Vice President JD Vance | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #588

I've got some tour dates to tell you. about. I'll be in Cedar Rapids, St. Paul, Minnesota, Fargo, North Dakota, Rapid City, South Dakota, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rochester, New York, and. Detroit, Michigan. All in June and July. Tickets available now at. theon.com. Thank you so much for your. support. Today's guest is the vice. president of the United States of. America. He was previously a senator. from the state of Ohio before winning.

the presidency with Donald Trump in. 2024. Uh we are coming to you from. Nashville, Tennessee from the Detroit. Cowboy, a new restaurant here. Uh I'm. grateful for his return to our podcast. Today's guest is Vice President JD. Thanks a. [Applause].

[Music]. to be clear. No, I'm not. I don't care. at all. Look, we believe in the First. Amendment. If the Secret Service has to. hit me, hit me hard, brother. You know what I'm saying? And hit two. other people. I want a class action. suit. Oh, holy [ __ ] Look, there's a. there's a literal lion right there. Like. a lion skin. I had seen Have Have you. noticed that before? Nuh-uh. I think. it's Is that a line or it's a Sorry, I. know we're supposed to start this thing.

No, it's okay. No, you're good. I'm just. There's hand signals and stuff going on. on my group. I'm just trying to get. everybody to chill out so I can Okay. Yeah, I just didn't know. My bad. [ __ ] Now I ruined everything, dude. We had a really good vibe going. Theo. just totally. It's like my childhood, dude. I just. Something I said right out of the gate. ruined it. That's what my mom said to me when I was. She's like, "Something you said to me. right when I met you really ruined our. relationship." And I'm like, "What? When. I was what, 11 months old?" Your mom.

said that to you? Yeah. She's just kind. of a uh she's a mid, you know, she's. just a good grudge holder, you know, and. she's Midwestern, so she's got a good. grip on it. Yeah. My mom's a good grudge. holder, too. But uh yeah, I don't think. that she's ever held anything that I. said at 11 months against her, though. That's pretty I mean, that's that's. tough, man. That's hilar. Your mom is. the champion crunch. Oh, she wins, man. She definitely wins. Um, yeah. This is Kid Rock's place, dude. Yeah, it's cool. There's a line.

over there that I don't think people can. see. There's two foxes over there. You. know who would love this place is my. kids. Oh, dude. Kid Rock is one of the. freaking He is definitely a damn piss. lizard. He is a beautiful guy. He's a. good dude. He's definitely the kind of. guy I feel like he would sing at like a. um I'm trying to think where would you. have kid rock sing at. I know like a. concert, but I'm trying to think of a. different type of event or something. I. mean, he could sing in the orchestra or. not orchestra. No, opera. Okay, dude. My.

wife now because I'm the vice president, she's on the board of the Kennedy. Center. We could bring Kid Rock to sing. in the opera. Really? Yeah. Oh, wow. That's going to be interesting. Oh, you. got to fumigate. You got to fumigate. that place after. That's all I'm saying, dude. Just because, dude. So, so my my. cousin uh her one request from the. campaign is that she wanted to party. with Kid Rock. And I feel kind of bad I. didn't bring her. I brought her. You. remember the first time we did your. podcast. My cousin was with me. Oh, yeah. I met her. She's blonde, right? Yeah. Yeah. She's good people. And she.

said, "I really want to party with Kid. Rock." She said she wanted to party with. Kid Rock and Hunter Biden. And. unfortunately, I haven't made either one. of those happen yet, but we'll see. There's a lot of time left. Wow. I I. don't know if there's that much time. left for either one of those guys, though. That's really what I would What. were we talking about before we started, dude? Oh, yeah. You saw that hand thing. Remember by Huberman? I did see this. Yeah. Who Who was that? What's his name? Huberman. Andrew Huberman. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. He's um And the problem was. though, another doctor told me we might. have had our hand backwards. So, there's.

like a millions of people in America. Oh. Doing like a potentially like. homoerotic test on themselves based on. Okay. So it's it's your index finger is. supposed to be longer than your ring. finger, right? I think I'm not sure. That's how mine is. Okay. Is my I mean. like my pointer finger is longer than my. Look, I'm just saying there's a lot of. guys afraid to get out of their truck at. work today probably. You know, that's. all I'm just saying. Look, I mean there. there are cuz I mean millions of people. watch your podcast. There are probably.

hundreds of thousands of dudes, maybe. more, who stared at their hand and were. like, "Oh no." Oh, I saw one guy pulled. his finger out of socket just to lie to. his wife again. Oh my god. I mean, these. are the steps people are going to, especially with this healthcare. Yeah, that's I mean, you got to do what you. can. I'm like, dude, you're going to. have to put that back in yourself, you. know? Yeah. Yeah. I don't think it works like that, though, right? The the causality. I. think if you like jerk your finger out. of the socket, it doesn't really change. anything other than you have a broken. finger. I don't Look, man. Not that I'm.

judging, of course, all every you know, live and let live. Look, dude, if you're. a gay guy, I think if you can put you've. you've put more than your finger back. inside, you know what I'm saying? You. can handle that. That's all I'm saying. So, that right there, I think, is a good. test. I think my great. great-grandfather, not sure if he was. gay, but people thought he was gay or. whatever, just from the pictures of him. Your great greatgrandfather. Yeah, man. I don't think I know anything about my. great great grandfather. Probably fought. in the Civil War. He did probably for.

both sides, I bet. Huh. You know what. I'm talking about. Okay. So, there's a. database. There's actually there's a. website. I think it's like an an. American history or Smithsonian. Somebody keeps up a database where you. can go in and type your name and you can. see how many people with your last name. fought in the Civil War. Hell yeah. And. I did that on both sides of my family, mom and dad's side. It was kind of crazy. how many an or how many people with the. same name at least fought in the Civil. War. Oh, I'm sure. But on but on I mean. like on both sides some Confederates,

there was some Union. Yeah. Who would. you have fought for, you think? Sorry, I'm joking, JD. We're not going to start. there. I'm a big fan of Abraham Lincoln. I would have I would have fought I would. have fought for the Union. Um it's it's. interesting, man. So. the you you you go back in time to like. even so when I grew up right the story. that we told so I grew up in southern. Ohio and the story that sort of we took. learned in Ohio history and American. history was basically the union was the. union side was right but you know we're.

all part of the same team after the. civil war we all came together shook. hands and you know kumbaya and you could. even like respect the other side even if. you didn't necessarily agree with what. they were fighting for and I feel like. something that happened like 10 years. ago where every it's like you have to. think that every single person who. fought for the Confederate side was an. evil person and I just think that's so. stupid. Yeah. Well, I think uh you know. I know there was a time when they tore. down all the statues and stuff and erase. like a lot of the history. I think a lot. of people would yeah debate about the. value of erasing history. You know, it's.

like cuz it feels like it's there for a. purpose and it feels like it deserves to. be there even though like later on in. life you might be or later on in time. people might be like ashamed of it or. think of it differently. Right. Right. It feels like it at least earned its. place in existence. Um so did you ever. see this there's this documentary on the. Civil War by Ken Burns? It was on PBS. It's got like the really sad violin. music and uh I actually met the couple. that composed that song from the Ken. Burns documentary. It's a It's a.

beautiful song, honestly. Yeah, but it. seems sad as hell to sitting around with. your wife all day listening to that. [ __ ] Good god. Let's just let's sit. here and listen to all five minutes of. it in total silence. Me and you and all. these producers. Look, I I I so my wife. who you know her family came from South. India and then immigrated and then she. was born in San Diego. Like I w I. watched that documentary with my wife. actually I think when we were still. dating. We weren't even married yet. And. it's like such a good summary of.

everything that happened in the Civil. War. Yeah. And you get this sense it's. sad and it's heartbreaking. You know, they read letters from some guy home to. his family and it's just a it's it it. captures the tragedy of the Civil War. And my wife made this point actually a. few years ago. She was like, "If you. show that documentary, maybe not now, but like at the height of the woke. thing, so call it 2021. you show that. documentary in 2021, there are a lot of. things they would try to cancel Ken. Burns over because, you know, like a. Confederate soldier wrote a wrote a.

letter home and it's sad and it's tragic. and you try to empathize with that. person and that was that's like that. wasn't okay in 2021. And I I think. that's actually one of the best things. that's happened in the country the last. few years is people are just done. filtering themselves and they're done. like being cancelled or being afraid to. say what's on their mind. That's a good. thing. Yeah, that's a great point, man. Dude, I'll tell you this. I heard that. Frederick Douglas um. I heard Frederick Douglas was gay.

And I'll tell you who who told you that? I've heard it from almost probably. almost 15. Not 15 people. I've heard it. from four people. Where do you go to. find uh the people who tell you that. Frederick Douglas is gay? At least, you. know, look, I'll tell you this. You must. hang out in more interesting places than. I. It wasn't white people that told me. really. So, out of the gate, I given a. little bit more credibility. And that's. why he wanted to free all those men. because he was having trouble meeting. anybody. Is that right? Because. everybody was at work. That's, you know, I'm going to talk I'm going to talk to. JD Vance. Congratulations, dude.

Congratulations. We're going to talk to. the Smithsonian about putting up an. exhibit on that. And Theo Vaughn, you. can be the narrator for this. new this new understanding of the. history of Frederick Douglas. Dude, no. Uh, congratulations. You, dude, you have. such a dry sense of humor that sometimes. you say something to me and I'm like, was he was he screwing with me or was he. actually being serious about it? But. when you think about it though, he. seemed awfully particular about getting. them fellas off off work early. I Yeah, I think so. Probably probably not for.

the reasons you're suggesting, but I. just I don't know. And if he was, then. more power to him, dude. I think we need. uh I don't know. I'm not getting this is. it's just getting worse for me. You're. still good. Um, congratulations, man, on. being vice president. Thanks, man. It's. awesome. That's so crazy, man. It's just. like um It's I just can't even like I. can believe it, but it's just like I. can't. You can't? No, man. It's crazy. What about that first The first night. you won. What did y'all do? Y'all get. hot. Y'all didn't get high. I know.

