The Chris Cuomo Project - Adam Carolla on Cultural Shifts, DEI, and Trump’s Second Term

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

Adam Carolla (comedian and podcast host, “The Adam Carolla Show”) joins Chris Cuomo to discuss Trump’s second presidency and the dynamics of his new cabinet, reflecting on lessons learned from his first term. They delve into the California wildfires as a metaphor for leadership challenges, touch on the role of DEI in shaping leadership decisions, examine why Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel have maintained their friendship despite political differences, and explore the broader cultural shifts shaping America’s divided political landscape. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Support our sponsors: iRestore  Our listeners get $625 off their iRestore Elite when you use promo code chris at iRestorelaser.com. That’s $625 off your iRestore Elite at irestore laser dot com with promo code chris. Hair loss is frustrating. You don’t have to fight it alone thanks to iRestore. Select Quote Get the right life insurance for YOU, for LESS, at selectquote.com/chrisc   Shopify Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/chrisc Factor Eat smart with Factor. Get started at FACTOR MEALS.com/cuomo50off and use code cuomo50off to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Air Transat presents two friends traveling in Europe for the first time and feeling some pretty big emotions. This coffee is so good! How do they make it so rich and tasty? Those paintings we saw today weren't prints. They were the actual paintings. I have never seen tomatoes like this. How are they so red? With flight deals starting at just $589, it's time for you to see what Europe has to offer. Don't worry, you can handle it. Visit airtransat.com for details, conditions apply. Air Transat, travel moves us. What to make of the next administration,

what to make of what's gonna happen with the fires and how two famous people have decided to stay friends despite feeling so differently about Trump. Adam Carolla can answer all of those, and I have him today. I'm Chris Cuomo. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project, Adam Carolla. You know him.

He and Jimmy Kimmel blew it up with love lines. Jimmy helped launch his career. But boy, do they feel differently about Trump and just about everything political, yet they've been friends forever. How? And why does he see so much politics at play in the LA fires? And, of course, the big headline with the

inauguration of the unprecedented second presidency for Donald John Trump. What Adam Carolla believes is at play, what could go well, and what could go horribly wrong. ["The Daily Show Theme"] Adam Carolla, always a pleasure, always a benefit. Thank you for being part of my life. My pleasure. You know, at some point,

we have to talk about our mutual passions. It's just that the world gets in the way. You know, we both love cars. We both do a lot of fight training. I'm a self-defense guy. You're a sweet science guy, but we have to talk about, you know, these things at some point

because they're definitely aspects of why I love you, but I just, I need your brain on things that are bigger than the two of us. Like this momentous only once before, but to be honest, never before political event of someone coming back and overcoming what Donald Trump has to become president of the United States for a second time.

What is the significance of this second inauguration? Well, I think Trump kind of stumbled into the first one with a lot of assumptions that probably weren't true. I think he felt like he's the president, so the buck stops with him. And I don't think he realized how the system really worked. I think he was probably naive and I don't mean naive. I don't think anybody outside of the system really understands the inner workings of the system. But I do, I don't know why, but I did, when I took over

for Howard Stern on the West Coast, I took over at a radio station, the home station, where the management wanted somebody else and not me. And I didn't, it's sort of like your wife is poisoning your oatmeal every morning with just a little bit of strychnine and all you know is you don't feel right, but you can't figure out what's going on and everyone tells you you're crazy when you tell them you don't feel right, but you can't figure out what's going on, and everyone tells you you're crazy when you tell them you're not right.

