Trump, Palin, and Nestorius Public Radio

Jeff Norman, The Norman Report. Good evening, everybody. Jeff Norman here with The Norman Report from the We Play Radio studios in downtown Los Angeles. Undisclosed location. Don't even think about showing up at the studio. My guest tonight is Nestor Rodriguez, who is a comedian. You are one of these hyphenates. Everybody's a hyphenate. You also do film work, right? Right. And you are my fellow host here at We Play Radio. And when is your show on? My show, usually Thursday night from 9 to 10, but I'm altering it like maybe a little earlier because I'm doing Skype calls from the East Coast to facilitate some of those people. Oh, so you tailor to when your guests are available. Yeah, I'm thinking about, you know, I've been doing the show traditionally from 9 to 10. I've been doing it from 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, which is midnight to 1 in New York. But lately I'm thinking, you know, maybe I might do it a little earlier because, you know, the head honcho at the studio here and I love to smoke cigars. And usually after the show, it's 10 o'clock. We grab a bite. Next thing you know, it's 2 in the morning and I still haven't gotten home. Right. Well, the other thing is you want to have as big an audience as possible on the East Coast. Yeah. And in fact, when I was talking to Jeremy about settling on a day and time for this show, that was one of my... Top considerations. Thursday night or earlier? Well, I mean, what required more thought was the time than the night, you know. This is Wednesday, by the way. Today is Wednesday. That's correct. You must be on the Hebrew calendar. No, no, no, no, no. When you said you were considering it, I thought maybe you were considering Thursday night. Oh, okay. Yeah, you're talking about earlier. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I thought 7 o'clock was a good time for the... You know, I didn't want to do too much earlier because people are working. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And too much later, then, you know, it's beddy-bye time on the East Coast. 7 is a great time. Yeah. To avoid traffic. Don't be eyeballing this time slot. Well, it wouldn't be on a Wednesday, so I'm very respectful of existing shows and not to, you know, step on the shows. Right. The show is Nestorius Public Radio, by the way, when you say that. Okay, and it's kind of a spoof of NPR? Well, when I thought of the show, I thought, what kind of show... I knew what I wanted to do, you know, basically talking shit, which is what most of us do, except a lot of people don't call it that. Yeah. Pontificate would be the word, I guess. Right. Pontificate. I just cut to the chase. I like to talk shit, and I have a varied... I mean, when you asked me before, I was like, would I mind being on your show? Would I have, you know, a problem having comments about, you know, whatever your topics are going to be today? I mean, I'm very opinionated, and so when I was... Well, that doesn't work at all on radio. No, it doesn't. Not at all. And so when I was thinking about a show, I thought Nestorius, that's usually, you know, my email addresses and stuff like that. And I don't know, I just thought of the NPR logo. So my logo is like NPR. My NPR logo, really, in reverse color with a picture of me in the center. And, yeah. So, I mean, does it go beyond that? I mean, how closely do you hue, if that's the right word, hue to the NPR thing in terms of spoofing it? I don't hue... I don't think that's the right word. It doesn't matter. Let's use it for the purposes of your point. I don't hue, actually, in terms of spoofing NPR other than just NPR. Just NPR. And, you know... We do talk about informational stuff, informational topics, commentary. You're not doing a parody talking, you know, goofing on the way they talk and the kind of guest that... No, no, no, no, no. Although one of my co-hosts used to go, support for NPR. You know, he'd cut into that once in a while, which I thought was cool. Right. But I would need a full-time producer to actually, you know, write the segments in a certain way, you know, all things considered or whatever, and do spoofs like that. Right, yeah. There's a lot of good concepts that some of us are even capable... Yeah. ...of doing, but not without a lot of help. No, you would... I mean, you would... I mean... And a lot of time, you know. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'd like to... You know, the show that I would love to aspire to would be, you know, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. That's a tight show. Oh, yeah. You know, it's... Well, he's got quite a well-paid staff. Hello. Yeah, right. And it's an hour, that show. And when you watch it, it almost feels like just 30 minutes. It's so smart. Yeah. So tight and hilarious. Right. You know, and informational. Well, if you... If you put your eyelashes seductively at Jeremy, he'll probably come up with a budget for you. And... Well, I think Jeremy has, you know, put up a decent amount of a budget just to get the studio going. So, you know, every one of our shows, you know, you're on your own. You know, whatever you can do to make your show better, you know, production-wise, you know, writing, whatever, it's on, you know, each of us, which... Well, that's the nature of the new media landscape. And, you know, it's a double-edged sword, as I'm sure you realize. On one hand, it's great that we don't need the gatekeepers anymore. On the other hand, it's very difficult to monetize even great content. Right. Right. So, I mean, I definitely lean towards appreciating where things are now more than I lean towards, you know, lamenting the lack of money. Yeah. Because it is a great thing. Yeah, absolutely. To get rid of the gatekeepers. Absolutely. And so we were talking about Donald Trump last week. And I want to continue on that with you this week. And one of the most notable attributes of Trump so far is that he really has mastered the media landscape. No longer do you need the gatekeepers, as I said. He's using Twitter as, you know, one of his main outlets. And, you know, you don't have to... I kind of despise that you use the word attributes in the same sentence as Donald Trump. Oh, you do, huh? Oh, totally. Well, tell it to your shrink. