No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - Blockbuster 2023 comes to a close

Episode Date: December 31, 2023

Brian and FOX LA's Elex Michaelson do a 2023 wrap-up and a look ahead to 2024.Donate to the "Don't Be A Mitch" fund: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dontbeamitchShop merch: https://briantylercohen.com/shopYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/briantylercohenTwitter: https://twitter.com/briantylercohenFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/briantylercohenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/briantylercohenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/briantylercohenNewsletter: https://www.briantylercohen.com/sign-upWritten by Brian Tyler CohenProduced by Sam GraberRecorded in Los Angeles, CASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody. This is the last episode of 2020. So just a quick note from me before we head into the annual end of year wrap up with my buddy Alex Michelson. So I know you might be anxious about the polls, about the news, about Biden's chances. Try not to worry about that now. Because first off, remember that most people aren't paying attention to politics right now. And what happens in December of 2023 is going to feel like ancient history in November of 2024. Second, also remember that a lot of the media narrative you're hearing right now, is cherry-picked to maximize drama. So if you're only hearing about the polls where Trump is ahead,

that is by design, and there's nothing that the both sides' media loves more than manufacturing some drama where there shouldn't necessarily be any. Third, Democrats have a blockbuster record to run on between the legislative accomplishments, which include the American Rescue Plan, inflation reduction act,

Infrastructure law, gun safety law, Pact Act, Chips Act, Vance Against Women Act, codifying marriage equality into federal law, and the economic accomplishments, which include adding over 14 million jobs, the longest stretch of sub-4% unemployment in 50 years, a record high stock market, consumer confidence surging, gas being below $3 a gallon,

inflation lower than when Biden took office, wages outpacing inflation, and the most small businesses created in U.S. history, this is the kind of record that Republicans campaign on without ever actually managing to do it. And finally, factor in Republicans' continued insistence on passing abortion bans and working to strip women of the reproductive rights,

which has been the single most potent issue in the last few years. and for all the worrying, I'd rather be Joe Biden and the Democrats any day of the week. So we've got plenty of time to make that case, and we will. But in the meantime, enjoy some rest because it is going to be a year. And as always, I cannot thank you enough for taking some time out of your day to listen to my take on things. So without any more delay, here's my chat with Alex Michelson, and looking forward to hitting the ground running with you all in 2024. All right, as is our end of year tradition.

I'm joined by my friend Alex Michelson, the host of the issue. is California's only statewide political show and the anchor at Fox L.A. Alex, thanks for joining. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. We almost made it. Yes. Almost made it. We are hours away. All right. So I figured for this year we would do what's kind of turned into a tradition for us. And that's owed in parts of the fact that it's fun to have more casual conversation. And the other half is that I can't get in a guess. I was going to say. So you could say that it's saving the best for us.

last. That's right. Or you could say you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. I'm going to focus on saving the best for last. That's right. That's right. We'll stick with the former here. So let's dive in here and just kind of have a chat about this past year. I mean, you've had what I think is safe to say the biggest year of your career as well. You too. So let's start off with this. What has been the most memorable moment or day of 2023 for you? Well, I'm going to start by. saying what I think is the most important day for the country politically, and then I'll get into me. I think the most important day, as we look back on the year politically for the country, was the day that Donald Trump was indicted, because that was the moment that he essentially

won the Republican nomination. The entire party coalesced around him. They made it an issue of the establishment institutions against him. The Republicans have to back him to give a middle fingered everybody else. And all of his key opponents all backed him. They never said, you know, we've got concerns. Maybe there's some reasons why he's being indicted. We should argue against this guy. They all fell in line with him. And I think that it turns out that that was the best thing that could have ever happened to him politically. So I have the same day for a completely different reason. Okay. And day, I mean like any of these indictments. But The first one, because I think the fact that it happened in New York, probably the least important of the cases looked like the most political, the fact that that happened first, I think was important in helping for all of this to happen.

