Speaker 1We'll get to more on this in just one second. First, you know, 20 years ago, man, a lot has happened in my life. I was 22 years old. I was not yet married. And now just think back over the past 20 years, wife, five kids, big business, all of it. Well, 20 years is a long time. SimpliSafe is now celebrating 20 years again. Most companies don't make it that long unless they're actually solving a real problem. When you're picking a security system for your home, what you're looking for is peace of mind. The goal is not to obsess over your security. The goal is to never have to think about it again. And that's what I like about SimpliSafe. Most home security systems are designed for after something goes wrong, after the window breaks, after someone gets inside, after your phone buzzes. SimpliSafe's approach is different. It's designed to help stop a break-in before it happens. Their AI-powered outdoor cameras detect suspicious activity around your home, alert live US-based agents. Those agents can actually speak through the camera to scare off trespassers and, if necessary, request 911 dispatch. Prevention beats reaction. SimpliSafe has been protecting your world for 20 years. Celebrate their anniversary with us and save 60% on your new SimpliSafe system at simplisafe.com slash Shapiro. That's 60% off at simplisafe.com slash Shapiro Plus when you order right in our show name in the How Did You Hear About Us survey to let them know we sent you. There is no safe like SimpliSafe. Tucker Carlson wants a pro-jihadi, America-hating socialist in the United States Senate. That is, in fact, the sad reality. Yesterday, Tucker just came out and effectively endorsed Abdulrahman El-Sayed. According to Tucker, El-Sayed is basically America first. Now, here's the thing. I would like for America not to have a senator who hates America. Western. Civilization. Capitalism. The Jews. And the police. I think that'd be good. So today, we're going to have on Mike Rogers, El-Sayed's Republican opponent. But then again, you know, I want Republicans to win. And Tucker wants them to lose. Because Tucker Carlson, right now, has only one important standard. If you believe that Israel and neocons and Zionists and other code words for Jews run America's foreign and domestic policy, he's with you. Most Republicans don't think that. So he is happy to promote Republican defeat. He'll call the president the Antichrist. He'll say he ought to be impeached. He'll hug Abdulrahman El-Sayed and Zoran Mamdani. Because if the Republicans lose, then Tucker can try to take over the fragments of what's left. That is the whole game. So just remember, if Republicans do poorly in 2026, Tucker Carlson is happy. He is overjoyed. That is his actual goal. Get to all that in just a moment. Plus, the crazies who are now coming out in support of a woman who stabbed another woman in New York, Gloria Steinem's death, and nutty actors in Venice. This is The Ben Shapiro Show. So one of the sad realities of politics is that people don't watch it all that closely. They don't have a granular level, intense focus on politics the way that listeners to the show do or the way that I do on a daily level. And so you may not know who Abdulrahman El-Sayed is. So Abdul El-Sayed is the Michigan Senate candidate for the Democratic Party. And he hates the country. I mean, truly hates America. For example, here was his tweet, 9-11-2021, quote, Today, I mourn the 3,000 lives, 6,000 injuries, and infrastructural devastation in New York City, perpetrated ignorantly in the name of my faith. It was just like an ignorant mistake. You know, it's just the thing that happens. Tomorrow, I'll mourn 1 million lives, millions of injuries, and infrastructural devastation in three countries, perpetrated ignorantly in the name of my country. You see, there's a complete parallelism between, you know, Al-Qaeda and the United States of America, except the U.S. is way, way, way worse, according to Abdul. El-Sayed. Abdul El-Sayed, of course, before 9-11, right? It's the 25th anniversary of 9-11, is coming up next week. And Abdul El-Sayed has chosen what he wants to do in the days leading up to it. Apparently, according to Hot Eric, he has chosen to attend the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America. According to the Detroit Free Press, it is one of the oldest and largest annual Muslim gatherings in the United States, with more than 20,000 expected to attend the ISNA convention. Over Labor Day weekend. Now, according to counterterrorism testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, ISNA is basically a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood. An Arabic document, quote, drafted by senior U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohammed Akram, also known as Mohammed Akram Agbuni, and entitled Preliminary Vision for Preparing Future Leadership, was introduced as evidence in the Holy Land Foundation trial. Holy Land Foundation was a front charity for Hamas. The documents identified key U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leaders as of 1980, and contained a chart of the leadership and their roles. It also contained the names of various front organizations, including, but not limited to, the Islamic Society of North America and Muslim Students Association. Abdul El-Sayed started off as an MSA member and leader. ISNA was and remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation prosecution. And of course, Abdul El-Sayed, here are just some of his greatest hits in the months leading up to and during the candidacy.
Speaker 2Violence. Always begets violence. Only peace can extinguish that. Because hurt people hurt people.
Speaker 3So you think it's okay for a parent to slash his kid's thing on the university? You think that's okay? I mean, do you really want to have this conversation? Are you circumcised?
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, but I mean, that's a personal question. If you cannot stand for trans rights, do not be surprised when they come for your rights.
Speaker 4I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So, like, I just don't... I don't want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don't think it's worth even touching that.
Speaker 2You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they're just as evil as Hamas? Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It's not how evil is this one versus that one. Hamas, evil. Israeli government, evil. We could say both. Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, was considered radical in his time too. And there is a radical nature to being willing... willing to stand forthright in a time of corruption.
Speaker 1So, again, he wants to trans the kids. He is a Medicare-for-all socialist. He hates capitalism. He hates America. He says that America is basically Al-Qaeda except on steroids. He says that Israel is worse than Hamas. And, famously, his close political allies with America-hating piece of trash Hassan Piker. Who, um, he claims that he doesn't hate America while he has, again, a Chinese flag and a Cuban flag. And a newspaper of 9/11 behind him in his studio. Now he's claiming, by the way, he doesn't hate America, Hassan Piker. Right, because he wants everybody to have health care. Here was his shtick yesterday.
Speaker 5Any time I critique America, the Republican, uh, the entirety of the Republican Party goes, "That's America-hatred behavior. This guy hates America." Look, he's saying he hates America. Do you hate America? The f*ck do you mean? I mean, you and I, who hates America? Let's be real. The guy who wants everybody to have health care, the guy who wants to stop endless militarism. All of our productive output going to bombing schools instead of building schools over here. Or the guy who is consistently advocating to rip apart the social fabric that, uh, that pulls us together.
Speaker 1I mean, who hates America? I don't know, probably the guy who says over and over that he hates America. Probably that one.
Speaker 5God, I f*cking hate America so much. We are the bad guys. We are the bad guys. Why do I hate America? Because I recognize accurate history. Oh God, I f*cking hate America so much. God, I hate America so f*cking much sometimes. It's like so stupid, dude. God, I hate America so much. Bro, I hate this country, dude. I, I hate America so f*cking much, dude. Oh God, I just, I hate America so much. So f*cking nasty. So f*cking... So f*cking nasty, dude. I f*cking hate America so much. I hate coming back. Dude, I f*cking hate America, dude. Why do I hate America, by the way? Because of America's continued allegiance with Israel. I f*cking hate America so much. I hate America so much. I just, oh God, we're, we're a nation of f*cking bloodthirsty monsters. God, I f*cking hate America so much sometimes, dude. Oh my God, I just so f*cking nasty. Just a bunch of perverted fascist fat f*ckers in this goddamn country, just bloodthirsty.
