Lovett or Leave It - Darth Omarosa

Episode Date: August 18, 2018

Trump's White House is in turmoil over Omarosa's recordings. So we asked Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches to perform a dramatic reading of Omarosa's dramatic prologue. Plus, a year after Charlottesville, white nationalism has found a home on Fox News. The EPA is rolling back fuel standards with the help of spin from Sinclair. Black athletes have always been told to "shut up and dribble." And Mark Burnett should not be treated as a respectable figure while he engages in a coverup on behalf of Donald Trump. Also, Stephen Miller's uncle is done with his nephew's bullshit. And possible 2020 contenders should stop being coy. Christine Mai-Duc of the LA Times, Gonzalo Cordova, and Emily Axford join Jon to break down the week's news as we wait on the edge of our seats for more tapes.

Good evening, Los Angeles. How are you guys doing? Next Thursday, we'll be recording right here at the Improvs. You can get your tickets now. So before we start tonight, there has been something bothering me, which is the way potential 2020 Democrats talk about the fact that they're potential 2020 Democrats. I don't want to single out any by name, but I'll start with Kirsten Gillibrand. She was asked by Joy Behar.

Joy Behar is going to come up a lot here. I don't know why, but she's on top of this. Joy Behar, you sound like you're running for president, are you? Kirsten Gillibrand, no, no, I'm running for Senate. Cory Booker, again, to Joy Behar. Behar, you're a contender in 2020 for president. Booker, I'm a contender for the 2018 midterms where I'm going to be fighting for every Democratic candidate.

This is the most Behar interruption. That's a non-answer. Garcetti got closer. He said to Van Jones when he was asked whether or not he's running, I have no idea. I have to talk to family. But I'm exploring and looking at America and realizing when I go to a place like Iowa, it's the number one wind state in America with the number one solar city in America.

At least it had I'm going to talk to my family, right? That felt, I'm exploring and then some wind stuff. And then Senator Elizabeth Warren was asked by Gayle King. I love 2020 questions, by the way. You just see them, and they're not really questions. Elizabeth Warren, 2020. Should they start making bumper stickers? Elizabeth Warren's response, no, no, no.

And finally, Kamala Harris to Ellen. Ellen, you're probably not going to answer me, but I'm going to ask you anyway. Harris, you're right on both counts. You won't answer? I'm not going to answer. Will you run for president? So here's my answer.

Right now, we're in the early months of 2018, and at this very moment in time, you know what comes next. Blah, blah, blah. The issues, the issues. Fair enough. I understand that senators and others considering running for president don't want to talk about it just yet. that senators and others considering running for president don't want to talk about it just yet. But what is frustrating to me about it is like, what about 2018 says being coy is what the market is calling for? Like, I understand that there's some sort of old conventional wisdom that you don't admit it, you wait, you don't go to Iowa. But here's the problem we're having. We've got

a bunch of Democrats considering running for president, but the only one talking about it is Michael fucking Avenatti. I don't understand why you can't just say, right now I'm focused on 2018, it's the biggest midterms maybe in American history, certainly in our lifetimes. So much is on the line, that's my focus, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about it. I'm gonna figure out if I think I'm the best person to take on Trump and the best person to fix what's broken in this country. I'm not sure yet, but maybe I will, maybe I won't, but it's not what I'm talking about right now. But I'd be lying if I said I

wasn't thinking about it. Then you go talk about whatever the fuck you want. And then you're not just a politician because what I cannot stand about this is because I have a little memory of working for Hillary Clinton during her 2006 Senate run where she said, I'm focused on New York. I'm focused on New York. I'm focused on New York, which was true until the moment she won and started running for president. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, except you're going to spend all the time leading up to your campaign for president saying stuff that's only sort of true. Why?

Why do you want to spend a year before you run for president sounding like a politician? Nobody gives a shit. Donald Trump is president. Omarosa is the most important person of the week. Just say what's on your mind. I'm thinking about it. It's not a big deal. I remember when Barack Obama did that.

Hillary Clinton was dodging the question for a long time. Barack Obama was asked on Meet the Press if he was going to violate his pledge and maybe run in 2008. And he was like, maybe. And you know what? It worked out. Twice. All right, let's start the show. We have a fantastic panel for you tonight. She covers California politics and breaking news for the Los Angeles Times. Please welcome Christine Maidouk. Hi, Christine.

How you doing? Pretty good. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Do you think it'd be ironic if Omarosa is the one that solves it all? I think it'd be ironic if anyone at this point solves it all. True, true, true.

Okay. He's a TV writer who has written for the Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the upcoming Netflix show, Tuca and Birdie. Please welcome Gonzalo Cordova. Hey, Gonzalo. Hello. Hello. How are you? I'm doing all right. Good.

It's nice back there. It's nice back there. Good. And she is the creator of the show Hot Date, is a recurring character on Adam Ruins Everything, and plays Dungeons and Dragons on Not Another D&D Podcast. Please welcome Emily Axford. Hi, Emily.

