Hold the Line: Don’t Give Dems an Inch in Shutdown Showdown

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From the heart of our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., backed by the trusted voices of Team Fox, a clear, fresh voice cutting through the noise to tell the truth. It's Guy Benson with Guy Benson. It is Friday, October 17, 2025. Welcome everyone to Guy Benson. I'm your host, Guy Benson. Really glad you're here with us for the next three hours, three to six p.m. Eastern. That's every weekday. And then, as we'd like to remind you, around the clock, for free, on demand on our podcast at Guy Benson.com or Fox Newspodcast.com or wherever you get. your podcasts. In addition to hosting this show, I'm a Fox News contributor over on the TV side, scheduled to join Fox and Friends weekend on Sunday. So I hope you'll tune in for that, or if you're not a morning person, you can always set that DVR. Here on the radio side, here's the lineup that we're going to bring you today. Starting later this hour, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma will be here. As we are, it was it, day 16, day 17, I believe it is now, day 17 of the Chuck Schumer shutdown. We'll talk about that. Plus, another interesting take on a controversy that he's weighted into. We'll have that conversation a bit later. David Trulio will be here talking about the Thatcher Reagan Alliance. It's the week of Margaret Thatcher's 100th birthday. He's over there in London. Looking forward to that conversation. Michael Finch will be here, conservative author, also talking about his longtime boss, David Horowitz, who passed away a few months ago. Martha McCallum, our colleague, will join us in our final hour. She had a wide-ranging, lengthy interview with Zohran Mamdani, the communist who will probably be the next mayor of New York City. We talked about the interview yesterday. We played some clips. I can't wait to ask her about how that interview went down and her perception of him, how she nabbed that interview, and what she thought of some of those answers. Plus, you can write this down right now. We're going to take some of your phone calls later in the show today. 833. 456, 1,300. We'll tell you about the call topic a bit later, but if you want to jot that down, toll-free connection here to Guy Benson, 833-456, 1,300. Well, we begin today's program on the theme of left-wing political violence, both actual political violence, threatened political violence, and fantasies about political violence. This is a serious problem. on the American left. We've talked a lot about the races here in Virginia, especially the Attorney General race, where Republican Jason Miaris, now, according to some polls, has pulled into the lead after the country and the state learned about the Democrat in the race, Jay Jones, and his murder fantasy texts to Republicans about other Republicans. Not joking, not tongue-in-cheek, not winking.

Now, we talked about that here. There was a Republican in Richmond who said, oh, yeah, Jay Jones also told me back during the George Floyd time period that he hoped more cops would get killed because then that would perhaps motivate fewer cops to shoot people. Now, Jay Jones said, I'd ever said that, but why should anyone believe him? Apparently, he says these types of things even to political opponents, including in writing. So whether he said it or not, I have no reason to believe the person claiming that is lying. I do have reason to believe that Jay Jones is lying about that. Miaris, by the way, and that answer didn't even point out that in that exchange, Jay Jones referred to Speaker Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, as breeding little fascists. He was talking about the two-year-old and five-year-old kids that they had. That was how old they were at the time. Those would be the kids he wanted to see die in Jennifer's arms. And Miaris didn't just relay to anyone unfamiliar with the story what his opponent has said. He then tied it into the role that Jay Jones is seeking. Attorney General. This is just devastating. Cut 19. And I find it a little bit stunning that today you say one of the pillars of your public safety platform is protecting children. Were you protecting Jennifer's children? When you said you wanted to see them die in their mother's arms, how can anybody who's ever worked in any of the crimes against children, all of the areas of federal and state local law department, how can they ever take you seriously, be the top prosecutor, knowing that you view that children should die to advance a political agenda? It's unconscionable, and if you were truly sorry, you would not be running for this office because you disqualified yourself. Yeah, Jay Jones kept talking about how, oh, I'm sorry, you know, I regret that, I shouldn't have. I'm embarrassed. Well, not embarrassed enough to not run for this position, not embarrassed enough to have some dignity and get out and say, you know what, this is so bad I shouldn't be Attorney General. He still wants to be Attorney General. Apparently the Democratic Party still wants that man to be the lead law enforcement officer in the state. Jay Jones. in between his apologies for his death fantasies, his murder fantasies, said the word Trump dozens of times over the course of a pretty short debate. I think it was about an hour. Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. Now, what's he supposed to say? He can't really talk about his desire to murder his opponents and their kids. That's probably not a good look for him. He probably has wanted to talk about his own criminal record or the conviction he has for driving 116 miles an hour. And then he served out his so-called community service volunteering at his own pack. This guy wants to be the attorney general. So he doesn't really have a lot of things that he actually can mention proactively.

He's got limited options. So Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, that was his entire debate performance. It's pathetic. After one of those apologies where he's feigning contrition, apparently he talked like this a lot, is what we're hearing. What a sad, like sociopathic, very, very warped individual. But for the cameras, he wants voters to at least think he's very, very sorry. And Mears is like, I don't really think so. You keep saying that, but what does that mean? Cut 16. He keeps saying that he is sorry. Jay, if you're really sorry, you wouldn't be running. If you really understood the ramifications of what you said about an innocent mom and her children, you know Todd Gilbert. You served with him. This is a flesh and blood real husband. Jennifer is a real mom. These are real kids. How in the world could you ever show compassion and comfort a grieving mother that has ever lost a child of violence? Yeah, good question. He can't. This is a disqualifying event. Even if not a soul in the official Democratic Party of Virginia or I think nationally will say so, it is a disqualifying event. And boy, do I hope the voters of Virginia send that message. Because if not, in a few weeks, what does that say? Our standards are already so low in our politics. Do we want to go lower with this? Now, on the subject of political violence, Let's bring you a few more stories. Do you remember the name Rebecca Jay Jones? Does that ring a bell? An absolute lunatic down in Florida who during COVID was treated like a bona fide respectable whistleblower against Ron DeSantis over COVID because during the pandemic, right? Ron DeSantis was almost public enemy number one. And Rebecca Jay Jones had this whole debunked insane. conspiracy theory about how she was going to tell the truth about a bunch of data that they were hiding in Florida and they were silencing her. I mean, it turned out that she was like criminal, fired, like all this stuff. Incredibly dishonest, unstable human being. For a long time, she was, again, quoted in the press like someone that could be believed. And I think it has been laid bare ever since, like, how sick this person is. But I've seen still she's getting quoted occasionally. Like she's like a real person to be believed. It's wild. Here's what she posted on Twitter. This was yesterday. Quote, I know we're not supposed to say this. Like, oh, buckle up. What a preamble from her. Like if she's saying that, what's going to come next? Well, let me tell you. I know we're not supposed to say this, but the entire world would be relieved if every one of these maga maniacs and degenerates were killed tomorrow. And someone responded like, half of America? Like, what? Don't post such things. And she said, no, they're not half of America.

They're only 15% of the adult population. So that's her math on that. In her mind, it's only, what, 45 million people? It'd be great if they were all killed tomorrow. That's Rebecca Jay Jones, the media's favorite Florida anti-Dissantis whistleblower, with her latest spasm of madness. Unfortunately, that is very much in character for her, and it would seem in character for an awful lot of people. on the hard left these days. If they're not murdering Charlie Kirk or trying to murder ICE agents or trying to murder Supreme Court justices, shall I go on, they're talking about it. They're excusing it. They're celebrating it. How about this story from the New York Post? Wisconsin Democrats, you can listen to me in Wisconsin. I know we have a significant listenership there. Very important, closely divided swing state. Wisconsin Democrats were tossed from a farmer's market after a vile volunteer handed out, is he dead yet, bracelets, including to a young child in an apparent reference to President Trump. Of course it was. Apparently, the two assassination attempts against him were not enough. Is he dead yet? Someone made up those bracelets, and the Democrats in Wisconsin were handing them out, including to kids, at a farmer's market. The Winnebago County Democratic Party will no longer host the Oshkosh Farmers Market, as incendiary rhetoric against Trump and his allies has ramped up since the Republican return to the White House this year. The latest instance of menacing words came when a volunteer handed out the harmful, the hateful, rather, bracelet to an eight-year-old child who then showed it to their mother this past weekend. This happened on Sunday. Someone thought this was a good idea. That's one of the local Democratic chapters in the state of Wisconsin. We're just hopscotching around, aren't we? Virginia, down to Florida, up to Wisconsin. We'll go to Maine next. A scandal there involving a Senate candidate, a Democrat, and some of the things he has said coming to light. Wow. Those details coming up on Guy Benson. In the swamp, not of the swamp. Guy Benson. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and all birds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer.

I'm Guy Benson, welcome back. So there's a guy running for U.S. Senate in Maine, a Democrat, Graham Platner, and the progressives, they love him. He's the real left winger. He curses a lot. He's like this gruff-looking, rugged, white dude. They're like, oh, see, he kind of looks like MAGA, but he's one of us, and he's authentic because he says F-bombs all the time, and he hates Israel and all these things that they love. Well, it turns out on the internet he's been quite a busy boy for years. Calling himself a communist, he's now gone back and deleted these things, but he referred to himself as a communist. Which, I mean, maybe it'll get you elected in New York City, although even Zohran Mamdani won't call himself that. He's lying, that's what he is, but he won't label himself that. This guy, Graham Platner, did. Call himself a communist. said all police, all cops are bastards, all of them, he emphasized. He also said that rural white Americans, and there's actually quite a few of those voters in Maine, rural white Americans actually are racist and stupid. He made racist remarks himself, actually, about black people. He joked or made light of, according to critics, sexual assault. I say, oh, well, he's just blowing off some steam on the internet. Well, we just had a whole controversy about text messages from young Republicans. I condemn them. Virtually every Republican did. This guy's running for Senate. Exactly this kind of stuff. How's that going to play? Does it matter? Do we care? Or does Maine want to elect a communist who hates police and thinks that white Americans, especially rural ones, actually are racist and stupid, as he also made racist stupid comments himself elsewhere online? And he's like, oh, yeah, that was just me being. And then he cursed a bunch about himself. He's, oh, I guess that's authenticity. Bernie loves him. By the way, another Democrat in that race is Janet Mills, who's the sitting governor. They want to challenge Susan Collins, a moderate Republican. Janet Mills is the one going toe to toe with Trump, suing him because she believes that strongly in men, biological males competing against females in sports. That's like her signature issue. And that's the Democratic Party. Oh, and by the way, if we're going to stick in New England and Massachusetts, woman's been arrested in charge with threatening to kill federal agents, ICE agents. Classy stuff all across the country. Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win. Not like the lottery at all, actually. Exactly. Inexplicably good. Offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana.

