The StoneZONE with Roger Stone - June 24, 2026


The Stone Zone ｜ 06-23-26

Topics
Fauci pardons and investigations Iranian nuclear deal negotiations Cuba Libre
Hosted by
Roger Stone Troy Smith Jake Novak
Mentioned
Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Fidel Castro Marco Rubio Clarence Thomas Hunter Biden Ron Paul Ron Johnson Pam Evitt Hillary Clinton Midnight Hammer Safer Ontario Anthony Fauci Richard Nixon Rob Manfred Joe Biden Antifa Giza Debbie Wasserman Schultz Benjamin Song and 26 more
The Stone Zone ｜ 06-22-26 The Stone Zone ｜ 06-24-26

Episode Stats


Length

39 minutes

Words per minute

132.76

Word count

5,264

Sentence count

311

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Sen. Bernie Sanders has spent decades at podiums across the country screaming into microphones as the self-proclaimed champion of the 99%. He s an unapologetic leader for democratic socialism. And yet, in his nearly twenty years as a senator, Sanders has sponsored only a handful of bills that actually became law.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Bet mode activated.
00:00:01.820 The Scorebet app here with trusted stats and real-time sports news.
00:00:05.220 Yeah, hey, who should I take in the Boston game?
00:00:07.280 Well, statistically speaking.
00:00:08.840 Nah, no more statistically speaking. 0.99
00:00:10.600 I want hot takes. 0.99
00:00:11.700 I want knee-jerk reactions.
00:00:13.280 That's not really what I do.
00:00:15.440 Is that because you don't have any knees?
00:00:17.500 Or...
00:00:17.860 The Scorebet.
00:00:20.000 Trusted sports content, seamless sports betting.
00:00:22.320 Download today.
00:00:23.360 19 plus, Ontario only.
00:00:24.760 If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you,
00:00:27.840 please go to conicsontario.ca.
00:00:30.260 A Safer Ontario means more police and prosecutors making sure my car doesn't get stolen.
00:00:35.840 It means building new jails to keep criminals behind bars.
00:00:39.320 And it means there's no need to worry when I play at the park.
00:00:42.700 We're making every corner of Ontario safer to make all of Ontario safer.
00:00:47.360 That's how we protect Ontario.
00:00:49.380 For all of us.
00:00:51.440 Learn how at Ontario.ca slash Safer Ontario.
00:00:54.560 Paid for by the Government of Ontario.
00:01:00.000 this is the stone zone with roger stone people love him and respect him roger stone
00:01:16.780 now get him his own it's the stone zone here's roger stone
00:01:22.820 You are diving headfirst into the Stone Zone. 0.99
00:01:38.180 Has there ever been a more sanctimonious blowhard and hypocrite in the United States Senate other than Vermont's Bernie Sanders? 0.99
00:01:46.180 Bernie Sanders has spent decades at podiums across the country screaming into microphones as the self-proclaimed champion of the 99%, an unapologetic leader for democratic socialism. 0.97
00:02:00.280 The truth is, Sanders has never had an actual job where he wasn't on the public payroll, serving his entire adult life in government as mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989, 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives from 91 to 2007, and more than 18 years now in the U.S. Senate since 2007.
00:02:23.960 He was actually an independent until about a year before he chose to seek the Democrat nomination for president against Hillary Clinton, and his radical socialist views were so popular that Hillary Clinton and Democratic National Chairwoman Deborah Wasserman Schultz had to rig the rules in order to defeat him.
00:02:45.280 Yet, in his nearly 19 years as a senator, Sanders has sponsored only a handful of bills that actually became law, most of them minor or token gestures such as poster office renamings or the like.
00:03:00.320 His ambitious flagship proposals like Medicare for All and sweeping wealth taxes have failed to pass his stand-alone legislation.
00:03:10.520 He's been far more affected of offering amendments and co-sponsoring bills than acting any of his own major ideas.
00:03:17.300 Sanders, of course, became a household name during his 2015 to 2016 presidential campaigns through his obnoxious, well-documented rhetorical assaults on millionaires and billionaires.
00:03:30.320 From the podium, he repeatedly railed against the rigged system controlled by the ultra-wealthy, portraying elites as greedy puppet masters and the roots of America's inequality.
00:03:44.640 This tirade continues even as he himself became a millionaire because it was in those two presidential campaigns that he and his wife skimmed millions of dollars in media placement funds from his grassroots funded campaigns.
