Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Trump’s Bizarre Panel, MAGA Rejects Their Favorite Son, and the Political Football of Misinformation

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay talk about Trump’s strange panel at the National Association of Black Journalists and the importance of it for the election (19:50). Then, they talk about the political jump on the gender debate after the Olympic women’s boxing match between Italy and Algeria (44:38). Later, they touch on the breaking news about Kyle Rittenhouse's announcement that he will not vote for Trump this coming election (1:11:44). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producer: Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Her learning is on. It is I, Van Lankton, Jr. And it is me, Rachel and Lindsay. Coming to you live from NABJ in Chicago. Whatever. You made it there?

I'm in Chicago, yeah. What are you talking about? Wait, I didn't know you were going to NABJ. Maybe I did. Were you there for opening day is the question. No, I was still in North Carolina. I would like to say right now that I'd like to shout out Molly, Darrell, Matt Barnes, Melissa, everybody in Raleigh, North Carolina that I met and worked with with P68,

talking about some of the issues in North Carolina, talking about voting, getting out the vote, and Raleigh, beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina. this past week, it was a fantastic situation. I can't wait for people to see some of the content that we created some of the conversations that we had. It was amazing. I have thoughts about North Carolina. Rachel, would you like to hear them?

Well, I was, yes, because I was actually going to say, why North Carolina, why did you decide to go there? You know, what brought you there? What were some of the issues? Well, it wasn't my decision to go there. P-16 is the organization, and they were doing outreach in North Carolina. There is a gubernatorial race coming up in North Carolina,

and Mark Robinson, the demon himself, is running there. So I think people, we want to get out the vote in North Carolina. We had some amazing conversations. It was great. I hadn't spent much time in North Carolina before this. I'd been, but I hadn't spent much time. Okay. Okay.

A lot of conversation about whether or not North Carolina is the South. What do you think about? Is North Carolina the South or not? Wait, from people outside of North Carolina or inside North Carolina. outside of North Carolina. North Carolina is North Carolina considered the South. Yes. Virginia's considered the South and it's on top of it.

So I would say that North Carolina isn't the South and let me tell you why. Wow. Well, you don't think, people don't think Texas is the South either. It's not. But let me tell you, let me tell you why North Carolina isn't the South. It's too nice. North Carolina is fucking immaculate. It is a really nice place.

I'll say this. I'm from the South. I'm from the deep South. I'm from the undeniable Southiest of Souths. Okay? And I got to be real with you. There is a certain shittiness that has to exist. for your place to really become the South.

Fly into Baton Rouge's airport. You're like, yeah, I'm home. Fly into the Raleigh Airport. The shit is crazy. It's like North Carolina is a wonderful community. I'm not saying that my community isn't down there. Down there in Baton Rouge isn't wonderful. But if you go to Baton Rouge, Rachel, you've been,

you're going to see, it's going to feel like the South. It's not Dallas, it's not Houston, it's Baton Rouge, Louisiana, all right? It feels southern. Now, I consider Texas the South. I just want to be clear. But I will say when you go to certain cities in the South, oh, you know you're there. Baton is one of them. Charleston is one of them.

Well, Charleston's very nice, though. So if we're talking about the overall, Charleston is extremely nice. No, no, no. They're nice southern cities just like there. I'm sure there are not nice cities. in North Carolina. You went to Raleigh. You had a beautiful experience. I went to Greensboro as well. I went to Greensboro as well. Don't. I went to Greensboro's two. I went to two of the big three. I went to Greensboro's super duper nice Greensboro all over

Greensboro time. But it doesn't have to be bad to feel like the South. Savannah feels like the South. Jackson feels like the South. Like Birmingham feels like the South. These places feel Southern. Birmingham is also shitty, but go ahead. Okay, but I'm just saying to be filled Southern, it doesn't have to feel shitty, is my point. You don't know anything. Hold on for a second. Hold on for a second. I don't know anything. What? You don't know anything about what you're from Texas. But I've been to Southern City. I've been to the South. You ain't been to these places. Like you ain't been to these places like I've been.

You don't talk about the South like this. How much time have you spent in Natchez, Mississippi? How much? Do you know your way around, Tupelo? Pick a random city. Just pick a random city. Just a random city. Sure. How do you feel about Mobile? How much time have you spent there? I've been there.

You ever vacation in Pensacola? You ever thought that Pensacola was the Angola? People love Pensacola. Destin, Pensacola. People love it. Have you ever saved up a whole spring just to summer in Biloxi? Let me tell you something. I'm not going to prove how southern I am to you.

I know. Because you're not. You're from Texas. I've driven through it. We used to take those drives all the time. I've been to multiple cities. Multiple cities. I've spent time there.

I might not have vacation at the exact city that you named, but I have vacation in plenty of southern cities. So I'm not going to sit here doing it. You ever been to the Beauvage Casino? No. That doesn't mean anything. I'm just saying. No.

But I'm glad you had a good productive time. By the way, North Carolina is the South. This is the joke. North Carolina is definitely the South. I was just joking with my North Carolinians, because North Carolinians, shall I say, because it's a very nice state. It's very beautiful.

North Carolina is very beautiful. The Carolinas are beautiful, Virginia. That whole area is just really green and beautiful. So good. A city I want to go to North Carolina is Asheville. Asheville. Ashville. I would say something else.

to my people in North Carolina. It just goes out to Tate Fraser from here at the Ringer. I'll tell you guys. I love a lot of my Ringer colleagues. I love all of my Ringer colleagues. I don't know why I said a lot like it's a couple of niggas I don't like.

I love all of my Ringer colleagues. But I'll tell you, man, Tate is the man. Do you know Tate, Rachel? No. You have it? That's incredible. You don't know Tate.

Tate. You're on like five podcasts. Like Tate Fraser's great. Tate Frazier is from North Carolina. And me and him were talking about North Carolina. He's a great guy. His mind is like a steel trap of sports. Okay.

And culture. We're going to do a home-and-home where he comes to Baton Rouge. And then I go to his hometown in North Carolina. He's not from one of the big three cities. And we talk about it. I was talking to him about Bojangles. Now, here's the deal. Bojangles chicken.

I was asking around North Carolina about Bojangles chicken and the North Carolina people you guys didn't have any faith in your own shit now I was asking people hey should I try to Bojangles while I'm here and they were like oh Bojangles is okay you but whatever whatever whatever and then I tried to Bojangles and it was good

it was good chicken I liked it but y'all didn't have faith in your own shit now if you come to Louisiana and you ask us about Pop We're going to tell you, go down there and get you some Popeyes. We're going to tell you which Popeyes is the best Popeyes to go to. We'll tell you. But North Carolina was wishy-washy on the Bojangles as if they was afraid for me to try the Bojangles and not like it. I'll try it to Bojangles.

It was good. The biscuit was good. The sweet tea was good. I'm all in on Bojangles. You know, I've never been. I'm assuming it started since you're talking this way, North Carolina. I always see it in airports. And I'm not going to try it.

Why? that's saying. In the same way, in the same way you said, you would tell people to go to Popeyes and which one, I doubt people would be like, yeah, make sure you try that airport, Bojangles. And it's not in North Carolina when I see it. I just,

I would rather go to a storefront, Bojangles if I'm going to try it for the first time. That's just me. I think that the Popeyes and the Chick-fil-A taste the same in the airport. I think it's fine. Well, I've had it before. So, yeah, maybe I could make that distinction, but I'd rather try it at a storefront.

I hosted Miss Team USA yesterday. How was it? It was really fun. I did it with Justin Sylvester. Yeah. Speaking of chicken. Yeah. And so it's fun to do things with your friends, you know.

And so we, you know, hosted the pageant. It was pretty cool to see the behind the scenes, how it all works. Had a lot of fun. Haven't had an experience like, that of hosting before. Live, televised. Yeah, really enjoyed myself. Mississippi one, speaking of the south.

