Axis of Upheaval

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Axis of Upheaval"

Date: July 27, 2026

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Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty dives into the escalating complexity of global conflicts—particularly the growing entanglement of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the recent developments involving Anthony Fauci’s diaries, and the formation of what the hosts (echoing recent think tank lingo) call an “axis of upheaval” comprising Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. The episode adopts the show’s signature mix of irreverence, skepticism, and critical analysis, focusing heavily on media narratives, US foreign policy, and the implications of recent news events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Burger King’s "Your Way Champions" Rebrand

• Opening banter with a riff on Burger King renaming their managers "Your Way Champions," mixing in some jokes about English majors (01:42–02:13).
  • Getty: “No, he should have said women’s studies majors or, you know, something like that.” (02:02)

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2. The Fauci Diary Revelations

Main section: 02:13–13:49, 28:36–39:18

Key Points

• Rand Paul is set to release Anthony Fauci’s personal diary, which contains early pandemic insights suggesting Fauci suspected a lab origin for COVID-19 before publicly dismissing that theory.
  • Armstrong: “Excerpts from Anthony Fauci’s personal ... show that in late January, early February 2020... Foushee privately recorded serious discussion of a possible lab origin, including the idea that features of the virus really look engineered or constructed...” (04:50)
• Debate over the privacy of personal diaries in investigations:
  • Getty: “It's a record. You need to turn over all your records pertinent to your development of this drug.” (03:27)
  • Armstrong: “I don’t know how comfortable I am with the idea that you can’t keep a private diary.” (03:21)

Notable Quotes and Moments

• Getty: “His first thought was it looks man made. And the most likely thing is it escaped from the lab. The fact that he dismissed that as just crazy talk later... that’s everything you need to know about that.” (10:57)
• Armstrong: “He thinks he’s smarter than the world and he’s saving us all from ourselves, doing God’s work.” (10:44)
• Getty: “He’s a murderer and a liar and a cover up for the brutal murdering communist Chinese. ‘They’re really criticizing science because I represent science.’ No, no, not within a million effing miles.” (09:08)
• Fauci diaries mention personal reactions to fame (being asked to be on Dancing with the Stars), which hosts dismiss as not particularly damning (12:16).

Timeline of Events

• Armstrong: Early 2020 (January/February): Fauci privately believed in lab origin.
• Days later: Fauci leads a letter dismissing lab leak theories, pivoting public narrative (06:01–07:14).
• Getty: “It was about 10 to 2. Lab leak over marketplace ... a week later that phony letter ... came out...” (06:48)

Takeaway

The hosts frame Fauci’s change in position as “criminal defendant” behavior—shaping the narrative to defend his own interests and avoid blame or the dissolution of gain-of-function research funding.

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3. War Update: The Iran-Ukraine-Russia Web

Main section: 13:49–28:40, 20:38–30:03

The Broader Conflict

• Ukraine strikes Iranian ships in the Caspian Sea, bringing direct Ukrainian-Iranian conflict into focus and creating a unique linkage between the war in Ukraine and Middle East conflicts.
  • Armstrong: “It’d be easy to just be half listening and not catch the significance of the fact that … Ukraine, … fired on Iranian ships over the weekend.” (21:39)
• Iran-backed Houthis attack Saudi shipping/oil infrastructure; impact on global oil supply discussed.
• US-Iran ceasefire update: Trump pulled back from a major strike, citing advice from Central Command and concerns over depleting critical weapons systems.
  • Armstrong: “Trump pulled back on the major escalation over the weekend for a variety of reasons… U.S. central Command ... recommended ending the recent bombing campaign.” (21:09, 22:29)

Encircling Alliances: "Axis of Upheaval"

• Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea increasingly aligned as adversaries against the US and allies—a loose "axis" undermining the global order.
  • Armstrong: “The growing alignment between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea has led some strategists in the United States to characterize those four countries as an axis of adversaries or axis of upheaval. That’s just fantastic.” (27:34)
• Acronym banter: Attempts to brand this bloc (“Kryn,” “Rinc,” “Risin”), emphasizing the need for a catchy name for analytic shorthand (28:36–29:19).

Notable Quotes and Analysis

• Getty: “North Korea selling tens of thousands of human beings to Russia to be mown down to save Russia the trouble of having its own guys mown down. That’s exactly what it is.” (25:44)
• Armstrong: “With that report, average life expectancy once you get to the front for these people is 20 minutes...” (26:11)
• China’s Taiwan maneuvers: Discussion of naval exercises and economic limits restraining China from acting more aggressively (26:33–27:34).
• Hosts’ tone: Deep skepticism over all sides’ narratives, with characteristic humor overlaying real concern.