And so I know that feeling of thinking you're in charge, but the powers that be that are around you, many forces are working to undermine you, and are against you. I'm not talking about a big conspiracy theory. I just mean, I think he naively walked into the Oval Office and didn't understand exactly how the game was played. And I think this time his eyes are wide open

and probably has a better shot of getting across whatever his agenda is, whether you like it or not. How do you see your understanding reflected in who he's picked to be in the cabinet? I think that's a big part of it. I mean, I think a lot of people, depending on where you go for news, will go, well, he's just picked his lackeys and his subordinates

and his lieutenants and all that, which is true because I think last time he really got jammed by not doing that and this time he doesn't wanna make the same mistake. A lot of the people who we're talking about, RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek and people like that, I've interviewed, I've had on my show, I've had long form discussions with them. I find them articulate interesting, you know, there's as you and I always talk about there's the sort of cartoon

Version of this person right and left and then there's diversion you get when you sit in the same room with them For an hour and have a real conversation, you know I'm a fan of substantial people. I found that Tulsi is substantial and certainly whatever version they're painting of RFK Junior is way different than what you get when you hear that guy talk for a little bit

on almost any subject. So I'm pretty, I'm confident about it. I'm happy about it. I feel like there is a way to have what would be a DEI cabinet without DEI hires. You know what I'm saying? Like you have a woman and you have an Indian American. And you have gay somebody.

And it's like, it ends up being pretty diverse. You know, once you do it, I just don't want them there because of that. 100%. And look, that's the problem with our pendular politics, right, is that things go too far in each direction, back and forth as course corrections. And this will be the reaction to DEI,

the same way Trump was the reaction to Obama. It is interesting though, that Tim Scott, there's not a single black job in this cabinet, not a single black job. He couldn't find one to just throw in there just to make his point that I wasn't bluffing. I am about more than just white America, not just one. I guess you could say Cash Patel. I mean, I'm sure there's several people there

who can claim some kind of ethnicity, but there's not just a black man or woman. Does it matter? ethnicity, but there's not just a black man or woman. Does it matter? I don't, see, I find that it means you're authentic in your decree of we're not going to do this. Like, you know, I watched the Rams play last night. Yeah.

I don't know, it's hard to find a white guy on the defensive side of the ball on either team. I like it that way because I go these are the best players. You know what I mean? Like if If there was a white owner and a white head coach and they announced we're gonna have 30% white players on the defensive side of the ball, I wouldn't like it. You wouldn't like it, but that's playing a game. It would kind of screw the game up for me.

Right, but their performance is not a function of who they are and their background. There is something to be said. And look, I know you do this with your act. I know you do this with your podcast. You populate things with people who have different backgrounds and ideas because that's what helps you.

As somebody who's drawing, you know, there's something inherently vicarious about what content creators in a great comic, which is one of my favorite art forms, what you do, Louis C.K., Bill Burr, many others, George Carlin, is it's vicarious. You're taking from influences

and people of different backgrounds and melding. And that's why you want diversity in administration, not to check boxes, but to have people that give you a depth of understanding from different perspectives. And that's the question for Trump, is are you getting all one point of view? Yeah, I think that it's a bit of a misnomer to say, and we've seen it now with the wildfires

in California that, you know, I need a firefighter that looks like me so they understand my, you know, X, Y, and Z. I don't buy into that. I feel like, and it's sort of my white privilege, which is Donald Trump is a white guy, and I'm a white guy, and Pete Hegseth is a white guy, and I'm a white guy, we have nothing in common. We don't have any common ground at all, no background, no lineage, no family past.

We don't have anything at all. He's just white and I'm white. And I wouldn't profess to understand his needs because I'm white, because I don't, because he doesn't understand my needs because he's white. So, but I would have, you know, I work with a lot of Latino guys in Southern California working construction out here my whole life. It's mostly Latino guys I work with a lot of Latino guys in Southern California working construction out here my whole life

It's mostly Latino guys you work with I'm a much greater Understanding of those guys because we were poor and we lived in apartments We are drive pickup trucks and they break down and all the all that comes with that world we understand, you know, I understand so I with that world, we understand. You know, I understand. So I wouldn't, I would have much more in common with a Latino guy who worked construction than a white guy who never worked construction.

