Episode 5024: WarRoom Boxing Day Special 2025 With Raheem Kassam

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room

Episode 5024: WarRoom Boxing Day Special 2025 With Raheem Kassam
Date: December 27, 2025
Host: Raheem Kassam (guest host), Stephen K. Bannon
Special Guests: Daniel (President, Center for American Rights), Andy Wigmore, Alex (UK War Room viewer), others
Main Theme:
A reflective and wide-ranging Boxing Day special examining the state of the nationalist-populist movement, media transformation, and the power of civic engagement and remembrance—centered around major events and personalities in the past year, especially the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Includes live reporting from across key political scenes in the US and UK, discussions of media reform, and a look at charity and community through events like Tunnel to Towers.

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Episode Overview

The Boxing Day Special, guest-hosted by Raheem Kassam, marks a solemn and introspective look back at a tumultuous year for the populist movement. Kassam explores personal and political shifts, the impact of Charlie Kirk's assassination, the evolution of new right-wing parties in the UK, the importance of charity, and significant changes in the media landscape. The episode features on-the-ground segments from Washington D.C., the Reform Party conference in the UK, and the Tunnel to Towers charity run in New York, tying together themes of legacy, purpose, and movement-building.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reflections on the Movement and Personal Health

• Kassam discusses his years with Bannon and his recent relative absence (“I’ve been a little awol ... personal, health-wise, and ... wanted to get back out there.” [05:13]).
• Emphasis on returning to grassroots reporting and rebuilding connections beyond the screen (“for the last year, I’ve been out there rebuilding a couple of things” [05:36]).
• State of the movement: “We really do stand at a really, really strange ... position in this movement right now.” [06:20]

2. The Assassination of Charlie Kirk (Phoenix, AZ Memorial Coverage)

• Deeply personal tribute to Kirk and reflections on his values:
  • “What he really wanted ... was actually giving back.” [06:52]
  • “Charlie would have wanted us to work together, not apart.” [07:44]
• Kassam’s absence from America Fest in Phoenix is explained by disapproval of “scrapping ... I don’t think that’s what Charlie was ever about.” [07:22]
• Kassam attends Kirk’s memorial immediately after returning from the UK.
• Memorial included remarks by Vice President J.D. Vance and former President Donald J. Trump.

Notable Quote:

• “This is not a political war ... it’s a spiritual war.” – Unidentified Speaker [11:50]

3. Community, Charity, and Boxing Day Legacy

• Kassam emphasizes Boxing Day’s tradition of charity, linking it to Kirk’s values.
• Highlights his annual participation in the Tunnel to Towers 5K in New York:
  • “Every year I do that and raise money ... now they raise money for military families, ... veterans village ...” [29:10]
• This year’s run dedicated to Charlie Kirk (“... wearing the Charlie Kirk Freedom T shirt. ... we raised over $20,000 this year.” [30:47], [30:53])
• Describes the challenge, the route, and the emotional resonance of the event (“It’s always so moving, no matter how much you do it.” [37:52])

4. The State of Washington, D.C. and Administrative Impact

• Kassam tours around a “cleaned up” D.C. post-Trump administration and Mayor Bowser:
  • “Thanks to President Trump and the recent cleanup ... it really does feel just about fine to be out here doing this.” [18:46]
  • Contrasts with previous unrest and urban decline (“it was, it was really, really ugly and horrible.” [20:17])
• Acknowledges improvements under local government too: “Mayor Bowser does get some credit ... she has cleaned up some of these areas.” [21:38]

5. Populism in the UK: Reform Party Conference (Birmingham)

• Live reporting from the conference:
  • Rapid growth of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party (“... topping and has topped, I think, over 150 polls in a row.” [22:42])
  • Importance for Americans: “... in the next couple of decades we are not going to be able to rely on the United Kingdom as a partner ... it will be perhaps a majority Muslim nation in our lifetimes.” – (paraphrasing Vice President J.D. Vance) [23:41]
• Andy Wigmore on Farage’s Speech:
  • “He’s picked on subjects which everyone is concerned about ... Nigel talks the language that they think of but cannot actually articulate, and he’s absolutely nailed it.” [27:01]
• Alex (UK War Room viewer): “Speech was fantastic. ... It’s probably five, six times as big as it was last year. So I think that shows the direction of travel.” [28:01]

