The Ben Shapiro Show - Two Terror Attacks in One Day. What is Happening??

00:00:00.000 Norm MacDonald was right.

00:00:01.000 If you're going to fight the war on terror, a good place to start would be this nation's haunted houses.

00:00:07.000 According to the experts, the actual scary part about Islamic terror attacks isn't what happens to the victims.

00:00:13.000 The real victims of terror attacks in the United States are Muslims, our toxically empathetic, even sinister Democratic and media elites are so scared of the truth about radical Islam that every single time a terrorist shouts, Allahu Akbar, they immediately respond by shouting, Islamophobia.

00:00:29.000 Well, folks, this here is reality. 0.98

00:00:31.000 The real problem with radical Islamic terrorists is the radical Islamic terrorism. 0.94

00:00:36.000 So let's stop them in their tracks. 1.00

00:00:38.000 Let's denaturalize and deport the terror supporters who are here, and let's kill terrorists abroad. 1.00

00:00:43.000 Welcome back to the Ben Shapiro Show. 1.00

00:00:48.000 Radical Islam isn't a threat to the United States.

00:00:52.000 I see millions of Americans being destroyed, and none of it is at the hands of radical Islam. 1.00

00:00:57.000 Is radical Islam a bigger danger than OnlyFans? 1.00

00:01:00.000 It's not even close. 0.67

00:01:01.000 It has been an overwhelming propaganda campaign to smear Muslims in this country. 0.99

00:01:06.000 You are an Islamic church who hates Islam. 1.00

00:01:09.000 No, they basically think all Muslims are to blame. 0.98

00:01:12.000 We've seen you on video saying it.

00:01:14.000 And what you're doing now is deliberately inflammatory.

00:01:16.000 It is deliberately poisonous.

00:01:18.000 How's this?

00:01:19.000 Sharia law is bad, Seth. 0.78

00:01:21.000 I don't know if you've heard that.

00:01:22.000 It's worse than what's happening in New York and Detroit.

00:01:22.000 It's bad.

00:01:24.000 It's just bad.

00:01:27.000 I don't know why.

00:01:28.000 It's just like years of brainwashing.

00:01:30.000 I just like.

00:01:32.000 And you can tell when you go to a place like Abu Dhabi or Riyadh, like, oh man, I hope we don't ever wind up with a society like this with a rape rate of zero where you leave your keys in your Lamborghini and don't ever worry about it being stolen.

00:01:46.000 To all Muslims growing up during that time in America, I am sorry on behalf of America for the way that you were treated.

00:01:52.000 It is so unacceptable.

00:01:53.000 When I go back and I re-examine that propaganda, that brainwashing that took place in the classroom to make me scared of something I didn't even know what a Muslim was.

00:02:02.000 The real problem in the United States is not radical Islam. 0.79

00:02:06.000 It is Islamophobia.

00:02:08.000 I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.

00:02:22.000 But if Muslims are right, that's what American media does. 1.00

00:02:25.000 That's what American politicians do. 0.93

00:02:27.000 I'm so sick of our lives not mattering.

00:02:30.000 I think of on 9-11 when my teacher pulled me out of school, pulled me out of class, rather, a classmate of mine, myself, and told us that we may get bullied because of what just happened.

00:02:40.000 The past few days and weeks have brought about all too familiar fears.

00:02:46.000 Fears that they will be targeted, profiled, or attacked simply because of who they are, how they worship, or how they look.

00:02:55.000 Many of you in the Muslim American community, the Arab American community, the Palestinian American community, and so many others are outraged and heartied, saying to yourselves, here we go again with Islamophobia and distrust we saw after 9-11. 0.96

00:03:13.000 I get messages that say the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim. 0.51

00:03:18.000 I get threats on my life. 0.99

00:03:25.000 Worried about Islamic terrorism? 0.82

00:03:27.000 That is a false flag or an op. 1.00

00:03:30.000 Now, if you believe the people who tell you all these things, you are the sucker. 1.00

00:03:33.000 And if America ignores the very real problem of radical Islam and you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you'll end up dead. 0.99

00:03:41.000 That is the message across America for the last couple of weeks, and it's coming in loud and clear.

00:03:45.000 Yesterday alone, there were two Islamic terror attacks.

00:03:48.000 The first happened at Old Dominion in Virginia, when ISIS-linked Mohammed Baylor Jalo, 26, stormed a classroom asking if it was an ROTC class.

00:03:57.000 He then shouted, wait for it.

00:03:59.000 Alihu Akbar, I know you're shocked, and shot the professor, Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah, several times before a group of heroic cadets jumped into action and stabbed Jolo to death.

00:04:08.000 Here's the FBI explaining.

00:04:11.000 How it was an act of terrorism.

00:04:13.000 I can tell you that we have confirmed reports that prior to him conducting this act of terrorism, he shouted Aloha stated Alo Akbar.

00:04:23.000 And he was formerly a subject of an FBI investigation in materials supporting terrorism.

00:04:34.000 So, who was the terrorist?

00:04:35.000 Who was Jalo?

00:04:36.000 According to the New York Post, he was a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone and a former Virginia National Guard member.

00:04:42.000 Were there any red flags?

00:04:44.000 Just a few.

00:04:46.000 Fox News reports that Jolo was forced to leave the military after he tried to provide material support to ISIS.

00:04:52.000 He was a follower of Anwar al-Aliki, the now dead leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

00:04:57.000 The DOJ prosecution documents show that Jolo praised a July 2015 terror attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in which a radical Islamist killed four Marines and a Navy sailor.

00:05:06.000 He was actually arrested in 2016 after attempting to buy an assault rifle in northern Virginia and then sentenced to 11 years in prison.

00:05:13.000 Then he was released just 15 months ago for good behavior.

00:05:16.000 You know, good behavior.

00:05:17.000 So we released an actual honest-to-God ISIS-affiliated terrorist into the population for good behavior. 0.58

00:05:24.000 Did he drop his terror support somehow?

00:05:27.000 If so, what was the evidence that he had?

00:05:29.000 Why did America owe him a free run of the country after he decided to side with an actual honest-to-God terrorist group?

00:05:36.000 And now an American hero is dead because of it, Lieutenant Colonel Shah, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Atlantic Resolve, and also a teacher.

00:05:44.000 When he was arrested, it should be noted, Jolo received the victim treatment from leftists in the media.

00:05:48.000 This is back in 2016.

00:05:50.000 The Intercept, a far-left publication, printed a sympathetic piece quoting Jolo's family, who said he was set up by the FBI.

00:05:57.000 Jolo's brother, one Cherner Jolo, told the intercept that his brother was just another Muhammad that got set up.