Pick up these may apply. You're listening to a new generation of talk, Guy Benson. Back here on Guy Benson, our website, Guy Benson.com podcast, always free. Joining us right now is Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin. Senator, welcome back to the show. Yeah, thanks for having me on, brother. Always like being on your show. Appreciate that. 17 days into the Chuck Schumer shutdown, the Democrats continue to insist that, yes, they're doing it for all the right reasons on health care, but no, they're not doing it at all. It's the Republicans' fault. My understanding is... The only people voting no over and over again to keep the government shut are Democrats, and yet they're saying it's the Republicans' fault. Can you explain that one to me? No, I can't explain crazy, but I can tell you what's going on, because when you get into crazy, you start unpacking it, it only gets worse. So not only are they voting no against the CR to give illegals health care benefits, which they deny they didn't, they're not doing, but yet if you read their CR, which has $1.5 trillion in debt to open the government up now for two weeks, it specifically says that. It strikes it out of the one big, beautiful bill, and re-adds it. But to even make matters worse, remember this clean CR, which is a continued resolution, Chuck Schumer's office wrote last year. They're the ones that wrote this. We're not changing any language in it. When Chuck Schumer was leader of the Senate... and Joe Biden was in the White House having an auto pin sign all his executive orders. It was their leadership that wrote the CR that they voted for in September to keep the government open last year. It was this same CR they voted for in December to keep the government open. The same CR they voted for in January before President Trump was sworn in office to keep it open and the same one they voted for in March. Now all of a sudden, they're fighting for what? What is it they're trying to change? It's because their base, the radical base, has demanded them to shut down the government, and this weekend is a big anti-Trump, no-Kings rally. And, quote, from my Democrat colleagues who are trying to open the government back up, they said Chuck Schumer wants to keep it shut down until after the rally because they don't like the optics. But that's what happens when you have a career politician and office guy. By the way, you mentioned the No Kings rally. I'll come back to the Chuck Schumer shutdown in a moment. But apparently, at least some of these...

offshoots of the rally, it's sponsored and partially paid for by literal communists. Is that right? Yes. We posted this just recently on our social media. You can go to S.E.N. Mullen, and you can look at it. On the poster, literally on the poster that is sponsoring the No King's Rally, which is an anti-Trump rally, it is sponsored by CPUSA, which is a communist party. of the United States. It clearly has their logo on there, and you pull it out, and that's the communist part of the United States of America. You can't make this stuff up. And so when we say it's an anti-American rally, if a communist part of the USA is sponsoring that, how is that not anti-America? Because we're not communist. We're a republic and a democracy. Well, and I'm pretty sure throughout their history, you look at how communists have operated, they're actually big fans of tyrants and dictators, as long it's their own, right? So, I mean, they're not actually against kings. They're very much for communist kings, as long as they're hardcore leftists. But coming back, and by the way, just for the record, this no king stuff, if people want to go out there and scream themselves horace and have their little signs and whatever, and... They're peaceful about it. I've got no problem with that. Of course, if you get into criminal activity and... That sort of thing. You can't get into violence. You can't be blocking streets. But peaceful protests, that's fine. I will spend my No King Saturday watching college football. That's what I'm going to be doing myself and not thinking about these people and all of their anger. But if they can blow off steam peacefully in a rally or protest, fine by me. But I think you're right that there's a good case to be made that Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership, they at least want to drag this thing out past No Kings because... Their base just wants a fight. It doesn't really matter what the fight is necessarily about on substance. They just want fight, which is why, in addition to blocking Senator the reopening of the government, 10 different times now, the most recent vote was yesterday, it's my understanding. I saw this. I saw Mitch McConnell put out a scathing statement about it. The Democrats also blocked the bipartisan defense spending bill. Is that correct? Yeah, so, and what's even worse about that, yes, they voted against the bipartisan defense bill, which did have several Democrats vote for it, but not enough. And we didn't have, we needed, we needed seven. We only had four that voted for it. But 11 individuals that voted for it in committee voted against it on the floor. So we would have had plenty to vote to pass it if they would have just simply voted for it. But this is. They're against everything President Trump is for, regardless that the American people chose him to be the President of the United States in November. Regardless if he won the popular vote and the electoral vote, overwhelmingly, the Democrat Party is still so dug in on this position that's made them have the worst ratings they've ever had in the party's history, which is one that kicked them out of party.

They're still dug in on this position. They can't get away from it. And it's everything Trump stands for. Well, obviously, I don't know what they're going to protest against. I mean, the stock market is at record pace. You have our streets being safe again. You have hostages being released in Israel. We have an economy that's roaring back. We have job reports that are beating expectations. And we're respected around the world. The morale of the military is the highest has been in decades, and they're protesting President Trump for what? I'm not understanding. Inflation is down from 9.45 of the high underneath Biden to now it's just barely over 2%. I'm not sure what they're protesting other than their derangement, hatred towards President Trump. The claim... on the shutdown is it's about health care. And they're saying the Republicans have a health care crisis that they've caused, and they're using this leverage to shut down the government to fix that, although they're also saying they're not shutting down the government. Well, let's talk about the part that they're trying to fix. The part that they said they need. They call a premium tax. The premium tax was installed by the Democrats when Nancy Pelosi was speaker, when Chuck Schumer was leader, and Biden was in office in 2021. They made it. Not one single Republican voted for it. They voted for it all Democrats. They made it a temporary premium tax because it was only supposed to be for COVID to begin with. And it was a subsidy for insurance companies of nearly $40 billion a year. their costs from Affordable Health Care Act, which is ACA, you know, DBA, Obamacare. And so if you're thinking about this, they could have made it permanent if they wanted to make it permanent. They've installed the program, and now they're saying they have to have it to make it affordable for affordable health care. And we're subsidizing insurance companies at $40 billion a year that the last time I checked, which I'm a capitalist. I'm all about private companies making money. But the last time I checked, they're making plenty of money. So why is it that we're trying to subsidize this? Why don't they just admit that Affordable Care Act, ACA, is obviously a failure? That's right. And let President Trump, who says he wants to get health care working for the American people again, actually do what he does best, and that's to take failing programs and make them successful again. And just to make it. perfectly clear what you just described. The Democrats on a party-line basis jammed through Obamacare with a bunch of promises years ago that people would keep their plans and their doctors and their premiums would go down by thousands of dollars and the overall health care spending would come down. The curve, the cost curve would come down in this country. None of those things were true. And they were so untrue that premiums got so expensive during COVID that Democrats, again, on a party-line basis.

passed these really extensive, lavish subsidies, including to some families making up to $600,000 a year so they could afford the premiums under the Affordable Care Act that was a democratic failure. And they made a decision to make those temporary extensions of all this expensive premium support with these subsidies. And now their own deadline has arrived. And they're saying, well, the Republicans need to fix our problem and do another bailout for a ton of money of our failures. And if they're not going to do it, we're going to shut down the government. That is what is happening right now. That is what this shutdown is about. It is pretty breathtaking. Senator, I want to... Go ahead. But remember, they didn't read it before they passed it. So you've got to go back to... They actually don't know what they're voting for to begin with. Oh, that was the famous Nancy Pelosi line. We've got to pass the bill to find out what is in it. Well, we found out what's in it, and it requires giant, giant gobs of taxpayer money just to keep it afloat. It stuck. That's what we found out about it. That's right. Senator, I want to turn to a bit of a... A bit of a scandal in Republican politics this week. I saw you were on TV talking about this as well. We addressed it on this program. And it comes in the context, the wider context of the Jay Jones text messages in Virginia. We now learn that there's a left-wing Senate candidate who wants to try to beat Susan Collins up in Maine, who has also said some really awful things in writing, racist things, horrible things about the police, calling himself a communist, calling rural white Americans stupid and racist. The list goes on, also talking about the need for political violence and saying that for economic justice, for working people, you need weapons, you need guns. So that is one of the Democratic candidates in Maine. You got a Democratic candidate in Virginia talking about murdering Republicans and their children. Then you have these text messages in a telegram group chat of young Republicans, a number of them, a fairly small number. I'd never heard of any of them, making a bunch of awful comments and terrible jokes and sort of edge lord type stuff, anti-Semitic stuff, racist stuff. And a lot of people say, well, you know, they're young and they're just joking. I mean, they're not that young, first of all. And whether they're joking or not, it's an awful look. It's not. Good. We've seen some Republicans, including the vice president of the United States, saying, oh, well, you know, really doesn't compare to the Jay Jones situation in Virginia. Let's just focus on that. You are taking a different approach to this. Explain how you're thinking about all of this. Republican Association came out very, very clear, very fast, and denounced it, immediately denounced it. These people have nothing to do with their party. Anyone that was associated with their party will be kicked out of the party. They made it very clear. Republicans, the whole, has made it very clear. What President Trump was or Vice President JD Vance was referring to was a bigger conversation when, because he also denounced it and then he also said, look, let's be real about this. This was.

