Ep. 2475 - This Viral Video Is Everything Wrong With America

Summary

The Ben Shapiro Show - Ep. 2475

"This Viral Video Is Everything Wrong With America"
Date: July 30, 2026
Host: Ben Shapiro (The Daily Wire)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around the state of the WNBA as a reflection of broader American cultural battles, from identity politics and sportsmanship to debates over gender and women's rights. Ben Shapiro uses recent viral moments and controversies in the WNBA as a launching point to scrutinize what he argues are self-destructive trends in American institutions, particularly those that embrace radical leftist politics at the expense of their potential audiences. The show also discusses Anthony Fauci's contentious Senate testimony, developments in Middle East foreign policy, and offers a broader critique of progressive movements in the US.

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Key Segments & Timestamps

1. [00:00–03:51] Introduction & NBA vs. WNBA – Cultural Backdrop
2. [03:51–11:22] Current State & Marketing Failures of WNBA
3. [11:22–13:58] Transgender Rights Controversy – Sophie Cunningham Incident
4. [13:58–17:19] Seattle Storm Game Controversy – Owner vs. Teenage Girls
5. [17:19–21:58] WNBA Players Betting Scandal & League Image
6. [21:58–27:22] Interview: Jennifer Sey (XXXY Athletics) – Protecting Women’s Sports
7. [27:22–38:04] Interview: Clay Travis (OutKick) – The WNBA’s Identity Dilemma
8. [38:14–53:31] Anthony Fauci’s Fifth Amendment Testimony in Senate
9. [53:31–58:45] Foreign Policy Rundown – Iran, Middle East, and US Strategy
10. [58:45–70:09] Progressive Economics, Immigration, DSA Politics, Wealth Creation

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1. NBA vs WNBA: Cultural & Historical Context

[00:00–03:51]

• Ben starts by noting the marketed divergence between the NBA and WNBA (“all American, fun inspiring generally normie" vs “militantly lesbian, trans, anti-white”).
• Quote: “The NBA decided to put serious focus on policing on and off court violence and behavior. […] Now, let's turn to the WNBA.” (03:37, Ben)
• He traces how the NBA came to prominence by focusing on star players, cleaning up its image, and appealing to a broader American audience.

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2. The WNBA: Audience, Star Power, & Identity Politics

[03:51–11:22]

• Ben criticizes the WNBA’s sustained financial losses, quality of play, and its "militant" political brand.
• Highlights Caitlin Clark’s impact on ratings and earnings.
• Critiques WNBA players for "whining" about Clark's attention and attributes this to jealousy and racial resentment.
• Quote: “Instead of them celebrating the fact that people are actually watching their kind of crappy games, now they just whine about the fact that Caitlin Clark gets attention.” (06:32, Ben)
• Discusses repeated on-court targeting of Clark and claims it’s symptomatic of a victimhood culture.
• Sophie Cunningham emerges as a “protector” figure and “viral meme” for standing up to “trans radicals” and supporting traditional women’s sports.

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3. Transgender Participation Controversy – Sophie Cunningham Fallout

[11:22–13:58]

• Cunningham publicly states: “Boys aren't girls and girls sports should be protected from the boys playing with them. And all hell broke loose.” (11:22, Ben)
• Plays clip where Sophie Cunningham stands by her statement on Fairness in Women's Sports.
• Ben frames the issue as an 80:20 one (“Most Americans don't believe that boys should play against the girls.”).

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4. Seattle Storm Owner vs. Teenage Girls – WNBA’s Public Image Meltdown

[13:58–17:19]

• Describes incident where girls wearing “XXXY” shirts (advocating for women’s sports) were berated by Seattle Storm owner Celeste Keaton for supporting Sophie Cunningham.
• Girls recount: “She told us that we were effing insane and that we. And she went like, insane. Yeah.” (14:20, Seattle teens)
• Ben highlights irony of Storm center's activism (wearing “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” shirt), juxtaposed against a supposed need for biological eligibility in women’s sports.
• Ownership is suspended and fined; Cunningham responds with a conciliatory social media post, advocating inclusion but sticking to fair play ideals.

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5. WNBA Players’ Gambling Controversy

[17:19–21:58]

• Features Paige Buchers and Angel Reese betting on game outcomes – aired by WNBA’s own media.
• Ben notes: “This is literally stuff that gets people banned from the NBA. These are two supposed stars in the WNBA.” (17:51, Ben)
• Argues that WNBA's attempt to be culturally relevant sometimes ignores professional or ethical norms.
• Questions the league's priorities — embracing "wokeness" over family-friendly entertainment.

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6. Interview: Jennifer Sey – Standing Up for Female Athletes

[21:58–27:22]

• Jennifer Sey, founder of XXXY Athletics, shares her background in sports and brand-building, emphasizes “biological reality.”
• Sey on culture shift: “The attendees, it was ten to one our side. I mean, the ground is shifting under our feet.” (23:38, Jennifer Sey)
• Critiques the left for “march[ing] through the culture,” especially language capture and forced pronoun use, suing Colorado over compelled speech laws.
• Both Shapiro and Sey assert that admitting biological difference is not “a rip on women,” but “reality.”

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7. Interview: Clay Travis – The WNBA's Priorities & Audience Alienation

[27:22–38:04]

• Travis compares Caitlin Clark’s potential league-transforming impact to Tiger Woods in golf, Serena & Venus in tennis, and Ronda Rousey in UFC.
• Quote: “Instead they decided, this is a black lesbian league. We're not going to let some straight white girl come in and become the face…” (31:31, Clay Travis)
• Emphasizes men/dads as key potential audience for the WNBA, frustrated by force-fed progressive activism.
• Quote: “They've decided to aim at legitimately about 2% of the American population when they should be aiming at at least 50%...” (32:27, Ben)
• Discusses the WNBA’s inability to replicate the NBA’s shift to broad appeal post-2020 BLM activism.
• Travis proposes Caitlin Clark start her own women’s league rather than endure WNBA’s entrenched politics.

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8. Anthony Fauci’s Senate Testimony: Fifth Amendment & Political Theater

[38:14–53:31]

• Fauci appears before Congress, invokes the Fifth over 100 times regarding his COVID-era decisions and Biden’s all-encompassing pardon.
• Clips of Republican Senators grilling Fauci, mocking blanket refusal to answer even banal questions:
  • “What color tie are you wearing?” (44:27, Sen. Hawley)
• Ben explains legal nuances: once pardoned, a witness can’t claim the Fifth for those offenses. Outlines possible (but unlikely) legal consequences.
• Fauci is defended by some Democrats as a heroic public servant (“the man in the arena”). Ben mocks media and political lionization of Fauci, calling for genuine accountability and self-examination.

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9. Foreign Policy: Iran Escalates amid Economic Crisis

[53:31–58:45]

• Reports on Iranian missile attacks on US and allied assets in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
• Analyzes Iran’s motivations — economic collapse (90% inflation, hyper-devalued rial) driving regime to provoke the US, aiming to force negotiations (“They are trying to essentially play the UNO reverse card on us.” (58:45, Ben)).
• Outlines US options: blockade, airstrikes, gradual pressure to exhaust the regime, noting China’s role in supporting Iran and implications for US military alliances.

