Part 1. Thomas watched the entirety of Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025 so the rest of us didn't have to! In this episode, in addition to talking about what was going on at this entire event, we listen to the most ridiculous National Anthem presentation and hear words from America's Widow, Erika Kirk. In this day and age, we deserve to laugh. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
Anywhere you see diversity, equity, and inclusion, you see Marxism and you see woke principles being pushed.
Wokeness is a virus more dangerous than any pandemic hands down.
Woke monster is here and it's coming for everything, everything, everything, everything.
Instead of go-go boots, the seductress green M&M will now wear sneakers.
Hello, and welcome to Where There's Woke.
I am Thomas.
That over there is Lydia Smith.
How are you doing?
I am doing better.
I think folks have been following our illness journey via audio.
Illness journey.
By being able to hear how congested we are when we're coughing.
Follow me on my illness journey.
And I thought it was better.
I don't know.
Now I'm listening to myself as I speak, and I feel like I'm still congested, but I don't know.
I'm doing better.
I'm doing all right.
Thank you for asking.
how are you uh well ever since becoming an influencer um i think Know, 15 straight hours of right-wing bullshit.
Oh man, and uh, i'm excited, i'm overwhelmed, yeah.
So here's what's going on.
I saw, we saw.
I don't even remember anything now, before this day, I don't remember how it happened, but one one thing led to another and one of, or both of, us was like I think hey, let's check out.
Yeah, is that true?
Maybe pretty sure.
All right, you're probably right, let's check out.
Amfest Amerifest, Amerifest.
No, I don't know how do they?
Where do they land on?
Is it America Fest?
Okay, it's America Fest, but they keep saying for the hashtag.
And then I think, as a joke, I might have typed in Amerifest somewhere, and so that's why i'm confused, you know.
it's so hard. We're like venture capitalists when it comes to anti-woke bullshit. It's like we have to pick where to invest. Our angel investment of our fucking time. Our hours. Which is the most precious thing to us. It's more precious than money for us. AmericaFest,
it's a big fucking deal. And I was thinking like, alright, maybe it'll be the kind of thing where I track down a bunch of bullshit claims, like maybe it'll be that. I can debunk a lot of the speeches. The first day tricked me because it was only four hours or so. And I was like, Like, I can get through this.
I can do this.
Yeah.
Day two, eight fucking hours.
A full day.
Yeah.
There's a big controversy around day one.
I was a little worried like, oh, is this all there is kind of thing?
Right.
And then I got to day two.
Day two had some stuff.
Like, I can't even.
Okay.
First off, this is a bigger production, better production value than the RNC.
Yeah.
I think this is effectively the RNC.
I actually think this very convention was the RNC.
I don't remember if they even did or will do an RNC.
I think they did, but who cares?
It sucked.
This was better production value.
It had more probably influential people.
And I'm not even through it.
I had to stop at day two because there was too much to cover.
Day two also led me on some wild goose chases that I cannot wait.
just a teaser for episode whatever of this. I've been scouring tax forms, baby, and you always know whenever we're scouring tax forms, some fun stuff is going to happen. And overall, the fucking grift, The level of grift that goes on is just, it's staggering.
Like, it's just the whole thing.
I start to wonder if it's separable.
Can you separate grift from right -wing Jesus?
Is it one thing necessarily?
There's two main, Jesus Fucking Christ.
These people love Jesus Fucking Christ.
And grift.
Those are the main things.
This is a Jesus -y thing.
I've been to church sermons that are less Jesus -y than this.
Like literally, I'm not even joking.
Like this is incredibly Jesus-y.
And I know we know that, but it's another thing to sit through 15 hours of it.
Yeah, that's fair.
I mean, like last time we were exposed to Turning Point and how religiously zealous they are was the Auburn University Turning Point event, right?
When we had Benny Johnson leading that.
And that was quite religious.
Oh, God.
Of course.
Yeah, everybody, pretty much anybody ever plus Russell Brand.
That's how many people.
It's crazy.
We just got some new accusations.
