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Clint Russell
Get ready to take a flamethrower to
Tom Woods
the official narrative and learn what the
Clint Russell
elites don't want you to know. You're listening to the Tom Woods Show.
Tom Woods
Hey, everybody, Tom Woods. Here it is, the great Clint Russell with us here on episode 2750, the Tom Woods Show. You know him from Liberty Lockdown. Let's jump right in here. We, you know, I haven't talked to Clint in quite a while and this is just making me crazy. So we have to talk. You are like, in terms of being therapeutic for me. You're, you're just like Dave. You're just like Dave Smith.
Clint Russell
Oh, thank you.
Tom Woods
Conversation with, with Clint Russell. So, I don't know, the thing is, it could just be you and me getting frustrated over the same things over and over, which I think is the subtitle of the Tom woods show tomorrow. Two people getting frustrated over the same things.
Clint Russell
But I think that's what brings us all together. I mean, that's what made me bring us all together. That's what made me such a huge fan of Dave. A decade ago when I first heard him on Joe Rogan, it was like, oh, this guy is just as pissed about all the same things as I am. So. Yeah.
Tom Woods
Well, incidentally, before we talk about, you know, obviously the big stuff going on in the world right now, can you remind me what was it in your life that made you look around and say the people I agree with the most, you know, would be Dave Smith and Ron Paul, whatever. I don't remember what your particular moment was. What terrible thing that happened that brought you down this path with us crazies?
Clint Russell
I'm pretty old. So honestly, Waco was a big radicalized Waco.
Tom Woods
That is a while.
Clint Russell
Yeah.
Tom Woods
Geez, that's the 90s.
Clint Russell
Yeah, I mean, I was a kid, but it wasn't so much the Waco moment because I was too young to really get that. But Rules of Engagement, that documentary that came out I think in the late 90s, and I was like, whoa, my government would actually do that to us? Like, no way. You know, I wasn't fully convinced or anything. But I was also a second gen libertarian because my dad, he ran for Congress in the 1990s as a Libertarian in San Diego. So I was already red pilled Austrian economics guy. My dad was in finance, so I knew about sound money as a child. I was investing as a child. I was a, you know, I was a weirdo like every other libertarian. And then 911 obviously radicalized me terribly. Trying to figure out really what transpired There and then Covid was what put me into your world with the podcast. So, yeah, it's just every time the government does something really egregious, it creates more of us. And unfortunately, they're doing a lot of egregious stuff.
Tom Woods
Well, the thing is, I remember at the time of COVID being profoundly disappointed in mankind, you know, because as we've gone over this multiple times, a lot of us thought, well, maybe they'll get away with this for a little while, but eventually people will rise up in righteous rage and say, now hold on just a minute. I've been looking at the results of this. It doesn't seem to do any good. And I would like to have my life back, please. And not nearly enough people did that. So that got me frustrated. But then, you know, I got to know a lot of great people in the Ron Paul world, like people who are friends of mine to this very day, years and years later. And likewise, during COVID I met wonderful people, you know, who I would never have met otherwise and who are friends to this very day. But what frustrates me now is that so many of them who could, they could see through this thing, you know, a mile away here we're enduring something you can see through five feet away, and they're falling for it lock, stock and barrel. It's profoundly disappointing. If you didn't let Covid pull the wool over your eyes, you cannot possibly, you cannot possibly let this war do it.
Clint Russell
Exactly. But yeah, I think that's the divide in MAGA now, or really like the finishing blow. Is that so many of the people that you and I looked at as allies, because they had been right on Covid, they had realized the error of their ways when it came to the war on terror. They suddenly are just as mindless drone zombie as Joe Biden or Kamala Harris supporter. Yeah, I mean, they're like, they're just, they've given up on all critical thought. It's really deeply disturbing.
Tom Woods
And you know what I said on this show a few weeks ago? I said to somebody that, you know, all these times that I've been saying, oh, such and such influencer or such and such well known person has really seen the light on foreign policy. But then I've also stopped myself and said, now wait, let's wait and see when it's really tested and then we'll see how good they are in foreign policy. And then as I pointed out, it wasn't even tested. Like there wasn't like an attack on US soil or something. That really would separate the whatevers from the whatevers. I mean, that didn't even happen. We just got, oh, I had a feeling that Iran was about to attack the entire Middle East. A proposition literally nobody believes. And they instantly go for that. So that was a little bit of a letdown, I would say.
Clint Russell
Well, and. And they did it after having already used that same impetus to strike them last June. Yeah, I mean, so they took their own excuse, eliminated it, bragged about eliminating it, and then doubled down on the excuse seven months later. And half of MAGA bought in. I mean, it's one of the craziest things I've ever seen. I rarely ever read my tweets, but I'm going to do it because I think this one is.
Tom Woods
If anyone deserves to read his tweets, it's you.
Clint Russell
You're too kind. So basically I just said, I'm losing a ton of followers. I don't care. I'm right, you're wrong. This war is an abomination, and Trump is clearly insane. Keep clapping for the demise of our country. This ain't maga. This ain't America. First, if you haven't figured out that you've been played by now, you never will. And I got responded to by a military vet. He said, unfollow. He said a bunch of mean things. I'm not going to read it because it doesn't matter. And I. And I responded, you fought a war based on lies. Watch your. Because he was saying, you know, he fought in the war on terror. I said, you fought a war based on lies. Watch your friends die for those lies. Now you support another war based on lies where more American soldiers will die for the same lies. You're nothing if not consistently wrong. And it's like, I just. I'm not even mad at him, you know, Like, I'm just sad. I'm just sad that, like, critical thought seems to not be possible when your guy scare quotes is in power. And I think that's what we're witnessing. It's just pure cult worship. I mean, the good news is, though, that only 30% of the electorate is actually MAGA. So the problem is that 30% of the electorate is blue. And on Democrats that aren't critical thinking either.
