Podcast Summary

Bannon’s War Room: Battleground EP 845

Date: September 8, 2025
Main Theme:
This episode explores two central themes: the intensifying immigration enforcement operations (“Taking Back Chicago”) in the wake of recent Supreme Court decisions, and an in-depth discussion of the use of artificial intelligence in religion, particularly the concept of "AI Jesus" and the emergence of digital spirituality. The final segment focuses on the Chinese Communist Party’s military parade and its geopolitical messaging—especially regarding Taiwan—and the threat of AI-driven warfare.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Supreme Court, Authoritarianism & Immigration Enforcement

• Concerns Over Authoritarian Overreach: The show opens with a somber warning about perceived authoritarian trends, particularly regarding recent Supreme Court decisions that are seen as privileging presidential power over individual rights.
  • Speaker A (00:10): “What we are seeing right now in this Supreme Court essentially saying, we will say the President and protecting the President's. Our perception of the President's power is more important than protecting people from the overreach, the abuse of power that violates their constitutional rights.”
• Racial Profiling & Law Enforcement: The conversation details personal accounts and broad patterns of racial profiling, not just affecting Latino communities but also Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American citizens.
• The “Military Reckoning”: The role of the military in times of authoritarianism is flagged, suggesting a future showdown where military loyalty will be tested.
  • (02:55) “We may come to that reckoning very soon in this country where our own military says we won't do it anymore.”
• White Supremacy in the Ranks: The potential influence of white supremacists/extremists within the military is addressed.

2. Operation Midway Blitz and Immigration Raids in Chicago

Host: Steve Bannon | Reporter: Ben Berkwam

• Chicago as a New Battleground: Real-time reports from Ben Berkwam on ICE raids in Chicago—the city’s status as a target for expanded immigration enforcement.
  • (05:09) Ben Berkwam: “One of the organizations … that doxed our location when I was out embedded with ICE today was WGN News 9 Chicago… So it’s not just these leftist activist groups, it's even the media.”
  • Mass Deportation Plans: Discussion of changing tactics—from targeting individuals to house-to-house approaches with broader community impact.
  • “We have to expand this. But as this is happening... you have massive self deportations happening right now.” (06:24)
• Role of Federal Agencies and National Guard: Debates whether National Guard will be directly used, given political and legal limitations, predicting a ‘whole of government’ approach utilizing the FBI, DEA, DOJ, ICE, Border Patrol, with National Guard as “the last straw.”
  • (07:47) Berkwam: “You’re gonna see all these agencies descend and National Guard is gonna be kind of there as the last straw if it goes to what a lot of people think it's gonna go to...”
• Morale Among Law Enforcement:
  • Hostile Environment: ICE agents face harassment and doxing, yet, per Berkwam, morale among them has never been higher due to perceived backing by President Trump.
    • (09:56) Berkwam: “Morale has never been higher... They want to pick up every bad guy, every bad illegal they can.”
  • Deep State “Traitors”: Berkwam claims those who resist immigration orders are “traitors… part of the deep state.” (10:54)

3. AI Jesus, Digital Rapture & Transhumanism

Participants: Steve Bannon, Joe Allen (Tech & Transhumanism Commentator)

• Emergence of AI Religious Figures:

  • AI Interprets the Divine: Exploration of AI-generated "Jesus apps," based on research out of South Africa, and the broader implications for spiritual life and religious authenticity.
    • (15:52) Joe Allen: “What we're seeing is the early phase of something that I would imagine will develop into hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people who turn to artificial intelligence, either as a God in and of itself...”
  • Risk of 'Machine Charlatans': Concerns raised about “putting a Jesus mask over a kind of mechanical demon,” where AI becomes a shortcut to spirituality, driven by both secular and Christian commercial interests.
  • (16:49) Allen: “If you train, for instance, an artificial intelligence on the text of the Gospels, you can have this interactive partner, this interactive Jesus companion. This already exists.”

