The Commentary Magazine Podcast
Episode: The Trans Shooter Cover-Up
Date: August 28, 2025
Host: John Podhoretz, with Abe Greenwald, Matthew Continetti, and Christine Rosen
Overview
This episode addresses the recent school shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, perpetrated by a transgender individual, and the ensuing media and political response. The panel critiques what it sees as a media “cover-up” of the shooter’s identity and related ideological questions, and expands the conversation into broader topics: the politicization of public tragedies, the fraught debate around transgender issues (especially in youth), mental health, and the status of the U.S. public conversation. The latter part of the episode shifts to recent upheaval in federal health agencies under the Trump-Kennedy administration.
Main Discussion: The Minneapolis School Shooting and Its Coverage
Immediate Reactions and Media Framing
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[02:05] John Podhoretz introduces the Minneapolis church school shooting: 19 casualties (two dead children, 17 injured). Points out that major outlets like NPR and the New York Times referred to the shooter only with gender-neutral pronouns and omitted or downplayed the shooter's identity as a transgender individual.
- “The incredible delicacy with which NPR and the New York Times...barely mentions the fact that the shooter considered himself a woman, though there's now questions about that, too. It is very important to them to be kind and judicious and gentle about the shooter's behavior...Well, guess what? It's a story about someone who is trans committing an unspeakable crime.” — John Podhoretz [03:17]
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[06:21] The shooter, Robin Westman (born Robert), was a former student and child of a staff member. The panel notes similarities to Nashville’s Covenant School shooting (also perpetrated by a trans individual, Aiden/Audrey Hale).
Suppression and Spin
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[07:54] Panelists argue there is a political and media effort to downplay repeated cases of mass violence by trans individuals, contrasting it to cases with right-wing or white supremacist shooters where motives and identity are foregrounded.
- “In these cases it seems that the information is being suppressed not to disincentivize killings or to shield us from any copycats, it's to shield the killer and to shield the community that the killer identifies with, which is very different sort of thing and very disturbing.” — Matthew Continetti
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[09:23] Christine Rosen discusses public officials’ responses (e.g., MN Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s “Protect trans kids” T-shirt and Mayor Jacob Frey’s plea “not to say anything bad about our trans community”) and argues this shields politics from scrutiny applied to other ideological groups.
- “Just like any white nationalist should be called out for his hatred and violent actions. That's exactly what we should be doing here. And to protect that group is something that only the left is doing, he said.” — Christine Rosen [10:56]
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[11:14] Calls for honest inquiry into possible connections between mental health, gender dysphoria, and the prevalence of violence among a small trans subgroup, which the panel claims are shut down by progressive politicians and media.
Subgroup and Mental Health Crisis
- [12:37] Abe Greenwald and Christine Rosen cite a pattern: multiple trans mass shooters in the past decade, the “Trantifa” movement, and the “Zizians” (a trans-heavy, radical rationalist offshoot), arguing there is a need for objective study without “returning to demonization.”
- “We have to look at this as a subgroup of the very real documented mental health crisis in this country. That's what they don't want.” — Abe Greenwald
Transgender Medicine, Mental Health and Academic Pressures
Medical Debate Over Gender Affirmation
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[13:05] John Podhoretz summarizes Jesse Singal’s reporting on the McMaster University study, which found weak evidence for youth gender medicine but nevertheless faced activist pushback and issued a statement defending gender-affirming care despite their findings.
- “To say that low certainty medical procedures should be performed is insane. Can we parse this for two seconds?...They found themselves under Such attack, these five scholars...that they issued a statement that in and of itself is an act of madness.” — John Podhoretz [16:20]
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[17:08] Panelists compare medical caution in other specialties to what they perceive as recklessness and ideological aggression in gender medicine, especially when it leads to sterilization of minors.
- “To actually put someone on an operating table...when you're not only taking off a healthy body part but you're making them permanently sterile...that's akin to the logic of why they were carving bits of people's brains out to make them healthier in previous centuries.” — Christine Rosen [17:36]
The Atmosphere: Totalitarianism, Victim Culture, and Epidemic
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[19:21] Podhoretz argues the public debate is controlled by a “totalitarian atmosphere” and culture of victimhood, and states flatly that “gender dysphoria is a mental illness,” referencing Paul McHugh’s work at Johns Hopkins.
- “I believe that gender dysphoria is a mental illness. I follow the precepts...most profoundly stated by...Paul McHugh, who...ended the Johns Hopkins practice of transsexual surgery...You treat the pain. You do not comfort the delusion.” — John Podhoretz [19:21]
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[21:31] Abe and Christine describe the social contagion (“contagion effect”) evident among teens, and the incentivizing of trans identification within schools and peer groups.