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10. Domestic Politics: DSA, Immigration, Reparations, and Wealth Creation

[58:45–end (~70:09)]

• Highlights radical leftward shift in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), with politicians advocating for unfiltered immigration and reparations.
• Clips of DSA figures refusing to commit on cash reparations, offering what Ben calls “word salad.”
• Notes Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong’s activist platform and lack of governance experience.
• Critiques DSA’s claim that wealthy innovators don’t create real wealth; cites data on value created by tech entrepreneurs (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, etc.).
• Quote: “What creates wealth is innovation. […] We do not need more be braceleted ladies who have never held a real job…” (70:00, Ben)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Instead of them celebrating the fact that people are actually watching their kind of crappy games, now they just whine about the fact that Caitlin Clark gets attention.” (06:32, Ben)
• Sophie Cunningham on girls’ sports: “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense… I stand on what I said….you have Title IX for a reason.” (11:22, Cunningham)
• Jennifer Sey: “The cultural ground is shifting under our feet. There were 10 times as many women there showing up to support Sophie…” (23:38, Sey)
• Clay Travis: “We would rather be an unsuccessful black lesbian woke league than a successful league appealing to everyone.” (32:15)
• On Fauci: “What color is your tie?” — “On advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment...” (44:30, Hawley/Fauci)
• On DSA candidates: “We do not need more be braceleted ladies who have never held a real job and rack up credit card debt now telling everyone else how we ought to spend our money.” (70:00, Ben)

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Tone & Style

Ben Shapiro delivers each segment with his trademark rapid-fire, analytical, often sarcastically humorous conservatism. His guests, Jennifer Sey and Clay Travis, reinforce the themes of common sense and cultural sanity in the face of wokeness run amok. Quotes are direct, often biting, and intended to highlight absurdities in his view of the progressive left.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode of The Ben Shapiro Show uses the WNBA’s latest controversies over gender, identity politics, and star player debates as a microcosm of what Shapiro diagnoses as “everything wrong with America” — institutions catering to radical progressive agendas at the cost of alienating the mainstream. Through interviews with Jennifer Sey and Clay Travis, Shapiro underscores the “common sense majority’s” frustration with these trends. The program pivots into broader critiques of American pandemic leadership (Fauci’s Senate testimony), Middle East policy, and the economic illiteracy of socialist reforms. If you’re interested in how American culture wars filter into sports, politics, and even the future of women’s leagues, this is a vibrant, unsparing episode that lets you experience the whole arc of conservative critique in real time.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Williams from four point range along with

[A]

Ty Young almost subbed him in when we were down by 11. She threw that up. She knew who she wanted to pass it. Jonquill up to 10 points. Howard takes it right back. What a pass from neca.

[B]

Asia Wilson can't finish it.

[A]

Clark gives it underneath and then Wilby. You haven't isolated on Caitlyn at all for a blow by yet. Is that coming? 5 seconds left in the third copper unable to hit that one as Clark went basket.

[C]

Asia Wilson Angel.

[A]

Look at the speed, look at the athleticism. And then saying, hey, I wasn't even trying to. There wide open at the other end.

[C]

Oh, no.

[A]

Angel goes down now and Angel Wilson has to pick her up.

[D]

Young.

[A]

This is. Can't whip it in. Sorry. Malanga. Oh, good lord. Come on.

[C]

You're what?

[E]

You.

[A]

You're two feet from the basket. How do you airball a shot two feet from the basket? Okay, honest. Honest to goodness. There are like men's suburban 40 plus basketball leagues that play better basketball than was played in the WNBA All Star Game. And again, that'd be one thing. But its brand is even worse because the brand for the WNBA has become militant lesbians who are kind of like, okay at basketball by female standards, certainly not by male standards, and are simultaneously obnoxiously insistent that the only reason people won't watch them is racism and sexism. That was the WNBA brand. I know. Golden stuff. Huge. And then the WNBA received a large scale gift, like the greatest gift of all time, Caitlin Clark. Because Caitlin Clark was breaking records in college and her entry into the WNBA meant a spike in viewership in people actually giving a crap because she was good and she's still really good. Here are some Caitlin Clark highlights.

[B]

Clark.

[A]

Uh oh, what goes

[E]

now?

[B]

Clark trying to make something happen behind the back. Pass the basket and get Samuelson.

[A]

Nice pass there.

[B]

These are good plays, right?

[A]

I'd say that's a beautiful pass.

[B]

Caitlyn did it.

[A]

And of course you can shoot the lights out. Hey. So revenues are up and earnings are up and ratings are up basically because Caitlin Clark is in the league. But there is one problem for the wnba. The league is still plagued by radical political leftism that has somehow become intertwined with the very character of the league. They basically let the character of the players in the league dictate the character of the league. And so the players whine incessantly about the fact that Caitlin Clark gets attention. Instead of them celebrating the fact that people are actually watching their kind of crappy games, now they just whine about the fact that Caitlin Clark gets attention. They keep saying that she's not good or that the people who are following Caitlin Clark, they're only doing so because she's white. And there were a bunch of racists. Now, again, in the NBA, there were people who did this throughout Larry Bird's career. I believe Charles Barkley early on made some comments about Larry Bird. The the difference is that the league, number one, rejected it and number two, Larry Bird himself trash talked the living hell out of everybody and would own you if you tried to do this. But here are just some of the players who've been whining about Caitlyn Clark, who is the person raising the salaries for everybody in the wnba. We're circulating the same players over and over again that we're talking about the same 10, Az Fudd, Caitlin Clark. What about Enrique? What about Kelsey Mitchell? We don't talk about these players enough.

[E]

I saw that when Caitlin got hurt,

[A]

nobody wanted to go to the game anymore. It was like, oh, Caitlyn's not playing. I'm not interested in watching. I mean, welcome to sports where some people are stars and some people are not. There are a lot of underappreciated players in the NBA right now. You know, people who are probably better than LeBron James, but you're not going to necessarily show up to the game if LeBron isn't playing. They're probably centers who are playing better offense than Wemby right now. But you're going to show up to the Wemby game because Wemby's a star. And now it's not just that they criticize Caitlin Clark. There's this tendency in the WNBA to continue continually manhandle Caitlin Clark. Again, the league needs to crack down on this because it's absurd. The tapes have become legion of various players basically beating up on Caitlin Clark. You can see there's a player going after Caitlin Clark's neck there to get up. Good times. And this is not rare, unfortunately. There's a lot of tape just like this going to the hoop and people just basically bashing and in for Clark and draws the foul at 1.6.

[B]

She goes sprawling, trying to slow her

[A]

down, picking her up at midcourt, trying

[D]

to get the offensive foul.

[A]

Call Seattle. And all of a sudden some of these are offensive fouls and some of these are her just getting hammered all second quarter long.

[B]

Oh, that's on the rip through on

[A]

the cut by Power elbowing her in the face. Now, again, I'm not going to say each one of these is on purpose or racist or anything, but there is a large scale trend of Caitlin Clark just getting randomly kind of manhandled. Okay, but here's the thing. Even that gave the WNBA an opportunity because it turns out that Caitlin Clark's team also has on it a very pretty forward named Sophie Cunningham. She also happens to be rather all American in her attitude and viewpoint. And so she has sort of become Caitlin Clark's protector on the court, which led to viral moments like this. Again, WNBA has some momentum here. This viral moment has become a Meme all over the Internet. This is Sophie Cunningham who was told by another player not to point at her. So she proceeded to point at her for the rest of time. I believe that Sophie Cunningham is still pointing at this player. So there you've got it right, this thing, right? And it just keeps going. It just keeps going. I mean, again, one of the most hilarious things. And Sophie Cunningham, obviously, she knows the cameras are on her. She knows exactly what she's doing, right? This is just smart marketing. Right? Smart pr. Hey, so yet another opportunity for the wnba. Right? Kind of wrong. Because it turns out Sophie Cunningham has the wrong kind of politics. Mainly she's kind of just a normie. In just a second we'll get to the thing that got Sophie Cunningham in trouble with the trans radicals in just one second. But here is the thing. If you have phone service that is not Pure Talk, you are in trouble. Why? Well, because you're just paying too much. Pure Talk is in a recent industry survey, the only wireless company to receive five stars in every single category. Coverage, support, value, Data. You deserve five star wireless service. And now PureTalk has an invitation just for you. Switch to Pure Talk for just 15 bucks a month for a limited time. Any plan including their top shelf unlimited data plans. Just 15 bucks a month for your first three months. No contract needed, just an insanely low offer to switch to a top rated company. You know how you get five stars for support a dedicated US customer service team. You know how you get five stars for value? You save the average family of four over a thousand bucks a year versus big wireless. There is a better wireless choice out there at just 15 bucks a month for your first three months on any plan. Now would be an excellent time to choose Pure Talk. Simply head on over to to PureTalk.com Shapiro and claim the offer again. That's PureTalk.com Shapiro to start saving today. I'm using PureTalk myself for years. The coverage is excellent and the price is unbeatable. Go check them out right now. PureTalk.com Shapiro to claim their special offer today. So last week Sophie Cunningham said that boys aren't girls and girls sports should be protected from the boys playing with them. And all hell broke loose.

