Ep. 525 - CAUGHT: 300,000 Dead Found on Voter Rolls, LGBTQ+ Group Commits Treason, Pritzker Pushes Prison

Summary

The Tony Kinnett Cast – Ep. 525 CAUGHT: 300,000 Dead Found on Voter Rolls, LGBTQ+ Group Commits Treason, Pritzker Pushes Prison
Aired: March 21, 2026 • Host: Tony Kinnett (The Daily Signal)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Tony Kinnett Cast dives into explosive national news and analysis:

1. The DOJ’s discovery of 300,000 deceased individuals on state voter rolls (plus tens of thousands flagged as potential illegal registrations).
2. Allegations of treason against the activist group Code Pink for aid to Cuba, possibly violating federal statutes.
3. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s so-called “revenge tour,” threats to prosecute federal authorities, and the new “Clean Slate” act.
4. The Trump administration’s downsizing of the Department of Education (with guest Dr. Carrie Ingram).
5. International updates on escalating tensions with Cuba and Iran.
   The episode is loaded with political commentary, interviews, and Kinnett’s signature sardonic, common-sense Midwest tone.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Dead Voters & Voter Roll Controversy

(Main Segment: 00:37-14:18, 18:00-22:00)

• Breaking News:

  • DOJ's initial scan of voter rolls from just 10 voluntary states found 300,000 deceased individuals still listed as active voters.
  • Tens of thousands of flagged registrants are potential non-citizens.
  • Kinnett: “You probably have fomu—the fear of messing up—the fix using TurboTax on Intuit... But is the system really that hard to clean up?” (00:02)

• Political Blowback & Democratic Concerns:

  • Sen. Ruben Gallego and Sen. Chuck Schumer vocalized fears that voter roll purges would disenfranchise specific voting groups.
  • Gallego: “DHS...going to manipulate [the rolls] to make sure...they change the narrative [of Trump losing Arizona].” (03:44)
  • Schumer: “It allows ICE to kick tens of billions of people off the rolls...and they don’t tell them until election day.” (06:15)
  • Kinnett critiques these claims as vague and unsubstantiated: “When you register to vote, you don’t say, ‘I’m a Democrat’... None of this makes sense whatsoever.” (05:01)

• Confirmation & Scope:

  • Harmeet Dhillon (Assistant Attorney General):
    • “The review so far ... has shown hundreds of thousands—over 300,000—dead people on the voter rolls. And that’s just a slice....” (08:33)
    • “...Tens of thousands of potential non-citizens ... under further review.” (09:52)
    • “If that non-citizen voted in a federal election, we’re referring those cases for federal prosecution.” (09:52)
  • Kinnett emphasizes how this contradicts previous Democratic claims that such fraud is “rare and isolated.”

• State Examples & Skepticism:

  • Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows insisted fraud is “super isolated” (12:18).
  • Kinnett relates a story (August 2025) where 250 actual Maine election ballots were mis-shipped by Amazon: “...distribution of 250 state election ballots, not books or phone chargers, but ballots as an ‘innocent shipping error.’” (12:25–14:18)
  • Referendum in Maine on voter ID/mail-in restrictions failed, raising further questions (14:18).

2. Voter Registration Automaticity & Political Hypocrisy

(Segment: 18:00-21:30)

• Auto-Renewal Critique:

  • Kinnett explains how 41 states have automatic mechanisms for carrying over voter registration—making it “insane” and “near impossible to get your name removed.”
  • Personal anecdote: “I’m still getting messages from Wisconsin about coming to vote there—even though I haven’t lived there in years.”

• Governors’ Outrage:

  • Example: IL Gov. JB Pritzker, who Kinnett mockingly dubbed “the hippopotamus of Illinois,” threatens to prosecute any federal enforcement of voter purging/immigration law, while simultaneously sealing away most criminal records in Illinois through the Clean Slate Act.
  • “Anything Pritzker doesn’t like is now illegal.” (23:40)
  • Clean Slate Act automatically seals all ‘non-violent’ criminal records, which in IL covers almost all but murder/assault.
  • Irony: “Mr. Accountability just signed into law the Clean Slate act...sealing criminal records for more than 1.7 million residents...” (24:17)

3. Code Pink, LGBTQ+ Activism & Allegations of Treason

(Major Segment: 27:00–37:00)

• About Code Pink:

  • Described as the “more socialist arm” of the feminist/LGBTQ activist community with prior Women’s March links.
  • Funded, per Kinnett, by Neville Singham—a tech mogul living in China, working with Chinese state media (29:30).
  • Kinnett: “This particular group is directly funded ... by the Chinese Communist government.” (29:40)

• Activities & Legal Issues:

  • Group organized shipments of “aid” (solar panels, technology) to Cuba—the Nuestra América Flotilla—possibly circumventing US embargoes and sanctions. (31:17+)
  • Code Pink Rep: “...tons of aid...solar panels, medical supplies and food...” (31:28)
  • Kinnett: “They are running certain supplies which are banned from export/import into Cuba... under federal statutes, that’s treason.” (33:31)

• Federal & Congressional Response:

  • Rep. Carlos Gimenez and others have called Code Pink’s actions “highly treasonous.”
  • State Department official statement: “Organizations like Code Pink... whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes and run cover for narco-terrorists like Maduro, while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with direct connections to the Chinese Communist Party.” (35:07)

4. International Updates: Cuba & Iran

(Segments: 38:00–62:40)

• Cuba Crisis:
  • Russia sending oil tankers to Cuba, risking a confrontation reminiscent of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuban government denied US embassy request for generator diesel, highlighting blockade tensions.
• Iran Situation & Khomeini’s Successor:
  • Confusion over an audio recording allegedly from new Iranian Supreme Leader Moqtaba Khamenei. Some analysts believe it’s not actually his voice.
  • Tony Kinnett notes the regime’s crumbling control: “...drive-bys in which individuals...shooting up IRGC police stations...” (52:38–54:10)
  • Iran targeting its own public gathering places for holidays/celebrations—BBC confirms the regime’s threats against its own citizens (61:38).
• Military & Economic Maneuvering:
  • Speculation about US plans for Kharg Island, a crucial Iranian oil hub, which could deeply affect global oil prices (62:21+).
  • Kinnett: “China has a fuel crisis...China doesn’t even have enough fuel to invade Taiwan. J.B. Pritzker is wider than the Taiwan Strait.” (80:22–86:00)
• NATO Update:
  • Withdrawal of NATO “advisory mission” personnel from Iraq in anticipation of regional instability (77:00).

5. Department of Education Shrinkage (with Dr. Carrie Ingram)

(42:23–49:50)

• Historic Downsizing:
  • Trump’s order, executed by Secretary Linda McMahon, cut nearly half of all DoEd positions, especially those tied to “radical ideologies” and non-academic content.
  • “Removed nearly half of the positions... pushing paper, eating up astronomical amounts of money.” (43:43)
• Slashed Ideology/DEI Content:
  • $2billion in spending and over 200 web pages of DEI content cut (44:43)
  • Increased charter school funding by $500million.
  • Empowered innovation via state-submitted waivers and multiple interagency agreements (notably with Labor; moved student loan management to Treasury) (45:00–46:18).
• Legal Pushback:
  • Teachers unions took the administration to court over layoffs; administration prevailed (47:00).
• Education Freedom Tax Credit:
  • Dr. Ingram notes the first-ever federal tax credit for K-12 scholarships (starting 2027), with 27 states opting in so far. “Dollar for dollar back—help kids or give your money to the federal government and not know how or where it’s spent.” (48:44)

6. Military Funding, Foreign Arms Sales, and Populist Resistance

(80:20–87:03)

• Kinnett fields criticism of military “blank checks.”
• Rep. Lauren Boebert vows: “I will not vote for a war supplemental. I am so, so tired of spending money elsewhere.” (80:20)
• Kinnett retorts: In reality, DoD comprises about 13% of the total federal budget; “Pretending that [it] is getting all the money ... is disingenuous.” (80:35)
• US Profit from Arms Sales:
  • AP: US just sold $23B in air defense and military gear to Gulf states in a single tranche (86:00).

7. Notable Quotes & Moments

• Tony Kinnett:

  • “[On Democratic claims]: None of this makes sense whatsoever.” (05:01)
  • “You know, you order something from Amazon, and you just happen to get...250 ballots. Innocent shipping error!” (13:40)
  • “Mr. Accountability...sealing criminal records for more than 1.7 million residents...” (24:17)
  • “The irony of this is...the same administration releasing every single criminal that they have found who is an illegal immigrant...” (25:00)
  • “[On Code Pink:] It is suspected...they are running chips from Taiwan in the United States...humanitarian aid of graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia. Mmm, yes, excellent.” (31:30)

• Harmeet Dhillon (Assistant AG):

  • “The fact that it happens in even one case is enough for me to believe there’s a law violation.” (08:33)
  • “...hundreds of thousands—over 300,000—dead people on the voter rolls. And that’s just a slice...” (08:33)
  • “If that non-citizen voted in a federal election, we’re referring those cases for federal prosecution.” (09:52)

• Code Pink Rep (from Mexico to Cuba):

  • “...solar panels, medical supplies and food. This is part of the Nuestra América convoy.” (31:28)

• Dr. Carrie Ingram:

  • “Quickly out of the gate, the secretary started looking at positions that were not needed...and removed nearly half of the positions.” (43:43)
  • “Cut $2 billion of divisive ideology content...over 200 pages on [DoEd] website were cut.” (44:43)
  • “The Education Freedom Tax Credit ... is the first in history federal tax credit to provide scholarships to children.” (48:11)

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Important Timestamps

• [03:44] – Ruben Gallego claims DHS/DOJ plans will "manipulate" AZ voter rolls.
• [06:15] – Chuck Schumer’s alarmist take: “ICE will purge tens of millions.”
• [08:33] – Harmeet Dhillon confirms DOJ found over 300k deceased on rolls, tens of thousands of non-citizens.
• [12:25] – Anecdote about Maine ballots mis-shipped via Amazon.
• [23:40] – JB Pritzker audio: outlines “revenge tour” (legal accountability) plan
• [29:40] – Code Pink segment: Chinese funding starts.
• [31:28] – Code Pink rep describes "aid" convoy to Cuba.
• [42:25] – Dr. Carrie Ingram interview begins (Dept. of Ed. reforms).
• [48:11] – Ingram on Education Freedom Tax Credit.
• [61:38] – BBC coverage: Iranian regime openly threatening internal enemies.
• [80:20] – Lauren Boebert: “No” on war supplemental.
• [86:00] – Deputy Secretary of Defense: necessity of replenishing arms stockpile.

