Ep. 431 - Obamagate's Brennan Busted, Food Stamps Freakout, America's AI Porn Epidemic

Summary

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The Tony Kinnett Cast Ep. 431 Summary

Podcast: The Tony Kinnett Cast (The Daily Signal)
Episode Title: Obamagate's Brennan Busted, Food Stamps Freakout, America's AI Porn Epidemic
Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Tony Kinnett
Key Guests: Rep. Josh Williams (Ohio), Stephen Kent (Geeky Stoics), Elise McHugh (Problematic Women)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Tony Kinnett Cast tackles a trio of headline issues with Kinnett’s signature satirical, direct-through-the-heartland style:

• The legal referral of former CIA Director John Brennan for Congressional perjury (the “Obamagate” scandal),
• The ongoing government shutdown and its political fallout, especially concerning food stamp (SNAP) anxiety,
• And a deep-dive panel on the rising cultural dangers of AI-generated pornography and the erosion of real-world relationships.

Lively, always combative, and peppered with guest commentary, the episode blends political breakdown, viral cultural moments, and Midwestern on-the-ground reporting—with an eye toward how AI is rapidly re-shaping American norms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Obamagate: John Brennan Referred for Lying to Congress

(00:20–05:20)

• Main Event: Kinnett opens with the big news: Former CIA Director John Brennan, under Obama, has been officially referred to the Department of Justice for making false statements during Congressional testimony about Russiagate/Obamagate.
• Kinnett’s Take: It’s about targeted, strategic charges rather than sweeping prosecutions, to ensure meaningful legal discovery and avoid these cases getting “dumpstered” by juries or lost to double jeopardy.
• Key Insight: “That’s the prize here. Say it, write it down. Get ready to put another coin in the Tony Kennett was right jar, if you'll pardon the narcissism.” (02:25)
• Context: Kinnett frames Obamagate as proof of direct Obama administration efforts to “frame President Trump,” flipping the narrative from Russian collusion to orchestrated chaos and mental health jabs at Hillary Clinton.

2. Shutdown Showdown: SNAP (Food Stamps) and Political Chess

(05:20–10:43)

• Political Fallout: The government shutdown, now three weeks in, is tanking Democratic approval numbers while Trump’s numbers rise. House and Senate Democrats, including Schumer and Jeffries, are in the crosshairs.
• Fetterman’s Real Talk: Senator John Fetterman (PA) is quoted stressing the real pain—loss of SNAP/Food Stamp benefits—not political wins or losses:
  • “People need that to eat.” (06:39)
  • “It’s like, well, people are… America’s losing.” (06:51)
• Kinnett on Viral Food Stamp Rage: A viral, expletive-laced TikTok rant from a food stamp recipient goes viral, threatening theft if benefits stop:
  • “...I will be at mother Walmart with my steel toes on and my mother helmet and I dare a [person] try to stop me from walking out…” (07:59–08:52)
• Kinnett’s Satire: “We do have a record for the most swear words and also the highest cholesterol of any previous Tony Kennett cast clip aired on the show. Lovely. Truly delightful.” (08:56)

3. Democratic Struggles and Political Theater

(09:54–14:19)

• Karine Jean-Pierre’s Apocalyptic Rhetoric: White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre is lampooned for her melodrama about democracy being “an existential threat,” needing to “see teeth, see fire.”
  • Kinnett likens her style to “cheap romance novels” and compares her unfavorably to Wanda Sykes “on 3 Nyquil.” (11:02–11:19)
• The View’s Feud: The View co-hosts claim Republicans are “afraid” to come on—but receipts from actual invites show it’s the show producers ducking conservatives.
  • “The View has repeatedly, consistently turned down any one of these individuals...” (12:40–14:19)

4. VP J.D. Vance and U.S. Foreign Policy Reset

(14:19–18:12)

• J.D. Vance Statement: Vice President Vance outlines a firmer U.S. stance on Hamas post-ceasefire:
  • “Our warning to MoS is very straightforward... if Hamas doesn't cooperate, then... Hamas is going to be obliterated.” (15:55–16:40)
• Kinnett’s Analysis: Contrasts Vance's “correct” realpolitik with Obama/Biden “red lines” that were never actually enforced.
  • “That age is over now. That is spooking a lot of other countries around the world.” (16:40–18:12)

5. America’s AI Porn Epidemic & Cultural Creep

(18:34–31:24)

• AI Relationships on the Rise: Newsweek/Vantage Point survey: 28% of adults have engaged in AI relationships or affairs.
• Panel: Stephen Kent & Elise McHugh
  • Kent on AI and Porn: “AI does not operate under [human relationship] rules at all. It is designed to give you every bit of gratification that you might want back from it. It's really dangerous. It's very anti-human.” (19:26–20:42)
  • McHugh on “Dystopia Dating”: "I truly do feel like I got the last chopper out of nom finding my boyfriend in college and I'm clinging on to him for dear life…” (20:55)
  • Generational Impact: McHugh sees Gen Z “craving real life” and starting to ditch social media overload for real connections.
• Cultural Satire and Dangers:
  • AI-generated content (Sora video, theme parks of real events) increasingly distorts reality and numbs moral sense.
  • Kent: “Nobody in society, besides perhaps folks in your church, are telling you that the desires you feel are not reflections of truth—they are phantoms.” (22:08–23:56)
• “Garbage In, Garbage Out”:
  • Both warn against how AI trends are warping human communication and minds, with ChatGPT-like formulaic speech creeping into how young people write and think.
  • AI erodes empathy, warps expectations, fuels depravity (AI porn, deepfakes).
  • McHugh: “I would pay a premium for every social site to filter out any AI slop…” (24:33)