I'm paraphrasing here, immature kids making some very improper jokes. It doesn't compare to what Jay Jones said when he said personally, and he's running for attorney general, that he's wanting to put two bullets into a former colleague's head and see his kids murdered. They don't compare the same. And so for you guys to try to compare the two, you can't compare that. That is two totally different things. But my stance is there's no place for this at all in the Republican Party. I don't care if you're young, old, I don't care. There is no place for talk like that. It's not funny to me. It's not funny to anybody that understands the horrific situation that they find themselves in. I made it very clear. My grandfather fought in World War II. He went over on Omaha Beach. He went into a concentration camp. He didn't eat dark chocolate, dark Hershey chocolate, because of some serious consequences that took place when they entered the camp until the day he died, and it was 94 years old. And he was made pretty light of the war. He used to say he went over there to liberate all the wine and women he could, but at the same time, they lost 64% of his men on the beach. And so it's not, we saw what Naziism, what Hitler did, to not just the Jews. but to the other race and nationalities that came under his control. It's not funny. So there's no place at all, period, full stock for this inside the Republican Party. But at the same time, the Democrats are using this as a distraction. You have Republicans that came out there and came out hard against what has happened here. And you have people that are still supporting Jay Jones for Attorney General, which is the highest law enforcement position in Virginia. But that's where the party is. They're still supporting the communists, Zohran Mamdani, for mayor in New York. And you're going, where does this party went? And so I don't make light of this when I say this, Jay. I'm not trying to be funny. I'm not using catch words. I'm describing who it is that's leading the party. You have Marxists, you have Marxists and jihadists that are running the Democrat part at this point. And what I mean by that is you have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. and Bernie Sanders, who's leading a party for likely Democrat candidates, or presidential candidates of 2028, and they're open socialists. And then you have three people that literally got sworn in by the Kron, who believes in the Sharia law, that are called the squad, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but Talib, Omar, and Jasmine Crockett. And these are the people that are leading the Democrat Party about this. And sometimes, and people want to turn a blind eye to that? Let's understand exactly what those five people represent, and they want to make a big deal out of something the Republican Party has denounced clearly and distract from what the Democrat Party that they're covering for is actually for. Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican, our guest on the program. Senator, we'd love to keep this conversation going and follow up, but we're out of time. We do appreciate it on a Friday. Have a good weekend, and we'll talk soon. Thank you, Jay. I appreciate it. No worries. With that, we'll take a quick break. We'll be right back on the other side. It is Guy Benson. Miss a minute. Miss a lot. Guy Benson. Back here on Guy Benson. Keeping an eye on President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at the White House.

meeting with President Trump. We've got some sound from earlier that we'll get to. I want to ask Martha McCallel if we have time later on about the developments in that war. Just something happening right now at this hour. In the meantime, I want to give you once again our toll-free telephone number here at Guy Benson. It's 833-456-130. 833-456-1300. We were just talking about the Democrats' government shutdown, like two and a half weeks into this thing. And there are some Republicans who are saying that the GOP should negotiate. and play ball with the Democrats on health care and Obamacare and do these bailouts. Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of them. I see a lot of left-wingers being like, wow, I've strange new respect for Marjorie Taylor Greene. I'm agreeing with her a lot lately. About Israel and about Obamacare. I don't know what she's doing, but she is giving talking points right now to the Democrats saying even Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks that the Republican should negotiate on health care. getting to get the government back open. And then she and others are also saying the Republicans should do exactly what the Democrats want, which is to blow up the filibuster in the Senate to reopen the government. Democrats want that to happen, but they don't want to be the ones to do it. They want the Republicans to do it. So they can then expand that precedent for very bad reasons in the future. I think, and I've explained this here, I think that is a terrible idea. That's my personal thought. Republican leaders are saying, nope, we are not going to discuss anything at all unless the Democrats vote to reopen the government with a clean CR. What do you think? Do you think that it's time? Is this getting too painful? Should the Republicans deal with the Democrats and negotiate? Or should they hold the line and say we are not doing anything until you guys stop your filibuster and reopen the government? 17 days into this. And you got some Republicans who seem to be kind of, I think, going soft. I wonder if you agree or disagree. 833-456, 1,300. 833-456-1300. What is your message to Republicans two and a half weeks into the shutdown? Stand tall or deal? Call us another hour of Guy Benson straight ahead. 833-456, 1,300.

A new generation of conservative talk. Right here, right now. Fair, fun, and backed by the trusted voices and reporting resources of Fox News. Fox News. You're listening to Guy Benson. And now here's your host, Guy Benson. A brand new hour here on Guy Benson on this Friday. Glad you're here. Guy Benson.com. Podcast always free when the show is over. Fox News alert as we hit this middle hour. Up in New York, the Dow closed just a few minutes ago, up 100. Check that, 238 points in the green, finishing the week back north of 46,040, to be exact. That market update brought to you by Americans for Prosperity. They've got a mission that I fully believe in. It's based on timeless principles and expanding freedom and opportunity for every single American. Please join them. I love working with them. I do it all the time. Americans for Prosperity.org find an AFP chapter near you. Our phone number here at Guy Benson, we take calls from time to time. This is one of those times. 833-456-1300. 833-456-1300. Democrats are playing all these games with their shutdown. And there are some Republicans on the Hill who are, for some reason, saying, oh, maybe we should blow up the filibuster, which is what the Democrats want us to do. Oh, maybe we should negotiate right now on Obamacare and give them the bailout that they want or some kind of assurances. And the leadership. From Trump on down, John Thune, Speaker Johnson, we had Steve Scalise here yesterday saying, no, we are not going to say one word when it comes to negotiations on any of this stuff until these Democrats stop their blockade, stop their filibuster, and reopen the government. They're saying they don't care if troops don't get paid? I mean, that's their choice, but that's the choice they're making. I don't know why Republicans would bail the Democrats out politically in any way, but there are some chirpings, some stirrings about that. So my question for all of you is, what is your message to Republicans on Capitol Hill, who I think are overwhelmingly united, by the way, but there's a few of these voices that are at least out on the fringe saying, oh, no, let's do this or let's do that. I know for a fact that we have members who listen to this show, especially on the podcast, we have high-ranking Republican aides who work in these offices who listen to this show. I hear from them. If you could speak directly to Republicans in Congress right now, 17 days into this shutdown that the Democrats have caused, what is your message on the strategy here? 833-456, 1,300. Let's hit the phones. We'll start in Texas. Landon, listening on the IHeart Radio app, is up first. Welcome to the show, Landon.

Hello, guy. We need to hold the line. Stop giving in to these Democrats. The Democrats have been getting away with crap forever. They're like the toddler that you let get away with stuff, and then they turn into the crackhead adult that we continue to enable, and we need to stop and hold the line. And if Republicans can't do that, they need to kick rocks and let somebody take their place that can. Real Americans are sick of this crap, and we need to stand against the Democrats because they have been getting away with it for two. long that is one vote for hold the line i happen to agree thanks landon 833456 1300 this is the democrat shutdown they are making these choices why would you throw them a lifeline but some people say well you know with obamacare it's expensive and Oh, gosh, I don't know, the filibuster, maybe we could just get rid of it and pass the CR. It's exactly what the Democrats want. But there are some Republicans saying it. What's your message for the GOP on Capitol Hill? 833-456, 1,300. Greg, on the line from York, Pennsylvania, listening on WSBA. Hi, Greg. Hi, I think the Republicans need to stand their ground. They need to stay united against these Democrats. bring out, expose all the lies about funding immigrants with health care. Yep. You know, these states like California, all that money that they proposed, that $1.5 trillion, all that is fungible. If I gave you $20 guy and said you couldn't buy beer with it, and you just took my $20, paid something else with it, and then took your $20 and bought the beer, that's basically what they're doing. Yep, they can move the money around. They've done it. They've advertised it. They're proud of it in a lot of these blue states. And we actually played the audio yesterday. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was on CNN saying, oh, well, technically you can't use this money for illegal immigrants health care. And then the follow question was like, well, don't you support free health care paid for by taxpayers for illegal immigrants? She's like, well, yes, I support single payer health care. They do support it as a policy. And in many of the blue states, they're doing it. The Republicans crack down on that. in the big beautiful bill and the democrats have made it a demand to reverse that in order to reopen the government they're like oh we're going to we want to reopen the government if you spend one and a half trillion more dollars and make it easier for us to pay for health care for illegal immigrants it's in their own bill i cannot fathom why a single republican would start going out there on podcasts and interviews. And yes, I am picking on Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think this is really destructive of her. Why on earth would you give aid and comfort to the Democrats right now when they're doing the shutdown? I don't understand it. What is your message to the Republican Party on Capitol Hill? And Greg, I appreciate that call. 833-456-1300. Let's go to Norfolk, Virginia, W-W-NIS, excuse me. Katie up next on Guy Benson. Hey, Katie, glad you're here.

