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Donald Trump placed a massive bluegrass gamble in Kentucky's 4th congressional district. And that wager has more than paid off. Donald Trump at this point, is the undisputed kink of the Republican Party. I'm Josh Hammer and this is the Josh Hammer Show. So already prior to last evening's crucial primaries, primaries that were not just in Kentucky, but in Georgia as well, among other locations, we already knew that Donald Trump was highly popular within the Republican Party. So in the recent weeks, we got some polling showing that Donald Trump had a roughly 81% favorability rating within the Republican Party. Now, to be clear, that is definitely a step down from around the time that he was elected to a second term towards the end of 2024. Back then, it was hovering in similar polls around 94%, give or take. So it's a step down from that. Having said that, when you compare it to historical second terms, so when you compare it to the second terms of Barack Obama within the Democratic Party or George W. Bush within the 2000s Bush era Republican Party, you see that Trump's favorabilities within his own party are higher at this comparable point in a second term than either Barack Obama or George W. Bush. So we already knew that. But having said that, and in light of the recent success that Donald Trump has had, getting a near clean sweep when it comes to seeking vengeance upon Rhinos in the Indiana State Senate who opposed his call to redistrict the Hoosier state's maps, you had that. Then you had the successful knocking off of Bill Cassidy, the stubborn thorn in the side of MAGA down in the great state of Louisiana. Cassidy finishing a thoroughly embarrassing third place in this past weekend's U.S. senate primary. Behind the Trump endorsed Julia Letlow as well as the state Treasurer, John Fleming. Despite all of that, Donald Trump placed a massive, massive wager in Kentucky in the fourth District. He put Thomas Massey in the crosshairs of all crosshairs. This was the single most expensive Congressional race in American history. There was a ton of outside pro maga, pro Trump money that flooded into this Congressional district trying to knock off Thomas Massie and trying to successfully nominate Ed Galrain, who is a Navy SEAL, actually a SEAL Team 6 veteran. And we now know that that wager was successful because last night, By a roughly 10 point margin, Ed Gallerin succeeded 54.9% to 45.1% over Thomas Massie. There is a lot to be said about this defeat. Now, the folks out there, the narrative from certain quarters, this is the Tucker Carlson narrative. That narrative, the Marjorie Taylor Greene Tuck Carlson narrative is that Thomas Massie lost because he was too America first. And by that they mean that he was too vociferous and trying to call out the Epstein class, as he called it. I don't even know what this term means. I hear people say the Epstein class. I actually don't even know what that's referring to. If you're referring to pedophiles, okay, that's fine. These are filthy people who should all be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But there are a lot of folks saying that Massie was taken off by foreign interest or foreign money. And of course, they typically mean Israel, typically mean the Jews. Thomas Massie did not exactly go out here on a classy note. Actually, in his concession speech, he was thoroughly, thoroughly doing the whole anti Semitic thing to the very, very end. Here was a snippet of Massey's concession speech.
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I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took a while to find Ed Gowering in Tel Av. I did get the call through though. I have. I have called and conceded the race. We've been honorable the whole time and we're going to stay that way. You know, welcome to the most expensive congressional primary ever in the 250 year history of this country. It's not just the most expensive. This thing went on longer than Vietnam.