6. On-the-Ground Political Reality in Ohio

(31:48–39:53)
Guest: Rep. Josh Williams (Ohio)

• Local vs. National Narrative: Williams dismisses “democracy dying” rhetoric, says Ohioans care about real-life issues like border security, jobs, crime, not cable news abstraction.
• Immigration & Sanctuary Policy: Ohio's House Bill 26 defunds sanctuary cities, forcing cities to reconsider or sacrifice state funding—a proactive response compared to chaotic scenes in Illinois.
  • “We're gonna use what's known as conditional funding... let your local constituents decide if they want to actually be taxed more because you want to provide sanctuary policies to illegal immigrants.” (36:07)
• Union Support: Ohio’s industrial labor base is trending redder, moving toward GOP as economic and immigration policies from Democrats are perceived as neglecting American workers.
  • “They care that American jobs are given to American citizens and especially union workers.” (39:06)
• Looking to 2024: GOP expects gains in Ohio; Sherrod Brown’s campaign seen as played-out.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tony Kinnett on legal strategy:
  “If you do, in fact, hit the Brennans, the Comeys, the whomevers with big serious whopper-size charges right out of the bat, don't be surprised when you end up with nothing to show for it... double jeopardy in the United States, you can't try someone for the same crime yet again.” (04:07)

• Sen. John Fetterman on SNAP:
  “Even people in my state and Earth SNAP is now like, people need that to eat.” (06:39)

• Viral SNAP recipient:
  "I dare a [person] try to stop me from walking out that mother store with my groceries... I'm $250 solid, baby. You want to see a human bulldozer, baby?... I'm sick of him. Like it's gonna be an episode of God Snap if y'all turn them SNAP benefits off." (07:59–08:52)

• Karine Jean-Pierre:
  "I need to see teeth. I need to see fire. And not just me. Many people are worried and concerned." (10:43)

• J.D. Vance on Hamas:
  "If Hamas doesn’t cooperate... Hamas is going to be obliterated." (16:40)

• Stephen Kent on AI relationships:
  “You actually have to do a whole lot of creating that for yourself. And AI does not operate under those rules at all... It's really dangerous. It's very anti-human.” (19:26–20:42)

• Elise McHugh on modern dating:
  “I truly do feel like I got the last chopper out of nom finding my boyfriend in college and I'm clinging on to him for dear life because I'm not going to go out and date AI.” (20:55)

• Kent on AI influence:
  “Young kids… will start to mimic the way that they think about structure based on what they learn from generative AI. You don't even know you're doing it until you realize your entire style has changed.” (25:30)

• Josh Williams on Ohio’s red state trend:
  “We see that Ohio is getting redder and redder because the Democrats keep doubling down on these woke policies, these protectionist policies of illegal immigrants, and they're out of touch with the average blue-collar worker here in Ohio.” (35:31)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Obamagate/Brennan perjury charges: 00:20–05:20
• Shutdown & food stamps/SNAP freakout: 05:20–10:43
• KJP/Media/Cultural political missteps: 09:54–14:19
• VP J.D. Vance on Hamas/Foreign policy: 14:19–18:12
• AI porn epidemic—Panel (Kent, McHugh): 18:34–31:24
• Ohio political outlook (Rep. Williams): 31:48–39:53

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Episode Tone & Style

• Combative, satirical, and acerbic commentary from Kinnett—never shying away from rhetorical barbs.
• Panel segments switch to earnest concern about cultural and generational shifts (especially around AI and relationships).
• Guests offer expertise from lived perspectives (media, local politics, youth, culture).
• Genuine, if sometimes hyperbolic, advocacy for “commonsense” Midwestern conservatism.

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Conclusion

Episode 431 of The Tony Kinnett Cast provided a robust blend of legal, political, and cultural commentary—ranging from the nuts and bolts of Obamagate prosecutions to the new frontiers of AI-driven relationship dysfunction. Through sharp dialogue with national and local guests, Kinnett reveals both the anxiety and “commonsense” coping strategies bubbling up from America’s heartland as Washington, D.C. lurches through crisis after crisis.

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Transcript

[Elise McHugh]

Tony Kennett.

[Stephen Kent]

Tony Kennett.

[Tony Kennett]

Tony Kennett.

[Elise McHugh]

Tony Kennett.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Tony Kennett.

[Stephen Kent]

Tony Kennett.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Tony Kennett, host of the Tony Kennett cast.

[Tony Kennett]

Let's get down to business.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

You're listening to the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC on CYTV, here on the Daily Signal.

[Representative Josh Williams]

Hey.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Hey. Good evening and welcome to the Tony.

