The Young Turks - Biden's Cancer Diagnosis - May 19, 2025

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month Shopify trial and start selling today at ⁠shopify.com/tyt President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Trump shares a post suggesting a military tribunal for former President Obama. The FBI connects a fertility clinic bombing to anti-natalist extremism. CBS News president steps down amid rising tensions over the network’s Trump coverage. Hosts: Sharon Reed & Cenk Uygur SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE ☞  https://www.youtube.com/@TheYoungTurks FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK  ☞   https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER  ☞       https://twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM  ☞  https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK  ☞          https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕MERCH  ☞      https:/www.shoptyt.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to the Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. All right, welcome the Young Turks, Jake Yugar, Sharon Reed with you guys. Sharon's on Rebel HQ, check that out. So big showhead, number one, obviously we got some news on Biden and his cancer diagnosis. to get to that soon. But I have an interesting take on that that not a lot of other folks

have are talking about and I think that it might explain a lot of things. We'll get to that in a minute. And then Donald Trump mentally unbalanced. I would have asked that as a question, but I don't think it is a question. I think he is. So we're talking about it. We're going to figure out what he did and why I think it's so crazy. Is CBS Newshead leaves along with the 60 Minutes Newshead, why there's might be a secret reason. Trump's the number one reason, but there might be a secret reason. We're gonna tell you about that in a minute. And then finally, the Democratic strategy, a little bit later in the show.

Is it a good strategy going forward politically? Okay, so we'll get to that as well. Sharon, how are you doing? I'm good, really good teas. Okay, I can't wait to hear your take on the Biden thing, all of it. It's gonna be interesting, so much news, so much. much. Yep, for sure. All right, let's do it. What do you got first? Okay. We're going to start with that cancer diagnosis, Jay. Do you think that Joe Biden really would have been able

to perform as president all the way through January 2029 when he would be 86? Yes, I thought that back then. I still think that, but I don't know that. Former President Biden we've learned has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to a statement released by his personal office just in the last five, ten minutes here. So as we said, a lot of Biden news. Let's talk about Clyburn first, hours after, Representative James Clyburn telling Jake Tapper, he still believed Joe Biden was fit to be president. It was revealed that the former president was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Biden's office releasing this statement yesterday. Here's what it says. Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer characterized by a Gleason score of nine grade group five with metastasis to the bone. That statement from the personal office of the former president. If you're unfamiliar with the term metastasis, okay, I'm not good at saying it, but so I'm clearly unfamiliar. It's when cancer, though, spreads to other tissues in the body

and the Gleason score he was given means it is likely to grow and spread. It goes on, while this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which allows for effective management. President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians. Jank, you'll correct me the way I pronounce it. There's certain words, I just, I don't know, maybe I've given up too easily. But here's the thing, your initial thoughts looking for that before we move forward with some reactions, because a lot of people weighing in, a lot of people not believing the timing.

Yeah, so I don't believe the timing. either. And I'm no one to criticize people's pronunciation of words. Let's just be clear about that. And another fun side note, Clyburn is like, he's totally fine. Of course he could last another four years. Biden's 82, Clyburn is 84. That might be a part of the reason why he's saying that he thinks he's totally fine. He's like, I don't think he slowed down,

at least according to me. Yeah, brother, because you both slowed down. Anyways, back to this. This is important. There's a lot of conspiracy theories floating around. about this but then you say conspiracy theories but really I mean with Biden mental decline physical decline being covered up is it conspiratorial or is it just a theory right and so we'll look through some of those some of those are clearly not nonsense but then I'm gonna tell you what might have actually happened because it's related to that hormone the fact that it is

hormone sensitive what is the treatment for prostate cancer Well, that might be your answer, but we'll get to that in a minute. Sharon, back to you. Yeah, it's really interesting stuff. Can't wait to hear more. We'll get to the reactions in just a second, but let's dive a little more into the prognosis. Dr. Ezekiel Manuel, who was an oncologist selected by Biden for his COVID advisory board, went on morning Joe today to give more insight into what the diagnosis

actually means for the former president listen the fact is that very few people get diagnosed this advanced about 7% of all prostate cancer in the country gets diagnosed when you have a lesion that's in the bone and therefore it's metastatic and incurable the prostate cancer will not go away he will have it that doesn't mean he's going to die from it because there are a lot of treatments So there's a lot there's, and then there's chemotherapy beyond that. There's also treatment for that metastatic lesion near the spine if it's a threat. So he has a lot of treatments and he could live a long time. But there's something else that Dr. Manuel revealed, and that is that surely Joe Biden had this for a long time.

Well, doesn't it take some time for prostate cancer to develop to a point where it would spread? to the bones? Oh, he's had this for many years, maybe even a decade growing there and spreading. That's right. It's a little surprising. I look back at the records and there's no evidence that when he got his health status and the medical records were released that he had a prostate-specific antigen. Now it is true that a lot of people recommend not doing a prostate-specific adage.

after 70, but President Biden's been in public life a very long time. He was vice president and had a lot of exams under 70. So it's a little surprising that they didn't do it. And maybe President Biden decided he didn't want the test. Many men do decide they don't want a PSA. That's one theory. In 2021, we can tell you Biden underwent a colonoscopy at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, during which a single three millimeter benign appearing polyp was identified and removed.