What's the age here at Miss Teen USA? You got to be 17? 17,900? No, there were girls 15. Yeah. 15. I think there were girls in college. So I'm going to say 19 could be the oldest.

They didn't say their age, but when I tell you, these women are in, insanely accomplished. They had their own businesses as teenagers. They had nonprofits that targeted issues that they were dealing with, whether it was mental health, whether it was the loss of a loved one. If it was mental health, they might have started an organization that dealt with this specifically. One girl was into dance. So she had started a dance company to help kids through their mental health. I mean, it's just really impressive what these young people are doing. And when you constantly hear that the next generation is lazy or not. doing anything. It was really encouraging and inspiring. I was like, gosh, I think I'm

accomplished, but hearing what these young people are doing and they're just like about to get their lives started was really cool. And I don't think that's enough talked enough in the pageantry world. You know, it's mostly about beauty. But this is, it was beauty and substance, which is really cool to say. Amazing. I also want to say something else. I don't like to talk to. I don't like to talk about my divorce. And I haven't really gotten into it. But it's one thing for me when my divorce, I'm getting teary at it. I think it's because it's so early in the morning and I'm so tired. It's one thing.

Suck it up, Lizzie. Get it out. When my divorce affects me, but it really upsets me when it impacts people that I can, I really am crying. oh my gosh, it really upsets me when it impacts people that I care about. And at the same time where I'm, you know, like trying to move on and trying to do things and, you know, like really excited about Miss Teen USA, an article comes out because nothing can happen in my divorce without a court filing, it seems like, which is then where information is either leaked or reported on. But we talked about this podcast about the whole TMZ thing. And what I didn't stress is that I was very uncomfortable with the fact that I was going to be sitting at my house for multiple reasons while Brian was moving out.

And I asked you and Kalika to come over and just sit with me. And without hesitation, the two of you did that, which meant a lot to me. And I think I said it, but I don't think I really expressed it. And it really did me. You know, we joked about it, but it meant a lot that you guys took time out of your day just to be. with me and there was no pushback. Like, you called, we're there and you sat with me. And the fact that that has turned into something negative or used against you really upsets me. And I'm so sorry that you were just being a friend. And now it's turned into something that's messy. And it's one thing, if it's me,

because I got to deal with it, because it's decisions that I did or didn't make in the past. but it really bothers me when people that I love do something nice for me and then it's turned against them and tried to use it in a negative way to insinuate something or to disparage them. So I just want to say that I'm so sorry that you're brought into this just from being a friend, you and Kalika. And that's it. Yeah.

You're totally welcome. And I said I wouldn't come again, but I would come again. Here's the thing. No, I know. So here's the thing. That's it. That's fine. I had all of this stuff that I had wanted to say, but it's not worth it.

It's not worth it. It's not worth it because this is all I'm going to say for real. This is it. Don't play with me, man. Don't play with me. Like, I never had. no disrespect for nobody. I tried my best while things were good to be a good friend and to like be outgoing.

I do fucking, I'm just going to say it. Like I never had no smoke for Brian, no kind of way, whether things are good between you and Brian, whether things were bad between you and Brian. I made every overture that I could for to be Brian's friend. I had no issues with Brian. I thought Brian was a cool guy. I thought Brian was an interesting dude. Like, I was supportive of whatever.

Like, Brian had his business. Like, I went to his business. He wanted me to come use the machine. I went to his business. I used the machine. I posted it on the Instagram. I've never in any way snake, Brian, had anything to say,

what's going on? People's relationships? I stay out of that. Man, don't play with me, man. Don't fucking play with me. Like if there's nothing, at least have, if you feel, I'm not here for this. If I could break down in a long, winded way, this is as serious as I've ever been on this podcast. I could break down in a long winded way, why that wasn't even TMZ that was out there.

If you know anything about the way the paparazzi move, that wasn't even them. They bought those photos. So there's somebody that's either following him or following you. They're either doorstepping you, like we said before, or somebody from his team or somebody tangential to his team called them. Had nothing to do with me. And like that's, but don't, I've never had anything in any way, in any real way to come up to, don't play with me. Like, don't, in any way. And if you're going to play with me, at least have the Ford.

to pick up the phone and have a conversation when it's about that. Because I'm not trying to, Rachel, you've been gracious. I don't know what's going on between you and Brian, like, in terms of the day, but you've been very gracious on this podcast about the way you approach this and the way that you talk about it and the ways you deal with it. And we have not used this podcast as, no, thank you. No. now, like we haven't used this podcast as a pulpit to bash this man.

Have we made jokes? Have you expressed frustration? Yes. But there are other places where you go out there, you listen to two hours of someone going in on somebody by name and calling out all of their different situations that hasn't happened here. And it's not going to happen from me. I'm never going to be somebody to come on here and go.

go at him like that because I never had those feelings for him in the first place. The feelings that I had was a genuine affinity for the guy. So I'm not going to stop liking him now because you and him are into it. Right. But if I have a conversation with him about anything, it's going to be like on the phone, man to man, cologne smelling distance. Let's talk as human beings as men, right? not as bad bitches as men.

So like just in all seriousness, no, I'm the last time I'm gonna speak on it. I have no fucking, hello? That's okay. Thank you very much. Last time I'm gonna speak on it, but that's that. And whatever you need, we'll still be there for you.

It's not the last time that I'm going to say something, but I will say I also want to note that when y'all were there, you didn't say one word to him. Like, no, you were with me. Not one word. There was no crossover. Well, I slept. Like, to be honest with you, I don't know if I could.

I'd have said, what's up? Like, I'd have been like, I'd say what's up or whatever. I would have had no problem. I, like, I slept because I had just boxed for three hours. So, so I I was taking a nap. But I would have a picture of you on

copper too where you're sleeping at copper is just standing over you yes you are but just you know anyways that's all i'm going to say about that but that's very people like i just want to move on like i'm trying to move on trying to move forward i'm not trying to get like and i keep getting dragged backwards like some of us are just trying to move on and this was just frustrating me so you know just wanted to get that off my chest wanted to dress that some thought warriors want to dressed up to you. Love you. And don't love you too.

Don't want it. Don't want it to happen again. Yeah. Well, shit. The next time this happened, I'm going to shoot the footage myself. Fuck it. All right.

What the fuck? I'm going to call. It's so crazy. What the fuck? All the things I could call about, all the stuff I know. It's like just the people. I, if I, nuts.

All right. Well, you sat on this podcast before. You're like, people keep reaching out and you're like, I'm not the one. Every fucking week, people hit me up. Yo, I got this. I got this. Like, I don't work there anymore. I don't want.

I haven't. Yo, do y'all realize that when I was working there, I wouldn't break stories? Like, people would be like, I was not the Walter Winchell. It's whatever, man. All right. Trump. Trump did Trump. He was out here in Chicago.

He beat me to NABJ by mere hours. By mere hours. I missed the spectacle. We'll talk about it on the other side of this. 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? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away.

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Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at fandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. All right. Rach, we got a lot of stuff backed up. We're reporting on a Friday morning. Did you see Trump's appearance at the NABJ? I did.

I sat and I watched it. Yes, I did. What you think? I mean, listen. First off, you sound upset that you missed him by more, by mere seconds or minutes, as you said. So it seems like if you could have been in the room, you would have been. Which would have been interesting because, you know, I read a lot about it. But then when I actually sat down and watched it last night, there was a message at the top of it that asked people to be very respectful.

