wavePod

Get Wave AI

Episode 5147: An American Tet Offensive; Remembering Robert Duvall - Bannon`s War Room | Wave AI Podcast Notes

Back to Bannon`s War Room

Episode 5147: An American Tet Offensive; Remembering Robert Duvall

Bannon`s War Room

Tue Feb 17 2026

Episode 5147: An American Tet Offensive; Remembering Robert Duvall ...

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bannon’s War Room – Episode 5147

Title: An American Tet Offensive; Remembering Robert Duvall
Date: February 17, 2026
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Guests: Sam Faddis, Taj Gill, George Papadopoulos, Mike Lindell

Overview

This episode of Bannon’s War Room centers on two main themes:

The "American Tet Offensive": A discussion on the perceived scale, organization, and ideological drive of current left-wing activist movements, which Bannon and his guests compare to the Viet Cong’s Tet Offensive as a turning point that shifted the trajectory of conflict in the Vietnam War.
Remembering Robert Duvall: Reflections on the late actor’s influence, accompanied by memorable scenes from his roles.
Further, the episode touches on global de-dollarization, American involvement in Ukraine, and topics of political strategy and business resilience.

Key Discussion Points

1. The "American Tet Offensive" and Marxist Revolutionary Movements

(Timestamps: 00:36–13:51)

a. Comparison to Vietnam’s Tet Offensive

Bannon lays out the analogy, asserting that the US is facing a large-scale, coordinated, and well-funded revolutionary movement, comparable in surprise and impact to the Tet Offensive.
- "This is a Tet offensive. People remember in Vietnam, the Tet offensive caught us totally by surprise … It was an inflection point to put the Communists on the path to victory." (02:28)

b. Left-Wing Activism Characterized as Revolutionary

Sam Faddis expands on the analogy:
- Asserts the leftist movement’s goal is “literally destroying the Republic … the existing political, economic and social order.”
- Cites funding from hostile foreign governments and "leftist billionaires" fueling the infrastructure.
- Claims arresting individuals is insufficient; the movement’s roots must be targeted.
- "We’ve got a massive, ongoing communist revolutionary movement in the country. Very well funded, Communist Chinese chip in, the Cubans chip in, all kinds of bad actors chip in." (05:19)
- “We’re busy arresting individual persons in the street in Minneapolis for assaulting an ICE agent … and doing nothing to tear this thing out by the roots, which ought to be our number one priority.” (06:04)

c. "The Issue is Never the Issue..."

David Horowitz’s adage, as explained by Bannon and Faddis:
- "The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution." (06:16–06:50)
- Faddis: “Anything you are screaming about and using as a cause is just a lever … it's just a point at which you can divide society. It's a means to the end.” (06:52)
- Attributing growing power to organizations like Democratic Socialists of America, claiming imminent takeover of the Democratic Party.

d. Media, Deep State, and Chaos

Bannon and Faddis discuss the role of media and "deep state":
- "One of their purposes is to create chaos, and from chaos comes anarchy." (08:27)
- Faddis: "The solution … is to tear out by the roots the organizations … setting the country on fire." (09:23)

e. Ideological Indoctrination in Education

Bannon compares activist youth to China’s "Red Guard," blaming decades of leftist indoctrination at universities and its trickle-down effect on all levels of US education.
- "They've used the schools, the private schools, the top schools in the country ... to be basically a madrasa for revolution." (10:41)
- Faddis: "The entire structure, the whole educational structure of the United States, is now infected with that ideology." (11:33)
- National Education Association’s president cited as aligning with the Marxist Sunrise Movement, allegedly mobilizing educators for revolutionary causes. (11:56–13:01)

f. Practical Call to Action & Resources

Faddis promotes his work at And Magazine (13:37)
Bannon: "This is a full on Marxist jihadist movement … It must be maniacally focused and we must take action or we're going to be overwhelmed." (13:53)

