Return of Kamala?

Kamala is back. Her illusions of grandeur have continued. She has always thought that I'm Obama. The good first step of any relaunch is to ensure that you look like Grimace from McDonald's right from the jump. The important thing here is not what the relaunch of Kamala means about Kamala, but what it means for the Democratic Party at large. About how bankrupt they are. Just entirely bankrupt. Kamala is running again and she wants to make sure people don't Just like forget about her. I think Newsom's there. She's not letting it go. She might be the front runner. For years, the big health insurance companies have been raising the price of insurance, denying care and delaying treatments while making record profits and receiving trillions of America's tax dollars through federal programs. When they get asked why health insurance prices keep skyrocketing, the big insurance companies dodge, distract and blame everyone else. But the American public isn't buying it. Recent national polling shows that voters are concerned about affordability and, most importantly, want Congress to prioritize lowering the cost of health insurance. That's why Congress recently grilled the CEOs of the big health insurance companies to answer questions. After years of denying responsibility and pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves, the big insurance bosses are finally being asked to answer for skyrocketing premiums while they make record profits. It's an important first step, but Americans are demanding action and accountability, not more excuses and denials from big health insurance companies. Learn more at americansforopengoverment.com. ladies and gentlemen your attention please keep the faith hold the line and own the lids it's time for our main event fun time friday welcome back to the ruthless variety program i'm josh holmes along with comfortably smug michael duncan and john ashbrook left to right across your radio dial Well, as always, as you know, on Funtime Friday, we save some of the stuff that we've witnessed throughout the week. And, well, it's worth laughing about. Today especially. It's curated over like a week of the worst slash funniest content that we come across on the Internet. It's really curated. It's like it's artisanal, I would say. Yeah. There are things that we could fit in to the Tuesday show and the Thursday show. And we decide, like, no, it's way too funny. Yeah. We've got to do it on Fridays, so that's why you're here and that's what we're doing. We're going to cover some things. First of all, Kamala is back. Oh, boy. The gift that keeps giving. She's back in a very real way. It's not even Valentine's Day. And so we're about to get into all of that. There's also, I don't know if you've noticed, the end of the mainstream sort of corporate press left-wing media that has happened right before our eyes. Now, unless you work in this particular line of work, you probably didn't notice. No. Right? Because when's the last time you logged in on the old Washington Post? But if you did, you notice there's some disruption. Some of your favorite authors no longer journelling over there. We're going to get into that, and we've got some variety. We're going to have some fun, and then we've got a great guest. The RNC chairman, Joe Gruters, it's the first, I think, big interview that he's done. In fact, that's I think what he told us in our interview, which is somewhat of a tradition here on the Ruthless Variety Program. When you have a new chairman of the RNC, they come on in. We have some yucks, and then he can tell us all the serious stuff that they're doing and how we're winning stuff, and he does that. Great guy. Really appreciated the interview. Appreciate the RNC for sending him on over. But let's get right into Kamala. Yes. So it turns out – and this is according to the New York Post. Let me just read the headline, and then we can jump off from here. New York Post, Kamala Harris activates long-dormant campaign accounts to announce headquarters rebrand. I'll see you out there, she says. And that's the headline of the New York Post. Their lead is the former Vice President Kamala Harris announced a rebrand of her long-dormant campaign account on Thursday after teasing a mystery announcement the day before. Her Kamala HQ account on X, which was silent after her loss to Donald Trump in 2024, was renamed Headquarters 6-7. Which is so fitting, fellas. They're talking about how this is like a Gen Z play, but 6-7 is a Gen Alpha thing, which, as a lot of people know, is the generation underneath Gen Z. and when you ask anybody from that generation and my children are among them what does six seven mean they don't know and their answer is like ah you know it doesn't really mean anything they do the hand thing for sure they do the hand thing they kind of try to like spin the wheels and explain it and then they laugh and then they text their friends but it is so fitting that Kamala Harris's theme for her next election, as defined by the demographic she's going after, is, I don't know, it doesn't mean anything. That is her theme. Her theme is she means nothing. Couldn't find a better... It fits well. I mean, we used to play Veep for Veep, and we would pull the quotes from Selina Meyer and the quotes from her. We ran out of content on the HBO... Comedy show. Comedy show, because she had too many. and we could no longer play the game. But I think if you were to have a through line of what all of her quotes meant, nothing. It was words slapped together. Funny to announce this like the moon landing with a tease of what's to come. And it's like, oh, we just got a different handle and there's a meme in there. I mean, the 6-7 thing we're going to come back to in a second because I can't get enough of that. But let's just take a look at the video. They put some work into this. This is her announcement for what she's going to do with this headquarters. Is the new thing. Clip one. Madam Vice President, what's going on with Kamala HQ? Well, I'm so glad you asked. I have good news. So Kamala HQ is turning into headquarters, and it's where you can go online to get basically the latest of what's going on. And also to meet and revisit with some of our great courageous leaders, be they elected leaders, community leaders, civic leaders, faith leaders, young leaders. I'm really excited about it so stay engaged and I'll see you out there thank you you really should go to the YouTube to see this because she's not beating the drunk allegations with the video it's kind of like a I'm glad you asked that's definitely take like 932 right like her staff's like Kamala just the video thing right and then she's like I'm glad you asked just like swing back and forth it's a place for you know all the things online is where we're going to be. And that's the best take they got. That's the best take they got all day out of her. I mean, you definitely want to go there. And then there's another thing in this that I think is hilarious. And that is like it was received in certain quarters within the Democratic establishment is like, what a magnanimous thing to do. You know, like all of the assets of the Kamala Harris campaign now being put forward to the cause, you know, like she's opening up Fort Knox here. And it's like, you know, because like after Barack Obama was elected, right, he turned a lot of that stuff into organizing for america it's like great point we're going to be building the infrastructure for the future of course then all that's wiped out by the tsunami that is donald trump and then you know he goes and gets his netflix deal and yeah whatever and they're still working on a library i'm told yeah i'm told and their lesson was like we don't need of a we'll just wire the money to eric holder and he'll give it to brock yeah but it is it is so funny 10 off the top it is so funny to hear you say that she's like oh well that's what obama did so that's what I should do. Her delusions of grandeur have continued. She has always thought that I'm Obama. I'm just like Obama. And now she's turning over the assets to her organization. That video, dude, I think we should play it one more time. Can we? Let's play it one more time. Madam Vice President, what's going on with Kamala HQ? I'm so glad you asked. So Kamala HQ is turning into headquarters. And it's where you can go online to get basically the latest of what's going on. This is the latest of what's going on. Also see and revisit with some of our great, courageous leaders. Be they elected leaders, community leaders, civic leaders, and civic leaders. It's nothing. She just says nothing. 6-7, dude. I'm really excited about it. So stay engaged, and I'll see you out there. Thank you. It's where you get the latest. You just log into the Internet. There's this thing, and you find out what's going on. You go to HQ. The latest on what's going on. I think Google. I think the important thing. just go to kamala hq or hq six seven six seven i think the important thing here is not what the relaunch of kamala means about kamala but what it means for the democratic party at large about how bankrupt that's just entirely bankrupt i mean you got to remember that in the last election they did historically poor with young voters with voters of color with with informational low vote you know low propensity voters who like get their media through alternative sources Yeah, like Kamala Sixx. Yeah. But instead of like doing a full autopsy, I think they suppressed and they didn't release about why they had this huge problem with young voters and whatnot. The architect of that failure, Kamala Harris, is going to now solve the problem. Right. She's relaunching. She's relaunching and she's going to be a hub of news for those people who didn't want to vote for her. And as we know, I mean, a good first step of any relaunch is to ensure that you look like Grimace from McDonald's right from jump. Look at that suit. Can we toss this up? Look at this. Oh, my God. It does look like Grimace. What are you doing? What are you doing? I mean, everything about this is wrong. Everything about this is wrong. Like, if you're trying to reach out to youth, do you want to be in the most, like, sterile office, nondescript kind of, you know what I mean? It's like a WeWork. Dude, that's what it is. Doesn't it look like a WeWork? This whole thing is a sham. Yeah. She doesn't do real work and she says nothing. Hold on, pop it back up because I can't even, look at the pictures in the background. Exactly. It's like a picture of just the sky. It's like a square of a square. Bro, it's the last thing everybody sees before they get fired. She is exactly the thing that everybody voted against, and now she's out again. This is the HR office, and you're about to lose your job. It's reminding everybody, like, the bullet we dodged as a country. So, like, one of my favorite things about this whole rebrand is that somehow it inspires the youth, which, for the