39. The Lamborghini Episode (Live from Long Island)

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0:29Hi there and welcome to The Rest is Politics US with me, Katty Kay. And me, Anthony Scaramucci. What you are about to hear is a portion of our member-only bonus episode that we recorded for our founding members from Anthony's house in Long Island. Founding members of The Rest is Politics US get ad-free listening, a weekly member-only Q &A, and early access to all of our miniseries. So if you're interested in signing up, go to therestispoliticsus.com. That's therestispoliticsus.com. dot com. So, Anthony, this is very exciting because in this special episode, the listeners finally get what they want, me driving your Lamborghini.

1:12Without giving any spoilers about what people are about to hear, why don't you set the scene? Well, let me say this, okay? I check my blood pressure regularly because I'm getting older now. And so, when you arrived at my house and I knew you were driving the Lamborghini, I elected not to check my blood pressure because I knew it was probably like 200 over 160, and I just didn't want to have a panic about that as well, like a neurotic panic. But I have to confess, and I'm not going to give up anything more than this. I have to confess that you are actually a very good driver. I was worried, Caddy, but after you made the few three-point turns in the car, I was like, all right, this is going to be okay.

1:51Suffice to say that my 25-year-old son, Jude, who loves cars, was absolutely amazed that you did let me drive your precious vehicle. Okay. Now, while I said she was a great driver, there was one little thing that happened. And my only regret is that we weren't playing Billy Joel, who was the national anthem author of all things Long Island in the car, blaring it like I did in 1981. So here it is, the Lamborghini episode, live from Long Island.

2:23Okay, ready? Put on a guess. Okay. Where am I going? All right, so you're going to make a right. Tree? Lamp post? Yeah, not yet. I haven't said any bad. I haven't said any bad. I am nervous. I will confess to the viewership. Do you really? Because this is my... Okay, what have I ever done that you have not given you cause not to have confidence in? I gave you... I invited you onto this podcast. It's been a great success. I hope that viewers and listeners do pray for me once in a while. Okay, so while you're driving, educate me. You've been in the U.S. 26 years. I know, I came for three. A couple of the kids are citizens.

2:57Four of the kids are citizens, Anthony. One of them was born in Tokyo. Three of them were born in America. So tell me why you are not a U.S. citizen. Such a good question. So I have a green card. I'm here legally. And I've had it for 20 years, so I'm eligible to get citizenship. and I think I'm going to get it. But it feels like, it does feel like quite a big decision. I will get citizenship because I don't want to not have the citizenship of my kids. Can you move to like Pennsylvania or Wisconsin? Michigan or Wisconsin. Yeah, exactly. Sun-delt to Sun-delt. I'm going to get citizenship and there is so much that I admire about states.

3:36Okay, so just be careful because the road is wet and this thing is slick. And at its very best, I love America's attitude to immigrants. down to the stoplight. It's an outsider and it has that ability to bring people in that you don't find in very many countries around the world. None of the countries I've ever lived in have I found that. I have to admit that there are things that trouble me. I mean every time there is a school shooting I want to pack my bags and I want to throw my hands up and say why can't this country fix this and what is it about. And that is a real issue for me. but in the end I will get it because my kids are American because America has given me so much and because I see in America the capacity to have something that I have never found in all of the very many countries I've lived in and that is an openness to new ideas, new people You said something to be very interesting and I'm fascinated by you said that there's lots of class mobility in the United Kingdom There's actually more But there's less acceptance as people are moving.

4:41So somebody can show up worth a billion dollars, but the posh people... May still see them as not being posh. I mean, I think that is something I also love about America. Yes, technically, there's actually more social mobility in the United Kingdom and in several other European countries than there is in the U.S. because of the wealth differences in America. But what there isn't is an acceptance of people moving up as much. The car system still feels, whenever I go back to the United Kingdom, After living here for 26 years, the class system just is still stultifying. And it hasn't got very much better.

5:18There's been some mobility, but not very much. Make a right turn. Do you think everyone thinks this is my car? And they're all looking at me and thinking, wow, she has a lot of kids. Yeah. And I love that here. Like, what is this lady driving around with a thought down in the ring? You can start as a crane operator's dad, have that social mobility. Right on right. and be accepted in many places in Europe, the existence of aristocracy, the existence of classes that have been entrenched with privilege for decades and generations and generations, means that although you might technically have social mobility in terms of wealth, you don't necessarily have the same social mobility in terms of acceptance into the upper...

5:56You will still always be slightly looked down on. And I find that very distressing about Europe. But Americans actually don't care about that. Americans don't care about that. I watched that happen in the UK. When I got to the UK, I was a student. And I noticed people were focused on each other's accents and they were focused on... Am I allowed to speed up at some point? Location. Yeah, but just to be careful, it's wet. I'm telling you, this car has no traction. Okay. This is a speed car. This is not a SUV. I know. Well, that's what I'm thinking. Oh, it's telling me I'm not going fast enough. I think you're doing great, by the way.

