Why I Will Never Regret My Vote for Trump

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Why I Will Never Regret My Vote for Trump"

Podcast: Free Thinking Through the Fourth Turning with Sasha Stone
Host: Sasha Stone
Date: February 8, 2026

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Main Theme

Sasha Stone presents a deeply personal explanation for her steadfast support of Donald Trump, in the face of widespread controversy and criticism. As a self-described former Democrat and leftist who has shifted ideologically, Stone challenges the mainstream narrative about Trump’s presidency and the behavior of the American left. The episode centers on political polarization, media narratives, the cultural wars, and the necessity—according to Stone—of flawed but resolute leadership.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Meme Controversy and Media Narratives

• Stone reacts to the latest "Memegate" controversy, where a Trump-shared meme is portrayed as a crisis:

  • Stone insists the left uses such controversies as "emotional blackmail" to influence votes and control narratives, claiming they offer nothing substantive in return ([00:00]).
  • Quote:

    "It's been emotional blackmail to convince us that Trump really is that bad while offering nothing in return. They have addressed nothing. They have fixed nothing. They have offered only a fanatical cult and a rigid ideology of an oppressor, oppressed mindset..."
    —Sasha Stone [00:41]

• Connor Friedersdorf's Rebuttal:

  • Responds that Trump’s selection was a willful choice by the right, for which his supporters must take responsibility ([00:31])

• Stone frames the left’s relentless attacks as counterproductive, escalating polarization:

  • "Had they left him alone... maybe he would have been a one term president." ([03:31])

2. The Left's Reaction and "Cult-like" Thinking

• Stone reflects on her past as a Democrat and accuses the party of:

  • Creating a “doomsday cult” mentality.
  • Demonizing Trump to avoid facing their own failures post-2016 ([03:31]).
  • Promoting a "war of the resistance" with little evidence for their claims ([03:31]).

• Quoting Jack White’s Post (as an example of leftist hyperbole):

  • Jack White lambasts Trump—calling him a “racist, rapist, grifter, full on dementia sufferer,” and calls for extreme legal actions ([04:36–07:41]).
  • Stone argues that such rhetoric demonstrates how far from reality and democratic principles the left has shifted ([08:02]).

3. The Portrayal of Trump Supporters and Political Division

• Stone showcases left-wing voices (especially from TikTok) vividly expressing contempt for Trump supporters:

  • Calls for “vengeance” over “justice,” and even suggests revoking internet access for Trump voters ([08:35–09:53]).

• Stone views these reactions as evidence of intolerance and authoritarian tendencies on the contemporary left.

• Quote:

  “They're never telling the truth. Not to us, not to themselves. All they have to sell is hate and fear. They aren't getting less crazy and more sane. They aren't becoming kinder, more tolerant and more forgiving.”
  —Sasha Stone [07:41]

• On Political Polarization in Families:

  • Stone and various TikTokers discuss how political differences, especially over Trump, have fractured families ([12:45–13:34]).

4. Claims of Hypocrisy and Authoritarianism

• Stone highlights videos and incidents she believes display the left’s enforcement of ideological conformity:

  • Examples include social shaming (the “raise your fist” incidents for BLM, coerced consensus in yoga studios) ([13:34–15:14]).

• Quote:

  "Here are a bunch of crazy women at a core power yoga studio in Minneapolis doing the same thing. Go along with us or else."
  —Sasha Stone [13:55]

5. Trump as a "Flawed Hero" and Historical Comparison

• Stone contrasts Trump with the left’s near-religious reverence for Obama:

  • Suggests American culture formerly admired "flawed heroes" (Indiana Jones, Bogart in Casablanca, Eastwood in Unforgiven) and that Trump fits this model ([17:39–22:52]).

• Brings in historian Dominic Sandbrook to discuss historical figures with “warts and all”; compares this complexity to figures like Trump and Churchill ([22:52–24:48]).

• Quote:

  "Trump is a hero to so many of us, not because he's perfect or good, but because he's a fighter who got the dirty job done and saved the day."
  —Sasha Stone [24:48]

6. Key Policy Issues: Gender Transition and Children

• Stone claims the left’s worst sin is supporting gender transitioning for minors:
  • Argues that no action by Trump compares to "sterilizing children who can't consent" ([24:48–25:37]).
  • Points to lawsuits from detransitioners and policy reversals as evidence the tide is turning ([26:55]).
  • Cites Republicans as the ones with courage to end such practices, explicitly crediting Trump ([26:31–28:25]).
• Megyn Kelly's coverage used as reinforcement ([26:55]).

7. Threats to Free Speech

• Graham Linehan’s testimony invoked about the suppression of speech on gender issues in Europe and the UK ([29:36]):
  • Argues that “quiet censorship” occurs without direct state action.
  • Notes his personal costs for defending women’s sex-based rights.