• Commercialization and Religious Manipulation:

  • Multiple groups, both secular and Christian (e.g., The Gospel Coalition), are developing "evangelical AIs" meant to spread religious messages online.
  • Potential for automated spiritual guidance to exploit individuals’ vulnerabilities and harvest confessional data. (19:12) Allen)
  • Dangers of Losing Textual Complexity: Difference between reading sacred texts (which change meaning as individual understanding grows) and interacting with a pre-programmed AI.
    • (21:30) Bannon: "When you read...Holy Scripture, when you come to it and read it, you're a different person every time...that will totally be missing in interactions like with AI."
    • (21:41) Allen: “Even if you just read the Sermon on the Mount alone, that's enough to chew over for a lifetime.”

• Biblical Prophecy and AI:

  • Allen draws parallels between AI and biblical imagery—specifically the Book of Revelation, “the image of the Beast,” and the ‘mark of the beast’ – recast for the tech era as brain or hand implants, or surveillance infrastructure.
    • (22:37) Allen: “If you’re looking for artificial intelligence, you’ve got the image of the first beast…This image to which all people are to bow down. That speaks.”
  • Antichrist and Global Government:
    • Discussion of Peter Thiel’s lectures on how the fear of rogue AI could be used as a pretext for repressive global governance; referencing lectures at the Oxford Union and warnings about surveillance and loss of democratic sovereignty.
    • (23:44) Allen: “Thiel’s argument is ... that the fear of artificial intelligence... will be used as an excuse to install global governance over everyone for everything...”

• Transhumanism and the 'Digital Rapture':

  • The show contextualizes these developments as part of transhumanist philosophy—technology as a path to transcendence.
    • (32:11) Joe Allen reading Julian Huxley: “A thousand million years of evolution would lead to a moment when man...would transcend himself...”
  • The psychological context of post-Covid demoralization is discussed as fertile ground for introducing AI as a panacea.
    • (32:34) Bannon & Allen): “It came right at the end of COVID where there was mass disorientation...Suddenly AI drops.”

• Small Businesses, Youth, and the Threats of AI:

  • Emphasis on small businesses as a bulwark against globalist technocracy; youth are seen as pivotal in AI skepticism and regulation due to their longer-term stake in the future.
    • (37:02) Allen: “Young people...are the driving force or a very key force behind any opposition to these technologies, because they're the ones with the biggest stake.”

4. National Conservatism, Tech, and the Coming 'Singularity'

• AI as Existential Challenge: Growing seriousness within 'national conservative' circles toward AI and transhumanism, sparked by influential voices like Rachel Bovard and Senator Josh Hawley.
  • (35:53) Bannon: “She basically said...this is the one where you're going to see the biggest fight...we're hitting a singularity. And on the other side of that is humanity plus Homo sapien 1.5 or 2.0...that is the greatest challenge to humanity ever.”
• Debate Spectrum:
  • Range from “build God” optimism (Dean Ball) to calls for a hard stop (Claire Morell); generational divide noted with younger voices dominating efforts to regulate or stop superintelligent AI.
  • (38:54) Allen: “All of them from conservative perspectives were arguing for at least a responsible use of these technologies and approaching the future with caution…”

5. Chinese Military Parade, AI Warfare, and Geopolitical Signals

Guests: Forrest & Ava from the New Federal State of China

• Military Parade as Power Play:

  • The CCP’s September 3 parade serves multiple audiences: internal rivals (to showcase Xi Jinping's consolidation of power and warn against dissent), and external adversaries (to deter intervention in Taiwan, especially targeting Japan and the US).
    • (40:20) C (Forrest): “The parade...is to intimidate their domestic rivals and to consolidate the power.”
    • Parades feature new weapons: drones, unmanned submarines, and advanced fighter jets, favoring “quantity over quality” via mass production and potential “saturation attacks.” (41:58)
  • Brutal Training: “Needles under chins” used to ensure soldiers maintain proper posture, likened to “aesthetics of violence” akin to Nazi-era militarism. (43:03 F)

• Internal Paranoia and Weakness:

  • Limited presence of allied leaders at the parade, signaling Xi’s isolation and distrust within elite circles.
  • (46:25) C: “This is not about celebration, it's really about control. So if you look closely...besides Xi Jinping, only Putin and Kim Jong Un...no other previous leaders.”
  • Opportunity is highlighted for anti-CCP activism due to Xi’s precarious hold.

