Transcription
I'm working on it.
Run the two run. No run. I got.
The only reason I'm saying that because literally Opie's like [ __ ] Raymond. He's like, "Well, Ron, run. You frustrate me because I want I want No, you're not in my head. I'm trying to take care of you, but maybe you'll set up your Venmo. I I don't know. I I can't I can't be bothered by trying to help you anymore."
Also, I got to apologize because I'm late today because I was musling out some meatballs, Ron. It's not a good meatball unless you're musling them out the next morning. And with that, I say good morning everybody. Welcome to the Opie Radio podcast. That's my buddy Ronnie Babes. Hi. Why the face? Why the face?
Because I'm reacting to you musling out anal meatballs. Uh, no. You're you're meatball beads. No. See, see where you go with this stuff? I I uh I had visions of round objects coming out of your tushy.
Remember that uh I honestly forgot his name. Uh that comedian that you brought to our our show and he lasted two weeks, Chris something. What was his name? I forgot his name. What's his name again?
Oh, Ferretti. Chris Ferretti. Okay. Right. remember he was uh part of this and then I don't know what happened he ran away one day by by the way can I tell you part of what happened he said it was it he said the comments were soul crushing and he couldn't handle it.
All right well you know you got that was one of the one of the reasons well you got to have a thick skin if you're doing this Chris right I I forgot his name to be he is thick though but the one thing he gave me was a great meatball recipe so I thank him for that and I made his meatballs last night and uh you know a meatball isn't good unless you're musling it out the next day and I was musling them them I was musling them out about I don't know 10 minutes ago. Ronnie Bapes, there you go. And they were delicious. I liked my meat the balls. Although I adjusted his recipe a little bit. I had to. No one puts flour in meatballs. I went breadcrumbs. So I I So I I adjusted his recipe. So there you go. Uh what's going on with you, Ron?
Maybe if you didn't adjust his recipe, you wouldn't have to muscle out meatballs. Now, what does that mean? Are you like your your face is red and there's veins coming out your neck cuz you're going.
No, it's not LIKE WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? NO, you know when uh you go to a sporting event, let's say you go to a Red Sox game and the Yankees uh kick your ass, you know, that type of thing like it like it happened last night. Your Red Sox look terrible against the Yankees.
Oh, wait a minute. What happened?
Any they they got uh they lost four nothing. I think your Yankees. No, the Yankees didn't lose. I'm I'm not I'm not going to sit here and make believe I'm a Yankees fan, but I certainly uh live in New York. So, uh go go Yankees. But anyway, go Mets. 12 in a row, baby.
12 in a row. I saw that, too, Ron. They're they're they're uh they're terrible. Anyway, you're already out of the playoffs. It's [ __ ] hilarious.
You know, I was supposed to be on a a plane today to go see my my pal Buzzy. You've had you've had some interactions with my old friend Buzzy. I've known him since I was 18. We were all getting together to see the Atlanta Braves and the Mets in Atlanta. And I said, "I AIN'T GOING FOR THAT. I'll come down and see it for something else, but I'm not going all the way to Atlanta to see that [ __ ] hole team, the Mets."
Dude, who the [ __ ] wants to fly anymore? Did you see what just happened yesterday at JFK?
Oh god. Going like this. Right at each other. Yeah. Oh, that's good. That's good. Like literally yesterday like this. Yeah. Alarms go because one of the And by the way, it wasn't tower error. Yeah. Both planes are coming in. Yeah. And one plane decides to just go into the other path. Nice. Just human error. By the way, human error. They they crossed. They were within 500 ft of each other. It was almost a mid-air collision.
By the way, I don't believe it's safe to fly at the moment.
Listen to me. 500 ft though. That's plenty of room. I hate when they go, "We had a near miss IN THE SKY. WE HAD A NEAR MISS. We were a mile apart." That's a a mile. 500 ft is plenty of room.
Did anything happen, Ron? Did anything happen? Did anything happen? Did anything happen?
You want to talk about musling out meatballs? If you were on one of those planes and you saw a plane coming with you, you wouldn't have to muscle out anything. It would be flowing out of you. You would look You would look albino.
You're right. I It would It would flow out like lava at that point.
You listen. How scary is that? How scary is that?
Honestly, you see a plane coming at you from your window.
All right. Look, I have a reputation to of being kind of tough and an old shock jock. The reason why I'm not visiting my old pal Buzzy down there in Atlanta with my other friend Stor, right?
The real reason. the real reason.
No, he lives in the best a really good part of Atlanta. Dude, I Dude, is that the guy? He He's the Eagles fan.
No, he's a Bills fan. God, YOU OH, THE BILLS FAN. YEAH, I'M SORRY. I BUZZY. OH MY GOD, BUZZY. I'm sorry, but we we did a live shot. We did a live live stream with him. Yeah. And he was in his man cave. Yeah. I thought that was his house. He lives in a compound. He lives in a man He lives in a mansion.
Yeah, because soon as you get out of this [ __ ] hole called New York City, you get your money goes a lot further. Can I wrap everything together, Ron, you got me on three different stories now. So the first of all, the reason I'm not flying to Atlanta, it's not because the Mets suck.
I'm scared to fly. I'm kind of with you. I'm not going to lie to you.
Kind of scared to fly for the first time in my life. I'm like, do they know what the [ __ ] they're doing out there? So, that's the real reason I had to come up with excuses because I didn't want my dear friends that I've known since I was 18 to know that I'm scared to fly right now.
Yeah. See, Joyce says it. Let Opie speak. What the hell? And she likes you, Ron. She likes me.
Joyce doesn't like me. She loves me.
You frustrate her. I am Joyce's spiritual advisor.
You frustrate me. You frustrate Joyce to the point. Look, she's so frustrated by you. Her hair turned [ __ ] gray overnight, Ron. She's
I am Joyce's spiritual advisor. I advised her to take all those mirrors out of her bedroom. And she said the next day it was like a weight lifted off of her soul.
All right. Well, that's great. But I'm I'm going to advise Joyce to make sure she doesn't bring enough for you when she brings her trays of food to get parts and tells Matt, "Just heat this up for 350 for 15 minutes." All of a sudden, she puts Matt to work with her food. It's one of my favorite things. And Matt looks at me like, "What the [ __ ] is going on with your friends?" I'm like, "Look, she's she's she's generous. She made food for all of us. All All you have to do is heat the [ __ ] up, uh, Matt." And Matt's like, I'm running a bar. Hope
I guess that's why we don't do get parts anymore.
No, we're doing get parts again. I just, you know, I there's no reason why we're not doing get parts if you want to know the truth. I had to tap out when I I blew out my back. All right. The other thing I want to bring together, you were asking about musling uh meatballs out and uh and then I brought up uh your Red Sox getting crushed by the Yankees last night and basically you asked what is musling out meatballs and I'm thinking sporting event and when you're at a sporting event and they bring out those those shirt guns and all of a sudden you hear as they're shooting shirts into the uh into the uh into the fans. That's musling out meatballs right there, Ron. That's what was happening this morning about 15 minutes ago.
