
In this episode of Nightly Scroll: Daily Wire WH Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan & Family Matters Podcast Host CJ Pearson join me in the swamp to talk Trump’s crime crackdown, the violent and intolerant left, and how conservatives have retaken their rightful seats at the cool kids table.
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Are you tired of weak, watered down coffee? Blackout coffee is bold, it is fresh, and it is roasted right here in Florida. Shipped fast to all 50 states. Go to blackout coffee.com scroll and use code scroll for 20% off your first order. Don't settle. Upgrade your coffee now. Well, hello. Welcome to Nightly Scroll. It is Wednesday evening. I am Hayley Caronia. Thank you for joining me tonight. And, yes, I am still in the swamp here in D.C. thank you to Rumble for allowing us to use the studios down here. Everything has been wonderful. It has been great. And I actually, I kind of love dc. I hate to admit it. I kind of. I'm kind of loving the swamp. So it's been fun. And I have a great conversation coming right up for you in just a few minutes. So I am talking to Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olahan and C.J. pearson, host of the Family Matters podcast. It's an awesome conversation and you are going to love it. Put your phones on. Do not disturb. Nightly scroll starts right now.
B
Foreign.
A
CJ And Mary Margaret, I'm so happy that we got together and we were able to get together and yap together, which is fun. But I have to ask you, because I'm not the DC expert. You guys are. What is DC like when it's shut down versus not shut down? Because I've been walking around, it seems like it's pretty quiet. Is it always like that? What's different?
B
I mean, it is usually pretty quiet during the shutdown. It's not quiet otherwise. I mean, we have a pretty decent nightlife. If you think of a lot of Republican staffers drinking themselves silly is a decent nightlife, but that's usually the vibe around here. And I think it's pretty quiet. You see less people out on the streets. A lot of my friends work in Congress, so. And some of the people that I work with in the White House are home. They're not actually at work anymore. So that's weird. We're trying to reach out to different people. And I don't know.
A
C.J.
B
What do you think?
C
Well, you know, honestly, the levels of productivity are probably the same whether or not the government shut down or is.
B
Still working and whatnot, not doing much.
C
Gets done in this town. But as far as things are going, you know, I think obviously the shutdown has made, you know, a lot of events. So there was a story about the Hispanic Heritage Month event was canceled at the White House because of Chuck Schumer. You know, they say they love Hispanics, but, you know, here they are canceling their festivities. But what we're seeing, apparently, I saw. Have been at that brief in Bianca Barza.
B
Yeah.
C
So they want to have the fiesta in the, in the Rose Garden.
B
I did. I was there for that. Yeah. Yeah. No, that, that's funny. I think the White House is interesting because they're pushing to have a lot of events still go on. So I know the President went to a Navy event on Sunday that technically I think should have been canceled, but he still made it happen because he wanted to. Like.
A
But isn't that the thing? Can't we just make everything happen? I mean, we can, theoretically. I feel like the government shutdowns are very ceremonial and it's very symbolic, but you can just keep this going. I mean, what do you mean? It just. And then whenever this comes to an end, they're going to stay up all night, they're going to vote for it, they're going to find more ways to steal our money, and, you know, the lights turn back on and then it's business as usual, corruption and other BS because no one really gets anything done. But you brought up something that I wanted to talk about. You said Republican staffers are drinking themselves silly. Do you think they're drinking more now that Trump's back in office, or were they drinking more when Biden was in office?
B
Oh, that's a good question. I mean, I guess you have more Republicans in the city now, now that Trump is in office. There's just been an influx of people working for Trump or, you know, different conservative organizations that are here. I mean, a lot of people in media would say that there's more stories to be had when a Democrat is in office. If you're working in conservative media.
A
Right. You're on offense.
C
Yeah.
B
There's more. There's more oppo, they might say. But, I mean, with a Republican administration, you just, you have people all over town. But I think we were kind of sort of just talking about this. They drink at different places, they're in different spots. I think I saw this super interesting article about how the new Republican crowd is a more highfalutin crowd than it used to be.
C
I love their caviar.
B
Yeah, that's what it was. That's what it was. They like their caviar and their martinis. It used to be a beer. Beer was the Republican drink.
A
Right.
B
I mean, traded pickle martinis. Yes.
C
It's kind of wild, but I think even with many, as many Republicans that are drinking or whatever, no one's drinking as much as Kamala Harris I see every single day on this, like, book tour she's going. It just seems she gets more and more intoxicated with every single stop that she has. It's so interesting to me. I think that's who I'd actually want to drink with. Everyone's always like, who do you want to grab a beer with? Politics?
A
That's the question I want to.
C
Chris Savvy be with. With Kamala Harris. I think it would be a fun. I think it'd be a very revealing conversation.
A
Or Nancy Pelosi, if you really want to turn up, I don't think. Harder some harder alcohol with her. Yeah. Again, I don't think I could keep up, but. So DC We've got this crime crackdown that started here, right? President Trump deploying these National Guard troops. You said that there are some National Guard troops outside of your apartment. Have you seen a difference? What, what, what is this like?