[D]

I said what I said. I think it's kind of common sense and I think I'll always believe in that. I think it's really important to protect children and that's little girls who are also involved in that category. And so I stand on what I said and I always believe that. Do you see your advocacy on that like taking any form going forward, you know, I don't know. I didn't. I'm not a very political person, but I do have beliefs, I have morals, and I'll always stand on those and be true to who I am. And I think people are going to take it how they want to take it, but I've never even really said anything about that. And so when it comes just to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that. I think that's why you have Title ix. That's why you have some of the greats in women's sports. If Title 9 and women's sports weren't protected, then you wouldn't hear about any type of women in sport. And so I think in the future it's just really important to protect.

[A]

Okay, you know, great opportunity for the WNBA. Right? Because it's like an 8020 issue. Most Americans don't believe that boys should play against the girls. And you're talking about a woman's sport league. That's what you're talking about. Women's basketball. If you let the biological men play, you end up with the movie Juana man. Or alternatively lady ballers. A 14 year old high school freshman boys starting varsity player at any decent public school in America would torch these ladies. That is just a reality. That is not sexist. That is called reality. 14 year old boys all over America are dunking in the WNBA with biological men would just be called the NBA and the ladies would be called ushers or at best refs, maybe an assistant coach or two. So naturally, the WNBA's top voices decided to come out in stern opposition to Sophie Cunningham. Because the WNBA isn't the women's NBA. It is the LNBA or the LGBTQ divided by sign. NBA. And all that came out into the open, no pun intended, a couple nights ago in Seattle. So Brandy Cruz, a journalist in Seattle, who I know from my days back at a Seattle radio station, took a bunch of girls to the Indiana Fever game in Seattle and they were wearing XXY T shirts. Those are T shirts produced by Riley Games's company and Jennifer say's company. They stand against men in women's sports. Fine. Right. Good, right. I mean, they're carrying a sign that said, thank you, Sophie, for speaking up for girls. And then the owner of the Seattle Storm, who seems like a real charmer, her name is Celeste Keaton, showed up to scream at these teenage girls. Here are those teenage girls recapping what happened.

[D]

Well, we were just sitting There with her signs that said, like, we love Sophie. Like, thank you so for speaking up. And so we were holding on, just watching the game again, like, we were being super great. We hadn't said anything to anyone else. We were being super respectful. We were just holding our signs and cheering for both teams. And this lady, older lady, comes up to us and she comes up to us. And at first I think she's gonna be nice. And she asked like, what are you guys doing? Something like that.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And then it was like, jesus loves everyone. That's what she told us. And I was like, oh, I know. Like I'm religious. Like, I know. Like, yeah. And she's like, I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done. And like, something like that. And then she told us that we were effing insane and that we. And she went like, insane. Yeah. Like you have. You better stop this and stop pulling. Yeah. And for you guys, God can save you. Yeah. She said for you to come here and pull this. She said the word Y. Did she say effing insane or no?

[B]

She said.

[D]

Yeah, she said the word.

[A]

So I mean, here are the pictures of the Seattle Storm co owners, by the way. And it kind of looks like you would think that it was gonna look just a little bit. Just a little bit. Well, meanwhile, the Seattle Storm center at the same game, a lady named Stephanie Dolson, who is 6 foot 5 and 245 pounds, which makes her the shack of the WNBA, except she stinks. She averages 3.8 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game and has the mobility of quicksand. She wore this shirt which said, trans rights are human rights. Okay, lady, if you were playing against the dudes again, you would not make a basketball team. You would not. And you're the ones who are bringing this up because you're the ones who insist that boys can be girls. Now, Sophie Cunningham applauded the girls. She went on X and she said, I truly believe there is a safe space and love for everybody. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women and trans men. So she's using the language of the left there. Everyone is welcome at my table. You can disagree and still be kind. Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You'll be hearing from me soon. Yay for gifts. Truly embarrassing of the co owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is. So again, Sophie Cunningham is trying to play it as mainstream as possible. She's even using the acceptable language here, which again, I would not recommend because it ain't going to win her any points. But it is incredible that this was even a controversy. So the WNBA eventually suspended and fined Keaton. They said that she has been the co owner, suspended from attending a a series of games. The next five home games she's been fined. But again, the lasting impression here is pretty obvious. If you are traditionally conservative, hell, if you're traditionally rational in any way, if you are not a radical LGBTQ plus minus divided by sign activist, you do not belong at a WNBA game. They're actively alienating well over half of the American population. But apparently you know who is acceptable in the wnba? Players in the WNBA who literally bet on their own game on camera. The WNBA spread this actual tape. So Paige Buchers, who I guess plays for Dallas, she made a bet with Angel Reese, who's sort of the arch enemy of Caitlin Clark about the WNBA All Star game. Literally betting on their teams before the game, which got Pete Rose banned from the hall of Fame and baseball. But the WNBA thinks this is fun and cool. This is okay. Apparently

[D]

at All Star Weekend, you and angel made a bet with each other on this game.

[A]

Is that bet.

[D]

This is how the rich stay rich. You gotta say, you gotta save this money.

[A]

I'm gonna see you next week.

[F]

On Wednesday.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

At night.

[D]

No, at practice.

[A]

Oh, at practice. I mean, I know y' all gonna lose, but you.

[D]

If y' all lose, I get to have that.

[C]

If y' all win. If y' all win, you're getting 400.

[D]

And if we lose, then you get.

[A]

No, you owe me for one.

[D]

But I'm staying on it. I'm staying on it.

[A]

The WN put this out like this was cutesy. Seriously, like, this is stuff that gets people banned from the NBA. These are two supposed stars in the wnba. One Angel Race again. She's supposed to be the competition for Caitlyn Clark. Well, man. Yeah, the defense, Reese in transition too strong.

[C]

Huge 45 points.

[B]

Rim run.

[A]

Reese couldn't finish it. Offensive rebound, second chance. It's Canada for three weeks.

[D]

Side board, full game, but just checked in a few seconds ago. Caitlin Clark to Angel Reese. What a connection. Angel can't connect.

[A]

Minnesota a minute to go in the first quarter as Reese working from the

[D]

perimeter of the spin move clearly could have just got to the basket for the layers.

[E]

They want that three point shot.

[D]

Miles throws it away. A two on one for Reese who gallops to the rim.

[A]

Can't finish.

[C]

Test here is how gallops is strong.

[A]

The announce announcers the funniest part of these convert on the lane in and another opportunity for the Dream Gray. She also misfires an offensive rebound by Reese. Who's Angel Reese getting that rebound? Got the position and yeah, yeah. Now again, Angel Reese isn't a terrible player. She's scoring like 16 points a game. Okay. But the other player in that clip, by the way, Paige Bucher's, she's averaging 21 points per game and is a very good player. She's mostly known for the fact that the Dallas team drafted her girlfriend number one. So it's great. You can take your daughters to the game and hear about lesbian relationships and why trans politics are the thing that matters. So here is the deal. The wnba, it theoretically could be a thing. It could be. I mean, after all, there are a lot of women's sports that are the thing and that are actually a thing. Women's tennis is very much a thing. So is women's golf. Not so much for soccer, which tends to spike around the World cup and then fall apart for the same exact reasons. Because it's very important to be incredibly woke. But if you want people to watch your product, you might want to think about who's the, who's the crowd? Who are you actually trying to appeal to? I have two girls, 12 and 6. Would I want to bring them to a WNBA game where they are being preached to about the virtues of LGBTQ divided by sign radicalism? It's enough of a burden for me to pretend that the games are actually entertaining and interesting. I would never allow these people to shovel politics into my kids brains. But that's the problem for the wnba. They should separate off from their politics. But they won't. For them to do what they actually need to do to make the least successful, they would need to acknowledge they're totally out of step politically with the rest of America. And they won't do that. So I promise you, the wnba, after a flash in the pan, will likely stagnate yet again. Coming up, we'll be joined by Jennifer say, the founder of XXXY Athletics. She of course is promoting the idea that boys should not play against the girls. These things are obvious. But you know what else is obvious? Death. I know, right? That's a hard transition. But here's the reality we are all going to plot at some time. And this is just one reason why you need to think about making provision for that happening. God forbid. This is why life insurance isn't something you should put off. I have a new addition to our family. Every time I have a new addition to the family, I think how Do I take care of my family for the future? These are all decisions we all need to be making all the time. The good news that finding the right life insurance policy does not have to be complicated. Policygenius is an online insurance marketplace where you can compare quotes from America's top insurers side by side for free. Their licensed experts answer your questions, handle the paperwork, help you find the most affordable policy that fits your family's needs. No guesswork and no pressure. Just clarity. With thousands of five star reviews on Google and trustpilot, you know you're working with a team that People Trust. With PolicyGenius you can find 20 year life insurance policies starting and at just 276 bucks a year for a million dollars in coverage. Head on over to policygenius.com Shapiro to compare life insurance quotes from top companies. See how much you could save. That's policygenius.com Shapiro. Joining me online to discuss all of this is Jennifer say, the founder of xxxy athletics and 1986 women's national gymnastics champion. Jennifer, thanks so much for taking the time.

