Hegseth Faceplants; Rubio Targets DSA With McCarthyite Blacklists w/ Ken Klippenstein

Summary

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The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode: Hegseth Faceplants; Rubio Targets DSA With McCarthyite Blacklists w/ Ken Klippenstein
Host: Emma Vigeland (in for Sam Seder)
Date: July 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, guest host Emma Vigeland leads the panel through the latest political developments, focusing heavily on the Trump administration’s escalation of the Iran war, the congressional push for more military funding, and, centrally, the administration’s explicit McCarthyite campaign to blacklist American left-wing activists and organizations. Journalist Ken Klippenstein joins for an extended discussion on government crackdowns and the new State Department report targeting groups like DSA.

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Key Topics and Insights

1. Trump’s Iran War: Congressional Funding and Political Fallout

• Context: The House passed a $95 billion stopgap funding package, mostly for the war with Iran and related farmer relief, plus "voter suppression funds." The administration seeks an additional $67 billion for the conflict, despite unspent funds and immense Pentagon waste.

  • "This year's defense budget is $1 trillion ... the Pentagon, which fails an audit every year ... 75 billion dollars they haven't spent, and they're asking for 67 billion more." – Emma Vigeland [06:25]

• Analysis: Vigeland and the team highlight the absurdity and hypocrisy of the funding requests, juxtaposing astronomical defense spending with cuts to social programs (like Medicaid and HIV prevention).

  • "Fraudsters! ... But look into the Somali daycares." – Panelist, sarcastically referencing scapegoating of smaller welfare fraud versus systemic Pentagon waste [07:01]
  • "You can only tell so many bedtime stories of patriotism ... if the kids are hungry, the bedtime story's not going to work." – Emma Vigeland [08:34]

• Trump’s Promises and Threats:

  • Pledges to "bomb bridges and power plants in Iran" if attacks on shipping persist.
  • Vows to back Lebanon's "skeleton government" against Hezbollah — raising fears of a new civil conflict.

• Election Context: Democrats suffer setbacks in Arizona, with their preferred House candidate likely losing and an extreme election denier gaining traction on the GOP side. Meanwhile, Trump’s super PAC spends little on candidates, focusing instead on internal "operating expenses."

  • "You know they're more focused on the operating expenses side." – Emma Vigeland [01:54]

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2. Pentagon Testimony: Hegseth Faces Scrutiny

• Senate Grilling: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Kaine appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee, requesting billions more for the Iran war. The hearing devolved into blame-shifting:

  • Hegseth frames criticism as "smearing the sacrifice" of U.S. troops, deflecting any strategic or moral accountability.
  • “Secretary Hegseth, I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops…” – (Sen. Jack Reed or Gary Peters) [10:56]
  • “I use the word failure ... to their leaders. You, sir, are the failure. Not the men and women on the front line... But if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed them and that's what's happening.” – Pete Hegseth [13:03]

• Panel Response: Panelists repeatedly call out this tactic as manipulative and cowardly.

  • "This little move of 'you're not criticizing me, you're actually criticizing the troops that I'm getting killed' ... Human shields is the most despicable, nasty thing... ” – Panelist [14:21]
  • “They just started the worst war and tanked the economy for it.” – Emma Vigeland [13:49]

• War Results and Public Sentiment: Panelists note that the administration can't explain Iran’s resilience or show progress, undercutting all their “air power dominance” narratives.

  • "The more that this Iran war drags on, the more it becomes obvious ... U.S. military dominance isn't translating to success." – Emma Vigeland [08:13]

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3. Red Scare Redux: State Department Blacklists of Leftists

• Segment Highlight: A deep-dive with Ken Klippenstein on the Trump administration’s McCarthyite efforts targeting left-wing domestic groups through legal and administrative mechanisms.
  • “You've been on this for months, if not years – the Trump administration's attempt to criminalize essentially left-wing politics...” – Emma Vigeland [40:05]
• NSPM-7 Explainer: The National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 directs federal law enforcement to prioritize targeting left-wing groups as domestic terrorists. This includes massive sentences for activists and a wave of intimidating FBI "soft repression" visits.
  • “The campaign of soft repression going on ... has the effect of scaring people from expressing their political views.” – Ken Klippenstein [44:27]
• International "FLT Summit": Marco Rubio leads a high-level summit with 65 countries, advocating "debanking, defunding, and disrupting" U.S. leftist organizations, equated with foreign terror threats.
  • “There was no pretense ... they said explicitly: far left terrorism, repeatedly.” – Ken Klippenstein [48:43]

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4. The 100-Page State Department Report

• Content: The report, “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” names dozens of U.S. individuals/groups—DSA, Code Pink, Amy Goodman, Karen Bass, Ben Cohen, BLM, Christian Smalls, George Floyd’s family.
  • “There were three whole pages dedicated to DSA ... and it opens by saying they have their own organic views ... then goes on to say, yeah, but they're saying some of the same things as Cubans. Doesn't that make you wonder?” – Ken Klippenstein [50:25]
  • “It's barely subtext ... we want to do the Red Scare again.” – Ken Klippenstein [55:04]
• Political Consequences: The move sows “ick factor” around progressives, making other Democrats wary of association and limiting movement-building.
  • “It creates an ick factor around those elements of the progressive party ... people might say, ‘maybe it's not worth it...’” – Ken Klippenstein [55:04]
• Legal Ramp-Up: By linking U.S. activists to foreign groups, constitutional protections are eroded, allowing prosecution as if they were “adjuncts of a foreign terror organization.”
  • “Once you can link someone to a foreign group ... the gloves completely come off.” – Ken Klippenstein [60:57]

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5. Zoran Mamdani’s Position on Holding Netanyahu Accountable

• NYC Mayor Statement: Zoran Mamdani declares Netanyahu a war criminal and calls for the federal government to enforce the International Criminal Court warrant.
  • "Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large." – Zoran Mamdani [30:02]
• Panel Reaction: The panel expresses pride in Mamdani’s “moral clarity,” and frustration at the legal barriers to city-level action while acknowledging the broader leadership example.
  • “It's so incredibly refreshing to hear his moral clarity on this... That almost took me by surprise how emotional that just made me.” – Emma Vigeland [31:10]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "[The Pentagon] fails an audit every single year because of the billions that go missing and no one knows what happened to it." – Emma Vigeland [06:25]
• "If there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed them and that's what's happening." – Pete Hegseth [13:03]
• "This little move of 'you're not criticizing me, you're criticizing the troops that I'm getting killed' ... human shields ... only a conservative moron could buy into that." – Panelist [14:21]
• "It is just like, so incredibly refreshing to hear [Mamdani's] moral clarity ... 'Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City.'" – Emma Vigeland [31:10]
• "It's barely subtext ... we want to do the Red Scare again." – Ken Klippenstein [55:04]
• "Once you can link someone to a foreign group ... the gloves completely come off." – Ken Klippenstein [60:57]

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Important Segments with Timestamps

• [00:07] – Episode opening, headlines rundown (Emma Vigeland)
• [03:58] – Banter: Panel discusses Sam Seder’s absence, light tone
• [05:27–16:35] – Extended breakdown: Pentagon’s Iran war funding, Senate hearing, failures, scapegoating, propaganda
• [29:02–31:10] – Zoran Mamdani’s powerful statement on Netanyahu/ICC and discussion of strategy/constraints for city leaders
• [39:45–62:20] – Ken Klippenstein interview: NSPM-7, international FLT summit, State Department blacklists, chilling legal and political escalation
• [64:14–65:42] – Call to action: NDAA vote, Section 219, U.S.-Israel military integration, how to contact representatives

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Tone and Style

The panel maintains a trademark Majority Report blend of irreverence, dark humor, and pointed analysis. Emma Vigeland drives sharp critiques of U.S. policy, often layering data with sardonic asides (“we have 75 billion dollars [unspent], and they're asking for 67 billion more…”). While the subject matter is grave—escalating war, domestic repression—the show offsets it with banter and camaraderie among left media peers, never losing sight of the stakes or the absurdities of power.

