The Erick Erickson Show
The Erick Erickson Show cuts through the chaos with bold clarity and biblical conviction. Broadcasting live each weekday, Erick tackles the stories that matter - from Washington to Wall Street to your backyard - with fearless analysis rooted in Christian truth and conservative principles. No tribal talking points. No partisan spin. Just straight talk from a host who believes in the sovereignty of God, the greatness of America, and the importance of holding everyone accountable - right or left.
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S15 EP144: Hour 1 - The Iran Economic Fight
08/14/2026
S15 EP144: Hour 1 - The Iran Economic Fight
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promises unprecedented economic measures and a blockade of Iranian ports as $4 gas and $80 oil collide with the midterms, and Erick Erickson says the hard part out loud: we are losing a war against a country we could beat because there was never a plan. Then the case Republicans do not want to hear, that Ken Paxton is lazy, corrupt, and putting Texas in play for James Talarico, with Mark Halperin agreeing on tape. Plus Max Miller in Ohio, Cory Mills and Ron DeSantis in Florida, Mike Collins in Georgia, and Abdul El-Sayed's Detroit animal shelter record in Michigan. Scott Bessent's Iranian port blockade and sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, and the highest pre-election August gas prices on record Why the Pentagon never sent the demand signal for missile production, Admiral Cooper's stop and start problem, and the drones and F-5s Iran actually got through Ken Paxton versus James Talarico in Texas, the donor class walking away, and Mark Halperin's warning that Paxton loses if nothing changes Herschel Walker, Mike Collins, Max Miller, and Cory Mills: how the GOP keeps nominating its weakest links while Democrats force theirs out Abdul El-Sayed, Sharia and dogs, and the 74 percent kill rate at Detroit's animal shelter, plus Luigi Mangione's admission in the Brian Thompson murder
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S15 EP144: Hour 2 - The Pessimists
08/14/2026
S15 EP144: Hour 2 - The Pessimists
Erick Erickson wades into the fight between Ben Shapiro and the Federalist's John Daniel Davidson over whether the American dream still works, and answers with a date: ten years ago his wife would be dead, because the lung cancer treatment that saved her did not exist yet. Using C.S. Lewis and the fifteenth Screwtape letter, he takes apart the professional pessimism spreading across the online right and makes the case for contentment. Then CNN's Harry Enten says he is running scared for Republicans as Democratic primary turnout blows past 25 million, and Erick argues over whether culture or the economy decides November, from Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan to Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota and Ken Paxton in Texas. Ben Shapiro versus John Daniel Davidson on whether hard work and virtue still pay off, and Erick's precise rebuttal: his wife's lung cancer drug, next day delivery, the end of Roe v. Wade, and the Supreme Court on trans care for minors C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, and the fifteenth letter: why idealizing the past or fearing the future makes idols, why misery is increasingly a choice, and why contentment is the answer Harry Enten's CNN data: over 25 million Democratic primary votes so far, ahead of 2018, against a Michigan Senate poll that is the weakest Democratic showing of the century Culture versus the economy in November: Mike Rogers versus Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Peggy Flanagan's ICE answer in Minnesota, Ken Paxton's character problem in Texas, and why Erick thinks the GOP is making a bad gamble Callers on populism versus conservatism, a Star Trek fan page turning on Noa Tishby while a barbecue board showed nothing but love, and a gearhead's case against letting Washington design Detroit's cars
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S15 EP144: Hour 3 - Trust Fund Commies
08/14/2026
S15 EP144: Hour 3 - Trust Fund Commies
Stacey Abrams sits down with Kamala Harris and declares that the South has lived under soft authoritarianism since 1776 and that America has backdoored its way to a new Jim Crow, and Erick Erickson, who served on the city council in Macon, Georgia, answers with the Jim Crow signage still hanging in his city's terminal station and the people who actually want it kept up. From there he reads his "trust fund commies" piece in full, the argument that from Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx to Fidel Castro, Xi Jinping, Zohran Mamdani and Graham Platner, socialism has always been the insurance policy of the well born against the creative destruction of a free market. Plus a caller on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, and why Luigi Mangione's zealous defense and life sentence prove the system worked. Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris on "soft authoritarianism" in the South, Georgia's voter ID law she called Jim Crow 2.0, and the black voter turnout that went up instead of down Macon's terminal station and its whites only water fountains: why northern transplants want the signs torn down and native black residents want them kept Luxury beliefs and the harm they do: defunding the police, blocking school choice, decriminalized drug use, and a near wreck with a driver high on marijuana on Erick's morning commute The trust fund commies essay: Friedrich Engels' textile mill, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, Xi Jinping's princelings, Joseph Schumpeter's creative destruction, Zohran Mamdani, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, and Graham Platner's oysterman cosplay Roy in Jacksonville on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Pentagon that has not been candid about Iran, and George on Luigi Mangione's guilty plea, the border wall, and why defense lawyers deserve respect
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S15 EP143: Hour 1 - Tariff Fire
08/13/2026
S15 EP143: Hour 1 - Tariff Fire
Erick opens on the Wall Street Journal's tariff refund story (over 40 S&P 500 companies reporting some $9.6 billion, with Apple near $2.2 billion, Nike at $986 million, FedEx at $800 million, Amazon at $640 million, and GM at $500 million after the Supreme Court struck the tariffs) and skewers the populists who swore tariffs would not raise prices yet now demand a cut of the refunds. He then turns to the Tyler Robinson trial in the Charlie Kirk assassination, the Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson conspiracy theories, and the debunked Anthony Fauci mRNA miscarriage claim, arguing that information overload is pulling Americans away from reality itself and undermining the truth claims, most of all the resurrection, that society needs to survive. Tariff refunds pour into Apple, Nike, FedEx, Amazon, and GM; Erick's warning to the Fortune 500 to raise wages and reinvest or face bipartisan backlash Why prices rose less than feared because companies held back wages and investment, and how populist economics runs on emotion, not coherent policy (the $20 burrito, the cheaper Chipotle, "expensive toasters") Data centers and AI: Mark Zuckerberg, Mike Rowe, and a saved Washington State town versus Anthropic's Dario Amodei doom messaging, plus Flock camera CEO Garrett's new data limits The Tyler Robinson trial, Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens, and the "it was the Jews" conspiracy, alongside the transgender-shooter pattern the theorists ignore Anthony Fauci and the debunked COVID vaccine miscarriage claim, the DSA and PSL socialism clip on canceling mortgages, and Erick's faith close on truth, reality, and not fearing tomorrow
