A (0:00)

Welcome to our ugly home.

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Reddit is back for a historically hideous season. It's our 100th ugly house. This place is mayhem. That is impressive. And if these walls could talk. Do you cry a lot?

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I do.

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They'd have a lot to say. What in God's name is this pit?

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Don't get too close.

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No.

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If you've seen the show, I'm scared of that. Ugliest house in America. All new Wednesday at 8 on HGTV.

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Hello you guys. Welcome back to the Riley Gaines Show. Still the first week. It is the second episode. I hope you guys watched. The first episode came out earlier this week on Wednesday with Nick Shirley talked all things Minnesota fraud. We talked about Governor Tim Walls and the ending of his 2026 gubernatorial reelection bid largely to thank because of Nick Shirley. He teased some exciting stuff. He alluded to a part two so we hope to have on the Riley Gaines show when that comes out. So thank you guys. That had an overwhelming reception. Thank you for all of the good feedback. Comments on the socials. Again, make sure if you're watching here on YouTube.com, make sure you subscribe. You can follow us on the Riley Gaines show over on Instagram. Always enjoy hearing from you guys. When I was thinking about this episode and what I wanted to talk about, obviously understanding the importance, it's still the first week. What, what is it that I wanted to speak to? I put up an Instagram story. I put one of those little boxes up there for gives you guys the ability answer directly goes to my DMs and I said what do you want to hear about? So many of you responded back and said you wanted to hear my thoughts on the different conspiracy theories that are floating around out there surrounding Charlie Kirk's death, his assassination and specifically so many of you said you wanted to know what I thought about Candace Owens her takes. When I was preparing for this episode, of course I wanted to be able to deliver to you guys what you want to hear. So when I was preparing for this, honestly, I had a couple personal revelations that I'm not overly proud of. When thinking about why I had refrained from speaking about this. Why hadn't I talked about the conspiracies and the infighting that we're seeing amongst the conservative party, many conservative influencers. Why haven't I talked about that sooner? But before we get into that, I think it's important to understand the state of the nation currently at large between are two political parties. I probably don't have to tell you guys that there's really no common ground anymore between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Look at any issue, right? Every single issue. Just about whether it's the border, right? Democrats can't say that a closed border makes for a secure nation. Whether it's crime. They can't say the crime is bad. They cry like federal overreach when President Trump tries to deploy the National Guard in crime ridden cities. They can't say that kids belong to their parents, not the government. They can't say that men and women are physically different. Now. They'll charge you with like some kind of hate crime for saying that out loud. They can't say that human rights extend to all humans, even those that are small, independent, right? Infants, babies in the womb. And as the first episode of the rally Gaines show showed us with Nick Shirley, they cannot say that fraud is bad, for crying out loud. Those are the obvious differences between the two political parties. Again, didn't need to tell you about that. I'm sure maybe you feel it in your everyday lives, right? We just wrapped up with Christmas and Thanksgiving. I would imagine there are some of you listening to this, who sat around the dinner table at Thanksgiving and you get into these heated political conversations. Maybe some of your family members find out that you voted for Trump. I've seen the videos online. Maybe some of you have family members who didn't show up to Christmas because they found out that you and your family are Trump supporters. Maybe some of you listening to this, those of you may be in college or high school, you've felt like in the past you've had to change your stance on a persuasive essay to achieve a good gray in your English 101 class, right? All that to say, I'm not saying that conservatives in the Republican Party are perfect, of course not. But we do don't see this level of intolerance and sheer vitriol from the Republican Party at the same degree we do the Democratic Party. Which is ironic considering the Democrats claim to be the party of tolerance and acceptance and being welcoming and embracing of diversity. Well, let me tell you, they certainly do not embrace diverse thought. So that's the state of the Democratic Party. Even just this week, they had a candlelit Vigil for the fifth anniversary of January 6th. If you're watching on YouTube.com, we've got it playing on the screen here. When I first saw this, I thought it was AI watching. This is like some form of humiliation ritual. I see this as manufactured people with manufactured outrage. Right. These are like all of the theater kids. It's so performative and it is embarrassingly unserious. Like watching this, I think I literally got second hand embarrassment. When I finally got over the cringe and the embarrassment that I felt watching this, I thought that this is the same group of people who didn't hold a candlelight vigil for people like Lake and Riley. Okay, important to remember that. But praise God, President Trump is back in the Oval Office. Gone are the days when the left could force its alternate reality on Americans, at least for now. They went from controlling the narrative entirely when President Biden was in office to having a new president and a majority of voters who no longer buy into the theatrics that we saw there. But watching that, it was an important reminder to me that elections matter. A few things have changed though, since that landslide victory that we had back in November of 2024. Despite their