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Summary Takeaways

1. Trump’s war funding asks and hawkish policy are draining resources from urgent domestic needs, fueling public discontent.
2. Pentagon leadership uses rhetorical shields—"support the troops"—to dodge policy scrutiny, but cracks are showing.
3. A new McCarthyism is real: the federal government (especially State and Treasury) is blacklisting leftists and building international consensus for repression, with legacy media slow to catch on or report.
4. Legal strategies linking U.S. activists to foreign entities remove critical constitutional protections, threatening core free speech and organizing rights.
5. Mamdani’s stand on Netanyahu sets a moral benchmark for U.S. politicians, even within a stifling system.
6. Listeners are reminded to contact Congress and resist new entanglements between the U.S. and Israeli military-industrial complexes.

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This robust episode blends current events, historical context, legal analysis, and movement strategy—essential listening (or reading) for anyone following the state of the U.S. left under a second Trump administration and a resurgent Red Scare.

Transcript

[Emma Vigeland]

It is Wednesday, July 22, 2026. My name is Emma Vigeland in for Sam Cedar and this is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, Ken Klippenstein, friend of the show, is back with us to talk about the State department's renewal of McCarthyite blacklists to target left wing groups. Not good folks. Last night or also on the program, last night the House passed a $95 billion stopgap fund funding package, mostly for the Iran war and then relief for farmers because of the Iran war, but also some voter suppression funds. Once again, John Thune is resistant to using reconciliation again in the Senate. We will see before the recess deadline at the end of the week. Later this afternoon, the House will vote on the ndaa, including a provision that would merge US And Israeli military cooperation. Call your representatives. We have the switchboard number down below. Trump vows to bomb bridges and power plants in Iran if they continue to fire on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. He also says he'll back Lebanon's skeleton government against Hezbollah. More evidence as to what Trita Parsi was telling us yesterday, that the US And Israel want to spark a Lebanese civil war. Newkirk falls short in Arizona, but the House Democrats chosen candidate in the First District looks poised to lose the third DCCC loss this cycle. On the Republican side, Trump dominates again. An election denier from Sidney Powell's crack legal team wins the nomination for Secretary of State in Arizona. And the former Freedom Caucus chair Andy Biggs will face off against Hobbs in the gubernatorial race. Trump's super PAC has spent less than 1% of the $400 million it's raised on helping Republican candidates. You know they're more focused on the operating expenses side. The salary part of the operating expenses is what my guess would be, maxing

[Matt Leckie]

out my airplane to go campaign.

[Emma Vigeland]

Although this might be even a smarter strategy than the Democrats who are burning their cash to defeat progressives. So maybe we shouldn't get so high and mighty. Trump says he'll freeze more than a billion dollars in federal Medicaid payments to Minnesota and California. The administration's attacks on HIV prevention has caused the closure of 1700 treatment sites. Mamdani announces he's hiring Lina Khan to lead the New York City Economic Development Agency. And lastly, Human Rights Watch urges Congress to investigate the growing US Ecuador military partnership, alleging torture, disappearances and illegal drone strikes. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome to the show, everybody. It's hump day. As a reminder. Yes? You gotta just take my word for it. Sam is still alive.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

He.

[Emma Vigeland]

He will be back. Not this week and probably not next week, but the week after is what looks extremely likely. Right? That's what we're. We're saying right now.

[Ken Klippenstein]

That is grandma.

[Emma Vigeland]

That is so grandma. It's more like that is grandpa when he comes back. Oh, whoa. I shouldn't have said that. I've been really building up some goodwill here with the amount I'm filling in for my eventual takeover.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Not the host. You are. Yeah, you are the.

[Emma Vigeland]

I am the host. I am the host.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Now, I don't consider you to be my main.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

You are not a majority reporter.

[Emma Vigeland]

The way that your voice can get to that place. I've been corrected by many people in the audience, by the way, because I've been saying Harvey Firestone the whole time. It's Steen. Steen. But, Brian, you could do a dead ringer voice for Harvey Firestein. David, call your mother.

[Ken Klippenstein]

You are not a New Yorker. You have no clue.

[Emma Vigeland]

You got no clue. We'll be talking about Zoron, Mom, Donnie, and a video he released about Benjamin Netanyahu in just a second. But yesterday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Kaine went to the Senate Appropriations Committee to beg for more money for the administration's criminal war on Iran.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

On the obliterated Iran.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Right.

[Emma Vigeland]

They need more money. They need billions and billions more for a war that they're winning. It begs the question, how is Iran winning this war or still holding their own? If you want to take the administration's fanciful claims about the efficacy of their military campaign at face value, how is Iran doing so well without all of these billions?

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Huh?

[Emma Vigeland]

The question for members of this administration. The White House is asking for $67 billion in additional funding for this illegal war on Iran. Hegseth has claimed that the war has cost $37 billion so far, and most experts say that that is too low of a figure. That $67 billion figure could fund a year of free of tuition free college under the Bernie Sanders proposal from some years ago. Just to give you a sense of what our priorities are here, this year's defense budget is $1 trillion when you also include $150 billion in supplemental funding. And of that $150 billion, there's still reportedly $75 billion in unspent funds. This is for the Pentagon, which fails an audit every single year because of the Billions that go missing and no one knows what happened to it. They have 75 billion dollars that they haven't spent and they're asking for 67 billion more of an a trillion dollar budget.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

But look into the Somali daycares.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right, right. The fraudsters. And so it also, apparently in the Senate questioning this came out, it includes things in the $67 billion bucket that are not related to the Iran war. It's almost like the administration wants to skirt the traditional reconciliation process to get its agenda through. Democrats could learn from that, by the way. But this pot of money includes requests for funds for the army at the border, for the National Guard in cities, and for their war crime adventures in the Caribbean, which have killed at least 200 people in these strikes on boats that they claim are drug runners without any evidence whatsoever. The more that this Iran war drags on, the more it becomes obvious, I think, to the American public that U.S. military dominance, air power dominance, whatever narrow objectives they're able to achieve.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

The thing we imagine when they do the flyovers over the national anthem at the start of Spartan events, yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

People are understanding that it's not translating to success in the overall war objectives. And this causes more people, in my view, to begin questioning our national priorities. And that's already happening across the country. But Abdullah Sayed has really captured it, reclaiming the America first mantra to discuss how we can reallocate these resources towards investing in our communities. I think this is the most potent message, frankly, of the midterms for the Democrats. Even more than, you know, Jon Ossoff does that corruption thing well, but obviously this is closer to our politics. I think it takes it a step further. And so as people's material conditions deteriorate as they see that this already unpopular war is not achieving what it said, what Trump said it was going to achieve. These, you know, these thought negating apothemes about terrorists and freedom and what America stands for. They wear so thin because they have collapsed under the weight of the failure of our institutions. Like, you can only tell so many bedtime stories of nationalism and patriotism to get the kids to go to sleep. But if the kids are hungry, this is kind of a crude, you know, analogy, but, like, the kids are hungry or they're restless, like, the bedtime story's not going to work.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

The extent people ever supported the military industrial complex, it's because they thought it was going to get them cheap oil.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. And it's actually done the opposite. Oil prices continue to skyrocket. Now, here is part of hegseth's begging for money in front of the Senate yesterday where if you're watching live or on YouTube you'll be able to see the sweat on his brow. Senator Gary Peters here questions him about the Iran war and the troop deaths. And here Hegseth tries to hide behind the dead bodies of US forces as a way to deflect blame from himself. You know, the high t masculine man.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

The Strait of Hormuz is still closed, reminding everybody it was open before the war. Prices were lower for everybody until the war and it still remains closed. And of course, tragically, people, service members, our war fighters who we care deeply about, are still dying. So what's different Mr. Hegsef?

