3693 - Hegseth Faceplants; Rubio Targets DSA With McCarthyite Blacklists w/ Ken Klippenstein

It is Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026. My name is Emma Vigland, in for Sam Cedar, and this is the five-time award-winning majority report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, USA. On the program today, Ken Clippenstein, friend of the show, is back with us to talk about the State Department's renewal of McCarthyite blacklists to target left-wing groups. It's not good, folks. Last night, or also on the program, Last night, the House passed a $95 billion stopgap funding package, mostly for the Iran War and then relief for farmers because of the Iran War, but also some voter suppression funds. Once again, John Thune is resistant to using reconciliation again in the Senate. We will see before the recess deadline at the end of the week. Later this afternoon, the House will vote on the NDAA, including a provision that would merge U.S. and Israeli military cooperation. Call your representatives. We have the switchboard number down below. Trump vows to bomb bridges and power plants in Iran if they continue to fire on ships in the Strait of Ormuz. He also says he'll back Lebanon's skeleton government against Hezbollah, more evidence as to what Trita Parsi was telling us yesterday, that the U.S. and Israel want to spark a Lebanese civil war. Newkirk falls short in Arizona, but the House Democrats' chosen candidate in the first district looks poised to lose. The third D-Triple-C loss this cycle. On the Republican side, Trump dominates again. An election denier from Sydney Jerome Powell's crack legal team wins the nomination for Secretary of State in Arizona. And the former Freedom Caucus chair, Andy Biggs, will face off against Hobbs in the gubernatorial race. Trump's super PAC has spent less than 1% of the $400 million it's raised. on helping Republican candidates. You know, they're more focused on the operating expenses side. The salary part of the operating expenses is what my guess would be. I'm going to max it out my airplane to go campaign for you guys. Although this might be even a smarter strategy than the Democrats who are burning their cash to defeat progressives. So maybe we shouldn't get so high and mighty. Trump says he'll freeze more than a billion dollars in federal Medicaid payments to Minnesota and California. The administration's attacks on HIV prevention has caused the closure of 1,700 treatment sites. Zohran Mamdani announces he's hiring Lena Khan to lead the New York City Economic Development Agency.

And lastly, Human Rights Watch urges Congress to investigate the growing U.S. Ecuador military partnership, alleging torture, disappearances, and illegal drone strikes, all this and more on today's majority report. Welcome to the show, everybody. It's Hump Day. As a reminder, yes, you got to just take my word for it. Sam is still alive. He will be back. Not this week and probably not next week, but the week after is what looks extremely likely, right? That's what we're saying right now. That is grandma. That is so grandma. It's more like that is grandpa when he comes back. Oh, whoa. I shouldn't have said that. I've been really building up some goodwill here with the amount I'm filling in for my eventual takeover. He is not the host. You are the host. I am the host. I am the host now. I don't consider you to be my main. You are not a majority reporter. The way that your voice can get to that place. I've been corrected by many people in the audience, by the way, because I've been saying Harvey Firestone the whole time. It's Steen. Steen. But Brian, you could do a dead ringer voice for Harvey Firesteen. David, call your mother. You are not a New Yorker. You have no clue. You've got no clue. We'll be talking about Zohran Mamdani and a video he released about Benjamin Netanyahu in just a second. But yesterday. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and the Joint Chiefs Chairman, Dan Kane. went to the Senate Appropriations Committee to beg for more money for the administration's criminal war on Iran. On the obliterated Iran. Right. They need more money. They need billions and billions more for a war that they're winning. It begs the question, how is Iran winning this war or still holding their own if you want to take the administration's... fanciful claims about the efficacy of their military campaign at face value. How is Iran doing so well without all of these billions, huh? It's a question for members of this administration. The White House is asking for $67 billion in additional funding for this illegal war on Iran. Pete Hegseth has claimed that the war has cost $37 billion so far, and most experts say that that is too low of a figure.