If I did, I wouldn't say it for public. consumption. No, I did not get high. I. did not get I mean, I did have a fair. amount to drink that night. Hell yeah, dude. Dude, first time I stayed at a. Hampton in that had two beds of double. beds in one room. We [ __ ] had You got. to find an excuse to celebrate whenever. whenever one arises. But I uh Yeah, take. us down. Okay. All right. Here's here's. here's what happened. So, we're in Mara. Lago. Okay. So, first of all, we got a. puppy about 18 months ago. Okay. And I. wouldn't even think about it, but the. puppy's birthday is November the 5th,

which happens to be the day of the. election. So, our puppy's first birthday. is November the 5th. So, we're at Mara. Lago with Donald Trump and Donald Trump. has his chef send our dog a birthday. cake and I'm, you know, it's I'm so. nervous. You know, I'm thinking about. the election results and I'm trying to. get, you know, I'm calling my guys up. and saying, "Oh, do we have any any. early returns? Like, what's going on?". And this like rice dog birthday cake. shows up at Mara Lago and I'm like, "What the hell is going on?" You know, the the president, it's interesting, he. he compartmentalizes things very well.

So, he just doesn't get like really. stressed out. He's very stoic about. everything, right? whereas I was a. little bit more nervous. So anyway, so. polls closed. I'm sitting there with. like my wife and all my best friends. from back home come down to Mara Lago to. watch except for my one buddy Nate who I. still give him crap cuz Nate Nate. couldn't make the trip. Why? Yeah, he. couldn't make the trip, man. He had, you. know, he had to take care of his kid or. something like that. He's a good dude. He's a good dude. Love put his kid in a. van. Dude, you have to go to that and do. what with her? Huh? Pay the valet to.

help out? I don't know. Anyway, sorry, Nate. Never mind. I don't know. No, trust me. Nate, Nate's a good dude. Nate's a good dude. He's a fan of yours, actually. Oh, give it up for me. So, we're watching we're watching the. election returns and I'm getting updates. because there it's crazy, dude. There's. a whole data apparatus that is feeding. information into the central campaign. So, like whatever the media is reporting. on, we're like 15 minutes ahead of time. and we're asking questions like, "Oh, there's this I'll never forget this. There's this one little county in.

Indiana that produced election results. early and we were like, "Oh my god, we. did so much better in that county than. than we did in 2020 or even 2016." And. so that's a pretty good sign. And what. happened is as these counties trickle. in, you realize we're doing way better. than we did even in 2016. Like, oh my. god, Donald Trump's going to be the. president and I'm going to be the vice. president of the United States. And that. was nuts. And I was there was actually. with uh with my wife. So we go. So once. what did you do? You put your hands in.

your pockets or what do you even do? I. don't know what I did with my hands, man. I was It was like It was like, you. know, uh Tallaladega Nights, right? I'm. just not sure what to do with my hands. all night. So we go over to the hotel. where they're doing like the victory. celebration and I'm there with like Don. Jr. and Tucker Carlson and a few other. people who sort of in the world of. politics and they called Pennsylvania. and I didn't realize that like the the. TV called Pennsylvania and I didn't. realize that. But I was just talking to. my wife and the crowd goes wild. So you.

hear people cheering and I'm like, "What. the hell happened?" And I look over the. TV. I'm like, "Oh my god, it's. official." And that was one that was one. of the craziest moments. Odd. Yeah. Yeah. The feeling at that moment, one, it was incredible. But then you you have. this overwhelming sense of like, "Oh my. god, we're the dog that caught the car, right? And now you have to do a good. job." And it's not, you know, it's not. like some some random job. It's like a. really important job. And so I just have. this kind of sense of, oh my god, this. is real now. Well, you're moving into.

another class of societ. I mean, [ __ ]. you're having your dogs used to get. cakes for his birthday now. You know. what I'm saying? Like things are. changing, man. Um, do you. stay where do you stay at? Because if. Trump stays, if the president stays in. the White House, where do you stay at? Yeah. So, you should come visit. You. have an open invitation. Uh, the. president actually gives me crap about. this because he says sometimes I think. you have a nicer house than I do. We. stay at a place we call the VPR. the. vice president's residence, but it's in. the Naval Observatory. So, we've got. like probably 40 or so acres of.

completely private space in an. observatory. Yeah. And and Peeping Tom, huh? That's right, bro. No. No. Bring. in, dude. Peeping Tom on stars. And uh, dude, I got a small ladder. I'll set. that whole neighborhood ablaze. Picture. of our house. Dude, nobody will buy a. new bra in that neighborhood without me. knowing it, dude. I swear to God, brother, the telescopes are pointed. towards the stars, Theo. way. But anyway, so we we live there, so we. got three little kids and like I said, a. dog and uh it's very cool. So, we did.

actually So, a couple weeks ago, the. president invited me and my wife. We had. a I think I think it was my stepmom was. in town and the president invited me and. my wife to stay in the Lincoln bedroom. and I was like, "Oh, that's like really. cool. Of course, I want to go stay at. the Lincoln bedroom." So, apparently. though, a vice president had never. stayed at the White House with the. president before. And so the Secret. Service wasn't totally sure what to do. because they didn't have like the. processes. But yeah, we went to the. White House. We stayed at the Lincoln. bedroom. Did you stay up late? Uh we did.

actually, but because it was kind of. scary, right? I mean, you're like laying. in the room. There's a desk where, you. know, the president's like that's the. desk where Lincoln wrote the. Emancipation Proclamation. Like I. thought it would be cooler and and more. fun, but you're kind of just laying. there and it's like, you know, there are. ghosts. Feels like there's ghosts. everywhere. Yeah, it's just a kind of a. creepy feeling to be in the literal. bedroom of Abraham Lincoln. I mean, think about it. That dude went to the. Fords Theater to go see a play, left. that room, but never came back. Right. That's pretty That's That's creepy.

stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Dang, dude. Speaking. of Fre Frederick Douglas. Yeah. And. Yeah. We've come full circle. Look, I'll. just say this. There's photos when he. was signing that, you saw Frederick in. the distance just biggest smile. Biggest. smile in the joint. Um, so damn, you. slept. So you might be the first vice. president that ever slept in the White. House. That's what they told us. I. don't, you know, that's maybe it hadn't. happened like 30 years ago. But did. y'all stay up late with the Trumps and. watch a movie or anything? Like what did. you guys play a game or anything? So the.

White House is a movie theater. The. president was busy, but my wife and I. wouldn't watch Gladiator 2 in the White. House movie theater. That's right. Hell yeah, dude. Yeah. Um, it wasn't as good as Gladiator 1. I. thought that's just one man's opinion. Yeah, but it's way better when you're. the vice president watching. Yeah, that's right. in the in the white in the. White House movie theater. Oh, dude, it's shitty. But if you're the vice. president watching it, when you get to. the end of the movie, you're still the. vice president. You're still you're. still the vice president. That's pretty. dope, dude. That's right. So, yeah, we. stayed up late, watched the movie. The. food's really good. So, there's like a.

fancy chef at the White I mean, it's the. White House. Well, I don't know how ladies stays, but. he like if you order anything at any. time of night, they will just bring it. to you. Oh my god. So, God, we're going. to get there. Thankfully, at least we're at Kid Rocks. Bar, so you know, like I'm headed in a. good direction. Uh, we are at Kid Rock's. restaurant. I do want to say that it's a. new restaurant. Um, well, it's a it's a. reaffignment of Joe Mure Seafood, which. is a famous restaurant in Nashville.

And, uh, he graced us by letting us have. this room here to do this. Okay. So, I. want to thank Thank you. Thank you, Bob. Richie, also known as Kid Rock, for. letting us have this beautiful space. He. told me it had only been open for two. days. Really? I didn't realize that. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I was here at a freaking. welcoming party or something. I think I. was here last night. Nice. What the. Dude, I was freaking in here last night. Dude, the the welcoming party, which was. last night cuz it's only been open for. two days. It's good. Um, so how was the. food? The food I will say this actually. There's steaks that they have these. little bitty mushrooms and I feel like.

they were I don't want to say this out. loud, but they were too young to be. picked or whatever, but um it was really. good. Really, really good. Um, I had. high expectations. Okay, we have you. here. Elon just hit the airwaves today. Bring it up, dude. Oh, man. The [ __ ]. [ __ ] missile is in the cannon. Okay. Wow. Elon Musk, time to drop the. really big bomb, right? And I thought. this was going to be on IR. I haven't. even seen Right. I haven't even seen.

this one. But he goes at real real. Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. This is the real reason they have not. been made public. Have a nice day. Nice. signature from a South African DJT. Man. Well, so just so your audience is aware, when was this when is this going to air? Like tomorrow or two days ago? 45. It's. airing now, dude. No, I'm joking. I'm. joking. Well, I'm just saying like. presumably when this comes out, people. are going to know more about this than. even I do because I just learned about. this kind of happened on the plane when. I was coming on down here. Okay, this. just this is this this is new. Here.

here's here's my basic reaction to like. all this stuff is is look first of all. do like absolutely not Donald Trump. didn't do anything wrong with Jeffrey. Epstein like there's the guy is whatever. the Democrats and the media says about. him that's totally BS here here's my. basic my basic read on it first of all. I'm the vice president to President. Trump my loyalties are always going to. be with the president and I think that. Elon he's an incredible entrepreneur. he's actually done I think Doge was.

really good. The sort of effort to root. out waste, fraud, and abuse in our. country was really good. And and and. look, man, I'm always going to be loyal. to the president and I hope that. eventually Elon kind of comes back into. the fold. Maybe that's not possible now. because he's gone so nuclear. I hope it. is, man. To hurt. Why though? Do you. know why? Yeah. I mean, so look, I think. number one, so um Elon's new to. politics, right? So, his businesses are.

being attacked non-stop. They're. literally like firebombing some of his. cars. And by the way, we're looking into. a lot of the stuff. I mean, some of that. stuff we're looking into is an act of. terrorism at the Department of Justice. because I think it is an act of. terrorism. So, I think part of it is. this guy got into politics and it's has. suffered a lot for it. But I I I mean, and I and I get the frustration there. And I get the frustration that I mean, look, Congress, you got this spending. bill, but the main purpose of the bill. is not actually spending or cutting. spending, though it does cut a lot of. spending. The main purpose of the bill. is to prevent the biggest tax increase.

