Ep 1314 | This is a War Against Radical Islam, not Just Iran | Ron Simmons

Summary

Podcast Summary: Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Episode: Ep 1314 | 3 Reasons Trump’s Strikes Were Justified | Ron Simmons
Date: March 7, 2026
Host: Blaze Podcast Network

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Overview

In this episode, guest host Ron Simmons (Allie’s father) delves into the U.S.-led Operation Epic Fury against Iran, providing a Christian, conservative analysis of why President Trump’s military strikes were justified. The conversation draws on historical precedent, current global threats, moral arguments, and political reactions, while weaving in theology and personal insights on leadership, family, and American values.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Operation Epic Fury: Breakdown & Rationale

[00:09 – 06:28]

• Background: The U.S., alongside Israel, launched Operation Epic Fury against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28, 2026.
  • First strikes targeted Iranian military leadership, including the supreme leader.
  • Large-scale destruction: ~2,000 targets, 300 missile launchers, much of Iran's air force and navy decimated.
  • Historic note: The first U.S. torpedo to sink an enemy vessel since WWII.
  • Iran’s retaliation: Large rocket barrages, including attacks on regional bases and oil infrastructure.
• On the strikes:
  • “We have really dismantled it and certainly made it more difficult.” – Ron Simmons [01:51]

The Justification

• Iran’s aggression against Israel:
  • Since October 2023: over 32,000 missiles or drones fired into Israel (primarily funded and enabled by Iran).
• Global security threat:
  • Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is an existential threat for the Middle East and the U.S.
  • Moral and treaty obligations to protect U.S. allies.
• Leadership, not people:
  • The real issue is Iran's radical theocratic leadership, not average Iranian citizens, who are described as mostly secular or non-radical.

Trump’s Approach & International Response

[06:28 – 08:52]

• Negotiation attempts:
  • Trump, like previous presidents, sought diplomatic solutions before military action.
  • Red lines were set but crossed; thus, action was taken.

“When he says there’s a red line, that means there’s a red line.” – Ron Simmons [07:08]

• Trump’s appeal to Iranian military:
  • Offers amnesty for those who defect; promises only “guaranteed death” for continued opposition.

“Accept immunity ... or you'll face absolutely guaranteed death. And I don't want to see that.” – Trump/Military Analyst [08:13]

• Internal Iranian dynamics:
  • Recap of the 1979 revolution; theocracy’s rise and its exportation of radicalism.
  • Iran’s sponsorship of terror: Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Popular Front, and more.
  • Recent mass protests within Iran suppressed violently (tens of thousands dead or arrested).

Broader Moral, Historical & Alliances Context

[11:29 – 15:51]

• U.S. casualties in Iraq:
  • 75–80% of American casualties attributed to Iranian-made explosives.
• Notable support:
  • Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited for backing the operation:

“If the goal ... is to render Iran incapable of using its military forces ... that is a worthy goal.” – Condoleezza Rice [13:57]

• American and feminist silence:
  • Critique of domestic political opposition and feminist groups' lack of support, especially defending women’s rights under Iran’s regime.

“Where are all the feminists? Why aren't the feminist organizations praising President Trump for helping to liberate these women?” – Ron Simmons [19:59]

Human Rights Under Iran’s Theocracy

• Senator Tuberville’s scathing remarks on post-1979 Iran’s treatment of women:

“Women are treated like dogs ... forced to cover every part of their body ... forced sometimes to marry as young as 6 years old. Pedophilia and inbreeding are rampant.” – Sen. Tuberville [19:10]

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Domestic Politics: Reactions & Hypocrisy

[21:03 – 25:22]

• American public opinion:
  • 60% disapprove of the strikes—Simmons asks listeners to explain why.
• Democratic response and “hypocrisy”:
  • Fox News’ Bill Mollugan presses Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on why Congress was bypassed for Obama’s Libya strikes but not for Trump’s Iran operation.
  • Jeffries defends Democrats, citing different circumstances, which Simmons and Ali criticize as evasive.

Analogies and Precedent

• Comparison to Venezuela:

  • U.S. operation to remove Maduro, leading to renewed diplomatic ties—an optimistic model for Iran.
  • Hope for eventual democracy in post-theocracy Iran.

• No “boots on the ground”:

  • Trump’s clear stance: air and naval power only, no ground invasion required.

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Immigration & Homeland Security

[25:22 – 33:30]

• Homeland Security budget holdup:
  • Political standoff leads to DHS (led by Kristi Noem) going unfunded; main point of contention is immigration policy.
• Noem’s reassignment:
  • Noem faces scrutiny for $220 million no-bid advertising campaigns, possibly self-promotional.
  • Replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullen (R-OK), praised for being a “minority” and MMA fighter.

“A little kid from Westville, Oklahoma gets to serve in the President's cabinet. That's pretty neat.” – Markwayne Mullen [33:13]

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Audience Q&A – Personal, Religious, and Political

[33:30 – 46:43]

