Socialist Shocks New York: A New Dem Leader Emerges
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This is like the death of a political party. It's like basically the political equivalent of a protest sign. Yeah.

And like that's what they – that's where they are. I don't know how they get out of this, fellas. And that's the other thing is like you grew up in – you bring up like Somalia, like look what it's like in Mogadishu. You grew up in Minnesota, right? Oh, here we go. Well, look. You're going to take shots of my hometown here. Yeah. Well, look. It's been imported in Minnesota. Now you've got a member of Congress from Mogadishu.

Who's like, I want this country to be like Mogadishu because America's terrible. Right? And now look at New York City. This was the beacon of the world. This was Rome for the globe for 200 years. And now look at it. Now look at what we have. Yeah. You know? And it's going to keep happening because that party is effectively gone. There is no Democrat party. It's now openly a socialist party. And we've seen every socialist party across the world. It just becomes a race to the bottom.

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Good Thursday to you. Our favorite day of the week here on the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes, along with Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook. Left to right across your radio dial as always. Listen, this has been somewhat of a, I would say a clarifying week in that you've got

two political parties that represent the direction of the American people. And there's a battle back and forth. And sometimes lines are unclear. They're not unclear in this day and age. You've got a Republican Party led by President Trump, who has quite literally reestablished the United States of America as the leader of the free world, if you have any doubt about that.

Go look at NATO. This is an operation that was laughing at President Trump eight years ago. They were saying that he was being provocative and offensive by suggesting that the European Union basically pony up for their own collective defense. And that was a 2% level of their GDP that they had to kick into.

Guy shows up after what he does in Iran, Middle East, by the way, tips the cap and says, thank you very much. Appreciate it. We can't say it out loud, but thanks. And then he rolls into NATO and they're like, you know what, 2%? That was great. How about 5%? And you could just tell, and we're going to get into some of this, and then you juxtapose it with what we saw this week in New York City, which we're going to get into, fellas.

I mean, initial reactions to what we're seeing here this week play out, which I think is going to be de-emphasized because everybody's worrying about process and all of these things. But I think this is a big week in this regard. Huge. Huge. And like you said, you see where each party stands completely. You saw quite literally a communist. It's a communist, folks. Went to New York City.

And it's not just like, oh, you know, this is just like a citywide race. This is just a mayor thing. Schumer instantly capitulates. Shoots out a congratulations. Yeah, I saw that. We're going to be working with... It's a wrap. This is like the last...

quote unquote pro-Israel, you know, American leader of the free world type Democrat on a podium anywhere in America. And then you get some like Islamic extremist that's nominated as his party's nominee in New York City. He's like, yeah, I love him. Worked with him for ages. Can't wait. Can't wait. Guy was born in Uganda. Yeah.

And came to New York six years ago on the ballot against all these people who are libs, of course, but grew up in the city. And they're like, what? What did we do wrong? Of course, every single trust fund person in Manhattan was like, yes, that's what I want. Lunacy. It's absolute lunacy. But again, you take these two situations that have played out in Technicolor ever since the bombing of the nuclear facilities in Iran.

And then you juxtapose it with what's happening in New York City. And then you see Democrats' reaction where they're all quick to say, like, well, we didn't get the job done in Iran. And they're, like, pointing to some leak out of the defense and tell, we'll get into that, too. And they're like, yeah, we didn't do it. Quickly trying to undermine the United States of America abroad and then hitching their wagon to this psychopath in New York City. Meanwhile, this guy, Trump, shows up in NATO, right?

And like you have to have some historical context to remember what it was like the first time he showed up at a NATO conference where everybody was like, I don't know, this guy, you know, he's provocative and he's not respecting the world order. Now they're like, where do we get in line? Bingo. Dude, I watched that entire press conference from start to finish. There was one moment that sticks out in my mind where a reporter from Spain starts asking him a question. He's like, oh, you're from Spain.

Your country is not going to pony up the 5%. She was like, well, who's going to negotiate? He's like, I'm going to negotiate personally. I'm calling him. I'm going to say you should pay the 5%. The rest of the countries are paying the 5%. Why don't you pay the 5%? Like that is a guy who is in command of what is happening on the planet. Like he was on offense the entire time. The most counterintuitive part of Donald Trump's presidency, it seems to me,

is everybody elected him from his domestic standpoint, right? He understood the working class, the forgotten man, the manufacturing base of this country, the sort of value system that we had in this country. And it was largely domestic movement since day one, since the escalator, immigration, everything else. The foreign policy, which is way far afield from the establishment foreign policy vision that we've had forever in this country,

Boy, it really starts to pay dividends. It's hard to poke holes in this situation. That's the thing is I think success begets success. Like he – I think we've said it many times. That Soleimani strike was just so telling of how his pragmatic view on foreign policy actually works. I agree. It showed, well, look, it got the job done. Well, I think the thing I was most amazed by is how Donald Trump could –

have this call with the Israelis and the Iranians after the ceasefire, and they're doing a tit-for-tat thing after the fact, and it got him pretty upset. He goes to the pool before he gets on Marine One, drops some F-bombs, right? Which is sweet. And then he gets on Air Force One, and he's got to go over there for this NATO summit. And he's just gaggling with the pool reporters on the airplane, and he's like, Putin called me.

He said, can I help you with Iran? And I said, I don't need help with Iran.

I need help with you. Yeah. And it's just like, it's that sort of thing. And then he goes to NATO and he gets all these guys to kiss the ring and put in the 5%. And it's like, man, he's swinging a hot bat. That's the thing. That's the thing. And what he just summarized. I mean, look, if you want to know the ethos of the Ruthless Variety Program, we all collectively come at all of these things from different point of views, different parts of the Republican Party, different emphasis and like where we grew up and things that were important to us. But collectively, yeah.

What it's about is American greatness, leader of the free world. Like, you want to feel like you did when you were kids, where there was an unquestioned authority in the world and we're not going to apologize for a damn thing. And, like, that's the construct that we come at this. And Democrats just don't get it. Like, generationally...

from our population standpoint in the middle of this country, like they just don't get it. And they're proving it over and over again. Like you just said, like, you know, remembering what it was like for us as kids, how America, like that's the whole thing. I think that's why we can come from different perspectives and places and what informs us and how we became Republicans and how we do want that. But why we are now all on the same page is

with all the success of Donald Trump, I think that just goes to prove he really has done it. Making America great again. It's actually happening. It's actually happening. It's actually tangible as opposed to a bumper sticker. It's not a hat. This is happening and you're watching it. And I don't care how critical you are or not. You watch what's just happened over a five-day period of time.

You'd be blind not to acknowledge the distinction between Trump and his opposition in who's supporting what. Yeah. Right? No, and the distinction between what we had under Joe Biden, it was so weak. And you think about Afghanistan and the withdrawal, and everything Joe Biden did was weak. President Trump comes in, and it is one display after the other of American power. Yeah. And, I mean, you were talking about the difference between the way that Republicans—

Republicans in the past have carried out the Middle East. Like, I really like what he's done in Iran. He said over and over again, we don't want you to have a nuclear weapon. Dismantle the program. We want to negotiate. Dismantle the program. If you don't negotiate, if you don't dismantle the program, we're going to take it out. They didn't do it. He took it out. Yeah. And he's and now you want to talk. Right.

