A few blocks away from where scores of teenage girls line up in Washington, D.C.’s Wharf district to see a former One Direction heartthrob in concert, more than a hundred Hill staffers, party operatives, digital campaign consultants, and fans poured into a nearby venue for what was, in political circles, another hot ticket.

It was the first ticketed live show for the Ruthless podcast, the lively and sometimes irreverent “variety progrum” [sic] hosted by Republican operatives who poke fun at foes while pumping up their allies in Congress, campaigns, and the wider political sphere.

The boozy, sold-out crowd sung along with the show’s inside-joke melodies and played games such as “Dem or Journo,” the enthusiasm surprising even some of the hosts’ friends in attendance. It was the latest sign of Ruthless’s growing popularity on the Right.

House Republican leadership recently invited the hosts to record a show at the Capitol with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise, and Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joined a taping of the show in the Sunshine State, and former Sen. Bob Dole appeared on the podcast in one of the last interviews before his death. Chartable frequently lists it in the top 50 most popular U.S. political podcasts on Apple.

The hosts are Josh Holmes, a former chief of staff to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; Michael Duncan, a longtime digital and communications strategist; and the Republican operative known best by his Twitter pseudonym “Comfortably Smug.” Holmes and Duncan are founding partners at the Republican firm Cavalry LLC along with John Ashbrook, who is not technically a host but is deeply involved with the show and can often be heard on it.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, the guys explained that their vision was conservative media driven by comedy that isn’t all gallows humor and isn’t angry or boring.

“It’s not like [young people] wake up in the morning like, ‘I can’t wait to listen to the Federalist Papers,'” Smug said. Ashbrook added: “If you think about the way you talk about this stuff with your friends, nobody screams at their friends.”

“It’s really easy to get really mad about what is happening in politics, especially in isolation,” Duncan said. “If you don’t laugh about it, you will cry. You will go crazy.”

Their decades of behind-the-scenes experience in politics and access to high-profile figures garner the team immediate comparisons to Pod Save America, the popular Democratic podcast started by former Obama administration staffers. Operatives-turned-commentators are common, but less so in podcasts on the Right, which is dominated by non-operative personalities. The closest Republican equivalent may be former White House adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room, which takes a far more combative and radical tone.

But mostly, it’s the upbeat attitude that has found Ruthless favor far beyond the Hill and campaign spheres. Two of its biggest fans at the live show were Laurie Dennis and Nicole Foster, middle-aged teachers from the Maryland suburbs who sat at a table closest to the stage.

“Tucker [Carlson] has really good information,” Foster said. “But it’s a little bit depressing and angering. These guys — you can laugh, and also get to feel like there’s hope.”

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton was a surprise special guest and was presented with a White House-branded “kit” that included a spoon, a lighter, and a syringe — a reference to a government “harm reduction” program that purportedly could have been used to distribute crack pipes.

“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to accept the gifts. … So, if you don’t mind, then I’ll regift it to Hunter Biden,” Cotton said.

The Ruthless crew’s insider experience isn’t a selling point for everyone. Some ultraconservative operatives see the podcast as the “establishment” tied to McConnell (his campaign is a top client of Cavalry, though the show is a separate entity) unjustly trying to harness online energy that sprung up around Donald Trump while covering for Republicans deemed unworthy. Soon after Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw publicly took aim at “grifters” in the party, angering many of his colleagues, he appeared on the show and further hammered the point.

Ruthless doesn’t shy away from its “establishment” sympathies. The hosts root for the Republicans and warn listeners not to “take the bait” and criticize those on their team. Don’t expect them to ruminate over what it means to be a true Republican in the post-Trump era or press guests on tough issues. Like party leaders, the Ruthless guys are aiming for a GOP majority.

“There’s more conservative Republicans than others, but there’s two parties in this country,” Holmes said. “You’re either Republican or you’re Democrat, and that’s it.”

“If you’re part of this movement and trying to move the ball the way we are, then you’re part of the team, however you want to be classified,” Smug added.

Which is not to say the podcast never criticizes Republicans. After New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that he would not run for Senate because he did not want to be a “roadblock for two years,” the hosts ripped him apart. Just before Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was ousted from House Republican leadership last year, the hosts scolded her for “taking the bait” by continuing to talk about Trump and his false 2020 election claims, contrary to the wishes of her conference.

A representative for Cheney reached out to the podcast after that May 2021 episode, suggesting that the show have her as a guest. Smug said that her team was trying to “scramble” to have her on, and that they have refused. Text messages from a Cheney staffer to Holmes reviewed by the Washington Examiner showed a more cordial exchange, saying he would “welcome her coming on to discuss” and offering to have their booker reach out. There was no further connection to make it happen, and Cheney was soon ousted from leadership.

Launched in October 2020 just before Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed, it was widely assumed that the name “Ruthless” was simply dancing on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s grave — which they knowingly leaned into, slapping a picture of the Supreme Court in the show’s logo.

The name, Duncan said, was decided on before the feminist icon’s death. It was inspired by a 2019 CNN segment talking about the McConnell campaign’s gloating over his Democratic challenger Amy McGrath flip-flopping days into her campaign on whether she would have voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “Mitch McConnell and his people are ruthless,” remarked Carl Hulse of the New York Times. “They’re not just ruthless, they’re sarcastically funny ruthless,” host John King added.

Having tapped into an obvious niche and being regularly bombarded with requests from those clamoring to appear on the show, the hosts are eyeing making it bigger.

“We definitely have plans,” Holmes said. “We feel like we have a huge ocean of potential listeners that, frankly, we just don’t spend money on advertising and things like that to get to.”

The show has a million unique listeners (not necessarily for every episode), according to the team, and they believe that could go far higher with active marketing. It makes enough money now, including through conservative organization sponsors, to cover the show’s travel and other expenses. All the guys still have their day jobs, which works in concert with the “sarcastically funny ruthless” pep talk they give Republican listeners in their spare time.

Emily Brooks is a political reporter at the Washington Examiner.

Original Location: The GOP’s jokermen

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