"Planning My Escape From Cuba" - Nick Shirley Returns | PBD #793

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Planning My Escape From Cuba" – Nick Shirley Returns | PBD Podcast #793

Date: May 7, 2026
Host: Patrick Bet-David (Pat)
Guest: Nick Shirley

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around investigative journalist Nick Shirley’s recent—and perilous—trip to Cuba, intended to document the stark realities of life under communism for his audience. The conversation digs deep into his experiences on the ground, the surveillance and censorship he faced, and the broader implications for the US, especially parallels with rising socialism. The latter half discusses Nick’s ongoing work exposing corruption and inefficiencies in US institutions, particularly relating to fraudulent childcare and healthcare programs, controversial legislative pushback against his journalism, and the personal risks he now navigates as a public figure.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Nick Shirley’s Trip to Cuba: Background, Risks, and Realities

• Motivation for Going to Cuba:
  Nick wanted to document life inside a communist country, as a cautionary tale regarding rising socialism in the US. Despite serious warnings from friends, family, and security, he traveled to Havana, intent on sharing firsthand accounts.

  Quote:

  “People deserve to see what’s happening…so I went and, yeah, almost got taken hostage.” (01:23, Nick Shirley)

• Arrival and Immediate Scrutiny:
  Upon landing, his gear was confiscated. Authorities were suspicious, questioned his intentions, and suspected him of being a US agent.

  Quote:

  “All my camera gear was seized…luckily I had a very small microphone…they let me and didn’t notice.” (02:14, Nick Shirley)

• Constant Surveillance:
  Nick describes ever-present surveillance by both government operatives and ordinary citizens incentivized to inform.

  Quote:

  “What people don’t realize about communism is everyone is essentially working for the government if they have a job…so like, it creates a whole entire society where everyone just snitches on each other.” (06:12, Nick Shirley)

• Local Life and Visible Hardships:
  Cuban streets are empty, cars are from the 1950s, buildings are in ruins, and there are widespread shortages of essential goods—fuel, food, medicine.

  Quote:

  “There’s no gas in the country right now, so there’s nowhere for them to get rid of their garbage. So they’re just burning the garbage in the streets.” (13:17, Nick Shirley)

  Memorable Moment:
  Nick recounts burnout, depression, and loss of hope among Cubans—especially the youth and women—even in comparison to other poor countries he’s visited.
  “I didn’t expect to see Latinos so depressed. There was like no life in the eyes of a lot of these people.” (11:13, Nick Shirley)

• Obstacles to Free Expression:
  Locals were fearful, often refusing to speak on camera about the regime. Nick actively blurred faces and respected requests not to film, fearing his footage might put people at risk.

• Blackouts, Shortages, and Daily Struggles:
  Ordinary Cubans described reliance on government rations, with some saying they hadn’t seen eggs in a year.

  “One person said they haven’t had eggs in a year … It takes years to eat a chicken.” (19:17, Nick Shirley)

  Daily blackouts, fuel lines with hundreds ahead, and attempts to consume media requiring VPNs or clandestine sharing signal widespread deprivation and repression.

• Close Call with Authorities:
  Security insisted they needed to leave Cuba promptly due to escalating risks. On departure, they were indirectly confronted by a two-star general, who let slip that the president knew about Nick’s visit.

  Quote:

  “The president of Cuba knew that we were there. Like, we’ve been monitoring you guys.” (30:03, Nick Shirley)

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2. Reactions, Propaganda, and Criticism

• Pushback from Other Content Creators:
  Nick addresses a viral clip from an American tourist debunking his story in the same hotel, alleging that Nick fabricated the risk. Nick points out the visitor arrived after he left, misconstruing both timing and danger.

  Quote:

  “He knows I’m not there. In the video, I said if… this video gets posted, it means I made it out.” (27:53, Nick Shirley)

• Propaganda and Contradictions:
  The critic claimed freedom of speech existed in Cuba while charging their phone from a generator, illustrating the country’s infrastructure failures.

  Quote:

  “He’s plugging his phone into a generator…these are straight up just lies.” (28:35, Nick Shirley)

• Communist Sympathizers and Cognitive Dissonance:
  Nick expresses disbelief that Western tourists, witnessing extreme poverty, still display and endorse communist symbols and ideology.

  Quote:

  “How can you see what I saw on the streets and say, let’s have more of this?” (26:17, Nick Shirley)

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3. Broader Political and Social Commentary

• Future for Cuba:
  Nick speculates the US blockade, cutoff from oil suppliers like Venezuela and Mexico, and crumbling government grip could allow for US intervention.

  Quote:

  “It will not be hard for them to take it over, in my opinion.” (32:27, Nick Shirley)

• Parallels to US Issues:
  Discussion shifts to widespread fraud and waste in US welfare and childcare systems, which Nick’s investigations have made public.

  • Quality Learning Center Scandal:
    Evidence Nick collected led to federal raids and a political backlash, including Democrat lawmakers blocking funding bans.
    Ilhan Omar’s connections to figures in the scandal were discussed, with Nick expressing frustration at the lack of accountability.

    Quote:

    “Ilhan Omar…she needs to get prosecuted or she needs to get deported. There’s evidence that she did marry her brother.” (40:53, Nick Shirley)

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4. Investigative Journalism Under Threat

• Legislative Pushback: Nick details California legislative efforts (the so-called “Stop Nick Shirley Act”) to criminalize exposing fraud, especially in institutions that serve immigrant communities.

  Quote:

  “They’re literally trying to make it criminal to expose fraud inside the state of California. There’s over a hundred billion dollars in fraud.” (45:45, Nick Shirley)

  He confronts authors of these bills, notes conflicts of interest, and highlights the chilling effect on investigative reporting. (49:25–51:11 segment)

• Personal Security and Risks: Due to backlash, radicalization, and threats, Nick now spends ~$30,000/month on private security—an immense cost for an independent journalist.

  Quote:

  “If you had to spend $30,000 a month on security, that adds up.” (43:18, Nick Shirley)

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5. The Reality of US Fraud – On the Ground Documentary Efforts

• Making Videos and Exposing Grift: Nick describes exposing daycares receiving millions in government funds but having no children present, or adult daycares billing $19 million with barely any clients.

  • Quote:

    “These kids are all by themselves, obviously. And the government...instead of saying, ‘Let’s figure out what’s happening,’ they come after me for exposing it.” (55:09, Nick Shirley)

  He is meticulous, double-checking facts, and careful to state uncertainties (as with “Healthy Life ADHC”: 56:04–58:08).

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6. Nick Shirley’s Personal Story, Ethos, and Vision

• Origins and Work Ethic: Nick shares how he meticulously planned his rise as a journalist, referencing his five-year plan, early influences (Carnegie, Covey), and bootstrapped beginnings.

  Quote:

  “I do everything I can to make money, to stay independent…This is from December 5th, 2022. I created a five year plan.” (66:02, Nick Shirley)

• Staying Independent: Despite offers, he’s not interested in joining major media outlets, cherishing editorial and financial autonomy.

  Quote:

  “I really enjoy what I’m doing. It is getting harder and harder…all the fraudsters are on high alert right now.” (64:32, Nick Shirley)

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7. Public Figures and Pushback—Notable Criticism

• Candace Owens’ Public Doubt: Candace Owens accused Nick of fabricating elements in a viral Brazilian story. Shirley brushes it off but notes mainstream media figures rarely enter the field themselves.

• Controversial Interviews: After granting an interview to Andrew Callahan from Channel 5, Nick felt the editing was deceptive and cherry-picked.

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8. Reflections, Advice, and Closing Thoughts

• Pat’s Advice to Nick: Remain selective about financial backers, guard one’s independence, and always keep cash reserves for peace of mind during risky reporting.
  Quote:

  “Study people’s motives on what they need from you…as much as celebrating the business, celebrate having savings and cash; it will give you peace of mind.” (83:04, Pat)

• Nick’s Core Mission: He insists on transparent, independent, frontline reporting—whether in Cuba or Minnesota—and cautions against the normalization of formerly “non-controversial” truths.

  Quote:

  “I really just want to show people what’s happening in the world, like whether it be in Cuba or here in the United States. And just, like, show it as transparent as possible.” (84:40, Nick Shirley)

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “None of the gas stations are even in operation right now because there’s quite literally no gas.” – Nick Shirley (00:00)
• “I expected to see poverty…I didn’t expect to see Latinos so depressed.” – Nick Shirley (11:13)
• “There’s no gas in the country right now, so there’s nowhere for them to get rid of their garbage. So they’re just burning the garbage in the streets.” – Nick Shirley (13:17)
• “One person said they haven’t had eggs in a year.” – Nick Shirley (19:17)
• “It will not be hard for [the US] to take [Cuba] over, in my opinion.” – Nick Shirley (32:27)
• “They’re literally trying to make it criminal to expose fraud inside the state of California.” – Nick Shirley (45:45)
• “I do everything I can to make money, to stay independent.” – Nick Shirley (66:02)
• “All these people that are now supporting communism…if you were to go live in a communist country, you wouldn’t be able to do that.” – Nick Shirley (85:14)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | | --- | --- | | 00:00–07:30 | Arrival in Cuba, gear seized, surveillance begins | | 08:40–14:00 | Daily Cuban life: decaying streets, fuel shortages | | 16:48–20:37 | The real economic crisis: rations, blackouts, no eggs | | 22:31–23:12 | Increased risk, forced to flee Cuba | | 24:43–25:22 | Tipping: $14/month salaries, hunger, desperate need | | 26:33–29:11 | Response to critics and propagandists | | 32:16–36:38 | Geopolitics: US blockade, regime collapse speculation | | 37:11–41:39 | Quality Learning Center fraud, Ilhan Omar allegations | | 45:45–51:35 | Stop Nick Shirley Act and threats to journalism | | 53:18–58:08 | Fraud in California: daycares, adult services exposed | | 59:57–62:39 | Skid Row, LA homelessness crisis | | 66:02–69:36 | Nick’s five-year plan, independence, channel growth | | 73:40–75:47 | Candace Owens and Andrew Callahan controversies | | 83:04–85:14 | Advice for independent journalism, closing reflections |

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Memorable Moments

• Nick’s near-hostage experience in Cuba underscores the very real risks of open investigative journalism in authoritarian countries.
• The existential depression among regular Cubans strongly affected Nick—the “no life in their eyes” observation was an emotional highlight.
• Pat’s advice on independence and keeping cash savings is both practical and philosophical, reiterating the importance of moral and financial self-sufficiency in this line of work.

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Conclusion

This marathon episode provides a harrowing look at the reality of Cuba today, a striking contrast with the sanitized narrative found in official tourism or state-backed media. Nick Shirley’s determined and sometimes dangerous work, both abroad and in the US, exposes the dark underbelly of corruption, institutional failure, and the consequences of unchecked government power. The discussion ranges from the risks facing modern investigative journalists to the nuts and bolts of making such work sustainable and, above all, meaningful.

For more, find Nick on his YouTube, Manect, and antifraudclub.com.

Transcript

[Nick Shirley]

This gets really crazy, actually. You're actually the first person who's ever seen us. None of the gas stations are even in operation right now because there's quite literally no gas.

[Pat]

You almost got taken hostage while you're there.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. So the president of Cuba knew that we were there. Like, we've been monitoring you guys.

[Pat]

What do you think is going to actually end up happening to Cuba?