8. The Left’s Ideological Inflexibility

• Stone critiques the contemporary Democratic Party for its devotion to ideology over reality:

  • Evokes Bill Clinton’s “Sister Souljah moment” to highlight lack of similar backbone among current Democrats ([34:04–35:41]).
  • Argues their message is nothing but "hate and hysteria" ([35:41]).

• Quote:

  “They've given people like me no path back because the only option is going back to the doomsday cult that insists I call Trump and the other half of America racists when I know it isn't true.”
  —Sasha Stone [36:20]

9. Final Justification and Regret

• Stone concludes she will “never regret” her vote for Trump, only that she did not see the shift sooner.
• Outlines that the reason Trump is in power is because his supporters felt “thrown away like human garbage” and needed a champion, flawed or not ([37:39]).
• Admits the journey has been turbulent, but stands by her decision ([38:24–38:48]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “It's been emotional blackmail to convince us that Trump really is that bad while offering nothing in return...” —Sasha Stone [00:41]
• “Had they left him alone... maybe he would have been a one term president...” —Sasha Stone [03:31]
• “They're never telling the truth. Not to us, not to themselves. All they have to sell is hate and fear.” —Sasha Stone [07:41]
• Jack White's hyperbolic condemnation of Trump, recited by Stone:

  "Trump is a racist, a rapist, a felon, a grifter... has the nuclear codes and the ability to end humanity at any moment based on an egotistical whim... Arrest this man. IMPEACH this man. 25th Amendment. This man. Indict this man. Jail this man."
  ([04:36–07:41])

• “They want you pregnant? Because motherhood is the ultimate act of submission from a patriarchal standpoint...” —Sasha Stone [11:57]
• "Trump is a hero to so many of us, not because he's perfect or good, but because he's a fighter who got the dirty job done and saved the day.” —Sasha Stone [24:48]
• Graham Linehan on censorship:

  "We have discovered that you can have formal free speech and no free speech at all."
  —Graham Linehan [31:36]

• “They've given people like me no path back because the only option is going back to the doomsday cult that insists I call Trump and the other half of America racists when I know it isn't true.” —Sasha Stone [36:20]
• “I only regret I didn’t see it sooner.” —Sasha Stone [38:28]

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Noteworthy Timestamps

• 00:00: Opening and statement on never regretting her Trump vote
• 03:31: The left's failure after the 2016 election and the creation of a “doomsday cult”
• 07:41: Stone's central defense—left as more dangerous than Trump
• 08:35–09:53: Extreme anti-Trump rhetoric on TikTok
• 13:34: “Raise your fist” crowd behavior
• 17:39–22:52: Pop culture “flawed hero” analogies
• 22:52–24:48: Dominic Sandbrook on historical leaders with flaws
• 24:48–28:25: Gender transition for minors as the ultimate transgression of the left
• 29:36–31:52: Graham Linehan’s statement on free speech suppression
• 34:04–35:41: Bill Clinton’s “Sister Souljah moment,” as a missing element in today’s Democratic Party
• 37:39: Personal conclusion and justification for Trump support

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Tone and Style

Stone’s tone is combative, reflective, and deeply critical of the contemporary American left. She riffs between personal testimony, media criticism, pop culture analogies, and policy arguments. Throughout, she weaves in sarcasm, recalls of viral moments, and direct appeals to both empathy and outrage.
Her language is assertive and polemical: “doomsday cult,” “emotional blackmail,” “cult-like behavior,” and a demand for her critics to name one Trump action worse than what the left has done regarding children and gender.

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In Summary

This episode functions both as a memoir and a political jeremiad. In Stone’s view, the American left’s recent trajectory—from resistance politics to allegedly authoritarian behavior—forced her out of her political home and into the Trump camp, not out of admiration for the man but out of opposition to a movement she now sees as more dangerous. She closes with a call to confront the realities of political polarization honestly, take sides if necessary, and not be afraid of standing by one’s choices, warts and all.

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For further information or more essays:
Visit sashastone.com

Transcript

[Sacha Stone]