But I understand like it's a good bill. It's not a perfect bill. Like the. process in DC, if you're a business. leader, you probably get frustrated with. that process because it's more, you. know, bureaucratic. It's more. slowmoving. So, I think there's just. some frustrations there. Um, but I I I. really, man, I think it's a huge mistake. for him to go after the president like. that. And I I I think that if he and the. president are in some blood feud, most. importantly, it's going to be bad for. the country, but I think it's going to. be I don't think it's going to be good. for Elon either. But Elon, like did.

Doge, first of all, my first thought was. that it's a ruse, right? Because there's. a lot of times there's where the media. will put out a ruse or they'll use. somebody like I think the Diddy thing is. a ruse. Like it's like, hey, like. diverse community, stay busy with this. [ __ ] while we like move all these chess. pieces, right? Sometimes that's what I. feel like it is. And maybe I'm like a. pervert or whatever. Sorry. Or weird. guy. Sorry. But it has nothing to do. with that. Huh. But I'm not a pervert. Maybe you're a weird guy. You're not a. pervert. I think you're a good dude. I. appreciate that, dude. Um, but anyway, what I was saying was uh though that.

Diddy thing, man. Is it true they found. like Sorry, not to play into this, but I. read somewhere that they found like. bottles and bottles and bottle. Maybe. you told me this. I don't know. Somebody. told me bottles and bottles of like baby. oil, but that had like drugs drugs in. it. Bring that up. Was they dope enough? Is that real or is that just something I. heard on the internet? Cuz sometimes you. hear stuff on the internet, it's not. true. Well, here's what defense Most of. it is. Most of the stuff you hear on the. internet. What defense would you have? Like babies that are addicted to dirty.

oil. Yeah. I mean, you don't normally. have GHB in baby oil. GH. Like, I'm not. a doctor, but I don't think that's a. normal ingredient in GHB. Anyway, sorry. Look, I don't know, dude. There's some. babies these days that [ __ ] want to. get to the club, homie. No. Um, but no. But so do you. think it was So obviously it was the. bill. This is where it's happened. The. something about the bill made him upset. Yeah. So yeah, that's right. That's. right. I mean, again, I I I think he. looked at the bill. He didn't like it.

And I think it's a good bill, but again, there are things you can criticize about. it. Like the president would be very. open and say this is not a perfect bill. Yeah, but Donald Trump doesn't get to. write the bills, right? Congress has to. write the bills and you got to work with. them to try to get something that is as. good as possible. So, here's what I'll. say about the bill. Number one, prevents. the biggest tax increase in American. history. It prevents it. Prevents it cuz. taxes are going to go up on everybody in. a really big way at the end of 2025. because the old tax law expires at the. end of 2025. So, you're going to hit a.

big tax increase. We're trying to. prevent that from happening. We're also. trying to do stuff. Okay. So, you got a. lot of people working long overtime. hours in this economy. Mhm. Um, you. know, we inherited bad inflation from. Joe Biden, so no tax on overtime, no tax. on tips, right? We're in we're in Bob. Richie. We're in Kid Rock's great. restaurant. His servers would not have. to pay taxes on the hard earned tips. that they get when they're when they're. busting their ass doing a good job. So, when working for Kid Rock, man, that's. hard. That's hard work, right? So, I. think that it's it's a good bill and it. does a lot of good for the American.

people. But like, look, Elon's entitled. to his opinion. I'm not saying he has to. agree with the bill or agree with. everything that I'm saying. I just think. it's a huge mistake for the world's. wealthiest man, I think one of the most. transformational entrepreneurs ever, that's Elon, to be at at at this war. with the world's most powerful man who I. think is doing more to save the country. than anybody I mean, I'm 40 years old, anybody in my lifetime. You think about. it, it's a guy who not even a year ago. nearly took a bullet in the process of.

campaigning, went back on the horse the. next day. And if you look, obviously I'm. biased, but you look at what we've done. on the border, you look at what we've. done with trade, fighting back against a. generation of theft of the American. dream, uh, which is what the the. president's trade policies are starting. to do. I just think you got to have some. respect for him and say, look, yeah, we. don't have to agree on every issue. I'm. talking about if you're Elon Musk, you. don't have to agree with us on every. issue, but is this war actually in the. interest of the country? I don't think. so. So hopefully Elon figured that.

figures it out, comes back into the. fold. I know the president, you know, for for a couple days, I'll tell you. just, you know, I don't want to reveal. too many confidences, but, you know, was. getting a little frustrated, feeling. like some of the criticisms were unfair. coming from Elon, but I think has been. very restrained because the president. doesn't think that he needs to be in a. blood feud with Elon Musk. And I. actually think if Elon chilled out a. little bit, everything would be fine. It. would help. Well, Elon also tweeted that. uh he thought that in the second half of. this year that there would be a.

uh the Trump tariffs will cause a. recession in the second half of this. year. Uh now, who knows what what could. cause a recession in the second half. this year. It could be a buildup of our. entire just history of being alive. Um. but he's saying this so I it seems like. and this is just me guessing and I don't. know Mr. Musk. I never met Mr. Musk. Uh. one time he fed my buddy spaghetti at a. party though, dude. that my buddy uh. they were people were raging and [ __ ]. and your buddy couldn't feed himself a.

spaghetti. Well, my buddy said he. offered my buddy some spaghetti and my. buddy said, "Yeah, I'd like to have. some." And then instead, but only if you. feed it to me. But instead, but instead. of getting him a plate of spaghetti, he. made him some and put it in his mouth. Dude, does your buddy know uh Frederick. Douglas? My buddy I'll say this. My. buddy actually is a friend of FDR. Oh, no. No, no, that's a different Sorry. Of. uh uh shitick. Oh no. God, dude. I'll. [ __ ] ruin this [ __ ] dude. [ __ ]. dude. Civics, man. Chill out. Um, no.

Uh, but he said that he thinks, but do. you think that he just thinks that. there's too many that it's not a fair. bill for the people? Do you think Elon. Musk is for the people? I mean, I think. that he's making a mistake in going. after the president. I think his heart. is in the good pl in the right place, man. I do. Like, I I I think he got into. this for the right reasons. I think he's. frustrated. I think he's an emotional. guy. Honestly, I'm a very emotional guy. Yeah, like it's it's the president is is. is it's interesting cuz if you read the. media reports, you wouldn't necessarily.

see this. He's not like quick to temper. Like he's not one of these guys who. flies off the handle. That's a little. bit more what I'm like, honestly. And I. think that's he's smooth, man. He's. stoic. That [ __ ] is [ __ ] 007, dude. That [ __ ] is I don't I. don't know if that's good, but but still. Yeah, I get what you're saying. But it's. it's it is where it is. But I but I I I. think I So yeah, I think Elon means the. best, but I think he's making a mistake. Yeah, got it. That's my um did any was. Doge helpful? It was. Yeah, it was. And.

I mean, look, Doge continues within the. White House and within the executive of. of the country. I mean, look, you we. there's a lot of ways in which we are. wasting the American people's money. Yeah. Sometimes spending it on crazy. stuff. Sometimes spending it on like. actually counterproductive stuff. I. think Doge has saved already at least. 170 maybe$200 billion dollars. Hopefully. it's going to save more. But yeah, I. think it was very very much money. How. could How do they not How would you not.

even notice that if that much uh there's. so much I could tell you about this. Okay, so one of the crazy things we all. figured out like first week or so we're. in the White House, okay, is there was a. payment that should be stopped cuz the. president signed an executive orders to. stop a payment and this is like day one. of the White House. We're like, "Okay, how do we stop this payment?" Because. somebody's trying to make this payment. and nobody knew where like the computer. was that actually wired the money from. the US taxpayer to this entity. Dude,

the the the amount of waste and the. amount of just grift in the federal. government was off the charts. It's. still it's it's getting better, but. there's still a lot more I think we can. find. Who was getting it? I don't know. Not I don't know one person that was. getting something extra, I don't think. Unless everybody was slurping. Yeah. I. mean, a lot of people were slurping, man. You you look at uh you look at what. So, for example, there are all these. humanitarian programs that we have where. we send money for people for medicine, for food. Oh, yeah. Okay. But like you.

think I think like what I thought before. I got in the government what most. Americans think is okay so we send. $100,000 to this group to buy food for. like poor kids in Africa. Okay. And what. actually happens is it's not $100,000. that go to the food for the poor kids in. Africa that the NGO the non-government. organization that gets that money. contracts it out to somebody else and. they subcontract it out to somebody. like three or four middle and what you.

