
WarRoom Battleground EP 960: Polls Close In Texas For The Future Of Our Republic...
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Cliff Maloney
Islamic jihadis are plotting against you.
Ben Berkwam
Why in the hell you think they're in Houston?
Steve Bannon
In the north of Dallas.
Chris Wilson
They are working together to overthrow Western
Caroline Wren
civilization, Sharia compounds which are areas governed by religious rules.
Ben Berkwam
We know who you are, we know what you are, and we know what
Steve Bannon
you're trying to accomplish. And it is not going to happen.
Ben Berkwam
In the jewel of the crown of the union of this republic, we purge
Chris Wilson
any attempt to impose Sharia law in Texas.
Cliff Maloney
They are not coming.
Steve Bannon
They are already here.
Ben Berkwam
You are not here properly and you're going to leave.
Steve Bannon
On 3 March, Sharia law goes on the ballot in the state of Texas. The United States Constitution and Sharia are fundamentally at odds with what one another.
Ben Berkwam
We're going to tell them, take your Sharia law and shove it.
Caroline Wren
Islam will never dominate the United States, and by the grace of God, it will not dominate Texas.
Ben Berkwam
As Texas goes, so goes the nation. As the nation goes, so goes the world. Are you prepared to fight for this state? Are you prepared to fight for your country?
Steve Bannon
War Room Texas.
David Nino Rodriguez
Your host, Stephen K. Bannon starts right now.
Steve Bannon
It's Tuesday the 3rd of March, year of our Lord 2026. It's game day and we are packed. Also the coverage, our election night coverage will start at 8pm Eastern Standard Time. Grant Stinchfield from Dallas, his Dallas studio will co host. There's that right there where we go until we know who the winners are. And this really what's turned into a massive primary in the Democratic side, but I think the most expensive in the history of the Republic Party. We lead off with Chris Wilson is one of the most respected pollsters and political operatives in the state of Texas. You've made your career here, Chris. Just put it into perspective. We had a call open. Ben Berkwam, our field reporter, who will be at the headquarters of Ken Paxton tonight, stopped by Plano, Texas. We did a standup there and talked to him for a while. He's been all over Texas for a while and it was very interesting about the polling. We played a coal open for him that had all, you know, mainstream media, the MSNBC really all over this primary, particularly the two and a half million people have voted and really looking like in early voting, the Democrats coming out in a presidential cycle, you know this better than anything. Talk to us about first off the early vote and then where do you see this race today?
Chris Wilson
I think it's too early to, even though it's the day of election day, to judge what the early voting actually means. There's clearly excitement on the Democratic side. But I think anyone who today is trying to channel some crystal ball and extrapolate what that means for November is just out throwing out fool's gold. Because look, we saw massive turnout in enthusiasm amongst Republicans at the primary in 2022 during Biden's midterm, and it didn't translate into turnout in November. So from a data scientist perspective, I look at this as a positive because all these Democrats are turning out are now giving me data to judge who they are for the general election. And that's actually very positive, will help my clients ultimately win. But as you mentioned, I was executive director of the Republican Party Texas back in the 90s. I did Ted Cruz's first race in 2012 and all his subsequent races since then and done Governor Abbott's work over the years. And so I've seen a lot in Texas. And the fact of the amount of money that has been spent and you said in your open that it's the most ever Republican primary. And I'm sure that ends up being true is just stunning to me. And going into the race on election Day, here's how it looks. And I should step back because I'm known as a pollster. I'm known as somebody who does data science. Today, I run a company called Eyesover, and we track millions of online conversations happening in real time. So instead of relying on polling snapshots, we measure what we call a sports score, which it tells us where the grassroots energy is moving and the grassroots energy leads the overall energy. And so going into Election Day, the race looks like this. Ken Paxton is generating just over half of the positive engagement, about 51%. John Cornyn is sitting around 31%. And Wesley Hunt, who I should disclose to your listeners, I work, have worked for the WESLEY Hunt super PAC and he is at 17%. And I will point out on that matter, and if it sounds like I'm a little bit bothered about it, that might not be in unfair. There's been more money spent against Wesley Hunt from a negative perspective than there has against Ken Paxton and John Cornyn combined. And so we can talk about that if you want. But having said that, so we go in. The online conversation entered today clearly shows Paxton has the center of gravity in the race. But what really matters as I look at this from an analytical perspective is not just the percentages, what the data shows, that the race has organized itself into two political coalitions amongst the Republican Party in Texas. And this is a little bit of what I saw in 2012. Not to go back too far, but. But with Ted Cruz in the primary against David Dewhurst, who the establishment supported, and there were other people in the race, obviously, but we sort of saw the same thing emerge. But we didn't have this tool. And so we kind of saw it after the fact because polling is really a trailing indicator to these things. So on one coalition, you see the grassroots populist wing of the Republican Party, which is driving the engagement around Paxton. And then the other coalition is the institutional Republican support, which is rallied around Cornyn Hunt has picked up voters who are looking for kind of a generational, I'll describe it, scandal free alternative. But those have dissipated over time as the. As both the Paxton and the cornyn campaign Super PACs have done an effective job of attacking Wesley Hunt. So what Texas voters are deciding today isn't just between three candidates, I would submit it is deciding which coalition they want leading the party going forward. Because in modern primaries, the candidate who controls the grassroots conversation has the structural advantage. And I think that is absolutely essential as we move into runoffs and the general election in Texas.