6. The Changing Media Landscape

• In-depth discussion with Daniel (Center for American Rights) about media regulation and local broadcast TV:
• Kassam connects the survival of the nationalist movement with fair representation in media.
• Daniel explains:
  • “Local TV is subject to these antiquated regulations ... there was no Google, There was no YouTube TV.” [45:22]
  • “Americans don’t trust the national legacy media for good reason ... but they still trust, especially local television news.” [45:09]
• Media ownership cap (“39% cap”) discussion:
  • Daniel: “It’s Silicon Valley and the national networks ... handicapping the competition.” [46:51]
  • Reform advocated: “... repeal these rules that have been around for decades ... so [local broadcasters] can be a more effective counterbalance.” [47:05]
• Calls to Action & Resources for Listeners:
  • “We want to open up a free market ... allow broadcasters to grow in a, in a natural way in line with what capitalism dictates.” [49:26]
  • “If your viewers agree with that, I’d encourage them to visit our website. It’s americanrights.org/liftthecap ...” [49:52]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Raheem Kassam (on remembering Charlie Kirk):
  “What he really wanted more than anything else ... was actually giving back.” [06:52]

• Unidentified Speaker (on the cause):
  “This is not a political war ... it’s a spiritual war.” [11:50]

• Andy Wigmore (on Farage’s leadership):
  “Nigel talks the language that they think of but cannot actually articulate, and he’s absolutely nailed it.” [27:01]

• Daniel (on media regulations):
  “It’s the people, frankly, who don’t share our values as conservatives ... who are benefiting from the current rules because it’s essentially handicapping the competition.” [46:51]

• Narrative thread:
  “You can look behind the scenes at a lot of stuff, some of it political, some of it not ... I actually want people to feel like they’re here, like they’re involved.” – Kassam [16:31]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:44] – Raheem Kassam introduces Boxing Day special, key themes, and personal approach for the episode
• [05:13] – Kassam reflects on health and stepping back to re-engage with grassroots reporting
• [06:52] – Tribute to Charlie Kirk and reflections on his legacy of giving back
• [11:50] – “This is not a political war ... it’s a spiritual war.”
• [14:15] – Donald J. Trump introduced at Charlie Kirk’s memorial
• [16:31] – Behind-the-scenes: Washington, D.C. cleanliness and the impact of administrative change
• [22:42] – Transition to the Reform Party conference in the UK; Farage’s rise and movement context for Americans
• [27:01] – Andy Wigmore assesses Farage’s impactful speech at the conference
• [28:01] – Alex describes the rapid growth of the Reform Party conference
• [29:10] – Tunnel to Towers 5K: charity, physical challenge, and dedication to Kirk’s memory
• [30:53] – “We still made it through ... we raised over $20,000 this year.”
• [36:38] – Tunnel to Towers: symbolism of walking through the tunnel and out to Freedom Tower
• [42:31] – Assessment of media changes, interview with Daniel (Center for American Rights)
• [44:55] – Daniel explains the legacy media regulation problem and the importance of local news
• [46:51] – Who benefits from current media ownership caps
• [49:52] – Daniel’s call to action: americanrights.org/liftthecap

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Final Thoughts

This Boxing Day special offered a blend of personal journey, movement introspection, and practical action. Kassam’s on-the-ground approach fostered a sense of involvement and urgency for listeners—whether reflecting on loss, urging unity, highlighting international developments in populism, or calling for tangible reforms in media regulation. The recurring message is one of legacy, participation, and not losing sight of ultimate goals in the midst of infighting or institutional obstacles.
Memorable closing note:
“You can look behind the scenes at a lot of stuff, some of it political, some of it not ... I actually want people to feel like they’re here, like they’re involved.” [16:31]

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Transcript

[Raheem Kassam]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. You're just not going to free shot all these networks lying about the people. The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

In the world to stop that, but.

[Daniel]

You'Re not going to stop it.

[Raheem Kassam]

It's going to happen.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And where do people like that go.

[Raheem Kassam]

To share the big lie?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish any of these people had a conscience.