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Honorable. He said that he's going out in honorable fashion. Dude, the guy who beat you is a SEAL Team 6 veteran. He has risked it all for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and for these United States of America. What the heck has Thomas Massie done other than to be just a well known MIT educated nerd who wears this literal, literal taking up digital debt clock on his suit. You care about the debt, bro. Good. Good for you. When is Thomas Massie put on the line? This notion that his SEAL Team 6 veteran opponent who just defeated him is serving foreign interests is disgusting. This was the trope on and on and on, over and over and over again that Massie pushed over the course of this campaign. He ran essentially a single issue campaign. And his single issue campaign was that Donald Trump is a tool of the Jews. And therefore it should not be surprising that the voters of his very pro Trump district said, no, we like Donald Trump just fine. After all, he has an 81% favorability rating within the Republican Party. Therefore, we're going to kick out the guy who is this vociferously anti Trump. Sean Davis over at the Federalist. Actually totally got this one right. He had a lengthy post on X analyzing this Sean Davis wrote and relevant portion Trump mercilessly trashed Massie in 2020, calling him a disaster for America and Kentucky and saying that he should be thrown out of the Republican Party entirely. But Massie easily swatted that away and won 81 to 19%. So you can't say he only lost because of Trump. He went toe to toe with Trump in 2020 and he won overwhelmingly. Rather, Massie lost because he went from being perceived as a quirky, beloved nerd who seemed to genuinely believe everything he said to looking like a clout chasing influencer who cared more about getting TV time with Democrats on an issue. The Epstein issue he clearly never cared about until five minutes ago. And he cared more of that than he did about representing his voters. Blame Trump, blame Israel, blame Epstein, blame the tragic death of his spouse. I don't care, says Shaun Davis. But you cannot just wave away 2020 Massie going face to face with a Trump machine and winning in an 81:19 route only to get smoked six years later. Clearly Thomas Massie is the one who changed and the voters of Kentucky, as the case may be, actually were well attuned to that. Trump, by the way, having lots of other success all across the evening was not just this high Wash Kentucky primary there more on that Just a moment but for now just a quick word from our sponsor for today's show which is Angel Studios. You know, if you are like me, you probably still think a lot about COVID 19, one of the years of our life that was just totally lost frankly. This horrific experiment when it comes to biomedical security state tyranny that we really will not know the full results of for decades to come when it comes to the effects of children's lost education and social skills and professional development and all that there's and a brand new documentary over at Angel Studios. Thank you. Dr. Fauci is now digging into all of the questions that you want to ask and digging into them in a very head on fashion. For instance, was there a government cover up when it comes to the lab leak at the Wuhan Lab? Well, actually there was a CIA whistleblower testifying very recently in Congress saying that in fact there was. So through whistleblower interviews, intelligence experts and thousands of pages of documents. Thank you. Dr. Fauci challenges viewers to think deeper about the narratives that we were told angel is the only streaming platform willing to distribute this film. That's why you should join the Angel Guild today. So if you care about the truth, transparency and asking hard questions. Make sure to Stream thank you Dr. Fauci on angel and join the conversation. You can become an Angel Guild member today@angel.com Hammer Angel Studios is a sponsor for today's show. So it was not just Kentucky's 4th congressional district. Donald Trump having lots of success all across, all across the map, frankly, last night. So in Georgia, there were a bunch of of closely watched, hotly contested primaries. So in the Georgia, in the Georgia gubernatorial primary, there is going to be a runoff between Bert Jones, the current lieutenant governor, who is very, very maga, and he is going to be going up against Rick Jackson, who is a billionaire who called himself maga, who Trump had called to dropout to take a job in the administration. He did not heed that call. Therefore there'll be a runoff. Most importantly, the guy who finished third was Brad Rothensberger, the sitting Georgia secretary of state who has been a consistent thorn in the side of Donald Trump ever since the disputed election there in Georgia. The infamous January 3, 2021 phone call to Trump getting a huge win there in the Georgia gubernatorial primary. Trump also looking really strong in the Kentucky Senate primary. So this was the primary to replace Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell is going to be retiring. He's been in the U.S. senate since 1984. Dude was literally elected when Ronald Reagan just smashed Walter Mondale in 1984. That's how long Mitch McConnell's been around there. He's out the Mitch McConnell protege for a long time, the former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron was in this primary and he just got absolutely, absolutely smoked by Congressman Andy Barr, who was the Trump endorsed candidate there. So Trump just whipping it out there in a Kentucky statewide election as well. Back to another statewide Georgia race. Actually there was a Georgia Senate primary as well. Two very MAGA candidates as well. Current Congressman Mike Collins as the former Tennessee football coach and also the son of a legendary Georgia football coach, Derek Dooley. They are going to a runoff as well. The upshot is that MAGA has had a really, really, really, really good evening. One final result for you also in Georgia, by the way, lest I, lest I forget it, we mentioned on the show how the Dems were trying to take over the Georgia Supreme Court. Very much modeled on their successful efforts, unfortunately in Wisconsin, where they did the exact same thing. They were trying to take over the Georgia Supreme Court in these quasi partisan judicial elections, essentially doing so on an abortion platform. Really abortion more so than anything else there. And that effort was also unsuccessful. So the two Republican candidates for the Georgia Supreme Court both won on Tuesday evening there by a 59 to 41 and a 51 to 49 margin respectively, there. So the Georgia Supreme Court will stay in conservative hands. I should