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- [00:00]
Ben Shapiro
Let's start off today's show by compiling a quick list of just some of the people the left says are Nazis. Elon Musk and President Trump. Vice President Vance, Javier Milei ice all of Israel according to Hassan Piker and plenty of others. But when there's a Democratic candidate for higher office with a literal Nazi tattoo, he is definitely not a Nazi. That's just a great dude with some questionable body art choices. Here's a quick montage of what Democrats have been saying about Graham Platner.
- [00:35]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
You know, I haven't waited into that primary. I don't believe the primary is, has occurred yet.
- [00:40]
Ben Shapiro
We're going to take back, we're going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate. Any other subject? You got any other subject?
- [00:47]
Ro Khanna
I almost never get involved in primaries outside of Virginia because I think Maine Democrats should pick their candidates.
- [00:54]
Ben Shapiro
And I don't think we're pretty far down on the primary road here.
- [00:58]
Jesse Ridgeway
So are you still supporting Graham Platner
- [01:00]
Brent Scher
after the sexting scandal that's going on with him?
- [01:04]
Ro Khanna
And I guess I have a view with that of redemption. And he has unequivocally owned up to it, said that it was wrong, that he learned from it.
- [01:14]
Ben Shapiro
Well, now in the least surprising story in human history, it turns out that the dude with the Nazi tattoo who allegedly sexted a dozen women while married, who was clearly registered on the grooming website Kick, who made online comments about touching himself in porta potties and why it was good when American soldiers got shot, you're not going to believe this. He's allegedly kind of rapey. I know. It's always the ones you most suspect. Apparently they did not see that coming. They were blitzkrieged by this information. They never could have guessed topoed that this would have happened. They thought it couldn't go any furer, but then it did. We'll break down the new explosive allegations against Graham Platner. We'll take a look at the never ending ballot counting in California and we'll talk about an incredibly disturbing abortion story taking over the Internet. Plus, I will make a Knicks spurs game two pick. Yes, seriously, that's a thing. We're going to do all of that and more today on the Ben Shapiro Show. I feel like the first red flag should have been the actual Nazi tattoo. Or maybe it should have been those Reddit comments about masturbating in Porta Potties. Or maybe it could have been the registration on Kick. Or maybe it's the comments about how much you enjoyed a video of an American soldier being shot by the Taliban. Or maybe it was the endless wheel of sexting women who are not his. I don't know. Were there any red flags at all? Were there any. I mean, no. How could we have ever suspected? Well, now it's getting worse for the Democrats. Apparently, they did not see that coming. They were blitzkriegged by this information. They never could have gestapoed that this would have happened. They thought it couldn't have gone any further, but then it did. The New York Times has a story today about his unsettling behavior. That is the title, several women who dated Graham Platinum Recall Unsettling Behavior. Now, when you read that headline, again, it's the New York Times, and they're just terrible. The way they slant every story is insane. Unsettling. You're like, oh, unsettling. Like, he. He kind of stared at people. A little creepy, like. No, it was a little more than that. According to the New York Times, quote, in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment. So this is. This is the. The funniest part. Like, the entire story is couched in. Some people say that he was kind of rapey and also physically abusive. Others say that he was charming and charismatic, but also demeaning to women. Okay, New York Times. Okay. He said Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women, and in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful. Sounds like a nice person. Okay, so what is the New York Times actually reporting? First of all, you will recall that Graham Platner said that when he got the Nazi tattoo, he did not know it was a Nazi symbol, which is not credible. I'm sorry. When you get a giant Nazi tattoo on your chest and when you have Reddit posts recognizing German helmets, I feel like you knew that it was a Nazi tattoo. I feel like you knew that. And again, he continues to maintain, in fact, that he did not know it was a Nazi tattoo. Here he was in October 2025, claiming he had no idea that the giant Nazi tattoo on him was, in fact a Nazi tattoo.
- [04:38]
Graham Platner
We went ashore to do the thing that young Marines do, which tends to be carousing and sometimes getting tattoos. We wanted to get something that represented our jobs, our service fighting in Fallujah
- [04:50]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
and Ramadi, our service as machine, as Nazis.
- [04:53]
Graham Platner
We went ashore, we found a tattoo parlor. After a fair amount of heavy carousing, and we found a tattoo on the wall, a piece of flash that looked like a terrifying skull and crossbones. We thought it looked cool, and so we got it.
- [05:07]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
We thought it was like a pirate, a Nazi pirate, because a real man.
- [05:11]
Ben Shapiro
By the way, the only reason that Democrats were fine with this is because they have never identified a human in the military and they have never identified an actual Trump voter. So this is all them looking at Graham Platner wearing the costume and being like, probably Trump voters will like him because he has the Nazi tattoo. By the way, he then defended this again in May 2026, like, last month, claiming that it was the other Marines was everyone else's fault. He has a giant Nazi tattoo on his chest. He then had to cover up in the most bizarre fashion.
- [05:39]
Graham Platner
That's a skull and crossbones. I like for the. I just want to. I got a skull and crossbones with a bunch of other Marines in a tattoo parlor in Croatia. Because skull and crossbones are things that Marines get.
- [05:51]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
Oh, it was his skull and crossbones. It just happened to be one that, like, it was like, like, you know, like, like anyone would get, like, you know, for example, a Nazi. Well, no, not a Nazi, but like, like a Nazi. Like the exact same tattoo as the Nazi.
- [06:06]
Ben Shapiro
All right, coming up, we'll get to Graham Platner's tattoo. I know. And we'll also get to his bizarre statement, allegedly, that he wanted to rape a male home invader, but not in a gay way.
- [06:16]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
And like the most manly, straight way. You know, like a straight man would rape a man for home invading, for dominance.
