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Ep. 2304 - Mamdani’s 9/11 INSANITY - The Ben Shapiro Show | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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Ep. 2304 - Mamdani’s 9/11 INSANITY

The Ben Shapiro Show

Mon Oct 27 2025

Summary

The Ben Shapiro Show — Ep. 2304: Mamdani’s 9/11 INSANITY

Date: October 27, 2025
Host: Ben Shapiro, The Daily Wire

Episode Overview

Ben Shapiro’s episode centers on the controversy surrounding New York City politician Zohran Mamdani’s recent comments about 9/11 and alleged Islamophobia, and broader implications for Democratic Party politics. Shapiro critiques Mamdani’s narrative of victimhood, examines left-wing coalition dynamics, and transitions into international issues including U.S. policy toward Canada and China, as well as the situation in Argentina and Venezuela. The episode also features an interview segment about child trafficking.

1. Main Theme

Shapiro focuses on what he calls the "insanity" of Zohran Mamdani’s 9/11 statements, connecting them to a larger critique about victimhood culture, progressive Democratic politics, and “wokeness” in America.

2. Key Discussion Points

A. Zohran Mamdani’s 9/11 Comments and Victimhood Politics

Timestamps: 00:00–15:20

Mamdani’s Narrative
- Mamdani, speaking at a Bronx press conference, claimed his aunt stopped taking the NYC subway after 9/11 due to feeling unsafe in her hijab.
- Shapiro mocks the lack of direct impact, questioning if even the referenced family member exists or experienced what is claimed.
Shapiro’s Critique
- Shapiro attacks Mamdani’s focus on Islamophobia rather than the 3,000 victims of 9/11, claiming Mamdani rewrites the story as one of secondary victimization.
- Shapiro asserts that identity/victim status is Mamdani’s primary asset in politics, labeling him a “fraudulent human” and “nothing without victimhood.”
  - “Without the victimhood, he would be a nothing burger. A nothing burger stacked atop a nothing sandwich…” (05:23)
Victimhood as “Coin of the Realm” for the Left
- Shapiro argues that left-wing coalitions are built on overlapping claims of grievance—race, religion, or gender—regardless of personal privilege or success.
- Contrasts Mamdani’s affluent background with his adopted status as a marginalized outsider.
Islamophobia vs. Critique of Radical Islam
- Shapiro draws a distinction between legitimate criticism of radical Islam and what he deems an overblown or weaponized charge of Islamophobia.
- Claims America, and NYC specifically, have been “wildly Muslim friendly,” citing post-9/11 outreach by leaders like George W. Bush (09:06).
- “No wave of anti Muslim hate crimes followed 9/11. Not in New York nor anywhere else.” (08:47)
- “Victimhood is the coin of the realm in Democratic Party politics.” (09:52)

B. Wokeness and the Future of the Democratic Party

Timestamps: 15:20–22:56

AOC and the 2028 Democratic Primary
- Shapiro suggests that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive with her own victimhood narrative, is the likely front-runner for the 2028 presidential nomination because of these dynamics.
- Other contenders (Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, Kamala Harris) are dismissed for lacking credible “victim” credentials, despite attempts to align with progressive causes.
  - “They need somebody who can credibly claim victimhood... She’s awful...has the backing of Bernie Sanders and she has pseudo victimhood, and those two things are...very useful in a Democratic Party primary.” (21:41)
Wokeness “in remission” not dead
- Shapiro claims “wokeness” is not dead in America, but dormant and ready to reemerge—“Wokeness is in remission. The cancer is not yet dead.” (15:40)
- Frames Mamdani’s and AOC’s politics as “the green shoot of wokeness springing up beneath the permafrost.” (16:45)
Coalitions of Victimhood
- Shapiro criticizes political rhetoric that lumps together disparate minority experiences to create a grand “coalition of the aggrieved.”

C. Democratic Party Strategy & Coalition Trends

Timestamps: 22:56–35:22

2024 Voter Trends
- Shapiro cites polls noting increased alienation among Black and Latino voters despite Democratic strategies focused on grievance and anti-Trump sentiment.
- "Democratic coalition is supposedly aggrieved people and liberal white women. That is the Democratic coalition.” (35:16)
Immigration and ICE
- Discusses Democratic attacks on ICE, claiming this is designed to recapture Latino support lost to Trump.
- Reference to rising anti-ICE rhetoric and a sniper attack on ICE agents—used as evidence that demonization breeds violence.
Government Shutdown
- Asserts the ongoing shutdown is performative posturing to cultivate Democratic base support, particularly among the “aggrieved.”

