This video analysis examines the Democratic Party's internal struggles with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), highlighting how progressive candidates like AOC use 'code switching' to appeal to different audiences while maintaining core socialist positions. The discussion explores the Senate's undemocratic structure, the filibuster's role in blocking progressive legislation, and the growing influence of DSA in Democratic primaries. The analysis also covers the voter ID debate, where 80% of Americans support requiring photo identification at polls, but Democrats struggle to articulate coherent opposition arguments. The video argues that successful political strategy requires clear, simple messaging that can be effectively communicated to voters, contrasting this with the complex, fragmented positions held by progressive leaders.
Dems’ Senate Freakshow: AOC Stumbles, Maine Chaos
Added:campaign season is upon us, >> which means the socialists are out, fellas.
>> I don't support the filibuster. I don't support uh elements of this institution that we know um you know were founded on on uh on Jim Crow.
>> Part of what she's doing is doing [music] uh Senate campaign stuff. She's broadening the aperture of her political profile [music] yet again. And if anybody thinks that this lady's not running for president, you're crazy. She is. And if anybody thinks she can't win, you're crazy. She can't. Take a look at what the DSA has [music] done in their hostile takeover of the Democrat party. Black lives matter like they give a [ __ ] about black lives. Healthc care is a human right. No person is illegal. It's all bumper stickers. But you know what? Bumper stickers work.
Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee took an important step in addressing the abuse of the 340B program, which was designed to help lowincome patients access affordable health care by allowing certain hospitals to purchase prescription drugs at heavily discounted prices. But recent scrutiny by lawmakers has revealed widespread abuse of the program. For example, hospitals, clinics, and their for-profit partners pocketed over $100 billion in profits from 340B medicine markups in 2024 alone with no rules requiring that money be used to help patients afford medicine. Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith said taxexempt hospital empires look less like hospitals and more like hedge funds, making stock investments, purchasing stadium naming rights, and even participating in political activism.
That's why the Ways and Means Committee passed Congressman Greg Murphy's taxexempt hospital transparency act, which will increase transparency into hospitals and help rein in waste, fraud, and abuse. Visit americanansforopengovernment.com to learn more.
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>> Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Friday program. I'm Josh Holmes along with Michael Duncan and John Ashbug. [music] Comfortably Smug is on assignment today. Uh, but I can promise you we've got a show full of yucks and some serious stuff.
>> Senator Hagerty is with us today. Talk.
So, if you're interested in the ins and outs of what I think the news media has missed in the texture of all that, stay tuned to the end of this episode and you'll hear him kind of walk through everything that you need to deal with.
In the meantime, uh, uh, campaign season is upon us.
which means the socialists are out fellas.
>> AOC form amongst foremost amongst them I should say.
>> Um she was out doing multiple events in multiple different states and um well I'm going to leave it to all of you to be the judge. She it turns out she has a a perhaps a touch of a different vernacular.
>> Mhm.
>> Depending upon >> Yeah. The left would call this code switching.
>> Yes. you know.
>> Yeah.
>> I I learned that >> that's what it is.
>> It's called code switching.
>> Like >> you speak differently to different audiences to pander to them and that somehow makes you a good person.
>> Yeah. Cuz I do think like a a big there's been now a couple of different reports about how DSA socialists have been media trained and they are um perhaps foremost amongst their peers.
Did Al Jazer do the media training?
[laughter] >> Well, they never answer the question.
They just sort of like try to mirror back whatever the question is at some level. And so it goes to stand that if you're in Tennessee, you sound like someone from Tennessee. And if you're in a Hispanic crowd, you sound like someone from a Hispanic crowd. Well, you be the judge. Clip three. his same ICE agency that has shot RENEE GOOD, ALEX PREY, LORENZO Salgado Ajo, and Johan Sebastian Durangero.
>> Oh, okay. All right. That's in Michigan.
>> Yeah, that that one's in Michigan.
[laughter] Rapido rapid.
[laughter] It's like Speedy Gonzalez >> at some level, right? I mean, and but she has a Hispanic background and that she's brought that and so you're like, "Okay, there's a level of authenticity."
>> Sure.
>> That comes with that.
>> Sure.
>> Um, let's see how she is in Tennessee.
Clip one.
>> We cannot afford to leave Tennessee behind.
>> We cannot afford to leave Kentucky behind, Alabama behind, Mississippi behind, GEORGIA BEHIND. BEHIND, >> South Carolina behind.
>> Behind. Oh.
Yeah. Yeah. So, this is what's happening. The Democratic Socialists are they're out now.
>> They're they're leading the Democratic party. She's >> stumping, barnstorming the country. I mean, she's in hot demand.
>> Hot demand. No question about it. So, she's code switching.
>> Mhm.
>> As you say, Michael, it just reminded us of clip for >> I don't feel no ways tired.
I COME TOO FAR FROM WHERE I STARTED FROM.
NOBODY TOLD ME THAT the road would be easy.
I don't believe HE BROUGHT ME THIS FAR to leave me.
[laughter] >> I My favorite part of that old C-SPAN clip is as she's doing this ridiculous over-the-top I assume she's hearkens back to her time in Little Rock. M mhm.
>> But the chiron beneath her says Hillary Rodm Clinton senator New York.
[laughter] >> You're exactly right. And I feel like this is sort of forced upon the rest of the country by consultants who began in New York and politicians who began in New York and who are surrounded by the publishing empire that is New York. And it's like, oh, you need to talk like the audience where you're addressing. you have to become them. And so they are so obtuse that they they actually believe that the people watching them in those localities think that they actually are connecting with them in the way that they think they're connecting.
>> I don't know if I agree. Like I I think that is definitely true. Like there definitely are consultants that probably tell their candidates to do that. But like we also live in the age of the internet, right? Like all this is going to be on video for everyone to see. So like the idea that you could microtarget a campaign to some local constituency like you're on a whistle stop tour, you know what I mean? Like it's we don't live in that world anymore. So I I I think it's more just like sociopathic politicians disassociating on camera for our amusement. like they really think they're smart enough to be able to get one over on all [laughter] these people. I think it's more the politicians than the consultants, I guess, is what I'd say.
>> But I I think there's some truth to that because again there I go back to the the reporting on the media training that has gone into candidates that are acolytes of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Mom Donnie, and others. Their whole goal is to not tell media or mass crowds basically what it is that they believe. They use that in their own little ecosystem and pretend like it's not going to go out. But they it's code switching.
It's if you look at any of the interviews that they've done, you know, they'll ask me like, "So, you know, why is it that you were like, I don't know, hanging out with terrorists?"
>> Yeah. Mhm. And >> who who wish to destroy this country and they're like, "Uh, well, you know, Donald Trump is." And that's it's it's like our old game hard pivot.
>> I I'd hate to see AOC code switching around around a bunch of Muslims.
[laughter] >> Who knows?
>> Who knows?
>> Who knows how far she'd go.
>> You never know. [laughter] You could get there. Well, but part of what she's doing is doing uh Senate campaign stuff.
She's broadening the aperture of her political profile yet again. And if anybody thinks that this lady's not running for president, you're crazy. She is. And if anybody thinks she can't win, you're crazy. She can. But she showed up in a whole bunch of different places.
And she's got some views in particular on the Senate, which are interesting.
Consider the the rights view of the United States Senate right now. Mhm.
>> In particular with the Save Act and the filibuster and all of this stuff. This is her take clips of it.
>> I don't support the filibuster. I don't support uh elements of this institution that we know um you know were founded on on uh on Jim Crow.
>> It's just so ahistorical and dumb. And that's the thing that I keep coming back to with AOC. She does. She's got an intellectual vacancy.
>> Mhm.
>> That is so omnipresent within her argument that despite all of her EQ, her intellectual or her her whole emotional quotient that I do think she understands.
