The mainstream media melted down after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe of “Kill Tony” told a joke about Puerto Rico. The media used it as evidence that Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally was about “hate” and akin to the 1939 Nazi rally at the same venue. But was this joke actually racist? Or was Hinchcliffe just doing his job as a roast comedian? Glenn and Stu review the joke, which even left-leaning comedian Jon Stewart admitted was funny, and make the case that it’s the Left that should be worried: “Whenever they try to take away your fun, [they] lose.”
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: So Tony Hinchcliffe. He is -- I'm sorry -- he's the guy that was on the Tom Brady special, right? The roast.
STU: Oh, my gosh. Yes.
And he was really -- really --
STU: Very funny.
GLENN: Almost mean. But very funny.
STU: But that's his job. Right? He strikes me as Jeff Ross. Who was also there, by the way. He says really uncomfortable things. Mean things. It's his shtick.
GLENN: If you are roasting, that's what you do.
STU: That's what you're supposed to do.
GLENN: People were like, oh, he was mean. That's what a roast is. You tear everything apart.
STU: Yeah. And some people watch that sort of world really quickly.
They know which comedians are coming up in that world.
I don't watch that very closely.
Oh, my gosh. This guy is amazing.
He has a huge following.
It was really uncomfortable.
Really mean. Really funny.
Like, that is his job.
GLENN: What is our -- what is our first rule.
STU: You don't cut funny.
GLENN: You don't cut funny.
If it's funny, it's funny. You leave it alone.
You don't cut funny.
STU: There at least used to be a situation. Where there might be an outrage on some of these things.
The comedian would rally to another comedian.
GLENN: Not this guy.
I would think somebody who is rallying actually to his defense is Jon Stewart.
Listen to this.
VOICE: Now, obviously in retrospect. Having a roast comedian.
GLENN: Wait. Wait.
Let's play what he said, first.
VOICE: It is absolutely wild times. It really, really is.
And, you know, there's a lot going on.
Like, I don't know if you guys know this.
There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now.
Yeah. I think it's called Puerto Rico.
(laughter)
Okay. All right.
STU: The crowd reacts. Just like a roast crowd.
GLENN: A real big roast crowd.
STU: But like, everyone knows it's a joke.
Adults are familiar with this form of entertainment.
GLENN: Right.
STU: Right. And, oh, man.
GLENN: Oh, that's bad.
STU: And then you wait for the next one. And then you wait for the next group to get in.
GLENN: That's why he said, okay. All right. You'll get there. You'll get there. He said he's trying -- all right.
I know. But you'll understand this form here soon.
STU: And that moment, by the way, is that moment that roast comedians cherish.
That awkwardness is something you cherish in the moment. That is literally what you're going for.
GLENN: Right.
STU: You want that sound.
GLENN: It's mainstream Andy Kaufman.
You know how Andy Kaufman went and he wanted to make everyone uncomfortable.
This is mainstream. This is a roast.
STU: And it's tough.
I can understand why -- you can theoretically be critical of saying, I don't know if he's the right guy if he's going to do that there.
GLENN: When you have someone who is well-known, has a big following.
And is mainstream enough, like him. Where he was the funniest thing on that Tom Brady special. He was.
STU: Yeah. Yeah. There was a lot that was funny in it.
GLENN: That you would show up. You damn right.
STU: I wouldn't even use the word mainstream.
He's like cool. Very, very rarely do Republicans get people who are actually cool.
That's why Elon Musk is at some level interesting to the Republicans. Because like he's doing this amazing Tony stark character. He's actually on our side for once.
This guy is probably the funniest. Edgiest. Up-and-coming roast comedian there is.
You know, he is -- like stole that show, at times.
And, you know, remember, the Netflix Tom Brady special is one of the most watched things of the entire year.
Right?
This was a massive, massive cultural event.
He was one of the stars of it.
He's coming, and he's doing his shtick to a major audience in a party environment. It's totally, totally what he should do. And it would be expected to do in the moment.
GLENN: So now that's our opinion. Now listen to Jon Stewart.