[Raheem Kassam]

Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

War Room here's your host, Stephen K. Banff. Welcome to a very special episode of the War Room. It's Boxing Day and you know what that means for the regulars in this audience. My name is Raheem Qassam. I am one of the founders of the War Room. Some of you will not even know me. It goes back so long, back to the days of War Room impeachment. But here I am outside the US Capitol here in Washington, D.C. bringing you a very special episode of the War Room today. It's been a long time. It's been six, seven, eight years since all of this started. And before that we had the Breitbart radio show on Sirius xm. Long time Stephen K. Bannon fans and some the very few Raheem Kassam fans will know about that. And it's been since back then that we've done these Boxing Day specials and the Boxing Day specials. Allow me to catch you up on what's going on a little bit here behind the scenes, a little bit of what's going on in the media world. I am of course, the editor In Chief of TheNationalPulse.com, i urge you all to get there, subscribe, check it every day. I believe that we are the best place for you to get the news all day, every day, the things you really need to know. Thenationalpulse.com and I'm honored that Steve has today again allowed me to host this very special edition of the War Room. We're not gonna be broadcasting just from here outside the US Capitol, but I'm gonna some of the things, some of you will have noticed that over the course of the last year especially I've been a little awol. I've been away from the War Room. I've been away from most television interviews and there are a couple of reasons for that. One is personal, health wise. And I'm working through some of those things. And for those of you who know about them, thank you for your thoughts and your prayers throughout all of that. But the second one is I wanted to get back out there. You know, when we were doing the Brexit stuff back in 2014, 15 and into 2016, we were out there all day, every day. The same thing happened, happened in 2017 and 18. We were flying all over Europe, getting to see exactly what was going on on the ground. In the last couple of years, I found myself a little too tight to the desk, a little too tied to the screen. And so for the last year, I've been out there rebuilding a couple of things. And I want to take you over the next couple of hours that we have together on this very important Boxing Day on that journey, on a journey of what's been going on in the media, what's been going on with the National Pulse, what's been going on with Butterworths, what's been going on, well, in our own movement. And I think a lot of you, while I hope you had a wonderful and restful and peaceful Christmas, I think a lot of you understand that we really do stand at a really, really strange, an awkward and uncomfortable position in this movement right now. So I'm going to take you across the Atlantic for some of this episode to the Reform Party conference, show you how Nigel Farage is doing over there. Going to bring you some interviews from people I want you to hear from, take you inside behind the scenes at the Kennedy Center. You know, they don't really let that many people film in there, but I have some fantastic footage for you over the course of this show and some great, great interviews. So I'll start off by telling you why Boxing Day is so important to me. And that's because the history of Boxing Day, I'm sure some of you will have learned it over the last couple of years of me doing this. It goes back to the idea of putting things together, boxing things together and giving them to charity, being charitable about your time, about your efforts, especially after the Christmas period where so many people have a lot of excesses to actually think about the others who don't have so much. And Boxing Day stems from that tradition. And I think it's something that we should all remember today. The first thing in terms of when we think about charitable traditions and when we think about giving back, that comes to my mind this year is precisely where I was and what I was doing and who I was around when I heard the news that Charlie Kirk had been assassinated and I was coming back from the Reform Party conference in the United Kingdom. I was actually on the plane when it happened and thank goodness I had pretty good wi fi because I had to run the news desk, jump into our live chat@the nationalpulse.com and actually run the news desk, get our team together so that we could actually do a very dignified send off for my friend Charlie Kirk and I. Before coming out here and doing this episode, I started to look back at some of the conversations that he and I had had over text message in the final months and it started to occur to me that you know what he really wanted more than anything else? More than these fights that you see, more than this scrapping that you see, more than his own philosophy and ideology being out there and front and center was actually giving back. And so through this Boxing Day, I want to focus a little bit more on that. I think it's very important. I think a lot of the noise that we're hearing at the moment is a little undignified and a lot of you will have some problems with me saying that stuff. I didn't go to America Fest in Phoenix for that particular reason. I knew that the stage would be full of people sort of tussling and that's not what I think that conference was ever about. I don't think that was what Charlie was ever about. And so for me, rather than get involved in all of that, I wanted to bring you some of my thoughts and memories and some of the things that I think can help not make us fight, but move us forward. I think it's so important that we not lose sight of the grander issue at play here. There are demonic forces at work here in the world. There are demonic forces at work here behind me every single day. And Charlie would have wanted us to work together, not apart, not separately, not hating on each other, not screaming at each other to fix those things. Let me take you now to where I went right after I landed back in the United States from the Reform Party conference. And that was inside Charlie Kirk's memorial.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Sam. It.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, good morning world. It is the morning of the Charlie Kirk Memorial down here in Phoenix, Arizona. There's not a light hearted occasion, not a joyous occasion. Obviously there's going to be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people in attendance and it is currently 7 o' clock in the morning already cutting it a bit fine. I'm heading down there to the state Farm Arena.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Now it. Sam. And a movement that taught them that ours was not a great country, but the greatest, most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of all of mankind and that it's worth fighting for, it's worth defending, it's worth preserving.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly a political commentator or attendee)]