D. Foreign Policy: Tariffs, China, Argentina, Venezuela

Timestamps: 35:22–55:24

US–Canada Trade Spat
- Criticizes President Trump’s new tariffs on Canada as economically counterproductive, noting Ronald Reagan was not a protectionist (38:22).
- Quotes/arguments from Treasury Secretary Scott Besant seen as unconvincing.
US–China Trade Talks
- Reports cautious optimism from US and Chinese officials; Shapiro is skeptical about long-term stability.
- Discusses rare earth mineral leverage and “rolling” of tariffs, expressing concern about a lack of broader strategy.
TikTok Deal
- Questions whether the deal sufficiently addresses Chinese control over the TikTok algorithm; sees lack of clarity as a “fail.”
Argentina and Javier Milei
- Praises Argentina's libertarian president Javier Milei for winning legislative support and pursuing free-market reforms backed by the US (48:15).
- Applauds Trump’s $20b loan to stabilize Argentina as “America First,” providing an ally and stemming migration (51:31).
Venezuela
- Discusses US military build-up and the possibility of targeted strikes against drug cartels, but dismisses ground invasion fears.
- Lindsey Graham (Senator) voices support for land strikes targeting narco-terrorists (54:54).
- Shapiro frames action as justified pushback against a criminal regime.

E. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Mamdani’s Victimhood
- “He is a nothing burger stacked atop a nothing sandwich...It is the victimhood alone that has elevated Zar mom dying.” (05:21)
On 9/11 and Islamophobia
- “How is this person a victim?... sometimes somewhere, someone gave him a mean look because of Islamophobia.” (06:00)
On Wokeness
- “Wokeness is in remission, it is not in fact dying. Wokeness is in remission. The cancer is not yet dead.” (15:40)
On the Democratic Coalition
- “The Democratic coalition is supposedly aggrieved people and liberal white women. That is the Democratic coalition.” (35:16)

F. Interview: Child Trafficking and Technology (with Derek Banner, 56:30–60:43)

How Traffickers Exploit Tech
- Derek Banner from rrescue explains that predators use all online platforms (“even seemingly innocent gaming platforms”) to access and groom children.
Law Enforcement Challenges
- Discusses the overwhelming scale (20.5 million suspected reports; 63m files of CSAM in 2024) and the psychological toll on investigators.
Prevention and Awareness
- Emphasizes parent awareness about app usage and internet access.
Memorable Point:
- “The short answer, Ben, is all of them. So they are leveraging technology at scale…” (57:28)

3. Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------|---------------| | Main Introduction, Mamdani 9/11 controversy| 00:00–07:30 | | Mamdani’s Victim Narrative Critique | 07:30–15:20 | | Wokeness and Democratic Party Futures | 15:20–22:56 | | Democratic Coalition & 2028 Primary Talk | 22:56–35:22 | | Foreign Policy: Trade, China, Canada | 35:22–46:04 | | Argentina & Venezuela Analysis | 46:04–55:24 | | Interview: Derek Banner/Child Trafficking | 56:30–60:43 |

4. Summary Tone & Style

Shapiro’s tone is combative, sardonic, and unwaveringly partisan, using humor and sharp analogies to attack political adversaries. His language is highly charged, especially regarding Mamdani and “woke” progressives.

5. Conclusion

The episode is a primer on Shapiro’s view of modern progressive politics as “victimhood theater,” connecting this to issues of identity, Democratic electoral strategy, and U.S. policy at home and abroad. The extended focus on Mamdani’s 9/11 comments serves as a springboard for discussions about the future of the Democratic Party, the persistence of wokeness, and contentious U.S. foreign policy.

For listeners interested in the politics of identity, the evolution of “woke” narratives, or contemporary conservative critiques of Democratic strategy, this episode provides direct and unvarnished opinion.