[E]

Thanks for having me, Ben.

[A]

So let's talk about what happened at the Seattle Storm Games. So obviously some young women were wearing your gear. Why don't you start organization and what it's designed to do?

[E]

Yeah, I started the brand about two years ago. I have a background in fashion and brand building. I spent 23 years at Levi's, eight of them as the CMO, two is the brand president and I left the company in 2022 and I decided to start my own brand that combined my athletic background with my brand building experience because I to to influence this conversation about biological reality and standing up in defense of female ATH. I've been standing up for female athletes for 20 years. I was the first whistleblower about abuse in gymnastics way before, you know, the story of Larry Nassar blew up. So I'm kind of used to saying true but controversial things that people don't want to hear. So I just feel like the other side, the other side, they have all these brands and cultural artifacts, movies, film, music, all of it touting their message. And we've just seeded that territory. I just want to make it cool to stand up and say men and women are different and women and girls deserve their own spaces. That should be cool, normal thing to say. And so that's what I'm trying to do with the brand, if that makes sense.

[A]

So the other night, Brandi Cruz, who's a former colleague of mine, actually at a Seattle radio Station. She took a bunch of girls to the Seattle Storm game and they were wearing your gear. And this turned into a national issue because the owner or the co owner of the Seattle Storm decided to berate the girls pretty publicly. What did you, what did you feel when, when you saw that happening?

[E]

Well, I do want to say one thing, so I know Brandy well. And they did host a rally outside of the stadium beforehand. The attendees, it was ten to one our side. I mean, the ground is shifting under our feet. That's the good news. The cultural ground is shifting under our feet. There were 10 times as many women there showing up to support Sophie and fair competition than there were activists screeching at them. So that's huge. That's a good news. That wouldn't have happened a year ago or two years ago. It would have been totally the other direction. So yeah, these girls were courtside. One of them, her name is annalee Wilson, she's 16, she's taken a stand for fair competition in Washington State. She's one of the athletes on our roster and one of the co owners of the Seattle Storm saw fit to come up and berate these two teenage girls. Curse at them, you know, tell them to cut the. I won't curse. Cut this ass out. She said effing this, effing that. And poor Annelie started crying. I mean, she's a 16 year old girl, this is a girl. And all she was doing was wearing one of our shirts and holding a sign saying thank you Sophie. I mean, totally peaceful there to support both teams, cheering for both sides. So this woman is cretinous and has been suspended now is my understanding, from attending any games by the wnba. That's the good news. This is what I mean when I say the culture is shifting

[A]

now. It is kind of incredible that this should even be a matter for controversy inside the wnba, considering that after all, the WNBA of all leagues should understand that if boys were allowed to play with the girls, there would be no wnba. I mean, whatever you think of the wnba, a, a decent high school varsity basketball team at any public school in America would destroy the WNBA champions. Because boys are taller, boys jump higher, boys can dunk. I mean, I know 14 year old boys who can dunk. There are no dunks in the wnba. Like again, this is not a rip on women. This is just a reality about the differences between the sexes. The fact that you have the owners of these teams who are saying that somehow women should not be protected, women's sports should not be protected is totally insane.

[E]

Yes, it's totally insane. But this sort of march through the culture has been going on for 20 years. As you know, they took over the language. The other side, these ideologues, this whole, like, forced pronoun recitation. That's what this is about. If you're forced to say your pronouns, if you're forced to say trans women are women, how do you at that point, once we, well, not you and I, but once others have said that, how do you tell that person? Will Thomas well, you are a woman, but you can't compete in women's sports. That capturing of the language has been the march through the culture, and we were asleep at the wheel, frankly. There have been women and men fighting this for some time, and I'm glad the rest of the country is waking up. We can't see one inch on this. We have to rest the culture back. And that means the language with the force that was taken from us. I live in Colorado, Ben. It is a crime to misgender here. Literally, a crime with penalties like, that's insane. I miss gender. I correctly gender every single day. My brand is suing the state of Colorado because this is absurd. This is ridiculous. We have to forcefully take it back and we just have to influence hearts and minds. And I think it sounds so silly that a T shirt can help do that, but it makes it really easy for someone like Annalee Wilson to just wear the shirt, not say anything. It says, I believe in biological reality and I believe women deserve their own sports and spaces. It's simple.

[A]

Well, as Jennifer say, you can check out all of her work online and you can go over to her company, XXXY Athletics, and buy some gear for your daughters or wear it yourself. Jennifer, thanks so much for the time. Really appreciate it.

[E]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

All right, coming up, we'll get to Clay Travis plus Anthony Foushee pleading the fifth 111 times. We'll get to all of that. There's a big fail for Fauci yesterday, but if your business fails is likely because you lost momentum. Customers want to buy. Checkout gets clunky and then you just don't receive the sale. The website is slow. The UX is terrible. The backend becomes a distraction. Pretty soon you're spending more time fixing your problems and actually building your business. That's one reason we love using Shopify for the daily wire store. We get to focus on creating products our audience actually wants while Shopify handles the technical side. One thing I noticed early on was how smooth the checkout experience is when customers are ready to buy. Shopify Checkout helps more of them actually finish their purchase. And when they come back, their information is already saved. So they're done with just one tap. It's a win win for everybody. As the store has grown, Shopify has grown with us. Instead of worrying about infrastructure, we've been able to spend our time creating, improving and expanding with Shopify. Nothing stands between your idea and a real business. So go make it one. Start your free [e-mail] Shapiro that's shopify.com Shapiro to start your free trial today. Shopify.com Shapiro joining me online is Clay Travis. He, of course, is the founder of Outkick and a frequent guest on Daily Wire programming as well. Clay, thanks so much for taking the time. Appreciate it.

[C]

Yeah, always enjoy it.

[A]

So, you know, we have to talk about a subject I know, that is close to both of our hearts, the wnba. So I was talking a little bit earlier on the show about the fact that the wnba. I'm not sure I've ever seen a league that is so dedicated to its own destruction. It's pretty astonishing to watch. I was sort of comparing the WNBA right now to the NBA in the 70s. During the 70s, the product wasn't particularly good on the court. A lot of thuggish behavior off the court, cocaine problems, crime problems, people punching each other and just kind of brutal brutality on the court. And people weren't watching it. So it was on tape delay on national TV and all the rest. And the NBA decided it was going to solve its problems by not only drafting a couple stars like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and then featuring them, but also really cleaning up the league in a wide variety of ways. The WNBA is so tied into its own character as a radical left organization that it's alienating a huge component of the American population. And I think that that played out this week, 100%.

[C]

I've got so many thoughts on this, but I think ultimately what it reflects is identity politics destroys everything. Think about this for a minute, just from a pure business perspective, because I like your analogy on the late 70s NBA. Caitlin Clark, whatever you think about her, is the golden goose of WNBA basketball. She comes in and she immediately brings a level of attention, frankly, Ben, that I never believed would happen. This is one I got wrong. I just didn't think people would care enough. I understood they cared about her in college, but we've had a lot of college women's basketball, you know, Gino Oriyama, Pat Summitt. There have been a lot of times when women's college basketball mattered because they have a built in fan base with all of the colleges that people root for. Right? So I thought, Caitlin Clark to the wnba, it's never going to work. It did. Okay, now pause. We've seen this happen a couple of times before in the history of sports. Tiger woods to the pga. There were some minor snafus when he came into the league, but overwhelmingly the guys in the PGA suddenly realized, holy crap, we're all going to make a lot more money. The crowds are way bigger, way more people are watching our events. Tiger woods was the rising tide that lifted, lifted the entire golf boat. Everybody made more money, right? You have this same situation now playing out, by the way, if you want to say, okay, what about women's sports? Venus and Serena in women's tennis overwhelmingly increased the audience in a positive way. They were welcomed. There are good examples actually of sports leagues getting a gift. A star who transcends the entire sport and provides so much more impetus in a positive way. The WNBA got it. They didn't follow the league of the W, the lead, the lead of the WTA. They didn't follow the lead of the pga. Heck, they didn't even follow the lead of the ufc. If you remember, Ronda Rousey came in there and women's fighting suddenly mattered way more. Instead they decided, this is a black lesbian league. We're not going to let some straight white girl come in and become the face of our league. We're going to try to humiliate her, we're going to try to injure her. We're going to make it clear we don't want her and we don't want her fans. We would rather be an unsuccessful black lesbian woke league than a successful league appealing to everyone.