Hello. How are you, Emily? Oh, I'm okay. We're all okay. Let's get into it. What a week. This Sunday was the one-year anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

Last year, the city gained the attention of the country when white supremacists gathered openly in public to protest the removal of Confederate statues. The rally tragically concluded with a Nazi sympathizer ramming his car into counter-protest, killing Heather Heyer. This year, thousands of protesters gathered near the White House to dwarf a white nationalist rally attended by less than two dozen neo-Nazis. But however, as Adam Serwer pointed out in The Atlantic, white nationalists are winning, writing that their ideological quest to secure white political and

cultural hegemony over the United States continues to be championed by the president himself. As an example of this, Stephen Miller has proposed that we make it harder for immigrants who receive benefits to earn citizenship. There was a scathing piece in Politico by Stephen Miller's uncle attacking the hypocrisy of Stephen Miller for the policies he's pursuing in the Trump White House to make it harder for people to come to this country. Christine, I'll start with you. On the one hand, it was positive to see that there wasn't a replay of Charlottesville and that there wasn't this huge influx

of white nationalists openly protesting and openly calling for America to remain a white nation or be a white nation. But at the same time, it does seem as though it belies the ways in which open racism, open talk of keeping American demographics from changing has become normalized because of Donald Trump. What did you make of this one year anniversary? I mean, I think it was only a couple dozen, a few dozen of these Unite the Right 2 protesters who showed up. And, you know, that was a stark difference to what last year's events were like.

The ongoing problem for the Trump administration is, do immigration policies coming out of the Trump administration have this kind of racist or anti-immigrant undertone? Or is this just a matter of enforcing, you know, the laws that we have on the books? So, I mean, it's definitely a problem in terms of image going into the midterms. undertone or is this just a matter of enforcing you know the laws that we have on the books so I mean it's definitely a problem in terms of image going into the midterms yeah I mean but I mean what's the answer to that question I mean to me it seems obvious that when Laura Ingram talks about demographic shifts through legal immigration that no one voted for when Tucker Carlson turns his

hour into a sort of white nationalist pageant, and you have someone like Stephen Miller making policy, doesn't it seem clear that we are seeing the nationalist fringe making policy in the White House? Isn't that what's, like, if that's not the motivation for what Donald Trump has done, whether it's separating children at the border or trying to restrict legal immigration, what's the explanation? I think that that's definitely the argument that's being made. I mean, I think that, you know, you've seen this in California as well. For example, you take sanctuary state policy, which there's been a big revolt in California from Republicans and kind of more conservative cities saying that this is crazy and like,

you know, we should be enforcing the laws. And they run the risk of that getting lumped in with all of the rest of racism, anti-immigration, like all of these things. And so it's a struggle with how they're going to cast that. And I think that the more we talk about these things, the more we talk about things that motivate the Trump base, the riskier it gets for Republicans this year. Emily, what do you think? Do you think that, what do you make of counter-protestors showing up and outnumbering these neo-Nazis? I mean, I think it's fucking awesome. I mean, counter-protests are the new protests, right?

I mean, it's like cool and exciting. exciting sign that sort of just a peaceful gesture, which is just showing up and using your voice can be effective in silencing people and having people censor themselves and having people quiet themselves and go away. So I think that is exciting. My only concern is the fact that there were less people there will sort of of feed into this persecution complex that I feel like the alt-right has. And so I don't want this to be like a scene like they're counter-protesting us. It's like you control the government. You are not persecuted. You control the government.

So that's where I stand. We see this debate inside the Republican Party between a dwindling element of Republicans that are against this kind of talk and this rise of nationalism, whether it's on Fox News or candidates like Corey Stewart in Virginia or just people like Paul Ryan and other candidates, well, people like Paul Ryan just taking their ball and going home, but also candidates from Virginia to Pennsylvania abandoning campaigning on corporate tax cuts and just campaigning on MS-13. What do you think? That's a good question. You know, I think in general, we won't know if Donald Trump is racist until Omarosa releases the tapes with the N-word in it. We just don't know.

We don't know. What do we have to go on? Yeah, there is no evidence. I really don't know. Yeah, no, look, obviously, racism is not a dial. It is a switch. You either have it or you don't.

And it's a very clear-cut thing. Until we hear that tape, he is not racist. Right, right, right. That is really the only thing that makes you racist is having said the N-word on The Apprentice as host. Yeah, on tape. It has to exist on tape. If it's not on tape, it doesn't exist.

Well, there's been some tape. Yeah, but that one wasn't racist. That one was just another bad thing. What a soup of shit this week was in terms of news. It is amazing how hard... Here's a question I have about Amorosa. And we're going to talk about Amorosa, obviously, because it's the only thing we're talking about as a country.

But here's the thing. Here's a question I would like to put to everybody. What does Amorosa think we're going to be talking about next week? Because I have a feeling Omarosa thinks it's Omarosa. And so far, Omarosa has been pretty fucking accurate about what we're going to talk about. And she's got more arrows

in that quiver. She's like, Katrina Pearson said this. And Katrina Pearson's like, no, I didn't. And then one day later, she's like, play, recording, evidence. Every time she goes on television someone asked her about a new and distinct crime that Donald Trump may or may not have committed and she's like yes and I witnessed it personally great question so I would like I just wish Omarosa could

maybe put out some kind of advisory that says here's what you'll be thinking about next week here's how I'll be part of your lives. Because this book has to sell because I bought a lot of pretty cool yellow outfits and I got seven more unworn ones in the closet and more stations to hit. I mean, that's the thing that's so frustrating but also kind of fun about this at the same time is that if you give a Trump person a book deal,

they'll kind of just whore themselves out to try and sell that book so it does feel like why don't we just go to everyone and like go to Putin and give him a fucking book deal like what's he gonna spill I'm here for it not Sean Spicer though he was like oh I've got some real dirt he's a great guy it's really good though because i think what we're seeing is that the sean spicer fake book where he says everything's good and he promotes it on the right-wing media is not doing as well as the setting up taking a match and throwing it on the bridge over the well river trump you know i feel you have to kind of account for personalities as well i mean om Omarosa understands reality television.