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Secretary Hegsev, I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless and I think it's irresponsible and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

ensure which is not to say it's inaccurate.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right, right. I mean it's really reckless for you to tell me I'm doing a bad job.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah.

And actually it's the soldiers who you're telling are doing the bad job. The soldiers who are sitting ducks because of my dumb ass war.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. I'm definitely not here for completely self serving purposes and don't need a drink. That sweat, you know, might have had it might have had a rough night like he their CBS last week had a report about how Trump has been unhappy about how Hegseth oversold how a bombing campaign could get to bring Iran, could bring Iran to its heels. Color me shock that the guy who was caught chanting kill all Muslims and has a crusades related tattoo and infidel in Arabic. I always forget that one which is the maybe perhaps the most psychotic. Color me shocked that he thought that killing as many Iranians as possible would be the priority for this, for this military campaign. I mean, I'm sorry Excursion. I mean I'm sorry.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

War.

[Emma Vigeland]

Okay, go back a little bit.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

Are still dying. So what's different Mr. Hegsev?

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Secretary Hegseff, I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless and I think it's irresponsible and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure. And then you want to turn around and say you support the war fighter. Either you do or you don't.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

Is the new material still there?

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

I can get you a ticket out to CENTCOM and talk to what those Americans are doing and how committed they are to this effort and how they want to ensure that Iran never threatens their families with a nuclear weapon. It is that. That's the kind of intensity that our war fighters have about making sure that Iran isn't capable of.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

Secretary Hegsev, did you. If you listen to my comments, you told you would have heard me say how amazing our war fighters are.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

I heard failure. The word heard.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

Exactly. I will tell you how I use the word failure because I use the word failure to their leaders. You, sir, are the failure. Not the men and women who are on that front line. Not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction. But if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed them and that's what's happening. We have political leadership. You, you don't have a strategy. You don't have a long term plan to actually win this war.

[Emma Vigeland]

Win the war.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

When will you show leadership?

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

When will you show leadership leaders?

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Why don't you show some leadership and stand up for your fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money. You want to stand up here and talk about the truth? I'm sorry, show any political.

[Emma Vigeland]

Briefly pause.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Give us the money.

[Emma Vigeland]

Give us the money. Is everybody going to. Our Democrats paying attention here? We're talking about highlight reels for attack ads. This sweaty frat boy saying, give us the money after they ran in 2024. I swear to God, people have the shortest memories on no new wars and we're going to fix the economy. They just started the worst war that most presidents had said, ok, Israel, we know you want this, but like, this is a little bit of a bridge too far. He just started the worst war and tanked the economy and is in the process of tanking the economy for it.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

And this little move of you're not criticizing me, you're actually criticizing the troops that I'm getting killed.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Human shields is the most, like, despicable, like nasty thing and only like a conservative moron could buy into that.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

To actually fund our department because you have Trump derangement syndrome and can't actually commit to anything meaningful. So I put this on you, Senator.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

Senator Hexagon, you have trillions. You have over one trillion dollars. You're asking for one and a half trillion dollars. It's not a question of money. It's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes to actually win.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Political cowardice of Democrats who won't fund the troops.

[Emma Vigeland]

Senator's time has expired. There she is. Yours hearing. There she is. Our witnesses. We're good here.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Present.

[Emma Vigeland]

Thank you. That's how they ended it. That's amazing.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

She put a.

[Matt Leckie]

That chair to start the massage before she started talking.

[Emma Vigeland]

All right, Susan, we know you love the vibrating setting. Just, just do interspersing kneading on the chair. Okay. You gotta, you gotta get the tightness out as well. There's a great photo of her shaking hands with ptexeth after this hearing. The thing. Yeah. Find that Matt.

[Matt Leckie]

Troy Jackson posted it because I think

[Emma Vigeland]

right now we're trying to help out, you know, any efforts to defeat Republicans. So I'm telling you, propaganda value in that. Whining for more money and propaganda.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Who has got the shakes worse right.

[Emma Vigeland]

In this picture of Susan Collins as they're already. And we'll get to this in the fun half, I'm sure trying to call Troy Jackson now a sexist for angrily throwing a plastic water bottle in the vicinity of a female lawmaker when they were having a disagreement over funding for lowering prescription drug price prices. I'm shocked that Emily's List in the DSCC led by Kirsten Gillibrand are trying the misogyny playbook right out of the RIP because they're upset that they weren't able to put their kind of candidate in to replace the nominee.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah, they are a fifth column just like labor under Corbyn. They will actively sabotage the party to see it fail and let the far right get in power.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly. But that's an aside for now. Here's another great exchange. And Gary Peters and Jack Reed are some of the furthest right Democrats in the Senate. So this is not, you know, a necessary win.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

The war isn't the appeal.

[Emma Vigeland]

This isn't the appeal to stop the fucking war. Right, Exactly. I hate a lot of the framing, but it's. But they're still. I think there is value in destroying this idiot's competence in the public eye as well. And also because like he's not giving straight answers on what these funds even are for. And it makes the Republicans rightly look immensely reckless with the American taxpayers money when people are hurting on a day to day basis to put, you know, to buy groceries and to make rent. So here is Jack Reed, Senator Jack Reid Cornering Hegseth on his failure to inform Trump about Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz and how they would have been able to do that at the war's outset. And this might actually be a smart political tactic from Reid because this is appealing to Trump's ego in attempting to splinter the administration.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Completely aware that the Strait of Hormuz could be closed. And obviously sinking their ships has not affected their ability to effectively close the straits. Did you?

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

We had US Boats that surrendered to Iranian ships under the Biden administration, so their navy was effective in.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

We're talking about war you started, not a situation in which oil was flowing freely. There was no conflict. We weren't losing personnel.

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, I'm sorry, just to underscore what Regis did there or what really Hegseth stepped into.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

That. That was when there wasn't an active war. That's the difference. You guys caused these closures. But let's blame Biden again. This is. Yeah.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Also.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Why you started. Not a situation in which oil was flowing freely. There was no conflict. We weren't losing personnel as a result of Iranian actions. So your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very, very obvious excuse for what I think is probably, as you described so often, gross negligence. You did not fully inform the president that you would be in a situation where the straight arm moves could be effectively closed, oil prices could surge, and effectively, the Iranians could maintain their ability to strike back as they are right now. They just killed some of our servicemen last weekend.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

This battlefield and all the dynamics of it, of which the chairman and I are responsible for ensuring the president understands every branch and sequel of what could happen, and we did. The fact that those contingencies all were part of the possibility and we understood that is all the more reason why President Trump deserves the kind of praise he should get for undertaking having the courage so sure that crazy Islamists can't have a nuclear weapon to hold us at it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Hold on, hold on.

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

And he's been willing to station it.

[Emma Vigeland]

So Hegseth understands what Reid's doing. They're trying to divide him. And Trump, he's already worried about. Okay, look, Trump got rid of all the dumb bitches already, and. But my ass might be on the line now.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

And you say that because it was women that he got rid of?

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Oh, yeah.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

You said he had.

[Emma Vigeland]

I'm doing this in Hegsa's misogynistic tone.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Right, right, right.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

I'm just translating for.

[Emma Vigeland]

I get to say it.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

I get to say it.