Steve Bannon
When you look at this data, positive conversations, one of the things, we've been here for about five weeks, of course, we have to curate all the local news and particularly MSNBC and cnn. I'm stunned by the scale. I'm just blown away by the scale of the spending of Cornyn both against Hunt and about Paxton. But it's the negativity. These are some of the worst, most brutal negative ads I've ever seen. Does that fit into the data, too? When you say that PAX is leading positive statements? I don't even know where the positive statements are coming from. I have never seen a campaign ever that literally has no issues about it. And it's about how awful these two people are. And I should tell you, my daughter sits on the board. She went to West Point and sits on the board at West Point with Wesley Hunt. And he's just an incredible guy. You know, he's a combat Apache helicopter pilot. He's just amazing. They've, you know, it'd be hard for Wesley Hunt's mother, I think, to vote for him just like just Paxton. I've just never seen the brutality of these ads. Is that figure into your data? I know a lot of grassroots people that have said, I just can't vote for Cornyn if Cornyn somehow gets in a runoff and wins this thing in a runoff. I don't know if I'm there in November because I'm so repulsed by what I'VE seen here on this campaign.
Chris Wilson
Yeah, it absolutely factors into it. And like I said, the great thing about Eyes over is it leads polling. And what's interesting is in early February, Hunt passed Corny in terms of our internal tracking on Eyes over. And then what we saw about three or four days later, that ends up popping up, I'm sure, in their internal polling. And to your point, we've seen $13 million in recorded advertising anti Hunt. And he said his mother may not vote against him. It's been something to watch. So if there's 13 million that are spent on TV, as you know, direct mail, grassroots, door to door and digital doesn't get reported in the same way. So I usually take that number and increase it by 60 to 70%. So let's just say probably conservative figures somewhere in the range of $20 million has been spent attacking Wesley Hunt overall. And you're right, there hasn't been a lot of positive run in this campaign. There has been a call Senator Cornyn and tell him what a great job he's doing shutting down the border, things like that. But it has really been of an anti campaign. It seems that the strategy of Corn and his supporters has been to do to make people vote against Hunt and vote against Paxson rather than provide any sort of positive reasons for Cornyn. And I'll say in modern politics, the race isn't just fought on TV anymore. It's fought in the grassroots narrative ecosystem. And the candidate who dominates that ecosystem has the momentum on the field. And so I think from that standpoint is what those pro corner groups did by going after Hunt so aggressively is they may have given the race to Paxton without a runoff.
Steve Bannon
I want to talk about that. So the inflection point with those polls you saw where it looked like Cornyn would not make a runoff, there was a potential he was tied, I think, with Hunt behind Paxton. And as you know, there would be some heads on pikes with this money spent by these outside groups of Senate Leadership Fund. If he doesn't make a runoff, there's about 10 of the biggest professionals in modern American politics that would have a lot of explaining to do. But as you've seen this, the coalition you're talking about, the wing, the populist grassroots. Do you see a path tonight potentially where actually Ken Paxton could get 50% plus one vote?
Chris Wilson
Yeah, I do. I think it is where he sits right now. I mean, he is right at about 51% in our online tracking. And it is, you know, there's a lot of things that can happen to alter that. But I'll tell you, I saw, I've been CEO of this company since January 1st of 2025. And in that time, I've seen us be exactly right on elections from New Jersey and Virginia to Malawi and Poland and Bolivia. And I'm talking not just a little bit right, but exactly right. A couple weeks ago in Aragon, in Spain, we were exactly right. And so it is. It's stunning to me. And like I said earlier, eyes over is really the momentum on the field. You and I were texting earlier. I was telling you I'm going to college basketball tonight. I love basketball. And a college basketball game tonight. I love basketball. And if you watch much basketball, you know that sometimes a scoreboard doesn't represent what's going on on the court because you have a team that gets a little turnover, they go on a run, and that's the momentum. So polling is like the scoreboard, but what we measure is momentum. So going into this, there's no question that Ken Paxton has the momentum. And like I said, the momentum measures out at 51.7. And usually those things converge almost exactly right at the end. Now, sometimes primaries can be weird things. You get people who stay home. And we certainly saw that in SD9, where, for whatever reason, about half the Republican electorate in Texas Senate District 9 special election in Texas, where about half the Republican electorate just decided they didn't want to vote because it was cold outside and they figured they're going to win in November. And so weird things can happen. But based on what I'm seeing here, yes, Ken Paxton has an absolute chance to win this thing without a runoff.
Steve Bannon
Chris, where do people go to find out more about the company? Social media, where they find out more about you.
Chris Wilson
So Eyesover Us is our website. You can go there and sign up for our weekly report that we send out every Wednesday. It's free. And we kind of tell you what's going on in the world. And so it's. What's cool about that is we've been. We measure things in real time. So last week we told the world that Donald Trump's State of the Union address was a home run. And guess what? The polling that came out echoed that. When's the last time you saw that? And then the second one is just for me. If you want to get. If you have insomnia issues and want to follow me, you can call follow me and substack on Christopher S. Wilson or on X at Chris Wilson at ChrisWilson. QED, it's a lot, Chris, not that
Steve Bannon
we want to whine, but I wish we had gotten your eyes over report and gotten you on the phone with President Trump, said we wouldn't have stepped on that on Friday with the bombing. We might have let that breathe for
David Nino Rodriguez
a week or two.
Steve Bannon
It was such a home run. Chris Wilson, thank you so much. Good time at the game tonight. Thank you for taking time away from the family.
Chris Wilson
Thanks, Steve. Take care.
