GOV. WES MOORE Talks Military Service, Iran War, Oprah

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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Coca-Cola. For the big, for the small, the short, and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers. For the optimists, pessimists. For long-distance love. For introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers. For old friends and new. Coca-Cola. For everyone. Pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you.

• 0:31Adam Friedland?

  So I guess like the first thing that brought you to prominence, is that correct? Is the book you wrote about the other Wes Moore?

• 0:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, prominence, wow, yeah.

• 0:38Adam Friedland?

  Would you write a sequel? The other other Wes Moore? Because we found this guy, Wes Moore. And he posted on January 6th, 2019, he got four likes for this. He said, "I heart boobs."

• 0:54Speaker 02

  Oh yeah, that's definitely the other Wes Moore.

• 0:55Adam Friedland?

  On Facebook.

• 0:56Speaker 02

  That ain't me.

• 0:57Adam Friedland?

  I'm thinking this is the sequel.

• 1:27Adam Friedland?

  Hello and welcome to the Adam Friedland Show. I'm Adam Friedland. Real quick, there are a couple of tickets left to the Regent Theater, May 9th. Netflix is a joke festival. And I didn't tell you guys, I'm going to the brunch at Ted Sarandos's house. I'm so nervous. Regent Theater, May 9th. First show is sold out. There's a 9:45 that they added. A couple of tickets remain. Also, San Francisco, California, end of the month. Portland, Oregon. More Democrat cities to follow. Failed states, I call them failed states. In addition, if you want to support the show, please sign up for Friedland Family Foundation here on youtube.com. You can click to join and be a member.

• 2:11Adam Friedland?

  There's a, something in the, what is it called? The note? My guest this week is Wes Moore. And I know what you're thinking. Wes Moore. The drug dealer, the robber, the killer.

• 2:24Adam Friedland?

  And for those of you who think that that maybe take a look at hard, long, hard look in the mirror, because there's a different Wes Moore, another Wes Moore, a governor of Maryland Wes Moore, and an author of the other Wes Moore, one name, two fates, Wes Moore. Wes Moore is up for reelection currently in Maryland after first taking office in 2023, his first race for anything in his entire life. But despite that impending race, I was shocked to see his name listed on every major prediction market site as a potential candidate for the next president of these, these United States.

• 3:07Adam Friedland?

  But after two hours here in the studio, it started to make sense. He was acting well, like the president. He was acting well like the president. He was talking to people, he was talking to me, he was shaking people's hands, and he even wore pretty nice clothes. So I've come, I've come up with a little plan. I was inspired by what I saw in those prediction markets. And so at the end of the episode, I want you to play, pay special attention to, I think it'll, you'll figure it out. But legally, I have to just say, I'm not a financial advisor, nothing I say constitutes

• 3:48Adam Friedland?

  financial advice or a recommendation to buy/sell/bet. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Betting/gambling carries the risk of total loss. And I'm not going to say anything further. And by the way, I don't even mean anything that I just said, because I... So please enjoy what I said with Wes Moore. Ladies and gentlemen, Governor Maryland Wes Moore. Give it up for him.

• 4:20Adam Friedland?

  How are you doing? What's going on? I talked, we talked on the phone yesterday, we were just, it was, uh, we were saying some wild things.

• 4:27Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:28Adam Friedland?

  It was like the conversations comics have backstage, you know?

• 4:32Speaker 02

  It was great though, man.

• 4:33Adam Friedland?

  It was like we're in the comedy mothership green room and we had rogues, we had all the boys. Uh, thanks for coming on.

• 4:39Speaker 02

  Hey, listen, I've been looking forward to this. I told you I'm a fan, it's good.

• 4:42Adam Friedland?

  You're in the fight of your life right now for your, uh, political career, you're up for reelection of the, for governor.

• 4:49Speaker 02

  I am, I am. I'm excited about it. We're, we're, we're feeling good.

• 4:53Adam Friedland?

  You're feeling good. You're running for reelection of governor of Maryland?

• 4:56Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 4:57Adam Friedland?

  And this is one of your, you've left the state in the middle of the work week? And you've come, and he's come here. We really appreciate you coming as a campaign stop.

• 5:08Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 5:09Adam Friedland?

  To a Jewish person YouTube show for your reelection for governor of Maryland. You, you were saying before, he's been going to church every day, you're praying on this election. Every day, every week. Okay, good.

• 5:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:24Adam Friedland?

  It's, no, but it looks tight. Republican is at 28%.

• 5:30Adam Friedland?

  And the third party candidate, how do you feel about don't know at 16%?

• 5:35Speaker 02

  Well, you know what's crazy? In my first poll, when I was running for governor, uh, I'm not voting was polling higher than Wes Moore, so I'm feeling better now.

• 5:42Adam Friedland?

  So you're, you're, you're like a comeback kid. You like that?

• 5:44Speaker 02

  I, it's, it's a position that I'm very comfortable being in.

• 5:47Adam Friedland?

  Was it your first election ever? You've been class president?

• 5:50Speaker 02

  Ever. No, listen, I had never.

• 5:52Adam Friedland?

  Have you never run for anything before governor?

• 5:54Speaker 02

  I've never run for any political office before in my life.

• 5:56Adam Friedland?

  That's kind of, it's kind of not fair to the other guys that are trying to run for things, right?

• 6:00Speaker 02

  Well, you know.

• 6:00Adam Friedland?

  You just skipped.

• 6:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, no. Well, you know, it's funny, they had tried to argue that. They're like, he, what is he, he didn't wait his turn.

• 6:06Adam Friedland?

  No cuts, no butts, no coconuts? They said that to you? How do you feel about the dark horse in the race? Someone else at 6% right now?

• 6:13Speaker 02

  We, we have our eye on them.

• 6:14Adam Friedland?

  Someone else.

• 6:17Adam Friedland?

  So this is surely Europe, it's it looks like 25% right now. You're in the fight of your life, you're praying praying for this. Governor, I've really enjoyed both our conversation yesterday and learning about you. But you're from you're from the city, actually, you grew up.

• 6:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, I spent part of my childhood in the Bronx.

• 6:38Adam Friedland?

  In the Bronx?

• 6:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, spent part of my childhood in the Bronx. So after I was born down in Maryland. And my dad died when I was young, so my mom has to go live with my grandparents, who were living up in the Bronx.

• 6:50Adam Friedland?

  Your family's Jamaican?

• 6:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, my my family, my grandfather was actually born in the US, but but actually fled the US when he was young, but was raised in Jamaica. My grandmother was born in Cuba and then went to Jamaica because her father got a job.

• 7:05Adam Friedland?

  What made him flee?

• 7:07Speaker 02

  He was actually pushed out by the Ku Klux Klan.

• 7:10Adam Friedland?

  Really?

• 7:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, so my great grandfather was a minister. And he was a very vocal minister. And the and.

• 7:17Adam Friedland?

  He was loud.

• 7:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, he was he was loud. He was loud and and eventually got the attention of the Ku Klux Klan.

• 7:23Adam Friedland?

  What year was this?

• 7:24Speaker 02

  This was, God, I don't know what year it was, in South Carolina.

• 7:29Adam Friedland?

  South Carolina, wow. So he was an American guy that moved to Jamaica?

• 7:32Speaker 02

  Well, he was actually Jamaican who moved to the United States.

• 7:34Adam Friedland?

  And he was like, it sucks here.

• 7:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, and was like, I'm bringing my family out. And they and they and they left.

• 7:39Adam Friedland?

  It's nicer in Jamaica.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  People aren't threatening us for their life.

• 7:43Adam Friedland?

  How's your Patswa?

• 7:44Speaker 02

  It's it's actually not bad.

• 7:46Adam Friedland?

  I had a roommate in college that was Jamaican and he'd be like, yeah, so anyway, and then he'd pick up the phone, he'd be like, you know, hear me now, hear me now.

• 7:53Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 7:54Adam Friedland?

  It was awesome. Yeah.

• 7:56Speaker 02

  You sound like, what's that?

• 7:58Adam Friedland?

  I didn't want to do the.

• 7:59Speaker 02

  The 1-900 number, Miss Cleo. Call me now.

• 8:03Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, I was doing a Miss Cleo, no, I was doing an impression of my college. Wait, my friend, my friend sent me this clip, this funny, he said, this is so funny, and I just didn't understand what the guy was saying.

• 8:13Speaker 02

  Uh oh.

• 8:14Adam Friedland?

  Can you tell me, so you you could like, can you translate?

• 8:18Speaker 02

  Let's give it a shot, I'll let you know.

• 8:19Adam Friedland?

  Tell me what this this video.

• 8:21Speaker 02

  People forget that Patswa is actually like, it's a real language. Like, people think it's such an accent, like, no, it's a whole language.

• 8:25Adam Friedland?

  Well, there's like Wikipedia that's in Patswa. It's like, yeah, yeah, there's like, okay, here we go.

• 8:33Speaker 03

  Big up, big up the whole island, my city's your boy Chetanah.

• 8:37Adam Friedland?

  Okay, what's that mean?

• 8:38Speaker 02

  It means it's telling him that it's a very big island.

• 8:40Adam Friedland?

  And it's your boy Chetanah?

• 8:43Speaker 02

  Chetanah.

• 8:44Adam Friedland?

  I don't know.

• 8:54Speaker 02

  He's telling him they're coming from the Golden Globes. And then he's telling that there's a special session coming up, so he's telling people to tune into it.

• 9:01Adam Friedland?

  Oh, okay. And his father, Tom Hanks, is, uh, what did he say?

• 9:04Speaker 02

  Is that, so is that who that is?

• 9:05Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 9:06Speaker 02

  What's his name?

• 9:07Adam Friedland?

  It's my friend Chet. Yeah, he went viral doing this, yeah.

• 9:10Speaker 02

  That's actually not...

• 9:10Adam Friedland?

  He says Jamaican people loved it, but the Babylons didn't like it. The Babylons hated it, but Jamaican people loved it.

• 9:19Speaker 02

  That's probably about right, yeah.

• 9:21Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 9:21Speaker 02

  I mean, I get that from members of my family when I'm in Jamaica. Like, sometimes when I try to kick into, like, impatience, they just kind of laugh. Island boy.

• 9:29Adam Friedland?

  They make fun of you.

• 9:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:30Adam Friedland?

  That's hilarious.

• 9:31Speaker 02

  Mail and why.

• 9:32Adam Friedland?

  That's so funny. Yeah, it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Where's your family live?

• 9:37Speaker 02

  So, my mother was born in Trelawney, which was actually on the west coast of the island.

• 9:42Adam Friedland?

  Okay.

• 9:43Speaker 02

  So, but she spent time in Trelawney, she spent part of her childhood in Low River. And actually, there's a place called Westmoreland. And what's really interesting, which is kind of like my name, Westmoreland.

• 9:51Adam Friedland?

  That's so cool.

• 9:51Speaker 02

  And so, my family always kind of crack jokes because my mother, when she married my father, whose name was Wes Moore, they'd always be like, "You went to the United States and you married a Westmoreland?"

• 10:02Adam Friedland?

  Oh.

• 10:02Speaker 02

  And so, it was like, "Westmoreland."

• 10:03Adam Friedland?

  That's so cute.