Hey, listen, I totally agree with the last two callers. I am tired of the Republicans wimping out at the last minute. We can't afford to do this. And I don't understand. They're just trying to do this to buy, like, votes from the illegals. They just don't have the other people they need now. They've lost most of them. So now they're trying to buy other votes, and that's why this is such a big deal to them about the illegals. I don't think they could care less about them. just like they didn't kill us about anybody else. Well, they won't even support the deportation of criminal, violent criminal illegal immigrants, right? They're sicking their angry mobs on ICE officers across the country, and it's getting violent because they don't want to cooperate even when it comes to deporting criminal illegal immigrants. And they're like, oh, well, if the troops don't get paid during our shutdown, fine, but we're fighting for illegal immigrant free health care. It's something... I truly do not understand, but it is the combination of their positions. that bring us to this moment, and I, like you, Katie, don't understand why any Republican would give them an inch right now, at least until you reopen the government and put an end to this nonsense. 833-456, 1,300. 833-456-130. Let's see. Lincoln, Nebraska, K-F-O-R. Roger, you are up next. Great to have you here, Roger. Yes, I've been waiting. I'm 79 years old. I've been waiting 40 years for another chance to make America great again since Reagan. And Marjorie Taylor Greene and the people like that need to be challenged, challenged by somebody good that can take them out. I don't understand what their thinking is behind all this, but that is not true conservatism. Yeah, and I mean, she presents herself, Roger, as this big Trump ally. Trump is on board with John Thune and with Johnson. I think the leadership, and almost all of them, I don't want people to be all mad at Republicans on the hill. I think like 98% of them are on the same page here. But if you're going to say, I'm the big Trump gal down in Georgia and you're Marjorie Taylor Greene and you're going to be undermining his position on this. I really don't get it. I know that a bunch of people on the left are applauding her recently because they're like, oh, she's great on Israel. She's great on Obamacare all of a sudden. I think when you're getting Hosannas from that crew, you might be doing something wrong if you're at least presenting yourself as a conservative Republican, Roger. To do is look at Cheney, Liz Cheney. There was a Republican that kind of went against the grain, and look what happened to her. She can be voted out just the same way that they did Liz Cheney. Yeah, I mean, Liz Cheney was a strong Republican, a strong conservative in a lot of ways, and I actually agreed with her on a number of her critiques of President Trump. And then it became her overall fixation, was anti-Trump. And, I mean, that was her right. But then the voters in her state were like, yeah, that's not where we are. I guarantee you where Marjorie Taylor Greene represents, I don't think you're going to want.

a lot of Republicans to get the memo that you are undermining Trump, especially on an issue like this, in a showdown, a partisan showdown of a shutdown that the Democrats have forced, for among other reasons, an Obamacare bailout and free health care for illegal immigrants. It is very, very strange to me, but it's a choice that she's making. What do you think? 833-456-1300. Chicago. Marty is in Illinois. Hey, Marty. Guy, thank you for taking my call. Sure. I agree with most of the callers. I think the rubble the colors need to hold their ground and stand fast. But I've got a little bit different spin on the filibuster. The Democrats have made very clear what they're going to do. As soon as they get in power, they're going to blow up the filibuster. They're not going to care about the criticism. They're going to say, ha, ha, tough luck. We did it. We win. You lose. We move forward. I think the Republicans should blow up the filibuster and take advantage just like the Democrats will. Well, I hear you. I don't agree. I think that the Democrats are definitely talking a big game about blowing up the filibuster, but they didn't have the votes to do it last time they were in charge. And I think there's a few people in there who'd say, you know, I'm not so sure about this. I would not hand the Democrats a weapon that they don't take for themselves first. I really don't think it's a good idea. I think it is. a right that the minority has in the Senate that has prevented a lot of bad things in the past and for the Republicans to be primarily responsible for undermining it. I don't think that's a good plan. I understand some people disagree. Let's go to Katie in Seattle. Seattle Red. So glad you're listening. Katie, hello. Thank you, Guy. One of the reasons I'm phoning out, I'm a school teacher here in King County, and I can tell you that I have two children in the military and a son-in-law, and we need to stay the course. If they're not getting their paychecks, I'm there to help them, and so are their aunts and uncles. But we need to stay the course. We cannot crash to these bullies. 100%. Stay the course. I think the actual dynamics of this shutdown very much work in Republicans' favor. I don't know why you would help the Democrats at all fix the mess that they've created in a fit of peak. That's my view. I see Glenn and Fort Myers, Florida agrees, West and Tennessee, and many others. Thanks for your phone calls. It's Guy Benson. We're going to get to a lot more other things, but I hope you're listening on Capitol Hill Republicans. Do not bend or break. Hold the line. Unanimous on the show today. I'm Guy Benson. Welcome back. Here's a story out of Chicago, WLS country that is interesting to me. Not surprising, unfortunately. The mayor in that town, Brandon Johnson, approval rating approximately 8%. He is calling for several new tax hikes in his new budget. This was leaked actually before he gave his address, but here are the red flags via Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute who's been on this show before. There's a cloud tax on electronically delivered or cloud-hosted software. There's an amusement tax to apply to social media companies.

But the biggest one that people are paying attention to, because those are both terrible ideas for all sorts of reasons, just absurd money grabs or at least attempted money grabs because the budget is an absolute mess, as always, in Chicago. They cannot even come close to living within their means. And it seems like the focus of officials in the city of Chicago is making sure that federal law enforcement cannot enforce federal immigration law. That's what they're mostly concerned about. Not anything else, not the well-being of the citizens of Chicago, not the safety of the citizens of Chicago, and certainly not the well-being of the businesses that are in Chicago, but might not be for much longer. Brandon Johnson wants to revive Chicago's head tax, is what they call it, which is a tax per job that was already eliminated more than 10 years ago because it didn't work. In fact, it was counterproductive. They call it a community safety surcharge. Of course they do. This is the mayor who was asked five or six different times on MSNBC, do you support more cops on the beat walking the street in Chicago? And he wouldn't say yes because he doesn't believe in more law enforcement. In terms of officers or in terms of enforcement, he just doesn't believe in that. He's a social justice. woke guy to the core. And it doesn't matter how hard these ideas fail. He sticks with them. He is a true believer. No matter how bad it gets. But they'll call this community safety surcharge because how can be against community safety? Well, I mean, I feel like the mayor is. But this is the way that they're going to slap a label on something to try to justify a failed tax. Any company that has more than 100 people employed in Chicago will have to pay. a monthly tax per head, per person that works at the company in order to raise desperately needed revenues from this city that's bleeding red ink and a state that's bleeding red ink. It is such a stupid idea. Chicago's already losing businesses and has for years. If there's a small business just under a hundred head count, do you think they're going to expand? If there's a small business, a little over 100 headcount, do you think they might fire or lay off a few people so they don't get slammed with the tax? Do you think other businesses might say, okay, here it comes, another tax on employment. When you tax something, you get less of it. They are taxing employees just for existing. You'll get fewer employees. It's how economics works. So as a result, businesses will either get rid of people or raise their prices. Are prices high enough for you in Chicago already? Do you want them to go higher? Because that's what some businesses will opt to do. Then, of course, there's a third option, which is to get out of town. If you're a business that's really starting to take off, maybe you're already thriving, maybe you're right on that bubble, you might look around and say, these morons, these destructive morons running this city. They spend all their time going to bat for illegal immigrant criminals while they're taxing me. For creating jobs like it's a bad thing, I am gone. If I don't have to physically be in this city, I'm out, and we've seen this many times already. I'm going to Tennessee. I'm going to Missouri. I'm going to Wisconsin. I'm going to Iowa. I'm going to Indiana. Many options. Florida, I mean, Texas, the list goes on, almost anywhere but Illinois. And Chicago specifically, a couple exceptions that are right up there almost as bad. But that's how these things work.

It's a plan that's already failed and Brandon Johnson looks around. He's treading water in this sea of red ink. He's tried to give all this money away already to his cronies and the teachers unions that are just really extreme and failing miserably in that city, failing the kids. That's an afterthought. Who cares in their mind? And he says, you know what I need to do? Let's bring back something that was abolished more than 10 years ago because it didn't work. Maybe it'll work this time. Oh, good luck, Chicago. You put this guy in place. Elections have consequences. You know, maybe if they need some revenue in the city of Chicago, could they send J.B. Pritzker down to the local casinos? I think there are a few just across the border, if I'm not mistaken, if I remember correctly, over in Indiana, just send him to the blackjack table or wherever he does his gambling. Because his staff said... He had to donate, I guess under political pressure, but he reported $1.4 million in winnings from his gambling. So it sounds like J.B. Pritzker, when he's not busy calling federal agents jackbooted thugs and effectively egging on the mobs who are attacking them, he's off gambling somewhere. fairly effectively at it. I know he do a lot of bad gambling with huge downside risk to taxpayers in Springfield. Maybe if this guy's talented at gambling, just he could spend his hours more productively for the state and for the city, gambling away and taking those winnings, those earnings, he's a billionaire, and donating them to Brandon Johnson in the city coffers. How about that? Instead of taxing businesses that are trying to succeed. See, I'm an outside-the-box thinker here, always looking for ideas. Don't ever say that I call J.B. Pritzker totally worthless. See, I think they could put him to work here, something that might actually be constructive for a change. The Goddanson show continues after this.

Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Fox Newswineshop.com with code FN Radio 20. 20% discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31st, 2026. Must be 21 order to order. Please drink responsibly. Guy Benson, sponsored by Previgin. Previgin, made for your brain. Have time on a Friday here on Guy Benson. Guy Benson.com is our online home. Podcast is free on demand each and every day. Joining us now, David Trulio, who is president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. And David, it's great to have you back on the show. Welcome. Guy, it is great to be back. Greetings from London. So happy to have you from London. What a great place. And you are celebrating a very special person, a very special alliance, not just the overall so-called special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. I'm a believer in it. I have concerns about it, but I think it's really important. But I think especially in modern history, it has been typified by the relationship between President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher, of course, their tenures. As heads of state, overlapped substantially. They were very close allies and very close friends as well. Toward the end of President Reagan's second term, Margaret Thatcher gave this tribute to her friend. Let's listen to Cut 41. But above all, Mr. President, you have restored faith in the American dream, a dream of boundless opportunity built on enterprise, individual effort, and personal generosity. As a result, respect for America stands high in the world today. And thanks to your courage and your leadership, the fire of individual freedom burns more brightly, not just in America, not just in the West, but right across the world. David, talk about those words and why I think they resonate very significantly all the way to the present day in 2025. Absolutely, Guy. Well, look, these two leaders, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, shared a really rare and powerful alliance that defined the transatlantic relationship during the Cold War. Their partnership was grounded in shared principles, a belief in individual liberty, the limited government, free markets, a strong defense, and really an unshakable opposition to communism. And their relationship really is a timeless reminder of the role of human connection and mutual respect, how those two things can play on the global stage. And their relationship showed how friendship and shared values can ultimately change the world. Our mission guy as a foundation, the Reagan Foundation Institute, is to advance Ronald Reagan's legacy and principles. And an indispensable contributor to Ronald Reagan's legacy is Prime Minister Thatcher, who was in office, as you alluded to, throughout all eight years of Ronald Reagan's presidency. Her 100th birthday was on Monday.

