The Bill Simmons Podcast - Ep. 111: Republican National Convention Day 1 With JackO

Episode Date: July 19, 2016

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons calls up his buddy JackO for an emergency quickie bonus podcast to discuss Day 1 of the Republican National Convention, how Donald Trump wound up a presidential candidate, and what to make of Melania Trump's speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's special emergency political edition of the bs podcast is brought to you by c geek our presenting sponsor the only fan-friendly app for buying and selling tickets for sports and music with just two taps on your phone you can instantly buy c geek tickets to an event have them delivered to your phone and enter the event drop your old ticket app use the one that's built for 2016 again you can do everything on your phone download the free c geekatGeek app or go to SeatGeek.com. Also brought to you by HBO and my show, End Given Wednesday, Wednesdays, 10 p.m. And TheRinger.com, which is sponsored by Miller Lite. And we have had a ton of good content for Cleveland Week. And speaking of Cleveland, on the line, Jacko.

Speaking of Cleveland, that's the first time I've ever been associated with Cleveland. It's exciting. You really should have sent me to Cleveland as your RNC, what do you call it, journalist there. That would have been great. I think we would have sent you there and maybe you don't come back. That's the problem, yeah. I'm just floating down the river. Or you're in jail.

Probably, yes. Either is a likely scenario. So people have been asking for your thoughts on stuff. We've had the Keeping It 1600 podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network, and people have wanted Jacko. They've wanted the Republican take. You have been on my podcast since 2007. You've established yourself as a voice of the Yankees, as a fan of the Republican Party and a fan of the Pogues. Not in that order. Yeah, right.

What was last night like for you when the party had Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr. and then a plagiarized Melania Trump speech? Just run us through the gamut of emotions you were feeling. Well, I mean, ever since, just to give you some background, my father was involved in politics on a local level in Hartford. Yeah. And I grew up in a political family. It was politics to my family was as the Celtics were to yours. Yeah.

So you can imagine if Donald Trump took over the Boston Celtics or, you know, if they were bought by Donald Sterling, like what your emotions would be like. That's sort of what my emotions are like. And I've always, you know, having been involved as a fan and, you know, a political aficionado for all of literally all of my life. And the conventions were always a big thing. And, you know, my father and I would hash it out and talk it over. And we would watch it, that gavel to ga-gavel coverage, and analyze it and do all that stuff. And so, you know, my father has sadly passed away, but I have continued that affinity for politics through 2012 and what have you. And this year, collectively, has been just such—Trainwreck can't even, like, sum up just how much of an abortion it is, really.

It's just such a flaming disaster. Dumpster fire doesn't even do it justice on how awful it is. So I was going to stay away last night. Basically, since Trump has locked up the nomination, I've tried to avoid political things as long as possible because it's just too heartbreaking for me, frankly. So I wasn't going to watch it, even though I felt just sort of duty-bound as a fan of politics and student of history and what have you to watch. But I said, I'm not going to watch it. There's just not enough alcohol to get me through this. I was going to avoid it.

And then I, of course, was looking at Twitter yesterday. There was a big convention fight about the rules committee. And there's nothing more fun than convention fights like that. I've been involved in some of that stuff on a local level, and it really gets your adrenaline going. And I got all ginned up, and I was so excited. Ironically speaking of the Keeping It 1600 podcast, I made a joke and said, hopefully Scott Baio can heal this rift.

And then somebody said, John Favreau stole your joke, because he made a similar joke. So I chalked it up to all HC alumni think alike. Yes, there's no question. In retrospect, I should have said he stole, if you like your doctor, keep your doctor from me. But I was trying to keep it bipartisan for ringer purposes. So I appreciate that. So two HC alums made a similar Scott Baio joke. And I didn't realize, frankly, that Scott Baio was going to be on as early as he was because I would have tuned in for Scott Baio. I would have tuned in for Antonio Sabato Jr. just for the train wreck aspects of it, like watching a car crash.

But I didn't watch that. But then I was following on Twitter, and like an idiot, I turned it on, and I did see Melania Trump's speech. And then I watched General Flynn's disaster of a speech. And then I watched Joni Ernst's empty hall deer in the headlights speech. So I miss Sabato and Bayo, sadly. Bayo was incredible. And I think he was as surprised as all of us that he got the call. I was saying, we had some of the writers from the TV show.

We watched the first hour together And you have Sabato Jr. and Baio Who could not get a movie made together But somehow ended up on the Republican convention I thought that was especially incredible Antonio Sabato Jr. probably couldn't get in Sharknado Like Sharknado 6 or whatever we're up to He's not even on their list to call Baio could get into Sharknado, right? Like Sharknado 6 or whatever we're up to. He's not even on their list to call.