I see where you're coming from. So I would also say his indictments, I would say them as a whole, as a collective, because, you know, to your exact point, the New York one wasn't as significant as the subsequent ones. But I think for what I do, and, you know, I spend so much time trying to convince people. that this stuff matters, this was like a rare moment of accountability for Trump and it set him down this path of what would be,

you know, he's facing 91 criminal charges right now and it kind of shows that like he isn't above the law and it gives me some hope in the system. It gives some people watching faith in the system that it isn't just this lawless kind of dumpster fire that they've made it out to be. And so I think that that was the most important moment.

And look, that is an open question. Right. To that point, he can still get away with it. But the fact that we're here, the fact that we're here and that he's facing almost 100 criminal charges, half of which are at the hands of a justice department that doesn't bring these indictments unless they're virtually assured of winning them really poses like a grim future for Trump. There is no question that everybody around him are being held accountable, right? You see even in Georgia, a lot of these folks are all being held accountable. I think it's still an open question whether he is going to be in prison at the end of next year or the president or both, right? I mean, it is crazy as we look towards 2024 that storyline, which is unlike anything we've ever seen in American history before and I think we'll define our politics in what can only be seen as a negative way in terms of the incredible division that that scenario brings for our country. and how ugly it's probably going to get. That being said, let's answer your actual question to me. Most memorable day for me personally was being out in the field.

I went on a trip to China with Governor Newsom, which was really extraordinary. And I was the only TV reporter there and the only camera capturing a lot of this. And we went into the palace with Chinese president Xi. And we didn't know if we were going to even get invited into it at the very last second. and it was a rush to get in there and there's like, you know, trumpets blaring and guards marching and they're trying to regulate the press and kind of being put, getting pulled around by their people and walking into this elaborate hall with the governor and seeing him afterwards and attending a big dinner that the Chinese people threw for us afterwards had like taken shots

with him afterwards. The whole thing was very surreal and kind of unlike anything I'd ever seen or experienced. in my life, and that was the most memorable day for me. What about for you? I would say for me, there were two moments. One was I had the opportunity to interview AOC, which I'd been trying to do for literal years. I mean, there are some people on my list, and we'll talk about our lists at the end of this,

but there are some people on my list that I've been trying to interview for a long time. AOC was one of them. She's, you know, I think like a major player in the future of democratic messaging, democratic politics. So that was very exciting. Another one was signing with MSNBC and as a contributor with MSNBC, which was kind of amazing because like some punk kid that does YouTube videos. And so it's, it was pretty cool. And so for people that only watch your YouTube videos or listen to this podcast that

may not know, they can watch you on MSNBC now and they also can read your work there and watch your videos there as well. Yeah, so you can go to, you know, MSNBC's YouTube channel, I have my own playlist on there. So you can check that out. writing op-eds for them as well. I can't stop myself from doing promos for you on your own show.

I'm so used to doing that. Hey, I'm not going to stop you. Now, you had mentioned what you'd done with Gavin Newsom in China. I want to talk about just, you know, you've been the guy who's covered Gavin Newsom more closely and more frequently than any other reporter, I think, I think on earth. I think you're the guy

when it comes to Gavin Newsom. We've done a lot together. We did five extensive sit-downs this year, which was the most that we'd done all over the world. And what do you view Newsom's role in the party in just American politics as moving forward? Well, I mean, I think that what his supporters would like it to be going forward is kind of the younger era parent to Joe Biden, to be on the national stage at the Republican debate, to be on the stage literally debating Ronda Sanis, to be in prime time on Fox, to be in China with the Chinese president, you know, looking like. a potential president right um you know the vice president may not like that she's kind of got uh you know she sees herself as a potential president and of course there's you know challenges because um you

know i interviewed jerry brown who was the governor of california four times and ran for president three times and he says i've never met a governor who doesn't see themselves as president yeah um so he says if gavin newsum really doesn't that would be the first governor i've ever met in my life like that. And his father was governor twice, and he ran for president, too. And so you look at some of the governors around the country. You look at Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer and Wes Moore and Andy Bashir. And they've all got people telling them all the time that they should be president. And on top of the cabinet and Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who you just had on recently, and the vice president, who by the way is still the most likely person to do it based off of where things

are at right now. It's not like a for sure thing that Gavin Newsom has a path to be president. What do you think is the biggest obstacle that he faces in terms of like, you know, reaching that point? The vice president. Yeah. But what about for him personally? Do you think that he has anything that he has to contend with that might make it less likely?