[Tony Kennett]

Knitt cast here on the Daily signal, nationally syndicated, first on 90. Boy, do we have news for you. Pretty good news, unless you are former CIA director for Barack Obama, John Brennan, who has been referred officially to the Department of Justice for, you guessed it, lying to Congress. So from the House of Representatives, or excuse me, to the House of Representatives, from Attorney General Pam Bondi, quote, we write to refer significant evidence that former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan and knowingly made false statements during his transcribed interview before the Committee on the Judiciary on May 11, 2023. They then cited a couple of things that are an issue and then recommend a good, healthy series of charges. Now, there are some already who are out there saying this isn't enough. This is a nothing burger. Nothing's gonna come out of this. If you do not want a repeat of Sean Diddy Combs, as we've said before, who was hit with RICO charges and poisoned our crops, burned our supplies. If you don't want those kind of wish to be levied and then dropped because they may shoot for the moon and then they land among an unsure jury and the dumpster heap of failed court cases, then you go in with charges you know will result in significant discovery by legal teams. That's the prize here. Say it, write it down. Get ready to put another coin in the Tony Kennett was right jar, if you'll pardon the narcissism. I think that it's really a good thing to see if discovery processes in which legal teams peruse emails of all sorts, shapes and sizes, group chats, if you're politico or many of the other various means of communication in oath, out of oath, in Congress, out of Congress that many of these former Obama administration officials made surrounding the russiagate Obamagate scandals in which the Obama administration directly, at the request of the president then of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, framed President Trump in an attempted intelligence fake series of reports from the intelligence community claiming that Donald Trump, at the time candidate Trump, was somehow a Russian asset that Russia had leaned in favor of to win the presidential election against Hillary Clinton. Of course, now we found out that basically the exact opposite is true, that the Russian Federation wanted social media chaos and they got it. But they also withheld certain information like Hillary Rodham Clinton's rampant tranquilizer use and manic depressive bipolar episodes in which I mean essentially replace her with any angry crackhead outside your local speedway or Katie Porter of California and presto, that was Hillary Clinton during the election cycle. Qua ludes, my dudes. And so now what we are looking at is a series of lying to Congress charges levied at Comey Levy did Brennan levied at more to come who are going to reveal a series of documents that will lead to further charges. If you do in fact hit the Brennan's, the Comeys, the whomever's with big serious whopper size charges right out of the bat, don't be surprised when you end up coming up with nothing to show for it. And then double jeopardy in the United States, you can't try someone for the same crime yet again. So really interesting to see a series of false accusations be brought before Congress again to reduce the process, or should I say reduce the number of processes which some consider to be political prosecutions. You have to show that those who participate in said actions face consequences for doing so. Ergo, the Obamagate boys coming to good old fashioned charges from the Department of Justice and Congress. This brings us to government shutdown bohusits because we are now on day 21 of the Federal government shutdown and people are starting to get real spooked. What people are starting to get real spooked, Tony? Well, the Democrats. The Democrats are having a really, really tough time with us. And for a couple of reasons of course, because the polling data shows that Donald Trump's approval rating has climbed during the government shutdown where House and Senate Democrats approval ratings have plummeted. Of course, Chuck Schumer's rating is at an all time low. Digging ditches in New York would be a job of great heights for Chuck Schumer. And then of course you have Hakeem Jeffries, who according to Axios reporting, isn't even going to get reelected into House leadership in his own caucus as the House Minority Leader. So what does this mean? What are the next moves? Well, the Democrats have said no to the clean resolution that Republicans passed out of the House with bipartisan support and then has had Republicans and two and a half Democrats voting for it in the Senate. But the rest of the Senate leadership.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Won'T pass that cr.

[Tony Kennett]

They've rejected Representative of New York and Republican Mike Lawler's Obamacare provisions to fund the Obamacare subsidies for the time being and they have now rejected A separate bill that would provide for the paychecks of essential federal workers and of course, our armed services. I have seen better political self preservation in roadkill. The Democrats are trying to swap out next year's midterms for a full blown funeral. And it's not me saying this, by the way, just not just, you know, conservative out of Indiana, Tony Kid at making these accusations. Here is Senator John Fetterman, Senator Betterman, as he's called out of the purple swing state of Pennsylvania, with a lot more common sense apparently than Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority speaker, or of course, Senate majority, excuse me, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

[Senator John Fetterman]

I believe John Stune is an honorable man. And I do believe we could have a serious conversation to talk about extending these tax credits. I've always supported that. You could check my record. I vote for that. And now no one can control what the president wants to do. I mean, he's gonna do what he's gonna whatever. But I do believe it's entirely appropriate now open it back up. It's. We have to. Now, even people in my state and Earth SNAP is now like, people need that to eat.

[Tony Kennett]

So he's pointing out SNAP benefits, people needing that to eat, food stamps, welfare assistance.

[Senator John Fetterman]

And now this is about who's winning, who. It's like, well, people are. America's losing.

[Tony Kennett]

Now this is a really interesting comment because you don't hear Fennerman going, well, Republicans, they need to change everything and pass a new bill out of the House and out of the Senate. No, he's saying, guys, just vote for the bill. It's a clean resolution. SNAP benefits are going down. Now that means two things. First of all, there are a lot of Americans who are on certain welfare and entitlement programs who are going to see their benefits cut in November. Now, unfortunately, there are some people who have been reposted and retweeted on their various TikTok videos and Instagram reels who have decided to use the SNAP cuts expected if the government has continued, continues to be shut down as justification that they're gonna go out there and steal stuff then, which I don't know if announcing that you plan to steal on camera is the wisest move, but here.

[Unidentified Caller/Guest]

You go, Donald Mother Orange man J. Trump, I'mma tell you just like this, what the you mean who ain't getting that food stamps to get November? Because I'm getting.

[Representative Josh Williams]

My God.