00:04:01.840 Bernie Sanders now has a net worth of $2 to $3 million, according to Senate filings, all while stirring up young people by promising to forgive student debt, insisting he would provide free college, as well as massive wealth redistribution.
00:04:23.300 If you listen carefully, he no longer criticizes millionaires.
00:04:27.620 That's because he is one.
00:04:29.440 He touts small-dollar donations from grassroots donors, but those funds are bankrolling private jets, limousines, five-star luxury hotels, and high-end travel.
00:04:41.180 The hypocrisy is glaring in its numbers.
00:04:43.700 In 2025 alone, Bernie Sanders spent more than $550,000 on private jets, including $221,723 in the first quarter and nearly $230,000 in the second quarter, often with ventures like Ventura Jets, as reported by the Center Square.
00:05:07.400 That's where the 2025 totals are also detailed by the New York Post as well as ABC News.
00:05:13.120 By mid-2026, Sanders' official campaign committee had already funneled between $680,000 and $619,000 into lavish travel, including $562,000 for 11 private jet charters, $16,000 on limousines and chauffeured services, plus stays at upscale four- and five-star hotels.
00:05:38.140 These expenditures, drawn from federal election records by my staff, occurred while the year was only half over.
00:05:46.700 Sanders is not only a Democratic Socialist engaging in such practices.
00:05:51.080 In 2025, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined him on the Fighting Oligarchy Tour.
00:05:59.040 Fox News Digital obtained exclusive photos and videos of both boarding a Ledger Bombardier Challenger jet
00:06:06.660 Costing about $15,000 an hour to fly just from Bakersfield to Sacramento
00:06:13.020 A distance that one could easily drive
00:06:15.580 That same year, AOC's campaign spent over $53,000 on luxury hotels
00:06:22.060 including the five-star Vidara Hotel and Spa in Las Vegas and Asher Adams in Salt Lake City,
00:06:29.380 plus high-end meals at New York City, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico restaurants,
00:06:34.020 and nearly $50,000 more on hotels, catering, and venue rental at Puerto Rico's Coliseo de Puerto Rico.
00:06:43.680 When questioned on May 7, 2025, on Fox News Special Report with Brett Baer,
00:06:49.120 Sander defended his use of private jet. You run a campaign and you do three or four or five rallies
00:06:55.540 in a week. It's the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people. You think I'm going to
00:07:00.440 be sitting online waiting? That's the only way to get around. No apologize for that. In other words
00:07:06.000 it's not it's good enough for thee but it's not good enough for he. Private jet travel is a
00:07:11.980 bipartisan norm in politics of course. We Republicans also racking up substantial charter
00:07:17.040 costs. The key difference is that Sanders and AOC aggressively championed climate change initiatives
00:07:24.680 while leaving quite a carbon footprint with those private jets and, of course, their humble
00:07:29.720 working-class lifestyles spent in five-star hotels, while exempting themselves from the
00:07:35.220 very standards they impose on others, whereas Republicans rarely preach the same level of
00:07:41.260 personal sacrifice, or environmental alarmism.
00:07:45.940 Sanders owns three houses, two vacation homes,
00:07:49.920 and his principal residence driving a top-of-the-line Mercedes.
00:07:53.360 See, socialism is good for thee, but not for he, as they say.
00:07:58.800 These are all, of course, the results of the very capitalist system
00:08:02.460 that Bernie Sanders denounces.
00:08:04.400 Sanders has been at this long enough that he preaches a doctrine
00:08:07.160 but refuses to live by it.
00:08:09.180 For all of his hatred of capitalism, he has shown little ability to deliver meaningful legislation or any real change in nearly 19 years in the Senate.
00:08:18.620 The receipts from 2025 and 2026 fighting oligarchy to reveal the condescending pattern of self-described Democrat socialists who preach experimental ideologies while refusing to live by them.
00:08:32.320 The anti-wealth crusading losses loses all credibility when they live like they are very targets they claim to despise.
00:08:40.980 The pattern extends to his long-standing commentary on authoritarian regimes, by the way.
00:08:46.380 Bernie Sanders has repeatedly highlighted the positive things about Fidel Castro's Cuba,
00:08:53.080 particularly its literacy program and its health care system.
00:08:56.300 In a 2016 Democracy Now interview following Castro's death, he stated a lot of positive things can be said.
00:09:04.140 Their health care system for a third world country is quite good.
00:09:07.900 Their educational system is strong.
00:09:09.980 Some very positive things came about.