100%. But again, it's about backgrounds. And the responsibility in government is the constituency, right? And I think it is hard to get around when the Latino community comes to you and says, you don't think that the people who are overseeing things that are gonna affect us

should reflect our traditions and background, none of them, any of them. I think Trump could have done himself a favor, but you're right. It's probably a nod to the reaction formation of DEI. Because you guys had too many of them, I'm not gonna have any of them. I'll push back a little in that.

I would say, I would like the government to, A, safety, number one, whether it's fires or criminality or foreign threats or poison in the drinking water. You know, it's like sort of safety, you know, citizen safety, and then, you know, economy, you know,, you know education Traffic pick who's picking up the garbage right? You know what I mean? It's too much graffiti There's too much, you know, it's too much garbage in the streets, you know, whatever that stuff

At some point they can stop the cultural part or the part where they understand my traditions or my Italian ethnicity Or my background or something that's kind of for me and my family my neighbors and my traditions or my Italian ethnicity or my background or something. That's kind of for me and my family, my neighbors or my friends or whatever it is. Keep the streets safe, keep the military robust, keep the border strong and pick up the garbage. And then we'll have the gay parade without you. That's kind of what-

I totally get it. Although I did hear, so this isn't my idea, so I can't own it, but I will copy it. If someone's administration, their cabinet, or the Supreme Court was all black and Latino, more women than men, but barely, five, four women to men, and black and Latino, white America would go crazy and say, this doesn't reflect the country,

but they would be 50% of the country the same way white America is the 50% of the country. And we wouldn't like that because there's no representation of a whole type within this country. Yeah, but I think that's kind of myopic and a little bit playing into a racist point of view which is the hero

To all the Trumpers on the Supreme Court is Clarence Thomas the black man So they love him Not because of the color of his skin because of his ideas and what they represent because they have a shared idea. Believe it. Yes, and it's even better that he's a black guy because it insulates him from a lot of the criticism that the white guys get. Right, and they don't like Sotomayor,

but it's not because she's Latino, not because she's a woman, even though that's an easy path to go down. They like Clarence because he reflects their ideology. I totally get it. And they don't like Sotomayor because she doesn't reflect. And it'd be an interesting experiment, but I would bet you if he stopped reflecting

and she started reflecting the MAGA agenda or ideology, they would get on board with her as well. Sort of like they hated Fetterman, you know, 10 minutes ago. And now they're like, that's the only Democrat that makes sense. He changed, something happened, and they will go along with it. So I don't, you know, my feeling is,

whether it's the football coach or the Supreme Court, if it's five black women, or sorry, 10 black women, nine black women, and they're reflecting what I'm thinking, I think most America agenda-wise is pretty good with it. Yeah, I mean, when RBG, you know, I had problems with Justice Ginsburg in terms of the political side of her determination to stay in there and fight her cancer.

I think that fundamentally burdened the Democratic Party, but that's on them and that's their problem. But she answered this question very well once also, somebody said to her, so there were two justices or something, females at the same time. And they said, how many do you think you'll have someday? Like how many would be enough for you?

She said, nine. We've had nine men. Why wouldn't we have nine women? There are more women in the country than men. And it was so shocking. And yet, you know, if you're really pure to the concept of, well, it's just about the person, it's not about what boxes they check,

you wouldn't have any problem with there being nine women. But of course, we would. When you look at this incoming administration. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from AG1. Listen, new year, new you, look, whatever. When you look at this incoming administration... for yourself. It's the perfect time to start a healthy new habit. Everybody's doing that right now anyway, right? Why not do something that could actually work for you? The AG1 special offer. New subscribers will get a free $76 gift when they sign up. You're going to get a welcome kit, a bottle of D3K2. Why D3K2? Because the K helps the absorption of the D. You see what I'm saying? Science. Supplements you'll see are now doing D3K2. AG1's been doing it for a long time.

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So here I am in my mid-50s, okay? I got three kids, I'm blessed to have a wife, I've got financial responsibilities, I've got real estate, I have a very uncertain estate tax environment. What am I talking about? I'm talking about what I need to secure for my family. Same concerns you have. And you know where it takes you? Into the world of life insurance. And man, is that a scary world.