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Why? Why does that make you angry? It doesn't make me angry. I just think he's a disgusting, you know, person. I just think he's gross. I mean, I can start from his appearance, the fucking toupee. It's like, motherfucker, you're a billionaire. Either shave your fucking hair, your head, like, you know, most people make it fashionable, right? Uh-huh. Or get a better toupee, something. It's not a toupee. What is it? It's... The dead squirrel? It's a dead squirrel. It's a funny-looking hairdo. It's not a toupee. Nah, dude. No, he's... There's numerous examples of him showing his roots. That's bullshit. And hair. Have you heard of the hair club for men? They can do this shit to the point where it looks... It doesn't apply... They do implants in your hair, and you can pull the shit, and it looks like it's in your hair. Well, I agree he looks goofy. I'm just saying it's not... Goofy's a nice way of putting it. He looks... He looks... I have a problem... What about the orange face? Doesn't that make up for the hairdo? Well, I have a problem, right? If you have a lot of hair... If you have a lot of money, right? Yeah. There's no excuse for not looking like a million dollars all the time. Right. He dresses like shit. He looks... He's just a pompous, you know, plop of shit, as far as I'm concerned. Wow, you have a lot of hostility for Donald Trump. You call it hostility? Yeah. Well, what about from the comedian's perspective? I mean, one of my comedian friends... I can't remember who it was on Facebook today, was talking... Oh, I think it was Scott Blakeman. Was... He was saying, you know, he has sort of mixed feelings. The comedian in him is happy about, you know, Sarah Palin now joining the festivities. Mm-hmm. But the... The festivities. Yeah, right. But the American in him is kind of despondent that it has come to this. The American in him, huh? Well, yeah, right. The citizen... The festivities. The human in him, whatever, you know. It's an abomination. Mm-hmm. Seriously? Mm-hmm. It's an abomination that we're in America. It's 2016. It's 2016, and that this is what it comes to. Okay? So it's just... It's just the whole thing is disgusting. Politics, you know, as we all know anywhere, it's just a bunch of, you know, who's got more money. The same thing with, you know... I mean, we can talk correlated with justice, right? You have a lot of money, you know, you can justify anything you want to do, and that's where he comes from. He comes from... He can do whatever he wants. He can say whatever he wants, and, you know... All right. Well, I want to... I want to... I want to... I'm going to try to calm you down a little bit. This is the first time I've met you. Okay. I'm getting a little nervous, frankly. I don't know if we have a security guard on the premises. There is a security guard. Actually, I took... Forget the security. There's a more nuanced way of looking at it. I want to try to coax you into... I took my medication today. That's all. It's all. We're good. All right. Jeremy, do I have to worry about Nestor? Is he prone to violence or anything? No, no. Nestor's harmless. Okay. All right. Good. By the way, there's a rumor that Jeremy might be chiming in with his opinion. He also has very strong opinions about... About Trump. He does. Can you imagine that? He does. I think Jeremy should be on his own station more often. Have you ever noticed the guy has like a natural announcer? He does. I told him that before. I told him a million times. I said, you should have your own show. You have a very good radio voice. I've gone to him to chime in on... I have an open dialogue and he gets in once in a while. Right. So he doesn't need that much prodding. No. You just have to ask him a question and he'll gladly answer. So let me start over. Let me bring it down a little bit. Okay. And let's go with the ideology. The ideology of the festivities and attributes that Mr. Trump has. Let's go with that. Yeah. I mean, he does have some talent, you know, and the fact that you find him distasteful and a lot of people find him distasteful doesn't mean that he's lacking in talent. And there may be some lessons to learn from him. For example, maybe some of the techniques he's using could be used by other people, but just changing the message somewhat, you know. But what about what I first started to say about how he's using Twitter? I mean, this is something that's bigger than Trump. Okay. He didn't create the media landscape. He just mastered it. Well, he's got the money. Well, no, no. But that's what I meant by nuance. You see, he is a rich guy, but there's another side of it, which is when you're talking about money and politics, he's actually the antithesis of that because he's not spending very much money at all. He's not? No. So where is he getting his money from? Well, he's financing it partially himself and some people are donating it. But the point is not where he's getting it. But he's spending money. But not much. And keep it in context. Okay. You know, compared to what can be. So he's getting free publicity, you're saying? Yes, yes, yes. Right. Well, because he's a loud mouth and he says things that are ridiculous. So all the media is like, can you believe Trump, you know, said that, you know, he's going to want the Mexicans to build a wall and have them pay for it? Right. He's a loud mouth and he's a celebrity and he's tailor made for the new media. Right. Because this has existed for a while. Twitter, Facebook, etc. But he's the first one who could really take full advantage of it. And I mean, think about it. I know you hate him and everything. And I'm kidding about calling in security. I think I'm kidding. Right. But... Well, you can call security. I mean, you know, they can join us. Yeah, but that doesn't mean they'll come. Or if they do come, it doesn't mean they'll win the battle. You might, looking at you, you look pretty tough, actually. But no, seriously, there... Let me drop my shoulders down because I'm... Can you see what I'm driving at? But there is something that's worth taking note of here. Like a politician, whether you like the politician or not, can now reach the audience and you don't need to beg for exposure. He's not spending very much in advertising, at least not so far. You're making videos that are very cheap, getting it on Facebook and Twitter. That's an interesting new development. I think that's good for democracy. I see how... I mean, I see, you know, when you said he's very talented, I... That's the issue, right? With our society. I think the whole of the world is very talented right now. Any kumquat can get on YouTube and earn, you know, millions of dollars, okay? And so you can easily say, wow, he's talented, right? Meanwhile, I'll give you an example. There's a guy out there, the highest grossing YouTube guy, he plays video games. So you got idiots watching an idiot play video games and the views are so high that he's earning millions, I think, two point something million dollars annually, right? Yeah, right. is he talented or are people stupid? You see? Well, yeah. I mean, that goes back to what I said before about a double-edged sword. You kind of lose the prestige a little bit. Now, if you say you have a show or something. Right. Everyone has a show. Yeah, the reply you get, it might be just that. Right. Big deal. Who doesn't? Just like comedians. Everyone's a comedian. Right. But that is a different point than whether or not Trump is talented. Right. I was making a comparison that, you know, if, yeah, anyway. Yeah. I mean, he has skills. Last week, we talked about his persuasion skills. Really? Yeah. Enlighten me, please. Well, it's a complicated ball of wax, but... Well, just give me a shirt, you know. Well, he's using some of the same techniques that he's been using for years, negotiating in the world of commerce, and he's applying it to the world of politics. You know, you think about, you know, like he's a salesman, basically. So you go to a used car salesman, and I think the term