Ep. #729: John Fetterman, Dan Crenshaw, Donna Brazile

Welcome to the video. From the HBO Late Night series, Real Time with Bill Maher. Start the clock. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, real time regulars. I appreciate it. Thank you. You sound like a great crowd. I know why you're happy.

Great news, peace at last. We have an agreement, a deal, a peace deal. Not the Iran War. Blake Lively and Justin Baldona. That's who I'm talking about. Man, th th were you reading about this for like the la year went on there were all this arguing ensuing and then it turns out no settlement money at all. Just end uh over a movie called It Ends With Us that everybody hated. Did you see that movie? It was harder to get through than the Strait of Hormuz.

Oh yes, okay. Well the war. Okay. So we are officially ended with Operation Epic Fury and now we have moved on to Project Freedom, which is also over. Thank you. Uh that was Project Freedom, that was our attempt to escort the ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where there are now 1,800 ships stuck. Last person who needed this many escorts was Hunter Biden. So

But uh Iran, yeah, they are blocking the the strait and they say they're gonna collect tolls now of all the ships and Trump is furious. Furious that he didn't think of at first. So it's uh It's a game of chicken, and Trump said he wants the Iranians to know America does not blink. Lose interest and wander away? Yes, we do that all the time, but we don't blink. Uh we kinda have to because we've uh apparently used up all our missiles.

Yeah, they find our our not all, but our stockpile is greatly depleted. Uh this is so ridiculous. America, the most strapped country in the world, ran out of bombs. It's like Diddy running out of baby oil. I mean But let's not be gloomy. It's Mother's Day on Sunday. Do you have mothers? I had one. It's very common.

Uh and of course there's a baby boom over at the White House. You know this in the administration, a lot of people having babies over there. And for the press spokesman, you you've seen her, Carolyn Levitt. Yeah, she just, what a what timing? She just had a baby. And they asked her, you know, are you excited to be a mom again? And she said, what a stupid question. Do your research. Of course I'm excited to be a mom. Now listen.

If you are old enough to be watching this show, uh you were born when your mother could have an abortion. She had the right to have an abortion. And that is not the case anymore, really, in a lot of this country. So maybe when you write a card this year say, Thanks, Mom, you could have killed me and you didn't. Oh, and uh Speaking of killing, uh apparently they found Jeffrey Epstein's suicide note. Ha ha ha ha.

Yeah, what uh uh apparently it was from the guy, his cellmate, who uh Epstein says tried to kill him. But he's the guy who found the note. And it says they investigated me, and then in all caps it says found nothing, three explanation points. What does that sound like? I can't quite place it. I No, I'm not suspicious. I'm not suspicious, but the note does end by saying thank you for your attention to this matter. I I Good news for Gen Z, uh we may be wearing masks again.

Well, because you heard about the cruise ship, there's a cruise ship out there that has huntavirus. Oh, probably this is nasty. Three people have died. Huntavirus. And uh the first report said there was uh a flight attendant who got it from the passengers. Boy, suddenly spirit doesn't sound that bad, does it uh? No. But no, th this uh the flight attendant tested negative, which is good news because it would be ironic if the flight attendant uh had hantivirus and the cure was peanuts.

Uh we've got a great show. Representative Dan Crenshaw and Donna Brazil are here, but first up, he is a Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, and he is my friend Senator John Fetterman is over here. We'll see you again. Thank you. All right. Thank you. John, you're wearing your good black. Did you have a spid on the subject But I mix it up to, you know. Did you have a speech on the Senate floor or something where you had to look at the first time?

Your best? No, I I I I I I like your outfit. I do. So I read your uh op-ed today, I think it was, in the Washington Post. Um and it's interesting because we often find ourselves sort of in the same place politically, I think. E exactly, yeah, where when your values haven't changed, but the party really has changed and it's kind of put you at odds and

Yeah, you you use the term increasingly lonely. You said you feel increasingly lonely as a Democrat. Do you wanna unburden yourself and tell us about that? Yeah, well I mean some people think it's like a glamorous life and it is not, at least uh for me. You know, we have Uh. Yeah yeah.

Well we uh no, I mean uh I mean from a lonely perspective uh you know, things that used to be part of our values here as a party, uh, that they're only shifted, you know, whether it's like specifically Israel and the Jewish community and now also the border security. And then also recently, the two longest shutdowns uh in history, and I've you know had to vote against.

Uh the caucus, I don't I don't enjoy that, but we used to be the party that would always refuse to shut the government down. Um and now we now have shut it down and dropped a lot of mass chaos and I just couldn't be a part of that.