That $67 billion figure could fund a year of free, of tuition-free college under the Bernie Sanders proposal from some years ago, just to give you a sense of what our priorities are here. This year's defense budget is a trillion dollars when you also include $150 billion in supplemental funding. And of that $150 billion, there's still reportedly $75 billion in unspent funds. This is for the Pentagon, which fails an audit every single year because of the billions that go missing and no one knows what happened to it. They have $75 billion that they haven't spent, and they're asking for $67 billion more of an $1 trillion budget. But look into the Somali daycares. Right, right, the fraudsters. And so it also apparently in the Senate questioning this came out. It includes things in the $67 billion bucket that are not related to the Iran War. It's almost like the administration wants to skirt the traditional reconciliation process to get its agenda through. Democrats could learn from that, by the way. But this pot of money includes requests for funds for the Army at the border, for the National Guard in cities, and for their war crime adventures in the Caribbean, which have killed at least 200 people in these strikes on boats that they claim our drug runners without any evidence whatsoever. The more that this Iran war drags on, The more it becomes obvious, I think, to the American public that U.S. military dominance... air power dominance, whatever, you know, narrow objectives they're able to achieve. The thing we imagine when they do the flyovers over the national anthem at the start of sporting events. Yeah. People are understanding that it's not translating to success in the overall war objectives. And this causes more people, in my view, to begin questioning our national priorities. And that's already happening across the country. But Abdul El-Sayed has really captured it, reclaiming the America first mantra to discuss how we can reallocate.

these resources towards investing in our communities. I think this is the most potent message, frankly, of the midterms for the Democrats, even more than, you know, Jon Ossoff does that corruption thing well, but obviously this is closer to our politics. I think it takes a step further. And so as people's material conditions deteriorate, as they see that this already unpopular war is not achieving what it said, what Trump said it was going to achieve. These, you know, these thought-negating apathems about terrorists and freedom and what America stands for, they wear so thin because they have collapsed under the weight of the failure of our institutions. Like, you can only tell so many bedtime stories of nationalism and patriotism to get the kids to go to sleep. But if the kids are hungry, this is kind of a crude analogy, but like the kids are hungry or they're restless, like the bedtime story is not going to work. The extent people ever supported the military industrial complex, it's because they thought it was going to get them cheap oil. Yeah, and it's actually done the opposite. Oil prices continue to skyrocket. Now, here is part of Pete Hegseth's... begging for money in front of the Senate yesterday, where if you're watching live or on YouTube, you'll be able to see the sweat on his brow. Senator Gary Peters here questions him about the Iran War and the troop deaths. And here Pete Hegseth tries to hide behind the dead bodies of U.S. forces as a way to deflect blame from himself. You know, the high-team masculine man. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed, reminding everybody it was open before the war. Prices were lower for everybody until the war, and it still remains closed. And of course, tragically, people, service members, our warfighters, who we care deeply about, are still dying. So what's different? Mr. Pete Hegseth, Secretary Pete Hegseth. I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless. And I think it's irresponsible. And I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensure. Which is not to say it's inaccurate. Right, right. I mean, it's really reckless for you to tell me I'm doing a bad job. Yeah, and actually it's for soldiers who you're telling I'm doing the bad job. The soldiers who are sitting ducks because of my dumbass war. Right. I'm definitely not here for completely self-serving purposes. Don't need a drink.

That's what, you know, might have had it might have had a rough night. Like he, um, there, CBS last week had a report about how Trump has been unhappy about how Pete Hegseth oversold how a bombing campaign could get to bring around, could bring around to its heels. Color me shocked that the guy who was caught chanting, kill all Muslims and has a Crusades-related tattoo. And infidel in Arabic. I've always forget that one, which is perhaps the most psychotic. Color me shocked that he thought that killing as many Iranians as possible would be the priority for this military campaign. I mean, I'm sorry, excursion. I mean, I'm sorry, war. Okay, go back a little bit. are still dying. So what's different? Mr. Pete Hegseth, Secretary Hexon. I think your characterization of this incredible effort is a failure is reckless. And I think it's irresponsible. And I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure. And then you want to turn around and say you support the warfighter. Either you do or you don't. Is the nuclear material still there? I can get you a ticket out to CENTCOM and talk to what those Americans are doing, how committed they are to this effort, and how they want to ensure that Iran never threatens their families. with a nuclear weapon. It is that, that's the kind of intensity that our warfighters have about making sure that Iran isn't capable of doing that. Secretary Heggsuff, did you, if you listened to my comments, you told, you would have heard me say how amazing our war fighters are. I heard failure. I heard failure. I will tell you how I use the word failure to their leaders. You, sir, are the failure. Not the men and women who are on that front line, not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction. But if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed them. And that's what's happening. We have political leadership. You, you don't have a strategy. You don't have a long-term plan to actually win this war. Win the war. The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership? Of course, we have leadership. When will you show some leadership and stand up here fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money? You want to stand up here and talk about the truth? I'm sorry. You won't show any political. Briefly pause. Give us the money. Give us the money. Is everybody going to, are Democrats paying attention here? We're talking about. highlight reels for attack ads, this sweaty frat boy saying, give us the money. After they ran in 2024, I swear to God, people have the shortest memories on no new wars and we're going to fix the economy. They just started the worst war that most presidents had said, okay, Israel, we know you want this, but like this is a little bit of a bridge too far.