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Get your life insurance right. Get it for you, for less. Go to selectquote.com slash Chris C. Selectquote.com slash Chris C. Get there today and get your quote. What's your biggest positive hope? What's your biggest concern? positive hope, what's your biggest concern?

My biggest positive hope is that they take care of business, don't get mired in a sort of ancillary sort of side, kind of cat-fighting, mudslingy kind of just, you know, big basic economy, military border, you know, just, you know, let's see if we can bring down the interest rates a little and get home ownership up and, you know, more manufacturing in America and, you know, a good stout Southern border and so on and so forth. Like big, big ticket items and, and have success at it. So that the table can be set for the next administration, which could be Republican or Democrat, which is enough of the sort of,

you know, talk about, you know, having a seat at the table and being treated with dignity and the LGBT plus community and stuff like that. Let's really just focus on nuts and bolts and, and, and move, move everyone, you know, instead of breaking off everyone into groups, we need to move this group ahead or that group ahead. Let's just see if we can get home ownership up amongst young people and get people off of, you know, Doritos and junk, you know, like really, you know,

let a guy like RFK Jr. get in there and see if we can get some of these seed oils out of the stuff and some red dye number 17 out of stuff like good stuff. And and then the rest of the populace, at least at least as it pertains to politics, will go, OK, that's what people want. Now, let's see if we can do better than that. Whatever side you're on instead of all the kind of weird arguments we have.

I guess my fear is that Democrats will try to slow the process just sort of because, you know, just cause. Cause that's what the out party does every time since Clinton. Yeah, here's what I feel, here's where I feel the Democrats hurt themselves. And I live in Los Angeles, so I know about it. Trump said, let's do this. And everyone in Los Angeles or California went,

Trump wants what? We're doing the opposite. Trump wants to do what? He wants a stout border. Screw that, get rid of that wall. You know what I mean? Trump wants to, says we need more water, whatever it is. Yeah, fuck off, get rid of that.

You know, we did a lot of like Trump sends over a hospital ship and Newsom's like, get rid of it. You know, and it's like, sometimes you have to go fine. I'll disagree with him about something else, or we'll disagree with the other party about something else. And I know it's a two-way street. No, it isn't a two-way street. You're right.

The fundamental mistake Democrats make is they try to match Trump's tactics. But there's only one Trump. Only one person can get away with saying obnoxious shit that you're not supposed to say because he represents something different. Everybody else is being judged as a function of the establishment and they hate the establishment. He isn't. So he can say to you, ah, that Corolla, you disagree with me last week. He's a bum. That guy's a mutt. And then he likes what

you say and he says, yeah, I'm going help him, Corolla, with this because he's a good guy, he said the right thing. Ordinarily, you'd be like, wait a minute, no. Let's not forget what you said before. It's different with Trump. But when the Democrats try to play it like that, they just come off as straight hypocrites and they get frustrated that Trump doesn't get treated that way because they haven't realized

he represents something they don't. haven't realized he represents something they don't. I think, you know, it's funny because when I used to do Love Line, 30 years ago, I was on the radio and I just said, I would always say, I just want some guy to run the country like a business, just a business guy to come in and take care of business and like run it like a business. If we're getting screwed by NATO, then take care of that. And if we're getting screwed by Canada or Mexico,

whatever that thing is, and it's still sort of my pragmatic fantasy. It's a romantical fantasy, more than a pragmatic one. And I'll tell you why. Bloomberg did that here in New York City in certain ways. And I'll tell you what he said to me and for all you guys at home, you should know who Michael Bloomberg is,

but if not just look him up and yeah, he ran for president, he was a complete dud because people like me forgot how non-dynamic a personality he is. And I didn't know that that little book was gonna come out about him and that he'd handle it so badly, but I thought he had a lot of promise on the national level.