[A]

I mean, and that really is the story. It is pretty incredible because again, if you were just from a marketing perspective going to design a women's league, what you would figure is that your core audience would be, number one, people who are fans of women's college basketball. You try to transfer those over and up. And, and as you say, there's a built in audience for that. And two people with daughters, right? I have a couple of daughters. I certainly bring my daughters to a WNBA game. Except for the fact that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of radical left wing agit prop about LGBTQ politics. And guess what? I'm really not interested in doing that. That's really stupid. I would much prefer that my daughters, if they're going to watch women's Basketball, watch the college game, which is not implicit with any of these biases. And instead, the league has decided to embrace all of its worst aspects and then to turn potential stars into sort of activists on behalf of the left. I mean, they've decided to aim at legitimately about 2% of the American population when they should be aiming at at least 50% of the American population.

[C]

Yeah, look, I think your point on dads is so huge here. Men, I know people don't want to talk about it. Men are overwhelmingly the majority of sports fans. In fact, men are even the majority of women's sports fans. Right. And in particular, dads want to share something wholesome with their daughters. They love to take their daughters and moms too. But to your point on dads in particular, this is an audience that could make the WNBA tens of billions of dollars if they just leaned into. Your daughter can one day grow up and be the next Caitlin Clark. She can grow up and be the next superstar in the wnba. We want to create a wholesome family environment that welcomes families across the board. Instead, they've decided we don't want anyone who voted for Donald Trump, whether they happen to be Caitlin Clark fans or not. We don't want white men to like our league. And by the way, if you criticize it, it's racist, it's sexist, it's homophobic, it's transphobic of you. How about I just like basketball and the NBA? Ben, I think partly because of people like you and me who are sports fans has really. I got to give Adam Silver a little bit of credit. They finally started to pivot back to the Republicans by sneakers 2 era of Jordan, where they appealed to everyone. I think that's a conscious choice. The WNBA refuses to do it.

[A]

I mean, that's exactly right. Listen, there are a lot of left wing players in the NBA. Overwhelmingly, the players in the NBA are undoubtedly voting Democrat. But the fact is that the NBA decided that it wasn't going to do the sort of overt Black Lives Matter nonsense it did in 2020. They'd alienated an entire fan base.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

And instead they were just going to focus on the talents of the basketball players. The WNBA has not done that in any way, shape or form. They actually have some very talented players, people like Paige Bucher's for example, scoring like 21 points a game. But the story around Paige Bucher's right now is not that she's a great basketball player, it's that she has a relationship with her teammates. I mean, that is not the kind of narrative that is going to drive dads to take their daughters to the game.

[C]

Ben, Back to back, number one draft picks are in a relationship and they were upset. I saw this story. I said, this can't be. This can't be. This can't be real. They drafted her girlfriend with the number one overall pick win. By the way, it was not the case that everybody looked at that and said, hey, you know what? This is clearly the best player in the league. I think the relationship probably did impact it. I don't know if you've seen this. Last night. I'm scrolling through Twitter, getting ready to go to bed. Paige Buckers and, and, and Angel Reese bet $400 on video on the outcome of their game bin. I saw this and I said. And the WNBA tweeted it. I said, there's no way this is real. I thought it was AI. I'm doing research on it. I told my wife. She's like, what are you paying attention to? It's like they're betting on games. Like, this is one of the craziest stories I've ever seen. And the league shared it, Ben, which I think is probably the stupidest move in the history of online sports. In the Internet era, the league itself shared two of its star players betting $400 on a game, which is like 90% of their WNBA weekly salary probably. So it's, it's, it's like Shohei Ohtani betting like a million dollars on a game. I couldn't believe this is real. I don't know what the fallout's going to be. I was just looking it up. So far this morning, there hasn't been any discussion about comments from the wnba. This is a big deal. Can you imagine if this was men's sports? It would be everywhere.

[A]

And, and there's no chance, by the way, the WNBA is going to shift tactics at all, at all. Because the chances they will ever allow an owner who voted for Don, or even thought at one point about voting for Donald Trump to be in the league, they simply will not allow it. The ownership structure is completely filled up with people who are on the radical left. They will not allow expansion to anywhere that is going to, you know, lean toward even moderation, politically speaking. And meanwhile, they're just going to live off of subsidies from the NBA. I mean, the reality is that despite the fact that their, their revenue has been increasing and their ratings have been increasing, they're still running tens of millions of dollars in the red every single year. The wnba.

[C]

Yeah. Look, this is why I've argued, and I really do think she should look into it, that Caitlin Clark should think about leaving the WNBA and starting her own league of six or eight teams. You know, you look at Sophie Cunningham, who I give credit for, for saying the absolutely radical idea, men shouldn't be able to compete in women's sports. Boys, not in girls sports. What happened right after she said that she's playing in Seattle? Two nights ago, one of the owners of the WNBA franchise in Seattle cursed out teenage girls who showed up at the Seattle game to cheer for Sophie Cunningham. Now, they've reportedly suspended this owner for 5 games, but can you imagine running a women's sports league cursing out teenage girls who have showed up at your game to support a player who had the radical position of men shouldn't be able to play in women's sports? I mean, there's a reason it's the wnba, Ben, because obviously none of these women would have any hope. If you watch the highlight reels, frankly, I don't think I bet a million dollars on it. They wouldn't take it up. A boys high school state championship team in any state would destroy the WNBA champion. They know it, which is why they wouldn't take my million dollar bet.

[A]

That's Clay Travis. You can check out all of his work over at X and Beyond. Also check out his podcast. He's the founder of Outkit. Go check him out. Clay Travis, thanks so much for the time.

[C]

Thanks, Ben. Keep up the good work.

[A]

Alrighty. Enough talk about unsuccessful sports leagues. Let's talk about unsuccessful scientists. So Anthony Fauci had his day on the Hill yesterday. He was testifying before a Senate committee led by Senator Rand Paul, and it got spicy. So before the hearing, Rand Paul tweeted out, if Anthony Fauci comes before my committee tomorrow and perjures himself, his preemptive pardon from Joe Biden will not protect him. So that was him basically arguing that again, Foushee received a pardon from Joe Biden on his way out that pardoned him for pretty much anything. And all he did between 2014 and 2025. And so Rand Paul is threatening, if you come and you lie in front of Congress, then you could get targeted again. Now, of course, back in 2021, Fauci testified before Congress that he had not lied before Congress is about gain of function research. Again, gain of function research. Fauci was trying to talk past Paul. He was saying that he didn't do any gain of function research. Paul was saying, well, you're misdefining gain of function research for political purposes. But here's how that exchange sounded five years ago.

[B]

This is a pattern that Senator Paul has been doing now at multiple hearings based on no reality. He keeps talking about gain of function. This has been evaluated multiple times by qualified people to not fall under the gain of function definition. I have not lied before Congress. I have never lied, certainly not before Congress. Case closed.

[A]

Okay, so that's what he said back in 2020. Well, if you're not lying in front of Congress, you probably shouldn't be all that worried about, you know, a perjury charge. But Fauci was very worried about that yesterday. That is the reason why he declared the fifth Amendment, why he invoked the fifth Amendment against self incrimination, his right against self incrimination. He started off with a 1 minute diatribe about how terrible Rand Paul and mean Rand Paul is.

[B]

Given Senator Paul's obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote. Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.