[Matt Leckie]

Also black men.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, right.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Don't forget that.

[Emma Vigeland]

I forgot both dumb bitches and people of color as well. And Hegseth's like, oh, if it's a twofer if I get to fire a black woman, essentially. But I meant in the administration. Gabbard, Kristi Noem, who was the third woman there was the labor Bondi. Yeah, Bondi.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

But I know who you're thinking of. To the Reamer.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. Yes, exactly. So there's been four. But. But I mean, this is how deeply misogynistic this administration is. Like, this Fox News host idiot is still in his position of power, despite being almost certainly the most incompetent member of the administration. Or I guess I would put RFK up there, but they're both still in place, so it proves my point. But also, do you notice he did

[Matt Leckie]

that thing where he said the chairman and I are responsible for informing the president, like when he. When he struck the school.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, yes.

[Matt Leckie]

He said the general. I support everything the did. Like, he. He's so good at pushing blame over.

[Emma Vigeland]

They are just rats. And this is that. This is the workplace culture that they've incentivized. But yeah, so he. He tries to. To. To suck up to the president because he recognizes that Reid is calling out his incompetence in a way that Trump might actually listen to.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah.

I just wanted we can finish this clip here. Then I have a note on this supposed incident in the Strait of Hormuz that he said. He said happened under Biden, Correct?

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Okay. Well, it did not. So I don't know if he needs another drink or not, but we'll get to.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

We'll.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

What happened there.

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, when in doubt, just scream

[Senator or Official (possibly Jack Reed or Gary Peters)]

Biden to hold us at issue. And he's been willing to stay committed to that regardless of the challenges.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

So he should be praised. He should be praised for starting war without authority, creating a situation in which the world economy is suffering tremendously. We have to have extra money for our farmers, and we have no outcome. At least no really realistic outcome in sight. Yet. Let me switch to.

Okay, so like I said, let me just make sure he does mention Biden here, and then we can get going. He did. Okay, so just to bring this up, it wasn't under Biden. It was when Obama was still president in January of 2016. And this is an incident that's only memorable to people who are doing Israel's bidding. You know, the American government, by which I mean Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump. But basically Initially, the US Military claimed sailors inadvertently entered Iranian waters owing to mechanical failure. But it was later reported that they entered Iranian waters because of navigational errors. Secretary of State John Kerry called the Iranian foreign minister within five minutes, the first of a series of phone calls between the two. The sailors had a brief and verbal exchange and were released unharmed 15 hours later. A little bit different than closing the Strait of Hormuz.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, a little bit different.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

God, again, like, the only reason Hegseth remembers this is because him and all his insane Zionists who like to do wars for Israel. Doesn't that show weakness and why we shouldn't have done the Iran deal. That's what they were thinking when that happened, when that diplomatic incident where our soldiers drift got fucking lost in the Strait of Hormuz, which is not a big area, but anyway, got lost and then they got detained. Dare you smear a war fighter?

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, right.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

I mean, like, yeah, seafarers, they were released immediately. And that's the thing. They're still bringing up, like, get a fucking grip.

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, it's just like, public relations. What can we do? What can we do to deflect? And before we move on to this, just second shorter segment, and then we'll get to Ken Klippenstein. I wanted to mention, because as Hegseth hides behind the troops and says that any. Any tag of calling a war effort a failure is an attack on the troops themselves. Here's a quote from the 2016 Republican primary. The war in Iraq was a big fat mistake by Donald Trump. Okay?

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Imagine if people were criticizing Sam and they're like, this reflects poorly on my producers.

[Emma Vigeland]

Also, in that same election cycle, Trump said he didn't like John came because he got captured. Hegseth wants to pretend like, you know, they're an administration that can. Has a leg to stand on about respecting the troops. Give me a break. They only respect you if you do war crimes. And then Hegseth will work to get you a pardon from Trump. Okay, briefly here. So Zoram Mamdani, mayor of New York City, made some news when he went on the New York Times, his podcast, and emphasized that his office was going to look into the ways that legally they could potentially arrest Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes under the 2024 warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. Now, you know, the critics of Mamdani would say that he maybe got a little bit ahead of his skis on this, which. Okay, if you want to say that, go ahead, because I still think that the impulse to uphold international law is the right one. The problem for Mamdani is that the United States is so structurally in favor of war crimes that I think he is right to assess now that he does not have the legal authority just to.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Oh yeah, or the bureaucratic cover because like you say the entire government and it's not just a partisan issue is complicit in a lot of these crimes. It's not just Israel and Bibi Netanyahu.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes. And actually statutorily too he. This could cause problems, you know, for him and for New York, New York, New York City. Because the US is not a party to the Rome Statute, which is what created the ICC in the late 90s. And there's a federal law that explicitly prohibits state and municipal governments from cooperating with the International Criminal Court. That's this is part of why Clinton and Bush also refused to ratify the ICC when it came into being. Cuz they were afraid that Americans like themselves, I mean the Bush administration should have been really worried about this could be prosecuted. And this was the same justification that Marco Rubio used in his Wall Street Journal op ed when he was saying like we're going to, we're going to dismantle the ICC on behalf of Israel and American war criminals. Or you know, criminals in general.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah. People who might like say bomb a girls school at the start of a war.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, right. It's obviously a self serving impul.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

So.

[Emma Vigeland]

But I still, even though it seems like they were unable to find a legal avenue to justify this one, I appreciate them following the law for the most part or trying to in ways that like they have a pretty good legal team on there. But since he was is saying he thinks he's unable to do it, he did the next best thing and perhaps in the long term the better leadership choice by essentially putting pressure on the federal government to do so themselves. Because as we've said many times on this show, Mamdani is immensely conscious of his role as a leader, a leftist leader, and particularly in legitimizing the democratic socialist movement in the country. And he wants to do that by having success. That's part of why he didn't burn all his political capital and sat on his gunpowder with Hakeem Jeffries and also with Tish, the NYPD commissioner. He wants to deliver and lead by example, create that legitimacy and then expand his power base as a way to bring about this broader movement. He knows that he represents more than just being the mayor as it's very

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

clear he doesn't see the utility in doing things that are righteous but ultimately do or have a really good chance of failure. And so, you know, pick the low hanging fruit is where he sees himself as like a socialist mayor all of a sudden in charge of the, I mean, most important city in the country.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yep. And so here he is, I think, setting the Standard for the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries by declaring that, hey, I may not have the authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, but you know who does? The federal government.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people. He is responsible for the killing of more than 73,000 people. For the maiming of tens of thousands of children as those who survive undergo amputation without anesthesia, for the targeting of neonatal hospitals and maternity care centers, denying newborns even the chance to live. For the countless people he starved as he blocked food and humanitarian aid from reaching them. For the gunning down of hundreds of aid workers and journalists. And just last month, the UN confirmed that Palestinian children continue to be deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli armed forces. More than eight months after the so called ceasefire. The list goes on and on.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

All.

[Zoran Mamdani]

As we as Americans pay for the bombs that do the killing, there is a reason the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. As human beings, we have spent generations building a shared understanding that there are crimes so grave, they offend all of humanity. Anyone with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience should recognize the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law. As I've said, I agree with the ICC that Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested and tried for his crimes, as I do for anyone else charged by the icc. My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant. With Benjamin Netanyahu came here, it is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. The federal government, however, does. And I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant. And I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large. While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon. And we can examine every tool we have to defend the humanity and dignity of all people. That is my commitment to you.

