Ep. 519 - CRISIS: 3rd & 4th Islamic Terror Attacks in U.S. in Just 12 Days, Democrats Blame “Islamophobia”

Summary

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The Tony Kennett Cast (Ep. 519)

Crisis: 3rd & 4th Islamic Terror Attacks in U.S. In Just 12 Days, Democrats Blame “Islamophobia”
Date: March 13, 2026
Host: Tony Kennett
Guests/Contributors: Virginia Allen (Daily Signal Senior News Producer), Elizabeth Mitchell (White House Correspondent), Jacob Oledort (America First Policy Institute)

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Overview

This high-intensity episode of The Tony Kennett Cast covers a wave of recent Islamic terror attacks in the United States, the political and law enforcement responses, ongoing controversies around media and political framing, and evolving policies on national security and foreign influence. With a direct, sarcastic, and sometimes confrontational tone, Tony Kennett critiques both the Democratic response and aspects of U.S. policy, pushing for a clear-eyed recognition of ideological motives and systemic failures. The episode concludes with detailed foreign policy updates and an interview on the implications of U.S. action against Iran.

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Main Themes

• Rash of Islamic Terror Attacks: Four incidents in two weeks, with specific breakdowns of Michigan and Virginia attacks.
• Deficiency in Political Response: Kennett lambasts Democratic leaders for allegedly refusing to name "Islamic extremism" as a motivator and instead focusing on Islamophobia and gun control.
• Questions of National Security Policy: Laxity and politicization in the justice and immigration systems, as well as failures to address root causes and vulnerabilities.
• Foreign Policy & Iran: Assessment of Operation Epic Fury’s effects on the Iranian regime, U.S. military strategy, and oil/global security.
• Legislative Updates: Discussion of voter ID requirements (SAVE America Act) and Education Department actions on foreign influence in universities.
• Media & Political Framing: Critique of how both left- and right-wing media spin terror attacks for partisan gain.
• Listener Q&A: Kennett answers questions on ideological confrontation, campaign finance, artificial intelligence in military, and conspiracy theories.

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Episode Breakdown & Key Segments

1. Four Islamic Terror Attacks in March: Timeline and Details

[00:00–07:00]

• Texas: Shooter wore "Property of Allah" shirt.

• New York City (Gracie Mansion): Anti-Islamic culture protest targeted by terrorists throwing IEDs—no explosions.

• West Bloomfield, Michigan:

  • Beth Israel Synagogue & Preschool: Vehicle rammed into building; driver dead; no staff or children injured.
  • Attacker: Identified as Eamon Ghazella, a naturalized citizen from Lebanon (Dearborn, MI). FBI reports explosives in car did not detonate.
  • Quote: “Thank God in heaven...no kids or staff was injured whatsoever. Though this piece of human debris...drove into a preschool attempting to kill children.” — Tony Kennett [02:23]
  • Security Note: FBI held an active shooter drill six weeks earlier at this site, praised by FBI for preparedness.
  • Quote: “It is crucial that your church or synagogue has a security team. If it does not, you need to carry, and carry responsibly. Your head needs to be on a swivel.” — Tony Kennett [04:23]

• Old Dominion University, Virginia:

  • Shooter: Mohamed Jalot, former National Guard, previously convicted (2016) for providing material support to ISIS, released in 2024.
  • Quote: “You say, wait a minute. If he was convicted...of providing material support to ISIS, why here in the year of our Lord 2026 was this individual walking free?” — Tony Kennett [08:00]

2. Political & Law Enforcement Responses

[05:36–09:00; 15:00–18:00]

• Democratic Leadership:

  • Kennett reviews statements from Chuck Schumer, Gary Peters, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Adam Schiff, etc.—all condemning antisemitism, but none mention “Islam” or “Islamic extremism.”
  • Quote: “Never once does it mention Islam ever at all...It’s a real chin scratcher. Not sure what could have led to such a terror attack on a synagogue and preschool. Hmm.” — Tony Kennett [05:50]

• Legal & Judicial Laxity:

  • Judge Liam O’Grady freed Jalot early, citing “the good things you have done as well as the horrendous things.”
    • Quote: “So because Judge Liam O’Grady decided that he did some good things in prison...He then turns around two years later and starts opening fire on Old Dominion University.” — Tony Kennett [10:20]

• DA Response:

  • Ramin Fatehi, VA Commonwealth Attorney, attributes attacks to “guns, not terrorists”—Kennett ridicules this framing.
  • Quote: “The real problem is the guns again. All of the firearms I own...ain’t never done nothing...It wasn’t the guns that made Jalot go to attempt to aid ISIS. It was the ISIS.” — Tony Kennett [17:00]

3. Media and Cultural Narrative Critique

[20:00–24:00; 40:00–43:00]

• Accusations of 'Islamophobia':

  • Coverage of Cato Institute, left-wing, and libertarian reactions — Cato cited a fabricated Ben Franklin quote in defense of Muslim rights.
  • Contrasted with historical Founding Fathers’ skepticism toward Islam.
  • Quote: “Cutting off foreign aid to countries chanting ‘Death to America’...refusing entry to them...is not cruelty to the sheep, but refusing the wolf access to the pasture.” — Tony Kennett [22:45]

• Media Framing:

  • Criticism of MSNBC and CNN for allegedly blaming the GOP and shifting focus away from Islamic radicalism, even as Democrats struggle with party divisions over Israel and antisemitism.
  • Quote: “They lamented this on the election coverage...just low turnout because they had been tricked into staying home. So it’s a very, very interesting time here in the country to watch media try to manipulate these news events in real time.” — Tony Kennett [41:10]

4. Policy and Legislative Updates

[27:00–35:00]

• SAVE America Act:

  • Sen. John Thune to bring to the floor: requires proof of citizenship to vote, voter ID—Kennett says it's a “common sense piece of legislation.”
    • Quote: “At the core of the Save America act is the requirement that individuals provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and then show an ID when they go to the polls.” — Tony Kennett quoting Thune [28:00]

• Education Department Foreign Funding Rule:

  • Elizabeth Mitchell: Explains new requirements for universities to disclose specifics of foreign funding sources—aimed at countering influence from countries like Qatar and China.
    • Quote: “We know huge amounts of money are flowing in...But now, thanks to the Education Department, we’re going to find out exactly where in that country that money is coming from.” — Elizabeth Mitchell [29:37]

• Mass Deportation vs. “Criminal Focus”:

  • Internal GOP rift: Trump campaign messaging on whether to emphasize deporting all illegal immigrants or prioritize criminals—Republican factions split.
    • Quote: “Some Republicans believe that Trump ran on mass deportations. People voted for him because they want to see every illegal immigrant deported...Other Republicans were relieved by this switch.” — Elizabeth Mitchell [32:08]

5. International Focus: Iran, Middle East, Energy Security

[43:00–54:15]

• Iranian Regime Crisis:

  • Virginia Allen explains confusion over the status of new Iranian leader after U.S./Israeli strikes. Iranian state TV issues defiant statements but leader’s health in doubt.
  • Quote: “...Bold, brash...really directly speaking in defiance...But Tony, like you say, we don’t actually know that this individual wrote this statement and that he is in fact alive and well.” — Virginia Allen [43:21]

• U.S. Strategic Objectives:

  • Interview with Jacob Oledort (America First Policy Institute):
    • U.S. campaign in Iran’s success in degrading Iranian strike capacity.
    • Ongoing operation seen as culmination of decades-long struggle with the Iranian regime.
    • Explicit separation between regime change and mission scope: “the fate of the regime is incidental to our objectives.”
    • Market and energy implications of securing Strait of Hormuz—possible long-term reduction in oil prices if stability is achieved.
    • Importance of sticking to protection of Americans as primary rationale.
    • Quote: “The objectives are clear...eliminating threats. Whatever happens to the regime, whatever happens to the country of Iran, we wish them well...But fundamentally, what we are planning around is ensuring that the threats are no longer there to the American people.” — Jacob Oledort [56:47]
    • Quote: “Thomas Jeffersonian argument against the Barbary Pirates...pretty hefty to leave out of the conversation.” — Tony Kennett [63:54]

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Memorable Quotes

• On Political Evasion:
  “Never once does it mention Islam ever at all.” — Tony Kennett [05:50]

• On Security:
  “Your head needs to be on a swivel. Because these terror attacks will persist and they will continue.” — Tony Kennett [04:23]

• On Judicial Leniency:
  “Because Judge Liam O’Grady decided that he did some good things in prison...He then turns around two years later and starts opening fire on Old Dominion University.” — Tony Kennett [10:20]

• On Media Framing:
  “There’s not exactly a lot of, like, Republican support in Dearborn, Michigan.” — Tony Kennett [41:30]

• On U.S. Foreign Policy:
  “What can they look forward to in the next decade? ...Ensuring that the threats are no longer there to the American people. That is something that no administration has done before.” — Jacob Oledort [56:47]

• On Cultural Compatibility:
  “Islam is incompatible with American society. And you know what? He's correct. I’m not going to pretend any different.” — Tony Kennett citing Andy Ogles [13:40]

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Notable Moments

• [13:40]: Kennett echoes and defends Rep. Andy Ogles and Charlie Kirk’s claim that “Islam is incompatible as a culture with the U.S.”
• [14:35]: Kennett praises the ROTC cadet who stabbed the ODU attacker: “Hopefully never has to buy a beer for himself for the rest of his days.”
• [17:00]: Extended riff on “guns, not terrorists” framing—Kennett ridicules gun policy scapegoating.
• [22:40–24:00]: Kennett rebuts Cato and libertarian pluralists, dismissing “made up” Ben Franklin quotes in pro-Islamic argument, and references U.S. traditions rooted in opposition to Islamic piracy.
• [54:15–63:50]: Wide-ranging interview with Jacob Oledort on Middle East policy, energy security, and regime change versus threat elimination.