unpopularity, the left has only leaned in to their extremism. They have only gotten more radical. And truthfully, it's scary to say it, but they have gained some ground since. And despite our advantage, some on the right seem to have already forgotten who the real adversary is. So what I want to talk about in this episode is, is the rapid division that we are seeing within the Conservative Party, especially within the last three or four months. On September 10, we lost one of actually probably the most influential and effective and articulate and brightest minds of our time. That person, of course, being Charlie Kirk. I'm sure many of you could gather this. Maybe you don't have a personal relationship with Charlie Kirk like I did, but I'm sure even still you could gather that, that Charlie Kirk was special because he was a coalition builder. It has become increasingly evident following his death that he was really the glue of the conservative movement, right? He's like the connecting fiber of the conservative Party. It's what he did really, really well. He bridged together unlikely groups. Think about it, right? It was his mission at Turning Point USA to bring along young voters, first time Trump voters, my generation, generation Z. And how did he do that? He did that by meeting them where they were going, to college campuses. Many people thought that people of my demographic, especially young women, college age women, were a lost cause to the Republican Party. Why even attempt to go after them? Charlie Kirk, he didn't have that mindset. He said, look, this is a winnable group of people. Let's meet them where they are. Let's go into the belly of the beast, these college campuses. He did it really, really well. Also, I was at the rally, the Trump rally back prior to his win in November, I think it was in Phoenix, Arizona, where we saw this amazing collaboration for the first time between Maha and maga. That was largely thanks to Charlie Kirk. This was a rally that he put on, of course, rfk. He ended his presidential bid that day. He shows up to that rally to support Donald Trump. That wouldn't have happened without Charlie Kirk. I never in my life thought I would see the day where a Kennedy Democrat supports a Republican nominee, especially when the Republican nominee is President Donald Trump. So when you think of Charlie's legacy and what he stood for and what he died for, I think of how he brought people together. And again, he did that by speaking the truth and encouraging people to think for themselves. Following his premature death, or really, let's call it what it is, his assassination, his murder, there was a real opportunity, an opportunity to galvanize, to unite, to come together, to come back stronger following this. And you, I think back to the following days, the media and there was so much momentum. Right. Think about it. What did you see? I can tell you what I saw. At my church on the Sunday following his death. There was not a parking spot. Me and my husband, we had to park like half a mile away just to get into the door. There was no empty seat inside that church. Right. Bible sales were up, I think 30, 35% the following month. We saw so many young people all across the country looking for ways to get involved and inquiring about how they can live a life like Charlie Kirk did. And honestly, I hate talking about my friend's death because, yes, he was a political activist, he was a father, he was a husband to me. This was a mentor, he was a friend. He was my boss, technically, at Turning Point usa, but really, he was more than that to me. He was there for me at the very beginning of this. I think he saw something. Well, this is actually what he told me. He saw something special in me. He had no reason to kind of take me under his wing in the way that he did. Think about it, I was just say college age girl who experienced an injustice and spoke about this injustice, that that was my only qualification to be in the position that I'm in now. But Charlie Kirk, he saw potential. He believed in me. And that was really like a transfer of confidence. His belief in me allowed me to believe in myself. And so I hate talking about my friend's death in the way that I. I guess I am, in a way that insinuates we could have capitalized or or we could have net benefited from, from his death because frankly, I'd rather him still be here than to have that momentum that I'm speaking to. And quite frankly, I don't like speaking for a man who isn't here to defend himself. But I do imagine that he would have wanted his death to be a unifying moment for the country and I think more importantly, for the Kingdom of Christ. But what has become very, very clear is the conservative media ecosystem is louder, it is angrier, and it is more fractured than it has been in years. A few weeks back, I was at America Fest, which this is a annual conference put on by Turning Point usa. This, of course, was the first amfest without Charlie Kirk there. Night one, we saw people on stage taking shots at one another. I think Ben Shapiro was night one. Tucker Carlson, I know. Megyn Kelly, I think she was the next day. I'm not here to tell these people what they should or shouldn't say. Quite frankly, that's pretty anti American. I'm not here to do that. But I am of the mind that there's a time and place, and I don't think that Amfest, Charlie's super bowl, as Erica said, is the time and place. Right. When you take the stage at an event like AmFest, where there's 20 to 30,000 people in the crowd, largely consisting of high school and college age kids who are there to be inspired, they're there to learn, with millions of people watching online, that's a real opportunity, an opportunity to use it for good. One person who was not there is Candace Owens. Before I say anything about my thoughts on Candace Owens and the wild theories that she's putting out there, I want to say that it is okay to question things. Right? Of course I believe this. I think it would be a problem if we didn't question things. I actually think it's a pretty inherently conservative ideological trait to question things. It's a good thing in its true nature. But what I don't believe is fruitful and is saying, you know, I'm just asking questions, but what you're actually doing is making totally unfounded speculations, you know, like asking questions. But