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S15 EP143: Hour 2 - The V-8
08/13/2026
S15 EP143: Hour 2 - The V-8
Erick argues that precedent matters, tracing how Democrats spent decades using lawsuits and court settlements (California's Proposition 8, the state's refusal to defend it, Bill Clinton's illegal immigration consent decree, and Anthony Kennedy's Obergefell ruling) to bind future governments, and how the Trump Justice Department has now learned the same trick by declining to appeal Judge James Wesley Hendricks' Northern District of Texas ruling that struck down the National Firearms Act permit and $200 tax on suppressors and short barreled rifles. From Palmetto State Armory buyers skipping the paperwork to the Fifth Circuit tossing Biden's gas stove limits, Erick says "we learned it by watching you." He then celebrates the V8's comeback (the Wall Street Journal on Ram scrapping the Hurricane six for the Hemi, Stellantis, and GM), skewers the Cybertruck and Ford Lightning, and warns Republicans that Ken Paxton could actually lose to Democrat James Talarico, citing Mark Halperin's blunt on air alarm. The National Firearms Act ruled unconstitutional in North Texas: Judge Hendricks, the Trump DOJ declining to appeal, suppressors and short barreled rifles going permit free, and Palmetto State Armory buyers lining up in South Carolina "We learned it by watching you": Proposition 8, the unenforced California marriage law, Bill Clinton's immigration settlement, Obergefell, and Republicans now winning settlements on gas stoves and dishwashers Suppressor myths versus reality, the James Bond pillow trick debunked, and Erick's own range day at Bullets and Burgers near Las Vegas Cliff calls from southwest Georgia on data centers and water, the DSA's misleading El Paso video, fracking water recycling, and a Washington State town funded 57 percent by one data center Americans and the V8: the Wall Street Journal on Ram's Hemi comeback, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, GM expanding V8 output, the Cybertruck and Ford Lightning as cautionary tales, plus Ken Paxton versus James Talarico with Mark Halperin sounding the alarm
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S15 EP143: Hour 3 - Drone Wars
08/13/2026
S15 EP143: Hour 3 - Drone Wars
Erick digs into a troubling defense story: in the Combined Resolve war games in Germany, Ukrainian drone operators wiped out a US armored brigade every single time, exposing how far behind America has fallen even as Reaper drones run low and Iran picks off the rest. He ties it to a missile production problem (the Pentagon never sent Lockheed Martin and Raytheon the demand signal, dating back to the 1993 "last supper" consolidation dinner) and to a Trump class battleship the Navy openly says it does not need, calling it a jobs program instead of a warfighting force. Then he pivots to Luigi Mangione's expected federal guilty plea in the Brian Thompson murder, Abdul El-Sayed and Sharia's view of dogs behind Detroit's 74 percent shelter kill rate, and a full throated case for tort reform built around the dismissed Hershey Reese's peanut butter pumpkin lawsuit. Topics: US drone vulnerability: the Combined Resolve exercise in Germany, Ukraine's 412th unmanned systems regiment routing the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, dwindling Reaper drones, and Iran's F-5s slipping into Kuwait Missile and shipbuilding dysfunction: the missing Pentagon demand signal, the 1993 "last supper," Lockheed Martin's thin 8 to 9 percent margins, continuing resolutions since Obama, and the Trump class battleship the Navy says it does not want Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty to federal charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and Tyler Robinson's lawyers fighting the death penalty in the Charlie Kirk assassination case Abdul El-Sayed, Sharia law and dogs, and Detroit's 74 percent animal shelter kill rate, plus Erick's own dog Max and the South Georgia dog whisperer Tort and lawsuit reform: the trial lawyer billboard economy (Morgan and Morgan, Morris Bart, Ken Nugent), the dismissed Hershey Reese's pumpkin lawsuit, and Scott Bessent scrapping the Biden small business registration rule
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S15 EP142: Hour 1 - Hong Gone
08/12/2026
S15 EP142: Hour 1 - Hong Gone
Erick breaks down a wild primary night: Democratic socialist Francesca Hong loses Wisconsin after Governor Tony Evers talked David Crowley back into the race, the polls badly oversampled white progressives, and Mike Lindell gets crushed in Minnesota's GOP governor primary. Then he warns Republicans that college-educated suburban voters are the new turnout machine, that Ken Paxton is dragging down Texas against James Talarico, and delivers a signature monologue arguing progressivism is a religion, complete with a viral clip of a reporter insisting you "can't be racist against white people." Wisconsin fallout: Francesca Hong's loss, David Crowley, Tony Evers, and why polling oversampled white progressives The GOP's midterm problem: college degrees as the new turnout predictor, and suburban Republicans running behind in Georgia and Texas Ken Paxton dragging down the Texas ticket against James Talarico, plus Trump's losing streak of endorsed candidates and lame-duck status Minnesota primary: Lisa DeMuth wins as Mike Lindell flops, with Michelle Tafoya and Peggy Flanagan setting up the Senate race The big monologue: intersectionality, allyship, and DEI as religion, illustrated by a reporter's "you can't be racist against white people" meltdown
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S15 EP142: Hour 2 - The Progressive Madrasas
08/12/2026
S15 EP142: Hour 2 - The Progressive Madrasas
