The U.S. Needs to Take Back Control... | Michael Rectenwald | DSH #1874

Summary

Podcast Summary: Digital Social Hour — “The U.S. Needs to Take Back Control...” | Michael Rectenwald | DSH #1874

Date: March 21, 2026
Host: Sean Kelly & Co-host
Guest: Michael Rectenwald

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Episode Overview

In this provocative episode of Digital Social Hour, Sean Kelly and his co-host speak with Michael Rectenwald at a world war debate event in Atlantic City. The discussion centers on the influence of the Israeli lobby and Zionism in U.S. politics, the implications for American sovereignty, global peace, and the genesis of Rectenwald’s political action committee (ASAPAC). Rectenwald reflects on his academic career, ideological transformation, and the consequences of U.S.-Israel relations on both domestic and world events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Zionist Influence in U.S. Government and Foreign Policy

• Rectenwald’s Stance:
  • Calls for “de-zionizing” the U.S. government, which he sees as essential for regaining American sovereignty and achieving global peace, especially in the Middle East.
  • “[The] United States [is] the greatest enabler of Israeli criminality, crimes against humanity...the United States enables this.” (Brad, 02:40)
• Lobbying & Political Funding:
  • Details the scope of the Israeli lobby’s financial influence, including hundreds of millions in campaign contributions and tax-exempt channels through charitable organizations linked to Israel.
  • “There’s five to six hundred so-called charitable organizations, Israeli friendly...they contribute these tax-deductible contributions to PACs who then...contribute them to candidates. This is construed as charity when it’s purely political.” (Brad, 09:25)

2. Gaza War & Public Awareness

• Rectenwald credits heightened public awareness of U.S.-Israel policies to the recent escalation in Gaza, which he labels a genocide by referencing multiple international bodies and scholars.
  • “183...organizations have called this a genocide. Plus 49 scholars, including 12 Israeli scholars and nine Jewish non-Israeli scholars, all have called this a genocide.” (Brad, 02:40)

3. Connection to Venezuela and Iran

• Claims U.S. intervention in Venezuela is linked to Israeli and American strategic interests, particularly regarding control of oil in anticipation of future conflicts with Iran.
  • “The Venezuela encroachment...is due to the prospect of a war with...Iran.” (Brad, 03:58)

4. History of Zionist Influence:

• Traces “Zionist infiltration” in the U.S. back to major 20th-century events:
  • Federal Reserve foundation (1913)
  • Post-JFK assassination policy shifts under LBJ
  • USS Liberty incident — “It showed the utter disregard of the Israeli government and the IDF to American...military men. And there was no...every indication this was an American ship.” (Brad, 05:13-05:55)

5. Trump, Political Funding, and Allegiances

• Trump’s campaign funding origins:
  • “He raised money from Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, quite a bit of money...the mask has fully come off and...Trump is serving Israel.” (Brad, 06:15-06:45)
• Speculation that Trump’s business and political history is enmeshed with Zionist financial interests, and linked to handling of the Epstein list.
  • “Some speculate that he’s on the Epstein list...I think he’s protecting the Israelis on the list, largely especially the connection to Mossad.” (Brad, 07:50-08:41)

6. Accusations, Censorship, and Academic Experience

• Rectenwald on debating and censorship:
  • Predicts opponents will employ “ad hominems and gaslighting...He’s going to use...emotional appeal, try to...evoke an emotional response towards me and my arguments.” (Brad, 10:32)
• NYU years:
  • Details becoming a pariah after criticizing liberal campus culture, shifts following Trump’s 2016 campaign, and institutional tactics like bias reporting hotlines and safe spaces.
  • “They put me in my own personal gulag...in this room with bare metal shelves, no phone, no access to even a copy machine.” (Brad, 14:14)
  • Settled with NYU after legal action for workplace harassment.

7. Political Evolution: From Marxist to Libertarian

• “I was a Marxist up until this point...I flipped immediately because...these people are totalitarian...I became a libertarian almost in a heartbeat because it was clear to me that without individual rights, we don’t have anything.” (Brad, 16:01-16:21)
• Ran for President as a Libertarian/Ancap—describes it as primarily an effort to publicize his ideas, not to win.
• On U.S. party system: “The meaning of these parties is going to shift very soon...what Republican means, what Democrat means is all going to change.” (Brad, 17:57-18:43)

8. Consequences of U.S. Policy for Americans

• U.S. aid to Israel and others (e.g., Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan) is “extortion” and leads to internal social trauma and division.
  • “What are they giving us? Headaches and internal conflict...I think they traumatized us with video of their genocide.” (Brad, 19:58)