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4. Domestic Polls and Perceptions

Polling and approval ratings: 24:42–35:24

• Getty: “Polls... were asking Americans, do you think Trump makes things sound like they’re going better than they are in Iran?... By far the plurality was, yeah, he’s telling us it’s going better than it is. Yeah, I mean he’s lost the locker room.” (24:14)
• Armstrong: “Who has a better approach to the Iran war? Trump and the Republicans 32%. The Democrats 30%. Okay, so nobody thinks the Democrats have a good idea on it either ... 76% of Americans say we need to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” (34:01)

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5. Media Honesty and Partisan Dynamics

Encouraging transparency? Three media stories: 15:44–19:58

• Mainstream media honesty:
  • Example 1: US and German outlets naming Islamist terrorism as motive in Berlin attack on a pride parade.
  • Example 2: Outlets highlighting DSA positions—unvarnished coverage, not just through Fox News.
  • Example 3: Justice Elena Kagan defending the Supreme Court’s independence at a judicial conference.
• Getty: “...at least people are now are getting past the idea that, no, the DSA just wants slightly more welfare and they want us to live like Denmark. And that word is getting out. No, they're actually for all sorts of Looney Tunes stuff that normal Americans think is crazy.” (17:46)
• Kagan’s nuanced commentary quoted at length, defending the Court:
  • “The Supreme Court is no rubber stamp for Donald Trump. That’s a bad rap.” (18:03)

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6. Social Media and Influencer Manipulation

• Discussion of US influencers (Laura Loomer, Tim Pool) flipping on Ukraine, possibly due to payments from Ukraine after previously being paid by Russia. (30:59–32:43)
• Armstrong: “There is a Belief ... that Ukraine has started paying influencers in the United States to switch sides ... and that Russia was paying them before and ran out of money. I don’t know if I believe that’s true or not, but wouldn’t that be something?” (32:11)

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7. Quick Hit Topics & Lighthearted Moments

• "How to talk to your teenager": Armstong’s advice on asking more specific questions to get teens to talk about their day (37:39–38:44).
  • Armstrong: “Tell me one thing you learned today. I didn’t learn anything. Yes, you did… I learned that I hate science. Okay.” (38:21)
• Recall of chicken nuggets for containing wood: more banter, “if there’s one thing chicken nugget consumers don’t want, it’s a natural ingredient.” (36:08)

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Getty: “His first thought was it looks man made. And the most likely thing is it escaped from the lab...” (10:57)
• Armstrong: “With that report, average life expectancy … is 20 minutes.” (26:11)
• Getty: “Polls... plurality was, yeah, [Trump] is telling us it’s going better than it is.” (24:14)
• Armstrong: “Who has a better approach to the Iran war? Trump and the Republicans 32%. The Democrats 30% ... 76% of Americans say we need to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” (34:01)
• Getty: “North Korea selling tens of thousands of human beings to Russia to be mown down…” (25:44)
• Armstrong (on Fauci’s diaries): “He thinks he’s saving us all from ourselves, doing God’s work.” (10:44)

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Segment Timestamps

• Burger King & Opening Banter: 01:42–02:13
• Fauci Diaries—Legal/Ethical Implications, Main Revelations: 02:13–13:49, 28:36–39:18
• War in Ukraine, Middle East, US Policy, Axis of Upheaval: 13:49–30:03
• Media Transparency, Justice Kagan: 15:44–19:58
• Polling, Perception of Trump & Domestic Politics: 24:42–35:24
• Influencer Wars (Ukraine, Russia, US social media): 30:59–32:43
• Parenting Advice / Nugget Recall / Humor: 36:08–39:18

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Conclusion

Armstrong & Getty’s “Axis of Upheaval” episode covers a sweeping and chaotic global landscape, highlighting the interconnectedness of current geopolitical crises, skepticism of official narratives (especially regarding the origins of COVID-19), and the deepening rifts both at home and abroad. With their characteristic mix of humor, exasperation, and earnest inquiry, Armstrong and Getty urge listeners to keep a critical eye on unfolding events—from diary leaks and war alliances to influencer narratives—while never shying away from a well-timed dad joke or parenting tip.

Transcript

[Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Getty]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Yeti.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

The fast food chain Burger King announced this week that it'll be rebranding its managers as your way champions as opposed to what Burger King managers used to be known as English majors.

[Armstrong]

I like it.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Like how. How did we think it was going to.

[Getty]

I don't hate that joke. No, he should have said women's studies majors or, you know, something like that.

[Armstrong]

We got a lot to talk about today. As always. Catching up from the weekend. Ukraine fired on an Iranian ship bringing the two wars together in a certain way. We'll have to talk about that later. I hope that ain't the beginning of the more ugliness today or tomorrow. I forget which Rand Paul senator from Kentucky who can't keep his lawn clippings on his side of the fence.