And to give him the same respect, you know, the voice of God at the top of it said to give him the same respect, you know, that you would give anybody sitting on stage or another journalist. I've really been scratching my head with this one. I've barely been going back and forth of trying to understand what was the end game here for. in ABJ. What did they hope to accomplish? You know, was it to bring attention to the convention? Was it to go viral to trend? Was it in the name of journalism? Was it to give black journalists the opportunity to be confrontational that, you know, to President Trump, who's very hostile towards the community? Because they haven't really had that platform before. What was it? I don't know. but it was a disaster to me for multiple reasons.

If I had attended, I always forget, like, NABJ sneaks up on me every single week. But I, and so if I had been there this year, I would not have attended this, especially when I would have received a message from the top of the show that said that you couldn't, you know, say anything, you couldn't, you know, talk back. I wouldn't have been able to sit there in silence.

But to me, Trump's message, before he took that stage and while he was on that stage and after he was on that stage, it's simple. It's always been the same. Either you're with me or you're against me. Trump is not trying to appeal to those, not trying to appeal to anyone except those that echo and reinforce his problematic messages. He's not trying to speak to the undecided. He's literally telling you what this, it is what it is and what you can, and that you can accept it or not. He's not going to change. He's only going to get louder. He's only going to become more emboldened. And I just don't understand why an organization that has issued statements over the years

about the harm that Donald Trump has called to black journalists, specifically black women journalists, would put those journalists in a situation and the audience a room full of journalists and subject them to that type of behavior. I mean, on full display was Trump's disgust for black women and his lack of respect for black people. And I just feel like by inviting him to the stage under those circumstances, when you knew that Vice President Kamala Harris could not attend,

when you knew that journalists couldn't, you know, other journalists couldn't question him or just like it wouldn't be free free reign for people to come to question Trump the way that they wanted to, then I feel like you were abandoning your own mission when it comes to protecting black journalists, which is what the NABJ is about. Okay, so there are a couple of different aspects of this

and we're going to get to them as we talk more about the actual mechanisms of the appearance. So I disagree. I understand the criticism. I understand the criticism of having Trump come to the NABJ, right? What it feels like is that you're platforming Donald Trump in the room for the black people to make his

case to black Americans and in a way you're inculcating into the black American political discussion Trump's mega ideas. Right?

I get it. I understand the trepidation. And I will say this. Trump's appearance at the NABJ at NABJ this year kind of destroyed NABJ. There were a lot of panels from a lot of people, people that I respect a great deal. A colleague of mine, Rochelle Ritchie had a panel that she had been working for for a very, very long time. And she was very excited about this panel. I met Rochelle while she was working over at Revolt. very talented, fantastic journalists,

and her panel got canceled because some of the panelists pulled out because of Donald Trump's appearance. There were other people, Raquel Willis, didn't go to the NABJ. George Johnson didn't go to the NABJ. These are people that were supposed to have had panels and supposed to be on panels.

It didn't go to these panels and take part of these panels because of the decision to put Donald Trump on at NABJ. So in a lot of ways, the programming here was significantly altered by the fact that Donald Trump was scheduled to come on and he did the interview that he did. So I understand the trepidation. I understand the conversation before about whether or not we should be doing this. If you look at the result of the panel, and if you look at how the panel is Rachel Scott, Kadia, Gabba, Semaphore, and Harris Faulkner,

the way that they conducted the panel. Harris Faulkner, not so much. That's a home game for Trump. She's from Fox News. Although she asked legitimate questions. There's no way you can argue that the NABJ was wrong for putting Trump up there.

If you look at what actually happened, there's no way you can argue it. And this is, and this is why I say this. I don't think that the NABJ or any organization that promotes journalism that their goal should be to protect journalists. If that is the stated goal of the NABJ, then that's the wrong goal to me.

Journalists, in my opinion, don't need to be protected. They need to be platformed. They need to be promoted. They need opportunity. Journalism is an inherently dangerous thing. It's dangerous. to be a reporter from a social aspect.

The truth is dangerous. It's dangerous to go some of the places that you go. It's dangerous to have some of the conversations. It's something that you endeavor into with a great deal of bravery in order to get at the truth. So I wouldn't think that any of those women would need to be protected from Donald Trump. Their duty, in my opinion,

is to ask questions. of Donald Trump that put his brand of American politics on trial. And that's exactly what they did. And Donald Trump's responses to those questions have been a crisis in his campaign. Now, whether or not you think that crisis that's happening inside of his campaign will manifest itself in something that's long lasting, or whether or not it's a blip on the radar, you got to see up there as he questioned Kamala Harris's blackness,

as he continuously like attacked Rachel Scott for asking the question as he insulted the production and the setup and the quality of the NABJ's production. Yes, he did. Right? As he came out on stage late because he was resisting

the fact-checking that was going to be done by the NABJ by April Ryan, you saw on full display Donald Trump. And in that, I'm not saying that it was their goal to make the Trump campaign look back because it should have been their goal

to do an interview with the former president and someone who's running for the nomination, who has a nomination, of the Republican Party. But I just don't understand. I get the understanding of, I get the hesitancy, right? I get the hesitancy.

I understand the hesitancy. But what I don't understand is us wanting to be, just to use your word, protected or insulated from someone who is, directly seeking the presidency. Like there's absolutely nothing wrong with interviewing him if, in fact, the interview is going to consist of questions that hold his feet to the fire about his relationship with the African-American electorate, with the black electorate, his claims about being the greatest president for black people since Abraham Lincoln,

and how that jobs with some of the rhetoric and some of the outcomes that we've seen from a social standpoint, along with the rise of the MAGA right in America. If you're going to hold him accountable for that, I don't see the point in not talking to him. Okay. It's the who-what, when, where, why for me.

It's not that Rachel Scott couldn't sit down and do an interview with Trump or Harris Faulkner, which he said on stage. He just had a lovely interview with Harris-Falkner. It's not that journalists can't sit there. It's the where he's doing it at NABJ. You and I, I'm not surprised that that's your take because you and I also disagree on platforming people like this.

You know, you would have Candace Owens on our show. I would say no. I've been very critical of that because I, if you know, nothing Trump said, we put it this way, nothing Trump said to me on that stage, surprised me. It might have been new. You know, I think, I think it was, um, uh, Al Sharpton, who said, you know, it's the same song, different lyrics.

Nothing he said was shocking to me coming from Trump's mouth. That's why I said what I said at the beginning of this podcast, this is who he is, this is what he's been. He doesn't care to try to bring you to his side. He's going to tell you like it is. You're either with me or you're not. This is what it is. So to know that you're not going to get anything different from Trump.

He's not going to agree with you in any kind of way. He's not going to apologize. And that might not have been their purpose. purpose. To me, I just don't understand it, right? I don't think Candace Owens should be on black platforms. I don't think she should be able to use black platforms and black networks to further her message when at the end of the day, we know the purpose of it is to use them. And then she supports, and then like, you know, right now she's supporting and backing a project 2025. I'd be so embarrassed if she came on our show and we gave her an opportunity, you know, to speak or to challenge her

when you know that she's somebody who's not going to change her opinion, not going to concede, going to spread lies, going to stand her ground in what it is that she believes without speaking any kind of power to truth. I just don't believe in having those kind of people on your platform and allowing them an opportunity to continue to spew those type of problematic messages. Same way with Kanye. When Kanye was going around and he was, everybody that gave him a microphone, he was talking about the Jewish population and spewing out. anti-Semitic beliefs. I was anybody who was giving him the opportunity to do that when his message wasn't changing to me was a problem.

We weren't going to get anything different from him. So that's why for me, I don't understand why you would allow it like that and then not also give the opportunity, which I found interesting that he said he thought Vice President Kamala Harris was going to be there when he already has said he wouldn't debate her. So not that that would have been a debate, but just the fact that he was willing to share the stage with her, but he won't share the stage with her in a debate. It was just interesting. But not allowing her to come virtually,

knowing that she was either on the campaign trail, had an event or attending a funeral, and still not allowing it to be equal. I just, the whole setup of it to me was problematic. I understand what you're saying about having the opportunity to question him. I think it could have been done in a different way. Instead, even if they did fact check him,

fact check him, but it wasn't live. So if you're sitting in the audience and you're watching him, you're watching him disparage Kamala Harris. You're watching him disparage immigrants. You're watching him minimize the murder of Sonia Massey. You're watching him question the race and identity and ethnicity of Kamala Harris. You're watching him defend. Good.

