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Victor Davis Hanson Joins Rob to Discuss "Words Of War" - The Rob Carson Show | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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Victor Davis Hanson Joins Rob to Discuss "Words Of War"

The Rob Carson Show

Thu Nov 20 2025

Summary

The Rob Carson Show – Podcast Summary

Episode: Victor Davis Hanson Joins Rob to Discuss “Words of War”
Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Rob Carson
Guest: Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution

Episode Overview

In this substantial episode of The Rob Carson Show, host Rob Carson dives into current political, cultural, and economic topics with his signature comedic flair and “flyover country” perspective. The centerpiece is a meaty, insightful interview with historian and columnist Victor Davis Hanson, focusing on the use and impact of incendiary political rhetoric—what Hanson labels “words of war.” The conversation covers the implications for American democracy, the erosion of institutional trust, and the existential clash over the nation’s direction. Alongside, Carson lampoons political figures, highlights current events, and features lighthearted musical parody segments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Political Rhetoric as “Words of War” ([00:42]–[02:00])

Carson rails against Congressional Democrats (Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Luzio, Chrissy Houlahan) who released a video urging soldiers to disobey superiors allegedly to resist Trump—Carson calls this “a soft insurrection.”
He expands on how language like "fascist" and "Nazi" has stoked real violence since 2020, blurring lines between speech and incitement.

“No, no, no, it’s not that, Hunter. That’s something completely different. If you have a soft insurrection, that’s something, you know, you got to see a doct—take some medication... But no, it’s a soft insurrection. They’ve been pushing this forever... They're fomenting a Civil war.”
— Rob Carson ([02:00])

2. Current Political & Economic Wins ([04:07]–[09:40])

Carson discusses recent claims of economic growth under Trump, mocking Biden's record, lauding job numbers, manufacturing resurgence, and reduced federal government hiring.
He and guests riff on Trump’s business acumen, international investments, and U.S. trade deficit improvements.
Lighthearted musical parodies by Jim Gossett, impersonating Trump and Musk, add levity.

“There’s so much money coming into this country, you’ve never seen anything like it... There could be like $100 trillion in new business in America and you guys couldn’t do D-word for Richard.”
— Rob Carson ([07:44])

3. The "Affordability" Narrative & Mainstream Media ([09:40]–[11:27])

The hosts critique rising prices during Biden’s administration, call out media attempts to downplay inflation, and compare economic performance between administrations.
The “affordability” crisis, in their view, is a media scam covering for failed policies.

“This whole affordability stuff is an absolute scam. It’s a lefty media scam. It’s Biden who created the affordability problem, not Mr. Trump.”
— Co-host/Guest ([10:06])

4. Foreign Policy Strength & Mainstream Coverage ([10:17]–[11:48])

Trump’s foreign policy approval ratings now surpass those of past presidents, Carson notes, despite continued opposition smears.

“Look at this. Donald Trump actually leads the pack at 43%. Donald Trump has a higher foreign policy approval rating at this point in a second term than any other president... I thought he was fascist and Nazi. He’s the worst fascist Nazi ever.”
— Rob Carson ([10:32])

5. Deep Dives into Corruption, Epstein, and Double Standards ([13:57]–[18:39])

Carson vents about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, the frustration of “a class of people getting away with everything,” and how Biden, Clinton, and DOJ suppression stoke public anger.
He mercilessly lampoons Jasmine Crockett for mistakenly associating Republican donations with the infamous Jeffrey Epstein, illustrating broader media and political incompetence.

“If you’re going to make an accusation you better have your damned facts straight… Oh, your team Googled it. Well, I mean honestly, screw journalism and screw fact finding... If you Google it, that’s the final word.”
— Rob Carson ([16:43], [16:56])

Featured Interview: Victor Davis Hanson

Farming, American Values, & the Changing Heartland ([22:02]–[23:47])

The interview opens with both men reminiscing about farm life, bridging their personal backgrounds with America’s agrarian roots.
Hanson extols the virtue of independent farmers as foundational to American liberty and self-sufficiency.

“That’s what separated us from Europe’s peasantry. We had independent, autonomous, self-sufficient farmers, and that makes good citizens in a way that didn’t exist in Europe at the time.”
— Victor Davis Hanson ([23:34])

Political Violence, Incendiary Rhetoric, and Institutional Collapse ([23:47]–[29:38])

Carson and Hanson dissect the climate of escalating political rhetoric—“a war of words”—and how it foments real-world violence.
Hanson ties this to elite officials normalizing insurrectionary ideas: “when you have... Democratic elected officials basically telling soldiers to disobey any order... you’re creating a climate.”
Hanson details how bureaucracies, under Obama and Biden, deprioritized threats against conservatives, increasing actual danger for figures like Trump.

“[When officials] tell the armed people in the military not to obey an order, or you have Mark Milley who says he has diagnosed the president as unhinged... writing that the 101st Airborne is going to confront the Secret Service and remove Donald Trump forcibly... they have so lowered the bar that, that I don’t know what they’re trying to do.”
— Victor Davis Hanson ([27:38])
Both note how agencies like the FBI and CIA, as well as prominent figures (Comey, Brennan, Clapper), have actively deceived the public with impunity.

