Why The Bachelorette’s Controversial Season Won't Air | The Riley Gaines Show

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Riley Gaines Show

Episode: Why The Bachelorette’s Controversial Season Won't Air
Date: March 25, 2026
Host: Riley Gaines
Guest: Paula Scanlon

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Riley Gaines welcomes fellow former collegiate swimmer Paula Scanlon for a conversation diving into the abrupt cancellation of the latest “Bachelorette” season featuring influencer Taylor Frankie Paul, who is embroiled in domestic violence allegations. The two discuss the dynamics of reality TV, contemporary influencer culture, shifting public standards, and challenges facing Gen Z, all through the lenses of faith, personal responsibility, and current cultural shifts. They close with reflections on political fatigue, affordability concerns, and the exodus from liberal cities like New York.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Canceled “Bachelorette” Season & Taylor Frankie Paul Scandal

• Background: ABC chose Taylor Frankie Paul for “The Bachelorette” despite her controversial past (domestic violence allegations, “soft swinging,” custody battles).

  • "This video came out highlighting Taylor Frankie Paul…I think this video was from 2023. We actually have the video. We're going to play it really quick." (00:54)
  • Sample of audio from the alleged incident is briefly played [01:33].

• Network Responsibility & Incentivizing Controversy:

  • Both Riley and Paula believe ABC was aware of Taylor’s history and deliberately selected her for the drama and anticipated high viewership.
    • "There's no way they didn't know. I remember when they chose her as the Bachelorette. I thought it was a really interesting choice, given the scandal. But I think they chose it because of the scandal, because controversial people get more views." (01:46, Paula)
  • ABC reportedly spent $2M on production before scrapping the season. (02:29, Paula)

• Cultural Incentivization of Instability:

  • "I agree with you. I think platforms and networks almost incentivize instability and chaos for views, and I think that's no different here." (03:17, Riley)
  • Noted that the franchise rarely results in lasting relationships, further confirming networks "bank on" messy outcomes for ratings (04:21–05:12).

2. Public Double Standards, “Cancellation,” and Identity Politics

• Comparisons to Other Franchise Scandals:

  • Colton Underwood’s post-show legal troubles and redemption by coming out as gay.
    • "If he hadn't [come out], he would 100% still be canceled...given no other public attention other than negative, negative things." (07:04, Paula)
  • Discussion of public response discrepancies, e.g., the lack of outcry over Mom Donnie’s wife’s use of slurs compared to high-profile conservative women.
    • "We haven’t really seen this massive cancellation…you can imagine, let’s say, someone like Melania Trump…they would ask...her head on a platter. But we haven’t really seen that with Mom Donnie’s wife." (07:43, Riley)

• The “Oppression Totem Pole” and Political Narrative:

  • Those aligned with progressive identity markers receive less scrutiny.
    • "They're viewed as oppressed somehow because they're part of a certain religious group or minority group and people don't want to call scrutiny on them at all." (08:26, Paula)
    • "There's always this double standard where if someone agrees with you politically or is part of a certain group, you can't say anything about them." (08:53, Paula)

• Cancellation Driven by Political Alignment:

  • Taylor Frankie Paul’s public attempts to reconnect with religion and associations with conservative figures (like Charlie Kirk) increased left-wing backlash against her (09:48–10:02).

3. The Rise and Risks of Influencer Culture

• Parasocial Relationships & Audience Entitlement:

  • Social media has intensified audience expectations to share every aspect of influencers' lives (12:51–14:19).
    • "There's this entitlement to other people's lives simply because they're either more visible or choose to post online about other things…You're not entitled to information on people's personal lives and even political views." (12:51, Paula)
  • Noted absurdities, such as fan entitlement to celebrity wedding photos (Zendaya), or influencers being pressured to speak out on political crises.