00:09:13.100 He seems to have missed the fact that Fidel Castro was one of the great mass murderers and one of the most brutal dictators of all time.
00:09:20.060 He defended these similar views in 2020 and asked whether a massive literary campaign was a bad thing.
00:09:26.300 even though Fidel Castro did it.
00:09:28.600 That was his defense,
00:09:29.900 while acknowledging the regime's authoritarianism.
00:09:33.340 The real really is not isolated praise,
00:09:35.860 but a worldview that excuses the coercive methods
00:09:38.820 behind utopian promises.
00:09:40.620 The same ideology that fuels Sanders' campaigns
00:09:44.260 while the luxury traveling bills pile up.
00:09:47.500 In the end, well, the math doesn't add up.
00:09:50.760 Sanders' rhetoric may fire up crowds,
00:09:53.140 but the lifestyle, legislative record,
00:09:55.580 and selective admiration for authoritarian achievements expose a fundamental disconnect.
00:10:02.560 He preaches one set of rules with a righteous fury by living with another.
00:10:07.460 And now he's back with a new proposal.
00:10:09.960 Senator Bernie Sanders, the daffy old Bolshevik from Vermont, has a new proposal.
00:10:15.080 He insists on introducing all manner of socialist horse squeeze as proposed legislation.
00:10:21.120 Lately, he's been constantly whining about the need for a wealth tax.
00:10:25.580 providing that he doesn't understand Article 1, Section 9, Class 4 of the U.S. Constitution,
00:10:31.580 much less why the 16th Amendment was necessary to implement the income tax.
00:10:36.560 But then, the far left has always seen the Constitution as something to be dodged or twisted in any case.
00:10:43.200 Now, though, Senator Sanders has a new idea, and it could make good old Karl Marx clap his hands in glee.
00:10:50.000 seizing 50% of the ownership of all artificial intelligence companies
00:10:55.460 and putting the assets into a sovereign wealth fund,
00:10:59.540 as if that fund would stay there long.
00:11:02.300 A U.S. Senate bill put forward by Sanders
00:11:04.760 would give the federal government a 50% ownership stake
00:11:07.760 in the largest artificial intelligence companies,
00:11:11.280 creating a sovereign wealth fund.
00:11:13.400 Its sponsor estimates would be worth $7 trillion.
00:11:17.240 One policy analyst called the idea nutty, while others said it would put American AI companies at a competitive disadvantage and would lead to offshoring.
00:11:27.240 offshore. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent again of Vermont, introduced the American AI
00:11:33.860 Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a one-time 50% tax on AI company stock and deposit
00:11:42.000 those shares into a fund that he says would pay every American more than $1,000 annually.
00:11:48.740 Sanders says that AI was built on the collective knowledge of humanity and the creative work of
00:11:54.180 tens of millions of people, and that the public deserves a direct ownership stake in the companies
00:11:59.860 that have profited from it. Well, here's the first thing that Senator Sanders gets wrong.
00:12:05.820 AI wasn't built solely on the collective knowledge of humanity and the creative work of tens of
00:12:11.600 millions of people, although that's certainly a minor factor. AI was built by thousands of
00:12:17.040 programmers who write and maintain the software, not to mention all the people involved with the
00:12:22.760 building, maintaining the physical assets of the big data centers required, and financing them.
00:12:29.420 Sanders' bill would, in effect, yank away half of the results of their efforts
00:12:33.460 by partially nationalizing an entire industry.
00:12:37.540 But wait, there's more.
00:12:39.920 Senator Sanders has also, as always been proven in virtually every policy position he's ever taken,
00:12:46.380 utterly incapable of understanding how incentives matter.
00:12:50.240 Some of these software companies have tremendous assets,
00:12:53.340 and any move in the United States to partially nationalize their industry
00:12:57.280 would simply force them to move.
00:13:00.700 If not, most of them, almost all of them,
00:13:02.860 these companies would flee the United States for greener pastures.
00:13:06.660 Fortunately for the American economy,
00:13:09.740 Senator Sanders' ideas rarely gave much traction.
00:13:12.220 In fact, when it comes to traction, 0.94
00:13:14.200 The daffy old Bolsheviks' ideas are about as stable as a hog on greased ice. 0.96
00:13:20.400 And that's our good fortune as Americans. 0.87
00:13:22.780 Now, a sovereign wealth fund by itself isn't the worst idea ever.