C
Yeah, I think President Trump is definitely making a big difference and, you know, making D.C. safe again, which I think it's so crazy. There's even opposition to this, right? This is our nation's capital. There is no reason it should be, you know, downtrodden by gang bangers, illegals, whatever it may be. And I think it's promises made, promises kept, and the fact that the left is so upset with a politician actually doing what he said he would do, like, this is what he ran on. Like, these aren't some random, you know, things that he's just inventing out of thin air. These are the very things that President Trump received a mandate to do when he was elected overwhelmingly in November. And so I'm glad to see it. You know, I think, you know, there's been definitely a substantial decline in the crackhead occurrences that I've. That I've seen. And, you know, I think it's. It's for the better. And it's, again, crazy to me because, like, they. There was in the beginning of this, there was, like, this urge to, like, try to frame this as, like, anti black, when disproportionately in this city, in D.C. it's a majority black city, who are actually the real victims of a lot of these crimes and all these things disproportionately black and brown people. And so if you want to say this is anti black, it's actually helping more black people than it could ever hurt.
D
Right?
B
Yeah, no, I, I found the whole thing so interesting just from, like, a press perspective, too, because obviously, all the press are people who live in D.C. we're White House correspondents, so we're all here all the time. And when Trump initially announced this, of course, the reaction of Legacy Press is to find a way to say, trump, bad. You know, this move bad. And so I was in the. A briefing or like a press event. We were waiting for Trump, and I was talking to a bunch of reporters about this move, and I was like, yeah, it seems like we do need a crackdown. Right? We do need to clean up D.C. crime, because we've all had a situation like this, and two out of three of the people around me instantly were like, oh, yeah, I've been mugged. And it's.
A
And these are leftists in the media.
B
Or just like, regular White House reporters? Yeah, like, I wouldn't necessarily say they're leftist. They're maybe more from, like, from outlets that they consider themselves moderate. I don't know if they actually are, but. And so they were both saying, we've been robbed in daylight in. In D.C. there's another reporter, Iris Tao, I think, who talked about how she had been brutally robbed and attacked right outside her apartment in broad daylight in D.C. so everybody has a story. Thankfully, I am not one of those people. I'm usually really careful. I try and stay on Capitol Hill or by the White House. And if I'm out late at night, I'm really, really vigilant because I know all of these stories. But, you know, I met. I commuted in D.C. for years. I was on the Metro. I've seen many, many scary men who, you know, come up, come up to you and act inappropriately and make you uncomfortable. You tell the Metro police, they don't do anything about it. So it's just. It's a totally different landscape now, and it makes me feel much more safe. When I'm driving around, I know my little sister's going in and out of Union Station, and she's telling me there's less homeless men harassing her. So it's just a good situation across the board.
A
I haven't been in D.C. in a while. I was explaining, explaining I was on Vince's show earlier today, and I hadn't been here since 2021, I think, is the last time that I was here. And the last time that I was here, I was around Union Station.
C
Yeah.
A
And that's where there's this hub of homeless people.
B
And they.
A
They'll yell at you, and they're, you know, they're covered in their blankets, and there's. They're all over the place. Right. So I haven't been to Union Station this trip, so I haven't seen it. But I've been pleasantly surprised with how clean the city is. And I did. I went around. I did some man on the street interviews yesterday. Yeah, well, interestingly enough, I'm trying to interview people. No one speaks English. It was hard to find someone who speaks English. I'm like, okay, well, I need something. And. But yet people were. I was asking people about the difference in the crime, and did you welcome the National Guard and things like that? And a lot of people said, well, D.C. was pretty safe, and I feel safe now. You know, they didn't really feel like there was a difference. But how do you. How do you protect yourself in a city like D.C. because, you know, I used to live in New York City. It's next to impossible to get a gun. It is next to impossible to protect yourself. We were talking before the cameras were rolling about even just having mace.
B
Yeah.
A
In a city, it is hard to get. And so tell me about that. Like, do you carry? Do you carry? What does this look like?
C
Well, I'm from Georgia, where, you know, you don't really need much to get a gun. In D.C. it's a very, very different terrain. There's no reciprocity.
B
Right.
C
Which I think, you know, when Congress does get back and decide to do their job, maybe they should look into that. You know, federal reciprocity for gun rights. I think the Second Amendment is all you should have when it comes to your license to carry. But, no, it's incredibly hard to have a weapon here, which is why it's so important for the President to be doing what he's doing.
B
Right.
C
As far as whether or not DC Was safe before the crackdown, I think at the end of the day, one person's experiences don't speak to anyone else's. And I think that's what a lot of people in the liberal media did. They would say, well, I. I've never been mugged. Okay, well, you have been presented with five examples of people who've gotten.
A
Right.
C
We've gotten beat up, bloodied on the streets, and now you're saying, because it didn't happen to you. And by the way, you live in Alexandria, Virginia. You're saying there's no crime problem in D.C. which is absolutely just crazy. And so I think that was one of the biggest things that I saw, you know, in the coverage of this entire crackdown that was so interesting to me is that, like, the amount of reporters that were just so, you know, consumed with their own Lived experience as they're like, well, it didn't happen to me, so it's not happening anywhere. And they live in Georgetown where, you know, like, no, it's not happening.
B
Which is pretty safe because it's not very metro accessible, actually.
C
Right. By design.
