Karys Rhea: Are We Watching Conservatism Split in Real Time? | DSH #1795

Summary

Digital Social Hour Podcast Summary
Episode: “Karys Rhea: Are We Watching Conservatism Split in Real Time?” (DSH #1795)
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Karys Rhea
Date: January 30, 2026

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Overview

In this candid, timely conversation, Karys Rhea joins Sean Kelly at Amfest to dissect the fracturing of American conservatism post-Trump. Rhea, a former Epoch Times producer now focused on writing, research, and consulting within conservative circles, brings sharp insight to the intensifying ideological divides shaping the GOP’s future. The episode unflinchingly explores the proliferation of radical factions, issues of anti-Semitism, the challenge of free speech vs. platform responsibility, and the evolving roles of prominent right-wing voices. The tone is energetic, deeply concerned, and richly informed.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The New Conservative Schism

• Big Tent Dynamics:
  Rhea opens by describing the “big tent” nature of modern MAGA conservatism, warning that its permissiveness has allowed not just mainstream conservatives but also “edgelord” provocateurs and sinister subfactions room to thrive ([00:00]).

• Rise of Outrage Culture:
  “They want to be an edgelord. They want to say the most provocative, outrageous, taboo things possible. And they know that they can get away with it because we are a party of free speech.” — Karys Rhea ([00:00])

• Virality vs. Principles:
  Both note the pressure for outrageous content to gain attention, but Rhea sees this as unsustainable and ultimately destructive ([07:07-07:12]).

2. Post-Trump GOP & Leadership Vacuum

• Succession Uncertainty:
  Rhea and Sean discuss what the Republican Party might become post-Trump, especially the uncertainty over J.D. Vance’s ideological direction ([02:06-03:07]).

• Charlie Kirk’s Death & Fragmentation:
  Sean posits that conservative unity was stronger when Charlie Kirk was alive, suggesting his murder has amplified divisions. Rhea acknowledges Kirk's role in gatekeeping but notes even he inadvertently enabled radical elements ([09:49-14:20]).

  "Charlie was amazing at keeping out the groiper sub faction of all of these kind of sinister groups... But I think he embraced a lot of the... enablers of this kind of stuff." — Karys Rhea ([11:03])

3. Dangerous New Factions and Thought Leaders

• ‘America First’ as Split Identity:
  Rhea distinguishes between MAGA and the new ‘America First’—the latter includes reactionary, even revolutionary thinkers she sees as antithetical to conservative principles ([03:24-05:17]).

  • She lists visions for America proposed by fringe right thinkers:
    • Corporate monarchy (Curtis Yarvin)
    • Technocracy (Nick Land)
    • Christian theocracy (Stephen Wolf)

• Influence at Grassroots & Conference Level:
  Rhea details her involvement in combating anti-Semitic agitation at conservative events, especially harassment of Jewish and Zionist attendees ([05:17-06:12]).

4. The Anti-Semitism Problem

• Edge-Lording and Antisemitism:
  Rhea connects the boundary-pushing, content-chasing culture with the rise of openly anti-Semitic bigotry on the right ([06:18-07:12]).

  “Any culture that has embraced anti-Semitism or Jew hatred... has collapsed. Really, it is brain rot. Charlie always said that Jew hatred rots your brain.” — Karys Rhea ([07:12])

• On Gatekeeping vs. Cancel Culture:
  Rhea draws a line between principled gatekeeping—excluding those who reject fundamental values—and left-style “cancel culture” ([07:12-08:53]).

5. Internal Division and the Role of Values

• Disagreement on Issues vs. Values:
  Rhea insists there’s room for disagreement on policy, but not on core values or worldview:

  "There’s room for disagreement on issues, but there’s not room for disagreement on values." — Karys Rhea ([15:59-16:00])

• Tucker Carlson’s Realignment:
  Rhea makes a detailed case that Tucker Carlson is no longer a true conservative, citing his economic, constitutional, and foreign policy stances, and his guest choices ([14:23-17:42]).

  “I think Tucker Carlson is gaslighting people to believe he's still conservative... Over 85% of his guests after 2025 have been proud liberals, globalists or jihadist supporters.” ([16:05-17:23])

• Hypocrisy and Foreign Policy:
  Rhea criticizes Carlson’s posture on Islamic issues and his paradoxical affection for Qatar, seeing it as a betrayal of Christian and conservative values ([17:42-18:57]).

6. What’s the Biggest Threat to America?

• Rhea’s Top Threats List:

  • Progressive Left (still dominant in institutions)
  • Allied Islamists and leftists (the “Red-Green Alliance”)
  • Globalists, technocratic governance (UN, WEF)

  “I would say the red, what they call the red green alliance... is a huge threat that we're facing. I also think globalism is a huge threat.” — Karys Rhea ([19:03-21:06])

• Internal Reckoning Needed:
  Looking within, Rhea stresses the party must decide which direction to take:

  • “The nihilistic, radical, grievance, rage-based” wing
  • Or a path of “personal responsibility, family, community, and tolerance” ([21:06]).