• Political Nonparticipation as Suspicion:

  • "It used to be that if someone's not making commentary on politics...it just means they'll probably go vote...and not think day to day about these things. But now...people are automatically assuming you need to be fully aligned one way or the other." (15:30, Paula)

4. Personal Reflections: Political Fatigue & Forced Advocacy

• Being Forced Into Political Discourse:

  • Riley and Paula never sought out political attention but feel leftist policy thrust them into activism for women’s sports (17:02–18:10).
    • "Because of this horrible leftist policy…we were forced to talk about politics…certain people who had no, you know, desire to be in the political world were forced into it…" (18:10, Paula)
  • Both express exhaustion and frustration with repeated discussions, noting little new to say in the women's sports debate (19:10–19:45).

• Pressures to Comment on Foreign Policy (Israel/Hamas, etc.):

  • Gen Zers (even dual citizens, like Paula) feel pressured to constantly opine on global issues despite little expertise (21:14–22:04).
    • "There's this pressure for sort of young people to know about what's going on in foreign countries…I'm not going to try to sit here and say I'm a 26 year old that has all the answers." (22:04, Paula)

5. Issues Gen Z Cares About: Affordability and Daily Life

• Affordability & Delayed Adulthood:
  • The real top concern for young Americans is economics—housing, independence, inflation. (23:50–25:18)
    • "The number of kids that are not feeling independence from their parents…people who are my age, people who are even a little bit older, they're still maybe in their mid-30s, unmarried, living at home…not because of failure…it's because of the system…" (24:10, Paula)
  • Bemoans drift from traditional milestones, and how this drives election decisions.

6. Life in Progressive Cities & the “Exodus”

• On NYC’s Challenges Under Progressive Leadership:

  • Snowstorm mismanagement, public safety concerns, pile-ups of trash, and increasing taxes.
    • "Every bus has on the side...fare is not free...MamDani ran on the bus is being free, you still very much do have to pay for the bus in New York City." (25:35, Paula)
    • "If you wanted to diet on any given day, I recommend actually just walking out into the snow banks, looking at the heroin, needles, trash. You could see urine. I hope they're from dogs, but you never know." (26:10, Paula)
  • Anecdote about a robbery enabled by sidewalk snow banks illustrates urban decline.

• Mass Migration to Red States:

  • Riley describes Nashville’s infrastructure straining under the wave of newcomers.
    • "No Tennessee very much...Tennessee area is becoming overpopulated…Starbucks just announced that they're leaving Seattle, which is pretty crazy after a big tax bill was passed to come to Nashville." (28:41, Riley)
    • Worries economic newcomers from blue states may shift local politics leftward.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I think they chose it because of the scandal, because controversial people get more views and ABC is all about making money. And so it's kind of funny that it backfired on them…She's too controversial. This is too much.” — Paula, 01:46

• "These reality shows, whether it's something like Bachelor, Bachelorette, even Love is Blind…of the however many couples…maybe five that are still together." — Riley, 05:12

• "I think the coming out as gay saved [Colton Underwood's] career and his public image in the eyes of ABC and these other mainstream places." — Paula, 07:04

• "There's always this double standard where if someone agrees with you politically or is part of a certain group, you can't say anything about them. And that's what we've seen really, with many of these social issues." — Paula, 08:53

• "There's this entitlement to other people's lives simply because they're either more visible or choose to post online about other things. You're not entitled to information on people's personal lives and even political views." — Paula, 12:51

• "Because of this horrible leftist policy and basically framing of everything, we were forced to talk about politics…they pushed everyday average Americans that never once needed to join this fight...push us into it. And so in that way, yeah, it feels exhausting." — Paula, 18:10

• "I just don't even have anything new to add. It's like beating a dead horse…if we can't move the needle. It does. Like, I certainly feel the fatigue as well." — Riley, 19:45

• "I'm not going to try to sit here and say I'm a 26-year-old that has all the answers...It's really unfortunate...that you have pressure maybe to comment on something you don't necessarily know about." — Paula, 22:04

• "The number one issues...the thing that always comes up is really affordability. And I think again that continues to show and that's what I continue to see people talking about and complaining about and anything else...is just trickle down from really that issue." — Paula, 25:18