Steve Bannon
So that set the stage. We've got, we've got Cliff Maloney. Cliff Maloney is in our Palm beach studio. Cliff, you're going to be joining us tonight. You're also on with the Charlie Kirk Gang. Thank you for joining us. Your assessment, sir, you're a guy that goes in the trenches door to door. What's your thoughts about this primary?
Cliff Maloney
I think this is going to be one of the best upgrades in America first history.
Steve Bannon
Right.
Cliff Maloney
Going from Cornyn to Paxton. I do think Paxton's got a shot. I agree with Chris that it's going to be very close. But Steve, $69 million.
Steve Bannon
Hang on, hang on, hang on. Slow, hang on. Slow down for a second. You agree with Chris, what you think actually Paxton has a shot today to get to the, to have no runoff. You think it, I think it's going to potentially get to 50, 50 plus one vote.
Cliff Maloney
Yeah. I think most people are expecting it to be somewhere in the mid-40s, but I think, you know, if there's enough enthusiasm and if he peels off enough of those voters today, he's got a shot at it. I do think, obviously, you know, he's in at least for the runoff. I think the biggest problem that we're going to have here, Steve, and this is my, my frustration with the establishment, $69 million that they're spending to try to support Cornyn, that could go towards all these America first battles, could go towards permanent infrastructure for us to build a real red wall. And if this thing goes to a runoff with corn and in it, who's to say they don't spend another $100 million? And so I just, I have such frustration for the Republican establishment that always get mad at us when we try to primary incumbents. Now we're looking back at you. Stop spending tens of millions of dollars to try to save a dying politician this rhino and let's actually go towards the future. And that's what I think Ken Paxton represents.
Steve Bannon
I want to, you're, you do this for a living. Have you ever seen. Because being down here, it's overwhelming. I've never Seen the scale of it, I've never seen the viciousness of it. I've never seen. And I know it's turned a lot of people off, but you, you're a pro. Have you ever seen a scale of spending on negative ads to keep a guy basically alive in Cornyn? Because it's not running on any positive message. It's all destroying Wesley Hunt and, and Ken Paxton?
Cliff Maloney
No, I would agree. I mean, this is going to be record shattering. I think the numbers will prove that. The only thing I can compare this to, Steve, is when I spent two months on the ground in Pennsylvania and saw them just light Donald Trump on fire with DNC money. But when we're talking primaries, this is unprecedented. And like I said, remember, if this goes to a runoff, we could be talking about seeing twice as much spending over the next month. So I, I just, I'm praying Paxton gets there tonight. It will be one of the biggest upgrades in electoral history to go from a corny to a patriot like Ken Paxton and the America first movement. You talk about opportunities. This is one we have to win.
Steve Bannon
We've gone through, you know, there's, you know, years in which nothing happens, decades in which nothing happens, in weeks in which, you know, so much everything happens. We had this amazing State of the Union, which was really back to core Trump and the optics of it, the drama of it, the way he was like he was an orchestra conductor bringing in people, bringing in heroes, and calling the Democrats out in these perfect set pieces. And you had so many people jacked up the next couple of days. Then we had the bombing. And clearly there's, you know, there's some issues with the bombing. Some people are very gung ho on this. Some people are uncertain. Some people don't think they got enough information. Some of the young people are quite upset about it. But where do you think we are right now? And do you think any of that will have any impact on turnout today in the, in this primary?
Cliff Maloney
Look, I think the State of the Union was a home run. And I think that the moment that I was hoping to get right, because, Steve, is people who are working on the ground trying to get voters to be excited, to try to get voters to be motivated. We always look for moments, right? What are the little nuggets that we're going to have to get people to actually take the step and take action and get out and vote. Steve, the moment from the State of the Union when Donald Trump said stand, if you agree that the American government should put Americans first over illegal aliens, and to see them pan the room and not one Democrat standing up. I don't get excited often, Steve. You know, I like to be a realist on your show and give it to the posse straight. That was a moment that gave me hope for 2026 to think that's going to be something that if we narrate that right, if we drive that message home, because that is what won with the America first movement in 2024 was going back to the core issues, putting Americans first, not illegals. I think that that picture and that paused moment where not one Democrat was standing for Americans over illegals, that's what gives me hope. And I think that's going to be one of the things we take from the State of the Union to try to motivate our base.
Steve Bannon
Cliff, what's your social media, where they go to about your door knocking operation? And we'll see you later tonight from the Palm beach studio where they go, you got it.
Cliff Maloney
Yeah. On Xaloney. M A L O N E Y. And then anybody that wants to get involved. Doorswinwars.com we bring it to you straight as it is. Doorswinwars.com you can sponsor a ballot chaser or come join us out in the field. We got to win big in 26. Steve, I appreciate you.
David Nino Rodriguez
Fantastic.
Steve Bannon
Say hi to all the Charlie Kirk guys. We'll talk to you guys later in the evening. Charlie Kirk team Post is going to be over there. Post is also going to be jumping back with us. Cliff Maloney. Do I have Caroline Wren? The Caroline Wren.
Frank Gaffney
Caroline Wren, as only you can do,
Steve Bannon
ma', am, you lit up. You put a couple of tweets out today that just lit people up, particularly Corny. We had Barris on yesterday and Barris said, hey, look, I got news for people. We've been doing polling here. The negativity in this race is so bad, right? And Cornyn, these guys, the Senate Leadership Fund, they brought so much of this money in here and destroyed a grassroots here or tried to destroy grassroots here. And Ken Paxton, but then went after Wesley Hunt, which I told you is a decorated Apache helicopter pilot that sits. It was a West Point grad that sits on the board of West Point that's turned him off. He says, hey, I think a Third, I think 30% of the grassroots MAGA movement won't vote for Cornyn in the general. You kind of picked up on that theme today on your tweets.