He just started the worst war and tanked the economy and is in the process of tanking the economy for it. And this little move of, you're not criticizing me, you're actually criticizing the troops that I'm getting killed. Yeah, human shields. Is the most, like, despicable, like, national thing and only, like, a conservative moron could buy into that. Yeah. to actually fund our department because you have trump trump derangement syndrome and can't actually commit to anything meaningful so i put this on you senator oh i sure you do you have trillions you have over a trillion dollars you're asking for one and a half trillion dollars it's not a question of money it's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes to actually win political cowardice of democrats who won't fund the troops senator's time has expired There she is. There she is. Our witnesses for being present. Thank you. That's how they ended it. That's amazing. She put a quarter in that chair to start the massage before she started talking. All right, Susan, we know you love the vibrating setting. Just do interspersing kneading on the chair, okay? You got to get the tightness out as well. There's a great photo of her shaking hands with Pete Hegseth at after this hearing. Yeah, find that, Matt. Troy Jackson posted it. Because I think right now we're trying to help out, you know, any efforts to defeat Republicans. So I'm telling you, propaganda value in that. whining for more money and propaganda. I can't tell who has got the shakes worse. Right.

In this picture of Susan Collins, as they're already, and we'll get to this in the fun half, I'm sure, trying to call Troy Jackson now, a sexist for angrily throwing a plastic water bottle in the vicinity of a female lawmaker when they were having a disagreement over funding for lowering prescription drug prices. I'm shocked that... Emily's List and the DSCC led by Kirsten Gillibrand are trying the misogyny playbook right out of the rip because they're upset that they weren't able to put their kind of candidate in to replace the nominee. Yeah. They are a fifth column. Just like Labor Under Jeremy Corbyn, they will actively sabotage the party to see it fail and let the far right get empowered. Exactly. But that's an aside for now. Here's another great exchange. And Gary Peters and James... read are some of the furthest right Democrats in the Senate. So this is not, you know, necessary. Yeah, when the war isn't the appeal. This isn't the appeal. Right. Right. Exactly. I hate the, a lot of the framing, but it's, but they're still, I think there is value in, uh, destroying this idiot's competence, uh, in, in the public eye as well. Um, and. Also, because, like, he's not giving straight answers on what these funds even are for. And it makes the Republicans rightly look immensely reckless with the American taxpayer's money when people are hurting on a day-to-day basis to put, you know, to buy groceries and to make rent. So here is Jack Reed, Senator Jack Reed, cornering Pete Hegseth on his failure to inform Trump. about Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz and how they would have been able to do that at the war's outset. And this might actually be a smart political tactic from Reid because this is appealing to Trump's ego and attempting to splinter the administration. We've been completely aware that the straight of Hamos could be closed. And obviously, sinking their ships has not affected their ability to effectively close the straits. Did you— We had U.S. boats that surrendered to Iranian ships under the Biden administration. So their Navy was effective in expeditiary ways in the past. We're talking about the war you started, not a situation in which— oil was flowing freely there was no conflict we weren't losing uh personnel i mean i'm sorry just to underscore what regis did there or what really Pete Hegseth stepped into yeah that that was when there wasn't an active war that's the difference you guys caused these closures but let's blame biden again this is yeah also uh yeah yeah Oil you started, not a situation in which oil was flowing freely. There was no conflict. We went losing personnel as a result of Iranian actions. So your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very, very obvious excuse.

