Speaker 1Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill. It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan, $15 a month, even unlimited. That's it, happy ending, zero tears. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.
Speaker 2Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. May slow when network is busy. See terms.
Speaker 3Back to school is busy enough. The last thing you need is shopping that makes it harder. Whether you're moving into a dorm, your first apartment, or just getting organized for the semester, Wayfair makes it easy to get everything you need in one place. Furniture, bedding, storage, decor, study essentials, all at prices you'll love with fast shipping before move-in day. Get everything you need for back to school season. Shop wayfair.com today. Wayfair. Every style, every home.
Speaker 4The midterm elections are heating up. Congressional control and President Trump's agenda hangs in the balance. Every headline has the potential to shift the odds. And in a key Senate race, James Tallarico is currently trading at 52% to beat Ken Paxton. That means $100 trade pays out over $180 with a win. Use code DAILY, D-A-I-L-Y, to get up to $20 when you trade $20. Kalshi, K-A-L-S-H-I, Kalshi. Trade on anything. 18 plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see Kalshi.com slash regulatory.
Speaker 5Democrats are desperately trying to win a Senate seat in Michigan. Their chosen candidate is a radical Muslim who campaigns alongside anti-American Twitch streamer Hassan Piker. And then he blames you for Islamophobia. When you know that. Also, he says that cutting the balls off of little boys is the same thing as circumcision. So, things are going awesome. Except that he could actually win. Today, we're going to explain why Democrats could clean up in the election, even though they are currently embracing total insanity. Plus, the WNBA bans beautiful and powerful trans women, Enos Cantor and Royce White. Hakeem Jeffries is in trouble with his own base. And President Trump declares trade war with Canada. Again, this is The Ben Shapiro Show. Well, Democrats desperately want to win the Senate. And there are a bunch of Senate seats that are up for grabs. Obviously, Texas with James Tallarico. Or Maine, where Susan Collins could theoretically be in trouble. Michigan is a Senate seat they need to maintain. That is a Democratic Senate seat. It has now come open. And the candidate they chose for this is Abdul El-Sayed. Abdul El-Sayed is, in fact, a radical Muslim. He supports radical Islam in pretty much every manifestation he can find. He lies about it. But it's not much of a lie, considering he has openly stated that he was not going to talk about the death of Ayatollah Khomeini because too many of his friends and supporters were upset about it. He literally equated a radical Muslim attacking a bunch of Jewish school children in Detroit with the idea of killing a member of Hezbollah. He spends his days hanging out with CARE and with ISNA. His family members are pretty much openly connected with Muslim Brotherhood Associated Groups. And, of course, he has campaigned alongside anti-American Twitch streamer Son Piker over and over and over again. Well, yesterday, Abdul El-Sayed decided to go on Fox News for an interview with Jesse Waters. And it got awkward because one of the very weird things about the sort of red-green alliance, as they say, the radical left, radical Islam alliance, is that it makes for strange bedfellows. So, radical Muslims, not much for the trancing of the kids. Muslims generally, moderate Muslims too, not much for the trancing of the kids. But Abdul El-Sayed is a good Democrat because, of course, he needs the coalition, is very much for the trancing of the kids. So, he was asked about it by Jesse Waters. And things got awkward.
Speaker 6I just think the government shouldn't tell you what kind of health care you should have. And if you're a minor, it's between you, your doctor, and your parents. Now, if you disagree with that, if you disagree with that, if you disagree that health care decisions need to be made by a doctor and their parents and a patient, then I just think we agree to disagree. But, you know, you want to put government inside a clinic or a hospital selectively. I am. So, you think it's okay for a parent to slash his kid's thing on the university? You think that's okay? I mean, so, do you really want to have this conversation? Are you circumcised? Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, that's a personal question, doctor. So, you probably should want to move on. You probably should want to move on. Is circumcision different than castration? I think it's a problem. It's a problem that you think that you get to decide what happens between a doctor and a patient. And I'm just saying that, yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid's ding-a-ling. So, if you really want to bring that up, you can. I just think you guys are really selective about how you want to talk about these things.
Speaker 7Abdul, Michigan's not going for that.
Speaker 5So, Abdul Sayyed being asked whether it's okay to cut people's heads off, and he's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, have you ever had a tonsillectomy? This is where we are now. So, he is asked about cutting the balls off of small boys. And his answer is, have you had a circumcision? These are not the same thing. These are not the same thing. In fact, the only sort of female or male surgery for a child that would be in the same category would be female circumcision. Because it turns out male circumcision still leaves the member intact and fully working. That is not the case with female circumcision, unfortunately commonly practiced in many Muslim areas of the world, among others. But that's crazy talent. Okay, so you literally had your candidate on national television, comparing cutting the twig and berries off of children with circumcision. An elective procedure that generally lowers rates of sexually transmitted disease and penile cancer. Not the same. Also a weird take from a Muslim, considering that Muslims generally very pro-circumcision. And Muslims also generally not very in favor of cutting the balls off the kids. But again, the coalition and the power is all that matters here. It is all that matters here. He said, I think the approach that we've often taken to terrorism
Speaker 6has been to figure out how to leverage the might of the U.S. military to go in and root out certain terrorist organizations, etc. And where that's necessary, that's necessary. But I also think we need to be curious about why those things, what happened in the first place. Like, what drives somebody to want to commit such a heinous act? Like, I, you know, I have to be a student of people's pain. Like, that's what I did in medicine. That's what I try to do in politics. Like, what happens when people are in pain? And I think that part of what we have to understand is that sometimes when we move, we create so much collateral damage because too often we have been on the wrong side of our, of our own policies.