And fundamentally, because of what Adam's saying right now, he should have, but, and we're seeing this out in California, problem with running government as a business is that government only does the things that business doesn't wanna be involved in. Like the prescribed fires business, how you light fires to get rid of fuel,

that business sucks. You can't get insured, the margins are crazy, nobody wants to do it. The prison business sucks, unless you're talking about minimum security prisoners. Government has to do things where you can't really be profit motivated, and they're missing the key ingredient.

I don't know how much entrepreneurial stuff you've done, but when I was working in finance before I got into this, the first question they would always ask at the private equity table is, Corolla, what are you putting up? And maybe you'd get a pass, I'm putting in my brand equity, I'm Adam Corolla. Oh, okay.

But everybody else is, how much money are you putting in? These lawmakers aren't playing with their own money. They're playing with house money. They're playing with our money. And that's why you see somebody, look at your state, California. This problem has been around since the 60s. You created FAIR,

that Emergency Insurance Program in California, in the 60s. You started regulating insurance in the 80s and you still have these problems? Why? Because it's never been cost effective to do anything about it for the people in power. Yeah, you know, when I'm saying run like a business,

I'm sort of implying or at least trying to say, I'll give you a for instance, there's a bunch of garbage, the street behind my studio is sort of a closed off dead end street and people dump a lot of garbage there. And I know what the garbage is because I used to be in the business of doing remods. It's a lot of busted up stucco and drywall. It's demoed stuff from guys doing remods. It's a lot of busted up stucco and drywall.

It's demoed stuff from guys doing remods. So I was at a party at attorney Mark Garagas' house not too long ago, good dude. Fair disclosure, that's my attorney. Continue. Oh, okay. Well, he's a dear friend. And I love that guy.

Anyway, I'm sitting around and he has all his judges and his luminaries and his lawyer buddies and this guy's a district selectman from whatever area and I start talking to one of the guys and I go, you know, I work in Glendale or something. I go, well listen, I work in Glendale, my shop, my studio's there. There's all this junk out dumped in the street all the time, you know, and he goes, yeah, I know people do a lot of illegal dumping. Well, I said they're doing illegal dumping because they're poor Hispanic contractor guys and you guys are charging 200 bucks for them to go to the dump and the dump is 15 miles away in Sun Valley. Why not just dump it behind my studio

for free on Sunday night? No one's gonna know. You can't enforce it. They just come up and pick up trucks. They pull, look around, no one's around. They just throw it out in the street and they leave. But it's a nuisance and it's a mess. And he said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I said, look, there's a Home Depot across the street. They're probably buying all their materials there. Why don't you just have a guy hand out leaflets in English and Spanish that says, you can use the dump for free. And you'll get a 12-pack of Takati. And what'd he say? Takati.

He goes... He looks at me and he goes, that's a really good idea. I said, yeah, that's all who's dumping it. Let them use the dump for free and they'll dump it there for free, but they're not gonna pay 150 bucks that's coming out of their pocket

when they can do it for free. Anyway, about an hour later, he circled back to me at Mark's party and he said, what was that idea again with dumping stuff? And I thought, oh, we are screwed. It's never gonna happen. But what I'm saying is, my business metaphor is a business would do that.

They'd go, who's dumping this stuff? Why are they dumping it? How do we incentivize them to go to the dump? We'll stand in front of the Home Depot with our 12-pack of Takati discount and we'll hand them a leaflet. Listen, I love it. Look, it's a big part of my brother's approach

to government, and he could tell you stories for 10 hours about how hard it gets once you get into the process of the old joke about a zebra is a horse made by committee and how these different special interests come in, and what they want, and what they don't. And that goes to your original point about Trump. Bobby told me a very funny story, Bobby Kennedy,

that he wound up then sharing with other people after he promised me not to say anything. And then he said it on a stage at an event where he said that Trump told him when they were first talking that when he came in, even though he was talking, drain the swamp, drain the swamp, when he got in, all these lobbyists and guys inside

who had helped him get elected said, you gotta pick this guy, you gotta pick that guy. So he just did whatever they told him to do. And he wound up saddled with a lot of guys he didn't know who weren't his guys and it went south. And so what is that evidence of? Well, you can nitpick and say, well, he wasn't telling the truth about draining the swamp

because he did exactly what feeds the swamp. Yeah, but he also had a learning curve. Support for the Chris Cuomo project Well, he wasn't telling the truth about draining the swamp because he did exactly what feeds the swamp. Yeah, but he also had a learning curve. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from radioactive media, business owners, CMOs. You got a plan on growing in 2025, right? There's going to be a lot of uncertainties this year, but not everything's uncertain, right? One thing for certain, things are going to be different.

