Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The Danger of Trump’s Nominations With Paul Rieckhoff

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Van and Rachel are on TRUMP WATCH. They react to Trump’s list of cabinet and staff picks (10:34) before founder and CEO of Independent Veterans of America Paul Rieckhoff joins to break down why Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense is so scary (32:41). And lastly (on the topic of politics), they talk Trump and Biden's meeting at the White House (58:47). Plus, Denzel Washington speaks on a deleted scene in ‘Gladiator II’ that the people weren’t ready for (1:05:29), The Onion buys InfoWars (1:15:54), and the father of Skai Jackson’s baby allegedly gets hacked (1:16:59). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Paul Rieckhoff Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Our learning is on. It is I, Van Lathen, Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. Rachel, did you ever listen to different hip-hop in the 90s? Do you ever listen to Chief Rocker?

Boom, Shackalaka, yo, who comes to Chief Rocka. One Chief Rocker, number one, Chief Rock. You ever listen to that song? Okay, I know that song, but I did not listen to him like that. Don, you ever listen to that? No, I don't, that doesn't sound familiar to me.

I'm not going to lie. Don't, what are you born? 88. Don't mean, it's probably up my alley, but, and I might know it, but maybe you wrapped it wrong. I didn't wrap it wrong. Do it again, motherfucker. Go more. Let's give us more.

Boom, shaka, lo, here comes that chief rocker. One chief rocker, number one chief rocker. Like, I got into all of this stuff back in the day, like, you know, J. Ruta Damager, Daz effects. say they want effects, Dyes effects. I don't know that. It's the Dyes of effects. Y'all never got into that part of hip hop like that?

No. You ever fuck a K solo? No, I don't know K solo. No, see, you have to under, we have to go back to my upbringing. Right. If it had a parental advisory on the front, it was rare that I was going to,

it was going to get down to me. So if I knew rap, it was mainly mainstream. I've been going back to that rap after the election. It's been bringing me back. And I've been listening to that and to the hot boys. You know what I mean?

First of all, I want to apologize to the audience for my quality in the last one. My fucking little router was out. It was the router where I'm working. So that's why we were all. You should apologize to us as well. We struggled through that with you too. Starting and stopping. Like really having to lean in to hear you.

Poor Donnie and Ashley and the editing of it all. The words weren't matching the video. We all deserve an apology. You get nothing. I want to tell you guys something. We're going to get into the show in a second. We have a very good guest. One of the best guests we've had in the wall,

Paul Reikoff from the Independent Americans podcast. We're going to talk about Pete Hexeth and his appointment to Secretary of Defense. The different parts of the American military establishment have been commenting on this, what this means, and whether or not he is a little unqualified, wholly unqualified.

Oh, shit, it's all falling apart and what the appointment means. But we're going to get into all the appointments. The appointments are fucking nuts. So that's going to be in a second. We're still on Trump Watch. How do you like my garbage truck?

But I got to say something that happened yesterday. So yesterday, we're at Spotify. Spotify now playing situation. Me and Rachel had a panel. It was fantastic. Moderated by the great Mallory Rubin. What good, great job Mallory did as a moderator? Fantastic.

It's my first time really getting to work with Mallory. The hype is real. The hype is real. Like, Mallory's so awesome. I'm not in the Marvel world. I'm not in the Lowe's world. I don't get to work with Mallory like that. So I was really excited to sit on a panel with her.

Okay, I got to ask you a question, just on some real shit. And I don't, it's not, me and Rachel Bonded yesterday. We were together all day. A very famous pop star kicked us out of her trailer. No, her green room. A very famous pop star kicked us out of her green room. Get out. Okay.

And they were very polite when they came and told us to get the fuck out of the green room. It was not like that, guys. Get the fuck out. You have artists coming in here and you're not clear to come in here yet. Get out. All right. I'm not going to tell you guys who it was. Very famous pop star.

Get the fuck out of the grain room. We're there at Spotify now playing. Before I get into what you did yesterday, what I saw from you yesterday, why you don't fuck with people at the ringer like that? Why you don't hang around? You don't come up on the third floor. You're not a part of ringer culture.

Like we sit around. That's not true. And I talk to Craig Horlebeck. I talk to Ryan Rosillo. I talk to the different. people in ringer land right I'm talking to CR I'm fucking talking to Sean Finacy I'm fucking

sharing with all of these people I'm having conversation with them I'm around Ringer movies all of this different stuff I'm a part of Ringer culture and you you're not you don't fuck with you're part of a I'm a part of a different Ringer culture because who you didn't name you didn't name Jody

Walker you didn't name Chelsea Stark Jones you didn't name Callie Curry So I know these people I don't say you didn't know these people but you don't You aren't in with these people like I am. That's wrong. I'm in with Callie. Shout out Callie.

You just got to L.A. Callie's been around for a long time. I'm in with Cali. I'm in with Chelsea. That other person I don't know. Callie don't even live here. I know. But she was around when Doc was kind of coaching.

It's not that I'm on the different side of it. You know, I've asked to be a part of the rewatchables. I've asked to be a part of it. Nobody wants me to be a part of it. Okay. Enough. I can go back. You could call it coaching.

Anyway, what were you saying? So you're just going to big up Cali and then just shit on Doc? I did shit on him. I like that. I like Austin. I'm a Rivers family fan. Way before you. Spencer Rivers and me used to poop.

I've been fucking with them. That's fine. My point is, is I am involved with the ringer. What I don't, first off, you're on more podcast than me. And also, your podcast are in person more. So you're up there more than I am. I highly doubt that you would just go up and hang out at the ringer if you didn't have to. You're on days there where you have to work.

On Mondays, I'm up there. I go up to the office at times. Nobody's really there. Most people work from home. I'm sorry I'm not on the same schedule as you where you're able to frequent the office more. And there are more people there. As I said, I've asked to be on rewatchables. Nobody's reached out.

You haven't advocated for me to be on some of these other shows. that you guess. So you haven't seen any news. I have watched past movies. I didn't ask me on big picture. I didn't ask me on the big picture. I didn't ask me on rewatchables. Movies of the past.

You can't, we have to do, the name of the podcast would be re-nothingables. I even, we can't do any. I even came up with, I would love to do any. See what I'm saying? I even came up with an idea about soul food

for the rewatchables. Was that, you thought it was a good idea. Did that come to fruition? No. No, it didn't. There are movies. When y'all did Boomerang, definitely should have been a part of that.

Definitely should have been a part of it. Was I asked? No. I feel in a bit discriminated against here at the ringer. Interesting. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Go ahead and play that card. I have asked. I have asked. There are moments when I could have been a part of things. And I wasn't. That's okay. I found my place at Ringer Reality TV. Please like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

We're doing great things over there. reality TV, not just on morally corrupt. There are a plethora of other shows that you can watch. And more to come. More to come. Yeah, well, all I'm saying is shout out nephew, Kyle, and Sir Rudy. These are the people I fuck wait. I'm, but Jomey, fucking Steve, fucking the fucking smartest guy at the whole ringer.

Midnight Boys. There are shows that I have watched that you have covered. Just in sales. There are movies I have watched. I haven't had an invitation. I know that Jomey and Steve would love to have me. on. How do you know that? You don't know that. Okay.

You're my biggest hater. You're my biggest hater. You're my biggest hater in the ringer. But go ahead. Tell him what happened yesterday. Just real quick. We did the whole thing. And there was this, there was a situation to where Daniel Eck, the leader of Spotify, had to come up there. And I didn't know Rachel was around.

Shout out to Don Lemon, who was hanging out with us yesterday, too, at this event. And when a white guy of that power and prestige hit the stage, I saw Rachel change, man. Rachel was like, Daniel Eck hit the stage, and Rachel was like, ooh, daddy. I wasn't even anywhere near you. You didn't even know I was in the room. Like, I heard it.