7. Platforming and Responsibility: Free Speech vs. Gatekeeping

• On Mainstreaming Bigotry:
  Rhea and Sean debate whether giving platforms to outright anti-Semites or racists is just “showing both sides,” with Rhea drawing a key distinction:

  “How can there be two sides to a debate about somebody’s identity? Like, I support somebody being Jewish and I don't support somebody being Jewish. That's so bizarre.” ([24:39])

• The Fine Line:

  • Rhea sees value in debating bigots at arm's length (“They should have their own little niche... but we don't want to normalize it” — [27:27]), but warns against making fringe hate mainstream.

  • Polite society once kept virulent views at bay without “cancelling”; modern visibility must balance openness with standards ([27:27-28:42]).

• Deplatforming and Bots Problem:

  • Both oppose broad deplatforming, but Rhea highlights the difficulty posed by bot armies and foreign actors pretending to be American conservatives online ([28:58-31:11]).

  “One of the most common problems we’re finding in terms of these fake accounts is people posing as Christian conservative patriots... the most common thing we find in a bio... is an American flag emoji and a cross.” ([30:53-31:10])

8. Criticism, Research, and Interview Ethics

• Host Responsibility:
  Rhea urges fellow interviewers to be prepared and to take criticism for platforming radical voices without pushback ([31:53-32:32]).

  • Sean admits he could do more research, saying “I like genuine feedback. It helps me improve as a host” ([32:32]).

  • Rhea critiques Tucker for softballing radical guests and misleading audiences about their true agendas ([32:39-35:14]).

9. Foreign Policy: Isolationism vs. Engagement

• Rhea’s Middle Path:
  Rhea identifies Trump’s foreign policy as “peace through strength”—a pragmatic middle way between neocon interventionism and isolationism. She criticizes fringe voices for their lack of nuance, especially regarding “anti-war” stances that rationalize aggression by America’s adversaries ([35:14-37:53]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Anybody who disagrees with their utopian worldview is immediately labeled a neocon... Both neoconservatism and isolationism to me are two sides of the same coin.” — Karys Rhea ([36:24])
• “Any nation or society or community that has been consumed by this type of scapegoating against a collective identity group...has eventually disintegrated. Because...it is not sustainable.” — Karys Rhea ([07:12])
• “Cancel culture was terrible... But you are gatekeeping because you recognize there are certain views so guttural and so below human decency, that we don't want to infect our minds.” — Karys Rhea ([28:23-28:42])
• “Tucker's like, I'm buying a home in Qatar to show that I'm a free American. That was the quote.” — Karys Rhea ([18:03])
• “If these people got their way... the conversations that conservatives would be having would be like whether it's okay to rape women or whether the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust deserved it.” — Karys Rhea ([25:57-26:10])

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00-01:12: Opening analysis of conservative “edgelord” culture and the ecology of virality
• 02:06-03:07: J.D. Vance’s future in the GOP
• 05:17-06:12: Anti-Semitic incidents at conservative conferences
• 07:07-08:53: On anti-Semitism, gatekeeping, and the party’s future
• 11:03-14:20: Role of Charlie Kirk in past conservative unity and what’s changed
• 14:23-17:42: Tucker Carlson’s ideological shift and guest choices
• 19:03-21:06: The biggest threats to America and the conservative movement
• 24:05-24:39: The limits of “both sides” when it comes to bigotry
• 27:27-28:42: The need for principled gatekeeping
• 30:53-31:10: Bots and foreign actors in conservative social media
• 35:14-37:53: Foreign policy critique—Trump's “middle way” vs. isolationism/neoconservatism

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Closing

Karys Rhea provides an unvarnished look at the existential challenges facing conservatism: fragmentation, radicalization, influence from fringe factions and foreign actors, the hazards of unchecked platforming, and the dire need for value-centered gatekeeping. Through it all, her call is clear: it’s time for conservatives to define their values—and protect them—before it’s too late.

Find Karys Rhea:

• X (Twitter): @RheaKarys ([37:58])
• “If you want to connect with me on politics, X is where to find me.” — Karys Rhea

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Rhea Karras]

They want to be an edgelord. They want to say the most provocative, outrageous, taboo things possible. And they know that they can get away with it because we are a party of free speech. And MAGA became a very big tent. And so they really just want to push the boundaries. As you know, they are trying to have content just like we all are. And they think that what is going to get them clicks and virality is the things that are the most outrageous. And they're probably right.

[Sean]

Okay, guys, Kara Serraya here nice and early today at amfest. Thanks for waking up and coming straight here.

[Rhea Karras]

Thanks for having me. It's kind of been a long time coming, right?

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah. We've been trying to do this for a while. You've been busy.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Writing a book now. Yeah.

[Rhea Karras]

Going on your honeymoon? Getting married.

[Sean]

Marriage. We actually filmed 100 episodes this week. I was looking through the calendar.

[Rhea Karras]

Holy mo.

[Sean]

Yeah, because there was an event we were filming at earlier this week where we did a bunch. And then this. We're doing like 60.

[Rhea Karras]

So that's. I guess you have to keep putting out content, right. In order to be. To be relevant, to gain a foothold. Right?

[Sean]

Yeah. You know how it is.

[Rhea Karras]

Insane ecosystem.

[Sean]

Yeah. You know how it is. People forget about you if you don't post for a day.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah.

[Sean]

You know, that's just the attention time we're in.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah.

[Sean]

But what's new?

[Rhea Karras]

It's like you've got it under control.

[Sean]

Yeah. What's new with you, though? What's the main focus? What are you working on?