9. ASAPAC: Anti-Zionist Political Action Committee

• Founded in response to witnessing U.S. complicity in Gaza; aims to remove Zionist influence from U.S. government.
  • “We must de-zionize the United States government in order to give us sovereignty and for greater chances of peace not only in the Middle East, but the world over.” (Brad, 21:00, 21:14)
• Website: a-pack.com
• “We’re growing by leaps and bounds.” (Brad, 21:27)

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Memorable Quotes

• “I think [Zionist influence is] the number one issue in our country. And maybe in the world at large.” (Brad, 02:34)
• “If you don’t have individual rights, I don’t care what economy you have...you’re in bad shape.” (Brad, 16:29)
• “[The U.S. gives Israel] headaches and internal conflict...they traumatized us with video of their genocide.” (Brad, 19:58-20:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Zionism & U.S. Government: 00:00–02:40
• Gaza Onslaught & Public Response: 00:59–02:40
• Venezuela, Iran, and Oil: 01:28–03:58
• History of Influence & USS Liberty: 04:11–05:55
• Trump’s Funding & Allegiance: 06:06–08:41
• AIPAC, PACs and “Charity” Funding: 09:21–10:28
• Debate Tactics & Academic Backlash: 10:32–14:14
• From Marxist to Libertarian: 16:01–16:41
• Party System & Shifting Alliances: 17:52–18:43
• US Aid & Israeli “Trauma”: 19:35–20:23
• Founding of ASAPAC: 20:35–21:34

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Closing

Rectenwald signs off wishing for a debate victory and calling for support for ASAPAC.
“Just wish me luck in the debate and hope to come out with a victory.” (Brad, 21:38)

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For listeners seeking unfiltered analysis of U.S.-Israel relations, political activism, and firsthand experience challenging mainstream academic and political culture, this episode delivers a passionate and controversial perspective.

Transcript

[Brad]

Well, it started from standing by on the Internet, watching this horror unfold and realizing that the United States was the greatest enabler of this. That realizing that it would never stop unless we got rid of the people that were perpetrating it in the US Government. We can't change Israel per se unless we stop giving them money and so forth. That'll change them, but directly we can't. We can change our own government. And that, I thought is necessary. We must de zionize the United States government order to give us sovereignty and for greater chances of peace not only in the Middle east, but the world over.

[Host 1]

All right, guys, we're at a world war debate in Atlantic City. We got Michael here who's debating later today.

[Host 2]

What are you debating on today?

[Brad]

We're debating the Israeli lobby and its influence on the United States government.

[Host 2]

Hot topic right now.

[Brad]

Oh, yeah.

[Host 2]

How long have you engage with this

[Brad]

for three years, roughly.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Brad]

Yeah. But most, most recently, I guess the, the Gaza onslaught really, really queued me into it more. More strictly. And so, you know, I've been. I've been at this for a while now. Yeah.

[Host 2]

Yeah. I feel like a lot of people after the gala stuff started paying attention.

[Host 1]

Right.

[Brad]

I mean, you know, how could you sit back and see this? The way I thought was, how can you sit back and see this and not do something?

[Host 2]

Yeah. So do you think there was a

[Host 1]

role there with all the Venezuela stuff

[Host 2]

going on right now too, or do you think that's separate from the Israel stuff?

[Brad]

I think it's connected, actually. I think the. The reason for the abduction of Maduro was really has to do with getting control of Venezuelan oil. Certainly Venezuela is not the primary vendor of fentanyl or other drugs in the United States. This is just a pretext in order to pull off this coup, really, and to replace Maduro with somebody more friendly to us. Slash Israeli interests.

[Host 2]

And is your whole goal to remove Zionist influence completely or you just want to cap their. Their funding?

[Brad]

Well, I mean, I think what I'd like to do is get rid of the Zionist infiltration. Yeah. So I believe that it's fully embedded in our country and is dictating our policies. I want to get that changed. And the only way to change it is about getting rid of the people that adhere to that ideology.

[Host 2]

Do you think it's a real big issue then?

[Brad]

I think it's the number one issue in, in our country.

[Host 2]

Wow.

[Brad]

And maybe it's the world. In the world at large.

[Host 2]

Holy crap.

[Brad]

Because the US Is the greatest enabler of Israeli criminality crimes against humanity, and what 183 human rights, humanitarian and international governance organizations have called a genocide. Plus 49 scholars, including 12 Israeli scholars and 9 Jewish non Israeli scholars, all have called this a genocide. So the United States enables this. And Israel's depredations in Gaza and around the region are endangering the world and putting us at risk of inflaming a world war. So I think it is the most important issue facing us today.

