← The Josh Hammer Show
Loading summary
Transcript38 lines
- [00:00]
A
In 2025, Americans lost more than $21 billion to fraud and identity theft. That's why so many people are turning to Aura. Aura helps protect your identity with fraud alerts, dark web monitoring, and up to $5 million in identity theft protection. And if you become a victim, Aura's 24. 7 US based support team is there to help. Don't wait until your identity is stolen. Start your free trial today@aura.com safe that's aura.com safe safe.
- [00:30]
B
Donald Trump calls off the self described largest attack since World War II. But is this finally, finally, finally going to be the time where we actually get some sort of resolution to the Iran quagmire? I have my doubts. I'm Josh Hammer and this is the Josh Hammer show. So for the past week, ish, the United States has been conveying and communicating that we are essentially laying down our arms. All sorts of headlines have been coming in over the past few days indicating that the United States will be taking troops, will be taking personnel, material, ships, all sorts of artillery out of the region. A lot of this has not been fully verified to take it with a grain of salt as far as that goes. But the overall message, the overall atmosphere is one that the United States is trying to retrench and to pull back and to try to accommodate some sort of diplomatic resolution to the Iran standoff as much as possible. The obvious problem that we have been discussing for months and months is that Iran simply does not want to play ball. They take every single concession, every single bit of a combination, and then they go ahead and just throw it. They don't just rub it, they throw it. They smash it, frankly, in our faces. So nonetheless, Donald Trump did have, in response to the latest Iranian crossword, he had, he had what he described as the largest planned attack since World War II, which is pretty big talk, you might say. And apparently he says now it has been called off. So Trump gave a lot of camera time on Air Force One over the weekend and here is what he had to say when it comes to what happens now with situation with Iran. He was President Trump over the weekend.
- [02:16]
C
Well, now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon and we'll see if it's you. I'd love to do that. Save a lot of lives, save a lot of, a lot of unnecessary power, to be honest with you. Take many, many years to ever build it back. If it could, I don't think it would be even buildable back. So we Had a. We had an attack that would be the biggest attack since World War II and it would have been disastrous with them. And they didn't want us to do it. And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that the deal is imminent and the deal is imminent having to do with the Hormuz str. And also the, ultimately the denuclearization of Iran.
- [03:05]
B
Okay, so biggest attack since World War II. I don't know. When I hear that, I think of, well, World War II and I think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So tough talk yet again from the President. United States. Thus far the guns have been called off and we'll see what happens. But again, I'm not particularly optimistic. Here's a little bit more from Donald Trump on the Air Force One speaking about the possible diplomatic resolution with the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was President Trump on Sunday as well.
- [03:31]
D
Does Iran have a deadline to come to an agreement?
- [03:34]
C
No. We'll just see. We'll just see how it is. We're ready to go anytime we want. Would I rather make a deal? I'm not looking to kill people because people die. A lot of people die and we don't want that. So they asked us, Iran specifically, but the other three said we really. I asked him, I asked Saudi Arabia, the king, they said, the Crown Prince. I said, what would you rather do? Would you rather have us do this or not? They said we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack because you don't know where these attacks lead. I mean, will they be flooded with people pouring into their country and disaster. A lot of bad things can happen.
- [04:16]
B
Okay, so Trump emphasized in there that he had, it seems, personally communicated with Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Trump and various other comments indicating that his calling off of the self described largest attack Since World War II was done partially, if not entirely at the behest of Saudi Arabia. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates are allies in the region. Again, your mileage may vary as to, as to what to make of all of this. There's actually various other reporting that the UAE in particular the Emirates has been pushing the United States to go for the proverbial kill shot. Saudi Arabia has been a little bit all over the place when it comes to their stance on, on this war. They are deeply terrified of the regime in Iran. They don't want this straight close. They don't want Iran to get the bomb. God forb. But on the other hand, they are the biggest country right in the crosshairs of Iran. And they care about their economy and they care about petroleum. And it's difficult for them to figure out, I guess, how, how to balance that. I, I do find that a little interesting that when the President United States talks about deferring to our allies in the region, that there is this overwhelming emphasis on the wealthy Sunni Arab Gulf states, the Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris, et cetera, but there is seemingly no reference whatsoever to Israel. And I note that simply because when Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington, D.C. last week, he of course met President Trump in the White House, but he also met with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War. And there was this amazing comment that Pete Hegseth had during that conversation with Netanyahu where he said that what's interesting, Mr. Prime Minister, is that there are a lot of countries over the world that have the will to fight alongside the United States, but don't have the capacity. Then Hegstad said, there are a lot of countries that have the capacity to fight alongside the United States, but they don't have the will. And he said, Mr. Prime Minister, your country is the only country that has both the will and the capacity. So with that in mind, I find that a little interesting, I guess that the president is not talking at all about what those allies, the Israeli allies, want as opposed to the Sunni Arab Gulf states. But in any event, here we are. Now, fascinatingly, this is a bit of a codicil, bit of