I heard it like Daniel, Daniel Eck hit the stage and he was like, this is what Spotify has to, and Rachel was like, and Rachel was like, oh, what? Like, it was like a Prince concert. Shout out there. Band was front and center soaking up everything he had to say. I was up in the balcony.

I was up in the balcony. We also ran into some friends of the podcast. The shits and giggles guys. Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to say what's up. Something like that. I wanted to introduce myself as a black woman to them,

which you said, don't do it. That's not what I said. I said, go do it. I went up and was like, what's up? Y'all niggas all right? You did. Rachel.

I was like, what's up? I'm like, what's up? Y'all, y'all niggas all right? Y'all niggas good? Cool. Not on no, not on no weird shit. It's like, what's up, y'all, y'all, y'all holding it down.

I know how they came at y'all, you know? Van and I was thriving there. We were thriving. We had a good time. We were thriving. talking to people, meeting people, I've never seen two people look more uncomfortable. Something was off with them. They looked really uncomfortable.

They did. They did. They did. They did. They played in a way game. They played on a way game. They, they, a long time away from them. They were fine.

It was fine. We sat on the panel with two British people who looked very comfortable. They were in an away game as well. They were in a way game as well. They were great. We shared the panel with them. They were fantastic. They just looked uncomfortable.

It's just an observation. I'm not saying everything I saw. Break. Pleasantry's over. On the other side. Trump Watch. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action

all the way to the finals with Fandual Dredicts. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner. Sign up and get a $25 bonus. Offered by Fandual Prediction Markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant, 18 plus. Bonus is non-witrable

and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve. significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at Fandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. Did you know about one in three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling?

Does this sound like you? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away. Trimfaya, guselcomab, taken by injection, is a prescription. medicine for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, who may benefit from taking injections or pills or phototherapy, and for adults with active psoriotic arthritis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before a treatment, your doctor should check you for infections in tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Imagine being a million miles away.

Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about trim Faya. Tap this ad to learn more about Tramfaya, including important safety information. All right, Rachel, let's get into it. Trump's cabinet so far. Okay. White House Chief of Staff. Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. Stephen Miller, that's a fucking big one, guys.

That is a fucking big one. Okay. Stephen Miller is a part of the whole brain trust around Projects. 2025, project 2025. Something Trump denies being to you. Linked to. Didn't know anything about it. Has nothing to do with it.

And then all of a sudden, Stephen Miller, one of the key components and architects of it, is part of the situation. Deputy Chief of Staff of Policy, Stephen Miller, Project 2025, coming to a neighborhood near you. Borders are Tom Homan, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,

Congressman Mike Walts, White House Counsel, Bill McGinley, that's one of Trump's lawyers, Middle East Envoy, Stephen Whitkoff, Department of Government Efficiency, Doge. A Doge pumping dump. Conveniently named. Yeah. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Your guy.

Your guy is still kicking. He's still with us. The cabinet, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Environmental Protection Agency Director, Lee Zeldon. I would like to play a clip from the Breakfast Club about from Lee Zeldon right here. This is the funniest political clip in the history of the breakfast club. The black community, the minority community, blacks and browns, right? You talked about your Asian community.

You talked about Jewish community. What about our community? What's your thoughts in our community? Yeah. So speaking of which, I'm glad Angela's not holding it too much against me, but my daughter was one of the judges at the Jamaican Jerk Fest a couple weeks ago. And I'm not going to mention how that ended up playing out. I thought there was a lot of talents on your plate that day.

Thank you. At the celebrity cookoff. He asked you about black people and that's what comes to your mind? No, no, no. I was saying, we were together at the Jamaican jerk fest a couple weeks ago. That's the same week. In Jamaica. There was that when I was with Angela.

Okay. At the, uh, in Jamaica together. Oh my God. I jerk chicken Lee is now the head of the EPA. reaching to find some sort of connection to black and brown people. There you go. United Nations ambassador, Elise Stefaniq, we already talked about her. Homeland Security Secretary legitimately guard your dogs,

the dog-killing bitch, Kristine Hone, is head of Homeland Security. She's a Homeland Security Secretary. The dog-killing bitch, Chrissy Knoem, hate her fucking guts, demonic doll killer. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, Mike Huckabee, who has said there's no such thing as a Palestinian.

Ambassador to Israel. CIA director, John Rackcliffe. Defense Secretary of Pick is Pete Hicksa. We are going to talk to Paul Rikoff about that pick in just a second. Director of National Intelligence, Tulsa Gabbard. Attorney General, Rachel, this is the one that blew people.

who's fucking hands off yesterday. We were together when this one happened. When this one dropped. Matt Gates. Oh my God, Rach. I don't even know. Honestly, the way these things are rolling out, it's like draft picks.

It's like I feel like I'm waiting. Like, who's next? Who's going to be nominated next? It's crazy the way that these are dropping like bombs. It's insane. Where do we even start? Where do we even start? There's something.

Oh, you know, what I was going to say when you mentioned Mike Huckabee and that he doesn't recognize Palestinians, did you see the letter that was sent to President Trump? I don't know if it was real or not. I think it was real. Donnie, can you look

that up for a second? No, no, it was. Because I saw it in passing and I read a little bit of it. And I was just like, this is so ridiculous that I can't even give this. I mean. Basically, it was people who did not vote for Kamala Harris, and I guess they voted for President Trump. And they were calling on him to stand by the things he said he would do for the community. And apparently they sent it to the White House.

That's if that, I've heard a couple of people saying that. And look, this is what I'm not prepared to do. When I'm not prepared to do is continually victimized, politically victimized, a segment of the population who has watched their children, their aunts and uncles, their grandfathers, their grandmothers incinerated over the past year. Okay? It's, to me, dehumanizing to try to tap

into the mindset of somebody like that and understand why they make the decisions that they make. I will tell you this. It is about to get worse. If that is possible. And that's just a reality.

If that is possible, if it is possible for it to get worse, if it can get worse, right? Which if you're talking to someone who's living through the hell that they're living through in Gaza right now or someone that is tangential to that,

tangential to that, that's experiencing that through their family, through their friends, and through their loved ones, they'll probably tell you, well, how much worse could it get? We're about to see. We're about to see. Because all of these people,

not saying that the United States of America has ever been a friend to the Palestinian, all of these people are hawkish. Yeah. We're talking about blatant, like really, really hard core Zionists and unabashed. And I mean, what you're looking at here is you're looking at Marco Rubio. You're looking at Lee Stephanic, Mike Huckabee. Like all of these people that you're looking at, they're not going to care what the world thinks

about how Israel prosecutes its war, what Israel does, how far Israel goes. Mike Huckabee believes that Judea and Samaria, which the West Bank and Gaza are a part of Israel and has no problem with settlements being built there or annexing the two territories. And that is going to be fucking signed and stamped by the United States of America.

There you go. I mean, so, I mean, riot to Donald Trump right now or trying to appeal to him right now, that's a fool's errand. So that's what happened. Well, also, it's like,

if you can't get him to pay attention to the needs and concerns of non-white people in this country, I don't understand why you think that it would be any different in a completely different country. Nor also, that including, not just Trump, the people who he is surrounding himself with. So you list all these people that he has nominated.

It's important to know that they have not yet been confirmed. Yes. This is who he is positioning. This is who he wants. More than likely, most of them will be confirmed. But first they have to go through the Senate confirmations. And it's interesting because Donald Trump is pulling out an old part of the Constitution that was used back in the day

when the Senate couldn't convene as regularly because things were, you know, horse and buggy back then. So there's this clause in the Constitution that allows for recess appointees if the Senate can't convene. And that is what he's pretty much calling for

when it comes to these Senate confirmations. Because if the Senate can't mean, I believe, It is 10 days if they can't convene? Yeah, the Supreme Court has said it. The Senate recesses for at least 10 days, then that is a sufficient amount of time to allow the president to sidestep confirmation

and just confirm the people that he's appointed so then they don't have to go through this rigorous process, particularly some of the people that is believed that will have a really hard time are the Tulsi Gabbards, the Matt Gates, the Pete Hexseths, anybody else you think that would have a difficult time not particularly

I'm looking at those those are the ones that are going to be the most scrutinized if you ask me so your most vulnerable ones are Gates Hexeth and and

and Tulsa Gabbard for sure I don't know if there's enough political will up on the Hill for the Republicans to not. We'll talk more to Rikoff about this, but I don't know if there's a left political will up there on the hill for the Republicans not to confirm these guys.