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Listener Mail & Final Takeaways

[64:25–END]

• On Confronting Ideology: Kennett argues Americans are poorly equipped to understand or combat ideological jihadism, due to decades of cultural indecision and pressure not to appear “phobic.”
• On Money in Politics: Kennett opposes restrictions but supports post-conviction bans for certain crimes.
• On AI and Military Capability: Acknowledges AI utility in data analysis and targeting, but says “soul-based creative synthesis” has not been achieved.
• On Media Trust and Deepfakes: Warns that only critical, discerning media consumption will survive the oncoming flood of fake/AI-generated material.

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Conclusion

Tony Kennett’s cast in this episode is a polemic against what he describes as the deadly consequences of political equivocation and cultural relativism in the face of rising Islamic extremism. He demands that U.S. institutions, both political and media, recognize and address the ideological threats, secure American institutions, and enforce clear standards in immigration and national security policy—while warning against misplaced focus on Islamophobia or other distractions.

The episode closes with strong advocacy for citizen vigilance and engagement, skepticism of easy solutions, and a call to resist both apathy and the numbness to national and global danger.

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Transcript

[Tony Kennett]

Tony Kennett.

Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett, host of the Tony Kennett cast. Let's get down to business. You're listening to the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC on CYTV, here on the Daily Signal. Good evening. Welcome to the Tony Kenneth cast here on the Daily Signal, nationally syndicated, first out of 93 WIBC. Whether you're joining us from the radio or the TV side or the live stream or podcast side this evening, it's good to have you. I wish that I had better news to share with you, but we'll get right to it. The current number of Islamic terror attacks in the last two weeks in just this month of March has now climbed to four. Four Islamic terror terror attacks. There was first, the shooting in Texas with the individual with the Property of Allah shirt on. There was the New York City outside of Gracie Mansion, in which there was an anti Islamic culture protest going on, in which two Islamic terrorists showed up from Pennsylvania and chucked two IEDs at the anti Muslim crowd over the shoulder of a guy yelling in a bullhorn about how everyone is welcome here. And then today, two additional Islamic terror attacks, one in West Bloomfield, Michigan and the other at Old Dominion University. That's Norfolk, Virginia. So first of all, West Bloomfield, Michigan, Beth Israel Synagogue and preschool. A terrorist assaulting the facility today, identified now as a Man Ghazala, also known as Ayman Ali Al Ghazali. This individual, according to Bill Mulligan, who originally broke before we had the name of the terrorist, was using a vehicle to ram into the synagogue in Michigan that was registered to a US Naturalized citizen from Lebanon who lives in Dearborn, Michigan. What a surprise. Now, before we get into some of the details here, the initial report from the police, as was broadcast today, while they were still dealing with the terror incident active into the facility, breached the facility by driving into it, was engaged by security. We believe there is one individual deceased in the vehicle. It's been complicated because there was some fire, to say the least with that vehicle. We believe that individual is deceased. No kids. This is the important thing. No kids or no staff was injured whatsoever. Thank God. Thank God in heaven, blessed be his name, that though this piece of human debris. And by the way, if you want to get a look at what he looks like, we now have a photo of the individual over on the live stream. This is Eamon Gazella who drove into a preschool attempting to kill children. Now reports from the FBI suggest at this point that he had explosives found in the back of the vehicle that again, did not go off. Praise be to God. This is now two explosive terrorist attacks that were thwarted because the explosives did not go off today. In, in the backseat of this individual in Michigan, of course, we have the IEDs that did not explode in New York City. And then of course, the Salvadoran terrorists that were arrested on Long island who had Molotov cocktails in the back that they hadn't, hadn't thrown yet, but thank God, also did not explode. Now here's a little something that is important because the next. Before we even get to the other terrorist attack, this is yet another synagogue and preschool that has been targeted. It is crucial that your church or synagogue has a security team. If it does not, because it can't staff one, you need to carry and carry responsibly. Your head needs to be on a swivel. Because these terror attacks will persist and they will continue. Has nothing to do as to whether or not Iran is attacked or other individuals out there claim that, oh, Islam is such a religion of peace and friendship and love. Absolutely not. These attacks have been consistent. They are encouraged. They are protected in the United States. And we're going to get to how in a little bit. But a good moment of why training, why security teams matter because according to multiple reports and the FBI has now reiterated their praise of this earlier post, FBI in Detroit, the Detroit field branch office of the FBI held an active shooter training drill just six weeks ago at the exact same Jewish temple.

[Virginia Allen]

Here's this report is that we have

[Tony Kennett]

just learned that the FBI Detroit held

[Virginia Allen]

an active shooter training drill.

[Tony Kennett]

Situation, I should say. Yeah, okay.

[Virginia Allen]

A drill, A training drill just six

[Tony Kennett]

months ago at this temple. Oh, six weeks ago. Okay.

[Virginia Allen]