Well, if that's if that's accurate, that means every you're getting water splatter back up your right back up into your tush.
Yeah, I'm not You're getting poo wet.
Yeah, I'm not a rookie. Then you go in the shower. What's wrong with you? Yeah, give me the face.
Hold on. You're froze. All right, there you go. So, you're telling me you took a shower after your rocket poo poos?
You know what? I'm I'm going to switch to uh I'm plugged in and I forgot. I I There's so much I have to do every morning to get this live stream going. I'm going to switch over to the plugin. So, it might it might the the stream's going to stop for a Hello I'm switching over now. I'm switching over now. I'm back. Right, Ron? Backer. NO, I'M BACK. I'M BACK. I switched over.
And by the way, you were froze like this.
Yeah, I'm sure you enjoyed that. Oh, we all did. You know who enjoyed it? Tony.
Yeah, Tony said he loved me. The Dutch Rudder.
Yeah, Tony. That was I think that's the Dutch Rudder. No, it wasn't the Dutch Rudder. And And And Tony said he loves me. You did. You can't say that. Well, I don't you can't say it. You can't say we love you a long time.
It was a little uncomfortable when he said, "I love you." But I I I surrendered and I said, "Uh, I love you, too, Tony."
Opie, I love you means I love you means maybe I go to two two day a week Tony.
He is He's two a week Tony this week for sure. By the way, we got a great guest coming on in a little while. I've heard of this guy and I didn't know you were friends with him. Oh, wait. Didn't you say you had something to start the show? We have
Well, HOLD ON BEFORE we bring before we bring the big guest on.
NO, LET ME NO, I'M I'm promoting and then we'll go to you. Just very quickly, Ron is uh friends with Ron Barbara. Barbara, right? That's how you say his name.
Well, it's Ba I say Bara because I'm from Boston, but it's Barbara. Barbara. B A R B- A B A R A. But if you're in Boston, it's Baba, dude. and he's a comedian and he's behind the magapore mom Donnie movement that I have heard of.
Yes. And he's coming on today. I'm actually excited. And he's he's a radical centrist. I FOUND ONE OF MY PEOPLE FINALLY.
HEY, he voted for Trump. Yeah, but he would vote for Mum Donnie. That's my point. He's a centrist.
He believes both sides got good [ __ ] going on. That's where I am. You know what this is going to be like today, Ron? You know when uh the news stories they do uh they do a story on like uh a kid with a very very rare disease. Like the kid has a disease that maybe 10 other people in the world have, right? And then all of a sudden the parents find the other kids that have the same disease as their kid and they finally meet.
Yes. I can give you I can give you an example, AN ANALOGY. I JUST DID THE ANALOGY. ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES.
WHAT? Bubble boy with John Travolta. Bubble boy. Opie, you're bubble boy's coming on. You're bubble boy doppelganger. You're both bubble boys.
I'm telling you, it's a rarity to find someone that's in the middle, that's a centrist, that believes both sides got good things going on, and you can't just And it doesn't have to be where you blindly follow one side. Oh my god, we're gonna be best friends, Ron. I I see it now. The Opian Ron show, but it's not Ron the waiter. It's Ron Bar.
Dude, I see when you see the setup, Ron, we're going to be best friends. It's it's like it's meant to be. I don't have to change the name of the show. It's still Opie and Ronnie, but it's it's an upgrade to Ronnie. By the way, I remember when I first started doing this show. Yeah.
You know what you said to me? What? I mean, I I do want to do a show with Opie and Ron, but I wanted to be Ron Bennington.
Yeah, I still want You said that to me. Yeah, I I still And I went, "Who's Ron Bennington?"
Yeah, I I still want to do it with Ron Bennington. If you want to know the truth, if he could get healthy again. Yeah, I would absolutely do that in a second. I I would be like, "See you later, waiter. See you later. Maybe you could serve me some some beer and wings someday. It was fun, but I'm going to go work with the other Ron. You know that? You know that on Fridays it's the Opie, Anthony, and Ron show, and everyone gets so excited because they're thinking, "Oh my god, Opie and Anthony are back and they brought Ron Bennington on." And then I have to explain, well, the Anthony is a guy named Tony P. We call him Tony P. So, I don't have to say Anthony, by the way. And then the Ron guy is another Ron. So, in other words, the original was Star Wars and then like it would be Star Wars if it was Star Wars. It would be Star Wars if it was you, Anthony, and Ron Bennington. But this version is Space Balls, right?
You know that Darth Vader never said, "Luke, I'm your father." Luke, I am your father. You know, that's like one of those uh what is it called? A dappel ganganger or like a Mandela. What is it called? Mandela thing.
Doing a doppelganger is someone who looks like you. I know. I I was doing that as like Yeah, I was doing it to be I don't believe so. I was doing it to be a little silly. No, I don't think so. Yeah, maybe maybe the other Ron will will understand my silliness and my sarcasm.
I told you. Here's the setup. You were already pushing me out. Oh, he's I can't wait. I just keep looking at the green room. I can't wait to click you out and put him in. I'm just going to switch out the spot. Oh, it's going to be glorious.
That sounded That sounded Do you know what the real line from Star Wars is with the Darth Vader? What? I think it's no, I'm your father. I think that's the actual line from Star Wars.
You know what's You know what's crazy? Luke, I am your father. I think it's I think it's No, I'm your father.
You know what's This is crazy. I don't know why. Maybe because Did we talk about this yesterday? Star Wars. Did we bring up Star Wars yesterday? Huh? So yes, so yesterday in the afternoon I come across this when they were testing Star Wars originally test screening it. Yeah. They realized when they say uh when they when they say to Luke like Darth Vader's your father. Yeah. When they tested it Yeah, They said the children didn't believe it. They only believed it when Yoda they said Yoda had to tell Luke that Darth Vader's your father because no they would any other character they didn't believe it.
That's psychologically very interesting. Well um before we get our guest on didn't you have something to start with right now?
All right. Listen make it obvious. He's in THE GREAT ROOM. I LOVE THIS GUY. I LISTEN LISTEN. Like most mornings, you're always a little salty. You're a little cranky. You're like the old man in the sea.
Not true. THERE'S ALWAYS A BODY OF WATER behind you. Sorry. I like water. So, I'm going to cheer you up. Yeah. You need some cheering up. You ready for this? Yeah. Are you sitting down, by the way, for this? I I don't need cheering up. I I I need a little bit. You ready? I made that guy's meatballs that would used to do the show for a couple times. I muscled out meatballs.
Hey, hold on. Yeah, go ahead. Did you So, the the the guy who made you the meatballs?
No, he didn't make me the meatballs. He gave me a recipe. I get it. He uh he kind of filled up like one, didn't he? What? Didn't you Didn't you kind of notice that? Huh? What do you Maybe he's uh he enjoys his own recipes. Did you mention that to me? I didn't say it. I didn't say it. All right, Go ahead, Ryan.