- [06:24]
Ben Shapiro
I know. It's a thing. Why? Why is this our life now? But this is our life first. People are constantly looking for a quick fix to complex problems. A diet, a workout, the perfect health routine. The truth is, most long term results come from doing those simple things consistently. And one of those simple things is making sure you're getting more fruits, veggies, fiber, whole food ingredients into your routine. That's one reason I like Balance of Nature's whole health system. Life gets busy. People travel, they work long hours, they have kids. As a result, even when we know what we're supposed to do, it's not always the easiest thing to do it consistently. Balance of Nature focuses on real fruits, veggies, spices and fiber with 47 ingredients sourced from whole foods. It's designed to fit into your existing routine rather than requiring you to completely change your life. The fiber and spice supplement mixes easily into drinks, while the fruits and veggies Supplements can be opened and added to smoothies or food. Nobody's walking around unaware that fruits, veggies and fiber are important. We have more information about nutrition than at any point in human history. The problem is not the information, it's execution. Ultimately, the best health plan isn't the most complicated one. It's the one you actually do. Go to balanceofnature.com today to learn more. Subscribe to the Whole Health System. Get an additional 10% off your subscription with promo code SHAPIRO. That's balanceofnature.com promo code SHAPIRO to receive an additional 10% off any subscription, including a their whole health system. Balanceofnature.com, promo code SHAPIRO. Okay, well, according to the New York Times, Platner's insistence he did not know his tattoo is a Nazi symbol until it became a campaign issue last fall was simply not true. Lindsay Fifield, who dated platinum between 2013 and 2015, told the New York Times that he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as, quote, my Totenkopf. Right, which is death's head. He would joke about it being a Nazi tattoo. Ms. Fifield said he told her that he and other members of his unit selected that tattoo because, quote, they were like a death unit. They were killers. And saw a parallel between their unit and the Nazi. Schutzstaffel. That's ss. They used the skull and crossbones image. But don't worry, there are lots of other terrible allegations, lots and lots of other terrible allegations for the hirsute silver spoon fake. Because you know what? You want to know his silver spoon story. So not only did he grow up rich, but. And not only does he get a $60,000 a year pension from the military, he pretends to be an oyster farmer. Guess who his number one client is for his oysters? It's his mommy's restaurant. Aw, isn't that nice? Anyway, according to the New York Times, Ms. Fifield recalled that Mr. Plattner's displays of weaponry and discussions of violence sometimes left her uneasy. She said he kept an AR15 lying around his apartment on Capitol Hill and would sharpen an axe, a relic from his time working on the Appalachian Trail before he enlisted in the marines while watching TV. AR15s, by the way, are banned in the District of Columbia. And Graham Platner is a fan of gun control. So there's that also. I just gotta ask. I mean, I'm. Put it out there, ladies, if your man like the way that he amuses, like you're not Living in the backwoods. You're not actually in Maine at the time. You're in, like, D.C. and the way that you relax in the evening is by watching the news while you sharpen an ax. That is the opening to a horror film. That is not a masculine, romantic gesture. That's super weird. And as we'll get to in a moment, it gets weirder. According to Lindsay Fifield, he had what she described as a warrior ethos and would fantasize about killing people he deemed a threat. She said he told her that rape was about power. It was something that stuck with her throughout the years. Ms. Fifield said, quote, he said this a lot. If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them, she recalled saying. He added, it would not be in a sexual way, not in a gay way. He was like, I would rape them to show them that I'm dominant, she said. Asked about those remarks, a Platner campaign official did not dispute the remarks. Well, well, well. I have some questions. I'm not sure a straight man has ever said in the history of humanity, if someone breaks into my house, I'm going to rape him. But not in a gay way. Somehow. Somehow, some way, Graham Plattner is now more gay than James Talarico. I also have to ask, why is it that so many prominent Democrats seem to have these bizarre fantasies? It's. It's really weird. And why do they talk to their women about it? Do you remember the Barack Obama story in which he literally wrote a letter to his girlfriend at the time talking about how he fantasized about other men? Like. Like, what the. What happening? Man, that. Is this, like, the most masculine thing. I didn't realize the warrior ethos contained a proviso that you're supposed to rape invaders, man. Whatever you do, don't stumble by accident into his apartment in the middle of the night. My goodness. You just get lost at a this is now deliverance. You get stuck on a main back road somewhere, and you knock on the door for help, and the door is open. You don't. No one answers, and the door opens, and suddenly it's Graham Platner breathing heavy in your ear. What in the f. But not.
- [11:28]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
But not in a gay way. Not in a gay way. You know, listen, just. Just because I have fantasies about, you know, you know, like, having sex with men who come into my apartment uninvited, that doesn't mean I'm gay. It means I'm the straightest. In fact, you talking about it is gay. You're the gay one. It's you.
- [11:47]
Ben Shapiro
You picked him. Your fault, Democrats. You did it. By the way, it is kind of an incredible pattern. Like, Bernie Sanders also wrote, like, bizarre, weird fantasies when he was young and he's the big Platner endorser. Listen, it would take a heart of snow not to laugh. Truly take a heart. What Democrats thought of as like, the Uberman, the guy who is going to win over all those blue collar Trump voters is the guy who, if you were stuck at a bar with him and you were drinking a beer and he started talking about his fantasies of home invasion, you would immediately, immediately start backing slowly, slowly away. Immediately. I love that. I love. The campaign couldn't even deny it. That's the part that's growing. Which means, by the way, you just have to understand, like, it's super funny, you have to understand for the campaign not to deny the charge that he said that if a man entered his apartment to rob it, he would rape him, but not in a gay way. Again. Oh, my God. I mean, he has to show dominance. That's just what happens. I mean, what does he do if, like, I don't know, what if, like a stray cat comes in his window? He has to show dominance. Whip it out, my dude. The time has come. Oh, no. And the campaign. Imagine you're the campaign manager for Graham Platner. You're this weirdo, this weirdo socialist kid who was working for Momdani. And now you're answering a question about Graham Platner raping home invaders. And they come to you and you're like, can you deny that? You're like, well, and you go to platinum. You're like, can I deny that? Now, here's how this would normally go, right? This is like the ultimate he said, she said, right? Like, you got an old girlfriend who's saying that you said you wanted to rape male home invaders. And then you have you. And theoretically you're going to deny that. Ok, but he didn't deny it. Why didn't he deny it? Because he said this to, like 8,000 people is the answer. He either texted her this or he said it to 8,000 people. There are like thousands of women. He sexted his fantasies about raping home invaders. Oh, my gosh.
- [14:05]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
But not in a gay way. Like, you know, like a, like a Viking, like a, like one, like an ancient Greek warrior. That's what we mean. To show dominance. Because, like, I'm like a real alpha. It's not gay if I'm the one who's doing it.
- [14:18]
Ben Shapiro
Oh, my God. I'M I got nothing. I'm sorry. Show's over, gang. Got nothing more here. You picked the Nazi who wants to rape home invaders. Wasn't me. I didn't do it. You're still endorsing him? Wasn't me. And you want him to be in charge of, like, our AI Policy? That's your goal? You want this guy to be in charge of how the United States takes on Iran?
- [14:43]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
Well, first thing I'll do is I'll go and I'll meet Moshtaba.
- [14:47]
Ben Shapiro
My first move.
- [14:48]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
Got to negotiate with our penises. I'm going to New York City. Pride Week knocks him gay just to show dominance.
- [15:17]
Ben Shapiro
Oh, my gosh. Mr. Platner, who had overlapping relationships with other women while he and Ms. Fifield dated, also referred to women as hatchet wounds. Ms. Fifield said, a crude term for female anatomy. You know, I just have to say some, like, this was not a good dating choice. This was not a good dating choice. The guy's a sexist piece of. I mean, he's truly a horrible person. A horrible person. What did they do? Did they, like, go to the horrible people factory and just toss a rock? And whoever the rock hit, they're like, we will make him the nominee. I mean, let's be real about this. By the way, there is one thing that Graham Platner could do to lose Democratic support. He could put on a Star of David necklace, and if he did that, then they're out immediately. At this point, Democratic leadership is desperately trying to get him. It's like hold an Israeli flag at a parade or something so they can cancel him. According to the New York Times, Mr. Plattner could be rough with her. Ms. Fifield said. What was the first clue, particularly when they were drinking, leaving her shaken and sometimes afraid. In the interviews, Ms. Fifield grappled with how to process her experiences. She was quick to note, he never hit me. He never punched me. Which, by the way, is always the sign of a good relationship. The best sign of a good relationship, ladies, is if your first defense of the relationship is, he never punched me in the face. That, by the way, that is not something that has ever entered my wife's thoughts. I think if you asked her about. If you asked my wife about our relationship, I'm pretty sure the first thing she said would not be, he never punches me. But according to Fifield, he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders, sometimes hard enough to leave marks, and on one occasion yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car. During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn't get out, telling her to remain there until she was calm. Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning. He sounds like a delight. Maybe he shoved her into the bedroom because he expected a home invader. You don't know. But the important thing is that the New York Times also found other ex girlfriends who said he is just awesome. Because this is what the New York Times would do if you're a Republican. They would track down all the ex girlfriends who said he's a nice person. Caroline lemp, who dated Mr. Platner for several months in 2013, described him as a gentle giant. She said he never made her feel unsafe or showed any signs he was struggling with the physical or mental effects of his military service. He was a great boyfriend, said Ms. Lemp, 36, who now lives in St. Louis. He was super, kind, very nice, fun. The others, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Platner was never physically threatening. One, a nurse from Belfast, Maine, who dated him for a couple months after he returned home to Maine, described him as responsible, intelligent and supportive. Another, who dated him in Washington between roughly 2011 and 2013, said she witnessed some potentially problematic behavior, referring to his heavy drinking, but she felt really, really safe with him. Well, congrats on only allegedly abusing one of the women who was interviewed. I should point out, by the way, that Fifield has an entire thread today talking about how she regressed trusting the New York Times. Here's what she said. Quote, as they left my home, they asked that I not talk to any other outlets. And I insisted. Then and repeatedly over the following weeks, I would keep my word. I would only share the story with them. Then the weeks dragged on. They kept coming back, saying the editors needed more. I needed to go on record. Okay, we need more screenshots. Okay. And that every benchmark they set, eager to provide more sources or evidence as needed. After the story went up, I began to ask them, wait, why are the stories from other women? Where are their accusations of sexual assault? Why am I the focus? Why are there 11 paragraphs dedicated to detailing my work history? More than has been published about Grams by far. Why does it say nobody could corroborate? When I offered them sources that could corroborate, where were the screenshots they'd said they would use? Or the mention that I'd supported local Democrats and Then most of my family and husband are liberal. It dawned on me this was not that this was really a setup all along. The journalists I trusted who convinced me to share a story I never wanted to tell methodically delayed and twisted this into a gift to the Platner campaign, violating the trust of his victims, shattering the trust I placed in them with the most vulnerable story of my life. All right, coming up, why are Democrats making common cause with radical Islamists at this point? Also, an abortion story that's lighting up the Internet. First, people spend a lot of time these days talking about bringing manufacturing back to America, which, don't get me wrong, that's awesome. But it is worth noticing that there are some industries that never left America in the first place. One example is America's beverage companies. The drinks people have grown up with for generations. Sodas, sparkling waters, teas, sports drinks. The companies behind them have continued making those products here in the US the entire time. And behind all of that are 275,000 men and women across all 50 states showing up every day and doing real work. These are good paying jobs. Distribution, manufacturing, trucking, production. The kinds of jobs that support families and local communities. For more than a century, America's beverage companies have continued investing here, building here, employing American workers in American hometowns. In an economy where so many industries moved operations overseas, that actually does matter quite a lot. Learn more about how they're keeping america strong@wedeliver for america.org Again, that's we deliver for america.org America's beverage industries, they've been keeping America strong for a very long time. Go check out how they've been doing it@wedeliver for America.org so what are Democrats doing about all of this? Well, Platner is going on TV and
- [20:31]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
he's talking about how none of it's true. I mean, I can't deny about the, like wanting to rape the home invaders like that because a man, you know, beard. His beard.
- [20:40]
Brent Scher
Yeah.
- [20:41]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
But, you know, other than that, it's all false. Like, I didn't know. I didn't know that a Nazi tattoo was a Nazi tattoo. I still don't know. You're saying it's a Nazi tattoo. Who says it's a Nazi tattoo? You. The Nazis.
- [20:54]
Ben Shapiro
Here's Graham Platner on Ms. Now, did you know what this tattoo was about before last October when you said you first became aware of it?
- [21:07]
Graham Platner
No, I did not.
- [21:11]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
And you can believe him because he has verbal grind, but at very, very low pitch.
- [21:19]
Ben Shapiro
Ironically, the last thing you hear if You're a home invader. Anyway, Platner then was, that's a story you can't unhear. I'm sorry. It's been heard. Can't be unheard. Platner says that Fifield is lying about his. About her physical violence allegations. You did not grab her by the wrist. You did not put your hands on her shoulders. You did not push her into a room that you closed the door on. She's lying about that, is what you're saying?
- [21:44]
Graham Platner
Yes. That is not true.
- [21:47]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
Okay.
- [21:48]
Brent Scher
Yeah.
- [21:49]
Ben Shapiro
Also, he was asked about when his various behaviors stopped. He cannot answer the question. There's a difference in the time. And I think the first question is, like, when did this stop? If it stopped? If there was stuff that you're not proud of, that you worked out with your wife, you don't want to talk about the details. When did it stop?
- [22:09]
Graham Platner
It stopped when it was happening. I mean, like, it was a. Amy and I. Amy and I. It happened soon after we got married, and we dealt with it very, very early in our relationship. And so that's. That's when it stopped.
- [22:28]
Ben Shapiro
By the way, what a piece of crap. I love the fact that as he was getting married, he was doing the sex thing. Isn't like a dissatisfied husband after 35 years. Like, the guy was. As he was getting married, he was doing the sex thing. And Chris Hayes asked him about the sex. And Platner says, I'm not worried.
- [22:43]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
There's nothing to worry about.
- [22:48]
Ben Shapiro
Are you worried about that? Are there texts like that?
- [22:52]
Graham Platner
I'm not worried about it. I mean, one, I went, as I've. I went through my life through a number of years struggling and not exactly acting with the best behavior. I've been very, very open about that. And if people would like to continue to drag things up from that time in my life, I'm sure that we are going to see at some point somebody attempt to do exactly that.
- [23:18]
Ben Shapiro
Oh, yeah, that time in his life. By the way, when was 2023. I'm not kidding. That's the timeline when he's talking about the sexting stuff. Well, he also said this is why
- [23:30]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
regular people don't want to get involved. It's because of stuff like this. The regular people don't want regular people who, you know, were silver spoon and then who joined the military and blamed everyone else for joining the military. And then, you know, people who started an oyster farm to supply their mom's restaurant. Why can't a regular guy just start an oyster farm, supply his mom's restaurant? And get a $200,000 loan for his house from his parents like a regular silver spoon guy. And then run for Congress while sexting 87 different women and three elk in the wilds of Maine. And why can't a guy who just wants to rape home invaders not run for Congress? What are we going to do as a country if men, real men, manly men, can't run for Congress while wanting to rape home invaders, what then? How about that, America?
- [24:15]
Graham Platner
And I hate to say it, but it's also why most regular people don't want to get involved in politics. I. We don't doubt what we've done. We are very proud of what we've built. We believe deeply in our politics. But it's hard. This is a hard experience. It's been hard on my family. It's been hard for both Amy and I. And it's just hard in general to have to go through life having been a private citizen when nobody was paying attention to. To suddenly have the entire world really, really caring or digging through everything that you've ever done. It's an unpleasant experience. And I get why people look at this and think, yeah, I don't. I don't want to do that. I'll say this, though. We need to change. Shouldn't be like this. We need to have a politics where we're talking about policy, where we're talking about the future.
- [25:13]
Graham Platner (continued or voice actor for his quotes)
Yeah, that's a. We need to change this. We need people not to talk about me being pretty rapey. You know, we're like, we need. That's what we need. We need to talk. We need to talk about real issues like AI data centers. That's what we do.
- [25:27]
Ben Shapiro
Well, it's fun to watch Democrats pretend that they don't know what's going on. Aoc, who has never short an opinion on anything, now she has suddenly. What's happening? Is there a primary in Maine?
- [25:37]
Batya Ungar-Sargon
What's happening.
- [25:38]
Ben Shapiro
What's happening over in Maine? I'm just focused here on my district that I never go to. I'm not in that primary, says aoc. The Democrats abandoned Graham Platner after these messages came out, these sexually explicit messages they sent to women.
- [25:53]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
You know, I haven't waded into that primary. I don't believe the primary is. Has occurred yet. So I. I will kind of, you know, again, I don't weighed in on that. I haven't weighed in that race.
- [26:07]
Ben Shapiro
I mean, I wonder what she would have to say in a similar situation, but with, like, no evidence of anything. I feel like she might Say something different if the person were a, say, Republican nominee to the Supreme Court like Brett Kavanaugh. I don't even have to wonder because she did here was AOC in 2018.