[A]

He then proceeded to say that he would invoke the Fifth Amendment some 111 times. We'll get into the legal consequences of that in just one second because the open question is whether he in fact could be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. Here was Fauci explaining that he would invoke the fifth.

[B]

Although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades long record of cooperating with Congress. Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the fifth amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions. Thank you.

[A]

Okay. So then he proceeded to do it again 111 times. Well, this did provide a lot of the Republican senators the opportunity to tee off on Fauci and get him to look foolish. Because when you just keep saying I, I invoke the fifth Amendment, it makes things awkward. So he was questioned by Senator Bernie Moreno from Ohio. He was asked about whether he would turn around and look at members of the media who had been shamed for telling the truth. Of course he wouldn't. That was not a thing he was going to do, obviously,

[F]

can you do me a favor in the audience and stand up? If during the time of the COVID pandemic, you were called a racist for calling the virus a Wuhan virus or the China virus, if you thought the six foot rule was total crap, if you thought the vaccine wasn't something that you should take, if you thought it was outrageous the way the mass policy was rolled out, if you were fired from your job for not taking that vaccine, including members of the military, if you thought closing schools was catastrophically stupid and that you thought that during these times, saying these things made you somehow a lesser human being, Doctor Frederick, can you just turn around and look at the people behind you? You're not willing to do that. That's not a question. It's not a question to your lawyer. It's not a question. It's a request. All you have to do is look up from your lawyers and look at the people who were absolutely shamed for saying what we know now to be the truth. You can't even look at them. That's a question. Are you able to look at them?

[A]

Okay, so obviously again, whenever you have a witness who's pleading the Fifth and refusing to sort of comply with the rules, that gives you the opportunity to humiliate them. And Republicans dunked on them over and over, dunked on Fauci. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, he had some fun with Fauci by asking him basic questions like what color is your tie? Because here's the thing. Once Foushee starts answering questions, then it makes it harder for him to actually invoke the fifth Amendment with regard to all other questions. That's the reason why he did it in blanket fashion. What day of the week is it today?

[B]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

[C]

What color tie are you wearing?

[B]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

[C]

What color is the carpet in front of you?

[B]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

[C]

Let's just get one thing straight.

[A]

You don't have any rights under the

[C]

Fifth Amendment because you've been pardoned.

[A]

As you very well know, as the

[C]

Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more. Brown versus Walker, 1896. When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege.

[A]

You know that your lawyer sitting behind

[C]

you now, shifting nervously in their chairs,

[A]

they know it this isn't about the Constitution. This isn't about the law. This is about contempt. Contempt for this body and contempt for the American people. At one point, Senator Rand Paul decided to toss Fauci's lawyer out of the room. Here's how that went.

[B]

The attorneys are not recognized. In fact, the attorney was told not to sit at the table, and he's not obeying that recommendation. There's a row behind you, sir. That's where you were told to sit, and you're not. And now you're disrupting the proceedings. And so, look, this is the way Anthony Fauci wants to be remembered. For a lawyer not listening to the rules, that's the way you want to be remembered, and that's what you're going to do. You are not recognized, sir. Security, please remove him from the room.

[A]

Alrighty. So again, lot of pyrotechnics. Bernie Moreno went after Fauci, started berating him in front of the audience. Again, all of this is good fun and games, and Fauci deserves pretty much everything coming his way. The real question here is whether Fauci could actually face some contempt charges. Here's Moreno going after him.

[F]

Those policies were put in place because you had moronic politicians that listened to the words of a megalomaniac who was more interested in having met a Kardashian than the suffering of the American people. And that is you. Your advice to communities like that, to idiotic politicians who enforce those rules. Arrested that mom for watching a football game with her own family outside. When that story broke, I said to myself, I cannot stand Eilee on the side and watch this happen. It was about six years ago today that I decided I'm going to give up my businesses, sell them all, run for office, run through the United States Senate. Here I am sitting in front of you six years later saying, who the do you think you were for doing that?

[A]

Now, again, I sympathize with my friend and colleague Matt Walsh, who says, like, you know, listen, it's all fun and games, but is anybody going to get prosecuted for this stuff? And that really is the open question. So David Limbaugh, lawyer, brother of Rush, he actually went to Westlaw for the sourcing on this. And here is what he writes. Biden's preemptive pardon in January 2025 should cover any offenses that Foushee may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of his pardon. According to pretty well settled case law, acceptance of a pardon removes the basis for invoking the privilege against self incrimination. The Fifth Amendment privilege does not survive for offenses that fall outside the pardon scope. The Fifth Amendment has never protected a witness from perjury. So it's a bizarre basis to claim that the Fifth Amendment is going to be invoked and you can invoke it to avoid a perjury charge. Again, if you could do that, then that would mean that no one would ever have to testify for any reason, because you can always be hit with a perjury charge for pretty much anything. United States vs Posey, 2023 found that if a witness is questioned about conduct that falls outside a pardon's temporal or subject matter scope, then the Fifth Amendment privilege remains fully available. So theoretically, if they were questioning about something that was outside of the pardon, then he could theoretically invoke the Fifth Amendment. But they weren't. They were asking about activities that were covered by the pardon. Now, there are other lawyers who are claiming that Foushee could theoretically be hit with a contempt charge. Now, what. What Fauci did here is he showed up in front of the committee. That is different than what Steve Bannon did. So Steve Bannon did four months in jail because he was hit with a contempt charge. He was here with a contempt charge because he was subpoenaed by Democrats. They wanted him to come and testify and turn over documents related to January 6th. He said no, they hit him with a criminal contempt charge. He went to jail for four months. Could Fauci have the same thing? Well, there are a couple of distinguishing factors. One distinguishing factor theoretically is the fact that Fauci actually showed up. The other is that Foushee has a pardon for prior criminal conduct. With that said, is it possible that theoretically the DOJ could prosecute him? It could happen. Another constitutional attorney said that theoretically the Senate could argue that Fauci has no valid basis to invoke the privilege for the matters that were covered by the pardon. And so the committee theoretically has a couple of avenues. You could pursue civil litigation to compel his testimony, or you could issue a criminal contempt referral to the doj. That's the thing that Rand Paul is talking about today. Barbara McQuaid, a former U.S. attorney, told Newsweek that Foushee could still face prosecution for any conduct that occurs after the granting of the pardon. The Senate could compel testimony from Foushee by granting him immunity. There's also the possibility of state level charges. I know Florida has been investigating that possibility. Now, again, there are a wide variety of pieces of evidence showing that what Foushee was saying publicly while he was the head of the nih, was not comporting with what he was writing privately in his diary. So, for example, he was putting heavy pressure on the media not to report the idea that the Wuhan flu started at a lab, not at a wet market. And yet he was writing January 26, 2020, it now appears, using EPI data and genomic data. The first infection was in early December and was not connected to the market. We know the market was not the source. It was the amplifier on January 31st. Again, this is 2020. This is before most of the world knew there was a global pandemic. Fauci noted that scientists questioned whether the virus could even have arisen naturally. But by May, he was saying publicly that there was no scientific evidence the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab. When it came to closing things down, Fauci told by younger Sargan when she was over at the Hill that he didn't recommend locking anything down. But we know from his diary that's not true. He literally wrote in March of 2020 that he convinced Bill de Blasio and Gavin Newsom to close New York City and California down. So again, all of these would be ripe opportunities for Fauci to answer some questions, especially because he was given a partner. Now, one of the things I have to say here that is kind of astonishing is that if you really are rooting for the science, then science needs to be a self critical, humble process, right? You get proved wrong a lot in science. It happens all the time. And so if you have somebody claiming to speak for the science who instead was speaking for his ego, well, wouldn't the scientific establishment have some sort of interest in uncovering that? In other words, why is this a political thing? This should just be a scientific thing. There were other scientists pointing out that he was wrong at the time, ranging from Marty Makary to Jay Bhattacharya. And Fauci was fighting all of them at the time, but the Democrats. Because again, the rule in our politics is so stupid. If Trump is for something, Democrats are against it. If Trump is against something, Democrats are for it. Democrats turned Anthony Fauci into some sort of global hero. So Democratic Senator Andy Kim yesterday was praising Fauci for being, quote, unquote, the man in the arena. But these public servants do it because they are in the arena. I just want to end by just reading a portion of this because I think it's important as we're thinking about how to be able to treat public servants through this country to think through this. And in the words of Teddy Roosevelt, saying, it's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strive valiantly, who errs, becomes short again and again, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement. I don't have to listen to this, Gary. Teddy Roosevelt. Come on, come on, come on. Really? Come on. It's so obnoxious again. Members of the media were doing this all day yesterday, just lamenting the fate of Anthony Fauci being asked tough questions. Here's Stephanie Rule over at Ms. Now

[E]

doing that, it takes me back. It breaks my heart. I can't believe we're back here. I can't believe we're relitigating this in the way that we are. I'm grateful that you're here with us today. I'm thankful you were with us for all of those days during COVID Thank you so much.