2. Cultural Tribute: Remembering Robert Duvall

(Timestamps: 16:22–27:46)

a. Memorable Moments/Dialogue

The hosts and guests read/act out celebrated lines from Duvall's film career, including Lonesome Dove, The Godfather, Network, and Apocalypse Now.
- "I love the smell of napalm in the morning.... The whole hill smells like victory." – Robert Duvall as Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (23:38)
Warm reminiscences and laughter as they reflect on Duvall’s impact.

b. Announcement of His Passing

Bannon: "Robert Duvall, dead at 95 years old. We're going to take a short commercial break." (27:49)

3. Ukraine, Global Geopolitics, and De-dollarization

(Timestamps: 29:51–43:07)

a. Ukraine & American Military Appetite

Taj Gill, sharing military and contractor experience:
- "I think that the appetite is low to zero for doing this for 20 years, Steve, especially with Ukraine ... We want the money here. We want the money for our Children for our communities..." (32:13)
- Cites corruption in Ukraine, criticizes funding.

b. The Move Away from the Dollar (De-dollarization)

George Papadopoulos, fresh from a visit to Moscow:
- Argues the real war is over the dollar’s role as reserve currency, citing US sanctions as the trigger for BRICS expansion and Russia–China alignment.
- "The acceleration towards the de dollarization and the attack on the US dollar has really been instigated by these sanctions … it created the so called BRICS movement..." (35:38)
- Suggests Russia seeks a return to US economic partnership for mutual benefit, and that resolving the Ukraine crisis is essential to protect the dollar's future.

c. How to End the Ukraine Conflict: Dividing Ukraine

Papadopoulos proposes a de facto divide between west and east Ukraine, aligning with the region's ethnic and political realities.
- "The eastern portion of Ukraine is predominantly ethnically Russian … that is the only solution." (41:25)
- Compares to Cyprus, Korea.
- Urges immediate peace: "If this war continues, Steve, Ukraine will no longer be a sovereign country." (42:30)

4. Political Strategy, Business Resilience, and Calls to Action

(Timestamps: 45:15–53:02)

a. Bannon’s Reflections on Prioritization

Urges conservative movement to focus, not spread itself thin.
Emphasizes "concentration" on major stakes—economy, security.

b. Mike Lindell: Personal and Business Updates

Outlines campaign for Minnesota governor, pledging bans on sharia law, stricter protester laws.
Frames Minnesota as "the tip of the spear for everything that's going on."
Attributes MyPillow’s resilience to faith and the War Room audience.
Offers product promotions, underscoring “Made in the USA.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Sam Faddis (on revolution):
“It is about literally destroying the Republic … very well funded, Communist Chinese chip in, the Cubans chip in, all kinds of bad actors chip in.” (05:18)
David Horowitz adage, via Bannon:
“The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.” (06:16)
Bannon (on education):
“They've used these schools … to be basically a madrasa for revolution ... they are the Red Guard.” (10:41)
Papadopoulos (from Moscow):
“The real war is … the attempt to de-dollarize the global economy … the attack on the US dollar has really been instigated by these sanctions.” (35:38)
Papadopoulos (on Ukraine solution):
“There has to be a de facto divide between west and East Ukraine which takes the realities on the ground into account.” (41:25)
Robert Duvall, remembered (from Apocalypse Now):
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning. … The whole hill smells like victory.” (23:38)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:36 – Bannon introduces Sam Faddis and the "American Tet Offensive" thesis
03:38 – Faddis elaborates on revolutionary threat
06:16 – Discussion of Horowitz’s "the issue is never the issue"
08:27 – Media, chaos, and objectives of leftist movements
11:18 – Role of education and teacher unions
13:37 – Faddis gives resources for further reading
16:22–27:46 – Robert Duvall tribute
32:12 – Taj Gill on military appetite for Ukraine
35:38 – George Papadopoulos reports from Moscow, de-dollarization
41:25 – Papadopoulos on dividing Ukraine as a solution
49:22 – Mike Lindell on first steps as potential MN governor and business perseverance

Tone & Language

Language retains the direct, urgent, sometimes confrontational style characteristic of Bannon and his guests.
Frequent comparisons to historical events and revolutionary rhetoric.
Blend of alarm, cultural nostalgia, and motivational calls to action.

