The Rubin Report
Episode: Leftist Insults Jillian Michaels on Piers Morgan & It Gets Brutal Fast
Host: Dave Rubin
Date: December 17, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dave Rubin tackles the week’s major culture war battles, focusing on recent media controversies, violent incidents on college campuses, and the Trump administration’s latest actions. Rubin spends time defending friend and fellow “political convert” Jillian Michaels after she is labeled a “white nationalist” on Piers Morgan’s show. He then delves into media bias against Trump’s team, discusses lawsuits against major news organizations, analyzes recent campus violence, and reviews tough policy moves from the Trump administration, including the Venezuela blockade and expanded travel bans. Throughout, Rubin maintains his signature sardonic tone and offers perspective on media hypocrisy, free speech, political polarization, and “the fight for the future of America.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rubin’s Four-Year Anniversary in “Free State of Florida”

• Dave recounts leaving California for Florida four years ago, underscoring his belief that the “free state” allows for flourishing and innovation in contrast to the “totalitarian” environment under Governor Gavin Newsom (03:35).

2. White House Hanukkah Party Recap

• Rubin shares impressions from the party, noting Trump’s support for the Jewish community and a poignant moment where a Holocaust survivor addressed the event (06:10).
  • Memorable Moment: “Could she have ever imagined that one day she would be 100 years old, sitting just steps away and talking to the President of the United States?” (07:21)

3. Jillian Michaels Accused of Being a White Nationalist

• Segment Start: 10:30
• Rubin recounts an exchange from Piers Morgan’s show, where Wajahat Ali calls Jillian Michaels a “white nationalist.”
  • Rubin highlights the irony, as Michaels is Syrian, Lebanese, Turkish, and a lesbian.
  • Quote (Rubin, 12:10): “Do you see how pathetic these people are, right? All he’s got is, ‘you’re a white nationalist’…She also happens to be a lesbian. That’s a sidebar. But I don’t know how many white nationalist lesbians there are.”
• Rubin calls out Piers Morgan for facilitating “panel shows” with “Islamists and Marxists and America-hating lunatics,” and urges friends to stop appearing.

4. Media Hit Pieces & Bias: Vanity Fair's Article on Susie Wiles

• Segment Start: 15:45
• Rubin breaks down a Vanity Fair “hit piece” on Susie Wiles, Trump’s effective chief of staff, and draws a comparison with an earlier New York Times hit piece on David Sacks.
  • He reads Wiles’ response and notes the absence of positive context in the mainstream reporting.
• Notable Quote (Wiles, 19:10): “The article...is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest president, the White House staff and the cabinet in history.”
• Rubin discusses the mainstream media’s use of “omission” as a tactic in fake news, amplifying negative narratives and downplaying positive facts (21:00).

5. Trump’s Lawsuit Against the BBC for January 6 Coverage

• Segment Start: 28:40
• Coverage of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC for allegedly deceptive editing of his January 6 speech.
  • Rubin illustrates media manipulation by contrasting Trump’s actual words with how they were broadcast.
  • Quote (Rubin, 29:50): “They made it sound like he was instigating violence…while he’s talking about cheering on our brave senators.”
• Discussion of freedom of speech vs. the necessity of challenging knowingly damaging lies for public figures.
• Commentary on Trump’s broader legal strategy to deter media misrepresentation (32:20).

6. Campus Violence and Media Response: Brown University Shooting

• Segment Start: 38:30
• Rubin discusses recent violence, notably a shooting at Brown University and the peculiar media-PR handling of the incident.
  • Focus on the lack of transparency regarding the suspect, connections to pro-Palestinian activism, web pages being scrubbed, and whether claims the shooter yelled “Allahu Akbar” (43:20).
  • Critiques responses from the Attorney General and University President, highlighting lack of cameras in critical parts of campus despite an $8 billion endowment.
  • Quote (Rubin, 47:20): “How much is Brown’s endowment?…There’s no reason there aren’t cameras everywhere.”
• Raises allegations of ideological cover-up and uses the incident to tie into a wider narrative about campus radicalism and the failure of progressive institutions to maintain public safety.

7. International and Domestic Violence: MIT Professor Shooting

• Touches on the killing of an MIT professor, drawing attention to the unsettling climate at elite academic institutions (1:01:00).

8. The Schools are Indoctrination Factories

• Rubin plays an Elon Musk clip on school indoctrination (1:05:12), then reflects:
  • Quote (Rubin, paraphrasing Musk, 1:05:35): “The amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities…far beyond what parents realize.”
• Rubin recounts critics who once laughed off campus radicalism, only for those students to “export their craziness into the real world.”