[Host 2]

Do you think a World War three is a potential.

[Brad]

It's always right. It's always a potential. And specifically when you're starting to target Iran again, which I believe is on the agenda. So I think the going back to the Venezuela thing, the reason why the US and Israel needs to get a hold of the oil is because when we attack Iran, they're gonna, they're going to start to stop the flow. So the oil is necessary for the world economy.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Brad]

So this is the, the Venezuela encroachment really is due to the prospect of a war with another attack and a longer war with Iran.

[Host 2]

How long has there been this Zionist presence, you think, in politics?

[Brad]

That's a great question. I mean, some people would say it goes back to 1913 and the foundation of the Federal Reserve. I mean, I, I really, I mean, you can see a real significant shift beginning after John F. Kennedy's assassination.

[Host 2]

Yeah, I've heard that too.

[Brad]

So I think that's really the inflection point because then you had Johnson in office. Right. So Johnson took office and suddenly all the pressure about Israel's nuclear reaction reactor and Demona, the Dimona reactor, and also other issues related to Israeli policy were dropped. And then the USS Liberty was attacked by Israel and Johnson did nothing about it. He fact, he. They made sure that the survivors of that attack were. We're not to speak, we're not to talk about it at all.

[Host 2]

That's crazy.

[Brad]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

How many people survived that?

[Brad]

A lot. I mean, there was, I think 23. 23 killed, something like that. Don't quote me on these numbers, but there was a number of people killed and then there were a good deal of survivors. Some of them, you know, some of them are of course deceased by now, but there's Phil Turney who's still alive and active in trying to get the truth about this to the American public because it's very significant event. It showed the utter disregard of the Israeli government and the IDF to American civilian or American military men. And there was no, it was every indication this was an American ship.

[Host 2]

Wow.

[Brad]

I'm not going to talk about this in the debate because this will get me. I'll be called a conspiracy theorist, even though these are facts and there are plenty of eyewitnesses to this who have survived, who can talk about it.

[Host 2]

Yeah, that's nuts. So in Trump's second term when he was campaigning, he raised a lot of money from Zionists.

[Brad]

Yes.

[Host 2]

Did he do that the first term, do you know?

[Brad]

Yes, he did. He raised money from Miriam and Sheldon Adelen, quite a bit of money. But then the first term or both terms? Both. But it was until the second term that I think the mask has fully come off and there is no longer any kind of dissembling. It's all straight up. It's very clear that Trump is serving Israel. Wow.

[Host 1]

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[Host 2]

crazy because he was already. They always the arguments like he was already successful and rich. Why doesn't he.

[Brad]

Yeah, well, I mean, part of that is. Part of his success may be due to Zionist bankers who bailed out his many enterprises when they were ready to flop when he was about to go into bankruptcy or did go into bankruptcy. So that that is some possibility there. But then there's the money itself, the 230 million from Adelson. And then there's other pipelines of Zionist money that certainly reached his campaign and he's beholden to them. I don't. You know, there's many reasons. Some speculate that he's on the Epstein list. He is on the list. I don't know what he did if not, and I'm not going to say anything about it. I don't think that's the issue. I think he's protecting the Israelis on the list, largely especially the connection to Mossad.

[Host 2]

There's been a lot of pressure to release it. Didn't he release some redacted list?

[Brad]

Yeah, they, they tried everything to keep it from coming out. And then he said, you know, it was a hoax. I mean he changed the story on this 100 times. That was a Democratic hoax. You know, he's. And then before the, before his election he was like, you know, this has to be done. But you know, he's backpedaled tremendously because I think, you know, pressure was put on him. It's like that list is the key to us, to the U.S. you know, the infiltration of the U.S. government by Zionism.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah. So if the President can be, you know, bought out or whatever you want to call it, it's happening everywhere then.

[Brad]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

I mean, aipac, when you look at who they're funding, they control a lot of Congress too.

[Brad]

Yeah. I mean they put hundreds of millions of dollars into candidates and they're just the tip of the ICEBERG Really. There's five to 600 so called charitable organizations, Israeli friendly or Israeli affiliated organizations as Grant Smith calls them in his book Big Israel. And they take and funnel tax deductible contributions. Then they, they contribute these tax deductible contributions to, to PACs who then pay, who then contribute them to candidates. And this is a double whammy because it is avoiding taxation. Okay. We lose about a billion dollars a year in taxes over this.