Speaker 1Um, that's the guy who campaigns alongside Abdul El-Sayed, and El-Sayed refuses to dissociate. I will get to Tucker Carlson deciding that Abdul El-Sayed is actually the good guy. Abdul El-Sayed, by the way, is for abortion on demand. You know, we're not for that. You know why we're not for that? Because it turns out life requires protection. That's a big issue for us here, which is why we don't want senators who love abortion. Right, it's like a big thing, actually. Okay, so, if you are a pro-life person, if you're a person who wishes to provide women the support they need to make the correct decision, this is why you should help out the folks over at Preborn. Doctors told a woman named Alba that pregnancy was impossible. Her husband's diagnosis confirmed it. A child of their own simply wasn't going to happen, and then the impossible happened. Alba was pregnant, and that sounds like a miracle, but to Alba, it didn't feel like one. That positive pregnancy test felt like a mistake, a cruel twist of science she didn't understand or want. Nothing added up. She had accepted that pregnancy wasn't possible. The baby wasn't planned. Suddenly, she was confused and afraid and overwhelmed. What should have felt like a miracle felt like a crisis, and then she walked into a Preborn network clinic. She was welcomed with compassion and given a free ultrasound. When she saw her baby and heard that tiny heartbeat, everything changed. Fear gave way to hope. Alba chose life. Today, baby Laura is healthy and thriving, a reminder that when God is writing the story, impossible doesn't get the final word. Right now, another mother needs that help, and you can give it to her. Just $28 helps provide one life-saving life. Just provide one life-saving ultrasound. $140 helps rescue five babies. Please give today. Dial #250-SAY-BABY. That's #250-BABY. or visit preborn.com slash Ben. That's preborn.com slash Ben. If you're a business owner, would you consider a larger donation to claim a write-off, a donation of a grand, 2,000 bucks, 10 grand, 15 grand, that sponsors an ultrasound machine for a needy clinic, helping save countless babies' lives for years to come? Gifts are tax-deductible and will reach eternity. Get involved today. Yesterday, along with Timu Tucker, Sagar and Jetty, Tucker all but endorsed Abdul El-Sayed, and he essentially suggested that Republicans have no reason at all to support the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, in Michigan. Here was Tucker with Timu Tucker yesterday.
Speaker 6Abdul El-Sayed, who's running in Michigan, against Mike Rogers, who, as you and I know, probably the most pro-intel neocon. They couldn't find anybody else to run in Michigan for the United States, who, by the way, lost already. Why are they running him again? Anybody want to tell me that?
Speaker 7Mike Rogers is really, I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint.
Speaker 1At gunpoint? I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers. Against the pro-jihadis, In fact, actually, you know what? He actually probably is not pro-jihadi, the pro-jihadi. Actually, probably, he's America first. Maybe the most America first. Maybe, like, the most pro-America person who hates America ever to be America first. Here, again, Tucker Carlson with Timu Tucker Carlson, Sagar and Jetty.
Speaker 6I watch his campaign now. It's America first. The amount of times he says, he doesn't even, when he talks about Israel, he says Israel is committing a genocide, but ultimately, I want to make sure that you don't pay more for health care. I don't want your tax dollars going abroad to fund this barbaric military. He stands in front of a giant American flag. It's almost Trumpian in terms of a lot of those promises. Well, it's literally Trumpian. Exactly. And so, you see candidates like that, especially him, he will be the most interesting test case come November. Is he going to win? If I had to bet, which I don't, I would probably bet that he'll win. I would think so. I think so, too.
Speaker 7Do you have any idea, not to fix it on poor Mike Rogers, who I know, but, I mean, there's no one, who should be farther from a position of power than Mike Rogers?
Speaker 1No one. No one should be further from a position of power than Mike Rogers, the guy running against the guy who hates America, thinks that America is akin to Al-Qaeda, but, like, way, way, way worse. That's who Tucker thinks should win. That guy is who he thinks should win. Now, again, this is nothing new. What is the unifying feature of Tucker Carlson's worldview at this point? Tucker Carlson will support literally anyone, anyone, no matter how insane, so long as they agree with his basic theory of life and politics, which is that Israel and neocons and Zionists and other code words for Jews control America's policy on everything from pornography to immigration to foreign policy. Again, this is not new. He did this same routine with Marjorie Taylor Greene back in 2025 praising Zoran Mamdani.
Speaker 7Is it because people are so, like, desperate for government around grocery stores or love socialism or love, like, foreign-born midwits running their cities? Probably not. That guy was the only person in the New York City mayor's debate to say he wanted to focus on New York City. They were, all the candidates were asked, if you could visit a foreign country, what would it be? And they all, of course, all had an answer. I think most said Israel. Great. And he said, I wouldn't go anywhere. I'd stay in New York. And, like, if I want to meet Jewish constituents, I'd go to their synagogues, their homes or whatever, but I'd be here in New York because that's what I'm doing. I'm running New York. That's my job.
Speaker 8Well, he gave the right answer. He gave the right answer.
Speaker 7Yeah. He gave the right answer, at least, and he's talking, I totally oppose his program, just to be clear. Yeah. I don't think it works, but he's talking about economics.
Speaker 9Yep.
Speaker 7And everyone else is talking about foreign policy. Why is it hard to talk about economics, domestic economics?
Speaker 8I don't know. Apparently, they don't know how to fix it.
Speaker 1And Mamdani also, it turns out, is America first. Now, of course, Mamdani hates America and hates capitalism and wants to trans the kids and all of those things. I mean, darn Mamdani, his own tweet about 9-11 from 2023 is basically just the mirror of Abdul El-Sayed because they're mirror images of one another. He tweeted, nearly 3,000 New Yorkers died on 9-11. 22 years later, the death hasn't stopped. They just died. They spontaneously combusted on 9-11. Again, he said this three years ago, not 20 years ago, three years ago. And 22 years later, the death hasn't stopped. Right again. Terrorists did a bad thing, but you know who did a much worse thing? America. We mourn our neighbors who died that day, the hundreds of thousands who died in the wars that followed, the unknown millions injured and displaced, in their memory, we work toward a better world. That is who Tucker was blazing alongside Marjorie Taylor Greene, a great constellation of intellect happening in that room. And of course, our Mamdani, all we know this, he's as radical as radical can be. He's investing $15 million in transing of the children. He announced this back in June.
Speaker 10As a first step, my administration has made a $15 million investment in gender-affirming care over the next two years. And we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that trans and gender non-conforming New Yorkers can live with dignity, safety, and freedom they deserve.
Speaker 1And of course, he's basically a communist. I mean, Mamdani literally promoted the warmth of collectivism at his inauguration.
Speaker 10And if for too long these communities have existed as distinct from one another, we will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.