And it's this is not a political war.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's not even a cultural war.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly a political commentator or attendee)]

It's a spiritual war.

[Raheem Kassam]

And we should turn every day and every moment.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice President of the United States of America, J.D.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Vance.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Thank you.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Thank you all so much.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You know, Please give a Warm welcome to Mrs. Erica Ker.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

It's.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Please welcome to the stage the 45th.

[Unidentified Male (charity runner or commentator)]

And 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

[Raheem Kassam]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

War Room. Here's your host, Stephen K. Banner. Well, one of the things that I've really enjoyed over the last year is putting Together a small YouTube channel that takes people around behind the scenes of the places I go to. And I think the reason I really wanted to do that is, you know, I've been one of the people who have been involved with this populist nationalist movement for a long time. And I think there are so many things here that are Exclusive that try and keep people out, keep people away. And I don't want people to feel like that. I actually want people to feel like they're here, like they're involved. And so even just walking around here, around Capitol Hill right now and filming it, you know, a little bit amateurishly, I like to bring people to places like this. This is the Library of Congress, and isn't it stunning? Especially all decorated out for Christmas. And one of the things I wanted to make mention on this show today was that you can look behind the scenes at a lot of stuff, some of it political, some of it not. On my YouTube channel, it's RaheemKassam on YouTube. And one of the first things I did when I started this endeavor was take a tour around Washington, D.C. under President Trump as he started cleaning it up. I want you to have a little look at that.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

But we're going to go up here.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Stay a little quiet, because it's more of a place of respect more than anything else. But it's great that they've built this. I'll show you some of the inscriptions they have. So this is a memorial specifically to General Pershing, who's the general of the armies. Fantastic statue here. It's funny. So I've got the. I've got this great camera that I just got in one hand and my.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Cell phone in the other.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It occurred to me as I was walking down here that there are a lot of parts of London that I just would not feel comfortable doing that, having my phone in one hand, having this expensive camera in the other. And, you know, thanks to President Trump and the recent cleanup of Washington, D.C. it really does feel just about fine to be out here doing this. And for all of the conniptions the D.C. residents had, the liberal D.C. residents had. I don't think you can argue with this. It's really, really nice out here. I used to tell people, Never come to D.C. don't waste your time, don't waste your money, don't waste your effort. Even though there are some great things to see, some great buildings, a lot of history, monuments, museums, so on and so forth. It just all went so downhill so quickly, you know, right after the BLM riot. And there was a time where you just thought it wasn't really going to ever recover.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

That was it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It was a city in decline.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

And interesting, isn't it, how if you put your shoulder to the wheel on.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Something like President Trump and his team have, you can actually resolve it pretty bloody quickly. Right here, you see the back of the St. John's Church, if you remember, where President Trump held the Bible up right there and right here we found.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Suitcases full of projectiles.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

All of this was blocked off at the time. Not blocked off like this, but I mean huge 10 foot high barricades that have been plastered in Marxist stuff and BLM stuff and all that kind of thing. I mean it was, it was really, really ugly and horrible. A terrible time in this city's history. And of course the White House is through there. Speed up a little bit here, show you. And the performative sense. You know, they put the BLM stuff up in the road here, the bricks and they spelled it out on the road on 16th street right here. It's now been taken down. And then they used to also call this Khashoggi Way after the, the journalist who was murdered and by the Saudis. I guess it was a long time. For a long time. You would not want to go to this park. You would not want to walk through, through it. This is very, very recent.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

I wouldn't say this administration recent, but.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