know Marco Rubio who's a secretary of. state he's a very good friend what he. told me is that his best estimate after. he had his team look at it is that 88. cents of every dollar was actually being. collected by middlemen way so every. dollar we were spending humanitarian. assistance 12 cents was actually making. it to people who needed it crazy so. there's a lot of waste man a lot of. crazy stuff so Elon was putting in a lot. was Elon doing it for free all that time. he was doing it for free for free he was. doing it for I mean, he doesn't need. money, right? That's the one thing Elman. does not does not need. So, was he I.

wonder if he was expecting anything from. Trump and they just couldn't figure it. out. I don't know. I'm just curious. about it, you know? I'm kind of like you. start to see how all this stuff kind of. works, you know, and just like it's like. Yeah, I like I I hear I I I really do. think he's disappointed about the bill. He's, you know, he disagrees with some. of the things that were in there. He's. an emotional guy. Look, it happens to. everybody. I've I've flown off the. handle way worse than Elon Musk did in. the last 24 hours. Oh, yeah. But, you. know, my hope is comes back says, "Look, made some mistakes. Didn't mean to say.

everything. Let's smooth it out and. let's all be friends." Because again, like I care about the country and I. think the country's better off if the. under the president's leadership, Elon's. helping us out as opposed to fighting. the administration. I don't want him to. fight the administration. I know the. president doesn't want that, but here we. are. Yeah. He just tweeted a little bit. ago that he felt like 80% of the. um what was that about a third party or. something? He's tweeted like 300 times. Oh, sorry. Never mind. Okay. So, it's.

just just a regular tweets today. Just a. regular day for Elon. So, yeah, he's. obviously I mean he's definitely uh he. gets a bit rogue. Um. uh why don't we have This is. interesting. Go ahead. Pull it up. Let's. see. Let's see. This is from an account. you muted. I'm curious who who did you. mute? Who is that guy? Is that yours? It's one. of your producers. Uh Ian. Mis Oh, it said Trump should be. impeached and JD V should replace him.

Dude, that's one vote. Oh my god. See, this is what I'm talking about. This. stuff is just What are you talking about. campaigning? This This stuff This stuff. is just not helpful. Again. Yeah. Okay, there's definitely and here here's like. look look my first loyalty to my family. obviously to the Constitution. But. politics is a place where people stab. each other in the back. Yeah. And you. can't get anything done unless you're. all on the same team and you're actually. committed to getting stuff done. together. I just think like the idea.

that the president's the president. should be impeached. I'm sorry. It's. insane. It's totally insane. the. president is doing a good job and you. can look, you're free to disagree with. him, right? Everybody has a first. amendment right. Are you free to. disagree with Trump ever? Do you feel. like you can? Of course. Of course. I. mean, the the the way that I put it is. if I have a disagreement with the. president, then it is my job obviously. to provide the president honest counsel. Like he doesn't need me to be a doormat.

He needs me to actually say what I think. about an issue. But when the president. makes a decision, man, he's the general. And when the general makes a decision, everybody's go got to go and execute. that order. And that's kind of how I. think about my job really is to be a. good ally and a good friend, provide. honest counsel to the president, but. also when a decision's made, you go out. and get it done. Does he listen to many. people or does he listen to just one or. two? He listens to a ton of people. It's. one of the more interesting things about. his his leadership style is if he's got. a big decision to make, he talks to. everybody. And I think it's why he's.

like in touch with normal people is. because he doesn't just talk to like. congressmen or people with a lot of. money. He tries to talk to everybody. Like I've seen him ask the gardener at. Mara Lago what he thinks about a. particular issue. I've seen him ask you. the people who work in the kitchen at. the White House what they think about an. issue. He's constantly trying to. understand what other people are. thinking. Oh, I saw him ask a Scottish. terrier what kind of cakes they like, you know. So yeah, I agree with you. He's definitely always absorbing kind of. information. He is. Yeah.

Um, nobody needs help spending money. Sometimes it feels like the whole world. is trying to spend your money. Your. whole social media feed is full of ads. Your mailbox is full of credit card. offers. And then there's all the hidden. fees and extra costs and rising prices. and blah blah blah. That's why there's. Acorns. Acorns is a financial wellness. app that makes it easy to start saving. and investing for your future. You don't. need to feel like financial wellness is.

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investment today. Paid non-clin. endorsement compensation provides. incentive to positively promoting. Acorns. Tier four compensation provided. Investing involves risk. Acorn advisors. LLC and SEC registered investment. advisor. View important disclosures at. acorns.com/to. man, you know, it's. pretty obvious that the mainstream media. uh is a big machine, right? They kind of. contour, they team up, they have a. strategy, so we're never really seeing. the whole picture when it comes to news. That's why I love ground news. It lets. you see how different news outlets cover. the same story, left, right, and center.

Yeah, I was on ground news this morning. and it shows on the if you look at the. left regarding the Musk Trump feud. It. says Musk hits back with Epstein. theories, Trump hits back with threats. Elon has gone crazy. And then we go to a. more centrist news feed and it says. Trump Musk feud explodes with threats of. cutting contracts backing impeachment. And here we are with a rightle leaning. uh from the Daily Wire. White House. responds to Elon Musk Epstein claims. An.

unfortunate episode from Elon. And I. think you should go check this out. yourself because um I don't think we've. ever seen anything like it. I think it's. actually the only of its kind. And I. think it's what we've all been wanting. Just go to. groundnews.com/theo. That's g r o u n d. ne. nws.com/to to get 40% off the Vantage. plan and get access to the mobile app, website, and exclusive newsletters. Wow.

One more time, groundnews.com. We we you talked about. the bill, the big beautiful bill, you. know, which is like kind of the most per. it's the most Trumpian name you could. ever have. It is uh the big beautiful. bill. Um and uh why do why why are these. bills this whole mess of [ __ ] Why is it. a gumball? Why isn't it just one fine. soup each time and you vote on each. certain thing? I know that's definitely. going to be a novice question. But no,

man, it's a fair question. Um I think. there are a. couple Excuse me. It depends on the kind. of the Celsius is uh it's got a lot of. caffeine in it, man. Are you talking. amped over here? What are you talking. about? Yeah, that's what FDR was on. That's why he left his wife. That thing will get that thing will. definitely. That thing will remodel. FDR loves. Celsius. As everybody knows, his. favorite beverage was was uh what is. this here? Sparkling orange Celsius.

And that is the most FDR flavor, too, to. be honest. Oh, man. Okay. Sorry. What. did you ask me? Okay. The big the big. bill. I thought we were supposed to be. reading the Bible. What is this even. about? All right. The bills. Okay. But the bill. why the big cuz it's always you always. hear every every congressman or senator. Not everyone, but some like I just got. it. I don't know what h I couldn't read. a thousand pages last night, you know? So there are different kinds of bills. Okay. And I think so there are things.

called omnibuses. And omnibuses are like. a million different things shoved into. one bill. And oftent times you don't. have time to read them. The House the. House of Representatives actually. adopted a rule to where they have to get. I think at least four days to actually. read it to to change this because people. weren't getting time to to read the. stuff before it got voted on. This. particular bill, the way to think about. it is basically if you look look at a. campaign speech I gave back in September. of 2024 and I said we're going to cut. taxes on tips. We're going to have no.

taxes on overtime. We're going to cut. taxes on social security. You know, we're going to secure the border. We're. going to build more border wall. We're. going to hire more border patrol agents. Like all that stuff, all of those. promises are in this bill. So like the. way this particular piece of legislation. was conceptualized is rather than than. take up floor time on a bunch of random. different stuff, why don't we just do. everything or at least most of the. things that we campaigned on that can be. done through legislation and put it into. this bill? Now, that's not saying that. there aren't sometimes massive bills.

that are ridiculous and don't make a ton. of sense. Uh there are. But I I think. this bill like you know there's a. there's a political answer to your. question too. Okay. So let's just say. I'm not going to name names. I don't. want to embarrass anybody. But let's say. you've got some Republican congressmen. who really love no taxes on tips, but. they're a little squishy on the border. stuff. They don't agree with what we're. doing on the border. Okay? Or let's say. you got somebody who really loves what. we're doing on the border, but they. don't necessarily like, you know, they. don't want to cut taxes for one reason.

or another. Right? I if if if you take. enough of this stuff of our promises. again and put it together, you say, "Look, even if you disagree with parts. of it, this is what we campaigned on. writ large and so we got to vote on this. thing and make it happen." Sorry, there's a final answer to this question. which is is is stupid and parliamentary. but it matters is actually the most. important answer is okay any bill that. you do takes you got to put it on the. floor and you got to give people enough. time to read it and you got to amend it. and then you got to do committee process. and there's like a constant stream of.

things there's a big process for it and. so if you went through that process for. each individual item as a on a separate. bill it would take over a year to do all. these bills but we got to like we got. got to prevent taxes from going up and. we don't have that much time to do it. We got to secure the border. We don't. have that much time to do it. We've got. to do the the no tax on social security. Like if if if we did that 18 months from. now in a smaller bill, then we would not. be keeping our promises to the American.

people. I see. Is there a way um that. they can just prioritize those? I wonder. I it just feels like it would make it. would be so much easier to digest as a. regular person if you weren't thinking. like well heck my guy's got to stay up. all night for 600 nights to get all this. information in, you know, and to get it. in accurately and then to make fair. choices on it. Yeah. I mean, I think the. answer to your question is is you could. do that, but Congress would have to. change its procedures. And could could. Congress do that if they voted to do it? They could. They could. They could, but. they would need to change their. procedures. And you know, the.

president's attitude is like, we're not. going to we're going to tell you how to. run Congress. We're working within the. constraints that we have and we're just. trying to get as much done. And look, I. mean, people are frustrated with. Congress. I get it. People are. frustrated with certain things that. Congress does. I agree with a lot of. those criticisms. Um I mean, we do spend. way too much money in this country. Like. it it is a reality that we spend too. much money, but I I don't think those. criticisms apply to this particular. legislation. Like one thing I' I'd ask.