But the recess appointments, which they've said that they would do, like there was a politician that was asked about whether or not she thought that the Senate would confirm, and her answer to that was recess appointments. Well, I know I'm going to kind of jump ahead a little bit because I know we have a majority leader John Thune has been confirmed over

some more extreme people that were up as well, like Rick Scott, and then a little bit lesser, but more extreme than John, John Corny from Texas. So he, we know, has been,

has, you know, he ran against Donald Trump. He hasn't always stepped in line when it came to Donald Trump. He wanted to certify the election. So he's, we've seen him buck against Trump, but the concern is one thing that has stayed consistent about the Republicans, and that was definitely true or more obvious after January 6th is even though they might say, hey, we have these concerns, hey, this is wrong. I mean, look at Tulsi Gabbard. You know,

we've seen people stand up against them, but then when it comes to where they actually have to execute it, they fall in line with the party. So it's left to see, even though John through and says, yes, he'll work with Donald Trump. And he wants to carry out some of the things he said. And he specifically talked about crime and border control. It's been, we don't know if he will stand by recess appointments. We don't know how he'll be in leading the Senate when it comes to some of these confirmations. Is he somebody who's going to allow checks and balances to be in place and allow the Senate to actually do their job?

Or are they going to step inside and let the Senate blend under the executive branch to where we have. nothing but everybody just doing exactly what Donald Trump wants. That's the question. Trump is drawing up a list of Pentagon officials to fire. This is what sources are saying. He's going to drain that swamp. We're going to drain that goddamn swamp. If you drain the swamp, where do the alligators go?

To heaven? They die. Well, I mean, where else they're going to go? They probably do die. Like, what? they're going to go? I'm from the swamp. I've seen the

avigators. I am. My dad, maranguine, that's over right off the Chappalaya basin. Do you know what the Chappalaya basin is? I do not. It's a gigantic fucking swamp. Swamp people.

Going back to the Chafalaya, Rima, Raymond. Okay? You go back there in Ramey, you fish. You see a goddamn snake. You see an alligator. Anyway, I like the swamp.

Members of President-elect Trump's transition team are drawing up a list of military officers to be fired, potentially to include the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Wow. Two sources said, and what would be an unprecedented shake-up in the Pentagon. The second source says the incoming administration would likely focus on U.S. military officers, CNN's connected to Mark Millie,

Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Millie was quoted in the book, war by Bob Woodward, which was published last month, as calling Trump fascist to the core. And Trump allies have targeted him for perceived disloyalty to the former president. So all those people that are connected to him, they got to go. They got to get them out of here. Trump is purging the United States government of anyone who is not a loyalist. Step one for an authoritarian.

Let's talk about Matt Gates. this guy allegedly likes to have sex with underage people and he is up for the Attorney General's job. What the hell is going on? Like what the shit is going on? I think it's a strategic move by Trump and Matt Gates. I don't think, and maybe this is just me being super hopeful, I don't think he'll be confirmed.

But the fact that there was a report that was going to be released about him and now that's halted because he resigned when it was announced that he was the nominee. So if it comes out, it'll be leaked out. And he's still being investigated by the House Ethics Committee. I think this just might have been a move for where he'll never get Attorney General

and he could just be, and now the report won't come out as well. He doesn't hold office. He resigned because he thought he was going to be nominated. He doesn't get confirmed. and then maybe he gets something, he gets to do something else. I don't know.

I was thinking about this the other day because he's so controversial, right? And not just because he says he wants to get rid of things like the FBI, who was investigating him. He wants to get rid of, you know, other organizations like the CDC, ATF, he's talked about.

It's what he's been accused of, sex trafficking, minors, illegal drugs, all these things that make, him so controversial. Do you think he's somebody that the Senate can look past and not

confirm? And will confirm, I mean. You're coping right now. Matt Gates will be the AG. Damn. I am coping. I am. You're coping right now. I just want this to be something that they're just

helping him get out of, you know, being investigated because he's never going to get it. That's what I, yes, I'm coping. I'm reaching because I don't want to see this person who I truly believe also is not qualified. Forget the investigations. I don't even think he's qualified for this position. All he's qualified to do is to carry out the orders of Trump. I imagine that Trump called all these people and asked them to pledge their allegiance to him and then said, and I'm not nominated. These are people that he knew had allegiance to him.

But look, I have a exclusive for people. Donnie, give me some hard-hitting news. Van Lathen teams. Don't drop the three. Don't drop the three moons. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't drop the three booms, okay? But this is, I need my own Van Lathen exclusive.

Okay, you guys, it's a Van Lathen exclusive report. I was able to get a hold of Matt Gates's Justice Department. agenda as he goes into being the AG. Okay. Are you for real? Yeah. Yeah, I was able to get to. I was able to get it.

Okay. What are you talking? Rachel, what are you talking? Let me hear it first. Let me hear it. First of all, I've broken some pretty massive stories. Okay. I'm not doubting you on that.

Okay. And I was able to get this. Okay. All right. So Matt Gates has a whole plan that he's rolling out. All right. And it's a plan that he thinks is going to get people back to freedom.

Get back to be able to people to make their own decisions. Okay. The first thing that he's going to do is Matt Gates is going to make Mike's hard lemonade the beverage of choice in high schools across the country. That's the first thing on this list. So Matt Gates is changing up. In most high schools now, you have milk, chocolate, and white. All right.

Sometimes you have juice, sometimes you have lemonade. Matt Gates wants Mike's heart lemonade in all high schools around the country. Secondly, on his agenda, right away people that have offended and not been useful in American society, they must be prosecuted. So second on his agenda is Chris Hansen will be prosecuted and thrown in jail. Matt Gates is tired of people like Chris Hansen. Hansen praying actually on men from sea to shining sea and Chris Hansen off the streets. So Chris, your days are number. All right.

It's done. Third, national age of consent down to 15. Now, here's the thing. There's a reason why he's doing this. It's not for the reasons that people would think. There's a reason why he's doing this. he thinks that the young women of American can make their own decision. And Matt Gates is somebody who is going to make sure that 15 and 16-year-olds,

that they have the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. Matt Gates believes in people. All right. That's the third one. And the last one is very important. Matt Gates right now is prepared to commute the sentence of R. Kelly. so that he can be there in time to sing the national anthem at the inauguration. He's going to use his powers as AG to get him out of there.

Get him out. Bring our Kelly back. Gates and Kelly. It's Gates and Kelly. It's the Piper and Matt Gates. Think about the stuff that. Think about what Kells could do with Gates. Think about it.

I don't want to. I don't want to think about it. It's your boy Gates and your boy Kills. We fuck all day. We fuck all night. This is the life of a, the life of a team fucker, team fucker. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

That's dark. If you're in school and you girl, and you're coming in and out. This is the life of a, I'm making fun of these people. I don't care. That last one is the most disturbing thing. And also,

you guys understand how stupid. You guys understand how stupid. A guy who's under investigation for child trafficking underage girls is about to be the attorney general. like literally a white R. Kelly, allegedly.