But the last maybe year or two that they've really tidied this up. I mean, this was basically a homeless encampment at one point and it wasn't safe. Even as a bloke, you didn't necessarily feel safe walking through here. But credit where it's due. And Bowser does get, Mayor Bowser does get some credit here because she has cleaned up some of these areas. The park over there, down that side as well, outside the Washington Post building, completely cleaned up completely. You know, she kicked the homeless out of that park, tidied it all up. And in fairness to her, the Metro as well, the D.C. metro now is nothing like it used to be. One day I'll do a video down there for you as well.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Make sure you're subscribed to this channel.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

By the way, because trying to get.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

YouTube and Google to help me build.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This, help me reach more of you. So if you subscribe, that really helps the process. And of course sharing the video, leaving a comment, all of those things kind.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Of kick, kick the algorithm into gear.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I'm not being funny, really not trying to overstate the case here, but I just can't believe how much cleaner and tidier and safer it feels around here now. You know, slap bang in the middle of downtown used to be really quite gross. So one of the highlights I think of the year was flying over to London and attending the Reform Party conference in the United Kingdom. That's Nigel Farager's party, populist party, right wing party that is topping and has topped, I think, over 150 polls in a row. Now, the next UK election isn't scheduled until 2029. So there's a long way to go. But there's also a long way that they've already traveled. And I wanted to go for myself and to show you all this year just how far this party has come along and what its chances really are of taking power at the next election. Why is it so important for you, a predominantly American audience? Though I understand that the international audience of the war Room is growing and growing. Your American audience might be scratching their heads and saying, well, why do I need to watch a conference from Birmingham in England this year? Well, I think the vice president, J.D. vance, said it correctly when he said, look, there is a chance that in the next couple of decades we are not going to be able to rely on the United Kingdom as a partner. It will be perhaps a majority Muslim nation in our lifetimes. And I think when you bear things like that in mind, it really, really makes it all the more important that we pay attention to what's going on in the mother country of the United Kingdom. So let's go and have a look at what Nigel Farage put together at the Reform Party conference. It was really, really quite stunning. There's a lot of people now that I don't recognize at these things. People getting interviewed, these are counselors and influences and things like this that have.

[Raheem Kassam]

Been.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I guess, in the 10 years that I've been away, making their way to their own famed political scene here. The long walk to the main stage going through. You get another anti room here. Hopefully we should be there soon. So we finally got it.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly a political commentator or attendee)]

The Conservative Party are ribbon. In fact, the deep donors said overnight the Conservative Party are dead, deserve it to.

[Daniel]

Be fair.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly a political commentator or attendee)]

And they will not be forgiven. They will not be forgiven for their betrayals over the course of the last five years, mass migrations, illegal immigrants crossing the channel sky, high taxes and much else for election. And we will take that seriously as we get ready to have a memorable candidate so that we can beat Sadiqa next time.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Sam.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So we're here at the Reform Party conference. Let's get a live reaction to that speech from a totally impartial character who appears to be eating while we try to speak to him. It's Andy Wigmore. Andy, what did you think of that speech?

[Andy Wigmore]

Well, that's exactly what people wanted to hear. It's not just professionalizing the party. It's not preparing for government. They have a plan, and I think that's quite important. Just all the reaction from the crowd when he, Nigel, outlined what's going to happen over the next few years. I think it's incredible. He's picked on subjects which everyone is concerned about, the difference with it in Nigel and any other political figure. Nigel talks the language that they think of but cannot actually articulate, and he's absolutely nailed it. It's just an incredible, incredible, incredible lit to watch that I'm really pleased. Definitely something that is going to send this lot away with a spring in their step. Well done, Nigel. Well done, Nigel.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The most important question, Andy, is where are we getting a pineapple?

[Daniel]

Come on.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So on the way out of Nigel Farage's speech, I met Alex, who is a viewer of the war room from here in the United Kingdom, from Wales, in fact. Alex, thank you for being here. Your thoughts on the conference so far and the leader's speech.

[Alex (War Room viewer from UK)]

Yeah, big fan of the war room. So, yeah, thanks. Rahim. Good to meet you. Speech was fantastic. Very timely. Nigel brought it forward because of the announcement about Angela Rayner. So I think that was very timely. It came on strike while the iron's hot, so to speak. But myself and a good friend came to this conference last year. I would say it's probably five, six times as big as it was last year. So I think that shows the direction of travel. There's one kind of direction this country's going in at Manhattan.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Kill America's Voice family.

