Many on the right were anticipating Robert De Niro’s new Netflix series, “Zero Day,” to be woke garbage, especially since De Niro has an extreme case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. But Glenn watched the show and came to a shocking conclusion: The show’s message is surprisingly … conservative? Glenn breaks down the series and why he believes that De Niro’s character in “Zero Day” and Donald Trump share the same villains and solution. So, where’s the divide?
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: I watched -- and so you know, I watched this, so you didn't have to.
The new -- oh. He was -- he was raging bull. Robert De Niro. I watched the new Robert De Niro series. It was like six episodes. And he plays a former president.
And, you know, it's zero day. And all of the, you know, lights and communications and everything go out for a minute.
And killed all these people. And airplanes crashed out of the sky. And what happened?
And he's got a commission now from the new president to be. Because he's the most trusted guy in the world.
He's so credible. And he's got to figure out -- will he figure out in time?
And so I watched this thing. Because I really want to understand, Robert De Niro. I think the guy has lost it.
Wouldn't you agree? I mean, I think the guy has really, truly gone over the edge on his Trump Derangement Syndrome, you know.
STU: Yeah, definitely on that front.
He's a great actor, but he's never been right on politics. He does seem to have gone to a new level.
GLENN: Just a new level on this stuff.
And I would really like to understand. And so I saw this, and I thought, oh, I have to watch this, because nobody in the audience will. Because it's Robert De Niro.
But I'll watch it, because you want to understand I figured, this was a message film. And it is. It is.
STU: It is. Shocking.
GLENN: Yeah. I know.
And so I wanted to know what the message was. And I get to the end of it. And he gives this long speech. And, yes, I am going to spoil the ending.
Because you will not watch it.
STU: This is good. This is encouraging. You're giving a spoiler alert.
Before you say the ending of the movie, and ruin it for everyone.
You actually tell everyone, this is how you are supposed to do it.
The Hall of Fame is kicking in.
GLENN: You're right. And so you're watching this movie. And at first, he's given this commission, which they suspended the Constitution. Okay?
For this committee. Habeas corpus. He can scoop up anyone he wants. He can question them without lawyers. Use enhanced interrogation. Whatever he wants.
He's put on the committee as the head of it. Because he would never do those things. Then he does all of those things. He puts a plastic bag over somebody's head as he's questioning them, and he's supposedly the good guy here.
And I'm like, okay. Bob, I don't know what the narrative is on this one.
Unless I'm supposed to hate your character. Because I don't agree with that.
And he eventually comes to the conclusion, hey. Maybe we shouldn't have done -- good for you. Good for you.
But at the end, he gives this speech. He finds out who was responsible for it. And it was surprise, surprise, big tech.
But big tech in cahoots with big money, and people on both sides of the aisle, in Washington, DC. That just think that there has to be a unifying moment. To stop all these crazies, at the fringes.
And it's these -- you know, big kind of Deep State people.
STU: Uh-huh.
GLENN: That think that they should control everything. And if they could just get this to wake people up. Then they could pass this bill, that gives them extraordinary powers. And then they can fix the country.
And I'm thinking to myself, okay.
I think Bob, that we agree on the bad guy here. Because that's what's happening.
People on both sides of the aisle, have gone into this Deep State thing. They think they know better that be the average person. They know better that night Constitution. Am I right on this so far?
Right? Isn't that what's happening? Isn't that what we're against?
STU: Right!
GLENN: Right. And then he starts -- he's being told, look, don't. You're going to expose this. It's only going to cause more problems.
Just let these people resign and go away. And at first, he says, okay. And I thought, that can't be the ending here. Because that can't be the ending.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: And in the end, again, I'm going to wreck it. But you don't want to watch a Robert De Niro movie. Or series. My God. It took me six hours to go through this thing. My wife was away. So it was me and the dog. And Bob De Niro.
So I'm watching this thing. And at the end, he says, no. You know what will he'll us, is transparency.
And knowing who the bad guys are, and the good guys. And so here are the bad guys.
And he's standing in the joint session of Congress, and he says, the guy behind the Speaker of the House. He's one of the bad guys. And he everybody goes, whoa! And people on this side of the aisle, and that side of the aisle.
And he starts naming names. And I'm like, Bob! I don't know why you're crazy. I really don't know what you're so upset about because that's -- if that's what the left feels like, that's what the right feels like too! You know, that's kind of like where we're, hey. Kash Patel, go in!
Release the secrets. Stop the -- give us transparency. Radical transparency. It's the only thing that's going to heal us.
STU: It's interesting. I mean, I think part of it is everyone wants to see themselves as Jimmy Stewart.
The reason why that movie connected with so many people. Everyone has that vibe, right?
Everyone thinks that who they are. It's like when we say all the time. How can you think that going against the machine means going against the Republicans who were completely out of power? Going back a couple of years.
Of course, what do you mean? When you're going against the machine.
You should be standing up against the machine!
Who was in Washington. And they're mainly all Democrats. I don't understand how you don't see that. They never do. Because no one wants to see themselves as working with the machine.
GLENN: But I think it's more than that.
STU: I do too.
GLENN: I think blindness because of their hatred of Donald Trump. And look, you could say, Donald Trump is going to turn into a dictator.