[Unidentified Caller/Guest]

I don't know about the rest of you motherf ckers, but I'm getting my. Because I'm going to tell you just like this on Lamar Mother cr. I will be at mother Walmart with my steel toes on and my mother helmet and I dare a try to stop me from walking out that mother store with my groceries, baby. I'm £250 solid, baby. You want to see a human bulldozer, baby? Cause that's what the I'm gonna turn into. If you think you gonna stop me from leaving out that over my mother monthly groceries that I get every God month. I ain't bothering no God body. Okay? Why the is y' all bothering me and my God food? I'm just so tired of his big back bald head cradle cap having shaped like a penguin any way albino war is looking. I'm sick of him. Like it's gonna be an episode of God Snap if y' all turn them SNAP benefits off. I can tell you that.

[Tony Kennett]

We do have a record for the most swear words and also the highest cholesterol of any previous Tony Kennett cast clip aired on the show. Lovely. Truly delightful. As Michelle Obama says, no one ever gives some of these brave, extraordinary women a chance to express their pain. Boy, I'm convinced right there. I say give her all the SNAP benefits right now, just immediately. Also, I love it when someone says steel toes and they essentially pick up a pair of A6 sneakers. Those aren't. Those aren't steel toes. Again, the weirdest things that you think that I would care about, but after working on a factory floor for a while, the difference between steel toes and just some slightly hard toe sneakers that you got down to shoe carnival, that kind of matters. Can I get a shout out my forklift certified people?

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

All right. Anyway, moving on.

[Tony Kennett]

So this brings us over to other people having a significantly rough time expressing their inner pain. Kari Jean Pierre, who is on. I don't know if she's on a book tour, a finger painting tour, or a historic I'm out here, put me on TV kind of a tour. But Karine Jean Pierre has now moved on from being asked about why she's covering up for the mental death of Joe Biden and the Weekend at Bernie's ing that took place during his administration. Now she's moved on to calling for action right here, right now. As we know. Kari Jean Pierre, a brilliant orator who has called for the most incredible, intelligent and measured approaches. Well, let her speak for herself.

[Karine Jean-Pierre]

And right now, in this moment, it is. There's an existential threat. Our democracy is hanging by a thread. Some people will say would say we're already an authoritarian regime and I need to see teeth. I need to see fire. And not just me. Many people are worried and concerned.

[Tony Kennett]

I need to see teeth. I need to see fire. So obviously that's a rather irresponsible thing to say given, you know, the mostly peaceful protests and the burning down of American cities or the firebombing of people in Aurora, Colorado. Obviously that's irresponsible. I have a more significant issue here. I need to see teeth. I need to see fire. This sounds like one of those cheap romance novels women try to convince themselves isn't porn. This is the best you got. You don't have like an I mean, we're going to talk about this later with Stephen Kent and Elise McHugh, but I think it might be time to roll out the AI for this one because rolling out Korean Jean Pierre ain't the move. I I'm not sure they can pull out anyone that's worse. I mean, I I'm pretty sure that I've heard better lexicon and explanation From Wanda Sykes on 3 Nyquil. But I digress. The View is also having a really rough time. I'm not going to play you any clips from the View, so be rest assured there the Views having a particularly struggle some time. That would be because they got out on television on Tuesday, October 14, and the cast of ABCs the View whined and mute and harumped over Republicans apparently not wanting to come onto the program and talk with him. So according to co host Joy Behar, Republicans are, and I quote, afraid of us. Now here's the problem with that. See, people do in fact watch clips of the View after the news Busters and Media Research center end up clipping.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

It for me and posting it online.

[Tony Kennett]

So I don't have to sit through that PMS nightmare. But I, you know, I digress. I should really say menopausal nightmare might be more appropriate there, but I'll move on. Before we get too many emails. The Republicans, conservatives, independents across the social media and Internet sphere immediately said, y' all come on when when you have on ladies dudes. As Representative Sarah Tim McBride would say things in between. Why why not have on in Republican or conservative? You had everybody from Ali Beth Stuckey to Marjorie Taylor Greene to Byron Donald to Riley Gaines, Danielle Alvarez, senior advisor for the Republican National Committee. All of these people said, hey, you know, here you go. I'm happy to hop on anytime you like. And then the View turned them down. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, kind of the top of the conservative Radio, radio charts. They invited, they said, hey, happy to do it. And they showed screenshots of them emailing the show's producers. And it turns out, no, the View has repeatedly, consistently turned down any one of these individuals on the right side of the aisle. Unless they can bring on RFK JR's wife and lecture her, they're not interested in having you on. Now, again, I know that reporting that the ladies on the View are full of crap may not be the most particularly interesting thing, but it does fit to perhaps the last and most excellent theme of things that I know you're just positively excited to enjoy. This would be the Vice President of the United States, J.D.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Vance.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, there were a lot of people who came out and said that good old jd, he was going to be the super duper hyper isolationist, that he was going to keep the United States from achieving its foreign policy goals and he was gonna give the United States away to this, that and the other, and all of these weirdo wacko conspiracy theories. And then it turned out that J.D. vance is just who he's always been, which is pretty smart in the moment. And, you know, again, best looking Vice president that we've ever had doesn't particularly hurt. Vance was asked about Hamas because Hamas, since the ceasefire, has not ceased the firing. Now, they did give Israel back the hostages, and then Israel gave back like 2,000 prisoners of war. And now Hamas is running throughout Gaza Strip and getting into little civil wars with different factions trying to rule over the Gaza Strip. And then a few of them decided, you know what would be great? What if we took a couple of potshots in the most CCTV filmed part of the area that is the border with Israel, and a couple of Hamas fighters fired a couple of rounds and shot some Israeli Defense Force soldiers. And now there's a little bit of concern that, well, look, Hamas isn't going to disarm, they're not going to cough up the arms and kind of go away quietly and they're shooting their own people. By the way, all of the genocide in Gaza people went strangely quiet after Hamas started to be the group running around apparently wantonly shooting everyone as the earlier claims about Israel suggested. So, Vice President, excuse me, Vice President Vance was asked about this earlier today.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

And I think the answer is pretty apropos.