I'm not at war with Iran. I said, you shouldn't have nuclear weapons. And nobody wants you to have nuclear weapons, least of all us. And so we took him out. There's no mission creep. Yes. Where it's like, oh, well, you know what? Lockheed and Mary and Meryl Dow and all these companies really need him, need the government to fight.

to fight a war. You can't be a country unless you get a purple thumb in the process. Right. Right. Like we're done with the purple. We are spreading democracy. It's the end of it. But like, I think it can be best summarized as like, we went from a four year period of time where anytime in the American president was on the world stage, you just hope he didn't shit his britches in front of it. Like literally shit his britches. And now you're more worried about whether everybody else is going to shit their britches. Right. And like,

that's a comfortable position, at least for the four of us. Listen, we're going to get into all of that. I want to play you a couple of clips just because it's relevant from yesterday's NATO conference. We're like the NATO chief. These people like they laughed at him. They mocked Donald Trump. Now they're meeting the 5%. But more importantly, there's this deference there that you can just perceive that is so important. Let's play 1A. You're going to get a kick out of this.

Thank you. Deborah Haynes from Sky News. Hello. The language that you have used when talking to Donald Trump has been notable because of its flattery. Today, you called him daddy. You sent a text message to him that was gushing with praise. Is this the way that you feel you have to act when doing business with the U.S. president through flattery and praise? Isn't it a bit demeaning and doesn't it make you look weak?

No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste, but I think he's a good friend. And when he is doing stuff which is forcing us to, for example, when it comes to making more investments...

Would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if he would not have been elected president? Do you really think that seven or eight countries who said, yeah, somewhere in the 2030s we might meet the 2%? We've now all decided in the last four or five months to get to 2%. So doesn't he deserve some praise? Oh, man. That is so...

Listen, I know the vast majority of you don't follow NATO politics. You probably don't give a shit about it. You don't even care why NATO was formed to the extent that you do. It's like, that's fine somewhere else. The distinction between how that is received

by Donald Trump today compared to where he was is night and day. First of all, that guy's got a great head of hair. I mean, I don't know a lot about, is it root? Turkey is a native, right? Yeah, right! Yeah.

Yeah, maybe he got one of those hair things. But it's magnificent. He got one of those hair things. Bro's got a great name. But we were told like when Joe Biden became president, America's back. We're going to be respected on the world stage again. We're sort of embarrassed of those last four years of Donald Trump. And people bought it. You know, because he went to Europe and he said, you know, you're going to be owned by Russia with this gas. They all laughed in his face and he had proven right and all that sort of stuff. And he embarrassed us.

Yeah. You know, and then Joe Biden is going to like, to your point, go over to Europe and shit his britches. Then we're going to be respected on the world stage again. That's what respect on the world stage looks like. That's what it looks like. And make no mistake, this isn't rhetorical just in like, well, we understand the ethos of Donald Trump. You got to like blow a little sunshine up his skirt and he's going to treat you well. That's not what that is. What he's talking about by saying that all of the member countries of NATO have now pointed up sanctions.

Aside from Spain, which Trump said he's going to address directly, he's quite literally saved NATO, made that guy's job easier. That's why he's saying nice things. And that would not happen if not for the vision that he has talked about since day one, but then actually executed. It's incredible. The daddy thing. My goodness. Hilarious. Let's get Trump's reaction to that. 1B.

It's from Sky News. Mark Ritter, the NATO chief, who is your friend, he called you daddy earlier. She's into that, by the way. Look at Rubio. He's just dying. Rubio's teasing. No, he likes me. I think he likes me. If he doesn't, I'll let you know. I'll come back and I'll hit him hard, okay? He did it very affectionately. Daddy, you're my daddy. How good is that? How good is that?

Was that the same lady? I think it was. It's the Sky News lady, yeah. She's obsessed with the daddy thing. Super into it. Yeah. I mean, super into it. What's going on? Let's get out of that. I guess that clicks with the limeys. Was she a limey?

I don't know. Whatever she... Well, it certainly sounded that way. Sky News is the UK, right? But there was kind of a mixture on that accent. I don't know. Didn't feel like it totally wasn't a cockney. You've got a good ear. Yeah. Whatever it is, she loves the daddy talk. She sure does. Loves the daddy talk. And so did Marco Rubio, who found it completely hilarious. But that's what having fun is like. And that's what America leading the world looks like.

And that's what we've been talking about for like, you know, you get this scattering of information from people, you know, who are like, oh, you know, America, let's blame America. If we do something, America is the problem. What are we doing that gets the response? No, we're the consequence. We are the consequence of their shitty behavior. And you just had Donald Trump lay that out to the world community and the world community for the first time in a lot of years is like, you're right.

You're right. It's fantastic. It's great. It's great to see. And then you just flash forward and you're like, okay, well, how are Democrats taking care of all of this? Not good. Not well.

And while they're getting richer...

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Zoran Mamdani. I think I'm saying that right. Is that sound right, Wolf? Zoran Mamdani.

Okay. It's close enough for government work, right? Okay. Well, anyway, this cat, he's a socialist. Yeah. Who had like the AOC crowd or whatever. And he's running in a primary against the former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, amongst others. It's a fucking mess. And you know everything there is to know about New York election law. But there's like 8,000 candidates no matter what. Yep. And I'm going to be honest.

I remember, what was it, three weeks ago? And we were in Ashbrook's office chilling. We're hanging out. And Duncan's like, there's no way this guy's...

And I said to Duncan, I was like, please believe me, Zoran is going to win. I wanted him to win. But you said he couldn't. I remember it clear as day. We're in Ashbrook's office. The old man's not going to take that man down. Smug really thinks this guy's going to win. I feel like this is fake news. 100% the truth. I don't want him to just win the primary. I want him to win the general. But you can't go to New York if he does win the general. Can you only imagine? Think.

Think of somebody that's like 10x worse than Bill de Blasio running that joint. It's going to look like freaking Somalia by the end of it. I agree. I want New York to suffer. I want it to get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. We're going to have to visit HQ in New York from a Blackhawk. I mean, the thing is that like – I mean, to me, the scary consequence of this is –

Some people are like, oh, things are going to get so bad and it's going to lead to a moderation of the Democrat Party. When have you ever seen a Democrat Party go more towards the center? They never have. Never. That party never, ever has. No, if you read everything that this guy believes, it's a double down. That's what the Democrats are doing now in the –

you know, the after action of the election and everything, but they lost. This is what there was a lot of soul searching and that there were these democratic luminaries were like, maybe we shouldn't talk about cutting off the dicks of six year olds, you know?

Maybe people in Topeka aren't interested in inverting private parts. Maybe like men hanging dong in women's locker rooms isn't how you build an electoral majority in this country. And that lasted through that intervening period. And now they've decided no. About a 30-60 today window. It was open. They were like, no, double. No, more. We want more of it. Yeah. I want you to cut the dong.