- “Among girls, teenage girls, the assertion of transness...became...an epidemic that one person starts and then 25 others follow suit because all teenagers are in pain.” — John Podhoretz [25:11]
The Dilemma: Naming Shooters, Encouraging Copycats
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[27:04] Christine and Matt debate the risk of copycat shootings versus suppressing information to the point of being complicit in covering up causes/issues at play.
- “Where does the suppression of the identity of the shooter actually become kind of complicity in the origins of the shooting?” — Matthew Continetti [27:31]
Broader Themes: Culture, Religion, Secularism, and Response to Tragedy
Religion Under Siege
- [29:13] Continetti suggests both the Nashville and Minneapolis shootings are anti-religious hate crimes: “some connection in both cases...against religion, an animus against religion, and most particularly in children who are part of a religious community.”
The Culture War: Secularism vs. Faith
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[33:15] Panelists argue that criticism of “thoughts and prayers” and calls for gun control reveal deep cultural divides—faith is demeaned by elite secular progressivism, which dominates media discourse.
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“For people who are genuine believers, prayer is efficacious. Prayer is action.” — John Podhoretz [34:31]
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“The central feature of the culture war is whether you have an entirely and aggressively secularist approach...or...accept the idea that there is a guiding power in the universe.” — John Podhoretz [37:54]
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[39:31] Christine and Matt explain how, in contrast to immediate ascriptions of motive to right-wing shooters, the left and media avoid motive talk with left-leaning or identity-group shooters.
- “Every time there is a right wing shooter. Motive, motive, what's the motive? ...When it happens with the left though...well, we can't really speculate on motives.” — Christine Rosen [39:31]
Past Examples: Pulse Nightclub, San Bernardino
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[40:40] Christine and Matt cite previous attacks (Pulse Nightclub, San Bernardino) where motives were, in their view, politically reframed (as “workplace violence” or “evidence of America’s homophobia”) to fit a desired narrative.
- “The reaction of the government and the media to both events helped Trump win.” — Matthew Continetti [41:50]
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[43:28] Both cite President George W. Bush’s post-9/11 defense of Muslims as a model for separating group from individual actions—but stress that this isn’t happening in the current discourse around trans ideology.
America’s Mental Health Policy
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[45:11] Panelists bemoan both the under-treatment of severe mental illness and the over-diagnosis of the healthy, arguing that recent societal trends have privileged and even “subsidized” mental health crises and gender dysphoria.
- “If you subsidize something, you get more of it...If you intervene in the world of the gender dysphoric...in a way that says that we want to treat your pain, not give you...a prize...then...it's deeply unhealthy.” — John Podhoretz [47:18]
The State of Public Discourse on Trans Issues
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[49:07] Christine brings up compulsory speech: regular people now face accusations of “bigotry” for not affirming trans athletes or identities, and cultural pressure is starting to meet pushback.
- “There is an undertone now...of compulsory speech and compulsory embrace of something that perhaps someone individually doesn't agree with because of their religious belief.” — Christine Rosen
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[50:46] Matt points to a recent culture shift, exemplified by Simone Biles’ public apology after criticism of a trans debate—contrasting the status quo of 2015 with growing 2025 pushback.
- “She was not prepared for the cultural response...she assumed would have been the same...as 2015. Instead, it's this cultural response in 2025, which is: come on, here—there are two sexes and girls’ sports should be for girls.” — Matthew Continetti
Washington Segment: Trump, RFK Jr., the CDC, and Institutional Chaos
CDC Crisis and “The Kennedy Purge”
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[53:37] Discussion moves to government turmoil: Biden’s CDC director was publicly declared “resigned” then “fired,” and several officials resigned in protest—possibly as a purge related to pandemic policy fallout.
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[55:42] Matt lists high-profile resignations, suggesting it could be a belated accountability for career officials responsible for Covid policy, even if the official version is chaos or partisanship.
- “The people who have resigned are implicated in the government's handling of the COVID 19 pandemic and the response to that pandemic in 2020 that almost broke this country.” — Matthew Continetti
Quackery in Power
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[57:47] John reads Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim about diagnosing “mitochondrial” illness by sight, dismissing it as “quackery,” and warns against vaccine skepticism, especially given the historical role vaccines have played in eradicating deadly diseases.
- “This idea that he, as the leading health official in the United States is promulgating about mitochondrial illness is quackery.” — John Podhoretz [57:47]
COVID Legacy and Public Trust
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[60:59] Podhoretz and Continetti discuss how public faith in vaccines has been undermined—first, by forgetting historical childhood diseases, and second, due to the over-promising of COVID vaccine efficacy.