Hi, this is Free Thinking through the fourth Turning. My name is Sacha Stone. Why? I will never regret my vote for Trump, so stop asking. After Memegate went viral on Friday, the usual battle in our virtual civil war raged on. I had this exchange on X and was answered by Connor Friedersdorf. I wrote, the left has never figured it out in 10 years. It was never about Trump, whether he was a good guy or anything like that. It's them. They are the reason Trump is in power and they can't deal with that. And Friedersdorf wrote, I'm sorry, but people who hate the left could have chosen any number of figures on the right to be president, and among them all, the MAGA coalition chose Trump. It was a bad choice that weakened America and helped the left and everyone who supported Trump owns that choice. To Trump's enemies, this was yet another crisis not to go to waste. It was the perfect way to reel back some of those Nicki Minaj supporters who might be thinking about flipping to Trump. The midterms are coming up, after all, and they're desperately worried about losing votes of yet another necessary demographic. That's all it's been for 10 years now. Emotional blackmail to convince us that Trump really is that bad while offering nothing in return. They have addressed nothing. They have fixed nothing. They have offered only a fanatical cult and a rigid ideology of an oppressor, oppressed mindset and then demanded everyone go along with it. Or they're racists, homophobes, bigots, Nazis. Here is a tiktoker and Donald Trump.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Is now trying to make an excuse for posting this racist meme. The White House is now telling CNN's Elena Treen that a staffer at the White House made the post.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

The post was made at 11:30 last night.

[Sacha Stone]

Do you really believe a White House staffer made it?

[Political Analyst / Commentator]

Yes, I do. That is by far the most likely outcome. He just doesn't want people to believe it because that's not conducive to the narrative that he wants to push. I'm going to break down how he's trying to do that and what really likely happened. So for starters, he's giving you limited context. He's giving you enough information to believe the narrative that he wants you to believe, but he's not giving you enough context to have a full picture of what's going on. The reason he doesn't do that is because it easily disproves the narrative he's trying to push. So he's cutting out context to manipulate people for example, if you look at the little GIF replaying video, whatever he has, you see there's no like, timer at the bottom that tells you like, what part of the video it's at. That's not an accident. Here's the actual video and you can see it's 59 seconds into a minute, two or whatever. Now, he doesn't want to show you this because if you have a time bar at the bottom, you see, okay, it's at the end of the video. What does that matter? Well, let's actually show you the video.

[Sacha Stone]

President Trump was significantly ahead when reporting and counting resumed. There was a massive spike occurred that, that favored Joe B.

[Political Analyst / Commentator]

So what likely happened is the staffer was screen recording the video, autoplayed to the next video he swiped back, but he didn't crop that part out. So then when he posted it, we saw that last little bit that was not meant to be in there. So they'll leave all that information out because they want to manipulate you into believing something that wasn't happening because it's conducive to the narrative they want to push.

[Sacha Stone]

The Democrats in the ruling class that props up their collapsing empire are in a hell of their own making. They never addressed the people's needs after their 2016 loss because that would mean acknowledging their own failures. Instead, they made Trump the enemy and went to war. A war they're losing. All they ever had to do was offer the people something better, but they couldn't even do that because what they want is their utopia back. The one I helped build and the one I escaped once it became a doomsday cult. Had they left him alone, just allowed his four years to play out like a normal president, as opposed to Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden attempting to frame him as a Russian asset, the Democrats impeaching him, the legacy media and all of culture taking a side against him and his supporters. Maybe he would have been a one term president and gone back to a life of golfing at Mar a Lago. But instead they whipped up a World War II fantasy in which they were the brave resistance fighting an existential crisis that threatened to topple America and the world with very little evidence to show for it, then or now. That made it oh so easy to blame Trump and not themselves. I look now at those still trapped inside the doomsday cult that I escaped and I can't believe the level of delusion. Look at this post by musician Jack White, which is liked by Jimmy Kimmel referring to Trump's meme quote this post would basically get anyone at any job fired immediately, except for arguably the most important position in the world. That's right. Trump is a racist, a rapist, a felon, a grifter, currently ordering the US government to pay him 10 billion simply because no one will stop him, and a full on dementia sufferer. And yet he has the power to send in Gestapo ICE soldiers to kill our citizens. And so much more dangerously, has the nuclear codes and the ability to end humanity at any moment based on an egotistical whim. How is it possible we've given this evil man so much power? The two party system, the electoral College, the responsibility that the Internet has brought to humanity and its direct conflict with truth and America's obsession with celebrity are all to blame. But the fact that we aren't stopping it is insanity. Arrest this man. IMPEACH this man. 25th Amendment. This man. Indict this man. Jail this man. This longtime friend of pedophile Epstein who appears 40,000 times in the files. This demolisher of the White House, demolisher of the Constitution, demolisher of the Bill of Rights, this demolisher of America, full stop. It's hard to believe the government does almost nothing about this lunacy and we just have to sit back and watch as a people. And when he's finally gone, we had better put into place new laws and regulations that don't allow anyone to find dangerous loopholes based solely on the assumption that our President has some sort of dignity and decency. Abolish these loopholes. Abolish the electoral college. And if we had any sense, we would abolish the two party system that George Washington advised us never to have that got us here in the first place and has failed not only Americans, but everyone in the world who is currently suffering from our policies and suffering from the whims of this sick, deranged man who I will state again, has his tiny bruised fingers on the nuclear launch button. End quote. So let me make it perfectly clear for those who might be wondering after the scandal du jour, I don't regret my vote for Trump and I never will. Because even now, the left is worse. Their reaction is worse. They're never telling the truth. Not to us, not to themselves. All they have to sell is hate and fear. They aren't getting less crazy and more sane. They aren't becoming kinder, more tolerant and more forgiving. They still have no idea what democracy means. Spoiler alert.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

You can.