Push the dong. Oh, my God. Pull the dong back out. Let's have a double dong. I mean, dude, it is... My mom listens to this, dude. You know what? Your mom understands that this is... She knows it's a problem. This is how we communicate here. She knows better than anyone. She has two boys. Yeah. She has two boys. But listen, like...

Bill Mellugian laid out some of the stuff. Can we put up graphic one, please? This is the positions that this cat has taken. Abolish the New York Police Department. It's like, I don't know, the fourth largest law enforcement in the world. And they're like, abolish it? Think of going to New York City without a cop. Think of what that looks like. It's what it currently looks like, so it's not that different. I'll be completely honest. Like...

No, it could get way worse than this. I've had numerous friends who, like me, moved away from New York City when things started getting worse. But, dude, there's a cop in charge right now. Like, imagine if the cop doesn't—like, it can get so much worse. Dude, you've seen video of, like, people are lit on fire and killed in the subway system as is. Yeah, but it can look like Mogadishu. I'm telling you, like, things are so bad there.

Well, that's just where he's starting. Yeah, this is just where he's starting. That's the starting point. Put that graphic back up, please. Yeah, okay, so we're not done. Abolish prisons. Oh, that's good. No, people that break the law, let's just have them walk amongst us. That's great. Abolish medical bills. Mm, that's interesting. It's going to keep... Right? It shouldn't cost you anything. Keep all the doctors in business. Yeah, doctors are like, oh, we'll keep working. You're like, just shoving...

shoving cupcakes down your throat all day and then like, you know, showing up with a sugar foot. Then you put a handgun to the head of a doctor and you say, operate. Yeah, exactly. Abolish private health insurance. Well, that's consistent with pretty much what all Democrats... Ban all guns. That seems right. That's pretty consistent with what they... Legalize sex work. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on that. LAUGHTER

There's no monopoly on good ideas out there, folks. Safe injection sites. That's one of my favorites. We've really seen that do good things. Wait, I thought that was the same thing as the last one. The sex? Oh, Jesus. And you're the one talking about your mom for crying out loud. Sorry, Mom. Unbelievable. You should apologize to Karen Duncan for that. Unbelievable. Anyway, that is one of my favorites. And cash bail. What's the point of cash bail if you don't have prisons?

Yeah. I mean, isn't that redundant? What's the bail situation if you don't have a prison? Or a cop to arrest them. Right. Decriminalized drug possession. Well, that's good because when you have a bunch of like completely drugged up idiots running around, we ought to decriminalize that situation. It's not like anything is ever bad that's happened from addiction. Right.

End sentencing enhancement. Yeah. Well, if you don't have jails, that's pretty easy. Right. End all cooperation with ICE. Oh, yeah. That's good. Perfect. Good. Good.

I mean, this is like just this is the mainstream. This is what they've done. And this is the guy that Chuck Schumer, who's the head, he's supposed to be like the centrist in the Democratic Party who speaks like truth to power. Remember, he took all the shit from the left wing. He was like, we shouldn't shut our government down over like enforcing immigration policy. Like this is the guy who turns around and looks at this situation. He's like, I worked with. Yeah, exactly. You know, Chuck Schumer is like, you know what? I love it. I love it.

I love that my city and the state in which I represent is going to become Disneyland for communists. Perfect. It was such a long list. There was one item I noticed was not included, and that is the state-run grocery stores that he's talking about. Yeah. So he wants to take away your safety and your ability to defend yourself.

And he is going to control the food supply on Manhattan Island. Dude, I see. If you so much as complain about the crime, then you're not going to get your ration of potatoes. Your grocery coupons have been taken away. Welcome to Moscow 1989. Right. Right? Bread lines. I mean, that's literally what the situation is that they're talking about. Got one little nuance in here that I wanted to put a fine point on that I thought was kind of fun. Graphic two.

He's been taught, like, I don't even know the context. Queer liberation means defund the police. What does that even mean? I don't know. That's a language, folks, that you and I needed a lib interpreter for. Like, we all know some of it. I wouldn't think we should run it through some progressive that we're acquaintances with to understand what it is that he's talking about. I can tell you what he's talking about. Oh, yeah, no, the old man.

He speaks many languages. I do. Yeah. And I speak woke very well. Okay. Let's see. What I would just say is like the words are irrelevant. The thing is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the struggle. Like it's not actually about the thing. The thing is never actually the thing. It's just about revolution, permanent revolution that can never end. Yeah. Like that's actually what they want. That's how you can get to queers for Palestine. Yeah.

or climate justice is liberation in Palestine. You know what I'm saying? It's just the intersectionality of everything where everything means nothing. And this is the moral relativism of their entire movement. Nothing means anything. It's just a fight. It's a fight. It's a forever fight for the revolution. This is like the death of a political party. I mean, when you stop, it's different if you're, again, if you're in like Mogadishu,

where it's all about the fight because every day is a fight. You've got to struggle to survive. You've got pirates. But in the United States of America, you have two political parties that are supposed to represent broad cross-sections of this country. You need a fair amount of support across the country in order to get it done, become president of the United States or get a Senate or House majority. But what they've reduced themselves to is not about what helps you,

Or what could make your burden a little easier? What could improve your communities, put a little more money in your pocket, make raising kids and having a community a little bit better? It's what you just said. It's like basically the political equivalent of a protest sign. Yeah.

And that's where they are. I don't know how they get out of this, fellas. And that's the other thing. You bring up Somalia. Look what it's like in Mogadishu. You grew up in Minnesota, right? Oh, here we go. You're going to take shots of my hometown here. Yeah, well, look. It's been imported in Minnesota. Now you've got a member of Congress from Mogadishu.

Who's like, I want this country to be like Mogadishu because America's terrible. Right? And now look at New York City. This was the beacon of the world. This was Rome for the globe for 200 years. And now look at it. Now look at what we have. Yeah. You know? And it's going to keep happening because that party is effectively gone. Yeah.

There is no Democrat Party. It's now openly a socialist party. And we've seen every socialist party across the world. It just becomes a race to the bottom. Well, we've got the receipts on all of this. We're going to get a little bit more into who this guy is because it does tell us a lot more about the modern day Democratic Party. And then some reaction from Democrats, which I find fascinating.

I mean, these people are doing the struggle thing that you talked about post-election, like what's our identity? It's really hit hard. We're going to get into all of that right after this.

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Okay, this is that Mem Donnie guy that we were just talking about in New York City. Nominee. What is this? Like the fifth largest? It's like the fifth largest economy in the world, New York City, right? I mean, something like that. For now.

For now. Right. But I mean, this is like everybody who equates like, oh, New York City, it's like a mayor's race. It's not a mayor's race. You know, I mean, when Bloomberg was running the joint, I think they had like the third largest military slash law enforcement in the entire world. I mean, this is a...

A massive undertaker. You need to be a very responsible individual to run something like New York City. This guy's like 30-nothing who knows nothing. I don't think he's ever had a job. A government job. He was an assemblyman. But listen to some of the shit that he's got. And the Democrats are like, yeah, this is what we want. This is his statement on the October 7 situation. He put it out the day after. Can we put up graphic three, please?