[Rhea Karras]

Well, since I left Epoch Times, I was a producer there. I left there in August, and I've just been full time writing a book. I'm on a very tight deadline for it. But in addition to that, I've just been kind of doing random pro bono projects. I mean, I speak a lot at conferences or do media, and then I also am consulting Congress members and journalists on this new identitarianism and sectarianism that we're seeing on the right and trying to understand the full scope because as I've said, say often it's much, much bigger than Nick Fuentes or Tucker Carlson or anti Semitism even. So I'm trying to educate and brief people so that looking ahead to a post Trump world, everybody's really prepared for possible changes that are happening inside the gop.

[Sean]

What do you think the right's gonna look like after Trump? Because it seems like there's a lot of different directions it could take.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, I mean, that's the million dollar question. And I think it largely depends on the will of the people. Right. I think that J.D. vance is a big question mark. The, the primary concern is whether he's going to govern in the legacy of Trump or whether he's going to govern in the image of Tucker Carlson, because he's very loyal to Tucker Carlson, because it is Tucker Carlson who is primarily responsible for getting him that, that job in the first place. I mean, he worked very hard, along with Don Jr. And Charlie Kirk, I believe, to put him in front of the President and to influence and encourage the President to consider him. Because JD Vance was very anti Trump at one point, like a lot of people are. So there's a question there. What, what way is, is J.D. vance going to govern? And I think that will largely, largely change the, the future of the Republican Party, depending.

[Sean]

I think a lot changed when Charlie got killed because I just saw Tim Bulldog about this. He said the next ballot was going to be Vance and Charlie as VP. And then after Vance eight years, they were going to do Charlie and John Jr. Apparently that was the plan there were rumors about.

[Rhea Karras]

Oh, interesting.

[Sean]

So that's not happening obviously anymore.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

Crazy, right?

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, yeah. It's a weird time. It's a sort of like a transition period, I feel like. Yeah, you have all of these different MAGA subgroups right under the big tent of MAGA that are vying for power in a post Trump world. Everybody wants to take up the mantle of MAGA or America first and insert it with their own nuanced agenda, whatever that looks like. And some of these groups are pretty sinister and they don't have an agenda that I would say aligns with MAGA at all, but they're using that moniker. Or some of them are even just proudly not MAGA anymore. And they've decided that they're America first, which they believe is something wholly distinct from mega. And they essentially to me, are no different than the left. They have a revolutionary reactionary mindset where they envision an America very different from what the Founding Fathers envisioned. They are outspoken about being what they call post Democratic or post liberal and wanting to essentially tear down the infrastructure of democracy and rebuild it in their image. Whether that image is a corporate monarchy like Curtis Yarvin says, or some sort of technocracy like Nick Land says, or some sort of Christian theocracy like Stephen Wolf wants. There are all these so called right wing philosophers or just idea people who have been putting out intellectual propositions for the future of America that a lot of people are now picking up on. Including Groipers. And a lot of these books are being promoted here at Amfest. And in my opinion, it's so antithetical to what conservatism stands for, which is the conservation of our founding institutions and our constitution.

[Sean]

Yeah. Have you ran into any Griopers here?

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, I mean, they brought me here just so I could fight with the Groipers. I'm not affiliated with any institution or group here, but there is. There is an organization, the Felos Project, which also has an A branch called Generation Zion. And they got me a ticket to assist them in any opposition they would face from the right here, like from the gripers. Because apparently at other Amfests or the student Action Summit, there's a lot of them. There's people that come up and they just go to any sort of Jewish or Zionist booth and they heckle them and they throw. They throw cameras in their faces, really, and they just call them a Jew over and over and over again, as if that's an argument. And so I was so ready to offer up any assistant and get in the fight, any assistance and jump in the fight here. So that's what we've been doing, but it really hasn't been that bad.

[Sean]

That's good. Yeah. I haven't seen anything crazy. I saw some viral video over there about holocaust denial, but nothing too crazy.

[Rhea Karras]

I heard about that, but I didn't see it.

[Sean]

Yeah, some girl was denying the 6 million, you know.

[Rhea Karras]

Oh, right. I think it was Elle Malding.

[Sean]

I don't know her, but man, she's a treat. Yeah. What's she known for? I haven't heard of her.

[Rhea Karras]

I mean, I just seen her. Her ex post and you know, there's this thing now that conservatives love to do. They want to be an edge Lord. They want to say the most provocative, outrageous, taboo things possible. And they know that they can get away with it because we are a party of free speech. And MAGA became a very big tent. And so they really just want to push the boundaries, as you know, they are. They are trying to have content just like we all are. And they. They think that what is going to get them clicks and, and. And virality is the things that are the most outrageous. And they're probably right.

[Sean]

They're probably right about it does work for virality. But is it sustainable? Is the thing right? Time will tell.