All right. Here. You need to cheer it up. All right. What do you got? The Endangered Species Act. The ESA Act. The Endangered Species Act. Yeah. Which has been around for decades. Yeah. The Republicans want to [ __ ] gut it. And they have the House and the Senate, right? Yeah. They want to cut funding. Yeah. They want to So they want they want to dismantle the environmental protections. Yeah. They want to dismantle funding. Yeah. They It undermines the scientific research. Yeah. They want to they want to deregulations of habitats. Yeah. Guess what? It directs effectively directly. Who? If this bill goes, if this bill passes, THE PIPING CLOVERS. THE PIPER Clovers will no longer be protected.
You're You're a sick man. Let's go, Islanders. All right. You're You're a sick. That makes me happy if the bill goes through. So the Republicans are pro uh there, but uh is Green Day or Greenpeace is coming up. But uh the Republicans are being lobbyed today on this bill. If the bill passes, all right, listen, no more fences around the piper.
Let me let me explain. If you live in a beach community, the piping clovers are just a scourge because the the vir the environmentalists come through and they put up fencing as sometimes as big as a football field. They Ron are do you want to do a podcast with your roommate or you want to do it?
I can do I'm multitasking. I have UP AND NOW I GOTA NOW I GOT TO MAKE IT into something and I'm listening but I there's other human beings here. roommate. Are you working today? There's other human beings here. I got to know. Oh my god. But what are you guys? THE ODD COUPLE. ARE YOU ARE YOU WORKING? ACTUALLY, I'm the clean one. No. No, you're not. But anyway, whatever. So, they they put up the fencing very recently and they crushed the houses to my right. There are houses to my right at the beach. They don't even have a path to the ocean anymore. And if you walk through their fencing, they will give you, it's like a federal offense. So these people, I don't even know how they're going to get to the beach. They crushed them all because of the piping clover because they found a little a little egg in the area. A little egg. All right, I got to get my guest on.
See that you up, huh? That cheed you up? Oh, that was just amazing, Ron. I mean, we were on such a roll and then you brought it to the next level with that. That was I don't understand why we don't have the same downloads as Joe Rogan and Theo Von. Oh my god, it was amazing. Ron, thank you. You're just bringing the A-list material today. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. RON Ron Barbara. B A R B A. Good morning, Ron.
Good morning to you, Opie. Good morning, Ron. I I just want to say how uh thankful and grateful I am to be on your show, Opie. I growing up, I was a Howard guy. I never but it wasn't it wasn't because I just never heard I didn't know where you were, but I always heard of you and your name and what you've done and obviously done a lot of research about you certainly just recently and so to be on is a real honor to be with you on this show. So, I just want to say thank you so much for having me. Oh, that's awesome. I gota I gotta say I was just telling Ron uh this is how I want to set this up for real.
Okay. Politically, I'm like I I'm I'm like on a I'm on a little island because we got in this culture we live in now. You you have to pick a side and you're all in. All in. And if if you come across someone that's not on your side, they are the rword. They are the snowflake. They are the uh everything everything in between. Right. So, I've tried to tell people for a million years that I'm in the middle. I'm a I'm A MODERATE. I'M A CENTRIST. I BELIEVE BOTH SIDES HAVE GOOD things and and like a good restaurant menu, you pick a little from this side, you pick a little from that side, and you got a lovely [ __ ] meal.
Yeah. I I I'm a guy that my generation, and I don't think you're too far uh behind me there, Ron. Uh we grew up with George Carlin. George Carlin is a god to me. A god to me. Some people picked Richard Prior. I thought Richard Prior was great, but he was a little silly. He was a little goofy. But George Carlin was anti-establishment. And a lot of guys my age, we were anti-establishment. And we looked at George Carlin like a god. And it's one reason why I don't vote because George Carlin said, you don't you don't need a vote if you don't like the choices. And I'm like, hell yeah, George. And then people go to you, well, if you don't vote, you don't have a voice. Go [ __ ] yourself. George Carlin told me the opposite. that you that because you don't vote, you got a a strong voice and so I came across you through uh honestly Ron Ron the waiter made this connection but I heard of you before this because you're behind the magapore mom Donnie movement and you're like a radical a radical centrist. So welcome to the show Ron. Welcome to the show.
Oh man what an honor and two Ron make a right. You got two Rs now. And I and I said this to Ron, you could appreciate this. You know when like uh the news does a story, the kid has a the kid has a a disease that only like 15 other people in the world have, right? And then eventually that family finds the other people that have this disease and they get the kids together. That's how I feel today. Maggap for mom Donnie.
I love it. You're one of mine. Oh my god. And you're from Queens, right? Uh, born in Atoria, moved out to Long Island when I was like five. Um, crazy ass household. So, by the time I was 18, I split.
Is that Wow. Okay. We Well, I mean, I came back here and there, but for the most part, I knew I had to start my own life at 18.
Oh, that's incredible. Now, I had a crazy household, too. I grew up in in Greenwich, Connecticut. Uh, son of fi There's five of us. Uh, nobody married. No one has any kids to this day. So really w and so that may explain how this all came about. The nuttiness.
Wait, wait, slow down a little bit. So you're one of You said one of five. Oldest of five. And none of you are married. Nobody's married. We only got one in our family that didn't get married. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's the most unusual thing that is about my family is that that none of the kids are married. No one has any significant other, anything like that. So, so what what's the breakdown between brothers and sisters?
It's so four boys, one girl, and it goes I'm 55, 55, 54, 53, 50, and 49. Oh, you're like my family. My mom was pumping them out every every year, too. And then Irish, right? You're Irish Catholic. Ah, I'm a mut. But she she took a year off and then when she went back into the game, she had twins. Oh, that's awesome. She ended with twins. She had uh she had uh what would what would it be? Six births. No, five births, six kids. Wow. in six years. That's And that's why she went nuts.
Wait, I really want to d I want to dig into this. Five, you guys are already best friends. Uh, our family is very very unique in in a lot of ways. In a lot of ways, but that's that's obviously the biggest one.
But why do you think it is? I want to get into the other stuff obviously, but now you hit on something. Why do you think none of you have significant others? That's crazy. I don't like talking for the other ones, but I just know personally for me is I was very very affected by their relationship. It was a very ugly continually ugly relationship and they're still together to this day to this five years. But it was so bad that I got like a PTSD that that I I wasn't sold on marriage and I'm still not sold on marriage to this day. Um and it's both and but that's more of a you know I know that I know that's a problem because I see happy marriages. I see happy people and I I I want to be that way. But there's just always been something in me that sabotaged the relationship and I and I do believe, you know, you hate blaming your parents, but the truth is it was pounded in me so much from seeing it that I just couldn't get the natural feeling like, "Oh, I can't wait to get married." My personal I don't know about the other ones. That's how I feel about it.
All right. Uh now, the obvious question did I think I think I know the answer, but I'm not sure. You started the Magafer Mani movement. Did you start it before they actually met in the Oval Office?