Speaker 1So I'm just pointing out here that, again, this is the person that Tucker and Marjorie Taylor Greene think is, quote-unquote, America first. Mamdani's latest routine, by the way, as an America first person is that he is very supportive of Mohsen Madawi. Mohsen Madawi is a Jew-hating so-called activist who is now being deported from the United States of America under a, an appeals court ruling. So, now, Mamdani, so Mamdani is a big fan, right? Mamdani is a huge fan of Mohsen Madawi. He celebrated his release from federal custody in April of 2025 and then he posed with him in June of 2026. And, it turns out that, actually, one of the things about Mohsen Madawi is that he literally just wants Jews to die. He literally promoted in Arabic, on his feed, we shall annihilate the Jews. So, these are the kinds of people that Tucker likes. Again, these are all the America first people, you know, like the people you think of. When you think America first, you think people who think that 9-11 was really just something that happened but mostly blowback to American foreign policy and that America is the bad guy and they're fine with the transing of the kids and they like it and they're big with the socialism. Okay, so again, the basic framework for Tucker Carlson is this. If you are a radical anti-Semite who hates Israel and believes, as Mamdani and else, I had do, that all problems are attributable to Israel and its allies in the United States, mostly Jews, Tucker has warm words for you. It is that simple. You can trans the kids. That's fine. I mean, Tucker himself says that, by the way, transing the kids, that's a distraction anyway. It's just a distraction. Like, the fact that the Trump administration has stopped the transing of the children, that was just an appetizer. It doesn't really matter. He said this back in July 2025 at TPUSA.
Speaker 7If you deny people what they actually want long enough and instead say substitute things that you claim they should want, like bombing Iran, you know, I mean, I'm not, whatever, I'm not for Iran where you spend all day telling me that it's so important that, you know, boys not playing girls' soccer teams or whatever. I agree. I hate the tranny stuff passionately. I think you should keep the boys off girls' soccer teams. But, I don't know. It kind of feels like you're feeding me appetizers.
Speaker 1Right. Again, it doesn't matter So, you can, you know, you can trans the kids. You can embrace on-demand abortion. You can promote full-scale socialism. I mean, the truth is, Tucker is kind of in favor of that one on principle because he thinks that big government should just bootstomp capitalism in the name of whatever his supposed priorities are. You can hate America. You can support jihadis. All of it. So long as you buy into Tucker Carlson's conspiracy theory that the nefarious Israelis and the neocons and the Zionists, again, all the code words for Jews, control America, he is with you. Which is why he's obsessed with Israel. I mean, this is just the reality. There is no one in America who is more obsessed with Israel than Tucker Carlson. And I know, I know the entire online world goes, oh, you know, Shapiro, you talk about Israel a lot. Actually, actually, we have some stats that show that I really don't. I really don't. You know who talks about Israel incessantly, who will never stop talking about Israel? Tucker Carlson. Because again, Tucker thinks that Israel is the center of the universe. Everything revolves around Israel and its policies. Whereas I, an American, think that America is the center of the universe. So I talk about American policy. Tucker spends more time, talking about Israel than Israelis do. He is Glenn Close boiling rabbits and fatal attraction obsessed with Israel. So here are some stats. They were done by analyzing transcripts from Tucker's show and my own, for contrast, between January 2025 and March 2026. And by the way, the contrast has gotten worse since March of 2026. So Israel was his number two topic between January 2025 and March 2026 by word volume. He talked as much about Israel as he did about President Trump. Since March, his coverage of Israel has accelerated. During that same period, Israel was the eighth most discussed topic on this show. And again, we do daily politics on the show. It's like out every single day. That frequency was driven by events. There were huge spikes around, say, like the June 2025 Israel-Iran war and the February-March 2025 strikes on Iran because that's what was in the news. As daily listeners of the show know, outside of active military conflicts and news spikes, I don't talk about Israel all that much. We talk about the stuff that's happening here in America, where I am a citizen and where I live. During that same time period, January 2025 to March 2026, President Trump on the show received almost four times as much airtime as Israel. Israel is a secondary topic. On Tucker's show, he talked about Israel literally as much as he talked about President Trump, the president of the United States. Why is that? Well, because for Tucker Carlson, Israel is the boogeyman and Israel supporters control American politics, including Republicans and also Trump, which is why Tucker wants the Republicans to lose. It is why he says
Speaker 7things like Trump is the Antichrist. But there's been only one sustained effort to exterminate a faith. And that's the Christian faith. Could that be part of it? And is it possible that the president sees this not just in geostrategic terms and military terms and economic terms? Okay. Possible. The president sees this in bigger terms. Sees this as the fulfillment of something or the elevation to some higher office beyond president of the United States. That's entirely possible. Here's a leader who's mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist? Well, who knows?
Speaker 1I mean, literally. On Friday, Tucker was urging that Trump be removed from office immediately.
Speaker 7The second any president actively considers first use of nuclear weapons, that person should be removed from office immediately, immediately, because that's got to be the red line, destroying all of humanity in a with a nuclear strike. I mean, like, so why isn't there an attempt to remove him from office like immediately? Anyone who would even tolerate that kind of talk from him? From any of his subordinates or employees is, by definition, unfit.