right? Did you see that? Oh, really? There's new ones now. New ones? Yep. Well, I hate to say it. My main takeaway was that I actually think he legitimately is into Jesus Christ. Like, I thought, just based on, like, generally,
like, oh, okay, he's doing that grift because he's accused. But I don't know, man. Maybe he's just convincing, but he comes across like a charismatic preacher. True believer. And he's around these Jesus-y people. He comes across like he would be an effective preacher. So we'll see. We'll see when we get to that. Yeah,
I can't wait. So I don't even know how long this is going to take. We'll see how many parts it is. But I went from tepid, like, oh, is this going to work, to like, oh my God, I can't wait to get to day two. And I don't know when that's going to happen,
but we're hitting record, and the kids are at the grandparents. Yep. This is our date night. No, this is what we get to. Yeah. So buckle up, everybody. Get in on our marriage because this is our wild and crazy date night. Yep. So we'll take a break. Our first break. Hey,
please support the show, patreon.com slash wherethereswoke, because we don't have Jesus to lean on. We don't have the ability to say, hey, you got a tithe. Hey, billionaires, give us a million jillion dollars, because Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
and also capitalism and right-wing politics. Like, we don't have that. Help us launder your money. We're so outmatched. So,
thanks so much to our patrons at patreon.com slash wherethere'swoke, who at least allow us to do this. We do really appreciate it. The Wokies are the best. It's the only reason we can have this date night with all of you. Okay, where to begin? Where to begin? There's some stuff that's literally so fun that I found, I was like, I need to unlock a technology whereby we can watch something in sync. Yeah. So there's gonna be some of that. But not all of it, because it's really annoying,
and it's harder to do. But there's some clips that are so fucking good that I can't wait for us both to witness. But there's also, early on, there's some fun stuff to get started. Okay. I just want to play a little bit of this preacher. This is a black preacher,
and I wish we had something like this on the non-Jesus side, because just listen to this guy. And your word is true. So our necks are set out tonight, expecting you to do great. And mighty things. And we give you honor because you are God and that there's no name under heaven given among men whereby we must. I mean,
that guy's voice rules, man. Why do you have to be doing using your amazing voice for evil? You know, like, I don't know what this guy's deal is, but it just hurts when it's a black preacher putting in his time and talent into energy is basically a Nazi. Yeah. Yeah. But I was just like, man, that's one thing atheism doesn't have. We don't have that guy. Just like the way he's getting into it with his voice. Oh, yeah. It's just like so fucking, I'm like, oh, I don't believe in any of this, but I see what you're doing. Yeah. Super cool. No,
it works. It totally works. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. Man. I know. So good. That guy's voice. It moves you, You know, now I can't wait, because this is something i've wanted you here for a very long time.
This is again.
This is, this is our amuse douche, to borrow Uh Matt's term over on OA.
A little bit of amuse douche, a little bit just fun to get started.
Yeah, the national anthem.
Oh no, okay now, it's not a bad one per se, all right, but the fucking production value.
I don't know how to not just play this whole thing.
We've got apparently, Charlie's microphone is encased in carbonite and is on the stage.
Apparently, Charlie's microphone is encased in carbonite and is on the stage.
It's like a character yeah, it's like a character on the stage and the lights come up.
It's like a character on the stage.
And the lights come up.
Listen to this production value.
Listen to his production value.
Let's come up on the microphone.
Lights come up on the microphone.
Would you please remain standing for the national anthem?
It's in glass.
And then this old guy comes out.
And then this old guy comes out.
Listen, listen to the production value.
Listen to the production value.
Somebody fucking orchestrated this shit.
Oh, say can you see?
By the dawn's early light.
What's so proudly hailed at the...
This guy's vibrato already starts pretty crazy.
By the end of the song, which I must play, it is literally a half-note trill.
It might be a whole note.
Actually, you'll have to say, it's so fucking funny.
You got to hear these chords.
The orchestration they've done.
I'll skip a little bit. Oh good, the sound. Oh! I think their sound was messed up. It just got better. That's another thing, is this video, I couldn't find a better video. It's Right Side Broadcasting Network. That's who covered the Auburn University one that we watched. Okay,
however, What they did is, I think because their main thing is Rumble, is that the right-wing one? Yeah. The YouTube video is just like a fucking webcam of Rumble. Oh. It probably is a screen share OBS type thing. Yeah. But there's a bunch of times in the video where you can see another timeline. What's the thing on the bottom? Whatever that timeline thing. Pause. And it says, It was like, rumble.
And I'm like, oh, what the fuck?
I've been watching a rumble video through YouTube.
On YouTube, yeah.
Yeah, so like some of the sound is messed up, but it looks like it just clicked in at just the right time.
I have a note here that we have to listen to this particular point.
Okay.
You know, as a singer, occasionally, I don't know about you, but I have the philosophy where if there's a choice between hitting a note by changing the word so that it's not the word or just hitting the less good version of the note, I'm doing the second.
I can't do a weird version of a word, because it's like an easier vowel.
I can't do it.
But this guy's of a different philosophy.
They proved through the night That our flight was still there Still there It's just in his nose.
He just says there.
Is that just too low for him, A hundred.
No, It's just how he likes it.
It's like a, I don't know, it's a fucking singer-jack-off thing, but it's so funny to me.
I was already laughing at the production value, and then I heard that.
It's like he just doesn't finish the word.
Our flag was still on.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, my God, so good.
But anyway, we have to listen to the rest, because it comes into a key change.
Oh, key change, what?
Yeah, maybe you're right about being too low, because he really hits the key change.
Oh, man, okay.