is, they talk past the sale. In other words, they'll say something like, do you want the red Honda or the blue Honda? Right. Meaning they're already assuming... That you want the Honda. Yeah, so he does stuff like that. Right. Also, the immigration thing is an example of a negotiation. People are freaking out about him supposedly taking this policy position. Right. It's not really a policy position. It's his opening negotiating. Oh, you're talking about like he's going to make, he's going to put... He's going to put a limit on how many Muslims can come into America, that whole thing? Yeah, but more like the 11 million deporting, you know, 11 million immigrants. He's not going to do that. He's not intending to do that. That's not a real policy. That's what I'm saying. It's a negotiation. Yeah, but I don't call that a negotiation. That's called shock, right? So nowadays, right, you've heard it all. You've seen it all. You've done it all. So what are you going to do? You're going to fucking come out and blow shit up and do... You know, it's like the stakes get higher. So as a politician, you know, I think that the way you would get attention is by saying absurd things. Except in his case, he's not just saying it to get attention. He actually believes half of that shit, if not all of it. Well, no, that's just the point. He doesn't believe all of it. You don't think so? No, he doesn't believe it any more than somebody who makes an outlandish demand in a negotiation, in a business negotiation, is being serious. I don't know. I think, I don't know. I mean, I think that he really, he does believe in being tough on immigration, but I'm saying... I believe... But I don't think he believes the specific things he's saying. He's being outlandish to move it in his direction, just like in a negotiation. If you want $50,000, you'll ask for $100,000, right? Well, I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying, but I honestly believe that he believes that saying or implementing a policy that you limit how many Muslims come into America is right. And that... That he can do it. I actually believe that. Well, you know, keep in mind that he was vague about that. He said he wants to do it for a while until we figure it out. We don't even know when that time period begins, let alone when it ends. So I think he's just... Well, I think... He's just... He's being clear about... It's identity politics. He's not the first person to play identity politics. It works. A good time would be Ramadan. You know, that's a good time to start implementing that, you know, keeping the Muslims out of America. Yeah, I think that's a perfect time. You mean they don't travel? Too much than anyone? No, because you can, you know, you can bank... You can knock out two birds with one stone. You'll have all the attentions of the Muslims right there on that day, and it would just be perfect to start it. And that can segue right into his great call to be able to say Merry Christmas again. Yeah, and that could set off the segue to fucking America being bombed a little bit more, you know? Right. All right, so you're going wild over Trump. And I didn't even... I didn't even... We didn't even start talking about Sarah Palin yet. Oh! I'm going to back... I'm going to back... I'm going to back up about five feet to keep it safe. This is going to get it to her. But she joined the, as we said, what was it, the show yesterday, the circus, when she endorsed Donald Trump in Iowa. So before we chat about that, let me give out the phone number if anybody from the audience wants to call in and join our happy discussion. It's 800-893-9562. That's 800-893-9562. Why don't we run this clip of Sarah Palin yesterday? And then we'll have a little bit of a chat about it. And I will sedate... When I heard that she was going to endorse me, I was so honored. You have no idea how honored. And I would like to bring up, if I might, Governor Sarah Palin. Are you ready to make America great again? We all have a part in this. We all have a responsibility. Looking around at all of you, you hardworking Iowa families, you farm families, and teachers, and teamsters, and cops, and cooks, you rock and rollers, and holy rollers. When we're talking about a nation without borders, when we're talking about bankruptcies in our federal government, death at our children and our grandchildren, they'll never be able to pay off. When we're talking about no more Reaganist power that comes from strength, power through strength, well, then, we're talking about our very existence. So, no, we're not going to chill. In fact, it's time to drill, baby, drill down and hold these folks accountable. His power, his passion, it's the fabric of America. And it's woven by work ethic and dreams and drive and faith in the Almighty. What a combination. Are you ready to share in that again, Iowa? Because that's what's going to let you make America great again. Are you ready for that? Iowa? No more pussyfooting around. Our troops deserve the best. You deserve the best. Well, before we talk about Palin, since you were talking about how Trump dresses, I just realized he was wearing an overcoat up there instead of the usual sport jacket or whatever you call that. Or whatever you call that. I don't know. No, well, I mean, I don't know. You called a sport... No, no, no, a dress jacket. A dress jacket. But you know what I mean. It was an overcoat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he... That was about as long of a clip as I could tolerate of Sarah Palin. But her speech was, I forget, maybe 20 minutes or something like that. And he stood up there the whole time, which I thought was kind of weird optics to just be standing while somebody else is talking. You ever watch these Kennedy Center Honor shows? You know, where... I've watched a few. Yeah, and you know, the person being honored doesn't perform. Other people perform and they just keep showing reaction shots. Right. That to me is the weirdest thing. I'd be so... Nobody would ever honor me, but I mean, if I ever were honored, that would be so uncomfortable because you've seen the shows before and you know that it's all about showing your reaction. I'd be so self-conscious. Oh, they want to see me react now. Right, right. But yet they do it over and over again. I couldn't really see because the screen is kind of slanted. How was he reacting? Well, I can tell you that she looked just like Tina Fey. You know what? I was just going to say, I was just going to say, I think Tina Fey is a better... Better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin. Well, to answer your question, well, I mean, he was kind of like doing thumbs up every so often and smiling and nodding. But you know, she's like him, but in a different version of him that she really goes off on the stream of consciousness and some fair percentage of the time, whether you like her or you don't like her, you really don't know what the hell she's even saying. So I think that's another reason I wouldn't want to stand there while she's talking because it's hard not to look puzzled when you are puzzled. She's an idiot. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. First of all, I don't even understand, and I mean this, why she's talking. I really don't, right? And then she goes into this, you know, she's talking to people saying, you know, you rock and rollers, you... Holy rollers. Holy rollers. That's a nice glamour. You know, those of you guys that are like, you know, have faith in the almighty. I'm sorry. What the fuck does the almighty have anything to do with what's going on here? You know, this whole, your whole thing is on what moves Nestor, but it's about what works with the electorate. I mean, the reason she's there is to appeal to the segment. No, I get it. I get it. I get it. She's appealing to... Well, you just said you don't get it. What do you mean? No, no, no. I said, I don't know what the almighty has anything to do with it. And I mean that. It doesn't. It's identity politics. So why say it? Because identity politics works. Because you have a bunch of idiots out in the audience that they're just waiting to hear someone say that, say something that relates to them. That's what America... Well, but I think identity politics, works even on intelligent people. Now, when it's not our cup of tea, we might call them idiots. No, no, no, no. I get it. I get it. I get it. You know, what do you have that I want? What do we have in common? I get it. Yeah, most people are, most Americans are either dumb or if they're smart, they don't have time. They're lazy. You know, they have to survive. So they identify with what they look like. There's hardly anybody who's both intelligent and has the time. No, seriously. I get it. Yeah, and who has the time. I get it. And has the diligence to look into all the details. Yeah. So it's like, you know, what do you associate with? Yeah. Yeah. He'd be better off, I mean, he'd be better off getting Kim Kardashian up there. I'm serious. Well, I've been saying Snooki. No, no, I'm serious. I like Snooki. Snooki is... Get them both. She seems a little more Trump-esque. Yeah, yeah. But I would, I mean, Kim Kardashian and put, you know, Trump, make America better on top of her ass and have her do ass claps occasionally, you know, in between her speeches. I would have a lot more respect for him. And then he could actually get, you know, the younger vote, you know, that really has no time for anything. Right. And do you remember in the final days that Jon Stewart was hosting The Daily Show, he was doing this recurring shtick like, thank you, God, thank you, God, for Donald Trump. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So obviously, you know, as a comedian, he's a gift. Right. So let's, with that thought in mind, as a comedian, let's compare you, your take on it to what Scott Blakeman said. I get you're, you've been talking as Nesta Rodriguez, the human being. Right, right, the human being. For comedic purposes. Do you see a lot of fodder here? No, no, no, no, no. But that's where my comedy comes out of, Nesta Rodriguez, the human being. Yeah. The absurdity and the stupidity of people. Right. The shit that people do. I mean, that's what it is for me. But you seem more angry and you'd, like if you were to go in and talk to your therapist, that really, we might find out. No, you need to hang out with some Puerto Ricans is what it is. I'm not angry. I'm just avid. It's just avid. I'm just passionate about it. You know what it is? Yeah, this is really more about me. And I'm just rattled by fear and, no, I'm kidding. Tell me about Puerto Ricans. You mean you talk like Puerto Ricans? Well, I'm a Puerto Rican. I was just, I was, Puerto Ricans are loud. They're very colorful. They just, you know. Yeah, yeah. That's pretty much what they are. And I'm easily intimidated. No, I just think that you're, no, no, I don't think you're intimidated. You're just low key, you know? So it might be like, oh shit, this guy's, you know, going to fucking explode the mics or something. Right. Okay. So Sarah Palin has joined the, what was the word we used before? Well, joined the campaign. The party? Yeah. The festivities, I think you said. So the first caucus is Iowa on March, what month are we in? February 1st. February 1st. And, you know, Iowa is very rural and, you know, there's the evangelicals and so forth. And it's kind of hard for most of America to get too excited about it and get interested in it. But hasn't Trump sort of succeeded in doing that by getting Palin involved? Sure, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, he doesn't even have to answer any policy questions for a couple of weeks. Now it's all going to be about this. No, just wine, just give her some espresso, whatever the hell she drinks, put her up there. And, you know, they'll go apeshit. Now, people have started to talk about maybe she'll be his VP. I don't think he's going to pick her. I think he's going to pick somebody else. Have you thought about that? Again, Kim Kardashian would make a great VP. I'm telling you. She's got better foreign policy experience than Sarah Palin. Well, that's a high jump over a low hurdle. He's got none. Remember what she said about Russia, that she could deal with, the Russians because she can see Russia from her front porch. That makes sense, though. That kind of makes sense. That's one of the greatest comedic premises. Yeah, that kind of makes sense. Yeah. I can see that. Right. Well, I can see a lot of things. Does that make me an expert? All I need to do is keep my eyes open. Well, apparently in American politics, yeah. No, I think Trump is much smarter than anybody who would pick Sarah Palin as the VP. I mean, it was weird that McCain did it, when he did it, and it would be even weirder, I think, to do the same thing. Who do you think he'd pick? I mean, who's the contender? I think she's going to serve a purpose for a while, but, you know, this is a process. I don't really know. I think it would be, like I said, I think he's smarter. So I think it would be somebody who doesn't alienate people and who brings... Like him, you mean? Well, yeah. I mean, he's already alienating people. But here's the thing about Trump. He's not going to pick somebody who alienates people in the same way. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. He's just using her for a while, I think. Yeah. And I don't know who he will. Maybe somebody with military experience. I don't know. As a VP? Maybe. Here's the irony of the whole thing, right? He talks about making, you know, bringing America back. You don't mind if I have water from the world's largest water... I would... I was watching last week's show back, and it looked bizarre. Which that looks like it was originally a tomato juice or tomato, like... Tomato sauce. Tomato sauce. Wow. I've never seen tomato sauce in a jug. See, I like to drink filtered water. I like filtered water and bottled water, and I have to buy it all the time. Yeah, I'm with you. And I panic when I'm going around, and I run out of water. I'm with you. Yes. I'm 100% with you on that, for sure. It's being practical, but it looks weird on the... I'm frugal and practical. I'm 100% with you. The irony of the whole thing is that Trump speaks as if, you know, he is going to be the representative of the people, the working class people, the farmers, the, you know, the people who are affected by lack of education, lack of health care, you know, lack of opportunity, lack of the American dream, i.e., own a home, being able to own your car, yada, yada. He has nothing in common with these people, and these people don't see it. They don't understand it, and the only reason they, you know, they're all, yeah, yeah, yeah, Trump is because of, for instance... They buy his shtick. For instance, Sarah Palin... Yeah. ...speaking the language of the Iowans, right? Right. And it's like, really? You know, the guy has nothing in common. I mean, that's the irony of it. Right. Well, you might be exaggerating. I am? Well, you might be. I'm not going to pretend I have inside knowledge, but I do know somebody who used to work at one of his hotels, and I have read some articles about people that worked for him and so forth. Well, they said that when the cameras are off and when he's not on, he actually is a fairly down-to-earth person, and he's friendly, and he can relate to people on the street. And they also said, Yeah. What I think is actually more relevant in terms of judging suitability for office and also judging, you know, how he treats people and women in particular, the number of people out of the thousands of people he's employed through the years that have any beef with him seems to be pretty close to zero. The people who have beef with him that work for him? Yeah, that have complained about the way... They want to keep their jobs. Well, yeah, but former employees don't have to worry about that. And he has, in fact, hired a good percentage of females and put them in high positions, and some of them have spoken to the media and said that he's the best boss he's ever had. But a lot of them are bimbos, man. I mean, it's like... Why are you assuming they're bimbos? They had high management positions working for him, and you don't know anything about them, and you've decided to call them bimbos? I didn't say all of them. I said a lot of them. Why do you think they're bimbos? Dude, I've seen women, like, having him sign, his name on their breasts. I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about his high management people. I know people who are in high management. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The point is, he doesn't do that in the office. He's not running around the office signing breasts. That you know of. Right, but all I can do is go by the evidence I have. And like I said, the woman I know who's a good friend... Okay, one woman that you know that's worked for him. Well, but there's nothing to the contrary. Look, there's a lot of people are out to get him, and nobody's come up with anything to the contrary. Have they? Have they asked him? Of course. Yeah? Of course. It goes without saying. They're always, that's the name of the game, digging up dirt on people. So back to what you were saying about he seems to be a down-to-earth... By the way, did you notice the emotion in my voice? I love it. I'm a Puerto Rican in the making. No, no, I just, what happens is, eventually I'm going to get you to say, fuck, motherfucker, and you'll see. Well, certainly we can communicate in a higher plane than that. Well, yeah, we'll ease into it. You know what I mean? But what you were saying that, you know, I'm an electrician by trade. I worked in a union in New York, and I did work in Trump Plaza. I worked in this building. I've seen him. Okay, so here's another source. Yeah, yeah. What did you do? I didn't have any specific... Did he grope you? No, no, no, I didn't have any specific... And were you disappointed that he didn't grope you? No, I just saw, you know, face-to-face, he was an ugly guy, seriously. He was just like, this guy looks uglier in person than he does on TV. That was my honest take on him. Right. But, you know, he wasn't, and he has a shit face, that he always has, you know, like, you know, that scrunched-up face that he always has. And the gorilla lips protruding. The gorilla lips, yeah. So, but I mean, I could see that he's, you know, low-key, down-to-earth, and, you know, not going to, you know, blow off the top of his head. And the thing she said was he's friendly, but professionally friendly. In other words, he doesn't flirt with the employees or anything. Right, right, right. And I don't know if I... I might have a difficult time doing that. If I owned all those hotels and was surrounded by all those women all the time, I might have a hard time behaving myself. Why? Well, I mean, I'm not saying that I would misbehave to some, in an egregious way. Right, right. You know, just being a little flirtatious or whatever. But she said he never did that. And that's one aspect of him that I think is relevant to point out that doesn't get a lot of attention. He's very disciplined. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh, look, look at that. No, he's disciplined. The Puerto Rican got the Jew to yell, and the Jew got you to calm down and be reasonable. No, he's disciplined. Okay, we're going to meld. He's disciplined in his psychosis, for sure. But, you know, what I'm saying is, to answer your question about that, he's not stupid, okay? He's not a stupid guy, all right? And I think that's what you mean by talented. No one gets to a position where he's at, right, by coincidence. It doesn't happen that way. He's not stupid. So with that said, all the money that he has, all the places that he has, if he wants to flirt, if he wants to have sex with anybody that he wants to, he could. Why put himself in a predicament where, you know, he's going to be the sex, you know, Right, right. You know, to his employee or whatever. Two answers to that. One I already gave, but the other one is, even though it's stupid, many men have done it. They just can't control themselves. I mean, look at Bill Clinton. Yeah, or Bill Cosby. So many. Yeah. What about Bill Cosby? Yeah. He, you know, the guy like that with all the money he had. What are you talking about? Exactly. I'm just kidding. But I'm saying. That was me acting, pretending I hadn't heard about Bill Cosby. But think about it. Think about it. With all the money that you have, do you really need to be, like, drugging women? Think about that. Something's wrong with you. No, not if you, that's my point. Yeah, and a lot of people don't have that self-control. And the other thing is I wasn't suggesting, you know, going so far as to have affairs or anything like that. But, you know, a little bit of flirtatiousness. You know. Yeah. Yeah. But he knew enough to not even go there, according to my friend. Well, you can flirt. I mean, you don't know that he has never flirted with any of his employees. I don't. But she's, but my friend told me that. That he never flirted with her. Yeah, yeah. Maybe, maybe. Yeah, maybe that, maybe she's the only one. No. Well, actually, we have two. You said he didn't flirt with you either. You're a sexy electrician. No, yeah. But I wasn't looking at him. I wasn't looking at his way. I'm telling you, he physically repulses me. Well, we're talking about him looking at you, not vice versa. Well, if he did, maybe. I don't