6:25Okay. This is the ocean. My heart rate's gone from 180 back to like 61. okay so so will you come to my naturalization ceremony when under you say something great at our live show that the seat in the house is quite good but the naturalization ceremonies very evening better seat right yeah it's very moving and it's that thing that America has that I said in the live show in New York of you go to a naturalization don't worry I saw it you go to a naturalization ceremony and the judge says listen you've just become American citizens and welcome to America and but at the same time you are Senegalese and South African and Australian and British and Mexican and never forget that you are those things and you can still be those things and remember your customs and remember your traditions and keep your languages and your foods and that okay that is what I love about this country that is why it would be a privilege to be part of this This is a beautiful rendition of what you're saying.

7:29But am I wrong in saying this? I just get a reaction. That everything you just said about the inclusiveness in America, the world, I don't know if it still does, but when I was growing up, I felt like the world had a love affair with America. Was I wrong with that or am I wrong? You can tell me. I was right. I'm not saying it's still the same way, but... It's not the same way. And there was a period during the Cold War and in the 90s after the Cold War where it was pretty, there was a sort of black and white view of the superpowers. And you either, you bought into the American system. At that stop, so I make a right.

8:05You know, it was the system of pluralism and democracy and freedom and rule of law and freedom of worship and free press against the autocracy of the Soviet Union. And it was the good guys against the bad guys. And for a period, I think what was interesting was that after the end of the Cold War, in the 1990s, there was a honeymoon period where the world looked at what we had just gone through and everybody brought into that notion of pluralism and democracy and one person, one vote, and the good guys had won. And then I think that honeymoon kind of ended with 9-11 and people, am I going right or left?

8:43Left, I'm sorry. And there was more... So just quickly, this is my neighborhood. These are all blue collar apartments here. This is where I had my paper out. This is where you grew up. This is where I grew up. Yep. These are all blue-collar apartments. I'll show you. Yep. And this is where I grew up. Would your family have described themselves as working class or middle class? Middle class. I think we were, I would never dishonor my dad by telling him I grew up poor. Did not grow up poor. You'll see my dad's home, my mom's home. You know, we grew up middle class. And the thing about it was we were all middle class.

9:15None of us cared. You know? And we went in and out of each other's houses. I got hit by every Italian woman in this neighborhood. That's a difference between. No problem. They hit you with a wooden spoon. They yell at you. They call your mother. Make a right. The worst thing that could happen to you in the neighborhood I grew up in, you got hit by one of the other moms. Because she would call your mother and tell you, and then you get hit again. It was like a double hit. In the UK, what Americans call middle class, in the UK would be called working class. And in much of Europe. And again, it's that aspirational thing about America.

9:47So this is my elementary school. See this? Oh, look at that. That's so nice. It was made in 1910. Yep. and this was the uh element this was the this was every grade this was one through twelve when my mother went to it okay one through twelve your mother went to the same elementary elementary school so i grew up and then this became well this was this was one to twelve like the elementary school the high school then it became one to six and they built the high school my childhood was so different if you make a right if you make a right because i grew up moving every two or three years I went to six different schools in the space of five years in three countries in two languages okay so this is my grandfather's house right here see this house with the Halloween stuff on it and then he then he built this other tiny house for my uncle who came back from the war okay and the this house here that house was the exact same size and they knocked it down and built that out they built that big one okay but these are the how this is so there's a there's little living room so your father grew up in that house no my mother my father grew up in uh my mother grew up in uh worksbury in scranton pennsylvania the uh as i told you his house on zillow 34 000 these houses are five six hundred thousand now because the neighborhood has come up the neighbors come up yeah i mean it's a very nice they were bought for two three thousand dollars okay right all right so you got to do a three point turn okay okay i just wanted to show you how close I grew up to my grandparents okay make a laugh and then obviously back out look at you I am super impressed guys all right that was a little bad that's all right that was bottoming out but I had the yellow thing sorry it's okay it's not your fault it's just the car is too low for the street will it be okay totally fine yeah there's a there's a thing on it no I paid for a steel plate to that's why I made that yeah yeah exactly that's that's protector okay all right you're gonna go to the stop sign make a right so so this you have deep roots yeah this is this is my neighbor that's my elementary school that's why you haven't you see how cool because this is home these are all my my my cousin is living in that house this is why I've turned the thing off I pay his rent to take care of all of it because he dislocated his hip he has no disability.

12:11You follow what I'm saying? How many family members do you support or employ? Oh forget about it. I take care of almost all. You can't grow up in a blue collar neighborhood and get wealthy. It's not what it is. Okay make a right. See the Harris wall signs? Okay so this is my immigrants who send back remittances and support their families back in Africa or Latin America. It's the same. Same thing. You're going to park in that driveway. way okay these people are reverse ready all right so stop now use it paddle and this is the house I grew up in and this part of the house yeah no I mean this is much bigger than the house your grandparents are from yeah this is I grew up this was added to the house in the 80s okay ready yeah park okay now hold on Am I far enough forward?