JON: Now, obviously in retrospect, having a roast comedian, come to a political rally before election day, and roasting a key voting demographic, probably not the best decision by the campaign politically.
But to be fair, the guy is just really doing what he does.
I mean, here he is, at the Tom Brady roast a few months ago.
VOICE: The great Jeff Ross, ladies and gentlemen. Jeff is so Jewish, he only watches football for the coin toss.
Ron, you look like the Nazi that kept burning himself on the ovens. Kevin is so small, that when his ancestors picked cotton, they called it dead-lifting.
(laughter)
JON: Yes. Yes. Of course. Terrible. Boo. Yes.
(laughter)
JON: There's something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny. I'm sorry.
STU: He is.
JON: I don't know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and not him do roast jokes, that would be like bringing Beyonce to a rally and not having -- oh.
(laughter)
GLENN: Right?
STU: It's very, very funny. And exactly what's supposed to happen. And the fact that the media is -- they're all upset. AOC is like, I can't believe this racism.
Stop! Stop it!
I call her an adult, but she has the mind of a 3-year-old.
GLENN: You know what is amazing here, they have willingly stepped back into the Al and Tipper Gore category.
Where remember, Al and Tipper Gore. They were like, oh, we've got to have labels on rap music.
STU: Right. Right. Yeah.
GLENN: And they were so --
STU: They were mocked for it.
GLENN: They were so Karen-esque.
So Karen-esque.
And nobody wants to be around those people. Nobody wants to be around those people.
And look at what the left is doing.
Every step of the way, they're the ones that wreck the fun.
STU: Yeah. They are -- I mean, this is -- you sound like Bill Maher right now.
Which is shocking.
Because you guys shouldn't sound the same, but it's true.
I mean, when you suck the fun out of life, you don't win. It's not a winning long-term position.
You might win an election here or there. They might win this one. And that's terrifying to think about.
But they might. They might win, despite -- in spite of itself.
GLENN: Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.
STU: But it's true. I always think about this, when you talk about global warming.
If you can present to people, hey, why wouldn't we want clean water and clean air and a good environment?
You will get a lot of people, even some conservatives and moderates. They will say, you know, yeah. We should do those things. Like spending money on the environment is a good idea.
When you start saying, hey. You shouldn't have big-screen TVs.
And your air-conditioning should be set at 78.
GLENN: And no meat. Eat a bug.
STU: And no meat.
You lose. That's why I love when they go with that messaging.
Whenever they do that. And try to take away your fun.
You lose. That's what happens.
And it's like -- it's always why I'm skeptical of efforts to limit technology.
You know, like, when people are like, oh, well. We have to not do whatever.
AI or smartphones. Whatever.
Look, I don't like a lot of that stuff.
And would I think that the world would be a better place if we got rid of a lot of it. Sure.
But at the end of the take, when it's performing tasks in your life that makes your life easier.
It's just going to win.
You're not going to be able to stop it. And when you try to fight against that. People like having fun. People like having fun.
Why do you think the abortion messaging works for the left?
Because they like -- they like that sort of -- like the lifestyle of being able to be a little promiscuous and not be punished for it is something that connects with a lot of freaking people, particularly young women.
It does work with them. It's not necessarily, they're all like, I would like to end a lot of baby's lives.
What they like is going to bars and hooking up. And at the end of the day, not being punished for it. It's why you -- I remember you saying this a long time ago. When you were very young, you were pro-choice.
GLENN: Yeah. Keep your options open.
STU: Keep your options open.
GLENN: Really bad. Really bad.
STU: It's really bad.
And when you think about what it really means. Of course it's terrible.
But when you're given a permission structure, and you're young, and you haven't thought about these things a lot of the way, the permission structure is, this is legal. Is health care?
Well, of course, you can justify that.
If you buy that messaging, you can justify it. And it's why they use it. It's why it's effective, particularly on younger people. So I'm not surprised that that sort of stuff wins. When you're on the other side and you're saying, you know, jokes are bad, and stop being -- noticing.