White House physician at the time Dr. Kevin O'Connor revealed CMBC filling in some of the details. O'Connor said in a letter that the polyp was a slow growing, but it was slow growing but thought to be pre-cancerous lesion for which no more action was required. Biden had a similar polyp removed in 2008. said. However, during his last annual exam as President, Dr. O'Connor, labeled Biden as a, quote, healthy, active, robust 81-year-old. Biden did, in fact, have cancer at that time. It's unclear why Biden didn't do testing for it. What President Biden and his doctor discussed, but I think you are hinting at the other element, which is that President Obama had this test, President Bush had this test. It's

It is a little surprising that the doctor didn't take it. And if he took it and didn't report it and it was elevated, that is another case of doctors not being straightforward with us. We've had several of them with President Trump, especially around his COVID diagnosis. And if that is true, that would be very troubling. Yeah, there's a lot to unpack here. And that leads to the reactions that we've been. Talking about many people on both sides of the political aisle have expressed their support for Biden during this time, including the current president, Donald Trump, who posted on truth social yesterday.

Melania and I are sadden to hear about Joe Biden's recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery. However, a lot of people, especially those in the magosphere, think there's something fishy. going on? Laura Lumer is back. She posted this to X following the news. I reported on Biden's terminal illness almost a year ago. Terminal is six months to a year left to live. There are always outliers, but I suspect Biden's treatment isn't responding anymore, which is why the family is only now admitting he is terminally ill. He could die in the next two months. This is a PR strategy to shame the Democrats who are coming out with a book about the cover up of Biden's

health crisis. Biden might die in the next two months. If you follow my reporting, you knew this one year ago. Mar Luma. Other people posted similar theories. You see them there. They leaked the Biden tape and the per investigator. Release the prostate cancer news, it says. So people getting clever And then there's more releasing Joe Biden's diagnosis on a Sunday evening is strategic. It says they went all the Monday morning shows talking about it because Jake Tapper has a book to sell. Tapper and Alex Thompson's book about Biden's decline is set to be released tomorrow. That's May 20th. Snippets have already hit on not only the mental decline of the former president, but also his physical deterioration.

Biden's physical deterioration, most apparent in his halting walk, had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election, one excerpt. Now people such as David Axelrod are calling for the end of the Biden cover-up debate. So let's listen to Mr. Axelrod. As you mentioned, this comes at a time where there is so much. and continued attention, you know, placed on his mental acuity and stability, as well as ahead of this book release.

And you mentioned there's been a lot of discussion about it. His medical condition now, he's announced medical condition now, do you believe that silences or delays a lot of conversations about his, you know, last year and a half? of his presidency for now. Yeah, well, I mean, I think those conversations are going to happen, but they should be more muted and set aside for now as he's struggling through this. So you heard Axelrod there, Jenk. I have to be honest, some of the conspiracy theories don't seem so far-fetched to me. And maybe I, it's not

kind, but my mind went a few places when I first heard the news. Certainly sympathy for the former first family, the former president. But I just don't know what to believe at this point. The timing, the diagnosis, everything else that's swirling around. So give us more on on what you're zeroing it on. Yeah. So first of all, the thing that I don't like is people celebrating it. I can't stand that. Like, what are you doing? Why? He's already gone. We We could have a conversation about what did they do wrong so we learn from it and we don't make those same mistakes, but you don't have to root against the guy's health or life. I've seen a lot on the right do it. I've seen some on the left do it and it's really ugly either way. Okay, now as to how the relevant parts here.

So first of all on people's reactions as to whether they believe the Bidens, I think our members speak for a lot of people. So bloated ego on t.com wrote in, if they covered up his mental decline, why wouldn't they've covered up this? And that's a fair question. That's a really fair question. Another member on t.com said, Don Dada Dragon said if the White House didn't dig their own lying grave, I would have backed them a lot more. But now all I can say is good luck, young man. So look, and you should say good luck about treating cancer and mean it. But in terms of the credibility of the Biden team, it's a zero, right? I mean, that's super fair. So, and whether you're left or right, it's crazy if you just believe them, they have a terrible track record. So I agree

with our members. You can join them at t.com slash join. So now, I talked to an expert about this. So would you normally do what they call a PSA to find this out? And the answer is yes, definitively, yes, you would normally do a PSA. And is it an extra procedure that could be a little invasive like a colonoscopy? So you might choose out of it? No, it's part of your normal blood panel. There's no reason to choose out of it at all. I mean, I guess some could.

He could have, but if you chose to not investigate it, that might be a sign that you thought you had it and didn't want others to know it. So that part is already super weird, not normal, okay? Now, they say, but the parts that bother me about the conspiracy theories is like, you got to get your theories right, right, and straight. So like, oh, Jake Tapper has a book coming out. So that's why they would want to release this. No, no, no, no, no, no.

The timing's the other way around. Over the weekend, everybody's beating up on Biden. He went on the view and he was defending himself and talking about how he would have won. And then that led to a round of a lot of people, including a lot of Democrats saying, please go away. And then because of the book coming out, there's a lot more swirling around about how Biden screwed everybody over. And her tapes just came out on Friday. So it became clear that he wasn't mental decline. If you want to have people stop talking about that and how Biden was an egomaniac who cost his own party, democracy, the country, et cetera, et cetera,

you would drop a new story about how he has cancer and so that everybody does what Axelrod did. Okay, that's it. It's now you're not allowed to talk about it anymore because he's got cancer, right? So when did they know that he had this type of cancer? Of course, I don't know, and that's a great question. Is it a legitimate question? Of course it's a legitimate question. Because of what I'm about to tell you, among other reasons. So what is the treatment for prostate cancer? Well, I looked it up, it's androgen deprivation therapy. And so again, the expert that I talked to told me about this. And he's right.

That is, that's what you do. You can go on any site and confirm that. Okay, well, that therapy, it has some side effects. What are some of those side effects? That has some things to do with your sex life. That's not relevant here because it affects testosterone, right? So, and that's the hormones that we were talking about earlier. And that's why they think they might be able to

treat this and he might be able to survive because you could do hormone treatment. Okay, well, what would the hormone treatment do? Well, it would have side effects like bone thinning, which can lead to broken bones, anemia, low red blood cell counts, decrease mental sharpness, interesting, loss of muscle mass, weight gain, fatigue, increased cholesterol levels and depression or mood swings. Huh, so fatigue, um, so fatigue, um, Your bones are more brittle and you're, and that might lead you to being a little bit more careful as you walk, might lead to more mishaps, depression where you snap at people and give them, you know, some answers that are rude or however you phrase it. Did Biden do that? Yes. Was he constantly fatigued?