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We're all going through it. I don't believe in resolutions. I believe the rents do every day and you gotta do the right things every day. You need a routine and you have to stick with what works. And for me, AG1 is how I start my day. One and done. Put it in warm water, stir, stir, stir, gobble, gobble,

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I'm in my 50s, okay? And AG1 has been a difference maker for me. So this new year, try AG1 for yourself. It's the perfect time to start a new healthy habit. That's why I've been partnering with AG1 for so long and I'd love to do more. AG1 is offering new subscribers a free $76 gift when you sign up.

You'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of D3K2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure to check out drinkag1.com slash CCP for the Chris Cuomo project, and you can get this offer. That's drinkag1.com slash CCP, and you can start your new year on a healthier note. And that's part of the story of what's gonna come out of these fires.

I was disappointed in the president-elect for going so early to the blame game, because I do believe that time, place, and matter matters, especially in a crisis. And it's easy to blame the people in power, and there's certainly blame that's there. My goal is gonna be to be telling this story six months from now, when no one else gives a shit anymore.

I already saw the ratings drop, by the way, even the overnights. Yes, there was a football game on last night, that was overnights. Yes, there was a football game on last night. That was a good game. Yes, there was, you know, other ratings things, but our interest flagged so quickly. But the lawmakers who were saying, well, when we give them federal money, you know,

there's going to have to be strings attached. That starts to bother me because, well, you don't say that when it's your state that needs money. When it's a red state, when it's Florida that needs money, okay, after a hurricane, nobody says, well, you're going to deal with those insurance problems you have down there, Governor DeSantis. You don't say that. You help the people in the moment, and then you fight about the policies that matter.

But you don't mortgage or leverage the people who need help on the political advantage of the same. I don't like hearing that about your fires, even if it sounds satisfying in the moment, because people are pissed about why it happened. What's your take? Yeah, I agree. And I think we all wish we lived in that world.

I mean, I think we back to the football metaphor. I sort of miss the old days when the guy scored a touchdown and just handed the ball back to the ref and jogged, you know, now a guy tackles a guy for three yard loss and he does an entire ritualistic dance, you know, over the guy or the entire, the guy intercepts a football on fourth down, which was bad, because it ended up being like a punt and he should have knocked the ball down and the whole defense has to run to the opposite end zone

and do some kind of weird celebration or Hawaii Five-O canoe paddle thing on the ground. I'm with you. I miss people wearing an ascot on an airplane and drinking tea with their pinky out and a little something called decorum. But if Trump did that, I think we'd be calling for an MRI. Yeah, look, again, I was an early adapter

to what Trump was about. It took me a little while in 2015, but I certainly figured it out covering the rallies before a lot of other people in the business, which is why I won so many pinky bets about whether it was gonna be him or Clinton, because it was obvious there was a populist movement afoot and the Democrats as in this last election missed it

because they dismissed him by looking at him through a lens that he wasn't being viewed by the rest of the country. And I see that in these fires also. I see it all the time now. Everything is put through the filter of advantage and a lot of it has to do with social media. And we saw it play out with Elon Musk, who I am not a critic of.

I get beaten up a lot for not being tougher on Elon Musk, but I believe that the guy's a genius and it doesn't matter if I like his politics or dislike his politics, he's a huge force in our society. And to watch him with the firefighters at him and how different he was, not just because he was in the face of these,

you know, very capable men and a few women who he wasn't gonna, you know, say, hey, I heard you screwed up with the water. He wasn't gonna say that in that room. But all the stuff that he's allowed on Twitter about the hydrants were empty and there was so much reservoir waste and there should have been more that they never built.