[Tony Kennett]

Here you go.

[J.D. Vance]

And look, our warning to MoS is very straightforward. The terms of the 20 point plan that the President put out there is very clear. It's supported not just by Israel, but by all of our Gulf Arab friends. It's that Hamas has to disarm. It's that Hamas has to actually behave itself. And that Hamas, while all the fighters can be given some sort of clemency. They're not going to be able to kill each other and they're not going to be able to kill their fellow Palestinians. Now, again, that's going to take a little bit of time. We're talking about how to set up the security and humanitarian apparatus to put all this in place. But right now, where I stand, I feel confident that we're going to be in a place where this peace lasts, where it's durable. And if Hamas doesn't cooperate, then, as the president, United States has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated.

[Tony Kennett]

Correct. That's the correct position here, by the way. It is the kind of red line walking back that the Obama administration did and then the Biden administration did, where you'd have Biden, you know, pushed up into the colloquial wheelchair to the microphone, where he would look sort of into the camera, sort of off into his distant memories and go, don't. And then of course, the terrorist organization would do whatever it was that they wanted to do and then Biden would back off and he would move the line a little bit back. That age is over now. That is spooking a lot of other countries around the world. It is spooking China. It's spooking Russia. It is spooking those in the South American areas like Colombia and Venezuela. We're recognizing that the age of free rides and kind of eternal general occupation goobery forces is over. It's over. And it is something that many Americans voted for not on behalf of any special interests or profundity groups, but because if you are going to do something, as President Trump said, then go in and do it. Quit screwing around. Dispatch the B2s. Send them in. If I'm going to be paying Lockheed Martin a chunk of my tax money, then I want the boom that Lockheed Martin makes to be a really nice boom. Really light up some ordinance, you know what I'm saying? That is absolutely correct. So Vice President Vance showing yet again why the 2028 ticket is absolutely.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Vance and Rubio.

[Tony Kennett]

We'll be back in just a moment. We've got Stephen Kent and Elise McHugh as well as Representative Josh Williams from Ohio. And then a little bit tonight, later on, we're going to be with Tucker Carlson and Turning Point USA at the Charlie Kirk event down in Bloomington, Indiana at Indiana University. Don't go anywhere. It's the Tony Kinnid cast here on the Daily Signal.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

A new study in Newsweek, a survey over from Vantage Point Counseling Services, says 28% of adults have either had an AI relationship or an affair. It's getting really weird out there. And so when we've got the weird.

[Tony Kennett]

Stuff that's really pervasive into the culture.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Some really ground shifting stuff, we go to Stephen Kent of Geeky Stoics, who not so coincidentally has a new video out on the emerging trends in pornography and how to escape from it. And of course, our very own Elise McHugh, co host of Problematic Women here at the Daily Signal. All right, Steven, just gonna pitch it to you right off the bat.

[Tony Kennett]

There are a lot of people you've.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Cited in kind of pop culture who have said that their addiction to pornography has kind of shaped their entire minds. And I've got a hunch that we might even hear more pretty soon about this AI stuff. What do you think?

[Stephen Kent]

Yeah, well, there's no doubt that when it comes to pornography, adult content, explicit anything, what people experience in the online world is going to impact and shape the things that they want out of their real world lives. That Newsweek survey that you mentioned that people are reporting having romantic relationships with AI Ben, the question of what they consider to be romantic, what kind of conversations, activity and feedback and responses do people consider to be ideal for a partner? People are going to project what the AI gives them onto human beings. You know, one of the things that I think anyone who's been married has to contend with at some point in their life is that their spouse is not designed to bring them gratification and satisfaction in all things. You actually have to do a whole lot of creating that for yourself. And AI does not operate under those rules at all. It is designed to give you everything and every bit of gratification that you might want back from it. It's really dangerous. It's very anti human.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Elise, I know that you're on kind of the other side of the marriage threshold. There you are in a rather interesting dating environment with the youth. Uh, I know a lot of guys are just choosing the AI model over going out there and dating. How tough is it out there?

[Elise McHugh]

Oh, my gosh. Every time I hear a new thing come out about the new dating trend or relationships, I truly do feel like I got the last chopper out of nom finding my boyfriend in college and I'm clinging on to him for dear life because I'm not going to go out and date AI. But if I'm not going to do that. Turns out half of my dating pool is going out and doing that. It's truly frustrating. It's very dystopian. It's like that movie Her. And we all laughed at that and was like, oh, what a silly concept. But it's coming true every single day, and it's really freaky. I think my generation just needs to go to church, not therapy. They need to go to church and just figure out what actual love is.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Stephen, you talked about this on the video. You talked about garbage in, garbage out, and how that kind of pornography warps your entire mind. Of course, now AI warping literally the relationships that you cast on people. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Get, get, get. And this kind of idea that has warped your entire brain, there is a path out of it and at least is talking about church. Geeky Stoics is focused on returning classics. You cite Marcus Aurelius. You dig back to some of the Roman playwrights. What are you seeing that young men are looking for in a way out of this? Well, I shouldn't say young men, people of any age, because society's so hooked on it.