Oh, 100%. I was Yeah, I will say this. There was no such thing as Magafir Mandani until the day after the rally where people had seen my picture at the rally and then it and then it, you know, just went super viral. There was no phrase as MAGA for Mani. I basically made up that phrase and it had come to me a few months earlier when I was actually on a way I'm an actor and I'm a I'm a somewhat comedian. I'll be honest with you, but I am an actor and I've done a lot of stand up for a long time. But I came up with the the idea. I said, "Well, listen, I really I really like Mandani and I'm a Republican. I mean, I I'm not a hard obviously I'm not a hard Republican, but I'm a I am a Republican and I voted for Trump twice." And I said, "Well, I really like Mandani." And so, it was the most as a comedic mind like, "Well, I guess I'm Maani, right? I love that. I love that name." And I have a friend in Queens who makes shirts and hats and he's made them for me for a couple other comedian friends in the past. I said, "Can you make me up a couple Magga for Mandanis?" He did. And so boom, that was the first time Maga from Mandani was ever seen was the day after that rally that I had gone to that had so much press for me. And I I I believe um why this works in a weird way is Trump supporters and mom Donnie supporters have one thing in common. They do have something in common. They're against the establishment. They're against how things have been for many many Right.
Well, at least at least at least they want to believe that. I say that they they really want to believe that. And I believe that and I and I've said this before, Trump and Mandani had just a way of digging into their hearts and their minds and their souls and really getting them to to rally against what you're saying, going against what's going on. We need to go against it, right? The two most talented from both parties, right?
They are the most There's no one more talented than them. I have never I there's no one like that I've ever seen Trump the way he came in and just threw the Republicans get away and then knocked out Hillary in the first one and then and then continued on because he's such a master of of holding on to success and fame and the way he is and then and then Mandani came out of nowhere. Yeah. Then he shut up and then when I started watching him I'm like this guy has a talent in a different way. Not a consulting more of an openness more of a inclusion. the very opposite way, but you can show you can skin, you know, the many ways to skin a cat, and they both have that talent.
I I was uh I was an early uh Trump supporter. He he did the the old show uh I don't know, handful of times, maybe at least probably six to 10 times. I don't know the exact number, but I was an early supporter because he was [ __ ] things up, you know, just just messing things up in Washington. Excuse me. But now I just the only thing I like about Trump these days is that he's such a troll and such an [ __ ] and he knows how to trigger people. That's I I'm a huge fan of that still to this day. I don't believe him in him like I used to. That's for sure. Uh but the thing I got to say about mom Donnie supporters, I have to say this, Ron, they're stupid. They mean well. They want something different from this city. I get it. We all want something different from the city. I've been here a long time now. over 20 years. We all want something different in this city, of course. But these supporters of Mam Donnie, I'll tell you why they're stupid. Because they really believe that he was going to bring free buses to New York City. They bought into that. They bought into that. And guess what happened instead? Yeah. Because I follow the local politics, Ron. Yeah. They they raised the price of the subway. Instead of going this way, I'm going this way. We're going up WITH PRICES. WHEN DO PRICES come down in the history of mankind? When do prices come down?
Who in their Who in their right mind would think that we're going to get free buses in New York City? And oh, and and don't forget, we're going to have free grocery stores. Of course, we are. We might have one flagship uh free grocery store with with the rotting vegetables that no one else wants, but that's about it. But these these these uh voters, they they bought it hook, line, and sinker. Well, again, like you said, like I I bought him, but I knew I mean I I come from, like I said, my father's I didn't say my father's a very talented trader, so I have a math background. I have a trading background. I knew that the numbers did not make any sense. But I didn't care because he was going against Cuomo. I what is Cuomo even doing in here after the sexual harassment stuff and the way he covered CO? Like, how is he even here? And even though I'm a Republican and love SAWA, I just I had seen SA lose to Adams and I'm like, this guy, he's not gonna win. And I really like Mandani. So I was like, you know what? Let's go with the kid. Let's see what he can do. So I hear what you're saying like the the the absurdity of people that actually believe, yeah, they got hoodwinkedked. And will he ever come to these promises about taxing the rich? How you know, you know how that works when rich people are not stupid. you know, they're not going to just st sit there and be like, "Oh, yeah, we're going to give you our money." But I do believe I do believe that there is a way for him. And another way that we haven't seen yet, and you got to keep believing this, this what keeps the, you know, keeps the magic going, is that he is going to find a way to get funding for the city to make it easier for people. And I believe that he's going to that the spirit of this city is going to increase, is going to get better. I I really do believe under him, it's going to. And why? Because of the way he is. There's just a way about him that I think is going to permeate through people. I think he has to do it and it's up to him. He has a lot to do now to feel, you know, what he said, right?
Well, whether you like him or not, the one thing you could say and and Trump has the same. They both have charisma. They have charisma, but you know, the the hate for Mandani in this city is pretty amazing. I heard this too. I gotta put this on the screen. DJ's one of ours. Uh DJ uh where's h whatever. Okay. He says trading background living 100%. It's not inheritance but yes my father made me millions in the silver market in 2011. So that so that and I do trade but I'm a loser trader. My dad is a winner trader. That's the difference. I'm losing my father's money but he that is how I live where I live today.
Wait you got wait your dad is really for a second. My father my father is very is very wealthy. Yes, my all you know it's all truth. My father is very wealthy but there he's also a trader. So he's had terrible terrible decades of losing money. Right. And he had a humongous four or five years in the year of 2009 to 2011 where he's had the ability to make a fortune. And that's what I've been basically living off of since 2015. I haven't had a real job since 2015. I used to be in the anti-moneylaundering industry or I used to say I worked in the moneyaundering department at Jason.
Wait, I love that you're admitting this. So you you're set and your dad is just paying your bills. He's paid my bills for the last 10 years. At least 10 years.
You know, me and uh you have a lot in common. My dad was an entrepreneur and uh he hit once he had a good year where he bought a brand new car once and we were like we are rich rich and then he had died in a car accident in 2004. He might have had he might have had a 20 spot on him at the end of his life. So me and you were very similar. Oh my god.
No, I am very I am very very proud of my father. He's an middle class Italian from New Haven, Connecticut who made over a hundred million dollars at one point in the commodity futures markets. He was one of the biggest traders in the world in the 80s and then subsequently lost all of that money. Not all of it, but most of it until about the year 2011 when silver had another big run.
All right, let's let's uh let's let's talk bad about your dad to the point where he he evicts you from from your great life. This is my place. He can't evict nobody. It's my name on this on this condo.
That's awesome. JOHNNY'S GOING TO TAX all the hell. I But the irony is I'm going to get vote myself out of the city.
Well, that's raises my taxes and raises whatever the cost. Well, that's what you know, it drives me nuts because like people, you know, Mom Donnie wants to try to, you know, tax the rich or whatever. It's like that's what makes this city uh tick. And you you know you you push the the the upper class too much. They're going to [ __ ] leave, you idiot. And they're going to take their money with them.