Yeah, I think uh we get the same uh charge levied against us that we're picking fights with the left. We're not picking fights, we're just not avoiding them. I I mean you you used the term an orgy of socialism recently. You said that you what you see what's what you see in the Democratic Party. I do too. I yeah, well I mean you have whether it's like the mayor in Seattle, I mean she's absolutely a a socialist, uh in New York and a lot of these candidates

uh across the country and that's really moving towards that and people that are proud to be labeled as a socialist. That used to be like was a smear when I was running my first cycle and now that's becoming more normalized. And now I think that's a very dangerous slippery slope for us to be. And now I've spoke to people that had to live under socialism and or communism. And they are like

They are morons if they think that socialism is the answer. You know, I've lived under that and thank God we are now. We already have a great deal of socialism and I've made the point a million times on the show, as we should. All Western democracies are quasi socialist. There are certain things that the government should do. You don't want the private enterprise to be controlling the Marine Corps.

And you uh we Social Security and uh Medicare, Medicaid, obviously these things we we have socialism. They're just proposing something way more than that. And by the way, you said socialism, dirty word. May a yes and no. What really was a dirty word, which isn't anymore, is communism. Yeah. I mean, this woman in New York who is Mayor and Mandami's right hand woman, she tweets out. Elect more communists. Um this f guy, Graham Plattner? Yes

Yeah, it's not a slur. If I deferred if I refer to him as a communist, that's his own term that he used for himself. Yes. A and Tifa and these other kinds of extreme things. Now that's his own words, that's not that my view, and I'm not using that As a slurry. But but but the idea that communist is not a dirty word, I think we need to pause here and say, okay, this is a a water mark, this is a a watershed mark, a moment in American history where we should pay attention.

And my guess is, because AI is going to be taking everybody's jobs, communism is only going to get more popular. Uh w well I I sure hope not, because you know, like the the if our party it's like that it's that expression, you know Bad ideas refuse to die. And now that's coming back. And a lot of this the the Trump and the black the backlash is making more and more things possible in the Democratic Party. And I'm gonna consistently gonna resist that kinds of extremes.

and those extremes that cost us in twenty twenty four. We all have to remember that we need to have an election against both sides. We're accountable for both sides and these in these kinds of uh states that really depend the to deliver for the presidency and that's why I refuse to be uh an engage. I know I know how to pay the bills as a Democrat right now and my colleagues and people that are running

Uh whether for the Senate or the House. They are literally running on fuck Trump. I mean that's literally they have campaign uh commercials. And it's it's it's absurd. And and we are getting to that point and I refuse to engage in that extreme uh those terms. Now we have to find a better way forward and uh I've been punished. to try to find value in certain views. Now like for the ballroom, you know, we've talked about that. I don't care about the ball. I mean

It's so stupid. It's it's just Rorschass test. of whether you just hate. Because first of all, like we saw with the uh assassination attempt a couple of weeks ago, w America probably does need you know what the problem is? I said it to you the other day on the podcast, which I think is on next week. It's the word ballroom. It sounds ballroom. Sounds like you know, fops or pirouetting around. And and it's just if they called it the uh state dinner national center, it would be different.

But this is America. And we don't want people sitting in tents to have dinner. I mean, you know, I was I was two tables away at uh at the White the White House correspondence dinner. I've witnessed this tonight. From the killing? Yeah. From the attempt, you mean? Yeah.

I had to see that I'm like the entire line of succession was right there and realize that we've put put th there's real danger there. We got really lucky there now for a lot of reasons. So now we need to have a more secure more secure for to do these kinds of events, but I don't care about you know like just build it. I mean he won't even be president when it's if it's even finished.

Yeah, I mean concentrate on the big things. The things that really matter. That's what I keep trying to say here. So there's no there's no truth, right, that you're actually going to switch parties'cause I know Trump has offered you I mean you said I would be a shitty Republican.

Um Yeah, well yeah, I that that's you know and You know, if I uh if I ever decide to change and I won't, I'll be uh you know, have me on and I will announce that but it it's not gonna i it's like you know, I'm a committed Democrat even though if I vote ninety three percent of the time. Uh with the Democrat.

I thought we were supposed to be a b a big tent party, so that's I'm not really sure how I become uh an issue for any of the Democrats just the having some different views in these other issues. No, you said you're not going to be able to do that You said before, you're you're pro choice, you're pro weed, you're pro gay rights, you're pro labor. Yeah. Uh you also throw in there I'm pro ribeye and not bio slop. I don't know why that has to go in there.

That sounds like a great Republican to me, but yeah, well yeah, what is your thing with with yeah, I I I look and by the way, I don't eat I don't eat fake meat either. I mean my friends at Peter would love it if I did. But look, I mean the science is the science. I don't think that stuff is really better for you than organic real meat. I mean it's certainly not better for the animal like getting killed. But

as far as the science goes. But you uh you actually want a band. Y that that doesn't seem Yeah, I I just I just think I I mean as I'm a member of the agriculture

uh committee and I really stand with with our farmers now. And now of course we don't want like the factory farm situation and uh absolutely opposed uh a aminal cruelty. But for me if I lived on Mars, yeah I you know uh a m those kinds of uh the a kind of uh What's what's the lab meet would be a great uh opportunity, but for me right now, like it's uh

I eat it. It it's like ac actively I mean if if com uh the people have a chance to to prevent For that, but but o but overall, for for me, uh I I think, you know, someone that's really I mean, we are just uh I thought you know, the really highly, highly processed h food, I mean that's exactly the essence of that. Yeah, but there's a lot worse highly processed food. I mean I could go into the supermarket

Well we don't want to ban all of that. People have the right to eat what they want, don't they? I mean, don't tell the population of America that they can't eat what they want. Right. You think they're open arms about shit now? You'll really have a riot on your head. Well I mean uh overall it's not it's not a top priority for me given everything else that's happening right now. So but oh Right.