[Daniel]

Are you on Getter yet?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No.

[Daniel]

What are you waiting for?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's free, it's uncensored, and it's where all, all the biggest voices in conservative media are speaking out.

[Raheem Kassam]

Download the Getter app right now. It's totally free. It's where I put up exclusively all of my content 24 hours a day. Want to know what Steve Bannon's thinking? Go to Getter. That's right.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You can follow all of your favorites.

[Raheem Kassam]

Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobi, and so many more.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Download the Getter app now. Sign up for free and be part of the Newman. Well, I'm here in New York now, and for those of you who are.

[Unidentified Male (charity runner or commentator)]

Watching or, sorry, listening to this, I should say via podcast, you really will want to get the visuals because I was in New York earlier this year as well. And like I've done For the past five years now, I ran the tunnel to Towers 5K and that starts in Brooklyn and it goes under the bridge into Manhattan and you emerge up at the World Trade center. What was the World Trade center, now the Freedom Tower. And every year I do that and raise money for. Originally it was the victims of nine, 11 families. And now Tunnel to Towers as an organization has expanded their remit and now they raise money for military families, especially those of which have had limbs blown off and require special kinds of disability housing. They've even built a veterans village. And I can think of no better thing to spend some time on every year than running that race, bringing attention to it, helping Tunnel to Towers to charity. And this year I did it. Right off the Charlie Cook's assassination, I did it wearing the Charlie Kirk Freedom T shirt. So I wanted to bring you some of my highlights from that day. I'm not in the best shape that I've been in my life, so even.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Though it was just a 5k, some of it was still a struggle. You'll have to forgive me for that.

[Unidentified Male (charity runner or commentator)]

But we still did it. We still made it through. And we raised over $20,000 this year. I think that puts us about $100,000 over the last several years raised. So thank you to everybody who was a part of that. Thank you to the Tunnel to Towers team, thank you to Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a lot of people who were involved in that charity very early on. And thank you to everybody who supported and donated. And I think if you, if you can, you should go to Tunnel to Towers, website yourself and ship it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And we've made it. Welcome back to Moynihan Train hall where I spend an inordinate amount of time for somebody who doesn't live here, but very nice station, recently rebuilt. It's in the old. What's this, the old post office or something? Beautiful skylight, wonderful lounge up there. Let's go get a cab, pick up our run, unpack it. You free.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Hey, brother, going to the.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The Conrad downtown. Please follow us. Hat, Trump jacket, Tunnel to Towers bag. You know, you can't really get all that much more patriotic than that, can you? Well, good morning. It's morning of the run here in Manhattan. I have my.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Charlie Coke Freedom T shirt on.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I definitely look and feel a mess. And right now we head to the, the water taxi to take us over to Brooklyn.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

I hope they're still available.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I'm running a bit late actually.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

So.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

We'Re loaded onto the boat. Last year again, it was extremely rainy.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

And cold, so I'm, I'm delighted the sun is out. Not a big boat person, not a.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Big water person, honestly.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

But it's all right. Sun's out. We'll live with it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Probably one more hour.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Okay, start lines behind us, but because.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

We'Re so bunched up, you can't run yet.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

And if you are trying to get.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

A good time, it's.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

It's all good.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Excuse me. Going to try and work my way through here and get a little jogging.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

There we go.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Got some open road.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

And this is where we enter the Hugh el Carey tunnel. This is where Steven Zilla and so many of the people who perished on 911.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Walked toward the fire, grabbed their.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Gear, went back through this tunnel. All the firemen with the gears on their back and tried to help people. And there are just thousands of people in this tunnel now. Hardest part, it gets so hot and people weave in and out. All right, still in the tunnel. Coming up to the part now where it stops being downhill into the tunnel. Starts being uphill out of the tunnel. You can imagine how that's how much fun that is. We get a little bit of a roadblock here as people slow down going uphill in the tunnel. I'm really starting to sweat. Last night's Guinness off. It's about this time in the run. I'm just over halfway through the tunnel. You start to feel a bit cocky. You're like, ah, yeah, fine, no problem. Until you realize you've got another mile and a half on the other side of the tunnel. Sweaty in here. Humid, gross. People are starting to walk and give up. But your boy doesn't know the meaning of give up. Sort of reminds you of that scene out of Independence Day. Okay, big uphill coming. They got pill coming.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