• Senate Succession:
  • Oklahoma governor will appoint Mullen’s replacement; safely Republican seat.
• Texas politics:
  • Discussion of risks of Texas “flipping blue” and the challenge posed by democrat Talarico.
• Gas prices:
  • Disruptions temporary; “will get straightened out over the next few weeks.” [37:38]
  • U.S. coordinating with global partners, such as Saudi Arabia and China, to stabilize markets.
• Keeping a Religious Household:
  • Importance of early spiritual foundation—distinguishing preferences, rules, and values.
  • “You have to make sure you’re definitely flexible with your preferences...but values...never change.” – Ron Simmons [41:08]
• Parenting guidance:
  • Protecting kids from “worldly” ideas, loving prodigals, unconditional love, and communication.
• Cornyn vs. Paxton:
  • Simmons backs Cornyn, notes Paxton’s vulnerabilities, speculates on Trump’s endorsement strategy.
• Tucker Carlson’s stance on Israel:
  • Simmons expresses concern and confusion about Carlson’s positions as possibly personal or spiritual struggles.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Iran’s Response:
  • “Maybe these guys aren't the sharpest people in the drawer ... you just made it easier for us.” – Ron Simmons [02:29]
• Iran’s Missiles:
  • “Since October 2023 ... 32,000 missiles and drones sent into Israel. Just think about that...” – Ron Simmons [04:45]
• Women’s Rights in Iran:
  • “Pedophilia and inbreeding are rampant, and women are lucky if they are allowed to drive.” – Sen. Tuberville [19:10]
• Feminist Critique:
  • “Where are you, Jane Fonda? Jane. Jane, wake up. Where are you?” – Ron Simmons [20:01]
• Iranian Support:
  • “They're doing the Trump dance. Look at that ... there's not much funny in a war, but that's pretty funny.” – Ron Simmons [20:38]
• Transition at DHS:
  • “Usually we know the answers to the questions before we ask them.” – Ron Simmons on Congressional hearings [30:26]
• Mullen’s Appointment:
  • “He’s an MMA fighter, so I really wouldn’t want to mess with him. Yikes.” – Ron Simmons [33:30]
• Value-transmission in Parenting:
  • “[Kids] just absorb that. ... Values ... never change, no matter what phase of life that your household is in.” – Ron Simmons [41:37]
• On Lost Young Adults:
  • “Communication channels open enough to...they will come back to you.” – Ron Simmons [45:22]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Operation Epic Fury details & justification: [00:09 – 08:52]
• Iran’s support for global terror & regional history: [09:00 – 13:57]
• Condoleezza Rice endorsement: [13:57 – 14:25]
• Human rights under Iranian theocracy / women’s rights: [15:51 – 19:59]
• Democratic reactions & Congressional politics: [21:03 – 25:22]
• DHS turmoil, Noem scandal & Mullen’s appointment: [25:22 – 33:30]
• Audience Q&A / Texas politics / family & values: [33:30 – 46:43]

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Overall Tone and Takeaways

The tone is upbeat yet urgent, blending humor and personal asides with detailed policy analysis. Simmons champions Trump’s boldness and frames the U.S. strikes on Iran as not just strategically vital but also morally necessary—defending American lives, allies, and foundational values, especially in the face of terrorism and tyranny. The episode calls listeners to vigilance—politically, spiritually, and in parenting—with a recurring theme of defending truth, faith, family, and the American way.

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For Further Discussion and Questions

Listeners are encouraged to send feedback and questions to Ron Simmons, with promises of follow-up and deeper dives on upcoming episodes. Personal anecdotes and practical advice for Christian families are woven throughout, tying political theory to daily life and faith.

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(End of Summary)

Transcript

[Senator Kennedy]

Foreign.

[Ron Simmons]

Hello, everyone. Happy Saturday or whatever day you're listening to this for. Thank you for being with us again on Ally's Relatable podcast. And I am Ali's dad, Ron Simmons. Glad to be here. And we got a lot of stuff to talk about. I don't know if you listened to my last episode a couple weeks ago, but we got lots of things have happened since then, including the starting of a war. And we're going to talk, start off talking about that. The United States has named it Operation Epic Fury. And Epic, it means, like, the best of all time. And fury means it's going to be big. And it has been. And of course, this has been done in conjunction with our friends in Israel, and it is against the Republic of Iran. Although I want to get in just a minute, I'm going to get to something else about why it's really not about the country of Iran and why that's a little bit of a misnomer, but we're going to talk about that in a few minutes. But anyway, let's kind of go over a little bit of the details. This happened on February 28th is when it began, which was about a week ago from the time this episode's going to be coming out. And we launched the attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran. And the first, I'd say the first thing, one of the first things we did is we were able to kill their supreme leader, who really has been the one that has been for years shouting death to America, and also has ordered the killing of its own citizens, tens of thousands of them that protested. And so that was one of our first goal, was to wipe out the leadership. And so far, the efforts by Israel and Iran have been very, very successful. I mean, they essentially don't have any air force left. We've sunk a bunch of their ships as well. I wrote down some or I got some information that I looked up today as to how much, you know, exactly how many specific bombs have been, you know, that we've, that we've done and whatever. There's been 2,000 targets hit, 300 missile launchers destroyed that Iran had hidden around their country. We've taken out their leadership. The funny thing, it's so funny. I don't really know. Maybe these guys aren't the sharpest people in the drawer. But when you're gonna call for a breakfast meeting right about the time, you're probably hearing rumors that there's gonna be a bombing in your area, and you get all the leadership together, and Mossad knows Exactly where you are. I mean, you just made it easier for us. And not only did they do that once, but then the next group of leaders a couple days later did the same thing. I mean, why in the world would they do that? But anyway, we've taken out primarily their leadership. It's never a, you know, total void. There's never a vacuum when it comes to leadership of terrorist organizations. Somebody's always willing to step in and, but we have really dismantled it and certainly made it more difficult. We focused our attacks on military targets like military bases, military operations. They're nuclear, as you know. They, even though we bombed their nuclear, their big nuclear facility last June, they've continued to try to enrich uranium, which is the key component for making a nuclear warhead. And so we've been attacking that and we've had a lot of success on that. Of course, their ships. In fact, it was interesting. I didn't, I don't know that it surprised me, but I just thought, wow, that's, that's really quite interesting that the, we fired a torpedo from one of our submarines to one of their biggest ship military ships and, and sunk it. And that's the first time that a torpedo for the United States has taken out a enemy ship since World War II. So that's really pretty interesting. I had not, not thought of it that way. And of course Iran's response has been to fire rockets kind of indiscriminately, really kind of at Israel. They fired thousands of rockets at Israel. They've also made the huge mistake of sending rockets Middle Eastern countries. Now they claim they're just trying to kill US citizen or US military people over there. But when you send a bomb into one of your neighboring countries, that automatically is going to have them against you. And so they've done that. So we thank you for that, Iran, for doing that because that just helped us build our resolve. They also sent one against a United Kingdom base, not in the UK but in another country that now that drew UK back into being more supportive of what we're doing. And they've also tried to hit some oil and gas facilities, which of course

[Ali]

will temporarily raise the price of oil.