She understands entertainment and TV and news. And she has a command of the news cycle in the same way I think that, you know, Michael Avenatti has demonstrated a real command of that. So, I mean, yeah, there's a potential for some runway there. Yeah, it's interesting. Michael Avenatti... Uh-oh. And we're not getting into it. I can't.

But Trump-like figures are the people that have made the most of a dent in Trump. I mean, Omarosa's going on television left and right just being like, did I see it? Yeah. Do I have proof? No. Do I need proof?

No. Fuck you. And they're like, Omarosa makes startling allegation paragraphs down with no proof. It's like, oh my god, it works the other way too. We've reversed the streams. Now that we're talking about

Omarosa, I think it's, uh, let's just dive in. Let's dive in. The feud between Trump and Omarosa is growing. On Monday, Trump tweeted, I don't have the word in my vocabulary and never have. Oh, really? Oh, really? That's as convincing as him saying on the phone to Omarosa,

they fired you? Oh. This is the first I'm hearing about it. I gotta get, you know what? I can't call John Kelly. I'm on about it. I gotta get... You know what? Ah, I can't call John Kelly. I'm on the phone with you. There's nothing we can do.

After somebody's fired, you can't undo it. I wish I could help you. Ah, this is such a bummer. Maybe there's something... Ah, there's nothing we can do. Sarah Sanders would not definitively say there's no audio. On Tuesday, former Trump spokesperson Katrina Pearson and aide Lynn Patton went back and forth on what was said in the recordings and what was meant. On Tuesday, there was a tape from Omarosa from Trump spokesperson Katrina Pearson and aide Lynn Patton who went back and forth on what was said in the recordings and what it meant.

On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted, when you give a crazed crying lowlife a break and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn't work out. That is grammatically fucked. When you do this, I guess it just didn't work out. Oh, that's bad grammar, but subtly bad, right? It's like weird, tense, not agreeable. Like there's subjunctive issues in there. Ah, there's a pluperfect problem or something. You know? What is a Pluperfect problem or something. You know?

What is the Pluperfect? Would that it were. Omarosa. Good work for General Kelly for quickly firing that dog. Yuck. Yeah. So, we are very lucky to have someone here to help us, take us inside Omarosa's book,

something we've been feverishly awaiting. Here to read an excerpt is the lead singer of Churches. Please welcome Lauren Mayberry. I'm not from here, so my accent won't fit with the reading. But I'll try. On Tuesday, December 12th, 2017, I was sitting at my desk when my assistant walked in looking perplexed. I just got an email from General Kelly's assistant, she said. He wants to meet you in the Situation Room in Five.

General Kelly sat down and said, I'm going to talk to you about leaving the White House. It's come to my attention there have been significant integrity issues related to you. We're not suggesting legal action here. It's a pretty serious offense. I'd like to see a friendly departure. What is he talking about? Where is this coming from?

Quickly, I connected the dots. This had to be about the N-word tape. The president, a.k.a. Twitter Fingers, didn't tweet until nearly a full day after my meeting with Kelly. At 3.58, he posted, Thank you, Omarosa, for your service. I wish you continued success. That tweet was weak. After 14 years, this was the best he could do. Where did the hysterical rant story come from?

Someone had to have leaked this fiction. I suspect that it came from the Chief of Staff's office. General Kelly attempted to assassinate my character. I got many offers after leaving the White House, but I chose Celebrity Big Brother because it has always been one of my favorite shows. It started right away. And I knew that the spotlight would be on me. I figured that if anyone threatened to hurt me, the world would be watching. Bad things can happen in the shadows, in the dark,

especially when you're threatened by one of the most ominous figures in the US government. But on Big Brother, I'd be on three live TV shows a week. 24 hour live feeds. Anything they tried to do would be litigated in the court of public opinion. And on the show, I said some things that were not flattering to the president. According to an email from the White House Counsel's Office, if I wanted to see my personal items again,

I would have to sign a draconian departure non-disclosure agreement during about my time at the White House. That's what it says written down. I did not proofread Omarisa's book. At the time of this writing, General John Kelly is still holding my personal items hostage at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. A normal

person would have crumbled under the kind of scare tactics and pressure they put me under. But I am not your average person. That experience of being locked up in the situation room was extremely traumatic, but it was not the worst situation I've ever faced in my tumultuous life. Believe me, I am the ultimate survivor. Guys, give it up for Lauren Mayberry of Churches. Thank you so much. That was so great.