God rest her soul. She's passed several years ago, but she would have been 100 this past Monday. And I played a few clips on this program of her final prime minister's questions and some of her great comeback. She was so sharp and so good. You mentioned her unshakable opposition to left-wing ideology, to communism, to socialism. Here she is at a conservative party conference in the late 80s, 1989, talking about socialism. Cut 42. Imagine a labor canvasser talking on the doorstep to those East German families when they settled in on freedom side of the wall. You want to keep more of the money you earn? I'm afraid that's very selfish. We shall want to tax that away. You want to own shares in your firm? We can't have that. The state has to own your firm. You want to choose where to send your children to school. That's very divisive. You'll send your child where we tell you. Mr. President, the trouble with labor is that they're just not at home with freedom. Socialists don't like ordinary people choosing, for they might not choose socialism. David, it is eerie. To some extent, she's talking about the Labor Party of the 1980s in the United Kingdom. She could very easily be talking right now about large elements of the political left in this country and in the West. The challenge remains the same. Her clarity, I think, is so important. Absolutely, Guy. Her clarity and also her articulate toughness. She was called the Iron Lady for a reason. And as those clips point out, the context of the world that Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan inherited is really important. The world then, and in a way that really rhymes today, was beset with geopolitical turmoil, cultural malaise, a sense perhaps that each country's best days were behind them. And many even wondered if the era of democratic prosperity was coming to a close. But as those clips demonstrate, and as Ronald Reagan's presidency demonstrated, each leader refused to accept these narratives of decline, these narratives of a nanny state, a big government nanny state, and each took steps to restore national confidence, unleash economic booms, and really reaffirm the moral case. for freedom, both economically and in terms of geopolitics and in the fight against communism. So it's a very powerful example to look to today and from which to gain inspiration to the significant challenges we face today. What specifically are you doing in London? Why are you there? Well, we have had a really remarkable time. We were honored to be a part of the Thatcher Center Centennial on Monday on the actual anniversary of her 100th birthday. And then we had our own set of events, so at one set today where we had our own Peggy Noonan, who's a trustee of the Reagan Foundation, in conversation with Charles Moore, who wrote the official biography of Margaret Thatcher. We also had Charles Poll.

who worked for Margaret Thatcher for many years, and John Kerr, who was head of the Chancery at the British Embassy in D.C., that really shed light in great detail about the relationship between Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan. We also had MP, Member of Parliament Tom Tugenthat. He's the MP from a place called Tombridge. But he's a war veteran. He's about my age, born in the 70s. And he and former House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mack Thornberry were in conversation about the state of the relationship, special relationship going forward. So a very rich discussion that shed light and also drew inspiration from the Reagan-Thatcher era to inform the challenges of today. Final question, and it's a two-parter, based on your conversations with your friends on the center right in the UK over these last couple of days, Number one, is there a sense that Margaret Thatcher's boldness and courage and leadership is sorely missed right now, especially in that society? Because a lot of the headlines we see about free speech and freedom in general under assault from within in the United Kingdom. It's been very alarming to us. I wonder if they're talking about that and looking wistfully back on her example and her leadership. And then secondly, We mentioned the Conservative Party conference that she spoke at. We played the clip. The Tories have for a very long time been the longest standing center-right party in the world. But right now they are kind of being largely supplanted by the Reform Party of Nigel Farage because there's this sense on the right and among many Brits that both major parties have failed and have betrayed them. And so something more populist is coming up in their place. And I wonder how they feel like Mrs. Thatcher would be thinking about this or would she have never allowed it to get to this point for the Tories. Well, this is anecdotal guy, but my sense from being here is that the Thatcher legacy and brand is quite strong. We'll actually have the right Honorable Mrs. Hemie Badenock of the Conservative Party at an event where we'll rededicate the statue of Ronald Reagan here in London. There is a statue, by the way, of Ronald Reagan in Grubner Square in London, and we'll rededicate it with Mrs. Badnock and other dignitaries. I would say more generally... that, you know, I heard today, a member parliament, Tom Tugenthat, share that he thinks the Tories will be in control again in the coming years. I mean, obviously, I'll leave it to Brits to figure out what their political future will hold. I think Ron Reagan certainly was a man who welcomed debate, and it's for our British friends and colleagues to debate, whether it's the Tories or reform to carry forward. the right of center perspective. I think it's also valuable to think of the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, her legacy of courage, of conviction and of cooperation that still shapes U.S. and U.K. relations and inspires freedom movements at home and abroad. So this is a consequential time looking at the track record of success from leaders within recent memory, I think, is a source of inspiration.

And I think especially on this anniversary of her 100th birthday, the results that these leaders generated, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in partnership, their combined efforts led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the liberation of millions of people and far greater prosperity. And that's something we should all look up to. And Guy, I would encourage your listeners to visit us on YouTube at YouTube.com slash Reagan Foundation. and on Instagram at Instagram.com slash Reagan Foundation to see some of how we're commemorating this anniversary and very grateful for this opportunity guide. David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute joining us from London today. Thank you so much for giving us a window into what you guys are doing out there, and we really appreciate your time. Thanks again, Guy. Take care. More of Guy Benson coming up. America is listening to Guy Benson. Back here on Guy Benson, delighted to have you listening. Thank you for that. We're welcoming into the show today, Michael Fitch. He's out with a new book. We'll talk about that in just a moment. He's also president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. I had the privilege to attend a number of their events over the last few years, hope to do so again in the future. We celebrated David Horowitz's birthday last year, and I felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to chat with him one-on-one in private. Very sadly, David passed away in April. He lived a long life, an extraordinary life. and talk about the zeal of a convert, a former leftist who turned into a conservative fighting the hard left, and boy, did they hate him for that. Michael is carrying on that legacy and that torch at the Freedom Center. Michael, great to have you here. Guy, thank you so much for having me on. I'm very grateful, and it's always been wonderful having you come to speak at Freedom Center events. You're one of, if not the best crowd favorite over these many years, and I really appreciate everything you've done for the center. And I know David thought the world of you, and you guys had a great special relationship. And thank you for being there last year. So it's a real honor to be on your show, and thank you again. Thank you for everything. That's very kind to say. And I interviewed David, by the way, for the first time ever when I was a college student at Northwestern, when we were talking about some of the radical professors, including former terrorists, who were tenured members of the faculty, including one of them at the law school at Northwestern. And so that's how I got to know him. And then it was this long distance, just occasional friendship over the course of decades, really, and we're so sorry for your loss. But again, he really lived. a significant life. Before we talk about your book, which is called A Time to Stand, the dire hour to defend American beauty, if you would just quickly share with the audience, if they're not familiar with David Horowitz, who he was and why you worked for him for so long. What was it about him and his mission?

Well, you know, as you mentioned, David was, you know, raised by card-carrying communist. He was a radical. He never liked to call himself a communist. He always said he was only a Marxist, but he was a radical Marxist of Berkeley in the 1960s. He worked with the Black Panthers. He edited Ramparts Magazine. I mean, he was in the hardcore left, revolutionary left. And, you know, he made that change slowly in the late 70s. And then by 1984, him and his writing partner, Peter Collier, voted for Ronald Reagan. And that was a big story, lefties for Reagan. And he became a conservative. It was a wrenching experience for him. Personally, he lost all of his friends. I mean, the left completely abandoned him when he became a conservative. And he dedicated the second half of his life to educate citizens, educate Republicans, conservatives. anyone who would listen about how dangerous the left is. And I think we know that now. I mean, he's had a huge impact. I've certainly, in over 20 years, learned a tremendous amount from David about the left and what its mission is and what its motives are. And I think David is educated and changed the conservative movement where the left is not just, you know, yesterday's Democrats. The left is very dangerous and it means to undermine, undermine what is great about America. It's David's impact, I think, on so many people, Guy. And you mentioned that you had met him and interviewed him in college. So many of, he'd mentored so many people and had an impact and educated, so many conservatives who I think now understand. And you even see it in Donald Trump. who is a fighter. David was a fighter. I mean, his one motto was he was brought to the conservative movement to teach them bad manners. And David meant that. You have to fight like the left fight. Yeah, I think that was one of his gripes about me. I was a little too well-mannered. But the thing is, he understood the left, the hard left, because he was a part of it. He was very much within the movement. And they're... He learned the ropes. And then when he emerged from the left and said, actually, never mind, he spent years blowing the whistle saying, here's what they're up to, here's what they're doing. These are their tactics. These are their strategies. These are their beliefs. You've got to be clear-eyed about the hard left and what they're up to. in the country still to this day. Michael, we only have a few minutes left, so I want to make sure that we get an opportunity to talk about your book, a time to stand. And in the subtitle, you mentioned American beauty. I know that applies in a lot of different ways. I think it really is important for Americans, especially with so much negativity out there, to sometimes take a step back and recognize how beautiful this place is. in ways beyond just physical beauty, right? It's a beautiful country. It's a beautiful national experiment that deserves defending. Tell us about the book.