[Ron Simmons]

But that's not a long term phenomena. All that will get straightened out over the next few weeks is what my opinion is. But a couple of things that you might not have known. Since October of 2023, you remember the October 7, 2023, October of 2023, there have been 302009 missiles or drones that have been sent into Israel. Now think about that. Just think about it where you live, in your area, your part of the country. Just think about since for the last two and a half years, there's been, if there were 32,000 missiles and drones sent into your area, do you think you would be pretty upset about it and want to do something about it and want to try to once and for all try to get something done? Because, and it's been Iran that has been supporting most of this and funding most of this. So I don't, you know, I don't blame Israel at all. Not at, not at all. So anyway, the way, what's happening now, according to President Trump, is that he's getting calls, or they're getting calls, probably not him personally, from people in Iran saying, hey, we want to make a deal. We want to make a deal. Let's see what he has to say about that.

[Unknown Military Analyst]

All of their airplanes are gone, their communications are gone, missiles are gone, launches are gone, about 60% and 64%, respectively. Other than that, they're doing quite well. I said, what's left? But they're tough and they want to fight. And they're calling, they're saying, how do we make a deal? I said, you're being a little bit late, and we want to fight now more than they do.

[Ron Simmons]

So, I mean, and I can see how that would be happening. People are saying, hey, let's, let's see if we can figure out a deal. Now, the funny thing is, is that President Trump, just like, honestly, just like President Biden and President Obama, they all wanted to negotiate a deal with Iran, all right? And I don't blame President Obama or President Biden for wanting to negotiate a peaceful solution to the problem. We cannot afford in the Middle east cannot afford for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, because what happens when they have a nuclear weapon? It puts everybody over there at risk and yet puts us at risk, too. But all of our friends over there are at risk.

[Ali]

Remember the,

[Ron Simmons]

whatever you want to call it, Islam, 85 to 90% of Muslims are Sunni and only about 15% are Shiite. And Shiite is what the majority is that are Muslims in Iran. Now, there are a lot of people in Iran that are not Muslims at all. There are other religions or totally secular. In fact, the majority of people in Iran, from my, from my understanding, are not, would not be considered radical Islams at all Muslims at all. So pretty interesting. The, the, the President Trump tried to negotiate with them. He tried to do that for 15, 20 days, gave them some red lines. Now, the deal with President Trump is. When he says there's a red line, that means there's a red line. We've had some past presidents who have said there's a red line, and then nothing ever happens. And then we see the disaster after that, which is what happened in Syria. But President Trump has called on them before all this happened to lay down their arms. Listen to what he had to say in Sat ii.

[Unknown Military Analyst]

And I'm once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military and the police to lay down their arms. They're only going to be killed. And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people and help take back your country. You're going to have a chance after all these years to take back your country. Accept immunity. We'll give you immunity, and we'll be giving you really the right side of history, because that's what it is. So you'll be perfectly safe with total immunity, or you'll face absolutely guaranteed death. And I don't want to see that.

[Ron Simmons]

Yeah, those are pretty strong words. And. But it's the truth. He's given them a fair warning to lay down their arms and let's come to a peaceful solution. There's. And, and we don't have any video on this right now, but if you have the chance to go watch or listen to what the, the, the crown prince, which was the son of the Shah of Iran, Iran, which was back in the late 70s, he lives in the D.C. area, and he is calling obviously for peace and supporting what we've done and also supporting the uprising of what we hope would be a democratic solution, that there would end up being. Iran would be a democracy, which is kind of the way it has run in the past. Even when the Shah was there, there was more. There was, There was more freedoms for the people. So this is how it all started. A lot of you weren't born during this time, but back in the 70s, the Shah of Iran, which is kind of like a monarch, was deposed and taken away by an uprising through radical Islam. And it was done by someone, the Ayatollah Khomeini, who was originally. Actually, his ancestors came out of India and he was living in Turkey. But a lot of his radical messaging and words and things like that were getting filtered into Iran. And so there was an uprising. They kicked the Shah out. We took him back in exile. He died shortly there later from some type of medical problem. But since then, Iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism. As a matter of fact, if you really want to know what this war is about. And the reason I said earlier, it's not about Iran really as the country, it's really about the leadership of Iran, which turned out to be a theocracy, not any other type of government. And it was a radical Islamic theocracy. And so it wasn't about the borders because it was really about people around the world, not just in Iran, but people around the world that supported radical Islamic theology. And that meant death to America, death to any Western civilization, that we're all infidels and all that. And that's why you saw some protest after we took out the Ayatollah here

[Ali]

a few weeks ago.

