Trillions Spent on Bunkers? The Elites Are Hiding Underground!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes Episode: Trillions Spent on Bunkers? The Elites Are Hiding Underground!
Release Date: May 22, 2025
Host: The Bulwark
Guest: Will Sommer

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Introduction

In this episode of Bulwark Takes, hosted by The Bulwark team, including Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, and Bill Kristol, the discussion centers around emerging conspiracy theories gaining traction within right-wing circles. The primary focus is on the claim that trillions of dollars have been invested in underground bunkers for elites, preparing for an impending geophysical catastrophe. Guest Will Sommer delves into these claims, providing analysis and context.

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Geophysical Event and Tucker Carlson's Interview

Host opens the conversation by referencing a segment from Tucker Carlson's show, where a guest alleges massive government expenditures on underground bunkers:

"[02:07] Host: This all comes up because on Tucker Carlson's show he interviewed a nice lady who informed us that the government has siphoned off trillions of dollars... to Build underground bunker cities for the 1% to survive the geophysical event."

Will Sommer explains the term "geophysical event" as a recurring theme among right-wing conspiracy theorists:

"[01:34] Will Sommer: ... the geophysical event. And they were saying, you know, every time Trump might meet with a world leader... Geophysical event refers to a potential mega extinction scenario, such as a magnetic pole reversal, volcanic eruptions, or massive earthquakes."

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Underground Bunker Cities Allegations

The discussion progresses to the specifics of the alleged bunker programs. Will Sommer references Katherine Fitz, a former HUD official, who claims substantial funds were misappropriated to build these bunkers:

"[03:21] Will Sommer: ...she claims that $20 trillion has been stolen from HUD and other agencies. And her theory is that this was built to use bunkers underground across the world to prepare for this geophysical event..."

Host emphasizes the global scope of the alleged bunkers:

"[02:32] Host: ...it is a global elite program."

However, Will Sommer points out the lack of concrete details regarding the bunkers' locations and structures:

"[03:43] Will Sommer: She doesn't specify. I mean, I'd assume if you have that many... But her idea is that all of these elites around the world know that something big is coming, and if you're not underground, you're going to be dead."

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Analysis of the Conspiracy Theory

Host draws parallels between these conspiracy theories and popular apocalyptic narratives in entertainment:

"[04:17] Host: ...the apocalypse always sells. You can't, you can't go wrong with the apocalypse... The Last of Us... 2012..."

Will Sommer critiques the formation and spread of such theories, noting their structured nature compared to more nebulous conspiracies:

"[08:21] Will Sommer: ...it's actually a concrete conspiracy theory. ... For the past few years we've been dealing with a lot of kind of nebulous conspiracy theories... This is putting it out there, which I appreciate as well."

The Host questions the sincerity of Tucker Carlson's stance, comparing his demeanor to a comedic actor, suggesting skepticism:

"[05:40] Host: ...Do we think Tucker really buys into the trillions of dollars on underground bunkers?"

Will Sommer responds by acknowledging the ambiguity of Carlson's position but suggests he might be leveraging the theory for engagement:

"[05:59] Will Sommer: ...the demeanor he presents is that he believes it or at least finds it a viable theory. ...he's playing into it here, I would say."

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Follow-up on Racial Slur Fundraising

Shifting topics, the Host references a segment from Will Sommer's newsletter about fundraising efforts linked to racial slurs:

"[08.52] Host: The second item in your newsletter this week is a follow-up to an earlier story... a woman used the N word against a child and raised money through a racist version of GoFundMe."

Will Sommer elaborates on the incident, highlighting the differing public reactions and fundraising outcomes:

"[09:20] Will Sommer: ...this woman called a five-year-old the N word... she raised $750,000. Then, a week later, a male counterpart tried a similar approach but only raised $7,000... because he was revealed to be Jewish, he was marginalized within white supremacist circles."

The Host reflects on the motivations and consequences of these actions:

"[10:24] Host: So it wasn't... his biggest crime was being stupid."

Will Sommer concurs, emphasizing that the attempt backfired due to the perpetrator's lack of authenticity and support:

"[10:30] Will Sommer: ...he's been banished from the white supremacist movement... he was saying, you know, come on, guys. ... his mistake was doing it."