Thank you. Little note on dealing with Omarosa. Manners go a long way with her because treat her nicely. Maybe you'll be okay. A little disrespect. She will make sure you don't have ancestors anymore. Somehow. My favorite part about that was like, that sounds like a great setup for a political thriller. It's like, she was being threatened by the president, so she went on Celebrity Big Brother to hide. I just love the like, retconning

all her kind of ridiculous motivations. Like, I went on Big Brother so that I'd be safe. If you had asked us two weeks ago what we'd be talking about tonight, it would have been Omarosa. But she knew. So she knows what we're going to be talking about next week because she wants to be in the news, and she's got some other shit coming,

and we should all just brace because this is a three act thing she knows how it works Donald Trump and Omarosa came from the same egg when we come back okay stop hey don't go anywhere there's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Now for a game we call OK Stop. We'll roll a clip, and then the panel can say OK Stop at any point to comment. The EPA recently issued a new proposed rule to roll back fuel efficiency standards put into place by the Obama administration. In this clip, Andrew Wheeler, who took over for the scandal written Scott Pruitt, discusses the proposal with Boris Epstein, the chief political analyst

and marble-mouthed weirdo for Sinclair Broadcast Group. The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that they are proposing freezing certain emission standards at 2020 levels until 2026. I spoke to the acting administrator of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler, about the rationale behind that proposal. Okay, stop. I know that people at home can't see it, but it's interesting to me that he's talking about climate change because he looks like a weatherman who's about to have a nervous breakdown.

Yeah, he looks like he's about to be like, that's the weather, but now let's talk about the storm on the home front. Or should I keep it private, Sheila? Well, we looked at a lot of data, and we worked with our partners over at Department of Transportation, and we believe by freezing those for five years, we'll save over a thousand lives a year. Okay, stop.

I just want to say, it's kind of mean that they have, like, a nice, beautiful green fern in the background. That's all. I just want to say it's kind of mean that they have like a nice beautiful green fern in the background. That's all. You don't get to do that. This idea that fuel economy standards are going to kill a thousand people, like it's one of those things that's actually subtle propaganda, which is why I wanted to use the clip. And it's actually a little bit tricky even for this because you're like, wait, wait, wait, where does that come from? And you have to dig into it. And so I dug into it a little bit this afternoon and turns out what that's based on is modeling. And it's based on modeling around the idea that new cars are

safer than older cars and increasing fuel economy standards may lead people to possibly delay buying a new car if the new cars are more expensive because of the fuel economy standards, because people will delay buying a new car. It is so attenuated, even that I'm simplifying it. When he says it's going to kill a thousand people or save a thousand lives, it is based on a model with a ton of data. There's actually no evidence that raising fuel economy standards causes any kind of increase in accidents or problems on the road. We've been raising fuel economy standards causes any kind of increase in accidents or problems on the road. We've been raising fuel economy standards for a very long time,

and actually cars have been getting safer, and people have been safer on the roads. Also, if they're worried about people's safety, why don't they just do a campaign about wearing flip-flops when you drive? Because that's really dangerous. Yeah. Leah, you should wear flip-flops when you drive.

Why don't people? Yeah. Or just like, hey, sometimes a water bottle, that'll roll right under your brake. Oh, yeah. Letting your cat or dog out of their cage when you're driving across country, they're going to run under that thing. I think the way that this has been interpreted in California by the governor

and by the attorney general is just an all-out assault on California policy. I mean, California has been a leader in environmental policy, has been pushing for these stricter emission standards. And Jerry Brown doesn't get super passionate and mouthy very often, but he was pretty pissed about this one. Yeah, I mean, so as part of this revocation of the Obama-era rules, the EPA also wants to revoke California's waiver,

which has allowed the state to set its own auto efficiency standards. Sixteen other states have done the same. Jerry Brown said this. For Trump to now destroy a law first enacted at the request of Ronald Reagan five decades ago is a betrayal and an assault on the health of Americans everywhere. Under his reckless scheme, motorists will pay more at the pump, get worse gas mileage, and breathe dirtier air. California will fight this stupidity in every conceivable way possible. You're right. Yeah, I mean that

that's as far as Jerry Brown goes. Jerry Brown's been in politics a long, long time. That's like the most heated. That's it. We will fight it in any way possible, including bringing up Ronald Reagan. I know! That is our trump card. If we say Ronald

Reagan, you cannot say anything back. The American consumer, $500 billion over the course of the regulation. So this is really an important regulation, important standard for the American consumer. And we really anticipate more new cars will be sold because the prices will be slightly lower. And when new cars are sold... Okay, stop. I just want to pinpoint the word slightly lower. It just feels like they don't really believe this at all, right? The prices will be slightly lower. And you know how when people save like a hundred bucks, they buy a new car. And they're cleaner for the environment. And there's now a comment period in place. What is the process for actually freezing the standards? Well, you're right.

We are taking comments. We're taking comments from our proposal, which is freezing the standard for five years. But it's also important to remember that the standards will continue to get tighter between now and 2021, and then they'll freeze. We're taking comments on that all the way up to the Obama proposal and seven or eight steps in between. So we want the American public to comment on this.

We want to hear from industry, the states, the environmental organizations. We want to make sure that the rule that we go final with at the end of the process is the best rule for all Americans. Here's the bottom line. The EPA's proposed freeze on emissions standards is a common sense solution to a complex problem. Okay, stop. The problem, stop. The problem solutions. We found a solution

to the problem. The problem is the solutions. We have found a solution to the solution problem, which is a new problem which we are creating to which we are accepting comments. It will both save billions of dollars. No.