• 10:04Speaker 02

  Yeah. It's very cute. It's an amazing island, though. It's an amazing country.

• 10:08Adam Friedland?

  So, like, yeah, but you were at Riverdale, you were at, like, a elite prep school, but it didn't work on you.

• 10:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, it didn't work out that well.

• 10:15Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 10:15Speaker 02

  But, you know, in honesty...

• 10:17Adam Friedland?

  One of the cutest things that you said to the rich kids was that you have a vacation house in Brooklyn.

• 10:22Adam Friedland?

  That's so adorable. They're like, "We go to St. Bart's."

• 10:26Speaker 02

  But honestly, it's like, I didn't know summer was a verb. Cause people like.

• 10:30Adam Friedland?

  Oh, we summer.

• 10:31Speaker 02

  We summer. I was like, oh, okay. Well, I summer too, in Brooklyn.

• 10:35Adam Friedland?

  You summer in Brooklyn? Where's your vacation at?

• 10:39Adam Friedland?

  Did you make it up?

• 10:40Speaker 02

  No.

• 10:41Adam Friedland?

  Was that the most exotic place you know?

• 10:42Speaker 02

  No.

• 10:42Adam Friedland?

  Or is there?

• 10:43Speaker 02

  Cause my grandfather, my grandfather, he was a minister of a church.

• 10:46Adam Friedland?

  In Coney Island?

• 10:47Speaker 02

  And no, in, um, in, uh, in Betside.

• 10:50Adam Friedland?

  In Betside?

• 10:50Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 10:51Adam Friedland?

  That's a vacation?

• 10:52Speaker 02

  It's a vacation house. That's why vacations.

• 10:53Adam Friedland?

  Cause you're like at elementary school, you're like trying to connect with like the, the dad, the guy whose dad is the president of Fentanyl or something. Yeah. You're like, I have. What was the, the biggest constant in your life was basketball throughout, throughout your upbringing?

• 11:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, I love basketball. Well, basketball, basketball was really the thing that actually where I could find acceptance. You know what I mean? Like, like when I moved to the Bronx, I didn't know anybody. I didn't know anything. And so like, but what I knew was there were courts that were like a block away, two blocks away. And so I would just go to the courts and that's where I met some of my friends. That's where I learned about, learned about the neighborhood that I really wasn't familiar with. It was a place that, you know, when I told, when I told my mom or told my grandparents, like, I'm gonna go, go play basketball. As long as they're like, as long as you're back by when the sun comes down, like you're good.

• 11:43Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 11:43Speaker 02

  And so it was a place of freedom for me, particularly when.

• 11:47Adam Friedland?

  What was your game?

• 11:49Speaker 02

  Um, my game was actually pretty decent. I was pretty quick.

• 11:52Adam Friedland?

  What was, what, what profile? What's your comp? What's your NBA comp?

• 11:55Speaker 02

  Um.

• 11:56Adam Friedland?

  You're a distributor?

• 11:56Speaker 02

  I wish I was good enough to have NBA comp. Um, no, actually, you know who my game was? I was, I was like a, if Anthony Mason were a point guard, that's who I was.

• 12:08Adam Friedland?

  You were a violent, violent gentleman?

• 12:10Speaker 02

  I was a violent, I was a violent.

• 12:11Adam Friedland?

  Charles Oakley?

• 12:14Adam Friedland?

  You're, you're Ron Artest at the, in Detroit.

• 12:17Speaker 02

  Exactly, exactly.

• 12:19Adam Friedland?

  Really? So did you have to scrap on the courts?

• 12:20Speaker 02

  100%.

• 12:21Adam Friedland?

  Really?

• 12:22Speaker 02

  100%. I mean, you had to.

• 12:23Adam Friedland?

  You've yammed in your life. How many dunks have you done in your entire life?

• 12:26Speaker 02

  You know what, I think I did my first dunk when I was a...

• 12:29Adam Friedland?

  I would kill my, I would die tomorrow just for one.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  I think I had my first dunk when I was a junior, maybe, no, I think I was a junior in high school. That was my first dunk. Yeah, and I think I had my last dunk when I was a, uh, a junior in college. I think at that point, I was like, yeah, this, this, the knees ain't, ain't popping anymore.

• 12:48Adam Friedland?

  So, I don't think we've had a dunk president ever. Just, this is a trivia question. This has nothing to do with your election for governor.

• 12:55Speaker 02

  Could dunk, or ever in his life?

• 12:57Adam Friedland?

  You're sucking up right now?

• 12:58Speaker 02

  No, I'm just asking.

• 12:59Adam Friedland?

  If you, one on one, you could snatch his soul, you think Barack Obama president? Never mind, no.

• 13:05Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 13:05Adam Friedland?

  He's alright, he's, he's not bad.

• 13:07Speaker 02

  Oh, I'm sure he's a great ball player, but like, I would never acknowledge that anybody could beat me.

• 13:11Adam Friedland?

  When I moved to New York, I moved to Bedside, actually.

• 13:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:13Adam Friedland?

  And I went to the courts on, I think, between Bedford and Noster, the, those big courts. And I played pickup and I got dunked on by like a 13-year-old and I'm like, I'm like, I'm only playing against Jewish people for the rest of my life. Really? Like, and, and people were laughing at me. I was like, what was I supposed to do?

• 13:31Speaker 02

  It's a business decision sometimes.

• 13:32Adam Friedland?

  It was a child.

• 13:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, but listen, when you see someone coming up, it really, you gotta make a choice.

• 13:37Adam Friedland?

  And Starbury ended your career, is that right?

• 13:40Speaker 02

  I loved him. He was, he was like, you remember, I mean, Steph was like royalty. Steph was, Steph was royalty.

• 13:48Adam Friedland?

  Remember the ESPN, the magazine thing you did with KG?

• 13:51Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 13:51Adam Friedland?

  No bikinis, no thongs, all nude. As a kid, I was like, really? Is he, is he serious? Are there gonna be naked ladies also in this magazine? I didn't, I was confused. Wait, so he just, he cooked, he cooked you?

• 14:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:05Adam Friedland?

  And you're like, I'm not gonna be in the NBA.

• 14:07Speaker 02

  And, and honestly, like, I was actually pretty good. I was a pretty good ball player in high school. And, but then when you go and you play against those guys? And you go and you play against, you know, the Stephon Marlberries and, you know, Kobe and I were in the same...

• 14:20Adam Friedland?

  Bean.

• 14:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, same graduate class, like, that's nuts. Like, they just play at a different level.

• 14:25Adam Friedland?

  You met him?

• 14:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, who, Kobe?

• 14:26Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 14:27Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And, I'll tell you why, I've, I've, I've a really great Kobe story. So Kobe's cousin slash friend, I wasn't, he called him my cousin, but I'm not sure if it was really his cousin, was my teammate in, in high school. And he was really good. He was like six, seven, six, eight, something like that. Anyways, we're going out and I'm trying to remember if it was right before Kobe declared for the draft or right after.

• 14:49Adam Friedland?

  Ninety-six.

• 14:50Speaker 02

  Ninety-six, but I'm trying to remember what time of the year it was.

• 14:52Adam Friedland?

  Okay.

• 14:53Speaker 02

  But he's like, yo, he's like, me and Kobe, uh, me and Bean are about to go out and we're gonna go to the movies. You wanna come? I'm like, yeah, that's cool. So we go out to the movies.

• 15:00Adam Friedland?

  What did you see?

• 15:00Speaker 02

  So me, oh, I can't tell you what we saw because we didn't see it. Buy the ticket.

• 15:05Adam Friedland?

  Cause you had so much fun?

• 15:06Speaker 02

  No, buy the ticket, standing in line, and then one person comes up, you know, can I have your autograph to Kobe? Two people, three people, finally there's a swarm of people. No, in Pennsylvania.

• 15:18Adam Friedland?

  Oh, in Philly.

• 15:19Speaker 02

  MPA, yeah, Philly, cause he went to Long Island.

• 15:21Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 15:22Speaker 02

  So now he's like-

• 15:23Adam Friedland?

  And he went to prom with?

• 15:24Speaker 02

  Brandy. That's exactly right, which was a very big deal back then. It was like, oh shit.

• 15:28Adam Friedland?

  That's so cool.

• 15:30Speaker 02

  Going to prom with Brandy, that's nuts.

• 15:31Adam Friedland?

  How does a kid do that?

• 15:33Speaker 02

  I know.

• 15:34Adam Friedland?

  Imagine if I went to prom with Carmen Electra or something, I don't know. I don't know why that-

• 15:39Speaker 02

  Do you remember who you went to prom with?

• 15:41Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, this girl that, uh, yeah, it was a disaster, the whole thing. She was a competitive swimmer. And so she just got back from a meet and, uh, in our prom picture, she looked way more jacked than me. And my mom also did my hair and she used it. I had long hair. We don't have to get into it. The picture is a disaster.

• 16:02Speaker 02

  I really wanna see this picture now.

• 16:04Adam Friedland?

  I looked terrible. But then we, yeah, we had an aft- we had the afters at my house. It was pretty cool.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  Oh, that's cool.

• 16:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 16:11Speaker 02

  So you actually did the afters for your prom at your house?

• 16:13Adam Friedland?

  I didn't get any, just in case you're-

• 16:15Speaker 02

  Cause you chose to do it at your house.

• 16:18Adam Friedland?

  Who did you take to prom? The military?

• 16:20Speaker 02

  It was a military prom. It was a military prom.

• 16:22Adam Friedland?

  What's a military prom?

• 16:23Speaker 02

  It's, it was what we called the ring dance.

• 16:26Adam Friedland?

  The ring dance?

• 16:26Speaker 02

  The ring dance, cause you wanna know what happens is, is just like you have your ring. This is still my, still my ring.

• 16:30Adam Friedland?

  Are there girl, you took a, are there, is it co-educational?

• 16:34Speaker 02

  No, it wasn't co-educational when I was there, but you take, you took a girl from like the neighborhood.

• 16:39Adam Friedland?

  Was the girls' school across the lake and then you do pranks on them? That's how I imagine, being out of all guy school.

• 16:46Speaker 02

  Nah, there was no girl, there was no girl's school, even though there was a military college there. And like right by there was like Cabrini, Villanova was closed, we would always go to Philly and so you got a chance to get out.

• 17:00Adam Friedland?

  For context, you, your mother sent you to military school.

• 17:04Speaker 02

  When I was like 13 years old.

• 17:05Adam Friedland?

  13, you were like, you ran away from, you tried to be a regular Jane Fonda. You ran away from, from a child soldier's school.

• 17:14Speaker 02

  Child soldier's school.

• 17:16Adam Friedland?

  Child soldier's.

• 17:16Speaker 02

  Cause it sucks, I mean like you go there and it's horrible, like they wake you up in the morning, they're screaming at you. They like, everything about your life is taken away, it was horrible.

• 17:25Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 17:25Speaker 02

  And I'm like, wait, y'all pay for this? For them to do this to us?

• 17:29Adam Friedland?

  But you ended up liking it.

• 17:31Speaker 02

  Um, I ended up loving it.

• 17:33Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 17:33Speaker 02

  Because I ended up needing it.

• 17:35Adam Friedland?

  Really?

• 17:35Speaker 02

  And I didn't realize how much I needed it.