really they're statements with a question mark at the end. At this point where we are right now In January of 2026, several months following Charlie Kirk's assassination, and since Candace Owens has gone online and made some of these wild accusations, it's much easier now to come online and say emphatically that what Candace Owens is doing to Charlie Kirk, to his legacy, to his beautiful bride, or really, I should say his widow. To Turning Point usa, which is the organization that Charlie Kirk spent his entire adult life developing and fostering and growing so he could have influence among the youth, which clearly he had. Besides the point. It's easy to come online now, I believe and say that what she is doing is distasteful. I believe that it's evil and it's defamatory. Quite frankly, I say it's easier because we've seen people come out before me, right? People like Ali Bestucky and Alex Clark, both people who I admire very much. They were very quick to come out when others would not and say, hey, look, Charlie's body isn't even cold yet. And under the guise of Trump truth and justice, you're insinuating an array of people were involved or somehow responsible for Charlie's death. When this first discourse first started happening online, I gave some pretty terrible excuses, at least internally, to myself, and I call them that because that's what they are. These things were excuses as to why I didn't need to comment on these things. Number one, I didn't think anyone needed my input or commentary. Plus, I was still learning, right? New information was coming out, and I had just had a baby, so I think I was maybe four or five weeks postpartum at this point when this was really hot in the news. But I think the thing that deterred me the most, and I say those are excuses, the thing that deterred me the most from speaking about this, and I'm ashamed to say it, and this is what I was alluding to in the first few minutes of this podcast when I was talking about the personal revelations that I had. I was scared. I was a coward. I was scared of the inevitable backlash that I would get for saying something about what Candace Owens was doing. I realize that you get backlash for posting any of your opinions online. It doesn't matter what it is. You could say you like vanilla ice cream better than chocolate ice cream, and you're going to see, like, a total unleashing of what about ism? Okay? So you get backlash for everything. Hence why I say these were all pretty terrible excuses. I will say I want justice for Charlie Kirk, for his wife, for turning Point, just about as bad as anyone, okay? So to be very, very clear, the person, or potentially the people or the institutions who were behind his murder, I want to see those people punished to the fullest extent of the law, which means the death penalty, okay? But some of the conspiracy theories floating around out there Again, they're. They're entirely baseless. And so you might say, you know, why. Why do you think they're baseless? How can you so confidently say they're baseless? Number one, Candace Owens made a podcast episode about this mysterious and cryptic and infamous influencer gathering in the Hamptons a few weeks before Charlie's death. I'll just go ahead and let you know. I was there. I was there in the Hamptons a few weeks before Charlie was murdered. And some of the things that Candace was saying had happened at that retreat with Bill Ackman simply did not happen. I don't know if maybe she received information from someone that was simply false. I don't know if she made it up. I'm not sure. But I can tell you, some of the people in the room, the things that she said, they were saying, I was there. It literally didn't happen. Now, at this point, there are several people or groups of people that Candace has implied there's been some understanding of Charlie's death prior to the shooting. Right. Like our own government, the French government, Egyptian planes, the Mossad. There's like a secret trapdoor underground that's too many people wearing maroon. It's the soccer player from Utah Valley University who had his hoodie up, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Some of the people that she has been I think indirectly implicating is Charlie's security detail. I will say I understand that dynamic very well. I have seen the interactions between Charlie and his detail prior to his death. I've seen what it has looked like for Turning Point USA and Erica Kirk following his death. I can tell you assuredly, based on the conversations that I have had with people who were there, that those. That. That is a ridiculous accusation or even thing to be inquiring about. Two of the people who worked that security detail gave me very in depth detail of what it looked like in the 30 seconds he was on the ground before carting him off. I mean, it's graphic and I don't really want to go there on this podcast. Plus, um, I don't feel as if I need to clarify what was said or the things that were done to Charlie Kirk in those few seconds while he's on the ground. But to say his security detail was somehow some way shape or form implicated is ridiculous. And one more thing too. She's talked a lot about Mikey McCoy, which I know Mikey personally. He is the happiest, the bubbliest, the kindest, the friendliest person. I think at Turning Point USA and He loved Charlie Kirk. I believe he was his, you know, chief of staff or assistant, whatever you want to call it, for. For a while prior to his death. And he's taken the death really, really hard. So I know, you know, how do you know what to believe at this point? It's one person's word against another person's word. I'm just here to tell you in the interactions and the personal relationships I have. That is why I think so much of what Candace is saying is entirely baseless and unfounded and never being backed up with real convicting evidence. I was also hesitant to talk about this because the comments that you get about, you know, you've been paid, you know, you got the call, the $7,000 must have hit your account. Can I just say. Shut up. Like, literally shut up. Respectfully, I don't even think I could point to Israel on a map. I'm ashamed to say that I'm not proud to say it, but no one pays me, especially a foreign government, to have a swayed opinion. I think moral conviction is just a foreign