Of course. Look, I mean, we both live and love California and live here. But the rest of the country doesn't all love California. Yeah. There is a real homelessness crisis here. That's not made up. There are real problems in terms of income inequality here. And there are images of California that don't play well across the country that don't play well in California.

You can see the ad of Skid Row or downtown San Francisco and saying, is this the California model that you want in your state? You could see that playing in Iowa or South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, or any of the early states. You know, he is rich and elite. He is, right? And they're sort of leaned into that. Like, I mean, the Kennedys were, Roosevelt was, right? I mean, that hasn't always been a horrible thing in terms of Donald Trump is. Donald Trump is. And I think the Newsom team is just like, we're not going to pretend and put him in some like ill-fitting dad games. That's not him. Right. That's not him. Like, he wears nice suits. Like, he looks good. Like, that's part of his thing. Yeah. But, and that plays pretty well in California. Does that play

in the middle of the country? Does that play in all time zones, as they say in the West Wing? I don't know. And you wonder also in terms of the political future of where it is. I mean, the probably I mean, and I know this is a horrific thing for your people

to hear, just from a pure politics perspective. The best thing for Gavin Newsom politically would be that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris lose, that Donald Trump is the president, and that Gavin Newsom gets to be a sort of the president of the resistance in California. He gets to be the most, the leader of the biggest,

most powerful state in the country and fight back against everything that Donald Trump does and look like a de facto president in waiting in this part. Yeah, I understand that. If Joe Biden wins, assuming he serves out till he's 86, which is an assumption, then either Kamala Harris is the heir apparent

or it's possible if he decides to not serve all four years that she is then the president and the first female first female black president and running against an incumbent democratic president from your home state that you've known for 30 years that's tough yeah well everything is kind of unprecedented not that we're doing uncharted waters here not that we're doing 18 chess moves but i mean those are those are you know scenarios so i mean i and you know And right now, you know, he's a hot topic and he's interesting. But there might be a new flavor of the week that come up in the next few years, too. I mean, he is turned out in 2026.

So by 28, he would now be the former governor of California. Right. With somebody new in the office of California governor that's doing their own thing. And it is harder sometimes to run as a former than as a current. Totally. Well, speaking of California governors, you also had, I think, what was like my dream interview, and that was interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger in gold gym in Venice, California. Right.

What was that like? What was the process of making that happen like? And then what was the interview itself like? Well, first off, we should give a shout out to how strong Brian Tyler is because, you know, he wears that suit most of the time. And people don't get to see that he actually is a personal trainer with like 5% body fat. That was a past life. I did.

I did. That's how that's, that was my, that was like my second job. Yeah. Um, so, so you have a special attachment to, like every personal trainer. I actually have his, I have his bodybuilding Bible. And I've had it for over a decade. Yeah. Uh, so that, so, um, he's incredible.

Uh, how did that happen? Um, he was, uh, promoting his book, Be Useful, which is great, which you should read. Um, and, uh, and I had four years, uh, been interviewing him. It first took me two and a half years of bothering his guy, Daniel, over and over again, almost every week asking for an interview until we finally did it. And by the way, for anybody like, that's, that's how it works. Like, I've gotten interviews solely based on the fact that their offices needed me to stop emailing. Yeah. So back in, so I, he was on my dream list when we first started the issue is five and a half years ago.

I wanted to talk to Arnold Schwarzenegger. and that's a tough booking. So initially, I had asked and asked and asked, and then Daniel, his chief of staff, said, he is doing an event with Jerry Brown in Fresno for a million solar panels that are been installed. So it would be a good idea if you guys had some sort of camera there and then we'll figure out if he's going to do an interview with you.