She come she says [ __ ] like that and you're like oh my god she she thinks she thinks that the entirety of the United States Senate was created not by the founding fathers but it was created later uh in order to uh be subversive to minority populations evidently like it's like you don't have to do anything more than just Google.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, I I think it's further evidence that elimination of the filibuster is exactly what the hard left has always wanted because they see that as their shest path towards socialism in this country. They know that a 60 vote threshold in the United States Senate is what's blocking them from enacting all of the things that they want to enact.
And as soon as that's gone, it is Katie bar the door for socialists. They can come over come in, they can take over the Senate. They know that they can do whatever they want. So socialists, hard leftists have always wanted to eliminate the filibuster in this country.
>> Well, because they want radical change and the only way you get to that radical change quickly is eliminating institutional resistance to it, like the filibuster. I I just like What's funny about it though, dude, is like >> our enemies used to be so much smarter.
>> Totally. and she's clearly conflating, you know, the founding of the Senate and, you know, America with that old canard that the Democrats used to bring out that it's, you know, a product of Jim Crow or whatever. But like I remember in the days of Harry Reid during the Bush administration, the Democrats running a whole campaign on protecting and defending the filibuster.
>> Minority rights.
>> Yeah. Right.
>> It was minority rights, >> right? Say what you will about, you know, Harry [snorts] Reid's leadership at the time. He made some critical mistakes.
>> Some some that they regretted a lot sooner than they thought.
>> Um, you know, nuking the judicial filibuster, >> but he was much smarter than AOC, that's for sure.
>> No question about it. But you have to like tap down just a layer deeper to figure out why she's a mouthpiece for something as dumb as that.
In clip two, >> the Senate is a very undemocratic institution. We want democratic representation of of all people who who live in this country. So, the Senate represents uh it it's two senators per state and it's it's very undemocratic at a basic level because a a state with a small population has the same representation as a a state that has 500,000 people. gets the same representation as [clears throat] a state that has 40 million people like California does which are the most populated states in the country but they have the same representation as has a much smaller population. So we we do believe that government should be proportional to the population and that that's a very basic core principle. So the House of Representatives is more democratic that way and we just don't see the point of the Senate. Um historically it it was meant to serve very wealthy people who owned a lot of land. So, would you like to abolish the Senate?
>> That's that's part of our platform.
[clears throat] >> Okay. Okay. There we have it. [laughter] >> Shout out again to C-SPAN.
>> Yeah, >> man. We're getting some C-PAN.
>> Democrat Socialist of America abolish the Senate simply [laughter] because there are two Senate. I mean, it's like the guy didn't go maybe he didn't go to high school in America. We don't I don't know his background, but maybe he doesn't understand the biccameal nature of the American legislative body. Like the our constitution set things up very specifically for a very very specific reason. And there it is no wonder that the socialists who want to turn America into a country that answers to them want to eliminate a part of the constitutional uh legislative body.
>> Yeah. Well, I mean, it goes back to the the by coastal argument of the socialist elite, all of which, as we know, are wellfunded, well-healed from prominent backgrounds along America's coasts, east and west. They've never met a Midwesterner.
And as it turns out, there are a few people within the founding fathers who are aware of this sort of dynamic. And the only reason that you call it the United States of America is that [ __ ] principle, you dumb [ __ ] >> We got all the states to join because we were going to protect the states with lower populations from the tyranny of the majority in places like New York.
>> And all these years later, we're still having this argument like this wasn't settled 250 years ago.
>> It's like they just woke up and they were like, "Oh, well, here's a new argument."
>> It's like, "Read a history book, you dumb shit."
>> Don't we teach civics in this country?
We apparently we have no interest in any like even remedial history American history.
>> I noticed he didn't reference like I don't know Rhode Island >> or Connecticut you know >> but they but half the northeast in this country that elect two Democrats to >> his argument fundamentally is I don't like that rural states actually matter in American government. He does not like that. He wants only the cities to matter. And you know, you know, they want to get rid of the electoral college. You know, they want to eliminate every rural voters's chance to have an equal say in this government.
And I don't think people are going to buy it. Like this is why there's such a big fight on the Democrat side for this rise on this rise of socialism.
>> I I think you're illustrating a good point here, Ashbrook. Um that can be supported by another thing he said in that video. You referenced rural American voters in states. I don't think his interest is voters. Can we play that clip again? I'll tell you where to stop it.
>> The Senate is a very undemocratic institution. We want democratic representation of of all people who who live in this country.
>> Oh, stop it.
>> All people who live in this country.
>> Maybe in sanctuary cities and liberal juris jurisdictions where you're desperate to allow them to vote.
>> Okay.
>> Maybe those places.
>> Okay. Huh. That feels kind of undemocratic.
[gasps] Not for nothing. Like I've made a lot about the sophistication of their communications.
Would it do some good to have like a Johnny Jones or like a Billy McAffrey?
>> Yeah. or like you know like every one of them >> is just so predictably in one silo of immigration within our country that it's like yeah no I get that you don't get it but like there's a reason you don't get it your counterpoint they tried that his name was Graham Platner oh okay all right I don't think that there is any regular like here's here's the thing and um you know I'm reluct to admit this here on the conservative variety program, but there are an awful lot of Democrats in this country who do not like what this guy is saying. I think it's just true.
There are an awful lot of because they see the rise of the DSA as an extinction level event for them. Think of a guy like Henry Quayar, okay? He is running in Texas and he is about to lose. He's a Democrat, longtime Democrat in the House of >> Representatives by President Trump.
>> And he is about to lose this election.
And what is he spent his entire campaign doing? Separating himself from the DSA.
He's not the only Democrat. Now, we can argue, and I think it's probably the right argument, that the DSA has overcome the entire Democratic party.
However, there are an awful lot of Democrats who represent, you know, bluish areas in flyover country who are like, "What the hell is that? I don't want anything to do with it." And that is why they're spending so much money to try and stop them.
>> Uh Holmes, you brought up the point that these people don't share our love of American history, our founding principles, all of these sorts of things. this sort of like tie that binds our American heritage.
>> Did you happen to see that clip of MAC cir?
>> Oh yeah.
>> Uh she was at some symposium, you know, high flutin thinking about things talking about how we need to elect more candidates from the global south.
Wait, >> immigrants into the United States need to be our representatives in Congress.
>> So that the >> United States representation within our own Congress from people who are not from here, but rather the the the prototypical global south >> as like as like as like America's reparations >> for colonialism and international trade and all of these things. We owe a reparations back to the global south. This is like thirdworldism run a muk and it's here in our country now. I think it's particularly important not just for our community um in Tigry but but communities of the global south period right there's a certain reckoning that we are going to have to have with the global world order as it exists today and the way that it fundamentally will have to shift going forward right the responsibility that we have as Americans the recognition that is going to be required of us of the exploitative and extractive nature that we play on the global scale and the global um stage is only going to be challenged if we are getting represented by people who understand that on a fundamental level, right? And that means getting more immigrants into office. That means getting more people who have heritage in the global south into office cuz that's where those decisions are made specifically. But I think that's a larger point here is you're dealing with a whole bunch of folks when you use AOC's code switching when you use We've seen a lot of Elsa did uh the Michigan Senate candidate did a ton of different interviews. We'll get to hopefully some stuff in this show where he's never really answering questions about like, you know, what's your relationship with terrorists or whatever. result Donald Trump or >> what have you, >> where the whole point is obfiscating true intentions to try to monopolize the the sort of ill intent on Donald Trump and everything else.
>> Mhm.
>> And and that's what today's Democratic party is. They're not providing an alternative >> no >> to what Republicans are talking about.
They're not seeing things differently.
They're not making policy arguments.
You've got the vast majority of Democratic primary voters instructing their candidates that are now general election nominees to become basic terrorists with different instruction to try to like obiscate their true intention.
>> Mhm.
>> That that's what's happening. And the media lets them get away with it. To be honest with you, did you see what happened outside of the federal building in New York yesterday?
>> Yeah. where the terrorist walked up and like lit a firebomb in front of the federal building and multiple media outlets were like protest on immigration.