• AI and Unmanned Weapons as “Kill Shots”:

  • The “definitive weapons” being prepared by China against the West are AI-driven, unmanned military systems and alternatives to the US dollar (as signaled by BRICS initiatives).
    • (48:07) F: “There is a two weapons that's going to be the kill shots from the CCP...AI driven weapons, unmanned weapons. Second is US dollars as we just today witnessed what's announced in BRICS...”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Supreme Court & Authoritarianism:

  • “If we don't have a red line with the Supreme Court, we have lost a major part of our balance of power.” (01:01) A

• On ICE Morale:

  • “Morale has never been higher. ...they want to pick up every bad guy, every bad illegal they can.” (09:56) Ben Berkwam

• On AI Jesus:

  • “What we’re seeing is the early phase of something that I would imagine will develop into hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people who turn to artificial intelligence, either as a God in and of itself.” (15:52) Joe Allen
  • “To basically put a Jesus mask over a kind of mechanical demon...” (16:40) Joe Allen

• On Tech and the Bible:

  • “Even if you just read the Sermon on the Mount alone, that's enough to chew over for a lifetime.” (21:41) Joe Allen

• On Biblical Prophecy & Technology:

  • “If you’re looking for artificial intelligence, you’ve got the image of the first beast pushed forward by the second beast. This image to which all people are to bow down. That speaks.” (22:37) Joe Allen
  • “One imagines a chip in the palm or a chip in the brain...” (22:49) Joe Allen

• On Transhumanism:

  • “For Huxley, this was a religion all its own. I believe in transhumanism, he said. He coined the term, and so do untold numbers of today's tech class.” (32:14) Joe Allen

• On CCP's Military Parade:

  • “This parade...is to intimidate their domestic rivals and to consolidate the power. The second one...is to send message abroad...that is to deter Japan to interfere his plan, what was that plan? The plan is to attack Taiwan because September 3rd is the victory day in China against Japan.” (40:20) C - Forrest

• On AI and Geopolitical Threats:

  • “There is a two weapons that's going to be the kill shots from the CCP in the hybrid and restrict warfare...AI driven weapons, unmanned weapons. Second is US dollars as we just today witnessed what's announced in the BRICS...” (48:07) F - Ava

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:10–03:20: Concerns about Supreme Court, racial profiling, authoritarianism
• 04:12–11:58: Operation Midway Blitz & Chicago ICE raids, morale, federal vs. state authorities
• 13:15–23:12: AI Jesus, AI in religion, commercialization, Revelation/prophecy, Antichrist, Peter Thiel’s warnings
• 32:11–38:54: Transhumanism, AI post-Covid, small business, youth activism, National Conservatism debate recap
• 40:20–51:29: CCP’s military parade—internal and geopolitical messaging, weapon tech, AI warfare, anti-CCP activism

Tone and Style

The tone is urgent, combative, and at times apocalyptic—ranging from grave warnings about authoritarianism, passionate advocacy for law enforcement morale, distrust of mainstream media, deep skepticism of AI-driven religion and technological utopianism, to intense geopolitical analysis regarding China. Speakers frequently blend anecdote, polemic, and reference to biblical and historical precedents to convey both urgency and mission.

Resources & Further Information

• Ben Berkwam: frontlineamerica.com, Substack: Frontline America, “Law and Border” on Real America’s Voice, Getter.
• Joe Allen: Website: joe.botxyz, Upcoming speaking events, book “Dark Aeon”.
• New Federal State of China: Getter @NFSCspeaks, X (Twitter), regular programming: “China Watch” Wednesdays at noon.

End of Summary