note as well that there is another big takeaway here. So it wasn't just Republicans that had primaries last night. Democrats also had primaries, of course, there. And we noted on yesterday's show how there was an interesting primary in Philadelphia's third Congressional District, which is a very, very, very blue urban Philadelphia district. This is arguably the bluest congressional district in the entire country, based on the partisan voter index from the Cook Political Report. And this was something of a standoff between the crazy caucus within the left, the aoc, Bernie Sanders, Jasmine Crockett, the the DSA Hassan Piker crowd, and on the other hand, the Pennsylvania Democrat establishment represented by the Governor Josh Shapiro and the far left candidate, long story short, won Chris Raab, who is trying to become the Ringo star of the squad. If he makes it all the way to Congress there, he ends up winning this seat with the backing of the dsa, with the backing of Hasan Piker. This is a dude, by the way, who suggested he blames it on campaign staff, but he still suggested that the Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia massacre during Hanukkah last December was a Zionist false flag operation. So things are going just, just swell within the Democratic Party. And I note that because you see a contrast here. You see a contrast between the Democrats who are just anointing the absolute craziest of the crazies, versus the Republicans who, whatever the issues may or may not be on the broader right, are still cleaning out a lot of their crazy caucus. Thomas Massie is not going to be back in Congress come January 2027. We can debate why that is. As I said, I think the Sean Davis tweet that I read earlier basically nails it. But the point is that Republicans are purging their crazy. Marjorie Taylor Greene has resigned. Thomas Massie will be out. Democrats, you cannot say the same thing. They are doubling down on crazy. What that means for 2028, well, frankly, it means nothing good whatsoever. But for now, there is one party, one movement that is genuinely saner than the other and is definitely not the American left. Much more on last night's elections and all sorts of analysis about the midterm as well. After a short folks, we'll be right back after this. I drive my bus in a busy city. 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a wide turn Buses need more room than cars.
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Everyone can help keep our roads safe. Next time you're driving, remember to give buses plenty of time and space to finish turning before driving ahead. Let's all plan to share the road safely. Learn how at www.sharetheroadsafely.gov. Welcome back. So it's not just the Republicans who are doing a thoroughly better job of cleansing their party and their movement of craziness compared to the left. It's not just that. To take us back to our key takeaway today, it is that Donald Trump remains the undisputed king of the Republican Party. Period. Full stop, end of story. There is now insurmountable, uncontestable data and evidence to support that proposition. This is Donald Trump's political party. That does not mean that the race is not on in 2028 and beyond to define the American right, to define the movement, to define the Republican Party. But for now, for purposes of 2026 and onwards, probably likely, I would say this remains Donald Trump's party. He has now taken out revenge on Rhinos in Indiana. He has taken out Bill Cassidy in Louisiana. He has taken out Thomas Massey in Kentucky. He has made sure that Brad Roethensperger does not ascend to the Governor's mansion in Georgia. And on and on and on we go. He's going to keep on doing that essentially for as long as he wants to while he remains power. Part of this is due to the substantive appeal of Trump's nationalist populist agenda. Part of it is due to the, the absolutely magnetic, electrifying force of personality, the unique force that is Donald J. Trump. That's been one of his greatest appeals from a political perspective for a very, very long time. So Trump, riding hot and he's definitely running high, now decides to make another big gamble. So yesterday, just a few hours before we got the results from Kentucky's 4th congressional district, Trump goes out and endorses Ken Paxton in Texas. Very, very, very interesting how this happened there. It's a little inside baseball. It's perhaps not worth our time to get too into the weeds on this there. But long story short, after Ken Paxton and John Cornyn got into a runoff, and that runoff is now going to be this Tuesday in Lone Star State. But the primary was about two months ago, back in March. Paxton, relatively speaking, actually underperformed in that in the initial primary there and was limping a little bit. And Trump seemed like he was very close to endorsing Cornyn. And Paxton then came out and said that, I will drop out if the Senate passes the Safe America act, this voting rights bill. And apparently the reporting indicates he took that tweet of his, Paxton did, and personally text it to Trump. And Trump apparently was so impressed and blown away by this, as well as a lot of his advisors telling him that Cornyn is terrible, which he is, and that he will get a lot of blowback for endorsing Cornyn there that ultimately led to this endorsement of Ken Paxton. Your miles may vary as to what to make of it. I think a lot of the bedwetters within the Republican Party caucus are really terrified that James Talrico, this absolute dolt in the Texas state House, could potentially be the next U.S. senator from Texas. I am not personally particularly worried. I don't think there's any real chance that Texas goes blue this cycle. And personally, I would have voted for Ken Paxton over John Cornyn. Paxton has a lot of baggage, There is no doubt about that. He's had all sorts of personal and legal scandals, but he is drastically, markedly better, for what it's worth, than John Cornyn. And I also think that he's going to be just fine this November against James Tall Rico. So I know that Trump is still the kingmaker in the Republican Party for now, but 2028 and beyond very much is up for grabs. And I say that because this is a broader intellectual political tension that's going to have to really play out in the years to come. And there was a fascinating poll that I want to flag for you that came out earlier this week. It was a recent New York Times Siena poll. New York Times Sienna is one of the top pollsters in the country. This poll came out, I believe, was released actually just yesterday morning. It was conducted over the few days prior to that. They essentially asked Republicans a series of questions, a lot of them related to foreign policy. And what you see is that there is a really stark divide between older Republicans and younger Republicans. So, for instance, when Republicans who respond to the survey were asked whether they approve of the war In Iran, 75% of Republican voters over the age of 45 said yes. And then between the ages of 18 and 44, they said yes to a tune of only 39%. So a difference of 36% there. And more generally speaking, if you go look at younger Republicans there, the New York Times Sienna poll basically said, do you want the Republican Party 2020 and onwards to continue in the direction set by Trump or to go in a different direction? 