[Nick Shirley]

Their monthly salary is $14 USD. One person said they haven't had eggs in a year.

[Pat]

What's the latest? You and Noosome.

[Nick Shirley]

What do you think about the Stop Nick Shirley act?

[Pat]

Stop Nick Shirley act. I think you're a psycho scam artist.

[Nick Shirley]

It's so bad in California. Like, so bad. Like, nobody knows how bad it is except for the people living in California. Quality Leering Center, Ilhan Omar. She needs to get prosecuted or she needs to get deported. There's evidence that she. She did marry her brother. Kenneth Owens came after me a while back. That was very interesting.

[Pat]

Why would Candace Owens come after you? Nick Shirley, how you doing?

[Nick Shirley]

Amazing.

[Pat]

Good seeing you again. Last time we did this was what, New Year's Eve?

[Nick Shirley]

New Year's Eve. It's been a crazy four months.

[Pat]

Yes. And we got a lot of things to talk about. But you just got back from Cuba. Out of all the places you can go to, why Cuba?

[Nick Shirley]

I've been wanting to go to Cuba for the past year or so because I've been tracking, like, the rise of communism, socialism here inside the United States. And so I've been wanting to make a video for a long time. Going to a communist country to show people what life is like inside a communist country. And I've been monitoring, like, the situation with Rubio, what he's been saying with what Trump's been saying. I said, well, this is probably my last few weeks to do it before they take over. And so I just hopped on the flight, bought my ticket, and coordinated security. Everyone was telling me, nick, don't. Do not go. My parents were like, do not go. Security was like, nick, do not go. Everyone's telling me to not go. I was like, well, I'm going to go. Because, like, people deserve to see what's happening. And so I went and, yeah, almost got taken hostage.

[Pat]

You almost got taken hostage while you're there?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

So walk me through who you went through. Was it just security? Did you take your brother? Did family go with you?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. So it's just me and two of my security guards. One, the one actually Cuban American, and the other one also speaks Spanish. So I had two guys who spoke Spanish. I also speak fluent Spanish. However, when you go to different countries, each Spanish is a little bit different. Like they have different slang and whatnot. And so these guys I went with, they had done operations like anti human trafficking operations in Haiti, in Mexico. And so they're very, very well versed in these hostile situations. And when we arrived to the airport, we had done everything correct. I had my visa and it was for journalistic activities. And I get there and right as I get there, they take all my. I only brought two GoPros and some DJI microphones. They take all of that and my meta glasses as well. However, luckily I had a very small microphone that I had at the very bottom of my backpack. And the guy's finger just like scuffed it and he let me and he didn't notice that I had that microphone. So I had my iPhone. And these people were literally, we were with them for probably hour to two hours as they were trying to figure out what we were doing. And I was telling him, I'm just here to make a video. Like I said, like, I have my visa right here and just want to show people what's going on here in Cuba. And it turned into kind of a big ordeal where they brought in like a bunch of other people to come ask me questions and touch the gear, seeing what was. It was like foreign objects to them, like the meta glasses. They were like analyzing the meta glasses like they like some crazy foreign object

[Pat]

because they've never seen it before. Yeah, that stuff's not going to be out there now. What was their biggest, like, did they recognize you? Did they know who you were or.

[Nick Shirley]

No, not from the get go. I don't think so. And then they asked me, what kind of videos do you make? I was like, well, I just go around the world showing people what's going on, like with journalism. And I told him my name and then one of the ladies was like, One of the ladies said, he's up to no good. Like Trump probably sent him or something like that.

[Pat]

She said, One of the ladies said, yeah, she's like.

[Nick Shirley]

She said, Trump probably sent him because I was the only American in the airport. Like I'm the only gringo there and I have these two security guards with me and literally the only American, white, American male there.

[Pat]

Interesting. So did you get anything back or. No, the cameras, all this stuff?

[Nick Shirley]

I ended up getting it back when I left the airport the next day. I was planning on being there for three days and it turned into 24 hours.

[Pat]

So everything you shot and recorded is on an iPhone?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Huh. IPhone and one of those mics.

[Nick Shirley]

Mm.

[Pat]

That's all you. That's all you went with?

[Nick Shirley]

It's all I had was an iPhone. My microphones, they took like the stabilizer. That's like the small, simple stabilizer. They took that. And I was just filming with the GoPros and iPhone and they took the GoPros, obviously.

[Pat]

So now while you're in the airport, who else is coming to you? Is other security coming? Is there intel coming? Is the military showing up? Is it a big spectacle or is it fairly low key in a different private room where nobody sees it?

[Nick Shirley]

No, it was out in the open. So right as I get there, they then take me back to this different area and from there they had two people working this desk and then they ended up bringing in three other people and there was like the boss of the airport and then two other people that they were literally writing everything down on a piece of paper. Like they don't have computers inside of the airport, so they're literally writing everything down. Pen and pen or pen and pen. Pen and paper. And the paper is not even a sheet of paper, it's a receipt, like an empty receipt.

[Pat]

You didn't see one computer in the airport?

[Nick Shirley]

No, it was all pen and paper as far as when they were taking my stuff.

[Pat]

So now when you leave the airport, are they following you? Do you feel like people around trying to watch you, see what you're there for?

[Nick Shirley]

Well, as soon as we leave the airport, we're getting followed. Like they put people on us from the get go. And so everything. What people don't realize about communism is everyone is essentially working for the government if they have a job, especially in a location like an airport, especially at the hotels as well. So like it creates a whole entire society where everyone just snitches on each other because then that helps them. And nobody knows about that. No one speaks about that, about communism. You only hear that from people who escape North Korea. Like, ya knowmi Park. I don't know if you ever met her.

[Pat]

She told me about her.

[Nick Shirley]

So when I was there, I was like, whoa, this is like North Korea. Everyone's just like snitching on each other. Or everyone's surveilling and then ready to report to make themselves funny.

[Pat]

You say that. You ever seen the movie the Tetris, the story of Tetris?

[Nick Shirley]

No, I have not.

[Pat]

Rob, can you pull up the Tetris movie? I think if there's a movie Everybody has to watch on the story of snitching. What happened is this movie Tetris. It's. It's a very good movie that came out a couple years ago. And how it happened, the mob was involved. I even want to say Ghislaine Maxwell's father was involved in this story. Rob, can you go a little bit lower and type in Maxwell. Type in control F. Maxwell. Right there. Yeah. So it was Roger learns that the worldwide rights were to be sold to British entrepreneur Robert Stan, who sublicensed them to Robert Maxwell's company, headed by Maxwell son, Kevin. So they talk about secrets, snitching on each other, catching people. That guy's getting paid. This guy's getting paid. Very interesting. So now you're leaving. How quickly do you start creating content and taking the camera out?

[Nick Shirley]

Not two hours. I get to the hotel, check in. The guy at the hotel lobby actually knew who I was. He's like, oh, Nick Shirley, how does he know you? From Facebook? He's like. He's like, oh, your videos in Minnesota were great. And he was super cool guy. So there's some cool people in the airport. This guy was super cool, and he put us in a super nice hotel room that was super awesome. But then there was these other people. Like, there's this older guy who then took us on a tour, and he was just, like, completely lying about everything about Cuba. I'm like, so this is a communist country? He's like, no, no. Socialist or socialists, but there's only one party in communist in. In Cuba.

[Pat]

That's communism.

[Nick Shirley]

Communist Party of Cuba.

[Pat]

Is that it? Is this the guy?

[Nick Shirley]

No, this is not the guy. This is a guy who we went and did a ride around with their 1950 Chevrolet Chevron.

[Pat]

Give me what you're seeing in the streets. What are the cars? What are the properties looking like? What are the people? What they're wearing? Phones, watches. What did you notice?

[Nick Shirley]

Streets are empty. Buildings are decaying, like, turning. A lot of them are turning in, like, rubble. And there's no cars in the streets. And the cars they have are from, like, the 1950s. And if any of the other cars, they do have their Chinese or from the Soviet area and just mass poverty. And everyone's just trying to get some dollars. Like, is super, super, super sad.

[Pat]

What did you eat?

[Nick Shirley]

I brought just some protein bars, and then I ate at the hotel. That was it.

[Pat]

How was the food at the hotel?

[Nick Shirley]

Super good.

[Pat]

Oh, so it was good.

[Nick Shirley]

The food at the hotel was good. Life inside the hotel is amazing. It's a five star hotel. They make sure that you have the best experience possible when you're on their side. And they don't think you're making some video asking people about communism. Which I was asking people about communism. So at the end of the night, that's where all the, like the spies. Where we eventually had all the spies come.

[Pat]

Yeah, the spies go to the hotel you were staying at.

[Nick Shirley]

Well, we got followed back. And when I say spies, you think like, oh, undercover spies. It's just civilians that are operating for the government that are monitoring what you're doing. And so they're just snitching. And the hotel that we were at was. Comes to find out it's obviously run by the government. And. And so we kind of created this bad network for ourselves where we kind of got trapped at this hotel where everyone knew who we were and knew that I was making a video asking about communism. Cause the lady that was the spy filmed me asking a guy about communism. This guy went off about communism just like how bad it is. And she then like ran away and sat down to the next person. And then a few minutes later, she's back in the hotel lobby with a guy who had caught following us earlier that day.

[Pat]

This is wild.

[Nick Shirley]

It was very wild.

[Pat]

What was for you before I show this clip? Because there's a bunch of clips I want to show them. What was something that you expected? What was surprising, what was good, what was bad? Walk me through what you saw. Well, maybe you're like, you know what? I was surprised. This is what I liked about it. This is what was concerning about it.

[Nick Shirley]

I expected to see like poverty. I've been to South America, I lived in South America. I expected to see that. I didn't expect to see Latinos so depressed.

[Pat]

Why do you say that?

[Nick Shirley]

There was like no life in the eyes of a lot of these people. Like, we all know we all have Latino friends. And a lot of them are just like, like the salt of the earth, right? They're like always so happy. So for me to see these Latinos who are so deprived and depressed, I was like, what is going on? Like, a lot of the women wouldn't even look you in the eyes. Like, they were just very depressed. Like even at the airport, the women that were working at the airport, they were so depressed. And even the men as well. Like, there's just no hope for these people. And so that was what really took me back, was seeing all these people that were just depressed and there was like no life in their eyes. And and then seeing, like, some of the. The architecture that they had. Like, Cuba used to have, like, the prettiest architecture. Like, I imagine in the 1950s, it was just beautiful. And now you're seeing, like, the decay, and it looks awful there. Like, everything just literally looks like rubble. It looks like some. Some sort of a war zone. So that was interesting to see. And then some of the monuments they had, like, look at the architecture on that. Like, super pretty. It looks like something you'd see, like, some of the moldings and stuff look like when you're walking the streets of Paris. And so to see that and you've seen the. What. What it could look like is very depressing.

[Pat]

Rob, can you type in Cuba before and after. Before communism. After communism. Cuba, Cuba. Because you put Cuban. It may be a girl before a butt job and an after. Cuba before. We've done that before. Rob, you and I were doing some podcast. We had pictures come up. Okay, so go to one of them. That's before and after 1930s, without communism then you got today. Is that what you saw? Like, were you seeing things like that on the bottom?

[Nick Shirley]

Exactly.

[Pat]

Trash everywhere, mess everywhere.