for what i think is probably as you described so often gross negligence you did not fully inform the president that you would be in a situation where the strata moves could be effectively closed oil prices could surge and effectively the iranians could maintain their ability to strike back as they are right now they just killed some of our servicemen last weekend This battlefield and all the dynamics of it, of which the chairman and I are responsible for ensuring the president understands every branch and sequel of what could happen, and we did. So the fact that those contingencies all were part of the possibility, and we understood that is all the more reason why President Trump deserves the kind of praise he should get for undertaking this, having the courage to ensure that crazy Islamists can't have a nuclear weapon to hold us at issue. Hold on, hold on. And he's been willing to stage it. So Pete Hegseth understands what Reid's doing there. trying to divide him in trump he's already worried about Okay, look, Trump got rid of all the dumb bitches already, but my ass might be on the line now. And you say that because it was women that he got rid of. Oh, yes. I'm doing this in Pete Hegseth's misogynistic tone, okay? Right, right, right. I'm just translated for me. I get to say it. I get to say it. Also black men. Yeah, oh, right. Don't forget them. I forgot. Both dumb bitches and people of color as well. And Pete Hegseth's like, oh, it's a twofer if I get to fire a black woman, essentially. But I meant in the administration. Tulsi Gabbard, Kristi Noem, who was the third woman? There was a labor, the labor... Oh, Pam Bondi. Yeah, Pam Bondi, but also... I know who you're thinking of to, De Reamer. Yeah, yes, exactly. So it's been four. But, but, I mean, this is how deeply misogynistic this administration is. Like, this Fox News host idiot is still in his position of power, despite being... almost certainly the most incompetent member of the administration, or I guess I would put Robert F. Kennedy Jr. up there, but they're both still in place. So it proves my point. But also, do you notice he did that thing where he said the chairman and I are responsible for informing the president. Like when he struck the school, he said the general, I support everything the general did. Like he's so good at pushing blame over. They are just rats. And this is that this is the workplace culture that they've incentivized. But yes. So he tries to suck up to the president because he recognizes that Reid is calling out his incompetence in a way that Trump might actually listen to him. Yeah, I just want to, we can finish this clip here. Then I have a note on this supposed incident in the Strait of Hormuz that he said happened under Biden, correct? Yes. Okay, well, it did not. So I don't know if he needs another drink or not. Okay. We'll be able to update on what happened there. I mean, when in doubt, just scream Biden. to hold us at issue. And he's been willing to say to that, regardless of the challenges. Excuse me. So he should be praised. He should be praised for shouting a war without authority, creating a situation in which the world economy is suffering tremendously. We have to have extra money for our farmers. And we have no outcome, at least no realistic outcome in sight yet. Let me switch to general.

Okay, if you want to say that, go ahead because I still think that the impulse to uphold international law is the right one. The problem for Zohran Mamdani is that the United States is so structurally in favor of war crimes that I think he is right to assess now that he does not have the legal authority. Just to. Oh, yeah, or the bureaucratic cover, because like you say, the entire government, and it's not just a partisan issue, is complicit in a lot of these crimes. It's not just Israel and BB Net and Yahoo. Yes. And actually, statutorily, too, he, this could cause problems, you know, for him and for New York, New York City, because the U.S. is not a pardon to the Rome statute, which is what created the ICC in the late 90s. And there's a federal law that explicitly prohibits state. and municipal governments from cooperating with the international criminal court. This is part of why Clinton and Bush also refused to ratify the ICC when it came into being because they were afraid that Americans like themselves. I mean, the Bush administration should have been really worried about this could be prosecuted. And this was the same justification that Marco Rubio used in his Wall Street Journal op-ed when he was saying, like, we're going to, we're going to. dismantle the ICC on behalf of Israel and American war criminals or you know criminals in general. Yeah, people who might like say bomb girls school at the start of a war. Yeah, right. It's a obviously a self-serving impulse. So, but I still, even though it seems like they were unable to find a legal avenue to justify this, one, I appreciate their them following the law for the most part or trying to in ways that like they have a pretty good legal team on there um but since he was is saying he thinks he's unable to do it he did the next best thing and perhaps in the long term the better uh leadership choice by essentially putting pressure on the federal government to do so themselves because as we've said many times on this show Zohran Mamdani is immensely conscious of his role as a leader, a leftist leader, and particularly in legitimizing the democratic socialist movement in the country. And he wants to do that by having success. That's part of why he didn't burn all his political capital and sat on his gunpowder with Hakeem Jeffries and also with Jessica Tisch, the NYPD commissioner. He wants to deliver and lead by example. create that legitimacy, and then expand his power base as a way to bring about this broader movement. He knows that he represents more than just being the mayor. It's very clear he doesn't see the utility in doing things that are righteous but ultimately doomed or have a really good chance of failure. And so, you know, pick the low-hanging fruit is where he sees himself as like a socialist mayor all of a sudden in charge of the... I mean, most important city in the country. Yep. And so here he is, I think, setting the standard for the 28 Democratic presidential primaries by declaring that, hey, I may not have the authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, but you know who does? The federal government. Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.