Six weeks ago they held an active shooter training session or drill six weeks ago at this temple.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, again, important to understand that in this particular case you already have Democrats that are running out and very carefully and selectively making it clear, well, we don't really know what could have possibly motivated. Yeah, the guy with the Arab last name from first and last name from. With the explosives in his car from Dearborn, Michigan. Oh, gee. It's a real. It's a real chin scratcher. Not sure what could have led to such a terror attack on a synagogue in preschool. Hmm. I wonder what could be the motivation from some of the Democrats responding to these incidents today. Chuck Schumer said he's, he's appalled by the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish congregations in America. Now I've read through the rest of these three paragraphs. Never once does it mention Islam ever at all. It mentions several other attacks against those who have been targeted by Islamic terror. Never once mentions Islam. From Senator Gary Peters. Never once mentions Islam. Elizabeth Warren. Never once mentions it just says, oh, there's no place for anti Semitism. Very, very vague. Kristen Gillibrand. My thoughts. Oh, her thoughts are with people, the children, families, congregates and staff from another post from Kristen Gillibrand. Then Adam Schiff, Hakeem Jeffries, Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who has called for and encouraged the global intifada. Not a single word about the Islamic terror in the United States. In fact, if you say anything about Islamic terror in the United States, then the left wing of this country and the libertarians will run at you angry and incensed. How dare you. Don't you know Islam is just like any other religion? After all, if the, if you, you have an amene who is too Amish, he could get radical. We all know about the major Amish terror incidents, don't we? Oh, oh, oh, there aren't any. Oh, interesting. And, and I seem to recall whenever there is any kind of a mass shooting or terror incident that is remotely attributed to, to someone who claims to be Christian, the entire Christian community immediately condemns it. Yet here we have yet another, the fourth in two weeks, an Islamic terror incident. And, oh, well, you know, hey, G, G Wiz. All of this silence or excuses being made or as we're gonna talk about from Cato Institute, making up Ben Franklin quotes in order to suggest that. Well, actually, the Founding Fathers were deeply worried about Muslims being able to import their culture to the United States. This kind of nonsense is consistent in. It is repetitive and it results in the death of innocent people. Now, over to the next Islamic terror incident today at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. The shooter identified as Mohammed Jalot, former Army National Guard member and also a naturalized US Citizen. But here's the fun thing about this individual. He was previously convicted in 2016 of providing material support to ISIS. You say, wait a minute. If he was convicted of, you know, providing material support to ISIS, why here in the year of our Lord 2026, was this individual walking free? Well, I'm glad you asked because we're going to get into that. Mohammed Baylor Jalal, a former member of the Army National Guard, was arrested on July 3rd. I'm reading the 2016 briefing. The memo on his arrest for attempting to provide material support to isis. Or ISIL in this case. According to the complaint, Gillot is alleged to have attempted to provide services by assisting in the procurement of weapons. Essentially, he was trying to buy rifles and deliver them to ISIS in what was believed to be an attack on US Soil. So this individual here, in this particular instance, who opened fire at Old Dominion University today, was previously arrested, convicted for wanting to provide rifles to ISIS to commit a terror attack here in the United States. Why was he let free? Well, because a George W. Bush administration judge decided to get really warm feelings because freaking, of course, radio crew, I'm sorry, due to FCC rules, we have to send you to commercial. We're going to continue on the live stream and get into this a little bit. It's the Tony Kinit cast here on the Daily Signal, the live stream crew. Of course, we don't. We don't have to, to, you know, abide by those particular rules over here with you. So we'll continue. According to Joe Bruno from WSOC 9, he said, I learned the subspec in the Old Dominion shooting. Mohamed Baylor Jalot visited Charlotte in 2016 for four hours and attempted to purchase assault RIF. The FBI was already monitoring him because once again, he's a naturalized citizen from the third world. And when he attempted to purchase the gun in Virginia, the agents arrested him. Part of his 2016 guilty plea. He was released in 2024 by Judge Liam O'. Grady. By the way, you want the picture of this individual? You got it. Here you go. Judge Liam o' Grady said, and I quote, this is a from his transcript of this hearing where he released him in 2024, quote. So I think that the ultimate sentence that I hand down should reflect the good things that you have done as well as the horrendous things. Wow. Wow. Incredible. Touching. Is it not? So? Because Judge Liam o' Grady decided that he did some good things in prison. After all, in the heart of every person, no matter what culture they come from, they're just shucks, the doodles. They love freedom and people, they just need a little bit of rehabilitation. This piece of effing trash then proceeded. After being arrested and convicted for trying to buy rifles to give to isis, he then turns around two years later and starts opening fire on Old Dominion University and kills the ROTC instructor before, thank God, he was stabbed in the neck by an ROTC cadet who has, as one conservative commentator put, and I wholeheartedly agree, hopefully never has to buy a beer for himself for the rest of his days. And of course, the FBI has now confirmed. Thank you to producer Jen for getting this information here. The FBI has confirmed that Muhammad Jalo shouted, you guessed it, Alu Akbar before opening fire at Old Dominion University. But it's okay. The Senate Democrats are more concerned about ICE looking really gruff and. And. And, you know, upholding immigration law. So the Department of Homeland Security is currently shut down. And what are all of the Democrats and the media upset about and the libertarians upset about online? Oh, they're upset because Representative Andy Ogles pointed out that Islam is incompatible with American society. And you know what? He's correct. I'm not gonna pretend any different. I don't care if it's not politically correct. You know what you do when you radicalize a guy in the. The Mennonite faith? He builds an extra barn per day. When you radicalize someone in the United States. Where are the. Where are, like the. The Hindu terror attacks in the United States? Where are the Sikh terror attacks in the United States? Show me what tenet of Southern Baptist ideology calls for people, when criticized to go and do this kind of crap. I can't find it. And again, when there is a terrorist attack that is attributed to Christians, the entire Christian church resolutely condemns that. But you have another Islamic terror attack. Where is it? Where. Where. Where are all. Where. Where is it? Where are all of the Islamic leaders in the country condemning Islamic radical terror? Oh, oh, you don't see. Oh, I don't see it either. What a coincidence. We're really the problem, as Norm MacDonald pointed out, after an Islamic terror attack is all the Islamophobia. See, you're not allowed to notice this because Zoran Mamdani's imaginary may or may not have been riding the subway after 9, 11 and got a dirty look. Maybe, somehow, possibly, that you can't do that. After all, that's the. Those are the real victims. It is truly and deeply insane that we are at this place right now in our society. We can't impeach the judges to do this. Now, that judge. Oh, that particular judge from the Bush administration. Oh, Grady is retired. There are plenty of other judges who do this stuff consistently, constantly, all the time. Now we got to bring the radio crew back in from commercial. You need to hear what the district attorney, a George Soros, supported one, because you know, of course, who he's blaming it on. We got to bring the radio crew back from commercial. Don't go anywhere. We have a lot to cover tonight. It's the Tony Kinit cast here on the Daily Signal. This is The Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC new information. The FBI has confirmed that Mohamed Jalot of the Old Dominion shooting, again, an ROTC instructor at the university, is dead because of this shooter. The shooter, by the way, who then thankfully was stabbed in the neck by an ROTC cadet, who I'm just gonna make this clear, should just go ahead and skip butterbar for this. They should just go ahead and graduate him and promote him right to first lieutenant. Man's earned it. Here's the FBI confirming of course, what all of us knew, that right before he did the thing, right before he opened fire on the university, he shouted what of course all Islamic terrorists do before they begin doing the thing that they believe is going to win them their virgins. With little details that we know about the shooting so far, how are we able to confirm that this or this was an act of terrorism?

[Virginia Allen]

How it was an act.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, I love this already. You have the journalists going, excuse me, excuse me. So I know that the, the Arabic individual who was a naturalized citizen and a Muslim of foreign lands committed an act of terror today, obviously because he opened fire on a university which by its literal definition is an act of terror. Again, it's not as though the man was, was outside, picked up a gun and then all of a sudden it just started going off and he's like, no, I'm a shooter now. No, but anywho, you get these kind of questions from people who believe they're journalists and are somehow better and smarter than you. So the FBI official has to answer this question.

[Virginia Allen]

Terrorism. I can tell you that we have confirmed reports that prior to him conducting this act of terrorism, he shouted, stated Allah Akbar.

[Tony Kennett]

Oh, no way. What? What a big surprise. Now of course the district attorney over in that part of Virginia has already taken it upon themselves to blame the true culprits. I told you the true culprit. Okay, one of this is one of the George Soros funded and backed guys for District attorney. Here you go. A national sickness. We live in a country where people care more about guns than they care about six year old children. Piss off. Piss off. They care more about guns than they care about synagogue worshipers and they care more about guns than they do about college students. Rahman Fatehi, I'm going to say Rahman Fatehi wants you to know the real problem is the guns again. All of the firearms that I own, a fair amount, hey, ain't never done nothing. They've shot some coyotes that have gotten into the chickens in eastern central Indiana. They've shot some pretty fine Targets. I've worn my h and k vp9 on my hip for many a time. I've been around quite a lot of people. It's never gone out and started doing anything again. It wasn't the guns that made Jalal go and give try to attempt to aid isis. It was the isis. It was the radical Islamic. But again, Ramin Fatehi wants you to know actually it's all Republicans fault. What that means is that it does not matter how hard President Pemphill works, how hard the chiefs work, somebody will be a victim eventually. It is a matter of time. You know, it is in fact a matter of time. Do you know why? Do you know why it's a matter of time? It happens to be a matter of time. Because radical Islam has a radical end. And, and there's there. I'm sorry, I, I'm. There's no longer any, any kind of question. Not that there really ever was all of this. Well, the moderate every hour. No, absolutely not. Sorry. Close the immigration down, shut it down, end it. No more immigration, naturalize or otherwise. I don't care if it's through the service, because this guy, this individual, this Jola, just so happened, just so happens to have been serving in the National Guard service in the military alone does not mean that you earn citizenship. That is a factor. That is a way you can demonstrate that you are deserving of citizenship. But just because someone is a veteran does not make them a wonderful person. Just because someone didn't serve in the military, that doesn't make them less of a person. Your character and your actions define you. Now again, federal service does provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate your willingness to sacrifice for the country that you want to earn citizenship in. It does not mean that just because you have done the naturalization, that's like some kind of panacea. Oh well, he served, therefore he can't do anything wrong. I mean he did try to smuggle firearms to ISIS and then was let off the hook because the judge said, well, you've done some good things and some bad things. Truly despicable. Disgusting. Now Governor Abigail Spanberger, who is about as useful as a popped balloon, said that, you know, she encourages students, faculty and community members to continue following guidance by local law enforcement. Our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers and more of this nonsense, continually and consistently. Nothing about the radical Islamic terror that continues to flow out of those who believe this kind of insane nonsense. And this brings us over to some of the online pearl clutchers, I should say first and foremost from people for example, over at Cato. So Cato, the premier libertarian institute, got all bent out of shape along with a lot of members over on the left because Representative Andy Ogles from Tennessee said the same thing that Charlie Kirk said a year prior. So Ogles had said, muslims do not belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie. Charlie Kirk had pointed out Islam is incompatible as a culture with the United States of America. And so immediately Cato rushes in. David J. Beer from Cato, their chief immigration dude says quote, he's quoting this Ben Franklin quote. Oh, very impressive. Even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mulhamedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service. Benjamin Franklin. Now this sounds like wow. You know, Benjamin Franklin, Founding Fathers, they, they understood that the First Amendment was, was all about like no matter who, no matter where, no matter when or why. It was all, that's what it was for. There's one problem with this quote that's a made up quote. That's made up. Ben Franklin never said that. It is a made up quote from the Volkischer Baobasher, a Nazi publication from, from 1934 which was trying to suggest that actually all of the founding Fathers hated Jews. They had preference for Muslims over Jews. That is what the article from 1934's Volhisher Baobaksher was trying to communicate. So Cato would rather post made up Nazi quotes of Ben Franklin in order to try to convince you that well actually Islam's really compatible. You just everybody, anybody out there in any religion, you know, anywhere, anytime, you just get mad enough and then presto is like religion. It's the opioid of the masses, the opium of the masses. Whenever the libertarians pull out Karl Marx style garbage unironically. By the way, there is a verified series of letters from 1790 in which Benjamin Franklin actually describes the culture of Islam at the time as those who rape and plunder infidels. I'll remind you that Thomas Jefferson started the oldest tradition of the United States Navy which is putting every single Islamic pirate boat at the bottom of the sea. No, the answer is no. I, I'm, no, I'm, I'm just not going to clutch pearls and cry over this idea that, that oh well, we can't really actually criticize any points of, of the Quran, of the Surah, because really that would hurt a lot of feelings. Jeepers. Cutting off foreign aid to countries whose cultures openly chant Death to America. Refusing access to those who openly chant in Dearborn, Michigan. Death to America who burned the American flag, who call for the deaths of Christians and Jews. Refusing entry to them into your country is not mean, it is not cruel. Refusing the wolf access to the pasture is not cruelty to the sheep. This brings us over to Zoran Mamdani, because of course, it is. So Zoran Mamdani held a big Ramadan feast today, which is not the problem. The big problem is that one of the individuals he had speak called on Hamas to launch missile attacks on the United States and Israel. Radio crew, we're going to send you over to the commercial side of things. We're going to continue on the live stream. It's the Tony Knittcast here on the Daily Signal. So, of course, here's again, Mamdani not actually doing anything to take care of those in New York City, but doing essentially proselytizing religious events. Here you go, Allah, A moment where you're asking yourself how you can reconnect

[Jacob Oledort]

to growing up with being taught that.