Tom Woods
Yeah.
Clint Russell
So it's like 40% of the electorate is what we're working with. Those are the independents, those are the libertarians. So, yeah, it's careless times.
Tom Woods
Another thing that's worth commenting on is, again, I don't remember how many weeks ago it was, but not Many where Trump was looking back and talking about things that he's done for Israel. And one of the things in the list was, well, I bombed Iran in June 2025. And, like, they're all going, you know, because that was supposed to be. No, no, no, no. We did that for Los Angeles and New York. We didn't do that for Tel Aviv. And, and there he is just openly saying, you know, so even now, Clint, he still occasionally has that unguarded moment. And I thought, that's just beautiful. He just flat out said it.
Clint Russell
Oh, Tom, we got a snay on the, you know, we got another. We got another big flip of the tongue truth moment from Donald Trump. I don't know if it was Trey Yingst or some other reporter over at Fox News, but he reported on it last night that Donald Trump said that the peaceful protesters in Iran, he claims 45,000 of them, were mowed down by the IRGC. He says that they were arming those protesters through the Kurds. And I was like, oh, wait, so I guess they weren't very peaceful then, were they? If you're now saying that you were funneling tons of weaponry to the peaceful protesters, that makes it an insurrection. Whether you agree with the IRGC or not, and whether you agree with them fighting back against the government, Like, I think that's probably fine, but it's probably not okay for me to be taxed to fund that. And then to use that moment and that backlash from the government against the protesters, who some of which were probably armed, and then use that as a catalyst and try and guilt trip us, the Americans, into now fighting a war to topple their government based off of what appears to be a CIA operation to create that very moment. And I'll remind you, too, on January 2nd, Mike Pompeo, former head of the CIA, posted basically cheering on the Iranian protesters. And he said at the, at the end of that post, he said, and to every Mossad agent walking aside, them, we are with you.
Tom Woods
And I was like, that was another one. You weren't supposed to say that. You were supposed to end before that sentence.
Clint Russell
That's really the only silver lining in Trump at this point that I can see. I mean, aside from closing the border, you know, that's. That's about it. But the only silver lining to me is just that he continues to tell us the truth accidentally. It has never been more clear that our government is controlled by a foreign one and that our president is controlled by a foreign one. I mean, it's like, it's beyond dispute at this point, unless you're Coleman Hughes pretending that you beat Dave Smith in a debate, in which case, you know, it's still up for debate, I guess.
Tom Woods
Well, yeah. Yeah. But I look at this and I say this is why a good, competent historian has a lot of, lot of interesting work to do in the future about this particular period, because it goes to show that the answers are actually sitting right there in front of you. I mean, there are some things we can't, we can speculate on. We can't exactly know the answer, but there are some things that are just sitting there waiting for you to pluck them and put them into a book. But it goes to show also, Clint, that today, given that you can't really trust, you know, you can't trust the regime, you can't trust some of the mouthpieces of the news. So what winds up in the history books if not all these misconceptions and lies and headlines that are wrong or whatever? So there's never been a better time to be a historian who writes, I have always thought it would be a great title for a book to write, the Secret history of the 21st century.
Clint Russell
Wouldn't that be a great.
Tom Woods
We would read that, wouldn't we?
Clint Russell
Absolutely.
Tom Woods
Yeah.
Clint Russell
I need you to write it tomorrow.
Tom Woods
Yeah. Too lazy, but tired. Maybe I'll have an idea for a book, but I'm not going to tell you on the air. I'm going to tell you afterward.
Clint Russell
Okay.
Tom Woods
All right. Because no one's ever going to know I wrote. It's going to do it. I'm going to do it in secret.
Clint Russell
I like it.
Tom Woods
So now every great book that comes out, you'll secretly wonder, did woods write that? All right. So I want to ask you, even though I know there's no answer to this, but I don't. Maybe you have some insight into it. It's hard enough to deal with the Trump campaigning on one thing and doing the opposite, but at the same time, we have to admit that it's not the first time in world history that that's happened. I mean, the entire campaign, practically, of George H.W. bush was read my lips, no new taxes. And then he exactly did that, you know, so. So it's not like that's never happened. This is a little different because of how strongly they insisted on it and the GOP branded itself on it. We're the party of peace and all that. All right. But we'll put that aside. But I'm talking about people, you know, who are not in government. They're just Twitter people. You know, they got half a million Twitter followers, which is no small accomplishment, I'll admit, but that's basically who they are. They got. They got a Twitter account, and if it's the last thing they do, they're gonna cheerlead for this thing. When a whole bunch of them. We can very easily dig up exactly what they said 18 months ago about what a terrible disaster this would be. And I want to know from them what changed to make this terrible disaster suddenly incredibly awesome. It's so awesome, you can't stop cheering for it. I guess I want to know, and I don't know that there's any answer, how do you account for a person like this? It's not like, oh, no. Well, no arguments in the world have been made since then by some of the world's greatest statesmen. I wouldn't say that.