first time in democratic history, she didn't capture the youth. First time ever. Right. First time ever. As we always know, the youngest, most idealistic of all of us are more likely to be Democrat than Republican because they still have dreams. They don't understand the real world works and a lot. They haven't been cut down a million times. And they don't understand the cynicism that all of us have been subjected to. Even those people were like, I can't do it. I can't do it. So she's like, hmm, I'm the youth movement. I'm going to do all this. Let's just take a trip down memory lane. This is how she treated the young people. Clip 2. What's the other thing we know about this population? And it's a specific phase of life. Remember, age is more than a chronological fact. What else do we know about this population, 18 through 24? They are stupid. That is why we put them in dormitories. And they have a resident assistant. They make really bad decisions. a leader for our time exactly what the young people are looking for somebody to call them an idiot inspiration for gen alpha i mean incredible right so but then i was thinking more about this because i was reminded of that clip and the absolute best of her tenure yeah during the biden administration as vice president was when they decided she was taking too much heat and she needed to start going on offense and start doing events and like they were going to do youth movement on all this and like i don't know space maybe space is a thing and as you recall what happened which ultimately became public was that they had paid put out advertising to get child actors to interact with they couldn't even find like it wasn't a preschool in america yeah it wasn't a preschool in america that wanted to be sat with Kamala Harris and talk about space, so they had to pay people legitimate actors' dollars to sit down and do it. Clip two, please. Or three. To think about so much that's out there that we still have to learn. Like, I love that. I love that. And so I'm very excited about the Space Council. We're going to learn so much. We're going to learn. As we increasingly, I think, are curious. Remember, this is all an ad. And interested in the potential for the discoveries and work they can do in space. It's incredible. That's one of the things I'm most excited about. Look at these kids. You guys are going to see. You're going to look at the craters on the moon with your own eyes. You're going to look at the moon with your own eyes. I'm telling you, it is going to be unbelievable. Dude, that is so amazing. And you know the producers for that ad are like, kids, don't talk. You might make her sound stupid. Kids, play it bigger. Act like she's exciting. They're like, oh. Oh, the moon with her own eyes. I can't imagine. That's such a crazy line. And what a crazy time, right? Because remember, she was saddled with, you know, I'm going to find the root causes of migration. She's going to be the borders and solve this thing. They made the space. And you just know, like in the VP's office at the time, they're like, you old son of a bitch giving me this intractable problem that you created that you now can lay at my feet. And so there was this time during the Biden administration in order to dig out of that where she became like a broken arrow. Well, no, no. Like assistant director of special projects. Dude, it was like take your kid to work day where they're like, can we just find a book with some crayons for Kamala here? And she still found a way to blow it. She's like, I'll be damned if I'm not going to ribbon cut for a while. Yeah, right. They're like, so we want you to sit down with some kids and just talk about space. You know, that's easy. this is like you know anybody can do this kamala and she's like i got it and they sit her down with some normal kids and she was like so we're gonna look at the moon with our own eyes and the normal kids are looking at each other like what the hell is happening well the first thing i was told this is extra credit now i feel threatened the first thing they're thinking is i hope this check cashes yeah well this is they couldn't find normal kids they gotta start paying kids because kids are like why is the lady smell like liquor i don't feel safe and they're like well we can find some kids we'll give money to sit with kamala i mean i'm sure biden's folks are good at that right so they gotta sit her in a room with a bunch of child actors and she still sounds like a moron and like for those child actors to try they they just have to keep a straight face did you see that they're like completely expressionless they're like don't even make eye contact with her no it's like your nightmares a collection of hailey joel osman's it's like just don't move And it'll be over and your parents will get the cash. It's so good. So I forget – hey, Wolf, is Graphic 6 – is that a current iteration or is this a blast from the past? It's a recent one. Okay, because I didn't remember this. She just put this up like I'll say within the past month or two. Okay, can we put Graphic 6? That's her playing board games. Now, she doesn't have the Grimace outfit on, which is an improvement. It does look like she's playing Connect 4. Connect 4. I mean it's not a board game. There's no critical thinking going on here. It's in the eye of the beholder. You've got to be able to count to four. I think the interesting thing about this is... It's diagonal, too. I mean, so you've got to watch out for that. Yeah, you've got to watch out for that. The interesting thing about this is, yet again, not beating the charges. Can we get Graphic 7? Boom. I mean, like, oh! Dude, this is just... I missed that in the first graph. Dude, that's just to be able to sit and play Connect 4. She needs a tip-topper. Honestly, I think that's the realest thing about her. As someone who experienced a whole week of no school with my kids, and I did multiple 300-piece puzzles, bourbon helped a little. Oh, it helped a lot. No question about it. I wish she would embrace it. You do wish she would embrace it, but instead they insist she's some kind of gumshoe. She's going to get to the bottom of the root causes of immigration problems. problems in her. Here's my thinking is, my theory is her drinking is so out of control they can't even, they're trying to hide it so hard they can't even be like, well she occasionally has a glass of wine because like let's be serious. Everyone knows she's slurring non-stop so they're trying to be like, no, no how dare you and trying to hide it when really, I mean every story I've heard I mean there's horror stories. Many people are saying? Many people are saying. Allegedly. Horror stories. I mean she's the worst candidate but here's the thing if you look around smug you brought this up earlier before our show today um she might be the front runner that's the thing that's the reason that this happened is number one she's seen gavin newsom is out there trying to take this thing before the race even begins right at the same time i i mentioned it uh maybe a week or two ago there's a lot of chatter going around in D.C. about how listen, people say, oh, they don't want Kamala, but during this book tour she's on, she's been filling up venues, and a lot of Democrat operatives are talking about that. They're like, well, she's still putting together bigger crowds than Newsom does. All Newsom's doing is going out, and Newsom made a fool of himself at Davos. I mean, Besson just body bagged him. Sent him home in a freaking coffin. And I think this is, the most obvious and cynical thing here is Kamala's running again and she wants to make sure people don't just like forget about her. Newsom's there. She's not letting it go. No, it's happening. It's happening. The reason why her poll numbers are so good is because Democratic voters at a base are like hostages that suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. You know? I mean, these are the same people who if he went on X during the Biden administration, they were like, he is a genius. There's never been a more Vila president. He is certainly not a cadaver. No. Right? And so in processing that trauma, they're like, we need to go back to Kamala. I'm very glad you brought that up because I have something here. There's a very strong online – Wait, hold on. It's a surprise exhibit. There is. There is. So there was a lot of chatter when this Kamala HQ thing got teased. And, yes, conservatives were hilariously laughing and making fun of it. But an unexpected thing was a lot of Democrat operatives came out feeling like they have nothing left to lose and started calling out this kind of horrible like online digital work by Democrats. Could I get exhibit 7A, please? We have a secret exhibit here? This is from Stephanie Feldman who worked on Biden's campaign in their digital. And she says, here's my fave example of something the Biden 2020 Digi team wanted to tweet out from the Biden campaign account. I vetoed it because it is such an outrageously unserious reaction to a serious moment and not Biden brand. Lots of Digi people were upset with me. Can we zoom in on that image? It's the bunny that holds the sign up saying justice for George Floyd. They were about to tweet that out from Biden's account. No way. It gets even funnier. Look at the bottom half. They have to get sign-off from all these people. A written sign-off? From all those people to be able to send out this emoji bunny holding up a sign saying justice for – Imagine if Joe Biden sends out a bunny holding up a sign saying justice for Georgia. Can we go back to this? Maybe your note – go ahead, Josh. No, I was just going to say, if the comms team's production is a bunny holding up justice for George Floyd, presumably in 2024. This is 2020. I can understand why all of those sign offs are necessary. Like this is the creativity. I mean, I would want to double check that kind of thing. I would too. And, you know, can we just put it up one more time? Because as I'm looking through all of those different verticals for approval, one of them has a question. It's hilarious, right? Need VP approval? So they're not actually sure whether it's required to have Kamala's say on anything that they do. On her account. It just comms policy legal research And that the only one that has the question Exactly They like you you know what She probably not Does she need to see it She doesn It after 4 p She really too drunk to sign Her husband's working his way around the building. He's pissed. I mean, like. Yeah, we don't want him to get mad. We've seen what happens with that. Let's bypass that. He makes the Irish look peacemaking. And so I think the big takeaway here is the song remains the same. Kamala is running again. The Democrats are still stuck with the disaster of idiots of their own making. They've allowed such idiots to rise up within the ranks, right? This is what you get when you're a blue state. Kamala was a senator for