[Stephen Kent]

Yeah, men, women of many ages are looking for a way out of honestly, what I would call a modern version of the myth of narcissists. This is told by Ovid, and it basically is this story in which a young man falls in love with his own reflection in the pool. That's where we get the word narcissism. Obsession with the self. And nobody can make him feel the way that he makes himself feel when he looks into the pool and sees his own face. And you might go, well, that's not what pornography is, but it actually kind of is. A lot of what that activity is really based on is getting exact feedback on the things that you. You think are important, Good, natural, beautiful. And then everything else in the real world falls short of those things. I've played around with ChatGPT in a lot of different creative contexts. It does not tell you you have a bad idea ever. It only ever tells you, wow, what an interesting thought. You're so smart. That's a great idea. Let me find some more information about that and we can brainstorm. That's why so many people have committed crimes associated with ChatG, because it does not talk people down from their worst notions. So, you know, kind of bridging the gap here between ChatGPT and general pornography culture. There is nobody in society, besides perhaps the folks in your church who are telling you that the thoughts you have, the desires that you feel are not reflections of truth, they are phantoms, and you need to try and work them out.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

You guys remember the idea when we were in school that you shouldn't use Wikipedia for your sources because essentially you could find anything on the Internet and make it true.

[Tony Kennett]

This is the way that a lot.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Of people, including in legacy media and politicians as well. I can't tell you how many congressmen I've heard citing Grok or ChatGPT in little press statements. They simply ask whatever AI platform, it is what they want to hear. Again, maybe it's not pornographic in this case, but it is really, really weird to see people just searching out and saying, these robots need to tell me I'm right.

[Tony Kennett]

At least this is one of the things that we fact check so often.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

At the Daily Signal.

[Elise McHugh]

I would honestly pay a premium subscription for every single social media site to filter out any AI slop and filter out any information that's been touched by it. And it's a really interesting trend. I think especially with Gen Z and maybe younger millennials, we can actually start to see patterns. When things are being written by AI, you can tell by the huge something's off, something has like a huge hyphen. It's not just this, it's this. And someone put their finger on it very concisely. You can find all these patterns, but the underlying thread isn't what's said, but it's what's not being said. And at the end of the day, AI is just like an amalgamation of what everyone on the Internet is saying and you can't replicate it.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

I want to ask, though, because this is a little bit off track, but yet really important, have you seen these patterns? Because again, garbage in, garbage garbage out. Have you seen some of these AI patterns start to imprint themselves on people and how they talk and how they think and how they respond, Stephen.

[Stephen Kent]

So I can't say I have, at least in verbal communication and how people talk. But, you know, my day job, Tony, is I'm an editor. And even in cases where I cannot quite put my finger on the use of ChatGPT or AI language generators, you can see how it is affecting the way in which people. Right. You know, she mentioned very correctly that ChatGPT likes to say, it's not this, it's this. And the way that it structures an argument is very formulaic. Young kids, of which I homeschool a teenager will start to mimic the way that they think about structure based on what they learn from generative AI. You know, this is going to Be something that we sort of see develop the same way slang develops. It's just in the water, it's in the air that we breathe. You don't even know you're doing it until you realize your entire style has changed.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

And it's not just not knowing what you're doing. Regarding the tech side of things, think of Sora. Think of the new video platform. Because if kids are again, if we reading, you know, getting garbage in, garbage out, if you're reading all of these AI prompts and you're starting to write and communicate like the AI, then it.

[Tony Kennett]

Is very feasible to believe that Sora.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

And the other AI video platforms and the facial expressions and the actions that are shown on screen not only being used as AI slop to convince people something happened during kind of AI memery, you run into some really scary stuff where some truly terrible acts can be portrayed as though they're run of the mill, natural, maybe morally good. At a time when we're looking at the kind of rhetoric that causes mass hysteria and violence. God forbid someone breaks the Sora prompt to display a lack of empathy over a truly horrible action, at least.

[Elise McHugh]

It's very interesting you mentioned Sora AI specifically because, you know, I will admit I do spend a lot of time just doom scrolling on Instagram and I've started seeing Sora AI make theme park rides based on real life events. It's very entertaining. I'm not gonna lie. I fell for it once. But I've seen them get like scarier and scarier in terms of content. There was one that was like January 6th, the roller coaster ride, and then just how accurate it looks now. It's super innocent now, but how long until it just gets smarter and smarter and people know how to manipulate it more and then it actually show? Here's what would happen if Donald Trump did this and that.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

This is where it absolutely links back to pornography though, because with pornograph, pornography addictions. Stephen, you and I have talked about this before. The mind seeks more and more and more. And so we can already see in the. And I'm not trying to, you know, pin something into where maybe there isn't. I'm not, you know, trying to, you know, be hyper schizo here. But it does appear that with the new AI trends, it gets more bizarre and creepier and as the perhaps just Martin Luther King saying a slightly different quote doesn't quite do it anymore, then all of a sudden it's the theme park ride. That's the JFK assassination. I mean, it Seems as though we do start to go more depraved because.