- [26:23]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
I want to thank every survivor that is here today that is allowing themselves and everyone in this country to be re traumatized over and over because people, and people like Dr. Anita Hill, I mean people like Anita Hill and Dr. Ford have to sit there in front of panels of 11 men. Could you imagine if Brett Kavanaugh had to sit in front of a panel of 11 women of color deciding his fate? Could you imagine?
- [26:55]
Ben Shapiro
Oh, man, it's all such mockery. Me too. Believe all women, except those women dated Graham Platner. Men do not believe those women. Ro Khanna has words about Platner too. Ro Khanna is going to rally for Platner today. Ro Khanna is a member of this radical progressive caucus among the Democrats. And he says he believes that Graham Platner has redeemed himself. You know, he's really redeemed himself. He, he's never taken responsibility for a single thing, by the way, but he's, he believes in redemption. So much redemption. Here we go.
- [27:29]
Ro Khanna
The Nazi tattoo was something that he owned up to. He said it was a mistake. He was. Did it when he was signing up to serve this country in the military. And I guess I have a view of redemption. And he has unequivocally owned up to it, said that it was wrong, that he learned from it. And the question is, are we going to believe in redemption and people being flawed and then having a chance to move on?
- [27:57]
Ben Shapiro
So let's just be clear about what the Democratic Party has now become. It's a party that greenlights Nazi tattoos. It is a party that greenlights actual honest to God terror support. Whether from Abdul El Sayed, the Democrat Senate candidate in Michigan who may very well become a senator from Michigan, that is a distinct possibility. Or whether it's from Adam Hamaui, who is now the New Jersey congressional candidate from the Taliban, representing the Taliban. It is pretty astonishing stuff. So Adam Hammawi, again, the Democratic Party is standing behind him too. Adam Hammaway literally gave testimony in defense of the blind Sheikh. The blind Sheikh is the person who was behind the 1993 World Trade center bombing. He won the primary in New Jersey's 12th district. And here is what he said in his testimony. Question. Did you ever hear Sheikh Omar speak on jihad against America? Against America? No, not in America. Not against America. Did you ever speak. Did you ever hear him speak about America and their role as to Islam? Yes, he did. He spoke about that. Could you characterize for us what you recall him saying? Quote, he basically, you know, was very critical of America's foreign policy against Muslims in general, especially during the Gulf War, their support for Israel in general and like their lack of action in Bosnia. Basically the entire foreign policy of the United States he was very critical of. Also, Hamui, when he wasn't testifying for actual convicted terrorists, he volunteered in the 1990s for a medical organization in Bosnia, later revealed by the 911 Commission to have ties to Al Qaeda. And in 2024, he spent a month volunteering in what he insisted was a completely benign civilian hospital in Gaza with no tunnels underneath it, before Israeli forces subsequently identified that facility as having a tunnel literally connected to Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar. So that guy is a congressional candidate now for the Democrats, and you can't find a Democrat to denounce him. Not one. Not one. Hamawi, by the way, is campaigning on the idea that ICE was formed in the wake of 911 to target the Muslim community. Understand that there is a coalition building strategy for radical Islam in America. The coalition is the coalition of the oppressed. It's why you see Hamas and Hezbollah flags alongside LGBTQ minus divided by sign flags. That is the reason. The reason is because you find the allies of convenience in order to wreck the civilization you are a part of. Well, here is Hamau going after ICE by suggesting that originally ICE was Islamophobic. Now ICE needs to be dismantled because it's, you know, against Hispanics or some such.
- [30:27]
Adam Hamaoui
Well, ICE was formed as a result of 911 and it was formed, you know, after that with the Department of Homeland Security. And it was made initially targeting Muslim within the Muslim community and ever since has been targeting black and brown communities throughout America. It was done urgently and in a very quick manner without much thought put into it. And it's continued to terrorize people until we have the institution that we see today with mass storm scriptures going through our streets.
- [31:02]
Ben Shapiro
It's all the coalition of the dispossessed, the coalition of third Worldism, the coalition of people who hate the civilization. Which is why Hamau was on with terror supporter Hasan Piker explaining that we need to dismantle the American military and we need to dismantle dhs.
- [31:20]
Adam Hamaoui
We are spending a trillion dollars, you know, on our defense, slash Department of War, slash Department of War crimes now. And what we need to do is spend that in.
- [31:32]
Ben Shapiro
In, in.
- [31:33]
Adam Hamaoui
In health care and spend it in education. We need to abolish ice. And so not only do we need to, you know, abolish it, but we need to dismantle the DHS completely.
- [31:45]
Ben Shapiro
Okay, now, again, why. Why is this all happening? Why have the Democratic Party membership become so warm toward people who are Nazi tattooed or pro terrorism? Why? Again, it's all the same thing. It's just anti Americanism. Now, Dinesh d' Souza did an interview at one point with a guy named Imam Muhammad Tawhidi, who is a Shia Muslim, a third generation imam of Iraqi descent who is allegedly a reform Muslim. And he explained in September 2020 that he would only vote for the left.
- [32:19]
Mehdi Hassan
When I was an extremist Islamist fundamentalist, I would only vote left.
- [32:25]
Ben Shapiro
Why is that?
- [32:26]
Mehdi Hassan
I saw them as very stupid. I would fear the conservatives because they come with principle that not someone they can brainwash, but the left I know, they have no values and no principles to begin with. I dare you to find one Islamic extremist that votes for Donald Trump. Never do it. They'd give their vote to the leftist who wants to run around in pride parades.
- [32:57]
Ben Shapiro
Okay, now, there was some Muslim voting for President Trump in the last election cycle, mainly because the left went so psychotic on LGBTQ divided by sign issues that even Muslims who didn't like Trump's Middle east agenda were like, man, I can't vote for that. But the reason that the left is making common cause with radical Muslims is because there is, in fact, a common cause to be made. And the reason that radical Muslims are making common cause with the radical left is because there is, in fact, a common cause. That is the thing that they are looking for. Again, there is a reason why you will get gay rights talk from Abdul El Sayed in Michigan, while at the same time, he will not come out in favor of the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, who's the leader of a country that literally hangs gay people from cranes. And there's. There's a fair amount of dissimulation happening, shall we say? Mehdi Hassan was appearing with Patrick Bet David, and he was talking about this phenomenon. It got, you know, kind of interesting.
- [33:57]
Mehdi Hassan
Islam in general, obviously, Islam. I'm not an Islamic scholar, but Islam, as traditionally practiced, like Christianity and Judaism, as traditionally practiced, is very hostile to the idea of homosexuality. Theologically, we have that in common.
- [34:09]
Ben Shapiro
Let me finish.