B
Yeah. I mean, the whole thing is so ridiculous. Like, you would not be walking alone late at night in D.C. but you're. You want to say that the President shouldn't be doing this, and it's authoritarian. The mayor of D.C. literally asked the National Guard to stay. Like, they're here to stay because she asked for it. And she is certainly not a fan of President Trump. Maybe she is now, but like, before she really wasn't. So, I mean, I think everyone with a brain can admit we needed this. It's good that it happened and we're safer now. But at the end of the day, legacy press at the White House doesn't think a story is a scoop unless it's negative. So that's kind of how they operate. I do not carry a gun. I was just telling you guys. Before the cameras were rolling, my dad took me to the range and after we practiced together, he said that Helen Keller was a better shot than me. So I don't think I should be carrying anytime soon.
A
Practice makes perfect. I'm so excited. So I, I've shot guns once and I, I told them because my producers took me to a gun show recently and you know, I'm, I'm getting my hands on it. I'm feeling a little more comfortable.
B
I'm like.
A
They were like, let's go shooting. I said, no, I need to take another class or something. I'm just nervous, so.
B
No, it's scary and it bounces when you shoot it and it's just, it's. It's a lot.
C
So it builds up your shoulder muscles.
A
Yeah, it does.
C
Kickback is, is something.
B
I was sore. Yeah. So I, I need, I need to practice. But I mean, I used to live in. I went to Catholic U, which is in Northeast D.C. so I was there. I graduated in 2018. And I would go running on the. This path, which in retrospect wasn't super safe. And I knew it wasn't really safe, so I would carry pepper spray in my hand and I would try and like hide it in the, you know, the, the little cylinder you can make in your hand because I knew it wasn't technically allowed to have it. And so I would order it to my parents house in Virginia and then I would pick it up and bring it back to D.C. with me, and I would run with it in my hand just in case. And there were a few situations where I started to get that nozzle ready because it was scary. And I, you know, I had Uber drivers tell me in college, like, oh, I'm surprised that you're here in this part of the city slowly getting better. But I mean, it's just so absurd how, you know, you can't protect yourself, but then, you know, when the crime happens, you know, you. Maybe you should have been able to. It's just, it's, it's. It's ridiculous.
C
It's crazy. And I think also too, it's like looking. I remember, like, female friends of mine, they would talk about, like, when they would go on runs or go on walks around, like, Southeast D.C. or wherever it may be, they would have like that little birdie thing. Like you pull the thing and it makes a noise.
B
Yeah.
C
What the hell is a sound going to do to a crackhead?
A
Yeah.
C
You know, it's just making noise. Oh, everyone, I'm getting. I'm getting mugged.
A
But it's like I had one of those when I lived in New York too, because again, having mace was hard.
C
Yeah.
A
And I used to think to myself, what is this going to do to your point? But also the, the amount of times that I pulled it out by accident on the subway and then it's making the noise and nothing but I'm like, this is just a stupid.
E
Oh, my gosh.
B
That would scare me so much.
A
It was so stupid. But I wanted to ask you about, you know, because J.D. vance, our vice President, was in the White House briefing room the other day, and that's what an incredible experience. Do you get a heads up when someone like that comes to the White House briefing room, or do you just walk in and you have no idea what is that like?
B
So I, I am lucky to be able to be around the Vice President fairly often. Recently I was actually. This was a really sad occasion. But I traveled with him and Usha to Minneapolis after the Annunciation Church shooting, and they visited with the families of the victims. And that was just like a really incredible experience to be able to be there. So sad. But to see them comforting these families in that way. So I have a lot of respect for the Vice President and we didn't have a heads up when he was coming to the press briefing. But the way you can sometimes know is because if you watch the press brief, see the podium has a little identifier on it. And so sometimes they'll take it off. And so, you know, then we're all waiting, and we're like, where is the little, you know, president of the United States or White House plaque or Vice President of the United States? So on that day, I think Peter Doocy had a heads up because he was doing this live hit before the briefing, and he's like, we might have a special guest. And the rest of us were like, wait, what?
A
We do?
B
We do. And then. I know. And then they brought out the little plaque and. And they started putting it up, and we couldn't see Vice. So initially we were like, oh, President of the United States. And everyone was like, oh, my gosh, Trump's coming. And then the guy moved, and we saw it said vice President. And I think everyone was kind of like, oh, interesting, because Vance has never done that.
A
So in the moment, you have to just pivot. Whatever questions you had for Caroline Levitt, you're like, yes, Vice President. Time, literally.
B
And sometimes the question you might ask Caroline is different than the one you would ask Trump, and then when you would ask Trump is different than the one you would ask Vance. And so this was so interesting because Vance can speak with authority. He is speaking on behalf of the president, definitely. But also in this situation, he was speaking on behalf of himself because he's the one that's communicating with lawmakers about the shutdown.
D
Right.
B
So that was super interesting to see him in that light. Some might say a little bit of a presidential light. And then also, the way the press were interacting with him was fascinating because, you know, I think the legacy liberal press are more inclined to dislike him. But he was getting real laughs. He was getting, you know, looks of amusement. I think people liked him. I was fascinated by it, especially the female press. I think they liked him, which I don't. I was very intrigued by it.
A
So, C.J. i wanted to ask you because I. Because Vice President Vance, when he was answering questions and to your point.
B
Yeah.