I don't know.
Have you ever heard a key change at that point in the next one?
No.
Listen to this guy, wailing.
Say, does that star -spangled banner yet wave?
Get ready for this vibrato.
It's already insane.
For the land of the free and the home, Here we go.
I love this.
It's my favorite.
Yes, It turns into the Star Wars theme.
Yeah, that's significant.
Like it literally, his vibrato is almost in a triplet feel.
My mind is, I can't get over this.
I know no one gives a shit but me, but it's so funny.
It turns into the fucking Star Wars music.
I think that's unintentional but the timing is like like it goes into like what is that like one of six eight time on the like triplet of the one two three four yeah we're doing we're doing twelve eight or something I don't even know yeah anyway unintentionally turns into Star Wars that is so fucking fun It's so crazy to me, too, because, like, I mean, again, this is not the point of why we're here today.
No, it's the point for me.
But the national anthem, it covers significant range, right?
Like, it is a stupid song.
The way that it's written, it's so dumb, and we have to hear it too many times. But to do a key change to modulate up at the end. Yeah, it's pretty bold. This guy's got balls. And then, like, why wouldn't you have just been in that key from the beginning if you could do that? It's too high for him. I get that he's pushing as hard as he can. Maybe this is his own way of sacrificing for Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk gave all,
so then this guy, the least he can do is give a few vocal cords. Yeah, this is crazy. This is absolutely crazy, and it gets better. So then we come to a Charlie Kirk tribute video, which is the first thing that you and I will be watching Because, I just can't, I can't wait. I can't wait for you to see this. Such high production value. But then we get into some, some real, there's some cosplay going on here. Just you wait. He fell,
believing America was worth dying for. And for 250 years, our history has been written by those who stood firm against every force who swore to break this country. Very ominous. Oh my God. So we have some revolution era soldiers. Well, Okay, but they're the British, I think, right?
They're the British.
Oh, because they're redcoats.
Yeah, it took me a second, but you'll see why.
What is that?
I don't know.
Look at...
What?
In the world.
So then we got.
Oh, my God.
So we got the same.
Here's what we got going on.
This is incredible.
Why don't you do your best to describe the magic that we just saw in that short time?
So we have basically a group of ominous folks approaching us and they don the attire of various evils throughout history.
So first we get the redcoats, the British, and then we move through and see other, like, the communists, Chinese communists at some point.
It's so funny.
I think we got Nazis.
We got plenty of memorabilia lying around that we can use for costume.
There's one guy in the front who I think is an actor.
The rest might be AI, I'm not 100% on that.
But what's funny is it's the same guy in the front at least, and it changes his uniform until it gets to Like a TikTok reel where you have multiple outfits, they do the transitions and stuff.
This is very much that vibe, Sure, until you get to the Japanese and then it's gotta change.
But then it gets to like Islamic terrorists, and I think it's back to the white guy, but with, like, a wrapped-up face and some sort of, like, Islamic garb. And then it goes to Antifa, I think. It goes to people wearing black sweatshirts and some of them wearing COVID masks. And they all have guns. Because famously there were just armies of black bloc with guns,
like just militia units that went around and killed America. Yeah, yeah, so good. It gets better. Okay, now they're kind of cycling through the game. We see all of them, Side by side.
Now they're all aiming their guns at us and it's just the one guy changing uniform a bunch for some reason.
This is so stupid.
Oh, then we got like actually the, the Tiktok thing, where he was just standing there and like they're.
They're like hey, we're gonna go to all this trouble of having you change costumes a million times.
Yeah, it's like uniforms through the centuries right, like when they do like the dancing videos through the decades.
What does this have to do with Charlie?
Fucking no idea.
Can somebody tell me?
It is so funny because we go into this Christopher Nolan preview.
You know you.
of just like this nonsense. And then just you wait. Just you wait. I'm going to play it out here. Bernie? What? Was that Zoran at the end? So we just got a quick thing of rapidly,
oh, the faces of the enemies of America. It'll be annoying sound-wise, but I could put it on super slow-mo or something. Let me do that without the sound. With no sound, yeah. Because it'll be annoying as hell. And we'll try to pick out the faces. See who we know. We got probably Lenin,
Mao, Hitler, Stalin. Boy, even at .25 speed, it is just booking it. Yeah, just some others real quick, and then, who's that again? I'm not sure. Kim Jong-un? Oh, is it? Yep, might be Kim Jong-il. And then Bernie Sanders. And then Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar. Wait, who is that? Who is that? Actually, yeah, hold on. This is very revealing as to who America's enemies are. Okay, we got Fidel Castro, Che Guevara. Okay, this is, okay,
then we got, I forget who that is. Bernie, Ilhan Omar. Who is that? I don't know. It's not Fauci, is it? No. That's not Fauci. I don't know who that's supposed to be. Dick Cheney? I actually don't know. It's not like George Soros or anything. Oh, that's a great call. I think it's probably George Soros. I haven't seen a lot of profile pictures of him, so I'm not sure. I feel like it might not be him. No,
it's not. He doesn't wear glasses. We have a guy in glasses. You can't see. It's kind of a silhouetted profile. Who is that supposed to be? What if it's just like some fucking guy? Like they're like, I really hate my neighbor, Ted. Throw him in there. No, it's definitely somebody. It is somebody. Maybe I can do Google. Almost Dick Cheney. Oh, that's a good point. Let's see. God, we can do this. Who else would that be? That's not some Palestinian leader, is it? Oh, maybe. It could be. Oh,
A boss or whatever.