>> Uh fireworks outside of immigration [snorts] facility, not like terrorism on a federal building, >> you know, like it is that the media is letting them get away with this. And you know, I guess we'll see what the outcome is in the election because I don't think that >> it's not working for them in the court of public opinion. Democratic the Democratic party is a low eb that it's ever been. And you know, we've talked about this a lot, but >> typically in midterm elections, it's a challenging environment for the party in power. It gets more challenging when a presidential approval rating is where President Trump's is. It gets more challenging when economic uh right track wrong track is where it is. And there's a number of different indicators, consumer confidence, a whole bunch of different things that roll into it where you would look at it and you'd be like, well, it's going to be a tough election for Republicans.
Other hand, what is it that people think of Democrats? They [ __ ] hate them.
>> They think that they're terrible. The question is whether they're like enough of just not that to win elections, which is very different than you saw in 2018 or 2010 or 2006 or 1994.
You know, when you had these wave elections, they were going against a party in power. I don't know. I I have two thoughts on this. I waver back and forth between them. like they're horrible. And you know what what Ashbrook just mentioned is a perfect example of it. And the media is not going to do any of the heavy lifting for us. It's incumbent on us to have to do that as Republicans and conservatives and talk to your friends and neighbors.
And I hope a lot of good ads are run this fall. But at the end of the day, it's right track, wrong track. It's not wrong track, worst track.
>> Mhm. And when you are the party in power, you have to have stuff that you run on. You just do.
>> And I wonder if it's enough to to say they're terrible. They're socialists.
They're coming for your rights. They're coming for your wallet. They don't know how to run anything. These idiots don't know how to count if people will ultimately care.
>> Mhm.
>> And I just don't know ultimately which side I come down on. That's a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.
>> Well, a lot of it depends on what the next 10 weeks, 12 weeks have in store, right? Whether this is a referendum or choice election involves a lot of external events that we're about to see. We're about to cover all of them. Uh, want to get to a question of the day before we do. Uh, who's got the worst fake accent in politics? We've saw a couple of them here, but there's a ton. And you guys have clips of stuff that we haven't seen. So this is really a factf finding message. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program, we read all of your message and we get back to you the very next episode with a selection of the absolute best. This one is who's got the worst fake accent in politics.
And we will get back to the next episode on that when we come back. The Demreak show in the Senate is not just reserved to what it is that you heard in segment one. Wait to get a load of what happened in Maine to replace Graham Platner. I can't wait for you to hear it right after this.
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Okay, so we're saddened here at the Ruthless Friday program that Graham Platner, a reoccurring character.
Well, they think the most entertainment value is probably not going to be a recurring character for some time. Like he's gotten out of the center.
>> Good good board work.
>> That's good board work. That's good board work. I like that. Um, but they went through a big process to try to figure [laughter] >> Thank you, man. Like, this is the thing that's so great. Graham Platner exit stage left, far left, I would say.
>> And you think to yourself, we're not going to get any great content out of Maine for the rest of the cycle. Susan Collins, you can set your watch to her.
You know, she's not going to make mistakes. She runs a good campaign.
Probably going to be a sleepy one up there. Nope.
>> Yeah. No, you should see these people trying to replace Graham Platner.
[laughter] >> Dude, look. In the Democratic Party of old, what would have emerged on the backside of Graham Platner >> Mhm.
>> was the most buttoned up, >> philanthropic, articulate spokesperson of our times.
>> Just a real northeastern gentleman.
>> Yeah, probably would have been well adjusted. probably probably owns LLBAN, you know, >> who has like employed half of Maine and just been been like, "Well, it's time. I didn't ask to serve, but my country has called me and here I am."
>> Yeah.
>> Here's what they did instead. Uh, clip five.
>> Oh, I ran for office several times.
Didn't win, but I didn't run. And then um I'm a songwriter and then I write my own books and then suppose my transparency I wouldn't lie to the people and I wouldn't deceive the people like we're being deceived right now like we get lied to smoke smoking mirrors like with what's going on with ICE and I suppose the biggest thing is like I'm just an angry citizen now and if I got elected I'd be an angry senator [laughter] >> man. Okay. So, that was a um both was a man as a woman, which I guess is part of the hallmark of today's Democratic party.
Not sure that's a great campaign pitch.
What else we got? Like maybe we've got Isn't there a candidate? Somebody who's sort of worked their way through the political system and risen to higher office. Yeah, there's somebody here.
Clip six. I threw Donald Trump off the ballot on January 6th [laughter] and then when Donald Trump came for your voter data, I said, "Hell no. Go jump in the Gulf of Maine."
>> What What does that mean? The voter data is on the Secretary of State website.
[laughter] How many How many times do you think she practiced that one in the mirror?
>> More times than you than she would admit. Like I I to Holmes's point here, [snorts] >> I thought Ashley Webb over that situation.
>> At least she had a good closer. I'm an angry citizen. I'll be an angry senator.
That's a pretty good closer. Of course, the top of it was more like a high school guidance counselor meeting, right?
>> You know, it's [ __ ] terrible. But at least it didn't sound so stilted and rehearsed like that second one.
>> But to homes, >> give me that. I'm hungry.
>> You would [laughter] You would have expected >> Lay off me. I'm starving. You would have expected somebody [laughter] somebody in like the Brooks Brothers suit. Well, I you know I finished at exit and of course I went on to Princeton and then Harvard and Yale then before I was at Cornell and you know like you would expect something like that out of the Northeast.
>> Yes.
>> And you're not getting anything close to it.
>> No, I mean that's bad. So that was Shenna Bellows and Collins beat her by 37 points in [laughter] 2014.
It's no wonder and she just demonstrated that. So, out of all of that comes this guy Troy Jackson >> who held some state legislative seat and like look we we can be tough at times on state legislators here on the Ruthless Friday program. Um, but you know that that is the sort of ground truth for where you get higher office and real talent in political parties. Maybe he's one of them. Maybe he se separates himself from both the establishment of the Democratic party and Graham Platner, a an accused sexual assaulter. How does he take this clipate? Okay. Now, I have the distinct honor of introducing someone I've gotten to know over the last year, and that's why I'm so honored to have endorsed him. That's why I'm so honored to be here with him tonight. It is my honor to introduce your next United States Senator, Graeme Platner.
>> Okay.
>> How How honored was he? Was he three times honored? It didn't seem like [laughter] >> well only because he'd gotten to know him.
>> Also, by the way, could they make the Graham Platner sign bigger? Is it possible for it to be bigger in the shot? How many super PACs are going to run with that footage this fall?
>> This hasn't been an allegation of Platner, but I wonder if he Bill Cosby all of his surrogates. [laughter] >> TERRIFIC.
>> WELL, I MEAN, LISTEN to the guy. It didn't sound like he was had everything all put together. It was like here like have this drink now. Go introduce [laughter] me. That's kind of feels like cuz he's not done. Uh clip nine.
>> And that's why I was proud to rank Troy number one when I voted.
>> Oh, okay. So Troy Jackson >> was Graham Platner's number one choice.
M >> if you'll recall on the Ruthless Friday program, we did a little bit of uh deconstructing over the Democrats dilemma that they had with trying to replace Graham Platner in that um the Democratic establishment for I don't know 16 long years has been interested in not having Democratic primary voters actually determine who you have to vote for in a general election. Done it with Clinton. They did it with Biden. They did it with Kamla. You know, they're currently doing it in Senate races all around the country. They want to eliminate all of your choices and just give you a general election candidate.
And we were like, well, I don't know.
This is a this is a DSA win, the most high-profile DSA win. In large part because this is a Senate seat that they have to win in order to retain or regain the majority in the United States Senate. It's the most high-profile Senate race in the country in a lot of ways. And so this was the crown jewel that they actually won with Graham Platner. So the idea that they could just sort of rip it away from Graham Platner and then show up with uh well I've gone to Peabody and [laughter] we've done Skidmore and everything else and here we are. Why? I will say I will do best by the way of the people. Uh, Angela Lensberry herself is right here in our campaign and she's going to get to the bottom of everything. So, that became an impossibility in large part because most of these people walk on their hands.