[Tony Kennett]

It'S just not as funny as the last one. It just doesn't appeal as much as the last one. Just doesn't satisfy as much as the last one.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Here we are again.

[Stephen Kent]

Yeah. You know, the things that go into our mind shape everything that we think to be normal, just like you said. You know, the video that we did on geeky stoics on YouTube about pornography and kind of how it warps people's minds. You know, we were looking very much at this little anecdote from the show Yellowstone, where a young boy is victimized and traumatized, and he starts having nightmares about it. And so he goes to Kevin Costner, who plays the elder Dutton in the Yellowstone series, and he tells him, you know, the only way that you can sort of change the nature of your thoughts is to change the ingredients. If you're having a lot of nightmares, bad visions, you see bad things on the back of your eyelids when you close them. You got to start, like, reading some good books. You got to start taking nature hikes. You got to start doing things to inject goodness into your life. If you want to change the way that your thoughts have been impacted by, you know, weird videos on social media, pornography that you were showed when you were way too young, this is sort of the nature of trying to reclaim control of your mind today. You've got to change the ingredients of the things that are going in and be way more discerning with the stuff that you keep out.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Elise, you know that I ask you kind of trends in Gen Z. That's one of the things that I often throw your way. You see a lot of Generation Z that's returning to church. You see a lot of Generation Z that is seeking a path out of this stuff. They don't. Again, millennials and Gen Z are less likely to drink alcohol. They're less likely to engage in a lot of openly destructive behavior in a way that perhaps prior generations might have fallen into. They have their own vices. But do you see more of Generation Z putting down the phone and going outside?

[Tony Kennett]

Not to put you on the spot.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

But less of the doom scrolling? Maybe even.

[Elise McHugh]

No, absolutely. I mean, even this morning, my roommate comes into my room and says, hey, I didn't block you on Instagram. I just deleted it. It was such a detriment to my life. And I was like, you know what? Maybe I should have been doing that this morning instead of doom scrolling. And I think it's because we've been so bombarded by the Internet and all these trends, and it just feels suffocating to some extent that you just really gotta put down the phone, actually look outside your window instead of your black mirror and just take a breath. And I think that's what our generation is craving because it's not like, oh, this is a cool new device that we've never had. Like, we've always had these phones and we're just kind of sick of it. When we see life happening outside.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

It is a really good thing to see kind of the shininess, the glitter wearing off and a lot of people starting to realize that on the other.

[Tony Kennett]

Side of this, it is just the.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Same kinds of stuff that can persist into danger.

[Tony Kennett]

I know.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Not maybe an interview where we dug.

[Tony Kennett]

Into kind of the comedy that we had outlined.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

We were going to talk a little bit about the Trump AI video and Harry Sisson and, you know, bombardment in that way. But I think this is a more important topic. I'd argue Elise McHugh over at the Daily Signal, co host of Problematic Women and of course, the man whose video starts so many excellent discussions, Steven Kent from Geeky Stoics. Really appreciate you guys.

[Elise McHugh]

It was great to see you guys again.

[Tony Kennett]

So instead of going to some snotnose.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Panelist to talk about how Ohio is.

[Tony Kennett]

Actually a super competitive Faicon district series in the next midterm election, we're going to a guy who actually talks to Ohioans because he represents Ohioans to his.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

State government day after day as Josh.

[Tony Kennett]

Williams, the 44th, the man who knows exactly what it's like in Ohio because believe it or not, he lives there. So, Rep. Williams, thanks for taking a couple of minutes here to talk with us. And what's Ohio looking like after the no Kings nursing home protests?

[Representative Josh Williams]

Well, of course, those individuals have cleared now. It went back to normal, which we see every day. You know, our nursing homes were cleared out to have these senior citizens out here protesting. And then we had an influx of antifa, these young guys who want to, you know, back at Mamdani and turn our country into socialists and communists, you know, influx in our communities for the no Kings protest. But I didn't see average, you know, Americans, average Ohioans that are in my district out of these protests. You know, it's no different on the ground than before these protests, which is, you know, Ohioans are excited about the policies that are coming out of the Trump administration. Donald Trump campaigned on the idea of getting rid of illegal immigration, securing the border, getting better economic policies. And we're seeing those policies come out of the White House, and that's what my constituents are focusing on.

[Tony Kennett]

So when I look at the polling.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Data here, when I actually see what.

[Tony Kennett]

Americans are concerned about, I'm not seeing anyone say, oh, no, democracy is dying.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

And we have a king in the White House.

[Tony Kennett]

And everyone's really, really, really worried about that. That is what the messaging that's being trotted forward, it seems to suggest. But when I look at the again.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

What people are running on in Ohio.

[Tony Kennett]

I know obviously you're not the only one who's currently up in that position. Also up in the 9th Congressional, you.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Are in a position where you have.

[Tony Kennett]

To take all of the local messaging.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

In Ohio and fight that as well. I know the Democrats are trying to revive Sherrod Brown's campaign for the 436th time, basically, Beto, at this point. So what on earth are we going.

[Tony Kennett]

To see moving forward in what's likely to be one of the bigger battleground.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

States is kind of the key things. You guys are fighting tooth and nail on messaging style over there.