• 17:37Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 17:38Speaker 02

  You know, cause you listen, I mean, things were hard and I wasn't, you know, I always say I feel bad for the kind of kiddos, cause my mom deserved a better son.

• 17:48Adam Friedland?

  What were you, how bad were you? Were that bad?

• 17:50Speaker 02

  Um.

• 17:51Adam Friedland?

  You were being very bad?

• 17:52Speaker 02

  I was, listen, I mean, I had, I had handcuffed my wrist by the time I was 11.

• 17:56Adam Friedland?

  But did you deserve it or not?

• 17:59Speaker 02

  Um, I could try to tell you that I didn't, but I probably did, right? Because, I mean, now in that instance.

• 18:04Adam Friedland?

  Oh, you could say.

• 18:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:06Adam Friedland?

  Statute of limitation, yeah. What did you do?

• 18:09Speaker 02

  Well, in that instance, what happened was, it was spray painting. I was tagging.

• 18:12Adam Friedland?

  Oh, that's, that's art, that's street art.

• 18:14Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 18:15Adam Friedland?

  I saw a bunch of, I saw a bunch of like rich Brooklyn Park Slope kids at graffiti summer camp, like a couple of years ago.

• 18:22Speaker 02

  People get paid for it now.

• 18:23Adam Friedland?

  They were like, now you gotta throw up your tag.

• 18:25Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 18:26Adam Friedland?

  And did you tell the cop it's one of the five pillars of hip hop and you're not doing anything wrong? That's not that bad, you did a graffiti?

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Could you imagine if I said that?

• 18:33Adam Friedland?

  You shouldn't feel like you're a bad son.

• 18:35Speaker 02

  I noticed that this is the part where you're saying.

• 18:36Adam Friedland?

  Don't feel, your mom didn't think you were that bad.

• 18:39Speaker 02

  Well, I mean, I was, I was, I was, I was bad enough that, that, uh, that she ended up sending me away.

• 18:44Adam Friedland?

  Well, yeah, I guess.

• 18:46Speaker 02

  And that sucked.

• 18:47Adam Friedland?

  And it benefited you. The president, he also went to boy soldier's school.

• 18:50Speaker 02

  He did, he went to, I think, New York Military Academy.

• 18:52Adam Friedland?

  Why, did it, you think it worked on you, but it didn't? Why did it work on Donald Trump?

• 18:56Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't know, I don't, I don't speak for them.

• 19:00Adam Friedland?

  Well, what do you think? What's your, just speculate?

• 19:02Speaker 02

  Um.

• 19:02Adam Friedland?

  Cause if it was good for like structure in your life and say, yeah, like.

• 19:06Speaker 02

  Well, you know what, too, is like, like for me, though, right out of military school, I actually joined the army.

• 19:12Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 19:13Speaker 02

  Um, I think he went to Wharton, right?

• 19:15Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, he was a college boy.

• 19:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, college boy.

• 19:17Adam Friedland?

  So you think he's a, uh, he's, you think you're, you're more badass, it's more badass.

• 19:23Speaker 02

  No, I, I think, I think I just, we just have, we have different experiences.

• 19:27Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 19:28Speaker 02

  And we have, uh.

• 19:29Adam Friedland?

  I wonder what it was like yelling at Trump in high school, like, but the, the, can we find the drill sergeant, Trump's drill sergeant?

• 19:35Speaker 02

  How amazing would that be?

• 19:36Adam Friedland?

  Was he talking shit back? Was he like, fuck, you know? Yeah, yeah.

• 19:42Speaker 02

  See, that's the thing.

• 19:42Adam Friedland?

  Imagine Trump with a drill sergeant, that'd be insane, actually.

• 19:45Speaker 02

  That would be amazing.

• 19:46Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 19:47Speaker 02

  Oh, my gosh.

• 19:48Adam Friedland?

  It's bizarre to think about, um, wait, so, so, yeah, I guess, like, um.

• 19:52Speaker 02

  I think you would have done well in military school.

• 19:54Adam Friedland?

  Me?

• 19:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:56Adam Friedland?

  Oh, my God, it would have been awful.

• 19:57Speaker 02

  I think you would have done well.

• 19:58Adam Friedland?

  No, the problem is, is that we, we can get to this later, but Jews aren't supposed to go to the army. We're not supposed to go to the war, that's why everything's bad right now. We're supposed to hide from the war. That's what we did for eighteen hundred years, hiding from the war. We wrote books about hiding from the war. I thought it was interesting, you, you wrote about like how you like, educationally, it kind of like also set you straight, too. Like, you started reading and stuff like that.

• 20:25Speaker 02

  It was, it was, because I was like, I was, it was really weird, because it's like, I, um, I, I was not a very good reader.

• 20:35Speaker 02

  I was reading below grade level, and I just didn't enjoy it, and, and I give it to my mom. She was the one who really helped to crack that nut, because she actually started having me reading stuff that I actually enjoyed. And once I started reading stuff I actually enjoyed, I actually then just got into it.

• 20:49Adam Friedland?

  What did she give you?

• 20:50Speaker 02

  She, first book she gave me was a book called Fab Five, about.

• 20:54Adam Friedland?

  About Jalen Rosen them?

• 20:55Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 20:55Adam Friedland?

  Oh, cool.

• 20:56Speaker 02

  There you go, by Mitch Albom.

• 20:57Adam Friedland?

  Sports, yeah.

• 20:57Speaker 02

  By Mitch Albom.

• 20:58Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 20:58Speaker 02

  And I went through that book, and, and when I first read that book, she was like, let me just give this a shot. So she gives me the book, read it.

• 21:05Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 21:05Speaker 02

  And like, two days later, she's like, did you start the book? I was like, I finished it. And she's like, you finished it?

• 21:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, it's a short book, though. You're flexing on that, it's like eighty page book.

• 21:14Speaker 02

  She was shocked. But she was shocked.

• 21:16Adam Friedland?

  No, it was good.

• 21:17Speaker 02

  And then I was like, and then I'm sort of like. Yeah, but then I started like defending, I was like, eh, and like Chris Webber, and Jalen Rose, and Jimmy King, and Juwan Howard, and Chris Jackson, da, da, da.

• 21:24Adam Friedland?

  It's nice of you to say Jimmy King.

• 21:26Speaker 02

  I did, yeah. He was like, wow, you didn't acknowledge.

• 21:28Adam Friedland?

  You know who the sixth man is?

• 21:29Speaker 02

  On that year?

• 21:30Adam Friedland?

  Rob Pelinka.

• 21:31Speaker 02

  Rob Pelinka.

• 21:32Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 21:33Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 21:34Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 21:34Speaker 02

  I felt bad because wasn't he like a senior?

• 21:37Adam Friedland?

  Rob Pelinka?

• 21:38Speaker 02

  When, when they start, when they first came, because he was supposed to be a starter.

• 21:42Adam Friedland?

  All I know is that the name Jalen never existed before, he was the first Jalen. Did you know that? Jalen Rose? He's the first Jalen ever, and now it is the most popular name in the NBA and NFL.

• 21:54Speaker 02

  Get out of here.

• 21:55Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 21:56Speaker 02

  I did not realize that.

• 21:57Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, it's one of those Instagram reels everyone's been getting.

• 22:00Speaker 02

  Huh. Did you know that Jalen Rose is the first?

• 22:03Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, I think it's a mom combined two names. It sounds nice as a name.

• 22:06Speaker 02

  It does, and I had no idea. And you're right, because I now know Jalen.

• 22:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 22:10Speaker 02

  Who?

• 22:10Adam Friedland?

  There's so many Jalen's.

• 22:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:12Adam Friedland?

  Yeah. Everyone's named Jalen now.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  That's interesting.

• 22:15Adam Friedland?

  Uh.

• 22:15Speaker 02

  He was a great ballplayer.

• 22:16Adam Friedland?

  We're getting off track. But like, um, so like, how did you like learn to love education? I mean, you became a Rhodes Scholar and stuff like that.

• 22:24Speaker 02

  I think there's a few things, right? I think, you know, first I started realizing that that was, that was my escape.

• 22:29Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 22:30Speaker 02

  You know, it's like,

• 22:32Speaker 02

  all the stuff I'm dealing with in life.

• 22:35Speaker 02

  All the anger, all the kind of stuff. It's like, you can, education really became this place, not just when people say it's your pathway or whatever like that. Like, that's true, but what it is, is like, it's an escape. It allows you to go into different worlds. It allows you to, to go into different places. It allows you to imagine in new ways. And I think that's what reading and education really became for me. And I started realizing that the world was just bigger than what was just directly in front of me. And that gave me a whole new scope on what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be. And so that's when, many ways, I was like, that really helped to save me.

• 23:12Adam Friedland?

  Wait, I, I read that you said you, you found yourself, there was a moment where you, you read the autobiography of Malcolm X.

• 23:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:20Adam Friedland?

  And then you read Colin Powell's autobiography?

• 23:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:23Adam Friedland?

  And you found yourself-

• 23:23Speaker 02

  You really put them together, right?

• 23:24Adam Friedland?

  You found yourself oddly connecting more with Colin Powell.

• 23:27Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:27Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 23:28Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well, and I, and I say that because-

• 23:29Adam Friedland?

  Was that after the Iraq war?

• 23:31Speaker 02

  That's-

• 23:31Adam Friedland?

  You can't be saying that, dude. Malcolm X didn't go to the UN-

• 23:35Speaker 02

  Actually, you know what's funny? It was before. It was before the Iraq war.

• 23:38Adam Friedland?

  Oh, so you just got in at the wrong time.

• 23:41Speaker 02

  I got, I got introduced at the right moment.

• 23:43Adam Friedland?

  Malcolm X never went to this, uh, UN and a million people died because of a lie he told.

• 23:49Adam Friedland?

  I'm not saying it was Colubell's idea, they made him. They made the one black guy do it.

• 23:53Speaker 02

  That is true, that is true.

• 23:55Adam Friedland?

  They probably say, who are we gonna throw to the wolves right now? Jesus Christ. So you found a way out, but then you went to the military. When did 9/11 happen?

• 24:05Speaker 02

  9/11 happened, I joined the Army in 96. I got commissioned 98 and then 9/11 happened three years after. And what was crazy was that 9/11 happened, I-

• 24:17Adam Friedland?

  Oh, you got in the wrong time again.

• 24:19Speaker 02

  Well, well-

• 24:20Adam Friedland?

  This is gonna be a breeze.

• 24:22Speaker 02

  Well, it's true.

• 24:23Adam Friedland?

  They're gonna pay for my dental surgery.

• 24:26Speaker 02

  I'm like, they're gonna pay for college and all that kind of stuff. But when 9/11 happened and when I deployed, I was very honest with the people who I served with. I was like, listen, when I joined the Army, none of this was going on.

• 24:38Adam Friedland?

  I thought I was gonna be doing pranks on the base with the boys.

• 24:42Speaker 02

  Because there was nothing going on, right? And even if you look at things like Bosnia and what can they think? That wasn't for the Army, that wasn't for the ground. That was an air war, for the most part, right?

• 24:50Adam Friedland?

  It's because of Monica Lewinsky, right? Yeah, that's what they say. Isn't that what they say? It was Kosovo.