[Sacha Stone]

You can't always get what you want. They've never learned the lesson in 10 years. They still believe that winning their war is forcing all of us to go along with their distorted version of reality. Add to that these crazy people on TikTok and you start to see that the reason Trump won is he's closer to normal than they are. They just don't realize that they're the problem. Listen to this Democrat running for a House seat in Georgia and some other crazy tiktokers.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

When this is all over and Trump is gone and Democrats are back in charge and we're rebuilding everything, the punishment for MAGA for voting Trump three times needs to be that they lose their Internet access for four years, that they cannot post videos or comments on social media for four straight years so that none of us are subjected to their lies and misinformation while we are rebuilding the chaos that they caused the whole world and America gets to be without their BS online for 4 straight years. Can we all agree to this? What's it like exactly to worship a morbidly obese dying PDF file with a dirty diaper and cankles who laughs at you behind your back? At least I have the decency to laugh at you to your swollen white trash face when everything's all said and done. I don't want justice. I don't want trials. I want vengeance. I want you to think of the worst possible torture you can think of and that's still, still too humane for what I want for these mother.

[Sacha Stone]

Don't, don't debate with people who excuse a six month old being tear gassed or a five year old being used as bait to lure his family into detention. Don't debate with those people because they, they might feign like oh well, it's sad that it happened. They're not sad it happened. They're not sad it happened. They're thrilled. They're so happy it's happening because they don't see those children as human beings. They don't really see kids as human beings. They see kids as property.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Not since 1945 has the world worked so hard for for one man's death. Men who are on the MAGA side. I really want to say I'm sorry.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

I didn't realize that we white women were so intimidating and scary. Have you seen all the scary bad things that we've been doing in Minneapolis? And all of us scary white women.

[Sacha Stone]

Out there protesting our federal government and.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

The way they're overstepping their boundaries. I really thought that you guys would be all for that kind of thing. I mean you were all don't tread on me. And the government, they can't tell us to wear a mask and get immunizations. But now you're all like, yeah, the government should tell women what they do with their bodies.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

And yeah, the federal government should go.

[Sacha Stone]

Into states, even if those states don't want them.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

I'm so confused. My poor little female brain doesn't know what to do.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Here is my most controversial opinion. And anytime I talk about this particular piece of advice, I get such discourse, such sometimes anger, and often hate. 99.9% of the time that hate comes from men, strangely. And that is to any woman who is on the fence about whether or not to have children is to not do it. Especially if you live in America.

[Sacha Stone]

One of the things that is going to help take down the patriarchy are women only communities.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

And another thing you can't unsee once you see it is if you decenter men, they think they are being oppressed. And this is only because for ever they have been the center of everything. And when you take that away, they're like, wait, what?

[Sacha Stone]

They want you pregnant? Because motherhood is the ultimate act of submission from a patriarchal standpoint. The idea that you laid down, let a man inside you, let him finish inside you, and then carry the evidence of what he did for 10 months, only to then push it out and be expected to give up everything in your life for. For that man's ejaculate.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

I want you all to remember this and I'll even take a step further and tell you, I can guarantee you this, this tyrannical regime will be overthrown. And genuinely, all you need is hope and the willingness to take action. I don't know if you've seen this.

[Sacha Stone]

But tons of people are angry and.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

They will not stand for anything less than liberation. And I'm willing to believe that you.

[Sacha Stone]

Feel that way too.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

I walked away from my entire family over this. Yes, I will block you. Yes, I will stop talking to you. No, I do not play about this. Yes, it is that serious. And no, I don't care what you think. I want to talk about this phrase, letting politics come between family, because I think it's an accusation that's leveled at a lot of us who have cut contact because of people's support of Trump or Maga that we let politics come between us. Right? But it's not the politics that came between us. It's what the politics revealed. And it's not just what the politics revealed about our loved ones characters, it's what the politics revealed about the relationship itself and the disrespect and lack of trust that was at the root of it. If you still support Trump, you are either dumb as f Ck or just a hateful person. There is no other reason.

[Sacha Stone]

Their totalitarian tendencies Left over from 2020 never fully died because there was never any accountability in the mainstream. Remember that crowd that swarmed that woman and demand she raise her fist for Black Lives Matter?

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

No justice.

[Sacha Stone]

No justice. Good job. No justice.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

No justice.