[Nick Shirley]

There's no gas in the country right now, so there's nowhere for them to get rid of their garbage. So they're just burning the garbage in the streets. Like, when I arrived, I was like, why is there all this smog in the air? And the lady next to me goes, oh, because they're just burning all the garbage. Wow.

[Pat]

What did. What did women look like? Did you see beautiful people? Did you see.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, there's some beautiful ladies there, but, yeah, everyone's, like, depressed. And then you ask them about life, and they're like, we can't talk about it.

[Pat]

Depressed, beautiful ladies.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

I know a guy that would like an area like that. His name is Adam. He's been to places like that before.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, we should send Adam there to.

[Pat]

Well, not today. Uh, let's wait to see if this is going to work out or not, but maybe one day. He's been there before, though. So let's go to one of the clips. So what. What is this one video that you have here with you and the fellow in the car?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, so this is the intro to the video that's gonna be coming out in the next.

[Pat]

The video has not been dropped yet.

[Nick Shirley]

The video has not been dropped yet.

[Pat]

Okay, so people are seeing clips that's not public yet.

[Nick Shirley]

No, you're actually the first person who's ever seen this.

[Pat]

Okay, so what is this? What do we see? In this clip.

[Nick Shirley]

So this I'm driving around with a tour guide and the intro and then you'll see some other clips building up to it. And then I'll show you guys the gas stations.

[Pat]

Let's see it, Rob. Let's see it.

[Nick Shirley]

What percentage of people do you think are suffering here in Cuba? What's your thoughts on communism?

[Pat]

Wow. So they're that public.

[Nick Shirley]

None of the guys are even in operation right now because there's quite literally

[Pat]

no gas and we stand out like sore thumbs here.

[Narrator/Clip Voice]

So they're wondering why we're here with cameras interviewing people. They want to know what's happening and

[Pat]

what people are saying. That's why people are not talking security.

[Nick Shirley]

They're asking why are we trying to leave the hotel early? Cuba right now is facing one of the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Cuba's government is a one party communist ruled country and they are facing massive failure. Food shortages, daily blackouts and a lack of medicine. And right now a US blockade is restricting oil and gas from coming inside of the country. With communism and socialism on the rise in the west, I wanted to see what life in communism is really like firsthand as Cuba has been living underneath communism for over 60 years. Upon arrival I completed all required documents and had received a visa for journalistic activity. However, once I landed, all my camera gear was seized and within 24 hours the I was planning my escape out of Cuba after their intelligence followed me all day and a two star general came searching for me at the hotel. Now Cuba and eventually plan our escape out of Cuba. Where are the people at? Don't they. The problem is that there's no gasoline. It's not easy. It's not easy to move any day anyway. We have a lot of limitation for work. None of the gas station are even in operation right now because there's quite literally no gas. When the United States captured Maduro, their main supplier of gas and oil was shut off. So the country right now has hardly any gas. And if you do want to get gas, you have to wait in a line from the government. The guy that we're in our taxi with right now, he said he his position to get gas is 1200 in line and gas from the government cost around $1. But gas, if you were to buy it on the black market cost $10 per liter. That's $40 per gallon. If you were to buy gas stations. Cuba, before they captured Maduro, was there gasoline in the gas stations?

[Pat]

Always.

[Nick Shirley]

Always what? Easy. He works for the government too. But it was easy to get gasoline. And for you, every day you can go to the gasoline station and buy it. Normally was normal, but nowadays it's really bad. Just imagine the reality of it. With a thousand sacrifices and a thousand daily struggles, the average Cuban citizen is the one really going through absolute hell here in this country. It's so interesting being here opening up, because everything is just, like, empty. That's why they put it very like North Korea, where most people opening up, massive plaza, complaining. I select, I would ask people, and then they kind of get to a point in the interview where we can't answer any more.

[Pat]

They would say they can't answer the question. Let me see the ending of it, Rob, because I got a bunch of questions right now.

[Nick Shirley]

So this is like North Korea here. Look at this. Like, they have these monuments for their leaders. And it's just like, desolate. Like when you come into a massive plaza and there's not even cars. Listen, right now you can't even hear a car in sight. And they have all this other portraits of people and past leaders, leaders of Cuba, yet there's hardly anyone even here. It's very strange. Here they're saying that this is even more quiet than during COVID During the pandemic. Less people are even leaving the streets than during the pandemic. That's how bad the crisis is right now. And the Cuban people simply just don't have money. And they also just do not have the resources, like gasoline, to be able to go out and continue their normal lives right now.

[Pat]

Nick, let me ask you, do they have Internet? Meaning are they able to watch YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or are they able to consume news?

[Nick Shirley]

They do, but they have to do it illegally. They have to use a vpn.

[Pat]

Got it.

[Nick Shirley]

So actually, if you want to watch TV show, you have to go into a booth and then they run it, like on a hard drive and they give you a disc.

[Pat]

What do you mean?

[Nick Shirley]

Like, they have these weird booths. So if you want to watch media or tv, you have to go to, like, a person who then, you know how you like. Back in the day, like, my dad used to make playlists off of CDs, right? They do the exact same thing, but for movies and TV shows. And so, like, right now they're like, releasing shows from, like, the 1990s in the. In the theaters. And in order to even use a theater, you have to have, like, around, at least I think, like nine people inside the theater to watch the show. If not, it just gets cut off and there's all These blackouts right now with power, so people really aren't consuming much.

[Pat]

What was the strangest answer you got? Like, what was a part where you're like, you cannot believe what somebody opened up and things they shared with you.

[Nick Shirley]

One person said they haven't had eggs in a year.

[Pat]

Eggs in a year.

[Nick Shirley]

Like, they talk about these books that they have, like, I think they call them like the, the ration book where they, where the government controls how much food they get. And they're like, this is horrible. We haven't even had eggs in a year. Takes it years to get it. Eat a chicken. Like stuff that you wouldn't even think about here in the United States. But because of communism and the government controlling what people can actually do and what they can eat, it dictates their entire life.

[Pat]

Did you ask about Trump? Did Trump come up at all?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes, Trump came up.

[Pat]

Were they optimistic? Were they negative? Were they afraid?

[Nick Shirley]

They. The ones that opened up on camera, they said it'd be good because they're sick of it. Like, no one. There's a lot of brainwashing that takes place. So I had a lot of old ladies were like, oh, no, this is good. Like, they're fixing up these buildings. But then you talk to some of the other individuals. They're like, this is horrible. Like, something needs to happen. Something needs to happen. So in the video, like, I still, I'm still going through and like blurring the faces of these individuals because I don't want them to get sent to jail.

[Pat]

There's some people that like, don't record me. I don't want to be on tv. I don't want to be on camera.

[Nick Shirley]

Yes. A lot of individuals are like that and you respect it. You're like, okay. Or you get to the point in the interview and you ask a question and the. And then you're like, okay, yeah, see, like, this is what happens. Like you. I reach my limit here.

[Pat]

How many kids did you see in the streets? Actual kids? Like 6, 7, 8, 10. 12 year olds?

[Nick Shirley]

Really? Not that many. I talked to a kid who's playing soccer at their university. He's probably like 12 years old. And it's super sad because I'm like, what's the biggest thing affecting your life right now? He says, the lights, like they just cut the lights randomly. I was like, oh, and how does that affect you as a child? He's like, well, it affects everything. Like studies. Like, we don't, like, we don't know when we have power. And then there, there really wasn't that many kids out in the streets, which is weird for being in a country in Latin America. Usually there's kids everywhere.

[Pat]

Yeah. Especially when it's a beautiful, like. Rob, can you pull up Cuba on a map? On a map and details of how big it is. How big is Cuba? When you saw, like, what would you compare it to?

[Nick Shirley]

Like, it was a big city.

[Pat]

Have you been to the Bahamas?

[Nick Shirley]

I have not been to the Bahamas.

[Pat]

So if you compare to Bahamas. Zoom out a little bit, Rob. So that's Florida. That's Cuba. It's not small.

[Nick Shirley]

No, it's a big country.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

It's about two times the size of Haiti and Dominican Republic.

[Pat]

Yeah. And so what part did you go to? Did you go to Havana? Just Havana?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. Okay. And there's 2 million people there. And so there's 2 million people there, but the streets are empty.

[Pat]

There's 2 million people here. Did you go to the hotel that Meyer Lansky built in Havana?

[Nick Shirley]

I don't know. I was at the Hotel National.

[Pat]

Hotel National. Is that like, the main hotel?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah,

[Pat]

yeah. Is that it? No, that's a different property.

[Nick Shirley]

That's the capital.

[Pat]

That's the capital. What else were they saying? Things like, we can't wait for something to happen. Are you here giving us news? Are we about to be free? Would they seem like they're pleading for help with you, or they were almost afraid of speaking to you? Because there's two different energies, right? Both.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. So obviously, some people don't want to speak out because they're sick of it. But one of the individuals, like, see, this is why it's gotten like this, because we can't speak out. And so people are grateful that you're actually going and showing what's happening. And because I'm not going on a. I didn't have a tour guide from the government. I was able to actually go out and do journalism. There's a lot of people who have gone to Cuba lately, and they're going on these propaganda trips, and if you watch their videos, they're only interviewing certain people or their tour guides taking them to certain spots. I went all by myself, and then I was supposed to go for about 60 hours. It turned in 24 because they all, like, they surrounded us at the hotel.

[Pat]

So what was the reasoning for you wanting to turn around? Did you just notice?

[Nick Shirley]

My security was like, we gotta go.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

They said, this is, like, one of the more risky situations they've ever been in. And this is coming from guys who have gone to Haiti and who have done anti human trafficking missions and in Mexico and Haiti.

[Pat]

So how easy was it for you to change the flight and come back early? Was that pretty smooth and easy?

[Nick Shirley]

It's pretty smooth. But we didn't want, we didn't want to let them know and tip them off that we were leaving early. So I think we booked the flight at like 3am but it didn't help because at the, when we went down to leave the hotel, the two star general was waiting for us. And so we had went out to go get the taxi and then the security guard comes, he's like, hey, don't run, they're here, they want to talk to you.

[Pat]

What did they ask you?

[Nick Shirley]

So the guy, the general, it was like a movie, like I can't. It's hard to even put it into words because if the feelings and then also like the scenery of it. It's like the stars on the hat, like everything that you'd expect to see from a movie. And they take us back into this room, he has a secretary with us and he's asking, he's like, hey, why are you guys leaving early? What was the purpose of your asking

[Pat]

you why you're leaving early?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, like why are you leaving early? We saw that, we heard that you had an interaction out front, in front of the hotel. Was everything all right? And that confirmed that that lady who started taking the cameras reported us to the government because they would have not known about that. They would not have known about that.

[Pat]

And are you tipping folks? Are they receiving cash from you? Do they accept tips? What was their reaction when you gave them money?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, so their minimum, their monthly salary is $14 USD. And so I was tipping money, I was like giving money away.

[Pat]

My salary is $14.

[Nick Shirley]

Yes, like that's how bad it is.

[Pat]

And then you gave them tip. Was it because I remember being in Guatemala, I went to Puerto Barrios, Livingston Tikal and Guatemala City and I'm going around giving tips to people. I gave $50 tips and I couldn't. One mother where her kid starts crying when I give it to her. She says, you don't understand how much money this is. What was the reaction they gave you when you tipped them? They wanted more or they wanted more?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

These guys were capitalists. They're greedy.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Okay. Well, at least in every communist there's a capitalist deep down inside.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. So I mean you'd give them money and you'd give them. I really took $1 bills and $5 bills. So you'd give them $1 bill $3, $5. And then they'd want more and more. And so, like, eventually, like, I had, like, a group of people following me around asking for money. I was like, hey, you guys, stop. I don't have any more.