[A]

You know what have prevented that relitigation? If the scientific community had held Fauci accountable for not reflecting the data, that would have helped. That really, really would have helped. Because some of us were trying to follow the data at a granular level, which meant that our opinions would change as the data changed. And if it turns out that you were lying about the data, like for example, that the vaccine was going to end transmissibility, which is a thing that was said over and over and over while Fauci was working in the Trump administration at the end of 2020, beginning of 2021, if it turns out that's falsified, well, that's a real problem. But for the left, anyone who is disliked by the right must necessarily be good. Which presumably is why James Talarico back in 2021 was buying Fauci action figures for Christmas and celebrating them is now the Senate Democrat candidate in Texas. Quote, I got the coolest action figure for Christmas. Thank you to all the healthcare superheroes working today. Let's help by getting vaxed and boosted. Wow. I can't imagine the hours of fun he spent playing with real life action figure Anthony Fauci. You know, whether there are any consequences or not, it seems to me that if there are going to be consequences for this thing in the future, it shouldn't just lie with Anthony Fauci. It should lie with the entire system that refused to examine what Anthony Fauci was saying. It should also lie with China, which spread the virus. And it should lie, by the way, with members of the government in both parties who decided to leave this guy in a position of power. And President Trump does take a hit for this. Now, President Trump left Anthony Fauci in that position while publicly ripping on him. He recalled his relationship with Fauci on Truth Social. Yesterday he put up a post, he said many more people died of COVID under the Biden administration than under the Trump administration. Operation Warp Speed was a spectacular success. In fact, many say one of the most successful things ever done by an American president. I overrode Fauci on this. His ideas were crazy. Also I said from the beginning the virus came from the Wuhan laboratory in China. Fauci strongly disagreed, always trying to protect China. I inherited Fauci, who was there since the 80s, with each passing day, relied less and less on them. He made too many bad calls like unmasks. Remember at the beginning he was an anti masker and then he switched to a supermasker. In any event, I didn't let him shut the country down, although he wanted to. I went the federalist way and let the governors decide. The Republican governors did a much better job than the Democrats. Fauci was largely taken out of play. And then along came sleepy Joe Biden who made Fauci a king. Again, it's a bit of a rewriting of history. Fauci remained in charge of the system largely during Trump's administration. Trump certainly handled it better than Biden, who continued to maintain the lockdown protocols and the vaccine rituals for children and the masking nonsense for full on a year after the pandemic had essentially mitigated. But bottom line is this. If we want better policy for the future, then some, some self critical investigation would be a good thing. Not just, you know, berating Fauci or defending Foushee full scale. Okay. Meanwhile, on foreign policy, the President met with Vladimir Zelensky a couple of days ago. He was asked about this. He, he said that he would like Zelensky to end the war. But again, it is not up to Vladimir Zelensky to end the war. One country is invading another country. Zelensky's country is the one that was invaded.

[E]

Good.

[B]

Look, you know, he's out doing his thing. I'd like him to end the war. So it's very simple. I get along with both, I get along with President Putin, I get along with President Zelensky and like I told him, I wanted to end the war, get the war ended. Thousands of people, 25,000 people died last month. That's standard and it's not acceptable. So I said, just end the war.

[A]

Okay? I mean, just saying end the war doesn't end the war, obviously. And this is a point that Zelensky was making with Sean Hannity last night. We want to stop this war.

[B]

We're asking, you know, President Trump wants, and the Europeans want, Putin doesn't want.

[A]

We are asking to stop this war

[B]

each day to minimum, to negotiate, ceasefire for some period of time and give possibility for diplomats to negotiate.

[A]

But Putin doesn't want. So this is the problem.

[B]

That's why we need to respond, be tough, be strong.

[A]

Not only we, we count on sanctions.

[B]

By the way, Lindsey's bill was very important.

[A]

Meanwhile, in the Middle east, the United States reignited action against Iran. They had to, because of course, it turns out that Iran, in the middle of a supposed ceasefire, decided to fire missiles at a Jordanian base hosting American soldiers. And so the United States had to respond. The president yesterday detailed shooting down a bunch of missiles and rockets that were shot by Iran.

[B]

I've been brief. It's a little more of the same. But it's going to be straightening out. It's going to be straightening out. In the meantime, we're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming. They're asking us not to do it. But you know, they tried shooting it last night. So we had five rocket shot going 8,500 miles an hour and all five rockets were knocked down to the ground, but they nevertheless took a shot. So it's our turn and we'll see if we get there with an agreement at some point. But we're going to hit them very hard.

[A]