Remember the famous memo about the president can only work between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. So we have to, you know, make sure that we get him his information then. And then, but otherwise, you know, we got to make sure that he rests. Why did they put that memo out? Is it because of the fatigue? So that's not conspiratorial, it's just a very simple and direct medical question. So the Biden team should be asked, was he on androgen deprivation therapy? Because if he was, that might even explain all the things that we saw, it might even explain what appeared to be meant to

decline, but might have been brain fog, mental fatigue, et cetera, that they say are side effects to this drug. Now, I put that online, and then I got attacked by the right and the left, and I can't quite figure out why they're attacking me. First of all, you don't need the reason. It's us, right? So it's going to happen anyway. But my point here isn't about me. It's about the right wing thinks, no, you're covering up his actual cognitive decline. But I'm not covering anything up. I'm the guy who said right from the get go, there's something wrong with him and he can't be the candidate. For whatever reason, he can't finish sentences. He's not fully there. There's no question about it, right? So what we're trying to do is figure

out what happened. And when you're the president of the United States, it's super fair for people to ask what happened, right? And on the left, they're like, oh, you're trying to make it seem like he wasn't mentally sharp because of this drug. I'm not trying to make it seem like anything. I'm asking, was he on that drug or was he not asking on that drug? And by the way, if you're on the left and you're Joe Biden supporter, you'd be lucky if it was this drug. Because then you could say, hey, look, he wasn't in cognitive decline, he had cancer, he shouldn't have covered it up, but he took this medicine, blah, blah, blah. Is that a good excuse? Not really, right?

Because if you're on this medicine and it produces these results, I'm not even sure you should be president, but I'm positive. You shouldn't run for reelection, especially when you've got it at what state? stage five, four, five, this advance, Gleisa's score of nine, and you're running for president? That's why they released it afterwards. Oh, golly gee, we just found out. And maybe they did. That's not impossible, but given the weight of the evidence of all of their previous lies and what we saw with our own eyes, I would be surprised, Sharon, if they weren't covering this up.

If they were just being honest about it and they just got the diagnosis, I'd be genuinely surprised. Yeah, what you've uncovered in talking to the doctor today too. I mean, it makes perfect sense. I tend to lean in that direction. You know, having heard the theory, the balance of it, it makes perfect sense. I guess I'm wondering this, look, I've been super irked by all of the news about the secrets, the lies. Maybe I'm just naive in this day and age about what a modern-day White House kept from us with the media's assistance. But I guess the larger issue I've heard people raise, Jenk, is why does it matter? Why does it matter now?

Why does it matter? Yeah, that's actually a great question, Sharon. So going forward when it comes to how we view Joe Biden, maybe it matters for history's sake, But I don't really care about that at this point. We got way too many issues to worry about how history sees Joe Biden. Do I care about Joe, Jill, and Hunter Biden now? No, I don't care about them at all. So they're not going to be relevant politically.

They're not going to run for any office. It's like, am I sitting there obsessing about what Chelsea Clinton's up to? No, I don't care at all, right? So then what is the part that is relevant? For me, the only part that's relevant is, Democratic leadership always tells you, don't believe you're lying eyes, it looks like our candidate is weaker than the other Democrats in a primary. But we know, we know some secret information that the establishment candidate like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are actually

stronger. Don't believe the polls. Don't believe anything. You know, you've got somebody that looks like they're very pro establishment and takes tons of money from the banks like Hillary Clinton did and but no, taking millions of dollars from the banks, don't believe your lying eyes, that doesn't corrupt her at all. And yes, she changed her position on the bankruptcy bill to help the bankers, but don't believe your lying eyes, no, that was just a coincidence. And Joe Biden looks like he's in mental decline and can't finish sentences, but don't believe your lying eyes, he's actually the best candidate for the Democratic Party, right?

So the next, it isn't about Biden, the next time Democratic leadership or Democratic establishment or mainstream media anchors lie to you, remember these lies so you don't get tricked by the next set of lies. And I will tell you this as well, in the 2028 primary, I guarantee you they go back to lying. Absolutely positively guarantee it. I've never seen the Democratic establishment do anything but lying. I've never seen those same Democratic establishment supporting, by the way, also a Republican establishment supporting cable news anchors, ever tell the truth or ever back an outsider, ever back a populist. They always go back to, yes, the corporate Democrat is the greatest Democrat of all time.

And if your eyes look like they're telling you that they have terrible poll numbers, or they look corrupt, or they look like they're in mental decline, do not believe your eyes. Do not believe your ears. Believe us instead. Pick the worst possible candidate and don't worry about it because at least he's in favor of corporations and corporate rule. But do not pick the populace with the really popular bills because our corporate sponsors don't want, I mean, I mean, they'll lose, they'll lose. So it's the lines that have to be defeated, not Joe Biden.

Yeah, perfect sense. And I know the news, we're going to move on, but the news cycle is short. I'll probably forget and other people may too. But I just am at the point where anybody who was part of the administration was disqualifying for 2028 for me. That's where I stand today. I just, all of it is just too much. Like I said, maybe I'm naive.

We will get on with the show after a quick social break. This weekend President Donald Trump, massive truth social bender. That's not unusual, but he went so far as to share a post that called for former President Barack Obama to face a military tribunal. Here's the post. All roads lead to Obama, it says. That post did not explain why the former president should face a military tribunal. Those are usually reserved for members of enemy forces. Trump's social media spree only gets crazier from there, but before we give you more on that, what do you think so far, Jank, what it kind of requires getting in Trump's mind, but take a stab at it, I guess.