On the seventh anniversary of his syndicated show, Erick Erickson tells the untold story of how Rush Limbaugh "lied through his teeth" to launch his radio career and later fought behind the scenes to let him talk faith on the air. He then turns to the "progressive madrasas": how Stanford University let Marxists write the capitalism entry in its Encyclopedia of Philosophy and butchered Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek. Along the way he unpacks critical theory, intersectionality, the "you can't be racist against white people" clip, and the "Yankee invasion of the SEC." Seven years in syndication: the Rush Limbaugh origin story, Bo Snerdley, the 2016 near-death from blood clots, and the faith that reshaped his voice The "progressive madrasas": critical theory, intersectionality, and the viral "you can't be racist against white people" clip explained through Tim Keller Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy lets Marxists define capitalism and misrepresents Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism," Stanford's land acknowledgments before frat parties, and a call for parents to exercise real college discernment The "Yankee invasion of the SEC": surging Northern enrollment at Alabama, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Tennessee, plus caller David on Trump fatigue and the Marxist war on a free press
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S15 EP142: Hour 3 - Doom is Coming
08/12/2026
S15 EP142: Hour 3 - Doom is Coming
Erick walks through a sobering Washington Post editorial on America's fiscal reckoning: with Social Security projected insolvent by 2032 and the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by 2033, demographics and mandatory spending are driving the country toward a debt cliff that no war or recession created. He revisits Mitch McConnell's "we will not fix it until we hit the cliff" prediction, George W. Bush's rejected 2005 Social Security privatization, cooling July inflation, and even floats Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce sparking a baby boom, before turning to John Larson's Connecticut primary loss, the Anthony Fauci diaries, and the AI resume filters auto-rejecting qualified applicants. The 2030s fiscal cliff: CBO projections, Social Security insolvency in 2032, the Medicare trust fund in 2033, and the collapsing worker-to-retiree ratio from six-to-one in 1952 to 2.7 today Why Washington will not act until crisis hits: Mitch McConnell's warning, George W. Bush's 2005 privatization plan, raising the retirement age, and the left's treatment of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce July inflation and the Fed: cooling CPI, core prices at 2.5 percent, and whether a September rate hike is coming John Larson's Connecticut primary loss to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin after his viral House-floor freeze, the seventh House Democrat ousted in a primary this year The Anthony Fauci diaries, the debunked mRNA vaccine miscarriage claim, Alex Berenson, AI job-application filters rejecting qualified candidates, and the case for reactive over proactive government
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S15 EP141: Hour 1 - The Great Escape
08/11/2026
S15 EP141: Hour 1 - The Great Escape
Erick opens on the Washington Post's exclusive that President Donald Trump secretly slipped out of Turkey after the NATO summit in Ankara, boarding the old Air Force One as a decoy and then being shuttled by catering truck onto a smaller Air Force jet, all because of a credible Iranian assassination threat. The White House press corps is melting down that it was left "expendable" on the decoy plane, and Erick unloads on that self-obsession while asking the bigger question: why has Trump still not taken out the Iranian regime that keeps trying to kill him. He then turns to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's boyfriend and his suspicious stock trades, Tucker Carlson interviewing Hunter Biden, and whether Trump even wants to win in November given his backing of scandal-plagued candidates Max Miller and Corey Mills. Washington Post exclusive: Trump's decoy Air Force One, the catering-truck switch to a C-32A, and the credible Iranian assassination threat leaving Turkey The press corps calling itself "expendable," Ned Price, and Erick's case that the president comes first, plus the missile shortage and the Ukraine angle AOC's unmarried boyfriend trading stocks tied to her committees (Washington Free Beacon), two-tiered justice, and Tucker Carlson's long friendship with Hunter Biden Does Trump want to win? How keeping Max Miller in Ohio and Corey Mills in Florida's 7th could cost the GOP a governor's race, a Senate seat, and House seats The Doggy Bear and Pink Bear monologue set against Max Miller withholding his daughter's blue bunny, and the Wall Street Journal chicken glut lowering grocery prices
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S15 EP141: Hour 2 - El Sayed Just Hates Everything Normal
08/11/2026
S15 EP141: Hour 2 - El Sayed Just Hates Everything Normal
Erick tears into Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed after CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and the KFile surface old clips of the democratic socialist calling football "toxically masculine" and tied to slavery, demanding an end to Fourth of July fireworks, floating a repeal of the Second Amendment, and promoting "feminist prison abolition," all now disowned as "cherry picked" comments from just two and three years ago. He then turns to Wisconsin, where on election day far-left gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong (one of only six votes against a bipartisan law making teacher grooming a felony, signed by Tony Evers) sits atop the Marquette poll and the Kalshi prediction markets, and to New York, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani is caught on a Turkish American podcast describing the red-green "validator" playbook. A caller pushes Erick on Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainians, and he makes the case for extending it while Russia bombs Kyiv. Abdul El-Sayed's resurfaced clips (CNN, Andrew Kaczynski, the KFile): football as "toxically masculine" and linked to slavery, banning Fourth of July fireworks, replacing the Second Amendment, over 100 deleted YouTube videos from 2022 to 2024, and "feminist prison abolition" on his America Dissected podcast Francesca Hong on Wisconsin election day: her lone-dissent vote against the bipartisan teacher-grooming felony law, the Marquette poll (Hong 38, Crowley 7, Barnes 16), Mandela Barnes dropping out, David Crowley, and a 94.9% Kalshi win probability Zohran Mamdani's Turkish American podcast interview on the identity-versus-ideology "validator" strategy, Cynthia Nixon, Tiffany Caban, Hassan Piker, and Erick's red-green alliance and Iran ayatollah playbook warning President Donald Trump on jihadists and communists winning elections and third-worldism, plus a Democratic Socialists of America leader dodging on police and prison abolition Caller James on TPS for Ukrainians, the August 19 deadline, Pete Hegseth's "temporary means temporary," the Patriot missile shortage, and Russian strikes destroying 17 buildings in Kyiv
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S15 EP141: Hour 3 - The intersectional Mind Virus
08/11/2026
S15 EP141: Hour 3 - The intersectional Mind Virus