Speaker 5I mean, this guy, I mean, that's a person who hates America, truly. A person who hates America. Now, he was asked about the bans on Sharia law that some people are considering across the country. And the reason for that is because Sharia law, not just in the United States, but abroad, is very often considered the governing law in entire countries. And a lot of Muslims believe that Sharia law should not be restricted to two Muslims who get together and create a voluntary arbitration procedure where their financial dealings are governed by, like, a local Sharia law court and then enforced under arbitration law. That's not what they're talking about. Abdullah Syed, though, compares it to banning canon law, which is weird since canon law is about ecclesiastical law. It governs people who are members of the clergy. So, getting this one wrong as well. Again, it turns out that importing lots of people from the third world and then having them run for Congress was not a great idea.
Speaker 7So, getting rid of Sharia law's white supremacy, can you explain that one? Do you know what canon law is, Jesse?
Speaker 6I assume you're Christian, right? Yeah, tell me. All right, so canon law is the name for Christian law. I don't begrudge you your right to practice your faith as you choose. I don't know why the idea that I could practice my faith as I choose is a problem. Nobody is trying to push Sharia law on anyone else, just like, I hope, nobody is trying to push canon law on anybody else because we live in an America where you should have the freedom of your religion.
Speaker 5Nobody is trying to push Sharia law on anyone else is a hell of a statement globally because that is not true on a global level at all. Mike Rogers, who is running against Abdul El-Sayed, he gets this one right. Here he was campaigning.
Speaker 8Abdul El-Sayed wants to represent Palestine. I want to represent Michigan. Abdul believes the government, but is the answer. I believe Michiganders are the answer.
Speaker 5That's a pretty strong campaign pledge. Well, J.D. Van Sy's president went after El-Sayed's defense of Sharia law the other night.
Speaker 9El-Sayed, this guy running for Senate in Michigan, he once argued not too long ago that criticisms of Sharia law were rooted in white supremacy. I'd love to go back in time and tell my papaw, that there's a man who claims to stand for working people who says not only should we have sharia law but if you criticize it you're a white supremacist that's not my papa's democrat party my friends well he is right about that well
Speaker 5el sayed's response naturally was to then criticize jd vance for marrying an indian woman quote so do we think jd is taking usha with him back to meet papa or no because the idea is that papa's a bit racist as always the defense mechanism to being a radical muslim and a fellow traveler with hasan piker is everyone must hate me because they're islamophobic or whatnot there was el sayed doing
Speaker 6the same routine on ms now well i'll tell you this every time jd vance opens his mouth the first two things i can think is man that guy is boring and second peter peter teal had to spend a ton of money to get that man elected barely uh in the state of ohio now you know i'm from michigan and we got issues with people from ohio but uh this one in particular i took um somewhat confusedly because here's the thing about it he he's painting this picture of going back in time to talk to his papa about me now why is he pointing to me why is donald trump pointing to me and pointing to me to try and say that somehow i'm less american than they are now what does that have to do with i don't know the color of my skin how i pray but the confusing thing about it is that he thinks that there are some people who are more american than others because they can point to their papa uh who was here earlier
Speaker 5i mean again trying to misdirect from your radicalism to jd vance's papa he's pretty ridiculous stuff especially when abdul el sayed of course has been out campaigning famously with hasan piker and it's hasan piker's party now he can cry if he wants to all right coming up there's another problem for abdul el sayed aside from the fact that he is a radical he campaigns with people like hasan piker and speaking of problems there are some good problems in business too many customers not enough inventory needing another employee outgrowing your space those are good problems they're also good problems in business too many customers not enough inventory needing also expensive problems because sometimes your growth actually outpaces your capacity to grow or you're moving too fast and this is where cardiff comes in if you want bank rates without the bank delays you need to check out cardiff.co slash shapiro for up to five hundred thousand dollars in same-day funding cardiff gives business owners access to up to five hundred thousand dollars in funding the application takes less than five minutes there's no impact on your personal credit and eligible businesses can potentially be approved in minutes and funded the very same day this isn't some new operation cardiff has funded more than 12 billion bucks for businesses since 2004 entrepreneurs already take enough risks you shouldn't have to risk missing the opportunity you've been working toward because financing can't keep up with your business banks try to lock out small businesses cardiff has the key if you've been in business for at least a year and you're pulling in 20 grand a month in revenue apply now for up to five hundred thousand dollars in same-day business funding at cardiff.co slash shapiro again that's cardiff.co slash shapiro real growth fast funding cardiff borrow better hasan piker spent the weekend and live event in seattle at his fear and live event in seattle there's a picture of him with a bunch of other dweebs wearing a chairman mal outfit because he got a stand for the malice even clavicular was mocking him clavicular said and it looked like an incel in real life meetup but who exactly what was hasan piker doing there well he decided to get up there and do a mock version of we are charlie kirk to mock the death of charlie kirk don't worry he's a really good guy hasan piker he's just a delight
Speaker 10we live for jesus we care
Speaker 5so that guy's a piece i mean like a total piece of sh** hasan piker there are no redeeming features to this person none by the way his fans are worse than he is because he tries to walk back some of his crazy and his fans boo him for doing it here he was saying america doesn't deserve 9-11 and his
Speaker 11fans boo him because they know he's lying america it does not deserve 9-11 it's that's my new thing
Speaker 10which is why i'm gonna
Speaker 5okay again they know he's lying because of course he believes america deserved 9-11 then he came out and he suggested the liberals who are condemning his remarks about charlie kirk are somehow worse than republicans
