Ballot with Patrick Gutfield - Where Politics Meets Pop Culture

Sydney Sweeney shuts down plastic surgery rumors with a lie detector, hackers claim to expose Pornhub viewing habits, and President Trump installs scathing bronze plaques attacking Biden, Obama and Hillary — turning the White House into a permanent monument to his grudges. Come for the sass, stay for the sanity—and blame the A.I. for the jokes that don’t land. Unlock an ad-free podcast experience...

President Trump races through a rambling prime-time address as his approval sinks to thirty-nine percent, unveils a last-minute “Warrior Dividend” with no clear funding, shrugs off war talk, and faces fresh scrutiny after a New York Times investigation reveals his long-denied closeness to Jeffrey Epstein. Come for the sass, stay for the sanity—and blame the A.I. for the jokes that don’t land. Unlo...

President Trump promises “the best is yet to come” ahead of a prime-time address, even as his chief of staff torches the administration in a stunning Vanity Fair interview and Democrats cringe at Kamala Harris hinting she may run again. Come for the sass, stay for the sanity—and blame the A.I. for the jokes that don’t land. Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get our sh...

fter a shocking double murder, President Trump went straight to Truth Social to attack the dead man, diagnosing Rob Reiner with “Trump Derangement Syndrome” instead of offering condolences. Even Trump allies recoiled, calling the post indecent. Then, as if that wasn’t enough for one day, Trump filed a ten billion dollar lawsuit against the BBC over a January sixth documentary that never aired in t...

Vice President JD Vance says President Trump once stopped an “important” Oval Office meeting to announce a more pressing topic — “Shoes” — before telling top officials they had “shitty shoes” and whipping out a shoe catalogue he apparently keeps at the Resolute Desk. Trump then asked for everyone’s sizes, used the moment to make a not-so-subtle anatomy joke about a size-seven colleague, and left V...

President Trump lit up Truth Social with a late-night tirade boasting he’s taken more cognitive decline tests than any president ever — “aced” them, too — while blasting reporters as “treasonous” for questioning his health and demanding *The New York Times* shut down. The president challenged AOC to a cognition showdown, forgot details of his own exams, and brushed off a mysterious MRI as question...

President Trump roared back onto the rally stage in Mount Pocono, torching critics as “stupid people,” bungling Susie Wiles’ name, and reviving chants of “Send her back” while pitching his “no tax on tips” plan. The president blasted Minnesota leaders, mocked immigration from global “hellholes,” and even mixed up the Eagles’ season while trying to win over Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, meteorologists w...

Patrick Gutfield digs into the National Park Service’s explosive new holiday calendar scrapping MLK Day and Juneteenth — while elevating Donald Trump’s birthday to fee-free status. Add in a $100 “patriotic premium” for foreign visitors and you’ve got bureaucratic chaos with a nationalist twist. Then: Trump “accidentally” tries to rename the Kennedy Center after himself (again), the Institute of Pe...

President Trump is fuming after coverage comparing him to “Sleepy Joe.” Patrick Gutfield breaks down Trump nodding off in Cabinet meetings, the mysterious bruises, the angry denials, and the full irony of a president who once branded Biden as tired now drifting off during his own workday. Plus: Trump’s chaotic Kennedy Center takeover, a MAGA-fied Honors gala, and a wild food-fight protest at the T...

From Washington DC where it’s not only the weather that’s frightful, this is Ballot. Melania’s Christmas décor goes full Tim Burton with mugshot LEGOs, butterfly swarms, and candelabras fit for a haunted mansion. Portland lights “the tree” — carefully avoiding the word Christmas — amid chants, land acknowledgments, and performance-art politics. And in New York, the city’s Christmas tree titans wag...

Trump’s latest economic sermon turns into verbal Twister as “affordability” becomes both his favorite word and his sworn enemy. JD Vance gets roasted to his face while trying not to blink. And in a sharp detour, we head to America’s emergency rooms, where marijuana users are learning the word “scromiting.” It’s economic whiplash, political humiliation, and medical horror — all in one festive packa...

President Trump’s marathon Cabinet session devolves into doodles, typos, third-person motivational speeches, and a boom-mic Q&A nobody asked for. Russell Vought is drawing Bob Ross landscapes, Pete Hegseth arrives as the “ssecretary of war,” and Trump tries to prove he’s “sharp” by saying “Trump is sharp.” The meeting ends with table-slapping, shoulder-thumping, and enough chaos to qualify as...