Well, maybe. I don't have your crystal ball. All right? Maybe. I don't think so.
STU: I hope not.
GLENN: I don't think so. He says a lot of things. It's Donald Trump, that you should not take seriously. But you -- you want to understand that he means direction. Right?
Isn't that the seriously --
STU: Literally.
GLENN: You don't want to take it literally.
You want to take it seriously. Got it?
So he says a lot of things. No. He's not going to go in and shut down the press.
However, will he go out and expose everything?
Yeah. And, yeah. Does he like the right?
No!
No!
Did you see him speak at CPAC?
He was like, we're not really conservative.
We're common sense.
That kind of bothered me. Because, no. I'm a conservative.
It means conserving the things that our Founders put together. Then I'm a conservative. But I don't know how he defines it, in that moment.
But I would -- I would consider that common sense as well. But I don't understand, how can people like Robert De Niro have all this hatred, when he's exposing all of this corruption?
Now, you can say, that's not enough to balance the budget. And you're right.
It's not!
But it's a good start. How -- how you could say, look, if people were doing things, that they weren't supposed to be doing, and funneling money, without the -- you know -- and is going to NGOs, to a political organization. Like the Tides Foundation.
I think those people should go to jail.
And I would say that if they were, you know, funneling that money to some Republican Tides Foundation.
STU: Yeah. I think a lot of it. You mentioned the Trump derangement syndrome.
I think a lot of this comes to, the opposition to Trump is essentially the main part of their identity at this point. Like, it's been -- it's been --
GLENN: It's who they are.
STU: Yeah. It's who they are. There's that book Atomic Habits. That is a big best-seller. And one of the things that it talks about in there, to not think about -- if you want to do something, you want to go and run a marathon one day. You have to go out there, and you have to take those first steps. You have to run a couple of times. You will probably feel bad the first time you run out there.
But one of the ways he talks about, thinking about it, is not thinking about it as I need to go out and run. I need to go out and run.
You have to think about it as, I'm a runner. And it becomes part of -- for example, your level of self-control, Sara, would you say minimal for Glenn. Would you say -- would you say it's impressive, in any way? No. Right? It's pathetic.
GLENN: It might have been this weekend, when my wife was gone. Might have been.
STU: We know that if we went to your home right now. There would be piles of Hostess wrappers around your television set.
GLENN: Well, no, she came back late last night, so those are all in the garage.
STU: Right. But however, there's one thing I know, you never, ever screw up on. Which is taking a drink.
I'm serious. You are a recovering alcoholic. It's how you describe yourself. It is your identity.
GLENN: Yes.
STU: It is part of it.
GLENN: No. It's part of it.
STU: It's part of your identity.
GLENN: The control against it.
STU: It is part --
GLENN: The disease does not define me.
STU: I'm not saying all of your identity. When it comes to alcohol consumption.
You don't get up every day and say, eh. I won't have a drink today.
You are a recovering alcoholic. You know you won't drink, and you don't let that enter into your mind, that there's any other option, except when I bring out a bottle and tempt you.
But other than that, generally speaking.
GLENN: And I'm for that. I'm for more of that. I love the smell of whiskey. It's a problem. It's a problem. You're making me want a drink.
STU: My point here is, you have that rule, it's not just some rule. Like, oh, when you used to say, I won't drink until 5 o'clock. That's a little rule you made for yourself.
GLENN: Correct.
STU: Now you never drink, you're a recovering alcoholic. It's something you're sober. You have been sober for this amount of time.
GLENN: I'm going to drink. If you don't get this back to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
STU: The point is, for a lot of these celebrities, opposition to Trump is the same as you're a recovering alcoholic. They just see it as a central part of their identity.
And if they are proven wrong, it not only overturns some point they made on television.
It overturns their identity when it comes to politics.
GLENN: Yeah. Because they don't -- they haven't allowed for any other option.
They haven't allowed for --
STU: Right.
GLENN: Look, I hated -- I mean, I didn't mind the Republican Party.
I thought the Republicans in this whole, you know, let's go march off to war and save the world, 30 years ago, I was all for that.
I was like, yeah, that's because we're right.
You got to leave an option, you know, a door open to new information, going, you know, I think I have to take the exit here.
STU: Yeah. Understand your fallibility.
We've made thousands of points about Donald Trump.
Some of them I think were really, really right. Some of them were wrong.
And we talked about those that were wrong. It's important to be able to allow yourself to understand, sometimes you're not right on something.
And it shouldn't be something that you possess and hold to your heart, like it's your religion.
That's where they are. Well, God is real. And if he's not, then my whole life dissolves. That's where they are with Trump. Trump is evil. Trump is Hitler. And if he's not Hitler, I -- my entire life has been a waste. That's how they think about it. And I don't think they can come out and understand --
GLENN: I really -- I saw that movie. And I thought, you know, I would have to hit them with a tranquilizer dart first, but I would love to sit down and talk to him.
Because I'm like, I don't understand what you have a problem with. Because I'm for all of those things that you have in the movie. I'm for all of those things, that I think you were trying to preach as your message. I don't get it, Bob. I mean --
STU: He would have a really dumb response too.
GLENN: Yeah. It's not worth having that conversation. Because it wouldn't be an honest one.
