The Matt Walsh Show

Ep. 1739 – We Live Next to a Failed Narco-State. Why Are We STILL Focused on the Mid-East?
Date: February 24, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Matt Walsh delivers a piercing critique of America's foreign policy priorities, questioning why so much U.S. attention and military might is directed toward the Middle East while chaos and violence escalate across the southern border in Mexico. He unpacks the implications of Mexico’s descent into cartel-fueled lawlessness, explores the knock-on effects for American citizens (especially tourists and border communities), and connects these developments to broader themes in American political, educational, and cultural life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Border Security vs. Foreign Engagement

[00:32 – 18:50]

• Matt argues forcefully that “securing the border is the single most important goal that the United States can pursue at the moment,” citing the escalating cartel violence in Mexico as a new, urgent reason.
• U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 (do-not-travel) advisory for states on the Texas border, putting them on par with war zones like Afghanistan and Yemen.
• Recent events: After the killing of cartel leader El Mencho, open warfare has erupted. Cartels are now targeting tourist areas, escalating risks both for locals and visitors.

Quote:
"According to our State Department, the United States of America borders a state that is as dangerous as a war zone filled with jihadis."
— Matt Walsh [03:30]

• Cartels have historically avoided tourism centers to protect revenue, but now, even these areas are unsafe: “The cartels are killing people and torching vehicles. Tourists in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara are being forced to shelter in place, their flights canceled…" [04:53]

Tourists recount their experiences:

• Resident of Puerto Vallarta: “Ubers are not working. The buses that we normally use … you don’t see them. There’s still blockages, still burnt buses and cars—about a three-minute walk down here, cars and buses incinerated.” [05:36]

• Walsh mocks complaints of luxury travelers but notes: “Entitled morons are the backbone of any tourism industry. … The fact that the cartels no longer care about this revenue is a sign that our southern border has just become much more dangerous than it already was.” [07:42]

2. Political Response and Inaction

[11:30 – 17:50]

• Canadian tourists in Mexico find their government unresponsive during the crisis.

• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo recently insisted on treating cartel violence as a law enforcement matter, not warfare, stressing due process for cartel members. Matt lambasts this as hopelessly naive:
  Quote:
  "Cartels of Mexico have better weaponry and technology than the Mexican military. … If Mexico’s government is committed to treating these narco-terrorists like common criminals, they’re not going to last very long." — Matt Walsh [13:30]

• The tide may be turning after a military assault (with U.S. intelligence help) kills El Mencho in a raid described as open combat, not policing.

3. America’s Security Focus: The Wrong Priorities?

[17:51 – 19:50]

• U.S. military presence remains concentrated in the Middle East and near Iran, with strike groups and warplanes poised for another possible intervention.
• Matt questions: “When is the Pentagon going to devote similar resources to defending the US Border with Mexico?”
  • Suggests that a military campaign to destroy cartels would “easily be a defining legacy of the second Trump administration.”

Quote:
"Rather than another war in the Middle East, a military campaign to dismantle and destroy these cartels would…save American lives, which is the whole reason we have a military."
— Matt Walsh [19:23]

4. Gavin Newsom’s 'Cultural Normalcy' Comments

[20:21 – 23:00]

• Newsom, on CNN, claims Democrats need to be “more culturally normal,” less focused on identity politics.

• Matt scoffs, calling such moderation impossible for the left:
  Quote:
  "The Democrat Party needs to be more culturally normal, he says. … It’s actually impossible for the Democrat Party to be culturally normal. … By definition, leftism is a force of destruction, a force of perversion. It inherently opposes everything that can be considered culturally normal."
  — Matt Walsh [21:00]

• Argues progression for the left only signifies ceaseless change: “Progressing means continuously forming new normals, which is to say it means not having a normal.” [22:40]

5. Abortion Legislation in Tennessee: Moral and Legal Logic

[27:00 – 29:30]

• Tennessee lawmakers propose a bill equating abortion with homicide, with conceivable prison or death sentences for women who obtain abortions.

• Matt supports the logic forcefully:
  Quote:
  "Either unborn babies are human beings, or they aren’t. And if they are, then killing them is murder. … If you agree with that proposition, I don’t see how you can logically end up any other place." — Matt Walsh [28:41]

• Recognizes variability in moral culpability and sentencing but insists the act itself is murder and should be treated with criminal penalties.