A
The media was kind of taking a liking to him because he is a normal guy for the most part, and he is fun. So I think this whole sombrero gate and all the memes and stuff is separating the boys from the men. And what I mean by that is all the boys are getting butt hurt over stupid sombreros and mustaches. And Vice President Vance has been the target of a lot of memes, and he thinks it's funny. Also, Speaker Mike Johnson also says, this is funny. You get over it. You. Yeah, let it roll off your back. We have work to do. Okay. But then people in the media are talking about these memes and they're trying to make it a thing where this is just. It's 2025. If you're not able to handle the Internet, you need to get out of the kitchen because you clearly can't take the heat. Like, what's your reaction to memes meets politics and being serious versus having a little fun Sometimes, you know, I think.
C
People want levity again, right? They want to have fun again. And I think J.D. vance gets that. You know, memes made President Trump or helped President Trump become president in 2016, and him leaning into that virality on podcasts like Theo Vaughan, Joe Rogan helped him return to the White House in 2024. And I think J.D. vance and Mary Margaret can speak to this as well. Is a chronically online guy. He runs his own Twitter account. So he has his finger on the pulse. And I think that's why he is able to just kind of like defuse these situations with kind of humor and laughter. And when the media tries to just kind of like patronize him or try to come at him from a place of self righteousness, he's like, people actually don't care. You're saying this is racist and that people are so upset. Actually, that's just not true. And he's leaning into it and he doesn't take himself too seriously. He takes obviously the work seriously and what he's doing for the American people and the President's agenda. But as far as just being a dude, that's what he is like, which I think people really like about him. Like, he goes on, he goes in the podium, he cracks a couple of jokes, he goes in the podcast, and he just is able to meet people where they are. Where I think Hakeem Jeffries is always trying to, you know, project himself as, you know, bigger than who he is, even though he's just a teaming Barack Obama. And so I think that's exactly why you see this problem on the left is that like, they all are just so self important in their own eyes.
B
There's also like a weird vibe where on the Internet everybody seems to like the old lawmaker mantra seemed to kind of be like, we pretend we don't see what's happening on the Internet, and then we issue our statements as if, like, we're above it all. Whereas Vice President Vance, he's assessing everything, he sees it all. And then instead of pretending that he didn't see it, he's like, all right, guys, here's the whole situation. Here's what I think about it, and here's why you're stupid. And it's just this very interesting, kind of like clean, wholesome approach to the situation. And you would think that everyone would do that, but they don't.
A
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E
Let's play this or Eminem or Taylor Swift. Or any other white person, understand what you're saying? Because she's going to go to the super bowl and round up. How's she gonna know who's who? Because the Supreme Court has given permission to question anyone who has a Spanish accent who has a dark skin. Yeah. So that's why. Here's the thing. Everybody get a little cocoa butter, sit in the sun. That's the first thing. And then, and this is the only time you can probably ever do this, give yourself a Latin accent, you know, Whoopi, that is such a good idea. And see if she can tell who's who.
A
Okay, so we're trying. According to Whoopi Goldberg, we all. Anyone who goes to the super bowl halftime show who's a leftist, they are going to tan themselves either in the sun or with makeup. They're going to fake a Latin accent to confuse ice.
B
I had never heard of Bad Bunny. I don't know if I'm old or if I'm out of touch. I had never heard of him before. I don't understand why the NFL would do this in the first place when NFL fans like country music or like normal American music that is is popular. So I would have said we should have someone like Morgan Wallen. I know Taylor Swift wanted to do it. I don't think she would have been widely well received as the NFL halftime show. But yeah, I don't know. Whoopi Goldberg and her whole show, that half hesitant applause there, even her applause group knew that this was an embarrassing thing to say. So they're just, they're spinning out of control. The. The View doesn't really have anything left to say, at least that I would find interesting. And even their laughable sound bites, it's losing. They're losing touch. And I mean, they have been for a long time.
A
I don't watch the show. I honestly, I don't watch a lot of media. I get a lot of my clips on X. Yeah, I don't have a cable either. I cut the cord years ago. So, yeah, we're ahead of the curve. Did you guys grow up on Bill Nye? Bill Nye the Science Guy? I remember, like the best day in school was when the TV rolled in and you knew that we were going to watch something and it was normally Bill Nye the Science Guy. And so for me, it's hard to know that he is a leftist and all this stuff. So yesterday we were walking by Capitol Hill and there was a big protest outside. Well, when I say big, it wasn't that big. Probably like 30 people outside. Someone was giving a speech. We didn't even know who it was, but it was about NASA and cuts to NASA funding. And Bill Nye, the science guy, apparently was out there, and he told the deputy editor of the Huffington Post to reject science is unpatriotic. How do, how do we get to this point where leftists decide what science is and we have to go along with it? And if you question science, which is the whole point of science, by the way, you're not allowed to do that.
B
Oh, my gosh. Well, Haley, I wrote a whole book about this, about leftists trying to tell us that we should believe their radical ideology just because they want us to, because it makes them feel good. And, you know, we saw this so exposed in the coronavirus pandemic with the way that we were. We had all of this insane ideology pushed on it, whether it was had to do with coronavirus, whether it had to do with critical race theory, gender ideology, you name it. And it's been like this for a long time. We're not allowed to actually look at the facts. We're supposed to prioritize ideology and feelings. And that age is over, thankfully. I think more and more Americans on all of the issues that I just mentioned are aware that we're done with that. And the people like Bill Nye who are still pushing that kind of thing, they're. They're fading into the sunset.