Frank Gaffney
Walk me through it.
Caroline Wren
Well, I think it's amazing. I mean, Cornyn's closing message this is someone who's been in the Senate for 30 years. He has a voting record for 30 years and he cannot run on that voting record. And so his entire closing message is Ken Paxton is unelectable. He's going to lose the general. So you have to vote for me, to send me back for my, I don't know, fifth, sixth term. And I just think it's preposterous because the idea that Ken Paxton is not electable is just false. I mean, Cornyn has had to spend, I know people are saying 69 million. That is dramatically low. That's just in hard dollars that we can track. There's been a tremendous amount of money spent out of 501C4s and 501C3s, which are not disclosed. I think it's upwards of $100 million. John Cornyn, the incumbent senator, has had to spend 100 million to Ken Paxton's 4 million, $4 million. That's how much Ken Paxton and his associated super PACs have spent. And Cornyn is, I mean, very likely going to lose this primary tonight to someone. I can't do that math, but that is someone you're tremendously outspending there. And so it's just, it's ridiculous to think that he is. That Paxton is not electable in general. And it's ridiculous to run in your closing messages as a five term incumbent that don't vote for this other guy. I don't understand it.
Steve Bannon
Why do they think, as Chris Wilson broke out, this kind of populist grassroots wing that is so powerful here in Texas, what is it that the establishment, and not just the Texas establishment, this is D.C. establishment. What is it that the biggest donors, the biggest corporations, what do they fear about a guy like Ken Paxton? I mean, why is Cornyn so special that $100 million just for what potentially could be the first round?
Caroline Wren
They should fear Ken Paxton. If you are. Ken Paxton has gone after every major corporation in this country. If they are violating antitrust laws, if they're violating the, the Texas Constitution, and that we've seen it over and over again when no other AG is willing to because they're scared it might piss off some of their donors. And I'm, I'm speaking directly now to the Republican AGs, which are largely spineless. Ken Paxton was willing to think about it when they stole the election from Donald Trump in 2020. And we're all sitting there saying, hey, they stole it, go do something. Who is it that authored the amicus brief to back up Trump and say no, no, no. You can't do this. It was Ken Paxton. I had to help Ken. I was calling all these other Texas or sorry, ags, Republican ags across the country saying, you need to sign on to Ken Paxton's amicus brief. None of them even had the guts to do it. Finally, by the end, they were all kind of forced on to sign. But that's because Ken Paxton is a leader for the people. He is not the leader for corporations. He's not the leader for the donor class. He is a leader for the people of Texas. And I'm praying that he gets to the Senate, because when you're in the Senate, the decisions that you make don't just affect Texas. They will affect the entire country. And we need desperately someone like Ken Paxton. Look at it right now with this crop of Republican senators we have, we basically are relying on Mike Lee and then a handful of patriotic House members to try and get the SAVE act done, which I'm not even sure it's going to at this point, because these senators, especially in the Republican side, they tell us one thing when it's an election year, and then they do the other. And this brings me to my point, too, about Cornyn. John Cornyn has run for reelection. I think I said this is his fifth time, and he's had to be accountable to voters. And he has still done horrific votes that no Texas Republican and the majority of Texans don't support having to do with anything from gun rights and others. Can you imagine if Cornyn gets another term? He's 76 years old, so he will go 74, 76. He'll go into his 80s. He's not running again. So he will be wholly unaccountable. He will not be accountable to any voters. He won't be accountable to Texas voters. He's just going to go in there and do whatever he wants in this last term here, and we cannot have that. Ken Paxton will be accountable to the people of Texas. This is why it is the most important race in this country, and he has to win.
Steve Bannon
Your assessment right now, by the way, if you're in Texas and you're hearing this, you still have plenty of time to get to the polls, at least an hour or so. So make sure you go. Do you believe Chris Wilson thinks he could actually take it tonight? There's a possibility. Cliff Maloney says, hey, maybe. What does Caroline Wren say?
Caroline Wren
Well, you know me, I always say on your show that I think polls are for strippers and firemen, not for predicting elections. And so I'M curious. I was just in Texas this weekend and the energy is certainly Ken Paxton. The negative ads have had an effect. I've talked to a few people, told me how, you know, I'm going to vote for Wesley Hunt because the negative ads are just too much for me on this. But they, they can't stand Cornyn. And I've talked them up. I've said, look, I think Wesley's a really good guy, but I think that he has no chance in this. So you're wasting your vote there. You need to come over to Paxton. Every single one of them switched over and said, all right, you're right. I'm going to vote for Paxton. And even if they hadn't, they're going to vote for Paxton in a runoff versus Cornyn. So I can't envision a place where Paxton doesn't beat Cornyn in a runoff. I hope that Paxton has pretty decent size win tonight. So then that way maybe there'll be less money. But I'm, I'm hearing the, the corner people are saying they're going to spend another $100 million in three months. That could be $200 million literally lit on fire in this race when we have to defend much more competitive races in places like New Hampshire, North Carolina. We have pickup opportunities in places like Michigan. And instead we're setting all this money on fire in Texas to anoint Cornyn to another term that literally nobody wants. Cornyn doesn't even want it.