[Sacha Stone]

Here are a bunch of crazy women at a core power yoga studio in Minneapolis doing the same thing. Go along with us or else.

[Graham Linehan]

Let's go.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Give us no, give us answers. Let's go. Say them out loud in front of the camera. For all my viewers. Let's hear it. Why are you being silent here it Delaney. Loud and proud, baby. You want to say it? Let's say it. Why? Okay, let's go. It's an almond.

[Sacha Stone]

A well, you should have well rehearsed.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Corporate action and words. Ready to go. Our community. I've been. I. I spent 10. I sent out $10,000 for people for.

[Sacha Stone]

Rent yesterday that people gave on to.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

My Venmo that I'm gonna pay taxes on.

[Graham Linehan]

Delaney.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Let's hear a damn answer.

[Sacha Stone]

No, don't take a pause.

[Graham Linehan]

Come on.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

You came here to silence teachers to.

[Sacha Stone]

Make sure everything was.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

I've never seen your face in 10 years.

[Sacha Stone]

Practicing and paying my money at the studio.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Don't take a pause. Be loud with court power, corporate dancers. Let's go.

[Sacha Stone]

What do you got to say? Okay, I'm the same autonomous zone that was erected in 2020. Well, that's back too. Only this time the police got rid of it much quicker, knowing Tom Homan and Trump won't stand for it.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

We are currently in the south side of Minneapolis where I want to show you a new form of resistance against ice. Another iced out method that's growing and developing. You hear these road blockades? This is at least the fourth one in just a one mile radius I've seen. I talked to one of the demonstrators here and they said it's more than resistance. It's about bonding with your neighbors. They also have flyers. They're issuing out that call for 10, 100 and 1000 blockades saying this is really a response to ICE's rapid grab and go methods where they're trying to move as quickly as they can through city streets. Stay with Kare 11 for the latest.

[Sacha Stone]

Do they really expect us to vote for these psychopaths? Put them back in power? And why? Because Trump accidentally Shared a meme with a racist image of the Obamas. At the end of it, there is no COVID pandemic to rescue them this time. Sorry. They have to deal with the fanatics who have swallowed up their party first because they're still too erratic and unhinged to lead this country. What are they going to do with all of us with Trump? Throw us into re education camps? Gulags? Shoot us outright? Get Trump. The left's 10 year campaign to get Trump is like watching Yosemite Sam go after Bugs Bunny. They always think they're just seconds away from catching him at long last.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

We're foundering fast. Oh, no you don't. The captain goes down with his ship. I resign.

[Graham Linehan]

Your captain?

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Oh, now your captain.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Oh no, you're captain.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Oh no, you're captain.

[Sacha Stone]

I'm captain and I say you're captain.

[Graham Linehan]

Captain.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Okay, okay, I'm captain. Hey, just a minute, you women and children foist, you know. Help. Help. Save a poor old lady from a horrible fate.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Help.

[Sacha Stone]

Help.

[Dominic Sandbrook]

Save me.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Save a poor old. Ready? My baby. My baby. Save my baby. Here, here, catch my baby. Here she comes.

[Sacha Stone]

They believe deeply in their mission to destroy Trump, just as Yosemite Sam does. It's just that we see Bugs Bunny a little differently. Whatever else Trump is, he's not the guy they say he is. And for that, they will always be one step behind swinging and missing. I didn't get that until I found my way out. As someone who got online 30 years ago, I wasn't ready for the effects of the feedback loop on my brain. And I don't think most people on the left even realize they're living inside a reality distortion machine. I had to watch Trump videos for myself, get to know him and his supporters and humanize them. I found that I unexpectedly empathized with Trump. It wasn't just that I could finally see the real human being, but because I too had been demonized and attacked for being a person I knew I wasn't. All I had to do was walk in the shoes of his supporters to see what monsters they really are on the left. The more they attack Trump, the more his supporters rally to protect him. Not just because they've been thrown away like human garbage by these people, but also because they look at Trump and they see a flawed hero. Someone who doesn't always get it right, who makes big mistakes and who is anything but perfect, but he's also someone who fights for them. Our culture used to understand flawed heroes because they were in so many movies. And books. Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Hello, Marianne.

[Sacha Stone]

Indiana Jones. Always knew someday you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So what are you doing here in Nepal?

[Field Reporter / Activist]

I need one of the pieces your father collected.

[Sacha Stone]

I learned to hate you in the last 10 years.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

I never meant to hurt you.

[Sacha Stone]

I was a child. I was in love. It was wrong and you knew it. You knew what you were doing. Now I do. This is my place. Get out.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Mohan.

[Sacha Stone]

I did what I did. You don't have to be happy about.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

It, but maybe we could help each other out now. I need one of the pieces your father collected.