He is responsible for the killing of more than 73,000 people. For the maiming of tens of thousands of children, as those who survive undergo amputation without anesthesia. For the targeting of neonatal hospitals and maternity care centers, denying newborns even the chance to live. For the countless people he starved as he blocked food and humanitarian aid from reaching them. For the gunning down of hundreds of aid workers and journalists. And just last month, the UN confirmed that Palestinian children continue to be deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli armed forces. More than eight months after the so-called ceasefire. The list goes on and on. All as we, as Americans, pay for the bombs that do the killing. There is a reason the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. As human beings, we have spent generations building a shared understanding that there are crimes so grave they offend all of humanity. Anyone with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience should recognize the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law. As I've said, I agree with the ICC that Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested and tried for his crimes, as I do for anyone else charged by the ICC. My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here. It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant. And I want to be equally clear. Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City. nor is any other war criminal at large. While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon, and we can examine every tool we have to defend the humanity and dignity of all people. That is my commitment to you. It is just like so incredibly refreshing to hear his moral clarity on this. And like, you know, just the sentence, Benjamin Netanyahu's not welcome in New York City makes me feel a level of communal pride that like. I don't know. I'd heard it before, but that almost took me by surprise how emotional that just made me. I mean, it's a real, like, a pendulum swing to hear that and feel very proud to have worked to help this happen in the small part with Zohran Mamdani. But also, it reminds me of probably the most anger I felt is when Itamar Ben-Gvir was marching around Bedstai. Get the fuck out of my city. And it's like, really. Yeah, get the fuck out of my city. That stuff. We need to figure out a way to, uh, yeah. Yeah. Get it to knock it off. And, yeah, I mean, but, and he, right. Has anybody tried telling Ben Gavere to knock it off? Hey. Knock it the hell off. Hey. Hey, you're doing a little much right now, okay? Yeah, you're being extra good. Just chill. Yeah. Don't it down, buddy. Um.

I like, I like that as I swore uncharacteristically too much in the first hour. You guys just switched rolling. Mass good cop. That's good cop. But yeah, no, I mean, it, that, it's so refreshing to hear that said so plainly with such an understanding of the impact of his words. And of course, it's disappointing that they didn't feel like they could find the legal justification, but they also understand. you know, as like people who are good lawyers do, that you take your shots, and I'm sure his legal team is quite strong, that you take your shots when you have the ability to justify it. You don't, the adage that you can indict a ham sandwich shouldn't be the driving, motivating factor if you can't back up the ability to make an indictment or make an arrest. And he's also quite aware that lastly on this, that any hiccup in... such a high profile attempt like this to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel would set back the broader movement and the ability to hold him accountable in a durable way. And Shaman, anybody who can't unite behind this kind of message or, yeah. Yeah. But it's endangering Jewish New Yorkers. That's what I've been seeing a lot of. Yeah, Brad Lander literally going, oh my God, not this again. I can't deal with this anymore. In a moment, we will be talking to Ken Klippenstein about the Trump administration's state departments war on leftists and targeting DSA with a renewal of McCarthyite blacklists. But first, a word from... One of our favorite sponsors, you know, we've talked before about why One Skin really stands out as a skincare company. It's not hype. It's not just fancy packaging, although the fancy packaging is quite nice. It's real science. I am a One Skin daily user of their daily moisturizer, but the stuff that I can't get enough of is the eye cream. The skin on your eyes is quite sensitive. It's thinner. It's not as callous. And sometimes I've had actual reactions to eye creams that are too heavy and clogged your pores, but not with one skins. One skin has great texture for that kind of cream. And it helps me in my 30s, you know, do some preventative wrinkle stuff and making sure that my skin is moisturized. As we age, some skin cells stop functioning the way that they should. Longevity scientists call them zombie cells, and that's what is actually driving those visible signs of aging. The fine lines, the loss of firmness, the dullness that creeps in over time. And one skin's OS1 peptide was specifically engineered to address those. So you're getting everything you expect from great skincare. With OS1 doing something most skincare was never built to do. And look, I've been open that I enjoy sometimes going to the beach, being in the sun, have throughout my life. I got to work and make sure that I'm taking care of my skin when I'm not doing that. Because 80% of visible skin aging starts with sun exposure. Oh boy. But one skin's new limited edition summer bundles have you covered. It's their skincare and SPF essentials paired together. So you have the OS1 peptide helping to reverse the visible effects of UV aging while you are also getting SPF protection.