everybody to say is okay so so big ugly. spending bill some people are calling it. what is the spending that is done here. the biggest single budgetary item Theo. in this bill is the money to secure the. border like that's not ugly spending. that's like the best kind of spending a. great kind of spending I think well um. no I agree with that look we've had uh. two border officials on over the past. four years and we've learned about um. about all the just the infrastructure. issues that they face Uh we've learned. about the fact that the executive branch.

doesn't process any of the um like. they'll apprehend the guys but then. they're not processed. I think it's the. executive branch. Yes. Cuz we don't have. the money to do it like that. That's. okay. Here's they were saying for years. guys would come in and they'd have to. catch them every other week because they. would and nobody would prosecute them. So it was just then it made them feel. like they didn't have any value. I know. that we're signing like 5,000 new people. to work at the border. So I know that. we're giving a lot of new jobs every. day. That's what we're trying to do, right? is create enough resources so. that you can actually do all the border. enforcement that we promised. And like. the the the the part that the president.

got immediate action on. If you think. about this, we came in, the president. empowered border patrol to stop letting. people come across the border illegally. That stopped pretty much immediately. Got like a 96% drop in border crossings. immediately. Yeah. The thing is though. is you got 21 million people in here. illegally. You got to send them home. You got to process them. You got to. actually sometimes some of these people, you know, are entitled to some kind of. trial for what one reason or another. So, you've got to like do that. That. stuff all costs money and that's where.

we don't have money to do it right now. So, that's why this bill is necessary. Did uh who was that? They just said that. um did Congress have enough time to read. this bill? Thomas Rep. Thomas Massie. said the House has a 72-hour rule which. requires the bill to be posted 72 hours. before passage. What does that even. mean? Yeah, that's that's I had never. heard that before. And look, I mean, Thomas Massie and I get along. Um, but. my my understanding is that the bill. text was people have had literally weeks.

to pass it or to read it. And and the. reason, okay, here's the criticism I'd. give of what Thomas Massie is saying. right here is what's going to happen is. the Senate has to vote on this bill and. then it has to go back to the House and. it may change like 1% like the the. Senate may change a sentence or a. paragraph here or there, but it's going. to fundamentally be the same bill. So. the idea that people haven't had an. opportunity to actually read it is. ridiculous. They're in fact going to. have to vote on it again before it even. becomes law. So they'll have more time.

They'll have more time. Got it. like by. necessity, by law, they have to. understood. Um part of the bill I know. that people are that's getting a lot of. attention, right, is um and I do want to. say like I recognize that like when you. get into a place, you can't just get. what you want, right? There's a lot of. people in that place and everybody wants. certain things. There's a give and take. That's why I'd say it's good, not. perfect. There are criticisms to make of. it. Yeah. There's a give and take, dude. You know, you can Yeah. It's like. getting in-laws or whatever. That's. right. Any good marriage has give or.

take. Any good relationship has give or. take. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You. got you got to compromise a little bit. You got to accept some things you might. not love. Uh that's just that's the. nature of the beast. Um part of the bill. that people are talking about is there's. um like the AI stuff, right? Like the. government like um there's a ban uh is. that we're going to spend a lot of money. with AI like in order to advance like. bring our government technologies up to. code. Really? I know what you're talking. about. And then also it says in there. that there's a ban that at state levels.

they couldn't prosecute uh some of these. AI companies, right? That sounds really. sketchy. Like I know what you're talking. about. Yeah. And this is in USA. I'll. just read it. The ban is tucked into a. section of the bill that would allocate. 500 million over the next 10 years to. modernize government systems with the. help of AI and automation technologies. The ban would not only prevent new. state-led regulations of AI, but would. also block dozens of states from. enforcing pre-existing AI regulations. and oversight structures. It feels.

scary. Yeah. So, let me let me say a. couple things about this. So, I actually. was talking to a couple of senators um. on the way down here about this because. they really hate this provision. And. they actually both that we we brought. them on because it's it's Bill Hagerty. and Marshia Blackburn, great people. they represent the state of Tennessee, so they they don't like this provision. And they they brought up a really. interesting point. It's because so. Tennessee obviously has a lot of. musicians, right? And Tennessee wants to. protect those musicians from having.

basically AI steal the the production of. their artists, right? Because one of the. big problems with AI, right, is you're. going to take be able to take somebody's. voice and then like, you know, Taylor. Swift's voice or, you know, anybody. else's voice um and and basically say, "Oh, okay. Well, based on this one song. that, you know, Robert Plant did 35. years ago, we're going to like make a. whole new Led Zeppelin song using. artificial intelligence, right? And they.

want to protect people from that kind of. thing happening." So, that's a totally. reasonable point to me. The reason that. provision is in there is because you. think about like think about how like. woke the Google searches got. Remember. when you like search what does George. Washington look like and it show you. like a picture of a black dude? Oh yeah. And and or like a little Japanese George. Washington or something. So So the idea. is you use you basically have a federal. regulation that. prevent a federal regulation that.

prevents like California. from having a super progressive set of. regulations on artificial intelligence. Right? That that's the argument for it. The argument against it is that if the. feds aren't protecting artists, then. you're not going to be able to protect. artists either. Okay? And so I honestly. I don't think the provision, to be. honest with you, I don't think that's. going to make it in the final bill. But. I usually have a pretty strong view on. most things. I can kind of go both ways. on this cuz I don't want California's.

progressive regulations to control. artificial intelligence. I also agree. with Marsh and Bill that you want to. protect, you know, country artists in. Nashville from having their crap stolen. by AI. Like, I get that. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. I mean, that kind of. stuff it's like cuz they they made a. bunch of little babies of all the like a. lot of podcasters and now they're doing. it with everybody. Like they got dang uh. you know Aaron Rogers baby. They got. Left Eye from uh that Millie Vanilli. woman or whatever. They have everybody. in there. And so um but Millie Vanilli.

man too soon. I'm still I'm a Milly vanilla truther, by the way. Yeah, man. Oh, I think it. was really them. I just think they were. taken advantage of by Thank you. Thank you, dude. You know, there's like. seven of us left, don't you? Oh, man. That was a catchy song. So, I. was born 1984. That's one of the first. songs I remember like playing in a. radio. Dude, remember that song? I'm the. one who wants to I do remember that. song. you. Uh, that was like mid 90s,

right? I don't know. It was good though. Trying to think of I'm trying to think. of the band. I think it was kind of a. one hit wonder. Mr. Big. That was Mr. Big. Okay. That's kind of one hit. wonder, right? Yeah. Oh, they were. Yeah. That's too bad. God, they were. good, dude. That was a good song. Remember the first song you ever heard? Um, I'm pretty sure the first song I. ever heard was Leila by Eric Clapton. The the original one, not the acoustic. one. Dude, my buddy I used to live with. my buddy's dad, right? Cuz he was. getting I had like erectile. dysfunctions. I was pretty young. And.

then uh I was living with him because he. was getting like a early script on uh on. pill ED pills or whatever, you know, wiener pills. And so I stayed over there. and I I cop a little bit off of his. But. um anyway, he used to hook up with this. lady and I was learning the guitar. He. made me go play. no tears. Oh, Tears of Heaven. Oh man, that's a sad, you know, that's about his. son Diane. And it was the only song I. knew and they like play it again. Oh my. god. See, this is one of those things.

where I hope to God you're joking cuz if. you're living in a suit's house, how old. were you at the time? Oh, I was probably. 27. Okay, so you're 27, stealing ED. pills, playing tears in heaven. That's a. bad situation. You got to get out of. that situation, man. I'm going to assume. that you're joking because I don't want. to have nightmares about this about this. later on. What do you mean? Okay, that's. the healthare system we have. The. healthare system. All right. So, on the. way over here, No, I'm just joking. That. is a true story, though. I hear you. on. the way down here. Uhhuh. On the way down here, there's like an.

advertisement for some like med pack. Uhhuh. It was It was on It was a TV. commercial and I don't really watch like. normal TV, so I don't see commercials. that often anymore, but it's like med. pack and it's like order this thing and. it cost $45 and it has these different. drugs in it. And I I only saw it. briefly, but I could have sworn that two. of the medications in this med pack were. and it's it's advertised as like an. emergency medicine are Ivormectin and. Ozmpic. And I'm like thinking to myself,

what is the situation where you need. emergency oimpic? And so like the the. the second half of the flight down here, I'm thinking to myself, what is the. emergency oimpic situation? And then I. thought like, you know, if you have a. DMER party situation and it's like, all. right, you know, we we got to we got to. suppress our appetites, but I I don't know. But may maybe it was. just Ivormectton. Maybe it was wasn't. Oimp. I But that's See, stuff like that. is kind of crazy to me. Well, now. they're combining. It's just everything.

is combined now. You know, they even put. I think it's Pizza Hut and Baskin. Robbins are together now. It's like. everything I think is mixed now. But. that kind of makes that kind of makes. sense though. Yeah, it kind of does. Pizza and then some ice cream. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. You're right. So, what I never understood was like what. was it? Taco Bell and KFC. Yeah. It's one or the other. That's called. indigestion, right? That is the only way. that combination mix. It should be one. or the other. One of the other. You do. not need If you're going to Taco Bell.

and KFC in the same stop, you got. serious problems. Did you um Let me. think about something that's important. and JD are people are not even going to. believe that we spent time together. Oh. my god. This is fun though, man. This is. good. It's good to It is good, man. Dude, I just can't I just can't even. believe that that's your life. Is it. what you thought it would be? Is it. different once you got in there? Are. things that different? It's about what I. thought it would be. I mean, I at this. point, right, I I I know the president. pretty well and you know, I knew that he. would I knew he had a lot of trust in.

me. And again, that the role of the vice. president is very derivative of what the. president is doing. So, if the president. has trust in you, if he gives you a task. and just lets you go and do it, that's. that's kind of what your that's kind of. what your job is. And uh it's been a lot. of fun. Like, I've traveled all over the. world. I think we've done a lot of good. work for the American people, which of. course is the most important most. important part. I mean, there there are. little things that I, you know, will. take some time getting used to. So, like. we got three little kids. Our son just. turned eight yesterday, actually. Uh and. then we have a 5-year-old son and a. three-year-old baby girl. And our.