[Rhea Karras]

It's definitely not sustainable because any culture that has embraced anti Semitism or Jew hatred in the history of the world has collapsed. Really, it is brain rot. Charlie said that Charlie Always said that Jew hatred rots your brain. It is a substitute for, for taking personal responsibility. It is a way to scapegoat another group for all of your problems. It is a way for you to essentially feel comfortable in your victimhood and not have to face the consequences of your own choices, of your own actions. And so any, any nation or society or community that has been consumed by this type of scapegoating against a collective identity group or ethnic group has eventually disintegrated. Because like you said, it is not, it is not sustainable. And that's why Jewish Zionists, conservative Christians, you know, so many of us are trying so hard to keep that out of the party because there is such a thing as gatekeeping, and it's not the same thing as cancel culture. Conservatives have principles. We've always gatekept. Always. We don't allow, like you can, you can disagree on one or two issues, whatever, if you like. There are people who support abortion who are conservatives, that's fine. But if you have different values, how, how are we going to let you in our movement? If you're not a patriot, a constitution loving patriot, how could you call yourself a conservative? There's a, there's a fundamental worldview to this and if you don't share it, then we can gatekeep you out. And that is not canceling. We're not saying you should lose your job or use your livelihood or be censored or silence. It's just saying go somewhere else because you're not one of us. We've always done that.

[Sean]

Yeah. How do you see this playing out? Because this seems like we're the most divided we've been in my life, to my least on the conservative side.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, me too.

[Sean]

Speakers are literally calling each other out on stage, which is crazy. How do you see it playing out?

[Rhea Karras]

I guess, I don't know. I've always been pretty bad with speculative questions. I feel like any predictions I make for the future, they always turn out wrong. So I'm opposite of what you said. I can, you know, I can, I can talk about what is going on right now and I can talk about the path that we took to get here, right, how we arrived at this current moment. But my, I mean, your guess is as good as mine. I don't know where we're heading. I don't know where this all leads. I think that we'll have to see how the midterms shape up, because that's going to determine what, you know, how, how much Trump can do in his last few years. And, and it will also determine, you know, where we need to, where conservatives need to put their energy. So we'll see.

[Sean]

It does seem like Charlie held a lot of this together when he was alive.

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[Sean]

Sean?

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah. You know, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people think this divisiveness has occurred largely after he was murdered. I've been tracking it for years. I mean, I'm a proud maga conservative and I noticed something very sinister within my own camp as early as 2022. And I've been speaking and writing about it and, and you know, I, as amazing as Charlie was, I do not want to romanticize him. And here's what I think about Charlie. I think Charlie was amazing at keeping out the groiper sub faction of all of these kind of sinister groups that I have been noticing. I think he was great at making sure that those people don't find purchase within mainstream conservative societies because he recognized that they were anathema to our values, that they were nihilistic, that they were revolutionary, they were reactionary, and that they didn't stand for basic principles of faith, family freedom. I mean look at somebody like Nick Fuentes. He's literally like getting married is gay. Right. So I think he was really great at that, But I think he embraced a lot of the. What I would call the enablers of this kind of stuff. So he. He didn't understand that there was a. A very clear line between the extremism of the gripers and the more moderate voices such as Tucker Carlson or Dave Smith or Steve Bannon. And I don't think. And I don't think that there was any sort of mal. Intent or any sort of awareness of this, but I genuinely think that Charlie just didn't understand. He didn't realize the connection between these people. And I think one of the reasons he didn't realize that is because some of these people have changed. Tucker Carlson is not the same Tucker Carlson he was during the pandemic. I used to watch him every day. I was tuned into his monologues for five months, every single day. They were so valuable to me during the pandemic. Steve Bannon is not the same Steve Bannon that he once was. So I think that it's tough when you. When these people have built up credibility and a reputation that you respect, and then either overnight, suddenly, immediately, like in the case of Steve Bannon during the 12 Day War, or gradually, like in the case of Tucker Carl, they start going in a different direction. And people like Charlie Kirk, they're not losers like me. Like, he doesn't have. He doesn't. He's not a loser like me. He doesn't have time to, like, watch every, you know, podcast and see what's going on. So he doesn't. He doesn't. He didn't see the changes that were happening. But so. So that's. That's kind of how I would characterize Charlie. And so in terms of the view that he kept a lot of this out, I would say he kept some of it out. He invited a lot of it in. But that's. I wouldn't fault him for that. I wouldn't necessarily fault him for that. It's hard to keep track. It's hard to keep track of what's happening with these people. And. And I would just say I know that a lot of people here really, really love Tucker Carlson. I know that he is their savior in terms of conservative podcasters and influencers, but I would say that they are being utterly gaslit into believing that he is a conservative.

[Sean]

Really? You don't label him conservative anymore?

[Rhea Karras]

I think that the only issues in which Tucker Carlson is a conservative are social issues that align with his faith. So he's conservative on Abortion. He's conservative on the trans stuff, but listen to him on economics. Listen to him on foreign policy. Listen to him on constitutional issues. He is a leftist. Listen to the stuff that he said about Islam in his speech. He sounded like a leftist here. Here he is in his speech yesterday or two days ago telling us how he is not anti Semitic. Anti Semitism is bad, but it is used as a, as a weapon to shut down free speech. And then he goes and labels anybody who's criticizing Islam essentially as an Islamophobe. He is such a hypocrite. He contradicted himself so many times in that speech. He was like, murder is wrong. Murder of innocence is wrong. And if my brother went on a murder spree, I would, I would defend him. I would not denounce it. And he said that the other night too. He, like, on another podcast, he's like, I would help him escape. Like, well, which is it? Which is it? And that certainly isn't what. Isn't what Charlie believed. There's a quote here when you walk in. It says, charlie, it says, God, God, family, country, in that order. That is what Charlie believed. So how can you tell me that you would help your brother escape if he went on a murder spree and still tell me that you are aligned with Charlie Kirk, that you are a Conservative? Because I believe that Charlie Kirk represented mainstream conservativism. And there's room for disagreement, but there on issues. There's room for disagreement on issues, but there's not room for disagreement on values.