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Memorable Moments

• Kinnett’s mocking of alarmist electoral claims: “Now, none of this makes sense until you realize...they’re just saying DHS/DOJ will mass-text everybody off the voter rolls the Monday before the election.” (06:54)
• The “Amazon ballots” story, illustrating system vulnerabilities.
• Kinnett on Code Pink:
  “...not allowed to aid and abet a member of a foreign government acting in an adversarial fashion against the United States...that’s treason.” (33:31)
• End of episode tribute to Chuck Norris:
  “...He woke up from his death this morning, corrected a typo on his death certificate, shook the hand of the doctor, and then told Christ yes, he was finally coming. Then, you know, finally died the second time...” (Final minutes)

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Episode Takeaways

• Voter Fraud Debate:
  The show builds a case that voter rolls nationwide are “deeply flawed” based on new DOJ findings—used to argue in favor of compulsory re-registration and tighter voter ID.
• Political Tension:
  Center-left figures are portrayed as obstructionist, with Republicans insisting that federal and state action is a matter of law and national security, not partisanship.
• “Treason” and the New Activism:
  Key segment accusing Code Pink, and by extension, radical leftist activist factions, of literal treason for their international interventions on behalf of sanctioned adversaries.
• International Brinksmanship:
  Kinnett inspects global hot zones—Cuba, Iran, potential US actions in the oil sector—and the resulting pressures on oil prices, alliances, and US foreign policy.
• Federal Downsizing Triumph:
  Featuring Dr. Ingram—crediting the Trump administration for bureaucratic cuts, especially in education; moving programs to relevant agencies as more efficient and accountable.

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For a full dive into these topics with Kinnett’s unique brand of humor and analysis, catch the show livestream on YouTube, X, or The Daily Signal’s podcast feed.

Transcript

[Tony Kennett]

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[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Tony Kennett.

[Tony Kennett]

Tony Kennett.

[Ruben Gallego]

Tony Kennett.

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Tony Kennett, host of the Tony Kennett cast.

[Tony Kennett]

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 and welcome to the Tony Knitt cast here on the Daily Signal, nationally syndicated, first on 93 WIBC, no matter where you are. Joining us from this evening, one of our radio and TV syndication partners, perhaps over on the livestream YouTube.com daily signal or you're catching the podcast later. We're glad to have you here and boy, do we have a lot to dive into. The first, the biggest story, Without a doubt, 300,000 voters who are no longer alive, dead individuals, as in their death certificates, are registered and everything have been found on the very first scan that the Department of Justice did on the voter rolls, which were offered up by only some states voluntarily. So not 300,000 in the first sweep of the entire, entire video? No, no, no, no, no. 300,000 just in the very first sweep of the states which decided to participate in voluntarily uploading to the federal government the lists of their voter rolls. But before we get to this particular confirmation of these details from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dillon, I want to remind you how aggressively Democrats have moved in the Senate, especially from saying, well, I mean, black people are too stupid to get voter ID and they're too poor. Women are too stupid and, and also you have to go find a way to get a passport. Americans could never get id. It's terrible, horrible, that kind of stuff. They have pivoted really hard into the DHS ice. The federal government is going to purge the voter rolls. You are going to have to go register to vote. And people ask, well, what's, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with that? That was the question that was asked to, for example, Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who, you know, just today made this particular announcement. You can kind of hear the panic in the voice, but, you know, he's got a voter roll line of rhetoric going.

[Ruben Gallego]

They won't say it out loud, but the bill has that. Every state's gonna have to send their list to Homeland Security. Homeland Security is gonna send back to these states who should be kicked off the ballots. And there is no secure way to assure that those people are gonna be able to re. Register in time.

[Tony Kennett]

Okay, so, so his, his statement that, oh, no, the federal government's gonna look over the ballots and they're just going to kick people off. Well, the question that Americans have is why, why would they kick off. Who would they kick off of the ballots? It's not as though when you register to vote, you announce how you are going to vote. None of that makes any sense whatsoever. This isn't the first time he said this. He went on a longer rant three days ago. He is very, very concerned about this. The senator from Arizona, certainly not a state that's ever been accused of, let's say, rather generous voter roll allowances.

[Ruben Gallego]

So right now, in Arizona, especially Maricopa county, what you're seeing is the DOJ and even DHS of this administration trying to take our voter rolls and basically manipulate it to make.

[Tony Kennett]

Oh, manipulate. Oh, they're going to, they're going to take the voter rolls and they're going to manipulate it. Oh, let me explain the manipulation to me.

[Ruben Gallego]

Make sure that two things. Number one, they change the narrative. Donald Trump lost Arizona in 2020. He can't deal with the fact that he lost in 2020, so he's going to try to lie about it. And then to make matters worse, he's

[Tony Kennett]

okay, so what, what, what is the lie? Based on these voter rolls, though, you got to have a little something here that actually says he. How is he going to manipulate the voter rolls in Maricopa County? You brought up, not me and Arizona at large. What are you bringing to the table, Ruben?

[Ruben Gallego]

Going to try to purge our own system, which is a very good system.

[Tony Kennett]

If it's such a good system, then why would the DHS purge individuals from it? Additionally, what do you think that if they're not going to make a copy of the list, like they're, They're. Here's the list of the voter rolls. Dhs. Here you go. It's the only copy we have. Don't change it. You think they're not going to compare the previous voter roll with the one that the DHS returns and says, hey, these people should be removed to try

[Ruben Gallego]

to push out all the people that are rising up in opposition to them. Democrats, Republicans, Independents.

[Tony Kennett]

Oh, yes, that's Trump's plan. He's going to push out the Republicans in the independents. Ah, yeah. Again, when you register to vote, you don't say, I'm a Democrat, I'm a Republican. Now, there are some states that do have closed primary systems, but you're not required when registering to vote for those states to say what political party you align yourself with class people, young people,

[Ruben Gallego]

people from all walks of life. And he's trying to basically craft an election that's going to help his Republican Party win.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, again, nothing actually of substance there that says what he's going to do with the voter rolls. He's just very vague. Oh, that Donald Trump, he hates the young people. Okay, now again, this isn't just him, Chuck Schumer doing the exact same thing all the way back on the 10th of this month. He went into a long tirade on the idea of clearing the voter rolls again. Oh, we gotta get, gotta keep all of the voter rolls intact. Can't have people, you know, having to go register to vote. After all, we know that most voters are invalids lying in bed like Charlie's grandparent and Charlie's in the, in the, in the chocolate factory. And they can't get out of it. They couldn't go register to vote. That's crazy. I'm, I'm just consistently, I'm, I'm consistently amazed. Do we actually have the clip of Chuck Schumer losing his mind? Yes, absolutely we do. Here you go.

[Ruben Gallego]

Yes, but their bill isn't voter ID number one. It is about voter registration. It makes it, it allows ICE to kick tens of billions of people off the rolls. Off the rolls. And they don't tell them until election day. And you show them, you say you're not registered anymore. You're not registered here. You're.

[Tony Kennett]

Ah, so now we got the narrative. All right, so Chuck Schumer by Ken, who has been driving this home as he can.

[Ruben Gallego]

Do not listen to the Republican talking points about voter id. That's a ruse.

[Tony Kennett]

It's a ruse.

[Ruben Gallego]

Underneath the surface, the save act is a voter purge bill.

[Tony Kennett]

All right, so now we've got the line here. This is what they are going with. They're saying that what the Trump administration's plan is is the DHS is going to take all of the voter rol. And then on November 3rd, on the Monday before the election, they're going to send out this mass super text and email extraordinaire and say everyone's kicked off the voter rolls. Somehow they're going to know that only Democrats are kicked off the voter rolls or only the youths or something? Now, none of this makes sense until you realize that when Chuck Schumer says tens of million, what demographic, what, what group do we estimate there to be tens of millions of in the country? He didn't say black people. There's more than tens of millions of young people. There's far more than tens of millions of women in this country. So what's the argument here? What is he talking about? Oh, my gosh. It just so happens that after the very first sweep of the states that volunteered their voter rolls for DHS to check them out, here's what they found. This clip was provided to us over by Newsmax's Finnerty. They pivoted over to Harmeet Dhillon. This is some pretty wild stuff.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

She was put back on the rolls. And I verified with that clerk. Can you see if she's active or inactive? And she checked, and that dead, deceased family member was marked active.

[Tony Kennett]

Okay, so she had a dead family

[Ruben Gallego]

member taken off the rolls 20 years after this person died and then put

[Tony Kennett]

back on the rolls, meaning somebody was voting under the name of her dead family member. And she's the speaker of the House in Michigan. So how big a problem, how widespread do you think this really is?

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Well, you know, first of all, I don't really need to quantify how widespread it is. The fact that it happens in even one case is enough for me to believe there's a law violation. And so, you know, what's interesting is the left keeps moving the goalposts. So first they said this doesn't happen or it's extremely rare. Well, actually, the review so far this last year of approximately between 50 and 60 million voter records which states have voluntarily uploaded or we've gotten from them, has shown hundreds of thousands over 300,000 dead people on the voter rolls. And that's just a slice of the voter rolls. And we have referred tens of thousands of potential non citizens who are on the voter rolls. And that's a lengthier process.

[Tony Kennett]

Hang on. So first of all, 300,000 people who just aren't alive anymore, they're dead. They are again when you file that death certificate, your state, your locality, and then the federal government goes, hmm, you're dead. Better stop those Social Security payments, among other things. And then what does Harmeet finish it off with again? Best assistant attorney general that one could have asked for. And here she is delivering yet again. What's the case to be made? Hey, I just can't help but notice already in the very first sweep of the states voluntarily offering up their voter rolls. Tens of thousands of individuals suspected of being illegal aliens. Again, you have to kind of check

[Harmeet Dhillon]

that through the system because we don't want to accuse anybody wrongfully. And so we have to go through checking a number of different databases, sources, sometimes court records to determine whether this person became a citizen or not. And then finally we reach a conclusion. And if that non citizen voted in a federal election, we're referring those cases for federal prosecution. And there are some prosecutions like that that are being worked up by my friends in the U.S. attorney's office.