a coda, if you will, to this conversation. Iran is actually denying that there's a negotiation. Really, that's actually what's happening. So Oman, which is across the strait from Iran, they essentially kind of sort of co control the strait with Iran. Oman is now saying that they are in negotiations with Iran to open the strait. Iran is essentially denying all this. So they're just, they're just straight up rebutting this Trumpian notion that it's time for negotiation. So France 24, which is a newswire based out of France, says, quote, but the rebuttal by the Iranian Foreign Ministry allows, follows Trump saying he had held off launching new strikes. Iran is saying, quote, we are not currently negotiating with the United States. Our negotiations are with Oman to secure passage to the 304. Moose. Okay, so they're saying that we're not negotiating with the United States. Again, very, very weird. Hard to know what to make of this. To add, just another wrinkle into this somewhat chaotic picture, cnn and I don't really love to credit CNN too much, but when scoop, they get a scoop. I Guess fair is fair. They got a scoop that there was a senior officer in the US Military chain of command, a man by the name of Captain Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for. Actually, no, sorry, Captain. Captain Hawkins was responding to this story. So the actual story was that an officer in centcom's intelligence branch wrote in a message to a group of military analysts in the chain of command, essentially asking for creative and unconventional was the language creative and unconventional ideas to punish Iran. So CENTCOM basically crowdsourcing, trying to get creative and unconventional ideas among the actual troops in centcom trying to figure out how to strike Iran. Not necessarily a great sign that the top brass, the chain command, doesn't actually have this all thought through, doesn't have this all figured out. Nothing wrong with crowdsourcing. Definitely wrong with getting this scooped by CNN and the media and therefore the message getting out there that the United States has not really thought all of this through to the extent that that was not wholly obvious already. So we'll see what happens when it comes to Iran. Bring on Will Chamberlain here just a little. In just a few minutes. We will get Will's assessments on that and much more. We're also going to get at Will's thoughts on another, another big story that we are tracking. So we've talked a lot about the Todd Blanche Attorney General nomination here on the show. I'm of the opinion that one Attorney General of the United States is the single most important cabinet position of them all, even more so than the other big cabinet spots, Secretary of War, Secretary of the treasury and all the other big ones, Secretary of State. Of course, Attorney General is really the top of the list in my opinion, because the ultimate constitutional authority of the President of the United States is to, quote, take care that the laws are faithfully executed. That's the Attorney General. He does that fulfilling the President's Article 2 constitutional obligation. I am also of the opinion that Todd Blanche is very qualified to be the Attorney General of the United States. One, because he was the Deputy Attorney General for Pan Bondi. So he basically ran the department on dated basis for well, almost a year and a half. Two, he was a former longtime prosecutor and arguably the most prestigious DOJ U.S. attorney's office in the country, the Southern District of New York. And three, he was Donald Trump's lead defense attorney during the height of the Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Jack Smith lawfare against Donald Trump. So he's really bled for his boss, Donald Trump into Trump deserv. Now, there have been two senders, Tom Tillis and Todd Blanche, excuse me, Tom Tillis and John Cornyn, who have been real, real, real pains in the rear end, real, real pains in the rear end over the course of this process. It's been a little unclear at times what exactly they have wanted as a result of this process. Trump over the past few days was actually threatening to to table the top Blanche vote until January to keep him acting ag, which you can do. There's no legal issue with that. There's a practical issue with that in case Republicans lose the Senate, but there's no legal issue with that. And this was looking like it was a possibility as of Sunday. So in the same Air Force One interview, Trump addressed Todd Lines talking about the fact that he actually might have to have to put the so called anti weaponization fund that Tills and Corn were objected to back on the table. Things did change though. This story changed a lot overnight. So I woke up this morning on Monday to a very different lay of the land when it came to Todd Blanche. So as of this weekend, it looked like Todd Blanche's nomination for full time Attorney General might be dead at least until January if Tillis and Korn did not finally object. It seems like they have finally given him. And just this morning, John Corn and Todd and Thom Tillis announced their deal with doj. And as part of this deal, the DOJ is now putting in extra super secret writing that the so called anti weaponization fund has done so. You know, the reason I've been so frustrated at Tellis and Corn about this little stunt that they're pulling on their way out the door because now they'll be in Congress come January is because they said it's not happening. Like the President of the United States top bench said, this so called anti weaponization fund, we floated it. Trial balloon, y' all hate it. We're not doing it. And you threatened to derail the Attorney General's nomination because you what you wanted like a certain form of writing, you wanted like calligraphy, you wanted hieroglyphics. Anyway, as of this morning, Tills and Cornyn joint statement, quote, we are pleased that the DOJ has issued a formal order terminating the anti weaponization fund. Additionally, the DOJ acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs. This is just the audit between Trump and the IRS that resulted in this fund. Long story short, Corn and tells seem to have gotten what they wanted and therefore they will vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Looks like tomorrow, which looks like Todd Blanchard's final confirmation will likely happen this coming Saturday. So a lot of noise from Telson Cornyn ultimately subdue Britain again to all that and much more with our guest Will Chamberlain, who will join us after a short commercial break. Folks, we will be right back with Will Chamberlain on the other side.