• "I recommend actually just walking out into the snow banks looking at the heroin, needles, trash. You could see urine. I hope they're from dogs, but you never know…" — Paula, 26:10 (urban decay anecdote)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:54 – 02:19: Introduction to the Taylor Frankie Paul controversy and ABC's decision.
• 03:17 – 04:20: How reality TV incentivizes instability.
• 06:03 – 07:43: Comparing Colton Underwood and gender double standards in cancel culture.
• 08:26 – 10:02: Identity politics and “protected” public figures.
• 12:51 – 15:30: The dangers and distortions of parasocial influencer culture.
• 17:02 – 18:10: The exhaustion of being forced into political debate.
• 21:14 – 23:10: Millennials and Gen Z’s pressure to opine on global crises.
• 23:50 – 25:18: Gen Z’s real concerns: affordability and independence.
• 25:35 – 27:30: Life in New York City under progressive policies.
• 28:41 – 29:57: The ongoing migration from blue to red states.

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Closing Thoughts

This episode provides a candid critique of media ethics, influencer culture, and the generational challenges facing today’s young adults, especially women. Riley and Paula weave together personal anecdotes, social observations, and pointed cultural commentary, echoing the podcast’s commitment to faith, family, and principled engagement with a rapidly changing world.

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Transcript

[A]

Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha.

[B]

Try it today at Starbucks. Mom talk and mom Donnie. That's what we're talking about today. We are talking with, actually a dear friend of mine. Her name is Paula Scanlon, also a Division 1 collegiate swimmer. We're talking about the Bachelorette and Taylor Frankie Paul and the domestic violence charges that she is now facing and how ABC has scrubbed the season entirely. Also, Paula is a resident of New York City, so we're talking mom Donnie. Stay tuned. Okay, Paula, thanks for joining the Riley Gaines show. It's always fun to talk with you, but we rarely get to do it with the cameras on. So I'm excited about this. There's about a hundred different things in the news going on, pop culture that we could talk about. But I wanted to talk with you about the whole Taylor Frankie Paul Bachelorette situation for context. Obviously, this was the newest season set to air. This video came out highlighting Taylor Frankie Paul, I guess a domestic violence situation. I have to imagine that ABC knew about this because, I mean, quite frankly, I knew about this. I think this video was from 2023. We actually have the video. We're going to play it really quick.

[A]

I don't give a. Let me go.

[B]

Stop.

[A]

Dude, leave me alone. Oh, my God.

[B]

Okay. So you think ABC knew about this too, don't you?

[A]

I think they had to have. Right. People talk about the background checks that ABC is doing on their contestants. There's no way they didn't know. I remember when they chose Frank, chose her as the Bachelorette. I thought that it was a really interesting choice given the scandal. But I think they chose it because of the scandal, because controversial people get more views and ABC is all about making money. And so it's kind of funny that it backfired on them, that it got too. They went too far. She's too controversial. This is too much. You saw people on the left and the right coming together and agreeing, hey, this is terrible. And ultimately the show was pulled.

[B]

Yeah. Which that hardly ever happens. I wonder how much they spent on production costs because they made it through the entire season of filming, didn't they?

[A]

That's what I understand. And people who have gone and looked at it say that they spent at least $2 million in the season. I don't know how these budgets work. I don't know anything about the Bachelorette or ABC or what they do. I just know that they're flying around, usually to locations, sometimes leaving the country. I mean, it's not something that's cheap. It's a big show that's been going on for so many seasons. I'm really curious to see what they try to do next. A lot of people were saying maybe they'll try to redo the season. Maybe the show will be over forever. The entire situation is just completely absurd and ridiculous. And again, they could have chose someone else to do this show. They could have chose someone who is high profile, has a lot of followers, but is not in a video, potentially abusing their own children, their partner, whatever. Millions of options they could have picked. And they didn't do that.