C
Honestly, the old man's gone senile. And I think, like, first let's just accept the premise.
A
Totally.
C
Right, let's. If rejecting science is anti patriotic, then is rejecting the biological differences between men and women on patriotic.
E
Right, and that would be.
C
The left is rejecting a study that came out that actually substantiates what President Trump has said about the link between Tylenol and autism. Is that rejecting. Is that now unpatriotic? Right. So it's like, why is certain science, like, you know, viewed as, like, kosher? Okay? But the science that doesn't, you know, vibe well with their, you know, social justice ethos, like that science, it doesn't matter anymore, right? And so they actually don't believe anything that they say. They just speak in all of these, like, random, very poorly written bumper sticker taglines that actually, when you dig deep, completely fall apart. Because the Democrats are anti science. They hate science, because if they did love science, they would be rallying with Riley Gaines. But instead, what are they doing? They're calling her a bigot, anti trans hater, all of those things, because they actually don't mean a single thing that they say, right?
A
And the left likes to be the arbiters of truth when it comes to science. Because when they can use it to lock us down or keep us in, when they paint little circles in the grass and say that you have to be 6ft, 6, 6ft apart or wear a mask here, or you have to be vaccinated or you can't go into this restaurant. I mean, they like when they get decide what science is. But here's just a reminder of Bill Nye. This is right ahead of the election. He was saying that in order to stop climate change, you must vote. This is how you stop climate change.
F
Listen to this, as we often call it. This plan has no plans to address climate change, no plans for long term dealing with these sorts of problems. If you have young voters out there, encourage them to vote. People say, what can I do about climate change? If we were talking about it, associating it with big storms like this, that would be really good. But the main thing is vote. Thank you.
A
Thank you, Bill Nye, the science guy. So apparently the way to stop hurricanes and to stop stop climate change is to vote for Kamala Harris. And I would like to say that President Trump is in office right now. People have been pointing out that there has not been a hurricane. It's hurricane season right now and there are some storms brewing, but we haven't been hit by a big one. Knock on wood. It could happen, right? Hurricane season is not over. But it's just funny that he would even say something like that.
C
It is crazy that he would say something like that. And I think actually underscores the importance if he really wants to make sure that we're prepared for hurricanes, maybe we should call on Chuck Schumer to end this ridiculous shutdown so their government is actually open and operating. So when hurricanes do hit, as they're expected to soon, those local communities, all the resources they need from the federal government. But also too, you know, talking about, you know, climate change and emissions and all of these things. Let's talk about China's role in facilitating that. Let's talk about India's role in contributing to that. And also, too, let's actually just be factual here. President Trump has worked with organizations, conservation organizations like the American Conservation Coalition. He signed an executive order, the Make America Beautiful Again Commission. He created that to address ways that we can continue to make America beautiful and keep it beautiful. And so this idea of the president doesn't care about these issues is actually completely wrong. He doesn't believe in, you know, climate justice as some type of religion. He doesn't believe that we should ban cows or embrace the new Green Deal, which is absolutely crazy. But in terms of actually keeping America a beautiful place to live and to. And to grow up and raise your children, he absolutely supports that. So it's divorce from reality, which apparently is where Bill Nye likes to live these days.
A
Yeah. You think that voting for Kamala Harris would have stopped the. The wind and the rain and all of that, or what would. What would the climate have been like under Kamala Harris, president?
B
Who can even say? But I just, you know, his rhetoric there just reminds me. I feel like that conversation has really faded from the national dialogue in such an interesting way. You know, like, this election ended up being about what, abortion, transgenderism, the economy and immigration. And Bill Nye is kind of a figure of the past trying to remain relevant by scaring people about climate change. I mean, I know you hear about millennials who are still worried about having kids because they don't want to ruin the climate or hurt the world, but at the end of the day, that's not the issue that Americans cared about so much. And I think it's just another reminder that there are factions of the Democrat Party who are just really out of touch with most Americans, and they're trying to hearken back to the scary days of your when they could control Americans and they can't anymore.
A
Well, it's fear mongering, Right. And speaking of fear mongering, the left is doing. They are doing the most to ramp up this violent rhetoric. Right. So, of course, with President Trump sending in troops to different blue cities to clean up their mess. Right. Mayor Brandon Johnson in Chicago said that it's actually the right who wants to have a redo of the Civil War. Listen to this.
D
I said very candidly that the right wing in this country wants a rematch of the Civil War. I just. I want that to sit in right now. Because the President of the United States of America has declared war on the people of Chicago and people across America. He's more interested in giving billions of dollars to other nations, while farmers in urban cities around this country are literally being destabilized. And so whether it's the legal system, whether it's through executive order, or whether it's through the brave women and men who are serving as rapid responders, we literally have people who are volunteering in this city on the Southwest side side, the Northwest side, all over this city to make sure that we're protecting children from Being separated from their families. And, and we're talking about volunteers who are literally putting themselves at risk of being shot and killed by the federal government.
A
And so what, so your reaction?
C
First, the guy's batshit crazy. And it actually makes sense why his approval rating is in the near single digit jets. You know, the only civil war that he should be consumed with is the one that's happening in his own city between the Crips and the Bloods. And maybe if he was more focused on, you know, tackling that problem, you know, people wouldn't call Chicago Chira. Right. And so in terms of political violence in this country and, and violence between the left and the right, the bullets are coming from one direction, left to right. You look at what happened in the text that, you know, just came out from the Attorney general candidate in Virginia, J. Jones.