00:06:04.000 The problem, you see, was really Islamophobia.

00:06:08.000 Never radical Islam, just Islamophobia.

00:06:11.000 So, was that attack at Old Dominion the only radical Islamic terror attack of the day?

00:06:15.000 Of course not.

00:06:16.000 Halfway across the country at one of the biggest reformed Jewish synagogues in America, a radical Muslim suspect named Ayman Khalazi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon who received a visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and was naturalized under the Obama administration, tried to drive an explosive-laden car into the entrance of a preschool with 140 students in attendance.

00:06:37.000 According to the New York Post, he, quote, barreled down the hallway before security opened fire, killing the suspect.

00:06:44.000 That attack started a fire in the building.

00:06:46.000 The driver was killed while he was in the car.

00:06:48.000 Police found in the car a rifle and mortar shells.

00:06:51.000 It is worth mentioning at this point, it was indeed a good guy with a gun that stopped the terrorist.

00:06:55.000 That good guy with a gun was a trained security force that has become necessary at nearly every Jewish institution in America, thanks to the rise of anti-Semitism on all sides.

00:07:05.000 Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard explained.

00:07:09.000 We've got a ton of people here.

00:07:11.000 As I said, West Poolfield got on scene in a heartbeat.

00:07:14.000 Everybody else came from everywhere.

00:07:16.000 Actually, the chief and I have been communicating for almost two weeks.

00:07:20.000 Every time I've gotten some intelligence from the national level, I've been cheering.

00:07:24.000 We've been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening.

00:07:29.000 So there was no lack of preparation.

00:07:32.000 In addition, all Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out.

00:07:39.000 Now, the suspect allegedly came from Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

00:07:43.000 This synagogue was located 20 miles north of Dearborn, an Islam-dominated city represented in Congress by radical Islamic terror apologist Rashida Talib.

00:07:51.000 How radicalized is Dearborn?

00:07:53.000 In recent days, some Dearborn mosques have been preaching in favor of Ayatollah Khomeini.

00:08:00.000 We're gathered here today to commemorate the martyrdom of the great leader of our time, Sayyid Ali al-Hussain al-Khaminai.

00:08:12.000 We might think this was an attack led by Zionist Jews, but the commander of their mission is the very one who is trying to prove that Adam was not worth prosperity torking in their symbology, their ideologies, their psychology, their economy, claiming they follow the laws of Moses and Deuteronomy. 0.91

00:08:41.000 Iblis is the hidden commander of today's society. 0.96

00:08:46.000 Regardless of the stools we put at the desk of the old office, Republican or Democrats.

00:08:51.000 But even if a thousand elections come to pass, it is clear that this country was built for and built by the Epstein class. 0.99

00:09:01.000 And that just like Palestine, we lived on stolen land when the devil worshiping Freemasons reached these shores and the Zionists minded Christopher Columbus who came to explore and they genocided the natives and put the one eye of the devil on their currency to put their plans in full sight. 0.89

00:09:23.000 While the statue of liberty is actually Lucifer, the demonic bearer holding a torch of light.

00:09:32.000 Wow, I didn't realize the Candace Owens did a show from Dearborn. 1.00

00:09:35.000 In any case, in 2025, the city decided to honor terror-supporting activist Osama Siblani with a street sign.

00:09:41.000 Siblani is a radical Muslim who openly speaks of his pride in terror leaders like deceased Hezbollah head Hassan at Nasrallah, whom he called a great leader, saying he was proud of him.

00:09:52.000 He also advocated for Hezbollah to make Israel, quote, taste the Lebanon poison. 0.91

00:09:56.000 When a resident of Dearborn showed up at a city council meeting to protest naming street after this radical Islamist, the mayor of Dearborn, one Abdullah Hamou, told him to get out of the city and then called him, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, an Islamophobe.

00:10:10.000 Hezbollah, you know, bombed the embassy in Beirut and including many Americans.

00:10:18.000 So I just feel it's quite inappropriate. 0.53

00:10:20.000 You are an Islamophobe.

00:10:21.000 And although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here.

00:10:25.000 And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence.

00:10:35.000 That is the mayor of a city in the United States.

00:10:37.000 You don't believe in coexistence if you think that actual streets should not be named after actual terrorist supporters.

00:10:43.000 Now, unsurprisingly, there were some people in the media who found excuses for the terror attack at the synagogue.

00:10:49.000 Over on GB News, one commentator explained that this was an Israeli temple and thus presumably deserving of its fate thanks to Israel's actions.

00:11:00.000 And this was an Israeli temple.

00:11:03.000 It was aligned with Israel.

00:11:04.000 I will say that a Jewish temple.

00:11:06.000 A Jewish temple.

00:11:06.000 A Jewish synagogue is not an Israeli temple.

00:11:09.000 It's called the Real Israel Temple.

00:11:11.000 They're Jewish.

00:11:12.000 Okay.

00:11:13.000 They're the people of Israel.

00:11:14.000 How do you know?

00:11:14.000 Let me just finish my point.

00:11:17.000 It was wrong from the premise.

00:11:18.000 They're not Israeli. 0.99

00:11:19.000 They're Jewish.

00:11:20.000 So they're called the Real Israeli Temple, yes, and they do align with Israel and their beliefs.

00:11:28.000 Of course, the argument here seems to be that if you are a pro-Israel Jew in the United States, then it's totally fine for a terrorist to drive a car laden with explosives into your synagogue.

00:11:38.000 Then there was Ryan Grimm, formerly of The Intercept, who reported that the terrorists had family members recently killed by Israel in its current action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

00:11:46.000 Even if that's true, it makes for a rather strange defense of this terrorist action.

00:11:51.000 The mass murder of 1,200 Jews on October 7th in Israel has caused precisely zero Jews, zero, to drive an explosives-laden car into a mosque or near a Muslim school.

00:12:03.000 There's just something about radical Islam that isn't quite the same.

00:12:06.000 Of course, as we have been following, the two attacks yesterday were not the first attacks of the last few weeks.

00:12:11.000 Last week, we reported on a radical Islamic terror attack in Austin, Texas, in which a 53-year-old Senegalese immigrant to the United States killed three people and wounded 13 more.

00:12:20.000 He happened to be wearing a sweatshirt that read, wait for it, wait for it.

00:12:24.000 Property of Allah.

00:12:25.000 I know, you're shocked.

00:12:26.000 And over the last weekend, we saw two ISIS-affiliated radical Muslims throw IEDs at a rally outside Gracie Mansion, all of which led the mayor of New York to spend extraordinary efforts condemning, wait for it, wait for it.

00:12:37.000 You're not going to believe it?

00:12:39.000 I know.

00:12:40.000 Islamophobia.