It's about to be under investigation for, is about to be the Attorney General. The Attorney General of the United States. Well, I mean, you say that, but then it's like, but look at who our president is too. Now, I'm not obviously dealing with minors is like on a whole other level, but are the guys that our president is a convicted felon who's been found liable for.

great. So it's like this is, he's surrounding himself with not just like-minded, but people who act like him as well. I, I don't know why I want to have hope in the Senate that they won't allow this to happen. But I know you're right. Yeah. I know you're right. I know you're right. I know you're right. I just don't, so badly, the disaster that will be, the power that he will have over these departments, departments that he doesn't even believe should exist. Say goodbye to things in every way, not just under Matt Gates' control with some of these other ones as well. Say goodbye to things as you know it. He is presiding over things, departments, he doesn't even believe he should exist.

The very department that went after him. What kind of world are we living in? And you boy kills. Okay, that's enough. Let's bring in Paul. Paul's going to talk more about the crisis right now. That could be followed the DOD as Fox News host and Ivy League dude. Paul makes it.

It's in line to become Secretary of Defense. This episode is brought to by WeatherTech. Everyone knows Winter is the MVP and make it a mess. You don't need weather tech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast,

reliable internet means everything for your business and even this podcast. That's why I trust Spectrum business to keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. Okay. So the Trump transition is fully under. way, a lot of the appointments are coming in and some people say that they are comedy. Some people say that they are dystopian. And some people say that they're going to make America great again.

The first one that got people really scratching their heads was Fox News host. Paul Hickset was named as Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense. Now, I know a lot about the DoD, but I don't know nothing about the DoD at the same time. So we decide to bring in someone who can help us understand what the ramifications of this pick are. If there's any upside to it, just help us deconstruct what this particular pick means. And that gentleman's name is Paul Reichoff. He is the host of the Independent Americans podcast where you can get wherever you watch your podcast. But he has more qualifications than that. Army infantry officer at 9-11 first responder, we thank you, sir, founded the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, IA, VAVA in 2004,

founder and CEO of the Independent Veterans of America, while independent authority on politics, war of the military and veterans affairs. Paul, thank you so much for joining us on higher learning. I'm going to dive into the first question. Before we talk about specifically this appointment, what qualifications should the ideal sex death have? What are you looking for in the Secretary of Defense from your extensive knowledge? First of all, thank you guys. Great to be on the show. Big fans and much respect for what you do.

I'm also a really tired youth flag football coach. Oh, wow. So that's not my resume. But with the LSU helmet behind you, we could talk sports, football, all kinds of stuff, which would be a nice little diversion. And we're going to need a lot of, I think, in the next couple of years, given the way our policy is going, right? Right.

Look, I think the number one qualification for me is a leader who is respectable, who can be a role model for our nation and a strong person of character to the world. I think we have to appreciate that, in my view, the Secretary of Defense is the second most powerful person in the federal government. This is a person who oversees the largest budget, 700 billion plus. Nothing else is even close. That's bigger than many countries combined. It's 2.9 million people. They are, I think, the second largest employer in the world, right? The Pentagon, I think, is the largest office space building, one of the largest office space buildings in the world.

Right. And maybe most importantly, this used to be called the Secretary of War. This is the man or woman. There's never been a woman. Maybe there will be soon. This is the man or woman who leads our entire military. And is really the spiritual leader, the moral leader, the bureaucratic leader, the emotional leader, the emotional leader, the emotional. for the most lethal and most diverse fighting force on the planet. So what do I want? I want

somebody my kids can look up to. I want somebody that your kids can look up to. I want somebody who can lead us through, in my view, what is the most dangerous time we've ever seen, right? Because people don't realize that, you know, just two days ago, U.S. troops in Syria, where folks may not even realize we have troops, we're hit with rocket attacks. We continue to have men and women in harm's way. And I think maybe the second qualification that's most important in this environment is they should be above politics. This should be somebody who is not a partisan, who is not in the bag for any party. You know, I started a group called Independent Veterans of America back on July 4th. We started on Independence Day because the country is hungry for people who are beyond party.

And when you look at the Pentagon, the place that carries and leads everything from aircraft carriers to nukes, you need someone who is immune from all this chaos and bullshit that America can truly trust. And maybe you give you an example when when Obama was elected, he picked a Republican. He picked Bob Gates, right, because he wanted to bring somebody in who was respected, who understood how to manage a bureaucracy of that side, who had experience and trust in what they call the building, right? The Pentagon, everybody calls it the building. So I think those are really the most important qualification. Everything else is secondary. But this is going to be the person who has to lead us through everything from Ukraine to Gaza to the border. And so the border. to national guards responding to fires while Trump and the Democrats wage war in Washington.

So we need somebody who can be that leader and kind of help us rise above it. And frankly, cover our ass. While all this other stuff is going on, they have to preserve and defend the homeland and our democracy every single day. When we're off watching the Lakers or whatever else, they're making sure that our skies are clear and our enemies aren't taking advantage of all this chaos. So then why is Pete not qualified in your opinion for this job? And for those who say, because obviously people on the far right are saying, oh, he's great,

he's a great guy. That's what I keep hearing more than anything. He's a great guy as if that's something that qualifies you to hold this position. Can you talk about why he doesn't fit the qualifications? And for those people who are supporting him or are saying, hey, he does have military service, the difference between understanding military service versus military policy? Well, the great guy thing will come out in the wash, right? Because we're going to have a very thorough public betting,

and there have definitely been ethical issues that are quite public in his past. So the country and the Senate that we'll have to ultimately vote in favor him or not, we'll decide if he's a great guy, if he's a person of integrity, if he's a person of character, if he's a person we can trust to manage all these people and all these things with transparency and honor. The second piece is he is the most overtly political nominee for this position in history. This is not like taking a radical congressman. This is like taking Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, if they had served in uniform, and

taking them from Fox News, where every day he bombed away on the Democrats and sometimes Republicans, but almost always Democrats, and then transitioning him into leading the most lethal military on the planet. Pete Higgset is very, very effective. He is a brilliant communicator. He is very good at motivating people and communicating a message. That's why I've known him for a long time. We met back in 2009. We even worked together on some issues, even though we didn't always agree on things. We co-authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal because we were trying to reform the VA. But he is a culture warrior. He is a warrior for the right wing. He is a warrior for Trump. He is a warrior for his religion. He is a very effective. political warrior, which I think disqualifies him from being able to lead the most diverse and most complex military on the planet. That military is made up of probably 40, 30 percent Democrats. It's made up of 20 percent plus women. And five days ago, Pete Heggseth says he doesn't want women in combat. He said that. And he says he wants women out of combat roles. Well,

the problem is women are right now in combat roles around the world and over 200,000 women serve in the military. Thousands have been wounded. And in order to execute a policy like that, you have to do what Trump did during the trans ban when he banned all trans people from openly serving, which is literally ripped them out of units that are forward deployed. So these kinds of culture wars are what Pete Hexeth has been tasked to take to the Pentagon. He wants women out of the military. He wants to eradicate all diversity programs. He wants to remove the senior leadership.

Anybody who opposes Trump, they want to put in a loyalty test where they will ask if you're loyal to the president. And if you're not, you're gone. Somebody like CQ Brown, who is an African-American chairman of the Joint Chiefs, 40 years in the military, decorated combat fighter pilot. I think one of the most dynamic leaders in America, he's gone. He is absolutely gone on day one. and they're going to go down beyond that, remove everybody else that they can and install people who are loyal to this party and this movement first.

And that's a problem because everybody in those jobs should be loyal to our country first. And so I think this is going to come out over the next couple of days as people start to look under the hood here and understand that what Trump is doing is trying to reform the entire country or blow up the entire country, or however you look at it, in the way he said he would do. And he's starting with the Pentagon because that is in part the place that stopped him last time. They held the line. General Millie was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who said he would not allow Trump to deploy national guard troops against American civilian protesters. The military was the guardrail last time. Those guardrails are gone now. And that's why I'm encouraging everybody to be really vigilant, be really rigorous in betting this candidate and all the candidates that are coming through. Because this is what Trump said he was going to do. And now he's doing it. And it's happening fast. You know, we talked about football. This is a Blitzkrieve. This is throw. everything at him at him and disorient the quarterback, knock him down, break his leg, knock him out of the game so you can just dominate in the first quarter and you take their soul and then you roll, right? That's what he's doing here by nominating controversial nominee after

controversial nominee. It's like a giant flashbang grenade on our political establishment. And the Democrats are shattered. They're leaderless. They don't have a strategy. And they're just crying in their Cheerios right now while he's rolling and putting guys like this. And Matt Gates said Attorney General. Right. I want everybody to notice that Paul said Blitz Creek there and not Blitz. Just know your history. That was not accidental. What are the ramifications?