• 24:56Speaker 02

  Kosovo, right. But it's like-

• 25:01Speaker 02

  No, but it's like, and then, but now I'm in Afghanistan, serving with all these people. And like, almost like to a person, when you ask them, you know, why did you join the Army? They're basically like, 9/11, 9/11.

• 25:14Adam Friedland?

  Did they say that?

• 25:14Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 25:15Adam Friedland?

  Still?

• 25:16Speaker 02

  No, I think, well, this was back when I-

• 25:17Adam Friedland?

  Back in those days.

• 25:18Speaker 02

  Because-

• 25:19Adam Friedland?

  And Pat Tillman.

• 25:20Speaker 02

  Exactly. And in some ways, that was actually my story, right? Because my story, as you see, is like, it has been a fascinating journey, but the thing that has always brought me back to my North Star has always been service. That I was always willing to give up or sacrifice if it meant I had the opportunity to serve. And when I first went back with, you know, went back with my unit, back with the 82nd in Afghanistan, I was actually working in finance. I was working for Deutsche Bank. I was doing debt capital markets. I was making a lot of money, living in London, having a ball. And I got a call from a person who ended up becoming my deputy brigade commander.

• 26:01Adam Friedland?

  Your unit got called up?

• 26:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, yeah, so he was with the 82nd airborne. And he asked me, he said, when are you gonna get in the fight?

• 26:08Adam Friedland?

  Right.

• 26:08Speaker 02

  And I was like, shit, like, it's indicting. Like, I'd gone through all this training. I joined the army when I was seventeen years old. And we're now a nation at war, and I'm sitting in London, freaking banking.

• 26:21Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 26:21Speaker 02

  And I was like, he's right. When am I gonna get in a fight? And so I ended up leaving the, my job, the world of finance. I told, I told my fiancee that I got called up. She didn't realize that the draft wasn't a thing anymore.

• 26:34Adam Friedland?

  You lied. You're a liar.

• 26:35Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 26:36Adam Friedland?

  You lied to your partner. Write that down.

• 26:38Speaker 02

  I, I imagine what she would have said if I told her, I, I wanna leave because I wanna go to Afghanistan.

• 26:44Adam Friedland?

  If I told my mother that, she would have killed me.

• 26:45Speaker 02

  She would have, she would have killed you, right?

• 26:47Adam Friedland?

  Yeah. So, do you think, like, what is the experience of knowing what a war is? Like, how does that inform, like, we're at war right now, right? Going back to Trump.

• 26:56Speaker 02

  And most of this country doesn't even realize it.

• 26:57Adam Friedland?

  But like, a, a lot of the people that kind of make these decisions, a lot of the time, are people that don't know what a war is.

• 27:04Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 27:04Adam Friedland?

  Right? Sounds like a stupid question, but what is a war?

• 27:07Speaker 02

  I can tell.

• 27:08Adam Friedland?

  To me, it sounds terrible.

• 27:09Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 27:10Adam Friedland?

  It sounds like one of the worst things, kind of, it sounds like awful.

• 27:13Speaker 02

  It is.

• 27:14Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 27:14Speaker 02

  It's horrible.

• 27:15Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  And that's why, it's like, listen, I mean, I think about, I think about, you know, I was a member of the eighty-second airborne division. That's the unit that has just gotten called up.

• 27:24Adam Friedland?

  Paratroopers?

• 27:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:26Adam Friedland?

  Band of Brothers?

• 27:27Speaker 02

  That's exactly right.

• 27:27Adam Friedland?

  Right.

• 27:28Speaker 02

  One of the most storied units in the history of the United States military.

• 27:31Adam Friedland?

  So you need to learn how to skydive for your thing?

• 27:35Speaker 02

  I, yes. So, people always say it's like, so I, I jumped, I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes.

• 27:41Adam Friedland?

  Wow. Okay. Wait, so keep going. I cut you off.

• 27:43Speaker 02

  But no, but it's, it's, it's, when we go, the thing I know about the eighty-second, or the hundred and first, or, you know, any of these military units, is we're the best in the world.

• 27:54Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 27:55Speaker 02

  There's nothing we can't do.

• 27:58Speaker 02

  But that doesn't mean we should do it.

• 28:00Adam Friedland?

  Right.

• 28:00Speaker 02

  Right, like, we can do anything. But it doesn't mean we can do everything.

• 28:05Adam Friedland?

  On a simpler level, like, you found yourself in combat? What is that experience?

• 28:09Speaker 02

  I mean, it's, um...

• 28:11Adam Friedland?

  Do I seem like a wimp right now? I mean, like, because I feel like, um, when John Kerry was in Vietnam...

• 28:19Speaker 02

  He was in Vietnam.

• 28:20Adam Friedland?

  You know, like, people used to go back and then just tell Congress, like, this, it's terrible. Right? And we should, you know? And now I feel like I see politicians be like, oh, like, this is part of my resume? And it's just like, um, I think that, I don't know, public figures, like, kind of telling us what the ramifications of the decisions being made, I think is pretty, like, a public service. If you know what I mean? Like, that's what I'm kind of trying to...

• 28:47Speaker 02

  Because we shouldn't take it lightly.

• 28:48Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 28:49Speaker 02

  It's like...

• 28:50Adam Friedland?

  Like, why are we, in your opinion, why are we always at war just in one place in the world?

• 28:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know. And honestly, especially because we're not explaining to anybody what we're doing.

• 29:00Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 29:00Speaker 02

  And that's why, and that's why, I mean, it's one of the reasons that I have been so vocal and I'm so bothered by this war that is going on, is we, once again, are asking a very small percentage of the population, and we are giving orders...

• 29:13Adam Friedland?

  Poor people.

• 29:14Speaker 02

  Correct, right? And we're giving orders without giving a mission.

• 29:18Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 29:18Speaker 02

  We're giving orders without giving a destination. We're just telling you, go do X, go do Y. But we're not explaining what does victory look like? And why are we asking the American people to be okay with your gas going up, your groceries going up, all this kind of stuff? And you haven't explained what we're doing, or why we're doing it.

• 29:36Adam Friedland?

  I'm just undereducated, but what was the specified mission in Afghanistan? What did they tell you when you were there?

• 29:42Speaker 02

  Well, we knew that we had to...

• 29:43Adam Friedland?

  It was Bin Laden?

• 29:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, we had to address the Taliban, right?

• 29:46Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 29:46Speaker 02

  That the Taliban was the government that was in place that allowed for Osama bin Laden and for al Qaeda to be able to deploy attacks. So you had to be able to address the Taliban.

• 29:56Adam Friedland?

  Sure.

• 29:56Speaker 02

  But what gets me is this, and do you know who's in charge of Afghanistan right now?

• 29:59Adam Friedland?

  The Taliban.

• 30:00Speaker 02

  The Taliban.

• 30:01Adam Friedland?

  It looks like they're having fun. Does that piss you off?

• 30:04Speaker 02

  It absolutely pisses me off.

• 30:05Adam Friedland?

  Does it feel like you saw people die and then the Taliban... Taliban are like on duck boats. You saw that picture?

• 30:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:10Adam Friedland?

  They're like having a vacation.

• 30:12Speaker 02

  Yes, and sitting there using equipment that we used.

• 30:15Adam Friedland?

  Do you think that that war, does it feel like as someone that participated in the longest war in American history?

• 30:20Speaker 02

  Uh, yes, it was. It turned into the longest war in American history.

• 30:24Adam Friedland?

  As someone that was there, seeing the Taliban back the next day, does it feel like, what was the like point? We got Bin Laden, when, 2012?

• 30:34Speaker 02

  Twenty something like that.

• 30:36Adam Friedland?

  And then we left in, what?

• 30:37Speaker 02

  President Obama's second term.

• 30:38Adam Friedland?

  Twenty-three, twenty-four? When did, when did we? Yeah, so I just, I suppose like, um, and also Pakistan had him, right?

• 30:46Speaker 02

  No, well, no, he was.

• 30:47Adam Friedland?

  Right, well, Tora Bora, and then he snuck away. If you were at Tora Bora, you would have got his ass.

• 30:57Adam Friedland?

  I would have been there if I was you, just looking for Bin Laden, not listening to my commander.

• 31:00Speaker 02

  I don't give a damn about none of this.

• 31:02Adam Friedland?

  I'm gonna wrap this up.

• 31:02Speaker 02

  Where Bin Laden at?

• 31:03Adam Friedland?

  Where is he?

• 31:04Speaker 02

  Where Bin Laden at?

• 31:05Adam Friedland?

  I mean, no, but, but, but for real, like emotionally, as someone that's a human being that was there, and then seeing that it was the longest American war ever, and seeing the result, like, does that, do you feel pissed off, or like, do you feel like, I shouldn't, I saw people die and it's fucking?

• 31:23Speaker 02

  That we, um, listen, we lost over twenty-four American ser-, twenty-four hundred American service people.

• 31:29Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 31:31Speaker 02

  Friends.

• 31:32Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 31:32Speaker 02

  Who didn't make it home, many friends who made it home, um, and will never be the same.

• 31:38Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 31:38Speaker 02

  Uh, we spent trillions of dollars, and I don't know if anyone could argue that we even still to this day had a very clear definitional understanding of what it is that we're accomplishing. And this is what, this is what makes me so, so nervous about what's going on in Iran. Like, we were promised no more of these forever wars, no more foreign wars, and what are we doing?

• 32:04Adam Friedland?

  We've been at war in the Middle East pretty much since, I guess, most of my life, no?

• 32:09Speaker 02

  Yes, that is right.

• 32:11Adam Friedland?

  Uh, maybe?

• 32:13Speaker 02

  Just about.

• 32:13Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, so why, why, why are, why does that happen?

• 32:16Speaker 02

  There is this, um, there is this absolute obsession that we seem to have with deploying people overseas for foreign wars. And I'm, and listen, I, I am, I am someone who believes that There are times when military force is necessary and required. I understand that. And there are some, there are certain situations where military force is the best option to be able to address the issue. But military force should always be the last option. And that's the thing, I think, for a lot of these folks, they do not understand and they do not get. That military force should always be the last option. And you need to understand, what are we trying to accomplish? And once you've accomplished it, move on.

• 32:57Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 32:58Speaker 02

  And I, and I'll say, I give actually a lot of credit to the first George Bush. Because when you had the Iraq war, first, the first, first Iraq war.

• 33:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 33:11Speaker 02

  He was very clear about the objectives that he wanted to accomplish, right? Back way, right? Very clear about the objectives, very clear about building the international coalition around it. Very clear that he felt that that was the last option because Iraq had then had violated international law, right? So he knew there wasn't a negotiation that was going to get Saddam to move. So he went in. Had the Iraq, the first Iraq war. Lasted days, not months, not years. And when he accomplished his objective, even when he had advisors who told him, "You can go further." He said, "No. We've accomplished what I said we were going to accomplish, and it's time to move on." Like, that is actually having a clear conversation with the American people.

• 33:54Speaker 02

  Which is not what we're doing right now with Iran. Where the goalpost keeps moving. We keep on saying, "This is a victory, that's a victory." Getting rid of the Iranian Navy and the Air Force as if that was like the imminent threat. The Iranian Navy or the Iranian Air Force. It's like, what are we doing?

• 34:10Adam Friedland?

  It's oil, right?