But he always, but he already does this. No, but there were some, but there were something. But there were some things there, to be honest with you. There were some things there that Trump made headlines for, for you want to hear Trump at, you want to hear someone ask a question. Because where you're not going to get that question is on Fox News, on Newsmax, on OANN, when he's talking to, I don't know, the, the Nelp boys or someone like that. When he's in a friendly situation, he's talking to Jake Paul or one of those guys or Jake or Logan.

you're not going to hear someone ask Trump, hey, you said that all police officers should be granted immunity while they're on the job. Did you see the video of the killing of Sonia Massey? And would you be in favor of immunity for that police officer? They asked him the question, his answer was wholly insufficient. wholly insufficient. He did not have a thought-out, concise,

reasonable response to that. Because the idea that you would give all police officers immunity is not a reasonable policy initiative, right? It's not a reasonable

point of emphasis for him. That's stupid, right? And it's not so much for the people who are died in the wool, Magapho. It's not for them. It's for the people that might be considering not voting or staying at home or might be apathetic to know that there's a guy sitting in that seat who said that he would give immunity to all police officers.

Doesn't have a way that you would do that. and doesn't even change that opinion when confronted with the death of a woman who was executed in her home for absolutely no reason. If you don't want that as president, then you probably need to get up and vote. So I think that before this,

I could understand the both sides of this. I can understand, do we need to talk to Trump and then ABJ? I can understand everyone who pulled out, everybody who pulled out, did something that Tyree Kiel can't do. Everyone that pulled out. of, of, I made that joke on Twitter, it was a big hit.

Everyone who, who decided they didn't want to be a part of an APJ this year. I get it. Afterwards, I think it doubles down on why it's important to actually have these conversations and be able to litigate these things intellectually with people like Donald Trump, because I think you get a better understanding of it. Now, to your point about Candace Owens, I don't think that the interviews that were, that Candace Owens has done thus far on these different black

platforms have been interviews that have in my opinion properly discussed and litigated her past

anti-blackness. I don't think that they have. I think that you've seen her get the opportunity to talk about herself and she's been asked questions about some of the contradictions in her past and her political thought, but they haven't

really dug deep into why she feels the need to be as anti-black and as pro-status quo as she has been in the past. That's the failing. Not talking to her isn't to me. That's the failing. And I'd also say

with Kanye West and Candice Owens, it's different because if you're talking to them, it's really just entertainment. The Kanye West situation was people that were documenting the mental health spiral of a very famous person in real time, and everybody was getting their clicks. There's really nothing nutritious about Kanye West because Kanye West doesn't really affect people's lives by policy, should I say, in any real way. You could argue that he made it more dangerous for our Jewish brothers and sisters, that he makes it more dangerous for black Americans, right?

But whether or not you talk to Kanye West or not, it kind of really doesn't matter. This guy's trying to be the president. And there's a chance that if he does get elected, that he will try to institute some sort of immunity for police officers, that he will push things like that through. And people need to know that their vote, even not voting, is a vote for that,

because you have the opportunity to stop it. So I don't think that there's any protection here. I don't think that anybody needs to be protected. Those women's job was to be on that stage asking hard questions to someone who seeks that much power. And they did their job. And to me, look, last thing I'll say without being at the risk of being long-winded, as I always say. Second half of a football game, and I'm not saying that the Democrats

or Kamala Harris is winning any type of way. Tell you what I hate. Second half of the football game, you know about this, you love football, you're up 10, right? Think about it. There you go. That never happened. See that face that you just did?

We're winning. You're up 10. Maybe you're even up 17. It's the middle of the third quarter, right? There are two different types of coaches. One coach keeps this playbook open. we're winning the game. What we're doing is working.

Right? We're winning the game. What we're doing is working. So let's continue to do it until the end of the game to what we know we have it in the bat. Let's keep the playbook over. That's one way to do it. The second way to do it is to shrink the playbook.

We're up. Let's start handing the ball off now and bleeding clock to play conservatively just so we don't give up this lead. I hate coaches who do that. I hate coaches who aren't aggressive enough to be daring to go out there and to continue to press an advantage that they have to the end of the game. I hate being afraid to make a mistake.

I hate being afraid. I hate playing it's safe. I just don't like that. I don't like it. I think that winning to me is right at the edge of defeat. It's about being Dan and about being bold. And I think it's the conservative thing not to have conversations across the aisle. It's the conservative thing not to go out and conservative in terms of the way you look at it.

It's the conservative playbook not to have Donald Trump. All that stuff, it just doesn't work to me. like listen to the gasp of the room listen to listen to him say she's not black I think she's not black listen to him question that listen to it reinforce people this is Donald Trump this is the guy get up get out and vote I don't think there's anything wrong with it

I know you don't yeah I know we'll agree to disagree but the other fallout of it is that it's kind of divided in ABJ people who've been going for years people who That's true. You know, have, I mean, worked it, held responsibility, been on panels, promoted it, legends in this field, and who are very critical of what happened. And I don't, I don't, you know, it'll be interesting to see how they try to pick up the pieces from this. So was it worth it at the end of the day?

A lot of prominent black journalists are upset with the handling of this. So with that, that's right. That's not great to see. With that, you're right. I think the NABJ is going to have a lot of work to do in order to kind of make that right with a lot of people. With that, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right.

It definitely has divided the organization and taking a toll on NABJ this year, but I was just say it's a lesson for us to be able to discuss, you know, once again, journalism not safe. It's not supposed to be. recent reporting that's come out that has said that Donald Trump was late because he didn't want to be fact-checked. And the NABJ was about to come out and announce that Donald Trump was not going to be taking the stage because he didn't want to be fact-checked.

And while they were getting ready to make that announcement, Donald Trump walked out. The best possible scenario would have been him not doing it at all because he didn't want to be fact-checked. Because then... Yeah, that would have been right. Yeah. But their job is to ask questions. We'll see. We'll see what happens now.

I'm interested in how things go for the next couple of days. I'm interested in how things go, especially the day. I'm out in the bout. I'm walking around Chicago. Yeah, I want to know how the energy is. The energy at NAPJ, not Chicago. Oh, man. Let me tell you something.

Chicago is a lovely place, man. This time of year, it's fantastic. Chicago is officially known as Van Town. That's what Chicago is called. Van Town. I want to shout out Black Mike the Barber. I went to Black Mike and got hooked up. You know what I'm saying?

He kept the part, I think. Kept apart. Black Mike, I want to shout out Black Mike the Barbers. My man, Chicago King Dave, hooked me up with Black Mike the Barber. I went and got my haircut. I walked back from my haircut to the hotel. I walked along Lake Michigan. I went to the Under Armour store to get a sweat band

for my Apple Watch so I could box. I was around, you know, I had a Chipotle bowl, you know, and put a little avocado in a little avocado, you know what I mean? And so I was, I had a really, really great Chicago day yesterday. But now it's about getting around with NABJ and trying to see how people are feeling. Because, you know, Trump got them fucked up. Trump got them fucked up. At NAABJ, they fucked up.

At NABJ, they fucked up. Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump got them fucked up at the NABJ. Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump has you fired up. I mean, because I feel like a lot of the people that were for, I feel like they were vindicated, he got up there and showed his ass. I didn't expect anything different. Yeah, you're right.

He was who he thought he was. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those WeatherTech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need WeatherTech unless you plan on doing summer.