[B]

Yeah, I've never really understood the lore of Taylor Frankie Paul. Forgive me for not really thinking she's a good Bachelorette contestant. She has, I think, three kids with two dads, one marriage. The whole mom top mom talk thing where I think her and her husband and her friend group were accused of, like, actually they admitted to being soft swingers, which I think basically is where you partner swap within the friend group. She's very clearly unstable. If you follow her online, I think she struggled with eating disorders and depression and anxiety. She's in this custody battle now. And so I agree with you. I think platforms and networks almost incentivize instability and chaos for views, and I think that's no different here. Have you been a Bachelor or Bachelorette fan also previously?

[A]

Honestly, not really. I've seen some of the more controversial seasons. And I think what's interesting, though, about this is if ABC were to air this season and you can chime in if you disagree with me, I think it would have been one of the most viewed seasons.

[B]

I think so, too.

[A]

I have people texting me, asking me because they know I sort of watch the show. Like, my family members that have never seen an episode ever, and they're seeing this, they're talking about the Bachelor franchise for the first time ever. It would have been create good views for them. Which is the worst part about all of this is that reality TV and all these networks that make money, they have incentives to have controversial people. And again, I think they knew all of this. They probably saw the video and they said, you know what? She's going to be great because she's controversial. And they probably knew the relationship wouldn't last. And I think the biggest and worst part about the Bachelor franchise is none of these relationships, the entire point of the show, ever end up working out. They're all broken up. If you go and look at every single season and I think that they knew she was going to be in a position where it wasn't going to work out, it was going to be messy, which would then give them a more views, more attention, more free marketing.

[B]

Yeah. And maybe this was just a total assumption here, but this could have been a PR stunt for even the next season to garner that kind of viewership and attention. You're right. To the franchise from people who previously have not watched it. And yeah, these reality shows, whether it's something like Bachelor, Bachelorette, even Love is Blind, I've watched all. I think there's 10 seasons of love is Blind. And of the however many couples, upwards of probably 60 or so couples that have gotten to the altar or at least gotten engaged on the show, I think there's maybe five that are still together. Most recently Vic and Christine from the Ohio season, which I love them by the way, but that's a different conversation. But I asked you if you were a fan of Bachelor slash Bachelorette because I don't know if you remember Colton Underwood. Do you remember him?

[A]

I do.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. Okay, so he's the football player who was on the show. Very handsome, very good looking, very buff. He was kind of got like the pilot Pete edit of the Bachelor. Well, he ended up getting engaged to Cassie at the end of his season. But after following, I think a few months after their engagement, he admitted to stalking behavior. So sending threatening messages. He put a tracker on Cassie's car. He was stalking her family members. He even acted as if he was being stalked in receiving these messages, but he was sending himself these messages. Crazy behavior. But then he came out as gay. Netflix documentary series Coming out as Colton, he was on the Masked Singer. He was on another Netflix show called Traitors, while Taylor season, of course, and comparing the two was pulled entirely. And so do you think there's a double standard here between men and women when they're. They're under scrutiny publicly like this?

[A]

It's not so much a double standard. I think the coming out as gay saved his, his career and his public image in the eyes of ABC and these other mainstream places. So, Riley, from hearing what you just said, I think Taylor, Frankie Paul needs to come out as a full lesbian and they'll maybe air the season. It's, it's, but it's, it's upsetting. And I think there is a little bit of a double standard. I don't know if it's necessarily male and female or, you know, trans and gay versus not trans and gay, which we obviously know a lot about. And I think that that probably helped save him. And if he hadn't done that, he would 100% still be canceled, given no airtime, given no other shows, given no other public attention other than negative, negative things towards him.

[B]

Yeah, now he's a little lower, I guess, higher on the oppression totem pole. And it's a good point you make. We saw recently where Mom Donnie's wife had engaged in some pretty crazy comments online saying the N word. I think she used the F slur when referring to the gay queer community yet. We haven't really seen like this massive cancellation where you can imagine, let's say, someone like Melania Trump. People uncovered this from even 10, 15, 20 years ago. They would ask, demand, really, her head on a platter. But we haven't really seen that with Mom Donnie's wife. Any insight there?