[Ron Simmons]

That's why you saw some protests. I'm sorry, not a few weeks ago, a few days ago that were all upset that we had done that from other countries. And that's because there are radical Muslims in other countries as well. In fact, there are some radical Muslims in this country. The one that in the. You guys probably read about the shooting down in Austin, Texas, that in my opinion was a radicalized, probably lone wolf terrorist and radicalized through the stuff that people like the Ayatollah were putting out. So it's really not about the country of Iran and those specific borders. It's about what the leadership of Iran supported. As a matter of fact, I pulled up a list today of all the major terrorist organizations that they supported here. Hezbollah, which is in Lebanon, which if you remember back in the 80s, they're the ones that blew up the Marine barracks that we had and killed 200 and something of our soldiers, Hamas, which was responsible for what went on in Gaza when they attacked on October 7th the Israel and killed 1200 people. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad called the PLJ. Longtime Iranian beneficiary, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, supported financially by Iran. These are all organizations that are not in the country but are outside organizations supported by that theocracy. Iran backed militia groups. Okay, were her. That was a foreign terrorist organization. Kateeb said that's another Iran aligned militia designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Iraq, Ansar Allah, another one. Qatar, Alameen Ali, the Houthis, you've heard about the Houthis and several Syrian militias as well. And then there's a Bahraini, Shia militias. Iran has they provided support to that militia group attempting to destabilize Bahran. Well, come on. I mean, I don't understand how there could be one person in the United States of America that wouldn't say that this was something that we should have done, that it actually protected America. In fact, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was the Secretary of State under George W. Bush, she was interviewed on Fox News recently and she talked about this, about Operation Epic Fury. Let's see what Secretary Rice had to say.

[Condoleezza Rice]

I think if the goal of the administration is to render Iran incapable of using its military forces outside of its borders, of threatening our neighbors, our allies, of threatening our bases abroad, which we're seeing they are capable of doing, if it is trying to deny them a conventional umbrella for their nuclear ambitions, that is a worthy goal.

[Ron Simmons]

So I really appreciate her coming out and saying that. I think that helps get support from a broader range of people in the United States. Condoleezza Rice is very well respected. She doesn't have an ax to grind, but she understands, being former Secretary of State, she understands the backdrop of what's been going on in Iran for the last 40, 47 years. She also said that that rendering Iran incapable of military action would make the region more stable and protect U.S. allies. She also noted that up to 75 to 80% of American casualties in Iraq. Think about that. 75 to 80% of the casualties in Iraq of our own soldiers were caused by Iranian made roadside bombs. So when you see these young men and women that have been paralyzed or you read about them being killed from the roadside bombs in Iraq, just point that right back at Iran and what they provided those the Iraqi military over there in October 23rd of 1983, this is what I talked about a minute ago. The Hezbollah suicide bomber directed a truck, drove into the the building in Beirut and killed 241American service members, 241 fully funded by Iran.

[Ali]

So those of you that think, okay,

[Ron Simmons]

we shouldn't be in a war, I get all of that. We, but it's just a matter of time. If we didn't, don't do this and didn't do this before, they were going to do more damage to us directly and to our allies. And we have a, not only a treaty based responsibility to protect our allies, we have a moral based reason for doing that. If we're going to be like the Bible says, there's no, you know, there's no greater person than a friend that you're loyal to. And so we're loyal to our allies and we're going to support them. And that's what we do as a country. And I support that 100%. Obviously, a lot of the, what we would call regular Iranians that are not involved in the theocracy are very happy that this is going on. There's been there, there, there's been a lot of joy. In fact, there's. We'll show you a video in just a minute of some of the stuff that they're doing. But this kind of got started at the end of last year. Their economy went down because of some sanctions and what have you. And then there were protests that really kind of started in the colleges and kind of built from there, universities, 31 different provinces, all of them had protests that came around. And then what the leadership tried to do was to shut those protests down. And when they couldn't just shut them down by telling them to go home, they began indiscriminately shooting people and killing people. Tens of thousands of Iranian citizens. Now think about that. Tens of thousands of Iranian citizens have been killed by their own government because they were, they were protesting. And another 42,000 were arrested. And if we didn't get involved in this, you were never going to see those 42,000 again. So it's really, it's really interesting. Then you say, well, why in the world do we worry about Islam? Well, in addition to the military threat that they pose to us and to the threat to our citizens, think about this. It's really a theocracy under Sharia law. We talk about Sharia law sometimes here in Texas about being worried about whether Sharia law is going to come into play in the United States, which I do not believe it will be, but there will be some attempts in some sections for that. But here's some of the things that. Here's kind of just one of the things that happens in Sharia law. After the theocracy in Iran took over, the legal age of marriage for women was lowered from age 15 to age 9. Now think about that. I mean, that is nothing but child abuse. Yet there were 53 Democrats in a vote on the House floor yesterday that would not say that Iran was a terrorist nation. So basically they're supporting this by saying that. I mean, it's just unbelievable what some of our friends on the other side of the aisle will do. So, I mean, it's been a mess. And there's one us, a lot of US Senators, but one Senator, Senator Tuberville from Alabama, said it the best when he talks about how the treatment of women in Iran.

[Senator Tuberville]

You know, in America, women are allowed to dress, go to school, work, and marry whoever they like. Iran used to be like this, too, before they were taken over by radical Islamists in 1979. This is them post 1979, sadly, under the sick leadership of these terrorists. Women are treated like dogs. Did you hear that? Women are treated like dogs. They are forced to cover every part of their body, their skin, except their eyes. They aren't allowed to leave home unless they're with a male escort. They aren't allowed to get an education or work job. And there aren't forced. And they are forced sometimes to marry young as 6 years old. Pedophilia and inbreeding are rampant, and women are lucky if they are allowed to drive.

[Ron Simmons]

It's just a shame that we've allowed this to go on as long as we have. Honestly, I mean, it is absolutely sick. And where are all the feminists? Why aren't the feminist organizations praising President Trump for helping to liberate these women? They're trying to do what we can. Obviously, it's going to be up to them to make it totally happen. But where are all the feminist organizations? I don't hear where are you, Jane Fonda? Jane. Jane, wake up. Where are you? You should be praising President Trump and what they're doing here. But no, you're so. You have such derangement syndrome. And you know what? It would be the same way if this was President Bush and he had done this.