Erick pivots from Zohran Mamdani to the Flock camera fight, using the Manhattan Institute's Stu Smith to trace the organized opposition to license plate readers back not to civil libertarians but to the Democratic Socialists of America, the Communist Party USA, and the defund the police and abolish prisons movements. He walks through Columbus, Ohio police chief Elaine Bryant's real case files where Flock helped solve double homicides, arrest a 15 year old murder suspect within 18 hours, recover a kidnapped three year old, and locate missing elderly people with dementia, while conceding the genuine privacy concerns raised by a listener in Jacksonville and callers from Oklahoma City and Forsyth County. He closes by dismantling Mamdani's slick anti Amazon ad as an attack on the small delivery businesses Amazon created, framing it as the politics of envy and covetousness. Flock license plate readers on trial: Stu Smith and the Manhattan Institute tie the anti Flock push to the DSA, the Communist Party USA, and the abolish police and prisons left, not to civil libertarians Columbus police chief Elaine Bryant's Flock case files: a double homicide solved, a 15 year old murder suspect charged within 18 hours, a kidnapped three year old recovered, an armed robbery tracked to Chicago, and two dementia patients with silver alerts found safe The privacy versus safety balance: Flock is a private company, the Supreme Court's no expectation of privacy on a public roadway, the built in audit tool that flags misuse, and the reality that police already pull cell phone data and gas station and bank security footage Callers Linda from Oklahoma City, Andrew on his stolen Forsyth County minivan found in 30 seconds, and Bart on the Shanghai and Great Britain surveillance state Zohran Mamdani's anti Amazon delivery ad, the Delivery Protection Act, and Erick's case that it targets small subcontractor businesses, plus a Silo and Slow Horses dystopia tangent and Trump's dubious Strait of Hormuz claim
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S15 EP140: Hour 1 - Competition at War
08/10/2026
S15 EP140: Hour 1 - Competition at War
Erick Erickson opens on the fight to let Ukraine build its own Patriot missiles and the Lockheed and Raytheon protectionism blocking it, as Ukraine out-produces all of NATO with five million drones this year while America makes fewer than 100,000. He ties a "sclerotic" defense industry and a stumbling Boeing to why the United States cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz or finish the job in Iran, where Tehran keeps raising its price and the promised Bessent and Rubio deal never came. Then a Milton Friedman defense of the free market against tariffs, the imaginary $20 burrito, populism as covetousness, and a surprising rethink on the Flock camera backlash. Topics: Patriot missile production, Ukraine's five million drones versus America's under 100,000, and the Lockheed and Raytheon IP fight reported by The Atlantic Iran on edge: Trey Yingst on Fox, the questioned Mostafa Khamenei "proof of life" video, unpaid IRGC soldiers, and why Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz despite the collapsed deal Boeing versus Airbus, bean counters over engineers, and how government protectionism kills innovation Milton Friedman, tariffs as a tax on working families, the phony $20 burrito, and populism as "covetousness organized as a governing principle" (JD Vance, Patrick Deneen, American Compass) The Flock camera backlash: license plate readers that solve murders and find missing kids, weighed against police abuse and left and right fears of a surveillance state
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S15 EP140: Hour 2 - Headed to Woke 2.0
08/10/2026
S15 EP140: Hour 2 - Headed to Woke 2.0
Erick Erickson breaks down Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's first big TV interview in two years, a soft sit-down with ABC's Jonathan Karl, and argues "Woke 2.0" is just the old defund-the-police, abolish-ICE agenda with the honesty stripped out. He contrasts Brian Kemp's early COVID reopening of Georgia, and the "human sacrifice" smear from The Atlantic and Anthony Fauci, with the credit Ron DeSantis got for running for president, then turns to Todd Blanche's narrow 50-vote confirmation as Attorney General. He closes on the new FIRE college free speech rankings, where 166 of 257 schools earn an F and Barnard finishes dead last. AOC's Jonathan Karl interview: "Woke 2.0," the dodged defund-the-police question, abolish ICE, open borders, and boys in girls' sports and locker rooms Brian Kemp reopened Georgia first: The Atlantic's "human sacrifice" story, Anthony Fauci, Ron DeSantis, Stacey Abrams, and Georgia's fast economic recovery Todd Blanche confirmed Attorney General on a 50-vote margin with Bill Cassidy's swing vote, and why Erick rates him over Pam Bondi at running the Justice Department Francesca Hong, Graham Platner, and Abdul El-Sayed: the Republican super PAC secretly boosting the far-left in Wisconsin, plus Scott Jennings and Ben Domenech on Hassan Piker, inflation, and moral hazard FIRE's 2026 college free speech rankings: Claremont McKenna, Purdue, and the University of Chicago on top, Barnard last, Hassan Piker canceled at the University of Washington, and Samford, Mercer, and the coming enrollment cliff
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S15 EP140: Hour 3 - Protect the People
08/10/2026
S15 EP140: Hour 3 - Protect the People
Erick Erickson takes apart the left's redefinition of violence, playing James Talarico's claim that poverty, pollution, and prison are all "violence," then walks through a Savannah, Georgia case where a man arrested 27 times attempted to rape a homeless woman in a public restroom while Judge Claire Williams kept releasing him. He argues prisons exist to punish, not to rehabilitate, and that homelessness is really a drug addiction and mental health crisis the left refuses to treat. Then Zohran Mamdani's FDR and LaGuardia nostalgia, CNN's Harry Enten on Trump's underwater jobs approval, a DSA co-chair's word salad to David Remnick of The New Yorker, and a long monologue on why AI, Common Core, and the algorithm are making Americans less imaginative. James Talarico's "poverty is violence, pollution is violence, prison is violence" clip, and Erick's case that prisons exist to punish, not to rehabilitate The Savannah, Georgia restroom attack: a repeat offender arrested 27 times, Judge Claire Williams, Alderman Nick Palumbo, Daffin Park, and homelessness reframed as a drug and mental health crisis Zohran Mamdani's FDR and LaGuardia pitch, rising New York costs and vacant apartments, and CNN's Harry Enten on Trump's jobs approval sinking 22 points underwater The DSA co-chair's interview with David Remnick of The New Yorker: word salad on taxing millionaires, blaming NATO for Ukraine, calling Putin a capitalist, and defending October 7 as "inevitable" Erick on AI and data centers: supportive but worried, Grammarly versus Claude, JD Vance's toaster line, the $20 burrito, Elon Musk's "woke" Odyssey claim, Common Core, and his kids' classical Christian school
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S15 EP139: Hour 1 - Economy Before Culture
08/07/2026
S15 EP139: Hour 1 - Economy Before Culture
