Podcast Summary: To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

Episode: Money, Lies, God, and State Sponsored Murder
Date: January 27, 2026
Host: Charlie Sykes
Guest: Kathryn Stewart (Author of Money, Lies and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy)

Overview

In this intense and timely episode, Charlie Sykes and journalist/author Kathryn Stewart delve into the alarming rise of authoritarianism in America, focusing on state violence, the perversion of religious values, the machinery of lies, and the fusion of big money and government. They reflect on recent shocking events, such as the killing of Alex Preddy by federal agents, and discuss how the MAGA movement's infrastructure—driven by lies, fear, and plutocratic interests—threatens American democracy. Stewart offers insights from her book, which now reads as hauntingly prescient amid escalating state violence, government disinformation, and the increasing normalization of extremism.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Distressing National Moment

• Collective shock and alienation:

  • Charlie opens by acknowledging the "incredibly difficult period," referencing the recent killing of Alex Preddy in Minneapolis.
  • He voices the surrealism and alienation many feel:

    "I’m living in a country I don’t necessarily recognize... I never thought I would see many of these things." (Charlie, 02:53)

• Irrefutable violence and media manipulation:

  • Sykes notes the "irrefutable" video evidence: Preddy, an ICU nurse, was holding a phone, not a gun, and was shot even after being disarmed and immobilized.
  • Despite this, the Trump administration is pushing false claims—labeling Preddy a "domestic terrorist" and pushing narratives that contradict clear video evidence.

• Challenge to reality and decency:

  • Sykes draws a parallel to Trump’s infamous Fifth Avenue statement, arguing that disbelief or indifference from supporters may have reached a prophesied breaking point.

    “What the Trump administration is asking us to do is ignore the evidence of our eyes, ignore the facts...” (Charlie, 05:30)

2. The Expansion of State Power and Hypocrisy

• ICE operations and trauma:

  • Stewart shares a harrowing video of ICE agents blowing open an American citizen’s door and terrifying her children—actions justified by shaky allegations.

    “This kind of terrorism of American citizens...it really...We gotta thank the Don’t Tread on Me crowd for all of this.” (Kathryn, 07:21)

• The subversion of “Don’t Tread on Me”:

  • Sykes and Stewart discuss how libertarian, anti-government slogans have been hijacked or rendered hollow as government overreach intensifies under authoritarian leadership.

3. The Movement vs. The Man

• Trump as consequence, not cause:

  • Stewart emphasizes that Trump is the product of an anti-democratic movement that long predates him and will outlast him.

    "Trump is the consequence of a movement that has really never believed in democracy in the first place.” (Kathryn, 09:33)

• Violence and double standards on religion:

  • Discussion of protests at City Church, which employed an ICE agent pastor who preached “empathy is a sin.”
  • Religious freedom is selectively advocated—those protesting ICE's violence faced arrest, while opposition to MAGA-aligned Christianity is labeled an attack on faith.

4. The Culture of Lies and Its Societal Warping

• Truth-bending as political weapon:

  • Stewart, citing Frederick Douglass, frames truth as tyrants’ greatest fear; the MAGA movement intentionally severs sections of the public from reality.

    "Tyrants fear nothing more than free speech because truth is the enemy of all oppressors.” (Kathryn, paraphrased, 13:30)

• Media control and propaganda:

  • Stewart draws parallels to regimes in Russia, Hungary, and China—autocrats convert media into propaganda to divide and control populations, enriching elites and stymying dissent.

• Multi-channel propaganda ecosystem:

  • Think tanks, legal groups, Fox News, and a “disinformation sphere” (podcasters, YouTubers, “Reawaken America” rallies) push conspiracies and foster existential fear as a loyalty mechanism.
  • Stewart:

    "The kind of conspiracism conspiracy environment has been a long time building and it has helped lead us to where we are today.” (Kathryn, 18:38)

5. The New Extremism & Its Institutionalization

• Radicalization of mainstream power:

  • Stewart notes the open elevation of religious extremists (e.g., Doug Wilson’s CREC movement, overt white nationalists like Darren Beatty) into government positions.

    "If you looked at the Twitter page of the Department of Homeland Security...they're being run by these white nationalists and people who hold the most extreme views." (Kathryn, 24:22)

• Fascistic optics:

  • The regime creates violent “sizzle reels” of ICE raids, set to Bible verses—an intersection of brutality, media spectacle, and religious hypocrisy.
  • Stewart:

    “I call these guys reactionary nihilists...they’re sort of playing a video game...it’s just a joke, but it’s not right...I think a lot of folks now are kind of looking at this stuff and saying well, I'm not sure this is exactly what I signed up for.” (Kathryn, 26:51)

6. Money and Power: The Engine Room

• Plutocratic unity behind authoritarianism:
  • Stewart outlines five movement categories: funders, thinkers, sergeants, infantry, power players.
  • Unexpected alignment: Tech billionaires, old money, and Christian nationalists unite over policies that benefit extreme wealth but use culture wars to turn out votes.
  • Culture wars are instrumental—issues like abortion and marriage matter less than sustaining elite power and privilege.