[Ali]

They wouldn't praise him either.

[Ron Simmons]

It may, but it's just unbelievable how hypocritical that they are. Now, some of the Iranians, they kind of like President Trump, and let's see what they're doing to show that. Oh, they're doing the Trump dance. Look at that. Now, you got to admit, I mean, there's not much funny in a war, but that's pretty funny. And I'm not sure exactly where this

[Ali]

is, but that's some Iranians.

[Ron Simmons]

And maybe that's. Maybe it's in downtown New York or someplace, but it's really pretty funny. Really appreciate that. Oh, me. We have to have a little laughter in all of this. Oddly enough, though, 60% of Americans disapproved of the attacks. Now, you tell me why you disapproved of those. Please write to me ronsimmons.com tell me how in the world that we're on the wrong side of history by doing this, because I just would not understand that. We'll see how it ends up. Some of these things that go on this early in a conflict like this, they tend to level out a little bit more. But I'm sure they'll be continued to have polling done. But we talked about our friends on the other side of the aisle, and the leadership in the House is. Is Representative Hakeem Jeffries. And they talked about that. You know, he was pressed by Fox News reporter Bill Mollugan on the Democratic hypocrisy because Nancy Pelosi, our friend, friend NANCY PELOSI In 2011, she supported President Obama's unauthorized Libya airstrikes versus Democrats current insistence on congressional approval for President Trump strikes. Now, when he was pressed on that, here's what Representative Jeffries had to say in Sat 6.

[Representative Hakeem Jeffries]

Thank you, Leader Jeffries. Back in 2011, Nancy Pelosi said that then President Obama didn't need congressional approval to bomb Libya. Now House Democrats say President Trump needs that approval to bomb Iran. What's the difference?

[Ron Simmons]

Well, obviously Libya and the circumstances connected

[Representative Hakeem Jeffries]

to that were very different than the circumstance that we face in Iran right now.

[Ron Simmons]

Hello. What were those differences?

[Ali]

We had people that were, that, were,

[Ron Simmons]

that were, you remember the Benghazi scenario? That were that were killing American diplomats and citizens. And, and they were attacking what we were trying to do and Libby, the

[Ali]

terrorist organizations we were trying to overthrow over there.

[Ron Simmons]

So I don't understand what Representative Jeffries is talking about. Question always comes up, Will this be a forever war? Well, I don't think it will be. Obviously, there can always be conflict and what have you. But let's take a look at what happened in Venezuela. In fact, recently in Venezuela, you know, we went down there, took Maduro out and it was a different type of operation. Venezuela didn't pose the same broad threat. They weren't trying to get a nuclear weapon. They didn't have a whole bunch of missiles stationed all over their country. Their main problem was, was that their leader was cutting deals with a lot of our enemies.

[Ali]

And we asked him to quit doing that.

[Ron Simmons]

And we even offered them the opportunity to get out of the country and get into exile, but he didn't want to do it. So we went down and got Maduro on January 3rd. And they what's happened since then, though? And there be a, you'll see.

[Ali]

I think it was yesterday or today

[Ron Simmons]

where we did a, we cut a deal with them that will be a historic agreement to reestablish diplomatic ties. We haven't had diplomatic ties there for years. And they came to a deal as well as a deal on gold. There was gold in Venezuela as well. So we hope that's the type of thing that lasts. And also it's the type of thing that happens in Iran that we can reopen diplomatic ties to them.

[Ali]

We'd love nothing more than to have an embassy in Tehran and work with those people over there, they've got, there's something like 90 million people in the country of Iran. They have a lot of resources. They have a lot of very obviously

[Ron Simmons]

wonderful people as President Trump talks about all the time.

[Ali]

And we just hope that we'll be

[Ron Simmons]

able to develop a relationship with them.

[Ali]

And if we can provide them some guidance and ideas on setting up a working Democratic or Republican government or a Republic government, then we're happy to do that. I do not see any opportunity, no matter what crazy Democrat senators say that

[Ron Simmons]

there will be boots on the ground in Iran.

[Ali]

That, that is, that is Trump has said no on that and it's really not needed. We don't need to do that. We, we can take out almost everything we need do from the air and

[Ron Simmons]

from the ocean, and we're doing a good job of that as well.

[Ali]

So, anyway, that's the information I Ron, if you've got any more questions on that you want to write to me, feels free to do that. RonSimmons.com I'm certainly not, you know, the

[Ron Simmons]

top expert in the country. I do try to talk to a lot of people that are involved in this and know more than I do. And so I try to give you

[Ali]

the information that I know and that I can discover. So please, if you have more questions, just give me a, give me a shout on that. Now, our friends in the immigration and the Department of Homeland Security, and they are our friends, they've done those men

[Ron Simmons]

and women there have done it really

[Ali]

hard job, good job in a very tough situation. And if you remember, currently that whole

[Ron Simmons]

department has not been budgeted for, it's

[Ali]

not been funded for the last two or three weeks because in order to keep the rest of the government open, they had to cut a deal to say we're going to leave the Department of Homeland Security, that we're not going to fund them, although the people are still working at the airports and our immigration officers are still working and what have you, and they'll get back pay when it all gets settled. But they had to cut a deal because the Democrats wanted to make a statement and possibly put some additional rules and regulations on immigration ice and in order for it to get out of the Senate, remember, you have to have 60 votes. You have to have 60 votes in order for there to be what they

[Ron Simmons]

call cloture, which is stopping debate and

[Ali]

then taking a vote. Once you take a vote, it only requires 51 to pass the bill. But in order for us to get the rest of the government continue to stay open we had to agree that the department, Homeland Security, would remain closed until they could reach an agreement. And that's how they end up getting. That's how they ended up getting it done. But the head of Department of Homeland Security was former Governor Kristi Noem. She's the secretary of that. And just this week she has been reassigned. Well, reassigned in the government world means you've been fired, but we just haven't kicked you out because we don't want to be embarrassed by it either. But she was reassigned because of primarily, I think there was some belief that she was not as good of a leader as we hoped would be. If you remember in Minnesota, when things got really, really kind of out of hand there, the President sent in Tom Holman who was head of the ICE and kind of calmed that situation down as much as you could with those lunatics that are in government over there. But he able to draw down some of the ICE officers and what have you got? More cooperation out of the local sheriff departments so that there wouldn't need to be as many arrests, in a sense on the street of illegals.