Speaker 11i expect republicans to do this i think if you are a liberal and you lean into the republican pearl clutching operation around the martyrization of charlie kirk you are literally in my by my estimation you're lower than the republicans okay you are you are the dog sh** that
Speaker 5is stuck to the bottom of my shoe the fact that this person is treated as a mainstream voice within the democratic party and by the entire media is amazing he also spent the weekend suggesting that jews who support israel are fair game and that real judaism i want to hear about real judaism from hassan piker i want to hear about judaism what does judaism mean i think it should be defined by hassan piker i think i think that's great i think his knowledge of judaism is is distilled wisdom he knows all there is to know about you here's what he's really doing his whole idea is if you're a jew who believes in really jewish stuff you're not really a jew so if you're attacked you're not being attacked for being a jew you're being attacked for being bad the jews who agree with hassan piker those are the ones who are okay all the other jews they're fair game and they're not really fair game and they're not really fair game and they're not really fair game that's what he is saying by the way this is the entire game right now of the truly anti-semitic left and some of the anti-semitic right the entire game right now is to say zionist instead of jew because you know that pretty much all jews are zionists meaning that jews believe there ought to be a jewish state in israel you know why they believe that because we have been you know praying for that thing for three thousand years three times a day we have been praying for since the destruction of the second temple so it is a core part of jewishness to believe there ought to be jewish governance in israel that is a core part of being jewish okay so what anti-semites like to do is they like to say okay well if we pretend that that belief is evil then when we attack jews for being jews we can get away with just calling them zionists because we can here we'll find a hannah einbinder who will be out there who doesn't give a crap about judaism doesn't know anything she says that as a jew she doesn't believe in israel so she's the good kind of jew so the best kind of jew is the one that has no relationship with judaism and that way if we attack jews and say it's okay for them to be killed we're not really saying it's okay for jews to be killed we're just saying it's okay for zionists to be killed so according to san piker if you're walking down the street wearing a yarmulke and you don't believe in the jewish state of israel that's bad and anti-semitic but if you're walking down the street wearing a yarmulke and you are killed that's okay because you probably believed in the jewish state of israel that wait here it comes
Speaker 11i don't know how people don't recognize how dangerous this predicament is how dangerous this is for jews you're running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as basically jewish isis and you're saying as jews this is all we care about
Speaker 5the insane irony of a man who literally says that he likes he's below and would vote for us that that guy going around suggesting that jews deserve the threats against them if they believe there ought to be a jewish state of israel it's despicable it is an entire justificatory structure it is a permission structure for violence against jews that's what that is so abdullah sayed then put out a statement quote i believe all americans deserve the right to advocate for what they believe without fear of violence this is particularly true for communities that have been interminated for their beliefs in the past my commitment to safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters i don't believe him for one solitary second not one because i promised you that if somebody attacks his daughter's preschool he would not be saying hurt people hurt people which is what he said when a jewish preschool was actually attacked by a radical muslim he says the anti-semitism is a scourge and we need to address it in all of its forms i stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk but to be crystal clear clear nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople what about the people who actually are you know with you the people you campaign with abdullah sayed he says while politicians and pundits try to make this race about a twitch streamer we're going to be talking about gas groceries good schools and health care this is the exoteric versus the esoteric abdul campaign abdul sayed campaign has an exoteric campaign and the esoteric campaign the exoteric meaning like directed at the public is we're just talking about gas prices man and medicare for all and the esoteric campaign meaning the one that's directed at the insiders the people who know is truly about how america sucks how all hassan piker's beliefs are basically correct and again abdul el sayed is not distancing himself from piker not one iota not one quote folks can't afford groceries forks can't afford gas folks can't see a doctor and this is what mike rogers wants to talk about a twitch streamer okay well actually you're the one who tied yourself at the leg to the twitch streamer because you believe the same things he does now this is all creating some problems inside the democratic party because hakeem jeffries who would like to be the speaker of the house and by all odds probably will be hakeem jeffries is out there condemning anti-semitism he says the militias claim that american jews are inviting violence against themselves is dangerous and anti-semitic there is zero justification for threats against the safety of our jewish brothers and sisters at a moment of rising hate they'll fight the cancer of anti-semitism with the fierce urgency of now well it's nice to hear that now it's time for you to actually disown the members of your own party who are doing it because by the way abdul sayyed could still win because democrats are sticking with him right now in the calci markets calci is one of our sponsors 59 odds that he wins to 41 for mike rogers so that radical muslim hassan piker fellow traveler could easily be in the senate of the united states meanwhile jeffries is getting condemned by his own side because he met apparently privately with jared kushner according to the new york times to discuss areas of potential common ground according to five people with knowledge of the meeting the timing underscored that those around president trump were well aware of the likelihood of a democratic-led house and trying to foster as much of a working relationship as possible before in the future change jeffries commented about it here's what he had to say he asked for a meeting and i took it
Speaker 12to discuss the affordability crisis that exists that is not a hoax at the same period of time i shouldn't have to say it but i am no one is going to get a pass we're going to hold every single member of the trump cartel accountable beginning on day one if you're stealing from the american people shortchanging the american people or screwing over the american people you're going to be held accountable