[A]

Yeah, I mean, exactly that. Right. They're viewed as oppressed somehow because they're part of a certain religious group or minority group and people don't want to call scrutiny on them at all. And it doesn't surprise me whatsoever. I already went in thinking Mom Donnie was a terrible choice for mayor and his wife probably part of that package. So anything that she said does not really surprise me. But of course they're never going to call attention on it. They're never going to talk about it.

[B]

They.

[A]

There's always this double standard where if someone agrees with you politically or is part of a certain group, you can't say anything about them. And that's what we've seen really, with many of these social issues that we've dealt with in the political world. That's really what all of them boil down to. That's how Democrats run. Right. It's just, are you part of this group? Check the box. There's probably a checklist somewhere that they have going on thinking about, can we talk about this issue, yes or no. And that's the situation. And tying this sort of back to the Taylor Frankie Paul thing. People were extra quick to cancel her because she's spoken about sort of trying to find her religion. She said positive words about Charlie Kirk. And I saw. I don't know if you saw this, but a lot of leftists online were more inclined to be upset about what she did because she fell into that category instead of just saying at face value what she did was wrong. And I think that that's a really confusing moral standard that they have. But we see it every day with every single one of these issues.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. I don't think I saw where she said something about Charlie Kirk. Yeah, it was kind of unsurprising, given again, living in Utah. I would imagine, given that the assassination happened there, maybe it hit close to home for her.

[A]

Yeah, I think she again, has said something positive about it. I personally didn't see it. I think it was just like an Instagram story back when everything had started happening. I don't think there's been continued commentary, but again, most influencers or any people, they should have posted something positive about an event like that. I think it doesn't, you know, doesn't say anything about where they stand politically or whatever. It shouldn't. But yet again, the leftists online turn it that way. And I saw a little bit of engagement on the Taylor Frankie Paul situation because. Because of that, which again, is super unfortunate. The two things are not related and should never be related. But again, in the eyes of Democrats, that's always how they work. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home with agents who close twice as many deals. When you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get [e-mail] own the dream I want

[B]

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[A]

Well, definitely. I think a recent event to tie that into is. I don't know if you saw this, but Zendaya got married, right? So yeah, at some point behind closed doors and there were so many people online who felt personally upset that they didn't know she was married, didn't have access to pictures of her wedding. You do not know her, you're not friends, you've never met in person. There's this entitlement to other people's lives simply because they're either more visible or choose to post online about other things. You're not entitled to information on people's personal lives and even political views. I don't know if you like. This continues to happen time and time again where people are canceling influencers that post content that have nothing to do with politics, insisting to know their political opinions. And when they find out that those opinions are not what exactly matches theirs, they're quick to unfollow, they're quick to say this person's a horrible person when they only followed them for a specific niche that has nothing to do with politics. And so there's this again, this entitlement of access to everyone's everything. And when you don't get that, people go crazy, which it's really disturbing. And I think we are at a really interesting time in, in the world where I don't know what the long term effects of this are. I don't know how much worse it's going to get and I don't really know what the solution is necessarily to fix it. I mean, we can't just ban social media, we can't deplatform anyone. So it's a really difficult situation and people are definitely getting a little bit deranged over it.

[B]

Yeah, I would certainly say so. I love Tom Holland and Zendaya. I think their marriage is so sweet, their relationship has been so sweet. But deranged is a good word. And talking about these parasocial relationships, I think of Sydney Sweeney who was selling like her bath water. And you have creeps lining up miles long to be able to access this and purchase this because they feel like they know her. It's the most bizarre thing ever. And I remember too when all the ICE stuff was happening in Minnesota, specifically, it was Alex Earle, which I like her, she's chaotic, she's fun. I follow all of her stuff, I watch all of her videos. She's very entertaining. If you were going through her comments, everyone was demanding that she spoke about ice, which I don't believe she ever did. When an influencer does that, do you think that means secretly that they're conservative?