Stop noticing, that the thing that the left is doing is completely insane. Like just saying girls can be boys, and boys can be girls by a few sentences.
GLENN: Let me play the AOC.
Because look at -- if this was our messaging.
If this is what we were saying in the last week of the election, would you think it was going well?
First, AOC.
VOICE: This was not -- this was a hate rally. This was not just a presidential rally. This was also not just a campaign rally.
I think I say very important for people to understand, that these are mini January 6 rallies.
STU: So bad.
VOICE: These are mini stop the steal rallies. These are rallies to prime an electorate into rejecting the results of an election if it doesn't go the way that they want.
Because Donald Trump, and that entire cadre of people up on that stage. Steven Miller, et cetera. Do not respect the law of the United States of America.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: Okay. This -- these words may not age a week.
STU: Hmm.
GLENN: Because if they lose, if it doesn't go their way.
Producing staff, make sure we have all of these cuts.
STU: Uh-huh.
GLENN: Of saying exactly what Donald Trump is going to do.
All of them.
Make sure you have all of them.
STU: At the front of that rally, will be that woman.
And she will be sitting there. And she will be encouraging her social media audience to bail out the people who burn the cities down.
That is like, it is so predictable. And speaking of AI.
That argument is basically like, craft -- craft a liberal argument, to -- to criticize Trump's rally and tie it to January 6th. Enter.
And she's reading it.
It's pathetic. That is a pathetic. Mini January 6.
So in some ways, it would be adorable, if she was 11.
(laughter)
Right?
GLENN: Well, how about Mika from MSNBC. Here's what she said.
VOICE: I think a lot of people are seeing that rally, at Madison Square Valley. Seeing all those people. It doesn't mean he's going to win the race. But my point is that it's discouraging that so many people would gather and rally, to hate. To hate speech.
STU: That's not what it is.
VOICE: In America. It's discouraging, and it hurts. That people who have family in Puerto Rico. Who are Puerto Rican Americans who are American citizens, are hearing hate like that. It's discouraging.
STU: Can you imagine if this is an actual position? It's not. Imagine if she actually believed this.
VOICE: It's important to look at the situation. And it's not just, oh, my gosh. About the race. It's, oh, my gosh, how did we get here?
How did we get here?
STU: I can't take any more of this.
Are these the people that brought Eminem on stage last week. Eminem.
A person who rapped -- who built his career on domestic violence, rapping about domestic violence, as part of his act, and rapping about beating gay people, as part of his act.
You might find that distasteful. I find it distasteful. That being said, it's his act.
I understand it. I don't think he's -- I mean, he has had some legal problems. But I don't think he's actually bashing gay people.
I don't like his act.
But we all understand, it was his act. And they can bring him up, on that stage.
And I think as adults, we should all be able to look at that and said, look, he's said some things, that the party shouldn't want necessarily representing them. But what are you going to do?
Obviously, he's a rapper. That's his business. The same thing should be said for Kill Tony.
Right? He's up there. He's doing his thing. That is his shtick. Every adult, including even morons like AOC. And the idiots on Joe Scarborough's stupid show.
All know exactly what reality is. And they're pretending that they don't.
GLENN: And here's how you know the Democrats know this. Okay?
Because there are Democrats in swing states that are running commercials right now, with them, and Donald Trump.
With pictures of them, and assigning or something.
Anything.
He voted with Donald Trump.
He's middle of the road.
He doesn't lean all one way or the other.
Look, here's a picture of him and Trump.
They're running these things.
If you actually thought the man was Hitler, you wouldn't run those.
Your party wouldn't pay for that. This is all a sham! They're convincing you he's Hitler.
I think people like Mika is actually convincing herself, he's like Hitler.
GLENN: Well, and which was a fascinating thing. Considering she was partially responsible being the president of the United States.
They fawned over him, for a year. And brought him on.
And told him, the questions in advance, they told him.
They asked him, what they should hit. I mean, they were --
GLENN: Right.
STU: They were best buds.
GLENN: Yeah. Weren't they on the -- weren't they on his house, at one of the debates. Remember that?
STU: They're close friends for a long time.