- [34:09]
Mehdi Hassan
Okay, Pew polling. Let me give you some polls, because you keep talking about Americans, this and that. So in 2017, Pew did a poll of Americans, of Americans, and they found that Muslim Americans were more likely to say 52%, I think it was, of Muslim Americans said that homosexuality should be accepted in society. You know how many white evangelical Protestants said that? 34%. 34% Protestants was 34. 34. I have that date. So Muslims were more accepting of homosexuality. Rob. I love you, Rob. They were more accepting of homosexuality than white Christian evangelicals. Right. So my question then is when you talk about integration, assimilation, America is a liberal country. It's a pro gay country. Whether you like it or not, Muslims. And by the way, we ran a poll, we ran a poll this year. One last point, Patrick. We ran a poll earlier this year at ZO from Opinion. They polled Muslims in the UK and the US Guess what they found? Muslims in the UK And Muslim US Support democracy more than non Muslim Americans and non Muslim Britons. Muslims in America and Britain support gender equality more than non Muslim Britain's America. So for your viewers, I just want to make clear you've been lied to about Muslim attitudes. I'm giving you the numbers
- [35:13]
Ben Shapiro
right? So according to Mari Hassan, Muslims in America as a general rule are moderate and wonderful and the same thing in the UK that would not explain why there is a wild support for radical Islam by American and British Muslims abroad. That doesn't explain that. That problem, that is in fact a problem. And the reality is that again, on a tactical level, voting in favor of Democrats, voting in favor of Democrats, there is a reason for that. If you think that Dearborn, Michigan is a moderate place and that is why Dearborn, Michigan is voting in favor of Democrats, that is not why Dearborn, Michigan is voting in favor of Democrats. You know, the world is a complicated place and people have lots of different views. But when people come down to their core views about whether the west is in fact a good place or a bad place, whether the values of the west ought to be upheld or not upheld, the same polls that he is citing, same poll numbers with regards to, say, British Muslims and their feelings about pro democracy. Same population polled on whether blasphemy against Islam should be prosecuted. We'll say blasphemy against Islam should be prosecuted. So again, poll numbers can say a lot of things, but bottom line is that when it comes to the Democratic Party, the reason the Democratic Party is making overtures to people with Nazi tattoos and to radical Muslims is because it is a pseudo coalition of the pseudo oppressed. That is the thing that is happening right now, politically speaking. Well, joining us on the line to discuss the rise of anti Semitism on the left is Batya Angar Sargan. She, of course, is the host of Batya on News Nation. She's a weekend anchor over there. She controls tributes to the New York Post and the Free Press as well. And she's a brand new book titled the Jews and the Left, which I feel like is kind of apartment Today, unfortunately, the Batya. I have to say the good news for your book is the bad news for the country, which is that the book is incredibly relevant. And that is unfortunate because it turns out that most of the left is fine with guys with Nazi tattoos. So why don't you talk a little bit about sort of the premise of the left. Why has it. Why has the left turn so hard against Jews? Because it's pretty clear that's what's happening right now.
- [37:20]
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Ben. I'm a huge, huge admirer of yours, as you well know. I know. I feel a little guilty because obviously, like, the news cycle, which is so terrible for the nation, is actually pretty good for my book sales. But. Yeah, and it's amazing because not only is the left so comfortable with this guy who has a Nazi tattoo, which he had for 18 years, but the two top Jewish politicians in the country, Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders, are standing by him. Right. So there's two pieces to this puzzle. There's the question that I get asked the most when I travel the country. I'm sure you get this question all the time, Ben, which is, why are the Jews democrats when the left has turned on them and the right really has our back? And the second piece of it, of course, is what you just asked me, which is, and why did the left turn on the Jews? And I think the reason the left turned on the Jews is the same reason that it turned on Christians, the same reason it turned on Western civilization, and the same reason it turned on America. It has bought into this oppressor, oppressed binary. They threw out the distinction between right versus wrong, which the entire Judeo Christian west is built on, including this great nation. And instead they worship weakness. And anybody they see as having strength or privilege or power is coded as evil. And anybody who is coded as oppressed is coded as virtuous and has no moral responsibilities, which is, of course, how they ended up being on Hamas side after October 7th. I think the question of the Jews is a little more complicated, especially because for the first 300 years of American Jewish history, we weren't Democrats. Actually, we were seen by the Founding Fathers from, actually Americans here from the day we set foot on American soil in 1654, which is where my book begins. As equals, as partners in the creation of this great nation. We were utterly, utterly refused to be treated as an oppressed minority in America throughout our history here. And I think that what happened is American Jews lost sight of that early history. They started to see themselves as an immigrant community and as an oppressed minority because they found their home politically on the left. And as such, they found it almost impossible to understand that the left was deep destined to turn on them. And I think that it is such a tragedy that American Jews have misread that history. And that's really why I wrote this book, to give it back to our community.
- [39:48]
Ben Shapiro
One of the things that I think is so astonishing is how the entire left has gone along with the smuggling of anti Semitism into the discourse simply by people substituting the term anti Zionism for anti Semitism. People just saying Israel when what they actually mean is Jews. And obviously you and I agree that there are many critiques that can be leveled at Israel from right and left there. There are a lot of things that the Israeli government does that are worthy of critique, just like any other government on planet Earth. That is not what we're talking about here. What we are talking about when, when people say anti Zionist. The point that I've made is that people have misdefined Zionism and anti Zionism. Zionism used to be the proposition in 1920 that the Jews should have a state. And the state didn't exist yet. And then the Jews had a state. So now the Jews have had a state for. For 80 years. And so now when you say the Jews should not have a state, that is an active call for the destruction of a currently existing state as opposed to any other state on planet earth, which would entail the murder of literally millions of Jews. And so making the case that modern anti Zionism has no truck with anti Semitism or is completely unrelated, or that when you make the case that Israel controls American foreign policy, what you're not really saying is the Jews control American. It's just nonsense. But you see, it's amazing to watch the media coverage of, for example, Hasan Piker or Graham Platner from the New York Times, where they will take obviously anti Semitic things that people are doing and saying, and they will just say, well, it's about Israel. And how successful do you think that strategy has been?
- [41:11]
Batya Ungar-Sargon
I mean, it's such a good point, Ben. And you have politicians like Zoran Mamdani, Abdul El Sayed, and they will Say, you know, we revere the Jewish faith. We just have a problem with Israel. And now the problem with that, Ben, is, I mean, you and I are people of faith, right? We're Orthodox Jews. But the vast majority of Jews are not religious. They don't have a faith. Their religion is their spiritual, cultural and historical connection to other Jews, whether that's here in America or in Israel. That is their faith. The vast majority, 85%, 90% of the world's Jews, are Zionists. So if you say your movement has room for Jews, but not for Zionists, you are closing the doors to proud Jews. And it is so doubly offensive when you look at who is allowed in, right? We have room for people who knowingly got a totenkopf tattoo for 18 years. Every time Graham Platner stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror, he saw what millions of Jews saw as the last sight before they were murdered in concentration camps. And he knew what that was that they have room for. But a Jew who says, I don't want 8 million Jews in Israel to give Sharia law a chance, because I have a feeling it's not going to go so well for them, no room for them. It is so utterly disgusting, and it is such a betrayal of American Jewish history because so many Jews, two thirds of Jews to this day, remain Democrats and very tightly connected to their liberal values.
- [42:56]
Ben Shapiro
One of the things that is astonishing, I said a little bit earlier on the show, basically, the only thing that could stop Graham Platner from being the Democrat nominee, it seems, or from being backed by the Democratic establishment, is if you wore a magin, David, the way that you are on your necklace, if you wore your necklace, there was no shot whatsoever that he would be the nominee for Maine. But if he's got an actual Nazi tattoo, apparently that is not some sort of bar to office for him, which is an astonishing, astonishing thing. And you mentioned this kind of game that's played where they say, well, we revere the Jewish faith, we just hate Israel or think it shouldn't exist. That is like saying, we revere Catholicism, we just think the Vatican should not exist. We revere Islam, we just think that Mecca should be ruled by Christians and the Kaaba should basically be desecrated. It's utterly nonsensical. A central tenet of the Jewish faith is the connection between Jews and the land of Israel. It's all over the Old Testament. The entirety of the Old Testament is about the journey of the Jews toward the land of Israel. That is what it is about. And so to pretend that that's not a central tenet of Jewish faith, but say you respect Judaism, that's, that's entirely stupid just on its face. And obviously in practical terms, when people say that they think that Israel should not exist, what they mean, and they would never say it about any other state, and this is what necessitates the anti Semitic lies, is that they mean it should be destroyed. And that means that a lot of people would die and a lot of people would live. Second, they'd leave demostatis, which is what exactly Jews lived under in the Islamic world for legitimately hundreds of years. They would never say it about Japan, they'd never say it about France, they would never say it about Saudi Arabia, but they'll say it about Israel. And in order to get there, that means they then have to perpetuate extraordinary lies about Israel to show why Israel is somehow an exception to the rule that states that exist should not be destroyed. And so that's when they have to start charging Israel with absolute lies, like Israel's a genocidal state, or Israel's an apartheid state, or Israel is some sort of ethnocentric state, as opposed to say, Japan, which is 97% Japanese. Israel is significantly more ethnically diverse and religiously diverse than Japan is for, for example. You wrap all of that up and what it amounts to is just an entire smokescreen for what is really going on. What's really going on is what you talk about in your book. The Jews in the left, which is the left has a matrix. And that matrix says that they're an oppressor and they're oppressed, that they're victims and victimizers. And if you are successful, you are inherently a victimizer. And when you establish that matrix and then apply it to the Middle east and the only successful state in the Middle east is the tiny Jewish state existing on a resource free piece of land that was largely swamp and desert in 1947. You know that that is that you apply that matrix and suddenly it's pretty clear why exactly all of this comes together. The book is the Jews in the Left. Baya Angar Sargon is, is the author. Go check out her show Baya on News Nation and go check out her book as well. Baya, thanks so much for the time. Appreciate it.