The discussion includes the fallout for Shiloh Hendricks, the woman involved in the initial incident:

"[12:15] Will Sommer: ...she removed herself from the situation and severed ties with the accomplice, clarifying that they weren't romantically involved."

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Conclusion

The episode of Bulwark Takes provides an in-depth exploration of how conspiracy theories, particularly those involving alleged elite preparations for catastrophic events, gain traction and influence public discourse. Will Sommer offers critical insights into the origins, propagation, and societal impact of these narratives. Additionally, the discussion on the misuse of fundraising platforms for racist purposes highlights the complexities and consequences of online activism in extremist contexts.

"[12:55] Will Sommer: Yeah, thanks for having me."

The conversation underscores the importance of vigilance and critical analysis in navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of online conspiracies and extremist movements.

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Notable Quotes:

• Will Sommer on Geophysical Events:
  "[01:34] ...mega extinction scenario, such as a magnetic pole reversal, volcanic eruptions, or massive earthquakes."

• Host on Apocalyptic Narratives:
  "[04:17] ...the apocalypse always sells. You can't, you can't go wrong with the apocalypse."

• Host questioning Tucker Carlson:
  "[05:40] Do we think Tucker really buys into the trillions of dollars on underground bunkers?"

• Will Sommer on Conspiracy Theory Structure:
  "[08:21] ...it's actually a concrete conspiracy theory... This is putting it out there, which I appreciate as well."

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and analyses presented in the episode, offering a clear and informative overview for those who haven't listened to it.

Transcript

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[Host]

Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Bulwarks YouTube page. We are talking today with Will Sommer about his newsletter False Flag. If you're not subscribed to False Flag, you should be because it's the absolute best way to keep track of all of the insanity that's going on in the right wing BD ecosystem. There's a lot of it. But Will, today we have a very important topic, very troubling topic. Frankly, I'm a little bit worried that I have not properly prepared for the oncoming geophysical event. What, what do I need to do to get ready for that?

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, so, so this is a phrase I started seeing more and more over the past couple of months on the right the geophysical event. And they were saying, you know, every time, you know, Trump might meet with a world leader, there'd be a summit, they'd say, I think, I think they're talking about the geophysical event. And so I looked into this and really kind of like the big moment for the. And I should say, what is the geophysical event? Well, we don't really know. Maybe it's that the magnetic poles will switch. Maybe it's that Antarctica will blow up, something like that, or a huge volcano. But point being, it's a big, you know, mega extinction event.

[Host]

This all comes up because on Tucker Carlson's show he interviewed a nice lady who informed us that the government has siphoned off trillions of dollars. Not billions with a B, not millions with an M, trillions with a TR of dollars of taxpayer money to Build underground bunker cities for the 1% to survive the geophysical event in.

[Will Sommer]

That's right. I mean, the big boom moment, if you will, for the geophysical event was this April Tucker Carlson episode starring a woman named Katherine Fitz, who is a assistant secretary of HUD in the George H.W. bush administration for a year and a half. Secretary. So not exactly necessarily the person you'd think would have all the secrets about the government. But basically when she was at HUD and afterwards, like, she looked into contract malfeasance, she got accused of a little like, contract shenanigans that she was cleared of. But basically she was very interested in HUD contracting and this evolved into this kind of obsession. And now she claims that $20 trillion has been stolen from HUD and other agencies. And her theory is that this was built to use bunkers underground across the world to prepare for this geophysical event or this geo, you know, this huge Earth cataclysm.

[Host]

We should clarify because I said in America, but it is a global bunker city. It is not, it is not located just in Washington, D.C. for our elites. It is a global elite program.

[Will Sommer]

That's right. I mean, she says there are 170 bunkers in the United States alone, some of them underwater. So, you know, it's not just underground. And so.

[Host]

I'm sorry, I can. I need to interrupt you here. Under, under the ocean or under, like, lakes? How far underwater?