00:13:26.620 We have a state-level equivalent here, and I think it is Alaska, sort of,
00:13:30.580 in the form of the permanent fund from which every Alaskan receives a dividend every year.
00:13:35.920 But the permanent fund isn't based on taxing away half of any one industry's assets.
00:13:41.680 And if you believe that, even in this past, it would be a truly one-time tax, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.
00:13:49.480 I'm Roger Stone. You're listening to Stone Zone. Don't go away, because we'll be right back with more.
00:13:55.240 The Stone Zone. Entertaining and informative.
00:13:58.880 On the Red Apple Podcast Network.
00:14:00.800 this is the stone zone with roger stone roger stone who's a very very one of the smartest
00:14:16.320 political minds roger stone was persecuted people forget he's actually a brilliant brilliant
00:14:21.100 political analyst now get him a zone it's the stone zone here's roger stone
00:14:27.760 In the wake of the disclosures and declassifications by Tulsi Gabbard that proved that Dr. Anthony Fauci lied under oath to the United States Senate when he said that taxpayer dollars were not used to weaponize the COVID-19 vaccination in a Wuhan China lab.
00:14:49.880 Senators Rand Paul and Senator Ron Johnson, both Republicans, are urging the Trump Justice Department to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci and challenge the validity of his preemptive pardon from President Biden, according to a June 18, 2026 report by Just the News.
00:15:08.980 Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and a longtime critic of Fauci, describes Biden's pardon as unusually broad and vague.
00:15:20.700 It covers sweeping unspecified period of years without naming any particular crimes similar to the pardon granted to Hunter Biden.
00:15:29.060 Personally, I do not think that that is the flaw in the pardons after all.
00:15:33.360 General Forbes pardoned Richard Nixon for any crime he may have committed.
00:15:37.800 Nixon at the time had not been charged with any crime.
00:15:42.080 Paul has questioned the pardon's legitimacy, though, noting it was issued via AutoPen on or around January 19th, 2025,
00:15:51.400 in Washington, D.C., at a time that Joe Biden was most demonstrably in the Virgin Islands.
00:15:57.480 He has raised questions about whether the former president personally reviewed or authorized the pardon,
00:16:02.380 asking, was President Biden of sound mind?
00:16:06.080 Did he understand who he was pardoning?
00:16:08.860 Did he participate in it?
00:16:10.700 Do you approve of each of the individual
00:16:13.240 auto-penn pardons that were issued
00:16:16.120 during his presidency?
00:16:18.160 Paul has repeatedly referred Fauci
00:16:20.040 to the Department of Justice
00:16:21.300 for allegedly lying to Congress
00:16:23.440 about gain-of-function research
00:16:25.560 funded at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
00:16:28.460 He argues that charging Fauci
00:16:30.620 would allow a judicial review of the pardon's constitutionality.
00:16:36.140 Recent indictments of Fauci associates, including senior advisor David Morenz,
00:16:41.160 for allegedly destroying records and concealing information,
00:16:44.600 could provide leverage as those deputies might cooperate in exchange for leniency.
00:16:51.200 Senator Johnson told reporters that Fauci is a bad person,
00:16:56.040 ought to be prosecuted because I believe he did indeed commit crimes against humanity.
00:17:01.380 Johnson expressed confidence that research supported by Fauci's agency
00:17:05.600 contributed to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:17:10.100 Both senators see prosecution as a means of accountability for alleged misconduct
00:17:15.820 and a way to challenge executive overreach in issuing broad preemptive pardons.
00:17:21.160 The Trump administration has declared various Biden-era pardons, including Fauci's null and void due to auto-pen use, citing concerns over Biden's mental fitness and lack of personal authorization.
00:17:37.800 As Mike Howell of the Oversight Project said on this show Sunday,
00:17:45.580 if Fauci were to be charged, he would argue that the pardon,
00:17:50.200 even though it was preemptive and signed by Odopan,
00:17:52.940 shields him from prosecution.
00:17:55.560 That would cause a trial.
00:17:57.380 Joe Biden could be called in that trial to testify as to what he remembers
00:18:01.680 and what he authorized.
00:18:04.100 I wouldn't bet on that.
00:18:05.420 In 2025, the president issued a memorandum directing a review of Biden's auto pen clemency actions, tasking the Department of Justice and the White House counsel with investigating potential unauthorized use of the auto pen.
00:18:20.980 House oversight Republicans and reports such as the Biden auto pen presidency have called for DOJ a scrutiny and the Biden DOJ pardon attorney has raised questions about auto pen pardons absent further court review.