Speaker 1So if we do poorly in the midterms, this is going to be a big part of it. The bulk of the Republican Party is not where Tucker Carlson is. When he chooses primary candidates, they lose and they lose pretty badly. James Fishbeck gets clocked. Thomas Massey is no longer going to be in Congress. And voters do not like this stuff. They don't. There's a Harvard Harris poll that just came out. There's a Harvard Harris poll that just came out. There's a Harvard Harris poll that just came out that shows that pretty much across parties, nobody likes Hassan Piker and nobody likes Candace Owens, for example. The extremists are not loved by the mainstream of even the people in their own parties. Something like 72 percent of Democrats reject Hassan Piker compared to 79 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of Republicans reject Candace Owens. And 76 percent of Democrats reject Candace Owens. So, again, the mainstream of America is not with this kind of crazy. But, again, Tucker Carlson doesn't have to actually win inside the Republican Party. All he has to do is get 10 percent of the GOP to follow him in not voting Republican. That is, in a bunch of close races, the margin of victory. And, again, every single one of these Senate races in November is a margin of error race. So, when you put your thumb on the scale in favor of the Democrats, you are doing a thing, pretty obviously. That is the goal of doing it. Again, it doesn't take much to manipulate the American public when it comes to internet news and social media. Some 38 percent of Americans, a plurality, get their information on news from social media, even though 55 percent of Americans believe that social media is being manipulated by foreign powers. So, again, here is the whole thing. Tucker wants Republicans to lose. That is what he wants. It is his plan. If Republicans lose, then he will blame the establishment. And then he will try to take control of the GOP. So, he is actively undermining Republicans in key races, like Michigan, and actively siding with pro-jihadi, anti-American pieces of filth, like Abdul El-Sayed. Because, again, his entire agenda in politics has become his obsessive focus on the group he thinks is actually in control. And his new coalition is built entirely around that conspiracy theory. So, he and El-Sayed, complete agreement on this matter. He and Mamdani, complete and total agreement on this matter. Think of a s*** if these people want to nationalize your business or trans your kids or destroy the American military. So long as they cabal of elders of Zion who get together on Friday nights to figure out how American politics and foreign policy ought to run, they've got Tucker's stamp of approval. So, a note to prominent elected Republicans who, now and in the future, keep hoping to win over Tucker Carlson. Tucker has made his program extraordinarily clear. If you wish to win him over, the only way to do so is to join him in his quixotic quest to rip down the country on the basis of conspiratorial garbage. You can do it at your own peril. All right, coming up, we will be joined by Mike Rogers, who I want to win in Michigan because I actually like America. First, nowadays, we have all these different tools and gadgets to optimize sleep. Sleep trackers and apps, room diffusers, mouth tapes, supplements, elaborate nighttime routines. People are monitoring 17 different metrics to determine whether they successfully went unconscious for eight hours. So, maybe some of that has value. But before you redesign your entire life around sleep, you might want to consider what you're actually lying in every night. You're betting. This is why I continue to tell you about Bull and Branch. Makes your bed noticeably better without requiring you to develop a new lifestyle around it. Their sheets are made from 100% organic cotton. 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It's actually kind of an You get 10% off at takovas.com slash Shapiro when you sign up for email and text. That's 10% off at T-E-C-O-V-A-S.com slash Shapiro. Takovas.com slash Shapiro. See site for details. Takovas. Point your toes west. Speaking of this incredibly important race in Michigan, I think it's the most important race in the country where, again, I think it's important to keep a pro-jihadi candidate out of the United States Senate. Joining us online is Mike Rogers, former FBI agent, Army veteran, and House Intel chair from Livingston County, Michigan. One of five boys and worked on a father and husband. He's running for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Mike, thanks so much for taking time.
Speaker 11Really appreciate it. Hey, Ben, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1So first of all, why don't we start with the state of the race? I frankly am shocked that this race is even close, given the fact that the Democrats decided instead of nominating a more mainstream candidate like Haley Stevens, they were going to nominate a person who has expressed solidarity with a wide variety of terrorist groups, a person who has expressed anti-American sentiments almost exclusively, who campaigns with people like Hassan Piker, who openly says he hates America. It's a pretty close race. What do you think is happening right now?
Speaker 11Well, I mean, and you're exactly right about that. I think he's the most anti-American candidate in the race in the country. And this is why this is so dangerous. He took Hassan Piker, you know, the guy that said we deserve 9-11, that the streets of America should run red with capitalist blood, that if you think he's a terrorist sympathizer, for supporting the Houthis, then so be it. He took them in front of kids, our kids at University of Michigan, at Michigan State University, trying to infect them with this kind of thinking that America is a bad place. That's why this guy is too extreme for the great state of Michigan. And this is why we're going to beat him. Here's the good news, Ben. We've got Democrats, Jewish Democrats have come out and said this guy's too extreme. We have regular Democrats that says Democrat Socialist of America ideas that he's promoting is wrong for the country and is wrong for the Democrat Party. They're voting for us. So we really think, I mean, it's a close race, but all the polling shows it's tied. It's Michigan. But we think that we're building a coalition that is really going to get us across the finish line in November.
Speaker 1You know, Mike, a lot of people are focusing in on his association with Hassan Piker, but the stuff he's said himself is just as extreme and insane. I mean, on 9-11, just a few years back, while he was paying homage to the 3,000 people who were killed in New York, the truth is we should be paying homage the rest of the year to the millions of Muslims around the world who are victims of Western civilization. Apparently, he has suggested in the past, in the recent past, that an actual terror attack on a Jewish kindergarten in Detroit was actually driven by American foreign policy because hurt people hurt people. I mean, he's extraordinarily radical. And again, you have to what is happening inside the Democratic Party that they have not only decided they're going to run him, but that no major Democrat has separated off from El-Sayed. You're getting some Democrats are trying to destroy. draw a distinction that al-Sayed himself will not make between al-Sayed and Hassan Piker, but none of them seem to be willing, except for John Fetterman, to actually call out al-Sayed
Speaker 11for what he is. Oh, completely. The party has circled the wagons. I think they're afraid of this Democrat socialist movement. And you're right. So think about this. A guy loads up his car with explosives, drives through the front door of a school, a day school at a synagogue with the effort to kill 140 children. And he says, hurt people, hurt people. I can't tell you how offensive that is. And it just tells you where his state of mind is. That's why, which honestly makes him just so extreme. He's got other things as well. He doesn't like the symbols of America. He doesn't like the 4th of July. He thinks that's a bad idea. We should get rid of it. Fireworks, all the kinds of things that most Americans would associate with the United States. He doesn't like Ford pickup trucks. Doesn't like Mackinac Island here in Michigan. Doesn't like it. I mean, it's starting to, you start getting the picture that this guy might, is not aligned with who we are in Michigan. And he's just anti-American. And what worries us most is he's trying to talk to our kids about why this is the right path for the United States, is to not like the United States. That is what the problem is.
Speaker 1And now, El-Sayed also had, happens to be a massive hypocrite in his own life. And he obviously has cosplayed as sort of a blue collar figure. He is not a blue collar figure. He wears the expensive watches. His wife refuses to take Medicare or Medicaid because she herself's in the medical industry, but she's only taking private insurance while he stumps for Medicare for all. Suggesting, by the way, that Medicare for all will be incredibly cheap, which of course is a complete lie. It is a complete fiscal fiction. It is nonsense on stilts. What do you make of his attempts to promote probably the most overt form of government interventionism in the American economy?
Speaker 11This would be the largest single tax increase in American families in the history of the country. And remember, everyone pays it. So he's selling this siren song that if you're 25 years old, this is all free to you and nobody has to pay the price. The cost alone is so prohibitive. And when you talk to doctors and nurses who actually would be have to deal with this, they're saying, I'm not doing this. I am not going to have the government set my wages for what my intellectual value is, number one. And number two, the employers are saying, my God, the amount of money we would have to take out of your paycheck would be four or five times what it is today in that FICA tax. So you're talking about a 22, 23, 24 year old, maybe even young couple or young married couple who's already looking at a prohibitive way to get into a house. And now I'm taking all of that money away from you early on in your life. For a program that will not give you good health care. Matter of fact, they say Medicare for all is health care for none. And so he is selling something that a won't work for America. B would be the largest government intrusion into your life ever. And the most expensive free stuff you'll ever get in your life. And so we're out there trying to get people to understand that there is no free lunch. And the cost of this to you personally, the average family, low end I've seen is about $10,000 per family. And the high end is closer to $20,000 per family. And by the way, that won't pay for everything anyway. Then you have other costs involved as well. I mean, this thing is so outlandishly bad for America. And we say here in Michigan, where would Canadians go for health care if we do this to a state like Michigan?