[A]

You know, that's something I think a lot of people automatically jump to the conclusion of. I think it means, yeah, they probably lean that way or they're simply just a common sense, independent thinking person in that's not overly involved with political things.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It used to be that if someone's not making commentary on politics that it just means like, yeah, they'll probably go vote for the president and kind of lean one way or the other every four years and not think day to day about these things. But now because of this, you know, this hyper polarization, people are automatically assuming you need to be fully aligned one way or the other. I imagine Alix Earle maybe probably leans our way a little bit.

[B]

I think so too.

[A]

But I don't think she has strong viewpoints, maybe like the way you and I do. And I think that's okay. I think she can be an influencer. I think she can be posting her content. And I don't think anyone should ever demand anything from her politically. And I think you and I, if she made a statement tomorrow saying, hey, I supported Kamala Harris In 2024, I don't necessarily think it would change what we both view her content as for either of us. And I think that's kind of how it should be. And I wish we could go back to sort of allowing people to do that and make their own decisions and not affect her content. Now if she started posting about, you know, Democrat policies and stuff, we probably wouldn't want to consume her content. But if she came out and said that and posted what she did, I don't know, maybe I wouldn't change my views on how I consume her content.

[B]

No, I absolutely agree with that. I would still watch her stuff too. But in speaking about, I guess you personally, obviously having kind of been immersed in the political sphere, do you feel like you ever get political fatigue, if you will?

[A]

Oh, definitely. This is something I've been reflecting on a lot in the last really several months, and I think you probably will agree with some of these things. I think what happened to us and a lot of the other women who sort of came up on the issue that we both works.

[B]

Which gives a little bit of your background very quickly too.

[A]

Yes. Yeah, yeah. So everyone obviously knows Riley Gaines and her story, but I was teammates with the wonderful man, Leah Thomas, that Riley was forced to compete against at the NCAA championship. And so just talking about how it's unfair for a man to be in our locker room and on our sports team. But also I talked a lot about the censorship I faced from my university, from my conference, and not speaking about how we thought it was unfair. So that's a quick background. But really what I've thought, and I think same thing probably goes for you, is I never once wanted to be a person who grew up talking about politics. Like you and I probably voted, had political opinions, as we should, but never once imagined this would be more than something you do when you're behind closed door voting in the voting booth.

[B]

Every four years.

[A]

Every four years, or in local elections, whatever it might be. But because of this horrible leftist policy and basically framing of everything, we were forced to talk about politics. Right? Their terrible policy decision making and whatever's going on in that camp that said, Hey, a 6 foot 4 tall man can actually be a woman athlete forced us to talk about politics. And so I think in a weird way, yeah, people have fatigue because not just on our issue, but on a lot of issues, certain people who had no, you know, desire to be in the political world were forced into it. And I'm not saying that I regret speaking out or you absolutely don't either, but do you kind of what I'm saying, like, we were forced into speaking about this because they were so extreme, because they were so radical, because they pushed everyday average Americans that never once needed to join this fight, push us into it. And so in that way, yeah, it feels exhausting.

[B]

It's so true. I feel like it takes a certain type of person, whether it's to sit behind a camera with lights in your face, whether it's to, you know, be on a House floor of some, you know, state capitol or Even in Washington, D.C. it takes a special kind of person to want to do that or to be privy to it or to be natural at it. Of course, not every single person would thrive and succeed in that setting. And that was not me. Like, I was not that person even still, quite frankly, like it's not overly natural for me to do those things. And so I absolutely agree with you. And I think too, the issue of men and women's sports, I don't have anything new or profound even to say nothing that's overly wise. It's unfair, it's unsafe, it's wrong. We've been having this discussion for, I mean, speaking personally, what, nearly four years now. I just don't even have anything new to add. It's like beating a dead horse if we can't move the needle. It does. Like, I certainly feel the fatigue as well. And I think, especially with the issues that circulate online now, whether that be the constant incessant need to create these conspiracy theories and these totally outlandish things on an array of topics, whether it be the bad actors that are constantly platformed, people like Nick Fuentes, whether it's what's going on in the Middle east and foreign policy, which truthfully, I didn't know a lot about. Even still, I would say I have a very, very entry level understanding there and I'm not going to act like I don't. The political fatigue is certainly there, but I guess in talking about kind of the Middle east and what's going on there, one of the conversations that has been online is this obsession with isra. It's beyond me, honestly. I don't understand it. I don't get it. People comment on my posts all the time saying, you know, you got. You must have been paid $7,000 to post, to post this. Like, really? By who? Like, I just, it doesn't. I don't even understand what they're saying.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I wanted to get your gauge as another Gen Z er on the topic of Israel. Like, do you think this is an issue that young people care about or do you think this is mostly like online discussion?