[Pat]

So the moment they found out you were tipping, did you find any other Americans there that. If you're at the hotel, at the lobby, were there other Americans that are coming and talking to you?

[Nick Shirley]

Not coming to talk to me. There was other tourists, and it was interesting that these tourists, like, a lot of them, they were wearing, like, the communist gear. Like, they're wearing the shirts of Che, the communist leader. And it's so interesting that you had, like, all these Americans, not even that many Americans, but you had all these. I don't know where they're from, America or Europe, but they're all, like, pro communist. And I'm like, how can you see what I just saw on the streets and say, let's have more of this?

[Pat]

There was a. There was a guy that called you out that was in the hotel. Rob, I think if you got the clip, is this the first one or the second one? No, you got to go to the first one. There's the second one. Go to the first one. That's him. So this is the clip. He says, hey, I'm at the same hotel. Where's Nick Shirley? Go ahead and play the clip, Rob.

[Propaganda Critic]

Oh, Nick Shirley, I'm in the hotel that you were supposedly in here in Havana, Cuba, and you're nowhere to be seen. Neither is the security and the CIA and the spies that were supposedly holding you hostage. We understand that you're super tight with Trump, and basically, what you're doing is just pretext for the United States to try to go ahead and invade Cuba the same way they did with Venezuela. But you're not here. I'm at the hotel that Nick Shirley said that he's currently being held hostage by the Cuban government, and. And that he was tailed by their secret service, and there's literally no security here. I'm making a video in public in a country that he said is communist. So because of the communism, there's no freedom of speech. Well, as this brother here sees, there is freedom of speech, and Nick Shirley's nowhere to be seen, and neither are these spies he's talking about. We're actually about to walk in right now and go find out exactly where he is.

[Pat]

See? What do you say right there?

[Nick Shirley]

He's like, I'm from the United States.

[Pat]

He said, I'm from the United States. And in the part two of the video.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, so, but first, like, there's some huge flaws with this guy's video. He knows I'm not there. He knows.

[Pat]

How does that know you're not there?

[Nick Shirley]

Because I. In the video, I said if I. After this video gets posted, it means I made it out.

[Pat]

So he saw the video you posted

[Nick Shirley]

that you've already complete liar.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

He's literally there to push propaganda that Cuba's all right. Like, Cuba's not all right. This is part of the problem where you have these people who can go to a communist country and still support communism.

[Pat]

Why do you think he's doing this? He lives in America, but he goes there to push communism and say everything's going good. If he's so good, why is he not moving to Cuba himself?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, and he's acting like there's no issues. And it's super funny because on his Instagram, then he has a photo of him. He's like, talking about how great it is and how there's no issues with anything. Meanwhile, he's plugging his phone into a generator.

[Pat]

He's plugging his phone into a generator. And what's he saying in this clip?

[Nick Shirley]

So this clip, these ones really make me mad because these are straight up just lies that they then use in a small group will then believe these, and then they'll, like, believe that Nick Shirley is this villain. Or they'll believe that. They'll believe the words that this guy says are true and they're not true at all. And so you have this problem with these legit, radicalized individuals who's supporting communism after he's seeing 7 out of 10 people miss a meal a day inside of Cuba.

[Pat]

7 out of 10 people miss a meal a day.

[Nick Shirley]

A day. People can't. People are getting surgeries without actually getting medicine. Like, without getting induced,

[Pat]

you know, what does he say?

[Nick Shirley]

Here, watch it.

[Pat]

Go ahead, Rob.

[Propaganda Critic]

What Nick Shirley is doing in Cuba is settler, colonial, white supremacist state sanctioned violence against the Cuban people. Tell me how it's any different than the killing of George Floyd or than the killing of 4 million Iraqis during the United States invasion of Iraq, or then the invasion of Venezuela, or then ICE in our communities taking the lives of countless people, or then so many things that the taking of the life of.

[Pat]

So he's one of those guys.

[Nick Shirley]

Yes.

[Pat]

Got it, got it. Interesting. Okay, so then you come back on the way back at the airport, are they giving you a hard time or you're able to take off and there was no issues.

[Nick Shirley]

They gave us a bit of a hard time. So I go through, I get my stuff, because if we had just passed through, but the two star general, and with the two star general, they're like, okay, good, we'll get you a taxi. And we go down to get the taxi, and there's no taxi. We're like, okay, we're not risking getting in some random car. So we start walking by foot, and then we finally get on a little tricycle, like electric taxi, and that takes us to the airport. So we're fleeing Cuba in a 10 mile per hour tricycle. And then we get to the airport, we get through, I go and grab my stuff. I'm like, it'd be bad luck if I didn't go back and get my stuff. So I go get my stuff. One of the security guards stays upstairs with them. He gets cornered by two individuals and they're like, hey, why you guys leaving early? Like, why are you guys leaving early? And security guard goes like, we know what's up. Like, you guys had your guys on us the whole entire time. And like, in. The guy literally told security this, he said, yeah, the president knows you're here. Like, we've been monitoring you guys. Like, we want to make sure that what you guys publish makes us look good, essentially. And so the president of Cuba knew that we were there. Like, that's how fast word got out. And then like that, that just went to prove everything that we were speculating as far as the spies and being monitored the whole entire time. Like, we'd be filming outside of one of the hospitals, and all of a sudden two random guys would show up out of nowhere. And then we'd go to the next location. Then we go to the hotel. The guy who's there in the afternoons, all there by himself again, the two ladies, the. The lady is then sitting next to the guy. Like, everything proved to be real. And it would have. Like, I knew going to Cuba, like, it was a big risk, like 60, 40. It goes well. And with everything going on, like, wouldn't it have been the worst idea for them to hold somebody like me hostage? They could have used it as leverage, right? So I knew it was very risky to go, but I knew I also needed to go to show people what's going on. And so it wasn't the craziest idea to me that I knew, like, I was entering a very dangerous situation. But I also knew it had to be done because people need to see what's going on there. They're not going to get it from a communist controlled country who controls the media. But the President knew we were there.

[Pat]

Yeah. And it's. What do you think is going to actually end up happening to Cuba? Do you think Cuba is going to be free here soon and you know, part of one of the, you know, similar to what Puerto Rico's to the States, what do you think is going to happen?

[Nick Shirley]

Very possible if you're looking at it right now. The US US Has a blockade on Cuba. Their main supplier of oil was Venezuela and Mexico. Trump said if Mexico were to give them oil then they're going to impose more tariffs. So Mexico scared is scared off. They're not giving them oil. Venezuela, they're not giving them oil either. So the United States is currently squeezing all the oil and gas out of Cuba and it will not be hard for them to take it over, in my opinion.

[Pat]

Yeah. Do you have the clip, Rob, of what the President said? The ship is going to pull up. It was actually a speech he was given. He says the ship's going to pull up the moment we're done with Iran. Then the ship's going to go to Cuba. Once it's out there, they're going to be like, done, we're good, let's. Did you see that clip of the President? Yeah. So he's, you know, he is thinking this is not going to take a long time either. I think it was just a couple days ago that we did this. Yeah, this is it, Rob. Go for it.

[Narrator/Clip Voice]

An architect who's really talented has done a lot of work for him. He's got a flair, a beautiful Hispanic flair in particular. And he comes from originally a place called Cuba which we will be taking over almost immediately. Not Cubas, Cuba's got problems. We'll finish one first. I like to finish a job. On the way back from what we'll do on the way back from Iran, we'll have one of our big, maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, the biggest in the world. We'll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore and they'll say, thank you very much, we give up.

[Pat]

Yeah, thank you very much. We give up on how quickly he thinks it's going to be ending.

[Nick Shirley]

Like they're literally squeezing them.

[Pat]

Yeah, well, they were relying because the Venezuela was given oil to Cuba for free to sell and they were making their money through it. And then none of them was going, none of the money was going to the people. They were keeping it at the top. So the people were poor and they just had the gas that they were selling so people can fill up, kind of like that one guy was talking about. And anything else about the experience in

[Nick Shirley]

Cuba, Anything else, I don't think it'll be hard for the United States to take it over now. Like, I don't like the idea of the United States going in and just taking over countries. Or I wish, like, other people could do it themselves. Like, I wish the Cuban government could help out the Cuban people. So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens.

[Pat]

They're probably begging for it.

[Nick Shirley]

The people are begging.

[Pat]

They're probably begging for the government, you know. No, but the people are begging for. There's a lot of Cubans here that can't wait for that to become reality, for them to go back. It's a beautiful place. I mean, the stuff that you see, what it was like, it's produced a lot of amazing people here. You know, a lot of them are good business owners, small business owners who want to find a way to go back. You know, I got one of the kids that's a friend of my son. Every summer he goes to Cuba. He goes to Cuba just because the parents don't want him to lose the culture. Even though they know it's a communist nation, they want to go back to Cuba to be around the family. But deep down aside, they can't wait for that to become a reality. And by the way, what a. What a move. What a move of not going to Cuba and Iran before doing Venezuela because Venezuela was gonna, you know, suffocate, you know, Cuban government and China because China is relying on Venezuela for the oil so much. Interesting move, the way these guys did it. One day when we read these books to find out if this whole thing was intentional or not, to go to Venezuela first, we're going to learn a lot about history. And if it was intentional, Good move on Rubio and. And the president's end, but I guess we won't find that out for a minute.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. I mean, and also, like, with Panama, like, the whole thing was because of China. The. Because China was then controlling the canal, and then you really don't want China to be that close to the United States. And Cuba was also being propped up by China, Russia. I mean, we literally almost had a nuclear war with Cuba because of the Soviet Union, and they had nukes, and apparently they were ready to start nuclear war. So, like, it's not a good idea to have an enemy that is only, like, 90 miles away from.

[Pat]

Yeah, that's a. That's a scary thought, especially the people who live in Florida, they, they probably, anybody living in Florida is probably going to want that to become a reality. First, let's talk about Quality Learning Center. What's happened from. Of course you got a couple guys to resign. Of course you got a couple, you know, a governor that saw the video and a lot of people saying, well, you know, Nick Shirley, he's not really a journalist. And now you've done some work with it's actual policies being made with you. What is the latest with Quality lyrics in it? Because this is what I've seen, but I wonder what else you have on what's happened with these guys.

[Nick Shirley]

So the Quality Learning center, they got raided. And the great thing about these raids that took place is they had to provide enough evidence to then get these warrants, these search warrants. So a federal judge had to then grant them these warrants. And right now in Minnesota, they're also blocking people or they're blocking a bill that would ban funding from the Quality Learning Center.

[Pat]

Wait, what is that? Minnesota Democrat just voted to block an amendment that would have banned funding from going to the Quality Leering center in Minneapolis. That means what? Money not going to them.

[Nick Shirley]

I don't know if it's to go to more Quality Learning Centers or if it's to go to the Quality Learning Center. Like that's how crazy stuff is in Minnesota where I wouldn't even be surprised if they still want to give money to a empty building that has no children.