I mourn the hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine in the last 36 hours. Netanyahu's declaration of war, the Israeli government's decision to cut electricity to Gaza, and the Knesset members calling for another Nakba,

will undoubtedly lead to more violence and suffering in the days and weeks to come. The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.

Let me just cut through what we're talking about here. So when Hamas comes in, beheads babies, rapes women, kills people, men, women, elderly, everybody else, unprovoked.

in a terrorist attack across Israel that we've all come to know. His reaction is, the problem here is Netanyahu and the Israeli government turning off the electricity in Gaza. Yeah. I noticed also in this statement, he doesn't,

talk at all about all of the hostages that Hamas had dragged back into Gaza, raping and killing and putting them in holes and tunnels that they dug across Gaza. None of that is part of his statement. He's not mourning that. None of it, he's not mourning it. You know what, I guess this is a typical issue of concern for a state rep. Yeah.

You know, they definitely want to weigh in on geopolitical. No, it's like potholes and Middle East foreign policy. Yeah, potholes in Palestine. Yeah. Potholes in Palestine. Get out of here. I mean, this is unbelievable. Yeah, the guy wants to turn Manhattan Island into Gaza.

Yeah. You know, like we are literally going to be sending humanitarian aid from across the country into the city of New York so that they can have food to eat because there won't be enough from his government grocery stores. We'll probably be building a pier on the Hudson. Yeah.

That's right. There can be access. So Omaha can fly in grains and steaks to feed the people. I saw a great tweet on this, by the way. We're all very concerned about the repercussions of the Iran strike. And we just didn't know it was going to happen so quickly. We bombed these nuclear sites and then they won a Democratic primary in Manhattan. Is that something? Yeah.

It's like for real, though. I mean, that's what's the difference between somebody who funds Hezbollah in Hamas and a Democratic politician in this country that sees what they they have done is just in Israeli is the is the problem. Israel is the problem. Yeah. Just to dovetail what my friend John Ashbrook was saying, I think I could I could summarize it to say from the Hudson to South Bay.

The terrorists will have their day. That's so good. Do you want to see the grocery store clip? Yes. Let's throw it on clip one.

Grocery prices are out of control. The cost of eggs and milk has skyrocketed. Some stores are even using dynamic pricing, jacking up the cost over the course of a day, depending on what they can get away with. It doesn't need to be this way. I'm Zahram Mandani, and as mayor, I will create a network of city-owned grocery stores. It's like a public option for produce. We will redirect city funds from corporate supermarkets to city-owned grocery stores, whose mission is lower prices, not price gouging.

These stores will operate without a profit motive or having to pay property taxes or rent and will pass on those savings to you. Okay. So, I mean, here's the problem that I have with this. Like you guys tell me, but like typically I'm accustomed to dealing with

And not like there's certain liberties that are taken with truth and fact, always in politics. But you're dealing with like a basis and understanding of like some basic principles that we all kind of... When I see something like that, where do you start? Like, how do you... What the fuck is he talking about? I mean, how... So I was looking at some interesting, you know, responses to seeing this guy win the primary and stuff. And this person brought up this really great point. So Peter Thiel...

I discussed this at a talk before where he was like a lot of the youth of the United States Are now in a place where they feel they will never be able to own a home. Mm-hmm They'll never have a job that allows them to You know provide for themselves in a family, right? Yeah, and so what happens is if when you have that kind of mindset you're like well Then I'll just opt out of the capitalist system completely like that's the next step and so like you get these pied pipers like this idiot right who

Everyone knows every time any country has ever done something this stupid. I mean, you saw it in Moscow, like in the Soviet Union, where bread lines, constant bread lines, everything rationed. No one ever has anything.

And so these idiots, they keep doing it over and over and over, and then they keep saying, like, well, true socialism has never been tried because every time it's been tried, it's failed, and they can't come to terms with their own theory. We haven't realized the truth. We haven't hit the rock bottom. Yeah. So that's why, like, you get this segment of young people, and then...

actual fucking terrorists, the affluent white female liberal office. You saw Cynthia Nixon on Twitter cheering. She's like, we have elected a Muslim socialist. I'm so proud. Those people really just want to destroy the country. Just imagine how well the chilled Chablis went down last night for that gal. Yeah. Huh?

I mean, can we talk about it on the basic economics, right? That's what I'm getting at. Like, I don't know how to start with that. Yeah, he's like, well, they won't have a profit motive. Sure. Right? And then, you know, they're not going to be gouging you. So you're going to get all your produce at the...

They're also not going to pay taxes. And it's like, all right, so now we have less tax revenue. Wait, so taxes is bad for passing on to consumers. Right. Wait, hold on. So you mean the more we tax, the more that consumers have to pay? Whoa. Whoa. Weird that you would acknowledge that. Oh, my gosh. I thought that was the conversation we were having at the federal level. It's like you're so close to getting it, but you don't, right? Oh, no.

And then the other side of it is the idea that there's no profit motive. No, there's a fucking profit motive.

The profit motive is now you got more government jobs for another boondoggle that you want to put together. There's always a profit motive. And there's never a bigger profit motive when they claim there's not one. If you knock 10 doors for Zoran, you get a coupon for macaroni. That's where it starts. So that's actually how the Democrat Party operates in New York City, the patronage system of all

All these folks, that is actually how it works, of how you get elected, of all the party bosses who decide that is how it actually works. It's like, OK, you work for the party. You do this. You move up the food chain. I mean like that's how you got the entire West Side when it had – I always forget his name. What's the fat guy? Jerry Nadler. Jerry Nadler. Oh, yeah. He's just like – Nadler, Schumer all came up through this system. He may have an issue with this.

I mean, if there's a shortage... He needs to make sure Nalo gets the coupons. He needs all the coupons. If there's a shortage of ham sandwiches and potato chips... Is there a special meatloaf coupon? Because he's going to need double. He may get the gold card. But look, we talked about Schumer. And, like...

What I hate about modern media and the way that they portray the Republican Party is that they take like the most insane takes of the Republican Party and then they're like, this is what the Republican Party. So I don't want to do that on the Democratic Party. The problem is the shoe fits here.

And that you have Chuck Schumer, who's supposed to be like the moderate, thoughtful guy who professes all of these sort of like center left type deals that immediately endorses all the progressive goals of Bernie Sanders, that endorses this idiot. I worked for them for years. And he's the leader of the Democratic Party. He just won an election. The leader of the Democratic Party in the House. Same state. Just next door to this situation is Hakeem Jeffries. Let's see what he has to say. Clip three.

Yeah, the New York Times editorialized that he was not qualified to be mayor. Of course, the Wall Street Journal and others say that he is far too extreme on economic issues and even issues involving Israel. I'm curious what your thoughts are on him ideologically. Is that does he does he have an ideology that you would want your candidates in 2026 to have? Well, from the standpoint of

House Democrats and what our focus has been, clearly, we have an affordability crisis in the United States of America. Our focus will continue to be

driving down the high car living in this country. Is he ideologically compatible? Well, let me talk about our agenda and the affordability crisis. Despite the fact that we drove up inflation at 10x while we were in charge and like the affordability thing is not what... You asked me about the guy. Let's talk about something that's like...