[Ron Simmons]

They would be able to get them

[Ali]

out of the jails that they were being detained in. And so that was kind of a signal that maybe the President didn't have as much faith in Secretary Noem as thought. And then she had a hearing this week which you know, is a Republican led hearing because Republicans control all the committees. So the Republican chairman had to call it in as a Senate committee. And she was grilled over a lot of different things. And of course the Democrat senators get to ask questions. But one of the things that appeared to be the straw that broke the camel's back was an advertising campaign for the Department of Homeland Security whereby these contracts were given in a no bid basis. These contracts are supposed to be competitively bid, but she stated some type of emergency border security clause that allowed her to give these contracts out that were no bid. And it appears that some of them went to firms that were closely affiliated to her or her organization without again, a competitive bidding process. And it wasn't a small number. It was a $220 million ad campaign which a lot of people say appeared to be really more promoting Secretary Noem than it did promoting the efforts of the men and women of her department.

[Ron Simmons]

The ad campaign did come back to haunt Ms. Noem, but she wasn't very happy about it. And here's what she says.

[Senator Kennedy]

The President approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently.

[Condoleezza Rice]

Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes. Did it, correct?

[Senator Kennedy]

Yes, he did.

[Ron Simmons]

Yes.

[Senator Kennedy]

Okay.

[Ron Simmons]

And one thing, Senator, I think would

[Condoleezza Rice]

be helpful to know is how effective

[Ron Simmons]

that communications has been that overwhelmingly effective

[Senator Kennedy]

in your name recognition. I mean, to me, it puts the President in a terribly awkward spot. And. And I just. I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. It's just hard for me to believe.

[Ron Simmons]

Now, chances are I've been in hearings when I was in the legislature, sitting in similar to position where Senator Kennedy would be. Obviously not at that level, but usually we know the answers to the questions before we ask them. So chances are Senator Kennedy had already checked with the White House on whether or not the President knew or not. And so he kind of knew what the answer was. Not always, but a lot of times that's the case. You don't. The last thing you want to do is one asking the questions to be put yourself in a position of looking foolish or not having the correct information. But President Trump has said he did not know about it, or at least he doesn't recall ever doing that. And I think something that big there probably would have. There's probably a record of that somewhere.

[Ali]

And then what happened after that is President Trump got wind of that, was not very happy about it. He did name her to a new role as special envoy for the Shield of America, which I have no idea exactly what that means, but he did do that. And he then has named a new person to be take the secretary of dhs. And the guy's name is Mark Wayne Mullen, who is a Republican from Oklahoma. Oklahoma, A Native American. He's a current US Senator, and he'll take over as the new DHS secretary. Of course, he will initially be acting and then he'll have to be approved by the Senate, which shouldn't be a problem. And we have a statement on, I think it's probably from Truth Social that President Trump talked about.

[Ron Simmons]

So he's pleased to announce it. The current secretary, who he obviously doesn't throw under the bus, served well, she's going to be a special envoy. He thanks her for her service. And then he goes on to talk a little bit about what Mark Wayne Mullen, Senator Mullen had done in the past. He was in the United States House of Representatives, and then he went on to be a represented Oklahoma. And he obviously is a Native American. He understands different types of incredible tribal communities. He's going to do a good job. According to him, he's going to make America safe. Again, and I think it's a great pick. I think when you can pick a minority for a role that deals with a lot of minorities, which illegals mostly are minorities that are coming across, then I think that's a really, really good pick for him. And I think that'll be a good spot. Anyway, we'll see what happens with that. But again, he appointed Senator MULLEN and in SOT 8, this is how they honored Senator Mullen. What was your first reaction to just the news that you were nominated for this position? Just to miss everything.

[Unknown Military Analyst]

And that's how it happened.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

It's humbling because I had to call my dad and I mean, because it happened quick, right? I had to call my wife and call my dad both. And it's just, you know, pretty humbling when you start thinking about it. A little kid from Westville, Oklahoma gets to serve in the President's cabinet. That's pretty neat.

[Ron Simmons]