>> Right. [laughter] Right.
>> I mean, these are this is legitimately the most trogdite of democratic bases that just won. I mean, these are people who literally want to eliminate Western civilization. They say it. And they finally had a winner. So, what are they going to do? Uh, let's split the difference. Find a guy who was elected to something, Troy Jackson, and then have somebody he's not a threat to be anything like intellectual, but he's got like a little bit of a common man, wears his hat sideways, and he can be uh maybe part of the Platiner Coalition. Maybe we can bridge the difference. And this is what they've come up with. So, they've got this Troy guy, Troy Jackson, who's now running against Susan Collins. Best I can tell, like I I don't think he's I I can't find a single reason why you would vote for him.
>> No. Well, he's teamu grand platner.
>> Yeah. It's like he he is >> he is everything that the socialist left wanted and they've dispensed with Graham Platner. He's not on the ballot anymore, but this guy will give them the same voting pattern they wanted with Graham Platner. He's going to try to eliminate Western civilization, which what they actually mean by that is eliminate America. We know because we've seen in their papers from the DSA and all these people who hate our country. They think that this guy will deliver the same sort of voting record that Platner would have. And so now they feel like box checked. Now we're on to Michigan with Abdul al-Siad and now we need to get Sed through. And if you know if they do, I feel like the DSA has officially taken over the entire Democrat party.
>> I mean, there's no question that they already have. The question is whether or not the media and everybody else will admit that. the pure existence of Troy Jackson.
>> This guy, any one of you listening right now, if you're sitting your sweatpants in your parents' basement, >> are more qualified to run for United States Senate than this individual.
>> I'll tell you fellas, one more thing about Troy Jackson.
Uh before Platner got off the ballot, I heard rumors from a number of people who are in the know, Jouos and others, >> that said that man, if they put Troy Jackson up, he has problems.
>> No, >> he has problems, too.
>> Wait, with women?
>> That's what I've been told.
>> Domestic I, you know, I I'm not going to get into it. We'll see what the reporting bears out. But this guy has what I was told is that, you know, you you can't just get rid of Platner and replace him with Jackson because Jackson has Platiner like problems.
>> Well, let's let's follow up on all of that at a later date because I don't think I'll survive a third main Senate candidate for the Democrats.
>> Oh god. They got to keep one.
>> They Yeah. Yeah. Well, Shane is coming.
Or the the dude, what's his Ashley Webb >> who who uh >> we're not happy until Ashley's the candidate.
>> I've I've read registered to vote as James in the 2024 cycle.
>> Oh, Jesus.
>> Recent convert.
>> Big change. [laughter] >> I want to hear some of uh the tranny's songs.
>> What do you mean? said she he was a songwriter.
You think ballads think folk? [laughter] >> I don't know. But Christopher guest could do a pretty good show about the Democrats >> running in Maine. If you're not on the YouTube, now would be a good uh opportunity for you to get on there and just have a look at Ashley and what she's [clears throat] providing and and just >> sort of think what it would be like for her to drop a hip-hop tune. It would be be fantastic. All right. Are you guys ready for a little bit of variety?
>> Yes, of course.
Okay. So, uh, Olive Garden, >> we've talked about, yeah, we've talked about it with great reverence here on the Ruthless Friday program, and they made a bit of a comeback. Remember, they went through some dark times, >> shuttered some stores, but then I think they reconsolidate Darden.
>> Oh, Darden private [clears throat] group.
>> Yeah, that's what it was.
>> But they didn't franchise.
>> Well, they didn't they sure didn't franchise. and our good friend Burkel always reminded us of that. Uh I don't know if Darden still is a part of it, but they've they've made a bit of a a comeback and Olive Garden has reintroduced the neverending pasta pass.
For those of you in the '9s when you grew up, uh particularly in the Midwest where Olive Garden was like ethnic food.
[laughter] >> Mhm.
>> Look, it when you're here, your family >> Wolf is back there laughing. He's not wrong. Like if you wanted a spin on the on the Monday through Friday variety, you went to Olive Garden.
>> That's right. Yeah.
>> Listen, it's delicious. Okay. I don't I don't want anybody attacking Olive Garden because >> he's going to do the thing on the hearts again.
>> I know you I know you guys aren't going to attack Olive Garden, >> but there are plenty of people out there who do because they don't appreciate the flavor. They just don't. There's such a great variety at that place. [snorts] >> Well, there is and they have a a pasta pass. Um, but what happened was there there was a a question you put put up graphic three if you don't mind. So, this is a back and forth on social media and the question was, "Are you able to order pasta for family using a pasta pass or is that exclusively for the person with a card at the table?" I don't know about uh you, but it feels really weird with just one person having unlimited pasta while everyone awkwardly waits. Fair question, [clears throat] >> right?
>> If you just walk in with a pasta pass >> and everybody else has to just sort of sit there, you get the unlimited thing cuz you got the pasta pass, >> right? Um, Olive Garden responded, "No, the neverending pasta pass is only for the use of the passholder whose name is printed on the pass. Passes are personalized and non-transferable.
Passholders must present a valid photo ID along with a pass at the time of ordering."
>> I think that's fair business. Listen, before we get into the photo ID thing, I think this is a very fair policy from Olive Garden. So you don't get a table of 37 people where they're like, "No, no, that guy's got the pasta pass and everybody's eating spaghetti non-stop."
That you can't support a business that way. Everybody should get the pasta pass. It's a wonderful restaurant. It tastes good. Well, that's very thoughtful of you. And uh so they've responded accordingly, but it couldn't help pass our imagination and how that has sort of inflicted the world of politics. Olive Garden quite rightfully has decided that they can't do business and if they sell a pasta pass, having a pasta pass just passed willy-nilly to anyone who wants to come in, they have to require some kind of a photo identification for doing that. How does Senate Democrats see all of that? Clip 9A.
>> I understand that you and I think every other Democrat opposed the so-called Save America Act, and there's a lot of reasons that you've put forward, but but let me ask you very narrowly on the issue of photo ID, requiring photo ID to register to vote to vote. Is this something that Democrats should get behind?
>> We have very 80ome percent of Americans, 71% of of Democrats say they favor this.
You know what? In Virginia, we have voter voter ID and photo ID. I got to show my >> That's actually not the case. I mean, I'm a Virginia. You don't need to show a photo ID in Virginia.
>> Uh you are there are wide range of things you can show for ID. And if you don't show one of those, you can sign an affidavit saying affidavit.
Those becomes those become ballots that if you want to contest later can be contested. M what a simple explanation why it is that you don't have to show a driver's license to vote. You got to go to Olive Garden for it not to vote in the state commonwealth of Virginia.
>> These guys are [ __ ] on this issue. It it pains me that we have gone through a period of time over the last 6 months where Republicans quickly galvanized this thanks to President Trump. They galvanized around the idea that everyone should have to show a valid photo ID at the polls in proof of re residentship in order to vote.
>> And 80% of America agrees. It crosses ideological, demographic, all that lines. And yet we just sort of like mash this together in the Save Act, which you know there's a couple of different versions.
And Republicans have been infighting over this thing rather than taking it to guys like Mark Warner, who by the way might be the most articulate spokesperson that they have.
>> And he's entirely flumxed by >> and he doesn't know how to explain it.
There's not a single Democrat who can possibly articulate their point of view in the public that's not like a below 20% approval. I mean, his only defense, even once he spit it out of his mouth and was ignorant about his own state's laws, is to say that is to say, "Well, in my state, it's not a problem." Well, what about the other states? You you represent the United States Senate, you [ __ ] >> You know, areuh what about the other ones where it's not? Can you defend Can you defend that?