Oh, so he has kind of the hair and the glasses, but I don't think it's him either, because his now his chin is too strong.
This is a mystery.
I don't know who that's supposed to be.
God, there's something obvious.
We're missing something obvious.
That's close.
That's maybe the closest one, but it's not.
I don't think it's it.
This is fun.
I like this.
Hold on, i'm gonna go back slightly, because who would it be in context?
We got Bernie, we got Ilan Omar, we got that's not Chuck Schumer.
It's not like okay, who's the next person?
Is that?
Who the fuck is that?
Can you image search?
Is that not working?
It's not really working.
Oh, is that um Keith Ellison?
Oh, is that who that is?
Yeah, that might be Keith Ellison.
Yeah, that might be Keith Ellison.
That's a good call it's.
That's a good call.
This is weird.
This is weird.
This is weird that they did this after Keith Ellison.
This is weird that they did this.
After Keith Ellison, maybe.
Maybe versions of people?
It's chat GPT versions of people.
I think that might be why we're struggling.
I think that might be why we're struggling.
Yeah, but we got aoc.
Yeah.
But we got AOC, so chat GPT was good at that, apparently, or whatever.
So chat GPT was good at that, apparently.
AOC.
Oh, Jasmine Crockett?
Oh, yeah, Jasmine Crockett.
But, yeah, that's also AI Jasmine Crockett.
Yeah, they did Jasmine Crockett in, like, full glam, like, rhinestone heated suit.
Yeah, what the fuck?
This is for sure AI, right?
Oh, yeah.
Oh yeah, is there some photo of her in a Michael Jackson-esque costume?
Is there some photo of her in a Michael Jackson-esque costume?
That's so funny they did.
That's so funny.
They did AI these.
Yeah, they totally, and she looks like different, like she looks, but it's, I mean, it's recognizable at least.
Yeah, they totally AI'd it.
And she looks, like, different.
Okay, who's next let's see?
Oh, and then they end on Zoron, which is just a real quick in the Alaskan wilderness apparently yeah, with his coat.
Ah, that was a little departure.
I wasn't anticipating, but now we gotta get back to it with sound, because I forget if it has something else.
Oh, more horses horseback, just a forest at night.
now we got AI. George Washington, I suppose? I guess that's supposed to be George Washington? Yeah, these are for sure AI because they're like George Washington combined with like, I don't know, like Charlton Heston. Different actors. Yeah, I'm trying to think. It looks like Liam Neeson or something. Ben Franklin. AI can always nail Ben Franklin. That's the thing. I wish we could wake Ben Franklin up from his grave to say, Hey,
you know what? You're so unique-looking that AI can always nail you. I'll tell you, they nail Thomas Jefferson, too, actually. This is a million percent AI, though, because you remember when we covered the PragerU doing the Founders Project or whatever, and they did the President Hall in the White House and how freaking uncanny valley those people were? This is them. This is the same program. This is so fucking stupid. Oh, God, it's the best. That is beyond just the material that we are seeing. James Madison? James Madison and then who the fuck is this showing you? Oh,
is that supposed to be Hamilton? No, the one that Andrew Jackson. Really? Hold on, is that Scalia? Oh my god. They have Scalia in a wig? Like a barrister wig or whatever it is. That's totally what that is. Screaming from the pulpit. Oh my god, These people.
I didn't even catch that the first time.
The first hundred times i've watched this hold on, hold on, hold on, that is for sure.
Scalia wow, in a wig in a church.
Wow, i'm gonna get Betsy Ross.
Okay, i'll turn this down on again.
We got the Abraham Lincoln.
We've got most A.i.
Claymation to Abraham Lincoln.
Oh my god, that's disturbing, it's gross.
He looks like a clay.
It's a cross between clay and a ventriloquist dummy.
Yeah, and it's every bit as horrifying as that sounds like.
It couldn't be more horrifying because your welfare.
And then they decide to use archival footage of Teddy Roosevelt it wasn't yeah, they just decided they're like, all right, we got.
This is a little too after a fucking claymation shit.