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Transcript

Ben Shapiro (0:00)

Well, folks, it turns out that we now know the real victim of 9 11. The real victims. It was Zorin Mamdani's family members because people gave them mean looks. We'll get into what is the appeal of Zoran momdani. Why is AOC the front runner for the Democratic nomination in 2028? Plus, President Trump getting strong with Venezuela? First, less than two weeks ago, we launched our new flagship show, Friendly Fire, right here on Daily Wire. Plus, it's me, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, Andrew Claven coming together live to debate, discussing, yes, you know, know, disagree on the biggest stories making headlines. In our very first episode, we dropped two massive announcements, the all new Daily Wire lifetime membership and that first look at our upcoming epic, the Pendragon cycle. This Wednesday night, we're back with an all new live episode and more big announcements you're not going to want to miss. Plus, our deal of the decade is happening right now. Join Daily Wire plus for as little as $7 a month at DailyWire.com watch Friendly Fire live Wednesday at 7pm Eastern, only on Daily Wire Plus. Well, folks, at the end of last week, Zara Momdani and Andrew Cuomo were embroiled in a battle. That battle was over whether Andrew Cuomo was a big meanie for going on Sid Rosenberg's show in New York City. And Sid Rosenberg made some sort of joke about how Zoran Mamdani would have cheered 911 and Cuomo kind of awkwardly chuckled. And this turned into an entire news cycle. How dare Sid Rosenberg and how dare Andrew Cuomo be so mean to Zoran Mandani? And this has now turned into the theme of Zoran Mandani's campaign, which is why are people so mean to the pro jihadist, pro Marxist candidate who is likely to be the next mayor of New York? This is blown into full view because over the course of the weekend, Zahra Momdani decided to talk extensively about 911 and his feelings about 9 11. So Zaramdani was delivering some sort of press conference in the Bronx. And here he decided that the real victim of 9 11, the real true victim of 9 11, was not the 3,000 people who died on 9 11, murdered in the worst Islamist terrorist attack ever. No, actually that the real victim was his auntie. His auntie who, according to Zormadani, rode the subway and may or may not have received a mean look.

Zoran Mamdani (2:10)

I want to use this moment to speak to the Muslims of New York City.

Ben Shapiro (2:20)

God, he's a fraud.

Zoran Mamdani (2:21)

I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.

Ben Shapiro (2:40)

So that, that he is such a fraud. If you buy into this fraudulent human, you are a fool. You are a fool. The fake tears, the he's. He's so broken up over his aunt apparently not taking the subway after 9 11. Now there have been some questions raised about which aunt he's talking about. At least one of his aunts was actually in Tanzania at the time, apparently. But put aside whether or not that aunt exists or whether or not she stopped taking the subway, Zoramdani has somehow transformed 9 11, the worst terror event on American soil ever and probably the worst event in the history of New York City into a sad story about American Islamophobia. And do you understand, do you understand what he's doing? The idea is that if he is not elected, it's that same Islamophobia that will be responsible for him not being mayor of New York. That the problem is not his pro jihadist leanings, which we have detailed multiple times on the show. The problem is not that he has stood for globalize, the Intifada, the Holy Land 5. That he posed alongside an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 World Trade center bombing, that he refuses to say Hamas should be disarmed. That's not the problem. The problem is all you people who are mean to him about those things because you are Islamophobic. He's just doing the Norm MacDonald joke, the old Norm MacDonald joke that if there were nuclear war, if there was a nuclear bomb set off by Islamic terrorists in the middle of New York City, he's afraid for the real victims, the Muslims in New York City. This is what Mamdani is doing now. And it doesn't stop there. He's making this like a central plank of his campaign. Again, many of the things that people think of as bugs in the Mamdani campaign are features of the Mamdani campaign. They are features. Everybody who looks at Mamdani and they say, what a weird campaign. Why is he running on Islamophobia? Like, why does he just run like a normal progressive Democrat? They don't understand this is the reason a bunch of left wing progressive Democrats are going to vote for him and do so enthusiastically without the victimhood. He would be a nothing burger. A nothing burger stacked atop a nothing sandwich stacked atop a. A gigantic junkyard of nothing. It is the victimhood alone that has elevated Zar mom dying. Now you say to yourself, wait, he's not a victim. I mean, didn't his family immigrate from Uganda? Not exactly a nice place to live. And he still holds double citizenship with Uganda. I mean, aren't his parents super wealthy? Didn't his dad teach at Columbia and his mom was a film producer? How is this a complete, utter, useless human being, a leech on the fat rump of the United States? How is this person a victim? How? And the answer is that sometimes somewhere, someone gave him a mean look because of Islamophobia. Now, again, the term Islamophobia is very often just a cover for don't criticize radical Islam. If you criticize radical Islam, that's a form of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is kind of a weird charge because again, when you look at someone, unless they are wearing religious garb, it is very difficult to be Islamophobic. Again, you don't even know that they're Muslim. Islam is a religion. Islam is not, in fact, a race. If you saw Zoramdani on the street, you'd have a hard time pegging his ethnicity, let alone his religion. But according to Zoran Mamzani, the real problem here is an unrat, an unreasoning, irrational fear of Muslims. That's the reason why he's having trouble right now, not his routine support of the worst people on planet Earth. Here is Zaramdani doing, once again, the same routine over the weekend.