President Trump unleashes a late-night, one-hundred-sixty-post Truth Social rampage featuring conspiracy theories, political enemies, and his Home Alone 2 cameo… because why not. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth turns Franklin the Turtle into a festive war criminal. And Washington loses its mind because Usha Vance wasn’t wearing her wedding ring at a volunteer event. From DC where you should wear yo...

 A bombshell report says Trump has gutted his schedule by nearly forty percent, is rolling into “official duties” after lunchtime, and keeps dozing through appearances — all while insisting he’s in peak shape after a mysterious MRI he can’t quite explain. The White House calls it transparency. Critics call it a presidential siesta. Come for the sass, stay for the sanity—and blame the A.I. for the...

President Trump pardons Gobble and Waddle while taking a swing at Biden’s “invalid” autopen turkey pardon. Melania sets a record with the shortest Christmas tree ceremony in White House history, delivering a drive-by “beautiful.” Plus: Trump teases a Ukraine peace deal and personally revives Rush Hour 4 like he’s running a Hollywood agency with nuclear codes. A very twenty-twenty-five Thanksgiving...

Trump wants a Rush Hour reboot and is pitching Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker like it’s nineteen ninety-eight again. Meanwhile, Usha Vance sparks online chaos by simply not wearing her wedding ring to Camp Lejeune. And the DOT launches a new crusade to stop America’s worst airplane gremlins as holiday travel hits record levels. Patrick digs into Hollywood dreams, ring conspiracies, and why flying no...

Marjorie Taylor Greene is cashing out and tapping out — quitting Congress after a spectacular breakup with President Trump while quietly watching her net worth explode from seven hundred thousand to twenty-five million. Patrick breaks down the political soap opera, Trump’s midnight tariff rants, his five-a.m. meltdown over the New York Giants, and the Thanksgiving-deadline Ukraine plan that blinds...

From Washington DC, Patrick Gutfield breaks down a truly chaotic Friday: viral outrage over “Arabic numerals,” Trump’s tense meeting with New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the President’s explosive reaction to lawmakers warning troops against illegal orders, and the White House defending Trump calling a reporter “Piggy.” Plus, Trump renews his crusade to get Jimmy Kimmel fired — again. Come for...

A man named James Donald Vance Jr. was arrested for threatening to kill President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, leading to the most confusing Secret Service paperwork in American history. We dig into Trump printing out his own social media posts like a one-man scrapbook, Keith Urban performing an LGBTQ+ anthem at Mar-a-Lago, and the latest MAGA-versus-MAGA meltdown as Marjorie Taylor Greene c...

President Trump shrugged off the murder of Jamal Khashoggi with a casual “things happen,” snapped at reporters asking about the newly released Epstein emails, and even called one “Piggy.” We break down the jaw-dropping accusations in the Epstein files, Trump’s increasingly frantic denials, the White House’s very creative explanation for letting an American flag hit the ground, and the House’s lops...

Trump suddenly shifts course and urges House Republicans to release the Epstein files after weeks of trying to block them, sparking a feud with Marjorie Taylor Greene. At the same time, rising tensions with Venezuela collide with talk of possible negotiations as U.S. warships sit off the coast. And in the entertainment lane, Trump renews his demand for NBC to fire Seth Meyers — amplified by an eye...

From Chicago — where President Trump demanded troops for the non-existent “Miracle Mile” — Ballot breaks down a day of presidential confusion, late-night energy bragging, and celebrity fury. Trump’s geography gaffe sets the tone as ABC’s Jonathan Karl reveals the president’s frantic no-sleep routine, prompting the White House to insist he’s basically immortal despite MRIs, bruised hands, and mid-e...

Megyn Kelly set the internet on fire after arguing a defense so deranged it made even her fans recoil.  Then: Trump holds a foster-care event at the White House and delivers a speech that instantly went into the Word Salad Hall of Fame — complete with a mangled “adopt the general population” line and a right hand that looks like it fought a stapler and lost. Plus: Kai Trump hits the LPGA Tour and...

Patrick Gutfield unpacks the latest political circus: Donald Trump's Truth Social meltdown over newly released Epstein emails. The president's response? Classic deflection - calling the potentially explosive documents a "hoax" and demanding everyone look at the government shutdown instead. We're breaking down the emails that suggest Trump might have known more about Jeffrey Epstein than he's letti...

America’s skies are in meltdown as the shutdown leaves air traffic controllers unpaid, flights grounded, and Trump promising mystery bonuses from “some place.” Laura Ingraham actually does journalism for once, grilling him on housing, China, and chaos in the skies. And in corporate land, Paramount tells workers “five days a week or hit the eject button,” and six hundred take the parachute. Come fo...