[Getty]

That's it's. That's a false accusation.

[Armstrong]

Is going to formally release the Fauci diary. That's Anthony Fauci. Remember the guy who was the face of the pandemic rules during COVID I don't quite understand how the diary got into the hands of Rand Paul. I guess it's just as simple as if investigators say do you keep a diary? And you say yes. And they say hand it over. You have to. Is it is that simple? And if you say no. And it turns out you have one. You'd perjure yourself.

[Getty]

I did not catch the backstory on this. I just started seeing excerpts online. So I have these same questions.

[Armstrong]

I don't know how comfortable I am with the idea that you can't keep a private diary.

[Getty]

Um, it's a record. You need to turn over all your records pertinent to your development of this drug.

[Armstrong]

Was that mean you're an idiot for keeping a diary then which, yes, everybody

[Getty]

says you're involved in perhaps, you know, nasty hijinks.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, well, what if you're just involved in any and just life? Anything could come up in life. So they. Can they grab your diaries?

[Getty]

I'm not saying this is a good thing, but I'm saying you're right. You character characterized it well. You have a written record of something, and we have subpoenaed all your records about whatever.

[Armstrong]

All the stuff out there about the positive nature of journaling. You journal. And you don't destroy it after you journal, the government gets to look at it if you get attached to any sort of investigation.

[Getty]

So it would seem.

[Armstrong]

And I'm just not standing up for Anthony Fauci by any means. But I don't know, I just. I don't. I don't like the smell of this or the way that works.

[Getty]

Do it in pen and paper and

[Armstrong]

hide it and then perjure yourself when they ask if you keep a diary.

[Getty]

That's a harsh word. Purger.

[Armstrong]

It's funny, I had a lawyer asked me just the other day about a particular issue. I can't say. I can't. I can't. I can't go any further than that.

[Getty]

What are you thinking? As your attorney, I advise you to stop talking about your attorney.

[Armstrong]

Anyway, so recently released excerpts from Anthony Fauci's personal dire diary released by Rand Paul over the weekend so people could look at him ahead of time, show that in late January, early February 2020, this is before anybody was really into the whole. I mean, this is the very beginning of COVID This is before we. Because it was March that they closed down my kids school. Foushee privately recorded serious discussion of a possible lab origin, including the idea that features of the virus really look engineered or constructed. Something that he later publicly dismissed. The lab leak theory in general, or that it looked like it was engineered in a lab or anything like that. But his initial view of it when it happened was why I think this probably leaked from the lab and it looks like it's engineered. He actually wrote in his diary that it could have been deliberately inserted or either accidentally released or deliberately released by a crazy person in the lab. The former being the most likely. That would be the accidentally released by the lab. Right, but that's what he believed in the beginning.

[Getty]

And it was only days later that he cooked up that phony letter from the alleged experts. Yeah, exactly. When he realized quite quickly, hey, the truly horrifying blowback is gonna be right at us. Me and Peter Daszak. Oh, that's when he changed his tune. It's just so obvious.

[Armstrong]

Please.

[Getty]

Occam's razor.

[Armstrong]

Roughly half the scientists on the initial phone call where they got all the scientists together to talk about this reportedly viewed it as looking constructed. The virus as in, it was constructed in the lab, which means it got out of the lab. Whether on purpose or accident or whatever, it doesn't make any difference. It's clear that it was man made. So it got out of the lab. It wasn't from some, you know, pangolins or bats or whatever the hell.

[Getty]

Right. And my understanding was in an early meeting, it was about 10 to 2. Lab leak over marketplace. They thought maybe it got into the marketplace and starting to spread, but virtually all of the scientists said, no, it didn't start in the marketplace. It was, I think, a week later that that phony letter with 32 experts came out that Fauci was the driver of. It's absolutely. It's a smoking gun.

[Armstrong]

The early private uncertainty contrasts with Fauci's later public statements and strongly downplayed or dismissed entirely a lab origin, describing the virus as consistent with a natural jump and treating lab leak ideas as settled against or conspiratorial in tone. The diary also notes later private frustration over. And this is, to me, this is the key of the whole thing. Private frustration over gain of function, funding questions tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Virology. So whether it's. He was worried about being blamed for it, like you just said, or he was just afraid that funding would go away for what he thinks is a very important thing to do is to, you know, go out there and make the worst virus you can in a lab so we can study how to stop it. The problem being that the worst pandemic we've had in a century is because of that. So at some point you got to wonder if it isn't doing more harm than good.

