John Bolton - August 13, 2026


If It's the Mainstream Media, It's Crap — Misinformation Incoming


Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

172.94

Word count

2,456

Sentence count

164


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.040 If you're watching the mainstream media on a regular basis, please stop it.
00:00:08.860 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the channel. Thursday, August the 13th, 5.13 a.m. Great to
00:00:14.140 have you along. Thanks so much for being here. Many of you know that in my previous life,
00:00:18.640 I was a radio broadcaster. I did some television, but for the most part, radio. 35 years of my life.
00:00:25.200 Started off actually as a disc jockey.
00:00:28.540 Back then, I didn't like to call myself a disc jockey.
00:00:31.460 I preferred radio announcer.
00:00:32.660 It sounded better.
00:00:33.440 But I was a disc jockey, literally a disc jockey.
00:00:35.880 I actually played records on the radio.
00:00:38.220 My first full-time job, CFCO Radio, Chatham, Ontario.
00:00:42.300 But in my later years, I was a radio host.
00:00:45.860 I did play some music, but for the most part, I interviewed people, a lot of people.
00:00:49.600 But the last 10 years of my career were my favorite.
00:00:52.440 And I interviewed people from across the political spectrum, from Jack Layton to Stephen Harper with people like Ken Dryden when he was a liberal senator.
00:01:01.580 I spoke with Dalton McGinty. I spoke with Elizabeth May. And yes, I even spoke with Justin Trudeau.
00:01:08.040 But I was always very, very concerned about integrity and credibility when I did my interviews.
00:01:15.940 People knew that I was a conservative.
00:01:18.220 I often went into interviews with that in the back of my mind, but I wanted to give
00:01:22.160 people a chance to talk about their side of the story.
00:01:26.880 I thought that was important.
00:01:28.000 You know, for instance, I did an interview one time with Stéphane Dion.
00:01:32.280 Stéphane Dion, for those of you who don't know, was the leader of the opposition, a
00:01:35.700 liberal, and he had a kind of a controversial plan he wanted to put in place should he ever
00:01:41.100 become prime minister.
00:01:42.000 It was called the Green Shift.
00:01:43.300 Some of you may remember this.
00:01:44.580 it was steeped in environmentalism and climate change. And I brought him on because he was the
00:01:50.800 guy that was introducing this. And he was the guy that was the expert on this because he was the guy
00:01:55.300 that could provide the information for my audience. But that's not the way things are anymore in the
00:01:59.060 media. They are spreading propaganda and government misinformation. And I would say to you during the
00:02:05.520 referendum campaign that the federal government is going to be seeding these stories with a lot
00:02:10.260 of media organizations. You need to be careful. We're going to talk about interference in the
00:02:15.720 upcoming referendum, but from the standpoint of the media, which is paid for for the most part by
00:02:20.600 you, the taxpayer and the federal government, or at least it's being kept alive by the federal
00:02:27.720 government without seed money from you, a lot of these media organizations would die. And as far
00:02:34.540 as I'm concerned, that's what should happen because I'll go back to a saying I've said many times
00:02:39.660 before, George Bernard Shaw, the politician that robs Peter to pay Paul will always have a friend
00:02:46.520 in Paul, and the media is Paul. And the government gives these people money, so they're always going
00:02:54.460 to be friendly with the government. It's the only thing keeping them alive. So we're going to look
00:02:58.680 at a video here. Now, just before I get to the video, I am concerned about interference in this
00:03:03.380 election in this referendum. I'm concerned about foreign interference in this referendum. I'm
00:03:10.820 serious about that, but not from our side. I'm concerned about it from the other side. You know,
00:03:16.260 our side, we're following the rules. There are a number of what are known as third-party
00:03:21.220 advertisers. They had to register with Elections Alberta, and they have to regularly report where
00:03:29.280 they're getting their money. And they can only raise so much money, and people can only donate
00:03:33.280 so much money. And these people are doing this on a regular basis. If they don't, they get fined.
00:03:39.320 And I know from my side, which is part of the independence movement, I don't think I've ever
00:03:44.440 seen a Russian trying to infiltrate the independence movement. I've never seen an
00:03:48.740 American coming in here from the Trump administration trying to influence our
00:03:52.360 movement. Never seen that. I've had people come to me who were from Russia who said they want out
00:03:57.960 of Canada because they're seeing Canada turn the way the country they used to live in, which was
00:04:02.680 communist, they're seeing Canada and they're seeing the telltale signs that Canada is going
00:04:06.780 in the wrong direction. And the reason why many of us in the independence movement want out of
00:04:12.380 Canada is because of mismanagement by the government. And that would be the liberal