[A]

Yeah, that's the thing. This is an interesting thing that always comes up whenever you talk about the political realm, which wasn't the case when we first started in this political world. Right. Like, this was never something that ever was a big topic. My take on it is just, it's a foreign policy issue, which again, I don't know a lot about. My take is that I. I'm kind of tired of hearing about it. And this kind of goes maybe both ways. It's really interesting that this just keeps coming up into conversation. And I think both sides of this issue have in common that they can't stop talking about it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Like, even people who obviously, I don't support Hamas, I don't support, you know, that horrible situation going on in any conflict, really. But I don't, I don't know anything. I'm not getting briefed. I don't work in the White House. But there's this pressure for sort of young people to know about what's going on in foreign countries. I actually, I'm a dual citizen and maybe I'm going to get canceled now by these people who are saying anyone who's not just 100% American is a horrible person, which we see online. And I still don't fully understand the conflict going on. I'm a Taiwanese citizen for context, for people, and I don't fully understand and grasp a lot of the things that go on over there with Taiwan and China. I know a lot. I know probably more than the average American, but I don't know everything. And I'm not going to try to sit here and say I'm a 26 year old that has all the answers. And so it's really unfortunate, again, maybe you feel this way that you have pressure maybe to comment on something you don't necessarily know about. And there's a lot of people going on online that are just saying things that they don't know anything about. They're not the president, they're not working in the White House. They're just saying whatever comes to mind.

[B]

Yeah, transparently. I think with the platform that I have been blessed with, with, you know, millions of followers on X and TikTok and Instagram, I almost put pressure on myself to say something. Right. Like people are looking for me. And actually Ali Bastucky came on the show a few weeks ago and we talked about this, where that pressure, you're putting it on you. I had to like take a step back and realize no one, Riley, is coming to you for their thoughts on Iran. Nobody. And you're insane if you think it. But I think it just comes with the platform, I guess. So what issues is it do you think that young people care about right now?

[A]

I think the biggest thing, and again also we're the same age, so chime in too is really just what's going on at home. I think affordability. I think something I look at is the number of kids that are not feeling independence from their parents. Right. There's sort of before it used to be you move out when you're 18, maybe a little bit after that, and then you sort of break away, you get married, you start a family. I'm looking at people who are my age, people who are even a Little bit older, they're still maybe in their mid-30s, unmarried, living at home. And it's not because of failure of that person. It's because of the system now where you can't afford houses at the same price. The job markets are different, the base salary pay you have with inflation doesn't go as far as. And I think that that's really what young people are feeling pressure. And so when we talk about foreign issues, there's a lot of fatigue because they're just saying, well, my day to day life is that I can't afford things the way my parents could. I can't have a house the same time my parents did when they were my age. And I really think that that's the root of all of it. And again, that's really what it all comes down to for young people. I don't think there's really anything else people think of. And I. When people talk about elections and number one issues, the thing that always comes up is really affordability. And I think again that continues to show and that's what I continue to see people talking about and complaining about and anything else that they're secondary thinking about is just trickle down from really that issue.

[B]

Which is why when people promise free things, it's so appealing, it's so incentivizing, you want to get out and vote for that person. One of those people being mom. Donnie, as you alluded to, you live in New York City. How is that going? Have you seen any major shift over the past few months?