[Tony Kennett]

Okay? So right now, 10 states. 10 states right now, according to a confidential deal at least this is this sending over to Newsmax, putting up this particular data. Right now, there are 10 states in this country which have voluntarily offered to allow the federal government to just review their voter rolls. That's it. Of those 10 so far, 300,000 found dead, tens of thousands found to be illegal. Something that you were told, I was told wasn't happening. Isn't it all. Sorry, radio crew, I realize I'm 30 seconds over that FCC clock. We'll kick you guys over to commercial and continue on the live stream. None of those commercial breaks here. It's the Tony Kenned cast over on the live stream. If you watch the show live with us, that is, you don't get any of that. There's like one sponsor read, that's it. We try to make it a nice experience for you guys. To be clear, you guys have been told, I've been told that the whole voter fraud thing is super rare and isolated. Right? Isn't this what the Democrats often counter with when you say, hey, man, this voter id, you know, we look at states like Minnesota, we look at states like California. We've talked about with the independent California state representative who told Stephen A. Smith, we played that clip on our show yesterday, that California forbids voter ID because of a measure passed in Orange county that was struck down. We've talked about in Minnesota how one person can vouch for seven other people. This all brings us to Maine. Believe it or not, Maine is an excellent example of this because Maine's Secretary of State Shena Bellows made this exact same claim. It's super isolated. Well, sure, maybe there's like one illegal or two. Maybe someone who accidentally put too many T's or is, or maybe they bought a vowel for the last name. That kind of nonsense. Here is Maine Secretary of State and of course, Democrat Shana Bellows saying, you don't need to worry about Any of this, this, these voter roll things, it's all isolated, it's no problem.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

I'm sure there are in some isolated instances some non citizens may be on the rolls.

[Tony Kennett]

But it gets better. It gets better because that clip, which is back from October of, excuse me, from August of 2025. Just a few months later in October, the main wire would report that a Newburgh resident expecting an Amazon delivery of rice paper plates and a toy lightsaber ended up opening up her order from Amazon to find 250 state election ballots. That's kind of weird. I mean you take it out, look. Oh wow. It's just the actual packaged referendum ballots for the special election in 2025. Now you may say, hey Tony, well what? Just, you know, that's obviously really bad. That's terrible. You know, certainly the Secretary of State made some kind of a comment after she had been going on and on throughout 2025 about how safe and secure and isolated that, you know, these instances were. The Secretary of State for Maine, Secretary Bellows announced that, oh, it was just a small shipping accident. You know, you know, you order, you know, something from Amazon, you know, maybe a new book, a phone charger, and then you just, you know, happen to get just a certain number of ballots that you could theoretically fill out and inconspicuously leave not, not 10,000 ballots, but order just 250 ballots small enough for a small stack, you know, and I'm sure there are all kinds of precincts Only ordering 250 ballots. Oh, it's just an innocent shipping error. And then when she was asked by the main wire about this after that is the main Republican party chairman called for a federal criminal investigation. Well, I mean, you know, she's like, hey guys, I'm not answering any questions about this. What information leads you to believe that this wasn't an accidental mix up with the shipping?

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

So is there any other question for any other member?

[Tony Kennett]

Oh gee. Oh man. So what evidence do you have now? I have been, by the way, a reporter in this instance when I went over to, for example a school board meeting in eastern central Indiana in which a counselor was fired and my reporting was called false erroneous in the middle of that school board meeting. So at the very end I raised my hand and asked, hey, what evidence do you have? You're going to make a claim. What evidence do you have? And the exact same look came over that school board member's face that you just saw on Secretary of State Bellows. Now you say, well Tony, what's this referendum. What was on this ballot? I'm glad you asked. It just so happened that the first question was on voter ID and absentee mail in ballot voting restrictions. You know, things like not allowing people to vouch for others ballots, meaning that you can't just go collect a bunch of ballots and hand them in. That would have made handing in other people's mail in ballots illegal in this referendum and it ended up failing 315,000 to 175,000. Gee whiz. How strange. Coincidental. I'm sure we're going to pick the radio crew back up from commercial. Don't go anywhere. A lot of news tonight. It's the Tony Kundit cast here on the Daily Signal. It's the Tony Kenneth cast on 93 WIPCAST. Welcome back to the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal. So we've got one huge chunk of the country freaking out over the idea that after the Department of Justice discovered and confirmed that 300,000 people who are no longer alive are still on the voter rolls in just 10 states, tens of thousands whom are expected to be illegal aliens. And again, they're reviewing this now, you might notice. Very well away from the election in 2026, the case the Democrats have made is that Republicans want to sit on these voter rolls until the Monday before the Tuesday election and then announce who's kicked off of the rolls. Now, by the way, the Save America act, one of those key parts of the legislation, would require individuals. By the way, this is a super popular measure according to every poll that's asked this specific of a question between Republicans, Independents and Democrats that yes, Americans should have to go re register to vote. It should not be an automatic thing. It is an automatic thing in Wisconsin and it is near impossible to get your name removed. It's automatic in Minnesota. It's automatic in North Dakota. And again, not just the Midwest and the Plains states. It is automatic in some form or fashion to have your voter registration carried over in 41 out of 50 states in this country. That is insane. It is insane. And it is why if you've moved out of one of these states, you are still likely getting texts asking if you're going to come vote on election day, despite the fact that you haven't lived in those states for years. For years. For example, myself here in Indiana, though my colleagues are all in D.C. i'm still getting messages from Wisconsin about coming to vote there. But what are a lot of these governors losing their minds over? Well, I mean, other than the rampant fraud we're also dabbling now in a little bit of open treason to communist governments. Holy crap. Which we'll get to in a second with the CodePink crew. And then you have the hippopotamus of Illinois, the man whom the Golden Corral restaurant fears, JB Pritzker. He sat down with someone from the New York Times in what can only be. I can only describe as dressed in fabric made from Amazon boxes or at least a UPS nightmare. All to talk about the revenge tour. See, he doesn't like this whole, like the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice. By the way, who's really. Who would be reviewing the voter rolls would be the doj. You know, he's not really a fan of this reviewing things. After all, we know how sacred elections are in the state of Illinois. So he's announced that it's time for a little bit of a revenge tour here. What is a Project 2029 agenda look like for you? I don't think you can speak of it in. In shorthand, but I'll just say a couple of things that I think are absolutely necessary. One is we've got to restore the rule of law, and that means holding people accountable who've broken the law. I'm talking about in this administration when we. So so far, nothing technically wrong with what he's saying. Hey, we're going to hold people accountable. We're going to stand with the law. Okay, that' the last 13 seconds of this particular interview is where he takes that and you see exactly what he means by accountability and upholding the law. You get a new one. The people in this administration who've broken the law and federal agents who've broken the law need to be held accountable. Now, as a reminder, it is JB Pritzker who has just decided anything he doesn't like is illegal. Anything at all. Anything at all JB Pritzker doesn't care for in this administration he's decided is illegal. And so his plan is just to go and arrest anyone who participated in federal law enforcement. Anyone out there who's been a part of this administration is. Is now political target. Why? Again, because upholding federal law regarding immigration and because of things like voter ID are of importance to the American people by the polling data going into 2024 and now the polling data still going into 2026. That means criminally prosecuted, criminally prosecuted, civilly prosecuted, whatever it is that we can do. There you go. There you go. It's not actually about upholding the law. If we can't go to court with them because they actually haven't violated any law, then we'll go after em civilly, we'll go after him, we'll harass them night and day, whatever we have to do until, until we get the legal outcome that we want. Now the irony of this is that Mr. Accountability just signed into law the Clean Slate act which automatically seals all nonviolent criminal records. Now nonviolent in Illinois state law basically includes everything except for first and second degree murder and aggravated assault. Everything else, like everything else in Illinois state law, is considered a non violent crime, meaning that after passing the Clean Slate act again signed by J.B. pritzker, automatically seals nonviolent criminal records for more than 1.7 million residents without requiring individuals to apply. Now here's the fun part, this particular process and I should be clear here that in addition to the violent crimes that DUIs and sex offenses are also excluded from this. But the DUI is currently under or under contest that by around 2029 if you in Illinois commit some kind of a nonviolent crime, then it's going to be sealed away from employers records from the police future. That's a serious, serious issue. Again, the Pritzker administration has also been accused over the last three years of releasing every single criminal that they have found who is an illegal immigrant because they do not want ice, Immigration Customs Enforcement to act on retainers and deport them from the country. So again, the irony of the whole holding accountable thing from the governor of Illinois is particularly funny. Of course, Governor Mickey Sherrill in New Jersey is doing the exact same thing. She announced that we're joining the township of Roxbury in taking ICE and DHS to court to block their unlawful plan. Again, it's always unlawful, illegal. What's unlawful and illegal in this case? Well, because they want to turn a vacant warehouse that currently only has two bathrooms into a temporary detention facility while individuals are processed and given extrajudicial due process, meaning extra due process outside of the removal orders that they already had, which means they've gone through their due process. So they're saying that because they bought a building that only has two bathrooms, this means you can't hold anyone there. Now it should be noted that when the federal government purchased the building, there were two series of plans that were immediately filed showing a massive expansion of water, of H Vac, of other amenity and utilities to the building. Meaning yes, rows of stalls. The performative outrage though, the performative outrage all to claim that what the Trump administration is Doing, which is very common sense stuff, is insane. And evil is laughably, transparently, hilariously pathetic. And this brings us over to the international scene where the exact same thing is happening. It all comes down to, yet again, Cuba. So you remember during the whole Venezuelan series of operations that the President of the United States was called cruel and evil and terrible and awful because he was sinking narco boats. And how dare he kidnap a Venezuelan president. That Buddy Sanders, for once in a while thought the socialism in Venezuela was great, the equality was fantastic. It's amazing. They only have one type of deodorant. That's very amazing. Well, now the same leftist whining has moved to Cuba. So let me give you a couple of news updates on Cuba as of right now. According to cnbc, Cuba is currently prohibited from taking any outside oil from other countries. Again, this would be a sanction. This would be an embargo, by the way, in the full power of the President of the United States. That'll be coming into play soon. And you hear some of the individuals claiming this is an illegal embargo or some nonsense. Russia has currently set out two tankers en route to Cuba. Now, there are some kind of of middle ground centrist Democrats who are claiming this is going to be a Cuban missile crisis. No. Cuba and Venezuela have already tried to essentially paint over their own state flags on boats as Russian flags and sail things out. That hasn't worked. That hasn't worked whatsoever. Another piece of news, this published as an exclusive by the Washington Post just an hour before the show. The Cuban government just refused a request by the US Embassy in Havana to import diesel fuel for its generator this week, calling the ask shameless. Given the Trump administration's fuel blockade on the island. According to diplomatic cables, it is very interesting to watch the Cuban government attempt to bring in any kind of resources that it can, suggesting that, well, it's really a humanitarian need. And then when humanitarian needs are brought to the table, they say, well, no, not your humanitarian need, not you. Radio crew will send you off to the commercial and continue on the live stream. It's the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal. Now, this does bring us to Code Pink. So who's Code Pink? Well, Code Pink is that group aligned with the Women's March who wore the vagina hats in the first Trump administration. That weird alliance. And Code Pink is the more socialist arm of the weird feminist, lesbian LGBTQ movement. And in this particular instance, what you should be aware of is that a bulk of the funding from Code Pink and Again, an American organization who has individuals claiming just to be any old run of the mill democrats, but very openly and proudly socialist and to the very weird end of feminism where gender is super fluid and, you know, minor attracted persons are accepted. That kind of weird, creepy crap. Well, this particular group just so happens to be directly funded in the majority by Neville Singham, a tech mogul who lives in China and works directly for Chinese state media. Yes, indeed, this particular group is directly funded openly, loudly and proudly by the Chinese Communist government. It is funded by the Chinese state media, meaning the Chinese Communist Party. And it shows in a lot of the things that they do. For example, the Code Pink crew will organize these little, you know, journeys. You know, like just a journey, like go on a journey through Xianxing. You'll go on a journey and learn that actually the real threat to the United. The real threat isn't China, it's the United States, because the communist government takes us on a North Korean style tour. And of course, you are not allowed to provide material aid to the government of China or to any communist or adversarial government. Yet here's what CodePink does. They launder the money. They will go purchase things that are pretty much money, but not quite. They'll stuff it in boxes and they'll draw aid on the side in Sharpie. They will then take those boxes to the foreign regime. They will hand over those boxes and call it aid. And then presto, they have just supplied some kind of exchange, some kind of goods required or necessary to the Communist government. In the case of China, you say, wait a minute, China's funding them. Why would they be giving them aid? It is suspected, and it is currently under investigation, that CodePink has been attempting to run chips from Taiwan in the United States. So certain kinds of graphic card chips that China's not supposed to be able to have access to, that they are running these illegally to China. Yes. Ah, the fundamental humanitarian aid of graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia. Mmm, yes, excellent. Again, the. The propaganda is right out there in the open. Now, you might also be thinking that, you know, this also could be a thumbnail from Megyn Kelly or Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. And you're right. We'll get to that a little bit later. But a huge portion of the Code Pink audience is all about trying to suggest the United States is the true villain. Again, it's the classic socialist kind of Zoran Mandani line. The United States is the villain. The communists are in fact the victims. Because they would be flourishing if big old mean Uncle Sam wasn't getting in the way. Now, this doesn't just have to do with China. No, no, no. Oh, and this also has to do with Cuba. Now, lest you forget, you know, lest you forget here also, the Palestinian kind of Islamic group is a huge, you know, the Muslim Marxist alliance here. When I do say the Tucker Carlson thing, I'm not joking. Here they are with Marjorie Taylor Greene outside of Congress. That would be right at the end of last year. But again, this brings us over to the Nuestra America flotilla to Cuba, The Greta Thunberg thing, you know, the whole, like, freedom flotilla. They're going to deliver all of this aid to Cuba. It's going to be humanitarian and amazing and awesome. No, this, in fact, would be violating federal law. And given the destination that we have learned where the aid's going to treason. We're gonna bring the radio crew back in from commercial. We're gonna get into this because this is the legal definition of treason. It's the Tony Knitt cast here on the Daily Signal. This is the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC. Now, maybe you were someone who thought that you had to be a congressman sleeping with a Chinese spy in order to benefit communist regimes. If maybe that's your only access. You know, you just gotta. You gotta get out there into office, some important position. You gotta fall for a Chinese honeypot. You know, some. Some young thing comes up and tells you that she's Panda Express and she loves you very much. You know, the Eric Swalwell routine. Yeah, maybe. Maybe you think that's how you have to. No, no, no. There are a lot of unattractive, ugly individuals who you can just join and march alongside and yell in order to fund a weird flotilla to Cuba. Instead, you want to defend the communist regimes that are currently in collapse. Well, you can join the Nuestra America Flotilla de Cuba, in which you can help Cuba survive the US Blockade. So you can donate because, of course, it's always a big money grift. You can learn and teach. So this is where they give you the Howard Zinn line of how America has actually historically been super duper, duper evil and everyone is a victim of the United States. And then you can advocate, including my personal favorite, which is where they encourage people. We'll get to the State Department here in a second. In which they encourage people to join their little flotilla and take aid to where? Oh, directly to the Cuban regime. No, no, no. They're not, like, stopping off in ports and towns and delivering you know, food and friendship and magic and love, you know. No, they're not actually stopping and doing any of that. This is what they suggest that they're doing. Here they are in Mexico picking up boxes that are just marked aid on the side.