9. Trump’s Foreign Policy: Venezuela Blockade and Drug Cartel Boat Strikes

• Segment Start: 1:11:00
• Reads Trump’s proclamation on Venezuela’s oil blockade and actions against narcotics-trafficking boats.
• Quotes Marco Rubio praising the effectiveness and deterrence of the policy (1:14:00).
• Senator Schumer’s objections are highlighted (“sick to his stomach” over dead traffickers), leading Rubin to rail against Democratic preferencing of bad actors over Americans in drug policy.
• Comparison to Obama-era drone strikes, with Senator Markwayne Mullin calling out the hypocrisy (1:19:15).

10. Media Corruption & Political Lawfare: Mar-a-Lago Raid

• Coverage of new revelations that the FBI lacked probable cause for the Mar-a-Lago search, despite DOJ political pressure (1:24:55).
• Quote (Rubin, 1:27:00): “Completely unprecedented. Had never been done before and hopefully will never be done again.”
• Plays Merrick Garland’s statement assuring equal justice and mocks it as contrary to the facts.

11. Marijuana Reclassification

• Trump says he’s “very strongly” considering moving marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 to enable more research, potentially flipping a Democratic issue (1:29:32).
• CNN analysis predicts high likelihood of rescheduling (1:30:30).
• Rubin supports state-level decision-making but notes Trump might “steal” the issue from Democrats.

12. Trump’s Expanded Travel Ban

• Administration expands the travel ban to include five more countries and Palestinian territories (1:34:00).
  • Discusses the rationale: corruption, fraud, “unreliable documentation,” and recent attacks.

13. Standing Against Radical Islamic Terror

• Trump at the White House calls out “the evil forces of radical Islamic terrorism,” referencing the recent terrorist attack in Sydney, Australia (1:37:00).
• Rubin ruminates on Western democracy’s challenge in maintaining values amid mass immigration, contrasting Western tolerance with illiberal attitudes in many Islamic countries.

14. Gun Control & Crime: Pelosi’s “Greatest Disappointment”

• Pelosi calls gun reform her “biggest disappointment,” which prompts Rubin to rail against the left’s focus on gun control over crime control (1:41:20).
• Matt Van Swall’s post: If you “lock up violent criminals, the majority of violent crime would disappear overnight.” (1:43:10)
• Concludes with a comedic take on 21 Savage’s proposal for “Crash Out City” and reads rap lyrics as a satirical analogy for policy ideas on violent crime (1:46:25).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rubin on media spin:
  “The entire mainstream media machine is designed to launder the lies and hit people that it doesn't like, and elevate people that it does.” (23:30)

• Rubin on fake news by omission:
  “The most nefarious type of fake news—it's omission. It's happening, we all know it's happening, and they just don't cover it.” (21:45)

• Jillian Michaels vignette:
  “She’s Syrian and Turkish and Lebanese…also happens to be a lesbian. I don’t know how many white nationalist lesbians there are, though, that would be a hell of a bar to go to.” (12:18)

• Sen. John Kennedy on legal critics:
  “If you wanted to hide something from [these critics], you just put it in a law book, especially the chapter on the Constitution.” (1:23:00)

• Elon Musk via Rubin on indoctrination:
  “The amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities is, I think, far beyond what parents realize.” (1:05:15)

• James Woods warning:
  “There is now a jihad against Jews in the world. And people are just upfront about it. They're just saying it.” (1:39:10)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Topic | Start / Notable | |------------------------------------------------|----------------| | Florida move, anniversary | 03:35 | | White House Hanukkah Party | 06:10 | | Jillian Michaels vs. Wajahat Ali (Piers Morgan)| 10:30 | | Vanity Fair hit piece on Susie Wiles | 15:45 | | Media bias/fake news by omission | 21:00 | | Trump sues BBC over Jan 6 broadcast | 28:40 | | Brown University shooting/media handling | 38:30 | | Elon Musk on school indoctrination | 1:05:12 | | Venezuela blockade/drug boat strikes | 1:11:00 | | Mar-a-Lago raid revelations | 1:24:55 | | Marijuana rescheduling discussion | 1:29:32 | | Trump expanded travel ban | 1:34:00 | | Trump on radical Islamic terror (White House) | 1:37:00 | | Pelosi on gun control | 1:41:20 | | Van Swall on crime not guns | 1:43:10 | | “Crash Out City”/21 Savage | 1:46:25 |

Tone & Takeaways

• Rubin’s tone is combative, sarcastic, and unapologetically partisan.
• He frames events as a “culture war” struggle, positioning himself and allies as defenders of free speech, truth, and traditional values against leftist media, campus radicals, and Democratic policy.
• Memorable rants call out perceived hypocrisy, especially relating to media narratives, handling of violent crime, and the differential treatment between Trump and political opponents.
• The episode flows through pop culture moments, inside jokes (re: 21 Savage lyrics), and substantive if hyperbolic analysis of news events.

Episode Value

This episode gives listeners not only a right-leaning breakdown of the week in politics and media but also inside-baseball commentary on conservative strategy, media manipulation, and cultural transformation. Fans of Rubin’s style and those tracking U.S. (and Western) political polarization will find the interplay between headline events and ongoing ideological battles especially illuminating.