None of that has a basis in fact. You had pressure issues, you had one reservoir that was closed for repairs. No firefighters had said that was the problem. The infrastructure plan overall is a problem. But on Twitter, he's one guy. And then when he was there and he videoed their conference, he was another.

And I believe that that's what you're talking about with decorum. And I don't think it's helping us. It helps your following. But I don't think it's helping us. It helps your following, but I don't think it's helping as a leadership to get us anywhere better. Yeah, I mean, it's sort of saying, go to an all black church and give a speech for an hour

and try not to say y'all, or you know what I'm talking about or something. It's just, it's unfortunately, it's a part of the human brain that just sort of kicks in. Like, I don't know what that is. It's there with just about everyone. And he certainly, certainly it's kind of almost what defines politics.

Like what is a politician? It's a person who acts this way in front of this group and then acts that way in front of that group. And social media has turbocharged it. Yeah, yeah, so it's hard not, it's hard. Trump is one of the few guys that doesn't act any differently wherever he is. Other guys put on that flannel shirt and act like,

I'm part of the crew because I'm at the Caterpillar plant. That he's always the same guy. Always. He's the only politician that is always the same wherever he goes, which is, you know. 100%. I interviewed him my first time

for my brother's bachelor party video when I was in my twenties. And he was the exact same then as he is now. Our mothers went to the same beauty parlor. His mother told stories about Donald that are no different than he is today. You know, like it or dislike it, he was the same dude. There's zero faking the funk with that guy.

And that's why authenticity, I think, is gonna be a real upcoming commodity because there's so many posers. And I think about your relationship with Kimmel. Now, I was listening to Kimmel. He's getting beat up on social media by some, celebrated by others, for his latest round of going after Trump. And you and he have maintained a friendship.

You go to his club in Vegas, and you have very different politics, but you love the guy and you're still friends. And I even, I Googled for our interview today just to make sure I was right, that you've defended him on multiple occasions even though you have different ideas about things. How do you achieve that in this day and age when you're both public facing? Well, just to underline your point,

the fires broke out on a Tuesday night or I had to evacuate Tuesday night. I got the call from Jimmy, I don't know, Wednesday morning, asking me if I needed a place to stay. I could stay with him. I then said, no, because I'm going to Vegas on Thursday to play your club, and then ended up just spending a few days in Vegas, you know, hiding out from the

smoke. So yeah, that's who that guy is. And I don't, you know, I am more curious about the question than I, so I think people look at us as a curiosity, but I'm more curious about the question, you know, I got started with him, he made a curiosity, but I'm more curious about the question. I got started with him, he made my career, he's done more for me than any Carolla family member has times a thousand, and I'm always feeling indebted to him, and he's a very good, decent, generous human being, and I'm more curious in them why people would even ask,

would this interrupt what has been a 30 year friendship? Well, why do you think? I do understand the times we're living in and I do understand it's not, I'm not trying to insult you and say, that's a dumb question. I'm saying my answer, it'd be like if someone said to me,

your son came out as gay, do you still love him? I'd go, that's a stupid question. Of course I do. You know, like, why are you even asking this question? You know, I've felt that way with Jimmy. They'd ask that question because we are in an environment right now where people believe that if your kid came out as trans,

that you have some kind of duty, if not God ordained duty to stop them. Yeah, I understand we're living in this time, but I am telling and everybody's always have, I'm a big fan of his, he's very generous, decent person, and we've always remained friends, and God willing, we'll continue. And you talk politics, of course.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know, I don't feel, you know, I watch football every other Sunday over here with a whole bunch of writers and comedians and guys like that. Everyone is from Boston, they're from Philadelphia, they're from Pittsburgh. I'm the only Rams fan in the group, you know? But I welcome these guys in, I give them wings,

and we have a laugh, you know? That's it. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's just not encouraged anymore, because people profit off the manufactured division. We are living in an age where people believe you can't get along if you don't agree because it's not just 15% tax versus 12%.