Look, from his perspective, two tweets for Zoran, Franco-American spaghetti. You get things. It's like a barter system. OK? You take money out of it. But, dude, that's why – again, I hate it when the mainstream media tries to paint conservative Americans in, like, Missouri –

As like the most extreme Republican in Congress. I hate that. So I don't want to do that in the Democrat. The problem is what we just quoted were the two people who are in charge of Democrats in the House and Senate. They are the party leaders. They will not address it.

We talked Tuesday about how Chuck Schumer, the most pro-Israel, oh, we're so excited about it. He's so pro-Israel. On his watch, it went from 100 percent support of Israel, our only ally in the region, to 25 percent on the Democratic Party. If that is your beacon of hope within sanity is giving a guy the keys to the car who's lost 75 percent of just like rational behavior, then

You've got a big problem and then you extrapolate it out. You can see how this happens. They're not going to address it. Right. So you get it. You can only imagine what it looks like behind closed doors. Right. When you get like the activists left inside and you get Chuck Schumer and Akeem Jeffries, if he's not willing to answer that question that, look, that's not what the House Republican or House Democratic conference is.

is pushing, let me tell you a different view, I get it. That's not what he did. He just pivoted and didn't want to say anything. And that's what you get because he's preserving his right behind closed doors. And believe me, we've sat in these meetings.

Behind closed doors, meeting with these activists, say, you know, I can't say it, but I'm really with you. Totally. That's what they do. I'm really with you on this. So you start to think like, oh, is it fair? Is it unfair that you brand the entire Democratic Party? Yes, because of the body of work. If you look over the last since the election of Barack Obama to today, which direction have they gone? What don't they answer?

Kamala Harris is champion of small business. That's what she wants. She has the balls to say that on a debate stage, despite the fact that she's voted for every tax increase in the history of the world. And they want to preserve the right of being a centrist party, except this is the agenda. What we just talked, Mamdani, there's not a dime's worth of difference between Hakeem Jeffries and...

And Mamdani. That's the thing. They're just not. And to the extent that there is, it's only that they're open receptacles that are going to get pushed in one way or another. And clearly, if a guy like Mamdani is beating somebody like Cuomo...

It's because the energy within the Democratic Party is forcing the hand of these guys to become something unrecognizable in the American. Right. And Jeffries, as we just saw in the clip, he was on TV with the most friendly network, with the most friendly anchor. He had the opportunity to say, well, you know what? I don't think we should get rid of the cops. Yeah.

I don't think we should have state-sanctioned food distribution. He could have said any number of things. If that's controversial, if you're worried about it being controversial that you disagree with eliminating the police department in New York City. Or abolishing prisons. Or abolishing – if you think that that's controversial to say, that's not my view. Mm-hmm.

That's their view. Bingo. That's their view. And again, we just like keep reeling this back. Contrast that with what you saw on the world stage over the last five days of real leadership. Iran, NATO. Like these guys are in a tough spot, fellas. They're in a very tough spot. Democratic strategists agree with this, by the way. You get some folks who are out there. This was in Politico, the playbook situation. We rarely quote it, so I wanted to work it in there.

They managed to get a hot take from somebody. It's extremely alarming that the only candidates who genuinely excite our voters are the ones making absolutely insane promises on politically toxic positions. One Democratic strategist tells Adam Ramm, leaving us in the spot of trying to execute. And this is the point you always make, Smug. Yep.

trying to execute on bad policy and losing terribly or failing to keep our promises and reinforcing the idea that all politics is bullshit. It makes the point that you always make. This party is a bunch of nihilists, which is why they're so susceptible to getting taken over by insane people like this. Yeah. It's pathetic, and it's what you get when you had no core and you believed in nothing.

Now you've got the real lunatics are now completely running the asylum. And you're seeing Schumer. You're seeing Hakeem Jeffries. All have thrown up their hands. They've surrendered. The lunatics have taken charge of it, and that's that. You see in a lot of countries as democracy has sort of aged how there becomes different parties and different factions, and you get kind of like a parliamentary system in many possible ways. But assuming we stay as a two-party system,

Our question of the day for you, is the future of the Democratic Party just socialism? It's hard to see from my perspective how it's not. They have told you. They've told you. The two party leaders, the two most important Democrats have told you. They just elected in the biggest Democratic city in the world exactly what it is that they're trying to do. And here's the thing. It didn't happen overnight.

It didn't happen overnight. In 2016, Hillary rigged it for Bernie, who was running as a socialist, and the socialists were pissed. And then in 2020, when Bernie was beating Biden, they rigged it again. They cut that deal in South Carolina, and they said, shut up to socialists again.

This is the third time they're knocking on the door and they came through. Fourth time, really, if you think about what happened in 2024, where they clearly knew Biden couldn't do the job. And they were worried about an open process that might elect somebody like Bernie. They're about to get onto our puppeteer. I thought you were going to have the more base take of like...

This isn't the first Muslim socialist. Barack Obama, oh wait. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. No more base take. No, instead they had a marionette for four years. And they were like, there's somebody who's going to see the strings. But they just got close enough to the nominating convention that they could do the switcheroo. And it didn't have to be an open process where they got actual votes from the primary electorate. They can just shuffle in old Kamala. Yeah, Geppetto was outed.

They had to do something about it. Yeah. Listen, we're going to get to your comments of the day from Tuesday's episode right after this. American strength starts with American energy. As a leading pipeline and energy infrastructure company, Williams is leading the way, delivering low-cost natural gas to power American energy dominance. Here's the truth. AI, tech innovation, manufacturing, and America, as a global leader, require a lot of energy.

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Okay, so your questions of the day. We love it when you like and subscribe. And when you do, we read all of your comments. And then we make a, you know, a formulated guess of what people are trying to capture. And we read it here on the program. Our question of the day from Tuesday is bombing Iran, America first. There's a big online debate about that.

And I think, I mean, you all know our opinions because we laid them out on Tuesday. But you have, I think, pretty clearly laid out what your opinions are. And to do that, we always start with a voice. First one comes from Nico in a box. And Nico has some very strong points of view here. Question of the day. Love the program, even when we disagree. This, however, is where we agree slightly.

I think bombing a nuclear site in hopes to stop them from harming the U.S. when they vowed to hit us after hitting Israel in the past is way different than a war or a proper conflict with them. If Trump is taking out the means to attack but not going out for regime change war, it's 100 percent America first.

I just wish Tucker could figure that out while he was weaseling around, lying through his teeth in the last five programs he's done. Great show, and I can't wait for the next episode. That's Nico in a box. Yeah, I mean, the reason we... So we highlighted this not because...