So obviously he's humbled and honored. You know, the other thing is he's an MMA fighter, so I really wouldn't want to mess with him. Yikes. Glad to have him there. Thank him for serving. And the press secretary also put out a post on Senator Mullen and also thanking Krissy no. 1 for her work as well. All right, why don't we go to some questions from our great audience? You guys are always so good about that. I mean, I'm never again, never cease to be amazed at the questions that you have and. And there's always more than I can answer. So if I can't get to your particular question, but it's something that I haven't covered otherwise specific to you, please feel free to email me. I try to get to those as much as I can. If you've sent me something and I haven't responded, please email me again. Because somehow it got past the first or second page of my emails and I'll be happy to do it. I don't ever avoid any questions. So if you send them to me, please just. And haven't done it, please send them to me again. All right. All right. Who replaces Senator Mullens in the Senate? That's a really good question. This is how things work, I think in every state, if a senator leaves their position during the middle of their term or any time during their term, then the governor of the state, in this case it's Governor. I think it's S T I T, T, Stitt or Stilt. Not sure exactly how you say his last name, but he will appoint someone to take over for the remainder of the term. Now, in some states, the appointment may be more temporary than that where they have to have a special election. I'm not sure what happens in Oklahoma, but he'll appoint someone. Sometimes they like to appoint themselves. I don't know that the governor will do that in this particular case, but there'll be a mad rush. You can, you can believe me. His cell phone is getting blown up right now. And he may ask also Senator Mullen what his thoughts are on that. But they'll do that. And the reason Senator Mullen is a good pick from a political standpoint is because Oklahoma is a solid Republican state. So you don't have a chance where even if there is a special election or in the next election, the Republicans should not lose that seat. So that's how that'll work. And then how concerned am I about Texas flipping blue, especially with sleazy Talarico? Well, Talarico is a wolf in sheep's closing. No question about that. He is as far left as Jasmine Crockett would have ever been. I was rooting for Jasmine. I want you to know that, Jasmine. I was rooting for you, all right, but didn't quite get it over the line. And of course, then you claim that, you know, it was your election denier in your own election already. But I don't see any of your friends saying you shouldn't be in election denier. But that's all I read in the paper yesterday. And it was a Republican's fault. Even though you were in a Democrat primary. You blame the Republicans for your election being rigged. You have to explain that one to me again. Email me ronsimmons.com we'll talk about that. But I don't have a concern about Texas turning blue. I do think that we can't ever sit, you know, sit on our hands. We have to get the vote out. And Talarico is going to be a formidable opponent. There's no question about that, because he will have all the money behind him. He kind of, you know, he kind of looks the part and says, says the right things and whatever, but he is dangerous. Let me tell you something. He is very, very dangerous. All right. How do we convince people no to Talarico and list his political failings, his crazy beliefs? We're going to talk more about that. I know Ali will be talking more about that over the next couple of months. So we'll put some stuff together that'll help you with that and, and get to some facts so you can get some facts out to all of the friends and the people that you're talking to, rising gas prices, where will it stop? I don't know exactly the amount, but I do think it'll be neutralized over the next few weeks. It could spike up a little more

[Ali]

before where it is here.

[Ron Simmons]

I'm sure there's, there's going to be some continued disruptions a little bit. They're going to have to get the Strait of Hormuz figured out. It doesn't really have much of effect on the oil supply here in the US but, but remember, oil, oil prices and oil commodities are worldwide, so it affects the flow of oil in some parts of the world. That has an effect on us as well. And, but I do think that'll get straightened out over the next few weeks. I was reading something the other day that, you know, China gets quite a bit of their oil, 20% or something like that from Iran. And I think that we are trying to work out to help them as far as that, to kind of replace that. I don't know if it would come from us directly or come from Saudi Arabia or someplace like that, but trying to get that worked out so that it doesn't have a major disruption on the world economy, which is a smart thing to do. You know, it's interesting. You may be arguing with somebody or something or some country over here on this issue, but then you've got to

[Ali]

work together on another issue.

[Ron Simmons]

And that's what a lot of our, a lot of people here in the US and maybe around the world don't understand that a lot of people think, well, you only can be this way. It's got to be this way on everything. 100% of the time. That's not the way it works. That's not the way the sausage is made. And you just have to understand that it's okay if, you know, Mr. Democrat and I agree on this and disagree on that. That's the way things work and that's the way they should work. How, let's see here. How did I maintain a strong religious household throughout, through the different phases of life? You know, you hope that it's happening like that. I will tell you that in our house, and I've said this before, a lot of it was my wife Lisa, and the kid's mom. You know, she was on her knees every morning. She still does it. I heard her in there yesterday morning having a conversation with God on an issue that we're working on in our family right now, and she was just claiming it. I mean, she was just claiming these truths that are in the Bible and

[Ali]

continuing to do that and putting the,

[Ron Simmons]

Trying to put those on the hearts of our kids. It's obviously best if you start that

[Ali]

when they're young so that you're.

[Ron Simmons]

So that. That is deep into their heart.

[Ali]

Because when they're young, it's so much like a sponge.

[Ron Simmons]

As they get older, they get maybe some more resistance and things bounce off. But when they're kids, it just, just, they just absorb that. And so the younger you can do that, the better as they, as you go through life.

[Ali]

One of the things that we had

[Ron Simmons]

to learn in our household, and really, when I say we, that's kind of the royal we.

[Ali]

It's really me, I was the one

[Ron Simmons]

that didn't know it, is that there are preferences, there are rules and there are values. And when your kids are little, you have mostly rules, all right? And that's the way it has to be so that they know what to operate under as they get older into their teenage years.

[Ali]

You got to really separate those.

[Ron Simmons]

There are a lot of things that were my preference. I wanted Ali Beth and my other kids to get up and make their

[Ali]

bed every morning, keep a clean room.

[Ron Simmons]

Really a preference, honestly. All right, I wanted to make it a rule. In fact, I would have said it's one of my values, but that would be wrong, too. And so we had to learn that you have to make sure that you're,

[Ali]

you're, you're definitely flexible with your preferences.

[Ron Simmons]

You might, you might say, hey, I

[Ali]

wish you would do that, sweetheart. And your rule would say, hey, you know what the rule is?

[Ron Simmons]

We have a curfew at 11 o' clock and that's not going to change. We can talk about it, but unless

[Ali]

you have a really good argument, which,

[Ron Simmons]

honestly, Allie was a really good arguer, so that was kind of hard to argue with her, but that's not going to change. She didn't ever push that envelope hard. But then the values which hopefully you instilled early on, that those never change. That value of being truthful, the value of being honoring each other, the value

[Ali]

of worshiping our Lord.

[Ron Simmons]

Those types of things, those types of

[Ali]

things are values that you never change, no matter what phase of life that

[Ron Simmons]

your household is in. All right, newly married couple.

[Ali]

How can we protect our future children from worldly views?