• 34:11Speaker 02

  Correct. And not to mention-

• 34:13Adam Friedland?

  But that's why when he invaded Kuwait, we did. I mean, he was from the oil industry. And the CIA.

• 34:19Speaker 02

  But, but, but he was clear about, what is the objective? And once we've accomplished it, we're moving on. We're, this is not going to turn into mission creep.

• 34:25Adam Friedland?

  Yeah. I just, I suppose, um, it's that, but to me, what do I know? But like, to me, it just seems like there are a lot of companies, there are American companies-

• 34:34Speaker 02

  Of course.

• 34:34Adam Friedland?

  That need us to be out of war so that they could be, so that they can make money.

• 34:39Speaker 02

  War, war, war unfortunately is big business.

• 34:42Adam Friedland?

  You know, like- And we can get to it later in the interview, but like when people say that we appropriated $25 billion to Israel, I think it's what's missed in the equation is that we paid American companies $25 billion and sent over weapons of war, right? So I just, I, yeah, I suppose like, what do you do about like, if there's this massive industry that requires people to be getting killed by stuff?

• 35:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:09Adam Friedland?

  What do you do about that? Like, it's like Eisenhower warned, you know, it's been a problem for a while.

• 35:14Speaker 02

  The military industrial complex.

• 35:15Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 35:16Speaker 02

  And the fact that you have, and there's also, there is a reason why you're supposed to have a commander in chief who serves as a civilian and not as a member of the, of the military, because there does need to be that form of separation. We, and, and it goes back to the military being a tool, but the military should not be your end destination. Like, when I think about what is the point, right? It's the reason that you have soft power, it's the reason that you utilize diplomacy, it's the reason you utilize foreign, foreign aid, it's the reason that you can, that you utilize cultural influence. All these are tools, and another tool is the military. The problem is, we keep on pretending like the military is the only tool that we have or the only one that is worth using.

• 36:00Adam Friedland?

  Well, it's also just a stimulus package for the economy.

• 36:02Speaker 02

  And, and, and that's for certain portions of the economy. Because what's happening right now is, we're all gonna pay more.

• 36:09Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 36:09Speaker 02

  We're paying more on everything, so we can keep on feeding the war machine. So when the president's coming back and asking for, he's like, I need another, you know, X billion for this war, or X billion to be, it's like, but wait a second, you're gonna do that and cut our healthcare?

• 36:25Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 36:26Speaker 02

  Like, that money's not gonna come from nowhere. Something is gonna get cut, and what's getting cut are the basic services that we rely on and the things we actually want, so we can fight wars that we don't.

• 36:37Adam Friedland?

  I just realized I have a tanser.

• 36:39Speaker 02

  Oh, it's, it's, it's all, it wasn't coming up.

• 36:41Adam Friedland?

  It was terrible. You should have warned me.

• 36:43Speaker 02

  On that shoulder, not on that one.

• 36:45Adam Friedland?

  I don't know, but at least I'm not bald.

• 36:47Speaker 02

  I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. Because it's true.

• 36:50Adam Friedland?

  No, we were just, I mean.

• 36:51Speaker 02

  Can I tell you though, I've been, I've been shaving my head since I was a teenager.

• 36:54Adam Friedland?

  Because of Michael?

• 36:55Speaker 02

  Because of military.

• 36:56Adam Friedland?

  No. Jordan.

• 36:58Speaker 02

  Well, that's true. And I, I'm gonna lie, like honestly, that was another thing about the Fab Five. The Fab Five, one of the things we loved about them wasn't just about, they're good, they're all shaved their heads, the baggy shorts, the black socks, the trash talking.

• 37:10Adam Friedland?

  And as a bald guy, that, that felt a lot.

• 37:13Speaker 02

  Those are my guys.

• 37:14Adam Friedland?

  But if you grew it out, but.

• 37:15Speaker 02

  It would be crazy looking.

• 37:17Adam Friedland?

  Why, what is LeBron doing, by the way? Just let, if he did a Clyde Drexler little, like, the C, like, fro thing?

• 37:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:25Adam Friedland?

  And he was just cooking guys, it would look so awesome. Do you get, do you get to go to a USO show?

• 37:32Speaker 02

  Um, I have not been to a USO show in a long time.

• 37:35Adam Friedland?

  When you were at the war, did, did they send out, do you have a lady with, with a fan pushing her skirt down and stuff?

• 37:41Speaker 02

  They didn't have that.

• 37:42Adam Friedland?

  Happy birthday, Mr. President. There was Bob Hope, did you get Bob Hope?

• 37:46Speaker 02

  We did not get Bob Hope.

• 37:47Adam Friedland?

  Did you get Jeff Ross, the roast master general?

• 37:49Speaker 02

  We did not get Jeff Ross.

• 37:50Adam Friedland?

  You had to think about it, it sounds like he was one of those guys.

• 37:53Speaker 02

  No, he was, he did a lot of torn.

• 37:55Adam Friedland?

  You probably got a good lineup.

• 37:56Speaker 02

  We got, um, I'm trying to remember what we got, but you know what's funny though? One thing I tell people when they're like, well, you know, when this person visits or that person visits, um, we never really liked VIP visits.

• 38:07Adam Friedland?

  What do you mean? You didn't like?

• 38:09Speaker 02

  So like when the Secretary of Defense or the President or whoever like that came to the, to the base, it was never an enjoyable thing for the troops because first of all.

• 38:19Adam Friedland?

  You had to suck up?

• 38:19Speaker 02

  You had to suck up. All the real work stopped.

• 38:22Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 38:22Speaker 02

  Because you had to make sure that everything looked nice and all that kind of stuff.

• 38:25Adam Friedland?

  For Wolfowitz?

• 38:28Speaker 02

  Paul Wolfowitz, that's a blessing.

• 38:30Adam Friedland?

  You got to meet, you got to meet Rumsfeld?

• 38:32Speaker 02

  I did.

• 38:33Adam Friedland?

  That guy used to get so irritable, it was funny.

• 38:35Speaker 02

  We know it's funny.

• 38:36Adam Friedland?

  Stop asking me questions.

• 38:39Adam Friedland?

  Roosevelt was funny.

• 38:41Speaker 02

  I never met him until, I didn't meet him when I was deployed.

• 38:44Adam Friedland?

  Until you worked at the Bush administration.

• 38:45Speaker 02

  Until I worked for the Bush administration, until I worked as a White House fellow.

• 38:48Adam Friedland?

  What is that program? Like, it's a prestigious program from what I understand.

• 38:52Speaker 02

  So basically, what you do is you work as a senior-level advisor to a cabinet secretary or agency head in administration, but it's not, it's not political, because they're not saying, okay, you're, we're picking Republicans or Democrats. Like, I worked for the Bush administration, and I worked for Secretary Rice when I was there. And so, it was amazing, because like, I worked, I saw a year in Afghanistan, seeing how policy was implemented.

• 39:15Adam Friedland?

  What's Rice like? What's she all about?

• 39:16Speaker 02

  Um, I really like her.

• 39:18Adam Friedland?

  She's nice?

• 39:19Speaker 02

  She's very nice. She was like, she really became a very real mentor for me. She's a, she's a, and the thing I would say about-

• 39:24Adam Friedland?

  You text Rice?

• 39:25Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, we're so in touch.

• 39:26Adam Friedland?

  You text Rice? What's she up to? Where's she at? Where's she at?

• 39:30Speaker 02

  She's in California.

• 39:31Adam Friedland?

  Do the, do you think those guys feel bad?

• 39:34Speaker 02

  About what's going on right now?

• 39:35Adam Friedland?

  No, about what, I mean, they-

• 39:37Speaker 02

  About what happened when they were there?

• 39:38Adam Friedland?

  Think, I mean, over a million people died.

• 39:41Speaker 02

  Yeah. No, it's, and it's like-

• 39:43Adam Friedland?

  I mean, that's kind of first-ballot Hall of Fame hell, if you ask me. I mean it.

• 39:47Speaker 02

  No, it's, it's, listen, I, I think that there's a, um, when you look at the history of this country, and, and I do think it's important for people to realize, like, loving this country doesn't mean lying about its history.

• 39:59Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 40:00Speaker 02

  You know what I'm saying? Like, this country has gotten a lot wrong before.

• 40:03Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  And I think it actually is important for us to be honest about that, because if not, then we're just gonna keep on doing this. Like, you've got to actually learn lessons. And I feel like, right now, one of the issues I have with what's happening with Iran is, there seem to be no lessons learned about how, about how our military is used, about what is required from the people when we are a nation at war, and we just keep on doing this over and over and over again, and no lessons are being learned.

• 40:28Adam Friedland?

  We're probably just buying a lot of, like, bombs and shit.

• 40:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, good people, people are benefiting from this.

• 40:34Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 40:34Speaker 02

  People are benefiting from when we're at war. People are benefiting when we continue to allow this to happen and allow this to exist. And it's not, it's not fair to the people who were involved in the warfare. It's not making us stronger as a country or in the international community.

• 40:48Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 40:48Speaker 02

  And it's not fair to these families.

• 40:50Adam Friedland?

  You worked with USAID when you were in the Bush administration, right?

• 40:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, that, that.

• 40:53Adam Friedland?

  That was one of the first Doge cuts, if I remember.

• 40:56Speaker 02

  It was.

• 40:57Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 40:57Speaker 02

  It absolutely was, and it was something that had a huge impact on, on Maryland because a lot of those people at USAID, they're Marylanders.

• 41:04Adam Friedland?

  Oh, yeah, they're federal workers.

• 41:05Speaker 02

  They're federal workers.

• 41:05Adam Friedland?

  DC, yeah.

• 41:06Speaker 02

  We've had over thirty-five or over thirty-one thousand federal workers fired in Maryland this, just this year alone. More than any other state in the country.

• 41:13Adam Friedland?

  Well, has the, what have you done, like, is there something you guys have helped them out?

• 41:16Speaker 02

  We have, so we've, we've actually been very aggressive in terms of placing them into available and necessary state jobs, working with the private sector. We did something called our, our feds to eds for our federal workers, which is actually saying, we have a teacher shortage in our state, every state does. But basically, if you're a federal worker and you're interested and qualified, we're like, get them trained, get them certified, get them in classrooms. And we've actually been able to cut our teacher shortage in half in the state of Maryland. And some of those people have been federal workers who then chosen to go into the classroom. And so we've been, we've been really aggressive to make sure we're taking care of our people.

• 41:49Adam Friedland?

  Looking at your career, like, and we mentioned this earlier, but like, you know, bridging you being deployed and then you also working in finance and then also be working like as for a fellow, in a fellowship for the White House.

• 42:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:05Adam Friedland?

  Also getting a Rhodes, how did that feel, Rhodes, Rhodes?

• 42:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, Rhodes.

• 42:09Adam Friedland?

  I mean, he's the architect of apartheid, right?

• 42:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:11Adam Friedland?

  Cecil Rhodes.

• 42:12Speaker 02

  Well, you know.

• 42:12Adam Friedland?

  My family's from Cape Town, we had to, we left during apartheid because it was fucked up.

• 42:16Speaker 02

  Your family, your family left at a horrible time in that.

• 42:18Adam Friedland?