But let me ask you this, Opie. Do we really need them? Do we do we need that city? What would that city look like? What would that city look like if all the richest people left? Would it be so bad? Would it be was it Detroit with the flames or whatever? Baltimore. I have no idea. Or would it be just a different type of middle class city?
I I don't know. Well, I that's a very good question, but I I'll say this. This is my my uh my rant on New York City, okay? I the amount of taxes we pay to live here. The cost of living to live here is absolutely insane. I've done this rap so many times, but I get to do it WITH SOMEONE THAT THINKS LIKE ME. Soon as you leave your apartment, everyone wants to fight because they they're just it's one big hustle. No one's happy because they can't every every day they're like I I think this is my last week in New York City before I go broke.
That's exactly. And so my point is instead of getting more money from us, I I feel like the job of New York City for real is, you know, they try to take as much money out of your pocket before you either finally leave or die on the street. That's their job. I really believe that. And my point is there's there's plenty of money out there. I I think whoever is the mayor, like in this case, Mam Donnie or or Hokll who runs the state, find the money. There's plenty out there to run this [ __ ] city. Trust me. Let's get it from Trump. Let's That's why I want Mandani and Trump to stay close so he's able to get federal funding, right? That's what I mean. Did Adams go and do that? It's like if Trump if if Mandani can keep that relationship and get money from the federal government, this city will be just fine. And also, this city will love Trump again. like they hate him. Maybe they'll love him if he starts paying paying them paying us off. Hello, we need so I think that that relationship between them is very very important for both. I think that the relationship is important for both them. Trump could learn something from Mandani too about how to be a statesman. Trump is not unfortunately and and really never has been and maybe and listen you can't teach an old dog new tricks but it it's really refreshing to see a politician like that Donnie how smooth he is, how he speaks, how he carries himself.
Yeah. I I I think uh you know, Mom Donnie played right into Trump's ego when they met. He you know, he Mom Donnie understands how people, you know, uh think and work and uh you know, everyone was like, "Oh my god, these two are getting together." The oval I I really believed at the time like I think they're actually going to get along. I mean, politically they don't get along, but I think as two human beings that know the game, they would they I knew they would get along. Yes.
Mandi Mandi knows the game. when he went to the old office, he had a Trump on the front page like Trump saved New York City. It was a parody of a of a real political clipping. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Gerald Ford said uh [ __ ] you New York City or go screw or I forgot the exact quote. And then I think the quote was drop dead. It was on the front page of all the New York uh city papers. It was Ford because uh the city was looking for money and Ford Ford basically told New York City to drop dead. Wow. And Madani brings that. It It's the same clipping but with Trump's face, but it says Trump saves New York City.
Boy, did Trump like it. Trump liked it. Hey, so Ron, the other Ron Magnet for Mom Donnie. Ron. Um, so what has Mom Donnie done? I mean, he's been in office now what, five, six months? What? No, it's 100 days. Oh, you're right. Yeah, because he got elected and then Okay, you're right. You're right. The 100 days just came up. You're right. You're right. I heard that he filled somehow. I don't know. Potholes. That was his big thing. Has anyone heard this? Ron Burman filled me in on this one, Ron.
I got it. Hey, now. But that's the only to me that's the only thing that I've heard that he's done so far. He filled one pothole. Let's Let's I hate when I hate when politicians do this. He got a shovel and he was on pothole detail. He got up early on a Saturday, whatever, and he was working with the crew. But, you know, soon as those cameras were like, I you know, we got enough footage of Donnie filling potholes, he left. He split.
He was gone. One more thing he did, he sent these guys into a tail spin. Oh, the Mets, they are going down fast. The minute he hugged the uh the two Mr. and Mrs. Met the Mets were that was signed their death warrant right there. So season just started. They're out of the playoffs. I It's so [ __ ] hilarious.
All right, but Here's my stupid unpopular opinions, but I can't help myself. No kidding. You know, so so Mom Donnie uh hugs Mr. Met and then a a whole bunch of Met fans were like, "Fuck that. I can't be a Met fan anymore." I think there's a big radio host on one of the stations in New York that that uh switched sides. I'm like, ew, you know, a whole bunch of players on the Mets don't like mom Donnie, you idiot. So, because mom Donnie hugged Mr. Met, you can't be a Mets fan anymore. RIDICULOUS. SO STUPID.
Yeah, that's that's a real fan. Well, I don't I've always thought now I grew up, listen, I grew up in Connecticut, so I was always a New York fan, but I was always a New York Yankee fan, right? And so when I as I got older, I realized there are no Hillary Clinton um fans in New York Yankee Stadium. I'm like, "Oh, these guys ARE ALL REPUBLICANS. YANKEE fans are typically Republicans." Then I go to Met Stadium and I see the opposite. They're actually more Democrats are Mets fans. And I know that's a generalization, but there's a lot of truth to it. SO WHY WOULD THEY BE AGAINST MANDI? I DON'T GET IT.
YEAH. YEAH. YEAH. TRADITIONALLY, I think Mets fans were always Democratic, right? Yeah. Because my my friend Steve Gillow, who wanted to say hello to you, Steve Gilla from I he said he said he wanted to say hello. He is actually a Republican who loves the Mets. And the guy you're talking about, Rosenberg, he is a on WBC. He's on the Republican channel who also loves the Mets. So they have those outliers.
No, that's the guy I was talking about. I I worked with Sid. He's talented. He's doing all right. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think he's a great radio guy.
But he's definitely getting the job done these days. Rightwing base. He's so good for that.
Right. So, mom Donnie hugs hugs Mr. M and all a sudden becomes a Yankees. Oh. THAT'S YOU GOT TO THINK HIS AUDIENCE sees through that garbage. No, they don't, man. That's why that's the whole point of Trump and his base. And like and listen again, I love Trump until this war. And I and I still will love him, but I I do think that he's done something terrible with this war. And how about the tariffs? What the [ __ ] The tariffs are wiping out. That's typical him. It's typical him. But the main thing is is but that rightwing that money rightwing with Trump and the hatred that they build is it's so powerful and it's so sad to me because being liking Trump for other reasons that that is a big reason why I came up with MAGA for Mandani because I realize that you know I there's a part of me that really loves Trump but I realize he's not going to get the job done for this country. He's not going to make America great again. He's only represents half of the country and now it's even less with the war. So a guy like Mandani or I was looking for something some way I feel like I that's why I grabbed the Mandani and said he could be a guy that could help Trump in a big way and help this country and make it a better place and it's that hard to do. It's that hard to make it better with you know Trump.
I never liked the slogan and first of all I that slogan came from uh Reagan right back in the day I believe make America great again. Um, I never liked the slogan. I know I I know it it did well for him and his base. I get it. But my dear friend Vic Henley, who's no longer with us, another one of my friends that decided to take a Pasadena. That's great. My two best friends died within six months of each other. Don't worry, Opie. I'm not going to leave you. This guy's a great co-host. I love this. Oh, he's amazing. I'm here for you, buddy. I ain't going nowhere. I I like Rod, but um Vic Henley like when that slogan came up, he would get so mad and go and he would go, "America has always been great." And then he would list all the crazy [ __ ] we get to do in America. He's like, "What is he talking about? America's always been great and it's still great."