Bayo could get into Sharknado 6, but they're not calling Sabato Jr., right? I think now, maybe. I think maybe he elevated his own status enough. Maybe Sharknado's a possibility now. They can build Sharknado 7 as starring Antonio Sabato Jr. as seen at the Republican National Convention. It's like his credit on IMDb. So I'm a little bummed out that I missed that because literally, like I said last night, I'm like, this is like a Saturday Night Live skit. Because if you had all writers for your show or writers for Saturday Night Live or just anybody who was going to come up with a parody or a satire of politics in the Donald Trump era,

and they were to suggest that the opening night of the convention would feature Scott fucking Baio. I mean, the editor would throw it away. They couldn't believe it. They're like, no, not Scott Baio. I think if you and I had been in a room trying to figure out the funniest guests that could have been, or funniest speakers for day one,. Bea would have made the list, and I think we also would have gone with Josh Saviano from The Wonder Years.

I think that would have been on there. He was a running joke for us in high school. It would have been nice to see him again. That's right. It would have been good to see Josh come back again. And tonight they're having Natalie Golbis about 10 years after she was a thing, you know, the golfer.

And then I think tomorrow night they're having some woman who I had to Google, and it turns out she's like on The Bold and the Beautiful or Young and the Restless, like a soap opera actress. And if you're talking about soap opera actresses and it's not Susan Lucci, everyone else is going to have to Google who the hell the person is. Yeah, soap opera star is a tough chyron. I'm disappointed. Another one of my dream speakers, and he's probably not Republican, which is why he wasn't invited,

but I think Jonathan Lipnicki would have been unbelievable. Who would have liked to have seen him now? I heard he's in better shape. He's probably available. Tonight they have Dana White from the UFC, noted Republican and political strategist, so that'll be great. I guess he'll tell us all how, you know, if you buy in on UFC and it really hits it big,

you know, you can really make a lot of money in this economy. I'm not quite sure what his rationale is either. They really have Dana White? He's actually relevant. Yeah, at least he's like a well-known name. We had Brian Curtis. We sent him to Cleveland from The Ringer. And his first piece last night was about how the celebrities who have been kind of outwardd. Yeah. That got us through the Reagan years. But with Reagan, you brought some star power because you had Sinatra.

He had some Hollywood cachet with Reagan. But yeah, Selleck, his star factor kind of burned out. So yeah, then you get into Chuck Norris. A lot of country singers. Always a lot of country singers. always a lot of country singers. But yeah, in terms of actual Hollywood, Gary Sinise, I think, is somewhat of a closeted Republican. He wouldn't be out there, though? I think the problem is, if you look at this convention, the reason they have Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato,

where normally they would have rising stars of the party and relevant sitting senators and congresspeople is that they're all running, screaming away from this dumpster fire and figure, we're going to take it on the chin in 2016 and we need to stay as far away from this and not be covered in the slime and the ick of this and let's rebound in 2020. So everybody that would normally be at a convention is running for the hills. Did you enjoy the Trump-Pence 60 Minutes interview? Did you see that one? No, I missed it. I saw highlights such as they were, like the Saddam Hussein 1985 era gold

LeMay chairs. That was a nice touch to get furnishings there. But I frankly missed it and happily missed the train wreck. So it sounds like you're in hiding. It sounds like you've just, it's almost like when a Boston team has a really horrible year and I just stop watching the games completely. I have no idea what's going on. That's what's going on for you. Yeah, I mean, I literally don't watch the news. Since like April or May when it became obvious he was going to be the nominee,

I don't watch the news. We watch a lot of HGTV, a lot of DIY, a lot of History Channel, stuff like that. I don't watch the news. Yeah, it's just very depressing. It's the most depressing thing that's ever happened to me, frankly. Well, on a non-personal level. So what happens? What happens to the Republican Party now?

What's your expert take on where this goes? Well, I think this is going to be a defining train wreck for a generation because I don't care what the polls say, where it's close now and it's neck and neck. I mean, they're the two most hated candidates in the history of the Republic, which why there hasn't been anybody that has decided to run a credible third party challenge is beyond me. You know, a Romney, a Lieberman, someone of a national stature, I don't care what party, you know, Bob Kerry, somebody doesn't get in and say, we deserve better than this choice, you know?

It mystifies me. So I think at the end of the day, Trump is going to just be too much of a pariah for anybody to actually, anybody with a brain to think deserves to be within 30 miles of the Oval Office. So Hillary is going to win. And then Republicans are going to be in the wilderness. And, I mean, I think that, you know, the RNC has shown itself to be, you know, roll over like a puppy and be completely pathetic with no spine. So, I mean, I don't know.