[Getty]

Right. And I agree. I think the two sides to this coin are what you just described, his fanatical belief. And maybe he's right, you know, at the origin of his belief that we need to study this stuff so it doesn't wipe out humanity. But partnering with a sloppy Chinese lab is idiotic. But putting that aside, so he's this true believer in gain of function research. So that was part of the COVID up, the second part of the COVID up. And maybe it helps because we've talked about this before, but think about it in terms of a criminal defendant. You are guilty of, well, playing around with incredibly dangerous viruses in a way that escaped the lab and killed millions of people. You have said more than once, you can't imagine, imagine what it's like to try to deny that and try to mislead everybody and use your bully pulpit to lie to the world. Cuz you know, it, it, it, it covered up for the communist Chinese, it delayed our understanding, the virus and perhaps our ability to save people, blah blah blah. But you gotta look at it as a criminal defendant. Fauci, he may have literally done this, hired a brilliant defense lawyer and said look, this isn't for court, this is for the court of public opinion and the media. Design me a defense. Or he might have been able to do this himself cuz he's a scientist himself. But said, all right, all right, all right. They got these wet markets where all sorts of dirty filthy stuff is traded and people get sick from it all the time. Let's put the finger on the, on the wet markets. Let's say there's a conspiracy of this, that and the other. It's exactly like a defense attorney does it at trial. It wasn't my defendant, it was the, you know, the ex husband who was known to XYZ and knew this. You try to give the jury an alternative explanation that they can latch onto and establish that as their reasonable doubt. That's exactly what Fauci was doing. And he's a murderer and a liar and a cover up for the brutal murdering communist Chinese. They're really criticizing science because I represent science. No, no, not within a million effing miles. Who would say something so incredibly outrageous and ridiculous? A guilty guy. That's a laughable thing to say. They're really attacking science. That goes to your point. He thinks what he's doing is sacred science.

[Armstrong]

He thinks he's smarter than the world and he's saving us all from ourselves, doing God's work.

[Getty]

Dare we attack him and science? Well, same thing. Yeah, Mike, he's a villain. I represent science.

[Armstrong]

The fact that he was, his first thought was it looks man made. And the most likely thing is it escaped from the lab. The fact that he dismissed that is just crazy talk later. That's everything you need to know about that.

[Getty]

I mean, because real scientists would say, you know, initially I agreed with you. It looked like the lab. But here's why we're thinking it's not. Now, a criminal defendant would never do that though.

[Armstrong]

Correct. The other diary entries that got a lot of attention, like in New York Post or whatever, I didn't think were a big deal. I mean, the New York Post had a head Fauci fall in love, falls in love with his own fame. And then the, the, the diary entries were like, I can't believe how famous this has made me. Every day I open up the paper and I'm on the front page or there's a diary entry in there. I've been asked to be on Dancing with the Stars. That's just the sort of stuff you'd write in your diary. To me, I mean, that's, that's something that happened in your life that's extraordinary. You're an unknown scientist and all of a sudden you've been asked to be on Dancing with the Stars. I could see writing. I don't necessarily think that means you've fallen in love with fame.

[Getty]

Yeah, that's. That's just haters. And I am one piling on. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Because they love hating him.

[Armstrong]

But I don't think it's unreasonable to have written that down in your diary.

[Getty]

Let's keep our hatred focused, everybody. Good, solid focused.

[Armstrong]

Hatred on the fact that he knew because he is a scientist, he looked at under the microscope and thought, this looks like a man made virus. God dang it. Oh, it's gonna be interesting to see how this turns out and how Rand Paul handles it when he officially. So he, Rand Paul released this over the weekend so people could look at it. And then he's going to in a hearing either today or tomorrow, spell out what he's got to say.

[Getty]

There may be no defense against Dr. Fauci's next super virus, but there is defense against the. Against the scammers and spammers on the Internet who have a file with your name and your address and your kids names and your cell number and your email address. It's these damn data brokers. But you can fight them. Fight it.

[Armstrong]

Thousands of places on the Internet that have a file with your name on it and all your information, and that's how they get a hold of you. And Incogni can actually do something about that. They use the law on their side. They go broker by broker and force each one to delete your file. The opt out forms that are buried in there somewhere. Incogni finds them. And if your data tries to creep back, Incogni wipes it again.

[Getty]

Yep. They go broker to broker. And do what you don't have the time or energy to do. Go to incogni.com Armstrong right now for 60% off. It's very modestly priced. That's incogni.com Armstrong I n c o g n I.com Armstrong take your private life off the market. Incogni.com Armstrong we do need to talk

[Armstrong]

a little bit about the war with Iran, which you probably heard. Trump decided not to go with the big attack. In fact, there's a bit of a ceasefire going on right now. We haven't attacked for two days and Iran hasn't attacked us for two days. So we'll see how that turns out. But more details on that later. Also went to the Odyssey with my son. Want to talk about that? What else, Joe?