California. Yeah, there's no competition, and there's certainly not any sort of thought leadership. None of it. It could be Tubby in Illinois. Gavin Newsom, the psychopath. Tubby. It's a murderer's row of losers. Yeah. But that's what they have. And I predict she's running. I mean, this is the clearest sign possible. Why wouldn't she? Anyone who will – I mean, she has a lead. That's the thing. That's the thing. Is it so sad? It's hard to understand as a Republican because we demand so much. Yeah. Let's run the drunk again. We go through a quarter of not getting exactly what we want. And we're like, well, fuck, I'm not voting anymore. I'm turning Democrat. And this is not like this. Seriously, this is not just us saying that we now we control the White House. We control the House. We control the Senate. We're having more contested primaries in the Republican Party. Oh, yeah. Then the Democrats. They don't want to change direction. Right. Even though they ate shit and they suppress their own autopsy for why they ate shit. Yeah. They're still like, all right, again, stay the course. It's like Herb Brooks in Miracle. Again. It is. Until the American people just stomach our insanity. Again. It is. That's exactly what they are. It's just like a theater show before George Soros to who's going to be the best person to do what he wants. Oh, it's amazing. All right. So when we come back, bad news for the libs, bad news for the journos. Oh, no. Yeah. We've talked about it a lot, but it's not getting any better. catastrophe is struck in the center. The very heartbeat of Lib Journal left right after this. Energy is all around us. It's how we move, how we build, and how we make every day a little easier. We're all around America's oil and natural gas, supporting 11 million good-paying American jobs across the country and powering our way of life. But energy demand is growing and fast. That's why we need to overhaul our broken permitting process. To unleash America's abundant natural resources, strengthen national security, and create a future where American energy leads the world. What America builds today will help secure a more affordable, more reliable future with enough energy to go around for generations to come. Our country can't wait. We must pass permitting reform now to help secure American energy dominance. Because when America builds, America wins. America's oil and natural gas. Paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. So you may have noticed that the traditional corporate media, broadcast media, the four major dailies, all of this stuff, other than the Wall Street Journal, seems to be doing pretty well. Everything outside of that has been untroubled times. And it turns out that the vast majority of Americans have demanded actual information at some level and they can no longer find it through this network of corporately funded operations that have been going since the beginning of time that have decided that we're all just sort of pawns in their game and they're going to filter information through a partisan lens and deliver everything. So people have gotten frustrated. And like you've seen this receding over a 10-year period of time. It's the reason why things like Ruthless exist because you get the real story or whatever. But never could you imagine it hitting like it did the Washington Post this week. That's an institution owned by one of the richest people in the world. It literally is in terms of what journos care about. It's like a Mona Lisa type thing. I mean there's like seven wonders of the world, and for journals, this is one of them, Washington Post. Well, tough times. New York Post reports that the Washington Post fired over 300 journos as Bezos ignores correspondence lists, please. So what's funny about this, one, that they've richly earned any sort of retraction in their workforce because they have annually lost $100-plus million. And I actually saw one journo, a guy that's been around for a long time, make a straight-faced argument about how Basis is worth like – Was it Peter Baker? Yeah. He's a piece of garbage. Him and his crazy wife. Him and his crazy wife. And what's the word for like if you got your job because of daddy? Nepotism. Nepotism. And his little nepo baby also in journalism. What's that, Baker? I'm just saying like the argument was the most unbelievable thing. Like he's so rich he should be comfortable losing all this money. He's only losing $100 plus million. He's worth $50 billion. And so like it should just be his duty. It's a philanthropy. To pay these worthless sacks of shit. to report lies to you every day. Is for them, for these journos who spent the past decade, decade plus during the Obama years, when there were folks in West Virginia losing their jobs mining coal, they're like, learn a code. Learn a code. They had no sympathy. Before Elon bought Twitter, journos were hunting down conservatives who would reply to journalists who got laid off with learn a code and getting them permabanned from Twitter. Well, even before that. There are a special protected class that are not only owed your undivided attention. They want to be the only source of information for you. You are deserving of only what they want you to know and through what prism of bias that they have on every subject. And they think, oh, he's the richest man alive. His money belongs to me. That's why I write about all this socialism shit. Really? The implicit bias is so strong. They don't even recognize it. But they only operate in an information silo where they're talking to each other and people in a similar line of work. And so it just reinforces all their biases all along. And they think that that is the absolute truth, the only truth, and the only thing worth discussing. Meanwhile, they just miss the forest through the trees every possible way that they can. Let's take just a trip down memory lane and some of the golden oldies that we've seen out of the Washington Post. Who can forget graphic one? There's a terrorist, Abu Bakr al-Baghati, who, as you recall, was one of the most horrific terrorists. He was a rapist, terrorist murderer. Has ever seen. And the way that they characterize him in their obituary is a austere religious scholar. I think how deranged you have to be to think like that. That's the thing, right? It's like Jeffrey Dahmer just invited people over for dinner. yeah i mean like he likes to share meals with friends just delusional stuff i mean uh here's another one one of our favorites from an old friend of the program uh graphic two tom cotton keeps repeating a coronavirus virus fringe theory that scientists have disputed oh oh it turns out is out of foot nuts on about what what happened and we now know that the fbi's cop to such they're like it tom cotton said that it leaked from uh a lab in wuhan china and they're like that's racist it actually came from one of these crazy markets where the chinese people eat animals that's the last of racist take there can i go back and just you we mentioned you mentioned the terrorist obituary headline can i just read you the headline that they gave to a very long serving Republican senator from Oklahoma, Jim Inhofe. Oh, yeah. James Inhofe, Oklahoma senator and climate change denier, dies at 89. That's what they gave a guy who dedicated his life to delivering the message of people from Oklahoma to Washington. And they're like, no, fuck you. Here's what we're going to do for the terrorists. And that's why. So when we were having a meeting about this show and Ashbrook's trying to walk us all back because he's friends with all these journos. I said if they dance on the graves of conservatives, I will dance on their layoffs. I will dunk on them and I encourage our audience to. And I don't care, Ashbrook, that they're all your friends. We're going to hold these people accountable because they've lived their entire lives without accountability. They're demanding Bezos' money. That's how bad they are at accountability. Look, I do say I have like four investigative reporters in his panty drawer by week's end. Bezos bought this newspaper for $250 million, and it loses over $150 million a year. If you have a boat and think that's a bad investment, try only the Washington Post. That is a bad investment. I lose 50% a year, compounded, annually. So, Russiagate. It was pervasive amongst this class of journo. New York Times, Washington Post, you name it. They were all about it. There was never any sort of hedging about what the story was. But graphic three, Washington Post, the case for Trump-Russia collusion. We're getting very, very close. I mean it's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous. But again, so now you see all these people being laid off because people no longer trust the information that they provide. And for those of us who have worked with these people, like I remember how it used to be. It was never a friendly place to anybody who was right of center. There were people you could work with at some level. It has not become that. Like it is now just what it is. But they act as though this is the end of democracy itself. The journos' protection of their own thing is like no other industry in America. You know what I mean? Like you can be laid off from your manufacturing job. They don't give a shit. All that shit shipped to China. All that shit shipped to Mexico. They don't give a shit. And there's no effort to sort of highlight the story and do this, that, and the other thing. There's no efforts. But when it comes to one of their own, there's a real problem with that because the echo chamber of which they hitched their Georgetown cocktail party to and their livelihood and their trips up to Boston and Martha's Vineyard and Palm Beach and all of their lifestyle. Oh, well, that is the grand. And irony is they would wax poetic about increasing worker productivities by streamlining things. If it was any other industry but their own, it's a sacred cow that you could never reduce the head count on. Hundreds of people need to be in a newsroom at the Washington Post in order to tell you what's happening on Capitol Hill. And, of course, we know that to be not true. In fact, if you just kind of look around the media ecosystem, there's plenty of people who've gone and left major publications to start their own thing to report the news on a specific vertical. Like Punchbowl comes to mind or Semaphore, your buddy Ben Smith. There's people in journalism that are doing pretty well servicing an audience. Like if maybe media got back to providing information that people are interested in. Oh, you mean like facts and evidence? that maybe they'd succeed. That's the thing is they had such a simple job and they had a monopoly. Like they had a monopoly. There was a time when, I mean, it wasn't like if you have a good viewpoint and a mic and you can build an audience and you can be compelling. There was a time that just didn't happen. The democratization of information is the worst