[Sacha Stone]

Bronze piece, about this size with a.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Hole in it, off center with a crystal.

[Graham Linehan]

You know the one I mean?

[Sacha Stone]

Yeah, I know it.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Where's Abner? Where's Abner?

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Abner's dead.

[Sacha Stone]

Ariana. Sorry. Do you know what you did to.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Me, to my life?

[Field Reporter / Activist]

I can only say I'm sorry so many times.

[Sacha Stone]

Well, say it again anyway.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Sorry.

[Sacha Stone]

Yeah, everybody's sorry. Abner was sorry for dragging me all over this earth looking for his little bits of junk. I'm sorry to still be here, stuck in this dive. Everybody's sorry for something. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Brigands again. Tired of the things.

[Sacha Stone]

Come on, we're gonna get your coat.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Take your hands off me.

[Sacha Stone]

You're going home.

[Dominic Sandbrook]

You've had a little too much to drink.

[Sacha Stone]

Hey, taxi.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

What do you think you are pushing me around?

[Sacha Stone]

What a fool I was to fall for a man like you. Go with usage. And be sure she gets home.

[Dominic Sandbrook]

Yes, boss.

[Sacha Stone]

And come right back.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Yes, boss.

[Dominic Sandbrook]

Hello, Rick.

[Sacha Stone]

How, Louie, how extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Someday they may be scarce. I think now I shall pay a call on Yvonne. Maybe get on the rebound, huh? When it comes to women, you're a true democrat. Clint Eastwood in Unforgiveness.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

She don't like it much, does she?

[Field Reporter / Activist]

You riding off with me? Sally gave me the evil eye.

[Dominic Sandbrook]

Well, you know Sally's Injun and Injuns.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Ain'T over friendly, Will.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Don't mind her.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

I ain't gonna hold it against her.

[Sacha Stone]

She knew me back then.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

She knew what no good son of.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

A bitch I was.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

She just ain't allowing that I changed. She don't realize I ain't like that no more.

[Sacha Stone]

What counts isn't their past or their goodness or their purity, but their actions. We all treated Obama like a religious figure and still do. Which partly explains the overreaction by the left. It's blasphemy. To mock him, whereas it's an American pastime to mock Trump. Today's left seems to desire perfection from cradle to grave and is unforgiving of flawed heroes, especially white men. But Trump is a great character of history, a living legend. They just got the story wrong. Here is Dominic Sandbrook on triggerometry.

[Dominic Sandbrook]

Yeah, Cromwell can be a very savage character. You know, when he's commanding at some of his later battles, people describe him kind of laughing as though he's drunk. You know, he's seized with this kind of martial spirit in the sense that actually we might find very unsettling now that he's doing God's work and his opponents are God's enemies, and therefore they will be, you know, he will sigh through them as though through chaff or whatever. So that side of Cromwell lots of people might find very unsettling. And yet, on the other hand, he's somebody who wrestles with his conscience, wrestles with what he thinks is God's plan, feels himself unworthy. You know, one of the reasons in the 1650s, after, he basically, he's got effectively supreme power, and he wrestles with this issue about whether he should take the crown or not. It's, you know, would that be too arrogant? Is that what God wants for me? Am I good enough? All of that kind of thing. Most dictators don't think like that. Most dictators can't wait to get their hands on the ground. So I think Cromwell's a fascinating character and he's a really good example of somebody who, you know, there's a statue of him just down the road from us outside the palace of Westminster, because, as you say, he is seen as one of the, you know, the people in the. In the Victorian period, in the late Victorian period, saw him as one of the great heroes of democracy in this country. Would I like to see I've Got An Irish Wife. Would I like to see Cromwell's statue taken down? Absolutely not. Because I think, as with all statues, it's a testament to a particular time period that in which it was put up. But also because I think big. It's good that people know about big, complicated figures like that and they appreciate precisely your point about warts and all. I think that's true of Churchill, it's true of Cromwell, it's true of almost all of what we would think of as an inadverted commas. Great characters in history, they're always more complicated.

[Sacha Stone]

Trump is a hero to so many of us, not because he's perfect or good, but because He's a fighter who got the dirty job done and saved the day. Crimes against humanity. I asked Connor Friedersdorf the same question I would put to any Democrat. Can you name something, one thing Trump has done that is worse than sterilizing children who can't consent, destroying their bodies with medical experiments, never having the courage to stand up to the cult. Now that the lawsuits are coming and prominent groups like the AMA are openly opposing gender transition treatments for minors, the Democrats will pretend they were always against it. But we can't let them do that.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Megan in the last 10 minutes, the Senate actually reset for about half an hour, placing this bill on the informal calendar and ending debate for today. That is the third day of debate today. The Senate Democrats held the floor for five hours. Now, we knew this was coming. It was not a surprise to us that these Democrats, who were very outspoken against this bill, are doing what they can to stall a vote on it. The bill being discussed today is called the SAFE act by support. It would prevent doctors from giving gender transition surgery or treatment to minors. This bill and several others were met with a lot of opposition when they were heard in committee. If you remember, there was four weeks in a row where crowds of LGBTQ advocates gathered in the Capitol to hear these hearings. And much like today's filibuster, those hearings went on for hours.