Uh, Abraham Lincoln, I think we got to at least like sprinkle it in, like maybe people think maybe they did find real footage of some of these people yeah, and then we're on.
Who is that?
What's his name?
That's, I know who that is.
There is a president.
That that's the thing about AI is like it's reminiscent of somebody, but I don't know who.
Presidential, this is a president, but which one?
Yeah, is it.
I was gonna say Grant for a sec, but not really.
Who is that supposed to be?
Is it a?
Is it a Supreme Court justice?
Dermot Moroney, like I don't know.
Well, whatever.
a ship a train a plane a car innovation the olympics yeah
now they get to claim all of sports all of sports, all of innovation Jesse Owens Babe Ruth, Muhammad fucking Ali go fuck yourselves, you don't get Muhammad Ali, I don't even think the left gets Muhammad Ali that's, come on okay they showed NASCAR, you can have it over there oh and Tiger Woods Michael Jordan?
you don't get Michael Jordan, fuck off oh hold on, there's hockey, who's this?
oh that's, okay, well it's gonna be Miracle on Ice yeah but that wasn't like the Republicans no it wasn't like a big Miracle on Ice because of Jesus like that wasn't, I don't think was it, were they really Jesus-y?
I don't think so yeah I don't know oh they want San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge Michael Jackson you don't get Marlon Brando and Dorothy yeah Judy Garland.
And then Marilyn Monroe.
Who is this?
Yeah, it's Marilyn Monroe.
You can have John Wayne.
You can have John Wayne.
That's fine.
You can have whatever this fucking fighter jet is.
The space program.
You don't get the space program.
You killed the space program.
You got rid of it.
He sounds so much like Tom Hanks right now.
There's no space program.
There's no Jesus in space program.
There's no Jesus Space Program!
Fuck you.
The road to peace.
You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, there is a price we will not pay.
There is a point.
Okay, so we have Ronald Reagan over entirely World War II victory footage.
Yep.
Yep.
Beyond which they must not advance.
So after all that war montage...
whatever, AI presidents or something... God, was it Warren G. Harding? Why would they do Warren G. Harding? It feels like that's who it was. All right. Then we get Charlie Kirk. What's his connection to this? When Turning Point USA was started, I could not have imagined what God had in store for this organization. My political journey was in the midst of the Obama craze in Chicago. As someone who is generally conservative, I realized this generation, millennials,
is going to be the most progressive generation in history if we don't do something about this. We're active in about 15 campuses, and we're growing very, very quickly. And keep in mind, this is not just a flash-in-the-pan movement. We're going to become an institution. To give them the power and the confidence to stand up and let their voice be heard. I was 18, No idea what I was doing.
No connections, no money.
We didn't have an office.
We didn't have a staff.
It was just me just traveling the country doing this pure grit, pure energy.
We are an organization committed to ideas and to principles, not the political parties or politicians.
We are in a generational battle right now that the stakes could not be higher.
And the experiments and the gifts that our founding fathers gave to us could be easily lost if we don't make the proper choices and the right course of corrections.
That's a lot of people, Utah.
I'll tell you what.
Jesus Christ.
After Charlie's assassination, we didn't see violence.
Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed.
We saw revival.
You're going to hear what Charlie did.
But i'm here today to tell you the why in what he did.
The why brought him the courage.
The why brought him the wisdom and the strength.
The why is the one that Charlie wanted to welcome as the guest of honor.
The guest of honor, his resume is long.
He's the king Of Glory.
He's the prince of Peace oh my god.
He's the savior of the world.
He's the living god.
He's the god of all mercy and grace, the total embodiment of love.
They show the podium like Jesus is going to come up and speak next and, I swear to god, they're also this close to doing a Charlie Kirk hologram, like that's how, like high tech this thing is, and like totally high production value.
I think we're almost through it.
The total embodiment of truth.
And he's here today.
And he's here today to call his children back to him.
Ladies and gentlemen.
I know I speak for everyone here today.
Yeah, and then they go to Trump.
Yeah.
Yeah, subtle.
I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk.
We speak with Charlie and for Charlie louder than ever.
Oh, Erica Kirk's new.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, just wait.
So then Erica Kirk is going to come out.
Okay.
And she's, I don't know if this is a bit or what, but she's like, oh, my iPad won't turn it on.
And what's funny about this is I feel like she wants to address things.
What do they call it?
They used to say subtweeting or whatever.
I feel like she's, like, addressing some of the stuff. Like, for example, I'll just do a few quick shots here. And that's also why the past several months, several weeks, I honored my husband by completing all of his pre-planned fall media tour hits for his book, his, Any commitment he had.
I wanted to honor that for him.
I wasn't going on a media tour myself, this was for my husband, because in our household our word is our bond and when you give it, you uphold it.
Yeah, that's some damage control right there.
Yeah, a little bit.