Speaker 5it'll be fascinating to see how exactly hakeem jeffries tries to navigate these choppy waters all right coming up the wnba is still trying to ban beautiful women like enos cancer freedom and royce white from their league we'll get into those shocking stories but first another developing story millions of americans are apparently continuing to voluntarily pay way too much for their cell phone service and the experts remain baffled the technology to switch providers exists it can be done right from your home there's no law that requires you to remain loyal to that wireless company you've complained about for the last 15 years and yet somehow people stay so here's the actual news pure talk is giving you a very good reason to finally leave in a recent industry survey pure talk was the only wireless company to receive five stars in every category coverage support value and data and for a limited time pure talk is offering unlimited data for just 15 bucks a month for your first three months after that get unlimited data for as low as 34.99 a month no contract so if you're currently paying more for wireless service you complain about i don't know what else i have to tell you here head over to pure talk.com slash shapiro make the switch my favorite wireless company pure talk there's a better wireless choice out there which is 15 bucks a month for your first three months now would be an excellent time to choose pure talk again that's pure talk.com slash shapiro that's pure talk.com slash bureau go check them out right now pure talk.com slash shapiro the leftists are still on the rise in a wide variety of areas so over the weekend the wnba continued to maintain its stance that men can play in women's sports unless they're the wrong kind of men so former nba player in his cancer freedom wearing a shirt that read woman noun adult human female he was at win trust arena on sunday night and he was thrown out after he was confronted by the chicago sky guard natasha cloud she scored on a driving layup and that prompted a timeout from the fever and then she decides to confront enos cancer freedom and here's what that looked like
Speaker 10six point basketball game chicago staying in it natasha cloud
Speaker 13and right before the break this was the scene inside win trust arena natasha cloud got that bucket she wanted her voice heard we have talked about the conversations surrounding the w that is enos canter in the building today
Speaker 5and you can read her lips f this s i just hate it when women attack each other like this it's really it's really terrible i mean women put a solidarity sisters come on sisters before misters he ended up being injected because he was standing there and he wasn't allowed to stand there because once again in a fight between a woman and a man the man loses there he is being tossed out for wearing a shirt very very bad he is being tossed out for wearing a shirt very very bad he is being tossed out for wearing a shirt very very bad he is being tossed out for wearing a shirt very very bad i have to say he is he's acting significantly more polite than uh than the woman he is he's more ladylike than the woman who is attacking him i i love that the security looks like he could pick them up in either hand he was uh harassed heading into the game as well enos cancer he was uh harassed heading into the game as well enos canter he was uh harassed heading into the game as well enos canter he was uh harassed heading into the game as well enos canter he was uh harassed heading into the game as well enos canter there are women flipping him off i don't understand why are they so upset why are they so upset just because he wants to play with the women i've been told that's what's fair all these women who are so upset at a man saying that women shouldn't play with with men i mean it's pretty impressive well i mean we have now reached i think the point beyond parody at which women are angry at men for saying that men shouldn't play with women and that that is where we are right now so the wnba apparently put out a notice that they are not going to allow enos cancer freedom and fellow former nba player royce white to play in the wnba i don't know on what basis they're doing that so i assume a lawsuit is forthcoming apparently both men have now told their lawyers to send notices to the wnba telling them they need to preserve their records which they should so here's the thing the left has not stopped being the left they are still the left and they're still the left and they're still a red green alliance that is characterized by a bunch of psychotic positions ranging from chopping the genitals off small children is the same as circumcision to radical islam is probably just like canon law to men should play in women's sports and if you're a man who says that they shouldn't it's because you're a sexist so there's some room to run for republicans here speaker mike johnson says that the republicans are going to defy history and hold the majority again that'd be unlikely but it's possible i've been on a non-stop tour this
Speaker 14is my pit stop stop peter on a 30-day non-stop campaign fundraising first pun there we go but look i'm going to the places where the the races are really tight right so the cook political report says as of yesterday on election night you can expect 211 republican victories 205 democrat victories 19 seats in the middle now we know what those 19 seats are we've been working on this for a year and a half i love our candidates i love our message i love our fundraising advantage i'm telling you we're going
Speaker 5to history and hold this majority and i will now you know his mouth to god's ears now one thing is pretty obvious one of the parties still kind of likes america so the grand prix american games were held over the weekend in washington dc president trump waved the green flag to start the race he enjoys this kind of stuff pretty obviously he was very enthusiastic about this
Speaker 15flag waving we have green we are racing in the freedom 250 there is loving waving that green
Speaker 5flag usually the only green flag that that democrats wave is the one with the hamas logo on it there was also a b2 and fighter jet flyover that happening it's kind of it's kind of great stuff come on
Speaker 10also the view occasionally from tehran right there so gotta love that
Speaker 5Pretty awesome. And then, of course, there was a gigantic Grand Prix that was held in the middle of Washington, D.C. Here was some of the race footage.
Speaker 15Here today, this is history. Right here, right now, this is history. A new motor race conceived in Liberty, the Freedom 250. As the drivers hurtle down in front of the Capitol building, they will round turn one. They will see the green flag waved by President Trump. We have green. We are racing in the Freedom 250.