- [12:29]
A
For nearly 3,000 years, Homer's the Odyssey has shaped Western imagination. It tells the story of Odysseus as he faces monsters, shipwrecks, false comfor and impossible choices on his long journey home. As one of the foundational works of Western literature, Homer's epic is more than mythology. It explores permanent questions about courage, duty, loyalty, family, leadership, temptation and the search for home. In one of the epic's defining moments, Odysseus rejects the offer of immortality from the goddess Calypso, choosing instead the long and difficult journey home. His decision reveals one of the central themes of the Odyssey, that a life of duty, family and home is greater than a life devoted to comfort or glory. Achilles chose Glo home. That's why Hillsdale College has released its newest free online course, the Odyssey, taught by Professor Benedict Whelan. The course reveals why Homer's masterpiece remains one of the greatest works of Western literature. Find this free course at Hillsdale edustartnow. The Odyssey from Hillsdale College. Go to Hillsdale edustartnow.
- [13:32]
B
Welcome back. So joining us today to talk about all of what we discussed and so much more is my friend and colleague Wilt Chamberlain. So Wilt Chamberlain is also, like me, senior counsel at the Article 3 Project and Internet Accountability Project. He's also the vice president of External affairs at the Edmund Burke Foundation. Follow him on X. Will Chamberlain. So Will, welcome back to the show. I want to get into the situation with Iran and all sorts of other topics as well. I definitely want to talk about this primary tomorrow in Michigan. Get your sense as to the pulse of the Democratic Party. But let's begin with the DOJ and Todd Blanche. So our organization, our Article 3 project, has been very involved in trying to get Todd Blanche across the finish line. It seems like that is going to be the case in sanitary committee tomorrow. Likely confirmation looks like this Saturday on the floor of the US Senate. But it was like pulling freaking teeth to get there, especially with Thom Tillis and John Cornyn. I have been a little confused as to what exactly these two individuals wanted because the DOJ had told them, Will, that this so called anti weaponization fund was not happening. So to me it was like, well, what did you want? You want this in writing? So what actually changed that you're aware of what actually made These two losers, and they are losers that resigned from Congress. What actually made them finally stand down here?
- [14:48]
D
I think it was some sort of formal written communication from DOJ saying this is dead, it's not going to be resurrected, et cetera. I mean, I don't know that there's any way for DOJ to bind itself with some sort of, like, affidavit or whatever, but I doubt, I doubt it. I don't think that also, I don't think should in the abstract be binding itself like that. But that's apparently, I think apparently Cornyn and Tylus got what they needed in writing from Blanche and his team. And so we're going forward with the confirmation. So I think, I mean, perhaps, I think a deal makes sense here ultimately. Like, there's only so much leverage that Cornyn and Tillis have. They're going to be out of office in January and Trump could ultimately just say, like, look, Blanche is going to sit as acting. If you guys aren't going to confirm him. I'm not going to make. You know, there's only so much I'm willing to concede before I just say this is silly. We're just going to let Blanche be the acting Attorney General indefinitely.
- [15:43]
B
Yeah, it's a really silly look for these two guys. I think about John Corn a lot, actually, because I used to live in Texas and I followed John Corner for years. I mean, well, like me, you're also a lawyer. I remember reading an opinion in my first year Torts casebook in law school from Justice John Courtney. He actually was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court before he became a US Senator. He's been around for a long time. He served these people for a long time. Not always the most conservative fashion. Every so often he does something right and it's a very weird way to try to be remembered. But he's out, as we just said. And Ken Paxton is now the nominee for Senate. I'm curious, Will, are you worried at all about this Paxton Talarico race? There was a Fox News poll showing it within the margin of error. I think Tel Rico is technically up. I have personal. Some deja vu from living in Texas and hearing this over and over again. Ted Cruz, Beto o'. Rourke, maybe, maybe, maybe this time actually is different. But with Tofu Telari Rico on the other side, I wouldn't necessarily count on it. What is your senses to that race right now?
- [16:44]
D
I, I just would be shocked if Ken Paxton loses. He's won statewide office in Texas on a number of, you know, Repeatedly for an important position. He's extremely well known there. And I mean, Tal Rico is weird. He is a very strange man. There's just no other way around it. Like he's, you know, example one of how you have whenever, whenever you have these weird liberal men like who the. Basically, the Democratic Party is structurally adverse to white men. That's sort of its unifying them. And so the white men who remain in the party are bizarre in some way, shape or form. We saw that with Graham Platner and now we're seeing it again with Talarico. Like the kind of white men, straight white men who want to hang around in the Democratic Party at this point, if they're young, especially like older one. You know, the party didn't used to be that way. So you have people like Dick Durbin who are relatively normal, but they're old. Right. They're from a different version of the Democratic Party. They came up at a different time. The people who are joining it now as young white men, they're weird. They're just weird people. In Tal Rico, I think, you know, they sort of, the Texas Democrats seem to think like, hey, if we put this guy who's like a Christian pastor, he'll really get one by the Republicans. But I think they just don't understand Republicans in their own state. They must not talk to them because there's nothing that conservative Christians despise more than somebody who wears their religion as like a skin suit in order to insert progressive politics. Just totally is contemptuous.