[Will Sommer]

She doesn't specify. Right. I mean, I, I probably a mix. You know, I, I'd assume if you have that many. And, and so her idea is that, you know, the, all of these elites around the world know that this, whatever it is, this big volcano or an earthquake or something is coming, and if you're not underground, you're going to be dead. And, you know, this gets into your, your area of expertise because this, this, this is a, a plot line that we're seeing repeated a lot in entertainment right now.

[Host]

Sure, sure. Well, the apocalypse always sells. You can't, you can't go wrong with the apocalypse. The Last of Us, of course, is very popular on hbo. Walking Dead was a huge hit for AMC for many years. The movie 2012, which of course was tied to the ancient Mayan prophecy of the, the, the end of the world happening in 2012 from Reason, for reasons. You know, climate shifting, poles, whatever. No, the. I, I do find it, Look, I find this all very, very interesting because it's clearly insane. I do want to get the ask about the Tucker Carlson portion of this because, you know, there's, when I When I watched clips of this, and I watched some clips of this when it first circulated, you know, a month or two back, I was. I. I was. I was kind of struck by it because Carlson himself, it's hard to tell how seriously he takes any of this. He's got that kind of smirk, you know, he's. He's always got that smirk. He reminded me of Bill Murray at the start of Ghostbusters 2. Do you remember Ghostbusters 2? Well, there's this. Bill Murray is. Peter Venkman is working as a, like, kind of fake local news show guy who's, like, interviewing crazy people. One of them's a psychic, you know, one of them, Ben Spoons, whatever. But he has this kind of, like, grin on his face the whole time that he's not taking it seriously. That. Do we. Do we think Tucker really buys into the trillions of dollars on underground bunkers?

[Will Sommer]

You know, it's a good question. I, you know, I can't speak to his, you know, certainly the demeanor he presents is that he believes it or at least finds it a viable theory. I mean, on this interview, he also talks about, you know, things he's heard about underground bunkers in D.C. which, of course, you know, is not hard to believe. But. But he. I mean, he's playing into it here, I would say.

[Host]

I mean, and there are. Look, there are. Right out in West Virginia, we have. Or the eastern part of. Or the western regular Virginia, there. There are bunkers where the government is supposed to go to in case of nuclear attack. Right. There are. There are these things, but the idea of a massive, sprawling, you know, trillions of dollars that have just disappeared, that strains credulity a little bit.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah. I mean, and specifically her. Her claim here is that there is something that's going to happen to the earth that, that the people in power know about. And so they're building these bunkers and they're not telling the rest of us to avoid causing a panic, which I would note is also literally the plot of paradise on Hulu this year. So. So they are, you know, I don't know if she's cribbing a little from there, you know, taking some inspiration, but that's her claim. You know, she claims that she sort of refused to join the Council of Foreign Relations, which is, you know, kind of a big player in the imagined cabal. And as a result, she says she will no longer be on the bunker list.

[Host]

Great. Well, that makes. You don't want to. You don't want to have a non Believer on the bunker list. So that makes sense. Use of HUD contracts to hide all of this money is a very interest. Interesting facet to me again, because it echoes some plot lines from TV shows like the Sopranos where they were doing millions of dollars in fraud at the Esplanade to, you know, get all this HUD money. They were refurbishing houses. They were, they were scamming the government. They were. Is Tony Soprano in on the government bunker business?

[Will Sommer]

You know, it's funny you say that. I mean, do they have a. Some no show jobs at the bunker construction site or what have you? I mean, it is, I guess, diagnosing this former HUD official, it seems like she just became obsessed with missing money. And rather than saying, well, are we paying too much to the developers this HUD property or something, she jumped to the bunker, which I think is a bit of a leap. But now, I mean, it's catching on. There are geophysical Event X accounts that are kind of diagnosing or saying, you know, maybe it's this ancient Mayan prophecy mixed up in there. So this is, I would say, sort of the conspiracy theory with really a lot of movement on it on the right.

[Host]

And this is like kind of the root problem here is, all right, one crazy thing goes viral and then all of a sudden you have dozens of other accounts piggybacking on this and doing the same thing and aiming to enter the algorithm the same way and get audience and, you know, of course, revenue sharing that way.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think what's refreshing about this, maybe for the right and the people getting onto it, is that it's actually a concrete conspiracy theory. It's a thing that you're saying, even if they aren't saying, well, this is a volcano is going to do it or what have you, but that they're saying something is going to happen. And, you know, for the past few years we've been dealing with a lot of kind of nebulous conspiracy theories. It's sinister forces, shadowy agendas, you know, someone killed Jeffrey Epstein, but maybe we're not going to say exactly who, but this is, this is putting it out there, which I appreciate as well.