Speaker 5He's loving that, man. That's kind of great. A lot of Americanism over the weekend. Yeah, that's fun stuff. Come on. Okay, over at the Yellowstone International Air Show, Senator Tim Sheehy actually parachuted in. Gotta love Tim. He's great. So, again, this is the kind of stuff that I think Americans like. Now. So, how do you lose to the crazies? So, again, we pointed out, Democrats right now favored to pick up the House. It's kind of a coin flip on whether they pick up the Senate. How could Republicans lose? Well, Americans are chiefly worried about the economy, right? That's what every single poll shows. Americans are worried about the economy. You can see where the worm turned for President Trump. In March of 2025, when the president declared Liberation Day, that was the moment when the streams crossed and suddenly he went from positive to negative. Why? Well, because it turns out the Americans believed that he was actually more concerned about his peculiar political proclivity for tariffs than he was about actual pricing. So going into a midterm probably is not the world's best idea to launch a gigantic trade war with Canada. And yet that is precisely what we decided to do over the weekend. According to CNBC, the United States imposed 50% tariffs on some Canadian products on Saturday after trade talks between the two countries fell apart on Friday. And then Canada said it would impose its own retaliatory tariffs beginning on September 8th. Negotiators for both sides have been working on a deal all week, a time signaling an agreement was near. On Saturday, both sides blame the other for not reaching a deal as tariffs impacting roughly $20 billion in Canadian exports, including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods, hockey equipment went into effect on Saturday morning. The U.S. trade representative put up a tweet saying that Canada had declined to finalize the deal. It said, despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walkbacks of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days. In addition, Canada is continuing to maintain its prolonged retaliation against the United States, including, among other things, flat out prohibitions on certain American goods and services. Now, The Hill is reporting that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, of course. Now, again, Howard Lutnick loves tariffs. He loves them as principle, as policy. He loves them. He thinks tariffs make America wealthy, which, again, no. But Lutnick apparently was leery of Canadian proposals that would lower the tariff on automobiles to a lower level than what he wanted. He instead said only a certain volume of aluminum should get lower tariff rates and that heavy trucks should not have tariffs. Lowered like cars. Because Canada produces heavy trucks at GM and Ford plants in Ontario. Canadians are saying that Lutnick moved the goalposts at the very final hours. Again, Lutnick has not been... When Scott Besant is on your TV, the economy is doing better. When Howard Lutnick is on your TV, the economy is doing worse. It's a very, very simple formula. Well, the president then put out a series of truths discussing why he was going after Canada. He said, Canada wants the benefits of being a state without being one. They've also charged our great farmers for many years, massive amounts of tariffs. No more. Now, again, the reality is the tariffs raise prices on American consumers. They do. That's just the reality. Now, the president says that on January 1st, 2027, tariffs on all cars, trucks, both large and small, automotive parts, and steel will be increased to 50%. Billed in the US and there are zero tariffs. Canada will be treated like a state no longer. Okay, again, this is just going to make things more expensive. Susan Collins is pointing this out. She, of course, is in the middle of an extremely fraught Senate race. Republicans require her to hold her seat. She put out a statement, quote, the on-again, off-again trade talks between the US and Canada lead to higher costs, risk, and uncertainty for main businesses. If the administration proceeds with these tariffs, they will increase costs for main families, as most businesses will have no choice but to pass on the tariffs to their customers through higher prices. And this, of course, is some of us who are warning in the tariffs create price inflation. That, of course, is correct. That is correct. Democrats, of course, are jumping on top of that. They're jumping on top of this. Gavin Newsom is out there saying, what the actual F are we doing? Pete Buttigieg is out there suggesting that Americans are paying for Trump's choices. Again, this is a tactical blunder. There's no reason for the timing on this. All right, coming up, we'll get into economic takes that could put Republicans in a fair bit of trouble. But here's the number worth paying attention to. JP Morgan is now forecasting that gold could reach $6,000 an ounce by the end of this year. Not some dude on the internet selling you apocalypse supplies. JP Morgan, not alone in taking gold seriously, central banks around the world have spent years adding gold to their reserves. There's a reason for that. When people start worrying about currencies, government debt, inflation, geopolitical instability, gold becomes very interesting very quickly. Now, there's a reason why financial institutions and even central banks are now looking at gold. Well, not because gold won't move up and down, but the reality is that over time, gold is always worth something. And it is a great hedge against governments overspending and then printing dollars to make up for it, which is a great hedge. A thing that has been known to happen. If you've been thinking about adding physical gold or silver to your portfolio, take a look at Golden Crest Metals. They're a boutique precious metals firm built around transparent pricing, liquid products, and straightforward service. They're founder-led, backed by private equity, and they offer secure IRA storage through Delaware Depository within Trust Group as their preferred custodian. Right now, my listeners can get a free investor kit, a free portfolio review with no obligation, and up to $25,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases. Text the word BEN to METALS at 63825. You can also speak to somebody. Just call it 888-429-3999 or visit GoldenCrestMetals.com slash BEN again. It's GoldenCrestMetals.com slash BEN. J.D. Vance, for his part, is out there defending all of this because, again, J.D. Vance is what we would call an economic nationalist, which means he's in favor of tariffs, protectionism, subsidies, and gigantic government interventionism on a wide variety of topics, as we'll get to in a moment. There was J.D. Vance the other day.
Speaker 9What we're trying to do here is just make sure that Maine actually gets a fair deal. If you look at the amount of tariffs, not just on Maine, but on a lot of our northern states that are doing cross-border trade with Canada, Canada and China have been the two worst countries when it comes to trade policy anywhere in the world. What a shame that is. China, you, of course, expect. They're our biggest economic competitor. I would expect that from China. I would not expect that from Canada. We have to remember, Canada is a state—sorry, Freudian slip. That was actually an accident. Canada is a country that has underinvested in its military that quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the United
Speaker 5States of America. Okay, now he's in Maine campaigning. Susan Collins, the senator defending her seat, is like, this is a bad idea. Maybe you should listen to the political survivor who actually has to win in relatively blue Maine. Meanwhile, you know who knows, by the way, that tariffs increase prices? The president. How do we know that he knows this? Because he's upset that the price of beef in the United States is too high. So what did he do? He announced that he'd be importing 300,000 metric tons of ground beef sold at 25% below market. He said, as we work to rebuild the American herd and help our ranchers for the next 90 days, the U.S. will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out-of-quarter tariff. We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25% below current market prices. Well, I mean, doesn't that admit that tariffs jack up the prices? Isn't that what that is? I mean, the president himself says this. Here he was.
Speaker 16Well, we want to get the beef prices down, so we'll get them down a little bit. And that's what people want. That's what the voters want. And that's what I want. The ranchers are great. They're my people. I love the ranchers. They've done a fantastic job. But they admit that we need a little help in order to get the prices down. So that's what we're doing.