Steve Bannon
Caroline Wren, where do people go? You're on fire, ma'. Am. Where do people go?
Caroline Wren
It's at Caroline Wren on X Truth Social and Getter.
Steve Bannon
I'm a track you down. I think we want you on your coverage tonight. You're so good as usual, Caroline. Thank you so much, ma'. Am. Appreciate. Appreciate you so much. Okay, we're going to take a short commercial break. You're in war room, Texas, as I said, At 8 o' clock Eastern Time, I'm going to join up with Grant Stitchfield in Dallas. We're north of Dallas and we're going to have our election night coverage on real America's Voice. Going to be great. Absolutely great. We're really looking forward to this short commercial break. Back with some hitters in a moment.
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Okay, welcome back. I want to thank our two sponsors. Birch Gold with the world on fire, I think you can understand now what geopolitical risk is. Markets all over the place. Straits are hormuz closed. Oil markets and turmoil, capital markets and turmoil, equities, bonds, all of it. Make sure you understand why gold has been a hedge. This time it's not the price of gold, it's the process that drives the value. Birchgold.com, promo code Bannon the end of the dollar empire. If you want it, you can get a copy, a hard copy of the Patriots edition of the first seven installments we've done over the last, what, four or five years. An eighth installment we're working on currently will be out online so make sure you talk to Philip Patrick and Steam. Also want to thank the team at patriot mobile. 972patriot call it today. 972patriot talk to someone with an East Texas accent that's a citizen of these United States and the state of Texas. Talk about the greatest phone service out there. Also their Christian values and how they manifest those through the work that they do. Patriot Mobile, one of the best companies. Jenny and Glenn Story want to thank them for everything they've been doing down here. Frank Gaffney, the Shria law. You've been working on this for a long time today. So important, if you haven't voted in Texas, you still got to wait up until 7 o', clock, I think local time to vote. So if you haven't vote, go out and vote. It's very important. You're part of this primary. Your thoughts are today as we, as we're going to start counting them up in a couple hours.
Frank Gaffney
Yeah, you're right, Steve. These are the critical next few hours and I strongly encourage anybody who is eligible to vote and hasn't yet go to the Republican primary ballot. Because one of the most consequential items I think on it, taking nothing away from Ken Paxton's race and all the rest, is Proposition 10. It's at the very bottom of it. It's only five words long. Texas should prohibit Sharia law. And it's so vitally important that that be not only approved, but approved decisively that you moved here for the past month or so, as have I, to help patriotic Texans expose the true nature of Sharia, the mortal threat that it represents. Yes, for sure, to the state of Texas, where it is metastasizing as we speak, but also for every other state in the union where similar efforts to penetrate and subvert and ultimately overthrow our constitutional republic are underway. Don't take my word for it. That's what the Muslim Brotherhood itself has said. And by the way, speaking of the Muslim Brotherhood, a segue from your last segment with Michael and Dell in the previous hour of the show, you were sort of ruminating why, you know, Keith Ellison would be so keen to stop Mike Lindell from getting, you know, the nomination to become the governor of his state, Minnesota. Well, there's one other item. Keith Ellison is a Muslim brother, or at least a Muslim Brotherhood asset, for sure, was, you know, throughout his public life, certainly in the United States Congress. And now he's the Attorney General of the state of Minnesota and he wants to stop a man who has said repeatedly on your program and elsewhere, his first order of business as governor Mike Lindell says this would be banning Sharia law. Well, why is that so important? To get a booster rocket behind people like Mike Lindell all across America is because what we're witnessing here, and we've been talking about it, Steve, and I think the people of Texas, whenever they hear this stuff, are naturally going to say, no, we don't want that. Here, for example, this epic city, it. It caught a lot of people's attention because it's an incipient no go Zone. We've seen them all over Europe. It's part of the takedown of western civilized nations. We've seen, for example, in addition, there's something our friend Kristen Deering, one of our great Texan patriots who's done some terrific research on all this, says there's 600, at least 600 Sharia, supremacist organizations, mosques, schools, front organizations, influence operations, what have you in the state of Texas. And that, get this, over the past nine years, they've garnered $4 billion in taxpayer funds from either the federal or the state government. And then there's this. Halal food is now being served as the only food in numerous state institutions.
Steve Bannon
You don't know it.
Frank Gaffney
You're just getting fed food consecrated to the Muslim God Allah and by the way, obtained from animals through the most horrific barbaric means possible. All of this is now building. I think it's going to translate into a strong vote to prohibit Sharia law, a yes vote on Proposition 10. If you haven't cast a ballot for it, still can do it.
Steve Bannon
Frank, thank you for helping. Berquheim started we started the five o' clock show Eastern time, the early edition of the afternoon show with Burkhorn out there at Epic at the original before they built Epic City, the original.
Frank Gaffney
It's massive.
Steve Bannon
I don't think people understand the scale of this Islamic invasion in Texas. It is jaw dropping what they've done. We have Peter McElvenny came over here who's an expert in London and he said he spent a week in November. He said, steve, I don't think you guys quite comprehend that given the same timefra much more sophisticated and advanced they are than 20 years ago when they really started moving into London. And of course, London stand today is gone. London has fallen. Frank, social media, you're going to be up with us later tonight on this vote on election night. Thank you for all your work and shifting the flag down here. Where do people go to get all your content?