[Getty]

Oh, you know what? A couple of great positive developments in the media, believe it or not. How widespread this coverage will be, I'm not sure, but they're finally telling the truth.

[Armstrong]

I agree with the people that made comments. I saw this on the Twitter about the Odyssey. It was so loud. I thought I was going down with that ship. It really. Maybe that was the point. You felt like you were on that ship and it was, it's over soon. Say goodbye to my kids.

[Joel Osteen]

Ah.

[Armstrong]

I mean, it was, it was, it was definitely loud. I mean, you, your body was rumbling like you're at a rock concert.

[Getty]

It was so loud.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Wow.

[Getty]

Fair warning to folks.

[Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, I, I don't, I think, like, if you wear earplugs when you go to a concert, you ought to wear them when you go to the. At least the IMAX version of the movie. More on everything later. Stay here.

[Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Joel Osteen]

God's plans for you are for good.

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Get ready. God is about to exceed your expectations.

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[Joel Osteen]

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[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

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[Joel Osteen]

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[Armstrong]

China is helping Iran more than we knew. Zelensky fired on an Iranian ship. Is the war going global? More on that later.

[Getty]

Oh, boy. Okay, who. Take a deep breath. Cleanse mine to move on to other affair. So over the weekend I noticed three, count them, three stories that were at mildly encouraging about the honesty of the mainstream media. They've been forced into it. It's no great change of their stripes or growing a spine, but I thought it was significant. Here is example number one. Authorities here saying just before 10pm on Saturday, the attacker drove a white van through Tiergarten park, right alongside the parade route, slamming into people before hitting a tree. Now, the driver then got out and armed with a machete, started slashing. Okay, skip the basics. Turn it off. It doesn't matter. Berlin. Berlin.

[Armstrong]

Turn it off.

[Getty]

Berlin. Quote, unquote, pride Parade. I'm proud too. Do I get to go on your parade? Anyway, it was, it was interrupted, shot up by an Islamist terrorist. And all the authority, the German authorities are saying this was Islamist terrorism. And US media reports, cbs, abc, everybody is saying, authorities are saying it's Islamist terrorism. It's an interesting phenomenon. First of all, yes, hardcore Islamists will kill all you gay people queers for Palestine. They'll cut your throats, idiots. But it would seem that in the weird intersectional totem pole of grievance or something, that the mainstream media will go ahead and say, yeah, it was Islamists. If the victims are the LGBTI BBQ crowd, they'll go ahead and admit it, probably uncomfortably, but they admitted it. So, okay, that's at least a step toward honesty. Second thing is the DSA is out and proud and doing interviews. And it's not just Fox News. All sorts of outlets, left, right, well, the right and center anyway, are saying, hey, here's what these people believe and they're Froot Loops.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Now.

[Getty]

The media's doing it to protect the Democratic Party, which they're a wholly owned subsidiary of. But at least people are now are getting past the idea that, no, the DSA just wants slightly more welfare and they want us to live like Denmark. And that word is getting out. No, they're actually for all sorts of Looney Tunes stuff that normal Americans think is crazy. Third example, now, a lot of people on the left are not going to hear this. This was in the Wall Street Journal, Elena Kagan, one of the lefty justices, although she's the super smart, fairly reasonable member of the lefty cabal on the Supreme Court. She was. Where was she? I'll come across it, but she was doing some interviews and said, look, the Supreme Court is no rubber stamp for Donald Trump. That's a bad rap. She said she was at the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference. She was in front of a bunch of her colleagues in some media. She said that's absolutely not true. And she cited the ruling against the president's tariffs 6 to 3. Quote, tariffs is probably the key policy issue for this president. I mean, something he campaigned on, he ran on, he cared an enormous amount about. I don't think that there are all that many decisions in the recent times where a court strikes down such an important policy to a sitting president. See, she went on to say, well, she said, look, I dissent in a lot of cases, but you have to just deal with the fact that there's a conservative court doing things that conservative jurists have long thought it appropriate to do. And I can really dislike that. But it has nothing to do with becoming the arm of this current administration. So she blasted that idea. Good for you, Justice Kagan. Well done.

[Armstrong]

She's standing up for her institution knowing that it has slid in public approval.

[Getty]

Well, right. And that a lot of the people who are quote, unquote on her side have thrown the baby out with the bathwater or just poisoned the entire. Well, whatever your favorite metaphor in criticizing some of the decisions. And she's saying, no, we're not utterly corrupt as a court. We're doing our best over here. Good for you, Justice Kagan.

[Armstrong]

A lot more things to get to, including where we are on the war with Iran. If you missed the segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty, the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.

[Joel Osteen]

God's plans for you are for good.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Be inspired.

[Joel Osteen]

Get ready. God is about to exceed your expectations.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.