Speaker 5And Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas put out a statement suggesting the beef prices are high because our cattle herd is too small. Imported beef below market prices will only put more pressure on our cattlemen. We need to support our cattlemen, grow the herd, let the market work. Okay, bottom line is this. When you restrict supply, you end up impacting price, pretty obviously. But this is the problem. If you wish for the economy to boom, you have to take measures that are likely to lead to the economy booming. This sort of economically nationalist perspective, which is a top-down government-first perspective, is a mistake. Democrats can do it, and they'll do it bigger than you. The Vice President of the United States is, of course, an overall devotee of the idea of big government involvement in the economy. Over the weekend, he told the story that I thought was pretty evocative of his economic perspective. And again, this seems to me a losing battle. Forget about the economic wrongness of what he's saying and the moral wrongness, because I think it is both economically and morally in correct. Politically, this is foolish. You're just going to get outbid.
Speaker 9A computer programmer by the name of Kevin Flanagan was let go at the bank that he worked at. And the business, the bank, they told him, you're only going to get your severance package if you trained a foreign replacement to do your job instead. And it's a heartbreaking story because he did it. He dutifully did what he was asked to do. And on his last day, he packed up his things. He walked to the office parking lot. He got in his truck and he shot himself.
Speaker 5OK, and then he went on to claim that that guy's blood is on the hands of the business.
Speaker 9Now, the blood of these men and women, these so-called deaths of despair, I'm sure you've heard that phrase, but it's almost too abstract for me because the blood of those people, in my view, it pulls at the feet. Of those who would sell out their country for a cheap bottom line.
Speaker 5OK, so let us just be clear at this point. The idea that jobs are preserved through non-competitiveness, that jobs are somehow preserved indefinitely through non-competitive business environments is incorrect. On an economic level, it's wrong. If you artificially jack up wages through, for example, heavy unionization, if you artificially jack up prices thanks to subsidies or thanks to tariffs, what you end up doing is making American businesses uncompetitive and also sucking money from other sectors of the economy, which makes them not nearly as competitive. And then when you open up, you end up destroying your entire industry. This is what happens to the American car industry in the 50s and 60s, which is why everybody was driving a Toyota by 1980. And this kind of peculiar idea, which is the basic workings of economics, are to be laid at the feet of the people who practice it. This is a democratic trope. I'm going to harken back to a pretty famous ad from 2012 from Barack Obama's. super PAC, one of his super PACs, put out an ad suggesting that because Mitt Romney He was working at Bain Capital, and Bain Capital took over a business and had to make job cuts. A woman died from cancer because of that, and so it was Mitt Romney's fault. Now, again, J.D. Vance is just repeating Obama-ism, but he's doing it from a sort of quasi-conservative perspective.
Speaker 8When Mitt Romney and Bain closed the plant, I lost my health care, and my family lost their health care. And a short time after that, my wife became ill. I don't know how long she was sick, and I think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew that we couldn't afford the insurance. And then one day she became ill, and I took her up to the Jackson County Hospital and admitted her for pneumonia, and that's when they found the cancer. And by then it was stage four. There was nothing they could do for her. And she passed away in 2012. I do not think Mitt Romney realizes what he's done to anyone. And furthermore, I do not think Mitt Romney is concerned.
Speaker 2Priorities USA Action is responsible for the content of this advertising.
Speaker 5Okay, so you're not going to be able to out-compete Democrats on this. You're not. If the idea is that government and government involvement are going to keep you alive, because otherwise the workings of the economy are going to cause people to shoot themselves if their job is replaced. I mean, that's just a whole—that is what we would call in law school, an argument that proves too much. It basically suggests that private industry should never be allowed to operate. Because after all, private industry is reliant on the profit margin and competition. And that means sometimes people lose their jobs. Again, over the weekend, J.D. Vance was out there citing Huey Long. Huey Long was a man so left-wing, he outflanked FDR. FDR was deeply afraid that Huey Long, the governor of Louisiana, was going to run against him and eat his lunch before he was assassinated. But here was J.D. Vance at that same rally defending Huey Long.
Speaker 9The great southern populist, probably most of you in the room don't know who I'm talking about, but he's an interesting guy, kind of a crazy guy. His name was Huey Long, and he once said, every man a king was the goal of his political program. But no man is a king if their castle is under siege by criminals.
Speaker 5Again, quoting Huey Long, this is not typically a Republican thing. For a reason. Here was Huey Long back in 1934.
Speaker 17Huey Long: They're going to feed the balance of the people. What's Morgan and Baruch and Rockefeller and Mellon going to do with all that grub? They can't eat it, they can't wear the clothes, they can't live in the house. Give them a yacht, give them a palace, send them to Reno, and give them a new wife when they want it, if that's what they want. But when they want it, they're going to have to feed the people. And that's what they're going to do. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. They're going to feed the people. But when they've got everything on the God's living earth that they can eat and they can wear and they can live in, and all that their children can live in and wear and eat and all their children's children can use, then we've got to call Mr. Morgan and Mr. Mellon and Mr. Rockefeller back and say, "Come back here. Put that stuff back on this table here that you took away from here that you don't need. Leave something else for the American people to consume."