Well, the book is in a wide range of issues, but really at its core, it is about American beauty and the richness and greatness of American culture, which I'm afraid, like so much else of our history, is not being taught in our schools. Our art, our history, our poetry, our literature, our architecture. America had a golden age of culture that I think is unparalleled, and in many ways I think surpasses. Europe always kind of looks... down on America as a cultural wasteland. But the opposite is true. There was a period of American history where our culture surpassed much of what was being done in Europe in terms of painting and literature and poetry. And it simply is, most of what I've learned about American culture was self-taught after I left college. When I was in high school in college, I wasn't educated about American culture. And now while we, you know, we have the 1619 project, how America is kind of a genocidal, imperialistic slaveholding, on and on, racist country. Right. We certainly have our Kevin Warsh and our faults, but it is an incredibly beautiful, rich culture that I think needs to be recovered. And I try to explore that in the book through a series of essays. That you're right. It isn't just a landscape, remarkable as that is, but it's remarkable. The people and the culture, our history, I think everything that is part of that needs to be put it back into the schools so we can learn about how wonderful and beautiful this country is. And, Michael, I feel like you said that a lot of the positives aren't being taught in schools. I fear that it's even worse than that. It's being denigrated. It's being dismissed. It's being attacked, which is why you wrote A Time to Stand, the dire hour to Defend American Beauty by our guest, Michael Finch, who worked for many years for David Horowitz and is now president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Michael, congrats on the book. It's available now. I see it right here on Amazon and elsewhere. So appreciate your time today. Guy, thank you so much. We'll talk soon. Thank you. The final hour of Guy Benson coming up next. Speaking of the left, our colleague Martha McCallum interviewed communist Zohran Mamdani this week. We'll get her take on how that went down straight ahead. Raise your glass.

to Guy Benson Happy Hour. Brought to you by the Finnish Long Drink. Finland's most popular alcoholic beverage is taking America by storm. Visit thelongdrink.com. And now, here's Guy Benson. Happy hour here on Guy Benson, our final hour of three on this Friday. Happy Friday, everyone. We're so excited that you're with us. Guy Benson.com is the website. Podcasts always free, always on demand every day, including bonus Guy Benson on the weekends. That's Guy Benson.com or Fox Newspodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This radio hour brought to you by the finish long drink, which is refreshing. It is delicious. We're going to a party tonight, bringing a six-pack along with us as our little gift. Thelongdrink.com. We recommend it strongly, but please drink responsibly, 21 plus only, the longdrink.com. Joining us now is our colleague and our friend Martha McCallum, executive editor and anchor of the story. 3 p.m. Eastern on Fox News Channel. She's also politics co-anchor here at Fox. She's got a best-selling book, Unknown Valor. She's got the podcast. Very busy person. Martha, always appreciate your time here. Hey, Guy. Great to be with you. Thanks for having me. Of course. So you landed a big interview this week with the likely next mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, someone I consider to be a communist, someone who is in his early 30s, and might have a whole lot of responsibility very, very soon. That's what the polls tell us. And a lot of people on our network have been critical of him, and I'm one of them. He came on your show, and it wasn't a short interview. You had a lot of one-on-one time with him. How did that come together? And what were some of your impressions? Well, we had been speaking to his people for quite some time. Obviously, we wanted to have him on. He's the lead candidate in the largest city in the country, and he's getting a lot of attention because he is a Democratic socialist. We haven't had that kind of leadership here in New York City before, and it's raised obviously a ton of questions. And, you know, he said some very controversial things. Well, I know we're going to talk about it, but last night there was a debate, and we'll see where that takes things from here. But it was good to sit down at him. I thought he was generous with his time. We've also interviewed Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. So we've talked to all of the mayor's mayoral candidates in this race. The thing that is really going to be decisive here, unless something shifts in the next couple of weeks, is that because there's three people in this race. You know, you only need 650,000 votes to move into Gracie Mansion this time around. And that is a very low number, but it doesn't look like a difficult number for him to put in the bag at all. Yeah, especially when the people who are opposed to him are splitting their vote between two other candidates. So that's how the math works out. He has a lot of ideas. I think a lot of them have been tried before and have failed. I would consider him to be.

a radical in terms of his policy and the things that he believes. But as I've pointed out, both in TV commentary and here on the show as well, Martha, he doesn't read radical. It seems like he's very practiced at staying cheerful and smiling almost all the time. You can be throwing really tough questions at him. He might be giving... I think just substantively crazy answers, but he looks sort of pleasant and like he's having a nice time. He's smooth and pretty quick on his feet. I mean, that is definitely part. I actually watched because we were doing the show here. Our shows are on at the same time, so I was not watching your interview live, or at least I was not listening to it, but I had it on in the background. And even during commercial breaks, I was just looking at the body language, and he was very fluent. He would look right at the camera and deliver certain messages that he clearly had rehearsed. This was someone on a communications level who had a plan and has some chops. That's my view of it. I think that's exactly why he really shocked the city by dominating in the primary race against Andrew Cuomo. He certainly shocked Andrew Cuomo. He didn't see that coming. You know, he has been running in marathons and wearing T-shirts over the last couple of years about freezing the rent and slowly building his following through social media. And he is very slick and very smooth, as you point out. I thought he did fairly well at the debate last night in terms of what he had to do for his candidacy. He corrected a couple of things. One of the most serious issues that came up in our... discussion the other day was I asked him, which honestly I did not think was any sort of gotcha question. I thought it was a pretty straightforward question. You know, now that there's a ceasefire that everybody has been wanting, is it time for Hamas to lay down their arms and give up leadership in Gaza? And we went around three times. The first time he just tried to dodge with an answer about affordability in New York City, which I thought was strange. It was like, you know, it was like the... you know, the go button went on to that answer, regardless of what my question was. So, of course, we went back around on that a few times. He would not say that he thought Hamas had to lay on their arms. It was addressed last night, and he was ready to straighten that out. And he very clearly said, yes, it is time for them to give up. You know, the fact that that was a hard question. Isn't that strange? Isn't it a lot of issues? Yeah, like you put it to him three different times. It was not a trick question. And it was such a terrible series of non-answers that I guess eventually they workshoped it and realized, okay, this might be enough of a problem. Let's clarify that, yes, we do want.

these terrorists to disarm. I'm not sure if he actually believes that, honestly. He's now saying that he supports the police and never wants to defund the police. He said exactly the opposite for years. So I really don't believe him. I don't think he's trustworthy, but he, I guess, tightened up or totally changed his answer on the Hamas point. And the thing that was so odd about it, Martha, and I made this point here on the show yesterday because we walked through a lot of the audio. You did such a good job. It was not... a hostile interview, but it was aggressive, it was persistent, it was fair, it was tough. And when you just followed up a few times on that Hamas question, He's like, well, I don't really have an opinion on the future of Hamas. This guy's had an opinion on Gaza and Israel and everything having to do with that conflict for his entire adult life, even stretching back to high school. He's been obsessed with this issue. And he was also happy to talk about arresting Benjamin Netanyahu in the same interview, but nothing on Hamas. I found that absolutely bizarre and therefore unconvincing the cleanup act last night at the debate. That's at least my view of it. Yeah, I think, you know, he had put out – the reason that we talked about it in the middle of a mayor's race, this international issue of great concern, is because – and, you know, why I felt it was perfectly valid to bring up, it was a huge news story of the week. This is the biggest city in America. A mayor in New York has a lot of – influence and a very loud voice. Plus, he had put out statements on it. Yes. So, you know, you don't put out statements on things that you don't want to weigh in on. And as I said, you know, I thought it was an easy question. For all of these people who have been screaming for a ceasefire, then they get one and they want Hamas to keep fighting. I mean, and look at what Hamas has done to the Palestinian people. You know, if you are a person who believes that, you know, there are Palestinians who don't want to live in the situation that they've been living in, and they voted for Hamas many years ago, but there were Palestinians pushing back on Hamas leadership. Now, as we pointed out in the interview, Hamas is shooting people. putting them on their knees, blindfolding them and shooting them inside Gaza. So I, yes. So I don't, you know, and also he said, well, well, well, you know, I don't know if Hamas should put down their arms was the first, the second round, I think. He said, because Israelis are still shooting Palestinians in there, which just shocked me because obviously that's going to bring us to the other issue, that Hamas is shooting Palestinians within the Gaza Strip. So, yeah, no, he had a very different answer last night. I think he's young. I think he is, you know, and he says, oh, well, I, you know, the bad things that I said about New York City Police, it was just because I was young and I was growing up in New York and I remember Eric Corner. Yeah, that's a very strange.