Clint Russell
No, Tom, there is an answer and I have it for you. I'm so glad that. I'm so glad you asked me. And let's throw some of them under the bus. Let's do it. Eric Daugherty, Gunther Eagleman or whatever. Gunther Eagleman, whatever his name is. Loomer. Look, all of these people, and I know this for a fact because I am influencer level. I'm approaching 300,000 followers. I get approached with offers too, or I used to. I don't really anymore because I declined them all. But, you know, once I was around 200,000, I started getting offers for money to push messaging. So I know exactly how this works. I know exactly what's going on and I know exactly who's involved. Because I can. I can suss out, based off of the verbiage and the timing, who's doing what and why. So there's no mystery to me, these people are being funded. And, you know, whether or not it's like APAC backed or if it's just nebulous corporation backed. Some corporations do it. Obviously, the big betting sites do it. And for anyone that's still thinking, oh, this is still woo woo, you're wrong. They're just dumb people. Like, no, they're not. They're making a fortune doing this. But it's Project Esther. People can look that up. It's E S T H E R and it's tens of millions of dollars that are supported, you know, through the Israeli defense. I don't know if it's Israeli defense. I think it's Israeli intelligence. It's a well known thing that they are specifically allotting tens of millions of dollars to go to online influencers to propagandize Americans into supporting Israel. It's a fact. People can look it up. Project Esther. And if you don't believe me, you can pull up the clip of Benjamin Netanyahu sitting in front of a bunch of American influencers saying how important X is. And Elon's a friend and he's talking to a bunch of those influencers that I'm talking about right now. They're sitting in that room and he's like, you're, you're the most important weapon we have in the seventh front of our war, or something like that. I forget the exact verbiage, but this is all fact. This is just fact. So that's the reason. Certainly there's some people that are stupid and they just go along because they love Trump or their audience captured. But the vast majority of the people that you're talking about, the ones that get tremendous amounts of traction, they are literally being paid to lie to their audience to propagandize them. They are a basement dwelling, low rent version of Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity or any other scrub on tv. That's the truth.
Tom Woods
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Clint Russell
Although, because you're a good person.
Tom Woods
Nobody could pay me to say what I say. What interest group is there that would pay me to say what I say? But even if occasionally somebody does say something like that, I think this is the last thing in the world that would influence me. The thing is, Clint, the beautiful thing about making an honest living is I don't need their money. And I really do. I genuinely don't. And I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I had it. So I. I like to assume that other people are like me. And I guess I'm wrong.
Clint Russell
Yeah, well, it's not that other people aren't like you. It's just that a lot of people aren't like you and I. A lot of people are. You know, they're desperate. They're. They're clinging on these people like this is their lifestyle. This is how they put food on the table. So if you don't have a safety net, you may sell out. Yeah, I think that's what a lot of these people have done. And let's be honest, it's not like cat turd has a bunch of other skill sets that he could be monetizing, you know? So, yeah, he found a lane that feeds red meat to the dumbest portion of the electorate, and he grew his account to 4 million followers. So he can now sell tweets for $5,000.
Tom Woods
Yeah. And you know what's also frustrating about that, Clint, is that if. And I'm as guilty this as anyone. If you are driven by frustration and rage at something that's posted by an account like this to the point where you post a comment, you're just boosting that account.
Clint Russell
Right.
Tom Woods
You think they care that you slam dunk them and you showed where they were wrong. What? Obviously they're asking the, the Herod question, what is truth? You know, like they don't care. And yet I still feel like I'm sticking it to them when I do that and I, I shouldn't. Or if you absolutely have to do it, you take a screenshot of what they say and you post that and you respond so that people can't keep clicking and generating interest in that account.
Clint Russell
Well, I still think there's value in it. However you want to go about it, if you want to, you know, screenshot it like you described, or if you want to reply. I just think it's very important that when you do it, it has to be vicious and it has to actually hurt them. Like you have to demonstrate that they are overtly lying to their audience so that you heal some of the people away from them and that the first
Tom Woods
comments people see are comments like that.
Clint Russell
Exactly. The most popular will be at the top. I'm very fortunate in that X, for whatever reason, has started to show my replies like on the main timeline. And as a consequence I'm now able to just flatline all of the, you know, shills. So it's great. So I do it a lot. But other than that, like if you're not in that position, then I totally agree with you. I would just ignore them. They're not sincere actors. They're literally. They're like the Krassenstein's on the left. They're just trying to get people to engage with them because they get monetized directs and then they also get monetized by selling their souls to push a narrative. And obviously the most popular narrative as of late has been to try and sell a war that isn't popular. And that's exactly what they're doing.
Tom Woods
Yeah, no, it certainly isn't. Now I'm at a point in my life, Clint, where, I mean, I guess as I think about it, I can't think of a time when I wasn't at this point, but I wasn't as involved in. I used to be way more on Facebook, just like Malice. Malice was way more on Facebook before realizing the potential that Twitter slash X had as compared to Facebook. Now I'm on Facebook mainly honestly to share baby pictures and stuff like that. That's pretty much almost entirely it because I gave up. I had built up a decent size fan page consistently over time, and then it just flatlined because obviously they suppressed the pages and you had to. So I just said, to heck with that. So I guess it's not like there was ever a time that I was timid, but now it's the. I don't know. I guess I don't know what it is. My personality has gotten more spicy. I don't know what it is. But now I find myself saying things occasionally where I'll say, I don't know if I should have said that. But then I think, look, we're all going to be dead at some point. No one's going to be thinking, you know, that Woods. I don't know if he should have posted that tweet or not. No one's going to be thinking that. So why not? Just. I'm willing to say things that are a little bold nowadays. I mean, there are people, you know, who are having. Who are enduring a really terrifying ordeal in Iran right now. And I'm worried about, well, you know, this might come off as being a little bit too cheeky. What?
Clint Russell
Yeah, look, I really appreciate it. And I'll tell you, I think your audience appreciates it, too, because, you know, the whole reason I got involved in this world and started to speak out was because I was really concerned. So, like, am I going to come out talking in a studious manner about how they created a bioweapon? You know, like, no, I'm not coming out and talking calmly about that. Am I going to talk calmly about what I view as a potential to end the petrodollar system, end our empire, and doing it all to the benefit and at the behest of Israel, And I'm going to be like, calmly, just dissenting. No, I'm going to light everybody up. I think that's the only prudent practical tact to take, is just to be absolutely outraged and let everybody know because. And I think that's the reason that I've had whatever success I have had is because people sense in me that I'm as pissed as they are. And it's like, that's all they want. They just want somebody who's. They may disagree with me on a handful of things, but they're like, at least this guy is as angry as I am. And it's like, yeah, I am as angry as you are. That's the whole reason I'm doing this. I don't have to be doing this. Otherwise I'm literally doing this because I am so Concerned about the trajectory of things. And unfortunately, as soon as I got in this world, we have had no period in which I haven't been deeply concerned about things like the lockdowns right into this war.