[Host 2]

Jeez.

[Brad]

And then this is construct construed as charity when it's purely political. And not only is it political, it's the politics of a foreign nation. So it is completely ridiculous. Please don't tell my opponent any of these points. These are some of my debate.

[Host 1]

We're not live.

[Host 2]

This will come out after. So you're good.

[Host 1]

Don't worry. Yeah, don't worry.

[Host 2]

Do you know his argument? Do you know what he's going to come in with?

[Brad]

Yeah, anti Semite, anti Semite, anti Semite, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi. I mean it's going to be ad hominems and gaslighting, double speak and hasbara and you know, other forms of evasion and sort of trickery, sophistry, things like that. I mean like I argue arguing, I'm going to be arguing facts and I'll argue facts Using reason. And that's what argumentation is about. He's going to use a lot of what I taught argument for 30 years. He's going to use a lot of what's called ethos, I'm sorry, pathos, emotional appeal, to try to use like woo woo words to get the audience like, oh, well, that's horrible. You know, things like that, that try to evoke an emotional response towards me and my, my arguments.

[Host 2]

Yeah. So when you were at NYU before you got, you know, censored, you were teaching debate, you said, no, I taught

[Brad]

argument, you know, academic writing. So academic writing is basically argumentation. Taught academic writing and cultural history. Yeah, yeah.

[Host 2]

At one of the most liberal colleges in the world.

[Brad]

Yeah. Well, I think it's illiberal, but yeah, yeah. I mean they're, they're really. It was, by the time I left, it was completely turned into like a woke, a dictatorship.

[Host 2]

So it wasn't like that.

[Brad]

Yeah, like a woke dictatorship.

[Host 2]

So when did that really start transitioning?

[Host 1]

Under what leadership?

[Brad]

Right. You know, when it started with the, when Trump ran against Hillary Clinton for president. So it started in 2016, in the fall really, when things really ramped up and there was all this hysteria on campus about Trump and anybody who didn't denounce him or say he was a fascist or a racist or whatever was deemed the same. And that's exactly what they tried on me because I was saying that the response to this was insane. What they were doing on campus, they were instituting bias reporting hotlines so they students could anonymously report their professors for so called microaggressions and bias infractions, whatever. They never defined what that was.

[Host 2]

Wow.

[Brad]

So this was kind of like a hotline, you know, like I considered it like a surveillance system.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Brad]

And then it was like safe spaces and things like that where, you know, people could go to these spaces so they could get protected from harmful speech. These included petting animals and pacifiers.

[Host 1]

No way.

[Brad]

So I made fun of that. After that, they came after me.

[Host 2]

That's crazy. Yeah, that is crazy, man. So you got fired or did you?

[Brad]

No, no, no, I, I actually after I was put on leave, they coerced me into a leave of absence, ushered me off campus. I was up for promotion to full professor. Wow. They couldn't deny my promotion. So they, I got the full professorship in, in this, in this period. Then I was attacked when I came back from leave by these faculty members that went off on me on email like crazy, calling me racist, sexist, white short pants, white devil, Other weird things. Satan. I was called Satan. And I sued NYU for letting this go on for like three weeks. Disparaging me and libeling me and defaming me. Yeah, over and over. And I had a settlement. I left in 2019. It went on for three years.

[Host 2]

Wow.

[Brad]

They moved my office. I was in the global liberal studies program. They moved my office to the Russian department. Like I had nothing to do with the Russian literature language. Nothing. Wow. I say. They put me in my own personal gulag because they didn't allow my books to be shipped. I was in this room with bare metal shelves, no phone, no access to like, even a copy machine. It was ridiculous.

[Host 1]

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[Brad]

DSH they tried to make me like a completely isolated pariah on campus. And, you know, I. I sued them. We. I didn't win. We settled.

[Host 2]

Yeah, I mean that's. Some people would say that's a win,

[Brad]

but yeah, I would have, like, gotten more money.

[Host 2]

But of course, all that because you supported Trump.

[Brad]

Well, I did, actually. So here's the funny thing. I was a Marxist up until this point. And so I was criticizing all this craziness, this, you know, like identity politics from the left. But then they came after me. The whole left came after me. So I flipped immediately because I said these people are totalitarian.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Brad]

So I became a libertarian almost in a heartbeat because it was clear to me that without individual rights we don't have anything.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Brad]

If you don't have individual rights, I don't care what economy you have or whatever you're in, you're in bad shape. So I fought for that and became a libertarian and never looked back.

[Host 2]

Right. So you want less government.