Ben Shapiro (7:27)

That every accusation from Zahra Mandani is an admission. No one has engaged in more bigotry in this campaign than Zoran Mandani. No one. Remember, it is in fact a form of bigotry to endorse globalize the Intifada and Hamas should not disarm. It's bigotry against non terrorists, number one. But the insanity of Zoram Hamdani walking around as a pseudo victim in New York City, by the way, I'm old enough to remember 2001. Azar Momdani is 33 years old. OK? That means that Zormadani because 911 now happened 24 years ago. Zoran Mamdani was nine when 911 happened. I'm about eight years older than Zoram Dani, so I remember 911 pretty well because I was a late teen already. And I remember the extraordinary efforts that the federal government and state government and city government of New York went through in order to tamp down on quote unquote Islamophobia. George W. Bush. Bush did full speeches about how radical Islam was not the same as normal mainstream Islam, how this is a perversion of Islam, how there shouldn't be any sort of backlash against Muslims. The city of New York did the same thing. The state of New York did the same thing. Zoram Hamdani whining about the treatment of Muslims in a country that is wildly, wildly Muslim friendly is totally insane. It's totally. The city of New York, by the way, is now 11% Muslim, which is the same percentage as the Jewish population. We always hear about the big Jewish population in New York and that's true. The same exact population is Muslim in New York now. Is there radical discrimination against Muslims in New York? By what metric? And by the way, what in the like, how is it that you're talking about 911 and you don't even spare one sentence for the actual victims of 9 11? The people who are leaping to their Deaths from the 90th story of the World Trade Center. The people who are crushed beneath millions of pounds of molten steel. The people who died, the firefighters, the people who got cancer years later from all the dust and debris. Nothing for them. But his auntie did ride the subway and you know, she. Somebody probably gave her a mean look. Somebody probably said a mean thing to her. Maybe. Well, we don't know. But maybe. But maybe. According to the New York Post, how self damning the Zorm Hamdani's chief takeaway from 911 is that it supposedly triggered a horrible wave of Islamophobia. What utter dreck. Of course, ordinary Muslims bear no blame for the extremists who carried out those terror attacks, killing some 3,000 innocents. No wave of anti Muslim hate crimes followed 9 11. Not in New York nor anywhere else. Before and after 9 11, the minority most singled out for hate in America and across the world has always been Jews in vast disproportionate to their numbers, by the way, in Europe, largely by radical Muslims. So what are the supposed experiences of Zoran Mamdani that makes him a victim? And again, victimhood is the coin of the realm in Democratic Party politics. The reason that Bernie Sanders had a tougher time in the primaries than AOC will is because AOC will claim that because she is a minority in America, that means she was a victim. Zoramdani is doing the same thing. Bernie couldn't claim that because he's an old Jew from Brooklyn. But what were his experiences? According to the New York Post, he recalled how a teacher warned him he might face bullying. Whoa. Whoa, whoa. He might fit. Whoa, whoa, dude, whoa. Since he attended the ultra liberal, pricey Bank Street School for Children, his progressive educators expected the worst of their fellow New Yorkers. He did not recall actually being bullied. Instead, he could only cite his aunt's supposed decision to quit riding the subways because she did not feel safe in her hijab. Like, again, without the victimhood, he's got nothing. Nothing. His program is trash. His candidacy is smugness and ugliness masquerading as kindness. He hates the things that make America go. He hates capitalism. He hates traditional Judeo Christian religion. He hates traditional values. He hates America's role in the world. That's who this guy is. And. And yet somehow, because he is apparently rich in the coin of victimhood, despite the fact, again, he is one of the least victimized people I have ever even conceived of. He grew up rich as an immigrant to this country as a child. Both of his parents are very successful. He lived his young adult life being a pseudo rapper and having no actual job. And yet somehow he's a victim. Somehow he's a. He's a victim in America already. Coming up. Zormadani. That guy is wild. But that's, I think, the feature, not the bug. What are Democrats trying to do here? And why does it mean that AOC is likely the 2028 front runner? We'll get to that in a moment. 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Here he was in 2020 complaining about Islamophobia.