00:18:36.220 Legal experts, including constitutional experts like Jonathan Turley, have noted that the auto pen's use is historically permissible, absent clear proof of total lack of personal awareness.
00:18:46.220 And that's what they would have to prove in court.
00:18:47.980 I'm Roger Stone. You're listening to The Stone Zone. We'll be right back.
00:18:57.340 The Stone Zone. Entertaining and informative.
00:19:01.520 On the Red Apple Podcast Network.
00:19:14.680 This is The Stone Zone.
00:19:17.320 Now, give him a zone.
00:19:19.160 It's the Stone Zone.
00:19:21.140 A man who's gone through hell, but he's kept going, and he's smart, and he's strong, and people love him.
00:19:28.240 Not everybody, but people love him and respect him.
00:19:30.680 Roger Stone. Where's Roger Stone?
00:19:32.980 Here's Roger Stone.
00:19:34.540 Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to the Gulf this week
00:19:43.580 as the Trump administration tries to turn a fragile breakthrough with Iran
00:19:48.120 into a lasting security deal.
00:19:51.280 Rubio is scheduled to visit Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates
00:19:56.420 starting tomorrow and ending Thursday
00:19:58.340 following weekend negotiations in Switzerland
00:20:01.220 between the American and Iranian officials.
00:20:04.540 The U.S. delegation was led in person by Vice President J.D. Vance, with Pakistan and Qatar helping mediate the talks.
00:20:12.620 The center of the trip is the newly drafted U.S.-Iranian Memorandum of Understanding.
00:20:18.580 The agreement creates a 60-day framework for negotiations, including Iran's pledge not to seek nuclear weapons,
00:20:26.540 and a process for reopening safe commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
00:20:31.860 In exchange, the United States would eventually dismantle its naval blockade of Iranian ports and begin addressing sanctions.
00:20:41.200 The Treasury Department has already issued a temporary 60-day license allowing the production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil.
00:20:49.700 Rubio is also expected to meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council in Bahrain to discuss regional security, shipping lanes, and how to restore safety after recent attacks.
00:21:01.140 that occurred amidst both operations, Epic Fury and Midnight Hammer.
00:21:07.780 We know that diplomacy is only useful when backed by strength. 0.73
00:21:11.220 Iran has a long record of delay, deception, and terror sponsorship. 0.70
00:21:16.660 And any final deal must be enforceable, verifiable, and tied to consequences.
00:21:22.700 Trump administration knows this. Donald Trump knows this.
00:21:25.900 But they've made enough of an impact where Iran knows they have no choice but come to a deal 0.91
00:21:30.460 or continue to get bombed into oblivion.
00:21:34.240 Rubio's job during his travels is to protect American interests,
00:21:38.000 reassure our Gulf allies, keep pressure on Tehran,
00:21:41.920 and make sure peace does not become another excuse for weakness.
00:21:45.960 He will excel in this role as he has in the myriad of roles within the Trump administration.
00:21:53.600 Meanwhile, eight members of a North Texas Antifa cell
00:21:57.420 have been sentenced to decades in federal prison for their roles in a violent attack
00:22:03.220 on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in July of 2025.
00:22:10.760 The sentences range from 30 years to 100 years.
00:22:15.040 The ringleader, one Benjamin Hanil Song, received the maximum sentence of 100 years
00:22:22.200 after being convicted of attempted murder and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
00:22:28.240 Prosecutors say Song shot Alvarado Police Lieutenant Thomas Gross in the neck during
00:22:34.200 the July 4th attack. Other defendants received 50 and 70-year sentences, including migrants who
00:22:41.040 arrived in black black attire and were equipped with firearms, body armor, medical supplies,
00:22:48.740 and explosive devices. Prosecutors said the group set off fireworks, vandalized vehicles,
00:22:55.340 and opened fire on responding officers. Evidence presented at their trial showed planning through
00:23:03.000 encrypted messaging along with firearms training and coordination before the attack. Several
00:23:09.280 co-defendants pleaded guilty and others cooperated with prosecutors. Additional charges in Johnson
00:23:15.800 County included attempted murder, domestic terrorism, and conspiracy. This case is a
00:23:22.280 reminder that political violence is not activism. It is terrorism when militants organize, arm
00:23:29.600 themselves, attack law enforcement, and try to storm a federal facility, whether it's in Texas
00:23:36.260 or whether it's in Newark, New Jersey. The left spent years minimizing Antifa, claiming it was
00:23:43.260 just an idea or a protest movement when nothing could have been further from the truth. Somebody
00:23:49.420 paid for the pallets of bricks, someone paid for the buses, somebody paid for the flatbed trucks,
00:23:55.700 somebody paid for the lawyers who were there in an instant to bail those who were arrested out of
00:24:01.080 jail. The ideas underpinning Antifa thuggery are those of militant communism, type of ideas that
00:24:08.740 have led to the most grotesque and evil tyrannies mankind has ever known. That's why these sentences
00:24:15.600 are so necessary. Antifa goons need to understand that when you attack law enforcement, threaten
00:24:22.700 public order, and wage violence against America's immigration system, your freedom will also
00:24:28.520 disappear. They're lucky they aren't being sent to Guantanamo Bay because make no mistake about it,
00:24:34.320 Antifa is just as dangerous of a terror threat as al-Qaeda is or ISIS is to our Constitutional Republic.