60% want an overall new direction. That's a pretty high number among young Republicans 20, 28 and onwards. While only 33% want to follow Trump's lead, 56% want a new direction on Iran. Only 35% want to follow Trump's lead on Iran. Interestingly, the only issue here where young and old Republicans are on the same page, broadly speaking, is immigration, which is fascinating. That, after all, is Donald Trump's marquee issue. Now, if there's one thing that could really be the grand unifier, the bandage that holds together the Humpty Dumpty that is the Republican Party coalition and this seeming split between the young and the old demographics, there is the fact that Democrats just can't help themselves when it comes to crazy. They just can't help themselves. We've talked this week about Kamala Harris. We talked this week about Gavin Newsom, the stupid no bad ideas brainstorm, which, by the way, was a really, really, really bad idea, ironically, to do that crap for the whole audience and all of America, frankly, to see Gavin Newsom talks about the glass scenario when it comes to God forbid if two Republicans get in the primary. Now, the latest is Hakeem Jeffries talking about breaking MAGA voter spirit. Here is Hakeem Jeffries. I guess part of how we as
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House Democrats view this moment, either MAGA extremists are gonna break the country or
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we're gonna break them. And our goal is to break them. We will defeat them.
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We have to beat them electorally, and
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then we have to break their spirit
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on the American people. That's completely and totally unacceptable. Yes, break their spirits. I could think of no better rhetoric to use right now after yet another attempted assassination against Donald Trump and his Cabinet. Break their spirits, huh? Are you trying to inspire the next would be assassin? Frankly, I think I know the answer, and it is not an answer that I really want to share. It is dark stuff. And again, if there is anything that going into this fall can really hold together the Republican Party's coalition, I think it's a fact that the Democrats are just absolutely, positively crazy. No doubt about that. So, folks, coming up a little bit later in the show, we're going to have an interview for you with Eric Metaxas, who is, among other things, a talk show host. He is an author, and he's gonna come on to talk about this fantastic new upcoming documentary that I want to tell you a little bit about just now. So how much are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness worth to you? This is the question America's founders had to answer, you see, for more than 150 years, America's 13 colonies governed themselves until Britain declared they had no right to self rule. So ordinary people had to make extraordinary choices and risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to fight for independence. And against all odds, they won. And in victory, they built one of the most stable and lasting republics in history. Now experience the American Revolution like never before, thanks to our friends at Hillsdale College. Revolutionary America, a new documentary from Hillsdale Studios and narrated by Tom Selleck, brings the founding of our nation to life through the voices of those who lived it, alongside insights from leading scholars and commentators. Folks, I watched this documentary in advance. It's coming out for a limited theater release May 31 to June 2. And I cannot emphasize enough how excellent this film really was. I am something of a history buff. I have been obsessed with American history since a very, very, very young age. I have very fond childhood memories of marching in our small hometowns July 4th Independence Day parade. I was an American history nerd from elementary school all the way through high school. I have loved visiting historic Civil War battlefields and all that there. And I learned a lot from revolutionary America. I learned a lot. There is a wonderful, wonderful suite of experts and historians who are interviewed on camera, including Dr. Larry Arrnd, the always eloquent president of Hillsdale College, Eric Metaxas, who we're about to talk to on today's show. Very much in this documentary as well, Michael Knowles of Daily Wire. And some of these stories are some might be new to you, some might be old, but the way that it's told is it's really told in a deeply captivating fashion. And Tom Selleck is a fantastic narrator there. The film basically goes back to the French and Indian War which preceded the American Revolution and has a lot to do with the fact that the Articles of Confederation ultimately failed, ultimately culminating in the Constitution and the greatest charter of self governance ever known to man. But it goes in real, real detail in the lead up to the Revolution. So the Boston Tea Party, all this great bits of history that maybe you've forgotten about, but you really should not forget about it because we are just so blessed to live in the greatest country on earth. We are so deeply blessed to be living in this country there and again, revolutionary America says so much and I cannot highly recommend it enough. So at a time when history is often distorted, this is your chance to see the story as it truly happened and ask yourself what you would risk for freedom. Face the decisions our founders grappled with In Revolutionary America, a Hillsdale Studios film. It's Only in theaters May 31st to June 2nd. Get your tickets now at Hillsdale Edu Revolution. You don't want to miss the opportunity to see this on the big screen. Go to Hillsdale Edu Revolution to locate a theater near you and buy tickets now for Revolutionary America. One more time. That's Hillsdale Edu Revolution. Hillsdale College is a sponsor for today's show. Folks, a quick commercial break. On the other side, Ericman taxis to discuss this wonderful film, Revolutionary America. Stay with us. This is the story of the 1.