8-year-old son is he's a little bit of. an introvert, I think, and so he doesn't. love the attention. But then our like. 5-year-old son is is a little bit more. like me, so he'll like roll off the. airplane waving, saying hello to. everybody. And um having Secret Service. around is is kind of a crazy experience. Like they're all good dudes and I love. him, but it's also kind of unusual to. like just walk outside your house and. there's always somebody, you know, walking with you. That's kind of weird. Oh, definitely. I think I mean we we. went back to go chat for you know like.

five minutes just before this thing. started and you know I was like don't. worry guys Theo doesn't have a gun. We. like I hope you don't. No so we're in. deep [ __ ] man. They checked me. Somebody. kissed me on the way and I was like. that's part of it. One of the secret. services. No I'm joking. But I was like. what's your secret buddy? Huh? You know. Oh that's Millie Vanilla right there. His babies right there using a Oh. my Wait, they had those are Grammys, right? I didn't know. Oh, they took. their Grammys away. Well, didn't one of. them They took their Grammys away.

Didn't one of them commit suicide? It's. like kind of a sad story, actually. Yeah. And one of them died a couple. years ago. I met one of them one night, I think. Ah, maybe I didn't. I was out. late one night. I'll say that. Um, sorry, that's a crazy What are we. talking about? Um, let's talk about. Could have been Milly Vanilly. Could. have been my uncle. Who knows? Who am I. to say? I don't know. I didn't I'll just say I. met one of uh Freddy's buddies. one of. Frederick's buddies out there. I'll say. this, man. Right now, sir, I will say.

it. Um, so people have to like we all. need like help whenever we're like and. when you're politician, right? Like you. need help, you need support, you have. sponsors and stuff, right? Correct. There's a lot of speculation and talk. like one of your primary sponsors was is. a guy Peter Teal, right? And he's in the. tech world. And I never met him, you. know? Um, but you know there's a like a. lot of these tech kind of lords like. they you know technology's grown so much. in the past 20 years that it it controls. a lot of our environment and our life.

right it does what do you owe somebody. if you do like if you get into office if. somebody like donates a lot of money to. your campaign like how does that. relationship work after that I think the. attitude is you don't owe them anything. and I think if if you take the attitude. of you owe somebody something then. you're fundamentally not going to do the. job that you you were meant to do. I. mean, this is always this is tough, right? Because so so take my my Senate. race. First time I ever ran for for. office was 22 2022. I I I uh ran for the.

Ohio Senate race. I won that race. Yeah. [ __ ] yeah. Thank you. That's good. Yeah. If I hadn't won, I wouldn't be. sitting here. Oh, okay. Yeah. Cuz then I. became the vice president and now here. So So I basically have won I've run two. campaigns in my life. The first one, the. Senate campaign, cost $45 million. The. second one, presidential campaign, I. think that we spent like $1.2 billion. Okay. So, it costs a lot of money. Well, the president obviously is the leader of. the campaign, but the total campaign.

Got it. So, it costs a lot of money to. run for office and you got to go and. raise money. Yeah. But I think that if. your attitude is I owe something, these. people gave me money, then you're going. to end up being corrupted. And you've. got to kind of take the attitude of. they're supporting me because they agree. with me. And obviously like you have. conversations with them like you. mentioned Peter Teal. I see a lot of. crazy stuff on the internet about Peter. Teal. Like you know he's always been a. friend of mine. He's always been one of. the smartest people I've ever met. Like.

just a very thoughtful dude, but he's. he's literally never asked me once for. anything. Um so he just believed in you. He believed in me. He agreed with me on. a lot of issues. I mean, he he. definitely has like said, "Hey, I don't. agree with you on this." But he's never. said, "I don't agree with you on this. Therefore, you should vote differently. or act differently." But it it's like to. be honest with you, it's one of the. risks of our system. Now, if you think. about it, right, cuz if you are a super. ambitious dude or girl and you really. want to run for office, like you got to.

be able to separate yourself from that. donor pressure. And think about it, like. if you're going to a fundraiser, okay, everybody's got to go to fundraisers in. politics. Well, that's like an hour and. a half you're not spending talking to. the people you represent. Right? So, there is one of the problems in our. system is the people spend so much time. raising money. I think sometimes, not. all cases, but sometimes it can have a. corrupting influence on the process. Now, I was talking to a buddy of mine. actually about this because his argument. is yeah, he's like a political.

consultant. He's a political hack but a. good dude. He said, he said, he said, "Our system is better, though, cuz in. some places they have publicly financed. campaigns." And he's like, "The problem. with places where they have public. publicly financed campaigns is that all. all of the control in the political. system is with the media because like if. you if you raise money, most of what. you're spending your money on is TV, radio advertisements. It's reaching. voters. Mhm. So if you can't reach. voters with TV advertisements and you. got to go on the like the corporate.

media to get your message out there, that's even worse. So I I kind of see. both sides of it. I just think as a. practical matter, what I try to do is. remember that, you know, it's it's an. honor to serve, but it's also a. sacrifice to serve. And if people are. going to write me a check, great. But I. don't owe them anything. That's that's. the attitude I try to have. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's just it's interesting. because I mean we all have people that. help us do certain things or are. supportive and then you get in spots. where you're like, you know, I like I. used to live with a family when I was. growing up and there's always been this. thing of like what do I owe them? You.

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Well, recently they have like there's a. lot of like Trump picked out. um that the there's the Palunteer. company, right? Yeah. Yeah. And that's. about a surveillance thing. So, this. thing is [ __ ] This sounds crazy, dude. Like, this sounds like we're only. going to be human for like two more. years, right? So, they and this is the. Palunteer company where they're going to. build security databases that have all. of our information in them. Right. That's what they're saying. That's what. they're saying. And it's going to have.

like everything. It'll like look at you. and know like if you're good at tennis. or if you've ever, you know, if you have. like if you have $60 in your pocket or. if you're, you know, it can tell if your. kids are, you know, if your kids can. have a limp or whatever, if he'll be in. the Christmas play, you know what I'm. saying? It can tell all of that. And then and that feels real scary, man. like to to a regular guy on the street. that feels like we're going to give our. our society like like we're going to. become these like like they're going to.

have every know everything about us. It. makes you feel like you won't be a. person anymore. I hear you. Does that. make sense to you? It it definitely. makes sense to me. I mean, let let me. try to explain. So, to be clear, I'm not. an expert on this particular deal. I. actually just read about it earlier. today or maybe yesterday, but the. president did an executive order, I. don't know, a couple months ago. And the. basic idea is you've got all this. different information, but it's not. accessible in one place. So, like, let. me give an example where this might be. useful. Let's say you catch an illegal.

im immigrant, okay? and that person's. using a social security number, but the. Department of Homeland Security that. arrests the person can't actually figure. out what social security number that. illegal immigrant is, what name it's. attached to. Okay? Or, you know, let's. say you're like investigating some. terrorist and the FBI arrests the. person, but you know, there are. information about like where the person. lived a couple years ago that you'd like. to have, so you'd maybe like to go, you. know, talk to their friends or. associates or whatever. Yeah. that my.

understanding is that it does sound odd, but that what they're trying to do is. take all the information that the. Department of Homeland Security has, that the FBI has, and just make it so. that it's actually not in some hyper. inefficient system. It's all sort of. accessible. And here's the thing, modern. technology is just crazy and weird and. it affects our privacy. And I I think we. don't have to think that's a good thing. It is like a reality of the world that. we live in, right? Sometimes they get a.

little romantic about things. Well, I. mean, look, and I think it's going to go. back in time. I mean, look, everybody I. kind of agree with you. I I think people. are sort of going to rebel against. technology a little bit. In some ways, they already are. But I mean, look, dude, if I if I This has happened to me. so many times where I'm talking to my. wife like, "Oh, what are we going to. make for dinner for the kids tonight? Oh, let's just like do door Door Dash or. GrubHub." And then you go on like X or. you go on, you know, Facebook or. Instagram and there's like an. advertisement for a Door Dash coupon and. it's like, well, I was just talking.

about this 10 minutes ago. So, we know. that big technology spies on us and. harvests our data. I honestly worry more. about that than about like connecting. the DHS system to the FBI system. So, that's all that this Palanteer deal is. part like a lot of that is just it's. just connecting information. So, I'm hardly an expert, but that is my. understanding is that it's just taking, okay, DHS has information, FBI has. information, Secretary of the Treasury. has information, and making it possible. for that information to be searched by.

whoever is looking for it. Oh, that's my. understanding. Yeah. And I and I but. again like I hear that same that story. and my reaction is the same, which is, oh, I don't like the government having. my information. The reality is the. government already has my information. and more importantly some of these. private technology companies have way. more information on me than the. government does. Oh yeah. I mean. anywhere you shop has unbelievable. information on you. I mean let me tell. you like Blockbuster two days ago. Blockbuster was like happy birthday.