And I think he was talking about like hiring a limo and strippers. Like what other country can you hire a limo that has strippers inside and you take a little ride around the neighborhood? Ah, it's the best. It's the best place. I don't know, you know, what other countries are like. I never like saying, "Oh, we're number one. Who cares what we are," right? I just know that this is an amazing country and so many people want to come here for obvious that tells you everything that
I think I think you're kind of important, Ron, for real. because I believe there's a space out there, but you don't really see it where there's people that are for real in the middle that like some of the stuff Republicans do and some of the stuff Democrats do. But why do you think we're so divided? Do you think it's the cable news channels? It's great. It's that's the greatest question. And I don't I always say like is it Trump? Is it because of Trump or is he just a reflection of what It's not because of Trump. Well, I think it's a combination of both. Whether it's the Democrats attacking Trump or Trump attacking them, I don't I try not to make that the question whose fault is it. I say that's a problem and we need to heal that.
Right? That and that is why I created this. That's that's a big reason why I did because I said if we could somehow change our thinking and divert and say we got to stop this insulting and this arguing and this trying to pull each other down, I think that politically and not just politically but spiritually we can rise. so much higher as a country for our own people and then affect other countries in that same way. But the way we're going now is just going to keep sending us lower and lower with this with this stupid arguing. It's just it's all seem to be for money. THIS IS WHY THEY GET ANGRY. THIS IS why they insult each other for money.
I'll be honest. Uh I'm I'm one of the stupidest broadcasters out there because I do not pick a side like everybody else. Like you would do ve you would do much better live streaming and podcasting if you just pick a side and go all the [ __ ] in. And I can't do it. I never did it my entire life. I lean more uh right because you know I make money. I want to speak my mind. I don't want to pay a [ __ ] ton of [ __ ] taxes. But then some of the stuff on the left like I believe in women's rights. I believe they should uh decide what to do with their [ __ ] bodies. And and I I I also believe that we got to shut down the border. I think uh you know, illegal immigration has been out of control for a long time. Absolutely. But absolutely. Well, that's the thing I say about politics. When you hear both arguments, they're both right. That's I go, YOU'RE BOTH RIGHT. AND THEY ARE. THEY BOTH HAVE THEIR THEY both have their their pros, you know, and their cons to their argument, right? That's why the system which is of course flawed it still is the best we can come up with where people are allowed to argue why this is more important than this and why and they and they just you know it's a continual battle. So it is part of the nature of our country to have these arguments but it's the it's the disgusting insulting grossness of debasing people because of the way they think. That is what the problem is. That is the spirit of our country has gone down because of that. And whether that's Trump or the Democrats attacking, I don't know what it is, but it does need to end. And hopefully it does somehow.
All right, I got I want to uh I got a question for both of you, both Ron. The Ron. This is something I wish like uh the cable news would do. Like when you're watching Sean Hannity, oh my god, everything's just amazing on the right and Trump is a [ __ ] god, right? So, I ask both of you to come up with uh one thing that you like about Trump, one thing you don't like about Trump. And let's do that with mom Donnie, too. One thing you like, one thing you don't like.
Who wants to go first? Ron, you're the guest of honor. So, please, Ron. Well, listen. I even though even though to me it's gotten tired and and not for you still Opie is Trump on his feet nobody funnier one of the funniest men 100% one of the funniest men to ever exist on just commenting on some whatever is coming at him funniest thing funniest comedian I've ever seen even though you're not a comedian he's supposed to be a president but he is the funniest I've ever seen any of these presidents it's a joke he's not even close to his entertainment value talent oh sorry I now now you got me going. So when he used to call our show, he would make us laugh so hard like one famously went after Rosie O'Donnell on our show and just just being and and soon as he hung up we after laughing we're like he is such a dick. Oh yeah. And I mean that in a good way. He's such a dick. Oh man. And he would make me laugh so hard. So hard. And I and I the people that are hate Trump, I laugh because like he tries to trigger those people every day with his social media and and and as far as a comedian. Yeah. On his feet. He's he's really he was I think he's slowing down a little bit to be honest. Yeah, he slowed down in the last six months. He was so quick. So his humor is just brutal in your face. He's New York, man. That's why I couldn't stand when New York went against him. Like how could you hate this guy? He's you. He is the funniness, the the wittiness and the the sarcasm and just like grittiness of life.
Can I give you an example of the the humor that he usually does behind the scenes that he actually did in in front of the cameras was the Japanese prime minister. Yeah. And he brought up the Pearl Harbor. That was actually [ __ ] devastatingly funny. It was ruthless and funny. And they're like, "That's actually Donald Trump behind the scenes." But he did that in front of the cameras. Remember that? Yeah, he uh But he he's he's not even aware that that would be offensive. That's the best part of it. There is something too, which is funny. You're right. He's not aware. He stepped into the the funniness and the brutalenness of that I think, you know, but I think the worst thing about him Yeah. which I didn't know existed until he commented on Rob Riner's death. Yeah. And he commented on the um he was a a lawyer, an attorney. Mueller, his death, I found that to be extremely low for Trump, even for even for Trump. When someone dies, there's a disrespect I find. Unless this person was literally Hitler. To talk about them in the way he did and to the way he spoke of them, I just think was so low class and so be below. And I'm like, that's the president speaking that way about someone. I thought that was just awful. And I didn't know that he was like that. I think anybody Oh, everyone knew he was like that. Come on. I I honestly didn't. Okay, maybe maybe I'm crazy. Is that Is that your worst quality about Trump? That's your That's That's That's the word quality about Trump. That's the only one. Never heard of the Epstein files. What about the Epstein files? I THINK THE EMPIRE TRUMP THAT I I CAN'T TRUMP THAT TRUMP THAT. I AGREE. Pun intended. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
Opie, let me say something. Sure. Because we're kind we're kind of gonna we're going to run out of time soon because Oh my god, I got to go already. No, but listen before we go because we're going to run out of time soon. We have to download the podcast, right? Uh, first of all, my funniest thing about Mandani is is when they first moved into Gracie Mansion, his first thing was like, "What do you think?" He goes, "We got to put in bed." But anyways, did he really say that? Yeah. He He's like, "Yeah." He goes, "We" He goes, like, "EDays are a priority." Um, so, you know, he has a clean tushy. But even more importantly, guess who's meeting Mayor Mandani tomorrow face to face? I don't know. Uh, Magga for Mandani. I am, dude, HE'S MEETING HIM TOMORROW. TOMORROW. I'M GOING ON THE CHRIS Allin with Chris Hayes and they're meeting up in the Bronx and I'm going to go with the only other Maggap for Mandani guy that we know of. The two of us are going there. We're going to be on this this show this kind of like town hall meeting with Mr. Mandani. So, I can't believe I'm gonna finally meet the mayor. Dude, MSNBC is a big [ __ ] deal. It's all right, Ryan. It's all right. YES, IT IS. IT'S ALL RIGHT. RACHEL MATTO, YOU'RE PART OF THE problem because they only talk to the left. Fox only talks to the right. It drives me nuts. That's right. But with that said, we got a big star here. He's going to be on MSNBC with Chris. I like Chris Hayes, by the way. I do like him. Oh, he's a smart guy. Smart guy. He's a smart guy. I like him. I like when people are smart. I mean, that doesn't mean I agree agree with everything he's saying. I just like smart people. Yep. That are are uh articulate. Yes. Maybe when you say articulate, you should say without stammering, but Uhhuh. and have points of views that are very interesting and logical, right? Or make sense, right? We we like to follow people like that. We like to learn more about them.