00:04:16.980 government. It's got nothing to do with Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a big part of what's going
00:04:20.840 on in Canada. That's for sure. I'm not happy that we've got tariffs coming in, but this is all caused
00:04:26.260 by the liberal government. This isn't being influenced by the Russians. This isn't being
00:04:31.000 influenced by the communist Chinese. This isn't being influenced by the Trump administration.
00:04:35.820 This is the way I have felt for years, long before Donald Trump. Well, you know what? I guess Donald
00:04:42.240 Trump was the president when I first got interested in the independence movement, but it was all the
00:04:47.260 people that lost their jobs at my wife's company that got me interested in the independence
00:04:52.060 movement. It was because of Justin Trudeau. It happened just after 2015. Nothing to do with
00:04:57.920 Donald Trump. It had to do with the liberal government. And this is the difference between me
00:05:02.420 and the people on the other side. They see the liberal government and Mark Carney as their
00:05:06.520 savior sticking up for Canada against the evil Trump. I see the evil Trump taking advantage of
00:05:12.260 Canada because of the mismanagement of the liberal government and people who vote for the liberal
00:05:16.080 government. So let's take a look at this. So this is what I did. Here's, here, let me put this on
00:05:20.040 the screen right now before I forget. I sent this out about a week ago. I'm concerned about
00:05:24.800 referendum interference, I wrote CSIS because of this guy right here, Thomas Lukasik, and his
00:05:30.620 Forever Canadian campaign. Who is funding Forever Canadian? This is important, folks. We do not know
00:05:39.480 where his money is coming from because he has been told he does not have to report to Elections
00:05:45.880 Alberta. He is a registered third-party advertiser, but he can just wash his hands of this because
00:05:50.720 he's not advocating for his side. He's not campaigning for option one on question 10 in
00:05:57.060 the referendum, which is absolute BS. And we know it. Shame on Gordon McClure. Shame on Elections
00:06:02.840 Alberta for allowing this to happen. We do not know where Thomas Lukasik is getting his money
00:06:08.020 and how much. Is it coming from Russia? Is it coming from China? Is it coming from the United
00:06:20.300 States, you elbows-up Donald Trump-hating Canadians. Do you know? I'm sure there are
00:06:27.560 actors in the United States that would love to see Alberta continuing to sell its oil at cut
00:06:32.320 rates to the United States of America, because if we get our independence, we'll likely be able to
00:06:36.700 negotiate a better deal and sell our oil to other countries at a higher price. We don't know where
00:06:43.000 he's getting his money or where the money goes. Could be going anywhere, folks. So I'm concerned
00:06:47.960 about referendum interference. Now, it's a long preamble, I'm sorry, to talk about this video
00:06:56.020 right here. I mean, this is misinformation, folks. I don't know who the guy is on the screen
00:07:02.600 at Alberta primetime. Looks like a perfectly nice guy. You know, his editor or somebody in the
00:07:07.680 newsroom said, hey, we got a message in. The government's worried about interference in the
00:07:12.320 Alberta independence, get a couple of experts on. Experts. Wear a mask, stand on a dot. You know
00:07:18.880 those kind of experts? So this is the experts he brought on, folks. Now listen to the credentials
00:07:22.920 of the first woman. She apparently went to a seminar. Now she's on talking about interference
00:07:29.440 because she goes on social media. I don't know how much I'm going to play this. I don't want
00:07:33.400 this video to go on forever. I'm going to play just the start of it. And then I'm going to have
00:07:37.340 the comments of the second guy, who's a political analyst, whatever the hell that means, who smears
00:07:43.940 the independence movement as MAGA-loving, far-right, influenced by Russia, like he's living in the
00:07:50.240 Biden administration. Where's this guy from? And shame on the guy on the screen right here for
00:07:55.380 bringing these people on. Remember, credibility and integrity are important. This is...
00:08:00.940 okay sorry let's watch a little bit of this and i might just add it a little bit and jump ahead
00:08:10.580 because i really can't take it this is here we go here we go i'm now for tonight's politics panel
00:08:17.800 and joining us this evening lise gotel professor of women's and gender studies at the university of
00:08:23.440 she's a professor of women and gender studies and she's on this panel talking about interference
00:08:35.320 in the referendum and john santos is a political analyst good evening to you both and let's begin
00:08:43.060 with uh talk shifting toward concern over the potential for foreign interference with the
00:08:48.480 Alberta referendum now just over two months away. Lise, we heard from criminologist Kelly
00:08:53.300 Sundberg off the top this evening. Where does concern over foreign interference land on your
00:08:58.880 radar? Well, you know, I spent a lot of time on social media and I think I'm already starting