00:12:42.000 On Saturday, a protest was held outside Gracie Mansion, where I live with my wife, Rama.

00:12:49.000 Neither of us were home at the time.

00:12:52.000 This was a vile protest rooted in white supremacy entitled Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City.

00:12:59.000 I'm the first Muslim mayor of our city.

00:13:02.000 Anti-Muslim bigotry is nothing new to me, nor is it anything new for the 1 million or so Muslim New Yorkers who know this city as our home.

00:13:12.000 Now, of course, Mamtani is expressing his deep and abiding sorrow at the anti-Semitic terror attack in Michigan.

00:13:18.000 He tweeted, quote, the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan is horrifying.

00:13:22.000 My thoughts are with the congregation and all who are shaken by this act of anti-Semitic violence.

00:13:27.000 Let's just say I find Zorhan Mamdani's newfound unease with anti-Semitism a little unconvincing, especially given the fact that his wife is a gigantic fan of terrorist activity against Jews and recently illustrated an essay book for an author who rants about Jewish vampires, demons, and ghouls.

00:13:45.000 That author wrote shortly after October 7th, quote, whether or not Israel indeed knew of the plans in advance, those few freedom fighters inspired not only the whole of Palestine, but the oppressed masses worldwide to imagine what freedom looks like, what resistance is possible, and what life is attainable.

00:13:59.000 So yeah, I'm going to withhold my kudos to New York's terror-supporting mayor.

00:14:04.000 And the recent history of radical Islamic terror in the United States is unfortunately quite rich. 0.92

00:14:08.000 Between April 2021 and December 2025, according to the House Committee on Homeland Security, quote, more than 60 cases of individuals linked to or inspired by foreign terror organizations were recorded in the United States.

00:14:21.000 How does this radical ideology spread in America?

00:14:24.000 Well, the answer is twofold.

00:14:25.000 First, we import people who are sympathetic to terrorism.

00:14:28.000 And then adult-hated Americans argue that they ought to be mainstreamed.

00:14:32.000 That's how you end up with Zorhan Mamdani. 0.80

00:14:35.000 Yes, he is a terrorist supporter as mayor of New York.

00:14:38.000 It's how Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar end up in Congress.

00:14:42.000 So, what should we do about it?

00:14:43.000 Well, first off, we can stop future immigration from radical Islamic countries and other third world areas where we can't vet our immigrants at the source. 1.00

00:14:51.000 You cannot import problems from other parts of the world, require zero assimilation, and then pretend that the big issue is Islamophobia.

00:14:59.000 I mean, here's video from just last year from the southern border.

00:15:02.000 This is from 2024.

00:15:06.000 By the way, if you are smart enough, you would know who I am.

00:15:09.000 But you are really not smart enough to know who I am.

00:15:12.000 But soon you're going to know who I am.

00:15:14.000 Very bad.

00:15:15.000 Very easy.

00:15:16.000 The entitlement.

00:15:17.000 The entitlement.

00:15:20.000 Soon you're going to know who I am.

00:15:22.000 Well, this seems like a poor way to ensure the safety of Americans.

00:15:26.000 And unfortunately, there are people dedicated to opening our border wide.

00:15:30.000 The Daily Wire reported yesterday on new tactics being used to end around President Trump's deportation policies.

00:15:35.000 By the way, you should subscribe to Daily Wire.

00:15:37.000 We are doing investigative reporting.

00:15:38.000 We obviously have our hosts.

00:15:40.000 We have tons of fantastic content coming.

00:15:41.000 We need your help.

00:15:42.000 So become a subscriber over at dailywire.com/slash subscribe.

00:15:45.000 According to the Daily Wire, illegal immigrants have been filing habeas petitions that force their release at rates never before seen.

00:15:52.000 Reporter Jenny Terr writes, quote, illegal immigrants have filed more than 18,000 habeas petitions since Trump's return to the White House last January.

00:16:00.000 That is more than all of the habeas petitions from the past three administrations put together.

00:16:05.000 U.S. Attorney Timothy Courtain told the Daily Wire, quote, in most of them, they're granting bonds.

00:16:10.000 We've been losing almost all of these and folks will be released.

00:16:12.000 Habeas petitions move DTE's cases out of immigration court and into the district court docket.

00:16:19.000 And once they're there, judges can offer migrants a lot more relief than they would ever get in immigration court.

00:16:24.000 And here's the reality.

00:16:26.000 Once citizenship is granted, it is very difficult to revoke.

00:16:29.000 But that brings us to yet another solution.

00:16:31.000 We ought to enforce the law to revoke the citizenship of people who associate with terrorist groups or who favor totalitarian forms of government.

00:16:40.000 That is, in fact, the law.

00:16:42.000 Under Title VIII, U.S. Code, Section 1484, quote, no person shall hereafter be naturalized as a citizen of the United States who advocates the establishment in the United States of a totalitarian dictatorship or who advocates or teaches the overthrow by force or violence or other unconstitutional means of the government of the United States or of all forms of law or the duty,

00:17:03.000 necessity, or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers, either of specific individuals or of officers generally of the government of the United States or of any other organized government because of his or their official character or the unlawful damage, injury, or destruction of property or sabotage.

00:17:22.000 In fact, under the law, citizenship can be revoked under section 1451 if it was, quote, procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.

00:17:32.000 If enforced properly, this would mean revocation of citizenship for a wide variety of radical Islamists living in the United States right now.

00:17:39.000 Now, listen, this law is difficult to enforce.

00:17:42.000 It requires a high degree of evidentiary demonstration.

00:17:45.000 But that degree ought to be met when you affiliate with an actual terrorist group.

00:17:50.000 And if it is not, then the law itself ought to be changed to allow for revocation of such citizenship.

00:17:56.000 America does not owe a duty to people who seek to destroy America in the name of radical Islam. 0.55

00:18:02.000 Until the law is either enforced to the letter or changed, we have an enormous number of people in the United States who are devotees of radical Islam. 0.94

00:18:08.000 What's more, we've been told by one entire political party that mentioning this inconvenient fact is tantamount to Islamophobia, fear of Islam itself.

00:18:17.000 That is insipid.

00:18:19.000 Calling out radical Islam need not entail attacking every Muslim as a radical.

00:18:23.000 American Muslims are indeed far more moderate in disposition overall than Muslims in Europe or the Middle East.

00:18:28.000 But there are mosques that provide material support to terrorist organizations, and they ought to be shut down in accordance with the law, as should all organizations that do the same. 0.98

00:18:39.000 We'll get to the bigger problem, the much bigger problem in just a moment.