Tom Woods
Yeah.
Clint Russell
And in the interim, which we always forget, Ukraine, proxy war against the largest nuclear power on Earth.
Tom Woods
Yeah.
Clint Russell
With no negotiators picking up the phone to discuss it.
Tom Woods
Yeah.
Clint Russell
I mean, we have lived through five years, six years now of the most perilous times, I think, in our country's history, right at the peak of the Cold War. I feel like that's what we've been living through over the past six years. So I think everybody ought to take the gloves off. And I'm glad you're doing it.
Tom Woods
Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. I could stand to have some time off, as you say. When you put it that way, it's absolutely crazy. And incidentally, I. There are different, let's say, flavors of me in that I could sit down if I wanted to and write an academic book about what's going on with footnotes and everything. And, you know, and it would be a little angry, but it would be more, you know, here's the evidence, and you make your own decision. And so I do do that sometimes, but, you know, and that works for some audiences.
Clint Russell
Right.
Tom Woods
But I just can't stop myself right now, so that's a little bit trickier. So. All right, so the people who do a 180, I now understand better than I thought I did. But I'm. I'm kind of sorry. I do.
Clint Russell
I wish it weren't the case. I wish they were just dumb, because dumb people can be educated. These people are soulless. So, look, not only do I not think that you can redeem them, I don't think they should be redeemed. This is like trying to redeem, as I said earlier, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, like, why should we redeem them? Just cast them off. And I hope that's what more people will start doing.
Tom Woods
I think it is Upton Sinclair who said, the thing about it's difficult to get a man to understand something when his livelihood depends on not understanding it. It's something like that.
Clint Russell
Yep.
Tom Woods
And so that's what you're talking about, that there's nothing I can say. I would have to have the most convincing argument of all time for somebody to say, well, there goes my livelihood. I guess I have to agree with you. So.
Clint Russell
Yeah, well, it's. It's worse than that. Many of these people privately agree with you, and I, many Of these people,
Tom Woods
that is even worse.
Clint Russell
Yeah, many of these people genuinely do not support this war and they are just beating the drums because that's how they maintain.
Tom Woods
Oh geez, I could never do that.
Clint Russell
Well, I know. This is what I'm talking about. I mean, that's why I'm so merciless towards them, is because, you know, Michael Malice, all of his rants about corporate media, all of it applies to the influencer class, all of it. It's worse though, because these people don't even get paid as much as these other scumbags on TV. They're doing it for 150 or 250,000 a year at least. Rachel Maddow does it for 15 million a year.
Tom Woods
Oh, and not to mention Rachel Maddow, after her show is over, gets to go home and relax. These people have to be studying analytics all day and being online all day. And I not a lifestyle I would want. So let me ask you the really hard question here, which is I think now more people than ever before are starting to understand a lot of basic things about U.S. foreign policy and they're starting to understand the relationship with Israel and whether or not that is beneficial to the US or not. It doesn't seem to matter that more people than ever understand it because, you know, the regime doesn't operate according to public opinion. We understand that. But you get a lot of people who make fun of you for having voted in the past and they say, oh yeah, why don't you vote harder? You know, because they're better than everybody. And I get that in some areas. For example, homeschooling, that was a completely apolitical movement that came out of nowhere and grew to the point where it was a fait accompli to the regime and nobody could do anything about it. And I love that and that's wonderful, and that that's a wonderful model, but there isn't a model like that for all situations. I would like to think that we could stop war in the same way, but unfortunately, having studied US history, I find that it just goes on and on and on and on and on. And it doesn't matter if you elect a Republican, a Democrat, a populist. It just goes on and on and on. So I don't see that there is a non political approach to that. I don't see that there is an approach that doesn't on some level involve somebody getting in there who says, we're not doing this anymore. The problem is getting that person in there. And so, no, I don't think I'm stupid or that I think we can vote harder. It's that this question involves voting. There is no voluntarist way to stop the war machine except in fantasy. You can have a fantasy that everybody will withdraw their consent, and you go on believing that. And I know you'll say the same of me, and we'll probably both fail. But at least this one, I can at least see what it would look like. I don't see what an alternative would look like. So what does this mean? It cannot mean the Libertarian Party, but at the same time, the Republican Party is so boomer, you don't know what to do about it. So what do you think the right approach is?
Clint Russell
I mean, I'm trying to figure it out. I mean, as you can tell, that
Tom Woods
makes me feel better.
Clint Russell
Yeah, well, I mean, I think that's how all honest libertarians feel about this, in my opinion. Is that like, because what you described earlier, like, I love the algorithm path of homeschooling, like, of course. But God bless. And I think more people ought to do it. But at the same time, the Tom woods of the world are absolutely right. We're not going to stop the wars by homeschooling. Maybe in the long term that'll help, and I think it probably will. But in the short term, we're facing really dire consequences of a state run amok. So do we just bow out? Do we just cast our protest, vote for the LP in perpetuity, and just hope that things eventually get better? It's like, my opinion, and the reason I ultimately broke down and vote for Trump at the last possible minute was that I thought that the Democrats were just so, so dangerous that they were the clear and present danger in that moment and they had to be punished. And now I feel the same way about the gop and they have to be punished. That doesn't mean that I'm going to be, you know, voting for AOC or whoever they. They put up. But I just think that it's very important that whichever side is, like, really egregiously damaging you has to be shelved for a while. And then in the interim, like, but people always make it too. Like, it's some sort of binary choice where if you vote, you can't do anything else, you know, like, to, like, that's just wasting your time. You should focus on other things. Like, okay, focus on other things. But you can also still vote on election day. It takes you an hour. You know, it's like, so that's where I Fall in is. I do all of the above. I think that the algorithm path is really important. I think the bitcoin path and hard money path and economic entrepreneurial freedom path is super important. And then I also think that there's real viable strategy that you should consider with the paleo con strategy, especially if we can get a guy like Massie to run. Like, you're telling me that you're not going to vote for Thomas Massie because you're homeschooling your kids? Like you out of your fucking mind. I'm going to vote for Thomas Massie. Sorry.