00:24:42.640 Meanwhile, a happy 78th birthday to Justice Clarence Thomas.
00:24:47.980 Clarence Thomas, one of the most consequential constitutional conservatives ever to serve on the Supreme Court.
00:24:54.220 Born in Savannah and raised in Pine Point, Georgia,
00:24:57.500 Thomas rose from modest beginnings to Holy Cross, Yale Law School, Missouri State Government, 0.67
00:25:03.340 the Reagan administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the D.C. Circuit, and
00:25:09.460 finally, the U.S. Supreme Court, where he took a seat in 1991 after being attacked with baseless
00:25:15.940 allegations meant to destroy his career. Those attacks failed, and now Clarence Thomas has
00:25:22.640 become the second longest serving justice in Supreme Court history. He spent more than three
00:25:28.360 decades shaping American law through originalism, decades that were respective of textualism
00:25:36.780 and a fierce independence that is rarely seen in Washington, D.C. His influence is not just
00:25:43.360 symbolic. He's written more than 800 opinions, including major decisions that shape civil
00:25:49.580 procedure, employment law, religious liberty, regulatory power, and yes, the Second Amendment.
00:25:57.900 Thomas's opinion in the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruin
00:26:03.140 strengthened the constitutional right to carry and bear firearms
00:26:07.240 and reshaped gun rights jurisprudence nationwide.
00:26:11.580 Thomas is also known for standing alone when principle requires it.
00:26:15.380 With more than 50 solo dissents, he has often placed constitutional arguments
00:26:21.420 years before the rest of the court was ready to follow.
00:26:24.680 His legacy extends beyond his own writings. Ten of his former clerks have become federal judges, helping carry constitutional conservatism through the judiciary that is often hostile terrain for those who lean right.
00:26:38.460 Justice Thomas represents courage under fire, fidelity to the Constitution, and refusal to bend to elitist pressure.
00:26:46.340 On his 78th birthday, America should recognize his justice, whose life and work proves that standing on principle can make a major difference against a corrupt system.
00:26:59.880 Meanwhile, this breaking news, Attorney General Allen Wilson of South Carolina has defeated Pam Evitz, the lieutenant governor in the Republican runoff for the governor's office.
00:27:11.980 This was a unique situation in which President Donald Trump endorsed Evitz, the lieutenant governor, in the first round, but then issued a very rare co-endorsement of both Evitz and Attorney General Alan Wilson in the runoff.
00:27:28.860 Wilson has now won handsomely.
00:27:31.420 Wilson is a good personal friend, and I wish him the very best.
00:27:34.800 Meanwhile, all eyes are looking northward.
00:27:37.560 Tonight is the Republican primary in the 21st district, the seat being vacated by Elise Stefanik, where businessman Anthony Constantino faces off against veteran Republican Assemblyman Robert Smollin.
00:27:53.760 This has been a slugfest, as they say, and all eyes will be looking at those results.
00:28:00.160 Polls close in about 45 minutes.
00:28:03.860 Meanwhile, the U.S. got a big win in the war against China
00:28:08.600 in their attempt to get a grip, in fact, a corner of the market on rare earth minerals.
00:28:13.520 The Trump administration scored a major strategic win
00:28:16.720 in the fight to break China's grip on critical minerals.
00:28:20.900 With U.S. support, an American company, Virtus Mirals,
00:28:25.340 is developing two major cobalt and copper mining operations
00:28:29.020 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
00:28:31.400 The company says it is the first U.S.-owned operator back in the DRC in more than a decade.