Well, you know, I kind of wanted to ask you because there's been well, it's going to be something we get into later with a different media appearance.
She did, but like, how do you feel about that whole thing with her?
I'm just curious I don't think we've talked about it about her going out and doing a bunch of stuff.
Yeah like, do you feel like it's been unfair that people have bashed her for that?
Do you feel like it's been fair?
Do you feel like?
I don't know.
I'm just curious.
I have mixed feelings.
I think for people to assume that she's not grieving, I think is unfair.
I don't think anyone knows that except for her.
And she might just be the kind of person where she wants to stay busy and that's what's helping her through it.
I don't know.
But I do feel like she's a really, really fake person in general.
And so I'm kind of torn between those two things, right?
I'm not really interested in assigning too many motives to her grief process, but I'm happy to assign motives to her grifting.
which I think are distinguishable. And so I've just been trying to stay in that lane a little bit more. Rather than kind of go after her about, you know, after her husband died. Yeah, it's a crazy thing. And the more I think about it, it's just like, I guess once you add Jesus to the equation, I just think, because like, my first thought was initially like, if anything like this happened to me, you wouldn't see me, I don't think. I don't think there'd be, I guess it depends on what it was. Like, if it was the equivalent,
I guess it's hard because it's like a political thing. Yeah. As horrifying as what happened. Oh, yeah. To have her husband die. There are no words. Yeah, on video like that. Like, that's awful. I wouldn't wish that on anyone in the whole world. Nope. It's awful. So part of me is like, again, I don't think I would be open to, like, being in the world after that. You know what I mean? But I don't know. Like, I guess there's another reaction that's like,
it's so fucking insane and horrible what happened. From her perspective, especially, that you'd almost want to, like, give it meaning, you know? Like, maybe it's like, okay, if I put this into my, like,
worldview and into my story of Jesus and politics and everything, like, it's a way to, like, make it less horrible and traumatic, maybe? I don't know. I'm just not sure. Like,
it's easier to come to terms with, probably, for a lot of folks who believe in religion, because that person, yes, they are dead from the physical world, but they live on in eternity with God, right? Yeah, they get to just be like, well, he's a martyr, so he's, you know. Right, right, exactly. And so I think there's an element of it where it's like, That perhaps helps folks move on and sort of frame it in a different way where, yes, they miss the person, potentially Earth-side,
but they don't grieve that they're dead really anymore because they believe that they're someplace better. Yeah. It's just hard not to feel like she's really using it. I don't know. It's just really hard, you know? It's like, with how much she's doing, I don't know.
It's a lot.
I think there's a lot of things going on there.
I think they're probably complicated motivations, and some of them are not great.
I think that that's fair.
Ugh, weird.
Here's a little thing.
I just think this is a very ominously named thing that I just found quickly funny.
Another turning point for us for 2026 is the Make Heaven Crowded tour, something I'm very excited about.
Make Heaven Crowded?
Yeah, we're going on a killing spree, everybody.
We're just going to go kill everybody?
We're all going to die.
Yeah, that is interesting.
Does she just mean like convert people?
I think that's what she means.
Okay.
I was, my eyebrow was making, wow, wow.
I was, my eyebrow was making, wow, wow.
That was my first reaction, yeah.
That was my first reaction, yeah.
Okay, we're going on a spree.
Okay, we're going on a spree.
We're going to kill everybody.
We're going to kill everybody.
That was just funny.
That was just funny.
But then there's another subtweet here.
But then there's another subtweet here.
Let's see what folks think of this.
Let's see what folks think of this.
We're going to get my husband's friend, JD Vance, elected for 48.
My husband's friend that I barely know him.
Off limits, off limits.
Yes.
J.D., who?
What?
Anyway, this guy my husband knows.
So weird.
So funny.
But honestly, after that, she was pretty boring.
The first speaker, though, I guess not counting her, because I don't know if she's a speaker or launching the event.
First speaker.