>> You know, he's wrong about his own state. But it's our fault honestly as Republicans that we have not taken that [ __ ] gas pedal to the floor on voter ID every single day cuz they can't defend it, >> right?
>> Let us just give you a little lesson in how politics works because we're not in the business of complaining about things that we didn't get done. We are in the business of getting things done. And if you're interested in politics in any meaningful level, this should be your guiding principle. What it is is making an argument that is untenable for the other side. And in this case, a block, an entirety, a unonymity within the Democratic party to get on the other side of an 8020 issue like showing voter ID at the polls.
What you do when you have that opportunity presents itself very rarely, but when it does, you drive it through the back door.
>> Mhm.
>> You don't figure out how to complicate it with things that split your party.
You don't figure out how to have larger discussions that may require committee action or whatever. What you do is bumper sticker the [ __ ] out of it, put it on the forehead of every voting American and say which side of this do you stand and you drive it and you drive it and you drive it and what happens ultimately on an issue like that that is indefensible as we s saw Mark Warner discussing it is it becomes untenable >> and pretty soon you get candidates it starts with the candidate level even with the socialists >> would be like Uh yeah, that's fine cuz they look at the polling too. Uh that's, you know, yeah, we should all agree on something like that. And then it bubbles up and you get one or two, then you get three or four or five. You start to make inroads where you broaden out the aperture of the argument to the point where the people who are stopping this from coming to fruition become the problem that needed to be voted out. And that is how a bill becomes a law in modern society.
>> And when you don't take that approach, you're left after the election scratching your head, looking back at election day wondering, man, we just had another election where people didn't have to show their voter ID to to cast a ballot. Like, let's let's just focus on this one thing and get it done. People should have to show their ID. You got to show your ID to get the pasta pass. You should have to show your ID to vote.
It's as simple as that. It It's as long as you make it as simple >> as that. But as soon as you start complicating things, you know, you introduce the mailin thing. I'm sympathetic to the mail. I think the mailin thing is the most like perverted postcoid change that we've had to our electorate. But as soon as you make a federal law that dictates to states that have been doing it for 25 years, which by the way, Republicans have done pretty well in, you start splitting constituencies. Mike Lee is a pretty good example of that. Utah is a place that has voted by mail for a long time.
He's the maybe the most foremost spokesperson for eliminating the filibuster and passing the Save Act.
Nobody has asked Mike Lee which version of the Save Act he wants to pass because if it's the second version that requires a federal mandate to eliminate fed mailin ballots, well, Mike Lee's going to find himself on the other side of that argument, >> right? But it's this it's this problem that we've had internally about discussing this entire issue that has let Democrats off the hook.
[clears throat] Can you believe that somebody like we are nine months into this debate and somebody like Mark Warner who is amongst the most sophisticated and what Democrats say is the most wellspoken. I I could quibble with that Democrats in waiting into these issues did not have an answer does not have an answer for why they oppose a photo ID at the polls. Yeah.
>> Doesn't have an answer. That tells you everything about how shitty you have been at prosecuting the argument. He hasn't had to answer it until July >> of an election year.
>> Well, and if you're listening to this and you're frustrated and you want to pass the Save America Act or you want to pass voter ID, take a look at what the DSA has done in their hostile takeover of the Democrat party. Black lives matter like they give a [ __ ] about black lives. Healthc care is a human right. No person is illegal. It's all bumper stickers. But you know what? Bumper stickers work.
>> It's how they've won all these primaries.
>> It's how they're upsetting the establishment all around the country.
And it works in politics. We need to have better bumper stickers.
>> Yeah. I mean, you know, I I just had this my reaction on Sunday. He did this on a Sunday show. My reaction on Sunday was like, imagine how screwed Democrats would be if this was an argument they had to confront on a day-to-day basis.
If Democrat, if Republicans actually made this something that Democrats had to answer for rather than what we ourselves have to answer for. And like my immediate inbox stuff was like, "Yeah, but Republicans."
>> And I'm like, "That's look, that's the problem."
>> That's kind of the point. And and and that and that's what I'm saying here is look, you're right in that there are Republicans who have been problematic on this unquestionably.
But you have a united Democratic front.
It's not 51 is never going to work for a wholesale sale election change in this country that is not going to be simply undone the next election. The question is whether or not Democrats feel the legitimate 8020 pressure that they should feel in order to get on board for the big win to actually make our country work and give people faith and trust in elections. And they may not, but they should pay the price if they don't. And they're not going to pay any price because we're busy fighting amongst ourselves.
>> If they decide that they don't want to do it, >> fine. But when you walk into the voting booth, you should have some question about whether or not your votes ultimately going to count or whether they're trying to rig it because they're the ones who are are opposing the authenticity of your ballot.
>> Mhm.
>> And that in and of itself should provide you the motivation to go out and vote Republican >> to go do the thing. And I just we're missing a big opportunity is my only point.
>> Yeah, it's a thing. Can I do one more thing on the pasta pass just I I don't feel like it got full scrutiny because we moved on to the Warner clip. Yeah.
>> Can we put that graphic back up for a second here?
>> So I not Olive Garden's response, but >> I just think something needs to be acknowledged in the question again. I'm going to read it again. Are you able to order pasta for family using the pasta pass or is that exclusively for the person with the card at the table? I don't know about you, but I'll feel really weird with just one person having unlimited pasta while everyone awkwardly waits. Awkwardly waiting.
>> Awkward for who? For you. Not the smart guy who got the pasta pass.
>> I know that guy.
>> You're an idiot.
>> Yeah, >> that guy signed up for multiple plates of pasta. He's trying to put on mass.
And we're talking like 2,000 4,000 calories. We're talking the pasta trio.
He's going to get the quattro foragio.
He might even get the lasagna. That guy's living the dream. Nothing's awkward for him. You, CheapKate, need to get your own pasta pass. I can't believe we let that pitch go by without taking a swing at it. Can I uh can we put that back up one more time because I think I have an answer to Duncan's question. Uh if you look at the handle on this one.
>> Yeah.
>> SUPERPOWER MARIO.
OH, >> I THINK Mario wants free pasta.
>> Don't we have a Don't we have a thing on uh I feel like I feel like Mario is understated here on the program. We haven't used him in a long time. Mama mia. There he is. There he is.
>> I mean, he's betraying his heritage really if he's trying to short change Olive Garden because again, when you're here, you're family and that's not how family treats EACH OTHER. [laughter] >> OH, NO. OH, PAY for the pasta pass, you cheapkate. [music] There we go.
There we go.
I had to get that off my chest.
Well done. Well done. Uh, >> it's a great restaurant. I can't wait to go back.
>> We would be remiss if we didn't u also note the vice president of the United States and his wife welcomed a new child into the world. Graphic two, please.
Alec Neil Vance, uh big big congratulations to the vice president and the second lady on a new delivery out there. And uh look, we're going to talk to him probably sometime soon. I can't uh think that this this is going to be fantastic for them and their family. It provides a nice little perspective within the Oval Office to have a young one like that, doesn't it?
>> Sure does.
>> It really does. It's nice to have that.
You think about it from your average voters's perspective. Usually you get these old guys who kids are all >> uh graduated and off to their own thing.
>> This guy's got to think about somebody who's literally just he can hold with one hand.
>> I got one complaint.
>> Oh, >> okay.
>> Oh, got one complaint. There it is. What a >> Well, as a fellow elder millennial, >> I just hope my wife doesn't get any ideas. Oh, >> you know.
>> Oh, >> okay.
>> Oh, you think we're done? [laughter] >> Wait. Well, the vice president, >> you're telling me >> the vice president made time?
>> You're telling me you guys aren't done, oldtimer?
>> No, we're done.
>> You're just declaring that? [laughter] >> Shops closed.
I absolutely love it. All right, we're going to get into some substantive stuff here with our old friend, Senator Bill Hagerty.
more than happy to welcome one of our best friends here of the Ruthless Friday program. You've heard him a lot of times, Bill Hagerty. Senator, how are you, sir?