[Brad]

Oh, yeah. Frankly, I ran for president as a libertarian. Yeah. I want no state at all. Yeah. I'm only federal anti. Status. Yeah. So, you know, that's not what I'm argued today or it's not part of my politics with the pack, which we'll talk about, I'm sure. Yeah. But yeah, I ran as a, as a what they call a ancap anarcho capitalist and I got far. They ripped me off at the end.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Brad]

It's a long story that I won't go into.

[Host 2]

But I mean, anyone running as a libertarian, let's be honest.

[Brad]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

It's a, it's a losing battle, right?

[Brad]

Oh, yeah. It was absurd. So all I was trying to do, I never thought I could be president. I wasn't running to be president. I was running to get a platform to talk about the, the, you know, positions that I held.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Brad]

That makes sense to get them aired in the public sphere, you know, and, you know, we got some of it aired, but not as much as if I had won the nomination. Yeah.

[Host 2]

Because they don't let you debate against the actual.

[Brad]

Never. They don't let you on the stage. They don't even barely get on the ballot. You know, the two parties have a complete lock on the electoral process.

[Host 2]

Do you see that party system ever changing or do you think that's pretty much set?

[Brad]

Well, I think the meaning of these parties is going to shift very soon. We're going to see that a great deal of the Republican base is very disaffected with the establishment, which is now Trump. Yeah. Trump ran his anti establishment and ended up being worse than the establishment against. So we're going to see there's a huge body of Republicans. There's already this big split and you know, people like Mark Levin, you know, it's the woke Reich, as they call the contingent that I find myself in. I don't believe we're woke and I think that's nonsense and I could go into that. But yeah, I think it's going to be shifting so that what Republican means, what Democrat means is all going to change.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, he's lost a lot of support. Trump, like way more than I expected and it's only a year in.

[Brad]

So yeah, he's lost a lot, and it's mostly due to his obsession and obedience to Israel. I think that's really what people are like, what is this?

[Host 2]

I feel like there wasn't as much as first term with the Israel stuff in him.

[Brad]

Yeah, they did it a lot in. It's like moving the embassy to Jerusalem and the Abraham Accords, things like that, which didn't seem to affect us that much here. But now we're talking about the extortion of, you know, tens and tens of billions of dollars since October 7th. I mean, $33 billion in addition to the 3.8 per year, in addition to the money that we pay Egypt, Jordan and Iraq and other countries. And Afghanistan.

[Host 2]

Yeah, we fund the Taliban.

[Host 1]

Right?

[Brad]

Yeah. To. To basically placate them so they don't have any, you know, give Israel any trouble. So I think we're paying a good upwards of $10 billion a year to Israel and.

[Host 2]

Easy. Yeah, it's unreal. And what are they giving us?

[Brad]

Headaches and internal conflict in the United States. A lot of internal conflict. I think they gave us trauma, frankly. I think they traumatized us with video of their genocide and the whole country. I mean, anybody that saw this stuff and didn't find it, like, abhorrent, I. I wonder about their moral compass.

[Host 2]

It definitely numbs people out. I feel like seeing kids.

[Brad]

Oh, God. Seeing kids blown to pieces, their limbs blown off, burning alive in fires. I mean, it's just despicable.

[Host 1]

Terrible.

[Host 2]

Let's end off with your pack, though. Why? You started it.

[Host 1]

What?

[Host 2]

What the goal is there. And.

[Brad]

Well, it started from, you know, standing by on the Internet, watching this horror unfold, then realizing that the United States was the greatest enabler of this and that realizing that it would never stop unless we got rid of the people that were perpetrating it in the US Government. We can't change Israel per se unless we stop giving them money and so forth. That'll change them, but directly we can't. But we can change our own government. And that I thought is necessary. We must de. Zionize the United States government in order to give our. To give us sovereignty and for greater chances of peace, not only in the Middle east, but the world over.

[Host 2]

Where could people support you on that?

[Brad]

ASAPAC is a-pack.com a-pack.com and we're growing by leaps and bounds.

[Host 2]

Nice. We'll link it in the video. Guys, anything else you want to close off with?

[Brad]

Just wish me luck in the debate and hope to come out with a victory.

[Host 1]

Let's go Good luck, Brad.

[Host 2]

Thanks for coming on.

[Host 1]

You're good.

[Brad]

Shit.

[Host 2]

Thanks for coming on.

[Host 1]

Check them out, guys.

[Brad]

Thank you, man.

[Host 2]

Cool.

[Host 1]

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.

[Host 2]

Thank you.