You know, to Ron's point, so Mamani uh moved into Gracie Mansion. I remember when Trump had to move into the White House, and you know, his first words were, "This is a [ __ ] hole." Yeah. How he lives. He's got the Mara Lago. We all we all know where he lives in New York. It's on Fifth Avenue and he he basically like owns the top of the entire building and it's all in gold and his taste is gaudy as [ __ ] But you know when he walked into the White House for the first time, he's like, "Ah [ __ ] I got to live here now. What?" And any other person would be out of their minds. Oh my god, the White House. Not him. He's like, "Fuck. How do we make this, you know, more homey?" The bulldozers. So, so the the thing is is I was supposed to Ron and I are doing a show this Saturday night at the Bohemian Beer Garden, which Opie, we'd love if you showed up, right? Be amazing. But if if YOU COULDN'T MAKE THAT, OPIE, we are also in a pilot about that same beer garden and together we're like two waiters working in this place. We have a lot of funny lines. It's a really great script and even I told the director I would ask you on air if you come in and do a cameo just so we could pitch this thing. You you wouldn't be engaged in something like that? No. No. Okay, All right, I just I had I just want I want this to work. I I like No, Ron. You don't get it. That ain't going to help. That may hurt the project. No. No. No. No. This ain't the famous Opie from 20 years ago. I I chose to be a recluse. I could be I could be right back where I was at any moment. Ron, I chose I chose to take it easy. I I JUST THINK YOU ASIDE, RON, if uh if it's something that makes sense. Yeah, I would do that in a second. That's awesome.
So, um God damn, this was good. We're gonna have to have you back for I would love to come back. I want to show you my shoes, man. Oh my god. Scott Watson, I think, has the same shoes. Well, you can't you can't have them because these are actual They were made specially They were No, he doesn't. Scott Watson has those are custom made. Those are custom made by a woman. Dude, look, there's a real There's a hairpiece. That's awesome. For real. That's You can't wear those. I ordered and lost in 2020. That's awesome. Aren't these great? I always show with when I do interviews, I bring them. They're the coolest damn things ever. And I specially made back in 2020. Yeah, I got I got MAGA friends. I got MAGA friends. Yeah, Tony P. LOT OF MAGA FRIENDS. TONY P, BABY. I got Scout Watson. I got family members. By the way, Ron knows Tony P. Yeah, we like I love Tony P. Amazing comedian. Funny. Good guy. All right, slow down with the amazing Jesus. He's an amazing comedian. He's amazing at podcasting. You got to talk like Trump. It's amazing. Honestly, why how does this guy not have his own show? Oh god. How is he got the next hall? Oh, we love Tony. He's loving today. He's loving today, that's for sure. See, Tony P is the man. Drew Mayfield, who you pissed off yesterday, Ron, remember Drew Mayfield. Tony P's the man.
All right, So, uh, this is what I learned today. Ron Barbara, uh, uh, mag for mom Donnie. Mag for M. I got We're selling shirts. I got plenty of shirts. Hey, hey, Ron. Hey, this is interesting. Before we go, dude, tell them about how this [ __ ] major German television station reached out to you and they're going to be there on Saturday. Let's talk about that for a second. Well, the big No, the big they're called ARD and they're huge German uh television station and they're coming and doing a whole documentary and they want to film me going to the guy who made all these things and and also this standup show that we're going to do with Ron Berman. And I I've had an Australian company do the same thing, ABC in Australia. I've had four different um Japanese newspapers interview me. Yeah. I've had I've had more international appeal. I've had some a couple big um American news outlets like like NBC and and another one called um uh More Perfect Union, but I've had a lot of international exposure. And so this Saturday at our show, Ron Burman, we're being taped by ARD, a German film company. It's going to be sick. And Burman, you better be on point. I know you're on.
Um so I this is what I learned. Uh Ron Barbara uh maggot for mom Donnie. He's worth millions. He's worth millions. Worth millions and he's trying to sell t-shirts and hats. Like a vendor. We're spreading the name. Oh my god. I'm trying to bring the world together. And you're going to be on MSNBC. When's that? This weekend. Well, that's I know that we're shooting it tomorrow. We're doing it tomorrow at 1:00. We're going to be shooting it. She said it's gonna play over the weekend as well. So, from tomorrow on, if you're gonna meet uh Mom Donnie, can you come back next week because I I want to know how it was. We got to know how it was. Such a pleasure. Ron Ron calls me and goes, "Ron, I got to I had to call you. Ron, I had to call you. I had to call you." Yeah. I'm like, "What are you wearing?" Like, and he goes, "I'm actually" He goes, "You know what we were talking about? You wanted me to reach out to him on Dynam. I'm meeting him face to face. Guess what, Ron? I'm going to ask him to come to the show. He's going to come to the show. I'm He's I'm going to ask him anyway. I'm going to ask him to come to the show and I'm not going to ask him to be on the pilot as well. Why not Queens, baby? It's where he where he made his bones. You know, you know what's funny? Where we're shooting where the comedy show is and shooting the pilot, that was Mandani's headquarters for the primary and for the election. Like that's his district. So he knows he knows that area extremely well.
Listen, let me wrap up though. You guys are going to be doing a show at the Bohemian Beer Garden on Saturday. I'm going to try to make this one finally. Ron and Ron. This is my new friend Ron Barber. I like him because he he uh he he's A CENTRIST. A RADICAL. I WANT TO HUG YOU. Um I have one last question though before we maybe become friends. Ron Barbara. Yes, sir. Do you believe that? Yes, you knew, right? You knew, we have an issue with someone else. We kind of have an issue. Do you believe the Earth is round? The what? The Earth is round. Is the Earth flat or round? Round. I definitely think it's round. All right, we're good. You passed the test. You're not a [ __ ] [ __ ] Yeah, it's gonna piss off Tony P. But me and you will be at a diner soon. Tony Tony P wants me to take him to a diner so bad. I said, Tony, I can't sit there over a burger and fries and listen to your flat earth horseshit. It's weird that a grown man absolutely thinks the Earth is flat. It just It's just weird. And then it's anything that has to do with NASA and space, his answer is green screen. So I I don't know. I don't know. He's like, "Why did Nixon, you know, use a regular phone to call the astronauts on the moon?" I'm like, "I I can't help you. I can't help you. You don't You don't think NASA plugged them into the their communication system that NASA was using? You idiot?" Oh, sorry. Honestly, Ryan, if you said, "Yeah, I think the Earth is flat." This would have been, "Bye, Ryan. It was nice knowing you." That guy answered right. That's a good sign. Good sign.