right out of the gate. And I gotta say, for me, this was a bit like my favorite Shakespeare play, Julius Caesar. One of the first one that I ever liked. Because there's a thing that happens in Julius Caesar where I feel like being the first to speak can be a big disadvantage because we have a conservative civil war. We have a MAGA,
I don't know if I call it MAGA, but there's a, on the right, there's a bit of a civil war happening. A couple speakers later, the main event was Tucker Carlson. And they are feuding. Yes. And we'll hear some of the feud. And I think it's interesting because just watching Ben Shapiro's side of it,
it seems like it comes across well. It seems like the crowd's into it, et cetera, et cetera. But then, like, the whole rest of the day one and day two. They're kind of shitting on Ben Shapiro. Interesting. Yeah,
so I think he might be in some trouble, but it's hard to say. So they're all just like happily leaning into anti-Semitic nonsense. Yeah, so that's what's interesting. So here's the crux of it. I'm realizing it's probably easier for me to explain than to try to find enough clips to stitch together,
but I will play some. But Candace Owens, man, this is some real drama. It really is, yeah. Candace Owens is nuts. Yes. And she is spreading a lot of conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's murder. Yes. And some of them are about Israel. And Ben Shapiro is upset. It's hard because on one hand,
I'm obviously anti the anti-Semitism of the right. But in the same way that there's Ben Shapiro and you'll see it with Vivek Ramaswamy and you'll sometimes see it with black Republicans. Right. There's a thing they do where they're all in for the whole shit when it comes to everybody else. They're all in on the deport everybody,
you know, separate the fucking families, all that shit. They're all for the evil shit. Until it comes to their demographic. They're like, whoa, whoa, whoa! They forget that they're an other also. We all know that what the right cares about. Is not anti-Semitism. Or whatever. Literally all of those things pretty much happen in this event. We had Ben Shapiro,
we have Vivek Ramaswamy, we have Ben Carson. Ben Carson, God, the most uncharismatic person ever. Yeah, yeah. Oh my God. You know how far we've fallen? He's one of the most sane, cogent speakers of this event. I am not joking. That's insane. I am not even doing a bit. Jeez. He's in day two and it's like, oh. There's a normal guy. Oh,
the intelligence of Ben Carson. So glad to see that. It's fucking insane. That's ridiculous. That's how far we've come. So it's hard because it's like, yes, I am anti all these bigotries, of course. And so, you know, if you're also anti all these bigotries, maybe you should be anti the fucking right because they're the home of all these bigotries. It's going to be about Usha Vance or whatever her name is,
where they're just like, whoa, hold on, though. Wait a minute. Whoa, you've gone one too far for me. It's like, I don't know, kind of fuck you. I don't really have a lot of sympathy for it. Made your bed kind of thing. Yeah. And it's like,
when it comes to at least Jewish people and Ben Shapiro, I will say that at the very least, from his perspective. It's a little bit different because it's like the Republicans have been super pro-Israel. It's one thing when it's like if it's a black Republican, if it's a, you know, if it's like a Muslim Republican, you know, something like that where you're like, yeah, okay, I don't know what you're thinking because the right has been anti-you for like ever. But for Ben Shapiro,
the right hasn't been anti-him. The anti-Semites live on the right. But in terms of Israel, which is what he actually cares about, they've been great on Israel historically. But there's a rift. There's a big rift happening. We've covered it a little bit. It's come up. There's a big rift. And it varies from,
on one hand, probably outright anti-Semitism. And I say probably, like definitely anti-Semitism. Like Nick Fuentes. Yeah. Just anti-Semitic. Like, pure and simple. And also, Anti-israel.
I I don't.
I think the anti-semitism is more active in that like but but there's also they try to justify it with some like America first stuff and they try to come up with their little reasons for it that aren't racism essentially.
And then there's people who are, I think, probably not super anti-semitic.
But there are people on the right who are like kind of coming to the conclusion that a lot of, a lot of the younger people are coming to which is like, why are we giving this country a bunch of money yeah, to fight people that aren't at war with us, essentially like, and it runs the gamut of very anti-semitic to.
I don't actually think anti-semitism is the motivation.
I'm saying it kind of runs that gamut.
There's plenty of just plain old anti-semitism.
There's also plenty of people.
And I would say that about a lot of us on the left, too.
They're like, hey, let's not give this country our money.
I don't know how many on the right really care about the fact that they're killing Palestinians and people in Gaza.
Like, I don't know.
Yeah, I don't think that that's a huge cross-section.
Some of them use that.
Like, Tucker Carlson uses that.
I don't think he gives a shit.
No.
But he does signal, like, oh, look at all the—and it's convenient for them.
Yeah, yeah.
You say opportunist.
I can't believe, more than ever, I think Tucker Carlson believes what he's saying.
It's interesting.
Oh, I think he believes it in the moment.
But I don't think he actually believes anything, like, as a through line.
I used to think that.
Really?
But the more I've seen him, the more I've seen that he doesn't really have any fucks to give.
And I think he's not terribly—like, he's not always consistent because I just don't think he's self-critical at all.
So I think that allows for him sometimes to forget that he's on one side of a thing or the other.
But I think he believes what he's saying, and I think he's very America first.
Mm-hmm.