Ben Shapiro (15:20)

You are coming from Uganda. You were coming from Uganda. Like I'm sorry, you are a Muslim coming from a third world country abroad and you were pulled aside for five minutes by TSA and this is your great story victim. And by the way, on 911 you know where I was? I was helping lock down my sister's Jewish day school because just like every other terrorist attack in the United States, Jewish day schools go on high alert. Especially terrorist attacks that come from, wait for it, radical Muslims, which is what happened on 9 11. My sisters weren't the victims of 9 11. I wasn't the victim of 9 11. The victims were the victims of 9 11. Americans were the victims of 9 11, like all Americans. But the primary victims were the actual victims. You know, the people who died, the people who were injured, the people who lost family members. If you start off your memory of 911 with, you know, one time somebody took me out of school and they said a thing to shut up. Truly pathetic. But understand without the there's been a lot of talk on the right about the death of wokeness. How wokeness is dying? No, Wokeness is in remission, it is not in fact dying. Wokeness is in remission. The cancer is not yet dead. Okay, Wokeness is in remission because wokeness is rooted in the idea that there's an internal American victimhood system. And this class of victims cannot be identified by their level of success in American society or prosperity or notoriety. It can be identified specifically by levels of racial diversity and by non traditional background in terms of religion. This is how you can tell who in fact is a victim in the United States, according to the woke. And as long as that matrix is undergirding everything that is happening, wokeness is not dead. It's just waiting. It's just waiting for a sunnier season to burst through the icy frost that has crossed the woke landscape. But don't worry, there will be a thaw. And Mamdani is the thaw. He is a green shoot of wokeness springing up beneath that permafrost. That is what he is. Without the victimhood, Mamdani is nothing. He is no different than Bill de Blasio. He is no different than half a dozen other terrible New York candidates who ran this time. It is the racial diversity and the ethnic diversity and the religious diversity, all of which in the left wing mind are tied into inherent victimhood. Without the victimhood, he is zip, zilch. Now, what does this mean? I promise you, what this means is not just in New York. It means that the Democrats are going to move in this direction going forward in 2028. The Democrats are not going to run Gavin Newsom. They're not going to run Andy Beshear. They do not have the capacity to do this. The reason that they do not have the capacity to do this is because the Democratic Party's jet fuel is a sense of aggrievement and victimhood at America itself. How America's a terrible, awful, no good, very bad place. He's gonna be Andy Beshear. Andy Bashir can't credibly claim victimhood on any score. He is a straight white man and it doesn't matter how much he virtue signals to the far left base about LGBTQ + + divided by sign issues. He's not one of them. He's not claiming to be a transsexual furry. And so that means that he has no coin of the realm in Democratic Party progressive circles, which is where candidate notoriety is made. Which makes it somewhat vaguely pathetic that Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, he was appearing with Bill Maher and Bill Maher started complaining about gender bills and Here was Andy Beshear, for example. If you think this is going to play in a Democratic Party primary, got another thing for you. You have this very high approval rating in your state, and yet it's a conservative state. And you still. You vetoed two gender bills that the legislature overrode, which will do you well in the Democratic primary. Just briefly describe what those bills were and what your reasoning is on this.

Ben Shapiro (22:12)

