The White House tries to bury Epstein questions with denim ads starring Sydney Sweeney. Ghislaine Maxwell scores a cushy prison transfer, and Trump banishes Obama’s portrait to the political attic.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Callaroga Shark media from Washington, d C. Where we distract
you with Cindy Sweeney. This is ballot. Oh, you're not
distracting me. Release the Epstein files. You cowered. I'm Patrick Gutfield,
and the White House wants you to stop asking about
the Epstein files Instead. The White House has apparently decided
(00:24):
that Sidney Sweeney is America's new sweetheart, and they're making
it everyone's problem. The White House's official social media account
posted a photo of Trump from behind, appearing to shout,
with the caption have you seen the Sidney Sweeney ad?
The image was from Trump yelling to reporters about nuclear
missiles from the White House roof, which is somehow the
perfect metaphor for this entire situation. Nothing says casual genes
(00:49):
advertisement discussion like nuclear weapons policy. Not to be outdone,
the Department of Defense Rapid Response account posted a photo
of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with the that he has
great genes. So now we have military officials weighing in
on denim quality, which is definitely what the Pentagon should
be focusing on. The administration is treating Sweeney like she's
(01:10):
the new face of American Conservatism based entirely on her
voter registration and a clothing advertisement. Meanwhile, she's probably just
trying to pay her mortgage and wondering how selling genes
turned into a political movement. Next, they'll probably discover that
Ryan Reynolds is registered as an independent and spend three
days analyzing his Deadpool movies for hidden political messages. So
(01:33):
the Trump administration, which promised to expose all the Jeffrey
Epstein's secrets, is now being accused of covering them up
by Epstein's own victims. This is what happens when your
campaign promises meet the reality of actually being in power.
They built entire political careers on promising to rip the
lid off the supposed cover up. Now that they're actually
(01:55):
in charge, victims and their lawyers are saying the real
cover up is happening right now or guestrated by the
same people who promised transparency. The situation has gotten so
problematic that top administration officials met last week at JD.
Vance's house to figure out damage control. Hey, do you
guys want to come over to JD's house? Sure? Are
we gonna watch football or something? No, we're going to
(02:16):
talk about the Epstein files. The new controversy involves Maxwell's
mysterious prison transfer to a lower security facility that sex
offenders typically aren't eligible for without special waivers. This happened
right after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell, and
while Trump has been floating the possibility of pardoning her.
(02:36):
The optics here are roughly as bad as possible, well,
almost as bad as possible. A bunch of pictures of
a certain someone standing next to his good friend Jeffrey
Epstein is as bad as possible. Think about it. If
you had a picture of you and OJ Simpson in
a Rams Jersey, wouldn't that be far, far less concerning
than a picture of you and Epstein. It's not like
Oj would be asking you if you had some gloves
(02:58):
he could borrow. The political problem here is massive. Polling
shows Americans believed by ninety two to eight percent that
Epstein files probably include damaging information about powerful or wealthy people.
Sixty nine percent think the government is hiding information about
Epstein's clients, and sixty percent believe there's a cover up
about his death. Well, President Trump has officially turned the
(03:24):
White House into the world's most expensive game of musical chairs,
except instead of chairs, we're moving presidential portraits around like
their embarrassing family photos at a dinner party. Barack Obama's
official portrait has been relocated from the Grand Foyer to
the top of the Grand staircase, which is the White
House equivalent of being moved from the living room to
the basement. The portrait now hangs in an area so
(03:46):
restricted that it's seen by fewer people than a Trump
University reunion. The Obama painting joins portraits of both George W.
Bush and George HW. Bush in what we can only
call the Presidential Penalty Box. These three portraits are now
displayed in an area accessible only to family members, secret
Service agents, and a handful of staff, making them about
(04:08):
as visible to the public as Trump's tax returns used
to be. This is actually the second time Obama's portrait
has been moved this year. Back in April, it was
replaced in the Grand Foyer with a painting commemorating Trump
surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. So we've essentially
gone from hope to nope. You're in the stairwell now.
(04:30):
Trump reportedly micromanages every aesthetic decision in the White House,
which means somewhere in America, there's a sitting president spending
his time deciding whether Obama should hang next to the
bathroom or the broom closet. This is what happens when
you give someone with strong opinions about interior decorating access
to nuclear codes. The moves violate traditional White House protocol,
(04:50):
which calls for the most recent presidents to get the
most prominent placement, but Trump has apparently decided that protocol
is more of a suggestion, much like his relationship with
most governmental norms. This latest redecorating spree comes as Trump
has escalated his attacks on Obama, recently accusing him and
his administration of treason during the twenty sixteen election. Obama's
(05:12):
office called these claims outrageous, bizarre, and a weak attempt
at distraction, which is diplomatic language for have you tried therapy.
The Bush portraits got caught up in this presidential game
of hide and seek, too, which makes sense considering the
elder Bush once called Trump a blowhard and voted for
Hillary Clinton. George W. Bush showed up to Trump's inauguration
(05:34):
but skipped the luncheon afterward, which is the political equivalent
of attending your ex's wedding but leaving before they cut
the cake. During his first term, Trump swapped out Clinton
and Bush portraits for William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, proving
that sometimes the best way to deal with your predecessors
is to literally replace them with dead people who can't
tweet back. The tradition of presidential portraits began in the
(05:56):
early nineteen sixties under Jackie Kennedy. Before that, the policy
was described as haphazard, a word that apparently gave Trump
ideas for his second term approach to White House decort
Portions of today's show were made with the help of
AI release the Epstein Files, You Coward
Callaroga Shark media from Washington, d C. Where we distract
you with Cindy Sweeney. This is ballot. Oh, you're not
distracting me. Release the Epstein files. You cowered. I'm Patrick Gutfield,
and the White House wants you to stop asking about
the Epstein files Instead. The White House has apparently decided
(00:24):
that Sidney Sweeney is America's new sweetheart, and they're making
it everyone's problem. The White House's official social media account
posted a photo of Trump from behind, appearing to shout,
with the caption have you seen the Sidney Sweeney ad?