A as someone that is a committed Democrat, I find myself isolated by my party as things continue. Uh I'm gonna just have play, you know, ball strikes and just Yeah. And it's the band in the shorts. Thank you, Tom. All right, Don Federman, he's gonna tower over me now. Alright, let's meet our panel. Thank you, Don.

All right, he is a Republican congressman for a couple more months from Texas, author of the best-selling book Fortitude, and host of the podcast Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw, Representative Dan Crenshaw. And she's a veteran political strategist, ABC News computer, and former DNC chair, Donna Brazil is over. Okay.

So the midterm elections are about six months away and uh it usually happens that the party out of power does well in the midterm elections. And the party in power right now is historically unpopular. Mostly because of what I call the three eyes. That would be ICE, Iran, and inflation. And it would s it seemed only a few weeks ago, maybe months ago, that it would be impossible for the Democrats to lose this election. No way. Well, headline today, way.

There is a way. And it's because of what they do when they don't win, they cheat. Amen. So this is the big story today, gerrymandering. This has gone nuclear and Republicans are winning the gerrymander war. We talked about it last week, but a lot has changed since then. As you know, it started with Texas.

Your state, Trump said gerrymander, Texas. Okay, so they got like four or five new seats in Texas. California responded and said, Okay, we're gonna do the same thing. All right, so now we're this is a terrible road to go down, but at least we're even. Okay, now the Supreme Court ruled last week on the Voting Rights Act. Everything is different now. Eight states have new new maps now.

And five more are planning to. Texas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina. They're all now more Republican. These states that had districts that minorities were electing c candidates from. Uh Virginia did it on the Democratic side and the s the Supreme Court in the state said they can't. So that's a big loss for the Democrats. They're not gonna get that to even the score. And Tennessee now.

Show the map of the Tennessee. This is really what's going on here. Look at this. They've taken Memphis, a majority black city, and they moved it into three different districts to dilute the vote. Now I'm gonna turn this over to the former chair of the DNC for your commentary because I'm sure you have a lot to say. Well first of all it's always a great honor to be back here in California with Bill and congratulations on the Mark Twain

I mean, you know, Bill, I can't keep up with you, baby. Every time I'll I go for months, Congressman, without seeing this man and he makes all kinds of trouble. I have to come back in clean up your shit. The bags, the bags. Thank you. Talk about a talk talk about a de talk about a desperate housewife. Come on, baby. Clean your own stuff up. But let me just say this, Bill. Let me just say this. Uh the rumors that the Democratic Party is dead, those rumors are as old as Methusa.

We have about 179 days. It's gonna be a tough election, no question about it. But you know what? We have a small tailwind. No, I do not like what's going on with redistricting. You know why, Bill? I come from one of those states that uh All of a sudden the Supreme Court said, Whoa, we don't like Partisan gerrymander. No, we don't like racial gerrymander. So one out of three voters in Louisiana is a black voter. One out of three. And they're now thinking of eradicating

So that's as if people from some parts of Louisiana can represent New Orleans better than the folks who are representing or Baton Rooch. It's wrong, it's immoral, and it's unjustified. Bill, let me just say this.

And and and I saw what the congressman tweeted today uh after Tim came. But here's it. I I'm old enough What do you tweet? I don't know. Well he's gonna have I'm gonna give I'm gonna he's wrong. He's saying well the constitution is is they made it based on constitution. They made it based on they say well the voters were already voting when the the state put this law into place so that the voters can decide. The voters decided in, as you well know, California, the voters decided in Virginia.

The politicians should not treat treat uh choose their voters. But I I have one broad They've done it forever. Don't I know that Bill? 1787, I'm gonna give you my Tim King more. 1787, the Constitution. When did my family get the right to vote, Bill? 1965. 61 years ago. So my daddy served in war and could not vote for that. My grandparents, my grandmother was 77 when she got the right to vote. Don't you know? So we understand um are you on my side?

No, I I i you're on the side of the constitution, you're on the side of democracy. Congressman, I will let you describe why you went into Tim Kane's ass today. Our size and love. Phrasing, you know, phrasing. I don't you know the anyway, he's the last ass I would go into. Cade was he he was making the case that the Supreme Court doesn't know what it's talking about and that they they they're misreading. He I I pointed out that he should

I know I know reading is time consuming, but you might read the actual uh case that the Supreme Court wrote. It's very well written, it's very logically written, it's pretty irrefutable. I mean it was a ten to one vote. They're making the case that simply the the the constitutional amendment was in itself unconstitutional because of the process they followed. That's what the Supreme Court argued.