I am not done. I have lived my entire career, a life of service, and it's in my bones. And there are many ways to serve. I've not decided yet what I will do in the future beyond what I am doing right now. Narrator. She was done. She's done. It's not her either. Okay, so it ain't Newsom, it ain't Bashir, it ain't Kamala Harris. So who is it? Well, let's see. What if there were, like, a female Zoran Momdani who also did not suffer growing up, but can try to claim some sort of victimhood status based off of her diverse ethnicity and the fact that she is, in fact, virulently popular with progressives and so has driven an enormous amount of conservative ire because she is actually quite horrible. What if that person existed and that person were called aoc? I'm just telling you, everybody on the right and the left who is short selling aoc, wrong move. Yes, she's awful. Yes, she's terrible. She has the backing of Bernie Sanders and she has pseudo victimhood. 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This city was built by the Irish escaping famine, Italians fleeing fascism, Jews escaping Holocaust, black Americans fleeing slavery and Jim Crow, Latinos seeking a better life, native people standing for themselves, Asian Americans coming together in Queens, in Brooklyn, in the Bronx, in Manhattan. It's Staten island in this country. Okay? So I just want to note what she's doing there. Understand what she's doing there, right? First of all, she's lumping in like all those groups as though they are equal in terms of their contribution or that their stories are equivalent. But notice what she's doing there. What she is doing there is she is putting together the coalition of victimhood, the coalition. Now it doesn't matter, by the way, that she opposes half those groups. That the same lady who is talking about how Jews escaping the Holocaust built New York is standing with Zoran Mamdani, who's totally fine with globalizing the Intifada and who wept, literally wept, when she abstained from a vote on the floor of the House to provide funding for Iron Dome, which shoots down terrorist rockets coming from Gaza. That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that there is nothing about AOC and her agenda that mesh with the experiences of Italian immigrants coming to the United States in the late 19th century, early 20th century. That in fact, their agenda is not her. It doesn't matter. Now again, many people are victims and many people contributed to the building of America. She is not one of them. But she has to grab onto that mantle. WOKE is in remission. It is not yet dead. It is not. AOC concluded that speech, by the way, by shouting that she's not the crazy one. Which, by the way, if you have to tell everybody you're not the crazy one, you're the crazy one. But we must remember in a time such as this, we are not the crazy ones. New York City. We are not the outlandish ones. New York City. They want us to think we are crazy. Crazy. We are sane. Nope. Nope. But it's an awful risk that the country is running, Vader. It had better work in running the risk where the Democratic Party goes way out to the left in order to humor the Wokes. Anytime a major party nominates a candidate, that person has at least a 40% shot of being President of the United States. And as the Democratic Party moves in the direction of pseudo victimhood of AOC and Zormandani, if the Democratic Party decides to smear that WOKE victimhood mentality over a Marxist pro jihadist philosophy, bad things ahead for the United States of America, that is for sure. So what are Democrats counting on? If they've got this sort of WOKE move that, that is still, under the surface, roiling, what are they counting on? Because President Trump obviously has winning, been winning a larger and larger share of Latinos and, and a larger share of black voters. So what are they counting on? And the answer is they're waiting for there to be some sort of regression to the mean. And maybe that's happening. According to Axios, black and Latino Americans are reporting record levels of alienation and pessimism about the nation's direction. More Latinos and black voters supported Trump in 2024. But early into his second term, the sense of exclusion has deepened among communities of color. Nearly 2/3 of Americans believe the US is headed in the wrong direction right now. This is a PRRI and Brookings Institution poll, so it is left leaning. Of all racial groups, black Americans 84% and Latinos 70% are the most dissatisfied with the country's direction. Over half of black 53% and Latino 56%. Respondents say they feel like strangers in their own country, a record high. In the poll's 16 year history, only 16% of black Americans and 30% of Latinos view Trump favorably. That's actually not a terrible number among black Americans because typically Democrats will win 92, 93% of the black vote in a presidential election. That 30% number for president Trump is pretty bad given the fact that that President Trump scored in the mid-40s with the Latino vote. And so Democrats are presumably hoping that the Trump administration's harsh perspective on immigration is going to drive Latinos back into their arms. This, by the way, also explains why the Democrats keep saying over and over and over that ICE are Nazis. If they can continue to drive down the numbers for ice, drive down the numbers on President Trump's immigration programs with Latino voters, they're hoping that those voters will then turn to an AOC in 2028. This is the reason why Trump ICE chief Todd Lyons has been pointing out correctly, the Democrats are demonizing ICE agents as Nazis and Gestapo. You know, we need to have common sense conversations, right?

Ben Shapiro (35:22)