So I said, well, I need to go. And then I went and showed up and they're like, we just thought you were going to have a camera from the Fresno affiliate. Not that you would be here. And I drove to Fresno and was the only reporter there. And he saw me there. And then they said, okay, we'll come to your studio, which was later that week, to do a 10-minute interview on solar panels. And then one of his guys said, you know, if he's in a good mood, maybe he'll go longer. And 30 minutes later, as I'm sitting there on the set, at the end,

I'm like, okay, this has gone so well, I'm just going to ask him. And I said, you know, if I had to throw it a commercial, like, what would be a good way to do that where I would return from something? And he does the line. He does the, I'll be back, you know? And I'm like, okay, we're good. And then after that, he invited me to help moderate this panel he was doing on homelessness, and we've been doing stuff fairly regularly.

And shockingly, he watches the show. And sometimes I hear about him watching the show. show and it was a real relationship but it took that persistence to get there but since then I've always said my dream is to work out with him and we've we've done eight shows maybe since then and they finally said okay what if you you came to Golds and we did it here and it was it was really great what was it like like being in that moment where you're like literally where you're literally being trained by Arnold Schwarzening or you're spotting Arnold Schwartz? So, well, so it was, I was very nervous, right? And super had so much adrenaline going.

And I'm like, I don't know what to do. And I brought my trainer, Davey Fisher, there, because Arnold was his God. And I said, you're going to be my social media guy for the day or whatever. So he could be there. And Arnold looks at me. He's like, you brought you a fucking trainer? What the fuck? And so then my trainer's like, okay, so Davey gets the weights and like, Arnold does a lot of machines now because he's older. He's had a few different heart procedures. And Davey's like, you can do the full rack, which is lifting all the weights. And I'm like, I don't know.

And like, Davey does it. And then I'm like, okay, I got to do it. And I'm like, I think I can do it. And I had taken pre-workout, which I never take, which is, you know, basically just injecting caffeine into. your blood system so you're now the incredible Hulk yeah between the adrenaline and the pre-workout i'm like ah you know ready to go and and and at some point you look back and he's working out and then you see the face and it's the fucking terminator yeah oh my god it's i mean he is a little older at this point all the rest of it but it's still the terminator and he's still pushing and

and then i'm like let's do how about we do the full rack and he's like this is for you and that i just go into it and I think I had more adrenaline flowing than just about any time it'd ever been in the gym and then he kind of complimented me and kind of mocked me at the same time and it was it was epic but what was so great about Arnold is after doing that and he knows how to put on a show and do the whole thing because he's done it so many times you know he sits down and gives the most thoughtful interesting interview just talking about philosophy of life and winning and even anti-Semitism and societal forces and media and I mean he is and one thing he writes about in his book is how he has been so underestimated in every room because of the accent because of how big he was because of all

the rest of it nobody thought he was smart and he would use that to his advantage to kind of play chess around people and he's done that his whole life and he is so so smart at getting his way And I think also using his platform to do good and for the right things. Just last weekend, I was with him at the Hollenbeck Youth Center, which he's been going to for 30 years in East L.A., helping some of the poorest kids in Southern California. And he brings him Christmas presents every year and to see, you know, 10,000 gifts there. And to see him light up all these kids' faces was really, really special. Who are your goal interviews for next year? The way I've been this tenacious with Arnold and with Gavin,

I've been that tenacious with the vice president. Somebody who I've interviewed 15, 20 times before she was vice president, who I know and have been out on scenes with but hasn't sat down with me. So I would love a chance to talk to her. I think she often doesn't, she's underestimated a lot because people don't hear directly from her. And I think it would be. in her best interest to let people actually hear from her more. And I hope that she sits down with us.

And I'd love the president, too. You've had that experience. And if they want to invite me to the Oval Office or one of the rooms in the White House like you, that would certainly be great. So I think mine are, I would like to interview the president again. Yeah. In campaign mode this time. Yeah.

Not to say that going into the White House wasn't honestly the best day of my life because it was. But I think, you know, it'll be a different, it'll be, I mean, we're in campaign mode in 2024. So it'll be kind of a different feel. And you'll be able to ask questions that you can't really get the answers to when you're in the White House versus on campaign mode. So that's one. I would like to interview Joe Biden again. I would like to interview Barack Obama. Yeah, that's me too.