And more importantly, save lives. No. Wow. I wanted to do that clip only because, you know, we spent a lot of time with the kind of buckshot propaganda that the Trump people are firing out, just sort of diffuse and hitting Wherever they point it but like this is the old Koch brothers subtle

Industry style get into your local news with facts that seem believable propaganda They are making a case against Obama era fuel efficiency Even the automakers don't want it because they want to undo what Obama did in eight years because Donald Trump wasn't hugged. I mean, the automakers don't want it because they want consistency, right? And the states that have opposed this, I think they, our reporting showed they make up a third of consumers of automobiles in the US. So I mean, that's a huge part of the market. And if those places, you know, have a separate policy

and they're already following that policy, they don't want to have to have things all over the map. I mean, that's what, you know, businesses want. To play devil's advocate, I do think that they're right, that climate change will help sell cars. Because I saw Mad Max, and they're driving hella cars in that shit. There's so many cars. It's like, with higher fuel economy standards,

you could never get a subwoofer and a one-eyed demon attached to the front. Honestly. Is this America or not? Screw the environment if my car comes with a guitar player. Fuck yeah. Maybe that would have won the popular Oscar, you know? Yeah.

Finally, the Oscars is a popularity contest. When we come back, we're going to play a game. Don't go anywhere. Love it or leave it, there's more on the way. And we're back! This just in, there's a new trend sweeping the nation.

All the teens are doing it. It's called digging up old tweets. It's like a fidget spinner, but it can destroy careers. From James Gunn to Sarah Geong to President Donald Trump, everyone's old tweets are coming back to haunt them. So we decided to do some digging of our own in a game we're calling Early Tweet Gets the Fave.

Would anyone out there like to play the game? What's your name? Mike. Mike. Good to see you, Mike. Good to see you. Are you familiar with Twitter? Oh yeah. I follow you. Oh, cool.

Mike, here's how it works. I'm going to read an old tweet from a famous public figure, and you have to guess who wrote it. It's as simple as sending a tweet instead of a DM and then pretending you were hacked. All right. Number one, in 2013, which future presidential primary candidate tweeted, I'm just learning how to tweet.

It's cool, but it's not brain surgery. Hashtag, hashtag. Ben Carson. Correct. In 2014 2014 which Iowa senator tweeted Windsor Heights Dairy Queen is a good place for you know what he's 81 years old he chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee you can smoke his last name Oh Chuck Grassley got You got it. In 2008, which NRA spokesperson tweeted,

I has wine, buzz blogging commenceth? Is that Dana Lourish? Dana Lourish, yeah, you got it. Which Florida senator tweeted, One week until Tudors season three on Showtime. That's gotta be Rubio. That King Henry VIII was one wild and crazy guy. Imagine if they had TMZ back in those days. Is it Rubio?

It is Rubio. Whoa. Number five. In which 2008 presidential candidate tweeted, Snooki, you are right. I would never tax your tanning bed. Prez Obama tax spend policy is quite the situation. Chris Christie.

Nope. I'll give you a hint. That's John McCain. You didn't get it. Number six. In 2009, this attorney general tweeted, We are excited to announce Twitter. Stay tuned for our YouTube and website updates.

He's a current attorney general. Oh, Jeff Sessions. Yep. Who tweeted in 2012, Everyone knows I am right that Robert Pattinson should dump Kristen Stewart. In a couple of years, he will thank me. Be smart, Robert. Mr. Donald Trump.

Yep, that's right. Which Trump confidant started his Twitter with the following, Okay, followers, I am now on. Time to let your friends know and follow me. He recently flipped on Trump. Michael Cohen. Got it. This speaker of the House tweeted in 2009, entering the brave new world of Twitter, what the heck is this

anyway? Paul Ryan? Yep. Mike, you've won the game. Yeah. Guys, give it up for Mike. Parachute gift card for Mike. I heard a love it 2020. Obviously right now I'm focused on 2018.

When we come back, we're going to play a game about athletes and politics. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back! Professional athletes are the only liberals

your grandfather can tolerate. Recently, we've seen athletes speak out on a number of issues, whether it was Colin Kaepernick taking a knee to protest police brutality, or LeBron James speaking out against Trump, or CJ, your friend of the pickup basketball game, who really thinks you need to Google chemtrails. But some on the right think these athletes should shut up and dribble.

This concept isn't new at all, but we've proven time and time again that those who thought so were on the wrong side of history. We're going to look back at some of those examples, and you have to tell us what the real response was to a groundbreaking athlete at the time. Would anyone like to play? Let's go to Rebecca from last week. Rebecca deserves it. Rebecca solved our problem about Norma Gina Maryland. She was viciously, viciously attacked by me with a use of a word, ma'am, to describe her. Because it's like, what am I doing? I'm not talking to Rebecca's mother, you know?

Talking to Rebecca. Here's the problem, though, Rebecca. Do you have the mic? I have the mic. Good. I don't like saying miss. Why not? Miss feels crazy to me.

Like, miss. Ma'am. You like miss. Okay, here's the thing. Ma'am feels old. What? Did you say girl? Yo girl?

I'm not saying yo girl. What about queen? Queen? I like ma'am. You like ma'am? Ma'am is underrated. It's like kind of got a southern charm. Like, yes, ma'am.

No, my go-to is ma'am. Okay, but the girls in this room, the girls in this room saying that are under 35, under 30, I am way above that. So when you hear ma'am, I think I'm getting excited about it now. When you're pushing 50 and you hear ma'am, it's unsettling.