[Representative Josh Williams]

Well, you're going to continue to see Ohio as the epicenter of the political realm. You know, right here in the 9th congressional district, where I announced my candidacy, we have a great campaign. We've been on the ground talking to constituents not only in the inner city of Toledo and Lucas county, but in also surrounding rural districts as well. And the messaging is a little bit different in each one. We want to be concerned with our investment in our rural communities, the cost of building houses in those communities, the availability of jobs in those communities. In the inner city, they're worried about crime, they're worried about immigration, they're worried about the resources being reallocated towards these illegal immigrants. Like what we saw in Chicago, where the minority, the impoverished, the seniors, their interests are disregarded for the illegal immigrant that just arrived in America that has no skin in the game, Americans are fed up with that. And that's why you saw a popular vote that elected Donald Trump as the 47th president. You saw in that same election cycle, Ohioans rejected Sherrod Brown loud and clear, and put in our senior senator and Bernie Moreno. And those policies haven't changed in the year and a half that we've seen, you know, less than a year since, since that election cycle. So we're looking forward to the 2024 election cycle. We're going to pick up some seats here in Ohio. We see that Ohio is getting redder and redder because the Democrats keep doubling down on these woke policies, these protectionist policies of illegal immigrants, and they're out of touch with the average blue collar worker here in the state of Ohio.

[Tony Kennett]

That's actually one of the things I.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Wanted to ask you about because in Cincinnati, in Dayton, in Cleveland, of course, up in Toledo as well as in Columbus, there have been some immigration operations.

[Tony Kennett]

And unfortunately in Chicago, when there are.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Immigration operations, the city and state government in Chicago and Illinois, they don't work with federal officials. Things get to be quite a mess.

[Tony Kennett]

Yet, though, there are some of those.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Same kind of immigration operations in several.

[Tony Kennett]

Of your major cities, including Toledo in Ohio. You don't really see some of the.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Same violence and nonsense.

[Tony Kennett]

What's the difference here is that we.

[Representative Josh Williams]

Introduce legislation out of my office to make sure that they would be punished if they decided to have these sanctuary city policies. Although Cincinnati and Columbus mayors and Cleveland mayors have come out and said that they're not going to cooperate with ice, they're not actively obstructing because my office introduced House Bill, House Bill 26 back in February, which would defund sanctuary cities here in the state of Ohio. It was a clear message, a clear shot across the bow, that we're going to use what's known as conditional funding, that if you want to try to have these sanctuary policies, we're going to defund you from a state level. We're going to take away tens of millions of dollars out of your local budget and let your local constituents decide if they want to actually be taxed more because you want to provide sanctuary policies to illegal immigrants. We saw what happened in Chicago when Chicago reallocated a ton of resources to illegal immigration. Minorities came out in droves to the city council meetings calling for reform and promising to vote red. And we saw that vote actually happened. The most minority votes ever for a Republican president in decades happen because of the drive for reform in cities like Chicago.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

So if you're actually kind of advocating for these series of policies, there's a strange, how do I put this? There's a strange facet to the Midwestern kind of Rust Belt voting demographics. Union workers, kind of 90s labor populists.

[Tony Kennett]

Who are more centrist than a lot.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Of those on the right, and they are far more to the right than.

[Tony Kennett]

A lot of those on the left. And you can see when there are certain policies that kind of go against.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

What we would call in the Midwest is kind of a common sense, it makes sense to focus on people in your state before illegal immigrants or anything of that nature.

[Tony Kennett]

The union voters are kind of a.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Touchstone for or not the union voters.

[Tony Kennett]

But the guys who work in factories.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

You know, your steel mill workers, etc.

[Tony Kennett]

Those are the guys who will act as kind of a flashpoint, a thermometer.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

If you will, for whether a policy really hits home with Ohioans or Michiganders or Hoosiers, etc. How are the kind of industrial labor.

[Tony Kennett]

Class demographic responding to Ohio's efforts to.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Work with federal law enforcement as opposed.

[Tony Kennett]

To how Illinois is doing?

[Representative Josh Williams]

So, so we're seeing more and more union workers and union leadership side with the Republican Party. We've seen it in our election cycles. I had tremendous support in my first two elections from labor unions. They care about social economic policies. At first they were agnostic towards the Democrat policies, but then it changed. They started to force those policies down their throats, making it where their kids had to compete with boys and women in girls sports and let boys go into girls locker rooms. Enough was enough. Then you had the Biden economic policies that drove up the cost of every item, you know, by inflation we saw that. So why does it, why does it benefit you to be part of a union and make a higher wage if every item then costs more? And we saw that shift in the union vote. And more importantly, they care about America. They care that American jobs are given to American citizens and especially union workers. And that's why we've supported E Verified legislation here in the state of Ohio in our construction trades to make sure that Americans are the ones benefiting from the boom, the economic boom that we're seeing in Ohio. We're attracting businesses like intel and Andro and Honda and seeing record investment even here in my district here with the Jeep plant and the investment that we're going to have here on new products that are going in. You know, we want to make sure that Americans are benefiting from America first policies and the unions are supportive of that.

[Tony Kennett]

I can see why.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

Representative Josh Williams, great to have you on.

[Tony Kennett]

We'll have you back as things get.

[Host (Tony Kennett or Co-host)]

A little bit spicier in the election cycle. But thanks for what you do for Ohio.

[Representative Josh Williams]

Thank you for having me on today.