>> I'm great, Josh. It's good to be with you all again.
>> Great to see you. Listen, a lot of stuff going on, a lot of important stuff, a lot of fun stuff. America 250, all this stuff. I want to start with Iran because we we haven't covered a ton of it here on the Ruthless Variety program, but you your international expertise, I think you've got a a perspective on this that is something we don't have here on the Ruthless Variety program.
>> You know, my perspective dates back not not just to the current involvement with Iran, but but prior to that, I I served as US ambassador to Japan during the first Trump term, and you may recall we tore up the JCPOA, which was ridiculous, by the way.
>> Yeah, totally. We we we tore that up and uh put maximum pressure on Iran. Part of that maximum pressure meant that we had to go to our allies and impose what is called secondary sanctions, meaning we're not going to trade with people who trade with Iran. And I had to have this conversation, a very tough conversation with with Prime Minister Abbe. That it's a simple choice, but it's a tough one.
You can trade with Iran, you can trade with the United States, but you cannot trade with both of us.
>> And after much discussion, uh Prime Minister Abbe agreed that they would stop buying Iranian crude oil. But he told me that it had been a 70-year relationship.
>> And so he was going to fly to Tran to let them know in person. He does this.
He flies there uh meets with Rohini, the president that afternoon, and things seemed to go well accord according to the conversation I had with him that evening. Um the next day he goes in to meet with the Ayatollah.
Their response was to send speedboats out and attach magnetic limpet mines to the sides of two Japanese cargo ships and blow them up.
>> Are you kidding?
That's who we're dealing with.
>> Yeah.
>> One of one of the the best and most gracious diplomats in the world, Prime Minister Abbe, was treated that way by the Iranian regime.
>> So, you know, that that has always been in the back of my mind as we deal with them, deal with them today. And I think you've seen it manifest itself as massive amounts of frustration trying to deal with them. Um, if you step back and just say going in, there was a very clear target package that was established. Admiral Brad Cooper runs Sentcom and Brad got through 75 to 80% of that target package before we went into ceasefire mode and started dealing with the straight of hormone moves.
>> The remainder of that package will take two and a half to three weeks to execute.
>> Looking back on it, it's only fair is not fair to, you know, armchair quarterback it. But looking back on it, >> I wish we'd finished the target package then. And and and I'm I think that we're going to find ourselves in a position where we're going to have to finish it now. And that seems to be the pathway.
And and you think that's sort of a product of who it is we're negotiating with based on your story and Trump in good faith trying to go to the Iranians with this memorandum of understanding and then it just you know they violate the thing. It it it seems to me that Iran um loves to talk and typically breaks most their promises. It's like, how do we get them into a position where they actually negotiate in good faith?
>> I think it's going to be crushing force.
I think that's the that that's the way to do it. And look, I I fully appreciate President Trump's perspective because he also realizes we're going to be responsible for rebuilding the economy once this is over. And so there's a real reluctance to destroy a lot of infrastructure that's going to have to be rebuilt, etc. I I get that. and he's trying to create an opportunity for the Iranian people who I think you know the vast majority of them want to see uh you know things change dramatically there certainly in the region and I I'll I'll mention this too Josh if I think about the difference between where we were with the JCPOA uh no one in the region wanted that nobody >> and everyone in the region is supporting us right now and what we're trying to execute and and I think that's a that's a that's a significant sea change also the negotiating dynamic. Um, at one point during the JCPOA, the foreign minister, Zarif, gets up and walks out of the room.
>> Mhm.
>> Our negotiator, John Kerry, gets up and runs down the hall to bring him back to the table.
>> Any of us in business know what you just did. You just gave it all away.
>> Yeah. And I think the sense was, and I'm not trying to put any ill intent on anybody, but I think the sense was that there was more desperation to get a deal, to get a press release, to be able to announce something than to have a substantive impact. And what we found, of course, the Israelis demonstrated this. The Iranians never stopped their their their program. Uh they've always been in pursuit of a nuclear weapon. And all all we wound up doing, you know, again in 2020 hindsight, was giving the funds to instigate instigate more terrorism and put them back on the path with a little bit of a timeline >> to have a nuclear weapon. You come forward and and you think about what drove the decision for President Trump at the time that he made the decision.
It was mathematics.
>> The Iranians figured out if they could continue to build more cheap ballistics, more cheap drones, at some point they could overwhelm conventional capabilities to take them out. And you know what our capability is exquisite, >> but when you know a ballistic missile comes in, we've got, you know, extraordinary technology that can take it out.
>> Yeah. That's the THAD missile >> in the Patriot systems. We've got several several systems that will do it, but they're quite expensive and the timeline to to reproduce them is significantly longer than >> so the conflict becomes asymmetrical because they can produce all these cheap >> and you you look at the pace that they're producing these cheap you know these cheap ballistics >> and at some point you're going you realize they can if they overwhelm our ability to stop them then they have all the time they ever needed to build the nuclear program. So, as you look at that math, you realize, wait a minute, we're moving in a direction. You can see where it's going. You need to act. And that's exactly where we were. The precise timing, I think, had to do with 40 people being in the wrong room at the wrong time.
>> But directionally speaking, you could see where this was going. It had to be dealt with.
>> Do you think the support exists in the Senate? I mean, and and I know you know you're the House, too, but do you think the the support exists in the Senate uh for the president to continue doing what he needs to do in Iran?
>> There is support. But the question is, is there enough support, you know, is there majority support? Because every Democrat seems to be for the Iranians right now, >> right? Which is incredible.
>> But if you could hear what some of my Democrat colleagues are saying on the floor of the United States Senate, you would think they're pulling for the other side.
>> And I don't believe that's true in their heart. But there we're in a political environment right now where everything is oriented toward, you know, a loss for Trump. and if they if they can find a way to make this look bad for President Trump, they're going to pursue it no matter what the implications are for the United States and and and for our people. So, it's been quite sad for me.
And again, I'm not saying this is true for everybody, but there have been Democrats on the floor saying things that have been frankly shocking to me in in terms of their it seems that they they almost hope that we have a bad situation, a bad outcome there. Well, I look, I think it's also important to just sort of level set about all of this because you have a good perspective on this given your history and your your experiences, but you know, for 47 years, this is a regime that is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
Killed more Americans than anyone in the world. And there is this um permission structure in both conservative and liberal critics of what's happening in Iran that if you just ignored it all that nothing would happen, that it was a status quo that we all just continue to ignore and there's no economic or life ramifications whatsoever. And I think what what I am most gratified by President Trump's decision to do it is he's the first president who decided >> I'm not going to leave this to another administration. It's going to get worse.
It's going to keep getting worse. You get October 7, you get the the full funding of Hamas and Hezbollah. Who knows where it goes from there if they get a nuclear weapon and everything else. We already know their intentions.
This is not something to be ignored. It had to be dealt with at some point and it's always going to be painful when you have to deal with an existential problem at some level.
>> Well, you raised a great point and politically it always is easier to kick the can down the road. But I as you mentioned that, Josh, it just brought me back to the Sunday morning after President Trump was shot in Butler, PA.
I was on the phone with him for about 20 minutes. And and I I just sensed and I and I told him, "You you have the opportunity to be the one, you were just elected president." That was it.
>> Mhm.
>> Mhm.
>> Two, you can be the most consequential president that we've ever had. And and he is I think he's taken on that mantle.
He realizes, but for the grace of God, he wouldn't be here. And he's taking on the tough problems. He's not backing away from anything. And I think what he's trying to do is change the status quo in a major step function so that we're not dealing with this crap in in in in the next administration, the next administration in the next. And there have been, you know, great leaders that have come along. I think about Douglas MacArthur >> in Japan. Uh I was fortunate to live in the same residence he occupied for six years when uh when he was stationed there. He executed the Korean War after the rebuilding of Japan. I often wonder what would have happened if if Truman had not fired him. If MacArthur had been allowed to finish the damn job, >> we wouldn't be dealing with a lot of the stuff that we're dealing with out there right now. And President Trump is going to finish the damn job.