It was not about the ability to politically gerrymander. Let's start with like one principle just taking a step back here. Your your states can can do political redistricting. That's how our constitu our federal constitution is written. If we've like a better system and we're smarter than the founders, then we can figure out a better way to do that. But it's inherently political. Every state has a different way of doing it.

Some have independent commissions or bipartisan commissions, even those are chosen in a political way, a political process. It will always be political, so just get used to it. Okay. But sec but second, uh one one more thing to point out. To say we're w we're winning Republicans are winning the redistricting war, we I think we're catching up. And if I can point to the facts on

Look, let's go to Illinois, you got a 14 to 3 ratio. Washington, you got a 10 to 2 ratio. New England has like a 21 to zero ratio. California out of 52 representatives, they're gonna have maybe five, six Republicans. You know, in Texas you redistricted we're thirty to ten. Florida's now gonna be twenty to seven. Like they're Democrats have been winning this battle for a long time. Uh I n I'm not sure about that. North Carolina. Ten four. Okay.

Ohio, ten Republicans, five Democrats. Texas, 25 Republicans, 13 Democrats. In a state that is majority. Can I can I just show Okay. Let me just show you. Why does skin color automatically impose political beliefs? Race has always been identified as a political consideration, not only as it relates to the constitution of the United States, but also how it is implemented at the state level. That's why these districts were always drawn So that they took race into consideration. So that's my point.

Yes. Thank you. Because of the history of the United States. As I you an enlightened society would not say that your skin color, an immutable characteristic, is an indicator of your political. But this to me this is always the problem with the Supreme Court. They don't really take into account practical effects.

Remember the Citizens United ruling about as much dark money as you want in politics, and Obama was at the State of the Union and he said, This is going to change everything in Alito mouth. No. Yes. Yes. Yes, it did. They don't take this into account. I as I said last week, I guess you didn't watch the show. They're not supposed to. Literally not supposed to be. I know, but I said we're not living in the future. It would be nice if that was where. And we are way where way different than we were.

Twenty years ago, fifty years ago, the world is very different. And I've I've certainly taken my shit from the left. for pointing out constantly that they are hyper focused on race and when they say s things like, uh racism has never been worse, it's just you're just ridiculous. But we are also not living in the future.

Show this map, please. This is what the map could look like in the south of what it used to look like. See those blue? Those are blue districts. This is what it's going to look like now. There are districts that have been carved out so that minorities are represented. For sure. That is racial gerrymandering. It has to happen until we are living in the present, uh and to in the future. And we're not. And if if you think that you're gonna take away all these black representatives

in the United States Congress without repercussions. I mean you take away that many and have them uh black people have scant repres representation in Congress, uh this is not going to say. The new governor of Florida is likely going to be black. You know, uh i there's we this is uh white re wh white Republicans are voting him in. Well first of all let me just say this. For most of my childhood, I was represented by a white female, Lindy Box. She was outstanding, amazing.

And when the moment came in history that she said, you know, I have served my time and this is an opportunity now to expand the the electorate, to give more people a seat at the table. Look, we have black representatives, as you well know, who represent Largely white. I mean we had Utah has had two blacks, not one. They're Republicans. And by the way, if you can elect more black Republicans, go ahead. I'll elect more black Democrats. We got a black Democrat out of Rhode Island.

We got a black Democrat in Washington State. Ain't nothing wrong with being black and living in Nebraska or Kansas. That's okay. What I'm saying that in the Southwest. Half the black population reside. We should not be told that we no longer have a seat at the table. We did not and this is my only thing.

I watched him on Friday night and I went on A I went on ABC on Sunday hotter than July. So I say I gotta stop watching Bill because you you you really piked me up, baby. I didn't want to lose my job, you know. You piked me up. I I don't know. I said, Woo! Thank you. Thank you. And by the way, nobody gave us a voting right. We bled for it. Okay.

Well, another thing to say about the Supreme Court decision here so that people are actu they're informed about it, is they they struck down this idea, and it is I and it's an idea, it's not written in statute. It's an idea that there has to be majority-minority districts. There's nowhere in there that's not a good thing. It's been interpreted. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. But you know what? Find a new law. That's why you have a whole bowl of books behind you. Thank you. Thanks.

That's the process. We we got one the John the John Ju Lewis voting rights act and I hope you become a sponsor. We would love your support. If if if if the majority of the American people don't want this Again, again, I, I, I, I... Thank you. You don't want my fuck I'm on Kish. Look, we need support. And by the way. Let's make it weird. I'm not weird. They're not thinking about me. Okay, hello, unless I'm in the kitchen with my apron on.