Speaker 1Mike, what do you make of the fact that there is basically no systemic immunity inside the Democratic Party to a candidate like, Abdul El-Sayed? No major figure has come out and said they will not vote for him except for John Fetterman, who's of course not in the state. But none of the other major Democrats have said that they will not support him up to and including Chuck Schumer, who again, El-Sayed has openly said he wishes to remove from his Senate minority leader position. If they were in the Senate, he would not vote for him for Senate majority leader. There's not a single major Democrat of whom I'm aware outside of Fetterman, who has said that he will not support El-Sayed or she won't support El-Sayed clearly and openly. What do you make of the fact the Democratic Party seems to be circling the wagons around a candidate as radical?
Speaker 11El-Sayed. Oh, they're definitely circling the wagons. And this is what's so disturbing about this. At some point, you have to put your country over your party. They have decided that their party is far more important than the United States, the future, and what our kids kind of experience as far as a free and open America. They've decided their party is more important than that country. That's what's so disturbing about this. And if you think about, they've completely collapsed. They're spending money. On the guy, you know, all that corporate money that he said he doesn't like, they're spending on him right here in Michigan. I mean, it is really troubling to see. But I will tell you this, Ben, and this gives me hope. My wife and I have been out talking in the black community in Detroit and around the state. We've talked in the Jewish community all over the state of Michigan. And Democrats are saying, I can't do this. He is too extreme. I can't allow somebody who doesn't believe in all of the tenets of America and who we are, get back to the United States Senate. It's so dangerous for the future of this country. And so I do think that normal people who are here, who are even normal, you know, vote Democrats their whole life. We had a press conference in the city of Detroit with a black elected official who said, nope, not on my watch. I'm not bringing a Democrat socialism of America to my city. We had a rabbi, come up, said I've never voted for a Republican in my life. I'm voting for Mike Rogers. This is too important. We had a single mom come up. Same story. Never voted for a Democrat in my life. This race is too important. He's too extreme. When you get Van Jones of CNN saying this guy, something's wrong with this guy. If you lose CNN and you're a Democrat in this cycle, something's wrong. You're too extreme.
Speaker 1So, Mike, obviously, a lot of headlines were made over the course of the last 24 hours when Tucker Carlson, who seems to desperately want Republicans to do poorly in this election. He came out and effectively, along with Sagar and Jetty, called El-Sayed, in his words, America first and suggested there is no reason for Republicans to back your candidacy. What do you make of what Tucker is
Speaker 11doing? I don't know. I don't know what Tucker's doing. I think if you look at who Abdul El-Sayed is, remember, taking a guy who is openly anti-American, putting him from in front of our children with that same anti-American message, that should tell you everything you need to know. You know, we're getting ready to come up on the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And as a guy that served in the Army, I served as a special agent with the FBI, served as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. It's just shocking to me that anyone, anyone could support a guy that believes and affiliates with a guy that says, we deserve this. We deserve this. We deserve this. We deserve 9-11. Or that a terrorist act in our state of Michigan at a synagogue, Temple Israel, was just hurt people hurting people. I mean, unbelievable to me that they could even come to this conclusion. And I hope he checks himself a little bit, looks in the mirror and understands what's important for America. Who wants to hurt America? The one democracy in the Middle East they want to dismantle. And guess what? They're doing a fine job trying to dismantle our democracy right here in Michigan, in the United States. My argument is I'm going to put faith in the people of Michigan to know the difference. And I just think he's on the wrong
Speaker 1side of history on this. Well, it's Mike Rogers. Mike, what is the best way for people to contribute to your campaign? Again, this one is really, really important. I think it's the most important Senate election happening in America. And every dollar is going to matter because this election is way, way, way too close. Mike, what's the best way for people to give their support? Yeah,
Speaker 11thanks, Ben. It is that important. This is the one time to put your country over your party. If you're a Democrat and for a Republican to get up off your duff and get to the polls, a little bit of money helps and goes a long way. Rogers4, F-O-R, Senate.com, Rogers4Senate.com. We need your help. This really is the heart and soul of America on the line in this race. It's bigger than me. I think it's bigger than really this race in and of itself. It is about the direction and future of this country. I think people are going to choose America, but we need your help. Rogers4Senate.com. Let's communicate how important this is and we'll get it done.
Speaker 1That's Mike Rogers. Folks, give him your support. Again, really, really important race, the most important race in the country. Mike, really appreciate the time and thanks for what
Speaker 11you're doing out there. Hey, thanks, Ben.
Speaker 1We'll get to more on this in a moment. First, something that surprises people when they start a business is how often success comes down to just answering the phone. Not branding, not marketing, just doing the very simple thing of answering the phone. The problem is most businesses are still trying to manage communication with systems that were not built for modern teams. Some messages are in emails, some in text, some in voicemails. Some are sitting in somebody's CRM. Eventually, nobody knows who responded to whom. And that's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo. It's spelled Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. Quo gives your entire team one shared number for calls and texts. Everybody can see the full conversation history, which means customers don't have to repeat themselves over and over again every time they talk to a different person. Quo also works wherever you work, on your phone, your computer, in the office, on the road. You can keep your existing number, add teammates quickly, sync your CRM, and let call routing handle itself as your business grows. Because this is 2026, AI is built in. It can even qualify leads or respond after hours, helping your business stay responsive even when you're not actively working. Everything lives in one place, calls, texts, voicemails, transcripts, customer details. Your team gets the full picture before every conversation, and that creates a better experience for everybody involved. There's a reason Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with more than 3,000 reviews and why over 90,000 businesses rely on it to stay connected and responsive. Money's on the line. Always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free. Plus, get 20% off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash Ben. That's Q-U-O dot com slash Ben. We'll get to more on this in just one second. First, you know, 20 years ago, man, a lot has happened in my life. I was 22 years old. I was not yet married. And now just think back over the past 20 years, wife, five kids, big business, all of it. Well, 20 years ago, I was 22 years old. 20 years is a long time. SimpliSafe is now celebrating 20 years again. Most companies don't make it that long unless they're actually solving a real problem. When you're picking a security system for your home, what you're looking for is peace of mind. The goal is not to obsess over your security. The goal is to never have to think about it again. And that's what I like about SimpliSafe. Most home security systems are designed for after something goes wrong, after the window breaks, after someone gets inside, after your phone buzzes. SimpliSafe's approach is different. It's designed to help stop a break-in before it happens. 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According to the New York Post, the Bank of America executive randomly slain near Times Square was preparing to build a life with her husband and five-month-old daughter. Her family revealed in a heartbreaking statement on Wednesday, relatives of Aaron Piacenti, 32, said they were devastated by her unprovoked stabbing death on Monday. That was her first day back at work after maternity leave. She was stabbed to death by this very overweight, mentally ill person on the streets of New York with a couple of knives who then ended up being shot by the cops. And people, some people in the blue sky world immediately decided that actually Aaron Piacenti deserved to die. That they deserved to die. That she deserved to die. And the reason she deserved to die is because she worked for Bank of America. Doesn't matter that she was not exactly like the president of Bank of America. And even if she were, that's legal in the United States to be a bank executive. The idea is that if you work for the system in any way and someone stabs you, we ought to celebrate. German-Palestinian American filmmaker Lexi Alexander reacted with a meme of Luigi Mangione. 32,000 likes. 32,000 likes. 32,000 likes. Give what's called a Chuy Rodriguez charge. The goal is to help break a jury impasse without coercing a verdict. So here is the judge reading that. If you were left in doubt of any element of
Speaker 12the crime, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and must be acquitted. However, in conferring together, you ought to pay proper respect to each other's opinions and listen with an open mind to each other's arguments. Thus, where there is disagreement, jurors for acquittal should consider whether a doubt in their own minds is a reasonable one if it makes no impression on the minds of others who are equally honest, equally intelligent, and who have heard the same evidence with the same attention, with an equal desire to arrive at the truth, and who have taken the same oath as jurors.
