Kid Rock on Being Friends With Trump: It's 'A Front Row Seat to the Greatest Shit Show on Earth'
MAGA mouthpiece Kid Rock is once again lauding President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Sky News Australia, the country-rock singer, born Bob Ritchie, sat down with host Paul Murray as part of a one-hour special, Trump’s America: 250 Years in the Making. Over the past decade, Ritchie has become one of the president’s biggest cheerleaders — receiving invitations to the White House, performing at Republican-affiliated music gigs, and chumming it up next to Trump at football games and UFC matches.
During a conversation that centered around Ritchie’s thoughts on America today, Murray asked what is was like to have a “buddy that’s running the world.”
It’s “fucking awesome,” replied the musician. When asked if the president “texts you randomly,” Ritchie said Trump did and “it’s one of my late-night drinking tricks because I know when to get him.” The singer said Trump “always picks up or he’ll call and check in just to shoot the shit,” adding, “He’s not calling me to [ask], ‘Hey, what should we do in Iran, Bob?’ I don’t get those calls.”
Ritchie continued, “I enjoy the hell out of hanging out with him and talking with him and just having a front row seat to the greatest shit show on Earth.”
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In February, Ritchie headlined the “All-American Halftime Show” — the Super Bowl alternative halftime show hosted by Turning Point USA that ran concurrently to the Super Bowl halftime show, which was headlined by Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny. To no one’s surprise except maybe some MAGA hopefuls, Bad Bunny’s performance eclipsed the audience for the conservative counterprogramming mounted against it by millions.
Paramedics responded to a ‘cardiac arrest’ at Mitch McConnell’s home on day of hospitalization
Paramedics responded to a report of a “cardiac arrest” for an “unconscious” person at a known address for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on the day his office disclosed he had been hospitalized, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.
McConnell’s office, which has not disclosed why he was hospitalized, referred NBC News to a June 22 statement when it was asked about the audio.
“Senator McConnell is still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery. However, he will not be voting this week,” said the statement, from spokesman David Popp.
McConnell’s office has not said whether he remains hospitalized. Punchbowl News previously reported on the response by paramedics.
McConnell’s office said in a short statement on June 14: “Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care.” He has not been seen since he was hospitalized.
McConnell, 84, has faced a slew of health issues in recent years. He was hospitalized for more than a week this year with “flu-like symptoms,” and three years ago he tripped at a Washington dinner, after which he was hospitalized with a concussion.
In 2019, he fractured a shoulder when he fell at home.
McConnell raised eyebrows when he froze on camera multiple times in 2023, seemingly unable to answer reporters’ questions immediately.
McConnell, who was first elected in 1984, was the Senate Republican leader from 2007 to 2025, making him the chamber’s longest-serving party leader. He announced last year that he would not seek re-election.
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Frank Thorp VFrank Thorp V is a coordinating producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
Zara MorrisZara Morris is a Desk Assistant at NBC News.
Raquel Coronell UribeRaquel Coronell Uribe is a politics reporter for NBC News.
EMS was called to Sen. Mitch McConnell's home for "unconscious" patient last month, recording suggests
PoliticsEMS was called to Sen. Mitch McConnell's home for "unconscious" patient last month, recording suggests
By Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation. Read Full Bio Caitlin YilekJuly 1, 2026 / 7:58 PM EDT / CBS News
Add CBS News on GoogleWashington — On the same morning Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was hospitalized last month, emergency medical personnel went to his home to respond to an unconscious person who appeared to experience "cardiac arrest," according to a public EMS dispatch call reviewed by CBS News.
During the recording, a dispatcher called in a "cardiac arrest" and a medic said there was "CPR in progress" at McConnell's address. The dispatcher also said somebody was "unconscious." The call came in before 9 a.m. on June 14. The senator's name is not mentioned during the call, and CBS News has not confirmed the identity of the unconscious person.
Audio of the call was first shared by journalist Desiree Townsend.
On the same day as the dispatch call, a spokesperson for McConnell said in a statement that the Kentucky Republican was hospitalized and was "receiving excellent care." No details were provided about why he was admitted or where.
In a statement the next day, the spokesperson said McConnell — who was previously the Senate's top Republican — "is fully engaged with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters."
That day, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he spoke with McConnell and he "sounded good."
"He's clearly dialed into what's going on," the South Dakota Republican said on June 15. "He's following the stuff we're doing this week up here."
McConnell last voted on June 11.
CBS News has reached out to McConnell's office for comment.
McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has faced several health scares in recent years. In a May 19 committee hearing, the 84-year-old was seen with a bandage around his hand. In February, McConnell spent more than a week in the hospital after he checked himself in for "flu-like symptoms."
In 2023, he was hospitalized with a concussion after a fall and later appeared to freeze in two separate instances. He suffered minor injuries in 2024 after another fall.
Man sentenced to 1 year in jail in death of Jewish man during dueling protests
A protester who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of an elderly Jewish man during a 2023 demonstration in California over the war in Gaza was sentenced this week to one year in county jail, prosecutors said.
Paul Kessler, 69, fell and hit his head during a confrontation with the protester, Loay Alnaji, 53, on a street corner in Thousand Oaks near Los Angeles on Nov. 5, 2023. Kessler died the next day.
Alnaji was part of a pro-Palestinian group protesting over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Kessler was demonstrating in support of Israel, authorities have said.
Alnaji called 911 and stayed at the scene after the fall, officials said.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said Alnaji “escalated a verbal altercation to a physical confrontation” with Kessler and that Alnaji struck Kessler in the head with a megaphone.
The prosecutor’s office said it argued for a sentence in state prison and objected to the sentence of one year in county jail and two years of probation that was imposed Tuesday.
Alnaji pleaded guilty on May 5 to involuntary manslaughter and battery causing serious bodily injury, both felonies, as well as a special allegation of causing great bodily injury, the district attorney’s office said.
“Mr. Kessler lost his life in a violent attack that took him from his family and his wife of 43 years,” Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said in a statement. “Given the circumstances of this case and the death that resulted, we believe a state prison commitment was the appropriate and just sentence.”
Professor arrested after Jewish man’s death during California protest02:59The altercation and Kessler’s death came as protests were occurring around the United States over Israel’s war in Gaza, which it launched after the Hamas-led attack against Israel in October 2023.
Kessler’s widow wrote in a victim’s impact statement that “there are no words to describe the pain of losing a husband in such a sudden and violent way,” according to the district attorney’s office.
“The grief is relentless. The silence in our house, the absence of his voice, his companionship, his love and the future we had planned together are losses I carry with me everyday,” she wrote, according to the office.
Alnaji’s attorney Ron Bamieh said it was an accident and that Alnaji moved to swat Kessler’s phone away from his face and unintentionally hit Kessler with the megaphone, the Ventura Daily Star reported Tuesday after the sentencing.
“The rules do support a grant of probation in this case,” Ventura County Superior Court Judge Derek Malan said at sentencing, according to the newspaper. The judge also told the audience at the hearing that the charges filed did not allege an intentional killing or a hate crime, it reported.
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Phil HelselPhil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.