I got to tell you, though, I see you. And you know what? You're pushing pretty hard because you're pushing it away. You know, you get it? You see what I'm doing? See what I'm doing? You are a heartbreaker, John. All right, enough of this.

Still need something that's not ma'am and not miss. By the way, I get called ma'am all the time in the supermarket, and I don't mind. It's fine. You can call me ma'am anytime. Okay, Rebecca. Here's how it works. I'm going to read you a question about an athlete in history

who faced political backlash, and you'll have to see what the real response was at the time. Question number one. Jackie Robinson famously broke the color barrier in 1947 when he joined the Dodgers. How is the event described in the newspaper after his first game? Is it A? Yes, King. Ms. Jackie Robinson absolutely

slayed this game, Henny. Guys. Or was it B? It was described with too many details. The journalist spent the entire article describing aroma of crushed peanuts, the vivacious spirit of the wind, and the innocence lost from a child

watching his very first sporting event. He never got to the whole Jackie Robinson thing. Or is it C? There was no description at all. He never got to the whole Jackie Robinson thing. Or is it C? There was no description at all. He was omitted completely from the Brooklyn Eagle coverage of the game. What do you think, Rebecca?

I wish it was a sadly it's C. It is. Bonus question. Who is the first African American to play in the major leagues? It's not Jackie Robinson. It isn't. Anybody know?

Isn't that amazing? It was Moses Fleetwood Walker. He played for the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884. They injured him, insulted him, threatened him. He only made it through 42 games until he was permanently sidelined by an injury. And then the ban went into effect as Jim Crow was taking over the South. That carried all the way to Jackie Robinson. Alright, moving forward. Question two.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, track and field runner Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised their fists while standing on the podium to protest racial inequality in the U.S. What did Time Magazine write about the protest on October 25th, 1968? Is it A? Two disaffected black athletes from the U.S.

put on a public display of petulance that sparked one of the most unpleasant controversies in Olympic history and turned the high drama of the games into theater of the absurd? Or was it B, as the founding father Alexander Hamilton once said, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. Well, these athletes stood for something, and now America is falling for them. Wow. Or was it C?

These athletes did something so brave and smooth, like a pack of Marlboro Reds. God, I could go for a smoke right now. A rich, easygoing smoke. Also, it's the 60s, and everything is run by the tobacco industry. What do you think, Rebecca? I'm actually going to say B. No, it was A. I was trying to give time some credit, but no.

Question three. In 1970, a group of black Syracuse football players known as the Syracuse Aides sat out for an entire season. They decided to give up a year of the thing they cared about most to demand equal playing time in the field, a black assistant coach, and the same access to tutors and academic advisors as the white players. What happened to the students as a result of this protest? Is it A? They all went on to have long, lasting, and very healthy careers in the NFL, which was about two seasons and a combined 54 confessions.

Was it B? The protest destroyed their football careers. After the boycotts, one student was dropped by the NFL recruiters and told by his coach, you have a little too much baggage for us. Or is it C? They were thrown a parade that ended racism forever. Now all of the racism you see is fake, so get over it already. What do you think, Rebecca?

Well, now that I get the game that everything is just going to be bad, it's B. Yes. And finally, question four. In 1968, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar boycotted the Olympics, citing racial tension in the U.S. Specifically, he cited two major riots in Newark and Detroit and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. On a much-publicized segment of the Today Show, what did the host tell Kareem when he said, it's not really my country? Is it A?

Well, then there's only one solution. Quote, maybe you should move. Or was it B? Whatever, dude. Los Angeles is a clipper city now and no one will ever think about the Lakers ever again. Or was it C? Just shut up and dribble,

and then skyhook, and then miss, but then get your own rebound and throw it down to Magic for the alley-oop. I'm sorry, I'm just such a big fan of yours. What do you think, Rebecca?

Again, sadly, A. It is A. Rebecca, you've won the game. Thank you. Guys, give it up for Rebecca. Thank you, Don. She's won the parachute gift card. This is the worst way to win a gift card.

Yeah, I guess it is true that it's like, hey, you won a gift card for correctly identifying the ways in which racism has played out in professional sports, literally from the founding of the country. Congrats. When we come back, the rant wheel. Don't go anywhere.

This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Now for the rant wheel. Here's how it works. We'll spin the wheel wherever it lands. We'll talk about the topic. This week on the wheel, we have prisoner firefighters in California, an 11-year-old hacking voting results,

Stephen Miller's uncle, Trump's snub of John McCain, Mark Burnett, Niles Crane. Interesting, exciting. A 14-year-old candidate in Vermont, and the shortest-serving state senator in California. Let's spin the wheel.

It has landed on a 14-year-old candidate in Vermont. I believe this was yours, Gonzalo. That was mine. There is a 14-year-old candidate in Vermont. I believe this was yours, Gonzalo. That was mine. There is a 14-year-old candidate in Vermont. Basically, it's a 14-year-old kid who... You guys can't see him. Oh, he's barely 14. Yeah, he looks like he was passed over when he auditioned to be JTT in Home Improvement.

Oh, sweet kid. He is a sweet kid. He's a 14-year-old kid who's running in the Democratic primary for governor in Vermont. And by the way, I just want to point out, have you ever noticed that the kids who run for public office, like the teens are always kids

who would lose their high school elections? Like they were thinking like, you know who hates me? Other kids my age. You know who loves me? My grandparents. And who votes in elections? Grandparents.