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00:20:53.000 There is a bigger problem than even radical Islam. 0.97

00:20:56.000 Americans' toleration and indeed celebration of radical Islam. 0.51

00:21:00.000 Zoran Mamtani was elected to the mayoralty of New York while preaching exactly the same messages as Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar.

00:21:07.000 Mamtani's solidarity with open terror supporters like Mahmoud Khalil, who was at Gracie Mansion days ago, speaks volumes about the political left's unwillingness to come to grips with radical Islam's predations. 0.83

00:21:19.000 On the same day that there were two radical Islamist terror attacks, Senator Chuck Schumer spent his time tone policing Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

00:21:26.000 He posted, quote, Muslim Americans are cops, doctors, nurses, teachers, bankers, bricklayers, mothers, fathers, neighbors, mayors, and more. 0.97

00:21:33.000 Islamophobic hate like this is fundamentally un-American, and we must confront it whenever it rears its ugly head. 0.90

00:21:40.000 To which Senator Tuberville quite properly responded, quote, calling radical Islam out for being a cult doesn't make you an Islamophobe. 0.99

00:21:46.000 Radical Islamists chant death to America and would love to see every Christian and Jew murdered. 1.00

00:21:51.000 Under Sharia law, if you are not a Muslim, you are the enemy. 1.00

00:21:54.000 Under Sharia law, minorities are persecuted. 0.99

00:21:56.000 Under Sharia law, women are sold, raped, and trafficked. 0.97

00:21:59.000 Don't believe me, read it for yourself. 0.99

00:22:01.000 Radical Islam is not compatible with the Constitution and has no place in America. 1.00

00:22:05.000 I won't be silenced about this.

00:22:07.000 Atheist writer Christopher Hitchens famously tore into the very concept of Islamophobia now in 2009.

00:22:17.000 Resist it while you still can, and before the right to complain is taken away from you, which will be the next thing, you will be told you can't complain because you're Islamophobic.

00:22:29.000 The term is already being introduced into the culture as if it was an accusation of race hatred, for example, or bigotry, whereas it's only the objection to the preachings of a very extreme and absolutist religion.

00:22:42.000 Watch out for these symptoms.

00:22:43.000 They are just symptoms of surrender.

00:22:45.000 Very often ecumenically offered to you by men of God in other robes, Christian and Jewish and Smami ecumenical.

00:22:53.000 These are the ones who hold open the gates for the barbarians. 1.00

00:22:56.000 The barbarians never take a city till someone holds the gates open for them. 1.00

00:23:01.000 And it's your own preachers who will do it for you and your own multicultural authorities who will do it for you.

00:23:07.000 Resist it while you can.

00:23:12.000 The very unwillingness of the West to speak openly about the evils of radical Islam leads to its importation and its promotion and then to its fruit, terrorism and murder. 1.00

00:23:21.000 I'm not sure, honestly, there has ever been a better visual representation of this phenomenon than this video from outside Gracie Mansion last weekend of a left-winger shouting about the wonders of open borders, only to be used as a human shield by an ISIS-affiliated terrorist throwing an IED.

00:23:40.000 But for those who have decided that America's institutions are fundamentally flawed, the real enemy is not radical Islam.

00:23:46.000 It's America and our allies. 0.99

00:23:48.000 This is why, presumably, so many leftists are raging at President Trump like idiot woman child and official Lord Farquhad from Shrek lookalike, Grenada Thunberg. 0.98

00:23:58.000 We need to talk about what's happening in Cuba right now. 0.98

00:24:01.000 As the Trump administration is waging illegitimate wars across the world, killing countless people, it is also strangling the Cuban people deliberately, methodically, and openly.

00:24:14.000 We should mention that the Cuban people have been under the thumb of a communist dictatorship for, you know, 70 years.

00:24:22.000 This is also why Nick Fuentes, a true hater of the country, says he is rooting for Iran.

00:24:28.000 Rooting for Iran to survive. 1.00

00:24:30.000 I'm rooting for Trump to walk away.

00:24:32.000 I'm rooting for deterrence to be reestablished.

00:24:36.000 This is not a war, ironically, that we want to win.

00:24:39.000 This is maybe a war that it's better if we lose.

00:24:44.000 Now, I'm not sure about you, but I have never identified a war that I want America to lose.

00:24:50.000 A West that hates itself is a civilization that imports ideological cancer to its shores. 1.00

00:24:55.000 Now, radical Islamic states have learned already they can exploit the West's own stupidity and blindness for their own ends. 1.00

00:25:01.000 Iran has imported cells of terrorists throughout Europe and Latin America and South America, and yes, into the United States. 1.00

00:25:06.000 And now they're trying to use those terrorists as leverage to stop the United States from finishing off the regime.

00:25:11.000 This, by the way, is literally the purpose of sleeper cells, leverage. 1.00

00:25:15.000 And useful idiots help Iran in their quest. 1.00

00:25:18.000 Yesterday, one CNN analyst, Juliet Kayyam, blamed the Trump administration for the synagogue terror attack. 1.00

00:25:24.000 I think it's absolutely that he said specifically in the last two weeks, he has been in contact with federal authorities as well as the Jewish community about the heightened threat level.

00:25:36.000 It is something that all of us have been warning about, that this may be a regional war, but it's going to have global consequences.

00:25:44.000 And one of them is going to be incitement, radicalization in particular, as Islamic terrorist groups are utilizing the war like ISIS to go online and to lure people to violence. 0.70

00:26:00.000 Again, the idea here seems to be that everything is blowback to America.

00:26:04.000 But the reality is that Iran and other countries like Iran set up such cells.

00:26:09.000 And the fact that radicalized terror supporters are going active in support of Iran, they do this because they wish to push us off the ball. 0.53

00:26:17.000 That is the actual goal.

00:26:18.000 And in fact, that is another reason why the regime ought to be defenestrated.

00:26:23.000 In fact, many of the arguments adduced against President Trump's action in Iran are actually arguments for action.

00:26:29.000 Take, for example, the argument that Iran can shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

00:26:32.000 Here is Senator Chris Murphy, who I don't know why this guy thinks he is going to run for president.

00:26:38.000 I really, really don't.

00:26:39.000 He looks like a character from Morocco's modern life.

00:26:42.000 Here we go.

00:26:44.000 Well, I mean, first is what we're watching right now, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

00:26:50.000 Iran can keep that straight closed essentially for as long as they want. 0.54

00:26:54.000 And we can't necessarily get into it outside a classified setting, but this is maybe the primary reason why we have not been willing to open up a full-scale war with Iran, because they can control that strait. 0.87

00:27:06.000 They can move energy prices from $100 a barrel to $200 a barrel.

00:27:10.000 They could essentially shut down the global economy, which they are in the process of doing.