The image was from Trump yelling to reporters about nuclear
missiles from the White House roof, which is somehow the
perfect metaphor for this entire situation. Nothing says casual genes
(00:49):
advertisement discussion like nuclear weapons policy. Not to be outdone,
the Department of Defense Rapid Response account posted a photo
of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with the that he has
great genes. So now we have military officials weighing in
on denim quality, which is definitely what the Pentagon should
be focusing on. The administration is treating Sweeney like she's
(01:10):
the new face of American Conservatism based entirely on her
voter registration and a clothing advertisement. Meanwhile, she's probably just
trying to pay her mortgage and wondering how selling genes
turned into a political movement. Next, they'll probably discover that
Ryan Reynolds is registered as an independent and spend three
days analyzing his Deadpool movies for hidden political messages. So
(01:33):
the Trump administration, which promised to expose all the Jeffrey
Epstein's secrets, is now being accused of covering them up
by Epstein's own victims. This is what happens when your
campaign promises meet the reality of actually being in power.
They built entire political careers on promising to rip the
lid off the supposed cover up. Now that they're actually
(01:55):
in charge, victims and their lawyers are saying the real
cover up is happening right now or guestrated by the
same people who promised transparency. The situation has gotten so
problematic that top administration officials met last week at JD.
Vance's house to figure out damage control. Hey, do you
guys want to come over to JD's house? Sure? Are
we gonna watch football or something? No, we're going to
(02:16):
talk about the Epstein files. The new controversy involves Maxwell's
mysterious prison transfer to a lower security facility that sex
offenders typically aren't eligible for without special waivers. This happened
right after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell, and
while Trump has been floating the possibility of pardoning her.
(02:36):
The optics here are roughly as bad as possible, well,
almost as bad as possible. A bunch of pictures of
a certain someone standing next to his good friend Jeffrey
Epstein is as bad as possible. Think about it. If
you had a picture of you and OJ Simpson in
a Rams Jersey, wouldn't that be far, far less concerning
than a picture of you and Epstein. It's not like
Oj would be asking you if you had some gloves
(02:58):
he could borrow. The political problem here is massive. Polling
shows Americans believed by ninety two to eight percent that
Epstein files probably include damaging information about powerful or wealthy people.
Sixty nine percent think the government is hiding information about
Epstein's clients, and sixty percent believe there's a cover up
about his death. Well, President Trump has officially turned the
(03:24):
White House into the world's most expensive game of musical chairs,
except instead of chairs, we're moving presidential portraits around like
their embarrassing family photos at a dinner party. Barack Obama's
official portrait has been relocated from the Grand Foyer to
the top of the Grand staircase, which is the White
House equivalent of being moved from the living room to
the basement. The portrait now hangs in an area so
(03:46):
restricted that it's seen by fewer people than a Trump
University reunion. The Obama painting joins portraits of both George W.
Bush and George HW. Bush in what we can only
call the Presidential Penalty Box. These three portraits are now
displayed in an area accessible only to family members, secret
Service agents, and a handful of staff, making them about
(04:08):
as visible to the public as Trump's tax returns used
to be. This is actually the second time Obama's portrait
has been moved this year. Back in April, it was
replaced in the Grand Foyer with a painting commemorating Trump
surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. So we've essentially
gone from hope to nope. You're in the stairwell now.
(04:30):
Trump reportedly micromanages every aesthetic decision in the White House,
which means somewhere in America, there's a sitting president spending
his time deciding whether Obama should hang next to the
bathroom or the broom closet. This is what happens when
you give someone with strong opinions about interior decorating access
to nuclear codes. The moves violate traditional White House protocol,
(04:50):
which calls for the most recent presidents to get the
most prominent placement, but Trump has apparently decided that protocol
is more of a suggestion, much like his relationship with
most governmental norms. This latest redecorating spree comes as Trump
has escalated his attacks on Obama, recently accusing him and
his administration of treason during the twenty sixteen election. Obama's
(05:12):
office called these claims outrageous, bizarre, and a weak attempt
at distraction, which is diplomatic language for have you tried therapy.
The Bush portraits got caught up in this presidential game
of hide and seek, too, which makes sense considering the
elder Bush once called Trump a blowhard and voted for
Hillary Clinton. George W. Bush showed up to Trump's inauguration
(05:34):
but skipped the luncheon afterward, which is the political equivalent
of attending your ex's wedding but leaving before they cut
the cake. During his first term, Trump swapped out Clinton
and Bush portraits for William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, proving
that sometimes the best way to deal with your predecessors
is to literally replace them with dead people who can't
tweet back. The tradition of presidential portraits began in the
(05:56):
early nineteen sixties under Jackie Kennedy. Before that, the policy
was described as haphazard, a word that apparently gave Trump
ideas for his second term approach to White House decort
Portions of today's show were made with the help of
AI release the Epstein Files, You Coward
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