>> Yeah. No, that's really well said. Of course, there's a political cost that comes along with all of it because everybody is sort of scattered in their opinions of a whole bunch of different things. And when you're in power, you just own everything. in President Trump's approval ratings uh in the historical norms that are a party in power going into a midterm. Not a great history. Obviously, >> you got a map that you can work with in the United States Senate. The House looks to improve, you know, their position with some redistricting and everything else.
>> As you look out at the political landscape, what do you think?
>> So, if if you listen to what they're saying in the mainstream media, the sense of malaise, the polling, etc., etc., um they don't seem to take into account that there's been a major effort underway on redistricting. These districts have been jerrymandered in a way that give an advantage to Republicans and the number of districts is pretty significant that we've gained.
If you also think about this, the number of competitive districts dramatically shrinks, right, because of all the gerrymandering that's taken place. So, we're talking about a small number of of of of districts that can shift. I'll take you back to Tennessee, Tennessee 7.
The first time that we've seen President Trump deploy his super PAC >> was when Matt Vaneps, who's now a congressman, was being challenged by the AOC of Tennessee.
>> Mhm.
>> Kla Harris came in and campaigned for all kinds of outside money coming in.
The margins are tightening, etc., etc., and President Trump drops in there with a couple $3 million. Boom. He endorses, she's gone.
>> It was game over. uh that kind of resource, a $ 1.3 billion dollar kitty.
I don't think we've seen that before.
>> Well, you you you talk to these guys.
You're you're close to them. Do you get the sense that that is the sort of relationship that both House and Senate Republicans are going to get from MAGA and the Trump Organization all the way through here?
>> My sense is President Trump does not want to see us lose the House of Representatives. I don't think we're going to lose the Senate either, but the House will be a primary focus point. and where we have overlapping races. I mean, I'm working hard on the ground game in Senate in in tough Senate races across the country. We're going to be helping our House members out as well. But President Trump is very focused on this.
Uh he doesn't want to see us lose. And again, I I think the the what we're talking about is a much more narrow spread than people who talk about history >> seem to realize. And and at the same time, no one seems to be taking into account the power of being able to drop in airdrop massive amounts of resources as needed in in the race. So, I'm more optimistic about the House. I look at the Senate. I think we actually have chance to to pick up seats. I look at Michigan. I feel very good about Mike Rogers race there. You know, look, >> well, you're running against the Hamas caucus [laughter] of the Democratic Party up there.
>> I think that's a manifestation of really where they've gone.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh but let's watch that race and see how it goes and take my own race. Rather than pick on my colleagues, I'll take my own race. I'm in cycle right now. If you pull me against a generic Democrat right now, I'll win by a certain margin. M >> but as soon as I know which of the four Democrats that are in a primary [laughter] that are going to come after me, you know, are they a communist, a Democrat socialist, whatever whatever the rap sheet looks like, I'll begin to define that person and that margin is going to spread dramatically.
>> And that's going to happen all across the country.
>> Yeah. And AOC was in Memphis just a few days ago. She was trying out her best southern accent and we've never heard her use it except I don't know if you I don't know if you >> but I mean these the this this these this DSA phenomenon that has worked in these blue enclaves in New York and in California. They're trying to make it work in other places like Tennessee and in the Midwest where we're all from. And I just I just don't see it happening. I mean, you you just mentioned it uh yourself that when you name the candidate, when you say what this candidate is for, people are like, I don't want any part of it, and I got to imagine that's what is frightening these establishment Democrats so much.
>> Yeah, I I I think you're exactly right.
And they're they're trying to navigate low turnout primaries where the AOC type of candidate can can amass just enough >> to to to win. But that's a I I think I hate to think that this is a majority view in the Democrat party right now, but certainly >> that you might be though.
>> They're pulling [laughter] it this this this very loud left far left is pulled the whole party in a direction that frankly I I just can't imagine.
Certainly Democrats in Tennessee, you've got to be feeling some sort of, you know, cognitive dissonance here.
>> Yeah. Um, well, you've got you've got your old school Democrats in East Tennessee who are much more comfortable in FDR's party than they are in AOCC's party. And so that's probably why you've seen so many migrate to a guy like you.
>> Yeah. Yeah. There's been a there's been a massive transition throughout the entire Southeast, as you know. We've seen it state after state. In fact, it was just 2010 that we moved from a Democrat governor in Tennessee to a Republican governor.
>> So, it hasn't been that long. Now, you look at Tennessee and you say, gosh, it's a solid red state. And and it will be. I'm I'm confident in that. But it's happened. It's that that sort of transformation has happened and you see it now in Pennsylvania, Ohio. These states are moving and they're moving in in the right direction. Well, it's it's an interesting dynamic because lot has been said about sort of global economic numbers uh approval of a president, party in power, a lot of punditry that makes >> you know in my view sort of asymmetric connections to an awful lot of that.
But nobody's really talking about the fact the Democratic Party in and of itself has not sold a single thing to the voter. I mean, this is at the all-time lowest approval rating of the Democratic Party as a whole. And if you're going to be an alternative to the thing, you kind of have to be at least as popular as the thing at some level and >> and offer some sort of solution to this, >> right? Other than like you don't like Western civilization. Yeah, [laughter] >> that's that's a good point. That's a good point. But but it it seems that that is is where they're persisting right now. And I don't know who they're talking with, but the media that that they talk with and the media that provides their echo chamber seems to be on the same page. And that is Trump hatred and and and you know, let's just denounce the United States of America and our founding fathers and all the principles of freedom and liberty and justice that we stand for. Let's go for centralized control. let's attack other members of our population. Let's go for free stuff for everybody. I mean, this whole this whole thing will not stand up to any sort of rational argument, but they're not trying to make a rational argument. It's just a bunch of bumper sticker stuff.
>> And [clears throat] um you know, at the at the root of it, at the very root of all of it is just hate Trump.
>> Yeah.
>> And I don't see that as a as a foundation for that.
>> Can't be the only tie that binds.
>> There are few people that would be inspired because they get jacked up on social media and they they're ready to go. But I think for the vast majority of people, this is not an inspiring message.
>> I [laughter] think that I think that's a very fair point.
>> All right. So, you look out uh the fall schedule. Obviously, we've still got a couple of weeks to go before August uh work period break and then you get a whole bunch of a stackup of stuff in a relatively short amount of time after Labor Day. How do you think things go?
>> I think it's going to be um a pretty challenging several weeks. Right now, we've got a lot of legislative uh issues before us that we need to be dealing with. The Democrats just voted against getting on the procedurally to get on to the National Defense Authorization Bill.
Last time I checked, we've uh which is >> unbelievable. Yeah, we've had major uh a major depletion of our munitions. We're at a point of vulnerability if we don't follow through. We've got an exquisite military, an exceptional military, but if we don't provide for them, and we've never done this before. You all have been around this longer than I have.
>> This is the first time we've ever seen this sort of behavior. They're willing to block funding of the military.
They're willing to block funding of DHS.
I was talking with the leader of the TSA in Nashville before I before I came up today.
>> All of these shutdowns led to not only a loss of people at that time, but a lot of people putting their applications in for other jobs. Lost a lot of personnel.
>> Yeah. And so they're still losing personnel even today because it took two or three months to get through the vetting process. Now they're getting their job officers and they don't want to deal with this again because they can see what's on the horizon. In September 20th, Chuck Schumer's already said he's shutting the government down >> without care uh without any notion of what's good for America, without any care for the destruction of famil family's lives, their inability to make ends meet because he's doing this simply to obtain power for political purposes because they've come to some calculus that if they can shut the government down and throw it over to their friends in the media, that the blame will be shifted to President Trump and the Republicans and that will suffer in the midterms. Do you get any sense internally within I mean you talk to Democrats through your colleagues and they're around there. Do you get any sense that that is a winning strategy internally for Democrats? Because I mean we've made the case that Chuck Schumer >> knows better in an awful lot of way. He certainly knew better than the government shutdown last fall.