Yeah, I don't think it's tough. I think he's mentally unbalanced. And I don't think that it's even close. So that doesn't mean that he can't function. It doesn't mean that he isn't right from time to time, broken clock and all that. And it's not just broken clock. Look, we give credit where credit is due. And so sometimes he makes the right decisions. I'm not saying that he's totally out of his mind, but but is he partly out of his mind? Of course he is. What military tribunals are you talking about? And then he's going to get into the Clinton murders in a second.

I mean, that's cuckoo for cocoa puffs. And he's always been that way. So we, just like Joe Biden not being old, Democrats say he's not old. And then Trump supporters of Maga says, no, Trump's not crazy. Of course you should investigate the murders of the Clintons and the tribunals for Obama. What are you guys talking? What is this? This is lunacy. All right, let's give you more of the details and then come back and rip him more. All right, the post calling for Obama to face the military tribunal was in response to an article about former FBI director, James Comey's controversial Instagram post. Last week, Comey uploaded an image of seashells arranged to make the numbers 8647.

And speaking of Comey, Trump also shared this post. Why haven't they raided his house in the middle of the night and arrested him? He's still on that one. Comey fired during the first year, first months of Trump's administration. Finally, Trump shared a video captioned, the video Hillary Clinton does not want you to see. Video has to do with the Clinton body count, conspiracy theory, which alleges that Hillary and Bill orchestrated the murders of numerous Americans. Some versions of the conspiracy theory even go so far as to claim that the Clintons had over 50 people killed. So serial killers, mass murderers, that would mean.

Video that Trump shared, Clintons are blamed for the deaths of five individuals, including John F. Kennedy Jr. Bill Clinton's former White House interim, Mary Mahoney. Bill Clinton's Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster, that's been widely floated. To give you an idea of how the conspiracy works, let's break down what's being alleged here. Kennedy Jr. was a highly popular Democrat who was weighing run for a Senate seat in New York. You see? He died, though, in that plane crash in 1990. In 1999, Hillary Clinton would go on to win that Senate seat.

But he implies that the Clinton somehow planned that plane crash, which also killed his wife and sister. Mahoney was killed in 1997 when a robber attacked the Starbucks where she worked. She tried to take his gun. He shot her. The conspiracy theory alleges that she knew about about Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct and would have been called as a key witness in his impeachment trial. Vince Foster died in 1993. No less than five investigations into his death ruled that it was a suicide. But according to the conspiracy theory, Foster was killed due to his disagreements with Hillary Clinton and his knowledge of the travel gate scandal. Again, the Clinton body count theory spans many more deaths that were allegedly planned by Hillary and Bill Clinton. Thoughts, Jen?

Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts, but first, I like this comment that just came in on Twitch. Drenched the wildfire said, wait, I thought JFK Jr. was alive and going to be part of the Trump administration. That's what QAnon said, that's true. He was supposed to come back and then he was going to be part of it. I can't keep up with the conspiracy theories. Okay, I fought Hillary Clinton tooth and nail back in 2008 primary against Obama. I was for Obama and against Hillary Clinton. And then famously in 2016, I was for Bernie Sanders and very much against Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton has taken an enormous amount of money from the donor class and serves a donor class. Did she murder 50 people? If you think that you have mental health problems, go see a therapist, it makes no sense at all. And I know a lot of people believe conspiracy theories, and they're gonna get super offended. And of course, if you believe the theories, so naive not to think that Hillary and Bill Clinton are obviously Dexter. Serial killing on the side, everybody knows that. They drive an Uber and kill people on the side and then they're also, why would they risk their vast fortune and their political empire?

Oh, John F. Kennedy Jr. might have run against Hillary Clinton many years later, so they murdered him just in case. Cuckoo for cocoa puffs. None of that is true. It's totally insane. Okay, some rando Q&9 guy posts it. All right, and Democrats maybe we make too much of it, although then you see the numbers and there's a lot of them. And you go, okay, wow, that's disturbing. But that's a separate thing from the president of the United States posting it. And what military should be known for Obama? Okay, so James Comey took a picture of seashells, obviously national emergency. I hope FEMA was called in due, okay?

And then the seashells do numbers, and the numbers mean something. They mean either cancel or kill, so we'll assume it means kill, okay? And that's why his house should be raided in the middle of the night. Okay, okay, all right. So look, I think that's nuts too, but, but at least it's in the realm of not like, like, not insane, I say hesitantly because 86 could be killed. It's usually not used that way at all, especially when you're doing it with frickin' seashells, okay? And Republicans have said 86 before as well, it's overhyped, overhyped, okay? But at least one meaning of 86 is that.

But to think that Obama should be brought before a military tribunal because James Comey, took a picture of seashells. And you tell me that's not cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs? You're telling me that the president of the United States should be posting that. Serious, oh yeah, Obama, you're drugged him in front of a military tribunal. You know what he did? He didn't say anything about James Comey and his seashells. How do you not see that that's crazy?