[Code Pink Representative]

We're here at a port in Mexico on our way to Cuba. We're loading this boat behind me with tons of aid in the.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, hang on. What's actually in these particular boxes of aid?

[Code Pink Representative]

Form of solar panels, medical supplies and food. This is part of the Nostra America convoy.

[Tony Kennett]

Solar panels, food and medical equipment and assistance. Now, by the way, it has already been reported that some of the medical equipment is very specialized from an individual claiming to be a leaker inside Code Pink specialized. So. So, like not common first aid sorts of things, but perhaps a request from the regime itself. The food, so far, not a lot of actual foodstuffs are loaded in. Most of the things that are being loaded in are tech components and solar panels. We'll explain why that's important here in a second.

[Code Pink Representative]

Where hundreds of thousands of people have donated, have mobilized, many of whom are going to be in Havana meeting us when we get off the boat. They've already been on the ground there distributing aid, meeting with local.

[Tony Kennett]

There you see the weird lesbian with the lesbian code pink flag. The Palestine flag. Yes. Solidarity.

[Code Pink Representative]

And seeing how the US blockade and the recent escalation of the withholding fuel is affecting the people there.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, as to the aid that is currently on the way there, it is suspected that these are solar panels in order to provide communication reliability for the regime. The regime is without power. And these solar panels, you guys do realize they're dropping off a couple solar panels. They're not just going to, like, put that in Abuela's house in the city center so that the old grandpas can play chess together, you know, like get in there and like, you know, the light that it soaks up from the day so everyone can get together, enjoy some good music and fun. Like, that's not what it's about. They are running certain supplies which are banned from export and import into Cuba. They are running that are going to attempt to run it through the United States blockade into assist the communist regime. By definition, by legal definition, under the federal statutes, that's treason. You're not allowed to aid and abet a member of a foreign government acting in an adversarial fashion against the United States.

[Deputy Secretary of Defense]

The.

[Tony Kennett]

The forms for treason. The legal statute for treason, which is very, very specific, does not mean you only can not provide like you can't run guns to a country that we're at war with. That's not what it's limited to. An adversarial power means any that Congress has deemed a national security threat. Those include those that we have any kind of sanction against. For example, if the United States put sanctions on Spain and then you attempted to provide material aid to Spain to ease the actions of the United States via those sanctions, you would be guilty of treason under US Code. Now, of course, members of Congress have made it very, very clear, by the way, including our very own only Cuban American member of Congress, being Representative Carlos Gimenez, that this is highly, highly treasonous, that these individuals should be arrested, they should be investigated. The State Department has made it very clear that, quote, organizations like Code Pink and the People's Forum denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes and run cover for narco terrorists like Maduro, while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with direct connections to the Chinese Communist Party. Now, speaking of Marco Rubio and the Secretary of State, this brings us to the international news side of things. President Trump and Rubio are heading off to Mar a Lago for the weekend. And you know what you say, Tony, why are you showing me footage of, like, Marco Rubio and the president getting on, you know, getting off of Marine One, getting onto Air Force One and heading down to Mar a Lago for the weekend? Well, that would be the very last time that we saw a particular operation like this. Right before the weekend, President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio flew to Mar a Lago. So I don't know. I've got just kind of a hunch that you, you know, you might see a little Card island goodness coming up here real soon. And the President of the United States was asked about that, and we'll get to that. But also, so was Secretary of State Marco Rubio today before they got on Marine One to head over to Air Force One. Here's that. Yes. How soon? President Trump said this week that he can take Cuba. How soon can that happen? Well, I mean, Cuba's a disaster, and it's because of their communist government. It doesn't work. So I don't have any news for you on that today other than that's been going on for 67 years. They're a disaster. It's the worst it's ever been. So the President of the United States, Secretary of State Rubio again, Cuba is getting very, very nervous, asking, getting a lot of questions, fielding questions about everything from Kharg island with Iran to the Cuban regime just south of that beautiful Gulf of America. That's not even the next country that's likely to receive a little bit of the Don Roe Doctrine. Alas, the Department of Justice, according to the New York Times, is potentially getting ready to file the same type of charges that were levied at Nicolas Maduro to the president of Columbia. So the New York Times is running this as breaking news. This is according to some inside sources that they are claiming that says they are said to be pursuing. I don't know anything about this yet. I haven't reached out to my sources to verify, which I usually try to do. So take this one with a grain of Colombian coffee. They report, quote, the U.S. justice Department is said to be pursuing criminal investigations of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Now, to be clear, there are kinetic strikes that are still ongoing. These aren't just those around the Venezuela area in the Caribbean. These also include the Eastern Pacific. A clip posted by Southern Command Southcom today. We're here, a particular Colombian boat. This is down I have in the next section here you can see the low skimming boat in the Eastern Pacific. Boom. Now, it is suspected that this boat is either from Ecuador or Colombia. Most likely, though, from Colombia. So not sure at this moment in time how the president of the United States and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are engaging in requests, demands, diplomatic leverage with the president of Colombia. Of course, he's up for reelection here pretty soon, so he can't exactly, you know, just play any game that he wants. And then of course, the situation in Cuba we'll keep an eye on this brings us over to Iran and Kharg Island. So before we get to that, we're going to send the radio crew over to commercial because after we bring them back, we're going to talk a little bit about the administration side of things, stuff that has straight up not been reported for a while. Radio crew will see in a minute. It's the Tony Knit cast. Now, in the meantime, very, very briefly here, I do want to mention that because of this insane news cycle, because of how often I am forced to drink coffee late into the night. When we did our Iran coverage when Khamenei was oofed and producer Daniel is Messaging me at 3am 4am it's really hard to get sleep, which means that I'm often either going to one of two things. I'm either going to melatonin, which doesn't work. It's really, really sugary, sweet and leaves me like a small 10 second window before I actually am able to get to sleep. And then I might go over to Benadryl. Probably not good to take a bunch of Benadryl to go to sleep. You end up kind of getting those weird hallucinations if you take a bunch of it. So what's the option? So there was a social media campaign that I saw an ad a lot like this one. Transparency sake for a group named Pre Sleep Presleep Co. Now, I am rather picky when it comes to ad reads and sponsor reads on the show. I am really, really, really picky on it because I only like to do things that I test. So I took all of December and the early part of January and the creator sent me some of the blue raspberry powder stuff and the pink lemonade stuff. You mix it into a drink a couple hours before bed and it more naturally brings you to sleep. It's not loaded and jam packed with a bunch of sweeteners like melatonin is. I didn't end up getting the weird hallucinations and the weird crap that Benadryl makes you feel like you've been knocked over the head with a bus. Presleep Co. Now they sponsor the show and normally there is a code called Tony 10 t o n y 10 where if you go to presleep co p r e sleep co you get 10% off your order. However, because of the interview that we are doing tonight with Kerry Ingram that we're about to get to because of the big news. Seriously, this is kind of a bigger show for us this evening. Our dear friends over at Pre Sleep have upped the code to Tony20. So if you go to Presleep co, there's a link in the description and you put in the code Tony20. You have to put in that code for the rest of this weekend. By the time Monday rolls around, no good. Those among you who graduated from elementary school could probably guess you get 20% off your order. This is good stuff. Some of you have used this since I've recommended it and you've liked it. Again, I'm more recommending this. So there you go. I from something that isn't melatonin and isn't knee capping. You like Benadryl? I Recommend pre sleep.co use code TONY20. It's only good for the weekend after that. Back to the Tony 10 stuff. So all of this said, this brings us over to the Iran information and updates because the international news doesn't just stop with the insanity over in Cuba, in Colombia, in the The Nueva America flotilla, not even the, the voter ID fraud argument happening with the Save America act over in the senate and the 300,000 dead people and the tens of thousands of potential illegal immigrants found on just 10 states voter rolls. But before we get to the Iran stuff, I want to talk a little bit about this administration because you haven't even been told that the Trump administration is delivering on a promise that I was probably more adamant about than anybody. And this is, can you actually cut these massive bureaucratic agencies you say you want to get rid of the Department of Education? Former teacher. Wholly agree. So can you actually shrink it? We have Kerry Ingram up next to talk about just that. This is a phenomenal achievement. Don't go anywhere. We're going to dive in. It's the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal. You're listening to the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC. A lot of governmental changes, including some shrinkage at least over in the Department of Education. Dr. Carrie Ingram, senior fellow over at the Discovery Institute. Good to be with you. Glad to have you back.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Thanks, Tony. My pleasure.