[Sean]

Difference there huge difference. Right?

[Rhea Karras]

There's not disagreement. Values and issues, values, worldview.

[Sean]

Yeah, I agree.

[Rhea Karras]

And so, yeah, I think, Charles, I think Tucker Carlson is gaslighting people to believe he's still conservative. And just look at the people he's had on his podcast since 2025 over, like 85% of his guests have been proud liberals, globalists or jihadist supporters. He rarely has a conservative on. And these are not hardball interviews. He has these guests on and he's fawning over them and he's agreeing with them. Right. He's not having them on in order to bring in a different point of view. He has these guests on and he doesn't tell you that they're not a conservative. He had George Galloway on a few weeks ago, who liter founded the Conservative, I mean, sorry, the Socialist Workers Party in Britain. And Tucker Carlson has him on and says he's the most conservative UK politician. He is lying to you. He's lying to you about who is a Conservative. And who is not conservative because he's actually a leftist. But he knows that he has a, he knows that he has found purchase in conservative circles. And so he wants to infiltrate that space with leftist aligned agendas and pretend that they're conservative so that he can change the direction of the, of the party, of the Republican Party and build it in his own image.

[Sean]

That is pretty logical argument, I'd say.

[Rhea Karras]

Thank you.

[Sean]

I mean, if you're, if you're right about the 85, which you probably are, you seem like the type of research. Oh, yeah, it makes sense, right? Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

[Rhea Karras]

He's such a gaslighter. He's like, everybody's so obsessed with Israel. Why? Like, I don't, I don't want to talk about Israel. Like, stop with the assessment. It's like every other episode has been around Israel. He will not shut up about Israel. It's just like the pot calling the kettle black or whatever the expression is. He's such a gaslighter.

[Sean]

And I know Charlie, before he passed, like, he was really concerned about the spread of Islam to the West.

[Rhea Karras]

Absolutely.

[Sean]

Very concerned. He was starting to have on speakers at events to talk about it. And now he has Tucker promoting Qatar. Right.

[Rhea Karras]

I know. Tucker's like, I'm buying a home in Qatar to show that I'm America first. What is that?

[Sean]

Wow, that doesn't compute in my head.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, well, I think the actual quote was, I'm buying a home in Qatar to show that I'm a free American. That was the quote.

[Sean]

Oh, interesting.

[Rhea Karras]

Okay.

[Sean]

All right, Very interesting.

[Rhea Karras]

Good to know. Especially because you can't buy a home in Qatar without, like government mandated. You know what I mean? Like, the government is, it's, it's, it's a theocracy and it's essentially the government is, is present in every single element of your life. And for Tucker Carlson, who's apparently a proud Christian who cares about the persecution of his people around the world, it's odd that he would be so friendly to a regime like Qatar that keeps Christians subservient and essentially second class citizens in that country. There's only a handful of churches and they're all very, very tightly monitored and controlled in terms of what they can and cannot say by the Qatari regime. So he's just a hypocrite all around.

[Sean]

I mean, what do you think the biggest threat is? Do you think it's within? Do you think it's the left? Do you think it's Islam?

[Rhea Karras]

To America.

[Sean]

Yeah, to America.

[Rhea Karras]

Wow. There's so many.

[Sean]

So many, right?

[Rhea Karras]

So many. I mean, this, this stuff that we're talking about, I think this is the biggest threat to the Republican Party. But in terms of America, I mean, look, these people, they don't control our institutions. The left is still controlling our institutions. So in terms of America, the direction of America, I would still say that the progressive left is the biggest threat. And I would actually include Islamism in that, even though they're not part of the left because they are allies. Right. So the, the left sides with the Islamist threat in America. So I would say the red, what they call the red green alliance, which is the allyship, the alliance between the liberal progressives and the illiberal Islamists. So I think that's a huge threat that we're facing. I also think globalism is a huge threat to America. You know, one world technocratic governments, multilateral institutions like the United nations and the World Economic Forum. And I think that they are trying to usurp sovereignty from nations including Israel majorly. I think that's a perfect example of how they're a threat to the sovereignty of America. Just look at what they're trying to do to Israel. And yeah, so I think globalists, jihadists, leftists, I think those are the primary threat that we're facing. But within our own party, within the Republican Party and the larger conservative movement, I think there's going to be a reckoning and we're going to have to choose what direction we want to go. Do we want to go in the direction of the nihilistic, radical, grievance based, rage based, you know, Tucker Carlson wing of the party? Or do we want to go in the direction of what I believe was, was Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk's creed of personal responsibility and a family and community and, and, and tolerance? Honestly, not, not scapegoating, not, not, not victim, not having a victimhood complex. Right.

[Sean]

It's just so crazy. Last year when I was here, everyone was so united, really, there was like no one fighting. Not at the top, at least, not like the big names like they are now with like Megyn Kelly.

[Rhea Karras]

Oh, right, right, right, right. But I mean, but what about on the ground? Did you see there was fights on.

[Sean]

The ground, but just random influencers, like, interesting.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

I mean, like.