If we have a poor Secretary of Defense, what could go wrong? What's on the other end of somebody not knowing what the fuck that they're doing in that position? And what are the states? Well, I think we have to understand that the Secretary of Defense of the President have tremendous authority that they don't need to get approval for. Like, for example, the Iraq war, okay, or the Afghanistan war. These were never a declaration of war, right? When we responded to Osama bin Laden, right, and we responded to all these terrorist attacks after 9-11, the president got a blank check to do whatever he thought he needed to defend the homeland.

So he can, for example, strike inside Syria, which happened yesterday, three days ago, the Centcom, the Central Command, responded to an Iranian proxy threat by firing rockets into Syria. He doesn't need approval for that, right? He doesn't need to go to Congress and say, hey, can I throw some strikes into Syria? Right. So keep in mind, he can engage in targets around the world without any public approval until after it's happened. There can be investigations. There can be rigorous oversight. But I think maybe the most immediate thing is, if you're a woman in the military, how do you feel right now? If you're thinking about joining the military,

how do you feel right now? Is this a guy you want to work for? Is this a guy you want to be your boss? And there's also another element here that will come out, which is Pete Higgs has served in the National Guard and continues to serve in the National Guard. When January 6th happened, he was in a unit that was supposed to deploy to secure the capital.

He was pulled out of that unit because of controversial tattoos that he has that have been associated with white nationals. Okay? Now, he says they're just religious tattoos, but they were controversial enough that his command took him out of the unit and said, you're not deploying to the Capitol

because we're not sure, and we're pulling anybody out that we're not sure. This will come out in the days to come to, and even if it is untrue, right? Are you comfortable with a secretary of defense who has, you know, really religious tattoos that have been at times connected with white nationalism, who has a record of challenging ethics, who is overtly partisan and says he's loyal to Trump,

above all things, do you want to join the military right now? I mean, as a woman of color, do you feel comfortable joining the military, sending your daughter, sending your sons to serve in this military, and think about all the people who are in right now, who are like, you know, I might re-enlist or I might go to college, or I might go start a business. They're going to get out in droves. And in contrast, other people who are religious zealots or who are right-wing diehards who were a Trump loyalist, they're going in. So if this is implemented, all this stuff about Kamala Harris saying, we're not going back, I want people understand. This is literally dragging you back. This is the guy dragging it back and rolling back all those areas of progress. And in the end,

what does it look like? It's not going to look like the army of 2025. It's going to look like the Confederate Army. And that's what he has said he wants. That's what somebody like Tommy Tuberville, the radical senator from Alabama wants. And it can't go without saying, these are all white guys. I'm a white guy, right? And the message and the visual of what this says to a very diverse military and a very diverse country is very alarming and should have everybody concerned and activate it. Because this guy doesn't have to go through, right?

He has to go to Senate confirmation. I'm urging Republicans, especially to hold the line here, moderate Republicans who can speak out in defense of our democracy. People like Mitt Romney or Susan Ka, I'm not holding my breath on these people. But I think if they get enough pressure, if they get enough pressure, they will have a moment of judgment that they're going to have to answer for. And building off that, like, what do you think the likelihood is? Because we know that Trump has kind of put out a statement about being loyal to him. We know that there's floating the idea of recess appointments.

What do you think the likelihood is that someone like Pete Hexef would make? make it would be confirmed as the Secretary of Defense? If we were betting, right, more likely than not. Because what is fact now is that the Republicans have run the table. They have the White House. They have the Senate and they have the House. They have full reign to do everything without the checks and balances that are normally in place.

If the opposition party has at least one of those levers of power, they've got the Supreme Court. So they've got the full spectrum of power to implement what they want. And quite frankly, you know who you're dependent upon to stop them? The Democrats who are like the New York Jets of politics right now, right? Like, are you holding on for them to save us, right? This is why I think it's so important that we understand that not only this election result in a loss to the Democrats, I hope it results in not just a dismantling of the Democratic Party, but our entire political system.

think the Republican Party is obviously broken. The Democratic Party is obviously broken. And what we need is people who really care about their country, true leaders, to transcend parties, say, fuck all the parties because the solution to the two-party dominance is not a third party or a fourth party. It's no parties. And so I'm encouraging everybody. Don't give them your name. Don't give them your number. Don't give them your family and your time and your voluntary. Be independent and make them come to you and demand better and lead for yourself, for your family, for your community. Because right now, That's what we got, right? You can't depend on these guys to defend the goal line because they're getting run over every single fucking time. Yeah. Let's come back to the women in combat. His words on whatever podcast he was on, I've watched a clip a couple of times,

was that he doesn't see any way that having women in board units deployed makes for more lethal military. He says that women serving alongside men in combat units complicates things and that complications in combat units lead to less lethality and lead to mission non-accomplishment, basically. I've never been in combat. I've never been deployed or anything like that. You are someone who understands that.

Why do women make good soldiers? Why is it important to have women in combat? why is he wrong about the things that he was saying? Because I got to tell you, he is an outstanding salesman. And there are going to be a lot of people that look at him and are going to agree with what it is that he said. And that's why he was chosen. And if you look across this spectrum that Trump is casting,

these people all have a similar skill set. Somebody like Tulsi Gabbard, somebody like they're very good in media. They're very effective at selling. And that is what Pete Higsef is being tasked to do to sell what is a very extreme viewpoint about not just the military but the world. His view on women in the military is not based in fact. It is narrow. It is ignorant. It is backward.

Right. And just to give you an example, there are women who graduated from Ranger's School now. Okay. That is, you know, arguably the most elite, you know, a special infantry training on the planet. Ranger School is fucking hard. I didn't go through it. I don't know if you went through it, but women have now graduate. On call the duty.

Yeah, okay, right? Yeah, like I was able to complete. I mean, there were women who were combat pilots. They're basically in every single unit of the military, and they have shown they can do it, first of all, okay? And number two, they have served heroically. Tammy Duckworth is a decorated veteran. She lost both her legs in a helicopter crash.

She was on CNN last night, and she said to Pete Hague said, you know, women are already in combat. Did you think I lost my legs in a fucking bar fight? Like, this has been going on. on for a while. Every Western country, modern military, has already been ahead of America in integrating women into combat roles. And let me just give you a practical example. When I was in Iraq, I had an infantry unit. You want to be culturally sensitive. There were some places where we could not go in and forge bonds with women or even search them. They say you needed to search a woman,

right? In being deferential to the cultural norms, women, they were called lioness units, would search women, right? They were called, yeah, Lioness units. Check them out. Amazing. There's a documentary. Yeah. No.

You don't understand Taylor Sheridan every Sunday. Zoe Salada on Lioness. Have you watched me? Yeah. I haven't watched it yet. Oh, look. You got to tap in, Paul. I'm a big fan of Tyler Sheridan, so I'm in.

You don't have to convince me anymore. You don't have to convince me anymore. But that's an example, right? But where women are uniquely qualified, right, to do a special job. But across the board. they've shown they can do it. This is really backward shit, right? And it just doesn't pan out in terms of the data.

The data doesn't support it. The country doesn't support it. And there's a narrow group of people, generally to the right of center people who support Trump who support this shit. And that's who everything is built for here, right? It's about taking that beachhead with a very extreme political view and trying to move it more open, try to move it more open. And those changes can happen day one without congressional authority.