Hillary, if they get the Senate and they get in there and they change immigration laws, I mean, that's the end of the Republican Party for the foreseeable future. There's always these things, well, after Obama won, the Republicans will never be back. And then, you know, they took the House and Senate back in 2010. They lost in 2012. They increased their gains in the Senate and the House in 2014. So you never really want to write a death note for one of the two major parties. But it's not good, bad, terrible. Who do you blame the most for letting this happen? Who could have run instead and stopped this? Well, I don't know if anybody could have run and stopped it. I mean, the problem was there

was too many candidates of 17 people and it was too diluted. And so Trump's celebrity was able to overcome the dilution of that many people. They couldn't get their message out. I blame Reince Priebus, who is the most feckless, worthless leader of anything in the history of mankind, probably, who should have nipped this in the bud a year ago. And I blame Fox News that was all in on Trump for some reason and obviously has a lot of influence within the Republican voter and the Republican electorate. And they were all in on Trump from the beginning for whatever reason. They used to let him call into their morning show and pontificate once a week as if he was an expert on anything besides bankrupting casinos. So that was outrageous. So I would say they have

the most blame. I mean, you had, you know, poor Jeb Bush, who thinks that that's what America wanted was another Bush in the White House. And he had $150 million war chest that, you know, he used to attack Rubio and other guys that he was threatened by. And nobody took Trump seriously was the problem. Early on, nobody thought this is anything beyond a joke. And I still think it's a joke. I still don't think he wants to be president. I don't think he wanted to win the nomination. I think he wanted to come in the top two or three and say, it was stolen from know, the party is all rigged against me. And he could have, you know, raised his celebrity, raised his stature to the degree that's possible and not actually have to contemplate being president.

So I think he's scared to death, really, that he could actually win this thing. He seems like he's in some sort of maniacal state now because of maybe when you have that much power, the potential of that much power, you just kind of lose your mind a little bit. Like his interviews are just rambling and crazy. I read some interesting articles about him in the past couple of days. There was one in the New Yorker. I think it was in the New Yorker yesterday from the guy who actually wrote The Art of

the Deal, his business book. There's been other things written about this along the course of the campaign. And he, even for his alleged money and all of his, you know, names on buildings and what have you, but he suffers from an inferiority complex because he was from Queens. And I think he's always been sort of laughed at by the big play. He and his father were sort of laughed at as like low rent by the big players in Manhattan. And I think he's always had a chip on his shoulder. So this is, even though he, you know, dominated the tabloids and what have you, I think this is all about getting over his inferiority complex and saying, like,

he's like Fredo, I'm smart, I'm not dumb like they say. It's about the fifth time I think I've related him on a podcast to Fredo, but it's just so apt that it can't be helped. So I really think that's what he, it's like, you know, he's going to prove all the haters and the people that doubted him wrong. And even if it takes destroying the country or potentially the world, he's going to do it. Show them who's boss. I haven't read the right piece why a third person hasn't run.

I assume that the reason would be they'd be afraid that they'd pull votes away from Clinton and actually propel Trump to the presidency and make themselves villains almost. I think that's part of it. But, I mean, there was a poll out the other day. I think it was from NBC and the Wall Street Journal, and it said that Trump has like a 61% disapproval rating, 61 or 64. It's the highest it's ever been measured in the history of this poll. The second highest is Hillary Clinton at like 55 or something. So you have two candidates, like, I mean, I have a number of Democrat friends who don't love Hillary Clinton, aren't gung-ho for her.

But, you know, she was the fait accompli of the party. There's nothing they can do. And there's plenty of Republicans. The only justification I've ever heard from any Republican for Trump is, well, we can't let Hillary win. Well, that's not a justification for voting for somebody. I don't think either one of them deserves to be president. So, yeah, I mean, I don't understand. I mean, it's hard to run for president. It takes a toll on your family. Everything you've ever said and everything

your wife or husband has ever said is going to be litigated in the press and gone over with a fine-tooth comb. It costs you a lot of money. You know, it can cause problems. I get all that. But there was a time in this country when patriotism and love of country trumped your own personal concerns. But I don't know. People are too, I can understand, you know, Romney ran twice and lost. He ran a third time. It's tough to run and lose. I get that. But there's times when your country asks bigger things of you,

and it's, you know, save the party and save the country. But Romney would pull from Trump, so I don't think that he has any concerns about, you know, he's going to get a lot of Hillary voters. But if you've got enough independents and you've got enough of the Republican base and she's wildly unpopular, the Sanders people stay home, you could strike lightning in a bottle. Yeah, I want to know where this generation's Ross Perot is, just the crazy third-party

guy who's almost as crazy as Trump. Well, he took over the Republican Party. That's true. The crazy billionaire took over the Republican Party this time. He basically became Trump. I said on a podcast with Wesley on Friday that this whole lecture reminds me of when I'd be reading about the Browns quarterback training camp battles every year. And it would just be like Jake DeLome and Seneca Wallace. Like, oh, man.