[Tony Kennett]

So, again, you know, the, the pointing upwards thing. I don't the, the issue in this particular instance solely and in a core fashion comes from who he had at the event and what he is putting all of his focus in. Because I will remind you that if you in New York City attempt as an elected official to begin a meeting with prayer, everything just falls into a complete and holy fit. But all this we have time for. This is right. This is the important thing is combating Islamophobia because Zoran Mamdani's imaginary aunt was focusing on that. Excuse me, that was, that was yesterday that he held that particular event. Now, one other particular important point here that I just think is fun here, the Virginia Commonwealth attorney, the DA in this case, Fateh, oh, from ages after being born in Suffolk, Virginia, there afterward lived in Iran for a while. Because, you know, of course that just, you know, and just a little interesting little bits here and just, you know, kind of curious. Kind of curious. So just gonna, you know, make it perfectly clear that right here, right now in this country, you have a lot of individuals who are far more terrified of Islamophobia than actually addressing four Islamic terror attacks in this country since the beginning of march. It is March 12th. And of course, the Department of Homeland Security is still shut down. Still shut down. And the Democrats refuse to because they, even though they got the body cameras on ICE agents, even though Kristi Noem has been fired. Oh, still. Oh, well, we don't want to open it back up. Why? Because they can't defund ICE. ICE already has money through 2027-2029. And it is hilarious to watch them continue, continue desperately to move forward with this. So the Senate is finally actually kind of moving on, which is a little bizarre in a way. And this we actually have Senate Majority Leader John Thune announcing that he is is going to bring the Save America act to the floor for what he calls a rather robust debate. You know, interesting from the Senate Majority leader. Feeling the pressure clearly here was that next week I will be bringing the Save America act to the floor and we will be having a full and robust debate. So, Mr. President, what is the Save America Act? It is a package of common sense policies, the kind of common sense policies that should get an automatic yes vote from literally every member of this body. At the core of the Save America act is the requirement that individuals provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and then show an ID when they go to the polls. In other words, it would require Americans to demonstrate that they're eligible to vote and that they are who they say they are when they go to do so. Good. No problem with this at all. You could have done this first, by the way. I do like to point out that by the time we actually got here, the momentum that was lost by the time we all the way finally get to this particular point. You could have done this already. You could have done this. It's not exactly rocket science. Put the senators who don't want to move forward with the Save America act in front of the country and let them then go back to their states and make the case to their constituents why they are a no on moving through the walking Philly, the walking filibuster, to get this particular act through something that is a 9010 issue with Americans that is wildly popular not only with the Republican Party, not only with the independents, but also with Democrats to the point where it upsets Thom Tillis of North Carolina. If you ask him that. Don't tell me that. Don't tell me the national numbers. Don't tell me that. Oh, don't tell me. Don't tell me such things. And then he recognizes that he's setting himself on fire and all. Well, I mean, I am kind of a fan of it, sort of, but. And then it gets into the weeds. Now we do have to go back and bring the radio crew back from commercial. We're gonna get to a couple of other big things that have happened at the White House that again, no one's talking about because there's other updating news currently going on. So we're gonna bring the radio crew back in. Go over to our White House correspondent Elizabeth Mitchell. Ton of news tonight. Don't go anywhere. It's the Tony Kennett Castle. This is the Tony Kenneth cast on 93 WIBC. Go over to our White House correspondent Elizabeth Mitchell here on the Daily Signal to get a little bit of an update on two stories that are moving pretty quickly. First and foremost, I know that we have some interesting executive order and agency rules coming out about the Department of Education and a couple of new requirements from Secretary Linda McMahon. Give us the breakdown.

So thanks for having me, Tony. I was first to report earlier this week that the Education Department is now going to require universities to report counterparties of foreign funding. That means the actual organizations or people or contractors, the gifters of the funding in foreign countries, they are not currently required by the the Education Department to disclose that information. They only have to disclose the country where that's happening in. So we know huge amounts of money are flowing in from Qatar, China, other foreign countries into American research universities. But now thanks to the Education Department, we're going to find out exactly where in that country that money is coming from. I spoke to a senior Education Department official about this and they said that this is something the law, section 117 of the Higher Education act has actually required all along. Previous education departments just haven't properly been enforcing it. So they are alerting universities to this change and it should be official by mid summer.

What are the consequences for universities that don't report substantial extra national funding from various entities around the globe?

Investigations could be launched and they stand to lose a lot of money. So they're going to have to comply here. And there are already investigations into universities that launched really at the beginning of the Trump administration, universities who are believed not to have properly reported their foreign funding. And so this is something that senior Education Department official I spoke to said universities do not want to happen. They do not want the particular parties in the foreign country donating them to be revealed because that would show if they're being influenced by special interest in a foreign country, they're very resistant to this, but they're just going to have to report it. And that change is happening pretty soon.

Well, that shifts us over to kind of the updates from an a conversation, I guess, about messaging and mass deportations. Axios ran with a story citing an unnamed horse of secret kind inside a closed Republican meeting with a White House deputy chief of staff saying, well, we want you to stop using the term mass deportation. And then that was immediately kind of fired back against saying, no, that's not what was said. There's a lot of different communications going on inside the House of Representatives. Given that it's a midterm year, what seems to be the actual message from the administration and from House leadership on whether or not we're describing it as mass deportations or as immigration measures? What can you tell us?

GOP issues conference is going on in Miami right now. Republicans are making a plan for their messaging for midterms. And Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, as you said, Axios reported, told Republicans they should focus on deporting criminal illegal aliens, those who have a criminal record, instead of just mass deportation of every illegal immigrant. And so I was able to confirm this with several people who were at that meeting, and there are very mixed reactions. That's what I really homed in on. Some Republicans are very concerned. They believe that Trump ran on mass deportations. People voted for him because they want to see every illegal immigrant deported. They believe just crossing the border illegally is a crime. You don't have to be have a criminal record to be a criminal legal alien. And so some Republicans really want to stand firm with that mass deportation idea, that messaging. But other Republicans I spoke to were actually relieved by this switch. They said this is something. They've been asking the Trump administration to make this change, and they're glad to see it. And one, one Republican even told me they think that this has been the focus all along. We know that 70% of the people deported have been criminals, 30% have not been. And so it has definitely always been the emphasis. But mass deportations were something the president ran on. He said he wanted historic, historic number of deportations, largest in history. He they're also at the rnc. People were literally holding up mass deportation. Now signs all over the rnc. So this was a pretty mainstream Republican statement back in 2024. Now some people are backing up on it.

So if we actually get into the campaign ads, then if, you know, again, there's been, of course, some of the dyspepsia inside the Department of Homeland Security, law enforcement officials kind of up against former Secretary of Homeland Security, or I guess we're not to the end of March yet. So she's still the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, who has now been fired. There's been that kind of friction inside the department over on the House side of things, because there are, of course, committees on things like Homeland Security. What are we seeing for the next couple of months in Maybe a reshift in focus. Is the committee going to see maybe either a change in leadership? Is there going to be new communication from the White House? Is there kind of a plan in place to align the party? Or is this going to be a secret hidden messaging meeting directive only?

You know, I think we are going to see some tension in the party carry on, unfortunately, because we know the Main Street Caucus, which is a very large number of of Republicans, kind of a different type of CAU than the house Freedom Caucus, which we also have talked about. But the Main Street Caucus actually met with Tom Homan, the border czar and came away from that meeting saying that they agreed with Tom Homan that criminals should be the focus rather than deporting every illegal immigrant. And so I think that there is a strong group that prefers focusing on the criminals. And then we have the House Freedom Caucus group that prefers deporting everyone. And so we're going to have some tension between these different groups.

Elizabeth Mitchell, Daily Signals White House Correspondent, thanks for giving us a couple minutes.

Thanks for having me.