- [18:03]
B
Yeah. You mentioned Graham Plattner, this guy in Maine who's replacing him. His name's Troy Jackson. Is that his name?
- [18:08]
D
Troy Jackson? Yeah.
- [18:09]
B
Right. And this guy apparently fathered children with his second cousin, which maybe is not illegal in Maine, but I don't know. I mean, I would think if you're running someone to run for statewide office, maybe don't have like the lowest hanging fruit possible for the oppo researchers to dig up. Like as, as soon as he swoops in to, to replace Platner. I don't know just me, but what do I know about, about running statewide races in Maine? Folks, you can follow Will on X at Will Chamberlain. Will, I do want to talk a little bit about, about foreign affairs. We're talking a little bit about the Hamas deal. If it is one in Gaza. I want to start with Iran. So Trump had all the guns, it seems, lined up what he described over the weekend as the biggest attack since World War II. Now he's saying that we're going to get diplomacy another shot. Essentially on behest of the Saudis, he actually mentioned Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince by name, mentioned the Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris, etc. Is there any reason for thinking that this time is different when it comes to the possibility of a deal, you think?
- [19:07]
D
Not really. And I think I just saw a truth social post from him where he was saying, gosh, these people are so duplicitous. I think this came out just 15, 20 minutes ago. These people are so duplicitous, they say they want to deal privately and then they renounce the idea that they'd ever want to deal publicly. And I think Trump is in this interesting position where I think the public in general is sort of tired of this. Will he, won't he dance that he's doing? It seems like it's just an endless loop of, oh, I'm going to destroy all your power plants. Oh, I guess I'll open some space for a deal. I think honestly, this sort of low burn war is not so bad for Trump because the Iranians can't do anything to us. They can't kill our troops. I mean, they can't actually meaningfully affect the price of oil now, apparently, which is just at $80 a barrel. So it's sort of. And they're the ones getting squeezed. So I think honestly, Trump would just be better off, like, let's just not talk about until we actually have something real to announce. Let's just not talk about it and maybe we'll attack them and then when we attack them. Okay, but like, like announcing that we're going to hold back from attacking for now. I just, we've done this like six or seven times at this point. I don't think there's any need for it.
- [20:09]
B
Yeah, it's kind of productive in my view. If anything, I don't really see exactly what it accomplishes. But I guess what you're trying to accomplish is kind of half the point here. Right? So, for instance, we had Frank Gaffney on the show on Friday and he argued in very clear, straightforward fashion that regime change should be the goal here, which is something that I have shied away from saying. I have not actually said that explicitly here. I have outlined and other goals that I think accomplish the United States national interest without getting to a full scale, overtly regime change oriented mission. But I do struggle sometimes, Will, to understand exactly what would be sufficient from the President's perspective for us to ultimately wind this down and then pass the baton off to the Gulf allies over to Israel and say, okay, your problem now, what is your sense as to what exactly it would take for the president to feel that that has been accomplished on her own terms?
- [21:00]
D
Well, I mean, I think regime change only comes up if Iran makes a real effort with its Houthi allies to go after Suez and the Babel Mandeb and really tries to shut down global trade. Right. I think that part of what you're seeing from the Iranians, especially lately, I mean, I know they're getting the Houthis involved, and I think they shot a drone at Suez or something, shot a missile at Suez, near Suez, is they're realizing that the Strait of Hormuz, control of the Strait of Hormuz, to the extent they even have it, I don't really. But, like, the ability to harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is a depreciating asset because everybody around the Gulf is sort of coming up with new routes and new corridors to do their trade and doesn't want to be stuck in a world where they have this regime that's a lunatic regime in a position to stop their trade. So I think President Trump is perfectly happy, just wants kind of to get to normalcy, if possible, especially in the next three months. He just wants things to be as normal as possible, oil prices to be as normal as possible without conceding to Iran the right to toll shipping in the Strait of Hormuz or the right to not, not deal with their nuclear program. And so you end up with this, like, he doesn't really want. I mean, it kind of, if you think about it from the abstract, like, what Trump's goals are and what all the different types of interests he's trying to balance at the moment, it sort of makes sense that we're in this low level, like, you know, conflict that isn't. That he's trying to prevent from escalating too much. Whether that actually. I mean, I don't think it actually gets to the end goal. I think at this point, the Iranians absolutely despise President Trump. They hate him. They think they, they see him as the most serious adversary they've had since the revol. We forget that. But, like, we've, you know, not just this war, but Soleimani, like, you, you name it, the Iranians hate him. That's why they're. They're talking about killing his family. So I don't, I think they'll. The Iranians will try and thwart that. But, man, it's like, in terms of what Trump's trying to achieve, I don't know, I don't think before the midterms he can achieve like regime change. I don't think, I don't think he's willing to go that far unless he's absolutely forced to. And so I think we're just kind of going to keep going with this little dance that everybody's doing. And I don't think it helps Trump to do that because I think it looks kind of sort of weak, ineffectual. So I think the right move is just stop talking about it. Just stop talking about it. Like keep the blockade. Basically say the blockade is going to stay in place unless you guys completely stop harassing the straight of hormones. But we're just not going to talk about this and we're just going to let your economy suffocate.