6. Digital Screen Catastrophe in Education

[32:00 – 44:00]

• America spent $30 billion replacing textbooks with screens in schools; results are “catastrophic.”

• Studies showing Gen Z is “the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized tests than previous ones.”

• Matt argues tech in schools has backfired:
  Quote:
  "Screens are making kids dumber, a lot dumber. And quickly. … This is idiocracy at warp speed." — Matt Walsh [36:05]

• Personal observations on the loss of presence, communication, and mental vibrancy among youth: “It really seems like… you can’t remember things as well as you used to, even for adults.” [39:00]

• Predicts public education is “over” — screens and AI make learning for most children impossible in mass institutions; homeschooling or tightly controlled private education are the only solutions he sees.

7. Olympics Medal Ceremony – The “Feminization” of Society

[52:00 – 55:50]

• Matt highlights the 2026 Winter Olympics’ tradition of giving male hockey players stuffed animal mascots along with medals.
• Mocking tone, calls it emblematic of societal feminization:
  Quote:
  "If I were to try to come up with an illustration of the continued feminization of every aspect of society, I don’t think I could come up with a better illustration than that: hockey players handed little plushies… having just battled on the ice in the Olympic gold medal hockey game, being handed cute little commemorative plushies."
  — Matt Walsh [54:10]

8. AOC’s Foreign Policy Flub and “Snoring/Fart” Clip

[58:24 – 59:51]

• Walsh discusses Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (AOC) viral video after her slip-up on global affairs—most memorable for odd background noises.

• Matt jokes about the sound:
  Quote:
  "How is that not the headline? What was that? Was AOC just blowing farts the whole time? … Maybe it was somebody playing the trombone in the room."
  — Matt Walsh [58:56]

• He dismisses her attempt to blame critics: "You might think I’m really stupid because I don’t know anything. You might think that, but, hey, joke’s on you… Actually, the problem is you."

• Ends with a dire warning:
  Quote:
  "If this woman actually wins the presidency, … the whole country’s over… Not because she’ll destroy the country, although she will, but more because only a country that is already destroyed would elect someone who is this aggressively, gratuitously incompetent." — Matt Walsh [59:51]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Securing the border is the single most important goal that the United States can pursue at the moment." — Matt Walsh [00:41]
• "According to our State Department, the United States... borders a state that is as dangerous as a war zone filled with jihadis." — Matt Walsh [03:30]
• "The fact that the cartels no longer care about this revenue is a sign that our southern border has just become much more dangerous than it already was." — Matt Walsh [07:42]
• "Cartels of Mexico have better weaponry and technology than the Mexican military... If Mexico’s government is committed to treating these narco terrorists like common criminals, they’re not gonna last very long." — Matt Walsh [13:30]
• "A military campaign to dismantle and destroy these cartels would easily be a defining legacy of the second Trump administration." — Matt Walsh [19:23]
• "The Democrat Party needs to be more culturally normal... It’s actually impossible for the Democrat Party to be culturally normal." — Matt Walsh [21:00]
• "Screens are making kids dumber, a lot dumber. And quickly. This is idiocracy at warp speed." — Matt Walsh [36:05]

Important Timestamps

• 00:32 – Walsh introduces the episode theme: cartel violence at the border and U.S. response.
• 04:53 – 11:30 – Descriptions of Mexico’s cartel violence and impacts on tourists.
• 13:30 – 17:50 – Critique of Mexican and U.S. government response to cartel crisis.
• 19:23 – Case for shifting military resources from Middle East to the Mexican border.
• 20:21 – 23:00 – Discussion of Gavin Newsom’s “cultural normalcy” comments and Walsh’s rebuttal.
• 27:00 – 29:30 – Tennessee abortion law debate.
• 32:00 – 44:00 – Deterioration of K-12 education thanks to digital screens and AI.
• 52:00 – 55:50 – NHL hockey medals and “feminization” of Olympic ceremony.
• 58:24 – 59:51 – AOC’s viral “snoring/fart” moment and critique of her foreign policy knowledge.

Conclusion

Matt Walsh’s episode blends news analysis, cultural commentary, and political critique, centered around the startling instability on the U.S.-Mexico border, the distorted priorities of the U.S. government, and the broader decline (as he sees it) of American education and society. He underscores the urgent need for a recalibration of U.S. attention—arguing that the chaos next door is a much greater and immediate threat than distant Middle Eastern entanglements. The episode is characteristically acerbic, combative, sardonic, and rich with the hot-button issues that define his show.