All right.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

There's light at the end of the tunnel. And there's noisy boys behind me. Once we get out of the tunnel, I'm going to walk a little bit so I can show you what you're looking at when you come out the tunnel also.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So I can walk a little bit.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

But it's not easy. People think it's easy. There are people in far better shape than me who are struggling. It's the heat, it's the closeness to humidity. It's the uphill nature of it. You can't just rock up here. Hey, you can rock up and walk. Getting chased over here. All right, we're out of the tunnel. And now when you come out, you have all of these policemen, firefighters holding banners of the people who gave their lives. And it's always so moving, no matter how much you do it. Younger men better shape than me going up this hill. And then, of course, you've got Spectators on the bridge, the World Trade center in the distance. And everyone's stripping off now because it's. There's breeze outside, but it's still hot. It's still in the 80s. A little bit of shade under the bridge here, some water stations if you fancy it, some bagpipers and just more and more these moving portraits. They say to you when you get to this part, they would say, go.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

On, you're almost there.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

You're not really almost there. It's probably another mile to go now. The pipers have just started playing, so you've got to start weaving in between people here. And now you come up at the World Trade Center Freedom Tower to match my shirt. A Charlie shirt.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

We're back at Brookfield Place where we were yesterday. And it wasn't the run route yesterday, it was the children screaming at me root yesterday. And here we've hit a bottleneck so we have to slash, get to walk again. But just so many people doing this now back in back when they started in 2002, there was, oh, I don't.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Know, 1500 people, I think they were doing it.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

And now there's about 30,000 plus.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So you can appreciate how the, the.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Narrow streets of Manhattan.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Struggle to deal with it.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

And we're off again. It's about 1500ft to the finish line here. So stick with me, we'll get there together. We'll push in the, we'll push in.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The very last stretch.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

I'm not wearing a time chip this year cuz I knew I wouldn't get a good time. I didn't want to put that in. They're all public. I didn't want people to see that. Probably timed at about 40, 45 minutes this year, whereas previously last year I did 30. The idea is to get under 30, 30. I've also never done it without headphones and I've never done it while talking the whole way. So, you know, you've heard all my excuses today. That's, that's where we are. Oh, I can smell the cheeseburgers. All right, that means, that means we speed up, speed up towards the cheeseburgers. Come. We've earned it. We have almost there. We turn this corner and you'll see the finish line. Stay with me like and subscribe and comment. If I have to go through this, so do you. At least, at least you don't have to run it. Here we go, finish line. Yeah, we're done. Another year in the books.

[Daniel]

Started.

[Unidentified Male (possibly a reporter or commentator)]

Everything's begun and you are over. Spread the word all through Hong Kong we will fight till they're all gone. We rejoice when there's no more. Let's take down the CCP war room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Band. All right, so what if the, the really important things I think we need to know about is these massive changes in media. We do this every year for the Boxing Day special, assess exactly what is going on in media world and what is about to change. We know that a lot of people have put their shoulder to the wheel in the last decade. Plus, I mean, I remember back when Stephen K. Bannon flew to London and hired me to run the Breitbart London bureau. And honestly, I mean, on the back of what happened with Brexit and all of that, Nigel Farage, the Brexit leader, said at the time, you know, without a Breitbart London operation, they may will have been no Brexit at all because of the different line that we took against all of the long standing media institutions. And the long standing media institutions in the United States, despite becoming less and less popular, are still running the roost in terms of dominating at least broadcast networks and, and how they behave on local levels, too. One of the people I wanted to bring into the conversation here for this special today is Daniel sir, the president of the center of American Rights who has been involved in a battle against big tech and the big corporates in media for a while now. Daniel, thank you so much for joining us here on the War Room.

[Daniel]

Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me on, Raheem.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Daniel, there is this big thing being discussed, perhaps not out there in the country as much as it should be, but certainly in Washington, D.C. certainly in New York, and certainly in the offices of those big Hollywood and tech firms. And that is how much you get to have in terms of broadcasting ability, what percentage of the public you are able to reach. And I think it's a fascinating conversation to have because again, for so long these guys have had it all their way and now the market is drastically changing, of course, with things like YouTube and YouTube TV. So, so very briefly, I know it's, it's one of those policy issues that I think probably quite easily make somebody's eyes glaze over. But just very briefly, would you, would you expand on that, let us know what exactly is happening and what you think the Trump administration needs to do going into 2026 to level the playing field?