Who's a tough one. That one's probably the least likely. And John Stewart. John Stewart's been on my list since day one. John Stewart is like one of the reasons why I do this. I really, who I really, really like to sit down with is Bill Maher, who's one of the reasons that I wanted to do this. Oh, interesting. And I've, and I feel like that's the show I've always wanted to do.

He, I, I've tried really hard over the years. I don't know if you know him, if anybody knows him. I would love, love to do a show with Bill Maher. A lot of my show is based off of Bill Maher. And somebody else I've always really wanted to sit down with and it almost happened and they canceled the night before. is Magic Johnson, who I think is like the most important person in the recent history of LA and such an incredible figure not only from a basketball perspective, but from what he's done with business and sports and community and HIV and like so many different aspects of his

life. I think that would be really fascinating. So, you know, we've talked about Newsom. We've talked about the governor. When it comes to California politics, also the biggest story coming up this upcoming year is probably the most like high profile Senate race that we've ever had and we have well at least for a few decades a few decades yeah I mean since I've been around but but can you talk about that what you expect to see as we head into 2024 in this really high profile Senate race yeah I mean it's going to be really easy really interesting and I'm working and hopeful about doing a debate with all the top contenders as well which I think should be really interesting I think the first debate we'll get back to you with more details on that

So we got Adam Schiff, who I'm sure your listeners are well acquainted with, who's been running for this seat for about 15 years, but is ahead in the polls, ahead in fundraising. Probably right now looks like the frontrunner in that race. And if you look at a series of the recent polls, the question in California is who's going to be number two? Because we have a top two system. Some states do this. Some states don't. Which means everybody, Republican, Democrat, independent, Green Party, whatever. all on the same ballot, and then the top two people, regardless of party, advanced to the general

election. Could be two Democrats, could be a Democrat Republican, could be two Republicans, whatever. So we could have Adam Schiff and Katie Porter. We could have Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee. We could have Katie Porter and Barbary. But the danger for the Democrats is it could be Steve Garvey, who's a Republican, long-time Dodger legend in the 70s and 80s, World Series champion, All-Star. Also, you know, and so if he is able to coalesce the state's Republican vote in behind him, he's got a real shot at being in the top two. So if there is a top two of, say, Schiff and Garvey,

basically Adam Schiff would essentially win the election on March 5th. If the top two is Schiff and Porter, that would be incredibly expensive, intraparty fight, but it also might bring out Democrats in some of these close seats. I mean, yeah, it would be the best case scenario for Democrats. We have a ton of districts in California. Like people don't pay attention to California the way that they pay attention to Michigan and Arizona and Nevada and all of these other swings, these battleground states, right? Because you just assume that California, like New York, is just some liberal bastion.

We've got it in the bag. But that's not the case. lost a handful of seats in New York. We lost a handful of seats in California by super small margins. And this would turn out those Democrats who otherwise would just think, hey, we're in CA. Like, it's all good. Well, and you like to point out the fact that in California, we have independent redistricting. So we do not have partisan gerrymandering. So the Democrats who are in control of the state don't just line everything up for themselves, which you would point out hurts the Democrats and other Republican states they do. Also not fair to unilaterally disarm. So I think until

we have a national standard, Democrats should be on the offense as much as possible just to counteract. Well, anyway. But because of that, though, there are a lot of competitive seats. Yeah. And that leads to, you know, close elections. And it is very, very possible that control of the House will be determined by California, which has more districts than anywhere else in the country because it has more people than anywhere else in the country. And I don't know. I mean, it's an interesting question. And I don't know if there actually is a clear answer

to whether Schiff and Porter is better for Democrats in the fall or not. Because if you do have Schiff and Porter against each other in the fall, you're going to have a lot of Democrats giving to each of them that could potentially be giving that money to House candidates

who are going up against Republicans. So is that the best use of it when either one of them are going to be a reliable Democratic vote in the Senate? It's a good point. I think, but it also could juice turnout in a way and depressed Republican turnout if the Republicans don't have somebody