00:28:38.640 That matters because the DRC produces roughly 80% of the words cobalt, and China controls much of that supply today.
00:28:48.060 Cobalt and copper are essential for everyday things from mobile phones and electric vehicles to electronics, infrastructure, and military equipment.
00:28:58.520 Virtus is investing in Chemfa, a local producer with mining operations in different local regions.
00:29:06.140 Together, the projects are expected to produce 75 tons of copper and 20,000 tons of cobalt per year once processing plants come online.
00:29:16.120 The minerals will move through the U.S.-backed Labiso Corridor, a major railroad to Angola's east coast, created to secure supply chains for America and its allies.
00:29:28.480 In what is the serious America-first foreign policy looks like, instead of devoting resources to promoting social justice and wokeness in other countries,
00:29:38.880 while China locks up these crucial resources, President Trump has cut off USAID.
00:29:45.320 And strangely enough, suddenly, a rash of Latin American countries, Peru, Chile, Colombia,
00:29:52.760 have all elected right of center leaders and Argentina to that list, as well as Honduras.
00:29:59.840 Funny that the last time the left won an election in South America, it was in Brazil,
00:30:06.480 and much of it with your tax dollars through USAID.
00:30:11.940 Now you see the America First policies working in the area of rare earth minerals.
00:30:17.240 For too long, Beijing has dominated Africa's mineral wealth
00:30:21.540 through opaque systems that left the West dependent and vulnerable.
00:30:26.240 Strong American presence in the DRC begins to change the balance.
00:30:30.920 Critical minerals are not just an economic issue,
00:30:33.720 they're a national security issue. 1.00
00:30:36.020 President Trump understands whoever controls the supply chain controls the future, and he intends for America to maintain its edge over the red menace. 0.99
00:30:46.460 The president is serious about competing again in the area of rare earth minerals and look for other big deals throughout Africa in the near future. 1.00
00:30:56.860 Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is backing down after warning Christian players on the San Francisco Giants for writing Bible verses on their Pride Night baseball caps.
00:31:09.340 Commissioner Rob Manfred has apologized and told U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri that the players will not be fined, were not disciplined, and will never be disciplined over the incident.
00:31:22.060 The controversy began when San Francisco Giants players added these biblical references to their hats bearing the Times Pride Night logo.
00:31:31.360 After a public backlash and scrutiny from lawmakers, Manfred explained that Major League Baseball had adopted a policy eliminating special uniforms, hats, and equipments during celebration nights with narrow exceptions.
00:31:45.580 The Giants and the Dodgers haven't been allowed to keep pride-themed uniforms items because both cities have large LGBTQ communities.
00:31:55.020 But Manfred admitted the Giants players received inadequate communications and may not have understood that they were allowed to wear their regular uniforms instead.
00:32:05.780 No player should be forced to wear a political cultural message that violates his or her religious beliefs.
00:32:12.120 Manfred said that Major League Baseball agrees that players and team employers should not be compelled to participate in workplace celebrations, especially by wearing something in their bodies, if doing so conflicts with their sincere religious beliefs or values.
00:32:28.120 Of course, he only says this now after the public backlash first reported right here in the Stone Zone.
00:32:35.140 This is, of course, a win for religious liberty and basic fairness caused by conservatives mobilizing and expressing their anger.
00:32:46.340 Professional athletes or anyone in their workplace do not surrender their First Amendment values when they're on the clock.
00:32:54.980 If the leagues provide pride messages, which is fine, they should also respect Christians exercising their consciousness and refusing to go along with the facade.
00:33:06.820 Tolerance should never mean forced participation for one side and punishment for the other.
00:33:13.080 I'm Roger Stone and you're listening to The Stone Zone.
00:33:15.700 Don't go away because we'll be right back.
00:33:20.360 The Stone Zone.
00:33:22.420 Entertaining and informative.
00:33:24.220 Welcome back into the Stone Zone.
00:33:30.540 Well, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a new round of sanctions
00:33:35.100 targeting the Cuban communist regime and the financial networks that keep it in power.
00:33:41.580 Rubio designated five Cuban entities that generate revenue for Havana,
00:33:46.900 including three tied to Giza, the military-controlled conglomerate,
00:33:51.020 long accused of serving as the regime's financial engine.
00:33:55.600 The sanctions also target entities connected to Cuba's mineral and metal reserves,
00:34:00.460 including the state-owned Gio Manera, along with a number of other extended Castro family members.