[Pat]

Rob, can you play that clip real quick? Word to the end. The words or to the Quality Leering Center, Inc. And leering is spelled L, E A R I N G. All

[News Reporter]

members having voted who desire to vote secretary will close the roll. There being 32 ayes and 33 nays. The motion does not prevail. The amendment is to. The amendment is not adopted, Madam President.

[Pat]

To the end. You gotta be kidding me.

[Nick Shirley]

Like Minnesota is the biggest joke in America. Ilhan Omar also had the opportunity to provide any evidence about any of the fraud taking place in being our future. And she submitted nothing.

[Pat]

Yeah, I saw that she submitted nothing. I don't have to.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, her silence speaks volumes.

[Pat]

Have you had an interaction with her? Have you at all had any interaction with them when you're out there or. No?

[Nick Shirley]

No. Ilhan Omar. I've tried to go to her office twice. I've gave her a Quality Learning hood or a Quality Layering hoodie. I gave her a anti fraud taxpayer club hoodie. She. She wasn't there. Both times actually. At the state of the union. Her guests were actually right behind me, which was very interesting. So I'm like, sitting down. I see Ilhan Omar. I really want to say hi to her, but I didn't get a chance.

[Pat]

Her guest was sitting right behind you?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes.

[Pat]

Did you speak to the guest?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, it was super funny because I just stood up, shook their hands, and they acted super nice to me. But Ilhan, obviously, she wouldn't say hi.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

Imagine if, like, Tim Walter Omar, reach out to, hey, Nick, let's have a conversation on your YouTube channel. I would love to do something like that and just say, like, hey, let's have a conversation about this issue. They won't ever do it because they know that they're complicit in this fraud.

[Pat]

What's this clip here, Rob? Is this.

[Nick Shirley]

This was from four hours ago, apparently.

[Pat]

Let's see it, because I haven't seen this. So neither one of us know what it is.

[News Reporter]

Let's see what the state's $9 billion fraud scandal. Yesterday, they blocked a subpoena for materials from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Investigators want to see her communications with the convicted ringleader of the theft from $250 million in Covid funds. That particular part of the probe. That money was meant to feed hungry children. The subpoena attempt came after Ilhan Omar blew off a deadline to turn over the information. Republican candidate for Senate in Minnesota, Michelle Tafoya with this. She has not participated in this process at all. So far. She has remains somewhat untouchable here in Minnesota. I'm not sure why that is. I'm not sure why we don't hold all of our suspected wrongdoers to account. There is so much smoke here, and I want to find the fire. Well, I can tell you who could talk about the smoke. Senior correspondent Mike Tobin is digging in to get the facts post on this.

[Pat]

What do you think is going to happen here? What do you think will happen to her?

[Nick Shirley]

Well, she obviously needs to be investigated. I think she's currently underneath investigation. Her net worth went from 30 million to $100,000. She's obviously guilty. And a lot of this fraud, even the Quality Layering center, she was friends with the lady who was running a restaurant in front of the Quality Layering center, who also owns daycares, when she was in videos with Mayor Fry as well. So Ilhan Omar, she needs to get prosecuted or she needs to get deported. There's evidence that she did marry her brother. I think the problem with her marrying her brother is I don't think the brother is currently in the United States right now. I think he's in the uk. So that complicates things, I believe. But if she does not get. She'll either step out of. Step down from Congress or she'll be arrested, I believe. There's no way she can continue what she's done.

[Pat]

You know, you're pushing the weight where you're disrupting a lot of these people's lives, and tens of millions of people support what you're doing because they want to know what the hell is going on. They've been wanting the government to do this for a long time. You're doing this. How much worse is security for you today than even after? Quality Quality Lyric Center Is it getting better? Is it getting safer? Or it's getting worse?

[Nick Shirley]

With the threats that you're getting, it goes in waves. But for instance, when you have people like that guy in Cuba who makes that video saying all this, these straight up lies, that just makes it even worse for you. Or you have these other people who come up with all these things, all these other theories, and it makes it even worse for you. So, like, right now, security is an issue. Like, whenever I travel, I do bring people with me because I like 99% of people. It's all love. Like, people are thankful that this fraud's being exposed. Can't have to be crazy not to be happy this fraud's being exposed. But then there is that 1%. Even if it's 1%, Pat, here in America, that's 3 million people who are radicalized. Even if it's just 0.1%, that's 300,000 people. If it's. It only took one person to go think he could even storm into the White House correspondent dinner. That guy had no shot of actually killing President Trump, but he had thought in his mind that he had to do it. And he literally stormed past Storm, past Secret Service and brought a gun and traveled all the way from California to try and kill the President. Like there are. There's a really big issue with radicalized individuals here inside the United States.

[Pat]

Financially, are you in a better place to be able to protect yourself?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes, but I mean, if you had to spend $30,000 a month on security, that adds up. That adds up, yeah. And so luckily, I have been able to raise some money for that, which helps a lot, but it's not like. So like, say, say I made $30,000 a month before all this stuff that's like, amazing. Now you make $30,000, well, then you have to spend $30,000 in security if I had to pay for it out of pocket, which is really tough.

[Pat]

How many of the sweaters did you sell? The quality Lyric sweaters sold quite a bit of those.

[Nick Shirley]

A lot of people liked them.

[Pat]

More than 10,000?

[Nick Shirley]

No, not that much.

[Pat]

Couple thousand.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, a couple thousand.

[Pat]

That's good. We have it here. I come to work, guys are wearing the quality lyrics. I'm like, I'm glad Deli's trying to learn something.

[Nick Shirley]

That's a knockoff. That's a knockoff. Go to antifraudclub.com.

[Pat]

what's it called?

[Nick Shirley]

Antifraudclub.com antifraud.com antifraudclub.com and then the merch

[Pat]

is what, at the top shop? Yeah, here we go. Yeah, I see these. I actually see these in our building with guys wearing. And by the way, some of you guys, we'll put the link to this below as well for people that want to go buy that. And also at the same time, for some of you guys that are watching is wanting to support or, you know, stuff you may want to Manect. Nick Shirley. Nick Shirley. He responds back to people on Manect.

[Nick Shirley]

I'm Nick Shirley and you guys can find me here on Manect. Go ahead and ask me any questions, whether it be about politics, about what I believe, or where I think the future of the country will be going, or just, quite frankly, anything you can ask me here on Manecht. I really appreciate all your support. I can't wait to answer your questions.

[Pat]

We'll put the link below as well for Manect with Nick Shirley. Walk me through your best friend, what's his name? Gavin Newsome. Okay. Because he said some very complimentary things about you. This right here came from them. Nick Shirley, right now. Okay, so this is what's interesting about this post. He's posting this out there saying you're going to daycare to see their kids. Okay, that got 9.7 million views. How many likes? Rob, if you can pull up the likes, 26,000 likes. Not bad. But then there's a guy on the bottom that posts a comment. His name is Nick Shirley. You do realize I'm trying to help America eliminate fraud and waste, right? No need to try to make me look like the bad guy for exposing fraud. People are over it. Start working for the people and not against them. 283,000 likes compared to 20 something thousand likes. And he's a governor. You're just a citizen journalist. What's the latest with you and Newsom right now?

[Nick Shirley]

They're trying to pass a bill that would stop investigative journalism for nonprofits that support immigration support services. They're trying to hide our tax dollars from these NGOs. And they very slyly did it. They put in health care at the very bottom of the bill. And so for me to go to California and go expose a leering center, for instance, that would become illegal if that person would then say, that was harassment. And now if you read what they say in that bill about harassment, there's a few things they say would be considered harassment. And one of those just says unwelcome. Like, if it was an unwelcome visit, they could then say, that's harassment. And so they're literally trying to make it criminal to expose fraud. Inside the state of California. There's over a hundred billion dollars in fraud. Like I would say $100 billion each year in fraud. In California.

[Pat]

In California alone.

[Nick Shirley]

In California alone, just if you just look at their medical budget, how it's gone up $100 billion, and they only had a 100,000 or 100,000% or 100,000 enrollment boost, and it's gone up a hundred billion dollars.

[Pat]

Now, who were you chasing down? There was a clip, I think I saw where you said, hey, you're the one that wrote the Nick Shirley, Stop Nick Shirley act.

[Nick Shirley]

Yes.

[Pat]

And then she's like, I don't know who Nick Shirley is. Who are you? What's your name? She was acting like she didn't know who you were.

[Nick Shirley]

So this gets really crazy, actually. So the lady who makes this bill, her name's Mia Bonta.

[Pat]

Is that the one or.

[Nick Shirley]

No, she didn't. Mia Bonted. And she didn't show up to do her job that day. I think she got word that I was coming and she didn't show up. And so Mia.

[Pat]

Mia Bontes. Shouldn't she married to the AG of California whose job is to do what you're doing?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes. Her husband is the Attorney General of California whose job is to prosecute and stop fraud. And she's making a bill right now to make it illegal to go out making it illegal and criminal to expose fraud. Just not. Not just expose it, but to investigate it.

[Pat]

And her husband is Rob Bonta. Rob, can you go to her husband, Rob Bonta. So Rob Bonta is the 34th Attorney General of California since 2021 Member of the Democratic Party, and he chaired the California Asian Pacific Islander Caucus after Javier Becerra resigned, which Javier is right now running for mayor as Attorney General to become Secretary of Health And Human Services Banta was appointed as by Governor Newsom to replace him. Banta sworn. So he. So let me get this straight. She who is married to him is targeting you to prevent you from doing their job?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes, it's very bad. And she's saying it's not a violation of the First Amendment. It would literally be illegal. And a daycare owner of the Quality Learning center would have legal authority to tell you to delete your video from the Internet on a public street. It'd be a direct violation of the first Amendment. And the thing is like say this bill, it's super, shouldn't pass, but say it does pass, it will then take the Supreme Court a year, two years to then go and reverse it.

[Pat]

Year, two years to go reverse it. Yeah. And who was the person you were asking questions? You're following somebody?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes. So I'm asking the co authors of the bill.

[Pat]

Rob, can you go to that? The co authors of the bill. Is that the clip that he had a minute ago? Yes, Rob, go to that. You were on X. Yeah, go ahead, Rob. She asked a question. Who are you? Go ahead.

[Nick Shirley]

The bill AB 2624. Why would you sign off on that? It's a direct violation of the First Amendment and it makes it harder for people to expose fraud.

[Legislative Staff]

Here we have ledge counsel. They check the constitutionality of all our bills for writing them. I work on fraud issues. You'd know that if you look at some of the work I did on the budget.

[Nick Shirley]

So that Mia Bonta, her husband's Attorney General of the United of the Attorney General of California and it was only until I exposed fraud that they actually cracked down on the fraud and made some arrests here, especially with the hospices. And do you know that if this bill were to pass, it'd make it illegal for someone to go after fraud, especially if it's based off of immigrants, for instance Armenians in California.

[Legislative Staff]

No, no, I think that that's a misinterpretation of the bill. But I'm happy to talk with you more about it. And I don't you investigations into fraud or something. That's been happening for a very long time. The Attorney General handles those cases. This is an ongoing issue.

[Nick Shirley]

It's weird that the wife of the Attorney General, Mia Bonta is now pushing this bill that literally goes against the First Amendment.

[Legislative Staff]

No, I actually don't, I don't think that this bill violates the First Amendment. I mean that's, that, that's the whole purpose. We have ledge counsel and ledge attorneys that talk with us about this. Constitutionality is really important to the world.