[Emma Vigeland]

It is just like, so incredibly refreshing to hear his moral clarity on this. And like, you know, just the sentence, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City makes me feel a level of communal Pride that, like, I don't know, I've heard it before, but that almost took me by surprise how emotional that just made me.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

I mean, it's a real, like, pendulum swing to hear that and feel very proud to have worked to help this happen with, in a small part with Zoran. But also it reminds me of probably the most anger I felt is when Ben GVIR was marching around Bed Stuy.

[Emma Vigeland]

Fuck out of my city.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

And it's like that.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

Really?

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. Get the fuck out of my city.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

That stuff. We need to figure out a way to. Yeah.

[Ken Klippenstein]

To knock it off.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. I mean, but. And he.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Right.

[Matt Leckie]

Has anybody tried telling Ben GVIR to knock it off?

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Hey, knock it the hell off.

[Emma Vigeland]

Hey, hey. You're doing a little much right now. Okay.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah.

[Matt Leckie]

You're being extra guvir. Just chill.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, tone it down, buddy. I like that. As I swore uncharacteristically too much in the first hour.

[Matt Leckie]

You guys just switched roles.

[Emma Vigeland]

Matt's good cop now.

[Matt Leckie]

Matt is grandma.

[Emma Vigeland]

But yeah, no, I mean, it's so refreshing to hear that said so plainly with such an understanding of the impact of his words. And of course, it's disappointing that they didn't feel like they could find the legal justification, but they also understand, you know, as like people who are good lawyers do, that you take your shots. And I'm sure his legal team is quite strong that you take your shots when you have the ability to justify it. You don't. The adage that you can indict a ham sandwich shouldn't be the driving, motivating factor if you can't back up the ability to make an indictment or make an arrest. And he's also quite aware that lastly on this, that any hiccup in such a high profile attempt like this to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel would set back the broader movement and the ability to hold him accountable in a durable way.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

And shame on anybody who can't unite behind this kind of message.

Or.

[Matt Leckie]

Yeah, yeah, but it's endangering Jewish New Yorkers. That's what I've been seeing a lot of.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. Brad Lander literally going, oh, my God, not this again. I can't deal with this anymore. In a moment, we will be talking to Ken Klippenstein about the Trump administration, State Department's war on leftists, and targeting DSA with a renewal of McCarthyite blacklists. But first, a word from one of our favorite sponsors. You know, we've talked before about why Oneskin really stands out as a skincare company. It's not Hype. It's not just fancy packaging, although the fancy packaging is quite nice. It's real science. I am a one Skin daily user of their daily moisturizer. But the stuff that I can't get enough of is the eye cream. The skin on your eyes is quite sensitive. It's thinner, it's not as callous. And sometimes I've had actual, you know, reactions to eye creams that are too heavy and clog your pores. But not with One skin. One skin has great texture for that kind of cream. And it helps me in my 30s, you know, do some preventative wrinkle stuff and making sure that my skin is moisturized. As we age, some skin cells stop functioning the way that they should. Longevity scientists call them zombie cells. And that's what is actually driving those visible signs of aging. The fine lines, the loss of firmness, the dullness that creeps in over time. And OneSkin's OS1 peptide was specifically engineered to address those. So you're getting everything you expect from great skincare with OS1 doing something most skincare was never built to do. And look, I've been open that I enjoy sometimes going to the beach, being in the sun, have throughout my life. I gotta work, make sure that I'm taking care of my skin when I'm not doing that. Because 80% of visible skin aging starts with sun exposure. Oh boy. But Oneskin's new limited edition summer bundles, have you covered? It's their skin care and SPF essentials paired together. So you have the OS1 peptide helping to reverse the visible effects of UV aging. While you are also getting SPF protection from new damage, it helps summer proof your skin. I know that Julie has also loved One Skin as well and I don't want to spoil anything, but this is definitely at the top of my list for a gift for somebody else in my life.

[Matt Leckie]

They also send two samples and sometimes I put one sample on your desk and bring one home.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, you did. And she's enjoying it as well. Okay, there we go. So we've got a third testimonial from a female Mr. Family member. Born from over a decade of longevity research, Oneskin is helping you unlock your healthiest skin now. And as you age, for a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code majority at OneSkin Co majority. That's 15% off OneSkin Co with Code Majority. After you purchase, they will ask you where you've heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. We'll put a link down below in the video and episode descriptions and at Majority FM, get 15% off OneSkin with the code [e-mail]. majority, majority. Quick break and when we come back, we'll be joined by Ken Klippenstein.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Sa.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

It. Sam. Back.

[Emma Vigeland]

We are back. And we are joined once again by our friend Ken Klippenstein, independent journalist covering security and US Politics at Clip news on Substack. His latest is entitled after political terrorism summit, US names 43Americans and groups. Ken, welcome to the show.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Hey, yeah. Never a headline you love to hear, huh?

[Emma Vigeland]

No. This is so troubling. And you know, you are really, I would say the number one reporter to follow on this particular topic. You've been on this for months, if not years, the Trump administration's attempt to criminalize essentially left wing politics. So let's start at the beginning, though, because, you know, for maybe somebody is coming to this interview and who hasn't heard your reporting on this before, hasn't heard about NSP M7. So just at a base level, let's just set the foundation for what that is and how over the past few months the Trump administration has been trying to put it into practice and weaponize it.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Okay. So the Trump administration has prioritized in a way that no other administration, certainly in living memory, maybe ever has prioritized domestic terrorism as a concern. So the White House's counterterrorism czar, Sebastian Gorka, a couple months ago released the National Counterterrorism Strategy. And in it it identifies three top priorities. The first one is unsurprising, it's jihadi groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, that kind of thing. The second one is narco traffickers, which is obviously a Trump administration focus. But the third one is the one that, that is really eyebrow raising, which is political terrorism. And they explicitly identify the left. And over the course of my report in the past couple of years, I've seen, particularly since the murder of Charlie Kirk, the administration and the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant is on record saying this, that that was a 911 event, 911 type event. And they responded to it much the same way the Bush administration responded 9 11, which is to redesign the architecture of the federal national security apparatus and to point it at these left wing groups, anti ICE protesters. We just saw an extraordinary set of sentences handed down. Literally half a millennium of years in prison for people with the sole exception of the one person who shot somebody who obviously should face a long prison sentence for that shot an ICE officer. I think it was the rest of them were given these just completely crazy sentences of like 30 years, removing left wing literature that was said to be obstructing justice related to the case. So a frustration of mine while reporting on this stuff has been seeing the mainstream media concede that, yes, this is true, but like, you know, it's just Trump rhetoric. What are they going to do? There's no domestic terrorism law. It's all a bunch of just, you know, symbolic talk. No, they're serious about this and they are implementing it. And we've seen cases where they've not just arrest and detain people, but now sentence them with very stiff sentences. So that is kind of the backdrop that has taken place. And then in the week prior to the release of this State Department report identifying all these Americans and American organizations, there was an international summit led by Marco Rubio. And I think it was over 50 or 60 different foreign governments met with them to discuss the threat of, and this is their literal terminology, far left terrorism. They even introduced an abbreviation, an acronym for flt. So all that to say they're taking this really seriously. It's not just talk. They're moving the machinery around to make the government be able to go after cases like this. And that's, and that's what this report is a culmination of.

[Emma Vigeland]

And so, yes, and I want to get to the report in just a second, but to hit on NSPM 7 and then also even this prairieland ICE arrest, you know, travesty here. And SPM 7 essentially tells the federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize targeting these groups and left wing groups in particular. And you mentioned the Prairieland case where over a dozen people have been, not even the person who shot somebody. Right. But anybody by association has been dragged in to these charges. And I think like the sentences totaled hundreds of years for 15 prairie land protesters. Like, is that to your mind, so far the most troubling case of this inaction?