How do you not see it? People are so blind these days and it's so frustrating. So here we were a year ago, two years ago, ripping our hair out. Of course Joe Biden's too old. Of course he's too old. Look at any public appearance. And we had Democrats go, no, he's not. He's young and dynamic. He is the best candidate. All other Democrats suck. The only one who could win is Joe Biden. Like why do all other Democrats suck? Why can't somebody else beat Trump? No, Joe Biden, we were told by cable news that Joe Biden is the greatest president of all time and the best Democrat. We choose to

believe in the view is the best. Okay, all right. Now the Trump people. No, Trump is not not mentally unstable. Of course, Obama should be brought in front of a military tribunal for the arrangement of seashells that James Comey might or might not have done. And of course killers, Clintons are serial killers. Of course, of course, of course, that's not mentally unstable. Okay, what am I gonna do? All right, so two sides have decided that they're going to be purposely blind and they're not going to see the most obvious things in the world. You know, people joke around how about how Ted Cruz is the zodiac killer. That's a joke. On the other hand, Donald Trump said,

Ted Cruz's dad might have killed John F. Kennedy and he wasn't joking because he's a lunatic. So according to Trump, Ted Cruz's dad killed JFK and the Clintons killed JFK Jr. And you tell me that's not crazy. I know, I know what some will say. Everybody has different excuses. Ironically, it's a shell game, right? So they, he's just trolling. He's just, it's really funny when you accuse the former president of being a serial killer, you know, another former president of having to go in front of a military tribunal and maybe get executed. It's always so funny when the president is like a nine year old and he trolls other people. That's that's your main excuse. The president is, you know, somewhere between nine and 12 years old and emotional stability. And that's why he's constantly doing running these weirdo psychotic. gags all the time when he's the commander in chief and the leader of the free world.

Okay, okay, you don't want, if that's what gets you through the night. But this dude has, it's Sharon, and it's not new, he's always believed in ridiculous conspiracy theories. He's the one that pushed the Obama wasn't born here because he's black and his dad's Kenyan, so I don't believe his birth certificate. And he didn't push that just to get at Obama, he pushed it because he believes it. I know guys like him. They believe every conspiracy theory, every single one. Somebody should ask Trump whether the earth is flat. I got it at 50-50 on his answer. Did we land on the moon? I got it at 50-50 on his answer. You give a conspiracy theory, he will believe it. And look, you can say he's not crazy. But if he's

not crazy, then the other alternative is he's really, really not bright. Sorry. Thank you for saying that, okay? I'm having the same particular friend call me up today and argue with me about how Trump is actually a genius. What about the lack of discipline? What about the emotional intelligence? I'm not even not a genius. I won't call them stupid, even though I think there's evidence of it. And this is what we get times again, but I think you make strong points. It's really on both sides.

Oh, and by the way, I looked it up. If the Clintons, if their body counts 50 and serial killers, they would only be surpassed by Samuel Little, 93 murders. The Green River Killer, 49 confirmed would move to slot three. So it's just, you know, it's the degree of it, but you know, there's more on this one, Jank. Of course, we've been alarmed by Trump's unhinged post, his brazen actions in his second term. And while it seemed like the American people were on that same page for a while, that is starting to change. Last week, CNN's Harry Enton explained that recently Trump's approval

rating has been rebounding. Here's more. Hello, Trump's net approval rating among voters. This is the Reuters. Ipsos polling. Look at this. In late April, he was eight points underwater. But look at where he was in the most recent poll among voters. He's up seven points to a minus one point net favorability rating. This is just one poll, right? But let's take a look across an aggregate of polls. What are we seeing here? And I want to compare both to where Donald Trump is now versus where he was in late April, as well as where he was at this point in term number one. What you see is at minus six points. He is a little bit worse off than he is in the Epsos Reuters polling, but he is considerably better than he was in late April when

he was nine points underwater. And more than that, look at this, he's nearly 10 points better than he was back in May 16th of 2017 in his first term. So what we see is Donald Trump's not just doing better than he was doing in late April of 2025. He's doing considerably better than he was doing at this point in term number one. It is the economy, the economy, the economy, as the chance of a recession has fallen, as the trade wars have kind of collapsed a little bit, at least with China Trump trying to make a deal, we do see that I do think that the voters are responding to this and therefore we're seeing Trump's approval rating going on. Jenk, how much of this do you suspect is ego? And by that I mean, you know, the friend who

calls me and wants to argue with me and tell me Trump's a genius. He's not stupid. He's actually very, very smart man. How much is this is just not wanting to be wrong? Wanting to win at all costs, intellectually dishonest. I don't know. Or maybe people really believe it. Maybe it's just what Harry Anton said? Listen, the threat's off the table for it for now, okay? But I just, I just don't get it. Yeah, look, there's two different things here. For on the conspiracy theory stuff, if you're somebody who's into it, you could be bright in other ways. I mean, I've seen it, right? Very bright in other ways. But there's something like about conspiracy theories for those set of folks, they just can't get enough. It's like crack to them.

Any, because anyone suggests a different reason for something, they're like, oh, definitely, and they think that we're super naive, right? You don't believe that the Clintons are bigger serial killers than the Green River killer. It's just so naive, right? Like, oh, it's so frustrating to talk to them. But those are, but now back to politics, look, I'm saying that because I just, we do a new show and I care about reality and I can't stand gaslighting. But is it relevant politically? No, the personal attacks on Donald Trump don't work at all, at all anymore. Maybe they worked in the beginning, but they got whatever mileage they're going to get out of it. You're not flipping a single person. Like he, there isn't anything he could say that's deranged enough for anyone to change their opinion of Trump based on some deranged thing he said.

I mean, does it get more deranged than the Clintons or serial killers? And it doesn't move the numbers at all, right? So the only thing that matters, and it makes sense, guys, is what do voters vote based on? Not some other dude and how, you know, is his mental health okay or another country. I wish they cared about other countries, but not often. Not some do, but not a lot. No, they care about things that affect them. And what affects them the most, the economy?

So why is Trump's numbers rebounding? Well, some on the left said that no, Trump will never change any of his policies. And his supporters will never change anything. They're all cult and then they'll always stick with whatever maniacal things. No, Trump flip flops all the time. And his base sometimes gets exhausted flip flopping with him, right? Like, oh, we love nuclear tariffs. No, tariffs can't be nuclear.