thing that happened to media because it turns out they were all just a bunch of untalented hacks who their moat was, we've got the printing machines. Well, it's no different than the people that we highlighted on yesterday's show of people who have no clue what it is they're talking about, but they have a narrative that they'd like to confirm. So they just throw out stuff, have you consume it and move on to the next thing. Right. I mean, that is what has become of modern day journalism. I'm not saying that there aren't exceptions. There are good reporters. I believe that. And I'm going to stick up from smash on this. I know you disagree, but there are people you can work with. This is a rag that has gone so far downhill that when they tried to turn the ship away from the iceberg, they revolted from within. And that's where this whole thing had completely tumbled is that you had a newsroom essentially at war with its leadership about the direction of actually covering news, and they just refused to do it. Right. And this monopoly that Smug is talking about, and I don't disagree with you at all on that dynamic, but it was abused by people whose names you will never know. Yeah. pushing people whose names you saw at the top of stories to write things that they themselves knew there was a counterpoint. And yet they were like told that you need to put that counterpoint at the bottom of the story because what's most important is trying to drive an ideology, trying to convince people of something that I think in my head that I'm sitting here on this laptop and I'm trying to shape the way people think. The worst possible thing that ever happened in journalism was this push against objectivity. We've talked about it on this show. NPR was – I mean the lady says straight up. She was like, I have a problem with objectivity. Well, facts are only facts. It's the worst thing that ever happened in journalism because the reason why people read stories is so they can get information because they have too many other things going on in their lives. You have five minutes to get informed about what's going on in your world, and you want to know that you have credible facts in front of you. You're not getting a lecture from some leftist who is trying to lead you to believe something that isn't true. And I really think that there are so many reporters who are victims of a culture. Do you think reporters are the victims here? I do. They're not the victims. The victims are the American people who, when they lose their jobs, none of these journals gave a damn. And you know what? We're supposed to feel like 300 journos losing their job is the worst tragedy to befall America. These people are calling terrorist rapists austere scholars. I don't feel bad for them. I think Don Lemon should be an example. The only good journal is a jailed one. Listen, buddy. Listen. I mean, there are an awful lot of people who would agree with that because the stories that were written, particularly Josh mentioned, coal country. You know what I mean? Like these major publications crushed the American coal industry. And there are people who are working very good paying jobs who are completely out of work. Their families have nothing because of what these major mainstream outlets did to them. And nobody will ever argue with you on that. You are right now as we speak. I do think that there are reporters who are victims of a system. I kind of agree because of – Because they're just trying to rise up. Here's where I agree with you. Reporters are reporters are reporters and you're trained one way or another. But in a particular era, the one that we've all now seen result in record journo job loss, they were trained under assignment editors that give you a very specific idea of what it is that you need to cover. That's where the media bias exists. It's not so much the reporting of the story, although that's bad too. It's what you choose to cover. Like for example – So these journos, they were just following orders? They're just following orders. Well, I think it's an entirely – If you've got a maniac who's telling them what to do, they're just following orders. We have the trials. That's not going to work. I mean I'm not saying that like a mid-level terrorist is not a terrorist. I'm saying what you're trained to do at some level in any line of work, you learn based on what people teach you to do. And what happened to this generation of journos is that they would teach you that the news and the story are not the news and the story. And so where you would get the plaudits, the pats on the back, the raises, the better assignments, all of those things were all as a result of taking those orders to like – if you have a Senate race somewhere in the world, the story is not who are the candidates. The story is how much dirt can I dig on the Republican candidate? Yeah, so that's what I want to clarify is I don't feel like the journos are in any way a victim. I don't feel like they show up to a workplace and all of a sudden they have an assignment editor who's like, I want you to be a lunatic. I think it begins way earlier when they arrive at Northwestern, when they arrive at Columbia, when they arrive at Chapel Hill. That's true, too. They begin building the operatives. These are operatives marching off to war, and they're wars against the American people. These are propagandists. When they show up to Chapel Hill, they're already maniacs. When they show up to Northwestern, they're already maniacs. When they show up to Columbia, I mean, look at what happens in Columbia. They're already maniacs, and then they get their job, and they're journos now. Just look at the revolving door between journalism and Dem politics. Yes, one-to-one. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if they leave, that's where they're going. Look, I don't disagree with what you're saying. I'm just simply trying, like, if anybody's trying to understand how we got from 2005 when it was left of center and, like, people trying to write something that was useful, and today— I don't think there's any— I think there's a reason— We should not try to understand or humanize the journos. All right. For God's sake, they're trying to destroy us. You've made that point you're telling me for the first time. Do you think he cares for them? Can I make – to further my point of view, can we get graphic four? Ashford, could you read what this is? Oh, my God. He just said it. Okay. I will do it. This is graphic four, Ashley Parker. Former WAPO journo, long time. Quote the murder of the Washington Post. My argument, buddy. My argument. Continue reading. My argument is that the call is coming from inside. People want to hear the voice. Please read. The call is coming from inside of the house. And can we get the graphic back? But I want it in the voice. Okay. What did she write? I will read it. This feels like a hazing technique. This is great. I will read it. I will read it. Yesterday I was wet-eyed, Obvi, on the Metro. Obvi. Wearing my post-beanie, Obvi, and a woman, a stranger, leaned over and hugged me, which is to say the entire city understands the scope of this devastating and then everybody stood up and clapped can i say can i say the washington post wasn't murdered irena zarutska was murdered but they didn't write about that did they oh well that but they're they're therein lies the problem you know what i mean it's why i say the clause coming from inside of the house but it's the assignment i mean look the role of journalism is not that we do it it just doesn't look like it used to and these people want it to work in the same top-down elitist aristocratic assignment way that it always has and that they determine what's important to you or not and they determine the narrative by which you consume the news and information and they're so dogmatically committed to it that it blows my mind this gofundme page yes i saw this this is absurd so just pop this bad boy up this is graphic five the top donation this was we just checked like a few hours this is essentially for washington post journos to buy booze that's what this i'm not making this up this was they said buy us a drink we got laid off yeah so but they put together this go fund me for all the people got laid off you know i wish that that america's manufacturers over the last 30 years would have something similar but of course nobody's going to publicize this but all the people with hundreds of thousands of people who follow them in left-wing politics uh there's a way to raise money for this sort of thing so here the journos are top donation kara swisher which she donates ten thousand dollars to this effort and she doesn't give it anonymously no no right out there it's about i want everyone to be like hey kara swisher still around yeah standing up for journos i've got ten thousand dollars to send and she's a journo like a left-wing psychopath in and of her side it's amazing to me that she's had the career that she has if you listen to her for 10 And then it's actually shocking that people listen to what she has to say. But she's got the wherewithal to drop 10K on a news story that morning. Dude, just imagine living a life for all of you listening where you're listening to radio or you're reading the newspaper and you see some development. And you're like, well, I mean, I'll just cut a check for 10K to all of that. I mean, it's just – And to cut that check not to feed America or someone who trying to help those in need You know These journals have gone hours without being drunk I have to fund this Here the thing guys We don need to imagine it because we know what The Washington Post wrote when Mitt Romney invoked on a debate stage OK, when Democrats are passing $10,000, it is a it is a gift. Generosity. My only point about these organizations is and I've said this so many times on our show. These organizations do not reflect this country. a country where 77 million people voted for Donald Trump. And yet the organizations that are tasked with covering what matters to America are all Democrats. Until these organizations have half Republicans and half Democrats working inside, they will not reflect the coverage that readers really want. It's well said. I mean, nowhere you can scroll through the list for yourself if you ever want to see it. I mean, in no place is there like a notable conservative who's contributing. And there's a reason for that. No. And the only conservative, the only conservatives they have, the only Republicans they have are people who are anti-Trump. Yeah. You know, like. Oh, yeah, totally. It's like, oh, no, I'm a Republican. I'm very, very conservative. No question about it. But I think Donald Trump should be in prison. Right. Like, OK, well, you're you're you have a worthwhile view because it's temporarily accommodating. Right. You know what I mean? Right. That is the way it goes. That's not how our country works. Yeah. Anyway, I'm not crying a lot of tears about