We have any bone to pick with Tucker. We get along with with Tucker. Great. He's been on the show and and there's a lot of overlap and audience of people who listen to us and listen to Tucker. But this is a common thematic that has come up time after time with frustrated Republicans.

who are looking at what Trump has laid out in terms of his arguments and then hearing what Tucker's saying and then watching the execution of what Donald Trump had to do. I just think what Tucker was doing was just fighting against a straw man that was never really on the table, this idea that we were going to do a ground war in Iran and do regime change led by the United States. And that just was never the case. And I think just

The way that he did that is why people were upset. Yeah, I agree. Oh, man, what do we get next? This is from TR. Question of the day. I was in the Marines and served two tours in Iraq and had to deal with these Iran proxies from motors to IEDs. Everybody who's listening and watching, really pay attention to this. The people screaming the loudest about World War III, i.e. Candace Owens, Dave Smith, a.k.a. Clown calling for DJT's impeachment, haven't been paying attention to the temperament of President Trump.

and actually don't know what it takes to get to World War III. When he turned General Soleimani into pixie dust, not salsa. Oh, that's nice. I like this guy. He's got a different spin on it. Yeah. People freaked out. And then what happened?

Iran wanted to save face and give the U.S. a heads up when they retaliated. Again, Iran knows they can't do much because they know Trump just bodied them. Yep. And this is what we were talking about on Tuesday, that we were doing acrobatics over the top of Tehran. And this guy did two tours. Like, he knows. He knows. Very credible source. He knows. But, you know, I mean—

Look, this is they don't have any choices. We put them in that box. It's really it's impressive stuff. Comment three smugs. Comment three comes from Chris Arias. And Chris writes America first. Absolutely. But not just because he says so. Something that's not getting a lot of press on this is that Trump is building on his resume of F.A.F.O. with other world leaders.

He's not merely trolling the Ayatollah. He's putting other adversaries and would-be adversaries on notice. Quote, please pay attention to what matters or I will draw your attention to it. Quote, she, I need you to knock it off with the world domination BS. And so help me if one more of your agro weapons or viruses or cyber attacks shows up over here, I'm going to hit you where it hurts. Get your ish together, my guy. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Thank you for your cooperation. POTUS out. Man, I love it. So good. That's what we said at the top of the show. He's basically dragging a bat

around the world and saying, try me. Yeah. Try me. Yeah. I mean, it's like a half step from a biplane doing loops over your city. Captain Barry McOchner doing a lump shavok. Let's give it up for Captain Barry.

All right. So do you guys want to play a game? Yes. I think it's Thursday. Oh, that's right. And we missed it last week. The fans deserve this. We missed it last week. The fans deserve it. I can't wait to be bailiff. I'm going to run a very tight court. Yes. And I'm judge for King of the Hill today. Oh, back as it should be. Yes. The OG. Yeah. Okay. So competitors are... I've got the champion. Yes. Smoking Joe Walsh. Smoking Joe. Okay. He's been on a heater. Yeah.

Yeah, yes. Smug, who do you have? Challenger Sherry Jacobus. Oh, Sherry, my Sherry. Here we go. This is going to be great. Let's go. Ringside. Ringside. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. It's time for Kip in the red corner fighting out of her own Twitter account. Gummy Sherry Jacobus.

And now, in the blue corner, fighting from who knows where, and current champion of the world, Smokin' Joe Walsh! Nice. That's good every time. Very good. All right, let's get the champion loaded up. I want to see what we have to offer here for the judges' consideration. Okay, spaghetti exhibit number seven, please.

Joe Walsh writes, on NYC's mayoral race, I'll say this as someone who's been a Democrat for only a month. Okay, this is good. This is good. The Democratic Party establishment needs to pull their heads out of their asses, wake the hell up, and back candidates who actually meet this moment and who their voters actually want. Wait, wait, wait.

He was a Republican congressman. Came in during the Tea Party era. That is an amazing take. The state of Illinois, and now he is a Democrat rooting on Zohan. I think we call that the zeal of a convert right there. I feel like if it wasn't Sherry Bicherry, that I would be like, whoa, geez, what a winner. But I got to hear it. You know, I mean, this is... Exhibit five, please. You took the confidence. It's hysterical.

Shai Jacobus, the United States needs regime change. No. Pass it on.

Wow. No. The simplicity. Hold on. Clarification, please, contestant. Was that posted on X or is that blue sky? What is this? That was on X. It looks like an X. It's on X. But it seems at the bottom there, there's some sort of disclaimer. Did she lock down replies here? Correct. Oh, she did lock down replies. She locked down replies. She said that the United States needs regime change. She wasn't.

She wasn't. Pass it on, but not through my account. Yeah, not entirely confident. Not my account. Not my account. You could do it, but not through me. Look, dude, it's no contest. Sherry wins round one. Let's go. Unquestionable. We got to go to the challenger. Can we do a two-round knockout? I'm hoping for it because this is such a ridiculous day. Look, he's so confident. Exhibit one, please. Sherry Jacobus.

Iranian terror cells in the U.S. can get ICE costumes on Amazon and cause terror because of Trump. No! No! Wait, hold on. Think about the mental gymnastics. I mean, Trump controls the Amazon's product lines. Don't you understand this, folks? Costumes!

I mean, you could just go on there and get an ice costume. I just love that it's a Mad Libs of every story that's been in the news over the last week. It's like ice. Costumes. Iran. Costumes. Clearly, this is Donald Trump's fault if Iranian sleeper cells can get costumes and pretend to be ice.

It's unbelievable. It's so good. What a mind maze she's got going on. Ashbrook, you better come correct here. It's very, very difficult to compete with that. Joe Walsh is going to do his best, though. And exhibit number 10, please, spaghetti. Could someone right now write the book about how Trump's cognitive decline—

And how the people around him know about it but are covering it up. Could someone please write that book right now instead of waiting four years? Thanks. That's 8.45 a.m. from Joe Walsh. Up and at them. I got to imagine the hangover at that point is still pretty intense. I do. I do love that take. And, in fact, I've noticed it from a lot of these sort of lib luminaries in the media space. They're trying to use the Tapper book. Yeah.

Ever since the Tapper book rolled out, it's been like every day. It's like, when are we going to acknowledge the cognitive decline of Donald Trump? Despite the fact that their president is on TV 12 hours a day owning everybody across the globe. Right, right. They're like, no, that guy's the problem. He's just like Joe Biden. Just like that. The guy shitting his britches in Europe who can't complete a sentence on the debate stage. We literally had like a full debate about whether he shat his pants in front of the Pope. Yeah. Yeah.

It just can't compete with the ice costumes. I'm sorry. It's a two-round knockout. It's done. Congratulations. I would have made the same ruling, Your Honor. It is what it is. It is what it is. We've got to get to a great interview here. Brent Gardner, you've heard him here before. He's the guy who's on Capitol Hill who's sort of bird-dogging where everything is at with the big, beautiful bill. He's going to give us an update on all of that.

One of our favorite reoccurring guests here on the Ruthless Variety program, somebody who gives us a little under the hood action of what's happening on Capitol Hill, Brent Gardner, AFP. How are you, sir? I'm great. How are you guys doing? Well, you know, I feel like I'm a little less stressed than you are.

You know, you're working everything these days. There's a lot going on. Yeah. A lot going on. But I think reason to be optimistic. Good. Good. I'm glad to hear it. So, look, it's no secret to our audience. You all are extremely interested in the big, beautiful bill. Extremely.