  Uh, yeah, my dad got, well, my dad got called up to go to Angola to the civil war, which was like a, yeah, my mom was, you know, he was like on a list of somewhere, but like, it is, I, when I read that you were a Rhodes scholar, I was like, is that Cecil Rhodes? I literally, it is Cecil Rhodes, yeah.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  And people, people forget, he was, uh, with the wealthiest man in the world at the time.

• 42:39Adam Friedland?

  He started the beers.

• 42:40Speaker 02

  He started the beers. And in fact, the last, the last question I got.

• 42:45Adam Friedland?

  And he disenfranchised black people.

• 42:47Speaker 02

  I mean, like, literally, where, where, in fact, this guy named Steve Pfeiffer asked me a question in my Rhodes, my last Rhodes Committee, and he said, you know, you have been to South Africa, because I, I lived in South Africa for six months.

• 43:00Adam Friedland?

  Where?

• 43:00Speaker 02

  In Cape Town.

• 43:01Adam Friedland?

  Where in Cape Town?

• 43:02Speaker 02

  Langa.

• 43:03Adam Friedland?

  Oh.

• 43:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:04Adam Friedland?

  Oh, the township.

• 43:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:05Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 43:05Speaker 02

  One of the townships.

• 43:05Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 43:06Speaker 02

  And he was like, you're African American, you know the history, and he said, how do you feel comfortable accepting a Rhodes Scholarship?

• 43:13Adam Friedland?

  It's kind of sick. It's kind of chill.

• 43:15Speaker 02

  And it is, but it's, it's a fair question.

• 43:18Adam Friedland?

  I went on a date with a German girl once, and I was like, this is kind of sick.

• 43:20Speaker 02

  This guy's sick.

• 43:21Adam Friedland?

  What about that, huh?

• 43:22Speaker 02

  Well, you know, and I told him.

• 43:23Adam Friedland?

  How do you like that?

• 43:25Speaker 02

  Well, you know, I told him, I said, I said, um, I'm very familiar with the history of six of Rhodes. But I said, I said, you know, one of the things that, that helps me be okay with where I'm at right now is that, like, first of all, I know he is spinning in his grave, because when he created the Rhodes Scholarship, he never intended me.

• 43:40Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 43:41Speaker 02

  To get it. And I said, and also, I'm thinking about all the people who had to sacrifice in order for me to be a finalist for this scholarship, and what would I be saying to them if I were to turn my back on this opportunity?

• 43:52Adam Friedland?

  Should they change the name of the Colin Powell Scholarship, in your opinion? Do you think that's?

• 43:56Speaker 02

  Well, listen, as a private scholarship, you can call it what you want, but it is important that people know its history. Like, people, people need to know who he was. Be as if they are going to go and apply to receive that money.

• 44:09Adam Friedland?

  So what, so I, I guess, like, the first thing that brought you to prominence, is that correct, is that book you wrote about the other Westmore?

• 44:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, prominence, wow, yeah.

• 44:18Adam Friedland?

  Is that a big word? You're from the Rhodes Scholarship. Why are you gassing me? I haven't read a book since Harry Potter 8, bro.

• 44:27Adam Friedland?

  I listen to them. No, I mean, like, you saw, there's a, there's someone that's from your neighborhood, your age, is that correct?

• 44:34Speaker 02

  Yes, well, he's a, he is a, he's a little bit older than me, and when I was, in fact, when I just received the Rhodes Scholarship.

• 44:40Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 44:40Speaker 02

  Um, my, uh, my mother, uh, in fact, I was in South Africa at the time, and she said, um, she said, I have something to tell you. She goes, there are wanted posters in, in your neighborhood.

• 44:51Adam Friedland?

  So you got, you thought that they were gonna take you out of college? You thought you were gonna, they were gonna throw you in the slammer?

• 44:56Speaker 02

  Well, she was like, and they're looking for Westmore. I was like, really?

• 44:59Adam Friedland?

  Really?

• 45:00Speaker 02

  She was like, yeah. I was like, well, I'm in South Africa. And...

• 45:03Adam Friedland?

  What have you done this time?

• 45:04Speaker 02

  Is that graffiti? Goddamn you!

• 45:06Adam Friedland?

  What have you, what have you done? What did you break dance? What is this, this bastard son of mine?

• 45:14Speaker 02

  She's like, I'm done with you now.

• 45:17Adam Friedland?

  The worst boy ever. A hero in the war. Okay, yeah.

• 45:24Speaker 02

  That was, that was, that was how I first learned.

• 45:28Adam Friedland?

  So who's, who is the other Wes Moore?

• 45:29Speaker 02

  He's a, he's a, a gentleman, but it was a young man who was, he was, he was born, I was not born in Baltimore. He was born and raised in Baltimore. Um, and around the same time that I received the Rhodes Scholarship, he was involved in a robbery of a jewelry store.

• 45:48Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 45:48Speaker 02

  And it was four guys who robbed a jewelry store and in the process of robbing the jewelry store, an off-duty police officer was killed. Um, and this off-duty police officer, I mean, he was a legit hero, like he was a 13-year vet of the Baltimore Police Force. He was a three-time recipient of Police Officer of the Year.

• 46:04Adam Friedland?

  He was good police.

• 46:05Speaker 02

  He was good police.

• 46:05Adam Friedland?

  That's what I say.

• 46:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, good police. And, and he, and he was a father of five.

• 46:09Adam Friedland?

  Really?

• 46:09Speaker 02

  Who just had triplets. So, but he was at, he took this second job because he needed to take a second job because he had now five kids. And he was working security at a jewelry store. And when they robbed the jewelry store, he was, he was shot and killed.

• 46:26Adam Friedland?

  So you were arrested, it was a big mix-up. No, I mean, so you got to know the other, the other Wes Moore?

• 46:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, I got, I got to know him. Sorry, I wrote, I wrote him a note. And then, um, and then a month later, I got a, a note back and.

• 46:40Adam Friedland?

  What'd he say?

• 46:41Speaker 02

  Well, you know, it's funny, I asked him a whole bunch of questions.

• 46:44Adam Friedland?

  Did he, was he like, you're a nerd, I'm cool, like, did he treat you like a nerd?

• 46:48Speaker 02

  No, he, I think, I think he was.

• 46:50Adam Friedland?

  He must have treated you like a nerd.

• 46:52Speaker 02

  Maybe a little bit, maybe a little bit.

• 46:54Adam Friedland?

  Look at this good at, good at school guy coming to write a book about how, how good he is at school.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  Well, initially.

• 47:01Speaker 02

  But initially, it was really just us, like, we were just like talking and getting to know each other. And, but the thing that was amazed me about Wes is, um, is whenever we would communicate and we'd talk and he would ask questions like, so tell me about your wedding or, or tell me about your, uh, where, so I'll tell him, you know, me and my wife are at dinner. He's like, oh, where'd y'all go to dinner? Where'd y'all eat? And I realized that sometimes I'm like to myself, like, that's kind of an odd question, but I was like, I was like, but for him, it's actually not an odd question. Right? For him, it's actually like, it's opening up a world.

• 47:36Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 47:36Speaker 02

  That he. Never experienced. And so I um, and I think, you know, those letters turn into visits and, you know, I've I've now known him for

• 47:47Adam Friedland?

  How's he doing now?

• 47:49Speaker 02

  He's still incarcerated.

• 47:50Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 47:51Speaker 02

  He still, he ended up getting life without parole.

• 47:53Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, that's a long, it's terrible.

• 47:56Speaker 02

  It's, I mean, it's, it's, you know, and it's, it's it's hard because I think about it where it's like, you know, listen, I mean

• 48:02Adam Friedland?

  So you're like, I, I got straight A's again, and then this, this other guy, he couldn't leave his room.

• 48:09Speaker 02

  Well, no, you know, it is, it's like, I just think about how thin that line is, right?

• 48:13Adam Friedland?

  Would you write a sequel, the other, other Westmore?

• 48:17Adam Friedland?

  Cause we found this guy, Westmore, and he posted,

• 48:24Adam Friedland?

  I think you, you could write a book about this guy, it's pretty interesting.

• 48:27Speaker 02

  The NC, the North Carolina basketball coach is named Westmore.

• 48:30Adam Friedland?

  You could write about him?

• 48:31Speaker 02

  No, he's a, supposedly he's a very good coach, too.

• 48:34Adam Friedland?

  Well, this guy, the Westmore, on January 6th, 2019, he got four likes for this, he said,

• 48:42Speaker 02

  Four likes?

• 48:42Adam Friedland?

  I heart boobs.

• 48:44Speaker 02

  Oh yeah, that's definitely other Westmore.

• 48:45Adam Friedland?

  On Facebook.

• 48:47Speaker 02

  That ain't me.

• 48:47Adam Friedland?

  I think this is the sequel, we can investigate this boobs guy.

• 48:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:52Adam Friedland?

  No, I mean, uh, it became like a hit, the book.

• 48:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:55Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, my mother-in-law, just, just so you know, I was talking to her on the phone this morning, you scored me major points.

• 49:00Speaker 02

  Really?

• 49:01Adam Friedland?

  Cause she's taught that book in New York City public schools.

• 49:03Speaker 02

  Stop playing. We don't spend, it's amazing to me how many schools use it as mandatory reading, like, how many kids will come to, I read your book, I was like, did you have to? Like, yeah.

• 49:13Adam Friedland?

  Oh, so, yeah, they didn't want to.

• 49:15Speaker 02

  But how many schools have actually made it like part of curriculum?

• 49:18Adam Friedland?

  Really? Like the Great Gatsby or something?

• 49:20Speaker 02

  Well, well, you know, it's funny, when I ran for governor, I would do events, and like 90% of the people there would be high school students. And I'm like, does anyone have any questions? And I'm like, like, policy questions, and they're like, in chapter four, like it was a reading assignment.

• 49:32Adam Friedland?

  So he became governor so he can sell his goddamn book to these little kids? Oh my god, you're just like the military industrial complex. You're doing it for books. Oh my god, you're Eric Adams. You're Eric Adams.

• 49:49Adam Friedland?

  Wait, but Oprah, it was Oprah Book Club?

• 49:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, Oprah, Oprah, Oprah actually introduced it. She introduced the book to the world.

• 49:55Adam Friedland?

  That's your friend?

• 49:56Speaker 02

  Uh, I love Oprah, yes, yeah, she's great.

• 49:58Adam Friedland?

  How many points is she getting off this book?

• 50:02Adam Friedland?

  This, we just opened up a huge one.

• 50:06Speaker 02

  You should start a book club.

• 50:07Adam Friedland?

  Was Oprah a book club?

• 50:09Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 50:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, what am I gonna make him read, The Game?

• 50:14Adam Friedland?

  Cut that, please. Cut that, please, God.

• 50:19Adam Friedland?

  Wait. I'm gonna make fun of you for this.

• 50:22Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 50:23Adam Friedland?

  You said that on January 6th, you called Oprah. To say you're gonna run for governor of Maryland.

• 50:31Speaker 02

  That actually wasn't...

• 50:32Adam Friedland?

  What the hell is that?

• 50:33Speaker 02

  We did talk on January 6th, that is true.

• 50:34Adam Friedland?

  You called Oprah to be like...

• 50:36Speaker 02

  No. We were talking.

• 50:38Adam Friedland?

  She picked up?