There's no way that team's not going 3-13. And now our whole country is the Browns? That's a good analogy. It's like, oh man, is there a third candidate? Oh, there isn't? So this is it? But I mean, at least, you know, if you're going to really break it down, at least Hillary Clinton has served in offices and done things. Yeah, I mean, I think she's a liar and an awful human being. But yeah, I mean, I think she's a liar and an awful human being. But yeah, I mean,

she knows which country is which. I'm not sure Trump knows the difference between France and England, you know, literally. So, you know, she could call up the prime minister of England and knows that there is a prime minister and that England is a country.

You know, that's... This annoys me to no end. This notion of president, well, we keep electing politicians, and now he's not a politician. We have to shake it up. Like, Francesa is a big Trump guy. I haven't listened to Francesa in forever.

Like, would Francesa think that we should pick a guy off the street who has never watched baseball and he should be the manager of the Yankees? Well, we've cut all these managers. We haven't made the playoffs in eight years, so we're going to put in a guy that's never seen a baseball game before and let him run things. What other walk of life would you ever do that? But no, well, Trump, he's never been in politics.

Let's put him in the presidency. It was a fantastic plan. It was the plot for Eddie with Whoopi Goldberg. I think they did make the playoffs, to be fair. Wasn't she like a Knicks fan though? Yeah, well Trump was a fan of power Yeah, but he has no clue about politics

international relations he has no clue about the economy, he has no clue about anything and we're going to put him in charge Yeah Wow He's great, he's an outsider, he's going to come in and really blow everything up. Literally.

Great. Awesome. Shoot me. I was reading, there's a book that came out like nine years ago called The Black Swan. And it was about how when you have these unexpected events that nobody can see coming. And part of the reason they're so powerful is nobody can see them coming and then the ramifications of those events after

it's called a black swan and I was thinking over the weekend I was like you know Trump actually winning would be like a legitimate black swan event and I googled it I was like this is a great idea and I googled it and like 40 people have written that piece.

Beat it to the punch. Yeah. Well, that's the thing. I mean, if God forbid he ever won, and you know, I never thought he'd win in the primaries. So obviously take my ideas with a huge grain of salt, but I of the hardcore, hardcore base of the Republican Party or appeal to independents that vote in Republican primaries, which is really what put him over the top and disaffected Democrats. And, you know, undereducated white middle lower middle class people. That's who he got the Republican Party. But I don't think there's enough of those voters to get him over the top in a national election. But God forbid, stranger things have happened, you know?

I mean, in this day and age, like if Kim Kardashian could probably get elected president, so if people just vote on celebrity and that's all they know, you know, he could sneak in there. You never know. Would you vote for Trump-Pence or Sabato-Beo? I would vote for Sabato-Beo, but I don't think, I think Antonio Sabato, I think I read he was born in Italy. So I think he, he can't be, yeah, he can't be under the constitution. He can't be the president. Do you feel like Melania Trump plagiarized the speech or was she set up by a speechwriter trying to sabotage the campaign?

Well, you know what? Everybody's all into the plagiarism and justifiably so. But I saw on the internet today, and I think it was Vox.com, and they talked about the Rickroll that was in there because there was a line in there, he's never going to give up and never going to let you down or whatever. So there was an old skit on Saturday Night Live where Chris Farley was, like, a guy that kept relapsing, and Phil Hartman was his father, and he kept trying to get him jobs. There was one where he was, like, delivering organs,

and he brought in, like in a liver from a stop and shop wrapped in plastic. He kept screwing it up. I think the speech writer was just like, oh my god, is that speech due today? So he's like, oh shit. And he's like, Google's first lady speeches, copied it and then threw in some Rick Astley.

Here it is. Or he's just trolling everybody and is going to become a belated hero. I would love if it was a troll. There's a never Trump person in there and it's just like, let me see what I can get away with. If there was ever a campaign where somebody could have inserted himself in the campaign as a saboteur, this is the one. Yeah, all you have to do is say, oh, Mr. Trump, you're so wonderful. You look wonderful today.

And he'd be like, hire that man. Great. Well, we might check in with you later in the week if you haven't moved to Canada yet. Okay. Uh, I'm sure there'll be more confidence to follow that I'll be commenting on. So thanks to, uh, thanks to Jacko. Thanks to C geek. Thanks to Miller light. Thanks to HBO. And thanks for listening to this emergency edition of the BS podcast. Hang in there, Johnny. Thanks buddy. Anytime y'all want to see me again, rewind this track right here. Close your eyes and picture me rolling.