The only reason they're doing this, it is all posturing. It's all, remember, the Democratic coalition is supposedly aggrieved people and liberal white women. That is the Democratic coalition. So they've already catered to the supposedly aggrieved. That's what they do every day. It's Zormadani, AOC and the rest of the party. And now they're attempting to cater to the liberal white women who simply want opposition to Trump and will go out and march at a no Kings rally. That's the coalition in the end. And it does explain why Democrats are not trying to cash in on the actual vulnerabilities of the Trump administration. Things like, for example, tariff policy or crypto policy, because those are things that neither side of their coalition really cares about. Their coalition doesn't care about tariff policy. Their coalition doesn't care about economic health. They care about grievance politics. That's all grievance politics and personal hatred for Trump. That's the entire Democratic Party at this point. Okay, we'll get to foreign policy in just a second. Big win for Javier Milei in Argentina and why the United States even cares in just a second. First, Grand Canyon University, an affordable private Christian university based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the largest universities in America. Praised for its culture of community and impact, GCU integrates the free market system, a welcoming Christian worldview, and free and open discourse into 369 academic programs with over 300 online. Join a nationwide community of learners redefining online education through GCU's 100% online MBA degree program. Learn ethical entrepreneurship. Scale your business to serve your community. In addition to federal grants and aid, GCU's online students received nearly $161 million in institutional scholarships in 2024. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private Christian, affordable. Visit gcu.edu My offer to see the scholarships you may qualify for. I've actually visited their campus. A beautiful campus. The students are great. And again, most universities right now, a lot of them anyway, kind of trash like you're spending a lot of money to not get what you're looking for. Not the case at Grand Canyon University. Go check them out right now. Gcu. Edu my offer. Okay. Meanwhile, the President of the United States is pursuing two very different trade policies with regard to China and Canada. And were it I, I would be reversing these trade policies when it comes to Canada. The president seems to just want to slam Canada over and over with a mallet. And I will admit confusion. I think Mark Carney is terrible. But also, if the President of the United States, when he had come into office earlier this year, had not smacked Canada across the face, then probably Pierre Poliev would be the Prime Minister of Canada right now. And that would be much better because it turns out it's better to have people who generally agree with you about the world in positions of leadership globally. But President Trump over the weekend decided that he was going to raise tariffs on Canada by 10%. According to the Wall Street Journal. He said on Saturday that he would be doing this, quote, because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts and hostile act, I am now increasing the tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now. What did they do? Well, according to his truth, Social Canada was caught red handed putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan's speech on tariffs. The Reagan foundation said they created an ad campaign using selective audio and video of President Ronald Reagan. The ADMIS represents the presidential radio address and did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks. The Ronald Reagan Presidential foundation and Institute is reviewing its legal options in this matter. The sole purpose of this fraud, says President Trump, was Canada's hope that the U.S. supreme Court will come to their rescue on tariffs. And they've used for years to hurt the United States. Now the United States is able to defend itself against high and overbearing Canadian tariffs. Ronald Reagan loved tariffs for purposes of national security and the economy, but Canada said he didn't. Their advertisement was to be taken down immediately. They let it run last night during the World Series knowing it was a fraud. And so he's increasing tariffs on Canada by 10%. Okay, so a few things here. One, Ronald Reagan was not in favor of tariffs. Ronald Reagan had specific tariff policies with regard to particularly steel and Japanese semiconductors. The same thing was true of George W. Bush. Very hard to argue that George W. Bush was a tariffs guy because he did some very specific steel tariffs. It happens not to be the case that Ronald Reagan was an anti free trade president of the United States. Second, it was not the entire Canadian government that took out the ad. It was the government of the province of Ontario. Third, if you think that an ad on the World Series is convincing the Supreme Court to strike down Trump's tariffs, that's silly. The Supreme Court will likely strike down Trump's tariffs, in my opinion, because he has wildly exceeded the boundaries of executive authority in unilaterally saying that he can just negotiate tariff arrangements based on emergency authority. I do not think any president of any party has the ability to do that legally. I'd be kind of shocked, frankly, if the Supreme Court does not strike down his ability to levy the kinds of tariffs that he has under the authorities that he is citing. As the Wall Street Journal points out that Gipper was a free trader. In the 1987 speech that was cited here, Reagan was trying to explain why he was making an exception to his free trade policies on semiconductor imports from Japan. They point out that Democrats in Congress were threatening new tariffs. And Reagan wanted to instruct the country about the damage from protectionism in the past, especially from the Smoot hawley tariff of 1930 and how it contributed to the Great Depression. And as the Wall Street Journal points out, even Reagan's semiconductor tariffs proved to be a mistake. Intel, which lobbied for the tariffs, innovated with its 386 and 486 chips that surpassed the commodity memory chips made by Japan. The US Attempt at computer chip industrial policy at the time focused around the Sematech consortium, was a bust. And Japan, who obviously we were very afraid of economically in the 1980s, is no longer an economic threat to the United States. They've been in a state of complete stagnation for two and a half decades at this point, economically speaking. Well, Scott Besant, the Treasury Secretary, was grilled over President Trump's claims on tariffs by Kristen Welker over in NBC News. Why is the president setting trade policy based on a television ad he doesn't like?