And And one other thing I got to say, you look like Joe Piscopo. Wow. Am I the only one that has said that? First time. I normally get Kelsey Grammar. I NORMALLY GET KELSEY GRAMMAR. OH, NO. KELSEY GRAMMAR. DEFINITELY. HEY, RON, BEFORE WE GO, WHAT? ROD, before we go, can you give us a view of your window? Cuz we always see Opies. What What's it look like? I want to see what it looks like outside your So, this that's You're looking right there at That's uh ETH. We're on 8th Avenue. But if you look this way, I'm going to show you a nice shot of this is right up 8th Avenue towards um Can you see that? Uh he's on Ethan. So that's 8th Avenue going up towards the park. And we're on 46th Street in Midtown. 46 and 8. All right, He's not 46 and 8. COME BY ANYTIME. OPIE and Ron. No. Look at Look at Opie's like that. That view is not good enough for me. Where's Opie's judging you, Ron? I'm [ __ ] around. Jesus. And and and Ron, I live in a basement. Opie judges us. No, I don't. Don't start that garbage. Opie has two backgrounds. One is the Hudson River and then one is the Atlantic Ocean cuz he has a beach house. And he doesn't like Mandani because if you have a second dwelling that you don't really live in that's worth over $5 million. You're going to get taxed. No. By the way, I finally looked into that because you you set me into a tail spin. What they're trying to do. I think it's Hokll. We h I sold my old apartment to one of these people. So I sold my old apartment to the uh the woman that owns Lays. Wow. The potato chips. Wow. Yes. That must have been some apartment they bought. So here's the story. I got to go. But here's the story. I I lived in another apartment in this building and we needed a bigger place because we were having kids and stuff. So, my neighbor who they're from Dallas, they come up to New York like every once in a while. They're up here maybe 20 days a year and they got a multi-million dollar apartment in this building, right? Uh, so they found out I was selling. They said, "Don't [ __ ] put it on the market. We'll pay whatever." I got way more than I should have for my old apartment. It had a shitty kitchen, everything cuz they wanted to knock down the wall. They were my neighbors that I saw literally that I saw him 20 days a year tops. Turn it into a duplex. And she's in the family that owns Lays. All right. So, they're like, "Money is no issue. Do not put it on the market." And then my realtor's like, "Well, we could get, you know," and then like, "Well, we'll pay." And we did very well. They knocked the wall down. They're like, "We're take This is how crazy and how rich people are in this [ __ ] city." She goes, or no, I I was I was talking to her husband. Uh he goes, "Yeah, we want to buy your apartment." Which it was a decent apartment. It was like uh two I think it was two bedrooms. He's like, "Yeah, we want to knock down the wall and uh you know, so my son has somewhere to stay when he comes to New York." That's how much money some of these [ __ ] people have. That's why this pet idea is a great idea. Tax, baby. Tax.
So the point is it it's the opposite, Ron. They're trying to go after people like that that have homes in New York, but they don't have it's not their their primary residence. Yeah. So, if it's not your primary residence, you can get away with murder with the taxes. So, Hokll's actually going after those people that come from >> specific. Yes. >> Come from other places and have this multi-million dollar apartment in New York and they don't have to really pay taxes on it because it's not their primary residence. All right. I love that. Anyway, I got to go. I got to get kids to school. Uh, actually I gotta get my wife up. She's going to [ __ ] jury duty. Good luck with that [ __ ] Um, we delayed that for years and she's finally got to go. All right, listen. Uh, Ron the waiter, thank you. Uh, Ron brought Ron Barber to my attention. And, uh, I hope you, uh, I hope you, you know, become a regular on this thing. Ron, you're good. You're good. Oh my god. Your best friend. And and working with Ron Berman has been nothing but a delight. Yeah. By the way, Ron, how are our scenes? How is it working with Ron Berman? No one cares, Ron. He's funny as can be. You know, he's a funny man. Yeah. No one cares. They're there. They they're they're shooting a pilot at uh Bohemian Beer Garden. So, listen. What's the big plug, Ron Barber? It's this Saturday with Ron Berman at the Bohemian Beer Garden 8 o'clock. Come to Bohemian Beer Garden in Atoria and watch me do the MAGA for MAANI ACT. I'M GONNA DO and you have the German television station filming everything. They don't care about that. Our audience is like, "Oh, right. A German TV station is interviewing. The big deal. Germany is is fascinated with this." And by the way, Opie's been saying for years, Ron, I I gotta come to one of your shows. We're going on three years now. Ron Baba, three years. Well, and you wonder why you This is your opportunity, Opie. You wonder why I don't go. You drive me insane. Hey, talk about the German TV station that's gonna interview you. I love it. Ron, you see what's going on here? You see this, Ron? Oh, yeah. He sees it. He sees it. Trust me, he'll be texting me later about it.
All right, Listen, Ron Barber, and your uh I just started uh following you on Instagram, and your Instagram is really good. You got some really uh kick-ass AI videos up there, man. I got I have a homeless man who does my AI in from San Diego. Really? Yep. And he's and he's phenomenal. You can follow him because he needs money. He's Minds Well Films on Instagram and his name is Buster Wellstone on and he does all my stuff and he came out doing it just for you know um Gratus and then and then I paid him a little bit to do it but he needs money but he's so talented that he one of my AI videos just went super viral got 125,000 views in the last two days and that we don't get that open it's his brainchild every every AI thing is his brainchild I just shoot a little bit and then he makes the AI of it can I brag so Uh, I had Tony P on. He's a comedian. You guys know him? Yep. And, uh, he said, "I love you." And I put it together as an Instagram reel. And I think we're pushing a thousand views. Keep it going. Hey, Ron, my star is falling. It's too bad you didn't meet me when we were doing the Opian Anthony show. I made a big star. You assume you still have a star to fall. There's no star falling. It's use this AI guy. you the two of you guys THAT AIN'T WITH THIS GUY. NO, DON, I could fall even further. I'm still hovering above the pavement. Yeah. Oh, hire the homeless guy to help us. Yeah, that sounds good. All right, listen. So, what's your Instagram? So, it's Ron Barber one. R N B A R A with a number one. Ron. All right, Follow Ron Magg for Mom Donnie. It was a pleasure meeting you. Ron Burman Comedy on all THE SOCIALS. BIG SHOW. SHUT UP. I GOTTA GO, RON. BIG SHOW AT THE BOHEMIAN Beer Garden this Saturday. No, I'm in a major comedy competition tonight at the Whiskey Seller Comedy Club in East 7th in the East Village. All right, Smackdown highbrow comedy. All right, Great. Good luck. It believes