know. Look at you. You're irresistible. All right, let's get, let's get Jeremy. It's the hair gel, dude. Let's get Jeremy in on this. Jeremy, what was the theory you were sharing before about Trump? So, what it really comes down to for me in my head is I'm trying to understand why someone like Donald Trump wants, would want to be president. And the only thing that I can think of is, is that he, it's just a challenge for him. Mm-hmm. You know? And, and, and people that have all the money in the world and can do whatever, whatever they want, it seems strange to me that they would want to do something like become president because they have to answer to other people. And, and, and just because you're president doesn't mean you can just kind of do whatever you want. And, and that's the position he's in now. So, so my theory is, is that one way for him to, to get out of this whole thing is to bring Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin on and, and see it now, maybe the challenge is how can I get these people to hate me? You know? It's now the reverse because he's done all this other crazy stuff. He's, he's said all these crazy things and his polls just go up. So now it's like, what do I got to do to get these people to hate me so I don't have to go through with this shit? And, and Sarah Palin seems like a good way to do it. I don't get that theory, Jeremy. You got to back up a little, rewind. Well, I mean. I think I understand, but. The question is, is valid. A lot of people are asking. People hate Sarah Palin. No, no, no. Well. I mean. Well, first of all, Jeremy isn't the. She's a big joke. Yeah, I know. But what about our whole discussion before? He, he, she serves a purpose. He, he needs to appeal to the, to as many different types of voters as possible. Yeah, but Sarah Palin. She's, she's popular. Do you think people hate her? Or do you, or do you think that liberals only, I mean, do you think a lot of Republicans, don't like her? I mean. She's not, she's not unanimously liked, but she's definitely by any reasonable standard, a star in that world. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Well. I mean, that's it. She's a star as much as like Honey Boo Boo's a star, but I mean. Who's that, Jeremy? She's a joke. I mean, and, and, and, you know, I can't, I can't look at it. But you haven't noticed that she's a star though? I mean, you're saying she's a joke. She's definitely a star, but, but do people take her seriously, even conservatives and Republicans? I think. I think they do. Really? I think they do. I mean, I just find that very surprising. I think a lot of Republicans don't take Donald Trump seriously. I mean, that whole party is slightly divided, if not in half. A lot of them are like, what the fuck is this guy saying? But let's, really, I think Jeremy's question is interesting, and it's, and it's, it's only natural to wonder about, and I think a lot of people are wondering about it, is why would this guy want to run for president? So, I mean, one thing is, I think it's not that, it's not uncommon when wealthy people get older, that they look to do something good. I was just reading an article online the other day, that, you know, they become more philanthropic when they get old. They want to leave some sort of a legacy. It's not, it's not that uncommon. And I think also what Nassar touched upon may be part of the reason too. You know, it's a challenge for him. He's a very competitive person. He's also has a big ego. It's the ego. Yeah, right. So being president? Yes. I mean, it's like, it's like I haven't fucked a transvestite yet, or a transsexual. I'm going to do that. Yeah. I can see it being a challenge. I don't know so much if he's, he's got goodwill in his heart as much as it is, you know, I've done everything else. You know, what else can I do other than to become president of the United States? Right. Yeah. That's like P. Diddy wanting to do Broadway. It's like he, he, he's done everything else except Broadway. And he challenged himself to do it. Well, there's another theory, and I don't happen to buy this theory, but since some people haven't, let me ask what you guys think. Some people say he, he, he went into this to enhance his brand. The Trump, the Trump, the Trump underwear that, that Macy's isn't going to sell anymore? Well, yeah. And all of it, not just that. The hotels. Yeah. Another, I mean, we can see now in hindsight that it hasn't gone so well for him, but, but, the theory was he might've believed it would've enhanced. It hasn't gone so well for him, meaning what? Well, meaning that. Less people have stayed in his hotels. Well, he's lost, he lost, you know, people that were in business with him are now no longer in business. Right, like Univision, Macy's, and all those people. Right. So, but, but that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't believe that it would help his brand. I don't think he thought of it. Yeah. I don't think he thought of it. Yeah. Any thoughts on that, Jeremy? Do you think that? I, I, I mean, it's a possibility if you, if you look at it from a businessman's perspective. You know, he's sitting in a room of a, business advisors and, hey, you know, this could be good for, for your, your properties or, or your assets. That's a possibility. I, I want to throw out another theory that, you know, while we're, we're tossing out theories that, that I think this is, is definitely on the conspiracy side, but it's interesting to me nonetheless, is that Trump. It can't be any wackier than your previous theory, so just go for it. So does it have anything to do with chemtrails? No, no, no chemtrails on this one. I'm just joking. Building seven. No, go ahead. Sorry. That Trump is actually in bed with, with the Clintons and that, that the whole reason that Trump is running is to guarantee Hillary's election and that, that, you know, as Trump, Trump keeps throwing out crazy, crazy things, furthers the chances of Hillary getting elected. And, and that now that, that maybe Bernie, that maybe Hillary, Bernie Sanders is, is rising in, in the polls a little bit, that now, now is the time to bring Sarah Palin in to, to give him an exit strategy. I, I think that's a conspiracy that you secretly dream about, that, that it's actually true. Well, other people have said it too. Really? Yeah, this is, this is cognitive dissonance. Really? Yeah, people aren't, it's hard to process what the hell's going on and that. I don't actually believe that theory. What's going on? You mean politics? Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. Minerals are backing down already. no, I don't actually believe that theory, but I thought it was worth mentioning because it's kind of fun to think about. Yeah, yeah. We might as well cover all of them. Which is the weirder, the better actually. Sure. I don't buy that at all because it, he wouldn't do that unless he felt confident that it actually would be a big boost for him. And, and it's such, it's an awful lot of work to go through without having any clear picture of how it would really improve his life so much to have to invite him to endure all this work that he has to do. Oh, that doesn't matter for him. But I don't see why the presidency would improve his life. No, no, he's saying... Well, because it's ego and it's a challenge. And the other thing I said, he might really want to, you know... I don't think... I think there's a thin line between doing it for ego and wanting to do some good. They're not, like, mutually exclusive. And so you think that deep down somewhere, being that he's older, going back to your theory, your earlier theory, that deep down, being that he's a little older now, he wants to, like, you know, acquiesce to the part of himself that, you know, wants to do good or wants to be philanthropic and et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, and they're not mutually exclusive. In other words, if he's doing it for ego, it doesn't mean, like... That he's not... That you're not going to try to do a good job at it. But you believe that there's something that... I guess you would have to believe that if he's doing it, he believes that he's doing it for the better... Yeah. ...of the American people. Right. Now, we've been talking about, you know, what the real reason is. Another way to look at it is, what's he going to convey to the public as his reason, which may or may not be the real reason. And one possibility might be what was handed to him the other day with the 9-11... Well, he turned it into a 9-11 thing, but the New York thing that Ted Cruz said, that, you know, what is it called? New York values. Ted Cruz said this? Yeah, you didn't catch that? No, he was mocking Donald Trump. He was mocking him for having New York values. Right. And then the debate moderator asked Trump about it at the debate, and he, what do you call it? He played the 9-11 card. He starts saying, you know, you're really insulting and, you know... What are New York values? I'm sorry, I'm a native New Yorker. What are New York values? You know, liberal, abortion, and all that kind of stuff. Interesting. Yeah. Ted Cruz... So that's identity. They all play identity politics. Yeah. But the thing is, I think Ted Cruz gave him a gift. So that's what he turned it into. Trump turned it into the 9-11 thing. Right. And I think that might help him come up with a reason, whether it's the real reason or not, but a reason why he's doing it. He was in New York. He lives in New York. He's vulnerable to terrorist attacks. He doesn't want his buildings attacked. I never saw him down at World Trade Center volunteering. Well, he said he was down there. I don't know if he... I volunteered there. I've never seen him there. I saw George Bush come on the pile when there was a press... It doesn't matter. The point is what story to tell to the public, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I get it. So whether he banged hammers, you know, banged nails with hammers or not, the point is he may have a narrative now as to why he's running. He's a New Yorker, and this kind of... I think he can... He hasn't done it yet, but watch for this in the coming days and weeks is what I'm saying. I think he's going to tie it to the immigration issue. This is one of the reasons he's so worried. New Yorkers are very emotional. I used to live in New York. I have a lot of friends there. They're all... You too, right? So you know. They're all very emotional about it. They're very passionate, and they're very arrogant, and they're very, you know... But I think he's going to... I'm from New York. He's going to find a way to tie it to the immigration issue. What? 9-11? Yes. To the immigration? Meaning this is why he's so worked up about immigration. There's now a human emotional thing. Watch for this to emerge. Mm-hmm. And see, a lot of this is... Or some of this people talk about very explicitly. Explicitly and literally. And other times, it's sort of implicit. So I'm not sure how explicit it'll be. But I think it might be explicit. But at least it might sort of emerge in people's subconscious. Oh, I kind of get... He... I guarantee you this. He will be talking about immigration, and he will be talking more about the New York values 9-11 thing. I just don't know exactly what he's going to say or how skillfully he makes it work for him. I think the 9-11 thing is... That's done, dude. There's a Freedom Tower. You know, they made a nice park. Everything's good. In about five years, no one will even know what 9-11 was. I was in New York when the towers were attacked. I volunteered on the World Trade Center site, collecting rocks and the whole nine yards. I was there for two nights. And so that whole thing is enough. That's... You're talking about conspiracy theories. That's a whole other thing. And to try to bring that back as part of your campaign, I think New Yorkers will see right through it. I think New Yorkers will see right through that. Well, I think it's risky. I agree with you. And it's a matter of degrees. How much can he refer to it and how often? Rudy Giuliani did it to a sickening degree. Well, Rudy Giuliani was... I mean... He never shut up about 9-11. Right, but he was in there. He was involved in there. He was in the thick of it. That was his thing. Well, I know. So that gives him some credibility to talk about it, but it doesn't mean he didn't overdo it. I mean, he really... Well, he's a politician. I mean, you got to overdo it, right? But at least he's the real deal. He was there. Yeah, yeah. You know, I'm telling you, Trump... Well, what I'm saying is I think he runs the risk. Whether you agree with me or not, I think plenty of people thought that Giuliani overdid it. And that is the risk that Trump runs, too. You can't go there too much. But you say it's done, and you're right in a way, although, you know, since it was such a monumental event for New Yorkers, it may not be completely done. But the other thing is terrorism and the fear of terrorism isn't done. There's recent terrorist attacks. So there's a lot of very specific things that we don't know exactly what he's going to say that he could say. Right. I mean, he's already done it. I mean, since the San Bernardino attack and so forth. And who knows whether or not there will be any more terrorist attacks and what the exact nature of them might be between now and election day. Well, if he becomes president, I think the terrorist attacks are going to go higher. Yeah. Yeah, I believe so. Well, it depends on how he conducts himself as president. I think he's going to move to the middle if he becomes president. And I think he'll move before election day. Actually, I think, you know what, after I'm, as I think about it, I think terrorist attacks on America will probably decrease now that I think of it. Because Muslims will probably be like, he's fucking up America bad enough. We don't need to blow shit up. I just thought of that, you know. Well, I mean, you know, the thing is, we don't even know what to judge it on because we don't know what he's doing. Yeah. What he's going to say and do. In other words, how can we... You can only go by what he's been saying. I mean, how could you say, you know, well, you know, when the cameras aren't on, he's actually down to earth and he's actually very nice. When you're president, the cameras are on all the