Speaker 1And so again, basically all this is, is the judge saying, please, please, please, could you keep thinking about this thing? I'm saying it basically, it doesn't do anything, but it is the judge saying, you guys need to think about this some more. Now, again, I think the jury is very likely to come back hung here. Obviously there, there are some significant factual claims that have been made on both sides of the, was she doing this out of psychosis matter, which is the core of the case. I've said before, I think that under Massachusetts law, which is kind of rigged for the defense in this particular case, because the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable, doubt in Massachusetts that she was sane and rational when she killed her kids, which is a pretty heavy lift, but that has not stopped all of the ambulatory psychotics outside the courtroom from doing their thing. One of those people is a crime junkie named Dawn light. She was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly filming jurors in Lindsay Clancy's case. She pled not guilty to the charge of aggravated intimidation of a juror in the same courthouse where Clancy's high profile triple murder trial has been underway for the past six weeks. Apparently she pulled her blue Toyota into a restricted area of the court and filmed and took photos from inside the car as jurors were leaving court. She was adamant. She wasn't filming jurors, but waiting to see if Clancy would come out of the building. But then of course they looked at her phone. It turns out that she was filming the jurors. The idea is that this was a form of jury intimidation. There is some video of her running out of the courthouse after allegedly filming the jurors. She looks sane and rational. Are you running? Are you running? Are you running? Are you running? Are you running? Rocking. You ain't positive B. At least she's having a good time. That's the important thing.
Speaker 13All right. That's where we go. So what happened? Nothing. I see Lindsay and I did see her. She's getting picked up by the van. That's it. Thank you. Good Lord. Good Lord. Kaitlin Bennett
Speaker 1was on the site talking to three people. She was on the site talking to three people. She was on the female Clancy supporters. And here's what that sounded like.
Speaker 14Do you stand with her? Yes or no? I don't think she did it. Yes. We feel she's very sleep deprived.
Speaker 15Her job is a labor and delivery nurse working night shifts and three children. That's a lot.
Speaker 8A lot. Do you have children? Yes. Would you ever hurt them? Yes and no. As a mom or as a dad,
Speaker 14I think that you are not perfect. So what are the consequences she should face for this? Obviously, she's already in a wheelchair. He should go to jail for negligence. He was he needs to take care of his kids. And that was his responsibility. Is this any of your girlfriends? This is your girlfriend. I think you have to do some reflection on that. I just have seen a little bit on TikTok of the case. I'm watching it on TikTok or like the live streams. Where are you getting your news that the defense might not be getting theirs? I don't. But what do you say? TikTok. So, again, things going well here in the United
Speaker 1States and media is driving all the hot takes. So one of the hot takes that has become prominent in the past couple of days is the hot take that if Lindsay Clancy were black, no one would support her and that she would probably go to jail. And Nancy Mace says if Clancy was black, nobody would support her. Oh, God, we're just going to do this crap now. I'm so tired. I'm so tired. Not just the new baby because of this, because of this garbage. We can, I think, have a discussion about
Speaker 8mental health. But that doesn't excuse murder. I mean, she murdered her children. And look, I mean, if you murder someone out of cold blood like that, yeah, you're crazy. You're insane. You should you you're mental. But that doesn't that doesn't mean everybody who's insane, who murders should walk free. And that's what's going to she's going to walk free because of this pink mob. Basically, they're just, you know, it's their FU to whatever. I think it says a lot about our culture. And it's
Speaker 1it's it's a sad statement where we are. She was black. It would be a different situation.
Speaker 8Nobody would be supporting her if she were black. These liberal. No one would be supporting her if she was black. No, liberal white women aren't going to support a black woman who murdered her kids. There was one in New York that did and just got away with it, who murdered her children in New York. You didn't see the same. Why would pink liberal white women? I don't. I think I think that the left is inherently racist. That's what I think. Don Lemon is doing the same thing, by the way.
Speaker 1Don Lemon says that if Clancy were black, she wouldn't be allowed to say she had mental illness.
Speaker 16There has been so much interest in this. Lindsay Clancy case. But what I've been wondering and a lot of folks are wondering, right, all the public sentiment around her and people being sympathetic about her. OK, that's great. But what if Lindsay Clancy were black? And that's a legitimate question, because actually we don't have to imagine it. I talked about this on Hot Topics on my YouTube show this morning because there's already another case. It's Latarsha Sanders. Sanders is a black mother who was convicted of killing two of her children. She had a documented history of serious mental health problems. BUT THAT HISTORY WAS NEVER EVEN PRESENTED TO THE JURY, AND SHE WAS SENTENCED TO TWO LIFE SENTENCES this. Now compare that to Lindsay Clancy. Clancy does not deny killing her three children. Her entire defense is centered on severe postpartum psychosis and whether she understood what she was doing. And yes, mental illness should be taken seriously. Postpartum psychosis should be taken seriously. But it should have been taken seriously for LaTosha Sanders, too.