But we still like some tariffs, but later he'll change that. Oh no, but we never like tariffs in the first place. I mean, yes, so there's a base that definitely flip-lops with him. But does he flip-flop all the time, all the time? And so, by the way, that is not a bad thing. So he does these nuclear tariffs, they destroy the markets. And he goes, okay, I didn't like that. And the American people didn't like that.

Okay, let's bring him down. Good, good, he's reacting to the American people. So, and he'll keep doing that. That's actually, as a politician, that's one of his biggest strengths. Whereas, you know, you could tell Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the issue of Gaza is costing you an enormous number of votes and they're like, we don't care, we will be voting with the donors no matter what. Why don't you negotiate drug prices?

That's a layup. Over 90% of Americans want, we don't care, we will be, we will negotiate one drug. We will leave tens of thousands of drugs alone, we will try to trick the American people because we work for the donors. Well, that people hate that, there's just, but don't get me wrong, there's roll. robots on the Republican side too. All those corporate guys, they never changed because they take orders and your donor tells you to do one thing, you're gonna do that thing.

And they don't care about the public polling. It's amazing. Whereas Trump's like, I like to be popular and you know, it's kind of goofy and it's a little silly. But for president, it's not such a bad thing, because if you get to a point where you're doing deeply unpopular things, your polling goes down. And then Trump responds to it and goes, oh, they didn't like that, okay, we're lowering Arabs. So I hope you get some memo on Israel, by the way. You would be very, very, very popular if for the first time in our lifetimes, you were actually the president of the United

States and stood up to a foreign government like Israel, unlike every other president we've had. If he figures that out, he'll be super popular. But there's a lot of people around him, like literally paid to make sure he does not find that out. Anyways, you see how I think, Sharon, this is actually an upside and not a downside? Yeah, when you put it that way, it had me reminiscing about when we were on the show a couple weeks ago, and we were talking about, was it Bill Maher who got invited to dinner? And I was just thinking as you were going through all that, boy, I do hope Frank is invited to dinner. Maybe he can get, maybe he can get through to him. If you're the last person, everybody else is going to bed, you're having dessert.

Maybe you can get through to him on Gaza and everything else. No, look, honestly, like, of course it'll never happen. I get that. And then you'll never be the last person in the room and then 28 other people funded by the donor class will rush in afterwards and some, you know, far right lunatics will rush in and say, oh, no, don't listen to him, blah, blah, blah, but in reality, Trump, and again, the left won't believe me on this either. They're like, no, he's core evil. He'll never do anything positive. No, if you told Trump, hey, paid family leave, that helps American moms. It'll polls at 84% and it'll make you really popular. My guests, he'd be like, oh, yeah, okay, let's do that. And then some people will come in and try to bribe him and go, No, corporations don't want that. Here's some checks and either they'll be large enough and he'll just take it and he'll make more money, right?

Or they won't be large enough and you'd be like, no, I prefer the Poland and I want to be popular. I'll do that. You know what, America's tired of paying Israel $300 billion and we don't want the responsibility for starving babies to death, right? Well, that one, there's toners everywhere on all sides, right? And now on Qatar's on the other side of Israel and there's, it's a giant mess and the money will probably decided, but if he found out how popular he'd be if he cut off funding to Israel, he might do it, right? And for the people saying he won't do it because he's evil, guys, you don't, you're not getting it. All Trump cares about is Trump. So he's not doing it out of being weirdly

malicious, or even if he is, and believe me, he's got many malicious thoughts in his head, Believe me, okay? But if he thinks it's bad for Trump, he won't do it. He'll go to good for Trump. So frame things is good for Trump, and he might go there. But I know, no, don't try. Instead, just call everyone racist and go back in a kid. Okay, anyway, that's a random tangent. Yeah, you got us thinking. You got us thinking that he has the plane, you know, he didn't stop in Israel. We'll see, we'll see what happens. Much more to come right after a quick break. For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for five bucks plus tax.

Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. All right, back on TYT, Jenkins, Sharon with you guys. This idea is maybe to take off a little bit. Uriah Heep wrote it on t-yt.com member section. Again, the Turkish Tornado, get a t-shirt at TYT. All right, maybe we'll work on the Turkish tornado design at shop t-y-t.com. I appreciate the idea.

All right, Sharon, what's next? I think you have to. Pajamas, maybe, too. I would like a night shirt or something. We're going to move on to, boy, the clinic bombing in Southern California. Here's your update, fertility clinic in Palm Springs, bombed this weekend what the FBI is calling an act of terrorism. Suspect 25-year-old Guy Edward Barkas died in the explosion, injured for others as well, caused significant damage to the American reproductive centers facility. Authorities say Barkas expoused extreme ideologies that argue against procreation and view life as inherently farmable.

He left behind a 30-minute audio manifesto, attempted to live stream the attack. The FBI is on the case, but has already released their theory on a motive. Akeel Davis, head of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said they were treating the incident as an intentional act of terrorism. Davis added that online posts and other evidence suggested the suspect had nihilistic ideations and that this was a targeted attack against an IVF facility. FBI spokesperson Laura E. Miller meantime also said the agency was investigating whether the suspects alleged anti-natalist views were a motive behind the attack. The blast, which occurred just before 11 a.m. on May 17th, shattered windows of nearby buildings. It was filmed. more than a mile away. That's how powerful it was. Despite the destruction, no embryos or staff members were harmed in this as the clinic was closed at the time. So Jane, you know,

this, this attack marks a disturbing escalation. We're seeing this ideological violence. I guess what, what does that tell us about the current state of extremism inside the U.S.? Yeah, I'm actually really worried about it. And I'll tell you why. So this guy is a super rando, like he's an anti-natalist. Whatever, like what is that? So it's people who think there should be less people on earth and less children. That's like your opinion, man, and there's a good way to deal with that. Don't have kids.