So what exactly is going to happen next? Well, first of all, we should point out that actually the Iranians have been activating their forces pretty much everywhere. There was a drone attack in Egypt, of all places that may well have been connected to Iran. It was an attack on Egyptian shipping. Also, Iran has been directing its proxy forces in Iraq to strike at American and allied targets in the region. That drew a response from the United States and Saudi Arabia. According to Centcom, U.S. central Command and the Saudi Arabian armed forces conducted precision strikes in Iraq on July 28 against Iran aligned terrorists that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps directed to attack US Forces in Saudi energy infrastructure. Now, again, Israel has not been directly involved in the Firing for quite a while. So is the US Fighting this on behalf of Saudi? Like, how does this work exactly? How does the logic work, guys? US And Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapon sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours. Again, Iran is trying to up the ante. They're deliberately avoiding Israel because they know that Israel has prepared apparently some pretty significant operations in Iran. And they are afraid of pissing off the Israelis because the Israelis will fly their F16 there and do some serious damage. Instead, they're sort of firing at things that matter to us. They're firing at Saudi oil fields, they're firing at Jordanian bases, they're firing at the Egyptians. They're trying to gradually up the ante. So in response, apparently Admiral Brad Cooper has prepared an option for a punishing air campaign against Iran that could take up to two weeks, people familiar with the matter said. This is the Wall Street Journal reporting now, as President Trump moves to strike back after Iran's surprise missile attack on Tuesday, the President will decide how far to go. He could greenlight Cooper's option of 10 to 14 days of intensive airstrikes intended to cripple Iran's missile capability, despite warnings that the US Is running low on air defensive munitions. Or he could opt for a more limited military strike. Now, again, the real key to all of this is to understand what's happening. Okay, so why is Iran upping the ante? Why is Iran suddenly arming up? Why. Why are they suddenly firing at the Saudis? Right. The United States is not firing at them. We haven't fired at them since Friday. So why did they decide to up the ante earlier in the week using proxy groups directly firing missiles at American bases in Jordan? Why are they doing that? The answer is because the economic situation in Iran is biting. And so what they're trying to do is they are trying to essentially play the UNO reverse card on us when it comes to military operations. So I have been extraordinarily critical of the graduated escalation strategy pursued by the administration essentially since March, that they'll hit us, we'll hit them a little harder, they'll hit us, we'll hit them a little harder, and that sooner or later they'll learn their lesson. And I've said that that is not likely to draw to a. To a good deal at the end. The Iranians are figuring that because the United States has demonstrated a willingness to cease fire at the first available opportunity, if they gradually up the ante. We'll come back to the table and offer them an off ramp. An off ramp that allows them to preserve their nuclear program, an off ramp that allows them to preserve control of the Strait of Hormuz. That will simply get tired of missiles flying at Jordanian bases or at Iranian proxies directing drones against Saudi oil fields. And we'll get tired. That's, that's their goal. Why are they upping the antsy right now? Because the economic situation in Iran is biting them and it's biting them incredibly, incredibly hard foundation for defense of democracy Mayad Maliki. He points out that the Iranian economy is in a full state of collapse. Full state of collapse. He says the regime is trying to drag the United States to the negotiation table. The worst case scenario for Iran's regime right now isn't more strikes. It's a naval blockade paired with strict sanctions enforcement. With no prospects of a deal, no conflict means an end to the artificial suppression of inflation and market demand that the war has caused. With zero prospect of a deal or sanctions relief on the horizon, followed by gas shortages and domestic protests, the regime is about to experience the underlying economic collapse head on. Inflation at almost 90% year on year in June 2026, that's the highest since World War II. The real is at its lowest value in Iran's history, north of 2 million per dollar. Gasoline rationing is down to roughly 30 liters per day per card. Amid refining shortfalls. The regime is escalating to stay relevant and pull the US back to the negotiating table. But blockade, great enforcement, not conflict, is what truly isolates it economically with no way out. Now if that's true, what that suggests is if the President can just outlast the Iranians by degrading their missile capacities. Explains what Brad Cooper is trying to do. The goal would be degrade their missile capacities so they can't really harm our allies and hit the oil fields or anything and meanwhile just starve them out. And we'll just sit here and do that, right? That would be the Brad Cooper strategy. Now again, if you want it done faster, you can always do what I've suggested. Bombard, bomb South Pars and call it a day. You could do that. Then their economy just collapses no matter what they do. But if you wish to take the longer range approach with all the political risk, attendance upon it, then you can continue to starve them out. That exactly is what's happening right here, by the way. The United States is drawing closer with other allies in the Middle East. According to centcom. CENTCOM announced an agreement with the UAE to establish the first bilateral task force focused on accelerating the development of military artificial intelligence applications. I've been told by all the wisest people that this sort of stuff amounts to emerging of our militaries. I see zero of them complaining about the emerging of the US and the UAE militaries because it's not happening. It's just a joint task force develop tech, which is a good thing. I would like the United States military to be stronger. We should have the best from all of our allies. We should have the best military precision weaponry, the best AI from everyone. That's how we win. That's a good thing. And I think that victory seems like a necessity at this point, especially given the fact that again, our enemies are supported by China. Iran is being driven by China. According to Reuters, Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese made shoulder fired air defense missile launchers. Three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters. The purchase, valued at 60 to 70 million bucks, is one of Tehran's largest known efforts to strengthen its short range air defenses since the outbreak of its war with the US and Israel. Certainly the President should have some words with the Iranians about all of that already. Folks, coming up, you think that we're done? We are not. We have not even gotten to the latest from the DSA or the latest on the economy. We have a study that shows just who is generating wealth for the American people. And no, it's not the government. If you're not a member, become a member. Use Coach Shapiro. Check out for two months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us. Alrighty. So meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America continue their march across the democratic political landscape. Zara Momdani yesterday suggested that it's time to welcome yet more impoverished refugees to the United States without any sort of real screening procedures. He says the promise of New York City is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. This place would welcome anyone seeking refuge or a better life. We're a city of immigrants and our long tradition of offering safe haven to all as well as our laws reflect that. Now again, I would just like to point out, he says, no matter your immigration status, free, safe and confidential legal help is available. So he's literally promoting illegal immigration in the city. That is not the promise of immigration to the United States. The problem, the promise of the United States is you come here, you make your own opportunities, you are not a draw on taxpayer resources and you assimilate to American traditions. That's the promise of America. And it worked. It worked for a long time until we decided to forcibly overthrow that promise. You know, Zoran Mamdani, again, he is not in favor of assimilating to American traditions. He's in favor of dividing Americans. So here he was a couple of days ago saying that he wants cash reparations for slavery. If a commission studying reparations in this city recommended cash reparations for people impacted in New York City, would you support that recommendation?

[B]

First, I want to say that I stand by what I submitted. Yes, it's the truth. It's not a personal assessment. And we often think about slavery and the complicity in slavery as being exclusively to certain geographic areas of the country. Here in New York City, we were very complicit. And so I look forward to whatever those findings are. I can't give you an answer in advance of them, but I can tell you that this is critically important because this is also what it looks like to acknowledge what history truly was.

[A]

Again, this fits very much into his idea that Western history is a series of sins and horrors and that everybody needs to pay for that and the American system needs to pay for that. Unless you're one of the victimized groups. That is part of his thinking. Shabbos Kestenbaum made a suggestion that I think he should probably also do a study, Mamdani, on whether families of nine, 11 victims ought to receive taxpayer redistribution, particularly from Muslims. Because just as it turns out that the vast majority of white people in the United States are not descended from slave owners. And it turns out actually that no one who's alive today was a slave owner. Well, if. If we owe reparations for slavery, then doesn't the same peculiarly bad logic hold there? Of course he's not going to do that again. It's a series of victimized groups. That's all. That's all. Meanwhile, the DSA is about to put up a candidate for governor in Wisconsin. She is a bartender. Apparently this is like your chief job qualification. It's not ever having created a job or something. You have to attended bar somewhere in order to. In order to really be a woman of the people. Between AOC and. And this woman, Francesca Hong, this is the. The chief. This is the chief job qualification. She's a member of dsa. She was sued earlier this year by Capital one for a $30,000 unpaid balance. Her favorite drink to mix is a brandy Old Fashioned, the state's official cocktail. That's great. She was in a Wisconsin gubernatorial debate. She's the front runner right now for the Democrats, and she was asked about defunding the police. And here was her walking off of her DSA ideas. You have also called to defund and

[C]

abolish police before, while saying your ideal

[A]

world is one without prisons.

[C]

Would you sign a bill or budget that cuts funding for police departments?

[B]

No. No.

[A]

Why not?

[D]

The governor cannot defund police.

[A]

And I'm not here to govern by slogan. Mm. The governor can't. She's not here to govern by. She was asked in the spin room about all of this, and this is some of the freshest word salad since Kamala Harris. I mean, this is really chopped fine.

[F]

Why do you believe that the police must still exist?

[D]

Still exist? Because the reality of this moment and in the types of public safety systems that we have, I want us to be sensible and realistic. But we know now that the billions invested in the criminal legal system is not working. We are spending on incarcerating an individual more than tuition for UW Madison. That, you know, this is about making

[E]

sure that local law enforcement is working

[A]

with community, that we are taking resources

[D]

from the state and investing in things like public education, victim services, out of school, programs for our kids to go

[A]

and have a great.

[D]

Like be able to be themselves. These are things that data and facts have shown that prevent crime. Again, if you want to be tough on crime, you better be tough on causes.

[A]

She's got the exact same mannerisms in Kamala Harris. She's got her shoulders up here and she's doing the hands. I think the big redistributionist effort we need here is a redistribution of her bracelets. We have bracelet inequality that has plagued the state of Wisconsin. That's too many bracelets for one person. We cannot have this sort of injustice in the state of Wisconsin. Hasan Piker again, saying the quiet part out loud. He says he loves that DSA platform, but it might take a little more time. Quote, I love dsa. The national program is great. I don't expect a DSA elected to use the limited time they have on stage to endorse and explain the nuances of prison abolition in a hostile media environment. We need far more political education, power, and credibility before we get there. Ah, the, you know, the natural revolution and then later the. The Leninist fast revolution. It'll. It'll just all be. It'll all be great. By the way, one of the biggest lies that is told by the DSA is this idea that private industry does not drive wealth in the United States. That is not true. Pirate Wires has a great rundown on the amount of wealth created for others by the very wealthy in our society. They ranked founders by their company's market cap minus the founder's stake. So wealth for people who are not the founders. Jensen Huang. He has developed almost $5 trillion in wealth for others. Steve Jobs, $4.6 trillion. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, $3.78 trillion. Bill Gates and Paul Allen, $2.8 trillion. Jeff Bezos, $2.4 trillion. For others, Elon, $2 trillion. Mark Zuckerberg, $1.5 trillion. Again, it turns out that what creates wealth is innovation. It is better development of products, goods and services. That is the thing that we need in America. We do not need more be braceleted ladies who have never held a real job and rack up credit card debt now telling everyone else how we ought to spend our money. That seems like a bad idea to me. Alrighty, folks, we've reached the end of today's show. We'll be back here tomorrow with much more. I'm Ben Shapiro. This is the Ben Shapiro Show.