[Ken Klippenstein]

Well, I would point to a lot of the cases that we don't know about. I've heard from so many people, including many that can't go on the record because they don't want to, you know, suffer the potential consequences of having an employer see their name come up next to something. But there are all sorts of visits that the FBI is paying to individuals, whether it's for a social media post or in the case of one individual. I interviewed and wrote a story about young man in Arizona who attended anti ICE protest, was visited by two FBI agents. Afterwards. There is this campaign of sort of soft repression going on where they pay them these visits. And as this young man told me, he said, well, I'd like to go to the no Kings protest. This was several months ago, but I'm having second thoughts about it now because it was so scary what happened with this visit. So this is happening everywhere and that stuff doesn't get reported. And when you try to talk to these people, sometimes they'll have defense attorneys that'll say, don't talk to the press. And that makes sense for a defense attorney to tell their client. But the aggregate effect of that is that we have no idea how big this system of. They're called Joint Terrorism Task forces, these post 911 structures that exist in all 50 states and which can deputize local police to become effectively federal agents, FBI agents. That is the, those are, those are the personnel that NSPM 7 taps when Trump issued this presidential order stands for National Security Presidential Memorandum seven and tells them to go after these groups that they regard as essentially domestic terrorists threats. And there's a whole continuum, like at the extreme end we have, like you said, nearly 500 years of federal prison sentences handed down. So that would be the extreme end. But there's a whole center, which is what I'm describing, which is like, maybe someone gets detained for a day. And the way I've seen the mainstream media report this is they say, oh, you know, say there's anti ice protesters and they're charged with obstructing isis, trying to carry out federal tasks or whatever. Literally I've seen on msnbc, expert commentators say, oh well, no jury will uphold that. And it is so flippant because it's like, well, hold on a second here. Someone was arrested, had to spend a day in jail and probably gets the shit scared out of them that they have to go and talk to a lawyer and everything. That's not nothing. And that has the effect of scaring people from expressing their political views. So that's the kind of middle of the continuum of consequences that I don't think it's very much tension.

[Emma Vigeland]

And it fits into, you know, the overall narrative of this being a renewal of red scare tactics and McCarthyite tactics and this administration being really committed to that. So I guess let's go now to last week, you mentioned it, this event where Stephen Miller and Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, both spoke to dozens of foreign diplomats essentially and they asked them to. And this was in conjunction, by the way, with the State department releasing in 100 page report called Cuba the Capital of 21st Century Communism and this is all within the same like 48 hours. And Trump also giving this address red scaring about China interfering in our elections. And so you can see how the administration's trying to tie China and but most most critically here, Cuba to domestic left wing organizations as a way to crack down on them. What recap those developments from last week with all of that context in mind, if you don't mind, Ken.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Yeah, so this was what's called a ministerial summit, which means very high level people at like the cabinet level around that. So what that's to say is like this is not just rhetoric. These are like people like Rubio's time is precious and we're in a situation where he as Secretary of State and dual hatted as national security advisor, he has the Iran war to worry about, he has the Ukraine war to think about. For him to spend an entire day going to the summit meeting with 65 other countries that a lot of whom I think just went there because they're afraid of the US or they want to maintain. There were a lot of European countries there that want to maintain relations with the Trump administration. The Mexican president, to her credit, said, I'm not going to this. And she said what it was, which is that this was a political exercise. So she wasn't in attendance, which is extraordinary.

[Emma Vigeland]

Sheinbaum winning as always. Yes.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Yeah. It's extraordinary itself because Mexico and the US have such close relations historically for her not to go there. But the point of this whole summit was to describe how we are going to and these are direct quotes, debank, defund, disrupt and essentially go after. There was no pretense of that. This is some sort of neutral. Oh, we're going to look at political terrorism in general. They said explicitly far left terrorism repeatedly. And as you said, it was the treasury secretary, it was the White House advisor, Stephen Miller, it was Marco Rubio, and there's all kinds of people from the top of the State Department. What's interesting about that and then the subsequent report on alleging Cuban subversion and being behind all these left wing groups is that the State Department is supposed to focus on foreign policy. And if you look at that 100 page report that was put out on Monday that was connected to and sort of followed this international summit it mentions, I counted like multiple dozens of Americans and American organizations. This is really unusual for the State Department to look back at home and to name American groups like, I've never seen a report like that before. So it's very clear that to the extent they're interested in Looking at these foreign groups and labeling them foreign terrorist organizations. It's so that they can bolster some kind of case against people here at home who are the political opponents of the Trump administration.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. And can you speak about some of the people who were named in this? I mean, there was a whole section dedicated to dsa, which is obviously immensely concerning and trying to tie it to Cuba and what they're describing as Cuba's terrorism against the United States because it's dares to exist as a communist country.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Yeah. There were three whole pages of this report dedicated to democratic socialist America. And what's amazing is it opens by saying, like, you know, they have their own organic views and there isn't any. They said something like there isn't any direct link to Cuba. And it kind of like clears its throat and it's like, wait a second, well, why are you talking about any of this? But then it goes on to say, yeah, but they happen to be saying some of the same things and they're sympathetic to the Cubans. Doesn't that make you wonder? And so really it's an exercise in guilt by association because they have very mainstream people in this report. It mentions New York Mayor Mamdani, it mentions Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. And if you go and you look, I wrote a list of all the names. I encourage people to look at it because I'm not exaggerating when I say guilt by association. Their evidence of, like, her great crime was attending the wedding of some left wing wealthy person who finances these various causes. And that was it. Nothing like. Nothing like what she'd actually done or said herself. Just the association with someone else and not just her. Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I mean, just like real near the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass. So it was kind of interesting because. Pretty scary, right?

[Emma Vigeland]

Not a radical. Not a radical, but okay.

[Ken Klippenstein]

No, they had to point to. It was like a blast from the past. I felt like reading it. I was reading it in like, sepia tone. And it was like some Ken Burns documentary because everything they talked about was stuff in the 1970s. The report is talking about the Symbionese Liberation army and the Weather Underground and all these like, obscure. I mean, I'd like to think I have some literacy on left wing stuff. There were all kinds of stuff I didn't even know about from the 60s and 70s that they're talking about. And the impression they're trying to give is that violence that took place then. Oh, this is dsa is a resurgence of that it's the same old thing. But then you look at the contemporary situation now and it's like, you know, there's no comparison. It was a much different social context. But that's what, that's the message they're trying to get across. And the sense doesn't.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Sorry, Ken, just the DSA doesn't do bombings, to name one difference.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes, that's a pretty. I mean, that's what, that's what you would say as a member of dsa. Right.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

