Episode Overview

Title: Brian Stelter's Delusional Response to the Charlotte Stabbing is Everything Wrong With Media
Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Steven Crowder with Josh Firestein, Jill, and guest commentators

This episode dives into the media’s coverage of the Charlotte stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Irina Zyrutska, zeroing in on Brian Stelter's response and how it allegedly epitomizes the problems within legacy media. Crowder and his panel discuss the disconnect between what matters to average Americans and what the mainstream media chooses to focus on, calling out liberal talking points, the state of violent crime, education policy, and the manipulation of narratives around race, gender, and politics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Charlotte Stabbing and Media Spin

• Crowder’s take: Mainstream (legacy) media ignored or underplayed the Charlotte stabbing until grassroots internet efforts forced their hand.
• Critique of Media: Instead of owning their blind spot, Crowder argues mainstream outlets blamed public outrage on “racist” internet influence rather than failures in reporting and public safety.
  • “They decided that this story getting coverage should be blamed on you, and they begrudgingly had to cover it. But they finally did. Pat yourselves on the back. That's your doing.” – Crowder [11:19]
• Brian Stelter’s Role: Stelter is used as an archetype for mainstream media’s “gaslighting” tactics.
  • "He says the things that all of them are trying to say, but he's too stupid to realize that he should frame it in another way." – Crowder [16:38]
• Victim of Stabbing: Irina Zyrutska, a young woman whose murder, Crowder says, was enabled by progressive policies allowing repeat violent offenders (DeCarlos Brown—multiple priors) to remain free.
• Critique of empathy focus: Crowder hits back at the “hurt people, hurt people” trope, insisting policy should prioritize protecting victims over rehabilitating violent offenders.

2. Brian Stelter’s Commentary Dissected

• Stelter’s points:
  1. Murders rarely make national news, but this spread via shocking footage and Trump/MAGA activists.
  2. Social media activism made the story a “symbol of big city crime.”
  3. Some online reactions are overtly racist, but questions about repeat offenders are legitimate.
• Crowder’s rebuttal:
  • Crime rates, repeat offenders, and statistical realities are the issue, not race-baiting.
  • “At what number, Brian, do you stop calling us racist and grant that the person may be a career criminal and this was preventable? […] My number is three.” – Crowder [19:09]
• Notable moment: Crowder challenges Stelter on thresholds for career criminality, using sarcastic “hobbyist” and “semi-pro” criminal analogies.

3. Race, Crime Stats, and Media Narratives

• Crowder presents crime statistics to argue that black Americans are "disproportionately" represented in murder data (44% of murders, 12% of population; [30:14]).
• Criticizes “racism” as a convenient deflection, accusing the media and leftist policymakers of ignoring hard data.
  • “It would be racist to not [look at crime statistics]. You guys understand that. And you know who would agree? Every single law abiding black American in this country who is tired of their community's shit.” – Crowder [42:20]

4. Police Body Cams & Media Manipulation

• Bodycam Footage: Panel discusses how initial outcry for police body cams post-George Floyd hasn’t led to more police convictions, suggesting footage often contradicts initial media narratives.
• Predicts future leftist pushback against body cams due to privacy arguments. Draws comparisons to Canada restricting security cameras [27:04].

5. Education Decline & Government Failure

• Crowder pivots to national test score declines, blaming federal involvement (Department of Education) and lampooning excuses ("COVID" vs. decades-long decline).
  • “Standardized testing across the board tells us that the system has made people dumber. […] More money has been put into the Department of Education. Just more and more and more money, and we see the results are bad.” – Crowder [40:25]
• Argues for defunding/dooming the Department of Education and exploring alternatives like charters or homeschooling.

6. Narrative Manipulation: Trump and Domestic Abuse

• Crowder and team review a viral left-wing edit of Trump seeming to minimize domestic violence, playing an extended clip to show context and labeling opponents as either “dishonest or mentally ill.”
  • "If you interpret that 'a little fight with the wife'… as Donald Trump endorsing or supporting physical spousal abuse, you are either being dishonest or you're mentally ill." – Crowder [47:25]
• Segment closes by mocking online critics, especially those on Reddit, and drawing out the narrative’s absurdities.

7. Gen Z Polling, Women, and Conservative Values

• A preview of the next segment (begins at [56:41]): New NBC poll shows Gen Z women are more liberal, men more conservative; Crowder argues this relates to divorce, child-rearing, and societal stability.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

On Media Reaction to Charlotte Stabbing

• Crowder [13:04]: “Why is it victim blaming if someone says… 'Were you out at dark dressed like a prostitute… Well, of course you don't deserve to be raped, but those are bad decisions.' …But in this case, we have a dead woman. And we start with the solution—our mind is toward: How do we help these kinds of guys who kill these women?”

On Repeat Offenders

• Crowder [19:09]: “At what number, Brian, do you stop calling us racist and grant that the person may be a career criminal and this was preventable? Give me a number. […] I’ll give you three. Three strike policy.”

On Racism Accusations

• Crowder [42:20]: “Do you hate black people? If the answer is no, don't be concerned about someone calling you racist. […] It would be racist to not [look at statistics].”

On Media and Context Manipulation

• Crowder [47:25]: “If you interpret that 'a little fight with the wife'... as Donald Trump endorsing or supporting physical spousal abuse, you are either being dishonest or you're mentally ill.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Main theme/setup & Charlotte crime problem – [00:00]–[11:19]
• Media forced coverage/Mug Club credit – [11:19]–[12:15]
• News Recap & Brian Stelter’s Segment – [12:42]–[19:37]
• Crowder’s strike threshold//crime empathy – [19:09]–[20:51]
• Video footage/reaction to George Floyd precedent – [22:08]–[27:04]
• Police bodycams & Canadian surveillance – [27:04]–[28:11]
• Crime stats & discussion on racial components – [28:20]–[34:14]
• DA policy & "IOU" legal catch/release critique – [34:14]–[38:16]
• Education decline/statistics, school policy – [38:31]–[42:22]
• Race, statistics, and leftist ‘racism’ response – [42:22]–[44:15]
• Trump domestic violence narrative & clip breakdown – [44:22]–[47:25]
• Mocking online critics (Reddit/left) – [47:25]–[53:27]
• E. Jean Carroll segment/makeup & believability – [54:11]–[55:08]
• Women, Gen Z, and culture wars preview – [56:41]–

Tone and Delivery

Crowder’s tone is combative, sarcastic, and politically incorrect, blending dark humor with insult, exasperation, and statistical argument. Jill and Josh sustain the banter, offer cultural comparisons, and sometimes play devil’s advocate, but mostly reinforce Crowder’s framing of elites/left/media as manipulative or detached from reality.

Conclusion

This episode unpacks the mainstream media’s alleged failures on crime reporting and narratives, especially regarding issues of repeat violent offenders, racial realities in crime statistics, and the manipulation of video context for political attacks. The hosts blast the left’s fixation on “racism” and “empathy for criminals,” call out declining education under federal policy, and frame these issues as symptomatic of a broader cultural decline—one needing tough, usually conservative solutions.

For listeners: You’ll get Crowder’s signature blend of sarcastic outrage, a battery of statistics supporting his arguments, pointed media criticisms, and a preview of coming culture war topics, all delivered with an unapologetic, combative tone.