[Sean]

Yeah, okay, now it's like the highest.

[Rhea Karras]

Well, I'm just trying to think. I'm just trying to think. Okay, so last year, I mean, Trump just got in. Okay, Trump just got in.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Rhea Karras]

Okay, so Trump had already been elected.

[Sean]

Everyone was on a.

[Rhea Karras]

Okay, so that Makes sense. That makes sense that we'd be unified because. Because once Trump, as soon as Trump got elected, I think a lot of us were like, we can breathe. We can finally breathe. We can be. We can breathe the sigh.

[Sean]

Yeah, that was a big.

[Rhea Karras]

As a proud. As a proud Jew. I was like, finally, finally. I'm like, I can, I can, I can relax. Because it was, you know, that was a huge election. America for Jews would have looked very bad under Kamala Harris. So I was, I was, I was so relieved. I was so relieved.

[Sean]

I didn't know that. I didn't know her stance on Jewish people, honestly. But I was more relief for free speech because if Kamala got in, I would have been toast, I think.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, for sure. No, the whole censorship industrial complex, the whole apparatus would have just been strengthened and exacerbated under Kamala. No doubt about that.

[Sean]

That's why I'm like trying to really work hard right now to build an audience before 28, because that' a possibility.

[Rhea Karras]

Oh, interesting.

[Sean]

You know what I mean?

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

It could be a Democrat gets in, whether it's new.

[Rhea Karras]

Did you have, did you have any experiences of getting like shadow banned or censored or kicked out even under Trump?

[Sean]

Honestly too.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

But it's worse under platforms. Tick tock under Trump.

[Rhea Karras]

Okay.

[Sean]

Facebook and YouTube under Biden for sure. And Instagram.

[Rhea Karras]

Jeez. Okay.

[Sean]

It was way worse under Biden.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

Trump's. Trump and Elon have helped a lot.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah. But okay, but I mean, what do you think now? Because when I. When you even first approached me, I was so surprised that you did, because I had only seen your staff in the context of a lot of these people that I'm fighting against. The Nick Fuentes is and the Myron Gaines and the. And the Andrew Tate's and the Jake Shields and I had just seen them on your show.

[Sean]

I've had all of them.

[Rhea Karras]

But now. Yeah, but now I see that you have like so many different people on your shows from different sides. Like, what has your perspective changed? Like, where have you.

[Sean]

I've always had both sides. But like you said, the algorithm only shows the negative posts, so you probably got the Jake Shields clips, the Mind Gaines clips, the Tate clips. But I've had on a lot of pro Israel. I've had on more pro Israel guests.

[Rhea Karras]

Than not interesting by far. Yeah, yeah, interesting.

[Sean]

I actually get a ton of hate for it.

[Rhea Karras]

But here's the thing. Like, showing both sides in terms of Israel that I totally get, like showing people that are critical of Israel showing people who. Well, I mean, I'm critical of Israel, but, you know, showing anti. Well, of course, I feel like Zionists are the most critical of all. It's just that we're not anti Israel because we understand that Israel is like any other country and has to exist.

[Sean]

That makes sense.

[Rhea Karras]

But when you say, like, showing both sides of, like, the Jew, like, like the Jewish question, like, that doesn't make sense to me because one side is, you're a Jew. I'm going to punch you in the face.

[Sean]

Like the pro Palestine side, you're saying.

[Rhea Karras]

No, like the Jewish side, like the, the Israel stuff, that I completely understand. But if you're just talking about, like, showing both sides, like people who are pro Jewish and then people are. Who are anti Jewish, that's not like.

[Sean]

The anti Semites, you're saying.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, that's not like a both side. That's like, oh, I'm gonna. I'm gonna have somebody who is. I'm gonna have somebody who is racist and then somebody who's not racist.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Rhea Karras]

Do you know what I mean? Like, it's kind of. It's.

[Sean]

There's extremes. Yeah. There's kind of weird. Yeah, No, I see what you're saying, because.

[Rhea Karras]

Because Israel is actually like a policy debate.

[Sean]

Right, Right.

[Rhea Karras]

But how can there be two sides to a debate about somebody's identity? Like, I support somebody being Jewish and I don't support somebody big Jewish. That's so bizarre. That's so bizarre.

[Sean]

So it's like if, if the guest is racist, are you saying, like, not to have them on? Like, is that, like, you're lying?

[Rhea Karras]

Well, that's a good question. I mean, I would never. I would never tell you to not have.

[Sean]

No, not me. I'm saying, like, for you, like, for you to converse with someone that would know.

[Rhea Karras]

I mean, I would converse with anybody. If I had a podcast, I would. I would have to think twice about having them on. I wouldn't have them on unless it was a hard. A hardball interview. That's for sure. That's for sure. Right. I think that it's tough because if you censor these people and you silence them. Right. They're going to be emboldened in a certain sense and empower that. Empower. But you also don't want to normalize and mainstream their aggressively bigoted views. Right. You don't want to put that in the ecosystem to the point where it becomes just like another conversation. Like, in my opinion, in my opinion, if these people got their way and not just the Gripers or the manosphere people, but also the Tucker Carlson's and the Candace Owens and those people. In my opinion, if these people got their way, the conversations that conservatives would be having, like you and I. Are you a conservative?

[Sean]

Yeah, I'm conservative.