Speaker 5So, again, this is the kind of person that the Vice President is quoting right now. So, if you want to lose to Democrats, all you have to do is campaign as a Democrat. Campaign as a Democrat, I promise you, you will lose to the Democrats. Okay, meanwhile, there actually is a success that appears to be happening right under the very noses of most of the press and pretty much all Americans. And that is the success of the Trump administration in opening up the Strait of Hormuz, according to Barack Ravid, who's typically terrible, but fascinating report over at Axios. He says, "The U.S. military has quietly established a shipping corridor in and out of the Strait of Hormuz to transport people. He says, "The U.S. military has quietly established a shipping corridor in and out of the Strait of Hormuz to transport people. He says, "The U.S. military has quietly established a shipping corridor in and out of the Strait of Hormuz to transport people. A notable success, even as the broader war remains at a stalemate," two U.S. officials told Axios. Under the operation, which has been underway for the last several weeks, 15 to 20 tankers have entered and exited the Strait each night through a southern channel along the coast of Oman. About 10 million barrels of oil a day, roughly half the pre-war volume, are now being transported out of the Strait and injected into the global energy market, according to those officials. The President also announced today on Truth Social that all mines have now been removed from the Strait of Hormuz. And the United States will be blowing up any ship that tries to put down new mines. So Iran is getting boxed in. Combine that with the fact that Scott Besant is now calling for an economic D-Day. He says that essentially every country that tries to do business with Iran will be cut off. He says, "Countries calculate appeasement of the regime right now to be the safer course. It would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it." And then he said at Pascal's wager, he says, quote, "Pascal understood uncertainty does not absolve men or nations of divine judgment. In fact, it demands a more exacting appraisal of risk and imposes a higher price for error. Pascal's eponymous wager now applies to Iran's lifelines, nations that, in courting reprieve from Tehran, continue to replenish the very regime from which they seek protection and now exceed the limits of America's tolerance." So we're boxing them in. Here's Scott Besant announcing it.
Speaker 18Teams from Treasury, State, and the U.S. military are now meeting with their global counterparts, to tell them that the United States expects action. Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities. For example, every branch of Bank Melee must be shuttered and dark. And let me be clear. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, must be shut down. of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system. The clock just started ticking.
Speaker 5And Besson said that China is not off the hook here. China, of course, has been doing enormous financial work with Iran.
Speaker 19Is the very delicate trade truce with China something that could prohibit you from going
Speaker 18that far and taking that very big step? We want to make clear here today that no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions, that if they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted. We find that the best way to engage with countries is through quiet diplomacy, and we are level setting with every country to tell them our expectations. We know who they are. They know who they are. So when the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.
Speaker 5Okay, so, by the way, the Iranian rial is absolutely skyrocketing. Take a look at this chart. It shows that originally in 1975, before the Islamic Revolution, 75 rials to the American dollar. Today, 2 million rials per dollar. So, it's been increasing steeply and rapidly. It's going to get worse. So, the odds have been steadily going down about when we will actually have full traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to our friends and sponsors over at Kalshi. But they are rising, actually, rather sharply recently. Before April 1st, 2027 is now up to 42%. Before July 1st of 2027 is up to 53%. Honestly, I think we'll probably get there before that. Joining us online to discuss all this is Mian Maliki of the Foundation for Defensive Democracies, specializing in sanctions. Mian, thanks so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. So, let's talk about the latest. Everyone in the media seems to be treating the Trump administration's current efforts as though there's already an L on the board for the Trump administration. And it seems like that is not the case. Well, what it seems is that there is another narrative that is now taking form that is the reality. It seems as though the United States has actually somewhat successfully opened up some lanes inside the Strait of Hormuz to allow for oil to move away from places like UAE and Qatar and Iraq into the mainstream of the oil markets. And simultaneously, we are now taking significant efforts to sanction Iran in far more severe ways, isolating their economy. You're starting to hear some pretty nervous words, actually, out of the top levels of the Iranian revolutionary regime. What do you make of where
Speaker 20we currently stand? Sure. So, you know, it's really interesting to see how this propaganda that you hear coming out of the regime itself is shaping some of the discourse, some of the conversations here in the U.S. and in the West. You know, I served for many years in the Treasury Department. Before that, I was at U.S. Central Command. Prior to that, I was an active duty U.S. Air Force officer. So, I, for years, I watched how the regime's propaganda really shaping the narrative here in the U.S. when, in fact, the reality is always very different. So, here's what we have today. First of all, the sanctions have been in place only for about how long President Trump has been in the office? Not even two years. Sanctions take time to work, to be effective. And these sanctions are coming in after four years of Biden administration of not enforcing sanctions, putting on some really relaxed policies on Iran sanctions enforcement. So, what happens is the sanctions regime was really in a bad shape. And the sanctions regime was really in a bad shape. They were not being enforced. They were not being really hurting the Iranian economy or the Iran regime's economy. So, it takes some time for the sanctions to work. Now, we had the war, which caused serious damage to Iran's economy, in addition to the political establishment and elsewhere and other issues. But now what we have in place is a naval blockade that is really accelerating the effect of sanctions because it put a physical disruption on Iran's ability to export oil and import goods and products that it needs. And then you have sanctions that are being enforced for about two years now. And now today, yesterday, if you listen to the announcement, it's very clear. It's a lot about not just enforcement, but also working with our ally and partners and others like China to get them to understand that their trade with the U.S. is more important for their economies than their little tiny trade with Iran. And if you push them hard enough and remind them that with secondary sanctions, their trade with the U.S. and their access to U.S. dollar would be at risk. There. They're going to change course. Listen, 80 percent of global trade is in U.S. dollars. We still have that power and we have that control over the global financial sector. So what Secretary Besant is doing right now is what we did towards the end of President Trump's first administration, because it took us about four years to rebuild what the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal, has damaged as far as leverage against the Iranian regime. Shifting from enforcement of sanctions alone to a combination of enforcement of sanctions, plus engagement with countries that are now more willing to work with us because of what Iran has done in the straight of four miles to put more pressure on the regime.