Frank Gaffney
Well, just a final thought on that, Steve. It's not an accident that people don't have any sense of the degree this is happening. It's by design. Stealthy jihad followed by the violent kind is the ticket. My social media is at frankafney on X. You can find our work@securingamerica.substack.com, our show here right here on Real America's Voice. Right there on Real America's Voice. We also, of course, Steve, have ban Sharia.com I entreat people of Texas especially, but across the nation to take, take advantage of the resources that are there. It will clue you up and enable you to help become part of the fight to keep America free. Because as I like to say, if Sharia is not prohibited, Sharia will prohibit freedom in our country.
Amen.
Steve Bannon
Frank Gaffney, we'll see you later tonight. Thank you for all your work. Ban Sharia.
Frank Gaffney
Thank you, sir.
Steve Bannon
Ban Sharia.com talking about violent jihad. So let me just give you the chain of custody on this story. David Nino Rodriguez, who has one of the biggest podcasts and not the biggest podcasts originating from, from Texas. Well, I guess, I guess Joe Rogan's from Austin, so I can't. And you got also Alex Jones, but one of the bigger podcasts down in El Paso. You came to me on Saturday night. And we can't give the sources because David's plugged in everywhere. David said, hey, this thing, I'm telling you, the counterterrorism surge is going to set up. This was, this was a terrorist attack, Muslim terrorist attack. Sunday morning, we talked about it. We didn't feel comfortable enough because the government was not coming out with it. So you weren't on our special coverage on the Sunday show. But then they, it's shortly thereafter, I think early Sunday afternoon, they confirmed what you had told me. Now today, earlier in the day, and a lot's taking place, but you've got inside sources. It was announced that the, the officers who basically put this situation down, we're going to a grand jury. Then the governor came out and said, hey, because the thing blew up, people were tweeting it out. I think Savannah Hernandez, the great Savannah Hernandez, put it up. And the thing blew up. It went viral. And Governor Abbott stepped in, says, hey, I get the final say so on this and I'm gonna make sure nothing takes place here. And I think just as we're coming on air, David, they announced that they're not going to be any charges. And this, they have to go through this every time. But that's not what it felt like initially. Your sense of this. And this is what happens when we came out with the conference we had six weeks ago to kick off Prop 10 of the Prohibiting Sharia law in, in Texas. A couple days later, I think it was Austin City Council, the Austin people are down, oh, no, we're going to be Sharia compliant. We're not. We, you know, we're going to have Sharia Appreciation day, Muslim Appreciation Day, these enclaves. And he saw this in Dallas with this jury nullification on the Trende Aragra murder trial where they tortured the guy, the gang member who they thought stiffened. They tortured him in front of his nieces and nephews. And they had jury nullification. These blue cities like Austin, brother, and maybe El Paso, you get caught sideways as a police officer, security, you're in bad shape, sir.
David Nino Rodriguez
Absolutely. That's common practice in Mexico, to be honest with you, Steve. But I want to say that El Paso right now is having the highest early turnout of Republicans, breaking records right now, showing up to the polls. So that's good news. So, you know, it seems to me like, oh, and they're having trouble with the voting machines. That's another thing I had to bring up. So they're like magic trouble with the voting machines. As more and more Republicans are heading to the polls today. Just what you would expect. Right. But you know, the DA Jose Garza, is really just a simp for the.
Steve Bannon
This is the D.A. i want to make sure this the D.A. in Austin, correct? Jose Garza.
David Nino Rodriguez
Yeah, yeah. Jose Garza, Travis county, allegedly.
Frank Gaffney
Talk to us about that.
David Nino Rodriguez
Allegedly has links to George Soros for his funny. Allegedly. But, you know, nobody in the law enforcement in Austin that I don't like the guy, you know, basically, he's neutering them to perform their job under pressure. You know, you, you're in a, you go to a high stakes situation with adrenaline flowing, you got to take a guy down. What, now they got to worry about going to a grand jury? Are you kidding me? This is a joke. And, you know, like I said, and I'll use this word again, simp. He's a simp for the Democratic Socialist Party.
Steve Bannon
David, talk to us about this situation. This situation where the guy had what, a long gun?
David Nino Rodriguez
Yeah, he shot with a pistol first. Right. But the way that bar set up, you're easy targets, man. You're sitting ducks. Like I've said, I've been to that bar many times. I've had a lot of fun in that bar many times. And the outside right there is a patio facing the street, the sixth Street. So, yeah, I mean, anybody who's crazy enough to just start firing at the people with. On that patio, you're going to hit somebody, you're going to kill somebody. And that's exactly what happened. So you don't even need to enter the bar. So the fact that he was taken down, I applaud those heroes on the Austin Police department, but they shouldn't have this backlash. They shouldn't even have to worry about facing a grand jury. But they're saying, oh, this is protocol. This is, this is what happens. It's a natural process, but really it's Jose Garza just neutering the policeman from doing their job. And now you got to think twice, well, if I take a guy down, what's going to happen to me? I'm going to go to jail. Could I go to jail? Am I going to be the criminal? It's evil.
Steve Bannon
Talk to me a second about your knowledge on that night. And you knew because source told the guy had on property Allah sweatshirt, he had a Quran in his car, a prayer rug in his car. It was pretty obvious at the time for people that are knowledgeable of these things about this was just not some guy on a Saturday night that a beef with somebody talking to his girlfriend. Right?