It covers up things, man. Okay. Look, the Voting Rights Act ended all kinds of schemes that kept not just blacks bill, but poor whites. Think about the poll tax. Think about the literacy tax. So so it was important that we struck down those laws and those rules so that we could have free and fair elections across the country. I am worried that we're all going to be able to go to the South and want to see the SEC play. Oh, we got black athletes. But they have no representation. Where's it?

Oh through the south. Who doesn't? I mean you gonna see black athletes playing this fall, throwing for LSU, throwing for Tennessee, Alabama, but no black representation in Congress. Oh I see. That's my point is, you know, I am very disturbed by this. I'm disturbed that we're tur turning back at the at a time when America's about to turn 250. I got my red, white, and blue gown, baby. And you're gonna turn it to you? Bye-bye. Thank you.

But you know the letter of the law is written for a perfect world. We don't live in that perfect world. I don't mean to speak for the black population. Your job. But I'm just channeling. Oh I can't speak for white people. Okay, I'm just channeling the the black folks I know. Uh they like white people more than they used to because we are nicer than we used to be. But trust us, no. And I don't blame them.

So there's just a lot of black folks who are not gonna are not quite ready to vote for the white representative representative. They don't understand. They uh their life as because we are still a divided country in many ways. Yes we are. I mean when my friend Killer Mike puts out an album I have to g read the lyrics. And even then I don't understand it.

It's a c no I'm I'm serious. I'm saying this to make a point. It's a c if if that's the case, where it's as it's as different from English as Chaucer is. And that's just pointing out that we are not quite living in the future. Well, if you want to start living in the future, you have to go back to original principles, and original principles say that immutable characteristics. Yeah. Skin colour should not it be an indication of your character.

That's an original principle. That's that's a that's a foundational liberal principle. By by way, in a in a constitution where slavery was legal. So And then we fought a war to end it. I know. Because of our Declaration of Independence and the values, those original principles that we stated there, that was used as the argument against slavery by the Republicans.

And look, maybe we need another period of enlightenment because I'm going back to all of those theories that gave us this so-called great constitution, this the Bill of Rights, and of course the Declaration of Independence. But let me just say this. As you well know, it took women almost a hundred and forty four years to get secure the right to vote. Right. And and and look, we just had to fight once again for a medication that is safe. Safe.

The Fifth Circuit saying that we should not receive our medication in the mail. It's medication. And people keep saying it's abortion pill. Women need to have full access to the range of reproductive health care. No one should die having a miscarriage. Alright, I have to...

I have to move on because very important thing. A couple of a couple of weeks ago, maybe a month ago, I did a whole editorial about aliens because you know think the the wor The world has changed now. I mean it used to be the people who were talking about it were not the most serious people in the world and now they are. It is the most m serious people, military people

Two movies, one is a documentary, one is the Spielberg movie that's coming out. They both use the word disclosure in the title. We seem to be at that place. Trump is on board with this. He keeps teasing that we are going to see the files. Well today was the day they released a lot of the files. Now some of it is probably nothing. Some of it is interesting that I never heard before, like the astronauts on the Apollo seventeen flight.

saw things that they were talking about that they thought was strange. And you think do you think they were really there though? Oh I don't know. But what I do know, and don't ask me how we got it, we got a hold of the absolutely of the stuff. Some of this hasn't even been released yet. Would you like to hear this is all about what we don't know about the aliens because uh all right. Uh for example Oh this so interesting right here. They never washed the anal probe. I I

What else? Oh, this their central computer was once destroyed by the illogic of North Dakota getting two senators. That's Thank you. Oh. Uh they don't reproduce through physical contact, just like Gen Z. Sometimes after the NL probe they say, now do me. Oh. Very interesting. They did build the pyramids and also gave us the Bible, but only as a joke. Oh, they refer they referred to the missing Malaysian airliner as our bad. Thank you.

This is kinda sad. In the universe we're considered a shithole planet. Yeah, I find that Classic. They have over twenty seven different genders, five fewer than at NYU. Thank you. Uh they don't say take me to your leader. They say, wait, this is your leader? And also, they want to know why the Michael movie left out all the stuff about Alright.

Wanna talk about the Met Gala. I have never talked, but. I thought you just were I know. Uh the the outfits are pretty much what the aliens might have. What it proof is.

I never talked about because I know I guess I never really understood it. Uh there was a lot of controversy about it this year, so I'm reading about it. It's actually a charity. You know the the the show some of the people that I mean this happens every year. The the celebrities show up and they're wearing just the most outrageous things. I just thought, oh, they're celebrities, they're fucking nuts, that's what they do.

They just they're weirdos and they're attention whores and they just wear weird shit. I've seen them do it in other places. No, this is actually a charity for the costume institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Brown. Okay, I didn't I never got that. Fashion and arts like for poor people. This year there's a lot of controversy because it was apparently sponsored by Jeff Bezos, uh spent ten million dollars for it and they got very upset about this, the people I call the uh liberals in theory. Uh

And some people said they weren't gonna go. Turned out just about everybody went. And I guess the question I'm asking is the for the party that's always talking about money and have kind of made ha making money evil, now I do believe that there should be an upper number that we tax. on uh that we you can't have more money than you know some of these people have over five hundred billion dollars. That's crazy. But I am the farthest thing from a socialist.