this whole situation, but I don't think that's the end of it. I don't either. I think it's just like the beginning. I'm glad to see Ashbrooks have stopped. You can soldier on, buddy. They'll be fine. All your buddies will be fine. The writing of Smash on the journo buddy thing is one of the best bits. It's okay. It's good. All right. So it leads to our question of the day. It goes back to the first segment on the Democratic nomination. Who's going to win this bad boy? who's gonna win the democratic nomination is it kamala is it gavin is it somebody like pritzker fat boy from illinois fat boy fat fat pritzker you know is it somebody else what's the broad from uh michigan what's her name gretchen whitmer whitmer yeah you know i mean a lot of people talk about her too but i mean it's an interesting discussion she needs a twitter account because apparently that's the thing you gotta come up with a six seven account they think that's how they're gonna get the six seven six seven it's like okay well the eight-year-old is definitely going to vote you in he doesn't know what it means for but he's going to show up what i find so fascinating about this question is that you know process stories sort of to drive politics at this stage in the game this far out from a presidential election and for a long time newsom's been dominating the process story it's like well listen to what he said or oh he talked to steve bannon or oh he showed up in davos and got fucking body bagged by scott pesson like all those things it's all been about gavin newsom which led me to believe at some level if you're a lib and you consume consume these like mainstream media things this guy's like running away with it certainly making more news than anybody else which is helpful and then all of a sudden this broad gets off the the uh mat you know for the first time she activates her x account since she lost i mean it was great to have a moment or in a moment of clarity after newsom got owned by bassinet because he's weak now. Now's the time to strike. I'll give her credit for that. But it's interesting, right? She shows up, reactivates a dormant account that she was too timid to use after she got her doors blown off. It's hard to argue. She's not kind of in a front-runner position. We're asking our audience, who do you guys think is going to get the nomination? Can I make my prediction? Please. I think she beats Gavin. Yeah, I mean, to be honest with you, if the election were today, it would not be close. The question is what happens from here on out is there somebody else who captures that left-wing imagination you're watching a lot of these primaries play out main you know elsewhere where you've got the aoc bernie crowd who is far stronger electorally than the establishment democrats have ever been but they've always been crushed under the weight of the establishment democrat and it doesn't feel like they have the same leverage that they used to the question i think it all depends on who we nominate because i i don't think the democratic party can stand on its own feet with you think it's all it's all downstream right of us yeah like the existence of the democratic party in in some extent in today's age which is sad but i think you're right he's not wrong is about trump or trump acolytes versus yeah whatever they think that they can do to match up against that yeah i mean they're scared of their own shadow they couldn't go out on a limb and nominate somebody because they think they are good on their own merits it would be a reflection of us it's enough to make to drive you to drink which is why i firmly endorse the biotics i'm going to tell you about a game-changing pre-alcohol drink it's something that we have endorsed here on the ruthless variety program because we know it works yep uh we've been through a ton of events uh philadelphia last week a bunch of things before that but uh when you take zbiotics there's some science behind the next morning feeling a little better than you ordinarily will that's right so first off what i want to say is when you go when you're gonna have a big night when you have a couple beers when you're gonna go out have a zbiotics first because it actually does work for the longest time folks have thought oh you know i'll chug a gatorade when i get home or if i drink three glasses of water well how's that worked out it hasn't it never works because it's not about being dehydrated. When you have alcohol, your stomach breaks it down. There's this toxic byproduct. That's what's making you feel miserable in the morning. But Z-Biotics knocks that right out. And when you travel as much as we do, it's important that you feel good that next morning. We were in Philadelphia recently and we had a good time, very good time. We did. But we had some issues with travel related to the weather and everything. And we ended up in a car driving all the way back from Philadelphia. Which is the train and the plane got canceled. That's not an ideal situation once you've had that big night. ZBiotics rounds that right out. It sure does. It helps an awful lot. And it's backed by science, right, Smash? It sure is. And that's why we always say there's no tomorrow without ZBiotics today. Exactly right. So if you go to ZBiotics.com slash Ruthless, you can learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use Ruthless at the checkout. Z Biotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason at all, they'll refund your money. No questions asked. Remember to head to Z Biotics dot com slash ruthless and use the code ruthless at checkout for 15 percent off. All right. We want to get back into your commentary on yesterday's episode, which, by the way, was a good one. Great episode. Every once in a while we do serious shit. Let's not just yucks. We try to break things down because if we weren't involved in this line of work, these are the answers of things that we would want to know and the perspective that we would want to know. And we really got into it, which I loved a lot. And our question of the day was, what is it going to take to get elected Democrats on board with voter ID? We asked you to have some fun. Let's see how you did. We always start with a voice. First one from Jeremy Kincaid. And Jeremy writes, to get the Democratel on board with voter integrity initiatives, We're going to need three things. Sturdy rubber gloves, industrial lube, and a pry bar. Jeremy says these are the necessary tools to perform a cranial rectum. Jeremy knows the terms. Well done. Comment two, Ducks. This is from Woods Precision Arms. They write, the only way you will get Democrats to vote for voter ID is to trick them. Tell them voter ID is an acronym for violence on the elderly Republican. Instant devastation act. You'd be like, wait, that's on the floor? Count me in. I'm all for it. Unbelievable. I like that. Smuggersworth? Comment three is from Kendall Barrett. Kendall writes, the only way elected Dems will get on board with voter ID involves usually a two-step process. One, several mid-morning trips for good old-fashioned electroshop therapy. and if mixed results, too, a rendition to Gitmo for some aqua therapy. Otherwise, they are hopeless. Bro, calling waterboarding aqua therapy. Yeah, aqua therapy. That's good. So good. I love that. It's very, very good. I love it. Your comments are great. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program, we read every single one of them. Get back to the very next episode, and we learn a lot in the process, so thank you all for doing that. We come back very, very quick lightning round because we want to get to our special guest, the RNC chairman. You're ready for this. Okay, we always like to have a good time with a little bit of a lightning round here. I must confess that the one that Smug has been most insisted upon, I'm not sure that I understand. He didn't see the value in this one. I didn't understand. So I'm going to let you open this thing up and just guide us through. Absolutely. So this is about the prediction market. Pauly Market is opening a free grocery store in New York. Remember, there's all this talk from Donnie being like, oh, you want like city grocery? grocery stores and so polymarket is is planning on building a free grocery store they're launching it is it a troll so that's it can i get uh graphic 11 the post reads after months of planning we're excited to announce the polymarket is coming to new york city this is not troll this is real new york's first free grocery store we signed the lease and we donated one million to a food bank for nyc an organization that changes how our city responds to hunger there are also images of inside They've like stuck the shelf. This is separate. They gave a million to the food bank. But they have taken out a space that they're going to have and they've followed up to people's questions. They're like, no, but really, what are you doing here? And they're like, they're going to fill this grocery store and they're going to open the doors and it's free. Wait, so there's no like checkout? You just come in and take a shit? No, it's an actually – so that is where I thought it will get interesting is I want Kalshi or someone else to be like, create a market. How long before this store is ransacked to hell? Is it going to be one hour? Is it going to be three hours? Will it make it 24 hours? Because that's the question. Like when Donnie and these people come up with this idea of like, oh, you know, we're going to have a free grocery store and then we'll have unicorns that will be working the shelves and it will be rainbows and lollipops for everybody, right? And anyone who has spent time in New York City, especially lately, you know what it's going to look like. It's going to look like the subway. It's going to be a real problem. It's going to be deranged, violent people. But this is actually a real thing? So that's the thing. I read this and I was like, maybe this is a stunt. This is just something they're doing. This is real. They really are convinced that it's going to be a normal experience having a store that's just free stuff. We may need to send Eddie P out there. That's what I'm saying is I want to see the video of when the doors open because first it's going to be like supermarket suite. Yeah. You're going to probably have some normal Zoomers who think it's kind of like a fun little thing, and they're going to run in there, and they're going to try to fill their bags with all the stuff. But then you're going to get the real New Yorkers, and by that, I mean the animals, right? They've heard about this. They're going to crawl out of the subway, and there's going to be problems in there. There's going to be violence in there. That's what I'm enthusiastic about. What do you think the over-under is on time for the first murder in the poly market? I was like, how soon before the police have to be there? Yeah. I think it's going to be fast. I think 72 hours has got to be the over-under. I think within 24 hours there's going to be cops there. So you take the under on the 72. Depending on the hours. When does it open? That's the thing. I think it opens in the morning. Are they saying when they're actually launching it? Yeah, it's like within the next two weeks, I want to say. So we're going to get this information soon. Dude, I think within 24 hours there's going to be final. We should set real-time odds here and just have a friendly wager. That's what I'm saying. Well, I think we need to open a few markets because I am interested. Like, when's the first murder, right? Like, when's the first fist fight? I think it's going to be assault. I don't think – I'm hopeful there won't be a murder. But I'm hopeful there's going to be some assaults. But I think there's other – I'm hopeful there will be some assaults right here comfortably smug in the Rupert's Variety. Because as a country, we lost something. Black Friday, it used to be a celebration of deals and mayhem. You know, like, are you brave enough to go to the Best Buy and you have to punch this guy in the face for that microwave? Is that you? Are you going to get this deal? Also in keeping... But now it's all online. This polymarket is our last hope to have that kind of like a gladiatorial meets shopping, but it's all free. And so there's going to be violence. And is polymarket betting on this? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think they are. I think they would feel that came off as cynical, but Calche... What do you mean they would feel? Calche should do it. Do you see the shit they've put up? It's like how many towns the Russians are taking you? Not exactly like a real reticence to engage in. But I think they have an issue because they actually have liability in this sense. You know what I mean? Well, they can't create the environment by which they wager upon. I mean, it's basically Hunger Games. Yeah, their lawyers would not be pleased with that situation. But for CalShe, if I'm CalShe, I'm making so many markets in this. So many markets. If I'm CalShe, I'd be publicizing this. I'm interested in which section gets sold out first. Oh. Is it produce? That's a great question. I'm going dairy. Is it dairy produce? Is it meat? See, because my bet would be meat or alcohol. Yeah, meat. Oh, alcohol is going to... Dude, if they have an alcohol in this story, it's going to be a disaster. Like two people fighting over a beef tenderloin? Like that's happening immediately. There's going to be like a standing rib roast and someone's going to chuck it at somebody else. Dude, it's going to be like a violent... It's going to be Supermarket Sweep meets American Gladiators. Like what we've always wanted to see. Just pure mayhem. I miss the real Black Friday. I think we should see it. We should try to find out when this thing opens up and see if Eddie P can go in and purchase. Whoever live streams this is a genius. Someone should go in and just live stream this. Because I'm telling you, as soon as it's dark, it'll become violent. It's a 24-hour store? Well, I don't know what their hours are. Oh, my God. Is this nighttime hours? That's what I'm saying. If it's open past 5 p.m. when the sun's setting, dude, they're coming out of the subways, and there's going to be man. I'm going to advise against any of that. We should send somebody to wear hockey gear and stand there and just witness these monsters. Dress Eddie P. in Kevlar and send them to the poly market. My God. Can you acquire something? And can we take a life insurance policy out on it? Make a bunch of side bets. He's very valuable. I'm not sure we should do that. Okay, that was better than I expected. Good take. That was very, very good. All right, so I have some cold variety here. I've been given a manila envelope, and generally speaking, when this happens, it's not good for me. But I don't know what it is. Oh, wait a minute. The headline I do recognize. You will get a kick out of this. Graphic one. Okay, so what you're looking at there is a World War I artillery shell. And just in case that you thought, you know, perhaps this was in a museum. this is something that has been carefully cultivated and protected over time to demonstrate to a younger generation about what kind of primitive weaponry we have nope it was found in a patient's butt I remember this was in someone's black can I get the nationality of the individual whose ass that was in it was in a hospital in France now we're surprised nothing quiet on that It was evacuated. My God. A hospital in France was evacuated. This is according, I think this is a New York Post article. It was evacuated after a male patient arrived with a World War I artillery shell lodged in his backside. You think it's been in there all this time? It's the secret of life. My God. What has kept this man going? You guys have been walking around for 100 years. Talk about some explosive diarrhea. That is tough stuff. According to a bum shell report. Is this the post? Yeah, they got away with words. But they talk about it. Daily Mail may have first gotten this thing because they had similar style on it. The unnamed 24-year-old had been. 24. 24. Passed down. A real historian. Yeah. You got it from a museum? You think you got it at a museum? I don't know. Well, maybe we'll find out. They've been rushed to this emergency unit in Toulouse late Saturday night. The Daily Mail reported the poor fellow was in an extreme state of discomfort, having inserted a large object of his rectum, an insider source. You want to go on background with that kind of thing. You don't want to be on the record talking about the anal munitions. Yeah. You know, guys, life in France isn't what it used to be. You know, it's a lot more difficult. Extremely France, dude. Seems like a French guy. You know, like the hospital's like, all right. Get in line. Oh, he must be a local. Is it like an enormous thing in your ass? Okay. Dude, is that for real? Is that a real x-ray? Get out of here. Yeah, that's it. So what you're looking at, the surgeons conducted emergency surgery. This is why you get the YouTube. Which they discovered a shocking source of the pain, a live eight-inch bombshell from 1918 that had been launched inside of him. Fearing a potential fire in the hole. Hold on. This is great writing. Fearing a potential fire in the hole and hospital, medical personnel alerted the bomb squad and fire brigade and evacuated the facility. Meanwhile, a security perimeter was formed around the medical center and authorities investigated the explosive situation. fortunately the retro munition uh which was also pointed and over an inch wide so there was a as you can see if you want to top that yes they said in there they're like okay so like they evacuated and the bomb squad shows up and imagine you're like the hurt locker dude like you were in iraq you're like saving people's lives taking apart ieds and then you you show up and you're like okay what's the situation and we got a freaky frenchman this guy grabs his ankles and you're like man fuck this i've been through way too much i didn't sign up for this this frog just jammed a tomahawk up his ass you know like so the bomb uh disposal experts took the shell with them uh while the patient french national remained in the hospital so he could recover from surgery it required surgical they couldn't just remove it they had to take it out it was unclear how the antique ordinance ended up in the man's ass. Is it unclear? I think it's pretty clear. He wasn't shot in there a hundred years ago. I love this. My favorite journoing is like, we don't have all the answers yet. You know, it's like he's fucking I mean, we know what he's up to. It's crazy the less embarrassing answer for him to be like, I just tried eating it. I ate it. I ate a bomb. I ate the bomb. It would be less embarrassing. That's insane. In fact, that is not the way it went down. It went up instead of falling down. I'm not going to ask the question. Please. No, no, no. This is what this show is for. Gravity is a thing. Okay. Why did it require a hospital for it to come out? because it was lodged in his asshole like all the way yeah it's it's a bomb it's a bomb it's not like he just jammed a cucumber up there i mean this is like a this is this is not a prostate exam that's a goddamn ordinance he used to kill thousands of people what what is wrong with the french yeah i mean that's the theme of this episode keister keister and he's keister in it Yeah, it's like with people who smuggle drugs or whatever. Or in Pulp Fiction, like with Dad's Watch. Yeah, Dad's Watch. He hit this up his ass. He hit it up his ass all the way from Nam. Keistered it. Yeah, keistered. Yeah. Well, they speculated in this article. This is very good. They speculated that it could have been the result of a party stunt gone rye. What kind of party is it? French parties are off the hook. And here's our bomb. Anybody want to shove it up their ass? Hey, Pierre. Pierre, come over here. for our next event. I'm going to shove a World War I munition up your asshole. And also, how long does he try to play cool with that? Because the party's over, people have already left. People are like, no, really, maybe you should go to a hospital. He's like, it'll be fine. It's going to come out. In the morning, it'll be cool. The kicker in this article is fantastic. The particular hospital that you went to, this Toulouse outfit, they are quote-unquote accustomed to treating victims injured during sexual games oh yeah that's a hell of a specialty huh you know some people they go they go to school to be you know i mean so like chiropractors every doctor in france is like hurt locker dude like i mean they're showing them to where they're dropping the helmet and dig it in like you don you can really practice unless you practiced the removal of munitions from a butt My God Well that is certainly something Once again, our guest is going to be entering. They're thrilled. It's somewhat of an unfortunate circumstance. But this guy is fantastic. It is a tradition here on the Ruthless Variety Program that we have a new chairman of the Republican National Committee on as one of the first people to interview him. That's where we sit. And this is RNC Chair Joe Gruters. We have the distinct pleasure of welcoming a very important man who's got a lot to do with the upcoming midterms. He's the RNC Chairman Joe Gruters. How are you, sir? I'm doing fantastic. Thanks so much for having me on. Of course. It's a tradition. We have to have the chairman on and talk through all kinds of range of things. And now that there's rumors about a midterm convention, we also have to lock down our real estate. So we're going to be real nice to you on this deal. But listen, relatively new to the job. Everything looks from a cash standpoint and from a management standpoint. You've gotten to hang out of things pretty quickly. Well, I like to say I've spent the first 22 years of my life basically in