Tom Woods
Well, by the way, if you think you have a better idea than what Clint just gave us, which I would like to see it if you do, I would like to hear it. Yeah, Clint's coming on the Tom woods cruise this year. If you're not on that, I don't know what to tell you because it's going to be the best week of the year, and you know it. Scott Horton's gonna. Between Clint and Scott Horton, I'm going to have to actively intervene to allow people to get a word in edgewise. But that's all right, because we want to hear from these guys. We're having.
Clint Russell
People will be surprised. I'm actually pretty quiet in person. It's Scott who you can't get to shut up.
Tom Woods
It is.
Clint Russell
Scott and Dave are like. They just never stop. I'm like, once I'm done with my show, I'm like, I don't want to talk to anybody. Scott and Dave, though, they're just. It's like, they're always on air. It's unbelievable.
Tom Woods
Yeah. No, no kidding. No kidding. But especially at a time like this, you want to hear from really, really solid, normal people. So check it out. Tom woodscruise.com we'll have a tremendous time. All right. Thing is, if I voted for Ron Paul and he won, I have 100% certainty he would not take us to war. Right, 100%. Because you couldn't bend his arm. What could you offer Ron Paul to get him to change his mind? He's proven that to you. He's proven. You know, whereas there are certain qualities to like about J.D. vance, has he proven to me that his arm absolutely, under no circumstances, could be twisted and he would never go for this. I mean, that's Lucy with the football at this point.
Clint Russell
Yeah, well, and it's worse than that because we actually now have, in my opinion, what is pretty much empirical evidence that he's not on our side. I mean, the Fact that he's not voicing sincere dissent for people that don't understand how our system works. I'm sure your audience does. But for those that don't, Trump can't fire J.D. vance. J.D. vance can go out there and he can say, I oppose this war. I mean, this is how our system was supposed to be structured. You know about this. There was supposed to be genuine dissent. The VP is supposed to actually come out. They don't have to be just some like water carrying sycophant.
Tom Woods
Right? No. The VP was originally the guy who came in second.
Clint Russell
Yeah, exactly. From the other party or whatever. Yeah. So that to me has been kind of the nail in his coffin. You know, he's in a better position to than Tulsi Gabbard. So Tulsi Gabbard could get fired for voicing her dissent. So I have more sympathy for her than I do for J.D. vance. And honestly, I don't have much sympathy for either of them. So I completely agree with your assessment. I think that to believe that J.D. vance is a real boy is really grasping at straws at this point.
Tom Woods
Hey gang, time to smash another myth. I think most people think the only way to grow their money for retirement is to risk it buying and selling stocks. Not true. You can reach your financial goals and dreams without taking any unnecessary risks. Bank on yourself is the proven retirement plan alternative that lets you bypass Wall street, beat the banks at their own game and take control of your financial future. We're talking guaranteed predictable growth and retirement income with no luck, skill or guesswork required. Your plan doesn't go backward when the markets tumble. Both your principal and growth are locked in. You're in control. You get access to your money for emergencies and opportunities with no questions asked. There are no government penalties or restrictions on how much or when you can take it. And when you use your money, it keeps growing like you never touched it. Try doing that with a 401k or IRA, not to mention built in inflation protection. Your money is guaranteed to grow by a larger dollar amount every year in both good times and bad. You can get a free report with all the details on how the bank on yourself strategy adds guarantees, predictability and control to your financial plan. Just go to bankonyourself.com woods that's bankonyourself.com woods let's talk for a minute about and I don't care the names people call. I mean at this point I obviously don't care, but I am thinking about 2028 and what would happen. Obviously Trump isn't running again. So what's going to happen now? You know, we keep hearing about the boomers really like Marco Rubio. Well, why wouldn't they? He's A basically a 2003 Bush Republican and they've learned nothing. So why not vote for Marco Ruby? I mean, it's just incredible to me that anybody would be impressed by that guy. But let's leave him aside and let's talk about the serious people. We said a little something about JD Vance, but there are three people I have in my mind of varying levels of likelihood and varying levels of likelihood of success. So the three are, first, there's Rand Paul. Now, I just had Kelly Paul, his wife, on this show a few weeks ago, and it was a really, really good conversation.
Clint Russell
Yeah, they're great.
Tom Woods
I think she's a great lady and tough as nails. And I mean, she called a US Senator a Neanderthal on the episode. I thought, now that is my, you know, Rand chose well with Kelly Paul. So that's one. The trouble here would be, does Rand have the fire? You know, I know he's got the intellectual chops, but does he have the fire and is he going to prioritize the issues? Right. I mean, I'd love to balance the budget, but right now, that is not. That's just not the thing. That is not. I mean, I would love to do it. I yield to no one in my desire to see that happen. And by the way, more than balancing the budget, I want to see the debt cut because you could balance the budget with more revenue. I don't want that.
Clint Russell
Right.