[Tony Kennett]

So let's dive right in. You've got some new info, some information on the Department of Education, how things are changing. We haven't really heard a ton about it. Other international events have kept us hopping, let's say. So what do you know?

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Well, this week marks one year since President Trump signed that historic executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to everything lawful within her power to start shrinking the federal footprint, that bureaucracy, returning education to the states, empowering parents. And over the last year, many people thought it wasn't possible. But what is happening has been absolutely incredible. So much progress has been made. I would say that they are far ahead of schedule and much more is to come as they downsize this thing, reorganize it and make common sense decisions so that we get back to states being responsible for their education as well as local control, giving parents a bigger voice.

[Tony Kennett]

So how are some of those things kind of breaking down? I know that it's easy for maybe a department to say, hey, we're, we're downsizing some things, we're reorganizing, we're, we're shunting things over to the states. But what are the actual tangible measures that we see of them actually moving through with this? Are these in the form of pink slips or are, are, what are we actually seeing come out here?

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Well, quickly out of the gate, the secretary started looking at positions, positions that were not needed as well as things that were tied to radical ideologies that had nothing to do with academics. And they were taking time away from students learning reading, writing and math. So she went in and she removed nearly half of the positions. We had a department with over 4,000 employees, largely pushing paper, eating up astronomical amounts of money before it reached the school level. So that happened early on last year. Of course there was pushback, but it prevailed. And because it was fully justifiable to reduce all of this waste that taxpayers are funding. And so that was the first step. But then they went in and cut $2 billion, excuse me, $2 billion of divisive ideology content. Over 200 pages on the department's website were cut. That just related to DEI. Over 200 pages. I mean, what we need 200 pages

[Tony Kennett]

of things that states education departments would have to follow. That kind of a thing.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Yes. These programs and guidance on how to implement DEI teach that to children. And they're getting back to things like the science of reading and equipping students what they truly need instead of pitting kids against one another. That happened. They added over $500 million for charter schools to expand that avenue. And what they're doing is they're removing red tape. They're empowering states. Last July, the department encouraged states submit waivers. We want you to be innovative. We want to remove this red tape, this burdensome bureaucracy, and let you be empowered to do what's best for your students. Because that's going to look different in every state. One other thing I want to highlight, Tony, is the interagency agreements. And so part of this reorganization is moving things to other agencies that are going to do a better job. So we seen the partnership. I believe there's been eight interagency agreements with Department of Labor. We've got to prepare kids for high demand, high growth career fields, not work in isolation. So the collaboration there has been terrific as well as just yesterday, there was big news that the $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio that is going to be moved over to Treasury. Treasury is the experts. They should manage that astronomical loan portfolio, not education bureaucrats. And so the secretary is doing a great job of common sense moves some

[Tony Kennett]

of the things that I'm looking at here. I've seen a lot of consolidation under different departments in the federal government. I'm seeing the State Department taking over some of the things like usaid, bringing that back into house, not just writing grants to anyone that asks, of course, we're seeing the Department of Commerce do the same kind of stuff. The Education Department pulling these things in have There been any court cases that have been able to stop anything, stymie anything effectively? I know the Trump administration's prevailed in a couple of cases, but there are so many judges filing emergency stops, stays, freezes, bop it, twist it, squeeze it. At this point, I'm not sure how I could keep up with all of it. So on the education side, do you know of any that have been more successful?

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Well, in typical fashion, the teacher unions came out in full attack when the department decided to downsize employees and complete fear mongering. So yes, there was a court case, Trump administration prevailed. But the teacher unions, their misplaced priorities. Americans are real.

[Tony Kennett]

You don't say teachers unions misplaced priorities. No.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Overplayed their hands and they've exposed themselves to not be after the best interests of children. And Americans are realizing that to a greater extent. And so their power to really control the conversation, it is lessening. And people are just saying, you know, we've had enough of these teacher unions. We want parents to be the ultimate decision maker of their child's education.

[Tony Kennett]

Well, Dr. Carrie Ingram, over not just at the Discovery Institute, but also senior fellow over at the Independent Women's Forum, what are you working on right now? I know that both IWF and the Discovery Institute are constantly on the move. Say I honestly enjoy kind of keeping up with all the things that you guys are moving forward on. What's in the works?

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Well, let me just highlight for you something really historic and exciting that's happened was last year as part of the one big beautiful bill, the Education Freedom Tax Credit was signed into law. And that is the first in history federal tax credit to provide scholarships to children. It costs the states. That's nothing. When a taxpayer contributes, starting next year in 2027, they can give up to $1700 per year to a scholarship granting organization. And in turn, it's a dollar for dollar federal tax credit.

[Tony Kennett]

So it's going to be wild.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

You'll get all of your money back. You'll help kids. It's either give your money to the federal government and not know how or where it's spent or give 1700 to a scholarship granting organization, receive that dollar for dollar back. And at the same time, you're changing the trajectory of a child's life. Now states have to opt into this and so far we have 27 states that have opted in and this does not even take effect till next year. So state by state, encouraging governors to do the right thing to put kids first. And again, it's not going to cost the state any money. It's not going to take a dime from public education. So that claim falls very flat. But it's a common sense move and it's really going to change the future for our children in our country.

[Tony Kennett]

I wasn't aware that was a dollar for dollar program. But that, that's, honestly, that's, that's pretty incredible. That, of course, the Trump accounts, that's something we've covered pretty extensively here. These are some generational changes that we're taking a look at. Dr. Carrie Ingram over from the Discovery Institute and then of course, senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum as well. Thanks for taking a couple of minutes. Glad to have you back.

[Dr. Carrie Ingram]

Thanks, Tony. If anyone wants to follow my work, they can check that [e-mail] education or on Xarydingerham. Appreciate it.

[Tony Kennett]

Now, just before we're done for the evening on the radio side, we have lots more to cover over on the live stream, YouTube.com daily signal, of course, before producer Allison backs everyone out on the broadcast air side, the FCC side, I do want to give y' all a few quick updates on the Iran situation that are just now coming in the supposed audio file from the new supreme Leader, the gay son of Al Khamenei, Muqtaba Khamenei, he theoretically released some kind of audio message for the Persian New Year. There are three major analysts right now saying that that voice isn't him, meaning that they didn't even find some kind of AI version of his voice, that the audio recording doesn't match any previous voice recording that is known of that particular individual. And so essentially, we still have no idea if Muhtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran, maybe is alive or dead. So we're just getting that information. I wanted you to have that before I send you guys away. Now again, YouTube.com dailysignal you guys come over and watch the rest of the show this evening. It's just gonna be good stuff. And of course, you get to hang out with the amazing livestream chat crew. They're excellent people. Well, most of them. It's the Tony Knitcast here on the Daily Signal, nationally syndicated and first on 93 WIBC. Alright, they have rolled out to their final goodbye in commercial land, which means you're all mine. Now. That brings us to the international situation. I did tell you, Muktabah Khomeini, the incompetent gay son, his father's words, not mine, has now supposedly released an audio message for Persian New Year. So many different Exciting holidays. You may have seen a lot of the Democrat leaders celebrating the end of Ramadan and wishing everyone a happy and all that stuff. But on the international front, this is supposed to be some pretty big news. So, you know, kind of judge it for yourself here, for those who are listening and are not perhaps as attuned to the exciting language and dialect of Farsi. He is saying at the moment, due to the particular unity that has been created between you and our compatriots, despite all of the differences in religious, intellectual, cultural and political origins, the enemy has been defeated. Yeah, guys, the enemy's been defeated.