Conclusion

This episode underscores Bannon and his guests’ belief in a pressing, organized ideological threat within the US, drawing analogies to revolutionary moments from history and tying domestic developments to global shifts in power, currency, and conflict. It is interspersed with cultural homage and advocacy for active, multi-front engagement—both in the political and consumer spheres.

Loading summary...

Transcript

Sam (0:00)

Sam.

Stephen K. Bannon (0:36)

As I read, but let's not miss the fact that we have a coordinated, well funded and I think insurgencies of terrorist organizations, however you want to call it, literally trying to prevent legal laws from being endorsed in the United States, enforced in the United States. That's Customs and Border head Rodney Scott testifying before Congress. I continue on in this piece. The man speaks the truth. The mainstream media continues to push the narrative and that all we are seeing are peaceful protests. Most conservative commentators remain content to ridicule participants in the ongoing anti ICE actions around the country and dismiss them with derogatory comments and sarcasm. No one, it seems, wants to take the time to step back and appreciate the magnitude of what we are facing. There is a growing Marxist revolutionary movement in this country. Its goal is not to reform is the destruction of the existing political and economic and social order. It operates coast to coast. It is well funded. Many of the organizations when they have ties to hostile foreign governments like Cuba and communist China. Leftist billionaires, dark money NGOs pump vast quantities of cash into an infrastructure designed to collapse the republic and replace it with an expressly Marxist totalitarian state. This movement is emboldened. It regards the withdrawal of ice from Minneapolis as a victory. Has now set its sights on mayday actions nationwide. That too will be the end of nothing. The battle will continue intensify until the goal is achieved. That article is from an American Tet Offensive. It is by the great Sam Fatis. Let me bring in Sam Fantas now. Thank you for the music guys. We can bring that down. Thank you very much Sam. Thank you for the music also. Sam Faddis, I am shocked. Your amazing piece on and magazine about an American Tet offensive. What has shocked me is that so many people I know that are quite sophisticated when they read it, they can't believe it. They can't connect the dots. They don't think it's this serious. They think it's we've got these Democrats and these are peaceful protesters. And yes, there's some bad elements of antifa and some of this got out of control. But we, we tried our best and we took out a couple thousand bad hombres and picked up some kids and so in Tom Holman told us over the weekend it's successful and we're gonna try to do it in other cities. You were the first person I think to lay it out and say you're not seeing what's happening here. This is a Tet offensive. People remember in Vietnam, the Tet offensive caught us totally by surprise. It was not totally successful, but it was an inflection point to put the Communists on the path to victory. What did you mean by that? What do you mean that this was what happened in Minneapolis? What's happening around the country is an American Tet Offensive. And what do you mean by this is a Marxist revolutionary movement that we're up against?

Sam Faddis (3:38)

Well, I think you just put your finger on it, Steve, when you said, look, people trivialize this. And by people, I mean the people on our side. Right? Yeah, there's some crazy people with green hair out in the street and they're screaming or they're assaulting individual officers. But, okay, this is all. It doesn't really threaten the Republic as such. And it's all sort of disjointed and it's annoying, but generally inconsequential. And that is by orders of magnitude missing the point. I mean, that's why I use the analogy of the Tet Offensive. We were sitting there in 1968 talking about declaring victory. We're winning the war. And the ground catches fire under our feet all over the country. I mean, in the Tet Offensive, all of a sudden we turned around. The US Embassy in the heart of Saigon was under siege. We missed it completely. And that is exactly what's happening now. You have massive organizations. That song you just played by the Communist Party of the usa, I didn't make that up and pull that off their website. Every time you see one of these big demonstrations or actions in a city, you will see these guys marching by the hundreds and thousands with banners and signs. You got guys like Neville Roy Singham, but there's a dozen, two dozen of them, billionaires working with hostile foreign powers, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars probably into this effort. And it is not about ice. It's not about Palestine. I mean, it's not about any one of those specific issues in and of itself. It is about literally destroying the Republic Democratic Socialists of America, which would be Zoran Mamdani's party, also AOCs, etc. They just had a seminar called Abolishing the Family. Their express purpose is to do away with the building block of society. So we've got a massive, ongoing communist revolutionary movement in the country. Very well funded, Communist Chinese chip in, the Cubans chip in, all kinds of bad actors chip in. And we're busy arresting individual persons in the street in Minneapolis for assaulting an ICE agent, which obviously we should, and doing nothing to tear this thing out by the roots, which ought to be our number one priority. Cutting off the funding and the organizers and conspirators ought to all be in custody.