Tom Woods
Anyway, so he posted something about, you know, we need a party that is still, you know, free trade and free market and anti war and Anti war was in third, which is, you know, which is higher up than it is for most people, I'll grant you. So I responded and said, rand, you're going to have to put anti War at number one. If now isn't the time, it never will be. There'll be a lot of people who don't like you and whatever, but the people who do like you would walk over hot coals for you if you would just say, what's going on in this country is an outrage, it's corrupt. We all know how it works. And somebody's got to say absolutely no more. I don't know that he's got the zeal to do that. I would love to be proven wrong that 2028 ran would be better than 2016 ran. I would love that. But what do you think?
Clint Russell
No. Well, of course, I would love that too. And obviously I think he would make a great president if he were to be elected. But in terms of electability, if he's going to do the safe path, if he's going to talk about fiscal sanity and try and become this middle ground compromise version for the sane Republicans that want to leave the MAGA bandwagon, he's going to get blown out by some other swamp monster that gets funded to the tune of billions of dollars because
Tom Woods
they'll also pretend to want to balance the budget.
Clint Russell
They do it all the time. Exactly. And the media is going to blast and laugh at Rand because he's not their puppet and they're going to uplift the other guy who's given the same talking points, even though Rand means it and the other guy's lying. So it's a dead end. So the only way that you can actually prevail is to take the Thomas Massie path. And I know exactly what post you're talking about by Rand Paul. I think it was his six penny plan. And I said, first off, it was a penny plan, it was a two penny plan, now it's a six penny plan. So, you know, look, I've appreciated and I've agreed with Rand since it was a penny. And even before that I wanted to cut spending. Right. But that's not the pathway forward. Everybody who has any, any sense of the pulse of this nation understands that that is not the pathway forward. I mean, it's not to say that you shouldn't have that be part of your repertoire during a debate setting, but when it comes to how you get your name out there, how you get traction, how you get momentum, how you get funding, how you get grassroots backing, you need to be the loudest, most outspoken psychopath about ending this war in Iran and going after foreign influence on our government. Those are the two things that would actually create a groundswell of support, bipartisan in nature, that takes him from being the best senator we got, but also kind of like a middling figure, not super famous nationwide, and it makes him Thomas Massie but in the Senate. And if he's not willing to do that, then he should just put all of his energy into backing Massey.
Tom Woods
Right? I mean, this is not for everyone. I mean, this is. This would be strong drink and it would be hard to do and you would have to have the thickest skin in the world. You'd have to have scales. It would be really hard. And your main point is that it's not enough to have good talking points, you have to have different talking points from the other people because the other people have the same. I mean, John McCain boasted that he was going to be a fiscal conservative. Could you imagine John McCain being a fiscal conservative? But he can get away with saying it because the Republican voters expect him to say it. The only way you can do this is by saying different things. Not just doing them, but saying different things. Saying things Ted Cruz would never, ever say.
Clint Russell
Yep.
Tom Woods
Then you get some traction.
Clint Russell
And what is the thing that Ted Cruz will never, ever say? I'll fill in that blank. That AIPAC is a major problem. That Israel isn't our greatest ally. That we have fought wars in the Middle east for the past 20 years on behalf of Israel to the detriment of America and our financial situation and our moral situation and our spiritual situation. I mean, these are things that if you're serious and you want to stand apart and you want to have a chance, you're going to have to take risks. And if he's not willing to do that, then just forget it. That's my honest opinion, and I love the guy, but like, to take the path I'm recommending also jeopardizes his political career. So I'm not downplaying it. Like, he will get the Massey treatment after that. You will have the Adelsons and whoever else backing up the brinks truck dropping $25 million on a primary challenger against you, like they're doing with Massey right now.
Tom Woods
Yeah.
Clint Russell
So. But that's. Thankfully, that's what I'm looking for as a hero.
Tom Woods
Thankfully. Unlike a lot of these people in government, Rand actually has a practical skill he can fall back on. If he had to go back to private life, it would be.
Clint Russell
I'm not. I'm not worried about his financial security. I'm worried about us losing a great senator. You know, like, I would like to keep him in there.
Tom Woods
Another yes man.
Clint Russell
And exactly.
Tom Woods
Having to deal with.
Clint Russell
But, I mean, at the end of the day, what are we really accomplishing with him in the Senate? Like, how many deciding votes has he been that actually saved us in some way? It's probably not many. So we need more. You know, we need more of him. We need more of Massie. And at this point, we're in jeopardy of losing Massie. So it's like, this is a really perilous time. But I also think that, like, more and more people bipartisan in nature and an influencer level, you know, like Anakasparian, a lot of people on the left St. Uygur and all these people are acknowledging Thomas Massie for being what he is. And I think that's putting him on the radar of small dollar donors on the left and progressive side that are anti war. So I think that's our pathway forward. As much as, you know, the more right leaning libertarians are going to hate me saying this is that that is the galvanizing movement that can actually bring the left and right together and keep some of the best people in power. Even with all of the knives and fangs and dollars being out to try and take out people like Massie.
Tom Woods
I don't want to say anything that demoralizes people or makes them complacent. I just want you to give your honest answer. Where do you think? I don't know how much you've looked into it, but things are in terms of the likelihood of victory for Massey.
Clint Russell
Well, he's doing really well right now. The last poll I saw, he was at like 68% or something like that.
Tom Woods
But not political, you know, not likelihood of victory, you know, those political betting sites. But like a real poll.
Clint Russell
Yeah, I haven't looked at the actual polling. Sorry, I, I, yeah, I'm basing it off of the financial site because I
Tom Woods
know he was saying to people, don't think that that's the same thing as a poll because it's not like you get a little too excited when you shouldn't. Which of course any television has to say, you have to send me money anyway. The thing is, not one until I've crossed the finish line.