the minor leagues of party politics. And so I was waiting for the call to come. And the president finally called me up and said, hey, Joe, Watley is going to the Senate. We need you to come up here and help us win these midterms. And so I said, I'm ready. I've literally been waiting my entire life to do this. And I'm so thankful to have the position. And listen, when you have the president doing the job that he's doing and you have the vice president as your finance chairman, it makes your job as chairman a lot easier. Over the years, you can judge success of a chairman really by what they bring in and the resources they have because if you don't have the resources, you can't file the missiles. Right. Exactly. So tell me about that call. Did you know it was coming? Or did he, like, you're laying in bed and all of a sudden you get, like, Besant was talking to us about all hours of the day. The phone rings. You pick it up. And he's like, what are you doing? Well, I got a strange call from, I think it was James Blair, saying, hey, are you somewhere where you could talk? And I think we're going to call you back. And I said, okay, yes, I'm ready. And I told my wife because she was sitting out. I was in the living room. She was in a different room. And I said, hey, I think I'm not positive, but I think the president's about to call me. And she said, OK. And I said – but she said, you better go outside just in case because we have bad reception in the House. Oh, yeah. She said, go outside. And I said, well, do you want to come listen to this? And she said, yeah. But she didn't really know it was the president. So then I'm talking – and the president starts going, listen, we're going to let Watley go be the run for Senate because we know you're going to do a great job. You're going to do a better job than Watley. Don't tell Watley I said that. No, no, no. Secret's safe. Secret's safe. It's not like he listens every day. And so from that standpoint, you know, listen, he was trying to sell me another job. And I said, listen, you don't have to sell me. I said, you're asking me to do this. I'm all in. I said, I know what's at stake. You know, I think what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, if you go back to that incident where he moved his head, I think God saved him that day. I think he saved them not only to save the country but to save the world. And now I hear him saying that. Listen, he is saving the world every day. He's literally been on fire. The first nine-month year in office basically, he's firing on all cylinders. Everything he said he was going to do, he's doing. I mean it's a – I'm so thankful to be able to go to bat for this president and administration. And I'm not going to rest until we win these midterms. Yeah, you don't have much choice. He's a pretty hot pace of play. What I've seen. There's no question. Listen, I took the red eye two nights ago. I'm always on the road. I said, you know, that was the biggest surprise of this job more than anything else is the time that you're on the road as chairman. And even as a Republican Party of Florida, the longtime chairman, you know, we were always busy. But when you assume the position at this level, everything is so professional and it's so dialed in. The team always says that the most important asset of the party is the chairman's time. And so we always have to be – listen, we have to raise, just to break even, $10 million every month. And those are all hard dollars. It's not easy. So we've got to be asking people all the time. And it's just – so it's a – You lose your bashfulness pretty quickly in that gig, right? Well, listen, the first couple of days you're scared to death to ask people for a quarter of a million to half a million. And then within, I think, the first three or four days, I no longer have any issue asking for any amount of money. That's the thing, Chairman. I mean, you talk about going to bat for this president. It looks an awful lot like you're hitting it out of the park. You look at the contrast between what you have raised and what Democrats are stuck with. Let's go through those numbers real quick. To start 2025, just because I love this, it demoralizes the left. Start of 2025, RNC had $38.1 million in zero debt. DNC had $22.1 million on hand and zero debt. To the end of 2025, the RNC has $95.1 million zero in debt. DNC, $12.6 million and $16 million in debt. Well, they seem to keep adding to debt. They're finding more Connelly bills every day over there. It's unbelievable. Listen, they're in big trouble. But we're, like I said, even the party's sparking all cylinders. And I will give Michael Wiley a lot of credit because he set the bar. I mean, he was an absolute workhorse, and that's why I think he'll be successful in North Carolina. He's an Eagle Scout. He is totally focused. And when they first sent me his schedule, I said, what? Yeah, I said, I thought I was playing golf all day, raising money. I didn't know. As a matter of fact, one of my employees I brought with me from Florida, I said, don't worry. We're going to be playing golf all day, raising money. And I said, we haven't played golf once. So I said, man, but it's a – He's in a boiler room. He's a telemarketer. It's wild, but it's a – but yeah, we have a lot more than 95. I think we may be at almost 105 million right now. That's incredible. Every single day we're building on those numbers. And the reason why it matters is the Supreme Court is about to give a ruling on coordinated campaign limits. And so it's a great time to be chairman because all of a sudden the party is going to be able to coordinate directly with campaigns, almost take over the campaigns right off the bat. And we're going to be able to buy dollars at the candidate rate. So it means our dollars are worth four times as much. Huge. And so the Democrats, you're right. They're minus $4 billion. They have $12 million in the bank but $60 million in debt. So that means our dollars are really worth, let's say, $300 million, $400 million. Right. And it used to be the Democrats were able to have a couple of big donors and they'd write these big checks and they'd be able to equalize it. Now they won't be able to do that if that case rules how we're hoping it's going to be, how the Supreme Court, how we think it's going to be ruled upon. And so all of a sudden what we're doing every day – and listen, Wally is great. Vice President Vance, the fact these are finance chairman, first time in the history of the Republican Party that we've ever had a vice president as finance chairman. All we're doing all day is preparing people. You see all these races that the DNC chairman talks about, their wedding. I hate to say it. I care about those races, but the only thing I care about is holding the majorities of the House and the Senate in the midterms. We are going to be locked and loaded and ready to obliterate the Democrats when we need to do it, and that's what we're working on every single day. I like that a lot. You've got a couple of Supreme Court interests going on. You also have that – was that Watson case? Yeah, which is a major home run. So this – from an election integrity standpoint, remember back in 2020, they obviously sold a race. In every cycle, what people don't know is I was asked to lead the election integrity effort after 2020 to find out exactly what happened. So we spent six months with a ton of people. There's an enviable job, by the way. You know you get to trust this guy. Put him in charge of this. And the goal was to make sure that what happened in 2020 never happens again. And obviously, I think I was picked partly because I was from Florida. And if you remember the 2000 election controversy, Gore versus Bush, Florida was the spotlight, and we were a disaster. The hanging chads, everything else. Broward County. Yeah. And what you've seen is every cycle of the Florida legislature has gone up there, and they've worked it. They've tweaked the laws. Now we have a state of 23-plus million people. We can deliver results with 90 minutes. The quickest results in the country. Yeah. Democrat and Republican supervisors, no fraud. Everybody's happy. That's how you ought to do it everywhere. Why can't we do the exact same thing everywhere? But this Watson case is interesting because we have 110 active lawsuits right now. People always say, what does the RNC do? Well, one of the things we do, we're the overall – don't forget, we are the political arm of the White House. We work with the administration hand in hand. Obviously, my relationships being from Florida, working with James Blair, working with Susie Wiles helps. But we're working with them on a constant basis, and we have 110 lawsuits. And that Watson case, what's so important about that is – It's essentially about counting ballots after election day, right? So there's 17 states across the country that count absentees after election day. They can be received. So that means these races can go on for four weeks, two months. Oh, we're familiar. And do. And they do. And the problem is they know exactly how many votes they need to go, and they'll go find them and pull them in. This lawsuit is a major historic victory if we get to the Supreme Court. The fact that it's being heard, the fact that it's all the Republican National Committee, and we actually had to sue Mississippi, if you could believe it. I mean, it's a – but we're going to go coast to coast. We're going to – we're not taking a reactive approach. We're going to be as aggressive as we can anywhere where we could find an advantage or where we could take aim and focus on non-citizens voting, equal access for poll workers and poll watchers, cleaning up voting rolls. We're going after everything, coast to coast, 110 lawsuits right now. We spend a ton of money on election integrity efforts, but we have to because we have to do everything we can to make sure it's easy as possible to vote and the hardest possible to cheat. Yeah, that's well said. Well, the president also likes a good show, and typically in the midterms has a lack of pageantry, in comparison to presidential elections anyway. And one of those missing pieces is a convention. A lot of talk from the president and others about a midterm convention style thing. Where are we at on that? Well, listen, I'm so excited. I'm not going to announce anything today, but it looks like. Come on. Let's just go. Do it. Okay. Let's know. Almost. I will tell you two weeks ago, I will tell you that we had the opportunity. We actually changed the rules of the RNC that gave the chairman, myself, the ability to call this ceremonial special convention, to pick the delegates, to do all this work. You always like rules changes that give you some power to do stuff. It's very good. Some people were having – some of the members were having their doubts. But I said here's the bottom line. I always call it like a trumpet palooza. It's going to be a four-day, three- or four-day marathon