Okay, but is he running as a Democrat, Republican, Independent? He's running as a Democrat. If he was a Republican, he would be on Fox News right now. He would be Tommy Lorraine-ing that shit. I'm confused. Did they just forget to write the rules about age requirements in that state? Yes, they did.

There was a loophole. There wasn't an age bot. There wasn't an age. And he's like, I see a loophole. He can't vote. He's running against a dog that plays basketball.

Look, here's the thing about Vermont. You got two options. 14-year-olds or octogenarians. On average, cool. But there's no sweet spot in the middle right now.

Your choice is Bernie Sanders or this kid. I don't make the rules. My problem with it is that I don't think that virgins should run for public office. Oh, that's not fair. There's so many already there. Maybe it's small-minded, but I don't believe that you should represent the people Oh, that's not fair. There's so many already there. Maybe it's small-minded, but I don't believe that you should represent the people if you've never had sex with one.

That's just my rule. Okay, okay. Like, do you know when... How are you applauding that? What is that idea to you? Who could have guessed that someone who's almost not a virgin would have this platform? But you know how, like are like, when a conservative politician, people are like, oh, it's so sweet.

He is still married to his high school sweetheart. I'm like, no, that's still too close to virgin for me. That's still too much. Three people or more. I'm waiting to hear his stances. I'm open. I want to hear what this kid's for. Yeah.

I want to get back to the issues. If he comes out like single-payer health care, I'm like, sure, whatever. You don't need a driver's license. Yeah. I watched some of his speeches, and he was just saying empty phrases, which is a little bit harsh to judge a 14-year-old for that because 45-year-olds do that too. But he's like, I want to make sure the government is for the people.

It's like, okay, get the fuck out of here. I wanted him to be like, I'm going to build a water slide. We're going to serve pizza on Thursdays. And Fridays and Saturdays. Honestly, that sounds good. All right. Let's spin it again. Pizza on Thursdays.

Okay. It has landed on Niles Crane, which was suggested by Emily. I just, I think that Niles Crane is so superior to Frasier, and it makes, thank you, and it makes me so mad that everyone's talking about, everyone's asking Kelsey Grammer how he feels about the reboot. There should be a Niles Crane spinoff. There should have been one years ago. I know that he was, he could have still been on Frasier, had his own spinoff. The new reboot should be Niles Crane spinoff. There should have been one years ago. I know that he could have still been on Frasier,

had his own spinoff. The new reboot should be Niles Crane. He is one of the best characters on TV, that's all. Does this count as a rant? I don't know. It does. I'll make two points. One, when we had Guy Random on the show,

we did have a pretty vivacious conversation about this topic, and I believe Niles did get short-tripped. As we talked about the ski lodge as one of the great farces of Frasier, I would point out that there's a Valentine's Day, I believe, episode of Frasier in which Niles Crane does a short film

that's basically a silent film about cleaning his pants. If you haven't seen it, give yourself a treat. It's like he doesn't say a word. It is magical. Does anyone remember it? Anyone know what I'm talking about?

They always... Hey, they're my craniacs. This is like deep, deep into the... It's ironing, they said. It's ironing. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. What did I say? Oh my God, ironing is cleaning to me. I don't catch the subtlety of it. It's alling. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. What did I say? Oh my God, ironing is cleaning to me.

I don't catch the subtlety of it. It's all in the basket of taking dirty, crumpled things and making them nice, clean things. I don't iron. How it comes out of the dryer is how it will be seen by the world. Let's spin it again. It has landed on the shortest serving state senator.

Christine, I believe this was your suggestion. This is my rant. Okay, so there was a state senator in Los Angeles County, Tony Mendoza, and he stepped down a short while ago because of sexual harassment allegations, hashtag me too. So he steps down and there's this special election that has to happen to fill his seat, right? So the term goes until the end of this year, December, and there's also elections happening this year, so go figure.

And so on June 5th, when you guys were all, I hope you were all voting, on June 5th, go voting. There were two separate elections happening for this one district. Okay. So one, there had to be like a initial race for like who was going to make it through to the runoff to like replace this guy. Right. And then there also had to be like the regular primary for who's going to make it to November to then fill the next two years of this term. That day two different races same district all the same candidates and voters somehow advanced two

different sets of candidates for those two different races. So those results came out last week my friend Colleen Shelby who's in the audience covered this for our paper and the woman who won her name is Vanessa Delgado she's a Montebello mayor she is gonna be in office for three weeks three weeks and why is that she was sworn in yesterday so she's our newest California State Senator and the legislature's meeting and there's like it's crazy right now there's tons of bills but they're out of session on August 31st. So go figure.

And the best part about this, Los Angeles County spent an estimated $3 million on this election, special election last week, and she also had to resign her seat on the Montebello City Council because it's a conflict of interest interest so there may be a special election to fill her seat. Anyway, that's my rant of the day. I've said it once. I'll say it again. Democracy is a huge

waste of time and resources. I mean, what do you do in three weeks? Do you guys have suggestions? Three weeks. What can you do? I can't believe they picked two different slates. Water slides! Water slides! Water slides! But I will pass that along.

All right, let's spin it again. Again? It has landed on Mark Burnett, the producer of The Apprentice, friend to Donald Trump. Just clicked for you? Just clicked for you mid-sentence? Donald Trump obviously tweeted something along the lines of, I just talked to Mark Burnett and he says I never said it.