[Host]

Yeah. All right, the second item in your newsletter this week is follow kind of a follow up to an earlier story for background here. There was a woman who used the N word against a child and it was on videotape and she did a GoFundMe or whatever, whatever the racist version of GoFundMe is. She did that and then raised A bunch of money. And there we have a, we have a follow up to that story. A less successful race slur fundraising effort.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, this was a huge cause celeb on the right. A few weeks ago, this woman called a five year old the N word. And rather than, you know, being exorcated or what have you, the right turned her into sort of a Cancel Culture hero. And she raised $750,000. And so then, you know, I figured, you know, someone's going to try to repeat this. As it turned out, it was the guy who. This sort of racist Twitter guy who had started her fundraiser in the first place. A week later, he posts a video of himself as a rideshare driver calling a passenger the N word. He posts the video himself. So there's a key difference there. He posts the video and then Lyft says, I guess you're not going to work for Lyft anymore. And he goes, oh, no, I need money. And so he's trying to raise all this money. All these other racist accounts are saying, well, but in this case, you posted it yourself, right? Like there seems to be like, maybe you set this up, you did this deliberately. And he said, well, you know, I, who's to say, you know exactly how it got posted? It's, you know, either way, I'm really like a martyr here for Cancel culture, just like this previous one.

[Host]

So it wasn't, it's. And, and he has not been as successful right there. This, this has, this has kind of crashed and burned.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, he's raised a 1/100th of what she has. I, I think he, he's at 7,000 at this point. I mean, he really, he's kind of been banished from the white supremacist movement in part because they found out he was Jewish. And he was saying, you know, come on, guys. I'm like, he goes, in this whole discourse, this was very, I should say this is like a very hot debate in like really far right Twitter the past few days. He's saying, come on, guys, you know, I get a sunburn too. That means I'm white. All this stuff, really pathetic stuff. But at least for me, it was heartening. I found that the original playground story was so depressing that this woman could call a child the N word. Totally terrible thing to do and then become a near millionaire. But at least maybe it's not that easy to repeat.

[Host]

Yeah. It seems though, his biggest crime was being stupid. Well, in addition to being Jewish, just, just doing this stupidly, that was his, his biggest problem wasn't the racism, it was the stupidity.

[Will Sommer]

Exactly. I mean, his mistake was doing it. People were just saying, you know, but you uploaded it yourself, right? And the guy said, well, you know, yeah, but I still don't think I should face consequences. And, you know, one of these other racist guys said, look, I'm very racist online myself, but if I went in front of my job and stood out there with a sandwich board with a slur on it and got fired, I wouldn't be surprised that that happened.

[Host]

Will, there's one other line from the end of this piece that I just was hoping you might clarify for me. So the. The woman, this Shiloh Hendricks woman, she. She. She removed herself from the situation. She denounced this Ratchland fellow and said, as soon as we found out the truth about all that, I sever ties with him immediately. Hendrick said, this is you now, while also stressing for some reason that she wasn't married to Ratchlin either. Is. Was there a question about that? Was there some. Some suggestion that the two of them were a couple?

[Will Sommer]

I think there have been a lot of allegations about, like, how was this. The original thing all is set up, which I don't think is true, but basically, what was this guy's role? He had described himself as the mastermind behind the original fundraising campaign. And so ultimately, you know, she. To me, you know, this guy helped her raise nearly a million dollars, and suddenly, you can see how quick she throws him under the bus and says, by the way, you know, I'm not. Not romantically involved with him either. You know, it's adding insult to injury.

[Host]

That's. Yeah, that's a real kick in the pants. Will, thank you for keeping an eye on all this for us. I love. I love talking about this stuff. It just makes my. It makes my whole day brighter, even when it's horribly depressing. But thanks for chatting.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, thanks for having me.