They can start to remove women from units. They can impose a trans ban again. They can fire people who are politically. They can make very, very significant changes in a very short period of time. And that's why I'm going to go back to Blitz, Blitz, Creek, whatever we want to use. It's going to come fast. And that's what he's pushing the pace to put pressure on the defense and it's working. And he's going to keep doing that until he gets slowed down.

And even then he's going to keep coming, probably for at least two years until the midterms, if not for four years and maybe longer. I'm scared. I'm scared and I feel hopeless, truly listening to you. And with everything that we're saying, and as we're learning more and becoming more knowledgeable about some of these positions in the administration and what they're able to do and where it leaves us with some of these nominations who could possibly be confirmed, I'm just like, what can we do?

What can we do? Paul, first of all, first of all, I want to acknowledge what you're feeling because it is, it is not unique and it is important to recognize. And that feeling that you have is not normal. And none of this is normal. And we have to recognize that. And don't let them normalize this shit. Don't let them tell you this is just, oh, you're just overreacting or you're being too sent. It is normal to be concerned and to be scared, especially for the welfare of people who have been identified for persecution.

or removal of their rights under what he said he will do. I have a public school here in New York. My kids go to public school. The school is preparing for kids to be removed, right? The principals have to prepare for migrant kids and other kids who are dreamers or others to be removed. And that is a practical application. And folks are right to be scared. But I'll tell you what I tell my kids.

And they have a very different perspective from you and so many other folks who might be listening. When they get scared, I tell them, you know, acknowledge your fear. and don't be scared, be prepared. And that's what we got to do is we got to be real about what this is. And you have to do what you can to prepare yourself for reality. Because this is like political combat. And for me, combat is about acknowledging the reality, right? Not sugar-coding it.

You got to stick together. You got to go back to your basics. You got to go back to your training. You got to go back to your family unit. And you got to remember kind of what got you to where you are and why you are who you are. And don't let them take that from you. I'm not going to bullshit you. I think it's going to be dark.

I think it's going to be hard. Not for everybody. There's going to be a lot of people who go along and get along, and they're going to see, you know, higher revenues and more access and power. But a lot of people are going to feel really scared. Some people are going to leave. And I think that's what they want.

You know, they want people to leave. They want to ram you down. They want to take your spirit. And you can't let them. And we've got to be creative and innovative and find ways to push back. And maybe most of all, take care of each other. That is the number one thing

we got to do is don't change it to being an asshole like Trump is. In my view, he's a disgusting human being. He's a terrible role model for my kids. I don't like having them on TV every day where my five-year-old listens to him talk to people. We have to set a better example and elevate and protect leaders who are stepping up to contrast it. That's really important here. They're going to be brave leaders who step up and speak out. We got to rally around them and we got to support them and we got to have their back. His name is Paul Reichoff, the podcast is the American's podcast. Paul, man, I have a feeling that this is the start of a beautiful and dystopian friendship between the three of us. We're going to have you back as these issues

continue to present themselves. And I also want people to find your podcast and listen to it. He sent me, this is the first thing I'm going to tell Paul this. I'm going to tell Paul this in front of everyone. Paul, hit me up. He sent me the thing on Instagram because I actually saw a couple of days ago when you were posting the thread of all of your friends as you guys were reacting to the sec deaf hire and I was like oh my god this is a guy that we should have on the podcast when you sent me your podcast you sent me a screenshot you got us in the link no I sent you a sneak preview did you am I told you you can go back and look at it when I said to you is this is going to drop tomorrow I believe Paul I got you excited I got you

about what was to come. You saw... Oh! Yes. It was coming out tomorrow. Yes. Put my new one up tomorrow morning. Okay, so then, but then I went and listened to it.

So fuck me, I'm wrong. No. I appreciate, and I hope you guys, I'd love to have you on the show. And I encourage folks to check it out. Can I give you one of the piece of hope? We supported 11 independent veteran candidates that ran for office across the country in this election.

Independence on everything from U.S. Senate. had a Navy vet named Dan Osborne to Temecula City Council, Eric Faulkner, a Navy vet in California, not far from you all. And four of them, out of the 11-1, two have yet to be called, including Eric Faulkner in California. He's down. By last count, I saw 121 votes. We might find out in the next week. But these are men and women who are the next generation of leadership. They went against both systems, the Republicans and the Democrats. They put country first, and almost half of them won. And we think that they, are hope for the future.

And I'm encouraging people who are listening. You don't have to be a Democrat or Republican to run. You can run for city council. You can run for a school board. And we need leaders to step up right now. And I hope that these men and women can be kind of a true north and a role model and inspiration for other folks. Wise words from a good man.

Thank you, Paul, for joining us, brother. Thank you. Thank you guys. Next time, let's talk like football and reality TV or something, huh? We'd love to. We can do that. We can do that phone. Because we only got one more week on all of this shit,

then we're going to turn the page. I love that. I love that vacation. Anytime. All right. Did you know about one and three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling? Does this sound like you?

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All right, that was awesome. I really like talking to Paul. Paul is a breath of fresh air. Paul is great. Yeah. I love an independent who isn't independent just to be a grifter in disguise, someone who really thinks for himself, you know.

I'm sure if Paul gets talking enough, you'll find something that you guys don't agree with, but that's healthy. You don't agree with me all the time. But I think he is, I love the podcast. He gave me the podcast. It's very easy to listen to. he's a tremendous, tremendous, tremendous,

speaker and communicator. And I think the podcast has a bright future, particularly during the times we're living right now. Rachel, Trump Biden, chat for two hours. President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump, peaceful, transfer of power. Don, audio.

Well, Mr. President, elect and former president, and Donald, congratulations. Thank you. And looking forward to having, like we said, smooth transition to everything we can to make sure you're accommodated what you need and we're going to get a chance to talk about some of that today so welcome welcome very much and thank you very much and uh politics is tough and it's uh many cases not a very nice world but it is a nice world today and i appreciate it very much and a transition that's so smooth it'll be as smooth as it can get and i very much appreciate that you you're welcome

Thank you all. I just so care less about this. You don't care? I was more interested in people talking about Trump not being the hype that he says he is on Twitter than I was. They were comparing Biden and Trump's hype that I was about this transition. I mean, it's exactly what I expected it to be.

Joe Biden's going to keep things classy. He's going to do everything as we, I would have loved to have seen him like just, step out and not make it peaceful and to totally not want to I would not want to shake his hand call out some of the things that Trump said about him I would want him to be bitter

I would want him to show out of course none of these things are going to happen he's going to keep things diplomatic which he did I could care less about this well it's what I'm saying the Democrats, the left,

put themselves in a position where they have to be who they say they are. If you are the decency, morals, standards, and values, either they exist or they don't. Either American institutions, traditions, and customs matter, or they don't. Now, you put yourself in a very precarious situation when you say that those things are the most important thing, and then you also say that the person that you're running against is a fascist that would bring about the end of democracy.

Because that right there means that perhaps that person isn't worthy of those traditions, those customs, those norms, and those values. Right. Maybe that's an exception to the rule. Maybe if you lose to that guy, then you don't do that type of thing. But see, I think it's important for people to understand that the desperation that the Democrats have instilled into us for the last four years, 10 years since Trumpism has come around, they don't feel that same desperation. It's obvious that they don't. I really don't think that

they do. There's no possible way that they could because desperate people do desperate things. And if there's one thing that you can say that the Democrats haven't done is anything desperate. desperate is suspending the filibuster desperate is packing the court desperate is like the desperation The most desperate move they did was calling for Biden to step down That's not even that desperate

That's the most desperate thing I can think of I get it but like what I'm saying is They're trying to foster a sense of desperation And hopelessness in us And they don't seem to feel it They tell us that and what the stakes are and then it's pretty much business as usual with them. Right?