to vote for on the Senate ballot. So I think it's unclear. Okay. Well, as we look toward 2024, what gives you hope and what gives you worry? I've never been more worried going into a presidential election year than this year. I've never been less excited to cover a campaign than this year. I think there are serious questions about the future of our country itself, and there are serious questions about the concept of civil war, which sounds so hyperbolic, and I can't believe I'm actually saying it, but it is scary to think about the possibilities. I mean, we talked about it a little bit earlier, but the concept, which is not that far off a concept, that you could have a presidential candidate who is jailed because of crimes that a jury, of his peers or judges believe that he committed and then still running from president for president from behind bars and win and then what the fuck happens then yep what happens we think people were pissed on january 6th if you put him behind bars while he's running for president what happens

and we got 350 million guns in this country i mean it is such a scary possibility And you think we've had a test of our court system and our democratic system and all the rest of it before? Like that is unlike anything we've ever gone through before. And it is clear that the Republican Party is more radicalized, not less radicalized than they were in 2020. There are more Trump supporters, not less Trump supporters in some of these state legislatures and some of these other places as well. And there are real concerns, I think, about having a presidential candidate on the Democratic side who is that old. There are things that happen when you get older. And, you know, God bless him, but it is a concern.

He can't go out and do the kind of campaign schedule or the amount of interviews or the amount of social media or the amount of engagement that a Gavin Newsom or a Gretchen Whitmer could. He can't. Maybe he doesn't need to. But that campaign is probably going to be so negative, so about Trump, and not so much about hope. I mean, you think about Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, which, of course, Joe Biden was a part of, hope and change. I mean, I remember being at the inauguration for Barack Obama and never having a better moment of my entire career than looking back, standing next to Freedom Riders, who had been beaten in the 60s for fighting for civil rights, now having tears in their eyes as they watched the inauguration of the first black president

and turning around and looking at two million people waving American flags. I mean, that was a moment of hope that made you feel so good about this country. I remember being in the convention for Hillary Clinton as she was the first woman to accept the Democratic nomination and being with women that had fought for their country. whole lives for women's rights and watching tears in their eyes as they felt like their rights were being expanded. I remember even some of the fun of Bill Clinton, don't stop thinking about tomorrow, or even George W. Bush, who ran on the platform of compassionate conservatism, of let's

expand the rights for Latinos. Let's do immigration reform. The first thing that he pushed when his president was education reform, and that we need to have a kinder, gentler America was something that his father talked about. And what's happening now is totally different than that. We have one party and one presidential nominee, most likely, who has no interest in expanding the base, none. And we have another nominee who is so deeply unpopular that the most likely thing that he can do

is just talk about how shitty the other guy is. And where's the hope? Where's the person that makes people feel good about being Americans? feel good about voting for the person they're voting for. And that, to me, is really depressing. I don't know. What do you think? Sorry. Sorry for that Aaron Sorkin monologue, but no, I mean, look, it's all valid. I think, I think, you know, obviously everything you said is, I would, I would echo. We have, we have a rough 2024 coming. And I think what gives me, you know, what gives me worry is the same thing that gives me hope is that, like, is that people are paying attention because the danger is so

The risk is so elevated. The risk is so heightened. And so I'm also, look, my biggest fear is that I wake up on, you know, the day after election day and I have the same feeling that we had in 2016. And what makes it worse is that you already know how bad it could be because you've dealt with like the first time that we heard the Muslim band. The first time that that, the first time that everything happened and you got that like that heaviness in your chest. And there can be that but more because this will be a retribution tour. But for that same reason, I do, what gives me hope is that people are paying attention, that they've smartened up, that the media is better at recognizing what helps him and what disadvantages him, that they don't just, that they don't, you know, just take him at his word and have this idea that he's operating in good faith. I think the media has smartened up to that for as many faults as they continue to have. I think that it's not going to be as easy an environment for him to take advantage of as it was leading up to 2016 and that young people

are paying attention and that they're not and that they're way smarter than everybody else has been as we head into... Are they? I think what's happening right now on college campuses

when it comes to Palestine I mean there are a lot of things that are happening that make you question some of that. I think this is a generation that has grown up dealing with the tail end of so much bullshit

that's been thrust upon them. They're the worst in the Look at the cross taps. The youngest people are his worst supporters. We're a year out. We're a year out. You know better than anybody that anything could happen in the next year

and that most people aren't paying attention right now. That is true. It is freaks like us and the people who are watching and listening. And thank God that people are watching and listening. But it's a fraction of the population. And what we say now, what happens now is going to have so little of an impact when we compare it to what happens in September or October of an election year. No doubt about that.