[Joel Osteen]

You are coming out of that dry place into more than enough daily encouragement

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

right when you need it.

[Joel Osteen]

There are opportunities in your future bigger than you can imagine.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[News Reporter]

Fiery explosions from deadly Iranian missiles and drones at the US Base here in Jordan. The attacks soon spreading to American bases across the region, prompting President Trump to consider a massive escalation. The Pentagon had rushed more war fighters and warplanes to the Middle East F16s and the stealthy F35. But the new York Times reporting this morning Trump fears a major escalation could widen the war.

[Armstrong]

Trump pulled back on the major escalation over the weekend for a variety of reasons. We'll get into that in just a second. ABC News report went on to inform us about this crazy development.

[Advertisement Voice]

Iran is now protesting after Ukraine attacked An Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea claiming it was carrying drone and missile components. And in the Red Sea, global shipping traffic is slowing after Iran backed Houthi rebels claimed attacks on Saudi oil facilities and tankers.

[Armstrong]

Two pretty big developments, in case you weren't paying attention. It'd be easy to like just be half listening and not catch the significance of the fact that Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine has been a different war than the United States. Iran. Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, fired on Iranian ships over the weekend. And then you got the whole Houthis firing on Saudi Arabia ships and oil installations in their country, which I gotta imagine Saudi Arabia is not going to put up with that. So.

[Getty]

Right, right. I'm reminded that one of the reasons war is spread sometimes is that folks just think, hey, here's our chance to settle that other score.

[Armstrong]

Right.

[Getty]

Totally unrelated to the core conflict.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Right.

[Armstrong]

As to why we didn't do the big giant attack on Iran that everybody thought was coming. I mean, everybody thought everybody was predicting that was coming. Over the weekend, axios reports that U.S. central Command commander Brad Cooper recommended ending the recent bombing campaign. So we did 14 straight nights of pretty heavy bombing. He recommended ending it around the straight of Hormuz after concluding it had largely achieved its objectives and reached the limit of its effectiveness. That he reportedly said that the remaining roughly 20% of targets would require a return to major combat to get to. And absent such a decision, there was little military value in continuing the limited strikes. And then the New York Times had the story over the weekend that Trump was told, we're running dangerously low on some particular weapons system, which Trump says is not true. And of course he says that, and he should say that because why would you alert the enemy that you're running the low on anything ever?

[Getty]

Right, yeah, those are related stories, obviously. I mean, if, if escalating the attacks would cause a major counter attack and get very little done and cost us lots and lots of Patriot missiles and other air defense hardware. Yeah, I get it, I get it. The idea that we're giving time for diplomacy to work is, it's, it's, it's not even funny. It's ridiculous.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't know what to think of that. Iran, by the way, says no, we're not interested in talking at all. While Trump said all weekend long they, they really want to talk and we're gonna, you know, come up with another ceasefire and Iran saying we ain't interested in talking.

[Getty]

So I don't know. I should have made a specific note about this. Was it On Fox News that I saw, it was a poll that's out that was asking Americans, do you think Trump makes things sound like they're going better than they are In Iran? About the same or does he make it sound worse than they are? And, and, and by far the plurality was, yeah, he's telling us it's going better than it is. Yeah, I mean he's, he's lost the locker room.

[Armstrong]

I've got some of those poll results which are pretty interesting. Which polls?

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

All of them.

[Getty]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Armstrong]

This opinion piece in the Financial Times. Ukraine, Iran and how regional wars go Global conflicts in Europe and Asia are overlapping and two rival blocks may be forming, which is highly troubling. This guy, it's an opinion piece, but this guy saying this is how you end up into a world war, which doesn't mean it's going to happen. He's just pointing out the ways in which it could or the ways that they're starting to overlap. As we mentioned, Zelensky long range strikes on Iranian ships, saying they were aimed at helping out Russia, Iran was helping out Russia, Russia's helping out Iran, vice versa. And he fired on some of those ships. Zelinsky also warned that North Korea is sending another 30,000 troops to participate in Russia's war in Ukraine. So North Korea sending tens of thousands of more troops, which they would not do without China saying, okay, most people

[Getty]

believe, is this the most unholy bargain struck in the history of mankind? We will furnish you. Well, there's been a lot of wars where human beings were just machine gun fodder. But North Korea selling tens of thousands of human beings to Russia to be mown down to save Russia the trouble of having its own guys mown down. That's exactly what it is.

[Armstrong]

That's brutal. With that report, average life expectancy once you get to the front for these people is 20 minutes. You finally get to the front, you live 20 minutes, which is just unthinkable as a war strategy.

[Getty]

Yeah. After you're extorted for money, had your wallet, have your wallet completely emptied by your commanding officer.