    “Some of them claim to be...capitalists...but at the same time they're seeking privileged contracts...Elon Musk [receives] billions...in taxpayer subsidies.” (Kathryn, 30:23)

7. Smashing the Administrative State & Intellectual Roots

• Conservative think tank influence:
  • The Claremont Institute’s embrace of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt’s “friend-enemy” distinction underpins the movement’s philosophy:

    "You're with us or you're against us, and if you're against us, you must destroy by any means necessary.” (Kathryn, 34:23)

  • Institutional projects like “Project 2025” (Heritage Foundation) meld religious and new right anti-democratic strategies.

8. The Defeat of Old-School Conservatism

• Libertarians brushed aside:

  • Modern MAGA authoritarianism supersedes more classically liberal, pro-democracy, or libertarian streams of conservatism. Even traditional funders (Koch network) are now marginal.
  • Sykes:

    “Party that once called itself conservative, I don’t think it has a right to call itself conservative.” (Charlie, 43:38)

• Irony of ‘small government’ narrative:

  • The so-called party of limited government has produced “the most centralized, overweening...federal government, consolidated in the person of the president,” using the state apparatus for personal and ideological gain.

9. Religion, Morality, and Hypocrisy

• Weaponizing family and faith:
  • The Christian right justifies cruelty, economic inequality, and authoritarian measures—contrary to their professed values of empathy and family.
  • Trump’s personal immorality, once grounds for conservative outrage against political leaders, is now rationalized or ignored by the religious right.

10. What Comes Next? Endurance—and Hope—of Democratic Values

• Authoritarian infrastructure will outlast Trump:

  • Stewart:

    "We need to start thinking about the dysfunction that has allowed this to happen in the first place." (Kathryn, 47:49)

• The pro-democracy movement’s failures:

  • The right builds infrastructure; the left throws money at technocratic solutions. Stewart calls for the left to invest in grassroots, organizational capacity the way the right does.

• Democracy’s imperfections and rationale:

  • Sykes raises the challenge: What if democracy delivers fascism? Stewart counters that democracy’s principles—pluralism, rule of law, public deliberation—remain vital and aspirational, even if imperfect in practice.

• Truth as the heart of democracy:

  • Sykes:

    "Truth is really the oxygen of democracy because...if in fact, in a post-truth culture...you have demolished the ability...to have that kind of rational discussion and you cannot have a democratic society without it." (Charlie, 52:35)

  • Stewart concludes optimistically:

    "If you put the facts to most Americans...they will come out on the side of democracy and truth." (Kathryn, 53:25)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On administration lies and gaslighting the public:

  “We have a president who lies like most people breathe, and he’s now surrounded himself—he’s created an infrastructure of people who are willing to mangle the truth in his service.” (Charlie, 11:49)

• On anti-democratic machinery and infrastructure:

  “The strength of that movement is in [its] infrastructure. And over the past five decades, enormous sums of money have flowed into it.” (Kathryn, 30:23)

• On shifting conservative identity:

  "The wheels have fallen off. The party that once called itself conservative, I don't think it has a right to call itself conservative." (Charlie, 43:38)

Important Timestamps

• 02:53 — Sykes introduces the central tragedy: the killing of Alex Preddy.
• 06:55 — Stewart describes shocking ICE raids and personal reactions.
• 09:33 — Stewart outlines Trump as a symptom, not the cause, of a larger movement.
• 13:30 — Discussion of the way lies, propaganda, and disinformation underpin autocracy.
• 16:31 — Stewart details the multilayered infrastructure driving anti-democratic change.
• 22:44 — Stewart surprised by how quickly and openly extremism went mainstream upon Trump’s return.
• 24:22 — Extremists and white nationalists take public government roles.
• 26:51 — Stewart delineates how MAGA ideology both misleads and radicalizes the willing and unwilling.
• 30:23 — Dissection of the coalition between billionaires, religious leaders, and authoritarian politicians.
• 34:23 — The intellectual roots of MAGA authoritarianism: Carl Schmitt, friend-enemy logic.
• 43:38 — Critique of "small government" hypocrisy and the collapse of traditional conservatism.
• 52:35 — Underscoring the existential importance of truth to democracy’s survival.

Tone & Language

• Sykes: Wry, frustrated, occasionally incredulous—uses personal anecdotes and historical perspective.
• Stewart: Analytical, urgent, historical depth—pulls from reporting, research, and moral conviction.

In Essence

This episode is a dark but clarifying meditation on the current state of American democracy—how violence, religious manipulation, and disinformation are not aberrations but outcomes of a calculated movement. Yet, both Sykes and Stewart assert that pluralist, fact-based democracy is worth defending, and that the fight for its survival depends on truth, public engagement, and bold pro-democratic organization. The episode offers both a sobering diagnosis and a call to arms for those fearful that the country is at risk of losing its way—or its very soul.