[Daniel]

Yeah, absolutely, Rahim. And really it is an important issue for every American. So many of us rely on local television for things that we care about local news, local sports, even if maybe we use a streaming service for our news, our national news like this. The reality is that more Americans tune in to the evening news at like five or six o' clock on their local TV news than any watch a big cable show like the Five, for instance. And so really, how Americans learn about what's happening in their communities, it starts with local news. You know, one of the interesting things, there's been polling out there, and it consistently says two things. It says Americans don't trust the national legacy media for good reason. Right. They've been burned by the Hunter Biden laptop, by COVID 19, all these things. They've been burned. And so they don't trust the national media, but they still trust, especially local television news. And so it's important that our policymakers kind of encourage local tv. And the reality, as you point out, is that local TV is subject to these antiquated regulations that have been around for decades. And our media marketplace doesn't look the same as it did decades ago. Decades ago, there was no Google, There was no YouTube TV. There were no these Silicon Valley giants who were dominating the media landscape. And so it's really important for the Federal Communications Commission, the regulatory authority over these issues, to look at these rules and I think provide greater free markets for local broadcasters to grow and survive in the coming years.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah. So all makes sense. I mean, all checks out, no fake news there. But what is the current policy? Like, what is this 39% cap that I keep hearing of? And who really serves to benefit from what you call these antiquated rules?

[Daniel]

Yeah, I'll tell you who benefits. It's Silicon Valley and the national networks. Right. It's the people, frankly, who don't share our values as conservatives. It's the people who aren't fans of President Trump. They're the ones who are benefiting from the current rules because it's essentially handicapping the competition. Right. It's the government coming in and putting a huge thumb on the scale in favor of streamers and in favor of Silicon Valley and in favor of the national networks like ABC and NBC. President Trump has said over and over again that we need to push back on the power of the national networks. One way to do that is for the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, to repeal these rules that have been around for decades that are hampering local broadcasters so they can be a more effective counterbalance to these national networks and to Silicon Valley.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So the question I always get asked, and I'll throw It your way is. What do you mean? We're in charge. We should be able to do whatever we want. Why hasn't this been fixed already? And, and Daniel, this is, this is an activist audience. These are not people who sort of just sit and, and listen to this stuff and go, oh, okay, really interesting. And then kick their feet up. They will want to know what they can do, where they can go, how they can take action to, to stop this, I imagine. And I think they want, firstly, they want to learn more. They want to. This is not the kind of audience that will just take mine and your word for it. So where can they go and learn more about this issue? And then I'm going to ask you a little difficult question. You know, there are people on the, presumptively on the political right in the media world who appear to be in favor of the way that these things have been for so long. So how do we address that? And then, and then where can people go to learn more and take some action?

[Daniel]

Yeah, absolutely. So you're right, there are isolated voices that are conservatives who have come down on this differently than I have. I would say the vast majority of conservatives. There's a coalition letter of 18 major conservative groups like the Heritage foundation and center for Renewing America who've come out in favor of reforming this. But you're right, there are isolated voices who disagree with that consensus. Frankly. I think it's often a matter of business interest that empowering local broadcasters creates more competition for the networks, but it also creates more competition for, for cable. And so if there are folks who are heavily invested in the cable industry, you know, maybe this isn't good for them in that they like having rules, having government regulations that hamper the competition. Right. And really the point here is that we want to open up a free market. We want to open up greater room for capitalism, frankly, to stop these government interventions in the market and instead allow broadcasters to grow in a, in a natural way in line with what capitalism dictates. That's all we're asking for. And so if you agree with that, if your viewers agree with that, I'd encourage them to visit our website. It's americanrights.org liftthecap and you'll find there fans of this show will know people like Mike Davis From Article 3 project, people like Sean Spicer, other important MAGA leaders who have aligned with us and, and joined with us in this fight to provide greater flexibility and freedom for local broadcast. So it's american rights.org backslash lift the cap and a bunch of great resources from, as I say, MAGA leaders like Mike Davis and Sean Spicer and others that your folks can tap into.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, Daniel, I really appreciate that. And as somebody who's only sort of recently come to get to grips with this issue, I will happily declare myself on your side as well.