And you've got this big grassroots network. Everybody's sort of provided input on a whole bunch of different things that they're interested in doing. Not surprisingly, one big beautiful bill. If it's beautiful, it includes a lot of that stuff, which is what you're following up on. Yeah. Yeah. Where are we at? Well, we got good stuff going on and we got some work to still do. And I think that's kind of how we see it. And the good news is everyone's working on the work left to do and they feel a sense of urgency, which is great because everybody,

The folks that we're talking to across the country have that same sense of urgency. They feel like they voted last November to send folks here to get it done, and they keep sending that message. We've had two different great activations in critical weekends. The first one, 92,000 voters contacted the weekend where the question of the top marginal rate kind of came into play.

Yeah, I remember that. We were very animated. We had some thoughts. Yeah, yeah. So did we, and so did voters. This last weekend, we did another day of action. 300,000 voters contacted. Wow.

The AFP faithful are out in force, and they're helping people connect with their members. When you're talking about a day of action, I think everybody needs to understand that what's happened in the Midwest over the last three weeks, either it is a monsoon or it is a 98-degree day, and you have people hitting doors every single one of those days. Yeah, you talk about the Midwest. You talk about Arizona in August.

You talk about Dallas. Well, it's a dry heat. Yes, it is. Listen, I know that well. It melted all the glue in my Oldsmobile bravada back in 1998. But listen, these folks, they're powered by passion. At the end of the day, they care deeply about this country and getting this job done. And that's why you will see them regardless of weather, regardless of other priorities. You'll see them do the work that has to be done, and they expect their members of Congress and the president to do the same. Yeah, I mean, that's how you build a grassroots network. People...

Listen to what all the candidates are saying. They get involved because they care about something and they obviously imagine that people are going to try to deliver upon it. This is the signature, obviously, of everything Republicans have been talking about for a long period of time. It's the cornerstone of the Trump agenda, includes the tax relief component, includes all the other things that are going on.

all these important border security issues, other issues. I got to imagine that you've got a network of people who are concerned about a lot of different things. Yeah, 100%. And most of them have something they care about in this bill. You know, usually we talk about this is like the tax reform bill or continuation of TCJ. As you point out, it's so much more than that.

It's got so many of the president's second term agenda items that ultimately this is the biggest opportunity to take a step forward for what people were promised last year. And so people are really connected to that. They know how important it is and they're working hard to see it get done.

Yeah. It funds a border wall, right? I mean, this will actually finish the border wall that he started in his first term. Yeah. I mean, look, the question of the challenge of immigration that Joe Biden abandoned the American people on has some answers in this bill. People can start to see some work on that. And we can finally get to work fixing, you know, not just the challenge of people coming across the border, but the broken immigration system. Yeah. So you mentioned the day of action around

when they were having a negotiation in the house and you had Republicans, actual Republicans out there kind of negotiating with themselves about maybe we'll raise, you know, taxes on the highest rate. And like, that's how we'll pay for, we're going to pay for tax cuts, which is sort of a crazy thing. If you're a conservative in this country, as you can tell, it animated me quite a lot. Very upset. But, but, uh,

As we look to the Senate passage of this reconciliation bill, what are the other little traps and pitfalls that you're looking out for at AFP? Yeah, we've got a few that are still left out there. I mentioned there's still work to be done. I mean, look, the question of SALT is a real one. And I think the Senate has got a strong perspective. Look, there are no Republican senators from blue states. Right. Susan Collins.

I will leave that entirely alone at the moment. We need votes for this week. But listen, I think from our perspective, you know, the opportunity is there to clear things like Saul. I think the question that Republicans have to ask themselves is,

why did they let Democrats get ahead of them on Medicaid messaging? You know, at the end of the day, this is waste, fraud, and abuse that we're taking care of. There's opportunities to really go out there and take these things that are looking like issues here in the closing hours, make them winning issues. Talk to the American people about what this means for them, what it means for our country's future. And I think once we square some of those things from a policy perspective, we need to have a real conversation about standing behind the things that we care about. Right. Yeah. And as you're on the Hill,

I mean, look, we've done all this. We spent an inordinate amount of time under the dome trying to pilot these things. And there's a couple of scenarios that you want to try to avoid with something this grandiose in its ambitions. One is like a ping pong back and forth, right? Where the Senate has a view, the House has a view, you keep passing things back and forth that sort of make changes at the margin but never can get across the board.

both legislative bodies. The other one is like you do this conference committee that can last for months. So it seems to me from the outside looking in, but you tell me because you're in the middle of all this, seems to me what they're trying to do is sort of pre-conference or pre-negotiate something that is simultaneously going to pass the Senate and the House. And they don't know it until they see it. And when they get it, they're going to go

quickly to make sure that they've got the votes to get it done. Yeah, that's what it feels like. I mean, you heard talk this morning about keeping everyone here until this thing gets done. I think that makes a lot of sense. You know, we talked at the beginning of this that there were three major bad things that could happen here. One, no bill, largest tax increase in American history.

Two, bad bill. Something that doesn't actually connect with people, that doesn't do what people wanted. And then three is late bill. And that's what we start to worry about when we talk about things like ping-ponging or conference committees. In 2017, the bill came too late for the economic impact to really hit and for people to get connected to it.

And so, unfortunately, it left people with a different taste in their mouth than it will be if they get it done now. We'll have three quarters of opportunity for economic growth. We'll have an opportunity for a messaging on the economy and the other priorities that the president can stand on. And he can stand next to members of Congress on and get them reelected in the midterms, push back against those traditional trends. And I think that's why it's so critically important. I think people get it. And job creators and small businesses around the country are like,

clamoring for this. Do it. Get it done because they want to be able to plan out like what is it going to look like here into the future and like how does that impact my business? I can't make investments. I can't grow jobs and things like that if I don't know. Yeah, you're 100% right. The permanent part of this, the permanency also means that we're not coming back and having this fight four or five years from now. So that's a really great thing. So I think you're right. Yeah, I mean, there's been divergent perspectives on a whole bunch of different pieces. The permanent thing, I totally agree with you.

that at least on a business planning standpoint for all the people who are employed by small businesses across this country, it's important to have a five and 10 year outlook. You've got to plan for these things. You've got to inventory things. You've got to make sure that your business reflects the tax environment that they're in by just setting it down and saying, this is what the law of the land is makes a difference, right? I mean,

Yeah. I mean, that's what we hear all the time. It frees up the opportunity for people to engage in the type of capital investment that they need to have growth in this country. And let's be real about this. We're not in a position where we're bending our debt and deficit curve significantly here. We need to grow. And to do that, we need great tax policy to do it. And this gives us a great opportunity to have certainty, which is something that the market has been crying for, American people have been crying for, and Congress and the president can deliver on as soon as next week.

Tons of media outlets out there, tons of different members out there talking about the bill. And everybody in our audience is always wanting to know, who else should I be listening to? Who should I be watching for if I want to learn the most in a limited amount of time that I have? And we know Mark Wayne Mullen, very good friend of the program, is working back and forth between the House where he was for a long time on the salt issue in particular and the Senate issue.

where Mark Wayne is now. I wonder if there are any other members that you think our audience should be watching in this process to sort of get the real news. Yeah, great question. You know, I think a lot of folks at different times during this have counted out Speaker Johnson, but I think he's been right more often than not. And he's been able to pull off miracles that I think people would have said he wouldn't have been able to do. I think he's definitely a person to watch and he has a real beat on, I think, where that chamber's at.