It's pretty much business as usual. Well, we don't want to do this because this interrupts political norms. This interrupts the political status quo. And we have to maintain that in order to have a government. At the same time, the guy that they're talking about, we're told that he is the one that's going to disrupt the status quo and the federal government. This is why you can see all these appointments and everything.

So it's obvious that they don't feel that way. So since they don't, the most important thing is the peaceful transfer of power. It didn't happen in 2020 and 2021, but it has to happen now. And so that's what they'll revert to. If there's ever going to be somebody from the left that goes a little bit further, we don't know. But this is pretty much par for the course. I don't think there's any reason to get upset.

No, it's not reason to get upset. It's just the desire to want something different and more, which is what I was expressing. And it's interesting the way that you put it, because listening to you say it like that, it makes me feel like the Democrats are just going to roll over and take things how they are. It just, it makes it seem like that they would rather keep things in order

and the peace and diplomatic than they would to shake things up to get things back to, I guess, I don't want to say the values of the party, but just get things back to where we're not being run under the Trump regime and everything that that stands for. And the way that the Trump administration was able to do what they did in 2016 all the way to now back in power is disruption. And it's interesting to me that, and you're right, in listening to what you said, that there doesn't seem to be that same will from the Democrats in office that they have to do

that same thing in order to change the situation as to what it is now. Yeah, we'll see. By the way, this is, this is not particularly, I'm not particularly moved by what happened. It's just an observation. The Democrats have never really moved with any sense of desperation or we have to do it like this or like we have to do this, we have to do that. they've never, the institutions that they say matter to them really matter. Beyond anything else,

the institutions that Trump and the far right Magical say matter do not matter. They don't. The only thing that matters is loyalty to Trump and loyalty to their particular brand of ideological capture. So we'll see what happens. Look, off politics. Donnie, take us out of politics. Ooh, Denzel Washington.

I saw Gladiator 2, by the way, I saw it. How was it? No. That's not a real answer? Ask me again. How was Gladiator 2? Uh-uh. It was that bad?

Asked me again. How was Gladiator 2? On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, I was Gladiator. Huh? Okay. It was that bad? No.

It wasn't that bad. It's, and I don't want to step on our review on the Midnight Boys, PooPew, that's coming, that's coming next week. Put it to you like this. What is the number one pick in the draft in the NBA draft, average 15 points a game? In their first year?

No, period. for their career. Oh. And be mediocre. But if that had been an undrafted player without the same amount of height, expectation,

expectation, resources, investment from the team, you'd be like, oh my God, 15 points, you might overpay for that guy. But if it's the number one pick in the draft,

then 15 points, you'd be like, huh, maybe more like 16, 16.5. You'd be like, huh. but more importantly Denzel says in an interview with

Gayie that he kissed a man on the lips while filming Gladiator 2 but the scene was cut from the theatrical here's Denzel with the audio your character makes a few

remarks throughout the film about having a relationship with other men in the film So I wanted to ask how gay is the Roman Empire? The entire empire or the I actually kissed the man in the film, but they took it. They cut out. I think they got chicken. I was going to ask because I just heard about the Paul and Pedro forehead kiss that apparently got cut from the movie. I'm not sure about that one, but I kissed the guy full on the lips and they, I guess they weren't ready for that yet.

Oh, ma'am. Well, I showed them about five. minutes later, but I mean, it's gladiator. It's gladiated. The kiss of death. Okay, Denzel kisses a guy full on the lips.

Now, it seems as if this kiss is more akin to the Michael Corleone Godfather two kiss. You kiss is Fredo? Do you know this? No.

Okay. But a lot of people I've seen A lot of people I've seen are super disappointed in Zenzel. They're like, oh my God, man, Hollywood got to Denzel. Denzel fell victim to the agenda. Denzel, man, we thought that Denzel was one of the last ones that wouldn't be on it like that. But Denzel is just another one that fell victim to the agenda.

Well, Denzel called it right then. He said they couldn't handle it. And it's interesting to hear that perspective. You say it like that because when I saw this or listened to this clip and read about this, I was like, oh, what does he mean? You know, like they weren't ready for it. Well, this is who he's talking to because he's playing somebody in the Roman Empire. Obviously, you watch these films.

People play for both teams. And so it's not abnormal for him to have the character that he's playing, to have a relationship with men and women. And so the fact that he kissed this guy, which we'll never see, is part of the role that he was playing. Doesn't mean that it got to. I understand that some people see Denzel a certain way, so they don't want to see him any other way,

but that doesn't define who Denzel Washington is as a man, he's an actor. He was acting, played a part. And I actually appreciate Denzel Washington. nobody had to ever know this. He didn't have to put this out here and it sounds like he was proud of the role that he played in all aspects of it. And he wanted people to know,

I did this. I wasn't afraid. But the powers that be wore. So there's a couple of things about, there's a couple of things about Denzel. Denzel has consistently refused to like kiss white women on screen. There was a very famous,

this movie, I think the movie was called Love Field. And it was supposed to be Denzel and Michelle Pfeiffer, but it ended up being Michelle Pfeiffer and Dennis Haysbert. Because the movie had... The fake Denzel?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Is that how that starting? What? That he was the fake Denzel. I'm not sure. I'm not sure, but he's been in movies where, like, they took out a love scene in the Pelican brief. Denzel, Julia Roberts, because Denzel didn't want to upset his black female fans by being with a white lady on screen, kissing a white lady on screen. Those days are over.

Definitely over. Definitely over. I guess my thing is, and I, this is the most. important thing for everybody out there that feels like let down by Denzel. First of all, grow up. That's the first thing. There's no agenda. No one's trying to make you gay.

Okay? I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it. I've had the conversations before. Van, you really don't think that there's an agenda? No, I don't think that there's an agenda. I don't think anybody's trying to make you gay. I'm sorry.

Show me the internals. I need to see the internal polling on the agenda. Okay? I'm not just taking you guys as word for it. Number one, I don't think there's an agenda. Number two, like, you know, we really need to be there for each other as black male role models

because you can't be disinvested into what Denzel's got going on. You can't. Denzel obviously doesn't care. Denzel Washington doesn't give a fuck what anybody thinks about him, and that includes you motherfuckers. and he said this over and over and over again.

You clown Denzel about the mustache. Denzel said about the mustache. Yeah. Do you remember this? When they people, oh, Donnie, find Denzel when people were clowning him. Did the goate or the mustache? Okay, so Denzel had to go tea and he was at the fight. Denzel had to go tea and he was at the fight and they meaned Denzel.

and he was asked about it. I think it was Blogzilla who asked him about it. When they asked Denzel about it, he looks so good. Okay, so there's the meme on screen. They asked Denzel about it. Oh, that is not a goatee.

That, yes, I remember this. That's not the goatee. I was like, he looks good with the goatee. Okay, so Denzel was at the fight. They asked Denzel about the mustache. Now, he had that for the Magnificent Seven movie. But this picture, he looks like

postman Denzel, Denzel, the mechanic. Denzel from the general store, Uncle Denzel, grand Uncle Denzel, really. And then Denzel did an interview with Blogzilla where he's straight up

shit on everybody that had a problem with it. Donnie, do you have it? Do you have it? They put this picture of you up. and everyone just started putting little comments called your uncle Denzel. Did you see that stuff? How did you feel when you saw yourself become an internet meme? If I had my wallet, I'd show it to you.

Because they didn't know what I was doing. Yeah, no one knew. No one knew. They don't need to know. Yeah. There you know that. Yeah, those who can do, those who can't talk about those who can. I tweet, I say, yeah, I need to come down.

You say it again. Send that out. Those who can do. Those who can't talk about those who can't. Yeah. Now, can you or can you not? You just want to sit on the sideline to talk about other people, or can you step up?

I told him, I say, he's filming the movie, calm down, movie's going to be great, and it truly was. So thank you guys to take your time to chat with me. I really appreciate you. But Denzel was, he was pissed, and he told everybody to go fuck themselves. And I guarantee you right now, for everyone that's mad at Denzel

or disappointed in Denzel because he participated in a scene where he kissed the guy, he's going to tell you to go fuck yourself too. He doesn't care what you think. His masculinity and his sexuality isn't up for debate by you. He's a 70-year-old black man who's raised the family has been around and he does what he wants to do.