Speaker 1Well, he says that she wouldn't be allowed to plead not guilty by reason of insanity were she black. Literally this week, a woman is acquitted in the Bronx on similar charges, killing her young kids, two of them in 2022 while suffering from postpartum psychosis. And the and the judge ruled that she was mentally ill. Her name is Damone Fleming and she is black. So that's not true. But again, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. We'll get to more on this in a moment. First, something that surprises people when they start a business is how often success comes down to. Just answering the phone, not branding, not marketing, just doing the very simple thing of answering the phone. The problem is most businesses are still trying to manage communication with systems that were not built for modern teams. Some messages are in email, some in text, some in voicemails. Some are sitting in somebody's CRM. Eventually, nobody knows who responded to whom. And that's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo. It's spelled Q-U-O. The business communication system built so you never miss a call. Quo gives your entire team one shared number for calls and texts. Everybody can see the full conversation history. Which means customers don't have to repeat themselves over and over again every time they talk to a different person. Quo also works wherever you work, on your phone, your computer, in the office, on the road. You can keep your existing number, add teammates quickly, sync your CRM, and let call routing handle itself as your business grows. Because this is 2026, AI is built in. It can even qualify leads or respond after hours, helping your business stay responsive even when you're not actively working. Everything lives in one place. Calls, texts, voicemails, transcripts, customer details. Your team gets the full picture before every conversation, and that creates better experience for everybody involved. There's a reason Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with more than 3,000 reviews and why over 90,000 businesses rely on it to stay connected and responsive. Money's on the line. Always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free. Plus, get 20% off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash Ben. That's Q-U-O.com slash Ben. Now, again, one of the things that's driving the support for Lindsay Clancy here is the basic thesis is that postpartum depression and psychosis need to be normalized. Apparently, for some, all the way up to and including murder. That if somehow a woman suffers from these things, that is not an individual mental issue. That is a societal problem. And again, that comes down to this broad argument that is just wrong, that all disparities between men and women in American society and elsewhere are the result of a society's discrimination. This brings us to the death of Gloria Steinem. So Gloria Steinem, of course, the most famous radical feminist of her time. Her death was announced on Instagram. She died at the age of 92. Quo, yesterday, Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her. Gloria's near-century on Earth were years well lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end. According to the Wall Street Journal, Steinem graduated from Smith College in 1956, and she received a fellowship to travel and write in India, where she discovered the critical role women had played in the Indian independence movement. Before leaving the United States, she had written a note to her college boyfriend breaking up with him, said, I felt as if I got married, it was the last choice I would have, life would be over. In 1963, she wrote a piece for Show Magazine about working undercover as a scantily uniformed bunny at the Playboy Club. In 1968, she was hired as part of New York Magazine's inaugural stable of writers, which also included Jimmy Breslin and Tom Wolfe. She had an abortion at age 22, and she talked about it at this point. And then in 1971, she co-founded Miss Magazine. By the way, she'd have a period working for the CIA, actually. In the late 50s, early 60s, because she was, at that point, anti-communist. Now, the fascinating thing about Gloria Steinem really isn't kind of her overall radical feminism. There have been lots of radical feminists who have incredibly shaped the United States over the course of the last five decades, I think mainly to the detriment of the United States. I think that Gloria Steinem was wrong about just as much as it is possible to be wrong about. But one of the things that's fascinating about Steinem is where she was sort of forced to evolve and where the... The movement outstripped her. Because it turns out when you lead a revolution, the revolution eventually ends up outstripping you. When you make arguments, you have to be careful how you construct the argument. You have to construct arguments with what we call limiting principles, meaning that there are some lines beyond which the argument does not take you. So, for example, let's say you wanted to argue that men and women both ought to be able to vote. A principle with which I agree. So, here is an argument. Men and women are different, but there is no truly important difference between men and women. In their inerrant right to choose their government. All right. So, that's a good argument because the limiting principle is that there are differences between men and women, but on this particular matter, that difference ought not matter. But that's not the argument that people like Gloria Steinem made. So, her basic argument was, basically, there is no difference between men and women. That differences between men and women are all inherently unimportant. And that means that any discrepancy in American life, any disparity is attributable to societal discrimination. And so, there are matters where she just ended up on the wrong side of her own movement, which is kind of fascinating. So, for example, back in 1977, she wrote a piece essentially claiming that trans was genital mutilation, which, of course, is true. She wrote that back in 1977. Well, by 2013, she then had to go back to walk that back in The Advocate. Because, again, her original argument is men and women are the same, except where I say they're different. But the except where I say they're different doesn't make a difference to the radicals. If you say men and women are the same, then why can't a man be a woman? And so, by 2013, she had to full-scale walk this back, basically apologizing, quote, years passed, the internet arrived, words circulated out of time and context. Last year, one young transgender student on campus, assumed the old essay's use of the word mutilate for surgeries performed because of societal pressure meant I was against sexual reassignment surgery altogether. I want to be unequivocal in my words. I believe transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Here she was in 2015, trying to walk back her original position with regard to trans as female genital mutilation.
Speaker 17And you also have changed. You've apologized for once saying of trans people that they surgically mutilated their own bodies. Do you think that Germaine Greer should also apologize for saying that having an op doesn't make a trans woman a woman?
Speaker 18No, I mean, I think, you know, I don't know what the context was, but I think that each person has a right to define themselves. And in my case, what I was always saying and continue to say is that we need to change society to suit the individual, not the individual to suit society. We aren't there yet, but so we must, of course, we must support the individual choice and self-definition, but we have to keep fighting
Speaker 1to change society. So again, she had to shift on that one. And there are other areas where she just got outstripped by the movement that she helped to found, right? So she originally was very much against pornography. She became famous writing against Playboy. She said back in 2013, part of pornography's danger is that it perpetuates the idea that normal human relationship is about dominance and submission. It's very dangerous. It's very important because we're never going to uproot violence from foreign policy unless we uproot it from families. But then it turns out that her movement outflanked her because if you believe that men and women are basically the same, that means that men and women treat sex basically the same. And so sex work is work. And so long as a woman consents to be involved in a thing, even if that thing is ugly and bad, well, it's the same as if a man consented. And this leads to a bunch of unsustainable propositions for Gloria Steinem. So again, one of the things that's fascinating about every revolutionary movement is that if you establish a revolutionary movement on a revolutionarily stupid principle, like men and women, precisely the same, all of the exceptions that you cut out of that rule will eventually be obliterated. And that's what's sort of fascinating about Gloria Steinem, putting aside all of the tremendous evils that I think, third and fourth wave feminism unleashed on the United States. Those evils are quite real. Meanwhile, speaking of radicals and idiots, the Venice Film Festival is happening right now. And that means that many of the best and brightest, I mean, all the leftist best and brightest, because that's who goes to Venice, right? If you're not a radical leftist, you just stay in Venice. That's the way that it works. George Clooney was there talking about how we're not a radical leftist, you just stay in Venice. That's the way that it works. George Clooney.
Speaker 19We've had some other difficult times, but this is one of them. There's a great word, cacistocracy, which is a country run by the least qualified people. I think maybe we have a cacistocracy right now, but we'll get through it. And we will, we will have an election in November that should be a check and balance. And then in 2028, with any luck, we'll have some restoration.
Speaker 1Again, he says, that American politics is a joke. Don't worry, we'll get through it. Thank you, George Clooney. I was so worried. I need your... guidance. I need, in fact, I need George Clooney, who's very, very wealthy, to tell me that it's actually the rich people who are somehow betraying us. It's the rich people. I'm always bewildered by this particular argument, you know, because most of the people I know who are rich were at some point in their life not rich. And they're kind of the same people. This is the entire sort of class-based distinction that people want to make in America. That really applies more to kind of old Europe. It's always bizarre to me. And thank God I now make a very good living. There was a time when I made a lot less money. I'm the same human. Nothing changed. I just have more money now. But to George Clooney, who also at some point, I assume, was not particularly rich and then became very rich. People with the most money are the ones who are telling us to fear one another. It's so tiresome. You are a man with much money telling us we need to fear one another, George Clooney. It is you. Do you own a mirror? You're very rich. You can afford a mirror. Or is George Clooney being George Clooney?