I'd add Steve Scalise to that message. I think he's also someone who, when he's talking, he's not just giving you a beat on where the chamber is, but helping to lead them to where they need to be. And I think John Thune's another one, right? I mean, look, this is his first run kind of through something at this scale.

And so far, I think the partnership that we've seen between the Senate and the House is going to be, to your point, that's going to define success or failure in the near term on being able to get this done quickly. Those are three big ones that I would look to. But listen, the great thing about X and the job that Elon did kind of opening that up is we can hear from all of them.

We can take a real-time snapshot of where members of Congress are. And so I'd pay attention to all of them, the good ones and the bad ones. Remember the ones who are saying the right thing and never forget the ones who are saying the wrong thing because we'll see them again next year. That's a good point. I like it. So, look, ultimately this is going to come down to a binary choice. I mean, we're struggling with details at this point that –

may impact certain constituencies other, you know, more than others. And you mentioned the blue state, red state phenomenon. This is a Republican-only exercise, right? There's no Democrat that's interested basically in keeping your tax rates the same as they were last year. So... We'll keep an eye on John Fetterman. We'll see what happens. Is that right? Do you think? I don't know, but I won't count him out yet. Really? Yeah, I'll make this appeal. This is a good opportunity for you to do the right things. I mean, it really is.

But I didn't even think that that was a possibility. We'll see. Huh. Well, he's kept his cards open. The board's not live, so we'll see what happens. If he votes for it, I will personally hand deliver one of those Senator sweatshirts that we have in the store. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he deserves it. That's a promise, sir. That is a promise. We will show up unquestionably. But if you're looking at...

Look, they're struggling over Medicaid. They're struggling over salt. They've got a couple of different things that they want to get done. You can see, to your point, Speaker Johnson, anytime he thinks that he is getting into a situation that compromises the delicate negotiation that he needed to get things through the House with the, what, two-seat, three-seat majority, like he's speaking up and that's being a part. And then you see the White House also participating in this, which is important. Is this timeline important?

By 4th of July, I mean, is this a realistic situation from your perspective? Aim small, miss small. I think it's a great target for us to be able to focus on. I think if things lined up, it's entirely possible to do that. I think what you talked about, though, about that need to kind of either officially or unofficially pre-conference what this looks like, that's the way that you'd be able to catch that kind of velocity. I know that there is big time demand from the president.

There's huge demand from people out in communities that want to see this be able to happen. And there's a lot of people who are really dedicated in Congress, in both chambers, that want to get this done. And I would love to be able to celebrate on the 4th of July getting this there. So I think it's possible. And I think we just got to keep working and run through the tape. What's the thing that you guys are most excited about? I mean, there's a lot to be excited about. So I hate to just pin you down on one. Is there something that just stands out?

On the bill? Yeah. Yeah. I think ultimately this is a lawmaking exercise. I don't want to limit it to one issue. This was a chance where Republicans said, let's take a swath of the things that we can do and show Republicans can get it done. There's opportunity for great disappointment if they don't do it. But the opportunity to be able to demonstrate what is step one

in a process where Republicans can show the ability to lead on issues that are critical and not only just pass this bill, but come back with what's next and say on to the next. I think that's a big deal for people to see that Republicans can do it. That's what I'm excited about. Well, so I'd like to talk about that for a second. And we had Speaker Johnson in recently, and he sort of laid that all out. And for a lot of our listeners and viewers, that was the first time they ever heard.

heard it, it's like big, beautiful bills, step one, and then you've got a rescissions package and maybe another one. Then there's the appropriations process where you really figure out the spending stuff. And then you might do one or two more reconciliation bills. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, we were in a meeting with him just a couple weeks ago, and a lot of folks were talking about this bill. And he said, well, maybe that'll be in the next package. And a lot of people kind of perked up. Well, that's kind of fun. People are very focused on this bill, as they should be. But the idea that this is phase one, and we have a real intent to go further and to do more, I think that's the kind of thing that everyone should get excited about. No question. Yeah.

I mean, look, this one locks down the economic growth component, the stuff that we saw in 2017 that allowed the economy to expand. Obviously, we had COVID and everything else that inhibited some of that, although we bounced back despite Joe Biden and all the policies that that administration had. And so this is a reset the dial from the fundamentals.

And then, as you were saying, step two, step three, try to get our finances in order a little bit. And I wonder, as you're watching this debate and you're sort of taking inventory of what people are saying, I imagine you guys are taking notes, right? Because you got on the other side of the house, you got your big grassroots organization, people who are involved in things like campaigns and elections, not with your current hat on, but like...

You're communicating to your members what you're hearing and seeing, right? 100%. I mean, listen, we're a policy-first organization, and Americans for Prosperity Action is policy-first when it comes to how they think about elections. So the question of where we're going to be and where AFPA is going to be in the coming year is,

It's based on the decisions that members take as far as how they're going to make their votes go. When guys show up and they're like, yeah, maybe we can raise taxes and increase the entitlement state. We're budget conscious. We're concerned about inhibiting the growth of our government.

any possible way. I imagine that these are things that you're sort of like just taking out. We don't just take notes. We issue scores. And so from our perspective, you know, the opportunity to help people understand and evaluate who their elected officials are today and who they could be tomorrow, that's a big part of what we do. I love it. Hold them accountable, Brent Gardner. We're going to do it. Do it. And I think they're going to get this done. I think you and your team have done terrific work, a lot of terrific work being done on the Hill, but we can't afford to

have an economy without it. I mean, this is the basis. This is the first step in getting a conservative economy that grows, that does the things that we need for people across this country. You're as right today as you've been the whole time as you guys have been talking about it. You're the man. You've been a great partner in all of this. Keep us up to date. And tell us, you know, as you're hearing stuff on the Hill, if you hear something concerning, come to the Ruthless Friday program. Yeah, let us know. We love being angry. Not just what, but who.

We'll do that too. Yeah. It turns out they all listen. Some of them hate listen. That's okay. But they listen. That's okay. And so you let us know. We'll do that. Brent, thank you so much for stopping in. Thanks, guys.

I always love when he comes in. He has such great material and he has such a great cause that he's pushing for just a gigantic army of people out there knocking doors and making phone calls. Yeah, they put their money where their mouth is. No question about they advocate for the policy. They recruit people based on their policy and they come at it.

With the full army, we obviously appreciate them coming in and giving us the lay of the land from Capitol Hill. We can't always be boots on the ground everywhere, but he is. Yep. So thanks to Brent Gardner for that. Listen, we just absolutely love doing what we're doing. We've got some exciting stuff coming up that we're going to talk about that maybe next week we have some conversations that I think you're going to be really excited about. Yes.

I know we're really excited about it, but we're going to make you wait. So until then, I think we did it. I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much. It means thank you so much, Brent Gardner. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs. We'll see you on Tuesday. Stay ruthless.