💬 Rethinking Ronald Reagan in the Trump era and a 30-year-old video exposes Chuck Schumer's hypocrisy

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With Presidents Week wrapping up, I hope you had the chance to pay tribute to the American presidents who have helped shape this country and made it the greatest in world history. As you know, we devoted the whole week to revisiting some of the most influential U.S. presidents — and we had help from some of the smartest people I know: Glenn Beck, Michael Knowles, Andrew Klavan, and Jeffrey Tucker. Plus, we did it all against the backdrop of Trump 2.0, a time in which things are getting back to normal in America.

Think about how crazy things were under Biden. I basically wouldn’t have been able to have this newsletter sponsored by a company selling ivermectin during the autopen dark ages. Nowadays, if you want to purchase some ivermectin, you can buy some — and Rubin Recap readers get a deal — without the crazies at CNN lecturing you about taking horse de-wormer.

Now, before we get to rethinking Ronald Reagan, I want to quickly touch on a few things that happened in the news this week.

Not to say I told you so, but Zohran Mamdani is just trying to lay waste to New York City. And it’s only about 6 weeks into his term as mayor. He proposed a staggering $127 billion budget this week. Bigger than Florida’s budget. More than twice as big as Tokyo’s! And he threatened to raise property taxes by as much as almost 10%. And he’s axing the plan to hire 5,000 cops to the NYPD force! So much for all the free stuff. Nothing says "affordability" like making rent even higher for the working class while the rich pack up and move to the free state of Florida.

And if you want a great real-life metaphor for what Mamdani is doing to New York — the city has been overwhelmed with calls about the sidewalks being covered in dog poop, in addition to snow that was never properly cleared after a huge storm that hit … almost a month ago. Sometimes the universe sends you signals that are impossible to ignore, people.

I ran a little poll in this newsletter a couple weeks ago about who the worst leftist clown on TV is these days. Jimmy Kimmel beat out nine other competitors to claim the dubious distinction, and this week Kimmel cemented even further what we all know him to be. An operative for Democrats. The so-called comedian will be headlining a fundraiser for House Democrats next month. The most expensive ticket to attend? $310,100 — and it’s named after Hakeem Jeffries. I’m told that for that steep price, a ticket buyer will get a personal monologue from Jimmy about how evil Trump supporters are, followed by a photo op with Nancy Pelosi who will share an insider trading tip or two with you. 😂

And his late-night rival, Stephen Colbert, is also an operative for Democrats. He used his show this week for a silly stunt to help a Democrat senate candidate from Texas raise campaign funds. I know it’s been about a decade since anything funny has happened on either of these shows, but what ever happened to doing a little comedy on late-night TV? I mean, we knew both of these guys are tools — but now we’re seeing that they’re actual, literal tools of the Democrat party.

Lastly, as Democrats continue to oppose the SAVE Act, which would require voter ID at election polls, a video unearthed from 1996 exposed Chuck Schumer’s absolute hypocrisy on the issue. Please watch this video if you haven’t seen it already. It’s less than two minutes and shows Chuck Schumer 30 years ago speaking out in support of ID requirements on the House floor. Of course, in 2026, Schumer has said the SAVE Act is “Jim Crowe 2.0.” You just can’t make this stuff up.

Check out the message on Ivermectin, and then a look at the great Ronald Reagan below.

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This week, we focused on four of the most significant presidents in U.S. history and the one I’m highlighting here is Ronald Reagan — because he’s the only one of the four whose presidency I lived through.

In fact, one of my earliest memories of a president was watching the news about the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. And don’t forget his quick sense of humor — while giving a speech in 1987, a balloon popped. It was loud enough that Reagan heard it and TV cameras picked up the sound. Without missing a beat, Reagan deadpanned, “Missed me.” A chorus of laughs erupted from the audience. Far better comic timing than the two so-called comedians I mentioned above.

As Michael Knowles pointed out, there are tremendous similarities between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. You may recall, Trump actually borrowed from Reagan’s 1980 campaign slogan “Let’s Make America Great Again” for his signature MAGA version.

“Trump in some ways is just Reagan for the 21st century. He's kind of Reagan on steroids,” Knowles said, pointing out that Trump is faced with similar challenges that Reagan encountered, but those challenges have been magnified immensely since the 1980s. Just think about how different the problem of illegal immigration is in the Trump era versus what Reagan dealt with.

Some of the other parallels Knowles pointed out aren’t so obvious, and I think you’ll find his explanation of them to be fascinating. Watch it below, and also don’t miss our episodes on debunking the liberal myths of George Washington, why Abraham Lincoln was hated prior to ending slavery, and how Richard Nixon’s biggest mistake wasn’t Watergate, if you haven’t seen those yet.

Lots of love for Rubio who wins Top Trump Peeps poll again

I don’t know if it’s because I sent last week’s newsletter on Valentine’s Day weekend or what, but there was a whole lot of love for Marco Rubio in the latest edition of the Trump administration power rankings. Rubio reigned again, although Border Czar Tom Homan was not far behind. You can see the rest of the results above. And below, check out of a few of the effusive comments that accompanied the votes. There were many more like this. Reader symhome1 even included a heart emoji! All solid points.

This week, in keeping with the Presidents Week theme on The Rubin Report, I want to know who your top U.S. president of the four we featured on the show this week is. Of these four, who do you think was the most important? And if you want to weigh in with another president, as always, leave a comment along with your vote. Have at it below. ⬇️ Also, after you all weigh in on this poll, I’ll reveal my top American president sometime on the show next week.

• Reminder: The Rubin Recap is now hitting your inbox twice a week! As you may or may not have noticed, the Sunday edition is a little shorter than what you get on Friday, and a little different. I’m focusing on the little things you may have missed in the news that suggest America is getting back to normal. I think you’ll love it.

• Glad to see that many of you are watching Actual Friends. A new episode just dropped today — and I’m not in this week’s show, but Jillian Michaels and Dr. Drew did a great job of holding down the fort. But you should still watch. And you should also subscribe here and tap the notification button so you don’t miss a new episode or the highlights that we post.

• I’m telling you, if George Washington were alive today, he’d need a stiff drink after hearing some of the things modern Americans say about him and his fellow Founding Fathers. I like to think he’d enjoy a nice glass of Copal. If you haven’t tried it yet, pick up a bottle of the official tequila of free speech. You place an order here. And if you buy three, we’ll send them for free.

• You did it! You’ve reached the end of the newsletter. Don’t forget our wonderful sponsor The Wellness Company and the special offer they’re making for readers of The Rubin Recap to get $90 off an order of ivermectin capsules that are 100% made in America.

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Until Sunday … — Dave