“They lied under oath... we don’t really care if the FBI and CIA lie to the American people. They lie under oath. As long as they’re agents of the progressive agenda, that’s fine.”
— Victor Davis Hanson ([32:40])

The Left's Fear, Demographic Change, and the Stakes for Civil Order ([29:04]–[36:32])

Hanson describes current Democratic actions as “insurrectionary,” likening them to historical nullification crises and the Civil War era.
He offers commentary on Obama, identity politics, and the electoral shift among minorities toward Trump.
Carson argues the left has thrown “everything at us”—from Marxism to disinformation campaigns—and only Trump’s unique resilience could withstand it.
Hanson suggests the turmoil of the Biden years has revealed the left as “the rot,” necessary for America’s long-term renewal.

“They didn’t realize that anything that didn’t kill him [Trump] made him strong... The mug shot made him more popular. Everything... He’s so resilient.”
— Victor Davis Hanson ([35:10])

“It allowed Donald Trump in the wilderness to expose what the left was and to have a very different second term than he did first… Cosmically it was probably a good thing.”
— Victor Davis Hanson ([36:08])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On soft insurrection and rhetoric's dangers:
“We’ve had a civil war by proxy for about 9 years now with soldiers by hire… It’s not a war of words. It’s words of war.” — Rob Carson ([02:00])
On economic turnaround:
“The jobs report was sterling today... they’re actually real American jobs.” — Rob Carson ([06:34])
On double standards in justice:
“We are tired of people in power getting away with murder, getting away well with the Clintons, dozens of murders. But, you know, we’re tired of it.” — Rob Carson ([14:15])
On America’s founding character:
“We had independent, autonomous, self-sufficient farmers and that makes good citizens in a way that didn’t exist at Europe at the time.” — Victor Davis Hanson ([23:34])
On incitement from officials:
“When you have elected officials that are issuing videos... telling armed people in the military not to obey an order... you’re creating a climate.” — Victor Davis Hanson ([27:38])
On the spiritual and cosmic angle:
“I believe that to survive another 250 years, we needed a baptism by fire. And we’re in the throes of that right now. But ultimately... we’re going to end up being a better country.” — Rob Carson ([35:41])

Key Segment Timestamps

[00:42] – Episode kickoff, Thanksgiving talk, introducing the “soft insurrection” topic
[04:07] – Trump/Elon Musk parody & economic highlights
[06:34] – Jobs report, critique of Biden-era jobs
[09:40] – Tariffs, “affordability crisis,” critique of mainstream media
[13:57] – Tucker Carlson and Jeffrey Epstein, double standards
[16:01] – Jasmine Crockett’s Epstein gaffe
[22:02] – Victor Davis Hanson interview begins
[23:34] – Hanson on farming, American character
[24:42] – Political violence and government indifference
[27:38] – Rhetorical escalation and insurrectionary precedents
[32:40] – Intelligence agencies, selective law enforcement
[35:10] – Trump’s resilience, America’s coming renewal
[36:32] – Hanson’s closing thoughts

Tone & Style

Rob Carson brings humor, sarcasm, and “everyman” cultural references to the show, mixing sharp political critique with playful musical parodies (e.g., Trump/Elon Musk “Reunited” spoof).
Victor Davis Hanson’s style is sober, historical, and philosophical—grounding contemporary alarm in lessons from political and military history.
The episode blends light-hearted banter with urgent warnings about the current American political climate.

In Summary

This episode takes listeners on a spirited, sometimes comedic but always serious journey through the perils of modern American political language, the real-life consequences of radical rhetoric, the economic and social drift of the past decade, and the existential stakes for the constitutional order. The detailed, passionate conversation with Victor Davis Hanson gives historical perspective, while Rob Carson’s signature humor, parodies, and constituent stories keep the tone energetic and accessible.

Essential listening for anyone interested in the constitution, the media, or the future of American democracy.

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Transcript

Rob Carson (0:00)

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Co-host or Guest Commentator (0:37)

Most interesting, informative, thought provoking, and funny.

Rob Carson (0:42)

Show in America on air and on the world wide web. This is the Rob Carson show. This is the Rob Carson show. Hey, kids, it's Thursday. T minus one day till Friday. My goodness, my goodness, what a glorious Thursday it is. Thanksgiving is a week from today. I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving. I'm gonna be going to Pittsburgh and seeing some friends in Pittsburgh and we might have some, you know, maybe go down. I wonder if they do, like, turkey and stuffing Primani brothers sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving because, you know, Primanti brothers is. Is a gift from God. Just the original location downtown, though. Hey, welcome. Welcome to the show. So much to get to so little time. You know, those. Those four members of Congress, Mark Kelly, Elise Slotkin, Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander. Goodlander. Chris Luzio, and Chrissy Houlihan, all veterans. You know, they did that video saying that if you're in the military, you ought to disobey the orders of your superiors because Donald Trump, you know, and all of that stuff. Well, guess what? Donald Trump responded to it today. This is good. He said on. On Truth Social, by the way, serious behavior punishable by death.