00:27:18.000 Well, yes, Iran is indeed attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

00:27:21.000 They are bragging about their ability to spike the price of crude oil.

00:27:24.000 They are threatening to choke off the global economy.

00:27:27.000 The new supreme leader of Iran, Moshtaba Khamini, who's not making any public appearances since he may be actually missing a leg or in a coma or dead.

00:27:37.000 They're putting out like cardboard cutouts of him and then written statements.

00:27:40.000 Well, he put out a written statement, or someone near him, put out a written statement, explaining that the Strait of Hormuz should be used as a tool to pressure the enemy.

00:27:46.000 Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says that right now it's not possible for the Navy to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but we may do so shortly to reopen it.

00:27:56.000 Is it your belief that the volume of ships going through the Strait of Hormuz will be improving immediately from now?

00:28:03.000 It is my belief that as soon as it is militarily possible, the U.S. Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through.

00:28:18.000 So, here is my question.

00:28:20.000 Why would we possibly want a regime that threatens to shut off global trade every time they murder 35,000 of their own citizens?

00:28:29.000 Why would we want that regime to continue to maximize its power? 0.97

00:28:35.000 If such a regime went nuclear, then they would have more leverage.

00:28:39.000 If they had a full complement of ballistic missile capacities, they would be far less vulnerable to the sort of military strikes that could break their stranglehold on global trade routes.

00:28:48.000 It turns out, easy rule, when we allow our enemies to grow stronger, our life gets harder.

00:28:55.000 By stopping the Iranians, we actually strengthen our position in the world. 1.00

00:28:59.000 I've been very critical in the past of the president's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, but he is totally right when he wrote in the Wall Street Journal yesterday: quote: If the geopolitical risk associated with Iran were reduced, oil prices would fall toward their underlying supply and demand equilibrium.

00:29:14.000 Market evidence suggests equilibrium prices could be well below $60 a barrel.

00:29:18.000 Confronting Iran's destabilizing behavior is first and foremost a matter of national security, but it also promises to reduce the persistent geopolitical risk surrounding Persian Gulf energy flows and bring down the Iran terror premium. 0.91

00:29:30.000 This, of course, is exactly right.

00:29:32.000 You know where we typically don't worry about oil flows being choked off by tyrannical regimes, where there aren't tyrannical regimes, or where are the regimes allied with the United States.

00:29:42.000 All of which brings us to the current update on Iran.

00:29:45.000 So, tragically, yesterday, the United States lost a military aerial refueling tanker.

00:29:49.000 Four service members were reportedly killed.

00:29:51.000 The tanker went down over Iraq in an incident that did not involve friendly fire or enemy fire.

00:29:56.000 It seems it involved a crash between two U.S. aircraft.

00:29:59.000 The other aircraft landed safely in Tel Aviv.

00:30:01.000 Obviously, our prayers go out to our heroes on the front lines and their families.

00:30:06.000 Meanwhile, Israeli drone strikes have been taking out specific IRGC positions inside Tehran.

00:30:11.000 The goal, presumably, is to clear the way for Iranians to take to the streets and then overthrow the regime.

00:30:16.000 According to the Jerusalem Post, information has been sent by Iranians on the ground to the Israelis.

00:30:20.000 Quote: Iranians on the ground have been transmitting information in Persian through Israeli social media accounts.

00:30:25.000 According to the report, the information is first verified and vetted by Israeli authorities.

00:30:30.000 Action is taken only after it is found to be accurate.

00:30:33.000 Iranians are also striking right now. 0.99

00:30:35.000 Nobody is at work.

00:30:36.000 The country is essentially shut down.

00:30:37.000 According to Crown Prince Reza Pallavi, who has many supporters in the country, things ought to stay that way until the Iranian people are unleashed on the tyrannical government. 0.99

00:30:45.000 Here was Pallavi yesterday says the regime uses schools, mosques, and other public places to hide its repressive forces and create human shields.

00:31:01.000 For your own safety, stay away from such locations.

00:31:09.000 And my special message to bureaucratic employees under no circumstances report to your workplace.

00:31:17.000 Do not sacrifice your lives and safety for the survival of the Islamic Republic. 0.50

00:31:23.000 Do not allow yourselves to be used as human shields.

00:31:29.000 Do not let your work and activities become tools For the repression of your fellow compatriots.

00:31:37.000 Use your resources and access to disrupt the process of repression.

00:31:40.000 Well, meanwhile, Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, was crystal clear about the state of the Iranian regime at a presser this morning.

00:31:46.000 Here's what he had to say: We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.

00:31:55.000 He put out a statement yesterday, a weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video.

00:32:02.000 It was a written statement.

00:32:04.000 He called for unity.

00:32:06.000 Apparently, killing tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of unity.

00:32:11.000 Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders.

00:32:14.000 Why a written statement?

00:32:17.000 I think you know why.

00:32:20.000 And moreover, when the press court inquired whether the administration even thought about the chokehold at the Strait of Hormuz, Secretary Hegseth stated the obvious, yes, duh, we thought about that.

00:32:32.000 We plan for it.

00:32:33.000 Why are we?

00:32:34.000 We recognize it because ultimately we want to do it sequentially in a way that makes the most sense for what we want to achieve and ensure that we're sending the right signals to the world when we do so.

00:32:46.000 So when Chris Wright speaks or we speak, it's based on a full assessment of what we're up against, what we want to say to the world, how we want them to see and understand the conflict.

00:32:56.000 It's like this whole idea of the war widening.

00:32:58.000 That's what the press wants to make it look like.

00:33:00.000 Like it's widening in chaos.

00:33:02.000 No, we're actually closing in on grabbing hold of and controlling what objectives we want to achieve and how we want to achieve them.

00:33:10.000 It's called shaping operations and setting the conditions. 0.94

00:33:12.000 But when you shape the environment, you don't always tell, I mean, foolish political leaders and foolish military leaders of the past will hang an exact deadline on it. 0.86

00:33:21.000 Or here's exactly when we'll do what we're going to do, or here's how long it's going to take us.

00:33:25.000 And then if you meet that, maybe you meet it.

00:33:28.000 But if you don't, you fail it.

00:33:29.000 If you're far beyond, we know exactly what we're shaping and why.

00:33:32.000 And in case you're still not convinced that our military knows what it's doing, Secretary Hegseth was asked specifically about Tucker Carlson objecting to the war, calling it disgusting and evil.

00:33:41.000 Here was the secretary.

00:33:43.000 Particularly from your fellow Fox News alum, Tucker Carlson. 0.99

00:33:47.000 He called the war disgusting and evil and then said of unconditional surrender, which the president has called for means foreign troops get to rape your wives and daughters. 0.93

00:33:55.000 Have you heard these comments and what's your reaction to them?