I don't I think making money is good. Wanting to be rich is good. That's what part of what makes America America. We conform to human nature which is greedy. But you can't have it both ways. I mean Beyonce was there, she's wearing Fift she's wearing a fifty million dollar necklace and the Queen of Kalari Diamond. Wow, I don't even know. And I say you go girl. I think I need to help her. I need to help her. Okay. Okay. I need to help her. No but no, she looks fabulous. but don't you

She might have rented that shit, Bill. You know she probably. So that she can bring I know. They give it to her to wear and I say good. I'm glad. Everybody should be able to do what they want in America and be as rich as they w not quite as rich as they want, I take that back. Don't steal my money though. Don't steal the taxpayers' money. I'm sick of that shit right now. Thank you. Half the green people steal now. Thank you.

Well, I I was saying this the other week. You know, the problem is that when Bernie Sanders says millionaires and billionaires, it's so outdated. Millionaires? You know the one out of six households in America Or millionaires? One out of six. So when you say billionaires and you lump them in, this is what I was complaining about. Please don't say that. my property value. Not right now, Bernie. I'm I'm a little Thank you. But you know, but claiming you don't pay a ta I pay a shit ton of tax.

What do you mean? It's it's the super rich who don't pay taxes. I call my husband Sam. Yeah. He's a paper man. Yeah. I pay him. And by the way, Gladys, Miss California, just gave me$4 back. I came on your show twice last year and I owe them money, Bill. What the hell's wrong with you? Thank you. Thank you. And you'll you'll love this. You know you know the Aki called the democratic capitalist. I said because I own my house.

I mean, shit, I grew up in poverty. I I've earned my money. I've earned the right. I love my nieces and nephews. I've given them everything I. I want to enjoy the rest of my life. Thank you. Here's why here's why Bernie makes here's Bernie's point. Bernie believes that we live in two Americas. Two Americans. And it's it's wrong that one set of Americans can no longer afford the American dream. One set of Americans keep, you know, working harder.

And having to pay more. And the other said it seemed like the rules are working for them. So that's Bernie's point. He may not be talking in 21st century. No, but he's got he's gotta update it because millionaires it's like saying here's a dime for the phone. Okay, it's a quarter now and we won't even have those anymore. Yeah.

He's also I think he's just misrepresenting the truth, so he's gotta stop doing that as well. So if we just go from statistics, like where does federal revenue come from? You say they're they're not paying their fair share. Well the top one percent pays forty percent of federal revenue. The bottom fifty percent pays three percent of federal revenue. So is that fair?

Is that proportion fair? This is a of course a subjective question. We actually believe in our country and we have for a long time that there should be a progressive tax system. It's one of the most progressive, if not the most, in the world, when you can include state and local. So the rich not even that's not even that everybody pays their their like 20 percent. No, the rich pay a higher percentage in addition to. So the the the idea that they're just not paying taxes is factually incorrect.

Just by the numbers. So the question is then like what what is fair? How are we defining it? Or is it just a populist rallying cry to build on resentment that people have? But would you say there should be a upper limit? In other words, if your personal wealth is worth two percent of gross national product. Shouldn't we have to cap something on the upper lim no? A trillion dollars? Why?

Where do they do it? Is that a checking account? That money's not a checking account, first of all. They're using that to buy. I mean, we're talking about Elon, because I think that's the only person that even comes close to Well something like How many companies and amazing things has he started? How many people have he employed? How many investments has he made? It's it's it's it's not like it's just sitting in a checking account. Mm-mm.

The guy's working twenty four hours a day. Like it y you know, and and also that top one percent is a very fluid group of people too. It's not the same people. It's somebody it's usually made up of new people who like sold their business they worked forever to build and finally sold it that year. They get lumped into the one percent and then they're out the next

And and wealthy Americans can afford accountants that can find those loopholes. They understand how to get tax breaks when they want to move their companies into a state and say, Hey, if you you know, make sure I don't have to pay property taxes for the next twenty years, look. The system is not working. That's why so many Americans are right now disgruntled. That's why Donald Trump is underwater, even on his strongest attribute attributes. That's why we Possibly. Your tax increase. Seriously.

Rural hospitals, we're gonna take people off of Medicaid. Million dollars into rural hospitals, literally put it into hospitals. And meanwhile we can't afford health care for average Americans working sixty five thousand a year. You can afford it a lot. All right. $1,000 more. America's race should be affordable for our kids.