Ben Shapiro (46:04)

Now, Margaret Brennan on CBS News asked him, has China agreed to give up control of the algorithm that determines what users see? And Besant didn't explain. I find this disquieting. The entire purpose of the congressional bill that was signed into law, supported by President Trump, was to divest TikTok's control from China. If that does not happen, then that is, in fact, a fail. Alrighty. Meanwhile, some good news from South America. Javier Milei's party has now won a mandate for a free market revolution in Argentina. There's a lot of dyspepsia, a lot of concern that Javier Milei, who has basically had to use economic chemotherapy on the Kirchnerist economy over in Argentina. The big state, horribly regulated, nationalized economy of Argentina. When you use shock therapy on an economy, it can absolutely get down your debt levels. It can absolutely increase the price of your currency. It also is going to have some downstream effects in terms of how people live. Because if you revalue your currency and it turns out the peso is worth a lot less than you were saying that it's worth, for example, people's money doesn't go nearly as far. And so that's why the United States stepped in and basically gave a loan to the Argentinian government to back Milei's play. Because the idea is that if you want a pro capitalism, pro America ally in Argentina, then you give them a loan, sort of like the Marshall Plan, in order to ensure they don't fall into the Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro Cuban category. And it worked, because yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal, Milei scored a decisive political win on Sunday, strengthening his position in Argentina's Congress and securing a lifeline for his audacious, audacious free market revolution backed by President Trump. Full disclosure. As you know, I'm a huge Melee fan. I think what Milei is doing is one of the most important things in the world right now. I think that the move away from socialism and dependency theory in South America and toward embrace of free markets is an excellent thing for the United States. I think if you don't want gigantic waves of migrants coming up from south and Latin America, then what you actually need is functional states. In these places, allies are better than enemies. In these places, Melee is an extraordinarily pro American ally. With more than 99% of the votes counted. Milei's Freedom Advances party won almost 41% of the national vote and more than doubled its representation in Congress. That means that his party and allies secured at least one third of the seats in both chambers. And that allows Melee to preserve his veto power and defend his sweeping decrees. So that gives him fresh political momentum. And it also shores up his standing with both Washington D.C. and the IMF, because again, what they said is, we're not going to pour more money down a rat hole is what President Trump said. He said, we're not pouring more money down an Argentinian rat hole. If it turns out that Argentina is ready to govern like a responsible country, then, yeah, investment's going to come in. And this, by the way, is true for investors. I've been talking with a lot of investors looking at Argentina's economy, and they look and they see opportunity, but they were worried, okay, we're going to put our money in. Five minutes later, Milei will be out and you'll end up with another Kirchner type. And if that happens, then your money's gone. And so some form of solidity in the Argentinian economy, a trajectory toward normality, is going to be a huge thing for Argentina and for people who wish to invest in Argentina, which will be a Good thing, Milei told a cheering throng in downtown Buenos Aires. Today marks the beginning of building a great Argentina. This result is nothing more and nothing less than the confirmation of the mandate we assumed in in 2023. The US had announced a $20 billion currency swap this month to prop up Argentina's currency, promising to raise another 20 billion from private banks and sovereign wealth funds. Now, again, some of this is is a play for time because the reality is the peso is way, way overvalued in Argentina and that if Melee were to dollarize, then everything I said before about the devaluation of the peso would happen really, really rapidly. And Milei was concerned that if that happens too fast, you end up burning out the electorate and then they swivel back toward the left. President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Monday. Again, this is an excellent move by President Trump. Big win in Argentina for Javier Milei, a wonderful Trump endorsed candidate. He's making us all look good. Our confidence in him was justified by the people of Argentina. Mile has already sharply devalued the peso to unify an array of exchange rates and curb a chronic budget gap that was funded by printing money. He reduced energy subsidies and fired tens of thousands of public sector employees. The policies briefly stabilized Argentina's finances, producing the first balanced budget in more than a decade. The inflation rate has fallen to 32%, which is still unbelievably high, but it was 200% two years ago. There are a lot of voters ready to criticize the president, but they said handing back power to the leftist Peronist opposition was unthinkable, which is exactly, exactly right. And the idea is, if you want to have a future, you're going to have to let Milei cook. So that is definitely a very, very good thing happening in South America. Scott Besant was asked the Treasury Secretary about the loans to Argentina. He says, that is America first. And this is right. This is right for all of the isolationists out there. We're like, why are we spending money in Argentina as opposed to spending money here? First of all, we spend tons of money here at home. It's why we have a $37 trillion debt. That's why. It's not because of foreign aid, okay? But the point that Besant is making here and that President Trump has made is that America first has never meant America alone. We need allies, and it is better to have an ally in Argentina who is not destroying the economy and shipping hundreds of thousands of people up to the United States by proxy. That is better than the alternative. Here is Scott Besant.