I think that Mark Burnett has gotten such a pass from this town. We're in Los Angeles. He's gotten a pass from Democrats. He's treated like a respectable person. It is ridiculous. Now, he has been publicly silent, right? Everybody's saying that he is sitting on tapes where Donald Trump says these awful things. The best we've got is Donald Trump recanting what happened when he clearly got Mark Burnett on the call.

is Donald Trump recanting what happened when he clearly got Mark Burnett on the call. Now, one nice thing to think about is the facial expression Mark Burnett made when his assistant came in and said, Donald Trump's on the blower. It's like, oh, shit. Mark Burnett has important evidence that's important to the country

of what Donald Trump is like, and he is protecting Donald Trump. All the bullshit about the legal reasons, all the ramifications for releasing it are nonsense. He is choosing to protect Donald Trump. He the bullshit about the legal reasons, all the ramifications for releasing it are nonsense. He is choosing to protect Donald Trump. He's choosing to protect him every day and he should just simply not be viewed as a respectable figure in this country.

He is participating in a cover-up. That's all I wanted to say about that. Should we spin it one more time? It has landed on Stephen Miller's uncle. That guy's cool. Similarly, the fact that George Conway tweeted

very explicitly today that he thinks Donald Trump fucking blows. And he's been doing that for a long time. It's important to remember, like, we don't know what goes on inside of families and inside of marriages. I don't know the relationship between Kellyanne Conway and George Conway. I don't know what happens in that house when they disagree. Now, I know what would happen in my relationship if my partner basically said that I am participating in a great fraud against the American people and that the most important job I've ever had

is basically part of a historic wrong. Like, I know what would happen if in my house there'd be words about it. There'd be a conversation. I don't know how it would end. It's interesting to me because typically it's the'd be a conversation. I don't know how it would end. It's interesting to me because typically it's the uncle who's racist.

Right. I know. Yes. Like Stephen Miller is so racist his uncle isn't racist. Yeah. If your uncle tells you you're the racist one, you are so racist. I like the idea that he's at

like, there's some comic who's like, you know you go to Thanksgiving and there is your racist nephew. And he's like, exactly, exactly. That is my family. Racist nephews, am I right? Every family's got one. Every family's got one. Racist fucking nephews, am I right? Every family's got one. Every family's got one.

Racist fucking nephews, classic. Classic. It's a small thing, but there was something that really touched me deeply when he referred to Stephen Miller's mother, whose name is Miriam. What a beautiful Jewish name, Miriam. His mother's name is Miriam, and this is the little fucking shit he's become. You come from glossers and Miriams and this is how you behave.

Unbelievable. Those of us that come from Ruthies and Shirlies and Bernards and Bessies, from Ruthies and Shirlies and Bernards and Bessies. Shame on you. We come from Sadels and Lous and Sheryls. Just naming common Jewish family names.

Anyway, Stephen Miller's uncle seems like a cool guy. I hope that Thanksgiving's at his house let's end on a high note because we got some pretty good news

in a week defined by the dumbest people commanding all of our attention a new civics poll found that Beto O'Rourke took

a small lead over Ted Cruz it is the first time that has happened. It was 1%, all right? It's within the margin of error. It's very close, but polls on August 1st showed Cruz up six points

and two points in May. O'Rourke was down by 11 points, according to Quinnipiac. He's got a real shot down there. I see a Beto for Texas shirt in the front row. I don't want to get our hopes up. Yipiak, he's got a real shot down there. I see a Beto for Texas shirt in the front row. I don't want to get our hopes up. They are unleashing, as we speak, a torrent, millions and millions and millions of dollars of negative bullshit ads against Beto O'Rourke, trying to paint him as a liberal, trying to paint him as against law and order and all the shit that we're going to see.

It's going to be really hard. But you know what? Texas is giving Beto O'Rourke a chance. And that is incredibly fucking exciting. Because... Oh, man. Just thinking about it is so exciting. Beto O'Rourke defeating Ted Cruz.

I just want us all to think about it. What's interesting is, like, if you think about the conversation six months ago, a year ago, like, it was that, okay, we might, you know, the Democrats might take the House. That's where we're focusing, you know, talk to DCCC, talk to the DNC.

And now it's like, if hopes are rising about the Senate for Democrats, like, that's going to take a lot rising about the Senate for Democrats, like, that's going to take a lot of money and resources for the GOP to defend as well. And how does that kind of play out with all of these fires across the country and the House races that they're trying to defend as well? So yeah, interesting for someone like it is. And look, no, I think it is, you know, the fact that the Senate may be in play, because Beto has a shot is very exciting. I think Beto having a chance gives me hope I do. The Senate is still really tough. And I'm going to tell you, not

to bring us to a low note, but I'm getting worried about Florida people. We got to get Bill Nelson over the finish line. But yeah, you're not paying attention to the ones that aren't as fucking fun. All right, look, Beto has a chance. We can win in Texas. Help Beto O'Rourke do whatever you can. Holy shit. Because if we can get Ted Cruz out of the Senate, that is pretty cool. That is our show. I want to thank Emily Axford, Gonzalo Cordova, Christine Maiduk, and Lauren Mayberry of Churches.

Thank you guys all for coming out to the Improv. And have a great night