But again, the facts that healthcare is expensive because Obamacare made it expensive. It created a market that is that is completely unviable. All things have no. Actually happens in the right. Well they have health care, but it is true that very often they can't use it because the the now part of that is'cause the Republicans tried every way they could to f rat fuck Obamacare after it was

They didn't even know the Democrats passed it and said, Well we'll read it afterwards. I mean they didn't know what was in it either. Okay. I mean they took out some of the ki I mean it was it was But you don't have a replacement for it. So uh until you have a replacement, we should keep what is working that keep America healthy and safe. Thank you.

And it's not just health insurance. People are worried about their property insurance, they're worried about being able to pay for flood insurance, all of the things. Why do you guys want to raise their taxes? Every Democrat voted against the we our our primary bill that we that we all got elected and we did this

You have wars after wars after wars and we cannot pay for it. We're about to raise the defense budget to one point five trillion dollars while we bring in new ornament and new ammunition and new munitions. We're changing. Yeah, let's do let's do that. Let's change the subject. Wait, wait, wait. I want to change the side.

I mean the Pentagon budget, they're asking for a six hundred billion dollar increase. That is that is big. In an age when we are finding out in the from the Iran from the uh war the uh uh Ukrainian war. It's drones, baby, and drones are cheap. So what are we spending Thank you. No we're not going to be able to do it. Nobody. Thought that they could fight Russia to a standstill. I didn't. I thought they were going to lose that war, and they did. It's that is the nature of warfare.

The Gatling gun comes along, machine guns come along, planes, tanks, and the the offense versus defense changes and war changes. We are at that moment now.

So wars are completely being changed by drones, and it seems like we are financing the last war as well as fighting the last one. I uh no, we're not. Um the to to make you feel better, we we absolutely are are investing a lot into drones. Drones of all types, from from space down to the bottom of the ocean. Um space is the new the new frontier. Um you know China has known this for a while that space is a warfare domain. We have refused to believe it for a long time.

And if there's finally investments in that space. So a lot of this money is Golden Dome, a lot of this they don't bit which you know when back in Reagan's days and Star Wars, like the technology was not there, but now it is. But you've got to invest in it and put it up. Um one of the reasons I've been in LA all week is visiting all these space companies that are out here. Because LA has one of the just has the ecosystem of labor that works in the space industry. It's it's flourishing.

And companies like SpaceX have obviously pioneered that So a lot of investment in that, a lot of investment in paying it forward to save the taxpayer money in the long run. So instead of the stupid way that we often have bought weapons or m new munitions, we pay more and more and more later because we tell we tell companies like, Hey, we might buy some later.

Right. And so what does that do? It raises the cost of production every time. So no, put a final like put an actual amount seven years out. So a lot of it is paying it forward and putting that investment in now. Um AI is a another big one that you have to invest in. uh shipbuilding industry as well. So d that's that's the reason for that massive increase and it's it's not obvious that it would need to continue to be that.

But Bill the the problem is it it's like a layer cake while you put on the bottom layer and then we got a top layer and another layer. Well this is The bottom layer is going to stay the same, which is about six, seven hundred billion dollars, and then we're adding another two hundred I used to work on Capitol Hill and the defense budget, you know, it's like going to a jewelry store and you're like, I like that one, I like that one, I like that one.

We need to have a new strategic framing for twenty first century wars, and you're absolutely right. We can learn a lot from Ukraine, but we shouldn't keep learning and learn and learn as if the taxpayers can afford this. All right, we have to close it there. Thank you for all your Spirited discussion, time for new one. Thank you.

Uh new rule, we should all support the police, but it does have its limits. Like for this officer who was convicted of stripping naked and masturbating in a park. And I would just like to say to him, you keep your hands where we can see them. Thank you. I would say you're a disgrace to the uniform, but I see you've sidestepped that issue already. Uh, neural baroness, the longest verifiably measured wild snake in the world.

Better not be lying when it claims to be twenty three feet eight inches long. Because if we go on a date and it turns out Baroness is really 23 feet four inches, I'm gonna be pissed. I said it in my profile. No games, no liars. New World, the next time a toddler gets stuck inside one of those arcade claw machines. The parents have to buy a couple rolls of quarters and try to win'em back. Thank you.

I don't pay thousands of tax dollars to have fire and rescue pull your kid out of a box. I pay thousands in tax dollars to have fire and rescue pull lost dumbasses off the sides of mountains. New rules since the Metball and the Kentucky Derby happened in the same week. Next year they have to swap outfits. Thank you. The stupid, ridiculous hats that people wear to the derby, I want to see those on Kim Kardashian, Bad Bunny, and Doja Cat.

And at the Derby, the rednecks who love the animal abuse that is horse racing must come dressed like this. Thank you. You're roll the winner of the European Seagull Screeching Championship. Must be referred to as the loser. Because anyone can screech like that. There's a homeless guy on Hollywood Boulevard who does it all the time. Thank you. You want to prove you can act like a seago? Steal a French fry out of my hand while I'm eating it. Thank you.