00:33:58.000 We're busy executing on behalf of great patriotic Americans with a clear mission that's 47 years overdue.

00:34:05.000 And we're going to execute on that regardless of what people say about it.

00:34:09.000 So essentially, we now have a battle of wills.

00:34:12.000 The will of President Trump and his administration and our military against the will of the Iranian Ayatollahs and the IRGC. 0.71

00:34:18.000 Iran is hoping that the West will crack and simply back away. 0.84

00:34:21.000 But if the West doesn't, the regime is in serious, serious trouble.

00:34:25.000 And there are, as we have been discussing continuously, levers that can still be pulled.

00:34:29.000 Iran's capacity to attack shipping can be stopped.

00:34:32.000 Karg Island, the choke point for the entire Iranian oil industry, can be taken with special operations.

00:34:37.000 Iran nuclear materials can be captured as well.

00:34:39.000 In fact, as Iran ups the ante, the goals of the war must shift as well. 0.86

00:34:43.000 Iran's willingness to mine the strait of Hormuz and attack shipping directly means this must now be considered a terror capacity of the regime and must be dismantled. 0.72

00:34:51.000 The war in Iran isn't over yet, but Iran's government has only one strategy and one strategy only.

00:34:57.000 The strategy is to increase pain.

00:35:00.000 And their ally, fifth columnists and panicans in the West, who will trade a little temporary relief for long-term insecurity.

00:35:06.000 Thank God for the president, who doesn't seem inclined to acquiesce to this weakness.

00:35:10.000 He posted overnight on Truth Social quote, We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise.

00:35:15.000 Yet, if you read the failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think we are not winning.

00:35:19.000 Iran's Navy is gone.

00:35:20.000 Their Air Force is no longer.

00:35:21.000 Missiles, drones, everything else are being decimated.

00:35:23.000 Their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.

00:35:25.000 We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time. 1.00

00:35:28.000 Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. 1.00

00:35:31.000 They've been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years. 1.00

00:35:34.000 And now I, as the 47th president of the United States, am killing them. 0.99

00:35:38.000 What a great honor it is to do so. 0.97

00:35:40.000 Thank you for your attention to this matter.

00:35:44.000 That's what my president sounds like.

00:35:47.000 Well, folks, a lot of hot topics in the news.

00:35:49.000 What better time than to join me, Michael Knowles, and Andrew Clavin for a live afternoon edition of Friendly Fire, conversations about the biggest stories in the headlines, the media narrative surrounding them.

00:35:58.000 And of course, we will talk a little bit of Oscars.

00:36:01.000 Watch Friendly Fire live today, 2 p.m. Eastern on dailywire.com and the DailyWire Plus app.

00:36:06.000 Joining me on the line to discuss the status of the U.S.-Iran conflict is John Spencer.

00:36:11.000 He's a combat veteran military analyst and one of the world's leading experts on urban warfare and modern military strategy.

00:36:16.000 He also serves as the executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute.

00:36:20.000 John, thanks so much for the time.

00:36:21.000 Really appreciate it.

00:36:22.000 Thanks for having me, Ben.

00:36:25.000 So why don't we begin with where you think the war currently stands, what the United States's goals should be in this war, and how close are we to achieving those goals?

00:36:34.000 Sure.

00:36:34.000 So I think at this point, we're historic.

00:36:37.000 Really, there's no comparison to even how this operation opened.

00:36:41.000 I do believe this might be the first war where no matter how many times our senior leaders say what the goals are, the media runs with what they think they are.

00:36:50.000 As of 30 minutes ago, the Secretary of Defense went on TV again to say the objectives are very clear, deny nuclear capability, destroy the missile shield and all of its parts and components, and destroy the Navy.

00:37:04.000 If you take those goals, not what people think they are, that it's not a regime change war, then we're doing ahead of schedule extremely well.

00:37:14.000 Soon, the Iranian military will not have a Navy.

00:37:17.000 They will not have an Air Force.

00:37:19.000 They will not only not have missile launchers, missiles, the ability to manufacture more missiles.

00:37:26.000 They will also be continuing their weekend at Bernie's leadership style, where we don't know if he's alive or dead and just in a hole like a rat, sending out Telegram notes, I guess.

00:37:39.000 So, you know, from a military analysis, I think they're ahead of schedule, measurably achieving the objectives.

00:37:48.000 War is always uncertain, so nobody knows where to actually end.

00:37:52.000 But as of this morning, 16,000 targets, 90 ships.

00:37:56.000 I mean, it's just incredible.

00:37:58.000 A lot of historic first moments.

00:37:59.000 The first time we've ever sunk a submarine with a precision attackum or basically a ground-based system.

00:38:06.000 There are so many successes here.

00:38:09.000 And it's weird because if you go to any media channel, it seems besides most of them, it seems like we're not achieving anything.

00:38:17.000 Even the 90% launches.

00:38:20.000 So I don't know if it's called the bar fight tactic, but how Iran's not striking the U.S. or Israel.

00:38:25.000 It's just slapping everybody around them.

00:38:28.000 90% of missiles down, 90% of drone launches down.

00:38:32.000 I think it's going extremely well.

00:38:35.000 So let's talk about the sort of shadow purpose.

00:38:38.000 So a lot of people are speculating that this is about regime change.

00:38:41.000 Obviously, it would be very good for the region and the world if the regime were to change in Iran.

00:38:45.000 The regime lashing out, it does feel like it is in serious, serious trouble, which is why it is using, as you called it, the bar fight tactic, firing more ordnance at UAE than it has fired directly at Israel by a multiple.

00:38:58.000 And not only that, now just shooting random ships in the Straits of Hormuz in an attempt to stop the flow of oil and put pressure on the United States to stop its own action.

00:39:08.000 We should talk about the Strait of Hormuz because obviously 20% of global oil transits the Strait of Hormuz.

00:39:13.000 An enormous amount of that oil actually heads for China.

00:39:16.000 And the Iranians continue to allow oil that is directed toward China out through the Strait of Hormuz with that without shooting it.

00:39:23.000 The big question becomes, this is an Iranian offensive capacity to shut the Strait of Hormuz to prevent the flow of oil.

00:39:29.000 Should it be on America's target list to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?

00:39:33.000 And how would you go about doing that?

00:39:34.000 How should America see the Strait of Hormuz situation?

00:39:38.000 Absolutely, it should be.

00:39:39.000 And that's why the destruction of the Navy was one of the goals set on the opening day.

00:39:44.000 And again, every leader every day is going out and saying the goals, but that keeping the Straits of Hormuz and more importantly, taking away that threat that Islamic regime of Iran has been doing for 47 away from holding the world economy at hostage so it can continue terrorism is a major goal. 0.95

00:40:01.000 How can it be done?