>> Record setting government shutdown over an issue that they haven't spoken about since. By the way, this Obamacare tax they haven't raised the issue. haven't even discussed it. And then they shut the government down around ICE and ICE funding ultimately just to get Republicans to try to work it through a different way and get exactly what it is that was in in the first place. And so, but all of it is a kayf kind of like a professional wrestling to his own base >> to show like I'm a fighter and I'm doing the thing. But you get the sense even looking at his own conference, people are like, he doesn't he doesn't.
>> Listen, Josh, I think you're making such a great point because he is vulnerable to being painted as a guy who is just given over to the chaos of the communist left that's rising up. And so if he is willing to shut the government down, I feel like he's going to get a lot of criticism from people saying, "Wait a minute. This is not what we want out of an alternative to Republicans. We don't want more chaos from communists coming in and running our government. I feel like >> certainly not leadership, but I I'll say a dynamic that's taken place just recently. Um on the floor of the United States Senate, uh Bernie Sanders brought forward some pro- Hamas, I can't remember the specifics of the legislative thing he was trying to accomplish, but he was trying to get a vote.
>> And Chuck only held six other Democrats with him. 40 went with Bernie.
[laughter] >> It's amazing.
>> And Bernie's in a position to declare himself the leader of the Democrat party right now. Certainly in the United States Senate that's the case and I don't know who's leading over in the House if it's not AOC you can tell me but um I think Jeff doesn't seem to be uh delivering any leadership either and if you look in [snorts] Jeffrey's own home state it's just amazing how the Democrat socialists have taken over now Mandami however you pronounce his name >> seems to be the face of certainly New York politics if not the the rest of the country >> it [clears throat] does and it's it's shocking at some level I mean we're 25 years removed from 911 11 and we're having like an anti-semitic litmus test in these Democratic primaries around the country.
>> He's going to arrest BB Netanyahu when he comes in.
>> I read that.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> It's just a It's a wild It's got to be a weird [laughter] time to be up there to be honest.
>> I know. But if you can imagine an NYPD officer stepping up to arrest BB Netanyahu because Mandami told him to do it, I it's going to be it's going to be really shocking to see that actually materialize. But he's saying this, right? They're all full of these these bumper sticker talking points that have no practical, you know, no no.
>> But they're holding Chuck Schumer hostage with them. That's the craziest thing. Yeah. He's like, "Oh, okay. Well, >> I guess I'll say yes right up until the point where I have to do it."
>> Yeah. Right. I mean it. Okay. So, all of that and then the insanity of we watched Mark Warner who amongst Senate Democrats, I've never been convinced of this, but media and everybody else will say he's like, "Well, this guy, at least he has a business background. At least he's sort of like common sense in some regards, even if he's liberal." I've never seen I've never seen any evidence of that whatsoever. But he's out on the Sunday shows this week and he's asked, we played the clip earlier, asked about uh voter ID and he's like, uh, yeah, no, in Virginia, we do that. And Jonathan Carl at U is like, no, that is not the law there. And then he goes on to try to explain their position on voter integrity. They have nothing.
>> I didn't know they had a position. I'm I'm [laughter] >> I didn't see this, but I'm shocked that he even tried would make an attempt like that. Well, it just it it literally he doesn't have any ability to actually vocalize that. And I I mean >> I can I can do it for him.
>> Yeah.
>> Would you would you give me a shot?
Absolutely.
>> So, uh >> we were taking advantage of the fact that congressional districts and electoral votes are allocated based on the number of people in the country, not based on the number of citizens.
Therefore, we're going to collapse the border, flood it with 10, 20 million people. At a minimum, we get a reshape of the electoral college. At a minimum, we get a reshape of the of the of the map in the US Congress. Doesn't affect the Senate, but it affects everything else.
>> And that's because we can count these illegally pe these people that are here illegally in that allocation. So, what do we do? We erect sanctuary cities >> in our big blue states that are otherwise losing population, by the way.
>> So, we put sanctuary cities in Los Angeles and San Francisco and Chicago and New York. This is the game plan.
They want to be able to count these people. And I put it to the floor.
Schumer and I got down to the wire on a government shutdown. We actually went 30 minutes into a technical shutdown.
>> And he thought he had me because it was at this point close to 1 1 a.m. When they finally put it to a vote, every single Democrat voted to continue counting illegals.
>> Yeah.
>> For the purpose, solely the purpose of allocating electoral votes and allocating congressional districts. I was willing to give on allocating resources like infrastructure resources.
The people are here. You you know, they they make an argument there. but just for voting purposes. They acknowledged it because every single one of them voted against it. They want these people here >> to shift the whole voting dynamic and they don't want them to be identified because take the District of Columbia.
Um I have a you know we all live live either here or Virginia. I happen to be here when I'm just when I'm serving in the Senate. My home's in Nashville, but I got a 64page booklet to tell me how rank order voting works. M >> I get [clears throat] these cards saying if you're illegal, you don't have to be a citizen to vote in in the elections here in DC, but nobody can legally ask you, you know, as you trip over and go into the federal vote and keep checking.
There's nobody there to stop you from an on your honor system.
>> On your honor system, right? Somebody's already broken into the country. I can guess how this is [laughter] going to go.
>> But this is just this is just a microcosm of their game plan. They want to get them in here. They want to find some way to get them into the voting booth. And that that is one of their major strategies to win in America. It's not the messaging.
>> Yeah.
>> It's it's not the policies. It's in finding ways to get around the system that our founding fathers.
>> Oh, it's just so well said. It's exactly right. It totally is. You cut to the quick again, Senator. This exactly exactly what we wanted to hear. Uh listen, let us know how everything's going in Tennessee. It seems like you're taking care of your own business. Sounds like we're going to get >> I think we're going to be fine in Tennessee.
>> The governor where Tennessee is looking good.
>> Tennessee is looking good. And Tennessee has something very special. What do we have here? honor honor our host today with one of the special products from Tennessee. Um it's an agricultural product. That's right. [laughter] >> We're an agrarian state as you know, but we've learned manufacturing along the way. Distillation is a subset of that [laughter] >> and um this is a this is a very this is a favorite product of my home state.
It's engraved uh by our master distiller of Jack Daniels. And it's also signed to to all my friends at Ruthless, my ruthless friends.
>> Almost going to make us feel bad about drinking it.
>> Oh, you just just save the bottle from time to time, [laughter] but I'll pass it to you, Josh. [clears throat] >> Senator, that's fantastic. I love it.
Jack Daniels.
>> Wow.
>> Uh it's just an iconic brand. I love it.
Well, thank you so much for joining us.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, gentlemen.
Well, just an outstanding conversation as usual with Senator Heggerty. I feel like we owe him a jacket at this point.
The guy's been on the show so many times, but um he always provides a perspective that you don't expect to hear when you're when you're sitting there with him. I mean, obviously he's a great accomplished businessman, a great accomplished senator, but then he brings stuff like that story about uh >> Exactly.
>> Yeah. I mean, he was ambassador to Japan. If you ever wonder why President Trump during his first administration had such a great relationship with Japan, it's because you had great guys like now Senator Hagerty who are out there doing the hard work of the administration. I mean, the guy's got such incredible experience and the wealth of knowledge he brings to an issue like Iran, I think, is uh we're lucky to have him.
>> Yeah, he always brings little pearls that we seek to provide to you here in the Ruthless Friday program. Listen, fellas, we got a big week. There's a lot going on. lot hit the cutting room floor in terms of yucks today.
Gotta save a lot. So, it's going to be a fun week. Can't wait for you guys to join us throughout on Thursday and Friday. With that, fellas, I think we did it.
>> An absolute banger of an episode, gentlemen. But no smug. So, we'll go to Hollywood.
>> Another banger of an episode, folks. So, until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs.
Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] [music] [music] [music]
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