- [23:16]
B
Bill Chamberlain is my colleague at the Orbital 3 project and he's also VP of External affairs at the Edmund Burke Foundation. Follow him on Xill Chamberlain. Will will join us after a short break, folks. We'll be right back. That's a short commercial break with Will Chamberlain. Let's see how this will be right back with Will.
- [23:31]
A
In 2025, the FBI reported that Americans lost more than $21 billion to fraud and identity theft. Identity thieves can steal your Social Security number, open credit accounts in your name, take over online accounts and create financial headaches that can take months to fix. Most people don't realize they've been targeted until the damage is already done. That's why more families are turning to Aura. Aura helps protect your identity with fraud alerts, credit monitoring, D web monitoring and up to $5 million in identity theft protection. If something does happen, ours 24.7us based support team can help guide you through the recovery process. You also get a vpn, antivirus protection, password manager and scam protection all in one app. Don't wait until you're a victim. Protect yourself and your family. Today start your free trial@aura.com save that's aura a u r a.com safe.
- [24:34]
B
Welcome back. And we're rejoined by Will Chamberlain who is my colleague at the Article 3 project, also at the Edmund Burke Foundation. Follow Will on X at Will Chamberlain. Will, a two part question for you. So before the break we were talking about the situation with Iran. One is I would like your prediction as to what the situation looks like on election day. Will it be very similar to this will be slightly different or perhaps will actually be all over. And two is a related part of the Iran standoff is the situation with Lebanon and Hezbollah, but also the situation with Gaza. And there's a bit of an update when it comes to situation in Gaza and Trump's border peace that we really have not talked about a whole lot here on the show yet. I was hoping that you could update us on that. So first, give us your prediction for Iran election day and then talk a little bit about Gaza, if you will.
- [25:23]
C
Yeah.
- [25:23]
D
So my British for Iran election day is I think we're going to be in basically the same position we are now, which is not. I mean, maybe Iran will try and do something a little bit dramatic to make everybody mad again right before election day to try and hurt Trump's electoral chances. But I think we're going to be basically in the same position where it's, you know, the basic problem is Iran doesn't have much in the way of capability, but has a lot in the way of will. And so they can't really do too much to us, but they're not willing to give up, and it doesn't seem like we're willing to do the thing to make them just capitulate. So I think that you'll basically see, given that I don't think their economy is going to collapse from sanctions within three months at this point. So we'll probably still be in the same situation now, six months a year, their economy's taking a beating. I mean, eventually something's going to give, but I just don't see it happening in three months. So I think we'll be basically the same situation vis a vis Hamas. We have this new news that the Board of Peace came to some sort of new agreement with Hamas, ultimately for them to disarm, but that the agreement foresees Israel immediately stopping its attacks and doing some sort of immediate withdrawal from some of the parts of the Gaza Strip which they have control over. This agreement didn't include Israel. Apparently Israel was consulted, but they're not a signatory to it. And Israel continued this weekend with striking more Hamas militants, people who were involved in the October 7th attack. And apparently there's some American sources who are angry. They're like, why won't Israel just go along with this? I mean, shouldn't they make peace? Nobody trusts them. And I want to, like, say to this person, it's like, well, you didn't have them in the room. They didn't sign anything. Like what? There's this is the second time this has happened in the last few months where it happened with regard to the mou, where the MOU purported to impose a peace on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and impose a ceasefire in Israel that wasn't a party to the agreement. And Israel's like, well, you know, maybe we'll do this because we want to appease our American friends, but, like, we didn't sign this, so we're not bound by it. And maybe this is a thing where the Arab countries themselves are just kind of, we won't negotiate with Israel. They're the pure evil. Or they're hoping that America will impose on Israel terms that Israel wouldn't agree to by its own brothers. But it is kind of bizarre how we have this assumption that Israel actually controls American foreign policy, when in reality, the actual concrete assumption made by everybody involved in all these negotiations is that the United States controls Israel and they don't have to negotiate with Israel directly.
- [27:47]
B
Now, is the border peace actually a thing? Because I thought I'd read that it was going bankrupt, that there were a lot of people, foundations, countries, whatever, sovereign wealth funds that had pledged money to it and then I guess didn't give it. I was under the impression that it was kind of teetering on the financial brink, albeit it's supported by the administration, by the United States. So it definitely has some resources and definitely has some legitimacy in the eyes of the administration. But is this actually a thing? Because it's been going on for what. It's been going on for like almost a year now after the, after the October 7, 2025 ceasefire, ish in Gaza. So what is actually happening with the Board of Peace? And is this so called disarmament going to actually be a disarmament and actually lead to any kind of positive results?