Now there are a couple of other states right now that are fortifying their election laws that they're trying to make at least as clear as possible, several strides towards ensuring that the elections in their states are up to the American polling standard. One of these cases is in Florida, making it at least as clear as possible in this case that citizenship verification for all voters is going to be required. Pen and paper default method of voting. Just to be clear, this is something that states can shore up, but when you're looking at federal elections, you do in fact need all of the states to be on board for verifying things like citizenship, given the policies from Minnesota to California. That said, here is Florida, the state of Florida is on the verge of passing its own version of the SAVE act, which is going to look for voter ID and also to verify that the people that are voting in our elections are indeed actual US Citizens. Florida should have this bill passed. My guess is either today or tomorrow and it will find its way off of to the governor to be signed into law. Now, at the same time when Florida is doing this, we are finding that Congress is having a very tough time trying to pass their version of the SAVE Act. And I will just tell you my opinion that this is a very much needed piece of legislation that Congress should be passing. It is a common sense piece of legislation and should be simple, simple stuff. Now that aside, I want to move to a couple of other pieces of news that are getting a little bit swept under the rug, as far as news stories for the day go, because we have to talk about Iran, the new cardboard leg missing leader. Very, very, very strange stuff coming out of the Persian Gulf. But we do need to address right now some of the concerns from the administration over on the stock market side of things. The stock market had a rather rough day. And the reason the stock market had a rather rough day is because There are about 13 different narratives running in the media both about the infrastructure of the Persian Gulf and a lot of the trade that is going through, whether or not the Navy is going to be participating in escorts, whether the United States might put some type of an allied presence in the region along the Strait of Hormuz, whether we're going to see some type of long form overhead process by a regional partner, for example, like Saudi Arabia or Qatar or the uae, that's up in the air and that's making a lot of the market nervous. Because when you staple that to the other insurity right now, which is that the United States and Europe are coming to a couple of blows on some of the metered allied responses in the Middle east, it could put the US in kind of a bit of a trading scuffle, specifically between the United States and Spain, the United States and the rest of the European Union. And then what China has to do with all of this because China doesn't like what's going on with Iran one bit. If the United States takes over oil operations like with Venezuela, regarding Iran and the export through the Strait of Hormuz, at least temporarily, China has nowhere to get oil. And if China has nowhere to get oil from, well, yikes. I mean, Russia does not have a significant enough pipeline infrastructure in order to move some of those things through. So that brings us to the statements by Iran, the statements by China and a couple of U.S. intelligence reports. We're going to tackle with our very own Virginia Allen here in a couple of minutes. Radio crew, we're going to send you off to the commercial and continue over on the live stream. It's the Tony Kinit cast here on the Daily Signal. Now, in the meantime, there are a couple of people in the media side who are taking this terrorist, these two terrorist attacks, excuse me, and trying to awkwardly frame them around the Republican Party. So we saw that already with regard to the Norfolk Commonwealth attorney, their DA Soros backed over there. But we also see the Chris Hayes crew over on Ms. Now, msnbc doing the same thing. It's just bizarre to watch. And you know, the blood boils as well. But it's important because framing narratives in a completely different light like they did after the Islamic terror attack in New York city, where the IEDs just didn't go off, suggesting, as CNN did. Well, maybe it's actually an attack on Mamdani. Here we see the same kind of thing. Well, the Republican Party is having right now a real fight on its hands. Has a real fight on its hands amid wings of the Republican Party that are extremely anti Semitic or flirting with anti Semitism and Republicans on the other side of the party who are saying, hold on, what are you doing? This is not. This is ripping us apart. Democrats are having a fight on that as well. But it's been pretty pronounced within the Republican Party. Yeah, I mean, I think there's, I mean, Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson alone.

[Jacob Oledort]

Yes.

[Tony Kennett]

I mean, there's a bunch of different axes and it gets very sort of difficult to disentangle them. I mean, there is, you know, there is a rising, sort of avowedly white nationalist, you know, Gruper Nazi adjacent part of the party that is sort of increasingly, I think, ordering its politics around, not just criticism of the Israeli government, but a view of Israel as the single most powerful world actor and as Jews as the single most powerful world actor and as Jews manipulating America to prey upon it. And these are, of course, the oldest anti Semitic tropes. And you have someone, if you're listening and you're not watching on screen while they're talking about the Republican Party and this, like, this anti Semitism scuffle thing is the West Bloomfield, Michigan, terror attack where a guy from Dearborn, a naturalized citizen, drove into the preschool. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. There's not exactly a lot of, like, Republican support in Dearborn, Michigan. In fact, the way that Republicans very craftily got a lot of people in Dearborn not to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election is by running a billboard up in Dearborn that said, kamala Harris stands with Israel. And that caused a lot of people in Dearborn. They lamented this on the election coverage. We ran the footage here on the November 2024 election coverage of Democrats lamenting that there were low turnout in Dearborn, not high Republican turnout, just low turnout because they had been tricked into staying home. So it, it's, it's a very, very interesting time here in the country to watch media try to manipulate these news events in real time where the Democrats are keeping the Homeland Security Department completely shut down. Watching tsa. Again, the only reason for that organization's existence is stopping terror acts in the United States. Here we are now in a minute we're going to shift over to Virginia Allen. We do have a couple of updates on the new Mahmoud Mukhtaba ultra super duper Ayatollah Khamenei Jr. From Iran. We're going to get into that and then some other updates. It's the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal. Don't go anywhere. This is the tony kennett cast on 93 wybc. We go over to Virginia Allen, our senior news producer as well as who's been covering a lot of our foreign policy situation news over the last last couple of months. New statement supposedly from the new ayatollah. Kind of tell us what you know.

[Virginia Allen]

Yeah. So this was a statement that was read on Iran's state television, was read by a broadcaster. So the new supposed supreme leader never actually appeared on television to read this. But a couple high level points that are made in this statement. He declares that the blood of the martyrs will be that there will be revenge for the blood of the martyrs, of course, referring to his own father that was killed and other top leaders of the Iranian regime that the US And Israel have also eliminated through their strikes and then also goes on to say that, you know, it's important that the Strait of Harmouth continue to be closed, that oil is stopped flowing through there. It's a bold, it's a brash statement. He's, he's really directly speaking in defiance of course of Israel of the United States saying we're not slowing down, attacks are going to continue. Now I will say the one, I think interesting part that maybe shows some of the nerves that the Iranian regime might be feeling is he sort of apologizes in a way to other Arab countries, sort of saying, hey, we didn't actually mean to hit you guys, we're trying to take out US Military bases and so forth. So trying to maybe make amends with some of the Arab countries that he has offended. But Tony, like you say, we don't actually know that this individual wrote this statement and that he is in fact alive and well. There are lots of rumors and reports, reports I've seen rumors, again, unfounded, we don't know for sure, but that he could be in a coma, could have had a leg amputated. And then other reports just say, well, he was injured minorly during that strike that killed his father. We don't know. But the fact that he's not willing to show his face might give an inclination to how he's really doing.

[Tony Kennett]

Also, there's a couple of conflicting reports, some supposed leaks out of the War Department, although again, these have also been refuted, suggesting intelligence assessments confirm that everything is all hunky dory for the Iranian regime. And even Iranian state media seems to be pushing back against that. What do we know, if anything, about some of these unnamed sources that various outlets are trying to run and already seem to be backing away from?

[Virginia Allen]

Well, you know, it's classic journalism, of course. You know, speaking as a journalist myself, we all want the scoop, we all want the insider information. And so you're going to hear a lot of these reports in the coming days. Don't be surprised. Some of them will be founded and will be accurate and some of them will not be. And it is only a matter. It really is that factor of time. Right. Like we time will tell what is true, what is not. What I will say is what we have seen that I think is, is very different. And please bear in mind as we continue to watch this conflict unravel, is okay, let's say that leaders in the regime are alive, that they're doing fine. Okay, well, think about what is left. The US has carried out more than 5,000 just the US strategic strikes on Iranian military, on their missile launchers, on their ships. And the Israel specifically is really targeting the infrastructure that Iran would use to target a protest uprising. So in speaking with multiple folks in Israel and Israeli experts, their hope is that the Iranian people now will take this opportunity, will rise up against the Iranian regime. And of course, that's happened, you know, gosh, about half a dozen times in recent years. And every time we see that, that gets put down by the Iranian regime. But what Israel and the US has done is take away that firepower. So now an uprising could have real effect. And even if those leaders are still alive, they would not have the power and the credibility to actually maintain power.

[Tony Kennett]

Virginia Allen, our senior news producer, going through all of these updates as quickly as we can. Thanks for giving us a couple of minutes some insight into what's going on. We appreciate you, of course.

[Virginia Allen]

Anytime, Tony.