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Welcome back. So, as we discussed a little bit before the break, there's this fantastic film that is coming out for special release in theaters very soon from Hillsdale College called Revolutionary America. And we want to bring on now to the show someone who appears in this film, and that is the great Eric Metaxas. So you know Eric Metaxas already, but in case you don't, he's the host of Socrates and the City and a prolific author, author of many books, including most recently a very topical new book, the Birth of the Greatest Nation in the World. So, Eric Metaxas, welcome to the Josh Hammer Show. We really appreciate it. So let's just not waste any time and just dive in here. This is a wonderful new documentary that Hillsdale College has produced. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I could not strongly recommend it enough to all the listeners and the viewers of this program. Talk to us a little bit, Eric, because you just wrote a whole book on this topic about why this is the time on the 250th anniversary to really try to relearn what made the founding so great. Or perhaps if you're a little bit younger, just learn for the first time why it's so great.
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Yeah. First of all, thanks for having me. I have to say, about two years ago, a friend of mine read a chapter in my book seven Men about George Washington that I wrote and he said, eric, you need to write a book about the revolution. And I thought, wow, like, that's a huge project. But Yeah. I think I've grown up in a world where most people don't know enough about the revolution. Many people don't know anything about it. It is vital to America that we know our history. I cannot stress it enough. So because of that, I wrote my book, Revolution the Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World, which it is. And we need to know how it came into being. Obviously, that's why I wrote the book. But I was thrilled that Hillsdale, whom I love and respect, they are fantastic. I had Dr. Larry Arne on my program today that they made this documentary because I've written the book on the revolution. I'm one of the voices in it. But I could never really overstate how important it is for us to know our history. So I want to say to people, this is an assignment this year. This is not for other people. This is for you. If you're any kind of an American, you need to study American history. Now, of course, I wrote a book that takes a longer time to read than it does to see a two hour movie. I have to say I'm thrilled that Hillsdale has made the movie, but this is not optional. Americans, we cannot keep the republic. To quote Benjamin Franklin, we cannot, unless we know our history. We need to understand what it is that the men of the revolution felt the need to go to war with Great Britain over. I mean, we really need to understand it. And frankly, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful story. There are genuine heroes. You can't help but fall in love with some of these amazing human beings. And there's some villains in the story, but it's a beautiful story. And it is high time we in America were thoroughly familiar with that story. If we're familiar with this story, it will change how we live. And we'll keep the country. We'll keep the Republic.
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You can follow Eric Metaxas on xericmetaxas. The upcoming film Revolutionary America is in theaters for a limited release only available in theaters May 31 through June 2. So make sure to get your ticket now at Hillsdale Ed. So, Eric, let's dive in a little bit into the substance of the revolution, the documentary. Frankly, I'm something of a history buff and I actually learned a lot over the course of this documentary. I learned a lot for the first time there. So again, whether you are a novice, whether you are a seasoned pro, then that you will take a lot away from this documentary. But in brief, Eric, what exactly was it about our particular revolution that made it so special? Let's say if you're a European and you come from France or Germany or frankly you come from a totally different culture, you come from the Far east there. Why is our founding so qualitatively different than other national foundings?