They were wrong. So I I got to I got to. but it's like you're out of business. There's a there's a Yeah. When was the. last time you were at a Blockbuster? But some guy somewhere probably in. another country, Nepal, sitting. somewhere, you and FDR took your Celsius. and went down to Blockbuster to get some. get some VHS rentals. Okay. Little bit. of boogie little boogie nights for the. fellas. That's That was FDR's favorite.

movie, so that makes sense. Um, so all. right, what were we talking about? Technology. Okay. So, I was Okay. I I. was getting a brief. So, when I first. became No, no, they they are. And I get. it. And look, like all I'll tell you is. we try to be as Oh, yeah. I did go to. the last Blockbuster. I forgot about. that. Shut up, Oregon. Is that 14 years. ago? That No, that's freaking two years. ago. I didn't realize Blockbuster. My ex. lived out there. Got stuck in the snow. out there. Yeah. So, so.

um I got a brief from my national. security guy. I got to make sure I can. This is not classified information. Okay. No, it's not classified as. immigration. Okay. Basically, long story. short, one of the guys who works in the. national security team of the Trump. administration. um gave me this brief about how, okay, when you're using an iPad and let's say, you know, you're reading a story from. some random newspaper and you hover on a. particular paragraph, like your iPad is.

collecting that information on you. odd. Like it's actually trying to track what. you're doing. Like that is the stuff. that really freaks me out. Well, how do. we stop that? I think it freaks. everybody out. I think it just makes. people sick. It's like you don't even. feel like you exist for any purpose. anymore other than to be advertised to. or to be um I don't even know anything. else. Well, you think about it like our. think about 100 years ago, 50 years ago, the most brilliant scientists in the. world, they're trying to figure out. nuclear energy. They're trying to figure.

out how to cure cancer. Now way too many. of them are figuring out like how do I. get a person to linger on a digital. advertisement for a little bit longer so. that we can increase the price of the ad. that we sell them by three pennies. Yeah. Like I there's something I think. very that warps our entire economy about. the digital advertisement world because. too many smart people are focused on. getting us addicted to these. applications. And I mean what do we do. about it? I I mean one thing is is from. a policy perspective we've already.

looked into a lot of things we can do on. data privacy and protection. So we're. trying to make it harder for these firms. to collect information on you. Well it. feels like with this with Palunteer it's. like they're going to collect all the. information though. So that feels like. Yeah. I Yeah. I mean look I my. understanding again so this is full. disclosure because I think it's. important to know more about I think. it's important I think it's important to. be open. So so Palunteer you asked about. Peter Teal. Palanteer is actually one of. the companies that he invested in, right? So, you know, he doesn't run. I. would be fooled. My understanding is he.

doesn't run it, but I don't believe that. Palunteer is collecting any information. I believe it's purely building a. database that's sort of combining. information. Is that I might have some. my team you guys. Is that right? Is that. accurate? Okay, cool. No, I'm glad. Yeah, because Yeah, we're just trying to. figure it out. And I think I mean right. now I think Palunteer has like you know. there's a lot of conflict right now in. Gaza. you know, everybody knows about. that, of course. And Palanteer is like. um been accused of being like complicit. in a lot of the violence over there. Um.

and so I think that's where it gets. really scary for like regular person on. the street. I'm like, well, if this is. the company, um you know, cuz you see. videos of like horrific stuff online. Sure. Very sad stuff. And and you're. like, well, if this is the company we're. hiring, how do I know that I might not. be walking down the street and just a. sniper bullet could hit me from them, you know? So that that is to be really. honest with you. Yeah. No, I I hear what. you're saying and I I think the answer. to that question is the only real.

protection that we have against that is. that we've got to, you know, elect the. right people and we've got to make sure. that our government doesn't do crazy. stuff cuz I mean look, any of this. information can be misused like your our. government has your social security. number. Okay? Using that information, the government could spy on you. The. government could give your information. over to an illegal alien to start a fake. account in your name. And that, by the. way, happens. I had a friend of mine who. had an illegal alien steal his social.

security number. And when he went to the. IRS to complain about it, they they. wouldn't give him information on um on. the person who was stealing his stuff. And by the way, that that's that's what. we're trying to do is make it so the IRS. can talk to the Department of Homeland. Security. Um, but the only real. protection against this stuff I think is. to have a government that actually. protects the rights of its citizens. And. you know, if I mean, we should all be. worried about our privacy being invaded. by the government by I think we should. be as just as worried about private.

corporations as we should be the. government. I think you know, everybody. could invade our privacy. But I I don't. let me put this away. I don't think that. the the solution to that problem is to. like pretend that the government doesn't. already have this information. It just. does, right? You got to make sure it. doesn't misuse it. And that's that's my. view at least is we got to live in. reality and the government's already got. this information. We just need to make. sure uh they don't misuse it. And on. like like the Gaza thing, just sort of, you know, chat about that for a little.

bit. I. mean, I'm I'm like a human being. So, I. look at this stuff, I see these videos, I see the pictures, and it's very. heartbreaking. And, you know, just since. you brought it up, like what what we're. trying to do here is try to solve two. problems here. Okay. So, on the one. hand, you've got innocent people, innocent Palestinians and innocent. Israeli hostages, by the way, who are. like caught up in this terrible violence. that's happening as we speak. Okay? and.

we're trying to get as much aid and as. much support into people as humanly. possible. That's like one thing that's. going on. The other side is Israel is. attacked by this terrible terrorist. organization. I think people sometimes. forget that, right? They forget like the. thing that kicked this off is that we. had this terrible terrorist attack and. you had a lot of innocent Israeli. civilians die in that terrorist attack. And so I I think what we're trying to do. in the Trump administration with that. situation is to get to a peaceful. resolution. And I think the peaceful. resolution looks something like this.

You've got to give Israel confidence. that Hamas is never going to attack them. and kill a bunch of civilians. And then. you've got to get as much aid and. support into these innocent Palestinians. as possible because in some ways they're. caught in the middle of this thing, too. Uh, one one thing that I like I I don't. love about the whole Israel Palestinian. debate is I think it kind of degrades. our humanity a little bit because I've. seen people on the left, mostly on the. left, who will say, well, you know, they'll completely ignore that Israel, like all these innocent Israelis were.

killed in this terrorist attack. And you. have some people usually on the right, who will completely ignore that there. are like kids who are caught up in this. violence. And I think it's why the. president has been, you know, I call him. the president of peace. It's why he. cares about solving this problem because. the longer this goes on, the more. suffering, the more death. So, we're. trying to solve it as much as we can. Uh, it's not easy. Do you have a say in. it? Yeah. Of I mean, well, the. president's obviously the person who. makes the final decision all the time. Uh, but yeah, I mean, we we we certainly. I think I'm I'm one of the the few.

people that he's talking to constantly. We're constantly, you know, we're. talking to the Israeli government. We're. talking to um people in the Arab world. We're talking to people in the. Palestinian territories. Like we're. constantly engaging in diplomacy. I. mean, one of the crazy things, dude, is. this guy is a very dear friend of the. presidents. He's our special envoy of. the Middle East. Steve Wickoff, he's a. Jewish guy, very pro-Israel. He's done. more to try to bring this conflict to a. close than anybody. And you sometimes. have people who say that they're pro-.

Israel who attack Steve for not being. pro-Israel enough. And I think it's. totally bogus. Like I see this guy. operate every single day. He actually is. like he he he's a Jewish guy who. believes in in in the purpose of the. state of Israel. He also is a guy with a. heart who's trying to prevent the. killing. Yeah. And I I I I think there's. just like when I talk about we this. whole debate has caused us to lose our. humanity. I think of the people who are. constantly going after Steve because. this is a guy. He's a father. He lost.

one of his own children because of a. because of an overdose and he just he he. loves people. He believes in the value. of human life and he's doing a really. good job and he's one of the the. important people in the presidency too. Yeah. It seems like I I I've heard of. Mr. Woff, but I never met him. But I. Good dude. You should have him. Um I. think some the I think the tough thing. just as a regular person, right? It's. like we're seeing all these videos of. people like picking up pieces of their. children and like it's it's the it's the. sickest thing I think it's ever been.

televised basically if you consider. watching something on your phone being. televised. It's a mass it feels like a. massacre and it feels like you know I've. called it a genocide. Other people have. different thoughts about it and that's. fine right and I don't need anybody to. share the same thoughts or you two. Um, but I think where it gets scary is that. we give, you know, we're complicit in it. because we help fund like military. stuff, you know, and that's where as. like a regular guy, you're like, well, I'm paying these taxes and they're going. towards this like, but you can't do. anything, you know, like you can you can.

you can talk, you know, but it's like. you can't I don't understand how it. becomes like tough for people like. sometimes it feels like we look out for. the interest of Israel before we look. out for the interest of America. So, let. me say a couple things. So, so number. one, like I think you're a great dude, so we don't have to agree on everything. Do I think do I do I think it's a. genocide? No. And here's here's the. reason why I don't think it's a. genocide. Because I don't think that the. Israelis are purposely trying to go in. and murder every Palestinian. I don't. think that's what they're doing. I think.

they got hit hard. And I think they're. they're they're trying to like, you. know, sort of destroy this terrorist. organization and war is hell. And and. that is true. I also think it's true, man. I mean, I've seen people on my side. of the political aisle. I'm a. Republican. You know that, but your. audience may not. Who like will see. these videos of these innocent. Palestinian kids and say, "Oh, well, they had it coming to him." No, no, no, no, no. Like, if if if you have a soul, your heart should break when you see a. little kid who's who's suffering. which. is why we have the policy that we have,

which is we're trying to stop eliminate. the conflict, eliminate the source of. the conflict so that we can actually. bring some peace and some some. humanitarian assistance into people. And. uh that's that's that's my basic view. And yeah, the president's interesting. He's he's a very he's a pro-Israel guy. Yeah. And he he also recognizes that to. bring any conflict to a close, you've. got to talk to everybody. And so I mean, we've been attacked. I've been attacked. the president's been attacked uh for. being too interested in diplomacy. And.

you ask like what can I do? I think that. what people should demand is that if our. tax dollars are going to something, we. should be actively trying to fix it. Okay, that's that's kind of the way that. I think about it. And what happened with. the B administration, man, it's crazy. They were spending so much money all. over the world, they weren't engaged in. diplomacy at all. So they had sent I. mean we submit $300 billion dollars to. Ukraine for example and you never had. the president of United States actually. trying to force a diplomatic settlement.