And so for him— I don't know, he swears he's not anti-Semitic, he probably is, I don't know. I don't think he gives a shit about Palestinians. So in that sense,
you're right, totally. But I do think he actually cares about the thing he cares about, and he is using that because he cares about the other thing. I guess is what I'm saying. Right, right, yeah. Because I used to think he was just like, oh, he's an idiot, he's a shill, he's just an empty, like,
because he's such a weird, vapid person, and the way he talks that, like, when I just saw clips back in the day when he was on Fox News, I was like, is this guy just insane, or does he just, like, is he selling a grift? But, like, I think he actually believes this stuff. Like, he's consistent in certain ways, and he has all the money in the world, he's answerable to no one. And he's still out there spewing the same stuff. I think he believes it. I don't know. Like,
to the point where he's willing to have on Nick Fuentes, and that's the big controversy here. So to get back to that, we got Ben Shapiro coming on, and he's going to do the thing that I've said where he's like, hold on, John, hold on.
We all agree here that anti-Semitism is a step too far.
But he on the right and the MAGA right especially is at a huge disadvantage because all of the arguments he's going to use are the very things that he's accused the left of and that the right has accused the left of forever.
Oh.
So all the things he's going to say are like, hey, you can't just have an anti-Semite on your show and just be okay with that.
And you can't just.
And so he does the stuff that like the platforming.
Yeah.
So he goes to those arguments that all the arguments that he was on the other side of when it's people he doesn't care about.
Now that's something he cares about.
He goes to all of them.
Oh, you can't give them a platform.
You can't do the thing.
So what happens is like he has a talk.
It seems like the crowd's into it.
He's good at what he does.
He's a good speaker.
He's among the smarter of these people.
Yeah yeah, I agree with that, but he's stuck because he's having to use what to us is very sensible arguments.
Yeah.
I agree with that.
But he's stuck because he's having to use what to us is very sensible arguments like to you and I were like, hey, yeah, you know what?
Like to you and I were like hey yeah, you know what.
Like, if you have Nick Fuentes on your show, you're either an anti-semite or you don't give a shit of that.
You're, you know, like it's one or the other going hard against him.
Yeah yeah, and unfortunately, he operates for him, he operates in the ecosystem.
That's like, oh no no, you can be a just asking questions person.
Yeah, you can.
You could just do the just asking questions.
And it's funny because like earnestly, these people are like, no no, I was just asking questions.
And it's so funny because you and I over here on the progressive left have been like, yeah no, I know what you're doing, you're a racist.
Like yeah oh, you're just asking questions about what?
Isn't it weird that israel?
All the Jewish people, whatever, you know, like, you're racist, you're Anti -Semitic, you're racist, you're whatever.
And I have no problem being like, yeah.
And sometimes it's just pure obtuseness when it comes to Tucker Carlson.
Because like, I think another thing that I realized after watching this and after watching the Nick Fuentes thing is I used to think it was outright anti-Semitism, but I actually think there also is such a privilege.
I think what I'm leaning more toward a little bit is that it's a product of being so privileged that he can't even understand why it would be shitty to a Jewish person to have Nick Fuentes on your show.
Right.
Like in his mind, weirdly, and it was kind of blew my mind when I was doing research on that part of it. We're not going to go through that. But like when I watched the Tucker Fuentes thing I have no problem with Jewish people whatsoever. I just do it in Israel. There's a weird way in which I kind of believe him in the sense that,
like, he's so clueless as to his own privilege and to how harmful this kind of thing is that he doesn't think it's a big deal. Yeah. And that in itself you can say is anti-Semitic or you can say, and it very well may be in the effect is, but I actually think in a weird way in his mind, he's just like, oh, no, this isn't a big deal, so whatever. Like, I'll just talk to him. Because it doesn't affect him. And the same goes for, you know, other forms of bigotry where he doesn't care. I don't know that he,
I think he can just like be a just asking questions guy because he doesn't give a shit. And I think there's also this element too of like, I'm sure there are people in his life that are Jewish that like he gets along with great, like he has no problem with them as like individual people or anything like that. And so because it's not his identity and he doesn't think of things from an identity. standpoint, viewpoint. That he thinks, that he knows of. Right, That he knows of.
Then it really is like, he can say, well, I have no problem with Jewish people because the Jewish people in my life, like, I love them.
We get along great.
And he can't think about it.
From the Jewish community and the experiences that they've been through as a people and the things that might affect them as a community, and not just on this individual basis, I can talk to whoever I want, and you can't call me names ever, because that's what the woke do.
Right.
And also, identity politics.
Oh!
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
You're going to use your Jewish identity to whatever.
So, like, Ben Shapiro's trying to make all these arguments.
They're not going to work with this crowd because they're all the things that you and I believe, but not anyone else on the right.
Like, they don't believe it. Yeah. Because they're so used to us on the left being like, oh, that's kind of a racist thing you're doing. And them being like, I'm realizing it's the Tucker Carlson voice thing he does. What? Racist? You racist? You know, he does all that weird shit he does. So, I guess we'll pause here. We're barely into it, but when we come back, we're going to get into the Ben Shapiro a little more, and then Russell Brand. Oh, boy. And then some random people you've never heard of, or you have, But probably the listeners probably haven't.