- [28:32]
D
So I think that, I mean, I think it's. Saudi and the UAE both really decided they didn't want too much to do with the Board of Peace because I think they decided that, that it was way too tilted towards, like, Turkey and Qatar's, you know, values and interests. And it's, I mean, it was noted that, like, this recent negotiation was the product of negotiation between Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, the United States and Hamas. And it's like Saudi and the UAE weren't even there, even though they're our primary Gulf allies. So I think that that's, that's really hamstringing their ability to be effective because I don't think Israel, I mean, Israel doesn't care about its alliance with. It doesn't have a relationship with Turkey. In fact, Turkey had its foreign minister come out the other day and say something like, Israel is like the, the cancer of our region. So it's like, why? Why are these people, why would Israel care what these people think as mediators? If anything, their only real goal is to say Turkey, the Turks don't get to come into Gaza or really have anything to say about it. I think what it actually shows is, I mean, Hamas is really desperate at this point because they've lost and yet they refuse to admit it. And unlike in Iran, Iran, they don't have. Hamas doesn't have anything meaningful capability to offer and they don't have any hostages anymore. So they're sort of like trying to like, okay, we'll finally negotiate or disarm, but Israel needs to withdraw. And Israel's like, no, we don'. Like, what are you going to do? We're just going to keep killing your guys? You can't do anything to us. We have demilitarized you. We won the war. You have no hostages anymore. So we will withdraw when you are fully demilitarized. And that's the end of that. And so the way I see this is it's the American negotiators who have been in Cairo working on this with Turkey and Qatar need to get their heads on straight and realize that whatever they're negotiating, this isn't the situation with Iran. Like, if they want the Israelis to do something here, they're going to actually need to listen to what the Israelis are demanding.
- [30:17]
B
Yeah. And I guess at the risk of staying the obvious, when I hear these headlines, when I see these stories of Hamas disarms or this, that I kind of don't even read beneath the headline because I just assume it's not going to happen. And listen, I would love to be wrong. I would absolutely, very much love to be wrong. But, you know, unless and until that actually happens, I don't think that the IDF is actually going to fully withdraw from Gaza or anything like that there. But it's important for the people to understand the order in which this has to happen. And the order that you say is clearly correct. Hamas has to fully disarm first. And then, and maybe then Israel will consider fully, fully retrenching back to fully outside the territorial jurisdiction of Gaza. Now, I want to talk a little bit, going back to domestic politics and speaking of Hamas's or Hezbollah's Amen corner, if you will. I remember it was infamous Pat Buchanan quote from decades ago referring to Congress as the IDF's AM. Well, Hamas, Hezbollah have their own Amen corners here in the United States as well. I can think of some towns that come to mind Dearborn, Michigan comes to mind. Minneapolis, Minnesota comes to mind. And there's a fascinating primary in Michigan tomorrow. We've been tracking quite closely here on the show. It's gonna be between Haley Stevens and Abdul El Sayed. Now, Abdul Al Said, if he wins, will become the first sitting Muslim senator in the United States Senate, which in the abstract, I guess, is not a massive problem. But when it comes to this guy, the fact that he refused to condemn Khamenei when he was assassinated because he was afraid of taking off his own constituents, that starts to look like a bit of a problem. So, Will, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on this particular primary in Michigan and more generally? I guess just about what this victory for El Sayed, if he does win, could it really mean would this be the dagger and the DSA takeover after Mamdani, after Chevalier, after all that? Would this really, truly be the dagger and the DSA has just won the civil war on the left.
- [32:05]
D
I mean, I think they've already won it. Right? I think at this point, I don't think any of the moderates who basically DSA has just been running the table on these. Whenever they have these, you know, primary fights, they've been winning. Moderate Dems, I'm not sure if they just. They don't. They don't have the juice anymore. And I don't think that. I mean, I think Haley Stevens is about to get beat by 10. If I were, you know, actually setting a line here. I think she's going to get beat soundly by El Sayed. Now, that. That's not good for the Democratic Party. It's not good for the country. The Democratic Party should, you know, it's a lot better that the opposition party is not a fundamentally unpatriotic, which is what I think Al Said represents a fundamentally unpatriotic person. Size of America's enemies over America itself. You know, like, sorry, Iran is an adversary of the United States and has been since its. Since its new constitution in the Islamic Republic. It's been an adversary from the beginning. Just read a few books. So if you're taking their side and afraid to condemn Khamenei. Khamenei, the guy who met with, you know, people I read just recently read Guess the Ayatollah about the hostage crisis. Khamenei was in the early government when those hostages were taken. He running the military met with some of the hostages and lectured on them on how lucky they were to be alive and should be grateful to the Islamic Republic for kidnapping them. Right. These are just like diplomats, the guys who stamp visas at the embassy and they're like, they got kidnapped for over a year and some of them tortured and like Khamenei was the guy being like, yeah, you should be grateful that we didn't kill you. Like, huh? Yeah. And you know, the guy who hates America has hated America the whole time. Yeah. He's gone. And if you think it's like you're afraid of upsetting your constituents about the fact that he's gone, then maybe you really shouldn't be, you know, in our Senate or frankly in our country, honestly.