concept to some people. And I think you'll have some people who comment on this and say, well, you're just a Trump loyalist. You're too trusting in the FBI. I'm not a Trump loyalist. I actually take real issue with people who treat Trump as if he's Jesus Christ himself. For example, I have an issue with the handling of the Epstein files. And for clarity, do I think President Trump is implicated in these files? No, absolutely, I do not. I think that would have been released years ago if he was. And I also understand that, you know, we, as the public, we aren't privy to. To what those internal conversations look like in the release of the files. But I will say I don't appreciate how President Trump handled it. For a while, when he was pressed initially, I think he said something to the effect, you know, the people who are demanding the release of the Epstein files are stupid and foolish. That's something I certainly wasn't okay with. And I called out on my social media accounts, okay, so get out of here with your. Your Trump loyalists stuff. So that's a little background of the infighting that we've seen. Other actors, again, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, you have Megyn Kelly, Candace, Ian Carroll, Dave Smith. Those are some of the people who have been involved in this. And when approaching this conversation, I'm really of two minds. I thought I would, you know, come on here and ask everyone to unite and put all those differences aside, because we have to win in 2026. And I still do think that that's why this is kind of hard for me. So I'm kind of unpacking this out in real time with you guys. So, again, on one hand, yes, we must unite, but on the other hand, I'm not sure if it's good to overlook some of the things that the infighting that we're seeing is fundamentally about. Right. People talk a lot about unity as if that is the highest good. Well, I'm here to tell you that it's not the highest good. Truth is the highest good. And when truth matters, unity isn't always possible. That reality shows up far more, I believe, on the right than on the left. And of course, there's a reason for it. The modern left is animated and enthralled and motivated by demolition and destruction. Right? Think of it. Institutions, traditions, history, historical figures, historical statues, moral boundaries to the left. None of that has to be preserved. And when your goal is destruction, you don't need agreement, you just really need momentum. You need the people who are on the ground willing to do those things. Any tactic will do, so long as the target falls. Now, the right, the Conservative Party, it's different because I do believe that we're trying to construct something that lasts. Erica Kirk, she said it. I forget which interview it was, but someone asked her, what do you say to the naysayers, to the people like Candace Owen? She says, look, we're building and building. That requires clarity. It requires shared definitions and shared goals and shared first principles. You cannot build without answering basic questions, right? What are we aiming towards? What values shape this structure? What holds up when pressure comes? We could approach this conversation as Americans, as human beings. But as a Christian myself, I tend to approach this conversation as a Christian. The foundation that we're talking about, it's not one of political power or government authority. It is the truth that human beings are made in the image of God, one whose authority stands above the state. Right? I understand that our rights don't come from legislators or courts. They come from him. And so when talking about right and wrong and good and bad, truth versus evil, these aren't things that are negotiated by a majority vote or a 2026 electoral win. Right? That belief is load bearing. I think we should remove it and the entire framework collapses. So I believe as Christians, our responsibility is not to water down these principles or these morals for the sake of surface level unity. It is to argue, to persuade, and to invite others to toward what is objectively good and true, what is biblically Good and true unity that requires abandoning truth, I don't think is unity at all. It is surrender. And so, yes, the fractures and the fissure that we're seeing on the right, it is certainly uncomfortable to watch these debates pan out in real time online. You want people to take it behind closed doors, but I do believe they exist because you have people who are willing to argue about what is true, just as Charlie Kirk did before we argue about who is in charge. And yes, that process is slow. It is imperfect. I believe oftentimes, as it's proving to be, it is painful, but it's also honest. The left can unify quickly because clearly the truth does not matter to them. The truth avoiding the truth. It makes power really easier to obtain for them. But the right, on the other hand, I think it takes us longer to unify. We're calculated. And because we believe in the truth and that difference matters. There was a tweet put up by Dan Bongino, who is the deputy director, former deputy director of the FBI. He's now stepped down. He's going back to doing what he did prior to this position, which is in the media, political commentary. But I want to read just a little bit of it. He says in this tweet, I'll put the whole thing on the screen. So if you're watching@YouTube.com you can see I'm just going to read a little piece of it. He's directly addressing here his words, a group of black pillars, life losers, grifters and bums. The last paragraph here, he says, we've got midterms coming up and there's no time for bs. The administration is cooking in real change Simmers. If you're spending your entire day whining with three fourths of the term still to go, then please find the exit. There's no time for it. It's not infighting. When you excise a cancer killing the host, it's out fighting because you're not part of any movement I'm familiar with. And I really took to that. I started thinking, you know, who are some of these bad actors? People that I align themselves with, the Conservative Party, maybe are viewed traditionally as being conservative, but don't represent the views that I have. And I would consider myself a conservative. And one that comes to mind is, of course, Nick Fuentes. We've got a clip. Let's play it right here.