00:40:02.000 So it's not like we haven't done it before.

00:40:05.000 If you remember the end of the Iran-Iraq war in the late 1980s, President Reagan, another great president, did Operation Earnest Will because they were attacking the tankers called the tanker war.

00:40:17.000 And we, the U.S. Navy, started escorting ships.

00:40:21.000 Phase one was to destroy everything that was moving along the shoreline.

00:40:25.000 Now, of course, today there's more stuff, but the immense amount of destruction that the United States Navy, United States military is doing right now to destroy anything that could deny traffic, disrupt traffic through the Straits of Abhormus.

00:40:39.000 That's what's happening right now.

00:40:40.000 The sinking of those 90 vessels, the attack of the mine lane ships, anywhere they might be hiding anything.

00:40:47.000 And then the next phase is you escort.

00:40:49.000 And even the secretary, both secretaries involved in the U.S. operations said that militarily, when it's convenient or not convenient, when it's possible with the lowest amount of risk, the U.S. Navy, like in 1988, will start escorting the frigates and the commercial supplies through there.

00:41:08.000 And remember, that operation went for a year, and there was actually a U.S. Navy vessel that was basically hurt.

00:41:16.000 It was hit.

00:41:17.000 And then we did Operation Pray in Mantis, where we unleashed ungawful hell on the coastline.

00:41:22.000 And I think that would happen again.

00:41:24.000 It absolutely should be an objective.

00:41:26.000 I think it absolutely is.

00:41:28.000 With that, that's why the Navy is continuing to be one of the objectives.

00:41:32.000 Absolutely possible.

00:41:32.000 It's been done in the past.

00:41:34.000 There's not say you rush to it.

00:41:36.000 I know everybody likes their 30-second clips.

00:41:38.000 They want all information now.

00:41:39.000 They want nothing secret.

00:41:41.000 And they want their breakfast right now.

00:41:44.000 It takes time, but I absolutely think it's a necessary objective and it will happen.

00:41:52.000 So, meanwhile, obviously, one of the big concerns is the possibility that the Iranian regime does, in fact, survive all of this.

00:41:58.000 They've been extraordinarily damaged.

00:42:00.000 It appears that lines of communication have been broken between the central government in Tehran and various IRGC facilities throughout the country.

00:42:08.000 Israel has destroyed an enormous number of IRGC facilities.

00:42:11.000 Israel is now sending suicide drones into the streets of Tehran to take out actual checkpoints that are run by the IRGC, presumably in the hopes of fostering an uprising in Tehran today.

00:42:21.000 There was a big march in Tehran with the IRGC escorting top members of the government through the streets in an attempt, I assume, to show some sort of remaining strength in the background.

00:42:31.000 You can see Israel still hitting targets directly in Iran, like blocks away, which shows a couple of things.

00:42:36.000 One, that the Iranian government is not in control of its guys.

00:42:39.000 And number two, that the Iranian government is very, very confident that Israel and the United States are not, in fact, targeting civilians.

00:42:44.000 Because if you are marching your top leadership in the streets with a bunch of civilians, and the United States and Israel know that, and they could theoretically kill you, and you're relying on civilians to prevent that killing, that is assuming the humanity of the United States and the Israeli military.

00:42:59.000 So it actually gives the lie to many of the arguments made about the United States and the Israeli military that Iran is deliberately saying we are perfectly happy to walk in the streets knowing there are civilians around because we know the U.S. and Israel won't actually kill us if there are too many civilians around.

00:43:13.000 But back to the sort of generalized topic of what ought to happen next.

00:43:17.000 If the United States were to try to pursue a faster collapse of the Iranian regime, I've mentioned on the show Kharg Island, which is a coral island about 15 miles off the coast of Iran, and 90% of all Iranian crude is processed there.

00:43:30.000 Do you see the possibility that the United States military unleashes a special operation to take Karg Island, essentially choking off the final vestiges, and indeed the entire centralized economy of the Iranian state and essentially ending the IRGC's capacity to do anything?

00:43:46.000 Ben, I think it's quite possible, but this is what we've seen.

00:43:50.000 The whole idea of telling the world what the United States won't do and what Israel won't do. 0.70

00:43:56.000 I think that's a potentially option as much as special forces operations to secure the 60% rich uranium that is out there.

00:44:06.000 Possibly, the chairman just a few minutes ago said that today will be the biggest day of our strikes.

00:44:14.000 I think the whole purpose of war is not to let your enemy believe that they can continue doing what they're doing.

00:44:21.000 And that is absolutely one of the potential variables.

00:44:23.000 I'm not sure if it will be necessary.

00:44:26.000 And this is the, you know, what we know about war, as Klauso has said, is, you know, three-fourths of his fog is covered in a fog that we don't know.

00:44:33.000 But we've seen this a lot of influencers that want to know everything and they're predicting everything.

00:44:39.000 It's potentially absolutely a possibility, as much as we've seen Israel going after all of those levers that the Islamic regime uses to suppress. 0.97

00:44:48.000 And the minute they think they can, they'll go out and start killing the population so they don't get an ideal to do this uprising, like attacking the IRGC headquarters, the besieged headquarters, anything, cyber, all the levers that we saw them use in January to kill over 35,000 civilians.

00:45:04.000 So absolutely a possibility.

00:45:06.000 But if you tell you, if anybody comes on your show and tells you what's going to happen, you just don't have them on again.

00:45:13.000 So, John, I think that the biggest question here is obviously the endgame.

00:45:17.000 How long this is going to last if the United States leaves with the Iranian regime still in power, but tremendously weakened, missing its forward capabilities, unable to support terrorism, basically on its last lags and isolated, sort of like the Cuban government is currently. 0.62

00:45:31.000 Would you consider that a win?

00:45:32.000 Should Americans consider that a win?

00:45:35.000 Absolutely.

00:45:36.000 Measure the win or loss against the objectives that the president said on March 1st.

00:45:41.000 And then every leader from Secretary of War to the GR Chief of Staff has said since then, this is about taking away all of those levers which the Islamic regime wanted to use as an umbrella to continue their plan for the Middle East. 0.95

00:45:56.000 And that's been upset since October 7th.

00:45:58.000 There's a new Middle East. 0.99

00:45:59.000 No matter what, I believe after this, if this operation stops tomorrow, the United States is safer.

00:46:05.000 The U.S. bases in the region are safer.

00:46:07.000 Israel is safer because the goals were set, deny that nuclear program, destroy that ballistic missile shield that it's clearly wanted to use to terrorize the world and prevent it from using that threat of closing the Straits of Hermuz from us.