Erick opens Open Line Friday on the ugly July jobs report: the economy lost 23,000 jobs, average wages rose just two cents while inflation outran them, and labor force participation fell to a five-year low, with middle-aged men and young workers struggling most to get hired. He argues the sectors government controls most (housing, healthcare, education, and food) are the ones driving prices up, then turns to Donald Trump endorsing Charlie Hatcher over Andy Ogles in Tennessee, Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate win, David Hogg's war on moderate Democrats, and Patrick Ruffini's data on the Democrats' summer polling mirage. The July jobs report: 23,000 jobs lost, wages up two pennies against a five-penny inflation bite, and why middle-aged white men and young workers cannot get hired Copper, aluminum, and steel prices spiking from data center demand and tariffs, plus why government-run housing, healthcare, and education lead inflation while clothing and cars fall Trump endorses former Ag Commissioner Charlie Hatcher after Andy Ogles runs a terrible campaign, and how clean energy money picked off Andy Ogles and Chip Roy Trump's "communist" framing, Abdul El-Sayed, David Hogg on CNN, Hassan Piker, and the anti-westernism Erick says is breaking the Democratic Party Patrick Ruffini's summer polling bias data, Mike Rogers versus El-Sayed in Michigan, Sherrod Brown, James Talarico, and why Max Miller and Corey Mills could cost the GOP seats
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S15 EP139: Hour 2 - Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
08/07/2026
S15 EP139: Hour 2 - Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
Erick breaks down Donald Trump's Punchbowl News interview with Jake Sherman, where the president insists voters are angry at other Republicans and not at him, defends tariffs and the Save America Act, wants to terminate the filibuster, and warns he could be "the last Republican president." Erick lays out the Axios warning from Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen that Trump is trapped by a war, tariffs, and monuments he never should have chased, plus a Quinnipiac record-low approval and a sub-40 percent polling average, then offers his own Labor Day fix: scrap the tariffs, finish the war with Iran, and drop the gaudy gold-leaf White House makeover. Then Open Line Friday callers on New York's $30 minimum wage, the restaurant tip credit, Milton Friedman and the free market, and why Cory Mills and Max Miller have to go. Trump's Punchbowl News interview with Jake Sherman: "they're not angry at me, they're angry at Republicans," terminating the filibuster, the Save America Act, and the "last Republican president" line Axios (Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen) on Trump trapped by the Iran war, tariffs, and monuments, Quinnipiac's all-time-low approval, and why summer polling still inflates the Democrats before Labor Day Erick's turnaround plan: scrap the tariffs to lower prices and lift wages, pour resources into finishing the Iran war for a quick military win, and stop the gaudy gold White House and paved-over Rose Garden remodel Caller David in Oklahoma City, a 38-year restaurant veteran, on New York's $30 minimum wage, the tip credit fight, union wage scales, fast-food automation, and young workers priced out of starter jobs Free markets versus "socialist light": Milton Friedman, the government taking ownership stakes in 30 companies, a Woodstock Georgia listener's housing squeeze, and why Cory Mills (Florida 7th, back Ryan Elijah) and Max Miller (Ohio 7th) must exit
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S15 EP139: Hour 3 - Deal Or No Deal
08/07/2026
S15 EP139: Hour 3 - Deal Or No Deal
Erick makes the case for Florida voters to throw scandal-plagued Congressman Cory Mills out of Florida's 7th District, walking through the House Ethics investigation into Mills' federal weapons contracts, the assault allegations, and the restraining order, then urging support for challenger Ryan Elijah, who trails Mills by just three points in the primary. He warns Republicans that if they will not clean up their own side, the voters will do it for them, invoking the 2006 wave that swept out Tom DeLay and Denny Hastert. Then a pair of Open Line Friday standouts: Enes Kanter Freedom declaring himself a WNBA prospect under the league's own self-identification rules, and a long free-market debate with caller Alan on why the government taking equity stakes in Intel, U.S. Steel, and IBM cannot beat China. Cory Mills (Florida 7th) under House Ethics investigation for steered weapons contracts, assault allegations, and a restraining order, and why Ryan Elijah, three points back in the primary, is the clean alternative in a perfect three-way swing district once held by John Mica and Stephanie Murphy The 2006 lesson for Republicans: Tom DeLay, Denny Hastert, and how refusing to police your own side hands seats to the Democrats Enes Kanter Freedom declares for the WNBA under the league's self-identification standard, Clay Travis and his "Nashville Balls" bit, and Sophie Cunningham on boys in girls' sports Caller Alan and the government's equity stakes in 30 companies: Intel's 10 percent CHIPS Act stake, U.S. Steel and Nippon golden shares, IBM and Watson, Kelly Loeffler, moral hazard, and Erick's "you cannot out-China China" argument Caller Michael on international law and the Iran strikes (the Geneva Convention on civilian versus military infrastructure), caller Emily on Zohran Mamdani's New York grocery stores versus food stamps, and the United Auto Workers now counting more academics than autoworkers
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S15 EP138: Hour 1 - The Burrito Again
08/06/2026
S15 EP138: Hour 1 - The Burrito Again
Erick takes on the viral "$20 burrito" affordability debate that lit up the right after a Turning Point USA student's tweet, arguing that tariffs, Fannie and Freddie loan guarantees, and the Jones Act (not lazy consumers) are what really drive prices up. He walks through Trump scrapping tariffs on coffee, bananas, beef, and eggs, and tells the story of his Rev Coffee habit and Jura machine to show tariffs in real life. Then he pivots to the Georgia governor's race, contrasting Keisha Lance Bottoms' "we don't have the facts" dodge on data centers with Rick Jackson's local-control answer, and points to Meta's El Paso project and the Hyundai plant in Bryan County as proof of the economic upside. Topics: The "$20 burrito" affordability firestorm, Turning Point USA, and why tariffs undercut the right's own complaints Trump reversing tariffs on coffee, bananas, beef, and eggs, plus Erick's Rev Coffee, Community Coffee, and Jura machine story Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, student loan guarantees, and the Jones Act waiver that lowered prices after the Iran war Keisha Lance Bottoms versus Rick Jackson on data centers in the Georgia governor's race Meta's El Paso data center, Hyundai in Bryan County, and the case for local control, property tax relief, and rural jobs
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S15 EP138: Hour 2 - Ascending Socialists Must Lie
08/06/2026
S15 EP138: Hour 2 - Ascending Socialists Must Lie
