennings vs. Mockler, and the “youth defense”
• (16:30-20:30) | Portland’s decline: violence, drugs, mayor “not lefty enough”
• (24:30-28:00) | MSNBC segment and Rubin’s critique of antifa denial
• (36:00-37:30) | Jon Stewart clip and Rubin’s critique
• (47:45-49:30) | Bill Maher on the left’s insistence on radical ideas without debate
• (56:30-57:45) | 1992 Bill Clinton ad: Democrats’ former moderation
• (1:13:00-1:14:30) | Andy Ngo: Attacks on ICE, incitement from the left
• (1:19:55-1:21:00) | Eric Swalwell avoids blaming leftist ideology
• (1:28:00-1:33:00) | James Comey indictment and “revenge tour” narrative
• (1:36:00-1:41:00) | Media “Russia hacked the election” and “Trust the science!” montages
• (1:47:00-1:48:05) | RFK Jr. on media’s pharma funding
• (1:57:20) | Final call for a sane, moderate Democratic Party

Conclusion

Rubin ends with a sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes somber warning: today's Democratic Party is recklessly driving “the bus” of America toward a cliff, devoid of moderating influences or connection to public concerns about order, safety, and sanity. He contrasts this with the centrism of the 1990s, holding out slim hope for moderate liberals to either reclaim their party or at least jump ship before it’s too late. Throughout, he calls for sensible coalition-building on the right and relentless scrutiny of the media and institutional apparatchiks he believes have abandoned truth for political gain.

“It would be healthy for the country if there was a sane, moderate Democrat party, not the one we have right now.” (1:57:20)

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