It is a very strange. He was an adult. He was a full adult when he tweeted all of those things from 2020 to 2022. He said unabashedly the police should be defunded, not fake cuts, real deep cuts. He called anti-queer, racist, threat to public safety. Then he's like, oh, you know what? Never mind. I apologize. But it seems like a very sterile apology, which brings us to public safety. You pressed him on this issue. It is my number one concern. I'm not sure he can do a lot of the fiscal stuff he wants to do without help. from Albany. I am worried about some of the Hamas sympathy and what we've seen there. But when it comes to public safety, Martha, the mayor can have an enormous impact. And you were asking him, we had yet another example, someone with 33 prior arrests, awaiting trial for another violent outburst and attack on someone, who then got their hands on a machete and beat a man to death in the subway in Queens. What's your solution for that? And he just kept saying, well, we have a broken system and we need this comprehensive plan. And we have these peer facilitated rehabilitation centers. And there just, to me, there wasn't any emphasis on just locking up dangerous, violent people. Seems like he was almost allergic to even talking about that. It was, again, a revealing exchange in my view. How did you see it? Yeah, I'm going to ask him several times, well, where would this person be? in a Zohran Mamdani administration. This person shouldn't be on the street, obviously. His bail was lowered several times. Zohran Mamdani voted in favor of bail reform as an assemblyman. So here's the situation where the guy was being held after the Chelsea attack, which he was supposed to be on trial for in a few months. Now he's, you know, bashed this poor 64-year-old man's head into the floor of the subway. with a 20-inch knife found on him as well. So now we've got, you know, now we have an absolute tragedy on our hands. Why? Because they lowered his bail to a level that he could pay and he was released regardless of the fact that he had. 33 prior run-ins with the law. So, you know, and he says, well, they can all go to Fountain House, and it'll only cost $4,000 a year to take care of mentally unstable people who are violent in Fountain House. That number seems ridiculous. I don't know what kind of care you can get for $4,000 a year anywhere. Well, and I think they bar, I have seen online that they bar Fountain House in places like that bar people who are violent. Yes. So, no, there was absolutely no solution for how you get the person on the street. And also no kind of recognition that this person is unsafe. This person has broken their social contract. They cannot be on the street. And so where would you put? Where would he be? Where would you put him? And there was no answer to that question.

Martha McCallum from your Zohran Mamdani interview to some news today. Let's get to some stories as soon as we come back. Short break on Guy Benson. A fresh perspective on the topics of the day. It's Guy Benson. We are back. It's Guy Benson. It's the happy hour. Martha McCallum, kind enough to stick around with us. Martha, I want to turn to a few developments today. There's one story causing huge waves in the United Kingdom. I know you and I both pay pretty close attention to British politics. There's a very prominent soccer team or football team over there that has made the announcement that when an Israeli club comes to play at their home stadium. They're not going to allow the Israeli Jewish fans to attend, and their excuses safety. Oh, we can't guarantee their safety. And this idea is like, oh, well, there might be a bunch of anti-Semites who might hurt these Jews and we can't protect them and so don't come. And, boy, there is a huge backlash to that over there for all the obvious reasons. But it does kind of feel like this is where the UK's been headed. You have these huge pro-Hamas hate rallies, dominating streets seemingly every week. And if a Jewish person... shows up to peacefully counter protest. Often that person gets arrested. Now you've got soccer fans because they're Israeli Jews saying, oh, we can't protect you, stay out of here. That's not somewhere in the Middle East, Martha. That's in the United Kingdom. It's a very, very disturbing story. Yeah, it flies in the face of the kind of government structure and expectation of a free society, which the United Kingdom is one of the oldest forms of. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, needs to step in front of this situation. He needs to say, of course, every fan who wants to attend these games will be welcome. It is our responsibility to provide a safe, secure environment for everyone who wants to be there to attend these games. And this is, it just smacks. of a society that is shrinking in terms of the freedoms that it is allowing people in the UK, which has changed so dramatically. Yes, surrendering. Absolutely. It's like, you know, it reminds me of like, you know, if you don't go to the game, the terrorists win. Like we said after 9-11. So what do you do? You go to the game, like President Bush, you throw the ball out from home plate, I mean, from the pitcher's mound, and you make it clear that your country is open. It's free. And no terrorist is going to frighten people away from living their lives. Yeah, and no terrorist supporters.

in this case, are going to bully Jews from not being able to root for their own team in the United Kingdom and a soccer game. It does seem, Keir Starmer put out this week, like, disembodied statement, like he has no agency, like, oh, this is bad, this is unacceptable. You're the prime minister. He has a lot of power. I think we're moving in a direction that the backlash is so massive. You have some Muslim labor members of parliament who are cheering. They're like, this is great that we're banning the Jews. And they're saying it. openly, which I think is quite frightening. But I think there's a lot of people standing up. I think it will probably get rectified. But it is stunning and disturbing that it's come to that point at all. Finally, Martha, President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky today at the White House, really a different tone than we heard months ago with that explosion in the Oval Office. Here was Trump earlier, cut 38. It's an honor to be with a very strong leader. A man who has been through a lot, and a man who I've gotten to know very well, and we've gotten along really very well. And we had a big call yesterday, as you know, with President Vladimir Putin, and we'll be talking about it. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has endured a lot. I mean, he really has. He's endured a lot. And we've endured it with them. To be honest, it's been a long time. And I think we're making great progress. Martha, not just a major change in tone there, Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, but also some movement on the policy front as well. Yeah, President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested Tomahawk missiles, which would go deep into Moscow. He has said, hopefully we won't have to use them, but this measure of protection sends a very strong signal, and it would keep Moscow from continuing to bombard Ukraine. President Trump is now signaling after a two-hour conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday that he is not warmed to the idea of providing Tomahawk missiles, which would clearly be, in his words, an escalation, what he wants is a solution and an end to the war before they have to get to that point. And he's hopeful that perhaps they can get there over the next couple of weeks. I think it's interesting, you know, just a sort of mini outreach on the issue of children between the First Lady and Vladimir Putin. That back and forth, I think, was an early signal in this most recent round. from Vladimir Putin that he wanted to talk. So, you know, we've been down this road before. It has not led to anything, but I would just remind everyone that when Gorbachev and Reagan were making their deal, it took at least three substantial rounds, one of which went terribly before they were able to do this. And I think you have to give President Trump credit. He's in – he's putting himself in the middle of it. That's a risk, and you risk failure when you put yourself in the middle, but you also – cannot achieve anything if you don't. So he said, you know, there's a president, a president, and a president involved here, and I'm the president mediator. So it's fascinating to watch, and we'll see, we'll see workloads. Martha McCallum, thank you so much for your time. Great job on the interview this week, and we'll talk soon. Thanks very much. We'll be right back on Guy Benson Happy Hour after this.

You're listening to a new generation of talk, Guy Benson. In our first hour today on the program, Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma was our guest. We talked about the shutdown, a few other topics as well. Here's part of that discussion. Senator, welcome back to the show. Yeah, thanks for having me on, brother. Always like being on your show. I appreciate that. 17 days into the Chuck Schumer shutdown. The Democrats continue to insist that, yes, they're doing it for all the right reasons on health care, but no, they're not doing it at all. It's the Republicans' fault. My understanding is the only people voting no over and over again to keep the government shut are Democrats, and yet they're saying it's the Republicans' fault. Can you explain that one to me? I can't explain crazy, but I can tell you what's going on, because when you get into crazy, you start unpacking it, it only gets worse. So not only are they voting no against the CR to give illegals health care benefits, which they deny they didn't, they're not doing, but yet if you read their CR, which has $1.5 trillion in debt to open the government up now for two weeks, it specifically says that. It strikes it out of the one big, beautiful bill, and re-adds it. But to even make matters worse, remember this clean CR, which is a continuing resolution, Chuck Schumer's office wrote last year. They're the ones that wrote this. We're not changing any language in it. When Chuck Schumer was leader of the Senate... And Joe Biden was in the White House having an auto pen sign all his executive orders. It was their leadership that wrote the CR that they voted for in September to keep the government open last year. It was this same CR they voted for in December to keep the government open. The same CR they voted for in January before President Trump was sworn in office to keep it open and the same one they voted for in March. Now all of a sudden, they're fighting for what? What is it they're trying to change? It's because their base, the radical base, has demanded them to shut down the government, and this weekend is a big anti-Trump, no-Kings rally. And, quote, from my Democrat colleagues who are trying to open the government back up, they said Chuck Schumer wants to keep it shut down until after the rally because they don't like the optics. But that's what happens when you have a career politician and office guy. By the way, you mentioned the No Kings rally. I'll come back to the Chuck Schumer shutdown in a moment. But apparently, at least some of these... offshoots of the rally, it's sponsored and partially paid for by literal communists. Is that right? Yes. We posted this just recently on our social media. You can go to S.E.N. Mullen, and you can look at it. On the poster, literally on the poster that is sponsoring the No King's Rally, which is an anti-Trump rally, it is sponsored by CPUSA, which is a communist party.

of the United States. It clearly has their logo on there, and you pull it out, and that's the communist part of the United States of America. You can't make this stuff up. And so when we say it's an anti-American rally, if a communist part of the USA is sponsoring that, how is that not anti-America? Because we're not communist. We're a republic and a democracy. Well, and I'm pretty sure throughout their history, you look at how communists have operated. They're actually big fans of tyrants and dictators, as long it's their own, right? So, I mean, they're not actually against kings. They're very much for communist kings, as long as they're hardcore leftists. But coming back, and by the way, just for the record, this no king stuff, if people want to go out there and screen themselves Horace and have their little signs and whatever, and... They're peaceful about it. I've got no problem with that. Of course, if you get into criminal activity and... That sort of thing. You can't get into violence. You can't be blocking streets. But peaceful protests, that's fine. I will spend my No King Saturday watching college football. That's what I'm going to be doing myself and not thinking about these people and all of their anger. But if they can blow off steam peacefully in a rally or protest, fine by me. But I think you're right that there's a good case to be made that Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership, they at least want to drag this thing out past No Kings because... Their base just wants to fight. It doesn't really matter what the fight is necessarily about on substance. They just want fight, which is why, in addition to blocking Senator the reopening of the government, 10 different times now, the most recent vote was yesterday, it's my understanding. I saw this. I saw Mitch McConnell put out a scathing statement about it. The Democrats also blocked the bipartisan defense spending bill. Is that correct? Yeah, so, and what's even worse about that, yes, they voted against the bipartisan defense bill, which did have several Democrats vote for it, but not enough. And we didn't have, we needed, we needed seven. We only had four that voted for it. But 11 individuals that voted for it in committee voted against it on floor. So we would have had plenty to vote to pass it if they would have just simply voted for it. But this is. They're against everything President Trump is for, regardless that the American people chose him to be the President of the United States. My full interview with Senator Markwayne Mullin and Oklahoma Republican, available online at Guy Benson.com. Part of the free podcast, every day on demand, no charge at all, plus bonus Guy Benson on the weekends. That's Guy Benson.com, Fox Newspodcast.com, or wherever you get your podcasts. When we come back, the home stretch, mailbag time on a Friday. Looking forward to it coming up. Always fresh, always fair. Guy Benson.