What are you trying to blow up other people for? So I had to look up to see if that's a left wing or right wing position. I don't know what wing it is, I don't know, maybe left, I don't know, but that's my point, which is now everybody who's mentally disturbed writes a manifesto and decides that their issue is the most important thing and either usually gets a, you know, assault rifle and goes and kills a whole bunch of people, or these days they're blowing up cars in front of places. It's so frustrating. And then so how do those ideas, A, get into their head, and then B, how does the second idea get in their head, which is, oh, okay, if you're anti-natalist

or pro-natalist or whatever, you have to somehow murder people. But far, far too often, Sharon, that step two happens now that it didn't happen before. I'm really upset about this, or I'm really animated by this and that's step one. That happens all the time. Step two, I will now murder people because of it. That's the part that's deeply disturbing. What's the next attack going to be? Because of natalism?

No, because of something that makes sense? No, of course not. Most of these people have mental health issues. So what's the next one going to be about? I don't know, but I do know there will be one and they will get that second thought in their head. Oh, right, since I believe adamantly is something. That means by definition, I should go murder people for it.

No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. You could be super animated about things. You see me on air? I'm super animated about things. That doesn't mean I have to kill anyone. So apparently you have to tell people this. Stop killing people.

It's scary because Sharon, one more thing about that. Because people listen to shows, people listen to different things and not just in politics, But in things that arouse passion. And I don't think that it's the host's fault. I don't think it's the show's fault, et cetera. But now there's an idea out there that if you're like, that if someone is making you mad, the correct answer isn't to debate them. The correct answer isn't to get involved in, you know,

fixing the problem, doing something productive. The correct answer is tear them down, either like their character, their reputation, who they are, or just murder them, right? And so I think that's a disastrous idea, and I'm worried that it's spreading like a virus. Yeah, got to figure out what this, it's not just a call to action, it's converting to this call to deadly action. And where is that coming from, where it leaves passion and moves into that realm? The perpetrators, the accused father, Richard, broke down in tears during a televised interview here. He expressed shock, sorrow upon learning of his son's actions.

He admitted he hadn't seen his son in more than a decade, but he did recall him as a good kid, liked hiking, he liked to go hunting, he liked to go rock, hunting. He liked his computer. He had a good heart. Something changed in him. But what was that? Investigators are examining Barkas' online activities, including a website, social media postings that detailed his extremist beliefs and hinted at plans for the attack. FBI is treating this as one of the largest bombing investigations in Southern California history.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Pam Bondi, have both condemned the attack pledging full support for the ongoing investigation. Is there any part of you that, it's not blame, believes that the intelligence, community. I mean, if he had certain postings, he was leaning towards an attack of this kind. Should authorities have known about it? No, that's why it's so scary. No, how the hell are they supposed to know about this rando who's anti-natalists and are going to do a bombing? Unless he said it and they're tracking like meticulously all of online comments, et cetera, maybe, maybe, maybe. But no, I think people are too quick to blame folks for. So sometimes this happens. And that's why it's even scarier,

because stopping the next one is incredibly difficult. If I had a great answer for how to stop the next one, I'd be very happy to share it, but I don't have one. And so for the dad, by the way, just so you know, he did also say that this guy was always in the bombs, but he said little bombs, like smoke bombs, stink bombs and stuff like that, nothing dangerous. Yeah, I hear you, I hear you, but didn't end well.

And he hadn't seen his son in 10 years, so he really did. didn't know what was going on. But again, I'm not blaming the dad, I'm not blaming anybody. I'm just saying everybody put out, the only thing I could think of to do that's positive is everybody put out the message that physical violence is never the answer. That's basically saying I can't defend my ideas intellectually. I surrender, I'm no good at this, I'm mentally weak, hence I will resort to violence instead. As you were saying that it reminded me of the insurance CEO killing.

Now there were a lot of people who said, look, we're getting left on our deathbeds. We're not being helped. So maybe it's justified. You know, they maybe they didn't go that far. Some did though. It's just, it's mind-boggling how we get a handle on some of this. CBS News now, we'll move on to that one, Jen, because another network head fights the dust.

This time it's Wendy McMahon, president of CBS News and stations, abruptly announcing she is stepping down. Why now? The resignation comes less than 24 hours after the season finale of 60 minutes, Flagship program. The show at the center of rising tensions, though, too, between CBS and Donald Trump. McMahon confirmed the exit in a staff memo writing this.

It's become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward. Usually it's not that candid. The move follows months of pressure inside CBS and from its parent company, Paramount, over 60 minutes coverage of Trump and the 2024 election. Trump is suing CBS and Paramount for $20 billion, claiming the network deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris.

Many legal experts say the suit is baseless, but Paramount's controlling shareholder is Sherry Redstone. And she wants the case settled because she's seeking Trump's approval for a multi-billion dollar sale to Skydance media. To Jenkins Network president resigned while her company tries to appease Trump to get a media deal done. Is it fair to officially declare? There is no more major network cable news, independent media. That's, it's gone and likely gone forever. Yeah, so a lot of interesting elements to the story, including a reason that no one else is talking about, even though it was set out loud, which as you'll see in a second, why that's the case. But okay, let's bring it down one by one.

First of all, Sharon, you did get one part of the story wrong. When you say that Trump is asking for 20 billion, you always have to say this, $20 billion dollars. This is like a doctor evil plot. Yeah, 60 minutes is a perfectly normal edit of Kamala Harris. She's got word salads. They can't contain it in the segment that they have. They've got to edit it, right?