13:06You are. It's fine. Okay. Look at you. I mean, come on. Right? Come on. All right, come on. Let's take a walk. As you would imagine, I pay for all the landscaping, right? I'm getting my mother a new fence. I don't have my phone on me, but... It's fine. Don't worry. It's the house I grew up in. So, yeah, I mean, I literally moved every two years. My whole childhood. I never left the neighborhood. Ma Alright say hello to my podcast I'm not even impressed Hi Look Mrs. Scaramucci What a pleasure to meet you I'm Kathy Hi Kathy Ciao I am the one that's been the podcast and the live shows with Anthony in England Did you see those photos We did like with thousands of people turned out Oh my god Look at this handsome He did great Look at him.

14:05Here we go. Italian mother. Italian mother. You speak Italian, right? Yeah, I speak Italian. You're Italian? No, but I speak Italian. You speak Italian, Ma, or you speak a dialect of Italian? I speak a dialect of yours. My mother died young, so I got away from the language. Right. Did you go to Anthony's house? We were recording one of our books. He let me drive his car. He's driving the Lambo, Ma. The Lamborghini. I drove it, too. And? I heard you drove it fast. Huh? I heard you drove it very fast. I did. I'm not slow. I used to drive a motorcycle. See my picture? Wow. I was up 30 in this picture.

14:45That was your bike? My brother was a ghost. He had a motorcycle. Amazing. What's going on? You should have worn me. I would have been dressed. Relax, Maya. Nobody gives a shit. Relax. No? No. No, no, no. No. So this room, other than the rug and the furniture, this is what it looked like growing up. See, this is the walnut paneling from the 1960s. She wouldn't let me take any of it down. You see the linoleum? Yeah, that's original. That's original. It's probably worth a fortune now.

15:23So, Katty, shall I tell them who knocked on the door while we were at my mother's house? I suspect if I say no, don't tell them, you're going to tell them anyway. So go on, go ahead. So I was knocking on the door. This big dude comes into the house. He's wearing one of those yellow vests. He's a worker from the town of North Hempstead. He knows my cousin, Bobby. And so the license plate got blown off the car on Jefferson Street. And I live on Webster, at least that's where I grew up. He came running down the block with the license plate. He knew exactly who I was because we went to high school together.

15:58He's good friends with my cousin, Bobby. He's like begging on the door. He says, Mooch, you idiot. You left the license plate on Jefferson Street. So there's a couple of things there. Number one, never leave the neighborhood because in case your license plate gets blown off by a Brit as she's doing a three-point turn into a curb, you have buddies around that can run down the block and save you from ordering a new license plate from the apartment motor vehicle. But I have to confess this, Caddy, that was my fault because I knew the car had a low profile and I told you to make that turn. So all in all, I thought you were quite a good driver.

16:30The other moral of the story is make sure that you have a customized license plate that has the Mooch written on it because then everyone will know whose it is. Mr. Mooch. Hey, listen, it doesn't say Sir Mooch yet, but I do know that that license plate is available in New York. But right now it's just Mr. Mooch. I'm sorry about the license plate. That was a tiny, tiny hitch on my part. But I'm so glad I got to meet your mom and see the house that you grew up in, which has not changed since the 1960s, since you were a kid, one bit right down to the yellow. Just want to point out, not my fault. I've renovated the bathrooms.

17:06I would have renovated the whole house for her, Caddy, but you, you heard her. I met your mom and she definitely said she's not going to have it. So I wouldn't even try. She wants the Formica. She wants, hey, Carol Brady from the Brady Bunch call wants the paneling back in the living room. But my mother says when she walks around in that house, it makes her think of her kids when she was young, they were young, and she doesn't want me to change it. So there you go. Yeah, I can see that. It was such a treat to go and drive around the neighborhood. And we saw, you know, there's one cousin's garage mechanic shop, there's another cousin's pizza parlor, there's another cousin's deli.

17:37And for me, who grew up totally rootless moving house every two or three years, you know, maybe think about what different childhoods we had and how lucky you are, Anthony, that you grew up always in the same place with all your family all around you and that you still live there. I think we're both beneficiaries of our different life experiences, but I appreciate you coming out. That meant a lot to me. And of course, I got to meet your family this week too. So that was a great fun for me and my wife, Deirdre. By the way, can we just say quickly about Deirdre and how you married up by leagues?

18:10And she is clearly, not just the better half, like the much better half. No, she's the better nine-tenths. She's not the better half. I mean, she could be the better 99 out of 100s. She could be the better 10-tenths, honestly. Yeah, well, we know that. By the way, what are you, like Captain Obvious now on the podcast? I mean, of course, we know that, Drew. Anyway, thank you so much to everyone for listening. If you want to hear the full version of that episode with a bonus Q &A, sign up and become a founding member at therestispoliticsus.com. And again, I'd just like to say thank you guys so much for all those people who've signed up so far.

18:44We're planning on doing some more mini-series after the election, and you'll be the first to hear about them. Thanks so much for listening. Thank you. Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Savings very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates excludes Massachusetts.