Clint Russell
Yeah, well, and he's right to say that, but I'm not in his position. So I can be what you want. I can be a little bit more straightforward about it. Look, I think he's going to be okay, but that hasn't prevented me from sending him money. You know, just to, to put it straight to.
Tom Woods
Oh, on that money bomb, I maxed out the maximum $3,500 because, you know, I'd rather have him have it.
Clint Russell
Yeah. What was the name of the, that event that I last saw you at? I'm blanking on it. It was online? No, no, no, in person. It was like, oh, the Ron Paul barbecue.
Tom Woods
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. The Citizens alliance event.
Clint Russell
Citizen Alliance. I wanted to give them a shout out because that was where I, I, I got, I got caught up in the moment and I donated 500 bucks even though I was like gifted to be there as an influencer. Because they're going to be doing door knocking for Massey. Yes, so, like, I'm taking this very seriously. Despite the fact that I think that Massey is going to win, I still, like, we cannot risk it. Like, we have to make sure that not only does he win, I want him to win by 20 points. I want him to crush Gallery.
Tom Woods
He's got him to.
Clint Russell
I wanted to obliterate him.
Tom Woods
They've put up against him. You know, I bet you could probably, if you really looked, find somebody who's got, you know, the look and the ability to speak and whatever. They have found the biggest non entity on the globe in this guy.
Clint Russell
Well, that's what they want though, Tom.
Tom Woods
Oh, of course, because they want him to be an empty husk.
Clint Russell
Exactly. Just like Trump. But this guy's a military veteran. So they're like, see, Thomas Massie hates our troops, he opposes the war, whereas El Ed Gallerain, he was a, you know, military veteran, but then you actually talked to his veteran buddies and they're like, this guy's a scumbag. So anyways, every time Massey has faced the challenger, he has won handedly. This time they have put up a really bad challenger, but they are pummeling him with money. They are promising upwards of $25 million, which I think might go down in history, is the most expensive primary primary in a.
Tom Woods
In a house race.
Clint Russell
It's. It's absolutely insane. This is not the general. This is a primary. I just want to emphasize that they are trying to take his jugular. So as far as I'm concerned, if they're that scared of Thomas Massie, we need to be that defensive of Thomas Massie. Yeah, so that's my mentality. I don't give a shit what happens to the GOP in the midterms if they get obliterated, they deserve it. But we have to preserve Thomas Massie and we have to send Lindsey Graham packing. Those are the two goals I have right now.
Tom Woods
I was on somebody else's show about a month ago, Eric Breaky, maybe you know him, Free State Project. And he told me about years ago, he asked Massey, and this was when Massie did not have the national profile he has now. And when I think he was a little bit. Not politically timid, but just personality wise, I think he was more soft spoken than he is now. He's not really soft spoken.
Clint Russell
Yeah.
Tom Woods
And he asked him if he would ever consider running for president. He said, oh my gosh. He said, you should have seen the face on this guy when I asked him that. And I remember thinking to myself, I never want to make Thomas Massie make that face ever again. And he was giving all the reasons why he couldn't or wouldn't do it. This is pure speculation, Clint. Do you think his mind has changed a little, or is he thinking. Probably just got to think right now about the House seat?
Clint Russell
If my read of Thomas Massie is correct, he recognizes the existential nature of the moment that we're in. His Austrian economics background, he's got. He's got to know what we're facing. So that's the whole reason I ran. You know, granted, I had no chance of winning, but that's the whole reason I got involved in. Through my name in the arena for the VP and the LP was just that, like, I don't want to do that at all. Yeah, like not, not, not 1%, not to 0% did I want to do that. But those are the people we need. So if I recognize that, well, then, okay, sure, I'll give, you know, the
Tom Woods
same boat intellectually right now.
Clint Russell
I do, I do. I think that I sense in him someone. That one. He is kind of feeling himself. He's starting to. Starting to have kind of a energy about him. Like. Like, I think he knows that he's very popular amongst our people, and I think it puts wind in his sails and I think just. It's evidenced by the fact that he's willing to take all of the daggers, take all of the hate. He goes against Trump, you know, and he was the only. He was the first and really only guy going against Trump for years, from 2020 onward. He was the only one that was like. And not just going against him because they're like swamp monsters, but going against him for the right reasons, you know, and now it's kind of has a cascading effect where. Because it looks like he's going to be safe in doing so. Now you've got MTG who bailed out, and I think she'll probably get back involved in some way, maybe a presidential run, maybe an MTG Massey ticket, something like that. And I think that you're going to see more and more dissenters from the GOP that recognize that the MAGA moment is ending or has ended and they're going to start to, you know, peel off from him. So I think, I think Massey is really doing important things. But anyways, long story short, yes, I do think that there's a chance that Thomas Massey will win, will run. I don't know that for, you know, I don't have any inside information, but I, I do get a sense about him that if he wasn't at least considering it, I'm not sure that he would be as publicly and charismatically going about the things that he's going about right now.
Tom Woods
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so let me, let me run one more buy and then we'll wrap things up. The, the third one is the wild card, which is Tucker Carlson. I don't think that's a zero. Glenn Greenwald speculated about it the other day, and somebody I was talking to said, well, the thing is, he is friends with JD Vance and advance runs. It's unlikely he'd run against his friend. But we're now seeing the possibility that Vance may not do it. I mean, look, probably he will, but there's more greater chance now than there was before that he might say, maybe I'll come back in 2032. Now, I don't know if the iron is still hot for a J.D. vance in 2032, but he might say, this is not my time. That's possible. If he did say that, could you imagine? The thing is, for some reason, Tucker is controversial. He should not be. We all know the reason. He's his one reason he's controversial. They could overlook everything else he says if it weren't for the one reason. But, Clint, I am a tough critic when it comes to writing and public speaking, and I listen to those Tucker Carlson monologues, and I can't improve on a single syllable of those. Yep. So he would be, in terms purely, of just purely rhetorical terms, an incredibly compelling figure. And of course, he'd be a lightning rod because everybody on the debate stage, none of them would be able to resist attacking him, which is. They're so dumb. That's precisely his appeal. The one they're all yelling at. That's what worked for Trump. The one they're all yelling at and outraged by might be the guy.