[Rhea Karras]

The conversations that you and I would be having would be like whether it's okay to rape women's or whether the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust deserve it.

[Sean]

Wow. You think it devolved to that?

[Rhea Karras]

That is the level, that's the level of conversation that I think that we would be having as conservatives. So to me, it's guttural, it's degrading, it is trashy. Right. It is like, it's, it's a, it's a level of humanity that is tapping into our ugliest, our worst instincts, which as Jews and Christians we are constantly fighting against every single day. Right. Like we, we, we have both the capacity for good and evil and we need to foster those parts of ourselves that are, that are optimistic, that are positive, that are, you know, that are responsible and not the parts of ourselves that are ego driven, that are angry, that are bitter, that are resentful. Right. And so I think it's, it's such a fine line that you have to walk right between. You essentially want to keep these people on the fringes, but you don't want to. You, you don't want to, you don't want to completely silence them so that they don't have, they don't have their own little voice wherever they are. Like they should have their own little niche. Right. But we don't want to normalize it. We don't want that to be the norm because we're going to be having very different conversations in this country if it is. Nor.

[Sean]

So you don't want to like make, make them mainstream basically, but you kind of want them to have their own bubble.

[Rhea Karras]

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Because, because keep in mind, before the Internet, before social media though, there was such a thing as polite society. And, and there were people whose views were so aggressively bigoted or so hateful or so violent that we just, you didn't welcome them into polite society. But nobody, nobody thought that you were canceling them when you did that. It's just that we're decent people and we don't want indecency in our spaces. Occasionally we'll debate with them and occasionally we'll talk to them, but we just don't want them circulating every waking minute. We just, we don't want their guttural hatred like consuming Our brains all the time. Right. So we just kept them kind of on the fringes. Right. Because they're indecent. And I think that's, that's the task at hand is how to keep it so that you're not. You're not falling prey to what the left did. Right.

[Sean]

Cancel culture was terrible.

[Rhea Karras]

Exactly. But you are gatekeeping because you recognize that there are certain views that are so guttural and so below, you know, human decency, that, that we don't want to infect our, our minds with those 24. 7.

[Sean]

Yeah, I could see that. Yeah. You know, I don't agree with, like, de platforming, debanking and all that. You know, I think that's.

[Rhea Karras]

Well, what do you. What's your. What. What?

[Sean]

Like when Trump got banned off all.

[Rhea Karras]

The social media, 100%. So is De platforming, is that mean.

[Sean]

Like you get banned?

[Rhea Karras]

Oh, yeah, I'm 100%. Not. Not for that.

[Sean]

Yeah. I don't.

[Rhea Karras]

Like for X, for example, like, a lot of people say that X has become like a cesspool of Jew hatred. You can't go on X and say Shabbat Shalom without having a flood of people. Just like, you're a Jew. You're a Jew 7000 free Palestine. Like what Palestine did. Right. But should all those people get kicked off of X? Of course not. But should they be dealing with bots? Of course, that is such a difficult thing to do, but in order for people. Right, because there's. Because free speech also applies both ways. If you're a bully and you're preventing, if you're intimidating somebody else into not exercising their right to free speech, that's a problem. Right? So if you have all these bots, these mobs that are descending on people just exercising their free speech and then they're trying to essentially intimidate you into silence, you know, how do you deal with that? It's so difficult. So I think that. I think X needs to deal with the, with the bots and the human bots. Not just the, not just the, you know, the, the, the fake, you know, the people posing as humans that aren't. Because there's real human bots on there. And I also think steps that they're taking, like, you know, country of origin is really important. I think that that should be listed right in your bio, right underneath. I don't think you have to go. You should have to go into your about section or whatever to find it. And I think there's a lot of really creative solutions like that, that they can take. But I definitely, definitely, definitely think that dealing with bots will be a huge problem because you need to find some way of determining the foreign influence from like the genuine, you know, the people that are like genuinely in your camp with a real live human voice. And somebody at X, I think it was Nikita, somebody who worked at X, said, you know, one of the most common problems we're finding in terms of these fake accounts is people posing as Christian conservative patriots. Yeah, he was like the, the, he said the, the most common thing we find in a bio of a fake account is like an American flag emoji and a cross. So there are so many people, not necessarily bots, but just people from other countries that are pretending to be America.

[Sean]

First MAGA conservatives, trying to make them look, look bad.

[Rhea Karras]

So that's, that's a problem.

[Sean]

That's going to be the next fight. Yeah, bots and AI videos and deepfakes, it's going to be a deadly combo when you mix all that together.

[Rhea Karras]

So I agree with you. If that's your definition of deplatforming 100%, I would never, I don't think that these people should be kicked off of X unless they're, you know, calling to actually commit, carry out some sort of violent or terrorist attack, you know, on people. But, but if your definition of de platforming is like criticizing somebody for, you know, not giving a hardball interview, I think that that's fair game. You know, if you have somebody on your show and I'm like, I'm like, Sean, it's your right to have anybody you want on your show, but I can criticize you for how you can conducted your interview.

[Sean]

I'll take the heat. I don't do as much research as you as well. So if I were to push back on certain topics, I would look like an idiot, honestly.

[Rhea Karras]

Yeah, yeah, that's fine. But then, but that's, but that's your right to say that and it's my right to say, cool, we'll do more research or like, you know, be more careful, you know, when you bring people that are, you know, pushing certain things on your show. I'm not saying don't have anybody on your show.