Jim Gossett (voice actor segments) (1:57)

Wow.

Rob Carson (1:59)

I'm sorry. I think I heard Mark Kelly just crap himself. W. Wow. My God. Yeah. Yeah. Punishable by death. He even reposted someone calling for the lawmakers to be executed. Hang them. George Washington would. Yeah. Wow. Now, the. These idiots, they. They did not specify which illegal orders that they were urging the troops to disobey. This is a soft insurrection is what they're trying to do. No, no, no, it's not that, Hunter. That's something completely different. If you have a soft insurrection, that's something, you know, you got to see a doct. Take some medication or, you know, maybe psychologist. But no, it's a soft insurrection. They've been pushing this forever, and they thought they just kind of go and see and test the waters and see who, you know, who might turn against Donald Trump because they want. They're fomenting a Civil war. That's what they're trying to do. And I told you this. We've had a civil war by proxy for about 9 years now with soldiers by hire. And they're using not. Not. There's not a war of words. It's words of war. Fascist, Nazi, all of that. It's resulted in millions, billions of dollars in damage in the summer of 2020. It has resulted in a body count. You've got Antiva, You've got these other groups that are being paid to commit acts of violence. You've got insurrections in places like Charlotte. And they're saying it's about ice. No, it's not. It's about the Democrat Party realizing that once all of these 20 million illegals, they sneaked in and gave 9 million of them Social Security numbers so they could vote Democrat. They realize that their. They're dead. The Democrat Party is dead. And this was a really stupid, stupid, stupid move by these people. And they have a really stupid response to it. In fact, now they're suddenly cobbling together, you know, the supposed illegal acts. I think this Jason Croesus. Oh, yeah, it's about the drug boats off Venezuela. Honestly. Wow. You people, you people. But I'm going to start with some good news. Did you hear that Elon Musk and Donald Trump have kind of made up? Listen this last night, we're giving them.

Rob Carson (37:00)

All right. God bless. Take care, my friend, and happy Thanksgiving. Let's take a break and come back. This is the Rob Carson show. This is Donnie dv And it never will be. Unless I move into a cool neighborhood, like a little neighborhood where I have one of those golf carts. You know, they get the golf carts. A lot of neighborhoods have these golf carts. You can go to your neighbor's house with a golf cart. I'm gonna get one that looks like a Hummer or something cool like that. It's gonna be, it's gonna be tricked out. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna. I'm gonna have. I'm gonna have. That'll be my electric vehicle. I hope you enjoyed that interview with Victor Davis Hanson. I'm such a fan of. I hope that I'm able to have him in the studio eventually because there's much, much, much, much, much that I would like to bring up with him. So if you want to listen to the podcast, the interview, which I thought was pretty fascinating, go to your usual podcast platform and look up Rob Carson show and subscribe and share it with others, will ya? I wish you would. So it's that time of year. Burchgold gives away free gold with every qualifying purchase. Right now through Black Friday. When you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered IRA and gold birch Gold will send you free gold to your home for every $20,000 purchased. You know as well as I that if you have an IRA or 401k, $20,000 is not a lot. If you're going to not work and you're going to try to rely on Social Security. Are you high? You better have some money. You better have some money put away. Sock it away. If your IRA or 401 are underperforming, gold has been overperforming for years. $2,600 started last January. It's over $4,000 right now. A meteoric rise. And right now you just text my name, Rob 298-9898. Rob to 989-8898. You can get some free information on gold. They're not going to push you or anything, but I'm telling you, you want to get on this gold train and then watch your savings grow. I wish you would text Rob to 989-898, a company that I trust you know as well as I do. It's Birchgold. We've got Kat Kamek coming up. Later in the show, Kat Kamek joins us. She's awesome. You know, I haven't seen as much of her lately. I want to see more cat Kamek. You know, it's like, it's like cowbell. I need some more cowbell. I need some more cat Kamek. By the way, more than a half of US homes lost value in the last year. Zillow data shows the highest share of depreciating property since the tale of the Great Recession. They were artificially inflated because of Joe Biden. Artificially inflated. They doubled in price with Joe Biden and interest rates tripled. Donald Trump is now calling for the firing of the, of the Fed chairman. That ain't going to happen, but he's going to be gone next year. And next year, that's when I'm selling my house. And next year, I assume after May when he leaves, interest rates are going to, it's going to become a whole lot more affordable. That's going to mean a lot to a generation of gen zers who've kind of given up the possibility of home ownership because first time home buying age right now is 40. Yeah, it's a little ridiculous, but it's getting corrected and all of that. All right, let's take a break and come back much, much more. Coming up in our number two of the Rob Carson show, don't go anywhere. The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online and more personal info in more places that could expose you more to identity theft. But LifeLock monitors millions of data points per second. If your identity is stolen, our US based restoration specialists will fix it, guaranteed your money back. Don't face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or financial losses alone. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with LifeLock. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com podcast terms apply.