[Armstrong]

By the way, China has stepped up its naval exercises around Taiwan and seems to be rehearsing for cutting off the islands supply lines. According to this guy writing in the Financial Times. I'm surprised they haven't done that already. Having seen how easily you can shut down a straight and affect the world, I'm surprised they haven't done that already.

[Getty]

Yeah, they, I think they would have if their economy was in better shape. They depend entirely on exports. Their real estate sector is in free fall. Consumer spending is weak. Their demographics are a nightmare. China's economy is absolutely dependent on exports to an extent that I can't think of many other countries in history that have been in this situation. And they just, they think, all right, major sanctions are cutting us off, that would ruin our economy, we would collapse. We can't do it now. I think that's probably the only reason China is not moving on Taiwan.

[Armstrong]

So Iran has been supplying Russia with drones that kill Ukrainians. So there's reason for Zelinsky to want to stop that from happening directly related to his war. Obviously, the whole China thing is a little more complicated because they're sending all kinds of dual use stuff to Iran that you can at least have plausible deniability around. We're not helping with the war. We're just giving them more gas for the people. We want the average person to be able to go to work in the morning, not so that the military can keep fighting their war, that sort of thing. The overlapping wars now span two continents, Europe and Asia, and are influencing conflicts in Africa. The growing alignment between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea has led some strategists in the United States to characterize those four countries as an axis of adversaries or axis of upheaval. That's just fantastic. So those countries are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. So there you go.

[Getty]

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

[Armstrong]

Your axis of adversaries or axis of upheaval.

[Getty]

You know, if you put China on top of Russia, you got Kryn, because we need a good acronym, we need a good shorthand. You can't name them all the time. Who has the time? It's 21st century. Go, go, go. Click, click. Eight second video. So, Kryn, the Kryn axis.

[Armstrong]

There is no formal alliance between the axis of adversaries, and neither was there between Japan and Germany. But they are both perf happy with taking on the. The world order. China, Russia, North Korea. Back In World War II, I was talking about China, Russia, North Korea and Iran do share common aims, though. All four countries want to hasten the decline of American power and to dominate their neighborhoods.

[Getty]

Of course. Yeah, yeah, Temporary alliances. I mean, that's the history of history. Now, if you put. Hang on a second. If you put Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, you got ricin. But people get confused because they'll think it's the deadly poison, which I just found out. AIs systems are more than happy to teach you how to make more on AI, coming up later in the show. Or you could go North Korea, Iran, Russia, China. Then you got nerc. Nirk. I think, I think rink. Rink is probably our best chance. Russia, Iran, North Korea, China or China. You got to put China on. Kryn. It's Krin. All right, it's decided, everybody. The Kryn alliance.

[Armstrong]

I had another point to make on this whole thing, but I don't remember what it was. It doesn't matter. I'm sure we'll be talking about it for a while.

[Getty]

Trump has no idea what to do. Is that correct at this point?

[Armstrong]

Well, his, his, one of his spokespeople was on Sunday shows yesterday making the point that Iran's economy is devastated and they are really struggling and they're no longer even able to pay in the military and etc. Etc. That all might be true.

[Getty]

So time is on our side, that argument.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Getty]

It's unfortunate the only way to test that premise is across time.

[Armstrong]

The problem being that if Iran collapsed, what does that turn into?

[Getty]

Not necessarily Jeffersonian democracy. Everybody knows that.

[Armstrong]

I have another point. I know I had a good point. Anyway, Zelinsky's coming to Washington D.C. to meet with Trump. They're going to talk about all kinds of drone stuff because we're, they're teaching us how to make drones because they're the best at it in the world. And Zelinsky is hoping that this recent firing at Iranian ships will make Trump think, hey, we're all on the same side here. There is this weird thing we haven't talked much over the years about this Laura Luma Loomer woman. Laura Loomer, who is a big influence on Trump's thinking. Quite the whack job or she said a lot of whack job things over the years. I mean really, really whack job things over the time. But she was hardcore against us helping the Ukrainians up until like a week ago. And she completely changed her tune and traveled to Ukraine and did an interview with Zelensky and is now all on board with the United States helping Ukraine. Nobody's exactly sure why that is. There's another famous influencer online, this guy Tim Pool, who has millions of followers who is anti us being involved in Ukraine, who's changes tune to There is a Belief National Review the other day. Their belief is that Ukraine has started paying influencers in the United States to switch sides sides and that Russia was paying them before and ran out of money. I don't know if I believe that's true or not, but wouldn't that be something And I don't know how I would feel about that if it's, if it's going the direction I want. Do I have a problem with Ukraine playing paying influencers who are only in for. In for the money for boosting the side I want to be on? I don't know.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Wow.

[Getty]

I mean, the obvious knee jerk answers. You got to fight fire with fire, right?