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You're gonna laugh maybe when I say this, but it has everything to do with are you ready? The Jews. What do I mean? What I mean is the founders of this nation, America, understood that we are going back to the Sinai Covenant, when the Israelites at Sinai made a covenant directly with God. They say we're gonna govern ourselves by looking directly to God. We're gonna make a covenant with God. That's the only way people can govern themselves. I mean, we see what happened in the French Revolution. You can only genuinely be self governing and free if you bow to God's authority. And all of the founders understood that. They understood that. Samuel Adams, I write about this in my book the day before they all signed the Declaration of Independence, which was actually August 2, 1776, when they did the big signing of the official document. He gives a speech, Samuel Adams, on the steps of Independence hall to Congress and he says, we have this day restored. The sovereign capital s the king. Who is the king? God is our king. Not King George. God is our king. We look directly to him. They all were conscious of returning to the Sinai Covenant. And so what the Jewish people gave us in that, we're not gonna have a king, we're gonna govern ourselves. We have to look back that far. Not to Rome or to Greece. I mean, I'm a proud Greek and of course, you know, Greeks think we invented democracy. But the fact of the matter is none of that can compare to the Sinai Covenant. And that the founders in this country, the reason we were successful ultimately, because they actually were looking to God. And it doesn't need to be overtly religious in the sense. It's just that you have to acknowledge people never govern themselves. People don't govern themselves. People need to be governed by someone unless they have virtue, unless because of their faith in God, they're willing to do the right thing when nobody's looking. That's called virtue. It comes from faith. And so all the founders understood this and that's what I read about in my book. And it's at the heart of this American experiment. And if you try to get liberty without that, you don't get liberty. The French Revolution, they were dramatically anti clerical, anti church. They got nothing. They got a bloodbath. They got a dictator named Napoleon. I mean, they did not get Liberty, you don't get liberty. You can't govern yourself unless you look to God. And so we have to go back to the Sinai Covenant. And in my book, I touch on that because I feel that a lot of this has been lost. We keep pretending like, oh, it's the French Enlightenment. No, it is not. It is definitely, absolutely not the French Enlightenment that gives us America. It's nonsense. It doesn't mean the French Enlightenment wasn't involved. It doesn't mean that some of the French Enlightenment figures didn't give us things to think about. But the French Enlightenment gives you 1789 and the bloodbath of the French Revolution. But the ideas of John Locke, which he gets from the Bible, the Scottish Enlightenment, that's completely different. That means our rights come from God. We don't give ourselves our rights, they come from God. And if we humble ourselves to God and say, God is the sovereign, you know, they would say, no king but Jesus. The Great Awakening led to people really reaffirming their biblical faith in the 18th century. And it led people to say, we can govern ourselves. We don't need a king to tell us what to do. We can do it ourselves. We will do it ourselves. But it goes back to Sinai. And I think that that isn't said enough. It needs to be said. We need to acknowledge where we got these ideas from. We didn't get them from Paris or even from Athens. We got them from the wilderness of Sinai.
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Folks, you can face the decisions our founders grapple with in revolutionary America, which is this brand new Hillsdale Studios film in theaters May 31st to June 2nd. Get your tickets now by going to Hillsdale. Edu Revolution. Look, Eric, I frankly wish that we had three hours to unpack what you said. There we are. Obviously could not possibly be more on the same page. Frankly, if anything, I feel like you're pandering to the host a little bit, but I'm just being tongue in cheek, of course. Obviously, I couldn't agree more with what you said in our very limited time. Just about a minute left, I want to hone in on the Declaration, because the Declaration, of course, is a symbolic heft of the July 4th date that we celebrate every year, perhaps this year a little bit more than most. I think a lot of folks, Eric, look at this natural rights language, the Declaration, and say that that is purely a product of European Enlightenment classical thinking. I see that. And I think of Genesis 127. I think of the notion that man is made in the image of God. After all, that is why Jefferson could claim that these truths are self evident. Based on what you said, I have to assume that you see it the same way.
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The idea that we could get those concepts from the French Enlightenment is nonsense. We have to say it is absolute nonsense. The French Enlightenment was secular enough. This is really not. It comes out of the Reformation. It comes out of Puritan theology. That's what made people like John Adams and Samuel Adams believe what they believed. So it comes out of the Reformation. It does not come out of the French Enlightenment. I'd love to come back on another time. We will definitely talk about this because this is very important stuff. Let's face it, it's very important.