Erick catches the Democratic Socialists contradicting themselves in their own words: Bernie Sanders on Pod Save America swears no serious Democrat wants to defund the police, abolish ICE, or open the borders, while Ro Khanna openly calls to abolish ICE, pack the Supreme Court from 9 to 13, and tax billionaires. He plays Wisconsin governor candidate Francesca Hong refusing on CNN to disavow her deleted 2021 "cancel Thanksgiving" tweet, then a Politico jump-cut interview where she suddenly calls Thanksgiving her favorite holiday. Add a Mike Bloomberg and Jones Act tariff callback, BMW hijacking customers' screens for a Spider-Man promo, and a caller-fueled deep dive on data center cooling and immigration. Bernie Sanders (Pod Save America) versus Ro Khanna: the Democratic Socialist lie on defunding police, abolishing ICE, and open borders Francesca Hong's deleted "cancel Thanksgiving" and "original super spreader" tweet, her CNN dodge with Kaitlan Collins, and the scripted Politico jump-cut Mike Bloomberg, the Jones Act waiver, and a one-year tariff callback: why prices fell in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and California BMW calls its Spider-Man screen takeover a "special surprise," not an advertisement, and Erick calls it what it is Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan map (0 of 15 lowest-degree counties, 13 of 15 highest), colleges as "progressive madrasas," killing the student loan system, plus caller talk on closed-loop data center cooling and comprehensive immigration reform
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S15 EP138: Hour 3 - Ohio’s Senators Unite
08/06/2026
S15 EP138: Hour 3 - Ohio’s Senators Unite
Erick tracks the fast-collapsing Max Miller scandal as both Ohio Republican senators, his father-in-law Bernie Moreno and John Husted, now publicly call on the OH-7 congressman to quit over domestic violence and child-abuse allegations, including the bizarre "bunny" standoff and a daughter's untreated broken collarbone. He lays out the brutal math: an R+5 district against a D+8 generic ballot, where Miller staying on the ballot could sink Vivek Ramaswamy's run for governor and cost John Husted his Senate seat against Sherrod Brown, and he demands Trump push Miller out the way Democrats forced Graham Platner out in Maine. Then the blockbuster: Erick confirms a CNBC report that the Army has burned through nearly all of its ATACMS and precision-strike missiles in the five-month Iran war, walks back a false Washington Post claim of a Camp David blowup between Trump and Pete Hegseth, and warns that a China-Taiwan war is coming while Congress and the defense industrial base stall. Max Miller's OH-7 meltdown: Bernie Moreno and John Husted both say quit, the "bunny" story, the broken collarbone, and Scott Jennings and Katie Britt on CNN with Jake Tapper The electoral math: R+5 district, D+8 generic ballot, and how Miller could cost Vivek Ramaswamy the governor's mansion and John Husted his Senate seat versus Sherrod Brown Moderate Democrats launch a $15 million effort to stop the Democratic Socialists, compared to the 2012 GOP autopsy report, the Trump takeover, and the left writing off Elon Musk The missile shortage: CNBC reports the Army is nearly out of ATACMS and precision-strike missiles after the Iran war, the false Washington Post Trump versus Pete Hegseth and Steven Feinberg story, and Trump crying "treason" on the leakers China, Xi Jinping, and Taiwan readiness, plus closing headlines on the stalled Iran deal, James Talarico's chief-of-staff scandal, and Ken Paxton slipping in Texas
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S15 EP137: Hour 1 - Don’t Get Cocky After Michigan
08/05/2026
S15 EP137: Hour 1 - Don’t Get Cocky After Michigan
Erick breaks down Abdul El-Sayed's Democratic Socialist win in the Michigan Senate primary over Haley Stevens, his Morning Joe damage control on Israel, foreign aid, and abolishing ICE, and why the polls oversampled urban white voters and nearly blew the call. Then a blistering hour on Ohio Republican Max Miller, the abuse and drug allegations, father-in-law Senator Bernie Moreno calling him unfit, and how Democrats force their damaged candidates out while Republicans will not. Erick's warning: if Max Miller stays on the ballot, the GOP could lose the Ohio Senate and governor's races too. Abdul El-Sayed beats Haley Stevens for the Michigan Democratic Senate nomination and will face Republican Mike Rogers, with Erick warning the GOP not to get cocky El-Sayed on Morning Joe: calling Israel's conduct "genocide" and "apartheid," cutting military aid, abolishing ICE, and saying America's founding was flawed The polling failure: low rated and Democratic pollsters oversampled urban white voters in Michigan (and the same risk for Francesca Hong in Wisconsin), so trust the averages, not individual polls Ohio's Max Miller: three women allege abuse and violence, he admits past illegal drug use to Jake Tapper, and Senator Bernie Moreno calls him damaged goods who needs help The double standard: Democrats forced out Graham Platner, Eric Swalwell, Joe Biden, and Mandela Barnes, while Trump, Mike Johnson, and Richard Hudson refuse to move Max Miller, risking Vivek Ramaswamy and John Husted in Ohio
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S15 EP137: Hour 2 - We Lack the Power to Power the Future
08/05/2026
S15 EP137: Hour 2 - We Lack the Power to Power the Future
Erick makes the case that the United States simply does not have the electrical capacity to repatriate manufacturing or feed the AI boom, walking through Scott Lincicum's Cato piece on the 1886 Hall-Heroult aluminum cell and why a single smelter needs a permanent, enormous block of base load power that nuclear, coal, and natural gas provide and solar and wind cannot. He then turns to Ross Douthat's interview with Yale Law professor Samuel Moyn, who floats overweighting young voters and handing children's proxy votes to random 20-somethings instead of their own parents, and builds it into a sweeping monologue on college educated white progressives, the 1619 Project, and universities as "progressive madrasas." Plus the Max Miller "permission structure" play and a caller on the coming generational wealth transfer. The power crisis: Scott Lincicum (Cato Institute), the 1886 Hall-Heroult smelting cell, why aluminum smelters can never power down, and Erick's call for nuclear, coal, and natural gas base load plus small modular reactors How Trump's aluminum tariffs backfired by raising the cost of homes, cars, and electronics, and the case for ally-shoring to Javier Milei's Argentina and to Vietnam instead of China The natural gas pipeline in Erick's own backyard, Sierra Club opposition, and degrowth activists using blue-state regulators to sabotage pipelines and power plants Ross Douthat interviews Yale Law's Samuel Moyn on stripping parents of proxy votes for their children, answered with the Phil Gramm "what are my kids' names" story The college monologue: Nikole Hannah-Jones and the 1619 Project, self-loathing white progressives, and the four schools a prominent theologian recommends (Samford, Auburn, Texas A&M, Clemson) versus Erick's alma mater Mercer
