‘Merciless’ soars to No.1 on political podcast charts days after Politico published hit article on conservative show

The “Ruthless” podcast saw a sudden surge in audience just days after Politico published a successful article about the conservative “variety show.”

Last week, Politico Magazine editor-in-chief Derek Robertson wrote an opinion piece on the growing influential podcast, asking the question “is this good?”

“Over 100 episodes in its broadcast, the show has shown real strength – two of its three hosts are public relations professionals, they know too well the pressure points and hypocrisies of the political media and pounce on them with righteousness. – but its flaws make the overall product deeply unsatisfactory “, Robertson wrote.

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Robertson has claimed that “Ruthless” has an “embarrassing contradiction at its heart” as co-hosts Josh Holmes, Michael Duncan and Comfortably Smug pose as the “bad boys of the conservative discourse,” but the podcast is “inextricably linked with the establishment that former President Donald Trump railed against, and which his hosts almost literally embody. “

The Politico editor insisted the podcast is very ‘cringe’, calling the co-hosts a ‘geriatric-millennial’ for their ‘amount of outdated cultural references’ and comparing them to’ – the self-proclaimed teachers ‘Cool’ trying to have a ‘rap session’ with their students. “

“Of course, making a no-fun podcast isn’t a sin, and those who eagerly listen to ‘Ruthless’ every week will be happy as long as they deem the aforementioned libraries owned. But more than the awkwardness of what the hosts say , this ultimately reveals what they are not saying about the GOP’s post-Trump status quo, ”Robertson wrote. “It’s red meat for the devotees, and probably an effective Alka-Seltzer for the mainstream conservatives pampered in liberal geographic bubbles (like the show’s hosts). For anyone, it’s a listening experience. disorienting and downright obnoxious – and, fatally, one that seems almost comically timid in the face of reality compared to its conservative media rivals. “

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Robertson went on to praise his liberal counterpart “Pod Save America” ​​for “#Resistance-flavored cultural phenomenon” and that the podcast run by former Obama staff “was easy to understand, born (as” Ruthless “) the easy relationship between his hosts and a parade of near-media pep talk with their party’s top brass.”

However, Politico’s bashing of the conservative podcast appeared to have the opposite effect on the general public.

“Ruthless,” which was ranked No. 56 on Political Programs on Apple Podcasts on the day Robertson’s article was published, reached No. 1 a week later, according to Chartable.

“Thanks buddy,” Smug told Robertson on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the co-hosts of “Ruthless” pummeled Robertson’s criticism of their show during Tuesday’s episode of the podcast.

“It was an opportunity for him to launch ad hominem attacks on the variety show,” Holmes said of Robertson, who he said looked like former daytime TV host Sally Jessy Raphael.

“What’s hilarious is that the centerpiece of his point is, ‘I love listening to Pod Save America. I don’t like these podcasts,’ which is like ‘Oh, perfect,'” Smug responded. , accusing Robertson of not listening enough to the podcast as there was no mention of “bread and butter stuff” like “horse fighting” and “fake space” or any mention, as Holmes added , games they play like “Dem or Journo”, “Klain to Fame” and “King of the Hill”.

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“For him and everyone like him, they’re pissed off that the variety show isn’t ruled by the rules of the left, are they?” Holmes said later. “They are upset that we refuse to go into that little box that the glitterati newspaper puts in every curator and then looks like a zoo animal.”

“And the variety show doesn’t talk enough about January 6,” Duncan joked. “But you know, he’s listening right now. And this guy has never felt more powerful in his whole life than he feels right now.”

“Ruthless” also capitalizes on the recent GOP victory in Virginia with the stunning overthrow of gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin after spending weeks urging listeners to vote in the election.

Youngkin appeared on the podcast last spring during the GOP Primary.