00:09:06.880 to see this. The threat is really real. You know, it's real, folks, because I spent a lot of time
00:09:17.620 on social media this is a freaking joke i'm not going to play much more of this of russia they
00:09:25.660 don't have anything uh uh uh uh uh she has no take into account the the the desire of some
00:09:33.320 american political actors to amplify um divisions in in canada and to weaken canadian democracy so
00:09:42.800 So, yeah, I mean, the threat is very real in terms of what Professor Sundberg was saying to us.
00:09:52.680 You know, he was really counseling us to be vigilant about the information that we're consuming, especially online, and I agree with that.
00:10:01.480 But I also think that because of this very real threat, the federal government and the provincial government should be investing some real resources in preventing foreign interference.
00:10:15.480 We have a good...
00:10:16.480 Okay, I had to stop. I didn't want to listen to this woman anymore.
00:10:20.980 You know what's missing from this woman in the middle here?
00:10:25.020 You know the only thing that's missing? The septum ring, right?
00:10:29.960 Right?
00:10:30.460 And she's an expert, folks, because she goes on social media.
00:10:33.560 She went to a seminar, and she's a professor of women and gender studies.
00:10:38.300 How did this woman end up on this panel?
00:10:40.680 Now we're going to move on to the next guy.
00:10:42.220 I wanted to jump ahead.
00:10:43.400 I don't want to go on too much longer, but the next guy's got all the buzzwords, folks.
00:10:47.000 First off, he starts off by saying things that don't make any sense.
00:10:49.640 That's what you do when you don't know what you're talking about.
00:10:52.900 He's some kind of a political researcher.
00:10:54.900 I don't even know what that means.
00:10:56.860 Does he sit in his basement and scour the internet?
00:11:00.380 Is that what this guy does?
00:11:01.440 I don't know.
00:11:02.040 I don't want to be terribly critical of this guy,
00:11:04.780 but he doesn't know what he's talking about.
00:11:06.260 Has he ever spoken to anybody in the Alberta independence movement?
00:11:09.480 Why isn't somebody from the Alberta independence movement on this panel?
00:11:17.160 So let's just hear what he's got to say, and then I'm going to end this, okay?
00:11:21.300 But this is ridiculous.
00:11:23.280 John, let me ask you this.
00:11:24.580 How do you see this playing?
00:11:26.220 with a political narrative in our province?
00:11:30.380 Before he answers, watch them all nodding in approval, particularly her in the middle.
00:11:34.620 There's a specific thing that comes up. We're all a bunch of far rightists folks.
00:11:40.620 She's on the far left.
00:11:44.300 It's going to be very tricky. It already is very tricky because the fault lines on the pro versus
00:11:51.980 anti-separation side are sort of lined up with the divisions in terms of who thinks this is
00:12:00.620 a serious issue and the amount of perceived threat that people feel from the actors who
00:12:07.580 might be engaging in political interference. I don't really even know what that means.
00:12:13.180 I don't know. I've listened to it 15 times. I'm not really quite sure what he's talking about.
00:12:17.340 The people that are going to be influenced by misinformation are the people on the other side.
00:12:22.860 We're quite clear in why we want independence, but let's get on to the buzzwords. One in
00:12:26.540 particular that's coming up. You're going to hear it a lot.
00:12:28.380 By this, I mean the far right base, many of whom are separatists,
00:12:35.020 are quite sympathetic to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and their alignment with Putinist Russia.
00:12:47.340 okay so they really don't have anything else to say here but
00:12:53.020 you gotta wonder is this guy still sitting in his basement going over misinformation that came out
00:12:59.660 of the biden administration about donald trump winning the election because of russian interference
00:13:05.020 i mean come on this guy's an expert of course throw out the buzzwords far right the woman in
00:13:10.620 the middle nodding her head we're all a bunch of far right folks and we're mega loving trump
00:13:16.140 Trump supporters and expect Trump over and over and over again. I remember coming back from an
00:13:22.980 event in Delburn. It was a snowstorm in the winter. Awful drive back. Listening to a station
00:13:30.220 out of Calgary and Thomas LeCasic had done a speech at the Canadian Club. And of course,
00:13:35.900 American influence, American money, and Donald Trump were influencing the Alberta independence
00:13:42.400 movement. Trump to the other side is worse than racist and Nazi. And you're going to hear it over
00:13:48.300 and over and over again. We need to be prepared for that. We need to be prepared and we need to
00:13:53.120 be vigilant as our woman in the middle told us about here. And I'm not talking on the political
00:13:58.100 spectrum. The woman with the big glasses who's missing the septum ring in her nose probably
00:14:02.500 took it out for the interview. As she said, be vigilant folks, but be vigilant when you're
00:14:07.820 watching crap like this, because this is a disgrace when it comes to media.