[Ron Simmons]

Just kind of like what I said a minute ago. Just get them, get implanted in them

[Ali]

early of what your views and your

[Ron Simmons]

values are and allow that to be the sounding board that they test everything against if you put somebody's values in them, what they believe in, then as other things are presented to them, they will measure them against those values and

[Ali]

they may question those values. And when they do, hopefully you have

[Ron Simmons]

relationship where y' all are open enough where you can have that discussion.

[Ali]

They may not be mature enough to

[Ron Simmons]

be able to defend them as well as you want to.

[Ali]

So you may have to help them do that and you should encourage them.

[Ron Simmons]

Hey, if you ever come across something that goes against what you know our values are, and you don't know why our values are that in that particular

[Ali]

situation, let's sit down and talk about it.

[Ron Simmons]

Right? That's what I would do. All right, Cornyn versus Paxton. Would Trump endorse Cornyn and replace Bondi with Paxton? So Bondi's our U.S. attorney General.

[Ali]

Paxton is the State of Texas Attorney General and Senator Cornyn is the sitting U.S. senator. Cornyn and Paxton are going against each

[Ron Simmons]

other in what will now be a runoff. My preference is Senator Cornyn on that.

[Ali]

I think he'll be. Has been a really good senator and will continue to be a good senator. He votes with President on President Trump's

[Ron Simmons]

agenda 90 something percent of the time. I don't think that AG Paxton will do a better job than him. And there is some.

[Ali]

What would you say? There are some issues with Attorney General

[Ron Simmons]

Paxton's past that I think would have a big negative effect on us in a general election. It'd be much harder for him to beat Talarico than it will for Senator Cornyn.

[Ali]

I don't know if President Trump obviously

[Ron Simmons]

is going to endorse Cornyn.

[Ali]

I keep hearing that's going to happen from some sources that I have, but

[Ron Simmons]

I do not know that. Haven't, certainly haven't talked to the president on that. One of the, one of the things

[Ali]

that President Trump has said, though, is that whoever it is that I endorse, the other person really should drop out of the race.

[Ron Simmons]

And Paxton has come out and said,

[Ali]

well, I'm not doing that.

[Ron Simmons]

That makes me think that Trump is leaning to Cornyn. And so they may be trying to cut a deal behind the scenes like you're talking about here. I doubt that Pam Bondi would, unless she wants to leave. I don't think she would be pushed out. It's not unusual for some of the Cabinet secretaries to leave in the second year or so after they've been in these. These jobs are incredibly 24 7. So I doubt he would be the Attorney general because I don't know that he could get through the Senate confirmation scenario, but there may be something he's working out to appoint Paxton to something that would. That would allow. Allow there not to be a hugely contested runoff election.

[Ali]

That would be best for the Republican Party, for sure. What do you do when your 21 year old is heading down the wrong path?

[Ron Simmons]

Well, you know, and I know you're

[Ali]

doing this, but we gotta have to have unconditional love. We have to realize that they've come to a point in their life where

[Ron Simmons]

they absolutely have free will and that hopefully you've instilled in them a foundation of what's right and what's wrong and a belief in God and a belief

[Ali]

in Jesus and that you keep the

[Ron Simmons]

communication channels open enough to. That they will come back to you. All right.

[Ali]

You cannot just continue to beat on

[Ron Simmons]

them and beat on them. Beat on.

[Ali]

That doesn't work. I wish it did. If it did, I'd be really, really good at that. But I just know it doesn't work.

[Ron Simmons]

And you also have to go on about your life. You can't let their scenario totally stop

[Ali]

you from whatever it else you're supposed to be doing.

[Ron Simmons]

And then finally, if they're putting your

[Ali]

rest of your family in a dangerous situation, you have to separate yourself from that. You cannot let them put the rest of your family at risk if it's a dangerous situation.

[Ron Simmons]

So hopefully it's not that.

[Ali]

Just maybe kind of veering off the path.

[Ron Simmons]

I veered off the path for a

[Ali]

little bit when I was in my late teens, early 20s. Got that corrected mainly because of the foundation that I had been brought up with

[Ron Simmons]

Tucker Carlson's narrative on Israel. Man, I don't know. I don't know if you listen to the Huckabee interview with him or his interview of Huckabee. I thought it was really good. I thought Ambassador Huckabee did a great job on that. If you haven't, go back and watch that. I'm not sure what's going on with Tucker. I really don't know. I mean, I think it's internal for him. Maybe it's a spiritual battle. He's talked about that a little bit, that he's had some challenges with that in the past. But I'm, you know, I'm worried about him personally and don't know why he's doing the things that he's doing. So anyway, really appreciate y' all being here today. It's been another good day. I hope that you'll remember to do a couple of things to get your tickets to share the arrows. And guys, if you haven't bought those for your special loved one yet, then do that. Go on there and get those tickets. There have been thousands sold and it'll eventually be sold out, so make sure that you do that. It's going to be in October of this year. You can go to sharethearrows.com and get that. It's going to be another great event. Allie does a great job with that. As you know. I'll be walking around. Hopefully you'll see and get to meet a bunch of you, but make sure you do that. The other thing is, if you're interested in anything else related to what I think about things, not emailing me. Also get a copy of my book, Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon. You can order that on Ali's merchandise website. You can also order it from Amazon.com if you want to get one. I keep some of them at my house. Want to get one directly from me? You can just send me your email and I'll tell you I'm happy to sign a copy and send it to you. And you can just mail me a check or something like that. So make sure you do that. And also Toxic Empathy. There's no better time to read that book, Toxic Empathy, to understand how the Democrats use our good nature that we have against us. So make sure you read that. It's a New York Times bestseller that Allie's written and she's working on another book that she'll be talking about soon. So thanks and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Take care.