[Tony Kennett]

All right, let's dive into a couple of other new updates out of the Middle east before we dive into our conversation with Jacob Oledort. Just to make this entirely clear, right now you have all of these Democrat politicians that are running out into the open media claiming that the essentially one of two things, either number one, there's no threat to the United States from Iran and basically everything is totally fine. You know, everything's Just total big waste of time. You know, go about your business, hands in pockets. ICE is the real threat on the other side, the, the kind of, well, it was due, which is that there are terror attacks that are happening and then you have on kind of the conspiratorial right that it's all, they're all false flags, which is insane. If you truly believe that everything around you is a false flag. I'm going to tell you a secret. The government told me in a dream that actually you're also a false flag and the toaster is talking to you and I don't trust you because you're from the government. That's why you're telling everyone something's a false flag flag there. How about that? All right. That stuff aside, the silliness that on the left side of the aisle hits the other side, the terror attacks are happening because the United States is big bad. So essentially you have number one, everything's fine and whistle past the graveyard. And that seems to be the approach of Gavin Newsom and Adam Schiff, for example, who's going around doing like gospel style rallies of we got him on the ropes, which is very weird. And then the other side is the Rashida Talib side, the Ilhan Omar side, which is that America deserves all of this. This, which again is very, very wild. The idea that, oh, there's nothing radical about Islam, but if you push them enough, they'll kill you. Oh, oh, oh my, What a. What a. What an interesting thing to say. These statements that are consistently made because they know that there's not going to be any kind of consequence whatsoever, whatsoever at all. If you even suggest, as for example, Senator Tuberville from Alabama said when talking about again, Zoran Mamdani inviting an individual who called for Hamas to strike the United States and Israel to kill the individual who called for Hamas to behead Christians and Jews to his little Ramadan feast festival thing. Senator Tuberville of Alabama said the enemy is within the gates, which is a pretty accurate statement given the four naturalized citizen terrorist attacks. But of course, Senator Christian, excuse me, Kirsten Gillibrand, yet another Botox blonde lady Democrat who's very, very upset about everything. Well, that's not true. She's not upset about Islamic terror. She's upset about the Islamophobia. Immediately says this type of Islamophobia. It's disgraceful and it's unbecoming of a senator. Deleted immediately and apologize. Very Karen esque, very, You know, that kind of behavior. So good to see everything is proceeding as usual right now. And I will get into some of these Middle Eastern updates regarding the progress of the United States military allies in the region. It's the Tony Kinnit cast radio crew. We'll catch you guys later on WIBC and the wider radio affiliate network. Okay, now that my, my broadcast time with the FCC is over, I can say a few things that will really get me in trouble. By the way, just it needs to be said regarding the terror incidents, interviews with those who knew apparently the Michigan terrorist had brothers in Hezbollah because, you know, freaking. Of course. Regarding the shooter at Old Dominion University, though, other students are like, oh yeah, really radical, insane. Was the shooter, did they describe those people at all? The description of the shooter? They said he was a Muslim. I know he was. He was a student at odu. Just like consistent reports coming out of the university that a lot of people just knew that this guy was insane and radical. Yet another case, yet another case known to authorities. Incredible. Now the we, we do have the identity of the ROTC instructor at Old Dominion who was gunned down. Lt. Col. Brandon Shaw has been identified as the victim of the Islamic terrorist attack in Virginia. Rest in peace and, and God bless Lightbird. Such, such needless, needless loss in this instance to some of the updates here in the, in, in the Middle east, the United States has continued its pattern of strikes on a number of Iranian ports, just as they said they were going to do yesterday after a lot of claims from what have now been identified specifically as bot accounts run from Pakistan, from China, from some parts of Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Interesting. Not out of India this time, which is kind of curious. On this particular report, a lot of the reports that were claiming that Tel Aviv is just gone and Benjamin Netanyahu is dead. The man held a press conference and video yesterday while the Khomeini has to give cardboard statements again through the local fathead Kinko's printer, because still no one has seen him. No one knows if he's alive. There's either reports that he's had his leg blown off or his foot blown off, that kind of stuff. And this brings to question to a lot of Americans, okay, so what is it that we're going to get out of this and what are we going to see moving forward in an off ramp and strategy here for the war in Iran? And so we have an excellent interview with a particular policy expert over from the America First Policy Institute. That's President Trump's core policy Institute think tank for a lot of these particular things. Jacob Oladart is Coming up at a second. Don't go anywhere. It's the Tony Kinnid cast here on the Daily SO Signal. This is the Tony kinit cast on 93WYPC. A couple of questions that are asked, sort of ingest about the Iran conflict. People ask these questions kind of aggravatedly on social media, but they don't actually wait for the answer. So we're going to put some of those things to rest. And to put some of those things to rest, you got to go to the right source. We're thrilled to be joined by Jacob Oledort over from the America First Policy Institute. Of course, he's their chief research officer and director of American security. He knows a lot about, well, the Winston Churchill style of foreign policy over around the other side of the world. Jacob, thanks for giving us a couple of minutes here.

[Jacob Oledort]

Thanks so much for having me. That's very kind of you to say.

[Tony Kennett]

Well, you know, just checks in the mail and all that good stuff. No, in all seriousness here, there are a lot of different pundits, kind of news anchors, the academic think tanks that pump out a lot of various comments about foreign policy, especially about the Iran conflict now getting into the end of its second week here in Operation Epic Fury. Right off the top of the bat, what are Americans getting out of this conflict so far that they can say, hey, look, here's what I have received out of this.

[Jacob Oledort]

Right? Well, it's great to be with you and your viewers and listeners. Look, there's no question that the operation ending up, wrapping up its second week has been a resounding success at degrading Iran's ability to hurt Americans, frankly. So that means taking out their missiles, their drones, their launchers. Obviously many layers of military leadership have been eliminated. And you've seen that drop off in the volume of missiles being lobbied just from those hundreds over the first few days now to even set two in single digits. But stepping back, this is really an end to the five decade war that this regime has waged against the Iranian people. And it's interesting, I've looked a little bit historically at how Americans have responded. I mean, going back to the hostage crisis all the way to, of course, Obama's failed nuclear deal, which people forget was one of the most unpopular policies of his administration among Americans. Something like 60% were against it. People feel this personally, this regime has targeted Americans, has killed hundreds of Americans and threatened our soldiers overseas. So what's happening right now with a lot of success again, is an overall end to the threats that the American people have been under by this regime.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, of course, that's what we have kind of in the book so far, obviously, seeing Khomeini turned into a fine red mist. His son still not seen anywhere in public. But I'm told his cardboard cutout is doing a job. I'm not gonna call it an excellent job, but he's doing a job, apparently, as the Iranian infrastructure, from the regime standpoint, has been crippled. Looking ahead as to what Americans, again, in an American first policy perspective here, what do they stand to gain from a regime that's decapitated? And I know, again, those of us in the bubble, it's easy to kind of have some of these things baked in. We understand them, but to kind of put them very bluntly, for those who don't steep in the political bathwater all day, what can they look forward to in the next decade?

[Jacob Oledort]

Definitely. And look, there's no question we've had a mixed record when it comes to certainly experiences in the Middle east engagements and otherwise. And so it's unfortunate that's informing some of the perspectives here. But the fact is, the administration, the President and his team have been clear and consistent about why we're in this. I think the vice President said it very eloquently last week when he said, look, the fate of the regime is incidental to our objectives. The objectives are clear and it is eliminating the threats. Whatever happens to the regime, whatever happens to the country of Iran, we wish them well. We hope for a future where, you know, where the people are represented. But fundamentally, what we, what we are planning around is ensuring that the threats are no longer there to the American people. That is something that no administration has done before. The President outlined those objectives and the history of the threats in his remarks on Saturday morning, February 28th, when Operation EPIC Fury was launched. And I think, and it's incredible, too, for the very first time in recent memory, we're seeing unparalleled success of air operations at really eliminating all that infrastructure. So it's kind of interesting that the, you know, the voices of concern are coming up as we're seeing success at our objectives.

[Tony Kennett]

I'd say that's pretty on point and it's pretty remarkable to see. I didn't even think of kind of listing as a. Something for the Americans to receive, a kind of cultural revelation that the downcast eyes towards air campaigns or something that we have been seeking to do for so long that we've accomplished on a military and strategic perspective, obviously, that's huge to the American people. One of the things that pops up in my mind is also the Strait of Hormuz. We look at the Persian Gulf, we look at the amount of energy, we look at the amount of goods that are traded and moved through that particular region for a long time. Again back to the late 70s, that trade has been fraught. Insurance prices have been higher over a longer period of time because the Iranian regime could snap their fingers whenever they so chose and cause hell and destruction for everyone in that region. For again, trade and energy flow with that threat removed, with an actual United States, not because we are nation building, obviously, but because we have simply removed the threat causing so much grief in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf, what's that gonna mean on the bottom, excuse me, what's that gonna be on the bottom dollar line for Americans in the checkbook over the next couple of decades? I'm not looking for like precise things here, but totally it's a national security issue in and of itself.

[Jacob Oledort]

Absolutely. And I think the President has been on message on this. In particular when he said, look, fluctuations in prices are to be expected. And, and certainly we saw that with the Europeans and the ways in which our adversaries hijack energy as kind of a weapon or a last ditch resort. But there are others that are saying

[Tony Kennett]

Iran doesn't really have the capability to do that anymore.

[Jacob Oledort]

Yeah, well, that's part of it. Yeah. And we are energy dominant and dependent and so we don't rely on that is the first thing. But the second, as far as the prices, the dollar, there are other estimates out there saying, look, this actually may make the value, the price of oil much lower than it's ever been in the long term, once we get this stabilized and figured out. And so it's hard, I mean, on this issue, of course, in the kind of fog of war, in the middle of instability, there will be that fluctuation. We've also seen, I think, historic rises or recoveries of oil prices as well during these two weeks. So it's hard to say categorically the net effect, but I would say we shouldn't rule out a net positive down in the long term, if indeed there's security and stability in this part of the world.

[Tony Kennett]

Forgive me for being a little, maybe overly optimistic here then, but I mean, looking at the President's policies in the past, when he makes a large scale investment and he positions things ahead into the long term future, I think of the Trump accounts are a great example of this. When he puts those policies forward, a lot of people might Thumb their noses initially and go, hey, in this two week period, it's uncomfortable. In this two week period, I'm not enjoying things. There's the fog of war as you said. You know, I'm not really seeing the end goal here, the end game. But what we have seen, the Trump foreign policy in the first term is that those do bear out long term fruit that do provide not just national security benefit, but economic benefit, diplomatic benefits as well. Obviously the President's been able to maneuver Qatar, the uae, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia in ways that Obama before him. The door was completely shut to doing so.