Stephen K. Bannon (29:51)

Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. Like, like I've said, this situation, the CNBC is calling it that the dollar as a safe haven. That means the prime reserve currency is something that people want to have in, you know, dollar denominated securities is weakening because this highly leveraged bet on artificial intelligence. And we have to address this because that's the business model of the country and that's the business model of our most advanced technology companies and the capital markets. So how do you think this through? We warned about this years ago with Biden about he was going to spend so much money, was going to have a devaluation or Basically drop in purchasing power, kind of the same thing. And that's what skyrocketed gold. That's why these central banks, because of the hedge risk and the geopolitical. Now we've added the geopolitical risk because when President Trump, when the office was stolen from him, you got Biden, you got the war in Ukraine, you got the wars in the Middle east, you got the threats of the Chinese Communist Party. You had Latin America out of control and 25 million illegal aliens come in. Long story short, birchgold.com, promo code Bannon, the end of the dollar empire. Get up to speed on it. We now with a qualifying purchase, you now get a, you now get a, a hard copy available to you. The Patriots edition. It's in hard copy. They're flying off the shelves. They're actually printing more right now. So go there today, talk to Philip Patrick in the team. This is the one that walked through everything that mo we said it's not the price of gold, it's the process pattern recognition at when the goal was what, a thousand, eleven hundred bucks. Now near five thousand. So check it out today. Taj Gill, given your years in the military and then as a contractor, the appetite of American combat. Of course the American soldier Marine special force is going to go where the commander in chief, unlike the Democrats are trying to get involved in this. They'll go where the commander chief tells them to go. But we hear Zelensky over the weekend talk and we got George Papadopoulos coming on from Rome in a moment. You hear this talk of a 20 year security guarantee, European countries like France and the UK putting troops in at the line of contact and an implication they're going to want American troops. I know President Trump will never agree to that. But just your, what do you think the appetite is, the average fighting man and woman about getting involved in Ukraine?

Stephen K. Bannon (45:15)

War room here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. If you tie together what Sam Faddes told us in the first segment and you add it to, you know, we're spreading, we're spreading ourselves too thin. There's got to be a concentration here of prioritization of what happened. Zelensky's over there all weekend talking about a 20 year security guarantee. And in European, they got UK and France putting troops in the line of contact. They're all going to fade. It's going to get dumped on the United States of America. And right now we're not winning this war for these mass deportations. We're just not. Maybe that's fine for now. I happen to think that the base because the economy is turning around. I know they're very concerned about the economy and some of the pulling on the economy. But if you see the reality on the economy of what's been done now, one of the big fears is about the dollar. And I keep saying there's no other way you can look at it. This is a highly leveraged bet on artificial intelligence. And if artificial intelligence even generates the cash flow, if it's not an 8% or 10% return on because they're expecting all these to be four or five baggers. Peter Navarro's piece that we haven't played yet on Maria Bartiromo's the thing that should be done because better Affordability. But also he talks about the huge that's going to be a huge additional capital expenditure, as it should be to the AI companies, these data centers, the water and to make sure it doesn't roll into affordability for American citizens that come on the grid. So this is highly complex. Right now we're hurtling down a path of a highly leveraged bet because not only we have massive debt and we're running huge deficits. You've got all these companies look like they're going to crowd out and borrow a lot of this money. This $800 billion in capital expenditures. This morning. My patriot supply, preparewithbannon.com is actually the site said to go to My Patriot Supply. That's fine as long as you put in Bannon. But preparewithbannon.com they've got the the Mount Rushmore of what they call it because it's got the four legs of the stool for preparedness. The reason My Patriot is so important is that they really founded the industry. They kind of started the sector. They have renowned customer service. If you notice, a lot of the companies we deal with is really customer service is the great because they realize a lot of these, whether it's done with debt or the taxes is totally new areas for people. It's the reason Mike Lindell is going to be here in a second. He's been such a great spokesman because he is the CEO, he's the founder of the company. He knows it's kind of like Taj Gil we had in the previous sector. These are founders that understand it's in their soul. But the customer service is so important. And so that's why I go to preparewithbandon.com you've got the Mount Rushmore where they throw in 800 first. I think it's $1,000 off or $900 off and they throw in $800 of additional gear. So go check it out today. But most Importantly, go to preparewithbandon.com and talk to the customer service reps. Don't be intimidated just because you don't know much about this. There's no reason to be intimidated. Go talk to them right now. Our war Room Texas is going to be tomorrow. Early voting starts in Texas. So we're going to talk about the stakes that are involved for this vote. We're going to play it a little bit. Also last night on War Room and I think on RAV2, we streamed it the debate on the Agriculture Commission. So we'll get to that as kind of a race that had some very interesting aspects to it, but we're really going to talk about the stakes. Mike Lindell, like I said, you have my pillow burned into your soul because you founded this company from a trunk of a car and then later found God and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. Now your mission is you're running for governor of the state. What's the first thing you're going to do as governor of the state, sir?