- [33:41]
B
Yeah, I mean, that to me is the most obvious solution. Will. It's funny, I have friends, extended family over in Israel and some of them say to me, these people who hate America much, why don't they just leave? Because one thing that I find fascinating is that the Israeli left, they at least protest the Netanyahu government while flying the Israeli flag. Now, they're wrong on most of the issues, probably all of them, but they do so in the purported name of nationalism. That's a big difference with the left here, which says, like Hassan Piker's infamous phrase, America deserved 9, 11. It's actually a big difference. And I totally agree with you. If you, if you hate the country that much, you can always just go back to the third World, tell hell, wish you came. But unfortunately you're out of time for today's conversation. Will Chamberlain, folks, is my colleague at the Oracle 3 project, among other hats that he wears. Follow him on X. Will Chamberlain, Will, we always appreciate your time. Stay good, my brother, and we'll talk to you soon.
- [34:29]
D
Yeah, talk to you soon, Josh.
- [34:31]
B
All right, folks, going to one final break. We'll be right back with some more after this. Welcome back. So sticking to the domestic political situation for a moment. It is primary week in numerous states and jurisdictions throughout the country. This week, all sorts of other races to keep an eye on. A very interesting race in Missouri, actually. So Wesley Bell, who was the centrist, is Democrat congressman from urban St. Louis, Missouri, who defeated the scandal plagued squad radical Cori Bush in 2024. Well, that's actually a rematch that's happening just this week in St. Louis. So Cori Bush is trying to get back into Congress. He's trying to ride that DSA Zora Mamdani, anti America, anti Israel, anti capitalism, anti ice wave. She's trying to get back into Congress to try to make another play to be the Ringo star of the squad, trying to supplant Ayanna Pressley who is very rarely heard from these days. I feel like the squad at this point is actually really no longer the Beatles group group. Originally it was the core four, right? Originally you had back in 2018, 2019, you had Ilhan Omar, Rashid Tlaib, AOC and Ayanna Presley. Now the squad is like what like probably 20% of the house Democratic caucus with all the radicals, I mean Jasmine Crockett, it seemed like they add to the crop every mix. So eventually gals, you have to find a new band name. This whole Beatles analogy is actually really no longer going to go into a hold up soon. But in any event, I digress. Corey Bush trying to knock off Wesley Bell. Wesley Bell dominating the airwaves there in St. Louis by a factor of about 10 to 1. But the momentum is on the side of the DSA and on the side of the radicals. On the side of, of the Islamophilic, pro Islamist Red Green alliance, dsa, anti civilization, pro barbarism, charlatans, hucksters and just evil people frankly who are trying to tear down this country and our entire constitutional system from within. And on that note, I think the single marquee race that's happening this week in the primaries is happening in the state of Michigan. We have talked a little bit bit about this race. So this began as a three way. There were originally three major candidates in the Democratic Party primary for the U.S. senate seat in Michigan. There was a leftist, a center leftist and a center center leftist. None of them are particularly centrist but you kind of have this sliding scale and then the, the woman in the middle drops out. So for the past couple months or so essentially been a motto, a motto match up between Haley Stevens who is a sitting congresswoman from Michigan and then on the other hand you have Abdul El Sayed. Now Abdul Syed as the name implies is a Muslim man. He is a Muslim man who has had all sorts of, shall we say, Hezbollah curious statements in the past. He is someone who publicly by his own admission refused to condemn the death of ali Khamenei, the 37 year ruling tyrant in chief of Iran who had has God knows how much American blood on his hands. El Sayed refused to condemn Khamenei's death or to say anything about because he said that it would actually tick off his constituents AKA the, the little Hezbollah, the little Beirut that is Dearborn, Michigan. They would actually really go up in arms if Abdul El Sayed anything about the death of Ali Khamenei. Now speaking of Dearborn, Michigan before continue talking about this, this race and Michigan in general, general. Nate Freeman, who was one of the best investigative journalists on the entire. Right. A guy who I got to know a little bit in person almost a year ago now at the, at the somewhat infamous Charlie Kirk Hampton's retreat, the one that has been the source of baseless conspiracy mongering for people like Candace Owens and the like. Anyway, Nate Freeman, who does excellent on the ground reporting, went to Dearborn, Michigan. You should go ahead and check out Nate's social media pages and check out the full thing. It's well worth your time. I want to go ahead now and just play this, this clip for you. Now, those of you who are listening to the audio version of the show will not be able to hear anything because it's just a visual. And I will go ahead and narrow this. Let's go ahead and play this clip from Dearborn, Michigan if we can. Okay, so you see here Nate, you can see Nate. He's walking all through a supermarket in Dearborn, Michigan. Now, the aisles have signs in English and Arabic and basically every customer up and down the aisles to a T are women in hijabs, are Arab, Muslim looking men. There are virtually no people. I don't think