[Jacob Oledort]

Absolutely. No, that's exactly the right evidence to look at. I mean you look at, it's not just in a vacuum and you look at our partners in the region, you look at our partners in Europe, even the responses, the consensus that I'm seeing about, look, we're not going to tolerate Iran's threats to us. We're not going to stand up, you know, stand with our idly by if

[Tony Kennett]

they attack Rubio line. Exactly.

[Jacob Oledort]

So yeah, and so I think that's important too. And as you said, all because of the momentum that this president built and shaped geopolitically this term. And then of course in his first.

[Tony Kennett]

So that brings us kind of to the last thing here and I'll let you go for FCC rules primarily. But when you look at the end game here, again, not to try to pull a kind of a radio card fast one here and say, well, we're going to be the first to ask this, right. What do you think is being left out of the conversation regarding looking towards an end game? I'm hearing a lot of people ask well, what is the end game? Which doesn't always quite work in a military operation, especially from an administrative press secretary perspective. When Carolyn is asked that question, for example. So what's being left out when considering the end game?

[Jacob Oledort]

Yeah, I think what's being. Well it's a great question. It's probably the hardest question to answer.

[Tony Kennett]

Sorry about that.

[Jacob Oledort]

Exactly. No, but, but it's the most important. Right. That's why we're having this conversation. But you know, and so much that of course we don't know exactly what the administration is planning and thinking. No doubt in preparation for this operation has been planning. But I think what's being left out in my mind, I think we are conflating several issues happening at the same time naturally because it's all happening all at once. And I think it's important to maintain attention at the fundamental reason why we're doing this. And that is the president acting on his constitutional authority to protect the American people. That is how he justified this operation. That in my view, in my understanding of the statements from him and from his team, is the enduring reason why this is continuing. And so, and I think this will get more important as we think about what happens next. And you know, which obviously is unknown. And you know, it may be the case that, you know, there are reports as well that potentially remnants do remain of the regime in some form. You know, Israel may take its own actions to defend its citizens. Things may evolve further. But throughout it, we will, we not only have the responsibility, but it will be negligence if we ignore the protecting the American people portion of why America is doing this historic action at this particular time.

[Tony Kennett]

The Thomas Jeffersonian argument against the Barbary Pirates. That, that's a. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty hefty to leave out of the conversation. It's pretty integral. Jacob Oledort, thank you so much again from the American Policy Institute, excuse me, the American First Policy Institute is their chief Research officer and Director of American Security. Really appreciate all the work that you have done. Again, ensuring that we get a lot of this stuff measured out in really concrete terms as much as we can at this time.

[Jacob Oledort]

Absolutely. It's a pleasure and an honor to be with you and your listeners. Thank you for having me on.

[Tony Kennett]