That's what I like to believe, I

[Emma Vigeland]

guess, because we do not have any knowledge of bombings. Now we're being sarcastic at FBI, at FBI. But can you just put this up for a sec? Because, like, this is not getting a ton of reporting. You mentioned Amy Goodman and I think a lot about how Democracy now has platform Code Pink over many years. The anti war activist group. This is from CBS News now owned and captured by right wing Zionists. And this is how they frame this. This is from last week. Neville Roy Singham, the wealthy husband of the founder of the progressive nonprofit Code Pink and benefactor of far left political causes, is under criminal investigation by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter. This also was a story that dropped around the same time last week that they announced essentially this crackdown on left wing protests or political organizing. And so, like, I don't know the specifics of what's being alleged here, but I do know that, that framing by CBS is immensely favorable to the claims of the administration here. And it feels a little bit like, you know, I know we're far past canary in a coal mine, the coal mine territory, but that's, that's a blinking alarm bell for me.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Yeah. And in the report, which I encourage people to read, it's 100 pages long, but it'll give you a sense of exactly what I'm saying when I talk about these things. I always feel like as a reporter, I have to try to. When things that are factual sound crazy. I'm like trying to think, how do I substantiate this to make clear I'm not editorializing here? It literally says. So one example of what it literally comes out and says this report is it refers back to the Red scare and the McCarthy trials and investigations. And it says, you know, this was really effective at destroying the American Communist Party at the time. And then it transitions into all this contemporary domestic political stuff that we're talking about. So the message is clear. They say they want to recreate that and deploy it against a whole range of figures. I mean, you mentioned Code Pink, but there's also. I mentioned Cohen. And I mean, it's like very mainstream figures in this list, including sitting members of Congress.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes. Who are in dsa. Zoran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio Cor. Anyone who's a DSA elected is, I guess, a left win terrorist, according to this.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Yeah. I mean, it's barely subtext to look at this and see we want to do the Red Scare again. And I wouldn't underestimate the purchase that it's gaining because you're starting to see some Democrats say stuff like, I don't know about dsa, I don't know about the socialism. Stuff like, obviously they're not going to come out and be like, I agree with Trump. But what this does is it creates an ick factor around those elements of the progressive Democratic Party that's going to make people in the rest of the party say, ah, maybe I don't want to associate with them like they have these big numbers and crowds and things, but maybe it's not worth it because who knows what's going to happen with these investigations and what the administration is saying. And so I really wouldn't underestimate that.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. I would agree with you. I just sent this Ken's article here. Let's just pull it up because there is a list of some of the people towards the end that are mentioned in this report. Here it is. So you mentioned Karen Bass, which is a surprising name here, but here's. We'll just go through some recognizable ones. The Amazon Labor Union.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Oh yeah, they mentioned Christian Smalls too.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yep. That exactly. Who participated in the convoy to Cuba. So that's gonna be their evidence for that. Antifa, which is not a formal organization. There it is. Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, Black Lives Matter. Chesa Boudin, the former District attorney of San Francisco who was ousted by Big Tech Money. Ben Cohen, you mentioned DSA in general, George Floyd.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

Okay.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Yeah.

[Ken Klippenstein]

So their view is that the Cuban government tried to agitate around the. During the George Floyd protests were like putting out propaganda saying, oh, the US doesn't care about you if you're a minority. That kind of thing which happens. That happened during the civil rights movement too. Russia tried to push messaging around the civil rights. But that doesn't mean civil rights movement was coordinating with them. But that's the game that they try to play.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. I mean, and that is how the same justification during the Red Scare to crack down on civil rights Activists tying them to the USSR and to communism,

[Ken Klippenstein]

including ours. We try to say, oh, look at how the balochies are being treated in Iran. Look at how this is what states do. It would be extraordinary if they weren't doing it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, I mean, the Trump administration just arms a bunch of Kurds in Iran as a way to. With the Israeli government to try to get them to uprise against their own government. The USSR hasn't, or Russia or China or Cuba hasn't done anything close to that. And we do that across the world in a variety of different countries.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

No, the Marco Rubio State Department talks about the Uyghurs because they really care about how Muslims are treated.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, yeah, totally. So Ilhan Omar is named, of course, and her daughter.

[Ken Klippenstein]

And her daughter, yeah. I mean, this is really creepy. I want to stress, I spend a lot of time reading these types of reports and it's very unusual for them to name American citizens, let alone sitting

[Emma Vigeland]

members of Congress and their families.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Ayanna Pressley.

[Emma Vigeland]

So did they mention Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or are they just going after black women?

[Ken Klippenstein]

I can't remember. I can't remember in the report. I would have thought so because they had a whole section on DSA that was like, Bernie Sanders has expressed sympathy. And they do. It's like the cork board game where it's like he knew this guy and then that guy knew this guy. That kind of thing.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah. I mean, can we put it back up? The Maxine Waters mentioned something she did

[Ken Klippenstein]

in the 1970s, some, some agitating she did with some group, I think, to

[Matt Leckie]

extradite Assata Shakur,

[Emma Vigeland]

which not. To not extradite Sada Shakur. I mean, I, I actually ended up just the other day buying her autobiography. So I'm sure I'm on some list now as well, as well as being a DSA member. Maybe I can hit the bingo. The People's Forum, of course. Psl, the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Hasan Piker. Yeah, I mean, so there you go. People can check out your article on this to get the list, but that you also link to the full 100 page report. Just any other thoughts here, Ken, on this?

[Ken Klippenstein]

I would again just urge people to take this seriously. And I don't know what it is on the part of the mainstream. That international summit on far left terrorism that took place last week. The New York Times literally didn't even write it up. They didn't even have like a 200 word thing about it. And the strong sense I get based on sympathetic people at these institutions because there are good people basically everywhere is that it's just seen as a clown show and it's not taken sufficiently seriously. And the gears of the national security system move slowly. I mean it took a year for some of the first NSPM7 related cases to make it to trial and result. And we're only just now seeing the fruits of those attempts. My hope is that people can care about this before it's too late rather than after stuff starts happening. That's what I've been trying very hard to do with the newsletter is draw attention to these things early on.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, as I said, Clip News gotta subscribe to Ken's Substack. I'm wondering if you could just expand a little on the why Tying them to say what they deem as foreign terror is a step up in their attacks on what they've already designated as domestic terror. Can you explain what legal guardrails are removed when that happens?

[Ken Klippenstein]

Oh, the gloves completely come off because under the Constitution, the reason there's no law kind of explicitly laying out domestic terrorism is because it's understood that it's just going to violate the Constitution if you do that because Americans are supposed to have certain civil liberties protections. But once you can link someone to a foreign group then it's complicated. I'm not a lawyer, but the idea is that oh, you're not doing it to individual, you're doing it to this person as a adjunct of a foreign group which does not have constitutional protection since there obviously aren't in the United States. So it's basically turning someone in the US into Al Qaeda. I don't know how to say that in a way that doesn't sound crazy, but again I would point to the fact that the admin has said this explicitly at the summit last week and I think in this State Department report this week that you know, since 911 we focused on these foreign jihadi groups and they explicitly say and now we are going to put on the same footing as these jihadi groups, far left terrorism. They say that openly and that's what's happening.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, Ken Klippenstein, independent journalist covering security and US Politics at Clip News on Substack. You can read his work there, subscribe to his newsletter and we will put a link to that down below wherever people are listening to or watching this and at Majority fm. Ken, thanks so much. Really appreciate your time today, buddy.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Hey, great to talk to you again, Emma.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yep, great to talk to you as always. With that we are going to head into the Fun half shortly. But I did have one psa. I headlined this. But we have the Capital Switchboard number below. Always. But you can call this number the capital switchboard 202-224-3121. Now you want to connect to your representative because this is currently being debated and there is likely to be a vote at 3:30pm Eastern around that time. So sometime in the later afternoon today on Wednesday on the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. This is the act that essentially sets the Pentagon's budget. It doesn't. This isn't the funding bill. It's different. But it sets the budget and it sets like policy frameworks for how the budget is going to be allocated. And in this budget or in this ndaa Rather, section 219 is what is causing all of this controversy. It would give Israeli tech weapons firms essentially a blank check to co develop and cooperate with weapons manufacturers in the US and with the US military in particular. This is an effort by the Zionist lobby to remove the funding of the genocidal Israeli ethno state from the forum of public debate. And it would help establish essentially a side deal. Thank you, Chuck. With the Israeli government that would be outside of democratic input and even more integrated into the Pentagon.

[Matt Leckie]

That's why you hear Netanyahu going around saying, you know, we are financially independent now.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

Right?