A
Right. I want to talk about this too.
C
It's disgusting where he's musing about the death of the, the former speaker of the House of Delegates and that person's children.
A
Right.
C
Saying that he was breeding little fascist children.
A
You're. You're talking about children. Yeah, calling them fascists again. These are the words, these buzzwords that they hang on to. Fascism, Nazi, Gestapo. Now everything that the right does is bad. It is evil. And now you have people who are mentally ill, they are listening to these words. They are learning them. They are. And then the more you say it, the more they believe it, the more it becomes true. And they think, oh well, if Trump is Hitler and ICE is the Gestapo, well, what do I, I'm gonna stop it. And they, they are, the, the bullets are coming from one side and they are, they are trying to stop it.
B
Absolutely. I mean, look, this case, there's a case that I have been fixated on because I've been reporting on it since 2022. And it's the man who tried to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. This man was motivated. And he said this in court documents because everyone in the world was saying all these leftist Democrats, Chuck Schumer was saying, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, women will die all over the country. And so this guy saw online, he saw all these radical leftist groups posting the justices addresses, and he thought, great, I'll go kill one. And so he had four on his list. And I'm guessing that those four were Alito Barrett, Justice Thomas and Justice Kavanaugh. And he came out here with a plan to get rid of them in order to stop Roe from being overturned. And, and this was all due to the, the the rhetoric from these leftist activists and lawmakers. And that's what happened. And now we know now that this guy identifies as transgender.
A
Right.
B
Not unlike a number of other leftist killers who are also insanely mentally ill and targeting conservatives and Christians for their faith. So I, you know, I have a really hard time with this because I have covered a lot of these stories. We've seen these fact patterns, and it's very obvious, this targeted trail. And these Democrat lawmakers are well aware of what they're doing. And when they continue to push this rhetoric and they continue to, you know, tweet out from the governor of California's account that Stephen Miller is a fascist, you have to just look at it and say, all right, they know what.
C
They'Re doing down, too. You know, they get called out. They're saying. People are saying, you're clearly inciting violence. You know, we just had, of course, the death of Charlie Kirk, and on the bullets, catch this fascist. And you're going to sit here and call Stephen Miller a fascist and then double down when, you know, when you're called out for it. These people know exactly, you know, what they're doing. They know what their words are inciting. They just don't care. And so, you know, I think there was a time where there may have been considered by some to be hyperbole, when people would say, oh, the left wants us dead. No, these people actually want us dead.
B
Like, they want our children dead.
C
There's a faction of their party that is completely motivated by this lust for violence and the demise of their political opponents. And. And what's crazy is that all we're doing is saying that we disagree. But it goes to show, like, the left has never been tolerant. They've never actually practiced what they preached. And unfortunately, I think we saw that manifest in the most tragic of ways with the killing of Charlie. But we've seen it in other ways with the two assassination attempts against President Trump, the attempted assassination of Brett Kavanaugh, the shooting at the Congressional baseball game just a few years ago. All of these things have come from the life. And so when they try to both sides, this issue, they're like, oh, we have a political violence issue on both sides. No, this is not a both sides issue. Get your own house in order. Like, stop trying to project.
B
Yeah. And I would even take it to the. The mass shootings we've seen as well. Annunciation Catholic Church. That was a guy that identified as a woman.
C
Yeah.
B
Transgender. The Covenant School shooting. Same thing. A girl that identified as guy trans Shooting all a number of other cases of, you know, multiple shooters who identified as something that they were not and.
A
Or, or were influenced by that community.
B
Like influence, such as Charlie Kirk's assassin. His boyfriend was a guy who identified as a woman. Charlie Kirk's assassin also was in these weird online forums where he was referring to himself as a furry. So all of these people have something in common, and we're not allowed to talk about it, but thankfully, people are talking about it now, and there's, there's more of an understanding. I mean, we've asked the White House a number of times about whether they're going to be looking into transgender violence. And President Trump and Caroline Levitt told me they are, and they're investigating it. Sebastian Gorka told us that they have a very specific part of their terrorism plan that addresses transgender violence and how the administration is going to attack it. So I think this is something that tragically has become a very prominent issue, and we can't ignore it anymore.
C
And what's funny about this is that, you know, liberals, they are often quick to point out a pattern of behavior when it comes to straight white men committing mass shootings, but yet they are ignoring the clear pattern of behavior when it comes to these trannies shooting up. Right? You know, schools, churches, all these things. And it just goes to show these people are just unwilling to tell the truth if it doesn't, again, vibe with their social justice agenda.
A
And it's mental illness. I always say the, the common denominator between people who kill people in a mass shooting type situation, or they go and firebomb a Tesla charging station or whatever it is, they're mentally ill, people of sound mind don't go and kill people. And again, there's no law that they can pass that would make these things harder to do. I mean, it's already illegal to go kill people. It's already illegal to firebomb a, a building. It's already illegal to go kill people in a school. It's already illegal to do these things. So the leftist response to this is not rooted in reality. But I wanted to talk to you guys about the future of the conservative movement, especially because, you know, we're not as young as you are. You're. You're really carrying the torch here. But I feel like I have a lot of older people watching my show, and I love them to death, but I do want to reach younger people. And how do we do that, do you think?