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Yay.

[Tony Kennett]

So there are one of two things here that's going on. Both of these are equally hilarious. Either number one, they just pick some random janitor guy and said, hey, read this. And then he's like, hey, guys, the unity. The unity is great. Again, as a quick reminder, the Kurdish populations of western Iran are getting ready to break away into an independent Kurdistan, which has been a long time coming. Right now we have information on the international diplomatic side that the cultural minorities on the eastern portions of the country are attempting to communicate with the government of Afghanistan and the government of Pakistan. And the opposite groups are currently finding it out because Pakistan and Afghanistan are currently, you know, at war with each other. So what does all of this have to do with Iran itself? The idea of like all the unity behind the regime? There are currently additional footage, audio, and individuals who are defecting from the IRGC to any group that will take them. We are seeing drive bys in which individuals with Kalashnikovs, you know, the most rugged, and do whatever you want to it and it'll still fire rifle of all time, shooting up IRGC police stations that have not yet been hit by drone strikes. Now today is the day that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, had told all of the peoples of Iran to go out and celebrate, I guess Persian New Year is that. I didn't, he didn't say Persian New Year when he, when he made the announcement, but go celebrate the festival of lights and friendship and fun. We've got the skies. So I'm still waiting to see, you know, what particular incidents and things come out of this. We are getting more information. However, again, the second option for Mukhtabah Khomeini, if the first is that it's not even him, the second is that he just woke up from his coma or his leg getting off and he's either so high on drugs or he's been locked away in the darkest room and Some aid, some Grima Wormtongue has come in and announced, hey, we're actually winning. That's why we have to hide you down here. So incredible North Korea ing going on inside what's left of the Iranian administration, who now, by the way, is not only trying to target as best they can the gas and oil infrastructure in Qatar, the uae, Saudi Arabia and possibly Oman. I didn't even know Oman had a huge amount of oil and gas infrastructure here. Sorry. I'm reading some of the updates from both Reuters and the Associated Press on who they're trying to hit with their last remaining missiles and drones. They've also been attempting to throw a series of arms and drones at the Al Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem. You say, wait, why would Iranians try to blow up the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem? So two things. If you've never, never been to that side of the world, really quickly here. The entire Old City of Jerusalem could fit in what is very likely your local high school like campus. Most university campuses are larger than the Old City of Jerusalem. It's a very, very, very small place. And most of the people living inside the Old City of Jerusalem are Muslim and a lot of different factions of them. Now you have the Church of the Holy Separate, excuse me, what Catholics would call the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, what Protestants most often referred to as the Church of the Resurrection inside the Old City in the Christian quarter. And in that particular area, it was shut down recently for the first time in quite a while because Iran's been attempting to launch drones and ballistic missiles at the mosque standing on the site of where the temple, the Jewish temple used to be. Say, wait, why would Iran be trying to do this? Iran is trying every last thing they can do to try to get the Iranian, or, excuse me, the broader Muslim community really angry at the United States and Israel. So the first thing they did they thought would work is that they would bomb American bases but also hit some civilian infrastructure nearby. And then that would really outrage Qatar, at the United States with the base in Doha and oh, and it would really outrage the UAE and it would outrage Jordan and Saudi Arabia and all of these other little various countries that the United States has a place in. And it didn't. Instead it really upset the Muslims in those countries at Iran who are just tired of Iran's crap at this point. And so now Iran is throwing all kinds of things at what, what are they throwing? All of the missiles and the drones that they have left at the very few. They're trying to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem so that Muslims will believe the. I'm not, I'm not joking here. The Tucker Carlson line, which the Iranian regime is attempting to broadcast Tucker Carlson's shows to the Iranian people. So that Tucker, who is claiming that it's actually the Mossad and the Jews who are running around bombing everything. Like, I know you're seeing literally missiles fly out of Iran and into Qatar. I know you're seeing missiles fly out of Iran and to the Dome of the Rock. But you know, I mean, really, it's the Jew. The Jews are trying to false flag their way to stuff. You don't have to chew on your own elbows and just go full retard here. And by the way, the people of Iran aren't buying it. They had a little impromptu rally in which we got one Getty photograph out and there were three whole people in the little pro Iranian regime rally in Tehran. One was an old fat man holding up a sign upside down. So that's what the regime is currently at. Now, this brings us to Carg island, because Carg island, where Iran is also suspected to be preparing some strikes against this is the final strategic martyrdom that we talked about yesterday, is that Carg island, which again handles 90% of the oil exports from Iran because they do all of the processing there, all of it, all of the oil. By the way, this is why Israel bombed the gas fields in Iran, means that really Carg island is pretty much all that's left. China buys all of its energy that it buys from Iran from that particular island and then through the Strait of War moves out to China. And then China resells that after doing some of its advanced processing to places like Vietnam, who's also having an energy crisis and they're starting to see riots against the administration in Vietnam. And never in a million years did I think Trump would come back 51 years later and like perhaps win the Vietnam War. Holy crap. But that's another, you know, we'll have to get to that news when we get to it. The Trump administration pointed out today that the people of Iran should take very good care over the weekend, or I should say encourage, not pointed out that people in Iran should take very good care over the weekend because of statements that then Iranians went out and proved. So originally, the State Department said, hey, Iran is going to target a bunch of people in celebrating festivities like Persian New Year that are in parks and recreational areas and, you know, touristy places the United States through the State Department and then Israel's Foreign Ministry department said in messages in Farsi and in Arabic, several other languages, you should stay out of these areas because Iran is going to target you, their own civilians. They will see you celebrating, perhaps under the guise of, oh, it's a holiday. We're not celebrating the demise of the regime. We're celebrating a holiday. They will see you and they will shoot you. Now, it was really funny watching a lot of the online crazy nutcase people who again think that everything is the Jews hiding behind the cupboard, suggesting this was a false flag. Everything's a false flag unless it actually happens, in which case the United States deserves it. But there was going to be a false flag. The United States and Israel, we're going to shoot all of the Iranian people that we want to rise up against the government. Hold on, maybe it sounds better if I do the X Files music. There we go. The United States was going to mow down people. It was going to be like Kent State Times A McBajillion Jane Fonda already climbing on top of military equipment. It's Vietnam again. That's right. And I hate to be the bearer of bad, but it was the Iranians themselves that came out about an hour later and said, we're going to shoot everyone in the parks and the tourist areas. We're going to shoot everyone in recreational areas. I'm not joking. Here is the audio translation and reporting summary from the BBC, who seems shocked to report this. And you can hear the reporter almost a little bit glum that he has to confirm that, no, it wasn't a false flag. Iran actually is like, yeah, we'll kill you.

[BBC Reporter]

Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Moshtabah Khamenei, called Friday for the enemies of his nations to have their security taken away. In his latest message to the public, Khamenei made the remarks in a statement issued on his behalf to President Massoud Perjakian after Israel killed Iran's intelligence minister. It was read on state TV irib. The news reader says security must be denied to internal and external enemies and be granted to the people at large. Khamenei hasn't been seen since he was named as supreme Leader after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28th. There have been growing comments from American and Israeli officials that Moshtabahomeini was hurt in the war.

[Tony Kennett]