• 50:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:40Adam Friedland?

  That's a famous woman, how many rings?

• 50:41Speaker 02

  She's very famous.

• 50:42Adam Friedland?

  She picked up, she's like, Wes Moore, are you seeing this? And you're like, this is so funny.

• 50:47Speaker 02

  I'm literally talking, I'm talking with Oprah. And the TV is right there. Like, I'm speaking to Oprah. And like, and the TV is on right there, I'm like, and we're talking on the phone, and I'm like, are you watching this?

• 51:00Adam Friedland?

  Did you call people before Oprah, or was she the first call?

• 51:04Adam Friedland?

  You could just call Oprah?

• 51:05Speaker 02

  Well, I didn't call her about January 6th. We were talking, and then January 6th happened to be happening. While I'm on the phone with her.

• 51:11Adam Friedland?

  Oh, you had a, you had a...

• 51:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, I didn't expect it.

• 51:14Adam Friedland?

  Oh, it was on the calendar?

• 51:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, it wasn't like, it wasn't like, you know, oh, January 6th. And we're talking, and like, the television.

• 51:21Adam Friedland?

  He snaked out of that one, thank god you did that. Cause if your brag was like, and then I had to talk to Oprah.

• 51:27Speaker 02

  No!

• 51:28Adam Friedland?

  If your brag was like... This Capitol, Oprah.

• 51:33Speaker 02

  Can you believe?

• 51:34Adam Friedland?

  Oh, no.

• 51:35Speaker 02

  No.

• 51:36Adam Friedland?

  No, so you had a call that day?

• 51:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:38Adam Friedland?

  That's crazy.

• 51:38Speaker 02

  And we were just talking, and then like, but this was on the television.

• 51:41Adam Friedland?

  And what did Oprah say?

• 51:43Speaker 02

  She's like, this is insane.

• 51:44Adam Friedland?

  We did it.

• 51:46Adam Friedland?

  It was all my idea. All, you know, the plan has worked, yeah. No, so what she?

• 51:51Speaker 02

  Where were you on January 6th, by the way?

• 51:53Adam Friedland?

  I was, I was, uh, I was far away.

• 51:56Speaker 02

  Nah, I'm not accusing you of being in the Capitol. But like, but what was your reaction when you were watching it?

• 52:03Adam Friedland?

  I don't want to say to you, because you're a real guy. I was saying this is...

• 52:09Adam Friedland?

  What, they think they're gonna beat the government?

• 52:12Speaker 02

  Is that what you thought?

• 52:13Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, like, what are these guys, they're gonna go there and win? It's just like, for Trump? I was like, what the, these guys are, I felt bad for the guys, kind of. Because I'm like, what, they thought, did they actually think they were gonna win? They're going up there to win?

• 52:31Speaker 02

  I think they did.

• 52:33Adam Friedland?

  How are they gonna win? They have a caveman and a guy that farted on Pelosi's chair? They just started doing pranks in there, too.

• 52:40Speaker 02

  But I, I think they thought they were gonna win.

• 52:42Adam Friedland?

  It's one of the most insane things ever. It was like, it was like an out of body experience.

• 52:45Speaker 02

  It was, but they are being encouraged by the president.

• 52:48Adam Friedland?

  But it's the government. They're gonna have mad guns and stuff. They're not gonna like, right?

• 52:54Speaker 02

  But the commander in chief was encouraged.

• 52:56Adam Friedland?

  That they liked Trump so much that they were like, just gonna go in there and do jackass in the Capitol building. Fart, the guy who farted on Pelosi's chair, whatever? There was a video of people smoking weed. They were like, we're doing it, man. If I saw that when I was 13, I would have been like, this is what Sublime is talking about, dude. This is exactly, those guys are the founding fathers. No, I mean, it was very strange and odd, and I felt bad for them that they were like, you know, a lot of those guys were like, reading online that there was like a baby... Slaves in the basement and stuff and you know.

• 53:31Speaker 02

  I know.

• 53:32Adam Friedland?

  I think since we were all in lockdown, I think people have gone a little bit crazy. And we don't talk about it enough.

• 53:37Speaker 02

  I agree with you.

• 53:38Adam Friedland?

  And I think that there's been a psychic toll that it's taken on people. And I think that there was always the phone, but like there was only the phone. And now people just went on the phone. And now nothing is, no one believes anything is real.

• 53:54Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 53:54Adam Friedland?

  It's pretty scary. We're about to have an election. And I'm certainly going to think this about your election against someone else and I don't know. But no one's going to believe any elections anymore. Is that what's going to happen?

• 54:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 54:06Adam Friedland?

  How do you make people believe that like it's normal?

• 54:10Speaker 02

  If you allow, if you allow people to just go down these rabbit holes. And just continue to get manipulated, that they're looking at information that is not actually educating them.

• 54:22Adam Friedland?

  But it's speech, right? How do you curtail free speech then?

• 54:26Speaker 02

  I think you have to provide a better option.

• 54:28Adam Friedland?

  Like a better Twitter?

• 54:30Speaker 02

  No, I think what you've got to be able to do is, so for example, in Maryland. We made Maryland the first state in the country that has a service year option for all of our high school grads.

• 54:39Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 54:40Speaker 02

  Part of that is because I believe that service will save us. Right? Part of it is because I believe that this is good workforce training. But part of it is, I want people to be able to find ways of getting to know each other again. And working together on things because if you.

• 54:57Adam Friedland?

  They don't hang out anymore.

• 54:59Speaker 02

  They don't even hang out anymore. And it's part of the reason we're doing so much of this work that we're doing around young men and boys in Maryland. Is because I need them to get off of these devices.

• 55:08Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 55:08Speaker 02

  And get to know each other again.

• 55:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 55:10Speaker 02

  Because this is very, very dangerous when you have these people who are just sitting there. For literally most of the day staring at a screen. Like I just feel like we know, we went from this idea of, we went from COVID. To then, you know, to then kind of doing a partial societal opening. But without understanding, A, being able to really process what we just went through. And then also thinking about, but what is the right things that we should be asking from our society? And now we're asking people to now participate in it. And I just think that we continue dealing with these, you know, dealing with the casualties of that.

• 55:46Adam Friedland?

  Waking up after a totally normal night of drinking alcohol can sometimes still feel bad. And so the next day, you want to drink responsibly, but you still feel bad. The other night, I had a birthday party and I indulged in alcohol. I threw one back. I had a libation. I had a cold one. It was my birthday. I had one beer and I woke up the next day with a foggy head and low motivation. At first, when I heard about Cheers Restore, I was skeptical. I was skeptical, then I took it and it caught me off-guard at how normal I felt. I slept well and I would say I felt at least 50% better.

• 56:30Adam Friedland?

  You take it after your last drink before bed and you feel 50% better or your money back. So you wake up feeling like you drank roughly half of it, a beer, or the amount that you had. Cheers Restore helps me metabolize alcohol more efficiently and supports overall liver health. Most people think dehydration is why I feel bad, but the real issue is what happens in your brain and liver, well, when you sleep. When alcohol leaves your system, your brain goes into rebound mode, which is what makes you feel bad. The D H M in Cheers works while you sleep to smooth out that rebound. Cheers is backed by doctors, PhDs, and over 1,000 verified clinicians. They've sold over 50 million doses.

• 57:12Adam Friedland?

  Cheers is also available at 30,000 retail locations, including Target, CVS, and Walgreens. So take Cheers Restore after your last drink or before going to bed and wake up feeling at least 50% better or your money back. For a limited time, our listeners get 20% off their entire order by using code TAFS at cheershealth.com. Just head to cheershealth.com and use code TAFS for 20% off. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them that we sent you.

• 57:43Adam Friedland?

  You know that point in the day where your brain just checks out for a second? Lately, I've been reaching for this, and it's Lucy. It's a super simple, you just pop it in, you crack it, it kind of wakes you up in your mouth, and then it wakes you up in the rest of your soul. The flavor is actually really solid. I've been keeping these on my desk while I'm editing or filming. It just helps me stay a little bit more locked in. I like that I don't have to think about it either. They just show up on a subscription. Anyway, yeah, I've been using these a lot recently. Lucy.co knows what's up. Go check them out. I have been taking Lucy pouches, and I have seen the results. I've been locked in, and they give me a little bit of a wake up in my mouth. What do I like? The Breaker.

• 58:28Adam Friedland?

  What's my favorite flavor? The minty one. And how do I use it? To help focus, for energy, and to relax. Energy and relax. I never thought that would be possible. Lucy is the only pouch that delivers long-lasting, on-demand flavor. Get 20% off your first order when you buy online at lucy.co/tafs with promo code TAFS. And if you don't want to wait, check out the store locator and find Lucy near you and grab it today. And here comes the fine print. Lucy products are only for adults of legal age, and every customer is age verified. Warning: The product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

• 59:09Adam Friedland?

  When fitting starts, it's not just your hair that takes a hit. It can change how you feel, day in, day out. Hims makes it simple to control hair regrowth with personalized hair care that fits your life. Hims offers convenient access to a range of prescription hair loss treatments with ingredients that work, including chews, oral medications, serums, and sprays. Doctor trusted ingredients like finasteride and minoxidil can stop further hair loss and regrow hair in as little as three to six months. You shouldn't have to go out of your way to feel like yourself again. Hims brings expert care straight to you with 100% online access to personalized treatment plans that put your goals first. Find the hair regrowth treatment for you with flexible subscription options, access to

• 59:49Adam Friedland?

  24/7 provider support and once a day treatment options that fit your daily routine. Think of Hims as your digital treatments front door that gets you back to your old self. The simple 100% online access to trusted for real health concerns, all in one place. All in one place. For simple online access to personalized affordable care for hair loss, weight loss, and more, visit hims.com/tafs. That's hims.com/tafs. For your free online visit, hims.com/tafs. Featured products include compound drug products, which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness, or quality. Prescription is required. See website for full details, restrictions, and important safety information.

• 1:00:32Adam Friedland?

  Individual results may vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride.

• 1:00:38Speaker 00

  Coca-Cola. For the big, for the small, the short, and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers. For the optimists, pessimists. For long distance love. For introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers. For old friends and new. Coca-Cola. For everyone. Pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you.

• 1:01:09Adam Friedland?

  Do you ever just look up at Delaware and you're like, what the hell are you doing?

• 1:01:12Speaker 02

  All the time, every day.

• 1:01:13Adam Friedland?

  It's just like you're driving down 95 and then it's traffic every single time.

• 1:01:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:19Adam Friedland?

  You think, would you annex it like Greenland or should we give it to Philly?

• 1:01:23Speaker 02

  I mean, I've been saying, I've been saying, no, we'll take it. I've been saying, I've been saying to the mayor of DC all the time, I was like, listen.

• 1:01:30Adam Friedland?

  Who is it now, Bowser?

• 1:01:31Speaker 02

  Bowser.

• 1:01:32Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:32Speaker 02

  And I was like, I know y'all want to be a state and like, I'm all for DC statehood, but if they don't want to become a state, they should just become part of Maryland and just become, you know, a very large city.

• 1:01:40Adam Friedland?

  You're trying to annex, you're trying to do a capital, you're trying to, you're trying to take, steal the capital.

• 1:01:46Speaker 02

  Listen, I think, I think it'd be a great thing.