Clint Russell
Yeah, no, I think he's got, I mean, really, he is the heir apparent to maga. Like, honest to God, I think that he's got, he's got all of the energy of it. All of the people who honestly, like, were true believers in the America first mantra that Trump popularized and rode to power on and then realized that they were betrayed and abandoned about. They are all big time Tucker Carlson fans. And I'll just be honest, you know, and I'm, I'm probably going to piss off some of the, you know, the more puritanical libertarians, as much as I disagree with, with Tucker Carlson about certain things. Like, I think his economic takes are oftentimes ridiculous. But I love the guy. I think what you said earlier about his monologues, if people have not given him a chance since he left Fox News, if you're still thinking that he's the CNN bow tie guy or anything like that, you need to tune back in. Like, he is a very special. I think he's, and no disrespect to Dave or Rogan or anybody else or yourself. I think he's the most important voice in the country, if not the world right now, by far.
Tom Woods
He is.
Clint Russell
So. He is so valuable the way he is attacking what is really destroying our country, which is fealty to a foreign government, and doing so in a loving Christian fashion, making it explicitly clear that this is not about hating anybody. This is about loving his country and loving Americans and wanting to prioritize them. It is a winning message. It's a compelling message. He does it in a way that's unbelievably profound. I mean, it's just so, it's so good. And I don't know if it's scripted or if he is just straight monologuing. Either way, it is remarkable. And, you know, we're in this business, so for us to feel that way,
Tom Woods
you know, it's special if it is scripted. He reads a script like a Hollywood actor for real.
Clint Russell
It's spectacular and it's, and it's so timely. I just want to really emphasize that because, you know, he was good about COVID but he's not, not like this man. I mean, this is really, this has taken a risk. This has taken arrows. This is jeopardizing his relationship to power. It's just, it's powerful, man. And I, and it comes across sincere. I believe, and I said this on my most recent episode of Liberty Lockdown, I honestly believe that he was radicalized by watching his religion being used again to go fight wars on behalf of Israel again and being done by the people who said that they would never do this again. And he's just like, I can't. I can't do this. I cannot watch my religion be skin suited like this. No. And he is furious about it, and I love every second of it.
Tom Woods
Well, Clint Russell can be found all over the, the Internet. You should find him at Liberty Lock Pod on Twitter slash X. But Liberty Lockdown is the show which you can find by just typing that in and you will not be sorry that you did. So, Clint, thanks so much as always.
Clint Russell
And everybody, I don't, I don't think there's a promo code. But regardless, I want to see some of y' all that are Liberty Lockdown listeners on the Tom Woods Cruise. So make sure you get some tickets.
Tom Woods
Yes, you absolutely should. Tom woodscruise.com we're going to have the greatest time ever. Thanks so much everybody. Thanks so much for listening.
Clint Russell
Make yourself and those you love less
Tom Woods
vulnerable to the regime, both military, mentally and physically.
Clint Russell
Get more forbidden information@tomsfreebooks.com and be sure
Tom Woods
to subscribe to the show wherever you listen.
Clint Russell
See you next time.
Tom Woods
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America First After Trump: What Happens Next?
Guest: Clint Russell (Liberty Lockdown)
Date: April 9, 2026
In this episode, Tom Woods welcomes Clint Russell, host of Liberty Lockdown, to discuss the turbulent political landscape after Trump and what the future of “America First” looks like. The conversation covers the MAGA movement’s transformation, the challenges of American foreign policy, the influencer ecosystem on the right, and the prospects for antiwar voices inside and outside the GOP. They dive into the problem of political consistency, the corrupting influence of money, possible presidential contenders for 2028, and the ongoing battle to preserve authentic dissent. The tone is frank, sometimes frustrated, and intentionally provocative.
“Every time the government does something really egregious, it creates more of us. And unfortunately, they're doing a lot of egregious stuff.” — Clint [01:30]
“If you didn't let Covid pull the wool over your eyes, you cannot possibly, you cannot possibly let this war do it.” — Tom [03:27]
“This war is an abomination, and Trump is clearly insane. Keep clapping for the demise of our country. This ain't MAGA. This ain't America First.” — Clint [05:18]
“I thought, that's just beautiful. He just flat out said it.” — Tom [07:05]
“There’s never been a better time to be a historian who writes…” — Tom [09:56]
“These people are being funded... they are literally being paid to lie to their audience to propagandize them.” — Clint [12:43]
“The beautiful thing about making an honest living is I don’t need their money. ...I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I had it.” — Tom [15:53-16:20]
“Many of these people privately agree with you... they are just beating the drums because that's how they maintain.” — Clint [23:16]
“There is no voluntarist way to stop the war machine except in fantasy.” — Tom [25:03]
“You're telling me you're not going to vote for Thomas Massie because you're homeschooling your kids? Like, you out of your fucking mind.” — Clint [28:02]
“If now isn't the time, it never will be.” — Tom [33:37] “The only way... is to take the Thomas Massie path.” — Clint [34:26]
“If they're that scared of Thomas Massie, we need to be that defensive of Thomas Massie.” — Clint [41:43]
“I think he's the most important voice in the country, if not the world right now, by far.” — Clint [46:54]
For further insights and raw discussion, listen to the full episode or follow Clint Russell at Liberty Lockdown and Tom Woods for consistent, principled, and passionate takes on liberty and American politics.