All right, before we're done for the evening, just a couple of quick things. So first of all, a really good point. I don't normally, you know, air these particular kind of comments, but I think this one is particularly important for context here, given the four terror attacks in the last two weeks, the four Islamic terror attacks that we knew were coming, the FBI has been warning American cities, has been doing trainings with church groups for weeks and weeks, all the way back into January and February because we all knew this was coming. Moving the troops into the Middle east, east, moving certain strike points, the rise in Islamic rhetoric, Of course, in 2025 in Dearborn, Michigan, people literally chanting Death to America over and over. In Dearborn, Michigan, just last year, knowing this is coming, knowing this is prepared, maybe it would keep the Department of Homeland Security funded and open. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama makes a pretty on one point note of fact here. She says, quote, four different times this afternoon, Republicans offered a two week funding stopgap for the Department of Homeland Security to reopen and ensure that hardworking Americans get their paychecks. Each time, Democrats responded with bills that not only defund law enforcement but Also defund the tsa, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, fema, which by the way is currently needed in the Midwest because of of the violent storms which have been ripping across it. And then of course other micro organizations. So the Republicans have said, well just for the next couple of weeks. Don't you think the last two weeks of terror attacks have been enough? No, still no, not at all. In fact, Elizabeth Warren is currently focused Elizabeth Warren is currently focused on weird little clauses in bills that are trying to keep single family or single family home construction pretty much across the entire United States. So the Democrats are trying to push little tiny little micro measures that would essentially ensure that no more single parent homes. Those take up too much space. We have to only build from now on community corporate funded apartment structures. Oh yippee G. Wonderful. Really putting the priorities exactly where they belong. Now before we get done this evening with our coverage, I do want to say, well Senator Tuberville has now responded to comments where he said, he suggested that Islamists in the United States are the enemy. He said, quote, to be clear, I didn't suggest Islamists are the enemy. I said it plainly. Wow, man, I, man, I gotta find a way to cast a vote for a senator in Alabama. Mmm hmm. Gotta contact my local DNC official to see how I can vote multiple times. So from that point further, do you want to answer a couple of mail time questions? Because they've piled up this particular episode. First of all from S. Jack CA over in the Discord, she said, do you think Americans genuinely understand the ideological component behind modern jihadist terrorism well enough to confront it effectively? No, but it's mostly because of the social pressure that came from the 70s, 80s and 90s where. Well not the 70s and the 80s and 90s, the late 80s, early 90s where it really started to kick in. The compassionate conservatism that essentially after the fall of the Soviet Union, where it wasn't that an evil ideology has consequences, it was that, oh well, it just doesn't work. Maybe it's good in theory, maybe it's good in practice, but it just don't work. Basically good intentions. Here's the thing, they're not good intentions. Radical Islam, socialism and Marxism, they're all of those. None of those are good intentions. None of them. They are aimed and built to service those who run those particular movements and allow for the corruption of the human spirit to give you permission structures to do extremely awful and terrible things in their very base structure. So can Americans combat that? It's a little difficult to Because Americans were told now going on 30, 40 years, if you say anything about individuals who believe these things, well, then you are something phobic and you don't understand the rich, wonderful cultural shaboogity, boogity, whatever, that supposedly makes us all sing Kumbaya around the campfire. As James Talarico says in Texas, well, you know, it's. All of the paths to God are equally true and equally wonderful and equally magical and all of this crap. And no, that, that's not, that's not the case. If I was a Christian, who told you that, I wouldn't be a Christian. Christ said very clearly, there's no way unto the Father but by me. And there's no sorry after that either. So, no, I'm, I'm, I'm not going to play the game where we pretend that everyone is correct and Americans that are still doing this because, again, my, my kind of core issue with why Americans aren't combating things resolutely is because it's. It's very easy for Americans in this country to not care. You. You have the privilege of not caring about politics in this country. You can go home, flip on some sports or entertainment or whatever and eat your food kind of Panemet circensis and just chill and not. Now, that is a dereliction of your duty as a citizen. But in this particular instance, you know, just, just there. There's been an abdication, really, since the end of the Cold War. Funny how that same timeline starts to kick in once people stopped caring about politics because they no longer had to. And they kind of sit back and they believed that peace and, and friendship was the norm instead of something that was hardly and sorely fought for. Things kind of went downhill, and it's really hard to pull up from that. This is why the phrase goes, strong men do, in fact, create good times. Good times do, in fact, bring about weak men. Because if one does not struggle for something, they do not understand the value for through which it was purchased from Channel member Michelle. Has Secretary of War Pete Hegseth yet commented on the Stake and Lobster story? I have not received a comment yet. I've reached out to the Department of War about this. A lot of people on the left and right have now resorted to mocking the left over this kind of garbage. So I don't know. I'm sure that either Carolyn Levitt, the White House Press Secretary, or Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will eventually comment on it. I'm gonna guess that he's even still making sure that every single item on the list that he's being confronted over is going to its intended place before he answers for it. Which I like to call smart. I think that's smart, doing like one final check before you go out and comment on it, if that's what's true. I haven't followed up on that story today because of the atrocious terror attacks and keeping up with those. I'll look into that for you. From Gail Crispin. Can someone ban any of the Soros family to donate to campaigns? No, you can't do that. And this is one of the things that bothers a lot of people. But I hate to break it to you, you, you're allowed to donate to campaigns in the United States and you should be allowed to donate to campaigns in the United States. I am of the opinion that no one in the government should be able to tell you what to do with your money. As long as you're not like bribing a judge or something like that. That's a different kind of a thing. Or insider trading where you can definitively point to something. I think that you should be able, if everyone in the Democrat party wants to push all of their money, all of the everywhere into one teeny tiny campaign. Every dollar should be accounted for and how it's spent, how it's used. I don't think there should be limits on that on the left or the right. I think you as an American should be able to do what you want with your money unless it is as a naturalized citizen, sending your money back home. I think that should be illegal. I don't think that's right. I don't care if it's the uk. I don't care if it's Somalia. Which by the way, good on Secretary of State Marco Rubio for fully ending USA to Somalia. Stellar. Excellent stuff from the Secretary of State. State, per usual. Again, the least surprised about Marco Rubio's appointment to Secretary of State. Nomination and confirmation. Not appointment, I should say. Um, but you know, can you just ban Soros to donate to campaigns? I don't think so. Now I. If you are convicted of financial fraud, should you be banned from. Let's say you're convicted of some kind of a financial fraud or maybe election based fraud in some way shape or form. Like a felony. How? Like after you have a felony you can't go out and like buy certain firearm or vote. You should no longer then be allowed to donate to campaigns. Yes, that I think would be an excellent little. Hey, you've been Convicted of a certain level of crime, you don't get to participate in any way, shape or form anymore at all. That I think would be good, but just like, resolutely. And by the way, I feel this way about insurance companies too. Why am I only allowed to. To buy from Indiana insurance companies companies? If there's a healthcare insurer out in Kansas who provides a better deal, why can't I buy from them? Free intrastate trade and commerce should truly be free interstate trade and commerce. I think that should, should be very, very, very important there. That's something that I think is particularly, you know, neat. So someone says, sounds good, but it doesn't translate into the real world. It's causing huge problems. I'm gonna let you in on a little bit of a secret. Just paying money doesn't win elections. It doesn't. Otherwise Kamala Harris would be president right now. She outspent Trump. Why didn't she win? Because Trump had a better message. He got no. Again, I'm not saying money doesn't matter in elections. Didn't say that at all. I'm not saying that Soros is not getting out there and backing a lot of district attorneys. The real problem is not. The core root of the problem is not that Soros exists. The real core root of the problem is that people don't give a flying about their district attorney elections. If people cared about their district attorney elections and said, wait a minute, this is the guy Soros is backing, and then everyone came together and said, hey, this is something we don't want. The issue is that American citizens are often lazy in elections. I can't lie to you about that. I can't. I can't tell you. Well, if we just ordered all of the people with money to do this, and we ordered all of the politicians to do this, and that allows Americans to more easily be lazy. That's never worked anytime we've ever tried that in history once. It is a republic if you can keep it. The second part of the clause matters in this particular instance. So that, that stuff aside, that's. That's kind of my take on that. Even if, you know, men don't have to agree with me, by the way. It's not requirement, but that is my answer to that particular question. I, I will answer this question because it's really funny. This guy named Blind Straight said, why did the Israelis bomb the USS Liberty in 1967? So, first and foremost, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, guys. Friendly fire. Freaking happens. It does all the time, everywhere. And in fact, the United States has been responsible for numerous deaths of Israelis. The United States has been responsible for United Kingdom planes shot down, French ships sunk. Sunk. Even in the modern age, in the 1980s, two Japanese diplomatic craft were shot down by the United States. Friendly fire happens. Number two, the Israelis were completely open about it and have since paid reparations which the United States has absolutely not done for a lot of our friendly fire incidents. And on that note, if you have to go all the way back to 1967 to find one incident of friendly fire, you're a cuck and you're pathetic. You don't have any interest in actually understanding foreign policy. You've been sucking your own elbows and believe that the Jews are secretly turning all of the milk in your refrigerator sour. I can't help you if you're retarded. Just asking questions is the kind of thing usually before you tell me that, well, maybe God really did bring a dream from Charlie to Erica that the Egyptians somehow orchestrated the weather to snipe Charlie. Kirk, if you believe that, there's no help for you. My answering question certainly ain't gonna help you. You. I mean, it's not, it's not my fault if you're pulling from the same crayon box as Katanji Brown Jackson. So, Mr. Kenneth, did you cover the illegal Indian that mowed down the 16 hockey players? I do not know that story there. In this particular news environment, it's very possible that I've missed a story. That's true because we often get comments. Why didn't you cover this today? My team starts writing the episode at around 3 to 4pm daily so that we bring you the latest up to date news that's happening at that moment. And that means that sometimes, yeah, we might lose a story. So I don't know anything about that. But I will answer this next question though because I think it's really interesting from Morris Knowles, who. Good friend of the show, he's commented quite a bit. Has there been anything else said about the US using an energy weapon on a ground target? I would need to know what you mean by energy weapon. The United States has a lot of different energy weapons. For example, the LSAT systems that we have, of which there are many, and they are very, very cool. And I have had the genuine pleasure of showing people these lovable Polaroid boxes on stilts. There are lots of different kinds of them. I mean, we have different kind of energy weapons that can disrupt telecommunications, that can provide infrared interference. There are all different kinds of prototypes and models of things that can do everything from sonic damage and burst eardrums to making people throw up, because there's a certain frequency where that happens. We're just, you know, giving people a good old case of the sunburn. There's not like a report somewhere where we're like, all right, today we have tested Lima, Echo, Foxtrot, 5, 1, 9 or 2. Write that down, Carl. Like that's not a thing. Now I will say this. There's so much AI garbage out there right now. First of all, whatever you think the United States has, we've had that for like 25 years. Number two, we don't always bring the prototypes and things that we're not quite sure how effective it would be into the field. I will say this. Targets in Iran are starting to get kind of sparse because we've eliminated most of what they do. The cheapest way to prosecute the war right now is essentially you pack a suicide drone with a bunch of oomph because Iran has zero anti air capabilities at all. Unless you count Ahmed firing blindly into the air with his Kalashnikov. So then you send that into what appears to be now micro targeted strikes on IRGC checkpoints. Now, I mean, there might be something different, but one legged Mukhtaba still hasn't made an appearance. He's still communicating with us via a teenage girl cardboard poster on the wall. So I will answer this question. Charlie would have been the number one youth leader against the war in the draft. Nope. That's not even remotely true. That is an absolute lie. Do you know how? Because I texted him up until two days before he passed away. Number two, because Charlie issued. Go look at his Twitter. Don't take my word for it. There's one tweet where Charlie said once that the United States shouldn't go to a full scale war with Iran. And then he proceeded to essentially encourage United States actions upon Trump's timeline. Any way that Trump saw in the Middle east, because he is literally the biggest advocate for Trump foreign policy in the Middle East. Charlie. Kurt. More than more than me, by the way. We would joke about that. Charlie. In the text that Charlie and I shared, he would do a couple of things we would tease each other about. I had an American eagle tie. Don't. It's a long story. And that was the tie that I wore the first time that I spoke at my alma mater. And he spoke there before I died. And he would tease me that he spoke at my alma mater before I did which, duh. I mean, he's Charlie Kirk. You know, obviously we would, we would send a couple of quotes back and forth from one particular song that we loved and then we would talk a little bit about things that Trump was doing that was smart and things that Trump was doing that was like. And when I would text him about this sparsely, not like we were like buddies every day texting back and forth, he would always advocate that Trump knew what he was doing, let him cook far more than I did, and I'm gonna level, the dude was right a lot. So on those particular lines, I enjoy very much some of the, you know, I, I, I, I enjoy some of the conspiracy theories because they're just precious. But again, I can't help you if you're digging around in the, you know, I, I, I, I can't help you for digging around in the crayon in, in the crayon box. So I will answer one final question because I think it's, it's a, it's a kind of a cool question regarding tech. So if we have tech 40 years ahead or so into the future is according to a commenter, just smiles. What AI does the military have access to? I'm going to level with you once again. As I've said on the show regarding artificial intelligence in general, we will never be able to imprint a human soul, a genuine desire to do things. They, they've tried this every different way so far that we could possibly think of. We have larger and more advanced memory models, but we don't have like extra super duper ultra fancy AI in the way that I think you're kind of suggesting. And the evidence that I'm going to point to is essentially the disagreement between the United States and Anthropic regarding Claude. So it's not as though the CIA has like private AI sites. AI is useful, but it's not that useful. It's useful for sifting through data and finding patterns and then it's useful for predicting what it is that you want and creating it. Now what we are able to tell AI we want, it's getting better at reproducing in front of us. But as far as synthesis, like actual soul based creative synthesis has yet to be achieved in any way. Like there's, there's nothing that I am remotely aware of suggests there are these super duper private ultra things like that. Oh, it was in Canada. The Indian trucker G. Skirat Singh sid, who age 37 who blew through a stop sign and killed 16 members of a junior ice hockey team in 2018. He's currently fighting his deportation from Canada on humanitarian grounds. I hadn't seen anything on this particular story. Given that it was a 2018 story, I'm not surprised because, you know, foreign CDL holders, truck drivers, things like that, that so that side of things I. Yeah, the AI deepfakes do are. They are a little scary. That's true. I think it's a good thing for a. A couple of reasons. I'm all for people starting to question immediate and instant footage. You're going to be able to find real quickly who you can and can't trust based on just the AI slop that they consume just by saying, oh, I have this. That proves it. And it's, it's like, you know, Barney the dinosaur Godzilla ing through France. Yeah. No, because what we're finding is that people who really want a narrative to be true. So for example, Candace Owens, for instance, has been caught three different times now sharing just garbage AI slop that have suggested the dumbest of dumbest things because she really wants something to be true. So she's posting anything anyone will give her that will prove her points. Well, it turns out that when you really want to get into the self fulfilling prophecy kind of mental disorder, you start posting that stuff. It really eats away at the prefrontal cortex. Wait, hold on. Little inhibitions here. Maybe don't, maybe don't be stupid. Well, you can wear those, you know, habits and thoughts down over time. So have a wonderful evening. We will be back tomorrow with more 7pm Eastern. This is the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal, nationally syndicated and first on 93 WIBC. Take care.