[Nick Shirley]

So your bill criminalizes publication of images recorded in public. Do you believe the government has the right to punish journalists for filming in public space?

[Legislative Staff]

No, I think that that that is a complete misinterpretation of actually the no because it's legislation.

[Nick Shirley]

It is. That is not. That's literally what happened. Speaker Revis, how you doing? What do you think about the Stop nick Shirley Act? AB 2624. These guys are like literally running.

[Narrator/Clip Voice]

I don't know anything about it.

[Nick Shirley]

And do you think there's any conflict of interest there with Mia Bonta and her husband being the ag? That just shows you everything you need to know. These people won't even answer the questions. Crazy. Crazy like these people are co authoring bills, yet they don't even know what's on these bills. And it's a direct violation of the First Amendment too.

[Pat]

Who else did you get a chance to speak to while you were out there?

[Nick Shirley]

All the other co authors. And some of them had no idea that they had even passed their committees. Some people had no idea they were actually authors of the bill. They wouldn't answer any questions about the bill. And. And like the bill literally says it would make it confidential how much money the funding that goes to these NGOs, but these people have no issue with that. Honestly, I think why they're doing this, why they're trying to pass this bill, is so say Newsom wins next election, they can just begin to flood the country with migrants once again. Because it would make it illegal for people to investigate what they did. Who Underneath Biden.

[Pat]

Yeah. And while you were in la, you. You went to a couple different centers, right? If I'm not mistaken, how many, how many different facilities did you go to in la?

[Nick Shirley]

So in la, they have all the Armenian fraud taking place with the hospices.

[Pat]

Why you got to go after Armenians? What did Armenians do to you?

[Nick Shirley]

They were just committing lots of fraud.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

Like so much fraud.

[Pat]

What did you find out?

[Nick Shirley]

Well, you find out that these guys are living life in luxury while they're defrauding lots of old people, actually that are on the verge of death. They're taking their medical beneficiary numbers, which is more valuable than a credit card for an individual over the age of 65. And then they're making money off these people who are supposedly dying. And while this is taking place, these people are buying Maybachs, g wagons, cybertrucks, M8 competitions, and it's been happening for years.

[Pat]

Is this one of Them. This is one of them. This was a disturbing one you went to.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, that's a. That. That's a daycare.

[Pat]

Was that in la?

[Nick Shirley]

That was in San Diego.

[Pat]

Rob, play that clip. No one's there with these kids.

[Nick Shirley]

No one. Played around to another one. Finally found kids at a daycare.

[Pat]

More concerning now, this is the opposite problem. Adults are not now at the Jama

[Nick Shirley]

Shukri family child care. This place is not a shopping plaza. It's not anywhere near any place that looks like a place where daycare would be. In fact, it's actually in one of these apartments right here. So they're able to have daycares inside apartment buildings?

[Skeptic Podcaster]

Yes.

[Pat]

So I've come across many of these.

[Nick Shirley]

Some of these are on Third. The third story of an apartment complex.

[Pat]

It's only one bedroom, and yet the capacity is for eight kids.

[Nick Shirley]

We just arrived at the daycare. We have two kids out here. I don't know if they're members of the daycare. There's no one. There's no oversight right here. Can we talk to your teacher? Is your teacher there? So this is the first child we've ever encountered at one of these daycares. There's two kids out here right now. And we're gonna see if we can talk to the licensee.

[Legislative Staff]

It is according to this paperwork.

[Nick Shirley]

Shukri Jama. Can we talk to the adult? He is not. He here. Not here.

[Skeptic Podcaster]

Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

So you guys all by yourself?

[Skeptic Podcaster]

Yeah, that's.

[Pat]

That's ridiculous.

[Nick Shirley]

No one's here. No, no one is not here. Wow. Okay, so you guys are all by yourself. Okay, can see. By myself. Rob, you can pause it. Okay. Yeah. It makes you mad and. And think about it. They're. They're also giving money to these daycares. And this is an apartment complex. Why should somebody who just opens up their apartment complex for a daycare receive government funds? And these kids are all by themselves, obviously. And the government, instead of saying, oh, let's go figure out what's happening, they then come after me for exposing it. Like, that's how corrupt California is.

[Pat]

Have you ever gone to one of them where you end up being wrong about it, where you're doing a video and then you're like, you know what? This one, I was wrong on this one. They weren't doing anything illegal. It was real?

[Nick Shirley]

These daycares. No.

[Pat]

None of them yet.

[Nick Shirley]

No.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

Because I go up, I do the research. Like this one, I had the form, and California had went through and done their evaluations, and they had shown, like, no children at these locations. And then the hospices, that was just pulling up and wrecking like there was nothing there.

[Pat]

One of the girls sends me a manect. And I said, just manect Nick directly. Okay. And it was from Healthy Life adhc. Do you remember that one or no? Healthy Life adhd.

[Nick Shirley]

Healthy Life adhd.

[Pat]

Healthy Life adhc. And she sent me a message, and she said, mom has been running ADHC for 25 years, including this one, for the last 10 years. Nick was wrong. Here, here's my number. Please have him call us because people are thinking we're running a fraud.

[Nick Shirley]

Well, in that video, I said. In that one, I said, is that. I don't think it's enough to say it's for.

[Pat]

I remember you saying that. And I told her that. I said, well, Nick said, it may not be a fraud. We don't know. We don't know enough if it's a fraud. And she's like, no, my mother, they run a real legit business here. So they were messaging me. I said, I'll ask Nick next time we do something. Did she ever manect you or.

[Nick Shirley]

No, she never did.

[Pat]

She never manected. Okay, so let me put the name out there. Roxanne, if you're seeing this, wherever you are, Manect Nick. He'll respond back to you, and I'll share this with him as well.

[Nick Shirley]

And so, like, that's that one right there. That says inside a $19 million adult.

[Pat]

That's the one. Yeah, that's the one.

[Nick Shirley]

And click on that, Rob.

[Pat]

I think the owner's daughter menectomy about this place.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, Adult daycare. This place over the past few years has billed $19.8 million alone. Now let's go see. I can enroll my grandma because she needs some daycare. And this right here is the entrance of a building that's received over $19 million. Yeah. To five years location that's received over $19 million. Kind of crazy, right? They say that right here, right now we're here at 130. No adults are here. I wouldn't doubt that adults do come, but $19 million, it's kind of like North Korea.

[Pat]

What time did you guys go there? You said 130.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

For a show, almost.

[Pat]

Is this now a different one? Is it still the same?

[Nick Shirley]

The same one and they can't give you any information.

[Pat]

Yeah, I saw. You're making it look bad for Nick. Go answer. Have some customer service have somebody be able to talk it. But at the end, you did say, I don't know Enough. If this is. If you go to the end of this video, Rob, when he's walking out, what's going on?

[Nick Shirley]

Look at this back place, this adult daycare. There are people inside right now. The phone's just ringing. You can leave a message after the tone.

[Pat]

This mailbox is full.

[Nick Shirley]

There you have it. They don't even have an inbox available to take in. Red Flag, another single to take note of. Yeah, like, they just need to show that.

[Pat]

Yeah, these are all red flags. I mean, these are. Look, I don't know who they are. This is not like I know who these folks are, but if they send me Manek, they're like, hey, Pat, this is a legit business. You got seven things you can do to make it seem like a legit business. And that's on you, the business owner, to make sure you do that. Your job as a citizen journalist is to go out there and tell your story and let the market decide. If the market's not going to be doing it, you know, and it's being left to. How old are you now, Nick?

[Nick Shirley]

24.

[Pat]

24 years old. You're going out there doing this stuff in, in la. And while you're in la, did you go somewhere and there was like a homeless family in the street saying, it would have been better in Colombia than it would. There's something you didn't there as well?

[Nick Shirley]

Yes, in skid row. I filmed that video a while back. But you had migrants living on the streets of skid row, Is that it? Yes. I found. I found multiple children living on the streets of skid row. I found this one. This was a while back, like almost nearly a year ago. These kids living in skid row and like their circumstances are better than the, the circumstances are worse on skid row than if they were in Colombia. This was a 12 year old that I got off the streets in skid row. Got him back into school and into.

[Pat]

Yeah, 12 years old. We used to go to skid row every Christmas morning at 4:30am in LA. We used to go to skid row and hand out bibles and food and burgers and blankets and couple times knives were pulled on us and I would sit there and talk to these guys. And sometimes our guys would bring their kids for their kids to see what's going on. Eventually it got a little bit dangerous for like, let's just go as adults. We would, we would go with 40, 50 cars 4:30 in the morning every Christmas, every year. And a guy named June introduced me to this because, you know, and we followed the lead with them for many, many years. It was an incredible experience. But if folks have not been to Skid Row, what was your experience with Skid Row?

[Nick Shirley]

I've been to Skid Row a few times and it's super, super sad. It is literally a tent city.

[Pat]

It really is.

[Nick Shirley]

It's blocks upon blocks of just human suffering to levels that are not necessary here inside the United States. And it's been happening for years and years and years. They give it millions upon millions of dollars and nothing ever happens. In fact, they actually give people the paraphernalia to continue to do drugs.

[Pat]

It's ridiculous.

[Nick Shirley]

And so, like, I was really upset when I found that child there because you have all these NGOs surrounding the 12 year old. The 12 year old, yeah. But nobody will offer him a place to sleep at night. He's sleeping on the streets of Skid Row where there's prostitutes, where there's people selling fentanyl, people getting abused. And this kid's living there and it's just no big deal for all these people that are walking right by him.

[Pat]

Yeah, it's, it's. And it's crazy because the sheriff, the chief, said the other day that he doesn't believe they're ready for 2028 Olympics when it comes down comes to LA. But the problem is, if they're not even ready for 2028 Olympics, eight of the 104 World cup soccer games are going to be played at SOFI Stadium in la. How the hell is he going to be taking care of those people that are going to be coming to la? This is him right here. Rob, go ahead.

[Narrator/Clip Voice]

Requested funding to purchase vehicles, technology and specialized equipment to be able to do the Olympics. In addition, the $1 billion budget is for all agencies involved in the Olympics, not just the LAPD, and will be restricted primarily to police officer overtime. LA28 confirmed that they have zero police or public safety budget. And while they do have a security budget, it doesn't cover law enforcement.

[Pat]

Yeah, this is going to the Olympics in two years.

[Nick Shirley]

It's so bad in California. Like, so bad. Like nobody knows how bad it is except for the people living in California. But even they will still vote for the people that enabled it all to happen.

[Pat]

Yeah, I mean, there's two big elections going on right now in California. One of them is the LA one where Spencer Pratt, the mayor, is doing a very good job exposing. And he's great at marketing, he's great at doing all those things, which is good. And then you have the Governor race, which, you know, Bianco, Sheriff Bianco and Steve Hilton, who are also out there making some noise. We'll see what happened. It sounds like right now, if it ended today, they're still winning, meaning the liberals are still going to be winning. But Spencer Pratt is on fire. This guy's on fire with the stuff that he's doing. I mean, he's done a couple different ads. We don't need to play this one here. But he's done a lot of different things. What's the next stop for you?

[Nick Shirley]

There's a lot more work to do in California. There's a lot more fraud to take place there. A lot of people want me to go to like all their, like, it's so funny. Like my phone is just filled with people who want me to go to their city or to their state because their fraud is quite literally everywhere.