- [45:31]
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Thank you so much, Ben. God bless and protect you.
- [45:34]
Ben Shapiro
Well, meanwhile, the left is really going whole hog this month. This of course, is Pride Month, the most prideful of all the months. So many months to choose From. But this is the one in which we should be most proud. And of what behavior are people proud? The proudest kinds of behavior, you know. So New York City Council had a pride performance yesterday, New York City hall. And I mean they just brought their best. They really did. So New York City not well run people with any level of serious income thinking about leaving. They're in the middle of a fiscal spiral. But they do have men dressed up as women with fake boobs gyrating around inside city Hall. That's the thing. They really, really have. It's great. They hosted a pride ball. And so here you have extremely. New York. This is why the Knicks must lose. They must, New York must be punished. Here's more of this. Oh boy. Graham Platner very excited by this part of the show, by the way, but not because he's gay, just because of dominance. So there's a dude who's had some surgeries and dancing around, gyrating around. Everybody very, very excited. This is what, this is what the founders of New York thought about when the were, when they were designing the city, the builders of city Hall. This is what they thought was going to be happening. There is, you know, striptease dances and bizarre dances from men dressed up as women in short skirts. Oh, how much, how much pride. New York City. Okay, things are going well in New York very obviously. Okay, well on the social liberalism front, the big story that let the Internet on fire is the story of one Jesse Ridgeway, who is known online as mcjugger Nuggets. This is the world we have, we have now created for ourselves a famous person online alias Mcjugger Nuggets, a 33 year old YouTuber, filmmaker, actor, director from New Jersey. About 4 million subscribers, 2 billion lifetime views. So back in March, Ridgeway and his wife Ashley announced their first pregnancy with some pretty excited posts. On April 8, they put out an ultrasound video. Here's what that looked like. You see the ultrasound. It's his first look at the little nugget baby Juggie getting cozy, which is really cute and wonderful. Again, we here at the Ben Shapiro show are big fans of ultrasounds specifically because there are a lot of women who don't recognize what it is that is growing inside them because they've been lied to. And this is why we team with pro life organizations in order to get ultrasounds for, for women who are pregnant and thinking about whether to, to abort or not. That's what preborn is for. And so you see the ultrasound and all of it. Well, on June 3rd on June 3rd. Jesse then posted a detailed statement on X reposted by his wife, announcing that they had killed the baby in utero, which is what abortion is. Here is the Here is the tweet quote this week my wife and I made the very difficult decisions to terminate the pregnancy due to trisomy 21. The choice was not made lightly. We really appreciate all the personal stories you guys shared with us, especially the unconditional support we received from fans with no matter what we decided. I know some of you may be very disappointed to hear this news. We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley. She underwent the procedure earlier this week and is on the mend. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but emotionally we are drained. Trisomy 21, also known as down syndrome, is caused by an extra chromosome. It is caused by an error in cell division. Like a glitch. The odds of a baby having it is 1 in 1000. When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they're a little slow intellectually, we'll make it work. I signed on to be a parent come what may, but I just didn't fully understand what down syndrome entailed. Once we made it public, it became clear that most people don't know what down syndrome entails. And no, it's not the same as autism. 50% of babies with down syndrome have heart defects, 75% will have hearing challenges, over 50% will have vision problems, impaired immune function, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, delayed physical development, poor muscle tone, structural issues with face, decreased lifespan, etc. Sadly, the list is long. Feel free to look it up. Down syndrome isn't a blessing. It is objectively, from a health perspective. I just didn't realize how rough it is for the child, let alone the family. More often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life. The miscarriage risk is also close to 50%, which made matters worse, it may never see the light of day and it puts Ashley further at risk. We spoke with doctors, friends, family and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90% of women terminate their pregnancy after learning the baby has trisomy 21. This is way higher than I expected. I thought it would be lower given that I hear so many say they kept or would keep the baby. I believe that's because most terminations happen privately. It feels shameful, a lot of judgment being cast. You never think you'd be in this type of situation until it happens to you and then things change. To all of my Fans who have weighed in on this topic, who have autism, down syndrome and any other conditions, we appreciate you matter a lot. We're glad you're here. I commend you and your families for having the strength and courage to push forward. As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice. It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome. Love you guys and thank you for understanding. So this is disturbing stuff. Pretty obviously it's disturbing because, listen, to pretend that every parent doesn't wish for and hope for and pray for a healthy child would be silly. Thank God I have four healthy children and a fifth with the help of God on the way. That's wonderful. Also, when you make the decision to get pregnant, when you get pregnant, this obviously is part of the calculation because what is very obvious from this entire story is that from the very beginning, it is acknowledged as a human life. The ultrasound was done and they are excited. They're not excited because there is no human value here. Not only that, what this post demonstrates, the reason the wife is devastated, the reason he is devastated, is because this is not a meaningless cluster of cells. It is a preborn child. That is why it's devastating. And once you understand that there is in fact a moral component to the life of that child, killing the child becomes immoral. And that doesn't mean that morality is easy. Morality is not easy. Morality is very often incredibly difficult. That doesn't mean that life is always wonderful or beautiful or simple. It does mean that doing the moral thing is required, whether or not it is difficult. And the only person in this scenario who really pays the price is the child. Because is the idea that the child was unworthy of life, to the child do something to not earn life. Was that child's life, life not worth living? Right. That. That is the. That is the actual presumption is that if you have all of these conditions, it's better if the child is never alive than if the child is born. I mean, the famous Ronald Reagan phrase is that he's noticed that everybody who's for abortion has already been born. Which of course is true. This is immoral. What makes it even more immoral, obviously, and kind of absurd is that the same YouTuber had put out a post earlier this year talking about their dog being diagnosed with stage four kidney disease last year, quote, super sweet, super sixth birthday after she was diagnosed with stage four kidney Disease. Last year, around her fifth birthday, the vet said she had weeks to live. If we were lucky, maybe a few months. One year later she is still fighting. She is in the 0.0001% of Superhero Dogs that can continue living with no kidneys. We all need a hero in this life. Jenny has been one of mine again. I have a dog too. Dogs are great. Dogs are not human beings. Dogs are not humans. And the care for a sick dog, a dog who will never feel the way a human feels about life. A dog will never have life experiences that a human will have. That disconnect is about, unfortunately, convenience. And again, I'm not going to pretend that convenience is an important factor in life. It is, obviously, but sacrifice and morality are about sacrifice and morality. Every child is in fact a blessing. But that doesn't mean all blessings are easy. We have this bizarre notion in our society that, that. That everything in your life is either all good or all bad. Either all easy or all hard. And that hard equals bad and easy equals good. And that's not true. It's just not true. Obviously I have a lot of friends who have children who have issues like down syndrome and it requires a lot of them. Obviously. Sometimes it puts them on the verge of true serious hardship, sometimes into true serious hardship. That's why they are heroes for doing it. But being heroic means standing up for morality when the thing is hard. And if we have a world full of people who simply dispose of babies for convenience, there is something truly evil happening on a societal level. And when he says, you know anyone who would back us no matter what decision we make? You cannot make a decision about another person's life and be supported in that decision when it affects that other person's life. And the entire premise of this entire story, all of it soup to nuts, is that this was a child. Otherwise this would have no relevance to anybody. That is the buried lead here. Everyone is affected emotionally by this particular story because there is an ultrasound and it shows a baby in there. And because that is a. A human life with potential and everyone recognize it. Again, if this were just removal of a polyp, no one would care on either side. Yeah, the they. They also put out a video that showed them finding out that their child had trisomy 21. By the way, here was. Here was. The actual video
- [55:35]
Jesse Ridgeway
showed three chromosome 21 signals consistent with trisomy 21. Down syndrome. Genetic counseling is recommended. Pattern consistent with trisomy 21. We talked before this guys about what would we do if we confronted this Scenario, because this was the more likely scenario. We talked about terminating the pregnancy. Obviously, things could change.