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S15 EP137: Hour 3 - The $20 Burrito
08/05/2026
S15 EP137: Hour 3 - The $20 Burrito
Erick tears into the right's $20 burrito panic and the affordability fight between Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, and the Turning Point USA crowd, calling out the writers in JD Vance's orbit who blame corporate greed while refusing to admit Trump's tariffs and the Iran war (not just Joe Biden) drove up grocery, beef, and gas prices, with a Reuters poll now showing Americans blame Republicans. A caller pitches a Pacific Ocean to Lake Mead desalination mega-project with nuclear-powered AI hubs, reviving Erick's Ukraine drones and precision-missile shortage capacity argument. The hour closes with a monologue on democratic socialism as a secular religion, built on Lansing socialist William Lawrence saying non-white voters "defang the white left" and Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan coalition, and Erick's answer: churchgoers should go be their isolated neighbors' friend and bring them Jesus. The $20 burrito debate: Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, Mark Thiessen, and the Turning Point USA affordability fight, Erick's "learn to cook" pushback, his coming cookbook, and his own story of food assistance, formula, and the power getting shut off Why the right keeps circling the wagons around JD Vance, and Erick's charge that tariffs and Trump's half-baked Iran war (not just Biden) raised grocery, beef, and gas prices while a Reuters poll blames Republicans Caller Paul in Pinehurst: a Pacific Ocean to Lake Mead desalination mega-project with five nuclear-powered AI hubs run by Google, Amazon, and X, tied to Ukraine building 5 million drones and America running low on precision-strike missiles Caller Walter in Ponca City on Saul Alinsky, the book "After the Ball," and the Marxist language war over statues and history The secular-religion monologue: William Lawrence's "defang the white left" comment and Meet the Press apology, Abdul El-Sayed losing black, Hispanic, and non-college white voters, and Erick's call for believers to befriend isolated progressives who worship politics instead of God
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S15 EP136: Hour 1 - What the Pollsters Tell Me
08/04/2026
S15 EP136: Hour 1 - What the Pollsters Tell Me
Back early from vacation, Erick pulls back the curtain on what Republican pollsters, focus groupers, strategists, donors, and corporate money men are all telling him: James Talarico is leading Ken Paxton in Texas right now, and the fortune the GOP must spend to rescue Paxton could cost them Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed, Haley Stevens, and Mike Rogers set up a nervous primary night. He argues the one thing saving Republicans is a Democratic Party that has lost its mind, from Wisconsin governor hopeful Francesca Hong wanting to cancel Thanksgiving as colonialism to the socialist surge terrifying the party's own establishment. Then a signature comic monologue on the Washington Post dragging JD Vance for raising backyard chickens, complete with a they/them source in Utah and a hen named Karen. Texas Senate reality check: James Talarico leading Ken Paxton, three nonpartisan pollsters, the Ted Cruz versus Beto O'Rourke comparison, and the "suicide plot" that could hand Democrats the Senate Michigan primary night: Abdul El-Sayed versus Haley Stevens, Bernie Sanders and AOC versus Gretchen Whitmer, Gary Peters retiring, and Mike Rogers hunting a rematch after nearly beating Elissa Slotkin The corruption problem on the right: Democrats now trusted more on the economy, anger at the Trump family getting rich, tariffs, and why Erick says "I told you so" Francesca Hong, Zohran Mamdani, and the socialist meltdown: the deleted "cancel Thanksgiving" tweet, her "proximity to whiteness" CNN interview, and why the far left keeps rescuing Republicans The Washington Post versus JD Vance's chicken coop: Tim Carman, Carolina Coops, a $100,000 donated hen house, a they/them named Danny Bowers in Utah, a chicken named Karen, plus 86 percent of new jobs going to women
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S15 EP136: Hour 2 - The US is Losing to Iran
08/04/2026
S15 EP136: Hour 2 - The US is Losing to Iran
Erick argues the United States is losing to Iran by choice, driven by an isolationist wing embedded around President Trump and Vice President JD Vance that wants a "tripartite" world carved up with Russia and China, even as war torn Ukraine out builds all of NATO with 5 million drones a year while America cannot manufacture a single Patriot missile. He then hammers Ohio Republican Max Miller to drop out over the Daily Mail's syringe and marijuana gummy photos (with Senator Bernie Moreno calling it a "seventh level of hell") and calls on Florida to primary Cory Mills. The centerpiece is a deep dive into a $5 billion foreign dark money machine: Hansjorg Wyss, Christopher Hohn, the Oak and Hewlett Foundations, Indivisible, and Oren Cass funneling left wing cash into groups on both the left and a co opted "right." Iran "losing by choice": the isolationist right around Trump and JD Vance, Pat Buchanan's multipolarity, Catherine the Great and Putin's Soviet nostalgia, the China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba axis learning to coordinate, and Turkey, Pakistan, and Qatar quietly backing Tehran The manufacturing collapse: war torn Ukraine building 5 million drones this year (more than all of NATO combined) versus a U.S. arsenal under 100,000, plus Erick's new piece on handing the profit motive back to the private sector to build missiles, refine oil, and desalinate water Max Miller's scandal and Ohio's 7th District: Daily Mail syringe and 150mg gummy photos, Bernie Moreno's "seventh level of hell," the Graham Platner contrast, Trump defending Miller as "a good guy," and a call to primary Florida's Cory Mills The $5 billion foreign back door: Hansjorg Wyss, Christopher Hohn, the Oak Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Indivisible and the No Kings protests, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Code Pink and China, and 19 state attorneys general pushing a FARA investigation The captured "right": how Hewlett Foundation and American Compass money reaches Oren Cass, Sohrab Ahmari, and Compact to sell social conservatism with socialist economics, plus Ireland's anti Israel jet that can no longer land in fog
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S15 EP136: Hour 3 - Mike Rowe's $240K Electricians, the Data Center Boom, and Iran's Strait of Hormuz Games
08/04/2026
S15 EP136: Hour 3 - Mike Rowe's $240K Electricians, the Data Center Boom, and Iran's Strait of Hormuz Games