You know, so I think that that, but I do think that people will pay attention. I think they'll understand the stakes of this election. I think they'll understand what is at risk in terms of abortion rights, in terms of guns, in terms of income inequality and in terms of the climate, like all of these major issues that that it's not just going to be, okay, well, Joe Biden is in his 80s. I think it's going to be so much bigger than that. I do think that people are going to understand. And if your listeners or viewers happen to be.

Democrats, which let's assume that many of them are, one reason to be hopeful is when you actually look at voting, not polls, but voting in the last couple years, almost every instance, the Democrat has won the competitive race. And in almost every instance, voters have turned back Trump's most extremist picks. Yeah. We haven't seen Trump himself on the ballot, which may be different. But it's been a referendum on Trump nonetheless. And when that's happened in 2018, when that's happened in 2020, when that's happened in 2022, and when that's happened in 2023 in this off-year cycle, Democrats have overperformed or won out. And I think that's, you know, that's a reflection on him, whether he's on the ballot or not. We'll see what happens in terms of his ability

to turn out people who otherwise wouldn't turn out unless Donald Trump himself is on the ballot. But look, for as many people will come out because Trump is on the ballot, I think you'll have a wave of people on the other side who are going to come out for that exact same reason. It's going to be really interesting. I don't, and I don't, anybody who's making predictions or things that it just because what happened in 2016 or happened in 2020, every year is different and every cycle is different and there are different things that are in play now than we're in play before. Alex, what are your holiday plans? What are you doing for New Year's Eve here? To not think about this stuff for a few days. What are your holiday plans? Yeah, I'm, I'm in the same

boat. I'm actually excited to like, well, I have, I have really bad FOMO. And so, So when something happens, it's hard for me, as people have probably recognized, it's hard for me to take a day off. So knowing that we have a holiday weekend here and that there can't be any news because even the lunatics who have like this undying desire, insatiable desire to make news, even they're going to shut up for at least a couple days. So can enjoy the silence. And with that said, for everybody watching, thank you for tuning in this year.

Thank you for watching for giving me some of your time. and your trust. I appreciate it. And Alex, thank you for coming on and speaking to everybody so often and for doing this, being part of this tradition that we have. Congratulations on a big year for you. Thank you for, you know, trying to explain with context these really important, really big issues constantly. I appreciate what you do. I also go on, you know, more conservative broadcast too. I'm not endorsing a party or something like that. I believe in talking to everybody. But I think it's important that we all talk to each other. And it's also important that we come from a place of knowledge. And so your tireless efforts, dedicating your life to this mission, I think is

appreciated by the people that are listening and watching right now. And you deserve to be congratulated for a big year. Thank you. Where can people here and see more of you? So you go to my YouTube page, YouTube.com slash Alex Michelson. You can see our show. The issue is there. And you can see some of my other reports there as well. You can watch. me if you're in Los Angeles on Fox 11, 5, 6, and 10 o'clock on weeknights. And then the issue is put out as a podcast. So if you want to search for The Issue is, you can listen to our interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, our trip to China with Gavin Newsom, and lots of other things as well, including

a recent conversation with Impressionist Matt Friend, which was especially fun. Yeah, he's great. Again, I'll put that link to your YouTube channel in the post description of this video. and on the podcast in the show notes of the podcast. Elex, thank you for coming on and everybody who's tuning in here. Happy New Year. Thank you.

You've been listening to No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Produced by Sam Graber, music by Wellesie, interviews captured and edited for YouTube and Facebook by Nicholas Nicotera, and recorded in Los Angeles, California. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your preferred podcast app. Feel free to leave a five-star rating and a review, and check out Brian Tyler Cohen.com for links to all of my other channels.

Thank you.