- [56:05]
Ben Shapiro
Change.
- [56:05]
Jesse Ridgeway
Because this is traumatic, like, very traumatic. And I know you guys even watching this, this is traumatic for the whole community. I think now that we have a definitive result, we'll talk with these counselors and we're gonna have some hard conversations. Ashley is almost halfway through this thing. Not saying we force it, but, like, the kids seem healthy. And there's been stories of where the kid comes out and is like, super functional. And so it's like, I don't know.
- [56:35]
Ben Shapiro
So she's about five months pregnant at this point. Right? This is. So there's that as well. Again, this is the reason that we're commenting on it is because it's public. They are the ones who made this public in the first place. And so it becomes an issue of public controversy. There are going to be a lot of people today say, well, it's a private. It's no longer about what a person's decision is. Even though, again, I think that we all have something to say about when somebody does something that is morally wrong, obviously. But when it becomes an issue of public controversy, we certainly have something to say about that, because it depends on what society's standards are. And society's standards should be, obviously, the protection of human life, because otherwise people make decisions not based on the interests, the independent interests of a human life with potential. They make a decision based on what they believe their lifestyle will be and how their life will be affected by that thing. That's why you have moral rules in the first place. It's why you have moral standards in the first place. Okay, in a brief bit of news, remember, John Bolton was being prosecuted for revealing classified information. And I said at the time I would wait to see how that case shook out, because it's quite possible he did violate the law. A lot of people were saying he was being targeted even though he hadn't violated the law by President Trump. I said, listen, you have to wait till the evidence comes out. Well, now he has reached a deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to unlawfully retaining classified information, according to people familiar with the matter. Is set to plead guilty to a single charge and pay a $2.25 million fine. He could face up to five years in prison. Again, the. The whole thing was about him sharing diary like entries about his daily activities in the Trump White House, which is violation of classified information rules. To me. You either should consistently apply these things or not. And so if he violated the law, then he should be punished in the same way Hillary Clinton should have been punished, in the same way that Joe Biden should have been punished. I mean that, that is, that is the way this works. It is the inconsistency that is the problem here. Meanwhile, over in California, the counting goes on. It never stops. We will be counting the California mayoral primary for the rest of our lives. The same thing in the gubernatorial primary over there. Spencer Pratt looks as though there may be some sort of late breaking vote counting that puts Spencer Pratt out of the top two in la. And this is what you wonder why people don't trust elections. This would be the reason. This would be the reason President Trump said, look what's happening in California. The Democrats right before our very eyes are stealing the vote. I hope the Republicans are watching so they can finally pass the Save America Act. President Trump and again, the Save America act is about regularizing voting procedure across the country. The principled conservative opposition to it might be theoretically that it federalizes procedures that should remain state based. It's a fair argument, but the sort of underlying politics of it, obviously you should have to use voter id. You should have to have a legal capacity to vote in order for you to actually vote. And again, the the LA county election vote counting facilities are bizarre. The California Post visited the county's 144,000 square foot ballot processing facility Thursday. It showed dozens of empty workstations. The scene at the warehouse appeared at odds with the mounting pressure to process hundreds of thousands of remaining ballots. Here's some pictures you can see. It's totally empty in one area where ballots that cannot automatically be read by scanners are reviewed by election workers. Roughly 25 bins of ballots appeared ready for processing while no employees were seated at nearby desks. You see rows and rows of vacant desks and also giant pallets of ballots that have not yet been counted. And you are seeing the numbers change. There'll be like another ballot dump. And so the percentage of total votes expected drops in the middle of the calculation for the Karen Bass, Spencer Pratt, Nithya Rahman mayoral race in Los Angeles. On Wednesday it suggested 63.1% of the votes in with an estimated remaining 290,000 votes. And today it says 64.3% of the votes are in with an estimated remaining 311,000 votes. It's a terrible system. There is no reason they have to do it this way. It needs to be changed because otherwise, whether or not it is true, people are certainly going to have the perception that there is some funny business Going on. You want to foreclose the possibility of people having election doubts. You can actually just have a good process here in Florida. Jeb Bush did a great job of regularizing the process. We know that night always who won and who lost, which is the way it really should work. Alrighty, so I promised you a game two pick for Spurs Knicks at the top of the show because inexplicably there were people who liked my, my hot sports talk yesterday. So joining us on the line is editor in chief of Daily Wire's news division and also a man who hates America, Brent Scher. I say this because, of course, Brent Sh is rooting for the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. And this is unacceptable because if the Knicks win, then New York wins. And if New York wins, then Zoran Momdani wins. And so all that is good and true must be defended by all right, thinking Americans and the Knicks must lose. What say you, Brent?
- [61:39]
Brent Scher
We're going to have Donald Trump in the arena in game three. Also a Knicks fan. Look, if I let Mom Donnie and all the things he like, like to make me have to root against them, it would be all my favorite things in the world. We're both Mets fans. It's tough, but we're sticking with it. Knicks fans. And look, I think he's just going to win. There's no stopping the Knicks right now. So we just got to. Got to get. Let Mom Donnie get one dub here.
- [62:09]
Ben Shapiro
Okay, so I'm, I'm just, I'm just going to say it. I think the Knicks fans who are insufferable at the best of times are now utterly insufferable in the worst of times. Basically, they're Yankees fans, but for a team that has not won a title for 54 years, and now we are learning that it turns out that the Knicks all along were the best. But in any case, my son is having to deal with Knicks fans at his school and it's not, it's not the most pleasant experience for him. But let's talk about game two. I broke into, like actual hot sports talk yesterday on the show, and apparently there was some segment of the population that liked that. So now we're going to have to do a game two preview. So here's my case for why the spurs are going to win game two and still the upper hand in the series. They played as badly as, as it is humanly possible to play in game one. And Mitch Johnson made pretty much every bad coaching decision that you can make in game one. And they still barely lost. The. The reason I say this Is they shot 11 for 42 from three. There's not a team in the NBA that will win a game shooting 11 for 42 from three. They were playing Wemby on Carl Anthony Towns out by the three point line. They're running ISOs for WEMBY at 29ft out from the basket. He wasn't near the basket. He wasn't, he wasn't running pick and roll. And he took out Dylan Harper, the only guy who was playing well with four minutes left to go in the game and the game tied. So just a series of horrifyingly bad decisions. They were allowing somehow the Knicks to, to really target champagne with Brunson. They were, they were running switches that they would get champagne on him. And Brunson's eyes were opening up like a cartoon character viewing a hamburger. And so when I look at the Knicks, the Knicks, Brunson in the second half was just dynamite. Carl Anthony Towns played the game of his life. I've never seen Karl Anthony Towns play smarter or better game than he played the other night against Wembana. So when I look at that, I see, I see the Knicks playing like an 8 out of 10 game the other night and the spurs playing about a 4 out of 10 game. And so I feel like course correction will happen. What, what, what's your take?