00:46:20.000 Absolutely.

00:46:21.000 You could view it as a win.

00:46:23.000 Israel and the United States are winning. 0.94

00:46:25.000 I won't tell you what's going to happen, but I believe no matter what, everybody is safer to include the Iranian people.

00:46:32.000 Well, that is John Spencer.

00:46:34.000 He is the executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute.

00:46:36.000 John, really appreciate the time and the insight.

00:46:39.000 Thank you, Ben.

00:46:40.000 All right.

00:46:41.000 Well, meanwhile, the Oscars are happening this Sunday.

00:46:43.000 I know.

00:46:44.000 Lighter news.

00:46:46.000 It's Sunday.

00:46:46.000 I guess 7 p.m. is when it starts.

00:46:48.000 There'll be red carpet and insufferable celebrities wearing stupid pins and all the rest. 1.00

00:46:53.000 Well, I watched all 10 best picture nominations, so you didn't have to. 0.95

00:46:57.000 My full review of each is going to be released on my YouTube channel tomorrow, 10 a.m. Eastern.

00:47:01.000 But for now, let's go through what we can expect at the Oscars.

00:47:06.000 Okay, I'm going to pull up the Oscar odds over on Kalshi.

00:47:09.000 Kalshi, of course, a sponsor of the show.

00:47:12.000 All right.

00:47:12.000 According to the Calci markets, 76% of people believe that one battle after another is going to win Best Picture.

00:47:18.000 23% believe that Sinners is going to win Best Picture, Hamnet at three, Marty Supreme at two, sentimental value at one.

00:47:27.000 So it is very likely that one battle after another is going to win.

00:47:30.000 I'm going to say Sinners is going to win.

00:47:32.000 I think Sinners is going to win mainly because when it comes right down to it, when it comes right down to it, so many Academy voters feel better about voting for the Wocus movie as opposed to the movie that really is about the evils of America and white supremacy and illegal immigration crackdowns and all of the rest.

00:47:51.000 I think Sinners is going to pull this one out.

00:47:52.000 I think this will be a big shock of the night is when Sinners wins Best Picture.

00:47:56.000 Timothy Chalamay has dropped to second place in the Calci markets behind Michael B. Jordan in Sinners.

00:48:01.000 Michael B. Jordan is fine in Sinners.

00:48:03.000 Timothy Chalamet ought to be running away with this category.

00:48:05.000 His performance in Marty Supreme is easily the best performance of the year.

00:48:09.000 It is not particularly close.

00:48:11.000 He is terrific in the film.

00:48:12.000 His character is utterly unlikable, but somehow also kind of charming.

00:48:17.000 Michael B. Jordan is great.

00:48:18.000 I think he's fine in Sinners, but Chalamet should be winning.

00:48:22.000 Apparently, he was winning until he announced that film may be a dying industry.

00:48:27.000 He doesn't want to see it be a dying industry, but it may be a dying industry like, say, opera and ballet.

00:48:32.000 And everybody's been going nuts over that, which, I mean, listen, as a fan of both ballet and opera, those aren't exactly the big moneymakers.

00:48:39.000 They're essentially driven at this point by major donors who want to see the opera continue.

00:48:45.000 And when it comes to best supporting actor, unbelievably, Sean Penn is leading in the best supporting actor category. 0.85

00:48:50.000 This is unbelievable to me because I think that his performance in one battle after another as a white supremacist cop who has a sexual fetish for a black revolutionary, I think it's a truly bad performance. 0.92

00:49:02.000 I think he's awful in that movie. 0.92

00:49:04.000 I think there are some movies like Mystic River, where Sean Penn is terrific.

00:49:08.000 I think he's truly not good in one battle after another.

00:49:11.000 Stellan Skarsgaard is in second place there.

00:49:14.000 It's a weak category, to be fair.

00:49:16.000 It's a weak category.

00:49:18.000 Best director, Paul Thomas Anderson, running away with that category.

00:49:24.000 I mean, honestly, I think that Ryan Kugler should probably win this category.

00:49:29.000 Just in terms of the directorial skill and entertainment value unleashed, this is not Paul Thomas Anderson's best film by far.

00:49:36.000 This is not even a top five PTA film.

00:49:39.000 Ryan Kugler should be winning this one walking away, honestly.

00:49:42.000 And again, I don't like any of these movies.

00:49:43.000 I think that one battle after another is not a good movie.

00:49:46.000 I think Sinners is half of an interesting movie, but it is beautifully directed.

00:49:51.000 And so it's kind of surprising to me that Kugler is well behind in the Calci odds over there.

00:49:58.000 Then you have for the best actress, Jesse Buckley, with a wide lead for Hamnet.

00:50:05.000 That's fine.

00:50:06.000 I mean, I think that she is the only star who is in a best picture-nominated film that actually has a shot of winning and got any sort of coverage.

00:50:17.000 I didn't really like Hamnett very much.

00:50:19.000 With that said, Jesse Buckley is at 96% in the Calci odds.

00:50:25.000 Best original screenplay, apparently Sinners is way ahead, which I find insane since Sinners is basically just a ripoff of From Dawn to Dusk, the Terence Hino film, but with a bunch of racism attached.

00:50:36.000 But we will see how exactly all of this goes in the Oscars.

00:50:42.000 If you want to see my full breakdown of all of these movies, again, I watched every single Oscar-nominated film this year.

00:50:48.000 I watched all of them, so you don't have to.

00:50:50.000 My full review will be released on my YouTube channel tomorrow.

00:50:53.000 So if you want to prep for the Oscars, but you don't actually want to watch so many of these movies the way that I had to for you, the people, head on over to YouTube, check out my channel tomorrow, 10 a.m. Eastern.

00:51:05.000 Alrighty, folks, coming up, there is more show, but the show is only available to those of you who subscribe.

00:51:11.000 And this is where I answer your most burning questions.

00:51:13.000 So, you and I, behind the paywall, we could be best friends.

00:51:16.000 You never know.

00:51:17.000 If you're not a member, become a member, use code Shapiro checkout to try two months free on all annual plans.

00:51:21.000 Click that link in the description and join us.

00:51:23.000 Legal sent this list of everything we're not allowed to do in season two.

00:51:27.000 We're gonna do all of it.

00:51:30.000 We've got games, more celebrity guests, and yes, the mailbag is somehow worse.

00:51:34.000 If you thought season one was extra, season two, we're doubling down.

00:51:38.000 We're not supposed to be doing this.

00:51:40.000 Exactly.

00:51:41.000 Been after dark season two streaming on Daily Wire

The Ben Shapiro Show - March 13, 2026

Two Terror Attacks in One Day. What is Happening??

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