David Nino Rodriguez
Right. Now this is property of Allah as a sweater he was wearing. I mean, how, how perfect of a situation, right? But I think this guy was just a one off loony bin that went out there and did this job. I'm worried about a more coordinated attack coming, you know, and that's where my mind goes with this. But yeah, I anticipated this. I knew this was going to kick off. Like I said, they all work together. But this one I think is a wild card one off. I think what we need to worry about is a coming more court, more coordinated attack. And I don't think they're just gonna fire off from the hip, you know, just whenever they want. I think it's gonna, they're waiting for something more coordinated. I'm not trying to scare the audience here, but I think we should all be on our P's and Q's and ears and eyes wide open.
Steve Bannon
You were the guy that gave everybody a heads up on the cartel situation at these resorts for six months. You said, hey, I wouldn't go down there. So tonight two things happened. Number one, obviously they're hitting the Iranians are hitting targets in the Gulf during Ramadan that are Muslim targets. Also Qatar found broke up two sleeper cells of Iranians today or Iranian affiliated people. They broke up two terror cells. When you say, you look at it more coordinated. Marco Rubio today and Lindsey Graham were saying, hey, the big massive wave of attacks that the west are bringing the American military with the Israelis. And now we know the Saudis want to be a part of it. Maybe the UAE wants to be a part of because they've been attacked. Abu Dhabi was hit earlier in our consulate in Abu Dhabi was hit or excuse me, in Dubai. Our consulate in Dubai was hit, not the embassy in Abu Dhabi. But knowing that it could be a massive hit tonight, are you more concerned than ever that you could see a coordinated blowback?
David Nino Rodriguez
Absolutely. I think everyone should be concerned. I mean, if you were them, right, if we're looking at, for war gaming, this, I would do it as a coordinated effort. Maybe multiple mass shootings at once or take down the infrastructure. However they decided to do that, you know, have the police go to one section of the city, then go in. I mean, this could be, I would be using strategy. These people, you know, the first guy we saw in Austin was a craze, what I would call just a crazy lunatic took the matter into his own hands. But I think what they're waiting for is a more coordinated effort. You know, if I had a war game, this, that's what I'd be looking for, a more coordinated effort to take down America. They gotta do it right the first time. They're not gonna get a second chance at this. Does that make sense?
Steve Bannon
Yeah, it makes total sense. You were there and set up the flares when Biden had the invasion. And one of the worst parts was obviously along along the border with El PASO, knowing that 15, 20, 25 million essentially came through the border and into the interior of the United States. That wasn't just all Mexicans or people from South America. You had a number of potential jihadis that came across. What is your fear for the invasion we've had? And what would you recommend to President Trump? Since now we've kind of gone back to targeting enforcement. What would you say? We gotta start thinking about, about deportations, overall.
David Nino Rodriguez
Sharia law, man, that can't be allowed in this country. You know, when I was, you know, obviously I live in El Paso and I was watching people jump that fence like acrobats, like Circuit du Soleil, okay. Like, I was like, wow, even in my prime in boxing, I couldn't jump a fence like that on my feet and then dodge cars all the way through the highway. I mean, these guys were athletic and they were military age men. So I knew the gig was up. I knew what was going on. I knew they were going to be activated for such a time as now. But I think these raids that Trump, that ICE has performed in these last, you know, this first year of Trump's presidency, I think that's the first operation of this phase, first phase of the operation taking down the dangerous, maybe organizers, controllers of, of a coordinated attack. So I think that's another reason why we haven't seen anything yet, yet, yet. But I still think that you know, they probably just put a dent into the immigrants. There's millions here, you know, there's millions of them here that are unvetted. So to me, I think they would wait for the perfect time to do that. Such a coordinated event, a perfect time. And I don't know when that will be, but only they do. But I would just tell everyone, you know, and also I'd like to say the expats in, in Mexico might be a good time to come back to America and visit your family.
Steve Bannon
You're still concerned about the cartels, the whole cartel issue, right?
David Nino Rodriguez
Yeah, I mean, I, I grew up through this stuff. I, I know firsthand, you know, and they don't mess around. They do not mess around. I mean, this is not like conventional warfare. They, they don't do that stuff.
Steve Bannon
Nina, where do people get your podcast, where they get all your social media?
David Nino Rodriguez
Nino Boxing. Oh, sorry. Nino Boxer on X. Nino Boxer and then Nino's Corner on YouTube and Nino's Corner TV for the Fringe, baby.
Steve Bannon
Let's push it out. Let's make sure we push out. Nino Rodriguez, thank you so much for joining us today. Always love your insights. You were on top of this awesome story like nobody else. Thank you, sir. Okay, some logistics we're going to. Grant Stitcham's about to start on rav. We're going to take a short break here. We're going to rejoin on the main RAV station channel, Grant Stinchfield at 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time. We're going to kick off our coverage tonight of the Texas primary. Obviously we'll be talking also about North Carolina and Arkansas, all the things that are happening. Stinchfield and myself will be doing a two hander here throughout the night. We're gonna have some tremendous guests, pollsters, people know what's going on in Texas. Our own Ben Berkwam will be at the Paxton headquarters doing live updates. Of course, Chris Wilson, who's a data scientist, thinks there could be a possibility that seeing the momentum of Ken Paxton, even with all this money spent against him, that Ken Paxton may have a shot to actually close it out tonight. We'll see that obviously Prop 10, the prohibiting a Sharia law in the state of Texas is up on the Republican ballot. If it gets enough momentum tonight, we'll push it forward. But what four or five weeks have been here, been quite an eye opener. One thing I will tell you, and I want to thank Patriot Mobile for helping us out down here and assisting us, introducing the people, the grassroots in this state, the MAGA movement in the state. This is the railhead for the MAGA movement and, man, we've got great states like Tennessee, Ohio, Florida, just incredible. But I gotta tell you, the grassroots here are very, very special people. We're gonna see how it manifests itself tonight. And remember, the Democrats are putting a presidential election cycle number, so we're gonna break it all down for you. We'll see you back on Real America's voice at 8pm Eastern Standard Time, and we'll stay until we get some answers in this primary. Thank you very much. See you back here at 8 o'. Clock. Sam a man to wonder
Musical Performer
what makes a man to roam what makes a man lead bed and born and turn his back on home. Ride away, Ride away, Ride away.