Speaker 5So where does that put us in terms of the timeline here? Because the secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besant, he has suggested the regime may be on its last legs, that they're having trouble paying their people. Obviously, you have shortages that are taking form in Iran, people in gas lines in Tehran and all the rest. What would what would the next year look like? I know there's been a lot of talk about it. There's been a lot of talk about the possibility that the regime actually collapses with a bit of an eggshell tap. Is that the case? Could they just continue to hold on at poverty, their subsistence levels, shooting people in the streets? What do you think is the most likely next step here?
Speaker 20Well, it's really difficult to come up with a timeline. The reason for that is because this is a dictatorship with significant control over the flow of information. We don't really know exactly what's going on in, for example, national Iranian oil company. That is not exporting any oil. It's difficult to get a sense, really, of the dilemma that the government is facing internal to the government. But we have some really good numbers. We know the government's budget is about 40 percent coming from oil revenue and about 60 percent from taxation. Iran is not exporting any oil. The oil revenue is not coming in and it's not collecting taxation because the domestic production has disrupted. They're not getting any import, which is a major source of. Income for the government through the taxation of import and all of that and customs. So it's the regime is really printing more Iranian real. But because of the inflation rate, people can't really buy anything for that real. So I'm not on the lookout for when the regime is going to stop paying. I want to look out for when you start listening and hearing very clear indications of the people not being able to really purchase what they need. And the government. Is not being able to provide to these forces what they need as far as equipment, weapons, training and housing. So I think at this point, while it's very difficult to come up with a timeline, but we know historically every time Iranian regime faced a major domestic pressure, it came very unexpectedly. They used to be every eight years that Iranian regime had to deal with a domestic protest or demonstrations. In the past few years, it's been almost every year. So it can just. Spark at any moment and when it comes, it's just going to be worse in January. And sadly they had to kill the kill 30 to 40,000 Iranians, probably more to calm things down before they start a war. Now things are just going to be worse for them. And they're probably going to have the RGC and security forces that are hopefully not going to be as willing to go back on the street and kill their fellow Iranians because they're just seeing the state of the economy is see the fact that this regime has been over promising. Victory over Israel, victory over the US yet is really fighter jets and the US fighter jets are flying around Iranian airspace without a fear of any air defense capabilities. Their political leadership have been killed layers by layers. So it's a really difficult domestically. They're really facing a challenging time. And when those demonstrations start, things might shift very quickly.
Speaker 5So Iran right now is threatening pretty much all of the oil fields around it. In Iraq and Kuwait and in UAE and Qatar and all the rest, Saudi, yeah, that doesn't seem like that would really change their math very much. So long as everybody just refuses to play ball, meaning that if Iran starts firing ordnance and drones at all of these various oil fields, so long as the United States maintains the current pressure tactic, nothing actually fundamentally changes for Iran. All they would be attempting to do in pursuing that measure would be to ratchet up the pressure to get the United States to cave in a sort of MOU part two.
Speaker 20Right. You know, the pressure on the U.S. from the Iran side runs through the Gulf states, meaning if they want to pressure the U.S., they're going to have to escalate with their regional neighbors. And they understand with UAE's decision to cut commerce with Iran, the fact that Emiratis and Kuwaitis, they're actually conducted air operations within Iran's airspace. They know that they can't really sustain and survive a regional conflict, an all-out war with their neighbors. So they're... They're also facing that challenge that if they want to put pressure on the U.S., they're going to have to bomb their own neighbors where their financial lifeline lies right now. The UAE, the Qataris, the Pakistanis, Iraqis, these are the countries that allow Iran to still get some source of, you know, revenue. And if they escalate with them, then, you know, things are just going to get more difficult for them.
Speaker 5So when you look at the possibility of something happening internally, the biggest problem, of course, is you have a bunch of people that are going to be in the U.S. You have a bunch of unarmed people on the street who are going to get mowed down. Do you see the possibility of something like what happened in Syria, where the IRGC is so weakened from the inside that an external force, right, this could theoretically be Kurdish, could be the Baluch in the southeast of the country, could be Azeris in the northwest of the country, where some sort of outside force suddenly has a clear path to Tehran?
Speaker 20You know, that's a very complicated topic, and I can tell you, Iranians are very sensitive about this, and I can tell you, Iranians are very sensitive about this, and I can tell you, and these are not really external, to be clear. These are Azeris that are part of Iran. These are Baluchis that are part of Iran. It's one nation, and I can't see a scenario where you're going to have, let's say, Azeris or Baluchis or Ahvazis or the Arabs in the south or Kurds having the capacity and the support to take over Tehran, the capital. And as a matter of fact, when you have protests in Iran, when you have these uprisings that are happening now every one or two years, they do start in Tehran. So I don't think that's really, and none of these groups are armed, right? I mean, some of them, they do have arms because they're around the border region. But what I'm hoping that would happen here is that the next time, and it could be the matter of weeks, months, hopefully not years, but I think it's going to happen. It's not a matter of when, if, it's a matter of when. When we have the next round of uprising, I'm hoping that the U.S. government, I'm hoping that Israelis, they have a plan to help the Iranian people, whether it's through no-fly zone type operations, some kind of drone operations that would target the RGC bases where some of these demonstrations or demonstrators are being targeted through some external support that would enable Iranians to take the government back. And I got to tell you again, I think at this point, we're going to have to be very, very careful. At this point, the RGC, the law enforcement forces in Iran, the Basij militias, they might not be as willing to go back on the street and kill their fellow Iranians. They're not getting paid well, but also ideologically, I don't think they have a whole lot of trust and confidence in this regime anymore. They showed that there's this very clear pattern of this regime not being able to deliver on its very basic promises of Islamic revolution in 1979. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that.
Speaker 5They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that. They're not going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1They're not going to be able to do that. Let's hear from him. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.
Speaker 2Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes. May slow when network is busy. See terms.
PodcastTranscript AI