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New sweet green wraps hit different. Order now at order. Sweetgreen.com. Big Olympics, big Olympics scandal over people not knowing what the fuck they're talking about. That part. That part. Do y'all know that y'all don't know what the fuck y'all talking about? Like y'all think y'all know what y'all talking about?

Y'all don't know what y'all talking about. Or you don't know what you're talking about. You repeat the thing you heard the last one. motherfucker say. I keep talking about this. You know what you're talking about? Angelica Carini, Angela Carini, withdrew from a boxing match. She was fighting

against an Algerian boxer named Amani Khalif. Karini withdrew from the fight after one shot, basically. She got punched her nose. She told her reporter she had never felt a punch like one of the strikes that she sustained from Khalif. She cried after the match,

saying she would not pass judgment on the matter of her opponent's eligibility, according to the Associated Press. It was not up to her to decide whether or not leave she'd be fighting or not. Okay, so the way that this was fun to everyone was that this Algerian boxer was a trans woman and that she had undergone some sort of real. assignment, but that she was boxing against a cis woman. And because of that, she was beating the shit out of her or beating the shit out of all of these women. That turned out to definitely not be true is what we'll say. Definitely not be true. It's not true at all.

This woman is a cis woman. Being trans is illegal in Algeria. You cannot do it. and if being trans is illegal in Algeria, as upsetting and unfortunate as that is, being on the Olympic team as a trans woman would definitely be illegal. Now, she had, I'm talking about Khalid, in the past, failed to meet eligibility requirements for a woman's competition

because of testosterone levels that she has had, and about some talk about her chromosomonal makeup. All right. She had XY chromosomes, a pair of chromosomes that are typically possessed by men. All right. This is alleged because the actual specifics of the test, that the battery of testing and had her disqualified from the world boxing

championship is confidential. But these are the reports. Everybody that came out and said that this was a trans woman that was boxing against a cisgender woman, that's not true. That is just not true.

This is a woman who was born female, biologically female, if their entire life is female, I sent to the group text some childhood photos of this woman. This is a female. This is a woman who's also been beaten by cisgendered women, including at this Olympics.

It's been beaten. Okay? This went from being an issue of science, society, gender, and understanding to be in a political football as Donald Trump and J.D. Vance and all the rest of the lunatic fringe on the right. And that's what it is, jumped on this issue and wanted to score points, not even understanding that they'll know what the fuck that they're talking about.

Yeah, it's really disturbing that Amani has been subjected to this just because some people want to rush to be the first to report it and want to try to prove a point that falls in line with their political beliefs. there are actually no trans women competing at the Paris Olympics. Not one. The IOC also came out and said that many women can have levels of testosterone and still be women. And the fact that people are ignoring this for their own personal benefit is so disturbing and so troubling. And I really hope Amani is protecting herself and her peace, while she's representing her country, herself, and her family at this Olympics. The fact that she's being subjected to this, the fact that she has to deal with this,

which we know coming to the Olympics is just as much a mental game as it is a physical game. And now she has to deal with this because of people's ignorance is so upsetting. The fact that people are judging her based on her appearance, judging her on a report that didn't even give the details as to why she was disqualified, coupling it with another Olympic athlete. That's a woman that's competing. Just shows the state of this world that we live in, that people are so concerned to just say something

and don't care to fact-check it and determine whether it's true or not, all sacrificing an individual's well-being at the end of the day. Just such a sad story. There's a lot of, like that's, It's not just troubling. It's a sad story to me to come out of the Olympics

and the fact that people will be watching this athlete compete in a completely different way just because people's of people's ignorance and the lies surrounding her. A lot of inspiring stories

come out of Olympics. This one's sad. So, Imani has a record of 37 and 9 as an amateur. It's an amateur record. But, it's right in line with a great amateur boxer, right?

It's not in any way, in any way, something that's crazy or out of the ordinary. She's a good amateur boxer that has lost the cisgendered women before. She is a cisgender woman. Okay. All right. Let me tell you the opportunity that was missed here. if we were all thinking with our brains instead of with our prejudice, right?

The opportunity that's missed here is actually to have a deeper conversation about the realities and constructs of sex and gender. Talked to a couple people about this. And when people were calling, as I was talking to them, I was hitting people up in the DMs going, hey, you're wrong about this, you're wrong about this. And as we were having conversations, I was like, do you understand that what we're really discussing on the phone right now

is what makes a woman, a woman, and a man a man? And what I've been hearing for the last five to ten years is that it's cut and dry and very easy and it's not. what I've been hearing is that a woman is a woman because it's born with a vagina and a man is a man because it's born with a penis and

there are shades of gray to all of these distinctions and what really makes someone a woman or a man is at the end of the day a societal construct that they either fit into based on a lot of people's opinions

or they don't fit into a lot of people's opinions, that's sort of the arbitrary determination that we've made. And when you start to look into the actual science of it, it becomes evident that there are gradations of this up and down the scale. So who's really to say where that stops or starts? And if we wanted to have a conversation about it that was more robust, we'd have to have a conversation that takes into consideration, not just biological factors,

but some of the things that go into our perceptions of people, like why we think the way we think, why we want to take things that are obviously complex and multi-layered and multi-tiered and make them so simple, what that does for us, how that reinforces some of our biases, and how that actually makes us warm and fuzzlearned, and fuzzy, and it simplifies society for us.

Because when you look at this, this is a lady. But we're talking about how people are born, the chromosomes. There was another situation with a runner a couple of years ago. You know, human beings are different. There's a spectrum of all of this stuff, right? And now you have people coming in and saying, hey, this is fair, this is not fair. These hormones are fair and this is not fair. all of these things, what's fair, what's not fair, whatever.

Now we're getting into literally just how people are born. Now we're getting into what people have when they're born. There are men that are born with higher levels of estrogen. There are actually conditions that this causes them, right? There are men that have different levels of testosterone. Inside of them, women have different levels of testosterone. These are all things that have to do with makeup, and they might affect the way you present into the world.

But like when we talk about them, we have to talk about it with the complexity that they deserve. And I'm certainly not qualified to do that right here on this podcast. But there's certainly people who are, but I'm not one of them. But they try to run out and make this super simple and fit it into their political worldview. It's not. It's not. It's not. The most simple thing is this. That's a woman.

that's the most simple thing. The most simple truth, the most simple truth is that's a cis woman. That's the most simple truth. That's the most simple truth. And I'm going to get some flak for saying this. But the harder question is,

what is a cis woman? The question of what is a woman, what is a man, it's more complex than you guys want it to be. And that's just nature. that is that is nature and we're trying to talk about it right now and we're not and this lady who to me uh i don't know this woman and angela carini acted in complete bad faith and cried caring tears to the entire world because she got in that ring and didn't want to fucking fight and said she had never

been hit like that before insinuating that there was something different about about Amani. Like, I've never had a punch like that before, and I had to protect my life. Like, I know she's come out since and said that, you know, she's not passing any type of judgment. And she's not, you know. But the initial reaction also led to the reaction of ignorance

that we saw from so many people as well. Yeah, she played babe in the woods. She played babe in the woods. But you look at it right here. Umani is not like a five-time gold medal winning champion, which everyone would assume that if, if some way she were not, if she was a trans woman that she would cheat,

it's not that. It's not. And everybody jumped out the window. I saw all types of people having to delete tweets and walk it back and the whole of nine. So if you were one of those people, I guess I would say don't feel bad about it, but what I would say is just don't be so ready to dunk and spike the football.

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Tap this ad to learn more about trim fire, including important safety information. A lot of football, a lot of football, you know, comparisons on this podcast today. A lot of football. Ready? LSU's back. First day of camp was yesterday. Oh, LSU's back. LSU's back.