time. Well, that's true. So we should go by what he said so far. That's all you can go by. But he will say more and I think he will move to the middle. I... The other... I mean, we should look at everything he says. You know, he also has not been a warmonger in general. You know, he was against the Iraq war and so forth and so on. And he really doesn't want... I mean, I'm not inside his head, but I think it's safe to assume that he really doesn't want his buildings to be targets. So, you know, I wouldn't assume that he's going to be that reckless about it. Yeah. I mean, if you built all those buildings, would you want them... His buildings are insured. If they get leveled, he gets more money. Trust me. It's... He just rebuilds them. It's not a big deal for him. Uh-huh. So you don't think he has any... I don't think that's a motivator in his position on war and... First of all, if you really don't want your buildings to be bombed, then you don't say things like you're not going to allow Muslims to come into a country. That's provocative. And he also says he's going to bomb the shit out of ISIS. Yeah. I mean, that's... You're talking about swearing before. I mean, I don't care at all about swearing, but it is very unusual. I don't think I've ever heard a politician swear like that on purpose in public. He said he's going to bomb the shit. Yeah. On one occasion, he did say that. That's nice. On other occasions, he said, bomb the hell out of them. Yeah. That's not... Hell is a curse in some... In Iowa, hell is a curse. Yeah, right. But it's not unusual. Right. It is unusual to say what he said. Right. So that's... I'm just noting that. No, I... Point taken. Yeah. It's a course of... It's a coercer world we live in now. That's for damn sure. Yeah. Even Ms. Palin used the H-E double hockey sticks yesterday. And she said, bomb the hell out of ISIS. She did, huh? Yeah. Bomb the hell out of ISIS. That's what she said. But yet... I think so. It was something close to that. But yet they don't believe in war. How could you sit... Look, how could you sit and, you know, and bomb, let's say, Afghanistan, Iran, and just bomb these countries where people literally live in huts, caves, and... Well, it's nasty rhetoric, but I'm saying I wouldn't assume that his actual policy is going to be that bad. But how could... And also, let's not forget, the president's not a dictator. Even if we think his personality is dictatorial, is that the word? Dictatorship-like. Yeah. Even if we think that's his personality, the fact is the president isn't a dictator. You've got to deal with Congress. You could only go by what he says, right? And what he's done, right? What about his claim, you know, that he has always managed to get along with, he says, everybody? I mean, I wouldn't say that, but hasn't he, for the most part, you know, made deals that everybody can live with? And hasn't he mixed with all elements of society, you know, the conservatives? I've never seen him up in East Harlem. Well, okay, all segments may be wrong, but certainly, if we keep it to politics, both Republicans... Republicans and Democrats. Yeah. I mean, that's more... Because he's a liberal, rich guy, liberal thinking to some extent. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how many politicians there are who we would feel confident about doing better on that point, meaning working... Because it's been pretty polarized in recent years. Right. So I don't know that I would expect it to be more polarized. Maybe he actually will. Maybe his negotiating skills actually will translate to politics. Don't you think? I don't know. I don't think he does many negotiations. I think he's got unions that deal with that type of stuff in New York. What I'm going to do is, I'm going to New York probably in about a month and a half. I'm going to actually interview some of his employees. I'm going to go to Trump Plaza, Trump Tower. Great idea. I'm going to interview his employees, and I'm going to report back, especially blacks and Latinos, to see how they really feel about Trump as an employer. And are you going to use a recording device or just talk to them? No, recording device. I'm going to use my... You think they're really going to grant you an interview? Sure they would. I don't know. New Yorkers are very expressive. Trust me. Unless they're told not to by their employer. Well, I'm not going to do it in the lobby. I'm going to probably get them as they come out of work, and they're not going to be on camera. They don't have to tell me their name. But they may have been told not to do interviews. I'm Puerto Rican, Papa. I'm going to be like, yo, what's up, Papi? How you doing? I want to hear you tell me what's the real deal. How is it working for Donald Trump? Believe me. Yeah, you might want to use a hidden camera. No, can't. No, use your iPhone. It's got a recording device, and no one knows what the hell... You know. Uh-huh. You mean they won't realize it's being recorded? No, I'm going to tell them. I like to... No, but I mean, just being a Puerto Rican may not carry more weight than the fact they want to keep their job. Right. I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. Yeah. So anyway, no, I think it's a great idea, but I'm not saying don't do it. I'm trying to work with you here. No, I want to do it. I'm trying to work with you here on making sure it's executed. No, I want to do it, especially after you were mentioning about him being a little bit more... You know, low-key, down-to-earth, and a decent employer. I'm just curious. Yeah, try to get some 411 on that. Ask the janitor. How's the pay? Do they treat you okay? Because that's the guy you want to talk to, the lowest guy on the totem pole. Yeah, I was told he was pretty generous, the salaries were good, and the employee parties and that kind of stuff were good. Well, the salaries are dictated by the union, so... Well, you can pay above... You can, you can, but I mean, there's a minimum union wage if you're a doorman, for instance, if you're a janitor. Yeah. Yeah. If you're a janitor, if you're whatever, whatever, you know, within the context of the building industry. Well, our 55 minutes flew by. I was just looking at the time. Damn. Yeah. I want to thank you very much, Nestor Rodriguez, for being my guest tonight. Thank you. And what is... Any website or anything we want to send people to to see, or should we just send them to the weplayradio.com? You can go to weplayradio.com. My show is listed there. You can go to iTunes and look up Nestorius Public Radio. A lot of my older episodes are still on there. I think some of them are even on Skid Row Studios. So you can check out the episodes there. But We Play Radio, the episodes are there. And Nestorius Public Radio on Facebook and Nestoriuspublicradio.com has links to all those. Okay. Great. And my website is normanreport.com and weplayradio, weplayradio.com. Jeremy, thank you for joining us. Take good care of that splendid announcer's voice. The Norman Report is on We Play Radio every Wednesday night from 7 to 8 Pacific, 10 to 9 Eastern Time. I figured that out in my head. Thank you all very much for tuning in. We'll see you next week.