And finally, new rule Luigi Mangioni, Cole Thomas Allen, Tyler Robinson, and the ghost of Thomas Crooks must form a boy band called New Kids on the Global. Just to just to drive home the point, these are not your father's political assassins. Things have changed. For one thing, today's assassins have popular support with the kids. Up to 40% of America's young adults say violence is okay to achieve a political goal.

Wow. Seems like five minutes ago when one of the big causes of the left was gun control, but now guns are the answer? I guess cause Luigi is a fucking rock star. He's the OG hot assassin. The young assassins coming up even name-check him in their manifestos. When this guy was arrested for burning down a giant warehouse, he said it was like when Luigi popped that motherfucker. Before this college student threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's mansion, he talked about Luigiing some tech CEO.

And the asshole currently on trial for allegedly starting the big fire out here last year was Luigi's biggest fanboy. Good to see the kids have role models, huh? Another way this new breed of content creator assassins is different. They have jokes. Yeah. Cole Allen called himself a friendly federal assassin and told his friends he was going to DC for a personal emergency, wink wink. His man his manifesto opens with hello everybody.

It sounded like that form letter I get every Christmas telling me how everyone is doing in a family I don't care about. Tyler Robinson wrote little jokes on the bullets he fired at Charlie Kirk. Things like, if you're reading this, you're gay, L O L. I mean John Wilkes Booth was an asshole, but at least when he did the deed he said something serious, sick semper tyranus, not I fucked your mom. Cole Allen took selfies before enacting his diabolically clever plan of running fast.

You know, Cole, why do I think this is more about you than the cause? You're running through the metal detector, but maybe you're really chasing cloud. Alan wrote that he was consumed by rage thinking about everything this administration has done. Yeah, join the club. Donald Trump is infuriating. I know this personally. That's why whenever I'm around him, I'm so nervous I need a drink right away.

If you're doing that much rage thinking about Trump, you're not really mad at him. You're mad at your life. This is about being thirty one and still living with your mom in Torrance. Life was supposed to come out better. This guy went to Caltech for Christ's sake. He dreamed of being a video game designer, but really was a substitute teacher. Do you think if he'd ever sold actually a video game and got rich, he'd be doing this?

Look, I feel for that generation. You guys grew up with the iPhone, which fucks people up, and now AI. No wonder you're always wearing a hoodie in the fetal position. Plus, as long as you can remember, the president has either been dead or this guy. Sympathy for you, yes, but also it's always been thus

Sadly, your parents and teachers didn't prepare you for this, so you have no idea how hard or easy you have it. But because you're so entitled, you just assume you have it tougher than anybody ever did. You don't.

In fact, your generation lives an historically easy life. You can get sushi or a weighted blanket delivered in hours. You can do you can do your banking sitting on the toilet. They sell weed in a store now. In a financial pinch, you can sell pictures of your feet. Your biggest hardship is when the Wi-Fi drops and you have to briefly experience the twentieth century. And yet you've convinced yourselves that your current level of discomfort justifies revolutionary violence.

Paul Allen's life only sucked by his own unreasonable standards. He wasn't on welfare. He was on LinkedIn. Thank you. For his assassination attempt, he stayed at the Hilton. If your assassination comes with Hilton honors rewards points. Thank you. Gen Z lives are not that bad. Most of our lives here in America are not. How we live right now, in the year we're actually living in, in the country we're actually living in, doesn't warrant condoning political violence.

I can see it. If you live under a truly oppressive regime, communism, fascism, catholicism. But that's not where we are now. You're not storming the beaches at Normandy. You're not standing in breadline. You know, just like our No Kings we had here, the protest. They also had them in Iran. But over there the protesters got shot in the street. And yes, ICE did that too, twice. The Iranian thugs did it 30,000 times. Have some perspective. Get real.

Stop blaming America for all your fuck-ups. What this is really about for today's young assassins is when life lets you down and doesn't properly reward you for being the awesome person you're sure you are. There's one big save left. Convince yourself you were meant for a cause bigger than yourself. And for Cole Thomas Allen, it was I'm fighting Hitler. And I get why that's a tempting thing to cosplay. If Trump is Hitler, then you're Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, nobody trying to take him out.

I can mistake in your time. Uh it's a theme show, what can I say? But Trump isn't Hitler, and you're not Tom Cruise. And you don't really live on the desert moon of an evil umpire. You live in Torrents. Which I understand is not exactly LA or London, but please, you're not in Haiti or Afghanistan, you're at Coachella. Life doesn't really suck so bad. You would just rather be a martyr than nobody. The whole tone of Cole Allen's manifesto was, sorry guys, but America needs me. A hero has risen.

You're not a hero. You're just the guy who runs out into the field during a baseball game to get attention and in ten seconds gets tackled by security, except in your case No, that's exactly your case. All right, that's our show. I want to thank Representative Dan Crenshaw, Don of Brazil, and Senator John Fetterman. Plump random every Monday on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcast. Now go watch overtime on YouTube. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.