LSU is back. LSU's back. LSU's back. Tigers on the attack. LSU is back And the shoe was back Tiger's on the attack LSU is back

LSU is back LSU is back Tigers on the attack Rowshoe is back LSU is back I'm telling you You're not even See this one I'm talking about

You're not even excited What? I was in charge I was at charge You's training camp A couple of days ago Oh for real? Mm-hmm

Yes What's going on over there? It's with the Wiley's The who Oh yeah, Wally. Yeah, he played for them. Went to their new facility. It was beautiful.

Watch some of the game. I mean, some of the scrimmage. Yeah, it felt good. I was like, ah, yes. Are you excited for the way that Texas will fail this year? Let's not do that. Did I do that? Did I do that when you talked about LSU?

Did I do that when you had that little crappy song? Just now, not at all. I danced along with you. Okay? Let's just wait and see what Texas does as they step into the SEC. I'm excited. I'm going to win the conference. It's new.

I am very excited. I need to work on getting some tickets to a game. I'm trying to see. To me, the better games are on the road for them this year. But I'll see. You know what? Speaking of this, they changed the onside kick rule in the NFL. So ridiculous.

Like what the fuck are we doing? I'm sorry. I know they changed this back in March and we're just now talking about it. I know it's only been voted on for a year to see how it does this season. But why? What are the new rules? The onside kick. Now you have to notify the officials before you're going to do an onside kick.

You can't do an onside kick if you're leading the game. For people who don't know, just a little football 101 for you guys. The kickoff in the NFL is after a score to start halftime and to start the game.

You kick the ball to the other team. Now, once the ball has traveled 10 yards, the ball is live. That means either team can get it. Right? Inside of 10, get it. Get that ball.

Get that ball. Get it. Get that ball, motherfucker. So let's say you kick the ball deep all the way to the other side, and the guy doesn't play the ball. He misplays the ball. The ball bounces off of his butter fingers, fucking go back to high school. And then someone grabs the ball from the kicking team.

They got the ball. Right. They got the ball. Or if you kick the ball, you bloop kick it. It hits the ground. And by the time the ball hits the ground, the kicking team has advanced on it. pick up the ball, they got the ball. So there's something that you can do a football called an on-sidekick

if you need the ball again and you don't want to give it over to the other team, which you kick the ball all crazy, wacky, funky, right? Right. You don't kick it with air, you kick it into the ground, you make it bounce up, it goes 10 yards, and then your side goes and gets the ball. Very famously, this was used as the New Orleans Saints, Salis de lair de lair. Came out for the second half

against the pathetic Indianapolis Colts led by the playoff choker, Peyton Manning. And we keep an onside kick rather than give them the ball back. We get the ball, we take it down to the score, we take control with the game.

Now they're saying, can I just add, can I just add that the beauty of the onside kick is the element of surprise. The element of surprise. Unless it's the end of the game and you know this is like your last chance at trying to get the ball, you know that that's most likely coming.

But the element of surprise is what makes the on-sidekick fun. And that's one of the things that they've taken away now that you have to notify the officials and the other team and you have to be losing to be able to do it.

And you can only do it in the fourth quarter. Well, okay. I don't think you have to notify the other team. You have to tell the officials. Oh, that's what I read. No, no, no, no. I don't think you have to notify the other team. You have to tell the officials, right?

And I will say that in that onside kick that Sean Payton called against the Colts, he did tell the officials. He told the officials, he said, hey, we're going to be going on side right now. He told the officials that in order to get them ready to kind of look at it to make sure the ball goes 10 yards. The ball hits Hank baskets. The Colts actually had a chance to get that onside kick. The ball hits Hank baskets hands.

And then he fucked it off and we got the ball back and then we fucking won the game. We went down and won the game. By the way, even in that game, Peyton Man still through an interception to Tracy Porter on third and five. They could have gone down to top the game, but he choked. Okay? That's what happens. He does. Choker.

He's like... Hank Bassigan. Yeah. Hank, remember him? Remember Hank Bass? Of course. Speaking of trans one. But it...

So, but the biggest part of it to me is that you can't kick the onside kick if you're winning the game. Why? Like, what the fuck? That makes no sense. You should be able to kick an onside kick whenever you want. Exactly. If you want to play an entire game and you never want to give the ball to the other guys. Exactly.

If you want to, if you want to score and go onside five times. in a game. You just don't want them to touch the ball. If you're the Eagles and you're playing against Patrick Mahomes and you got the best onside kicker in the world, you score, you go onside, you score, you go onside, you score, you should be able to do that. If they go, I don't,

I don't understand the spirit of the rule. Seems like the NFL is, like, doing stuff. I'll talk to somebody that was telling me about the NBA's master plan to catch up to the NFL in overall popularity. Have you heard about this? No.

If you were to NBA and you were trying to catch up to the NFL, what would you do? What would Rachel do? I'm making you commissioner of the NBA. Commissioner Rach. It's trying to catch up to the NFL in popularity. Yeah, the NBA is very popular,

but the NFL is... In this country, because internationally, because internationally, I would argue that the NBA is more popular, which, and you're seeing the NFL actually step into more international territories by expanding where they play games. But you're talking about in America, right? I'm just talking about overall the, yeah, I mean, culturally.

It has to be this country. Yeah, it has to be in this country because internationally basketball is bigger. I don't know. What would I do to make the NBA, I mean, less games. to be very honest with you. No. You're not going to be a commissioner very long because you're fucking up the money.

Well, I mean, there's just a lot of games. I think people, I think, I wouldn't want to see football year-round. I'll be very honest with you. I wouldn't want to see it. They only play once a week. I mean, teams play once a week,

but multiple days during the week. I don't know. What would you do? I didn't even realize, I mean, I know football's, yeah, I didn't even realize it was that big of, a difference? Well, it's a pretty big difference. This is what I hear that they want to do.

They want basically the NBA, they want to double down on their world situation. Like you're saying, the international appeal. They want basically NBA leagues all over the world, NBA Africa, China, maybe, NBA Europe, NBA all that. And then they want to get into a Champions League type situation where different NBA squads from all over the world, they play, they have their own leagues, they want to take this thing worldwide. They want the NBA league to be worldwide. Not just Euro League, because they got a lot of basketball leagues all over the place. Basketball leagues, Euro League, basketball leagues, Turkey, basketball league. Everyone plays basketball everywhere. But the NBA wants to be on the ground in all of those different places.

That's what I make a big push for Africa. I think the African player, I think the African basketball player is going to be the biggest threat to the black American basketball player, period. I think that if the NBA puts a very direct investment into Africa, the amount of raw talent that you're going to see come up. out of Africa into the league over the next 15 to 20 to 30 years, those African-born players will start to rival in competition the American-born black player in Anamata. I think you're going to see that. I think the rise of South Sudan and other places like that

and what the NBA is doing in Africa along with Masay Ujiri, who is the GM up there in Toronto, their investment into Africa is going to birth a new generation of particularly West African basketball players that if they have the opportunity to have the same type of training and investment as the American-born black player, which is far, it's, this is some time before that can happen. But you're going to see those players in the NBA

and not just in the NBA, but dominating in the NBA, dominating in the NBA in a way that we haven't seen before. Okay, so to go back to what you originally said, then that, I mean, originally I was like, it's an internet, it's becoming such an international sport, and they seem to be investing in that.

I don't think football, American football, is ever going to be that. So if you're talking about basketball's popularity in this country, being more popular than football, I don't see that happening just because American football is such a staple

but internationally, I feel like it's already there. I mean, like I said, I know American football is trying to expand, but I think basketball is way ahead of that. Way ahead of that. So, yeah, I mean,

I don't think it's ever going to be more popular in this country just because it's more popular internationally. I don't. Have you been watching Team USA? Have you been watching them, basketball? You've been watching?