there's a single person in this entire video in this Dearborn supermarket who looks like, shall we say, a John Smith or a Jane Doe or someone who you might recognize from your Sunday church barbecue. This is an entire supermarket, entire mall filled with people. People who presumably have no intention of actually assembling into the culture. In fact, in other parts of Nate Freeman's video, here you see him go up, he goes up to people, to shoppers and says, do you speak English? And the answer invariably is no, I don't speak English. Who are you supporting? In the US In a primary, they all say that they are supporting Abdul El Sayed. Here he is holding up halal marshmallows. Various other people saying how halal is better, it's better meat, it's healthier, it's sacrificed better. So just crazy, crazy stuff. Stuff. So Abdul Al Said, basically running to represent that, represent that contingent. This is a man who has openly been on the campaign trail alongside people like Hassan Piker. Hasan Piker, who openly says that he would support. He does support, in fact, Hamas is. He says that he would. He says that he would vote for Hamas a thousand times out of a thousand over any person in Israel. Okay. Quite a statement considering that Hamas is literally a US recognized foreign terrorist organization. Hasan Piker, who said is that America deserved 911 who has praised Chinese Communism, has praised Mao Zedong as one of the great leaders of the 20th century. That's who Abdul Syed is campaigning with alongside Bernie Sanders and all the other various lunatics like that. So James Carville actually was just on making the rounds on media this past weekend there and he, you know, he was not missing words as the raging Cajun tends not to do. And he basically started said that if Hassan Piker is part of the Democratic Party moving forward, says James Carville, I will not be part of it myself. Here was Carville over the weekend. I am not going to be in
- [41:07]
C
the same party with Hasan Piker. I can tell you that right now. If he becomes a force in the
- [41:12]
B
Democratic Party, I'm out of here.
- [41:13]
C
I have no intention of ever being in the same political party with that guy. Now, I think that a majority, overwhelming
- [41:21]
D
majority of Democrats agree with me.
- [41:24]
C
But this idea that we're going to seize the means of production and this go, just go look at the DSA platform, you don't have to look any further than that. And you know, Jackie, it may be
- [41:37]
B
that the two party system is just
- [41:39]
C
going to be under tremendous stress here in the coming months. I mean, you see it with Tucker and Martin Taylor Greene and on the Republican side, you see it going on right now.
- [41:48]
B
Raging Cajun doing that interview in style in his US Marine Corps hoodie and those sunglasses. But the sentiment stands, the sentiment hands that Democrats have this massive raging civil war. Now Carville might be right that for now, for now, for now, maybe, maybe, maybe the planks of the DSA platform do not get majority support. Maybe. I'm actually not even sure about that, frankly. As we've noted on the show multiple times recent weeks, socialism does have a higher favorability rating than capitalism. Within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Do more people support, quote, unquote, abolishing ICE rather than modifying or reforming ice? I don't really know. It's gonna depend on the poll. It's gonna depend on how you ask the question. But these people are taking over. They absolutely are the future of this party. Now, Michigan is a particularly toxic state because of its, of its outsized Muslim population and their defiance at anything remotely resembling assimilation. An amazing, amazing thing happened in the past few days that really flew under the radar as well. So the Attorney General of the state of Michigan is a Democrat who happens to be a Jewish woman. Woman. She made an astonishing statement that I caught on Thursday or Friday towards the end of last week. She said that she is actually going to refuse to go to the upcoming Michigan Democratic Party state convention because she knows that she would be harassed and yelled at and shouted at. The sitting attorney general of the state is not going to go to her own party's convention because she's anticipating getting yelled at. I cannot emphasize enough how insane and frankly, disgusting this is disgusting, Absolutely appalling stuff. Isaac Shore has a new column today at the New York Post titled Abdul EL Sayed, Michigan Rise Exposes Democrats Moral Morass. And it is a moral morass. It's a very nice phrase and nice way of putting it. I don't even know who the leader is at this point. If it's not Mamdani, who actually is the leader, the centrist ish leader, that it's not the Clintons. They're old and out of touch and they don't really get involved and they've moved left even. Is it Carville? Is James Carville the voice of reason and sanity in the Democratic Party? Is that really where we're at these days? But whoever the heck it is, that person needs to step up and try to double down like number four and to keep these people out of the mainstream. Unfortunately, it's not going to work. Elsaya is probably gonna win tomorrow. We'll talk about it again tomorrow. But he's probably gonna win this primary. And in doing so, he could potentially be, if he defeats Mike Rogers, God forbid, could potentially be the first sitting Muslim member of the U.S. senate. We'll see how that goes. We'll talk about a little bit more tomorrow and more. But for now, folks, have a great rest of your evening. Josh Hammer signing off. You'll be right back. As always,