Oh, it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Never have you ever said I love cooking. Probably not, honestly. Home stretch. So sometimes, yes, my head is in the cloud. It's going to be deranged. Don't you guys make fun of me enough? Guy Benson. Home stretch on Guy Benson on this Friday. Glad you are listening, Guy Benson.com. Podcast always free, always on demand. Bonus Guy Benson on the weekends as well. Almost the weekend, speaking of, or just minutes away. Some programming notes. I'm scheduled to be on Fox and Friends weekend on Sunday morning. Not quite sure on the time yet, but might show up there if you want to keep an eye out. Plus, here on the show, we will be coming to you live. From Northern California, Stanford University, the Hoover Institution all of next week. A great lineup over those five days, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, here on Monday. Really looking forward to that. As we enter the home stretch, on this Friday edition, it's time for our mailbag segment. Listen. Mail time. Mail time. Mail time. Mail time. Here's the mail. It never fails. It makes us all water well. Cookie might be going to jail. Meryl time. Oh, just love that. It's a little spin-off on blues clues, but it's about Christine. You could call it perhaps boo's clues, actually. Oh, that's good. We should somehow turn that into something. Anyway, making a note, booze clues. Mail time. Yes, okay, that's the point of all this. We have an email address here at the show. It's gbs at fox.com. We hear from you on social media, Guy Benson's show on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. You can follow me, those same places, Guy Benson. But if you feel like sending an email, kind of old school, we like that, GBS at Fox.com, and we occasionally check it. Dylan. calls some of the more interesting notes that we get, and we always appreciate reading through your responses, good, bad, ugly, everything in between. So we figured on this Friday, why not end the week with some feedback from you all. Dylan, what do you have for us? So I just want to kick off this week's mailbag with a couple of comments guy about you sharing about your melanoma diagnosis. We've had a lot of people, tons and tons, like hundreds of comments, dozens of emails, lots of support pouring in for you. But we've had a couple of ones that stood out in particular to me. This first one is from Rosemary Jessie. She's commenting... She commented with us on Facebook. A little bit of a cautionary tale, she left us. She said, My oldest son was diagnosed with fast spreading melanoma on his chest. He would not go and have it checked until it started to itch him. And by then it was too late, it had already spread to his lymph glands. He had just two treatments before it spread more, and he passed away within six months. Yes, please. Everyone get checked out and do not wait.

My son may have survived. My other three sons are getting checked regularly now. Thank you, Guy, for sharing your story. Wow. I mean, that is just so tough. And Rosemary. We're just so deeply sorry for your loss. And this is something we talked about with Dr. Sapphire on the show, not to bring things down on a Friday, but it's an important subject. That's why we devoted a few segments to it last week. And I posted on social media about it across various platforms. I talked about it on Will Cain's show as well on TV. If you catch this early, it is almost 100% survivable on a five-year span. Melanoma, you catch it early. Basically, broadly speaking, you're golden. You're good. If you catch it early. If not. as the doctor told us, it becomes one of the deadliest forms of cancer, which is why I decided just to open up about this and tell people, not because it's like, hey, woe is me or get melodramatic or anything like that. It was a big public service announcement. Please get checked. It's a small inconvenience with a huge, huge payoff if you catch something early, which is exactly what happened to me. And I've got this scar on my side. It'll be there forever. But that was a small price to pay compared to the alternative. And I will now be going in a lot. So Rosemary, thank you for listening. Thank you for that note. And again, I'm just, I'm so sorry about your son. Obviously, it feels very real, given everything that I've gone through recently. Appreciate that. All right, Dylan. What else? Another one on the same topic from Mark W., kind of along the lines of what you just said. He said after 24 years of three to six months screening, mostly six months screenings, and four to five minor surgeries, survival rates have never even been mentioned to me. Something else will get me first. Good luck. Pay attention. Don't worry and enjoy the circumstance of life in the USA. Yeah. I mean, it definitely gives you a greater appreciation for life and the joy of life. And, you know, I've got a son. And you think about that, of course, when something like this happens and crosses your plate. And that's part of the reason why I decided to speak up. And by the way, I want to say this, and you might have a few of these in the store. I don't know, Dylan. But based on stuff that I've gotten, emails, text messages, in-person conversations, social media responses, I am so... truly happy and moved to report that dozens of you have told me directly that because of what I said, because of what happened to me, you guys have gone and made appointments, dermatology appointments to get this checked. In fact, there was a colleague of ours who's been on this show many times who already went in, said that he felt inspired by my story or convicted, like, I got to do that and he did it. I love, that's the whole reason I spoke up about this. I love hearing that. What a great idea. Please do it today. Up next. Up next, we'll do one more on this on this subject. This one is from Al Dromanhouser on Facebook.

You said, Guy, just heard of your diagnosis on melanoma. Take heart, my friend. I was diagnosed back in 1977 and had surgery at Sloan Kettering. I am now 80 years old. Wow. That is amazing. And I'd imagine that they caught it early. Obviously, the detection, the technology is all better than it was back in the 1970s. Al, we're so glad that... You got that taken care of and that you're still with us and that you're listening in this audience. It's amazing. I mean, some of the notes that I got were from people in their teens and 20s who were just realizing, you know what, maybe I'm actually not too young to start thinking about this. Then all the way up to someone in his 80s, we have a wide audience, and it means so much. And this is great advice, I would say, to anyone of any age. listening to my voice small inconvenience it's a bit of a hassle sometimes these dermatologist appointment ledgers fill up quickly so you're like oh man they can't take me for a few months get it on the books months can matter absolutely months can matter when it comes to skin cancer okay back to the mailbag Dylan All right. So on a different topic, Merrily from Tennessee said that she totally agrees with you on your take of the awfulness of black licorice. She did say, though, that Red Vines are highly superior Twizzlers and that she loves our podcast. Well, thank you very much for that endorsement. Red Vines, I'm not sure I've had that brand. I've had Twizzlers. Like, that's the one that I think is pretty ubiquitous. I haven't heard. Maybe is that a higher end? Red Vines? I might need to check that aspect. Like, it's Halloween coming up. It's a good excuse to buy some candy. Don't talk to my dentists. Don't. It's fine. I'll just, it's for the show. I'm actually being professionalized for the purposes of science. Actually, Red Vines. I think Red Vines is a West Coast thing. I think the Twizzler Red Vine is West Coast versus East Coast kind of thing. Oh, it's like a rap battle, Christine. See, Diddy would know that. So what's going to happen is when we're out. In Stanford next week, I'm going to get us some red vines. Oh, what a good idea. Oh, and then we'll have like a beef. It'll be like Tupac and Biggie. See, that's a reference from the 90s, like what, in your high school years or college years? Do we have any more, Dylan? I mean, speaking of old references, we've got one for you and Cookie. This one's from Charlie S from California. He said he wanted to actually commend the Christine portion of the program, referring to Homestretch. He said none of the participants on the Homestretch would have ever remembered this. But... He said that there was an old comedy act back in the 50s, George Burns and Gracie Allen, which, I mean, I think Christine probably is very familiar with them. I don't want to speak out of turn, but he said that he tuned into the radio. She like sit by her radio as a child. Back in the 50s. Yeah, she's waiting for the program. Grace Burns. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's like must see TV, but it was like must hear radio, which.

We still are doing here on this program every single day, not knocking radio at all, but please carry on. Yes. Charlie said they used to watch them with their wondrous and softly emotional regard as they concluded, as they conducted their way between the rational and the ridiculous. He said there will always be just one Burns and Allen, but now there's only one guy in cooking. Well, I'm going to take that as a very high compliment, not being terribly familiar with their work, but it sounds sort of like what we do here. So thank you for that, sir. All right, one more, Dylan. Okay, so I think we need to address this one about Cookie's costumes. So we've had a lot of people weighing in on what Cookie and her friend should go. For his Halloween, I think, maybe age appropriate. We've heard some suggestions like Gilligan's Island. That one would be good. That one would be good. But this one came into us from Seattle, Dave. It says, hey, guy, great show, and I'm so glad you're healthy and back to full strength for Christine's Halloween. I refuse to use the silly self-titled nickname, assuming he's talking about cookie. He said, I believe instead of one of the three blind mice, she should be the speak no evil monkey. Ideally, she would have her mouth covered indefinitely, your friend and Christine hate listener and licorice hater, Seattle Dave. Wow, Seattle, Dave. He's right about the licorice. I actually like the emoji idea, the three monkeys, see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. That's not a bad costume idea at all. And Cookie being the one with the covered mouth, I mean, good luck. I mean, I think a lot of people would endorse that. I just don't think she would select that one for herself. I like the Gilligan's Island idea as well because it is kind of like age appropriate for her. And also, if you think about it, when she does show up for work occasionally, you might consider this show a three-hour tour. You like that, Christine? Can I be ginger? Sure. I don't know what that means, but sure. She's one of the characters on Gilligan's Island. And also, by the way, really quick, I do know about the George Burns and Gracie Allen show. So if we have to end this now, I'll just say, good night, cookie. Good night, cookie. Good night, Moon. Good night, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning into Guy Benson. Have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday from Stanford and the Hoover Institution. Talk to you then.

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