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“The COVID vaccine was sold as an end to Covid and it did not accomplish that goal. And there are questions about its efficacy and its potential side effects for people who are young.” — Matthew Continetti [61:14]
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“Everything was terrible. ... There were many positive cures ... Among them the appointment ... of J. Bhattacharya of Stanford, who was one of the five sane people in the United States to say: ‘the way you are handling this is insane.’” — John Podhoretz [64:19]
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[66:44] Panelists urge caution around media alarms about administrative chaos, noting partisan overreaction clouds actual policy analysis, while still acknowledging the dangers of Kennedy’s positions.
- “If the Director of Health and Human Services says that he can diagnose mitochondrial illness in children by looking at them, he should go. He doesn't belong anywhere near the levers of power. It's an outrage.” — Christine Rosen [68:59]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|-------|---------| | 03:17 | “It is very important to them to be kind and judicious and gentle about the shooter's behavior... Well, guess what? It's a story about someone who is trans committing an unspeakable crime.” | John Podhoretz | | 07:54 | “The information is being suppressed not to disincentivize killings or to shield us from any copycats, it's to shield the killer and to shield the community that the killer identifies with, which is very different sort of thing and very disturbing.” | Matthew Continetti | | 11:14 | “What it should do is prompt a discussion about why we have had so many of these trans killers and whether the treatment that these children were subjected to might have encouraged their depression, their suicidal ideation, all of it.” | Christine Rosen | | 16:20 | “To say that low certainty medical procedures should be performed is insane.” | John Podhoretz | | 19:21 | “I believe that gender dysphoria is a mental illness. ...You treat the pain. You do not comfort the delusion.” | John Podhoretz | | 25:11 | “Among girls, teenage girls, the assertion of transness...became...an epidemic that one person starts and then 25 others follow suit because all teenagers are in pain.” | John Podhoretz | | 34:31 | “For people who are genuine believers, prayer is efficacious. Prayer is action.” | John Podhoretz | | 39:31 | “Every time there is a right wing shooter...the motive is then instantly broadened into the whole culture on the right... When it happens with the left though...well, we can't really speculate on motives.” | Christine Rosen | | 57:47 | “This idea that he [RFK Jr.], as the leading health official in the United States is promulgating about mitochondrial illness is quackery.” | John Podhoretz | | 68:59 | “If the Director of Health and Human Services says that he can diagnose mitochondrial illness in children by looking at them, he should go. He doesn't belong anywhere near the levers of power. It's an outrage.” | Christine Rosen |
Important Timestamps
- [02:05] — Shooting and initial media coverage
- [03:17] — Oblique references to the shooter in the media; panel critique
- [07:54] — Suppression of shooter’s identity: comparative analysis
- [11:14] — Discussion on political/cultural double standards
- [13:05] — Jesse Singal, McMaster study on gender medicine
- [19:21] — Podhoretz: “gender dysphoria is a mental illness”
- [25:11] — Social contagion among teens and the rise in transition
- [27:31] — Copycat effect vs. media suppression
- [34:31] — Meaning of prayer in tragedy vs. secular responses
- [39:31] — Left/right double standard on shooter motives
- [53:37] — CDC resignations and “purge” controversy
- [57:47] — RFK Jr. and vaccine skepticism
- [60:59] — Covid legacy, childhood vaccines, and trust
- [68:59] — Final critique of current health leadership
Tone and Style
The discussion is pointed, often polemical, consistent with Commentary’s conservative intellectual style. The panelists adopt a tone of urgency, moral seriousness, and often sharp irony—particularly when contrasting the treatment of trans shooters or left-leaning figures to their right-wing counterparts in media and politics. Quotes are delivered in their original language, often with a note of exasperation, skepticism, or derision.
Summary Takeaways
- The Minneapolis school shooting, as with the Nashville shooting, was committed by a transgender individual. The panelists allege a pattern of media/political suppression and minimization regarding the shooter's identity and possible cultural causes.
- The group argues that violence within the trans community marks a neglected mental health crisis, which is evaded in public debate by a climate of ideological “totalitarianism” and activist intimidation.
- Broader points are raised about medical ethics in transgender care, the politicization of motive in mass violence, secularism vs. faith in American public life, media double standards, and the need for open and honest scrutiny.
- The latter part of the podcast critiques chaos and “quackery” under the Trump-Kennedy administration, especially as it pertains to public health and vaccine skepticism—arguing lessons from COVID remain both ignored and politically manipulated.
For listeners and non-listeners alike, the episode serves as a bracing diagnosis of current cultural conflicts—especially regarding crime, identity, media truth, mental health, and the limits of political discourse in polarized America.