[Pat]

They're asking you to come. They're inviting you to come.

[Nick Shirley]

I actually filmed a video a few weeks ago in LA finding like, where all the money went to for the homeless people and that should be coming out. My problem is I'm doing so much, it's hard to get everything out. Like, since the Minnesota stuff, my workload's gone up, like, feels like 10 times. Like, I think since I last spoke with you four months ago, I've probably been home for a total of maybe two and a half weeks.

[Pat]

Stop it.

[Nick Shirley]

Like, I'm never home. Never home.

[Pat]

So you're sleeping at hotels? You're on the road sleeping at hotels.

[Nick Shirley]

Like, in fact, like last night. I didn't even sleep last night because I was editing the Cuba video to try and get it done before you could interview me. But it took too long. Like it's. It's a lot.

[Pat]

Is it still a one man show?

[Nick Shirley]

For the most part, yeah. So listen, has anybody.

[Pat]

Go ahead.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. So it's pretty much a one man show on the YouTube channel, but it's the fastest growing political news account in America.

[Pat]

I saw that. 1.8, 1.9 million subscribers. And I remember before you did the. The Lyric center, where were you at? Couple hundred thousand.

[Nick Shirley]

I had hit a million.

[Pat]

You had it at a million even before that.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

So 800,000 subs in the last four months. Yeah, it's pretty insane to have that. By the way, what major media outlet has called you to want to have you represent them and say we got you financially moving forward?

[Nick Shirley]

Really not that many. I had a few people offer me like pretty good amounts of money to go work for him, but I told him no.

[Pat]

So Fox hasn't offered you anything yet?

[Nick Shirley]

No.

[Pat]

I don't think you would take it, though, if they did offer you.

[Nick Shirley]

No, not at this point in my life. Yeah, like, I really enjoy what I'm doing. It would be nice to have, like, a show in the future, you know, But I really enjoy what I'm doing right now. It is getting harder and harder because, like, I became very recognizable and especially for the fraudsters. Like right now in America, all the fraudsters are on high alert right now. Like, they're either covering up the fraud or they're leaving America. Like, they shut down all the hospices in California. They shut down over 500 of them. Not a single hospice has said, hey, open our hospice back up. Minnesota, they froze $250 million of payments for childcare there. Not a single daycare, sent a single receipt. They just raided 22 daycares and other welfare programs. Not a single mother complained about her child not being able to go to a daycare. Like, there's so much fraud here. And now all these fraudsters are trying to cover up, and that's why they're having a hard time actually prosecuting these people, because they're either leaving the country or they're covering everything up or the money's already left the country.

[Pat]

Yeah. I mean, part of it is I almost don't want you to be part of anybody. As a supporter. Yeah, as a supporter. To me, it's like, hey, stay as independent as you can as long as possible as you're going through this process, because it makes it more honest. And you can go pursue any story you want. You go somewhere, then they're gonna be like, well, is he pursuing the story he wants to do or is he pursuing the story that that outlet wants to do?

[Nick Shirley]

Exactly. And I actually want to show you some. Show you something, because a lot of people are like, how did Nick do this? Like, how's this happen? Like, I've been planning this for, like, years and actually brought it with me because a lot of people don't understand, like, how hard I actually work to make stuff happen. And the reason why I think I've been able to have so much effect is because I am 100% independent. I do everything I can to make money, to stay independent, because it's not cheap to do. But so this is from December 5th, 2022. I created a five year plan. When I was 20, I was in Chile on my, like, mission trip for my church. But all I would do on my days where I Wasn't doing the missionary stuff. Was like this whole book is just. Just actually read your book. I read three books. How to win friends and influence people. That's my favorite book ever.

[Pat]

Carnegie.

[Nick Shirley]

If anyone wants to have success, their success will double in life if they read that book.

[Pat]

The first book I ever wrote in my life.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, no, it's literally the best book and just teaches you how to navigate life smoothly and also have smoother conversations. Just switching the word from but to and will exponentially increase the relationships in your life. And then I read 7 Habits of Highly effective people. Read your book as well. Five moves.

[Pat]

Your next five moves.

[Nick Shirley]

Next five moves. Read that book. I have all those notes right here as well. And then think and grow rich as well. But this I created a five year plan. So when I came home I had like $0. So I obviously had to go make $10,000. But if you like read this, it's like finish mission, come home with 10k dollars AK in bank and I had and then be home for 1 to 2 months working to get 30k liquid cash to be able to fund my channel and then use that 30k to rebuild my YouTube channel. Nick Shirley 30k will be used to fund travels, new laptop, a new microphone and potentially a new camera. Channel will take three to six months to grow back and build consistency. Well, most likely not turn a profit on channel for a few months after a few good uploads. At that time I had wanted to work for Barstool, maybe move to Barstool and live in New York. Potential living locations, St. George, Utah, Florida, New York. And then the type of content for Nick Shirley it was interview investigations on current subjects.

[Pat]

At this point you don't have a YouTube channel yet?

[Nick Shirley]

No, I do. But you're doing the 20th I had 20,000 subscribers.

[Pat]

That's right.

[Nick Shirley]

It was Nick Shirley in high school. Got it to do interview investigative on current subjects or on popular, popular topics. So I had like politics, strange topics. And then the goal was to reach 100,000 subscribers in six months from six to eight months of uploading, weekly uploads and then was to make 50k in ad revenue from YouTube in the first full year of YouTube. And then so that was year one, completed all that and then 2025 was to upload channel to get to two uploads a week which I did with live streaming and have a student office place to film and work out. Did that create a podcast show. I have that on my YouTube channel and then hit 500,000 subscribers. And then this year was to create a media company and have 10 employees in an office space. And it's supposed to be like the million dollar year. And the 10 employees has happened. And like I have now I have about 10 people who work for me consistently on everything. Had an office in New York City, moved out of New York, but everything else came to fruition.

[Pat]

Isn't that great?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Isn't that great? So impressive. It's so impressive. And this is December 6, 2022. So three and a half years ago, three years ago, give or take three years and four months ago, you're writing this thing down. This is your vision. You're turning this into a reality. You're at 20,000 subs and then now 10 employees. And this is going to be your million dollar year. 2026.

[Nick Shirley]

Hope so. That's the goal.

[Pat]

Sponsorship. You're getting better sponsorship. I noticed you were wearing a Poly Market shirt.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, I like polymarket.

[Pat]

Did they reach out and sponsor or not yet?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. So I'm a partner with polymarket.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

And I have a few other sponsorships on the channel that I work with, but I really just want to do one or two on my channel. And Polymark has been awesome. But yeah, that's like even down to the thumbnail. Like I had that envisioned. Like, if you watch my channel, you'll see like all the yellow boxes. And I remember just like having that envisioned when I was. I knew that's how I wanted my channel to look. I wanted that, my aesthetic to look like that. So like, it's been crazy to see how everything's came to fruition.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

So when people are like, oh, Nick's like a, he's a, he's a plan. Or I'm like, no, this has all been written.

[Pat]

That's very impressive. It's very impressive for you to have gone through this. And are you at a point where you're thinking about writing a book or not yet?

[Nick Shirley]

I would like to. My goal actually this year is a goal I have is I'm trying to make a. Create a documentary and then a separate short film and then to be able to tour it in across the US and go to like 10 cities. And I want to create like a documentary based on kind of like everything that has happened this past few this year and then also have a short film to show.

[Pat]

Yeah. I think if you write a book, I think the book would do very well because I think you got a lot of support of people that would want to support the book you're writing and being out there. Learning what it looks like Citizen Journalism in 2026. You know, if you're open to it. I'll introduce you to a matter of fact, the person I'll introduce you to will be a very funny person.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, please do. Because I've wanted.

[Pat]

I'm going to tell you how I'm going to introduce you to. And this is meant to Be. She was Stephen Covey's literary agent. For every book he did. She met him when she was only 22, 23 years old, really. And if you know Stephen Covey is 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. She was his literary agent. I'll introduce you to her afterwards and you guys can get on the call. She's phenomenal at what she does, powerful at what she does here with the business. Have you thought about at all going to. I mean, if you're going to Cuba, have you thought about going to crazy places? Iran, North Korea? Do those cross your mind? Like, I'm gonna go to some of these crazy places.

[Nick Shirley]

Iran? No, North Korea. Like, if they would let me in, but they probably won't let me in. I really, really want to go to Venezuela, like, really bad. I've wanted to go for a long time.

[Pat]

Yeah, you saw the plane, right? A plane landed, and they were kind of showing what's going on and how

[Nick Shirley]

you just opened fights here in Miami. So, yeah, I want to be the first person to interview the lady who's currently president.

[Pat]

I don't think you should have a hard time.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, I'm gonna try to make it happen because I speak Spanish. So, like, I actually really care about what happens in Central and South America because I live with those people. And then those people do have a lot of things in common with us. And, like, the idea that they need to come to America, have a better life is not true. Like, they're like, there's other options. And there are current people, like Naive Bukele in these countries who are making their countries great. So it's not. It's not this idea that they're. That these people can't create a valuable society like they very much can. It's just these leaders that have been controlling them for so long. Like, in Venezuela, you had the Maduro, and now in Cuba you have this communist regiment that's destroyed their lives.

[Pat]

And that's great. I can't wait for that to happen. Who in the market is supporting you? Who in the market is criticizing you that you're surprised? On the conservative side, are there people who are like, nick, go. You're doing Great. And then there's people that are like, yeah, I don't know if I like what he's doing.

[Nick Shirley]

Candace Owens came after me a while back. That was very interesting.

[Pat]

Why would Candace Owens come after you?

[Nick Shirley]

I don't know. She, like, didn't believe my Brazilian tavela video and.

[Pat]

Oh, it's not even the. So you're talking. This is a couple years ago.

[Nick Shirley]

No, no, this is, like, recent. She's like, white boy. I'm like. It was very, like, snarky of her to do this.

[Skeptic Podcaster]

I'm just gonna say I don't believe that at all. I'm sorry. I just, I. I just. It's so stupid. I'm not even gonna tell you why I don't believe. It's like. It's like, if you don't know that, that's stupid that he infiltrated the gang in 48 hours. Like, it's just. That's so dumb. I'm so tired of dumb. That's not how that works, okay? You don't just go up to gangs on the street as a nice looking white boy with the camera and say, hey, I just wanted to, like, see

[Nick Shirley]

what you're doing here. What's going on.

[Skeptic Podcaster]

Okay, that's to stop. That's stupid. Of course that's dumb. I'm sorry, Nick. I know you're young. I hope you know, whoever is your contact that has you infiltrating antifa and infiltrating El Salvador at the age of 23 years old. It just feels like Sean Penn young to me. Like, oh, Sean Penn's always there.

[Nick Shirley]

I've been to find myself on top.

[Pat]

Meaning what? Meaning your. Your handler or you're representing somebody.

[Nick Shirley]

She's basically saying that's fake.

[Pat]

She's saying that's fake.

[Nick Shirley]

And I'm like, well, maybe these podcasters would actually leave their podcast studios. No offense, Pat. They'd leave their podcast studios and go and, like, do journalism. Like, they'd actually see, like, stuff just. Sometimes just happens like that. I don't. That was the most risky video I had done to that point was going to Brazilian.

[Pat]

So it's not about Newsom, it's not about Lyring Center. It's specifically about Brazil. That has. She called you out on other stuff or this is the only one?

