It’s the final Friday Barf Bag of 2025, and what a year it’s been (derogatory). Let’s count down the most nauseating events we covered over the last 12 months, shall we?
10. Resistance Hero Cory Booker Was Only Dem to Confirm Jared Kushner’s Dad to Plum Job
Weeks after a marathon speech about how the Democratic party needs to do better, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker voted for the Donald Trump-pardoned criminal to become the U.S. Ambassador to France. Also, he recently got married for the first time at age 56, so expect him to launch another presidential campaign.
9. Greasy Weasel Starts Apparent 2028 Campaign by Throwing Trans People Under the Bus
In March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) used the inaugural episode of his podcast, This is Gavin Newsom, to interview now-deceased Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and to take what we have to assume was a planned swipe at transgender people. Specifically, Newsom claimed that trans athletes competing in scholastic sports is an “issue of fairness”—when the right is using it as the first step in a slippery slope to ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors and eventually adults. If Newsom thinks sacrificing some people’s rights is good politics, he’s both a coward and an idiot.
8. Reality Star Transportation Secretary Suggests People Dressing Up Will Fix Nightmare Air Travel Experience
Sean Duffy, Trump’s Secretary of Transportation and Real World alumna, had some advice ahead of a busy holiday travel season: If you slobs stopped wearing sweatpants, maybe airports would be less hellacious. “People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly,” Duffy said. “We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season: help people out, be in a good mood, dress up. Bring civility back to travel.” Go suck an egg, Sean.
7. Sexual Assailant Surrounds Himself With Girls While Signing Decree Allowing Genital Inspections
Trump, an adjudicated sexual assailant and alleged rapist, held a February gathering at the White House in which he surrounded himself with little girls to talk about genitals. He signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. How does one enforce such a ban? Girls and women suspected of being trans might have to undergo physical examinations or answer invasive personal questions. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said of similar policies: “When there is no enforcement mechanism, you open the door to every enforcement mechanism.”
6. Mike Johnson Fixes Flags for Daddy
Even before Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, House Speaker Mike Johnson was already being a devoted little lackey. In what was set to be a perfect Inauguration Day metaphor, Capitol flags were going to be flying at half-staff after the death of President Jimmy Carter. But Donnie got very mad about that fact, so Johnson sprang into action to have the flags raised for a single day. That act was a preview of the lengths Johnson would go for Trump, like sending the House home early to try to bury the Epstein Files and refusing to condemn a racist video Trump shared of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and generally acting as if he hadn’t seen a single offensive thing he said.
5. JD Vance Says Germany Needs to Be Nicer to Its Neo-Nazi Party
In February, Vice President JD Vance essentially said the German Parliament was being undemocratic in not working with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is considered a neo-Nazi party. While attending the Munich Security Conference, he said, “What no democracy—American, German, or European—will survive, is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief, are invalid and unworthy of even being considered.” Meanwhile, Vance’s xenophobic rhetoric drew criticism from the late Pope Francis and the then-cardinal, now-Pope Leo.
4. Amy Coney Barrett Told Bari Weiss We Should All Just Trust the Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett published a book in September in which she writes that the court was totally correct when it overturned Roe v. Wade and let abortion bans proliferate. Barrett had a book talk with Bari Weiss, the founder of The Free Press, during which the justice said, “I would like Americans to trust the institution of the court,” she said, calling it “an institution that does operate with integrity.” Lol, lmao. Weiss was named the editor-in-chief of CBS News the following month.
3. White House Blames Trump’s Enormous Bruise on Him Shaking So Many Hands
Trump’s right hand has been the subject of much intrigue, given the gigantic bruise and boatloads of concealer deployed in an attempt to hide said bruise. In December, he slapped Band-Aids on top. The White House explanation remains that the contusion is from shaking hands all day and taking preventive aspirin.
2. All of the goddamn ballroom nonsense
In August, the White House announced that it would build a 90,000-square-foot, 650-person ballroom as an addition to the East Wing. Trump claimed this was necessary because party guests were inconvenienced by having to “schlop” about 100 yards to an overflow tent. In fact, they bulldozed the East Wing for this party venue, which was initially projected to cost $200 million, but Trump recently revised that up to a stunning $400 million. (This is the same guy who keeps telling children they should be happy with fewer toys.) And the whole thing may not be done until summer 2028, which raises some…questions.
1. GOP Senator Helpfully Reminds Constituents Worried About Medicaid Cuts That All Humans Die
Truly, nothing tops this in my mind. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst told voters at a May town hall that GOP healthcare cuts don’t matter because we all leave this mortal coil. One woman shouted at the stage, “People will die!” Ernst responded, “People are not—well, we all are going to die, so for heaven’s sake.” The audience rightfully jeered. Ernst announced in September that she would not seek reelection.
This has been your Friday Barf Bag, thanks for reading!