C
I mean, we got to reach them where they are. I think we've Got to, you know, live in the way in which Charlie did, which is, I think, go directly where they are, which is on our college campuses. I think a large part of why so many young people for a long time are trending to the left, and I think we've done a lot to reverse that, was because they were only hearing one set of ideals. They were only hearing progressive ideals from their college professors and they were never challenged. And of course, when someone has a PhD behind their name, you give them a certain level of validity to everything that they're saying, even when they actually don't have much validity to stand on. And so I think we gotta go talk to young people, challenge their ideas, challenge their preconceived notions and win them over with truth. I think that we have to be evangelical in our approach. We have to go places where typically Republicans don't go. We need to go into the black community. We need to go, you know, to places where maybe Republicans didn't get the best reception before. Because what we're seeing is a clear generational change. We're seeing young black men coming to the Republican Party. We're seeing, you know, zoomers coming over to the Republican Party. Gen Alpha is probably going to be one of those conserved generations we've ever seen. Why? Because they've grown up in a culture where they hate cancel culture. They are very offensive because they've grown up online. You know, go into a Call of Duty chat and you'll see it. And so I think we have a, like a generation of people who really kind of have that like mantra of around, find out. And I'm super excited to see what that looks like. So, yeah, I think we got to continue to do the work, continue to be cool and relevant and I think to be happy warriors. I think the reason that so many people.
A
You're doing a great job with that, by the way.
C
Thank you. I think the reason people like are so over the left is because they all just are so depressed and it's so funny. Like report liberal reporters will ask me. They're like, you know, how come like liberals don't throw like parties, like conservative like, or like liberal parties? I was like, what the hell are they going to party about? Like party about trains and kids. Who wants to go to a training kids party? Like, no, no, it's not a thing. And so I think like, that's the reason, like no one's connecting with them because they're all depressed, they're all angry and no one wants to be around those people. You come to, you know, conservative events, whether it's, you know, the ones that have popped up in, you know, liberal hotbeds like New York City or the ones that we do here in D.C. it's like everyone there is, like, happens to be Republican, but the biggest thing that unites them is, like, all of America. And I. I think we're the party of happy warriors now. I think it's good to see, you.
A
Know, you have younger siblings. And it seems like some of these people who show up to these protests, I know we think about them as, like, the green hairs, the blue hairs, the septum piercing. They're fat, they're ugly. Right. Like, you see the antifa wanted posters, and they're, like, the ugliest people you've ever seen in your life. But we're seeing a lot of older people show up to these liberal protests, and now younger people, like C.J. was saying, are coming over to our side. So you're in tune with your family members who are younger.
B
Like, what.
A
What are their friends saying? What are. What's happening?
B
Yeah. I mean, just as a side note, if you've ever been to an abortion protest, it is the most, like, disturbingly unattractive spectacle you will ever see. But also, it's very much on the older side. It's not a. It's not a young. A crowd you're gonna see there. So, look, I. I agree with everything that C.J. was just saying, and I think if we are not meeting young people online, I don't know where you're going to be trying to meet them. Like, it is online, it is through video. It is through raw, authentic footage. It is through, like, real, really authentic material. And I know we talk about that, but I think we need to really dial into it even more. And from a reporter's perspective, I have never had a piece of reported material. And even if it's video, you know, I'm out there on the street and I get a video of something that I wasn't able to articulately talk to someone about. And I've never had someone that I talk to about this not be leaving the conversation saying, okay, well, like, I might disagree with you, but I can't argue with what I just saw. Right. And I think that is such an effective weapon, whether it's reporting, whether it's video, just showing people the reality of what we're talking about. Um, it's one of the reasons that I think gender ideology is. Is. Is slowly seeing its power lose its hold on our country, because we shone a light on what was going on here. We help people understand the realities by being blunt, by showing them pictures, by showing them the victims. And this is a really great way of helping people understand what we're talking about. So, you know, you could see like what the White House is doing, for example, with how they post all these deportation videos. There's definitely people who don't have the stomach for that. But I think you see your average 18 year old male who watches a video of, of these, these illegals being deported to the tune of, you know, what's that song? You don't have to go home, but you can't. I think your average 18 year old male is kind of like, hell yeah. That's pretty awesome.
C
So with like Dababy in the background, like all that is so funny. And it's like I know, like I like know all the people who are making this and they're all like, so like chronically online, but like they're doing that because they know exactly who we're trying to reach and who we're speaking to. It's a bunch of 20 somethings who are super creative and you know, while.
A
Like they're, and they have a sense of humor, which the left doesn't really.
B
Yeah.
C
And you have these 40 year old producers like you know, in the newsrooms of, you know, cnn, MSNBC or clutching their pearls when you have a bunch of gen zers, like you said, who are just like, wait, this is like cool as hell.
B
Yeah.
C
And it's funny. And so yeah, it's just there's such a vibe shift happening right now, which I'm super excited to see because for a long time it wasn't probably cool to be a conservative. I think a lot of us were probably before our time on that. I would, I would call ourselves early investors, but we're reaping the benefits now. But it's, but now it is. And I think, you know, obviously President Trump played a big role in that. I think J.D. is going to build on that. But to your point with Charlie, like he also got like the importance of doing this stuff online as well because it's like not only was he speaking on these campuses, but he's also turning them in the TikToks and Instagram Reels. So it's like, yeah, he was speaking to a crowd of, you know, to 5,000 people in front of him on a college campus, but he was also reaching millions of people on these viral clips.