[Sean]

No, I agree with you. I agree. I take all the criticism.

[Rhea Karras]

I just think it's like if you are Tucker Carlson and you choose to have somebody on your show, then own that and be prepared for people to say like, oh, you're. That interview was so dumb for like reason. Abc, Right. That it's like, it's like People can't take it back.

[Sean]

I like genuine feedback. It helps me improve. As a host with Tucker, I noticed he picks who to go hard on. Like Ted Cruz, for example.

[Rhea Karras]

He's only done two hardball interviews since 2025 and none of them have been the other one. He has. Well, I guess like Bankman Fried or whatever his name is.

[Sean]

Oh, yeah, yeah, he went hard.

[Rhea Karras]

He went hard on that guy. Yeah, that was it. Yeah, Interviews. And so when people are like, oh no, he has these people on to have a different point of view. Whatever. Like nonsense.

[Sean]

Yeah, nonsense. Yeah, he definitely picks and chooses. I watched the Fuentes one. He was chilling on that one. Totally no hard questions.

[Rhea Karras]

All these people that he's pretending are conservatives are leftists. And he will not tell you. Jeffrey Sachs is a favorite of his. He has Jeffrey Sachs on. I think he's had a podcast. Whatever. He's the guy. No, he's, he's. So Tucker won't tell you this, but he is a UN Sustainability development dude. He is literally the archetypal, archetypal globalist. He is everything that the left is fighting against. And Tucker will not tell you that he is also the foremost non Chinese speaking talking head that goes on CCP state media to bash America. That's all he does. He just bashes America again and again and again and again. But Tucker won't tell you that. So Tucker will have him on, pretend that this guy is not our enemy and just talk to him about, you know, how America is responsible for all these wars in the Middle east and this and this and that and, you know, just really, really hammer home the like, anti war train, which I don't really believe he's anti war, but that's how he, that's how he presents himself. And, and he won't tell you that the guy that he's speaking to that's anti war actually hates America. Like really, really hates America. And, and so it's, it's, it's, it's just endless. And this whole anti war thing is ridiculous. They're anti war if you respond to an act of aggression, but they're not anti war towards the aggressors themselves. So, like, they have no problem with like Russia invading Ukraine. They have no problem with Hamas attacking Israel, but they have a problem with Israel responding. Yeah, with Ukraine responding. I see where you're saying, right, the initial, the real warmongers, the real war hawks, they have no problem with. They rationalize, they rationalize the initial act of aggressions. They'll say, oh, well, you know, Hamas was, they had no choice. They've been blockaded. They just want to stay. They'll rationalize it. They'll say, yeah, it's wrong what they did, but, but, but it's understandable. Right, but there's no rationalization. There's no way that they will support any sort of response.

[Sean]

So true.

[Rhea Karras]

So they'll rationalize Russia. Oh, like NATO. You know, NATO was really threatening Russia and Russia has a right to certain areas of Ukraine. Whatever, whatever, whatever. But you know, Ukraine responding. No, Zelensky is a war hawk and a greedy warmonger who just wants to draw Europeans and America into his war and whatever. And I'm not a huge fan of Zelensky. So this is not me, you know, running cover for Ukraine or anything like that. But it's like, it's just there. It's so, it's such a double standard. It's so myopic. And it is not anti war. It is, it is a. They are, they're viewing a world in which, they are viewing a world in, in which Russia, Iran, China are the imperialist powers and America looks no different than Canada or Europe. That is what these isolationists, these Paleo conservatives, these so called anti war pacifists want to see in America. They want to see America completely seal itself off in some sort of hermetic dome as if that's possible in 2025, and essentially become no different than Canada or France. And anybody who disagrees with their utopian worldview is immediately labeled a neocon. Right, like, because you, you, you see holes in their, in their isolationist, non interventionist worldview. Suddenly you believe in like a Bush era nation building right, of like top down, you know, intervention and spreading democracy, which could not be further from the, from the truth. Both neoconservatism and, and isolationism to me are like two sides of the same coin. They're two extremes and they're both utopian. They both have these unrealistic, unnuanced visions for foreign policy. And neither of them are Trump's foreign policy. Trump's foreign policy is the middle way. It's peace through strength. It's being much more vigilant about, you know, where we send our troops, where we send our taxpayer dollars abroad, you know, and, and, and, and, and trying to pull back from a lot of these foreign entanglements that aren't in America's interests, but also wielding a big stick, having a very strong defense, a very strong military, and letting our enemies know that if they, even if they step out of line. If they try anything, then all bets are off that we will not hesitate for a second to go in and destroy you. Right, so that's what Trump's view is. It's not pacifistic, it's not leftist, it's just not.

[Sean]

It's not rocket science. Yeah, well, cares. Thanks for your time. Where can people support you and find you?

[Rhea Karras]

Thank you so much. I'm very active on X. It's just my last name and then my first name. So my name reverse at Raya Karras. R H E A K A R Y S And that's really the only. The only social. I'm on Instagram, but it's private. I don't post a lot of. It's just for family and friends and stuff. So if you want to connect with me on politics, X is where to find me.

[Sean]

Thanks for your time.

[Rhea Karras]

Thank you so much.

[Sean]

Check her out, guys. See you.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.