where all the great things that this president is doing, We're going to be able to showcase it to the American people with real life stories, with some of our battleground candidates. And, you know, by the way, it's a it's going to be right before the ballot start. And there's no better deliver of the message on the Republican side that these low propensity voters than the president of the United States. That's why I call it Trump a palooza. We're going to we're going to win with him. We're going to lead with him. and I'm banking my career as chairman on the success of the president because he's so good at touching and getting these people to show up to vote. Well, you can count us in to help with that endeavor when it comes to fruition because it sounds like a lot of fun. It's going to be great. All right, so midterms, just backing off. Historically difficult, right? I mean, any time, everybody knows this, but any time you've got a president in both chambers in Congress, first midterm gets a little dicey, history tells us. But on the other hand, not everyone. Do you have President Trump, a cash advantage, some really good candidates out there? We're hoping to defy history here because we kind of have to. Well, only four times in the last 150 years has the incumbent party been able to be successful holding the majorities. We have a real chance to defy history because of the president. But if you look at the overall space, if you want to go through some of the races real quick, on the Senate side, Rogers in Michigan. Sanu Nu in New Hampshire, right? We have a real strong chance in Georgia. And our holds, like Hooset in Ohio, I think is fine. Collins, great candidate. Watley is going to be probably the toughest race, probably the most expensive race in the country. But like I said, I think he's up for it. He knows what to do. I'm out there every day. He's out there either right before me, right behind me, raising tons of money. And on the House side, because of the redistricting fight, we're going from 50 to 60 competitive races down to 25 or 30. And what you're seeing is you're seeing the president engage early, trying to pick the candidates that could win those specific districts. And then don't forget the financial superiority that we already have that we're going to continue to build upon. And so you have fewer races. Our ability, hopefully, that we'll be able to work directly with these campaigns moving forward. And then, of course, having the right message because these individual issues that the president has been president of peace, the fact that the economy is getting better every day. and then the president himself willing to go out there and hit the campaign trail. I've talked to him numerous times. He's ready to burn storm the country. And I think that we are going to be, you know, like I said, the president knows what's at stake. We saw in the shutdown 43 days of the Democrats holding the country hostage. If they somehow win the House or the Senate, they're going to impeach. They're going to investigate. They're going to obstruct. And all the good momentum that we have is going to be flushed down the toilet. So we have no option other than to win. And so that's why we're gearing up and really preparing for this massive war that's coming. And we just have to make sure that we're going to be on top of our game and we have to run a perfect campaign. And if we do that and if people sign up to help us at GOP.com and they join us either with their time or their resources with everybody else. You're going to make use of them. Yeah, we will make use of them and we will defy history. We will win if everybody comes together and works together. Yeah, I mean, here's the thing. We have so much ammunition to use. It turns out they provided some things from a time to time. Democrats are terrible. It just takes one second of like scrolling through the things that they want to do to ruin our country and all the momentum that this president has built in his first year and he's going to continue to build on in this second year. Everything you said is exactly right. But I wonder if you could just talk about how the RNC is going to approach specific races. I mean, you mentioned Maine, you mentioned Georgia, you mentioned, you know, Iowa. We've got a big race, you know, great candidate out there, Ashley Henson. And I know that in the past, RNC has been very, very good. And I know that you're continuing this, focusing on regional efforts and everything, as opposed, you know, with that. I know that you've got a big push on grassroots. And I just wonder if you could talk a little bit about the grassroots effort. Well, as a 22-year chairman heading into this position, I say that I'm one of the few chairmen that have actually been a chair at the club level, at the county level, at the state level, and now at the national level. And you can only be successful. Most chairmen last 2.1 years. I think that's the average. I always tell people it's the worst job in politics. But you could survive and you could do well if you focus on the fundamentals. And that's basically registering people to vote, turning those voters out, now protecting the vote. And I think that when you focus on that, everything else comes together. But I always say from a financial standpoint, all these different races we have is – and when I talk to donors all the time, I say don't give the candidates who can't win and don't give the candidates who can't lose. And as chairman, I have the same philosophy. We have – we're building up our missile silo, and we have to make sure that we launch. We launch effectively, and we make sure that we have precision strikes and that we're winning the battles we need to win. And so what we're doing at the party, and we're always planning, and I have a huge list of the races that we're targeting in green light, red light, yellow light in terms of where we are with candidates, where we are. And alignment is a big part of your role too to make sure everybody's pointing in the right direction, which is, look, in primary season it gets a little dicey. But the fact that you're doing as well as you are while everybody's fighting amongst each other here for the next 90 days is great. Exactly right. And you're exactly right in terms of the grassroots. I always say whatever faction, whatever party could bring their factions together the most and unite them, they will be successful. But we've already started as chairman. I always say we're the largest conservative organization in the country, right? And sometimes we lose sight of the fact that we're a giant. You just call us a giant bureaucracy, which a lot of people say that's a weakness. But I look at it as a strength from the standpoint of we have all the organization that we already need. We just need to empower people to go out and do their job. I always say if you build it, people will come. If you create a path for people to volunteer and be successful, people will take you up on it and people will do it and we can win. So we've already – and I'm not looking at just a 11-state strategy. I'm going out and talking to all the chairmen and all the grassroots leaders and trying to make sure that we have a battle plan at every level, not only from a grassroots standpoint and putting in new chairs everywhere. and an election integrity standpoint. So I think that the party from a grassroots standpoint, I think we're building on the successes that we had, and we're going to be ready for this cycle like we've never seen. Because when I started as chairman, we do these calls to action, right? I said we have the Van Epps race in Tennessee. So I put out an email to our team saying, hey, ring the bell. We need people to call in, use these sites. And we got some response, but not nearly as good that we could have if we're more robust. And so we're actively working every single day to make sure we have this structure in place so when we need to turn the button on and put the switch for some race, we can focus all resources across the country, including volunteer hours in the right races. Well, a lot of encouraging stuff, and you're doing a whale of a job here in a pretty short tenure all of a sudden, but it's going to feel like it's been a long time by November, I'm sure. Sure. It is the first of what I hope is many conversations with updates from you and a chance for all of our listeners to get involved in all kinds of different things that you guys are up to. Well, thanks so much. I appreciate you having me on. I said this is the first big podcast, the major podcast I've been on, and you guys are doing a great job of improving your location at the midterm convention. I hope that works. Did we say how handsome you are? You're moving to the front every single time. Wolf get the gift basket. Can't let Grunas walk out without that, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Appreciate the opportunity. I mean, this guy has raised so much money. He's crushing Democrats. And I cannot wait to see a little bit more of what they're doing. Can't wait for the news about where this convention might take place. Yeah. Yeah, I felt like we did some good advocacy on our behalf on that. We'll be there with Bellson. We will be there with Bellson. I do – I like this guy a lot. I mean in a business – and I can just tell you guys who are listening to this, like we've all – we talk about this with some frequency. A business full of stiffs. I mean you have no idea how many losers are involved in politics. It's like nine out of ten people you encounter, you're like, oh, the worst person, just tough. And then you encounter somebody like this, and you're like, wow, that's fantastic. I mean it just over-indexes because this is a guy that you would want to hang out with. That's the thing. Super trustworthy, has a resume of success, understands the job, is working super hard, wants it more than anybody else. And it's just so refreshing. Just great to see. Anyway, follow up on what these guys are doing because I think they're doing really good work. And we're going to follow up too. We'll keep you updated on what it is that they're up to and how you can get involved. remember our question of the day what was our question of the day who's going to win the democrat nomination who's going to win the democratic nomination love to hear it we'll get back to you on Tuesday on all of that when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program might be that French guy Mr. World War I probably I think he's met a threshold of qualification citizenship is not an issue for them with that fellas I think we did it I think so absolute banger of an episode gentlemen thanks you so much chairman and thank you to the listeners remember if you have not yet go to the YouTube and hit that subscribe because it's more fun in videos so until next time minions keep the faith hold the line and own the lives we'll see you on Tuesday stay ruthless Thank you.