I'm Charles Dilethesma So then Al Jazeera gets on and says, well, not only is he saying security is the utmost importance. No, the Iranian current top military spokesman, General Abel Fazel. Abel Fazel, what in the Fonzie Muppet nonsense? General Abel Fazel Shirkat, she General Abe Shakira has warned that, quote, parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations will not be safe for the enemies of Tehran internally and externally. So they are simultaneously announcing that they are going to try to bomb like the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument and like Myrtle Beach. Now you don't see me smiling because again, we've seen these Islamic terror attacks take place at, for example, Bondi beach outside of Sydney, Australia. But alas, they've also promised and they've already done so. We already have footage that's coming out of Iran that is too grotesque for us to share on the air with you right now. I believe that Tusi TV is currently putting up some of those pieces of footage, but they are already attacking their own people celebrating holidays in Iran. So just well done Iranian regime doing the exact same thing that we absolutely knew that you could do. Now again, what does this mean for the President? What does this actually mean for Carg Island? Because I don't know if you've seen the markets. They are not particularly enjoying the instability in the war and because so many countries rely on the oil from Iran, including because the United States said, hey, you're not allowed to buy oil from Russia during the Russo Ukrainian War. Well, you got to get it from somewhere. And I don't know if you know this, but there's not a lot of oil wells in Germany. Now Norway's super effing rich. But outside of that, what are you going to do? Well, you got to go to Iran or you have to get oil from the Straits of Hormuz from some of the other Middle Eastern powers, you know, the OPEC nations. Come on. A lot of you guys obviously and clearly remember where a lot of countries are getting their oil. So the markets didn't like this Brent, the crude oil price, it's sky high per barrel. And as we talked about yesterday, the President of the United States, unlike when he's been asked about other economic matters and he said, oh, we're just cleaning up after Joe Biden. This he's been very clear. Yes, it is absolutely the situation in the United States and Iran, Israel, the Middle east, abroad. This particular Operation Epic Fury is absolutely currently jacking up the prices. But as Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who's usually pretty Stinking accurate when it comes to saying predictions of the movement of the United States. Pretty soon oil prices are going to plummet. Now, most of the time you'd say, oh, come on, everyone likes to predict the price of oil. Well, if the United States ends up doing what it did with Venezuela and ended up doing with certain trade aspects with regard to Panama and ended up taking over certain, for example, semiconductor shipping policies like it did with Taiwan, or perhaps brokering certain agreements regarding steel like it did with Japan, you know, the exact same thing the Trump administration does quite consistently. Well, it just so happens, it just so happens that the President of the United States may be about to do the same thing regarding Karg island, meaning that an expeditionary force of Marines or other groups that we have in the area might just take over that island semi permanently. Not as a nation building exercise, not as a, all right, everyone, here's how we're going to train you to have a democracy. But saying your oil, your oil, lot of oil could be oil that we're not going to sell. China, you better dance to my tune. This is the President being asked, as usual, about Carg Island. Again, the reason that I laugh here is that the President of the United States has been asked quite a few times about his plan for Carg island or whether or not he's gonna do this. He's like, I'm not telling you our plans for military and diplomatic maneuvers in advance. He's tired of getting this. But anyway, here you go. So if you couldn't hear again outside of airplane or outside of helicopter, reporter questions is the bane of my existence on the show. The reporter goes, what's your plan for Carg Island? What's your plan for Target? You know, I may have a plan or I may not. But how would I ever say that to a reporter? If I said that to a reporter, Marco would say, please, sir, let's bring you over to the helicopter. Now, I will say this again. Some of the same crew who was saying the United States was going to mow down a bunch of people in Iranian parks and stuff. But, but I will point out that that same crew is now, I should say, and not. But in this particular instance, they are now saying that, oh, how could Trump not have a plan? He, he doesn't even know whether he has a plan or not. You do realize that clearly the president right there is going, I may have a plan, I may not, is what he says every time. Every time. You realize the President doesn't actually sit down with the military generals and go okay, here's what I want to do. I want Bravo Company, Bravo Company, you're gonna take the eastern ridge, and then I want to see paratroopers drop down beautiful, amazing America 250 branded parachutes onto the airstrip on northern Kharg Island. And then I'm feeling frisky. Have a Marine detachment go ahead and do Iwo Jima. Raise the flag here. He doesn't do that. Obviously, the Pentagon, the Department of War, has contingencies for each and everything that happens in a war. Now, it has been a long time since I sat and heard pre plebe lectures, as in summer leadership seminar lectures at West Point Military Academy in West Point, New York. But one of the key things in our ethics class, of all things that the professor went on and on and on about, is that if we had a plan all the way back into World War I and World War II for taking Canada, folks, we have a plan for every single way you could possibly think of to slice up to dice up any island off the coast of any country on the face of this earth, including, yes, you guessed it, Carg Island. And again, this isn't, you know, dropping huge companies of troops in and sending a surge of troops in through Mojabad in the West. In fact, NATO also at the point of the United States has withdrawn troops from Iraq. Oh, you didn't, you didn't hear about that? Oh, well, then. Well, my pleasure to bring you a bit of news that you're perhaps not hearing at the moment. According to both the Associated Press and CBS News, NATO has effectively pulled out several different. I have to be kind of careful in how and how I point this out. Out of Iraq, several different kinds of troop orders in what is called an advisory mission. So according to the Reuters article itself, this being published out of Brussels, NATO has withdrawn all of its troops from an advisory mission in Iraq. Now, this advisory mission includes training and military operational and logistics staff, the specialty of the United States that we have tried to teach Europe. Of course, the French screwed it all up, but, you know, it's the French. So in regard to NATO, the United States does dispatch our logistics Corps and the Army Corps of Engineers to several advisory missions around the globe. Some of those are in Iraq. Now, wait a minute. Isn't that boots on the ground? Yes, the United States maintains some boots on the ground in a lot of different places that we are and aren't at war with. Did you know we have boots on the ground in Taiwan? We do. We have a communications attache, I believe that's public knowledge. If not, I'm going to get in trouble here in a few minutes. We have a communications attache that operates as a forward operations post for some of the listening alongside the strait in the South China Sea. This is a common thing with the United States. It's not. Just because there are in fact operations in an area doesn't mean that we're starting a big, huge George W. Bush, Nikki Haley style Wilsonian. We're going to teach everyone democracy style nonsense. But NATO recognizing, hey, maybe the area with the Kurds in it is going to get a little spicy here in a couple of days. And so in doing so, quote, this is from US Air Force General Alexis Grankovich. I would like to thank the Republic of Iraq and all of the allies who assisted in the safe relocation of NATO personnel from Iraq. Boy, doesn't that sound like the US Is planning for a ground invasion. That's, I mean, I remember, don't you, when George H.W. bush, during the first Gulf War, remember the first Gulf War, withdraw your forces immediately or face a coalition of the United States and its allies. And then we built up a coalition right on the border, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, into Iraq. And then they launched the invasion. There was a buildup. So a common mail time question that I have received, the reason that you see me perhaps a little a smidge agitated in this instance, the questions that do often come in asking what reason the Trump administration gave for these particular actions and why the United States was suddenly and without any warning dragged into this conflict by Israel. You might forget the president saying, I'm going to send an aircraft carrier, get it over there, rev up the jets, boys, and then sending in the second aircraft carrier. Do you remember these were news cycles. You scroll back up through some earlier episodes of the Tony Kinnit cast. I will gladly be there. Slightly younger and slightly prettier, telling you in an earlier time, before the Operation Epic Fury ever took place, about the numbers of craft and whether we thought the president was going to do something. And I remember saying, hey, J.D. vance is saying we're going to be super diplomatic. And that was a ruse because that's what he does before every US Conflict. And then scoreboard, the stuff came true. Now, the audience that tunes into the show, you guys have an IQ over 35. You know, you're not Rashida Tlaib. You're not the weird lesbian running Code Pink. I mean, hey, you, you, you probably have it together. Wait, I think that someone in our comments had a visceral reaction. So much so a visceral reaction that they sent in a super chat about it. Saint Apathy. It's a great name. Five dollar Super Chat. You guys do not need to send in super chats. Said you had to have Madea Benjamin of Code Pinko in your video thumbnail. Now I have blurred vision. She and Jody Evans are just awful. I had no idea what the weird the weird lesbian running Code Pink is the pink vagina hat potentate herself. I don't know what that Chinese asset's name is. All I'll tell you is Fang Fang was prettier. But anyway along that line. Also a very kind five dollar super chat from Agnes said Hey Tony, did you HEAR Anything about J.D. vance not running for president in 28? Rumors are that Tulsi might resign. Questions on that line. I'll answer those right here instead of doing a big mail time shindig. Since we're in this particular instance, do not take any of the wild predictions on whether someone is running in 2028 seriously right now. Don't. Everything right now is an exploratory campaign. Now some people like Kristi Noem use the Trump administration's money to do their exploratory campaign and film yeehaw horseback riding videos. And then Podium Barbie and her man ho Corey Lewandowski got sideways promoted erased from existence. That presidential exploratory went absolutely nowhere. You also saw Cory Booker try this. Gavin Newsom did his little podcast and currently he's enjoying about 13 different scandals. Other than that, I mean JD Vance, I'd say it's a little too early now. Again, a lot of people, their public opinion on the administration is shifting. I will remind you that Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, was the candidate that ended up making it through the primary before Joe Biden. And the reason Hillary wasn't picked during the Joe Biden run is because she was considered more toxic than Flint tap water. So the Secretary of State is more often looked to in a presidential election in the modern age for a primary if there is a lot of foreign policy stuff. So yeah, Rubio is getting a lot of momentum, as he should. But I wouldn't say that means like ah, this means Rubio is going to run advances and don't count your chickens before they file to run for office. So easy there. As for rumors that Tulsi might resign, I haven't heard anything about that. I happen to know there are a lot of people in the same crew that said all of the stuff that's been proven wrong that they really wanted to resign because she's now come out and agreed with the head of the CIA because again, she's the Director of National Intelligence and has agreed that no, the Israeli conspiracy thiezing nonsense, conspiracy anesthetizing is not worth anyone's time. So a lot of people want her to resign. I don't know if she's gonna or not. I need to see some evidence though. There are a lot of outlets everywhere running around saying unnamed source. Tells me what that suggests to me as someone who's seen a lot of the reporting from the New York Times and from the Washington Post, from Reuters. After all Reuters, a couple of weeks ago they were suggesting that the 82nd Airborne had a major, you know, a major training exercise that was canceled because the White House was sending the whole 82nd Airborne to invade Iran. Like from the, from the West. Yeah, that didn't happen, did it? So a lot of of leak sealing has resulted in some very spurious reporting that resulted in ousting individuals like Joe Kent who was cut off from a bunch of meetings so that he could then try to leak what he could and fell for a really, really, really old leaking trick, at least via some of the reporting that I'm seeing and may or may not have leaked things through proxy. Now according to Jo Kent, he says I never leaked anything. I never talked to media. That's that was has been his response. I've seen the reports that I have leaked to media. I joke. Kent have never contacted these groups. Dude, your, your wife is a left wing activist, my man. I will once again remind the fun crew out there that Joe Kent, who still does to this day, I guess I should probably check this follows me on social media on X a small number of people that he follows. I reached out and said hey, have you or a proxy leaked. In other words, did you give something to be leaked to anybody? He didn't answer that question. Hmm. So the Trump administration is doing some rather effective things. Far be it for me to be the guy to say, hey let the man cook before, you know, everyone gets their panties in quite the bunch. But this is in fact one of those instances. Now, according to CBS News, quote, Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying U.S. ground forces, quote, into Iran, with senior military commanders having submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for such an option if such a decision is made by President Trump. Multiple Hjorkes briefed on the discussions told CBS News. Now, what are these particular preparations? Well, these preparations include, oh hey, the Royal Air Force. Finally, Keir Starmer said, yeah, you can use Diego Garcia, that little tiny island in the middle of effing nowhere, you're allowed to use that now. So the military commanders, the admirals, and I suppose the generals, if some poor logistics guy gets stuck at handling Diego Garcia, the poor sad brass, they're going to have to take that into effect in account. And again, part of being brass is coming up with a series of plans for anything at any time. The President of the United States has not decided in his entirety what he is going to do. But some of these things are, hey, if we were to capture some prisoners of war, some dudes on Carg island, if the United States were to have some special operations team that did go and pick up a couple of pieces, or I call it the nuclear dust, the uranium, that kind of a thing. What if you encounter a prisoner of war? Where are they sent? Do we send them to sicot in El Salvador? We send them to Guantanamo Bay? Do we deliver them in lingerie to Moktabah Khamenei? What are we doing here? I mean, that, you know, gonna level with you. That makes quite a lot of sense to me. Now this brings us to the last point here for the news that I'm gonna, I'm gonna dive into you, dive in with you. The Pentagon has set a bill to go over to Congress. And this bill says, hey, look, we have used some of our ammunition in this war. We have. And because we've used some of the ammunition, we'd like to refill it. That's it. We would like to refill the stockpiles of the ammunition that we have spent and other material that we expect to spend over the next couple of weeks. And there have been all of the pearl clutchings in the world again. And I'm not going to be too harsh on people because some of this is expected. For example, when I don't, I'm not sure if I ended up pulling the clip before we, we got into this evening. It doesn't look like I did. No, maybe. Here's Lauren Boebert, Colorado. She really, really doesn't want the Pentagon to get 200 billionaires very, very, very adamant about it. Here you go.