No. No. I'm so bad at catching the schedule. Like, thank goodness I saw the individual all around with Simone Biles, and I saw Stoley, and I was able to catch all of that. But I never can't get on point when these teams are playing, or when people are competing. I turned it on the other day, and it was sports I wasn't even really interested in.

So, no, I haven't been. You have? What's your point? What are you going to say? I've been watching all of it, man. I've been watching Simone Biles. You must have a whole day. Simone Biles is getting very, Simone Biles might, I don't know.

Simone Biles is getting very close to being a greatest athlete of all time. You think this is it for her? I think so. This is the last one. She's doing her thing. How old is she now? She's like 28, I think somebody said. Yeah.

Like when are you over the hill in gymnastics, right? She's getting. Oh, my gosh. She already is. That's what makes it so great right now. Hold on. Let me look up her exact age. That's what makes it so great.

27. That's what makes it so great. When we were young, we've had Dominic Dawes in this podcast. They were done at like 20. By the time they were hitting that, they were done. So you're seeing what she's doing and has been able to do for such a long time is really incredible. 27 years old is not old, but for the Olympics and gymnastics. Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens. I personally think that with what she's been able to do, how she's been able to do it,

I show her to think at anyone who's really affected my perception, dominance in a sport like this. I mean, you say, Ball, do you have other people? You have Michael Phelps. Katie Ladekees right now is doing it in the pool. Obviously, I'm partial to Simone Biles, but I just think what she's been able to do is fantastic. She's way up there for grass athlete in the world.

Just dominance, dominance, dominance, dominance, dominance. Dominance, Dominance. Interesting thing just broke. Kyle Rittenhouse has broken with President Trump. He's not going to be supported President Trump. He's writing in Ron Paul. Did he say why? He says why. He says that Ashley put it in right here. I'll see you feeling later. Let's listen to him in his own words. Hi, I am Kyle Rittenhouse. Outreach Director for Texas gun rights. A lot of people are upset that I said I'm going to be writing in Ron Paul for president of the United States. And that is true. I will be writing. in Ron Paul. Unfortunately, Donald Trump had bad advisors making him bad on the Second Amendment, and that is my issue. If you cannot be completely uncompromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you,

and I will write somebody else in. We need champions for the Second Amendment or our rights will be eaten away and eroded each day. I support my decision, and I have no takebacks. So he's talking about President Trump and his record on guns. which I've heard 2A people say before that President Trump with the bump stock ban

that happened while he was in office and a couple of other things that he wasn't a great president on guns for the 2A community that has not eroded support amongst the 2A community for President Trump though. It seems as if they still support him

despite the fact that policy by policy you could look at it and he wasn't a great president for the 2A community. But there you have Kyle Rittenhouse saying and he's not. This is after taking pictures with Donald Trump and being pretty maga himself the entire time. And now they are

like going against him on Twitter. They're breaking Kyle Rinn House down. Good. Good. And good for him for going against Trump. Whatever his reason may be. Maybe he'll bring in some other people on his side. To bring attention to the fact that

you know, maybe other people who are big supporters of 2A won't blow for Trump either. good. I don't care. I don't care what's happening to Kyle Rittenhouse on social media. I don't care. I mean, I do care that he's not voting for Trump. You know, that's good. One less vote. But yeah, like, I hate the Kyle Rittenhouse keeps, continues to pop up in the news, you know. Yeah. I'm looking at one article that says Maga's favorite son. That's the title of it. Back his favorite son, Kyle Reddn House. Yeah, it's, it's, you blew it, Kyle.

No, this is not an airport, but I will still be announcing my departure. After all those people had your back, you turn your back on them. You might as well do advertising with David Hogg now. Now people are posting the meme of him crying. Not David Hogg. Yeah, unfollowed. People are, it's a, it's a, it's. said, beautiful dog, Kyle.

You are under heat again. Stay close to God and follow him. There's no one else to listen to. Only God. I don't know who or what got to you, but I hope you enjoy your 30 pieces of silver, Kyle. They're just going. They're going at them. They're going out of them. The dog can't save you now either. I'm not going to lie. I thought the dog said, Kamala Harris, excuse me, Kamala Harris 24. And I was very confused. I apologize about the mispronation of the name. I like Ron Paul, too, but this is a waste of vote. Grow up, Kyle. They hate Kyle. There's nothing better than what.

watching them fight. I don't give a fuck, man. It's one thing watching them fight is, is dope. But yeah, they made a hero out of Kyle Rittenhouse and now Kyle Rittenhouse and he turned on them. And he turned on them. That's right.

Kyle Rinnhouse took the support of MAGA and Donald Trump, but now it's completely turned on him to write in a candidate in 2024 after all the movement. I do wonder what is at the base of this, though. I do wonder what this is about. Because Donald Trump finished being president in 2020.

Kyle Rittenhouse must have known Donald Trump's record on guns before this. I wonder what made him change his mind now. I wonder what it is. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he's educated himself. You know, just because he supported Donald Trump doesn't mean he understood everything that Donald Trump

stood for and represented. So maybe he's just been educated in a different way. You know, he's older now. I have other thoughts. I think there's something else that play here with Kyle Redd House. Go ahead. I think the heat's getting to Kyle. Oh, you think Kyle is changing?

No, not necessarily changing. That might be too. But I do think that this game of being a firebrand, it's not for everyone. It's not for everybody. you start to realize all the places. Now, first of all, let me make sure I say this. Kyle Rittenhouse went out there looking for a fight and kill two people.

So I'm not, this is not in any way me shooting any bail to Kyle Woodenhouse. It's not. But I think as a young person, he's probably seen some doors shutting his face and probably bent some places. that he wanted to go and realize he wasn't welcome and there might actually be second thoughts college campuses places like that

there might actually be second thoughts about who he is and what he's doing and all that I personally think that he might be buckling under the pressure of being a pariah in so many

different places in the country. We've seen this happen all over the place. Kyle just don't want him. He essentially has to do what he's doing right now, which is out on the road doing all of these. This is the only thing he can do because most other places aren't going to want to have anything to do with Kyle Rittenhouse. Yeah.

So I think he's buckling a little bit. Well, it makes sense. I mean, think about how young he was. was when he killed those protesters. And immediately, instead of being turned into a getting famous, I guess you could say, for the fact that he took the lives of two people who were protesting, he became famous and uplifted by a community where people were sending money towards his legal fund and hailing him as a hero.

And I imagine that all went to his head and he got. caught up in it and, you know, he became the face of something for a lot of people. And now the dust has settled in. I mean, settled. And maybe he's not, he's realizing it was, it's not all so great. He's getting older now. He's seeing things in a completely different way. Yeah, I would imagine all of that.

I would imagine. Not saying we feel sorry for him by any means. Like, have that Kyle on social media. I could care less. we should just mention that while we were gone Hamas top political leader was killed in Iran

and Iran this is you know threatening to spark a wider war already has been a wider war there's been aggression volley back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah

and you know Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Iran's supreme leader has vowed to avenge the death of this Hamas political leader who was killed. He was killed there. He said, you killed our dear guests in our house and now you paved the way for your harsh punishment.

Anthony Blinkin said the U.S. was not aware of or involved and the killing this guy. And Benjamin Niednano, who has vowed to keep fighting the prospect of a wider war between Israel and Iran.

Also, between Israel and Lebanon, is more real now than it's ever been. And shame on the United States of America for allowing this fighting the massacre and genocide of thousands of people in Gaza

to go on this humanitarian disaster, famine, starvation, all of these things to exist in Gaza for as long as what it has and shame on them also for not. Getting Israel to stop and agree to a ceasefire, meaning that every single moment there's the chance that a wider war kicks off.

Yeah, it's already here. It's already here. What we're seeing happening is retaliation for something that happened before. And Iran is already saying that it's going to retaliate. It's, we're already in it. I don't see what's going to stop it at this point.