Speaker 19We're living through a moment in time where people in charge, the people with the most money, are telling us to fear one another. Fear one another. But we know better than that, don't we? Because history does teach us a lesson. It teaches us something. The first people that authoritarians try to shut down are not politicians. They're journalists who ask questions. They're the artists who refuse simple answers that the filmmakers, writers, actors, and musicians don't know. They're the artists who refuse simple answers that the filmmakers,
Speaker 1Oh, it's the artists who bring us together. That's who brings us together with films that label half the American population horrible and film festivals that refuse to acknowledge the existence of other worldviews. Ryan Reynolds showed up. Does Ryan Reynolds militantly want to destroy his brand? Is that what's happening right now? Between the Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Taylor Swift, Justin Baldoni drama, where Ryan Reynolds did not come off well at all. And now Ryan Reynolds, just kind of getting overtly political because he happens to be in Venice. I don't know, man. What are you doing? What are you doing?
Speaker 13What's interesting about when you get far enough away from a time period that's quite distinct, I think there's always a lovely feeling associated with it. It's almost like you pave over all the trauma with like puppy dogs and ice cream. And the 80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a mess. Like, you know, people forget that it was like that was a tremendous strife. of sociopolitical tensions everywhere. We're still pretty fresh off a Cuban Missile Crisis, which is only like, what, 15, 20 years before. So it's a tumultuous period, but you look back at it now, and you're like, "Oh yeah, Top Gun, cocaine." No, it was really scary. So I think when you look back at 2026 and this era, I think they're gonna pick on the big ticket items that didn't really leave the footprint culturally that you would think it would. I don't know. So much of the aughts were like a mix of all the decades previous, whereas the decades previous were their own thing. So I don't know. I wonder what it's gonna be. It's gonna be like, "Oh, the COVID era."
Speaker 1- Hey, don't worry. The 1980s, you don't remember it properly. Sure, the 1980s were kind of great, but you remember it poorly. Ryan Reynolds remembers it really well. Ryan Reynolds must have been suffering deeply in the 1980s in some unspecified way. You know, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is on the board of the Venice Film Festival, she says one of the great tragedies of filmmaking right now is that it's very hard for women to get their films financed. I mean, first of all, let's be very clear. It is very difficult for anyone to get their film financed because film is expensive. That is a reality. Maggie Gyllenhaal, I mean, like, can we point out at this point that Maggie Gyllenhaal has had films financed that are some of the worst films in human history? What was Maggie Gyllenhaal's latest film? I just have to look this up because as I recall, it was a piece of, oh my God. Oh my God, yes. I mean, her last film, her last film, "The Bride," is one of the worst movies ever made, ever. And it had a huge cast. It was Christian Bale and Jesse Buckley. It had a budget of $80 to $90 million, $80 to $90 million. It did $24 million at the box office. Lady, I'm pretty sure if it's hard for you to get financed, it's because you financed a project to the tune of $80 to $90 million that made $24 million at the box office. Unless people not understand how budgets for film work, that budget is just for the film. That does not include what's called the P and A, meaning the print and advertising campaign, which usually is as much as the budget. So that movie cost probably at least $150 million to make $24 million at the box office. And then she's like, why won't anyone fund me? I don't know, 'cause somebody could probably find a better way to flush $120 million down the toilet. Probably it's that. Here's Maggie Gyllenhaal complaining about how difficult it is to get films funded after, again, suckering someone into paying for one of the worst movies ever made.
Speaker 9- I do think it's much harder for women to get their films financed. Also, could it be possible that the things that women, having had a different experience of being alive in the world, want to make movies about are not always deemed high art? Who decides what's good? Who decides what's valuable? I will also say sitting next to one of the people who makes that decision that I am on a panel here with many, many women, and have also on my jury, incredible female filmmakers. But I will also say that that's also a question I have, and it's a legitimate one.
Speaker 1- Is it legitimate? I'm glad that you've declared your own question legitimate. Now, speaking of women who complain about their movies, women who complain about not getting role offers, Elliot Page is now complaining, which again, I feel like this is contradictory. Elliot Page, a woman cosplaying as a man, says that he has not received, he has not received any role offers since "The Odyssey." Well, I mean, there's a reason for that, which is that you're not very good in "The Odyssey." And also, that was a kind piece of casting because Christopher Nolan is friendly with Elliot Page. But it's a real problem for the movie, as I've discussed, because Elliot Page is supposed to be playing, he's supposed to be playing a young man who dies in a war, and it doesn't work, 'cause Elliot Page looks like 110 pound woman. Well, here's Elliot Page.
Speaker 20- Well, at this moment right now, I don't know if you can talk about it, but do you know what you're doing next? Have you already started looking? 'Cause I imagine you're getting a zillion calls after this movie. - No, Kevin, I'm not.
Speaker 21So let's, if someone wants to call me.
Speaker 20- Elliot Page. - Yeah. - Every movie ever going forward.
Speaker 21- I know I get some pushback for being Canadian. I don't know what it's about, but-
Speaker 20- Being amazing? Wait, so really, you don't have a project lined up at the moment? - Not really. - Do you want to take a break?
Speaker 15Is that kind of work? - No, I'd really love to do ideally good work.
Speaker 1- I was just informed that it's very hard for women to get jobs, but now Elliot Page, I've been told by Hollywood, Elliot Page is a man. So I don't get it. Where's the sexism working in favor of Elliot Page? Where is it? I'm confused. Again, Hollywood, a place where brain cells go to die all too often. Alrighty, folks, we are going to get into the latest on Iran. Plus we'll get into the DSA continuing its march through the institutions. First, you have to become a Dailyware member. If you get that Dailyware membership, you'll get more, right, more analysis and more news coverage and access to the mailbag, all the rest. If you're not a member, become a member, use code Shapiro at checkout for two months free on all annual plans. Click the link in the description and join us. We'll get to more on this in just one second. First, you know, 20 years ago, man, a lot has happened in my life. I was 22 years old. I was not yet married. And now just thinking back over the past 20 years, I'm like, is this thing back over the past 20 years? Wife, five kids, big business, all of it. Well, 20 years is a long time. SimpliSafe is now celebrating 20 years again. Most companies don't make it that long unless they're actually solving a real problem. When you're picking a security system for your home, what you're looking for is peace of mind. The goal is not to obsess over your security. The goal is to never have to think about it again. And that's what I like about SimpliSafe. Most home security systems are designed for after something goes wrong, after the window breaks, after someone gets inside, after your phone buzzes. SimpliSafe's approach is different. It's designed to help stop a break-in before it happens. There are AI-powered outdoor cameras to detect suspicious activity around your home, alert live US-based agents. Those agents can actually speak through the camera to scare off trespassers, and if necessary, request 911 dispatch. Prevention beats reaction. SimpliSafe has been protecting your world for 20 years. Celebrate their anniversary with us and save 60% on your new SimpliSafe system at simplisafe.com/shapiro. That's 60% off at simplisafe.com/shapiro+. When you order, write in our show name in the how did you hear about us survey to let them know we sent you. There is no safe like SimpliSafe.
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