[Sacha Stone]

The Democrats have not just supported it every step of the way, but they've actively blocked any action taken to safeguard children. It took the Republicans standing up on the right side of history yet again, as they did during the Civil War, to push this thing through. And it took the election of Donald Trump to finally bring the hammer down. Here is Megyn Kelly on AM update.

[News Reporter / Commentator]

Just last week, in the first case of its kind to reach trial, Fox Varian, a 22 year old detransitioner awarded $2 million by a Westchester County, New York, jury, which found her psychologist and plastic surgeon liable for medical malpractice after pushing her into a double mastectomy at just 16 years old. More than two dozen similar lawsuits now await their day in court. These announcements following a wave of actions by the Trump administration aimed at eliminating permanent gender transition procedures for children. The hospital, Children's Minnesota has a gender health program. It announced on Tuesday it plans to halt all hormone treatment for minors, including puberty blockers. In a statement, the hospital making clear its decision was a direct result of federal pressure. As one of the leading pediatric providers of gender affirming care in the region, we have recently experienced an increase in federal actions directed at health systems like ours that provide this care. Good. Thank you. President Trump in December, Secretary Kennedy unveiling sweeping proposals aimed at drastically reducing the number of sex, rejecting procedures, including cutting federal funding to government health programs that pay for these treatments. Secretary Kennedy commending ASPs in a statement, quote, by taking this stand, they are helping protect future generations of American children from irreversible harm.

[Sacha Stone]

And a headline from the New York Times doctors group endorses restrictions on gender related surgery for minors. Only Trump, in his plain spoken, flawed hero kind of way, had the guts to say it out loud without fear. And that gave others more courage to fight back. But Trump wasn't only saying things, he was doing things. And before long, the dominoes began to fall. What could Trump have done that even comes close to what has happened to kids at the hands of 15 years of Democrat rule? What's worse, saying quiet piggy to a reporter, tearing down the East Wing to build a ballroom, the Kennedy center, an offensive meme. Their climate of fear and culture of silence made it too dangerous to take a brave stand. Which is why it was left to the brave men and women who risked their lives and careers to put a stop to the madness, while once and for all, and along with their ever increasing authoritarianism, we'd be the UK if Elon Musk had not bought Twitter and turned it into X. And if Trump hadn't won. Here is Graham Linehan speaking in Congress.

[Graham Linehan]

Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Graham linehan. I spent 30 years writing comedy for British television. It was a career I loved, but it ended when I began noticing that women were losing their livelihoods, their social circles, and even their freedom for defending rights won over 100 years ago by the suffragette movement. I looked into what these women were saying and could find nothing wrong with any of it. They believed, as I do, that single sex spaces are essential for women's privacy, dignity and safety. They believe that children should not undergo experimental medical treatment that ravages their health and shortens their lives. They believe that women have a right to fair sport. These were not extreme positions, but for holding them, I became the target of a series of harassment campaigns that cost me my career, my marriage, and eventually drove me from my homeland. For a decade, the British police have harassed me for expressing views that the majority of the public share. In 10 years, not one person, not the police who arrested me, not the colleagues who condemned me, not the friends who turned away, has told any of us what we did wrong. Our accusers do not deal in arguments. No One is able to point to flaws in our analysis. We have simply been punished for objecting to fashionable yet incoherent orthodoxies. When I could no longer make a living writing comedy, I returned to journalism, which was my first profession. On my substack. Sorry, I interviewed cancelled women on my YouTube channel, covering stories the BBC refused to touch. On my substack, my colleague published a weekly roundup of outrages. We called it the War on Women. We were never at a loss for stories. This committee is here to discuss threats to free speech in Europe. But I briefly want to touch on the forms of quiet censorship that don't require state suppression. For the state has learned to let others do its work. When employers fire workers for protected speech, when banks close accounts, when publishers drop authors, when platforms suspend users, the government's hands stay clean. The censorship happens. The state didn't do it. In Britain, we have discovered that you can have formal free speech and no free speech at all.