It's moral, it's good and evil. And I can't tell you how many people I meet and I won't expose them, who are huge guys on the right that believe that I'm an enemy of the state. And when they meet me in person, they don't just compliment my work, but they wind up wanting my number

and exchanging in conversation, wanting to get together socially, even though they still shit talk me on their shows. That's where we are. The question is, what do we do about it? shows. That's where we are. The question is, what do we do about it? I think you have to have a bit of a dignity and start of getting back to the golden rule. I mean, I know it sounds trite and I don't know, biblical or something, but I just mean still golden rule stuff. Like, would you want somebody saying this about you?

Then if you wouldn't want them doing that, then maybe you shouldn't do. I mean, it'll cover, like, if your dog poops on your neighbor's lawn, pick it up because you wouldn't like it if his dog did that on your lawn. You know, just real golden rule stuff. I know it sounds overly simplistic,

but it would solve a lot of problems we're living in now. And also, I don't think you need to conflate the person's politics with who they are as a parent or a neighbor or a friend. You know? So I know people, I just try to judge people's character, not so much their politics, you know, who are they? How they, you know, it's like, I met Trump many years ago.

I didn't like Trump. I thought he was a sorta douchebag, blowhard. But I said out loud into the microphone quite a bit, I said, look, his kids respect the hell out of him. And I gotta say, that means something to me. I don't like him personally, and I think he's a blowhard and so on and so forth. But I've seen his kids around him

and they seem to really revere him and respect him. And that says something to me as a man, when your kids, and by the way, when your kids haven't talked to you in 22 years. That says something too. And they don't let you see their grandkids or whatever, that says something completely different to me. So, you know, I mean like carve that stuff out,

whatever you disagree with. Is this person a criminal? Are they arsonists? Do they pay their taxes? Do they love their kids? Maybe have more in common than you think. Adam Carolla, I love talking to you, man. I see you as a hub for conversation in the country.

I, yeah, your podcast has been around longer than just about any in this space. But I think that your value to the dialogue that the best years are in front of you. Because I think that our country is getting exhausted by polarity. It takes time, it takes time. But it's kind of like Chinese food, you're exhausted about it in the moment, but an hour later you want more of it.

But you have strong views on things, but you're open to hearing everything. And I think it's a huge commodity. And that's why I'm very, very happy to have you on open to hearing everything, and I think it's a huge commodity. And that's why I'm very, very happy to have you on every platform I have. And I appreciate you. Thank you for doing this.

My pleasure. We'll talk soon, my friend. What's your favorite thing about being a Libertarian? Just a smart guy. Tells it like it is, gets hot, okay. Calls himself a Libertarian. Sometime I gotta ask him about that. I really believe that saying you're a libertarian

just is a way of saying you're better than everybody else. But libertarians never run anything. What have they ever gotten done in this country? It's funny. But Adam Carolla is even more funny. A comic, but the best brand. Smart guy who wants better change in society. And that's why we talk to him here on The Chris Cuomo Project.

Thank you very much for subscribing and following. I'll see you on News Nation, 8P, 11P, every weekday night. If you can't get us out on Long Island because of optimum cable, blame them. And there is a question to be asked about why they want to silence News Nation. You know, you can ask them to answer that. I'll see you there. If you can watch me. If not, you can get me on YouTube. You can stream the show. You can get me here. If you want the podcast ad free, subscribe at my sub stack. Now I know it's doing well because I'm doing my fitness program there. And no, I'm not putting that out for everybody because that's not what I really do.

But I wanted to give people an opportunity to see into my private efforts. And if you care about that, you can go and you can subscribe and sub stack, but I'm not gonna be talking about that anywhere else because, you know, that's my business. I'll make it discreet and I'll keep talking to you about what matters to all of us.

My friends, there's plenty out there. Let's get after it.