• 1:01:48Adam Friedland?

  You are no different than that caveman on January 6th. I'm gonna call Oprah and tell her. Okay, I guess I had Gavin Newsom on the show and I guess it's a fair, it's a, I'll ask a similar question. But like if someone, if you're meeting someone and they, you want to articulate to them what your political project is. Like what, what is the thing that you're working that you're spending your life devoted to accomplishing? Like, how would you define that?

• 1:02:15Speaker 02

  End child poverty. That's for me is easy.

• 1:02:17Adam Friedland?

  Child poverty, yeah.

• 1:02:18Speaker 02

  That's the reason why I ran for governor.

• 1:02:20Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:20Speaker 02

  It's the thing, if I could end child poverty right now, I could literally close my eyes and never open them again. And feel like this was a life worth living. Like, and that is the thing, I just do not understand how any society can allow child poverty to exist. Especially at the level that we allow in this country.

• 1:02:38Adam Friedland?

  So like you're a leader of people, you're an elected official, like, like if someone says, why should I bet on you? Like, what would you, what would you say?

• 1:02:49Speaker 02

  I say because I do what I say.

• 1:02:51Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:52Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? Like, it's like, if I tell you, this is what we're gonna do, we're gonna do it.

• 1:02:57Speaker 02

  And so, that's the thing I always tell the people of my state is like, I don't, as you can probably tell, I'm not like a traditional politician. I, I have not run for office to office to office to office. Like, this is not, this is the first office I've ever held in my life.

• 1:03:11Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:11Speaker 02

  And, you know, when I'm done, like, I'm, and I'm, I'll be very, very comfortable and good. When my time is done, that's why I move with a sense of urgency.

• 1:03:19Adam Friedland?

  How did you like learn the stuff for it? If it was the first, you know? Did you, you just don't, don't lie. Do you know what an omnibusman is?

• 1:03:28Speaker 02

  Omnibusman?

• 1:03:29Adam Friedland?

  You knew that?

• 1:03:32Speaker 02

  I did, but you know what's crazy?

• 1:03:33Adam Friedland?

  Were you a nerd that learns all, you knew what omnibusman is?

• 1:03:37Speaker 02

  Yeah!

• 1:03:37Adam Friedland?

  I can't even say it. Omnibusman.

• 1:03:41Speaker 02

  Omnibusman.

• 1:03:42Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:42Speaker 02

  But you know what it is?

• 1:03:43Adam Friedland?

  What is it? You're not telling me. He's lying. He doesn't, I like it if you don't know. No one should know what that is.

• 1:03:48Speaker 02

  What omnibusman is?

• 1:03:49Adam Friedland?

  Well, you, you got to the state house, you're the new governor and you're like, I've, I, there had to have been like things where you're like.

• 1:03:56Speaker 02

  Oh, Adam, it was every day?

• 1:03:57Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, you're like, what the hell is this? Where's this room go?

• 1:03:59Speaker 02

  Oh, no. It was every day that I was going in. And honestly, There's still things to this day.

• 1:04:04Adam Friedland?

  That you're learning.

• 1:04:05Speaker 02

  That I'm like, what is that?

• 1:04:06Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah, sure.

• 1:04:07Speaker 02

  Or, or relationships are like, oh yeah, when, you know, when, when Mac so and so said, I'm like, who the hell is that?

• 1:04:13Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:14Speaker 02

  That happens every day as governor. And I'm, and I'm, but I'm, but I'm, I'm, I'm good with that.

• 1:04:19Adam Friedland?

  One of the things I think is most impressive, uh, in, in your career, especially in politics, is that, you know, you're running against a member of the Obama cabinet, is that correct?

• 1:04:29Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:04:29Adam Friedland?

  Tom Perez.

• 1:04:30Speaker 02

  Yep, two of them, and, and, and John King.

• 1:04:32Adam Friedland?

  You had two on you.

• 1:04:33Speaker 02

  Two Obama cabinet.

• 1:04:34Adam Friedland?

  So you, you came in and you, in, in state politics, you established a ground game and.

• 1:04:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:40Adam Friedland?

  How, how did you win that election, I suppose? Like, that's. What do you attribute that, that victory to? Like, as someone that.

• 1:04:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:48Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:48Speaker 02

  I think one was, um.

• 1:04:50Adam Friedland?

  Oprah?

• 1:04:50Speaker 02

  We were, no.

• 1:04:52Adam Friedland?

  Probably.

• 1:04:53Speaker 02

  I think one was we just outworked them.

• 1:04:55Adam Friedland?

  All the girls listened to her.

• 1:04:56Speaker 02

  All the girls do listen to her.

• 1:04:57Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:57Speaker 02

  Um, but I think the other thing is too, is that like, I wasn't trying to be like one of them.

• 1:05:03Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:04Speaker 02

  Like, you know what I mean? Like, I, I don't, I remember there was a Fourth of July barbecue where they invited all the candidates or whatever like that. And it was like 95 degrees and all the candidates showed up in their blazers and their whatever like that. And I showed up in, in, in, in shorts and a polo.

• 1:05:18Adam Friedland?

  You dressed cooler than them.

• 1:05:19Speaker 02

  Well, I dressed because I was hot and I'm like, I'm not wearing a suit, you know what I mean? And then I remember.

• 1:05:24Adam Friedland?

  But how did you get people to meet you, I guess? Like, how do they, like, you?

• 1:05:27Speaker 02

  I would just go everywhere and I would go a lot of places where there were a lot of Democrats. I would go a lot of places where, you know, even still to this day, where I remember I did a town hall a little bit ago in a place, in a part of the state that I lost by 14 points. But that was my 17th time being back there since I've been governor. I just show up and I'm okay with being uncomfortable. I'm okay with hearing things that I did not know because I'm not trying to be a suit. I'm not trying to be one of these career pals. I'm, I'm just, I want to.

• 1:05:58Adam Friedland?

  What do you tell people when you meet them?

• 1:06:00Speaker 02

  Um, honestly, it's not even so much what I'm telling them, it's actually what I'm hearing.

• 1:06:04Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:05Speaker 02

  Because I want to go and listen.

• 1:06:06Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:06Speaker 02

  I want to hear what are the things that you care about? What are the things you're working on and how can I help?

• 1:06:10Adam Friedland?

  Yeah. What if they say that there are baby slaves in the basement of the Capitol?

• 1:06:14Speaker 02

  I would probably say.

• 1:06:15Adam Friedland?

  You gotta be like, bro.

• 1:06:16Speaker 02

  I don't think that's true.

• 1:06:17Adam Friedland?

  Come on, bro.

• 1:06:17Speaker 02

  But, uh.

• 1:06:18Adam Friedland?

  You're just on the computer too much.

• 1:06:21Speaker 02

  It's amazing some of the things you hear though, when people come up to you and say.

• 1:06:24Adam Friedland?

  I know, it's, it's crazy.

• 1:06:25Speaker 02

  Pretty wild.

• 1:06:26Adam Friedland?

  And it turns out that, that, that Diddy barely did anything. I'm just kidding. No, no, we're in the We'll cut that, we'll cut that, we'll cut that.

• 1:06:34Speaker 02

  If you let him tell it.

• 1:06:35Adam Friedland?

  We'll cut that, that's what it is. What is wrong with me? Okay, I guess, yeah, I asked you earlier what, why people should bet on you. And I think you made a compelling case. And before this interview, I looked up on calcie.com. And they have you at a 2% chance to be the next nominee for President of the United States.

• 1:06:59Adam Friedland?

  And so that's why I want my listeners to go, not the other one, calcie.com. And we're gonna do a new, we're gonna do Bet on Wes, okay? I already, I already have a little bit on this.

• 1:07:13Adam Friedland?

  We're all gonna go download the app or go to the website calcie.com. The numbers are looking good for us. And guys, if you want like the studio to look a little bit nicer, Thomas has been weaving wires out. We can afford to do this if everyone, hashtag Bet on Wes.

• 1:07:28Speaker 02

  But you know, but you know what though? And I think it goes back to

• 1:07:31Adam Friedland?

  So he agrees, Bet on Wes, calcie, or the app? How much you put down on this? Company card, I put the company card. Thomas?

• 1:07:43Adam Friedland?

  10,000? You didn't say 10,000 to me. What are the numbers on that?

• 1:07:50Adam Friedland?

  Bet on Wes, you're gonna bet on yourself too?

• 1:07:52Speaker 02

  But you know what's crazy?

• 1:07:53Adam Friedland?

  We're all gonna do real nice, no, we're gonna do real nice on this. He agrees, bet on Wes.

• 1:07:57Speaker 02

  But you, but you know, but you know what is crazy about it though? And seriously think about it, where it's like

• 1:08:01Adam Friedland?

  It's so

• 1:08:01Speaker 02

  How corrupted this whole thing is.

• 1:08:05Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:05Speaker 02

  Cause think about it, right? I'm like, if you look at where, where, and I haven't looked at it, but if you look at where my odds of winning reelection.

• 1:08:13Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:14Speaker 02

  They're probably pretty high, right?

• 1:08:15Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:08:16Speaker 02

  I mean, we're feeling pretty good, you know?

• 1:08:18Adam Friedland?

  You've been going to church every week for this election, she said. You lied to me?

• 1:08:21Speaker 02

  I go to church every week before the election, so, but they're probably pretty good, right?

• 1:08:25Adam Friedland?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:26Speaker 02

  And, but what is to keep me from turning around and saying, you know what, I'm gonna put A 250, let's just do round numbers, $250,000 bet, right? Let's just say.

• 1:08:40Adam Friedland?

  Bet on, hashtag bet on Wes.

• 1:08:41Speaker 02

  No, that I would lose reelection.

• 1:08:43Adam Friedland?

  Okay, now you lose.

• 1:08:45Speaker 02

  And then I tank.

• 1:08:46Adam Friedland?

  Oh, it's like the producers.

• 1:08:47Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 1:08:48Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:08:48Speaker 02

  And so if I did that, and so let's say, again, I don't know what the numbers are now.

• 1:08:51Adam Friedland?

  It's springtime for Hitler, I like this.

• 1:08:53Speaker 02

  But that, but is that, is that fair? If I were to then put a market down on me winning, losing reelection, then I go and intentionally tank reelection, and then I turn and walk away with $4 million?

• 1:09:04Adam Friedland?

  Yeah, but what if you try to tank and they love you more, right? And then you do like a Bullworth, it's like a Bullworth kind of thing, right? Or, so yeah, so he's put in 250 on this, guys, bet on Wes, calcio.com, they're not a sponsor of the show, honestly, guys.

• 1:09:20Speaker 02

  It will be now.

• 1:09:20Adam Friedland?

  If Trump's allowed to take $2 billion from Qatar for some shit coin, we may as well, the world's over, no one can do anything about it, calcio.com, bet on Wes, thanks a lot.

• 1:09:30Speaker 02

  It's crazy. Thank you, brother.

• 1:09:32Adam Friedland?

  Thanks a lot. I like it.

• 1:10:17Speaker 00

  Coca-Cola. For the big, for the small, the short, and the tall. Peacemakers, risk-takers. For the optimists, pessimists. For long-distance love. For introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers. For old friends and new. Coca-Cola. For everyone. Pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you.