[Armstrong]

Do you think that's possible? That the, like the Laura Loomers and Tim Pools of the world are changing the tune because Ukraine outbid Russia for just cutting them a check?

[Getty]

Well, number one, is it you just gotta flip to get paid. How about if you've been there all along, Vladimir, dude, help a brother out. Yeah, I suppose it's possible, sure. I mean, yes, it's possible.

[Armstrong]

Well, likely is when people say possible, they usually mean likely. Is it likely that that's what's going on?

[Getty]

Yeah, it's, it's fair. Pretty likely, yeah.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Wow.

[Getty]

Why wouldn't they? They'd be crazy not to.

[Armstrong]

That's funny. It didn't even enter my mind. I wasn't trying to figure out, I wonder why she switched sides.

[Getty]

Or, you know, I have got to write this editorial. If there is a, As I recall, 20 point gap between Americans perceptions of quote, unquote, capitalism and quote, unquote, the free market, then yes, controlling the narrative, controlling the words that are used, trying to, you know, get your version of the facts into people's heads. Yeah, that's incredibly important.

[Armstrong]

I remember the quick points I wanted to make on the polling. You brought up the polling earlier and out of that polling, a couple of things that are interesting. You keep hearing that, but Trump's approval rating is so low on dealing with Iran. What I hadn't heard with this, this question, who has a better approach to the Iran war? Trump and the Republicans 32%. The Democrats 30%. Okay, so nobody thinks the Democrats have a good idea on it either. And 76% of Americans say we need to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. So almost four out of five Americans say you got to stop Iran from getting a nuke.

[Getty]

So, okay, the millionth example of a perception you would never get through the mainstream media, even though that's, that's the reality. Although at least they're, you know, publishing that, that poll. Yeah. You've mentioned many times, and we need to take a break, how history would say the chances are overwhelming that the President and his party will lose bunches of seats in both houses. Right. This is absolutely the situation where that could be overturned because The Democratic Party is so terrible. Perception of them is miserable. They're being taken over by communists, et cetera, and it will take a gargantuan effort by the Republicans to screw that up. And they are doing everything it takes.

[Armstrong]

The election is 100 days from yesterday, so it's getting closer. We've got more on the way here. Stay here.

[Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

A recall was issued last week for a brand of ready to eat chicken nuggets following complaints that packages had pieces of wood in them. And if there's one thing chicken nugget consumers don't want, it's a natural ingredient.

[Armstrong]

It's

[Getty]

lead. A shot at the delightful stack that is the chicken nugget.

[Armstrong]

So Rand Paul and the Fauci Diaries. We talked about that in our. This is our two earlier this hour. I don't know. Yes, I don't know when we did. Never miss a minute of the show. Get the podcast, Armstrong, and get it on demand. Here's one of the entries in the Fauci's diary from end of January 2020. Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier. Rand Paul pointing out as he is having a congressional hearing today and tomorrow. This is January of 2020. The wet market was already off the table. In his own private notes as the source of the the question would have to be when did you change your mind? You were solid that it came out of the lab in January. When did you decide that it didn't? And why would be a good question.

[Getty]

Oh, I can explain that for you. It was only days later, maybe a week, that that phony letter from all those quote unquote experts came out saying it was all about the wet market. So Foushee said, nope, it's not the wet market. It is the lab. We need to launch the COVID up.

[Armstrong]

We'll probably be hearing more about that over the next 48 hours. How much time I got, Michael? I got time for this.

[Getty]

You got a minute and a half.

[Armstrong]

That's not very long. Somebody wrote a piece on don't ask your teenager how school was Today. Because you always get the same answer. I know I do. And ask specific questions. How was school today? Fine. That's what you get from your 15 year old. What made you laugh today? Ask your question. Asks your teenager that or I usually. I always asked. What? Tell me one thing you learned today. Just one thing that you learned today. I didn't learn anything. Yes, you did. You learned so much something. Tell me. I don't know. I learned that I hate science. Okay.

[Getty]

There you go. It's open. New horizons for you and other realms of study.

[Armstrong]

What was the hardest part of today? Did anything surprise you today? Yeah, I thought that was a pretty good idea. School year's starting up here again. Before you know it, way too close. And I'm going to employ more specific questions to try to get more answers. Getting a teenager to talk is not easy.

[Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. It's often said that you communicate to them the most important thing by asking

[Armstrong]

that you give a crap.

[Getty]

That you give a crap. And that is. I got tears forming. You're so eloquent in your description of the parent child relationship. So a little follow up on the DSA coming out of the closet and telling everybody what they're about. Plus a giant class action suit against Portlandia. This could change everything.

[Armstrong]

I learned that Mr. Johnson's a CHUD.

[Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joel Osteen]

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