[Sacha Stone]

So when people say, you could have picked a different Republican, but you picked Trump, I flip it back onto them. Tell me what Trump has done. Just one thing that comes close to this and be prepared to answer it 20 years from now, because I promise to hang it around your necks like a dead cat for as long as I live. Here is a tiktoker. Yesterday, when I was on Fox and Friends, they asked me if President Trump being in office is what's causing a good, hard look at the practice of gender transition in minors. And while of course it is, it got me thinking. And I've been kind of thinking about it ever since. It's like, why does it matter who's the president for us to practice evidence based medicine? It shouldn't. It shouldn't matter at all. And how sad, disgusting, disappointing is it that we veered so far away from evidence based practice into ideology based practice that it takes President Trump being in office for us to get a good hard look in the mirror as a profession and be like, what the f are we doing? It shouldn't matter who's the president. Evidence is evidence, period. On this alone, I would have voted for any Republican. I'd always say I'm not a Trump supporter. But then they raided Mar? A Lago and when they indicted him and when they tried to throw him in jail, that made me a Trump supporter. That made me the Braveheart meme podcast listeners a picture of Mel Gibson screaming, There won't be any Sista Soulja moments in this Democratic Party. I've been waiting for six years for the Democrats to snap out of it and come back to Republicans reality. That day never came. If anything, they're crazier now than they've ever been. Anyone who wants their votes has no choice but to go along with it. Here's Bill Clinton and his Sister Soulja moment.

[Field Reporter / Activist]

Finally, let's stand up for what's always been best about the Rainbow Coalition, which is people coming together across racial lines. You talked about Mr. Fields from Louisiana that you had here last night, a great role model. We don't have a lot of time to do this. We don't have a lot of time. You had a rap singer here last night named Sister Soulja. I defend her right to express herself through music, but her comments before and after Los Angeles were filled with a kind of hatred that you do not honor today and tonight. Just listen to this. What she said, she told the Washington Post about a month ago, and I quote, if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? So you're a gang member and you'd normally kill somebody. Why not kill a white person? Last year she said, you can't call me or any black person anywhere in the world a racist. We don't have the power to do to white people what white people have done to us. And even if we did, we don't have that low down dirty nature. If there are any good white people, I haven't met them. Where are they? Right here in this room. That's where they are. I know she is a young person, but she has a big influence on a lot of people. And when people say that, if you took the words white and black and you reversed them, you might think David Duke was giving that speech.

[Sacha Stone]

The Democrats can't snap out of it even if they wanted to. Gavin Newsom can't sell anything but hate and hysteria. Even Jon Ossoff, a guy I once supported and fought for, must sell the same thing because they have nothing else. See Donald Trump, J.D. vance, Stephen Miller. They offer a small, closed, menacing vision of America defined by fear and scarcity and exclusion. They imitate the blood and soil rhetoric of history's worst regimes. They've given people like me no path back because the only option is going back to the doomsday cult that insists I call Trump and the other half of America racists when I know it isn't true. A cult that demands I buy into the oppressor, oppressed mandate and demands I look the other way as they indoctrinate our kids and destroy every great thing this country ever built. I could have been one of those who hovered reluctantly in the middle middle and held my nose and voted for Trump. Maybe I could have salvaged some of my reputation, such that when I died, they might say good things about me instead of dancing on my grave. I could have spent my time apologizing, trying to rebuild my liberal cred by denouncing Trump and throwing him under the bus like Marjorie Taylor Greene. I could have used that to boost myself every time another wave of mass hysteria pulsed through our society. Because, see, Trump is a fascist and c Trump is a dictator and a racist. You were right all along. But that would not be the truth. Trump is only in power because we put him there. We wanted someone tough enough, strong enough, and persistent enough to never back down, never shrink back, never, never hand power to those who want to put half the country in re education camps. The Democrats might still be the ruling class, dominating most institutions, all of our culture, and the legacy media, but the rest of us have Trump, our last, best hope to fight for the country we love. And if some days feel like trying to keep from falling overboard or getting seasick, most of us knew what we were getting into when we climbed aboard. We got what we voted for. So no, I don't regret my vote for Trump. I only regret I didn't see it sooner. I didn't see what we were building, the damage we would cause, and where it was headed until it was too late.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Foreign.

[Sacha Stone]

Thank you for listening to my podcast sashastone.com. hope you're having a great weekend. And if you like my work, you can always support me by leaving a tip in the tip jar, which is on the main page, or becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you all very much for your generosity or leaving a review on itunes or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to thine own self be true.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

I saw her today at the reception A glass of wine in her hand I knew she was gonna meet her connection A hair feet was a footless man and you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want but if you try sometime you might find you get what you need. We went down to the demonstration.

[Sacha Stone]

To.

[Yosemite Sam (Impersonator or Character)]

Get our fair share of abuse singing we're gonna and of frustration if we don't we'll blow up your confused and you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want but if you try sometime you might find you get what you need? And you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want? But if you try sometime you might find you get what you need oh, nothing. You got what you need up. Get what you need? You get what you need. I saw her today at the reception.