Mike Lindell (49:22)

Well, that's an easy one. Ban sharia law and put. And enforce our protester laws that have to be enforced in Minnesota. And then also we have. They even put a satanic statue in our capitol. And Walt said, well, we've got to be fair. Fair to who? The devil? It just didn't make sense. But these are some easy things that there's so much nonsense that's being done that that's an easy cleanup of common sense issues. And Minnesota is the tip of the spear for everything that's going on. And I'm so glad, Steve, that things are dying down somewhat there. It's not. I've said it to you. You and I had a conversation. You can't say it as weakness. Everybody, by pulling out down to a thousand agents, by doing this, it allows everything to calm down so we can get back to what the focus on the fraud, the biggest crime this country has ever seen other than the 2020 election. We have to focus on the fraud. We've got to put these people in prison that are involved in this, and that includes politicians. Maybe Ilan Omar, maybe. We'll see what happens. Keith Ellison, the mayor of Minneapolis, Tim Waltz. So, and you guys, I fully intend. We're campaigning hard now. You can check out mike lindellgov.com and they said, mike, what are you going to do first when you're governor for these other issues? I'm going to do them all at once. I'm a great multitasker. I'm a businessman like our great real president, Donald Trump, our president. I've never seen a multitasker like him. To get you get everything, one's just as important important as the other. You've got to do it all. And that's what I will do. It's like running a business. They say, well, Mike, look what happened to my pillow. No, look what happened to my pillow. My pillow is still standing. In spite of being the most attacked company in the history of the United States, probably the. Probably the world. We're still standing. And a lot of that is because of all of you. But check it out. Mike Lindellgov.com and Steve, I want to say and this is the point where I can't thank the war room posse enough because we wouldn't be here without my faith in God and also our support as we were canceled by box stores and everything. There's no middleman anymore. It's my employees and you guys at the war room posse. Today's the last day where two sales collided. You get the free shipping this mega sale that we ran along with our mattress and topper sale. You guys, that's 34.98 for these six piece Tulsas. These are wholesale prices that you're getting for and with free shipping right to your front door. And you've got the buy pillows as low as 14.98 for the standard MyPillows. These are dream cheese. These are four flagship products made in the USA my mattress toppers. But if you go to mypillow.com warren there you see it flashing free shipping. Free shipping. Free shipping no matter what you order. There's the made in the USA crosses. You talk about my faith. Those that's a cross just like that I wear every day. And and then you see we've got made in the made in the USA socks. We have over 200 products there, everybody. And you can also go to my store.com use that promo code war room too. Let's not forget the thousands of entrepreneurs but you free shipping on your entire entire order today. 800-873-1062. You will pick up and hear a mom and dad that speaks English or someone that speaks English using promo code war room and you're going to get free shipping today.