B
Right. And he was investing in the team that could help him do that, which I think a lot of conservative media companies don't understand. I'm grateful Daily Wire does. But, you know, you need the team. You need the people, you need the talent, and you can't. You can't scrimp on that. And so I think, you know, Turning Point is a great example of a very talented team of people that was just a engine and still is, to funnel out Charlie's message. Yeah, and we need so much more of that across the conservative movement, because a lot of outlets, you know, you see all these conservative media outlets, they're great. They're doing good work, but they want all these people to do all of these jobs, and we need to invest in, like, talented people who can afford to be good at what they do and have the time to do that.
A
Well, certainly you guys are leading the charge and putting out great content. So before we go, I want you to be able to plug everything that you have going on. You have a new podcast. So quickly tell us all about that and where people can find it.
C
Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much for having me, Haley, and always good to be with you, Mary. Market. So, yeah, launched a new show last week called Family Matters with Westwood One. And so super excited about that. Every single week, we're going to host. We're going to host a rotating panel of black conservatives to talk about the issues are actually happening in the black community, you know, for a long time. You know, people, you know, express such shock about the seismic shift that we saw in the black community. People leaving the left running away from Kamala. Those are conversations I was hearing in the black barbershop. Those are conversations I was hearing in the black church. And so we want to kind of platform those voices that the left has tried so hard to cancel. And super excited to have Westwood One as a partner in that. And people can keep up with us on all platforms, wherever you get your podcasts.
A
Very cool. Mary Margaret, you are doing some amazing reporting. So where can people get your reporting and follow you and find you?
B
Yes. So I. You can find me@daily wire.com you can find me on Twitter, Twitter, Mary Mark Olahan, Instagram. Mary Margaret Olahan. It's a long name, but you'll find it. And, yeah, we're just. We're. We're plugging away at the White House, so follow our coverage. You might see me in the briefing room if you're watching, so tune in.
A
Well, thank you so much for joining Nightly Scroll. I'm so excited that I can be here. In D.C. until next time, welcome to the Swamp.
B
Thanks for having us, Sam.
Host: Hayley Caronia
Guests: Mary Margaret Olahan (Daily Wire White House Correspondent), C.J. Pearson (Family Matters Podcast Host)
Date: October 8, 2025
Episode: 151
In this episode, Hayley Caronia sits down with Mary Margaret Olahan and C.J. Pearson for an energetic and incisive conversation on the state of Washington, D.C. under the new Trump administration, the evolving conservative movement—especially among young people—media and culture battles, and viral moments in contemporary politics. With wit and bold opinions, the trio unpacks shifts in crime, memes, “culture war” rhetoric, and generational dynamics on the right, concluding with reflections on effective conservative outreach to youth.
On D.C. Crime Crackdown (05:02):
“There’s been definitely a substantial decline in the crackhead occurrences that I've seen. And, you know, I think it's for the better...they tried to frame this as anti-black, when...it's a majority black city, who are actually the real victims of a lot of these crimes.”
— C.J. Pearson
On Memes and Political Savvy (16:40):
“J.D. Vance...is a chronically online guy. He runs his own Twitter account. So he has his finger on the pulse...he is able to just kind of defuse these situations with kind of humor and laughter.”
— C.J. Pearson
On Contradictory “Science” Narratives (24:02):
“If rejecting science is anti patriotic, then is rejecting the biological differences between men and women unpatriotic?”
— C.J. Pearson
On the New Right’s Attractiveness (39:13):
“If you’ve ever been to an abortion protest, it is the most, like, disturbingly unattractive spectacle you will ever see. But also, it’s very much on the older side.”
— Mary Margaret Olahan
On Gen Z & Memes Shifting Culture (41:30):
“There’s such a vibe shift happening right now…But now it is [cool to be a conservative]. And obviously President Trump played a big role in that. I think J.D. is going to build on that. But to your point with Charlie, like he also got like the importance of doing this stuff online as well.”
— C.J. Pearson
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:05 | Observations on government shutdown’s effect on D.C. | | 03:18 | Changes in nightlife with Trump back in office | | 05:02 | Trump’s National Guard deployment & effects on crime in D.C. | | 09:08 | Gun laws & self-defense difficulties in D.C. | | 13:09 | J.D. Vance in the White House briefing room—media strategies | | 16:40 | “SombreroGate” memes, the new right’s sense of humor | | 20:17 | Super Bowl/Bad Bunny, Whoopi Goldberg’s ICE comments | | 23:14 | Bill Nye, “unpatriotic” science skepticism, climate politics | | 28:57 | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “rematch of the Civil War” comments | | 32:17 | Left-wing rhetoric, attempted violence, “both-sides” media fallacy | | 36:27 | Young people, Gen Alpha, and the future of the conservative movement | | 40:59 | Internet culture, Turning Point, meme virality |
This summary captures core themes, lively anecdotes, and pointed commentary that defined the episode, highlighting how today’s young conservatives are shaping— and celebrating— a new political culture.