Sept. 26, 2025

Trump hits Bethpage Golf on a Friday while comedians hit Riyadh

Show Notes
Transcript

The hard working President plans to take in some golf later today.

Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, and Pete Davidson are among the comedians performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Marc Maron has some thoughts about that...

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Callaroga Shark media from Bethpage golf Course, where all the

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world's problems are solved. This is valid. That's right. The president,

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who works harder than anyone, will be at a golf

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event today. It's not even the weekend. Let's hit this Hi,

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I'm Patrick Gutfield and release the Epstein files. So JD.

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Vance just tried to walk back the whole Jimmy Kimmel's

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censorship situation by claiming the FCC chairman's threats were merely

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a joke, which is politicians speak for oh no. That

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backfired spectacularly. When asked about the free speech implications of

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sidelining Kimmel, Vance basically said, what government action. We didn't

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do anything except, you know, the FCC chairman went on

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a podcast and told broadcast stations they could face fines

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or lose their licenses if they kept airing Kimmel's show.

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But apparently that was just comedy. Gold Brendan Carr's original

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comments were anything but joking around. He told Benny Johnson's podcast,

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we can do this the easy way or the hard way.

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These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take

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action frankly on Kimmel or there's going to be additional

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work for the FCC ahead. That sounds less like a

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joke and more like something Tony Soprano would say about

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garbage collection roots. Carr even suggested broadcast stations should preempt

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Kimmel to avoid fines or license revocation from the FCC.

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Hours later, Next Star pulled Kimmel from its ABC stations.

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What an amazing coincidence. The FCC threatens consequences and suddenly

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stations start dropping the show. Pure comedy right. When CNN's

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Brian Stelter asked Carr for comment after Kimmel got pulled,

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he responded with a gift of office characters celebrating nothing, says,

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I was just kidding, like victory celebrations when your threats

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work exactly as intent. The backlash was swift and bipartisan.

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Even Ted Cruz compared Car's remarks to the type of

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threat heard from a mafia boss. When Ted Cruz is

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calling out government overreach, you know you've crossed a line.

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Vance tried to flip the script by bringing up the

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Biden administration pressuring YouTube over COVID misinformation. That is real

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government censorship, he said, which is a fascinating defense strategy.

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Our censorship doesn't count because the other guy did censorship too,

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very mature, very constitutional. He also threw in this gem

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to the extent that Kimmel is not back on the air.

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It's because he's not funny and has terrible ratings, right JD.

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It's pure coincidence that station's pulled him right after the

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FCC threatened them. Carr has been trying to clarify his

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remarks all week while blaming Democrats for past media pressure.

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That's the classic political move when your threats blow up

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in your face, claim you were misunderstood, and point fingers

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at the other side. Meanwhile, Trump is still fuming about

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ABC bringing Kimmel back, posting that the network is making

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illegal campaign contribution ins because of the late night hosts jokes.

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I think we're going to test ABC out on this,

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he wrote, which sounds suspiciously like more threats disguised as

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casual conversation. So let's recap. We didn't pressure anyone to

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censor Jimmy Kimmel. We just joked about destroying their broadcast

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licenses if they didn't censor Jimmy Kimmel. Totally different things.

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Trump is showing up late today to the Ryder Cup

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at Bethpage Black, and tournament organizers are actually relieved about it.

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They're hoping his delayed arrival will prevent the security nightmare

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that turned the US Open Tennis final into what I

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can only imagine was like trying to get through airport

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security while carrying a bag full of suspicious looking sports equipment.

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You know you've reached a certain level of logistical chaos

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when event planners are crossing their fingers and saying, please,

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mister President, could you maybe show up after everyone else

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has already found their seats and bought their overpriced concessions.

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The US Open Tennis final apparently became such a security

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cluster that they're now treating Trump's arrival like a controlled demolition. Okay,

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everyone gets settled, grab your hot dogs, find your spot

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on the eighteenth green, and then we'll let him through

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the gates. This is what happens when your presidential appearances

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require more security coordination than a papal visit. Golf fans

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are just trying to watch some Europeans and Americans argue

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about who can hit a tiny white ball better, and

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instead they're getting a masterclass in secret service logistics. I

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love that they announced this ahead of time. Don't worry everyone,

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the president will be fashionably late, which means you can

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actually get to your seats without waiting three hours in

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a security line behind someone trying to explain why their

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golf rangefinder isn't a weapon. It's like they've turned presidential

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appearances into a dinner party strategy. We'll tell him e,

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but really we want him here at ten, after the

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appetizers are served and everyone's already had a drink. Saudi

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Arabia is throwing their first comedy festival, and some comedians

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are saying thanks, but no thanks to what they're calling

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blood money with a laugh track. Mark Maron went full

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Maren on this thing, saying the festival's tagline should be

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from the folks that brought you nine to eleven two

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weeks of laughter in the desert, don't miss it. He

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pointed out that the same guy writing the checks is

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the same guy who ordered Jamal Kashogi to be bone

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sawed and stuffed in a suitcase. But hey, don't let

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a little dismemberment stop the yucks. Then Maren did what

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Maren does best. He got brutally honest about his own situation.

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Full disclosure. I was not asked to perform at the

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Riodd Comedy Festival, so it's easy for me to take

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the high road. Easy to maintain your integrity when no

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one's offering to buy it out. Shane Gillis says he

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turned down a significant bag for the gear, even after

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they doubled their offer. His reasoning, you don't nine to

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eleven your friends, which is probably the first time that

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phrase has ever been used as a moral compass. But

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here we are. Zach Woods made a sarcastic Instagram promo

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addressing the drips, kill joys and duebazoids who think comedians

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shouldn't perform for regimes that kill journalists. His defense, name

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one comedian who hasn't hoared themselves out to a dictator. Meanwhile,

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the actual lineup reads like a comedy all star game.

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Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Pete Davidson, A Zi's

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On Sorry, basically everyone who's ever gotten a Netflix special.

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They're all heading to RIAD for what's sure to be

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the most ethically complicated two weeks in comedy history. I

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have my hands full here with Potus, but to keep

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up on Riad, check out our sister podcast, Daily Comedy News.

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Portions of today's show were made with the help of

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Ai