00:34:08.980 Rubio said that GESA continues to operate as a financial muscle behind Cuba's repressive security apparatus,
00:34:15.920 moving control assets and controlling assets
00:34:19.400 and carrying out the regime's bidding across the island.
00:34:22.200 The move builds on President Trump's May executive order
00:34:26.600 and follows broad secondary sanctions announced earlier this month
00:34:30.600 against banks and businesses that work against Giza
00:34:34.520 and other Castro-linked entities.
00:34:37.980 Rubio said the situation in Cuba is deteriorating
00:34:41.140 because the regime keeps choosing control over freedom,
00:34:44.360 opportunity over basic human needs.
00:34:47.680 He accused Cuba's rulers of stealing resources
00:34:50.580 that should go to schools, power plants,
00:34:53.860 and necessities for the Cuban people
00:34:56.040 while instead funding repression,
00:34:58.580 spying, and anti-American propaganda.
00:35:02.180 Communist dictatorships do not become freer
00:35:05.540 through appeasement.
00:35:07.020 They become more dangerous when America looks away.
00:35:10.820 Cuban people are not the enemy.
00:35:12.820 The regime is.
00:35:14.360 Sanctions should hit the military elites, corrupt networks, and foreign companies that are enabling this repression.
00:35:21.260 Ruby is showing any business entity that if they bankroll Cuban tyranny, they will face consequences, too.
00:35:27.960 It's only a matter of time before Cuba embraces freedom, one way or another.
00:35:34.300 I have a personal interest in this, of course, because, as many know, my wife is a Cuban immigrate.
00:35:40.640 My father-in-law was the longtime attache in the Cuban consulate in Washington, D.C., when Castro came to power and Batista fell.
00:35:52.840 He was ordered to return to Havana for briefings and was about to do so until he was warned by a friendly CIA man that his name was on a list of those to be liquidated.
00:36:04.480 It is therefore a given within my family that we understand the repressive regime of Fidel Castro, but we also recognize the role that our own State Department played in bringing Castro to power.
00:36:20.800 Now, Donald Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio have it within their power to end the grip of the oppressive communism and Marxism that grips Castro's Cuba.
00:36:34.840 Let's recognize the truth.
00:36:36.940 There is no food.
00:36:38.880 There is no oil.
00:36:40.540 There is no gasoline.
00:36:42.340 There are no car parts.
00:36:44.280 There are none of the basic necessities.
00:36:46.420 Life on the island is destitute, and the Trump-Rubio combine is tightening the vice.
00:36:54.660 You may have read recently about massive shipments of oil that were allegedly going to be allowed to be sent to Cuba.
00:37:01.280 Those have been blocked by the Trump administration.
00:37:04.600 If there was ever a time to pray for the coming change in Cuba, it is now.
00:37:10.640 Donald Trump proved what he's capable of in Venezuela.
00:37:13.620 He proved what he's capable of in Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury, and it is only a matter of time.
00:37:21.680 I believe the Cuban people will be free, and perhaps the Cubans are quite clever. 0.99
00:37:27.880 They think they can wait it out.
00:37:29.800 They think they can kind of bluff Donald Trump along for another three years.
00:37:34.660 I think they're wrong.
00:37:35.520 I think Cuba is finished as a brutal dictatorship, and the democracy is headed there.
00:37:43.620 I do think there are Americans who are having conversations with those on the island that could violate the Logan Act, and I would warn them against that. It's a bad idea to try to go around Marco Rubio, but Rubio is born of the anti-Castro movement in Miami, and he sees what we see.
00:38:03.620 that freedom for the Cuban people is very, very near.
00:38:07.760 I would not break, I would not challenge Donald Trump on this key point.
00:38:14.000 I say to you, to finish this show, as my wife would say, Cuba Libre.
00:38:20.620 Thank you for joining us today in the Stone Zone.
00:38:23.040 Until tomorrow, God bless you and Godspeed.
00:38:33.620 We'll be right back.
00:39:03.620 Thanks for listening to The Stone Zone with Roger Stone.
00:39:09.280 You can hear The Stone Zone with Roger Stone weeknights at 8 on 77 WABC.
00:39:15.240 If you like the podcast, share it with your friends and listen anytime at wabcradio.com
00:39:21.460 and download the WABC Radio app.
00:39:24.120 Hit that subscribe button on all major podcast platforms.
00:39:27.640 Plus, follow WABC on social, on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X.
00:39:33.180 See you next time for a new episode so you never have to wonder.
00:39:37.180 What the heck is going on here?