Erick makes a full throated defense of America's data center boom, playing a Mike Rowe clip about Plano, Texas electricians under 30 making north of $240,000 debt free, debunking the Erin Brockovich water panic from Bill Maher's show, and explaining why Caterpillar is suddenly the hottest stock in the Dow. Callers Keith, Max, Chet the Jet, and Ed dig into the skilled trades gold rush, canteen empanada six figure incomes, and the non-disclosure agreements that are breeding data center conspiracy theories. He closes with breaking Iran news as Trump, Scott Bessent, and Marco Rubio claim progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz while Tehran denies any talks and a cargo ship is struck off the coast of Oman. Mike Rowe's viral clip: Plano, Texas data center electricians under 30 earning $240,000, debt free, poached three times in 18 months Erin Brockovich, Bill Maher, and the data center water myth: golf courses, Permian Basin water recycling, and West Texas selling cleaned water to data centers The degrowth movement, Chinese funded left wing groups, solar panels on farmland, cobalt mining in Africa, and the case for nuclear base load power Caterpillar's Dow surge on gas turbine generators, plus callers Keith, Max, Chet the Jet, and Ed on the skilled trades boom, antifreeze cooling, and data center NDAs Breaking Iran news: Trump, Scott Bessent, and Marco Rubio claim progress reopening the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran denies talks and a ship is hit off Oman
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S15 EP135: Hour 1 - Mamdani's Grocery ID, JD Vance's Post-Liberal Whisperers, and the Socialist Surge
08/03/2026
S15 EP135: Hour 1 - Mamdani's Grocery ID, JD Vance's Post-Liberal Whisperers, and the Socialist Surge
Erick returns from a week at Lake Burton to a world still in chaos: Iran spurns peace as Trump halts strikes, the democratic socialists surge with Texas suddenly in play (James Talarico leading Ken Paxton), and New York's Zohran Mamdani demands a photo ID to buy subsidized groceries but not to vote. He connects the dots to JD Vance's post-liberal advisor Patrick Deneen, a Wall Street Journal corporate shakedown story, and a signature monologue framing socialism as a violation of the Tenth Commandment. Iran refuses peace as Trump halts strikes: the Strait of Hormuz leverage, Ukraine's runaway drone production, and the U.S. Patriot missile and munitions shortage Democratic socialists surging: Texas in play with James Talarico leading Ken Paxton, Sherrod Brown rising in Ohio, Jon Ossoff, Mike Collins, and Ben Domenech's Texas alarm Zohran Mamdani's government grocery store and the photo ID double standard, Cory Booker on New Jersey noncitizen voters, and the SAVE Act JD Vance, Patrick Deneen, and post-liberalism: socialism on the right, the Hewlett Foundation, American Compass, and tariff corruption Socialism as coveting: the Tenth Commandment, mandated self-checkout discounts, plastic bag bans, Scott Bessent buying Japanese yen, and Colorado's Mila Kiro dodging the communist label
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S15 EP135: Hour 2 - The Source of the Antagonism
08/03/2026
S15 EP135: Hour 2 - The Source of the Antagonism
Back from Lake Burton, Erick breaks down Marco Rubio's Fox News interview on the funded, organized protest network tied to Cuba, China, Neville Roy Singham, and a Cox Enterprises heir, then makes the grown-up case that the left is both astroturf and real grassroots, just as the Tea Party was in 2010. He hammers Ohio's Max Miller and Florida's Cory Mills over abuse and revenge-porn allegations and demands the GOP force them out, then turns to Mike Turner on Patriot missiles for Ukraine, America's broken missile production, and a big-ideas argument for desalinating Pacific water to save Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Marco Rubio on Fox News: the funded and organized protest machine, Cuba, China, Neville Roy Singham, the Cox Enterprises heir, Antifa, Code Pink, and the 2020-riots-to-pro-Hamas-to-anti-ICE pipeline the national media refuses to cover Astroturf versus grassroots: the 2010 Tea Party wipeout, the Koch brothers and Americans for Prosperity, Russia and Alexander Dugin funding both the left and the post-liberal right, plus Laura Loomer's Ukraine reversal and Mike Flynn's attack Caller Paula on the language war: gender-affirming care versus child castration, reproductive rights versus abortion, unhoused versus homeless, and the Marxist strategy of controlling the vocabulary to control the country Get them out: Max Miller in Ohio and Cory Mills in Florida, the police report, Ed Martin's blocked arrest warrant, and how Democrats pushed damaged candidates like Graham Platner out while Republicans shrug Mike Turner on Patriots and Tomahawks for Ukraine, why our military industrial complex cannot build enough missiles to protect Israel from Iran, Ukraine's drone output, and the case for desalination, aqueducts, and big ideas to refill Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam
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S15 EP135: Hour 3 - The WSJ Corruption Story, Josh Trevino on World War II, and China vs American Leadership
08/03/2026
S15 EP135: Hour 3 - The WSJ Corruption Story, Josh Trevino on World War II, and China vs American Leadership
Back from vacation, Erick sounds the alarm on a confirmed Wall Street Journal story about a Trump fundraiser pressing corporations like Apple for cash and doling out tariff carve-outs, warning his own side is now perceived like the Biden crime family while wages slip behind inflation and independents may just stay home in November. He then walks through his friend Josh Trevino's National Review essay on why we abandon the lessons of World War II at our peril, taking on Tucker Carlson, Darryl Cooper, R.R. Reno, and the post-liberalism of Patrick Deneen and JD Vance, and closes with the RedState origin story, an Apple lockout vacation saga, and a Tomahawk steak cookout. The Wall Street Journal corruption story: a Trump fundraiser soliciting Apple and other corporations for donations and library money, insane tariff carve-outs for lobbyists, the "Trump crime family" perception versus Hunter Biden's paintings, and why a stay-home electorate hands the democratic socialists November The economy people actually feel: wages slipping behind inflation, a 600-point market pop after Trump called off strikes on Iran, high beef and grocery and gas prices, and the 1992 George H.W. Bush versus Bill Clinton "good man out of touch" warning Ron Fournier, James Carville, and Doug Jones in Alabama: why the DSA malignancy and the corruption issue could flip even Texas Josh Trevino's National Review essay on World War II: Alec Ryrie, R.R. Reno at First Things, Tucker Carlson and Darryl Cooper's Third Reich revisionism, Winston Churchill, and who owns the memory of the war Post-liberalism and American leadership: Patrick Deneen whispering to JD Vance, the liberal world order, China laying roots in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Brazil, Russia near collapse, and why our military industrial complex cannot build a Patriot missile while Ukraine floods the field with drones Personal color: the RedState origin story with Josh Trevino, Ben Domenech, and Mike Krempasky, an Apple account lockout after a Gainesville login, the wrong-theater Odyssey IMAX dad moment, and a Tomahawk steak and front-porch bourbon cookout
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