You talk about bodies all over the. ground dude the Russia Ukraine thing is. the most vicious. We see satellite. images we see classified images man it. is vicious. And again it's I I I I will. I will hear people who will say well you. know you know there again mostly on our. side will say oh these you know the. Russians got killed that's a good thing. Look, I'm not. defending the invasion. I'm not. defending starting a war, but when human. beings are getting blown to bits, your.

heart should feel sad about that and you. should try to do something to fix it. And that's what we're trying to do. And. we get crap for it. But again, that. that's like the part that makes me feel. the best about my job is whether it's in. Israel or Russia, Ukraine, like we're. actually trying to bring this stuff to. some settlement and to some close. And. if we do, we're going to save a lot of. lives. And if we don't, it was worth the. try. Yeah. Um, yeah. I just have one. more question. Uh, and yeah, and I want. to say, yeah, I recognize that it's like. you can't expect people to do stuff. immediately. You can't expect things to.

happen overnight. And that you get into. a place and there's a lot of people that. are already there and you have to figure. out how do I make my way in this? How do. I figure out to get some of the things I. want and I have to give up some of the. things that I also want, right? And so, uh, I just want to let you know that I. recognize that, you know, and I think I. learn to recognize that more. I think. the older that I get and learn a little. bit more about politics. It's not just. like this guy got the job, everything's. going to be done immediately. Um, I do. want to ask really quick, this is. important because um there's a lot like. President Trump talked about uh this we.

we he signed this executive order to. make price transparency for uh health. care, right? And and for um hospital. bills and medical billing. And we talked. about it last time you were on. You said. your wife is getting giving birth and. you didn't even know like how much it. was costing. Like what does this cost. and what if we get the amnesia? Your. wife's like I don't want any amnesia or. whatever. and you're like, "You should. take it." And you're like, "How much is. it?" You know, but it's like nobody. knows, you know? And then they're. putting $30,000 of amnesia in your life. You're like, "Well, shit." And so it's. like, but what I'm saying is everybody.

at this point is it's, you know, but. it's a hundred trillion dollar. multiundred trillion dollar industry. that's going to change. Will we actually. see it take place? Like Biden. administration tried to get price. transparency. They couldn't. They were. too caught up. They couldn't get it. done. Trump signed the executive order. Do you think we will actually see this. happen? So I do. I I think it's going to. take a little time, but we took the. first big step when the president signed. that executive order. And you you asked. this question about donors, right? So. the pharmaceutical industry gives a ton.

of money to Republicans and Democrats. And I'll tell you, they were not happy. when the president did that. And the. president's attitude is, look, it's the. right thing for the American people. So. I think again, it's an example of when. you've got to tune out the financial. pressures of politics to just do what's. right. People are afraid to get people. are getting afraid to get sick. Not. because they Dude, let me Sorry. Am I. being loud to you? I'm sorry. No, you're. you're fine. Here's something. Um, no. I. mean, you're normal volume, I would say. Okay. Sorry, I felt a little handed. It's not towards you. I'm thankful that.

you're spending time with me. No, no, you're good, man. Um, so, so I'll tell. you a crazy story. A buddy of mine was. visiting recently, a friend from back. home, and his wife told me this story. that his kid, they they thought he was. special needs, maybe he had sort of a a. neurological disorder just because he. was sort of emotional or not. emotionally, educationally behind his. peers. Turns out he he was just deaf. He. needed a colear implant. And it took.

this this, you know, my my buddy's wife. just fighting with the insurance. companies for forever to get this kid. the medicine that he needed, the. treatment they needed. And now the kid, he's happy, he's healthy, he's a. beautiful child, smart child. Like, that's amazing, right? That that's what. we want medical science to do is to take. a serious problem and make it better. Well, why why do we have a medical. system in this country where too many. people can't get the treatment that they. need? And and there it's a complicated. answer to that question, but one of the.

big problems is, and I don't think most. Americans realize this, we subsidize. When you go to the hospital or you go to. the doctor and you pay out the rear end. for a treatment, you are subsidizing all. of the therapies, all and what say tell. us what subsidizing means? Some people. won't know. So ba basically, we pay more. so that Europeans in other parts of the. world pay less. So we fund all the. innovation, we fund all the development. of new drugs, and then Americans pay way. more. That's why, you know, America's we. spend 22% of our economy on health care.

The Europeans average out about 10 or. 11%. So, we spend way more on healthcare. and they spend way less. So, the. president uses example all the time. You. know, the Ozic, the the as he calls it, the fat shot. He had a buddy who was on. Ozic and had to go to Canada to get it. even though it was invented in Europe. Yeah. And it was mass-produced all over. the world. It was like a tenth of the. price in Canada that it was in the. United States. And the way that it is is.

the drug companies make money off. Americans so they can offer discount. drugs to everybody else. So what that. executive order, the reason why I think. that approach is going to work way. better than anything the Biden. administration is doing is it's going to. say the Americans get to pay less and. the Europeans are going to have to pay. up a little bit. You'll know more about. what you're spending on, but it also is. more fair to Americans. And I think. that's I think that's a win-win scenario. because you can't expect Americans to. pay 10 times for prescription drugs what. other people pay. It's also, by the way,

not that this is the main issue, but. it's bankrupting people and it's. bankrupting our country because we spend. so much more on health care and that's a. major driver of our budgetary problem. It's the number one cause of bankruptcy. is medical debt. It's like people aren't. afraid to get sick because they'll be. sick. They're afraid to get sick because. they can't afford to be sick and the. stress of it is going to kill them. But. do you think like he made the executive. order do you think we'll and I know it's. like so hard to be like you do you know. you know but it's like do you really. think we'll see this I mean it's like. God give us give the people something. I.

do and we got a great secretary of. health and human services Bobby Kennedy. Have you done has Bobby been on the show. before? Yeah. Okay. He's a good dude. He's a good friend when everybody. thought he was insane dude. Hell yeah dude. He had to give him a. ride home. His all vehicle had been. repossessed dude. Yeah. Oh, man. I'm joking. So, Bobby. Bobby, Congratulations, Bobby. Yeah, we. should have known that for the Senate. confirmation hearings, but yeah, man. Bobby's a good dude and he really cares. about this stuff. And this is what you.

need. You need the will. You need the. good idea, but you also need the. implementation. I think the president's. got the good idea. He's got the. executive order. Bobb's got the. implementation. So, like, look, am I. going to tell you sitting here that all. of our healthcare problems are going to. be fixed in 12 months? No. But do I. think that this is going to make. prescription drugs way more affordable. over the long term? Absolutely. Okay. Um, yeah. And I know a lot of people. might be critical of this interview and. stuff. It's like I'm doing my best, right? I'm trying my best and maybe I'm. just too hard on myself sometimes. Um,

why critical interview? Because I'm a. politician and like partisan. I think. Yeah, I think people I don't know. But. you would have a Democrat on, huh? You. would have a Democrat on coming on. Oh, nice. Okay, that'll be interesting. But. no, I never met him. You know what I'm. saying? We got him coming on. So, it's. like, yeah, I'm definitely trying to. learn more about it. Honestly, he's he's. a nice he's a nice guy, but I but I. think that's I'm not a um you know, I. don't know the history of of everything, right? So, it's like I feel like we're. just trying to do our best and I'm. trying to do my best with somebody who I.

consider a friend and um yeah, and to. learn in as we go. Anyway, anything else. particular that you wanted to say that. you needed to get out to people? I don't. think so, man. I think we've covered a. lot. Hopefully, I didn't get myself in. too much trouble here, but What are you. talking about, dude? I think you're. good. I'm trying to think of anything. else, dude. But, um, you think Trey. Hendrickson will get signed? That's a million-dollar question. Or I. guess the $50 million question. Are. y'all going to subsidize that? Is that. part of the big that's actually unknown? That's a big part of the big beautiful. bill. Is $30 million to the Bengals to.

help with salary cap space? I I mean, look, so Hendrickson is And he's worth. it, dude. Dude, he's he's a generational. talent. It's very hard to get a guy like. that. It's kind of crazy how like I'm a. big football fan, but edge rushers have. become it's almost like where left. tackles were 10 or 15 years ago where. everybody just realized there's this. really underpaid position that you got. to have. And so yeah, I think we're. going to have to pay Hendrickson. Uh I. hope so. If he's here's what I'll say to. to Trey, if you're watching this show,

if you're a Republican, I will show up. to a Bengals game and take a photo with. you if you sign on with the Bengals. And. if you're a Democrat, I'll stay the hell. away. just signed with the Bengals. because we got a chance, man. I keep I. say this every year, but with Burrow, with Jamar Chase, if we get our defense. and our offensive line, we could have a. true championship run. It's exciting. Well, um I just appreciate you coming. and spending time with me, man. Thank. you very much to uh Bob Richie Kidrock. for having us here today. And uh dude, congratulations, man. I know you've had.

a very interesting life and um just. really cool. It's inspiring. It's good. to see you. Thanks for having me, dude. You too, brother. Now I'm just floating. on the breeze and I feel I'm falling. like these leaves. I must be corner. [Music]. stone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this piece of mind I found. I. can feel it in my. bones. But it's going to take.