Frank Gaffney
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David Nino Rodriguez
You move.
Podcast: Bannon's War Room
Episode: WarRoom Battleground EP 960: Polls Close In Texas For The Future Of Our Republic
Date: March 4, 2026
Host: Steve Bannon
Main Guests: Chris Wilson, Cliff Maloney, Caroline Wren, Frank Gaffney, David Nino Rodriguez, Ben Berkwam
This episode centers on the high-stakes Texas Republican primary taking place on March 3, 2026, viewed by the panel as a pivotal moment for the future of the Republican Party in Texas and, by extension, the nation. The discussion intertwines three central themes:
Throughout the episode, Bannon and his guests analyze poll data, campaign spending, grassroots dynamics, and broader implications for the America First movement, while discussing recent incidents and efforts to mobilize conservative voters.
Chris Wilson (pollster) notes "massive turnout" in early voting, especially among Democrats, but cautions against reading too much into it for the general election, recalling similar trends in previous cycles.
“I think anyone who today is trying to channel some crystal ball and extrapolate what that means for November is just throwing out fool's gold.” – Chris Wilson [02:55]
Wilson's company, Eyesover, tracks online political energy, suggesting real-time grassroots momentum can be a better predictor than traditional polls.
Wilson explains the race has formed around two coalitions: a populist, America First base rallied around Paxton, and an institutional/establishment coalition supporting Cornyn (with Hunt as a generational, ‘scandal-free’ alternative, though heavily targeted by negative campaigning).
“The candidate who controls the grassroots conversation has the structural advantage.” – Chris Wilson [05:57]
Spending is unprecedented:
“$13 million in recorded advertising anti-Hunt... I usually take that number and increase it by 60 to 70%. Let’s just say… somewhere in the range of $20 million has been spent attacking Wesley Hunt overall.” – Chris Wilson [08:13]
Bannon and guests describe the negative campaigning as “brutal,” with a lack of positive messaging for Cornyn, to the point that Bannon quips:
“It'd be hard for Wesley Hunt's mother, I think, to vote for him…” [07:06]
Both Wilson and Cliff Maloney see a path for Paxton to win without a runoff:
“Ken Paxton is generating just over half of the positive engagement, about 51%.” – Chris Wilson [04:34] “I do think Paxton's got a shot... if there's enough enthusiasm and if he peels off enough of those voters today, he's got a shot at it.” – Cliff Maloney [14:13]
Widespread frustration among populist Republicans at establishment spending to shore up Cornyn:
“$69 million that they're spending to try to support Cornyn, that could go towards permanent infrastructure for us to build a real red wall...” – Cliff Maloney [14:38]
“That was a moment that gave me hope for 2026…” – Cliff Maloney on Trump’s “stand for Americans” moment [17:07]
Caroline Wren sharply critiques Cornyn for running a campaign based purely on making his opponents “un-electable,” pointing out the tremendous financial disparity:
“Cornyn...has had to spend 100 million to Ken Paxton’s 4 million.” – Caroline Wren [20:49]
Wren attributes establishment fear of Paxton to his willingness to challenge corporate and political elites, notably referencing his role in election lawsuits after 2020:
“Ken Paxton is a leader for the people. He is not the leader for corporations. He's not the leader for the donor class.” – Caroline Wren [22:08]
“Polls are for strippers and firemen, not for predicting elections.” – Caroline Wren [24:05]
All guests seem to agree that even if Cornyn makes a runoff, the MAGA grassroots will not support him in November.
Frank Gaffney provides a detailed advocacy segment for Proposition 10, arguing that it is urgent to prevent Sharia law from “metastasizing” in Texas.
“Texas should prohibit Sharia law. And it’s so vitally important that that be not only approved, but approved decisively.” – Frank Gaffney [33:29]
Gaffney and Bannon link concerns about Islamic extremism to demographic and social changes in Texas, referencing supposed “no-go zones,” campaign funding, and issues like halal food in public institutions.
“If Sharia is not prohibited, Sharia will prohibit freedom in our country.” – Frank Gaffney [38:58]
Guests warn that “stealth jihad” precedes “violent jihad,” and allege infiltration of Texas institutions at multiple levels.
David Nino Rodriguez recounts a recent shooting incident in Austin, described as an Islamist attack, and describes a climate where law enforcement is “neutered” by progressive DAs (specifically naming Jose Garza).
Rodriguez warns that the true danger is a possible future “coordinated attack” by militants already in the U.S., referencing cartel activity and border security failures.
“I think what they're waiting for is a more coordinated effort... they’re not gonna get a second chance at this.” – David Nino Rodriguez [45:51]
The narrative is that the porous border and failures to deport illegal migrants foster a climate ripe for terrorism.
This episode of Bannon’s War Room covers, with urgency and combative rhetoric:
Brimming with insider campaign analysis, warnings of existential threats, and interwoven narratives of national crisis, the show seeks to energize its audience for election-day activism and long-term populist political struggle.