We don't know who she's going to pick. She, being the vice president of the United States, of America. Apologize. Kamala Harris. We don't know who she's going to pick. Have you, she still wouldn't lend it down, Rachel. There's still some people out there. Do you have a favorite? Do you have someone you like?

I don't really have a favorite. You don't fucking care. No, I can't. I care. I don't have a favorite. But I think from the short list that people are talking about and seems to be her short list, I don't think that there is a wrong pick for it. her. Off that list, I think that

it'll favor her ticket, empower her ticket, whoever she picks. I do think there's some picks that bring a little bit of baggage with them that you might not want to deal with. Baggage in what way?

Baggage in like, let's be honest, the most impressive of all of these vice presidential picks is by far Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. he's the most impressive, in my opinion. Okay. But he brings...

He's got some baggage. Got some baggage that comes along with him. Number one, you'll be answering questions about foreign policy as it relates to Israel and Gaza to the end of the... Oh, for sure. With Josh Sparrow. And it'll be even more of a sort of, probably now. Number two, you'll have to ask some questions

about him being a school choice Democratic. supported some voucher stuff up there in Pennsylvania. And then there was some sort of case that existed while he was Attorney General. It looked like people are accusing him of covering up some sort of sexual harassment situation or something else going on. I don't think he's going to be picked. He might not be picked. But what I'm saying is that while he is an extremely impressive candidate, if you listen to Josh Shapiro

talk, you're like, God damn, there's your. there's your future, there's your president. There are some people who believe that it might be a little early for him as he puts a little distance between him and some policy concerns that he has. Also some things that have gone on and some of the foreign policy stuff that he's very hawkish when it relates to Israel. Although he has been an ally of the Muslim population in Philadelphia. in Pennsylvania, they look at him as an ally, and he's done a lot to combat Islamophobia. So he's been on the ground with a lot of his constituents in that way.

But you wonder about places like Michigan if he were on the ticket, despite the clear upside that he brings. There are a lot of people who have a lot of concerns about that stuff, basically giving people something to attack him on. Now, I will say this, on a lot of these issues, it really wouldn't be the right that would be attacking him, right? The right's not going to attack him on Israel. The right's not going to attack him on school choice.

they might, however, attack them on this whole sexual harassment situation. And if you have that, maybe it weakens your position to go after Donald Trump on some of those same things, right? So, who knows?

But there are a lot of other people out there. Who are you liking? Andy Bashir. You know? That's the one I like. Waltz from Minnesota is great too but Andy

Bashir is a guy that really means but you know if you're looking at electoral electoral concerns then you really want to win

Pennsylvania I do think that Shapiro will deliver Pennsylvania for the ticket either way so but

if you were looking at those types concerns you really want to win Pennsylvania so who knows who she'll pick but it looks

like the pick is coming pretty soon looks like we'll have the pick pretty soon the reason why I brought that up is because of

Pete Buttigieg You know, I cannot stress how corrosive discrimination is. I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which I talk about all the time, around and in a community with some of the most talented people I've ever seen before my life. I'm not just talking about the arts. I'm not talking about dancers and singers. I'm talking about people who use their abilities to change their lives. myriad ways. I've seen guys who just had a knack for math. I've seen guys and ladies want to say guys, women and men who have a knack for problem solving. Some of the quickest, most talented people that have been cast aside by society because of where they were born and the systemic

and historical pitfalls and challenges that they couldn't overcome. I know people are going to say, Van, you're blaming it on systems and all of that stuff. Talent rises to the top. you're from that same place that they are from the same place that they are mother, father, decent, if not sort of dysfunctional family structure. That's because we were able to avoid some of the systemic issues

that plagued a lot of people in Baton Rouge, that played a lot of people in my community. I've seen these people. I've also seen them just succumb to the environmental things, the drugs, they die of cancer real early. A friend of mine from me, Middle Mitchell School, died of cancer was 14 years old. It's saying all these things affect people.

You lose people, people that could be helping you. People that in a different situation, if America were capitalizing on their citizens in the right way, would be doing all kinds of different things. Very talented people. So at the heart of it, this discrimination and this unequal treatment that exists in our country, it's corrosive in a way that costs you and you don't even know it. You don't even know that it costs you. you're thinking that the cream is rising to the top.

Meanwhile, what you're losing, the agony is hurting. And that's why I thought about that when I was looking at Pete Buttigieg. Pete Buttigieg is not a black man or woman from Baton Rouge. He's a gay man. And being that he's gay, a lot of people think that puts a ceiling on his political future. America isn't ready to vote for someone who's gay. America isn't ready to vote for someone whose bedroom looks differently than theirs does.

I would say it probably looks similar because in their bedroom there's two people in love that go to sleep and raise children. And in your bedroom, hopefully there's two people in love that go to sleep and raise children. I can't tell you the amount of people that I've talked to recently

that have said that by far the most capable, they feel the most trust, the most kinship with people. Pete Buttigieg, right, of anyone. This is putting Kamala and what she's been able to do to the side because she is the now is what we're talking about. She is the now. He is the future or would be the future. But in the same breath, I've heard those people say, well, he doesn't have a chance because he's gay. But when I see him talk on Fox News, when I see him mix it up

with people. When I see his command of the issues, his ability to get people on his side, his ability to reach across the aisle, his ability to reach across the aisle with devastating intellectualism and this otherworldly sense of compassion and candor like I see in him the type of politician that I want. I just wonder if people know how many people like that, you're sidelining because of your inability to see past your own biases and prejudices. I just wonder if you know like how many people out there

are worthy of your support, your investment, and your partnership, but you don't want to do it because they're gay, because they're black, because they're a woman, because they come from a different social place than you do. just how much how much you're costing yourself we talk a lot about what we're costing

the people in these positions but we don't talk about how much your prejudice your bias, racism, your homophobia, your transphobia, your misogyny, your massagia noir, all of this, how much it's costing you. It's going to cost you. And we're getting to a point in America

where that cost is becoming too high. And so as I was having all of these conversations, I was just thinking, hmm, you know, there it is. So this isn't about the fact I'm one million percent. I'm so Kamala Harris right now. I've never been this Kamala Harris before. I'm Kamala Harris all the way up and down. But I see the same thing in Pete that everybody else does.

But I've seen that before. I've seen that in people that I've shared my community with. Like sometimes I think about people. It's like, hey, man, you remember him? Like I could not figure that out in algebra class. And he looked and he was like, nah, Pete this is this is what you do it right here. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

And had it. Then you ask about these people after a while. And you're like, where they at? Then somebody from back home said, oh, man, he's been dead. You know? He'd been dead, man. So, I don't know, man. The older I get, the more I look at people that are not affecting the outcomes

that we want in this society. by these arbitrary distinctions that just do not matter. Well said. All right, we're out. I think it's a good message. I'll just say it's a good message for people to look in, check their own bias that they may have. Because I think a lot of people will say,

you know, oh, I like Pete, but America's never going to vote for him. It's like, is that the case, or do you have a problem personally with it? That's the thing. And I might have been guilty of that myself. at times. I mean, you know,

so I think it's just a good message for people to check themselves. I agree, but think about, think about now, I saw West Moore practicing with the Maryland football team. You know what I mean?

Like you got Westmore, you got Gretchen Whitmer, you got Shapiro. It's a Jewish brother. You got all of these different people. Right? Good bench. Good group.

Be there and be bold with your love. Don't be safe with it. Be with your love and support. Be daring. Be bold. Don't shrink the playbook. Open it up.

We got to go. It's time to go to sleep. Rachel, you got to get some sleep? I got a podcast again after this. Oh, nigger. They get them punished me without a Rachel. Both of us. Yeah.

Thank you, Gats, Off, do not stop learning our family. I'm Rachel and Lindsay. Bye, guys.