That is the definition of a free man. Yeah. Like that is the definition of a free man. He does whatever he feels like he wants to do And anybody else, it's fuck off, whether you like it or not. Yeah. So you can be, you can be disappointed all you want. But come on, man.

Come on, doll. Like, we got to overreact to every little thing. Whatever, bro. All right. I think we're done. I don't know. What else you got? We got Meek meals separating themselves from Diddy.

That's a tough of meek. No. Bernice Burgo, $70,000 in, bartended? It's ridiculous. Played out. Oh, the Onion buys InfoWars at bankruptcy auction. The Onion has bought InfoWars. InfoWars was put up at bankruptcy auction. Of course, the families of the Sandy Hook victims sued Alex Jones and won like a gazillion dollars. Yeah, like $1.5 billion. Right. Info Wars was put up at auction and the Onion has purchased it. Their parent company. The Connecticut families agreed. to forego a portion of their recovery to increase the overall value of the onions bid, enabling its success. So the families of the San Diego victims help the onion buy Info Wars.

This is probably the most rewarding story of the week for me to see it end up like this, to see them being able to give it to some place that massively, massively trolls places like Info Wars. So as it seems like people continue to lose, at least in this situation, someone was punished for their vicious, hurtful, and despicable lies. Right. Do we want to talk about choosing who's going to be your baby's dad and why we need to hold people accountable? You don't talk about that?

We want to talk about Sky Jackson and her boyfriend who goes behind. She said he didn't do it. Let's just let her have it. She said he didn't do it. So this is what happened. Sky Jackson, the former Disney star, her boyfriend who goes by

Yerky Yerke. Just let it have it. It's just Oh. Sky. Oh, boy. He goes by Yerky Yerkey.

Apparently he posted on Facebook, Yerkey, posting on Facebook. He said, oh, wow, I'm salty. I got this Domestic.

Skyj And her mother said that yurkey, yurkey did not say this. His page was hacked. Look, Sky is pregnant with her first child. This is the man she has decided to have a child with. She said he didn't say it. I don't want to add any more stress to her pregnancy because, my God, I cannot imagine the father of my child

who I am tied to for life, writing that I am a dumb-ass Disney Channel bitch and saying that he hates that he got me pregnant, who he allegedly in this post also refers to her as a whole. I cannot even imagine how stressful that may be. She said he didn't do it. The mom said he didn't do it. They claim he was hacked.

As several people on social media have said, nobody's trying to have yurkey, yurkey Okay, okay so this is the deal until I hear from yurkey yurkey I tried I tried I tried

So Sky and her mom beautiful black talented women okay but until I hear from yurkey this man's government name I haven't heard from yurkey yurkey yet until I hear from yurkey

I'm inclined to believe this look, Sky Jackson deserves a completely stress-free pregnancy and the best. Okay? But I got to say, at some point, because we do this on one side and not on the other side. When someone gets somebody pregnant and it's an NBA star or an athlete or, well, NBA star is an athlete, NBA star actor or an athlete, NBA star actor rapper or whatever, and then the woman, we always judge the woman and we say, hey, NBA God of stature, this is what you get for getting this woman, okay? I don't do this because I don't call them pitches and gerbils and all of that type of disgusting talk.

But this is what you get for getting this type of woman pregnant and letting your dick lead you around and being led around by your dick and having unprotected sex and bussing back, Nutinsky, Nutinsky, Nutella, all of that. We always say that. This is what you

get for being irresponsible. But there's a... So this is what Sky gets. There's a phenomenon. You love when you have a thing. There's a phenomenon with women of Skye's stature

letting New Yorkie yurkey's getting them pregnant. Who else? I'm not talking about it because there's no reason to bring them into this. You said it's a phenomenon. There's a phenomenon. There is.

There's a phenomenon. There is like women like Sky Jackson letting yurkey yurkey's get them pregnant. And then after yurkey yurkey gets them pregnant,

we got to hear about the drama between them and yurkey. We got to hear about the drama. hear about yurkey yurkees other people and all of the yurkisms for like a long time. But we don't hold them accountable in the same way for the yurtsers that they let get them pregnant as the other side. There's something that comes along with a yurke yurkser yurks. I'll hold her accountable, but she is pregnant.

So I'm just like, I just, I get it. I hope for health and happiness for you as you are carrying this baby because this this would be a lot, right? Because it's one thing for you to know your own yurkey, but not everybody knows how your yurkey yurkey is or that you're with one. And that's a lot. Because we just getting started.

We just get started with yurkey, yurkey. I don't mean to pass judgment on the yurkester. But if this, if this, anyone, I'm not passing judgment on anybody. I'm just asking the question. but if this if this post is true you can't do it like this okay you like you can't you can't you can't do you can't do your people like this all right so bad you can um before we go i want to announce something you guys thought it was gone you thought it was over it's not over and when i say it

i mean the bBI there is a fresh bBI case that i have to announce oh shit and this is it I think it is? Yeah. This is going to hit close to home. Okay. Anna Marie Wiley, you have forced the BBI to open up a case on you. We were going to do it after the podcast, quite frankly. But after the comment that you left on Instagram,

Anna Marie, we have got to open up a case. on you. I posted part of the RG3 conversation Anna Marie Wiley came back with let's normalize calling people biracial or mixed race.

The one drop rule is old and antiquated and all of that stuff. Maybe she's right. No it comes from a good place. But this plus the interview. She also said in Canada she's mixed but here she's black. I get that.

I mean, that makes sense. I'll say again, to all of my biracial people out there, you're just black to me. Okay? You know, you and I have different takes on that. What is, what,

reiterate your take real quick? I'm not going to, I get that you're just black to me. And as, and like, I believe that if you are black and white, that the world is going to tell you that you're black and I believe that you should identify as black. But I'm also not going to force somebody who's black and white to be what they are.

I'm not going to be like, well, I just see you as black. It's like if you identify as biracial and mixed, cool. I'm not going to be like, but I see you as black. I'm not going to tell, I'm not going to do that to them. I'm just like, okay. It's just an okay to me. I get it.

My only problem with that, Anne Marie doesn't do this, Anna Marie doesn't do this. My only problem with that is that those people will tell you that and then they'll inward you in the same sentence. They'll, like literally, somebody will say to you, man, I'm not black.

I'm black and white. I'm biracial, nigger. And then you'll be like, so should I smack your open mouth? For what you, what, so you're, okay. I have no problem with it. I accept you're just black to me. But if there's any hit that maybe the calling of you being black bothers you.

Now, we agree on this. Then me, biatracial, and Michael Harriet got to get involved. I agree. All right. Now, Amory, lovely lady. Lovely lady. I very much enjoyed our talk. But that's not going to stop me.

I'm opening it up a motherfucking case. And this one's going to be robust. I feel like this case is going to be the case that really makes the BBI. BBI director by Tretel. We have to talk to her. And look, here at the BBI, we have a birational in charge of the BBI. she's got to you have to bump her up

she's not the director of the BBI in the new Trump era she has to be because you know for appearances I have somebody part white up there but Amory

I just want to let you know a case has been opened on you we're watching if you see guys in jackets surrounding you if you hear clicks on the phone when you're talking it's us

BBI BBI BBI The BBI The Biorials don't try The BBI If you white-ass the sky Look out for the BBI

If you think you're by Look out for the BBI Come in don't try Oh BBI Okay, that's enough This is good That's a good one

Take things caps off Do Not Stop Learning Thank you to Paul Riccaf For joining us on the show today The podcast is called Independent American the Independent American podcast, go check it out. Do not stop learning on Van Leeton-June.

And I'm Rachel and Lindsay. Bye, guys.