[A]

I should have taken a picture of this and sent it to you guys. It's really funny because every bus has on the side of the bus, it's not like what line it is. It says fare is not free or some wording of that to remind people that even though Mamdani ran on the bus is being free, you still very much do have to pay for the bus in New York City. It is the funniest thing that you see every bus you pass by in New York. So that's one quick funny aside. Yeah, I mean we saw disasters with the snowstorms. That was a really big thing where these disgusting snowbanks where if you wanted to diet on any given day, I recommend actually just walking out into the snow banks looking at the heroin, needles, trash. You could see urine. I hope they're from dogs, but you never know. Just disgusting things in these snowbanks that just stayed there for weeks, crowded the sidewalk. We were talking about this before. I'll share this story quickly. Actually a Friend get robbed because of the snowbank situation. He was a couple doors away from home and these three guys approached him and he couldn't get around them because of this massive snowbank. So he was sort of forced to engage with them and they ended up stealing his nice watch. He was able to get away safe and sound and obviously went to the police and the police told him that these people have been had been doing it all through the winter. So they really took advantage of the snow bank situation. And of course the cops weren't able to do anything because conveniently the cameras on all the corners were not available and didn't get any clear image, which no surprise if you report crime oftentimes nothing happens. So I've heard that. I've seen more crazy people on the subways. I don't know, I mean it's still early on. It's probably going to get worse. I'm just glad that we're coming into spring now where at least the snowbank situation is going to be obviously better. There's no more of that. So that is my one positive coming into summer.

[B]

Have you noticed kind of like a mass exodus from places like New York, maybe even in the city, to more conservative parts of the country, especially with taxes being increased in the city.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I'm sure you could probably talk about how your Nashville, Tennessee area is becoming overpopulated. I mean, yeah, it's pretty much every week we're having a go a go away party. I'm hearing Tennessee, Florida. I have so many friends that have moved to Florida and I'm happy they moved to Florida because I have a place to go visit them and I think it's probably going to be pretty soon when I go and join them because yeah, I don't know how much more we're going to be able to take here. But again, it's hard for me personally because I have my family all in this area and that's sort of why I'm here. It's great to be close to family. I really value that and it's really, really hard. Of course New York was always left leaning, but this is too far right. I could deal with maybe a sort of maybe Democrat lean place, but a place that's saying, hey, the buses are going to be free. Here's all of this stuff that you can't do. Increasing taxes and giving us nothing in return. A lot of people don't appeal to that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, no Tennessee very much. We have felt the weight of people from California. I mean, you name the Blue state. Even corporations. There's a big Facebook headquarters now in my hometown. In N out has moved their headquarters to Nashville. Starbucks just announced that they're leaving Seattle, which is pretty crazy after a big tax bill was passed to come to Nashville. So certainly we are feeling it, which is of course good for the economy, but we don't have the infrastructure really to be able to support that, unfortunately. And so roads and traffic and school even, oh, my gosh, my little sister's school. There's maybe 1600 kids in this school. And it's not a school that can support that. They're building those townhomes and condos and apartments everywhere down here. And so I have a feeling that it's only going to get more crowded and more expensive. And you have to predict it will only get more blue, which that's the part that really kills me. So we will see what the future looks like. Well, Paula, you rock. I always appreciate you coming on. So thank you very, very much.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you guys for tuning in to the Riley Gaines show. Be sure to follow us here on YouTube.com RileyGaines you can subscribe. That way you never miss an episode. You can follow us over on Instagram at rileygain show. We'd love to hear from you. You can leave comments here. You can DM us over on Instagram. We want your feedback. We want to know what you want to hear about. We want to know what guests you want to see on the show. Be sure to share these episodes far and wide. It helps tremendously. When you do. You can share it with your friends or your parents or your neighbors. Heck, why don't you share this with that liberal in your life? You know the one I'm talking about? Share it with the person who needs to hear this message the most. We'll see you guys later.