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No, it's very important. There's been a historical rewriting, frankly, of the Declaration and more broadly speaking, I would argue, of the American founding and has not served this country well in many respects. Folks, follow Eric Metaxas on Xeric Metaxas. He's the host of Socrates in the City and author of the brand new book Revolution. And again, one final reminder, folks. Check out Revolutionary America, this brand new Hillsdale College documentary, when it is in theaters May 31, June 2, Hillsdale. Edu Revolution Revolution. Eric, we will definitely have you back soon, but for now, congratulations on the film release and thank you for joining the show. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Welcome back. So we definitely will have to bring Eric Metaxas back on the show. There's so much more to unpack from that conversation, but for now, again, just cannot recommend enough this upcoming film, Revolutionary America, only in theaters May 31st to June 2nd. So again, go to Hillsdale. Edu Revolutionary to get your tickets now in advance. But if you understand one thing from this all too brief conversation that Eric and I just had, I want it to be this. It is that the American Founding is not a pure unadulterated experiment in European Enlightenment classical liberal thinking. This is a caricature. This is a caricature that a lot of folks coming up through the various institutions of so called Conservatism, Inc. This is a caricature and a historical lie that has been taught ad infinitum many, many times over the decades. And it is intended to leave with those who are indoctrinated the impression that America was just simply a carbon copy of the thoughts of people like Adam Smith, of people like Thomas Paine, people like Voltaire, maybe an extreme French alignment thinker, but it's just not true. Obviously, parts of the European Enlightenment did affect the American founders. As Eric said, the Scottish Enlightenment, perhaps above all but more than anything else, more than anything else, the founders of this country were inspired by and were guided by the Bible, the Bible itself. The Puritans who first came to Massachusetts conscientiously thought of themselves as building their version of a new Israel. They didn't think that this was the replacement of the old Israel, but that is very much the lens through which they, they viewed what they refer to as an errand into the wilderness. We saw this imagery, this invocation time and time again. But a century after the Puritans were in Massachusetts, in the second half of the 18th century, in the late 1700s, historians have noted that the single most invoked text in newspapers, in religious sermons, in the public discourse more generally, the single most cited and invoked text was the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible itself. That's why the book of Leviticus is inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. That is why Franklin and Jefferson both wanted the national seal of the United States to be Moses parting the Red Sea with the Israelites trailing behind. And on and on and on. You don't get to the self evident truth of the Declaration. You don't get to any of this, frankly, unless you have that biblical spine, unless you have that biblical backbone. To me, frankly, that's, that's actually what it means to be a conservative. If you are a conservative, by definition, you are trying to conserve something. So the intellectually curious person must ask him or herself, okay, if I think of myself as a conservative, what exactly am I trying to conserve? Well, if you're an American, the short answer is that you're trying to conserve the values, the principles, the traditions, the way of life, the inheritance, etc. Of the American founding, which as Eric and I discussed, was the greatest founding of any country ever, arguably, at least since the founding of ancient Israel at Mount Sinai. More broadly speaking though, we are trying to conserve the Western civilization inheritance, which is the outgrowth of the two biblical religions, Judaism and Christianity. That's what we're trying to conserve here. That's what it means to be conservative. That's what it means to be an American conservative. So as you watch this film, as you celebrate July 4th and as you celebrate America 250, as you have hopefully just a refresher, a rereading of some of the greatest documents and speeches, and just a truly Americana filled summer. As you have all that folks, especially leading up now to Memorial Day, which is coming up even before July 4th is coming up here now very, very shortly. I hope that you bear that very much in mind. So lots of Other stuff happening in the world as well. JD Vance was taking his turn to fill in for Caroline Levitt at the White House press briefing. That happened just yesterday. And this comes after Marco Rubio did. So a lot of folks like, oh my God, Rubio and Vance are now getting their turns trying to play Caroline Leffitt. Is this just an audition to try to who can get the Trump endorsement in 2028? We've seen how far that Trump endorsement goes when it comes to Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Georgia, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera there. Interestingly, JD Vance was asked a lot about the economy, which continues to be the number one issue on voters minds, as it pretty much always is, because James Carville, whatever his faults may be, and there are many faults for James Carville, he fundamentally did have it right back in the 1990s when he was running Bill Clinton's campaign and said, quote, it's the economy, stupid. That sentiment was correct then, it is correct now. It is virtually always correct. Virtually every poll shows that