I mean, if you didn't edit Kamala Harris's word salads, every interview with her would last two hours. So, and every expert says, yeah, it's a perfectly normal edit. It still had the same exact non-answer on Israel. It was super vague and purposely vague. So it's a bad answer in either cut. It doesn't make any sense, but Trump is trying to intimidate the press. So Sherry Redstone is trying to sell CBS and Paramount. And I know the back story to that just from the public reading of the trade journals,

et cetera, and what that is. What happened was she got what looked like a really good offer, she didn't take it. Now I don't know the details of why she didn't take it and why maybe there was a reason why it wasn't a good offer. She winds up taking another offer that was closer to a distress sale. Not a great offer, but that means they're in a panic. They gotta unload this thing. So if you don't know that, this story might not make as much sense. So now Trump is not only suing them from 20 billion, he has no chance of winning that case. is a comical case.

And if by the way, if he's got good case, we're the one honest news show, we'll tell you. So for example, Trump won today, 8 to 1 of the Supreme Court on whether Venezuelans should have protected status or not. That is the discretion of the president. He should have won that case, and he did win that case, and he won it easily, right? So when he's right, I'll tell you he's right. In this case, it's comical to sue on this, and he's a public figure.

He's the president of the United States. If he wins on this, then you, then any politician can say, you know what, you edited me or my opponent, and I didn't like the way you edited us, that's it, I'm suing you for $10 billion, $20 billion, you're never allowed to edit me, you're never allowed to criticize me, all, everybody most bow their heads to the politicians, hell no is my answer to that. Legally, it makes no sense, and if you're a true American, you don't want that. You believe in freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and certainly when it applies to politicians and the president. So that stuff, so she's not, my point is she's not settling in the lawsuit because she thinks they have a bad case. She's trying to settle the lawsuit, so Trump will approve the merger, the sale, and Trump's White House is in charge of that. They can approve or dis or not approve. And so this doesn't have to do with the lawsuit.

It has to do with the sale. So now that, but that's not the second reason. The second reason people aren't talking about is that when the CBS's 60 Minutes head, Owen, Bill Owens stepped down, he made a point of pointing out that one of the points of disagreement was about Israel. Now, that got no press, right? So he didn't, he said appointed comment about the war reporting and how 60 minutes should continue it. And it was in the press, and I read it in an NPR story about how Sherry Redstone didn't

like 60 minutes of CBS being critical of Israel, ever. So that might be another reason why McMahon and Owens have left, because apparently you're not allowed to criticize Israel, honestly, you're not allowed to do that or, or, or Otherwise, the owner of the company will ask you to step down. So how much of a factor that is versus the sale, I don't know. My guess is that she cares a lot more about the sale, because that involves literally all of her family assets. So, but it's interesting, both of those are super illegitimate, but that's why all of this is happening. Maybe the tenor, you know, Sherry Redstone, the criticism of Israel.

I feel like not even trying to make it nice. She's out. Clearly, Wendy McMahon saying what she did meant there. This thing was hot and heavy behind the scene. So you mentioned Bill Owens, a 60 Minutes executive producer, resigned last month saying he no longer had journalistic independence. McMahon supported him publicly, putting her at odds with top paramount execs, worried about Trump's reaction.

At the time she said this, Wendy McMahon, standing behind bill was an easy decision for me. Behind the scenes, some CBS journalists certainly expected her ouster, but the speed of her resignation right after the 60 minutes finale raised eyebrows across the industry. Her leadership faced other pressures to, ratings at CBS evening news dropped since a recent overhaul. McMahon faced backlash from Redstone over this is what Jenk was talking about, the internal decisions, including a newsroom rebuke of CBS morning anchor Tony to Coppel after he challenged Tarahashi Coates during an interview regarding the stance,

his stance, the author, the educational guy, professor, his stance on the war in Gaza. Redstone later said that rebuke was a mistake, she praised to Copel for doing a great job. Now with Trump, it does seem pressuring networks, lawsuits threatening billions, corporate owners chasing deals. The fallout is is clear. I mean, this paramount deal needing approval thing just seems it's just play to pay to play. You know, the Trump administration transactional. He wants what he wants to shake down. And it seems Sherry Rosen is just waiting for the number to just let's just get this thing done. Yeah. You know, there's another element to this. When you tie in the lawsuit with the approval of the sale,

What winds up happening is Trump like a mob boss is taking us cut of the sale. He's saying if you want the sale to go through, I'm not going to review it based on merit. I don't give a damn about merit. I'm gonna approve it based on how much you pay me personally in this BS lawsuit that I filed. Why do you think he put the number of 20 billion? What a comical number, what an absurd number. Because he's thinking this is a multi-billion dollar sale. Maybe I get a billion out of it.

Maybe I get whatever I can steal out of the sale by threatening to not approve it, I'll do the guise of, oh, they criticize, it's not even a criticism. They edited, not me, but Kamala Harris wrong in one answer. So basically he's saying, number one, if you're a news company, don't you dare criticize me in any way, shape, or form, I'll make you pay a heavy price for it. And number two, if you're doing any kind of sale or merger, I want a piece. Okay, give me a piece of the action. I'll threaten to sue you and then you'll have to settle with me.

And that won't be a campaign contribution. I'll go right into my pocket. So that's how this Don, if you will, handles his business. Mafiosa. I mean, there's just, it's so transactional, it's so bullying, it's so tough guy. It's so obvious. Just, it's just stunning to me that this is where we are. But it is indeed where we are, Jay.

Indeed, all right, we gotta take a break here. Sharon, you're awesome, everybody check out Rebel Headquarters. You're gonna see her more there, but you see her on her on all of our programming, which we love. And apparently you guys do because you wrote a lot about it. Okay, which is great. And then in the next hour, Democrats poor strategy on the next set of elections. And the Republicans pass one of the worst bills in history, if you ask me, in committee. and no one notices because of all the other squirrels that are being thrown out there.

But we're going to come back and talk about it. We'll be right back.