[Nick Shirley]

No, this was the only one.

[Pat]

Interesting.

[Nick Shirley]

She was trying to tie me into trying to verify some stuff about the Charlie Kirk assassination because I was on his show. Literally. Our, like, as the last live guest.

[Pat]

I remember we're talking about that.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. Passed away or was assassinated. And so then she like brought me up. And then like next episode, she kind of apologized, but I didn't take it. I didn't take it to heart. I thought that was kind of silly of her, honestly.

[Pat]

But she did apologize,

[Nick Shirley]

not apologize about that. But she said, well, Nick came in fact checked about the.

[Pat]

What?

[Nick Shirley]

The instance with Turning Point. But she didn't apologize about that.

[Pat]

Got it.

[Nick Shirley]

Like, I'm not offended, but it is just like, stupid.

[Pat]

You know, it's funny, we were talking to back and one of the guys brought up another name. I won't mention the other name. It's also somebody that's doing what you're doing, but it's like, hey, the other guy's having a hard time. What do you think is the difference between the other guy and Nick Shirley, I said Nick has been raised well. Nick is stable emotionally. You're very, you know, balanced. It doesn't sound like you get rattled. And it's very obvious you're enjoying what you're doing. Now you're 24 now, I'm assuming you're planning on getting married before 30.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, that'd be the goal.

[Pat]

Before 30.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, we gotta figure that out.

[Pat]

You gotta figure that out. Well, I mean, you know, maybe you go to Cuba, you find a beautiful wife who's not happy, you bring her back and she starts saying, my God, this man's making my dreams become a reality. It'll be a white boy with some Cuban. Cuban kids not open to that.

[Nick Shirley]

Fluent English. Yeah, my Spanish is good. But to be screaming and shouting, what

[Pat]

is Nick Shirley into? What kind of. What is your type?

[Nick Shirley]

Beautiful.

[Pat]

Just beautiful.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Six? Five. Six, Five?

[Nick Shirley]

No, not five.

[Pat]

Beautiful.

[Nick Shirley]

Taller than me, a bit athletic.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Nick Shirley]

But just beautiful.

[Pat]

Just beautiful, that's all. Is there a type?

[Nick Shirley]

Is there a type?

[Pat]

Have you thought. Because if you're. If you're like this, you know, if you're like this. I remember writing down specifically what I wanted my wife to look like. Height, temperament, hair, all of it. Have you done that yet? Because you've done a lot of stuff here.

[Nick Shirley]

I would just say like a virtuous woman. Virtuous woman, yeah, just like a pure hearted woman.

[Pat]

Faith Christian.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, like the guy, believe in God, God believe in Jesus. Like, that's obviously very important. And yeah, just beautiful inside and out.

[Pat]

All right, that's it. That's such a wide range that if I were to set you up with a beautiful.

[Nick Shirley]

Pat, there's beautiful girls everywhere. I've gone on dates with beautiful girls from France. Go on beautiful dates with girls from New York. Like, there's beautiful girls everywhere.

[Pat]

You're still.

[Nick Shirley]

Went on a beautiful date with a girl in Switzerland once. That was awesome.

[Pat]

Has anything gone you know, where it can be a little bit serious or. Nothing yet?

[Nick Shirley]

No, nothing yet.

[Pat]

Nothing yet.

[Nick Shirley]

No. That's kind of weird too, because, like, I don't like being.

[Pat]

Don't let this Adam guy take you in. Partying and, you know, stay good.

[Nick Shirley]

Oh, yeah, Adam. So funny. That was super funny. I was like. I wanted to see what that club was like and because Adam, he's like the night. He's the nightlife in Miami.

[Pat]

He is. Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

And I thought it was so stupid. I thought it was so stupid. I thought it was so stupid.

[Pat]

Good for you. Good for you. On where you are. It'll. By the way, the way it'll happen is the way you least expect it. It'll all of a sudden happen and you're gonna come down and say, pat, I'm married. You know, she's pregnant. I'm ex. You know, it's gonna be in six months. It'll be life changing. But what you're doing is very important. It's not. It's not easy to do what you're. By the way, what happened with you and the Andrew Callahan guy from Channel 5?

[Nick Shirley]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat]

What was that all about?

[Nick Shirley]

That was that one we had him on, right?

[Pat]

We had him on last.

[Nick Shirley]

What was your. What was your take on Andrew?

[Pat]

He's a liberal. He's a liberal who, I would say a. How would you put it, Rob? A leftist, libertarian. Ish. Yeah. Is that a good way of putting him? I don't think he's a crazy, crazy leftist. I think he has some libertarian tendencies in him, but I do think he's. He's part of the left.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, for sure. And I like Andrew. I liked Andrew until he did what he did with the interview. So that interview I did with him, it was 72 hours after the video had gone mega viral, and I had only slept for like six hours that. Those past three days. And I let him come do an interview with me at like 11pm at night. And I hadn't ate anything that day. I had just drank an energy drink and just had like a steak right before because I was at my. We did it at my friend's man cave. And so I was like, super comedy. I was like, oh, this will be good to do with Andrew. Like, I had a lot of respect for him. I used to watch him a lot. And then I do this Interview with him. And I knew right off the get go, like where he was taking it because he started, instead of asking me out, the fraud, he asked like, do you think this was a distraction from Epstein? Like, I was like, okay, well I know exactly what this is going to be about because it had nothing to do with that. So I knew he was kind of trying to do this kind of like smear thing on me, which I thought was super disingenuous on his part because I was super accommodating him. Did this interview, thought we were good friends, and then he goes and does that. It was not my best interview by any means, but I also wasn't in the best state of like mind and like physically, like, I hadn't slept, I hadn't been eating because I was like running off pure adrenaline.

[Pat]

So you guys went from 11 to 1:30?

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, it was like a two and

[Pat]

a half hour interview.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. And then he posts the interview and he only posts an hour of the interview.

[Pat]

How long was the total interview?

[Nick Shirley]

Two and a half hours.

[Pat]

Okay. So he cut out an hour and a half of it.

[Nick Shirley]

In any response where he had that he was wrong or made him look bad. He didn't, he didn't show.

[Pat]

But did you record a whole interview?

[Nick Shirley]

I recorded the whole interview.

[Pat]

Got it. So to two and a half hour interview becomes an hour and a half and you're recording the whole thing. So you can show a couple parts that he cut out that maybe made him look bad.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. And like the clips he used to very deceptive editing on Andrew's part. And yeah, he like cut out spot. He like literally jump cut spots when he admitted to being wrong or not knowing about that. And like one of his claims, like, well, Nick said 89 of the fraud like so many times. I'm like, yeah, because you weren't getting the point that the fraud had been committed. 89 of the fraud had been committed by Somalian.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

And so he obviously came with this agenda. And when you sit down in an interview, because they're pitching as a like a podcast interview, like let's do it for his channel called like C5.

[Pat]

Channel five. Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. He has like a five cast. He has a whole show called like five cast. So we did this interview. I was like, oh cool. Just be like interview where we just chat. But no, he just cut it all up.

[Pat]

So you know what I love the most? Let me tell you what I love the most. I love the fact that guys like him exist and guys like you exist. So I think both is necessary. He's gonna go tell his side of the story, and you're gonna go out there and tell your side of the story. The part with you that is so attractive is your sincere and genuine is who you are. And I think the market knows that. So that is a little bit scary when you are sincere and genuine because you're curious going out there, the way you ask the question, you're very respectful, you've been raised the right way and you're just getting started. And I think it's, you know, we need more and more people like you that are doing what they're doing. A lot of young people out there, you know, especially after what happened with Charlie, I love, I absolutely love the bravery of what folks like you are doing. And I think you're just getting started.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah. You got any advice for me?

[Pat]

You're going to get a lot of people that are going to be in your ear. Do your best to speak to those and take counsel from those who need nothing from you. You know, study people's motives on what they need from you. And then even if you know what their motives are, it could be a sincere motive. That's okay. Like the motive here is we're doing a podcast. You just came from Cuba. There's a fair exchange. But study motives because you're still young enough where people may see an opportunity with you. So protect yourself from the right influencers, the right people out there that are doing the right things financially. I love the fact that you wrote down savings. One of the things that I had early on from my dad is the power of having cash in a bank. If I didn't have the cash in a bank, like, you know, I bought a land, cash, $25.2 million. If I didn't have cash, I couldn't buy 40 million dollar property for 25. But that happened with me saving $10,000, then $25,000 and $50,000 and $100,000. So behind closed doors, you know, as much as celebrating the business saving, celebrate having savings and cash, it'll give you peace of mind and you'll be able to stay as honest to what you're doing as possible. Be selective of sponsors like you talked about earlier, who you're taking sponsorship money from. You're gonna have some mistakes, you're gonna make some fumbles. Everybody does. When you do, you know, pick yourself up and come back up and do your thing. Trust yourself and your instinct. I would say, I would say that

[Nick Shirley]

at this point, amazing advice.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Nick Shirley]

I really just want to show people what's happening in the world, like whether it be in Cuba or here in the United States. And just like show it as transparent as possible. Like, I think now we're getting to a point where non controversial issues have become very controversial. And the idea that some of these ideas, these ideas have become controversial is just crazy to me. Like, for instance, all these people that are now supporting communism, but they live here in the United States and they protest every weekend. Well, if you were to do that, you wouldn't. If you were to go live in a communist country, you wouldn't be able to do that.

[Pat]

Exactly.

[Nick Shirley]

Like that person. I wanted to put. There's a lot of like mean tweets that came my way after that Cuba video. I wanted to tweet, like, for my next trick, get people to defend a country that suppresses speech, has no free media, and holds those that speak against the government as political prisoners. And I've gotten people to defend fraud openly. I've had them defend billions of dollars of fraud. And a Democrat has never even reached out to me and said, hey, thanks for exposing the fraud in our state. In fact, they just doubled down.

[Pat]

No, you're the enemy. And you need to know that you're the enemy. You're doing a very important job.

[Nick Shirley]

It's like the gates of hell just come upon me once I explode.

[Pat]

But it's also the other side as well. God's got your back. The right people have your back and they're supporting in your, your, you know, I'm sure your confidence comes from your faith, you know, where you're able to do what you're doing. Your family, your mom, your brother, you got the right people in your corner. That's a very, very important part that you have. I think you know that.

[Nick Shirley]

Yeah, it definitely helps. And like, without my family, obviously a lot, none of the stuff would have been possible. I've accomplished so far. And then with the faith and just the morals, I kind of grew up with, like, it really helped me to be where I'm at today.

[Pat]

Yeah, it's exciting. Well, folks, if you're watching this, the man needs support. If you have any words of wisdom or support or other places you want him to go. So you can manect them. Rob, let's put them in below as well.

[Nick Shirley]

I respond to all manects.

[Pat]

Yes, he does. He responds to all the manects and people message me. I'm like, just manect him. Ask him, why are you asking me? Ask him. He'll tell you what's going on out there. Keep at it, buddy.

[Nick Shirley]

You're the man.

[Pat]

Good seeing you. You're the man. Excited for you.

[Nick Shirley]

I'm Nick Shirley, and you guys can find me here on Manect. Go ahead and ask me any questions, whether it be about politics, about what I believe, or where I think the future of the country will be going, or just, quite frankly, anything you can ask me here on Manecht. I really appreciate all your support, and I can't wait to answer your questions.