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. We don't need, we don't need the US military aid. Understanding that the public is getting extremely disgusted by this and fed up. So why not force it into the NDAA in some sort of section that removes it from the traditional foreign aid allocation process? Because as I mentioned, this isn't the funding mechanism. This is the budget and policy priorities that's important. Netanyahu knows American politics probably better than most American politicians and so he knows exactly what he's doing. And of course it's not just Netanyahu, it's the Israeli government and their apparatus. But call your representative on the Capitol switchboard. Express your frustration. 202-224-3121. Call in and say to vote no on the NDAA specifically also with it because it includes this provision, section 219 that integrates U.S. military technology and operations with Israeli weapons manufacturers and tech firms and their military operations. So that's section 21 9. Matt, what is happening in the Matt Leckian media universe?

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Yeah, Left Reckoning. We had a show yesterday talking about Michael Brooks talking about Bhaskar Sankara in New York Times and the Texas Senate race. So check that out. Patreon.com leftreconding.

[Emma Vigeland]

All right, check that out. And we do have a special guest for the fun half. We're going to bring her in here. Friend of the show Francesca Fiorentini will be joining us for the fun half as we set up her shot. Just a reminder, JoinTheMajorityReport.com keeps us surviving, thriving, alive, you know, as say the administration wants to criminalize left wing political speech and has the ear of platforms

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

that host us a future legal fund

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

join the majority of our me off during this time. I have no association with this program.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, you don't want to be on screen with us, girlfriend. For future evidence.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

No, this is not a keffiyeh. This is gingham.

[Emma Vigeland]

This is just straight gingham, which is back in and confusing for a lot of people. I know, I know because I think Kathy Hochul was wearing a gingham scarf. And there were. Every Zionist in New York state was like, look at this, mom. Donnie has, has converted her to Islam, essentially.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

Gingham is also.

[Emma Vigeland]

It's like so like Upper east side.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

Like, it, you know, it's whatever. I don't know which one's the hoity or toity or. They're both upper, the upper sides. So I feel bad for the Zionists who are like, but they're confusing this with Palestine.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

It's like that tweet that was like I saw a free parking sign and thought it said Free Palisade sign.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. And I had a panic attack.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

I was just gonna say that. Isn't that. Wasn't that Fartlow?

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes, yes. Eve Fartlow. Yes, Francesca. What's happening over in your neck of the woods? We do have a little an image to put up here.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

There is an image.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

Yay.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, I'm gonna be in the frame that. I couldn't have framed that in the less sexy way. Continue. Sorry.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

Well, look, it starts with an image. Look, a picture's worth a thousand words in this case. I'm gonna be in Minneapolis bringing my show the Habituation room live Thursday, Aug. 20, to the Parkway Theater. We're gonna be joined by a state senator, Zainab Mohammed, who's just awesome local leader there, first black woman elected to the Senate in Minneapolis and or Minnesota. And then Liz Winstead, comedian Matt Lieb, comedian, husband, host about his bar podcast and myself. So it's gonna be a good night. And so everyone should come out, get tickets, I think, wherever you're watching this.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes. We'll put a link down below. Have you ever been to Minneapolis?

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

No.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

I've been to St. Paul.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right, right. I've never been to Minneapolis either, except like on a connecting flight. But I would like to go because Matt, you know, sings its praises.

[Francesca Fiorentini (continuation or another guest)]

The nicest people, truly, like, couldn't have happened to the nice, like the nicer people in our country. Just sticking. How many? Like 11,000, 12,000 ICE officers on like a tiny kind population, murdering two of them. So anyway, and then speaking of the NSPM7, a lot of Minneapolis organizers have been caught up in all of that BS as well. So hopefully this will be a fun night. And if you are an organizer, please just hit me up. I'll put you on the list. Like, honestly, people shouldn't have to pay, you know, if you're. If you're out there doing the work.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, love that. Check it out, folks. All right? We are going to head into the fun half and Francesca and I will have some fun with some clips that we have for you. See you there.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Okay.

[Matt Leckie]

Emma, please.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, I just. I feel that my voice is sorely lacking on the majority report. Wait, whoa.

[Matt Leckie]

Look, Sam is unpopular.

[Ken Klippenstein]

I do deserve a vacation at Disney World, so.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure

[Emma Vigeland]

to welcome Emma to the show. It is Thursday. I think you need to take a bit for Sam.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Yes, please.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

No, no, no.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

I'm.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

I'm.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

I'm going to pause you right there.

[Emma Vigeland]

Wait, what?

[Francesca Fiorentini]

You can't encourage Emma to live like this.

[Ken Klippenstein]

And I'll tell you why.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Someone's offered a tour. Sushi and poker with boys. Twerk, sushi and poker with the boys who was offered a tour. Yeah, Sushi and poker with the boys.

[Matt Leckie]

What?

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Tour, sushi and poker.

[Emma Vigeland]

Tim's upset.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Twerk, sushi and poker with two boys. It was offered with twerk, sushi and that's what we call biz. Twerk, sushi and bulker with two boys.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Twerk, sushi and we're going to get demonetized. I just think that what you did to Tim pool was mean.

[Emma Vigeland]

Free speech.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about it. I think you're responsible.

[Emma Vigeland]

I probably am in a certain way. But let's get to the meltdown here.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Sushi and poker with the boys. Oh, my God.

[Matt Leckie]

Wow.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind. Someone's offered a tour. Sushi and poker with the boys. Logic. Sushi and poker with the boys.

[Ken Klippenstein]

Little kid.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like A kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a little kid. Had this debate 7,000 times.

[Senator or Official (possibly Pete Hegseth)]

A little kid.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

I think I'm like a little kid.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

I don't care.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

I'm losing my mind.

[Emma Vigeland]

Some people just don't understand.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

So I'm not trying to be a dip right now, but, like, I absolutely think the us should be combining me with a wife and kids.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's not what we're talking about here.

[Ken Klippenstein]

It's not a fun job.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Real thing. Willy Wonka. That's a real thing. That's that real thing. That's a real thing. That's got a real thing. Real thing. That's a real thing. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Rogan has done it again. That's a real thing. I think he might be blowing it out of proportion. Real thing. That's boys. That's a real thing. That's poker. Let's go, Joey. Twerk. Sushi and poker. Boy. Take it easy. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker with the boys. Sushi. You don't have a clue as to what's going on live YouTube.

[Emma Vigeland]

Sam has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sam doesn't want to do this show anymore.

[Guest or Panelist (possibly Matt or another contributor)]

Anymore.

[Emma Vigeland]

It was so much easier when the majority were for it was just you.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Let's change the subject through Rangers and

[Emma Vigeland]

Nicks are doing great now.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Shut up.

[Emma Vigeland]

Don't want people saying reckless things on your program.

[Matt Leckie]

That's one of the most difficult parts about this show.

[Emma Vigeland]

This is a pro killing podcast.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

I'm thinking maybe it's time to bury the hatchet.

[Emma Vigeland]

Left his best trump. Violet Twerk.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Don't be foolish and don't tweet at me. And don't the way all of these people love it.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's where my heart is. So I wrote my honors thesis about it. Oh, sorry.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

She wrote an honors thesis.

[Matt Leckie]

I guess I should hand the main

[Francesca Fiorentini]

mic to you now. You are to the right of the unformed policy.

[Emma Vigeland]

We already formed Israel.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Dude.

[Emma Vigeland]

Are you against that?

[Francesca Fiorentini]

That's a tougher question.

[Emma Vigeland]

I don't have an answer to

[Francesca Fiorentini]

God.

[Matt Leckie]

Incredible theme song.

[Emma Vigeland]

Hi, bumbler.

[Matt Leckie]

Emma Viglan. Absolutely one of my favorite people.

[Francesca Fiorentini]

Actually.

[Matt Leckie]

Not just in the game.