- [63:52]
Brent Scher
Okay, here's what my take is. The assumption that the spurs are going to change that and do better is the same thing that happened with the Cleveland Cavaliers last round. They blew it in the game. It was close game. The Knicks won by a little. You have the coach out there being like, you know, by expected score, we actually would have won this game. Maybe, just maybe there is something that the Knicks are doing that makes these teams play worse than people think they could play. They're playing really smart defense. They are putting the spurs in bad situations. They also are a bunch of old veterans who know basketball. Wet Minyama looks like he's quite old, but really he's just a child. This is the biggest game he's ever played in. He's not playing smart offense. They aren't utilizing him well on defense. Cat has him out on the perimeter and just destroyed him a few times. Look, the Knicks have something going on. We won 12 in a row. Most of those games weren't close. You know the Philly fans, we broke the city of Philadelphia. They have never seen their team play so bad. They're probably going to blow it up. Now in the off season, the Knicks just are good. And everybody keeps thinking like, oh, well, we'll play better against them. And this has to be a gimmick. They haven't lost a game since the jets were on the clock in the NFL draft. That's insane.
- [65:20]
Ben Shapiro
No, it is crazy. And I'm not trying to short sell the Knicks here. I think the Knicks are an incredibly good team, and I think this series is likely to go at least six games, maybe seven. But when. When I look at the other teams that you're comparing the spurs to, the spurs are a far deeper team. They're a far better team than either the 76ers, who are really banged up, really beaten up, and beat his old. He can't move. Particularly after that series with the Celtics and the Cavaliers. I mean, come on, come on. I mean, really, like Evan Mobley is your guy like that, defeating the Cavaliers, sweeping the Cavaliers. That. That. That is not a thing. I'm sorry. So their competition, the fact they beat the spurs in game one is what actually makes me think that they are real. Until then, I was like, maybe they're real, maybe they're not real. Beating the spurs in game one is what made me think, wow, this is. I was watching them play, I'm like, this is a very, very good team. And you did have some players on the Knicks who really underperformed until the second half. OG did not play a good first half and he played a very good fourth quarter particularly. But the spurs, again, I watched them play the entire OKC series. They are an inconsistent team because they are a young team. And so there were certain games where it looked like OKC had just figured them out. Right. Basically in that series, Game one was good and game seven was good and everything in between sucked. It was the. It looked like the Spurs. Every time the spurs won, it looked like they would never lose. And every time OKC won, it looked like OKC would never lose. And so I'm, I'm a little bit. The. The question is, was game one the spurs just being figured out by the Knicks? Right. Have the Knicks now figured out the spurs and now they're just going to run this thing to daylight and this is a five game series and it's over, or are the spurs going to come back with a couple of haymakers? And watching game one, it was like, watch. I mean, it was a great game. It was, it was a badly played game in some ways, but it was a really fun game to watch because it was these two teams throwing haymakers at each other. And the spurs did not go down quietly. I mean, yes, they were up 14, but then they were down 8. And when they were down 8, they came all the way back to tie. And that's why again, I was yelling at the TV when Mitch Johnson decided to take out the only player who was playing well for them, Dylan Harper with four minutes left, who's playing with actual aggression. And so Darren Fox did not look right. He was not making his threes again. Going 11 for 42 ain't going to do it. And when Wemby takes nine threes, you're dead in the water. There is no game in which Wembayano takes nine threes that you are going to win.
- [67:26]
Brent Scher
Yeah, look, all these teams look like they're never going to lose again. The Knicks actually might never lose again. I don't think this series has gone six Knicks in four. At the end of the game, you know, we have an older vets who know what they're doing. I will take Jalen Brunson over Child Wemby any day of the week. They were up one actually with a few minutes left and they ended up losing by 10. It wasn't even close. The Knicks have been in a lot of these series for the last few years. This team, and it's the exact same team. It's Cat Brunson, OG Josh Hart. It's the same guys who have been through like 10 of these series now and they know what they're doing. They gel together, they play well together. By the end it seemed like they knew what the spurs were trying to do on every single offensive possession and they'd shut it down. I don't know. I also. The spurs might be able to handle going to okc, Going to Madison Square Garden in game three is going to be a wild experience for Wendy and I don't know, it's tough to win. I don't think he's going to Knick.
- [68:34]
Ben Shapiro
There's only, there's only one way to say, okay, so you are very, very confident. I mean, I'm, I'm not even going. Now that you're, you're giving me this much room. I'm. I'm not even going to bet on you whether the Knicks or Spurs are going to win the series. Now I'm going to make you bet on a Knicks sweep because this actually puts your money where your mouth is. Because if like, I'm not sure I would put money on the spurs in a, in a six or seven game series, I would definitely put money that the spurs are not going to get swept. I do not think the spurs are going to get swept. So how much money do you want to put? Branch are recognizing that money means a lot less to me than it does to you. How much money this is. Are you willing to put. I will let you name this like
- [69:11]
Brent Scher
you want to, you want to bet $10,000. That's the Mitt Romney when he was on stage with.
- [69:18]
Ben Shapiro
Yeah, exactly. I'm really going to press this. I mean, what, what, what, what, what odds are, what odds will you give me that the next sweep? I mean, like, how strongly do you believe this thing and how much money are you willing to actually put on a Knicks switch sweep? That is an audacious, bold claim, Brent. Sure.
- [69:32]
Brent Scher
I already have my money where my mouth is on the next sweep. My salary then.
- [69:39]
Ben Shapiro
Oh, my gosh.
- [69:40]
Jesse Ridgeway
Wow.
- [69:41]
Ben Shapiro
I mean, okay, all right, fine. Let's do that. And also, you're such a fan that you're going to a Keith Urban concert tonight. I have an excuse for not watching tonight. God told me I can't because it's Sabbath and you are missing the game to go to a Keith Urban concert.
- [69:54]
Brent Scher
You New York fans, it's, it's the new Tennessee thing. You know, I got CMA Fest tickets. I'm not sure my wife's going to be happy with the decision I might make at 7:00'.
- [70:06]
Graham Platner
Clock.
- [70:06]
Brent Scher
And we're actually supposed to leave to go to this concert. I'll probably be in the bar in the stadium somewhere, just glued to this TV and definitely not watching a foreign country star. Just like I won't be wording for a foreign basketball player. Basketball is for Americans and so is country music. Sorry, Keith Urban.
- [70:25]
Ben Shapiro
Well, I mean, I will make you a deal. I will allow you to report Wemby if we are, if we are all allowed to port Mandani. That, that, that's it. That's it. That's a straight up. That, that's a straight up deal. Okay, Brent, That's a lot of sports talk. Ben Shapiro show. So we're going to end it there. But Brent, I appreciate it and, and prepare to not receive a salary next month.
- [70:44]
Brent Scher
Okay? Deal. Nixon 4.
- [70:49]
Ben Shapiro
Alrighty, folks. The show continues for our members right now. We'll get to everything happening in Iran. Again, that is a very fluid situation. We will also be getting to people who are opposing AI not, not because they have serious concerns about AI, but because they have unserious concerns about AI. Remember, in order to watch, you have to be a member. If you're not a member become a member. Use code Shapiro at checkout for two months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us. Sam.