[Code Pink Representative]

I will not vote for a war supplemental.

[Tony Kennett]

No. I am a no.

[Code Pink Representative]

I've already told leadership I am a no on any war supplementals. I am so, so tired of spending money elsewhere. I, I am tired of the industrial war complex getting all of our hard earned tax dollars.

[Tony Kennett]

Okay? So first of all, I do very much sympathize with not wanting to just endlessly vote through big spending packages. I agree. Really I do. I understand the criticisms that a lot of Americans have. I am one of the people again who just interviewed Dr. Kerry Ingram, who just had an excellent Wall Street Journal article all about the Trump administration shrinking spending permanently by getting rid of a lot of staff with recurring expenses, getting rid of a lot of these major grant programs. However, it really should be noted that in fiscal year 2024, the entire the entire US military budget was 13% of total of total federal spending. The 2024 DoD budget request was 3.4% of the GDP. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe just endless blank checks are the way to go. But pretending that the industrial super military state complex is getting all of the money in the budget of the United States. No. And by the way, you don't even need me to tell you that. It's Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, it's Representative Brandon Gill of Texas. It's Senator Josh Hawley, the populist. It's Senator Ted Cruz, the traditional conservative. And it's on the more establishment side of the Senate. Susan Collins, you know you rather very, very, very different, very different parts. Joe Kennedy of Louisiana have made it very clear we are not spending all of our money on the military. It's disingenuous to suggest I really don't care for the only caring about the hut. Thomas Massey's like the debts reached this particular level. Oh it's now it's at 39 trillion. Everything is over again. I don't like the debt is swelling but the majority of the United States budget even in supplemental packages is nowhere close to being the majority for the military or special actions around the world. And I would rather replenish our stockpile. Aren't we. Weren't we just hearing from these same people? Do you remember going into the Iranian operation, what were you told? You were told the US is running out of missiles, that we were going to run out and Iran was just going to have free will to just bomb us all. Do you remember we were running out of interceptors? Oh you don't remember those particular tweets and posts and news statements, CNN having analysts on that were making this claim we were going to run out of Thaad missile launch ammunition. Oh we were going to run out of SAM packages. We were going to run out of bullets and missiles and gun and and then China was going to take Taiwan while we were sleeping. Now currently China has a fuel crisis that is so intense there are more than a few analysts not just in the United States but across the Western Europe kind of economic indices who are now suggesting China doesn't even have enough fuel to invade Taiwan. Guys, the Taiwan Strait is not exactly a wide body of water. J.B. pritzker is wider than the Taiwan Strait. But the idea was that China was going to take Taiwan because we wouldn't have enough missiles to Rudy toot and shoot and they were going to drain us all and it was all going to be gone. No, that's not the case. But it is good to actually keep a larger stockpile. Again, if let's steel man their argument. Let's say the US doesn't have enough missiles. Don't you think we should have enough missiles then? And I'm sorry, aren't these missiles and things manufactured here? So I understand that the hate towards the military industrial complex to a degree. But are those not Americans working in those factories putting those together? I'm sorry, I would much rather. I would much rather put federal money towards Americans building American weapons than I would seeing American tax dollars sent to China or grant programs in Taiwan or grant programs for steel in Japan so that other countries can make things and then sell it to us. I think it's rather more America first. And by the way, I will be very open and honest with you. Indiana has a quite the large defense industry. You know what? My state's manufacturing was hollowed out by Obama's beautiful 2008 programs of glory and George W. Bush. Everything's going to be fine, so just ignore it. Strategy. And I got the divine privilege of watching my father working for the Dana Corporation lose his job in that business. Move to Mexico. I'm sorry. The idea that that Indiana Hoosier manufacturing might produce something to restock the American arsenal so that other kids don't have to see the same kind of thing that I saw. Yeah, I'm going to level with you. I really don't care. I would rather there be more. In fact, as I've asked Senator Jim Banks, maybe we start making the A10 again. I want an upgraded version of the A10. Warthog. The greatest close air support plane of all time. Not even close. I want to see two of those factories and then a third factory for spare parts in Indiana tomorrow. That's what I want. Screw the data center construction. I want to see a factory producing A10s or whatever. Upgraded version because you know some aspects of them are a smidge dated. Give them some targeting radar. Tired of pretending that America being a dominant power is not awesome. Secretary of War Hag Seth I know, Big shocker agrees.

[Deputy Secretary of Defense]

And what happened with that as well, as far as $200 billion, I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys. So we're going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that we're properly funded for what's been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is. Everything's refilled. And not just refilled, but above and beyond. I mean, President Trump, as he said, rebuilt the military in his first term, didn't think he'd use it as dynamically in his second, but he had, so thank goodness he did that. And an investment like this is meant to say, hey, we'll replace anything that was spent. And now that we're reviving our defense industrial base and rebuilding the arsenal of freedom and cutting deals like our great deputy secretaries here is doing long lead times on exquisite munitions, we're going to be refilled faster than anyone imagined. And I think, you know, we're also still dealing with the environment that Joe Biden created, which was. Which was depleting those stockholds and not sending them to our own military, but to Ukraine, which is when every time

[Tony Kennett]

we reach back and look at now, Fair, fair. The United States gave a bunch of old munitions to Ukraine. And then we have thrown in a fair amount of munitions that we currently have again, those kinds of munitions that allow us not to go through hundreds of American lives again. So far, the majority of casualties in this particular war, which are absolutely, absolutely, wholeheartedly, very much so, a tragedy. And these individuals should be remembered and honored. And after this operation is over, I really do believe that it's high time that we had another Washington, D.C. monument for those of each and every one of those who did perish in this conflict so that they can be honored and remembered forever. I will gladly donate to that project, and I'm sure that many of you would, and, you know, if it becomes an opportunity, will as well. But it is important to note that when you compare it to the level of destruction that we have wreaked upon the Iranian infrastructure, the regime, the newest leader of the Basij, who's just. Every day there's a new one because he keeps getting oofed because of those munitions that we've produced. We have had far more friendly fire or operational equipment failures that have resulted in American casualties than we have through Iranian strikes on Americans, causing fatalities. And that's not a small thing. And that's. That is something that again, is not actually being heaped in these particular amounts of praise. And again for the argument this is all just a big, huge financial enrichment of Israel. Well, according to the Associated Press, the United States approved. This is according to Matthew Lee over at Theos, the Associated press. Today, the US just approved a $23 billion arms sale. Two Arab allies as the Iran war escalates, quote. In notices sent to Congress on Thursday, the State department said the US would sell to the United Arab Emirates more than $8 billion in air defense systems and related materiel, including drones, air to air missiles and munitions for the F16 fighter jet to Kuwait, $8 billion in missile defense and radar systems to Jordan, 70.5 million. Jordan's a lot poorer and there are some reasons why. And it's their own ding dang dong fall. Excuse me, $70.5 million in aircraft and munitions support and then another $6 billion in sales to the three countries approved but not requiring congressional notification because they involved adjustments to previously approved packages or purely commercial sales. That's according to a State Department official. These are not given. We didn't just give these to the countries. They bought them from us and may I say, based on some of the systems that were sent over at a rather inflated rate. So, yeah, the United States federal government has made money on some of those arms sales to the Middle East. I mean, are we not allowed to point that out, too? Is that not a win? I was told that we were just giving things to people now. And by the way, the Israeli government has also purchased a massive number of munitions from the United states as well, 50 to 60 billion dollars worth of munitions in just the last couple of years. So, you know, I'm of the opinion right now personally here. Then I'm going to wait before I get out the pearls and I start saying I'm not going to vote for, I'm not going to do. And I'm not going to know. NATO's withdrawing troops from portions of the Middle East. President Trump's likely to take Car island, apparently. I guess according to the New York Times, Columbia, their, their president might be under the same kind of investigation. From Maduro, the lesbians are sailing to Cuba. All right. Interesting stuff indeed. Now that said, I would hope you guys would have a wonderful weekend, but I cannot end the show without saying a little something about Chuck Norris. So Chuck Norris did pass away today. He had been hospitalized in an emergency situation in Hawaii. And Chuck Norris is, is formative in American culture for a number of reasons, for a lot of different age ranges and groups in a number of Roles so obviously his, his combat the phenomenally acted movies that he did with, with Bruce Lee. The action star theatrics that would later on bleed into countless cameos. Of course his work in Walker Texas Ranger is a show. Sorry, I was trying to differentiate between his, his role with in Dragon with Bruce Lee and then also his work long term with Walker Texas Ranger. Chuck Norris getting a bit up there though. Many of us remembered him for for example his, his role in little cameos in for example in Dodgeball. True underdog story. Chuck was a phenomenal guy. He was also passionate about his, his faith in Christ. You know, not Many, not many 85, 86 year olds could have produced such a huge cultural touchstone that I would say easily beats on the folks side tale of things easily beats Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed. The number of Chuck Norris jokes that you've heard that I've heard are incredible. In fact I'd made some of them with the Ministry of Truth. After learning he was hospitalized. I said this may be the only guy who before or after needing to be hospitalized, built the hospital first or that he had after being hospitalized provided medical care to all 36 doctors and 78 nurses on staff. Chuck Norris was also a passionate Christian. He talked quite often about his faith in Christ. And I'm excited to see one of the most legendary dudes that I spent a lot of my childhood looking up to at the eastern gate. So to the guy that woke up from his death this morning, corrected a typo on his death certificate, shook the hand of the doctor and then told Christ yes, he was finally coming. Then, you know, finally died the second time. To Chuck Norris, rest in peace and I'll see you again soon, brother. All right, now I can say we are done for the week. Have a wonderful weekend. If for some reason troops make landfall on Carg island and the United States has yet another place of oil and we see Brent falling, falling, falling towards 60, I'll let you know, we'll go live. There's a link in the description by the way for that in the YouTube chat or I should say in the YouTube description there's a link to the Discord. You can join us there, hang out with us. We have other stuff that we post there occasionally. And then again, of course, don't forget code Tony20T o N Y 20 for pre sleep. That is only good for this weekend. You wait till Monday, it's gone. It's the Tony Knittcast here on the Daily Signal. Nationally syndicated and first on 93 wybc y' all take care.