it's the economy, cost of living, affordability. These are always, always, always the top issues for voters. So JD Vance was asked about this at the press room lectern and here is what he had to say. We've delivered great wins for the American people. We ran on delivering tax cuts to the American people, which we did the largest tax cuts in American history. We ran on cutting taxes, particularly on people who were working on overtime, working on tips. We cut taxes for those Americans. We ran on the promise of bringing investment back into the United States of America, that rather than factory closures, we were going to have factories opening. And we've seen both construction jobs in manufacturing, but also manufacturing jobs have great rebounds under the Trump administration and under our leadership. We are very aware that because of what's going on in the Middle east, gas prices have gone up and a lot of Americans are struggling because of that. Our view is that it is a temporary increase. We're taking a number of steps to try to push back against it and try to ensure that Americans are paying as little at the pump as possible. So this strikes me as fundamentally correct. I can't help but think back to when Janet Yellen in the Bayern Harris regime infamously said that inflation is transitory and then suddenly it shot up to 9.1%. So the skeptic might be looking at the Vice President saying, how is this different? Well, I'll tell you how it's different, because back then when Jan Yelich said that, she was saying that in the context in the context of the fact that there was just this gargantuan multi trillion dollar blowout in spending with all of the COVID 19 relief and the stimulus and all that. Now a few years later, inflation having gone from 9.1% all the way down to the high twos, it's reached at its lowest at this point. The reason that we know it's transitory, because there is a direct unambiguous cause, which is the war in Iran. Now, your mileage may vary as to your trade off, as to whether this transitory short term spike in gasoline at the pump is worth the damage that's been done to a regime that has been chanting death to America and acting upon that for 47 years. Personally, I think it is more than worth it. Donald Trump thinks that it is more than worth it. And that, I think, is why he has gone ahead and done that. That's not to say that there's not real short term pain. Every time I fill up my car with gasoline, I feel it. My wife actually said to me, may have maybe a week ago, was like, wow, I don't think I've ever paid this much to fill my car, ever. She takes the gas literally down to like the final mile. She really wasted to the last second to fill up. So she was really getting her money's worth, so to speak, there. But the point stands. The point stands. And I'm absolutely not downplaying that. But like the President, I fundamentally think that this operation against Iran, God willing, will be worth it. And it will be most worth it. It'll be most worth it if you rip the freaking band aid off once and for all and just finish this job. Finish it. Yes, we've done tremendous damage. Yes, the Iranian Air Force Navy are virtually no more. Yes, they've taken a hit when it comes to the ballista missile sites there. But the task is not done. It's not. Again, our criteria are one, Trudeau for Moose Open. Two, a full end to Iran financial sponsorship of the terrorist proxies in the region, three, the end of the missile and drone program, and four, most importantly, the end of the enriched uranium. At least the 60% enriched uranium, which is one step short of a bomb. They got about a thousand pounds of that stuff. None of those four things have happened. Arguably the ending of financial sponsorship to the terrorist proxies. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of centcom, says that's done. I'm not entirely sure it's been fully done there. That's the one that's had the furthest progress, but the other three prongs are not done yet. So, Mr. President, rip that freaking band aid off. The sooner that you go in there and rip that off there, the faster those gas prices and by extension inflation for the broader economy will go down. By the way, a quick closing note for you when it comes to foreign policy. So this continued Iran debate is happening in the context of Donald Trump getting back from Beijing where he had this, this summit that we discuss at length here on the show between himself and Xi Jinping, the head honcho of the Chinese Communist Party. And Trump had a lot of pleasant sounding verbiage after the summit about how it went with Xi Jinping. I am skeptical of that because I view China as a massive, massive threat. I want to briefly point out, guess where Xi Jinping landed yesterday. On Tuesday, May 19, he landed in Moscow for a two day summit with Vladimir Putin. So he's marching alongside Putin there. This is something of a symbolic, implicit middle finger to Donald Trump. It is a symbolic, implicit, just rebuke to the president and frankly to our country, to the United States there. The fact that right after he met with Trump, he's going to visit Putin. They're talking about expanding this, all the relations and they're building a massive new pipeline, apparently they're calling the Trans Siberia pipeline, something like that, from Siberia to China. You can't trust the Chinese Communist Party as far as you can throw these people. And the notion we would ever take an action to appease them is frankly just ludicrous. So yet Again, I say, Mr. President, finish the job in Iran. The price of gasoline will go down. Everything will be better if you do that very, very quickly and soon. Folks, have a great rest of your evening. Josh Hammer signing off for now. We'll be right back. As always, tomorrow.