from new damage. It helps summer proof your skin. I know that Julie has also loved one skin as well, and I don't want to spoil anything, but this is definitely at the top of my list for a gift for somebody else in my life. They also send two samples, and sometimes I put one sample on your desk and bring one home. Oh, you did? And she's enjoying it as well? Okay, there we go. So we've got a third testimonial from a female MR family member. Born from over a decade. of longevity research. One skin is helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code majority at OneSkin.co slash majority. That's 15% off OneSkin.co with code majority. After you purchase, they will ask you. where you've heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. We'll put a link down below in the video and episode descriptions and at majority.fm. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code Majority at www.1skin.co slash majority. Quick break. And when we come back, we'll be joined by Ken Clippenstein.

We are back and we are joined once again by our friend Ken Clippenstein, independent journalist covering security and U.S. politics at Clip News on Substack. His latest is entitled After Political Terrorism Summit, U.S. names 43 Americans and groups. Ken, welcome to the show. Hey, yeah, never a headline you love to hear, huh? No, this is so troubling. And, you know, you are really, I would say. the number one reporter to follow on this particular topic. You've been on this for months, if not years, the Trump administration's attempt to criminalize essentially left-wing politics. Let's start at the beginning, though, because, you know, Maybe somebody is coming to this interview and who hasn't heard your reporting on this before, hasn't heard about NSPM 7. So just at a base level, let's just set the foundation for what that is and how over the past few months the Trump administration has been trying to put it into practice and weaponize it. Okay. So the Trump administration has prioritized in a way that no other administration, certainly in living memory, maybe ever, has prioritized domestic terrorism as a concern. White House's counterterrorism czar Sebastian Gorka a couple months ago released the national counterterrorism strategy, and in it it identifies three top priorities. The first one is unsurprising. It's jihadi groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. that kind of thing. The second one is narco-traffickers, which is obviously a Trump administration focus. But the third one is the one that is really eyebrow-raising, which is political terrorism. And they explicitly identify the left. And over the course of my reporting in the past couple of years, I've seen particularly since the murder of Charlie Kirk, the administration, and the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is on record saying this, that that was a 9-11 event, 9-11 type event. And they responded to it in much the same way that Bush administration responded 9-11, which is to redesign the architecture of... the federal national security apparatus, and to point it at these left-wing groups, anti-ice protesters, we just saw an extraordinary set of sentences handed down literally half a millennium of years in prison for people, with the sole exception of the one person who shot somebody, who obviously should, you know, face a long prison sentence for that, shot an ICE officer, I think it was. The rest of them were given these just... completely crazy sentences of like 30 years for moving left-wing literature that was said to be obstructing justice related to the case. So a frustration of mine while reporting on this stuff has been seen the mainstream media.

concede that, yes, this is true, but, like, you know, it's just Trump rhetoric. What are they going to do? There's no domestic terrorism law. It's all a bunch of just, you know, symbolic talk. No, they're serious about this, and they're implementing it. And we've seen cases where they've not just arrested and detained people, but now sentence them very stiff sentences. So that is kind of the backdrop that has taken place. And then in the week prior to the release, of this State Department report identifying all these Americans and American organizations, there was an international summit led by Marco Rubio, and I think it was over 50 or 60 different... foreign governments met with them to discuss the threat of, and this is their literal terminology, far-left terrorism. They even introduced an abbreviation, an acronym for FLT. So all of that to say, they're taking this really seriously. It's not just talk. They're moving the machinery around to make the government be able to go after cases like this, and that's what this report is a culmination of. And so, yes, and I want to get to the report in just a second, but to hit on NSPM 7 and then also even this Prairieland ICE arrest, you know, travesty here, NSPM 7 essentially tells the federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize targeting these groups and left-wing groups in particular. And you mentioned the Prairieland case where over a dozen. people have been uh not even the person who shot somebody right but anybody by association has been dragged in to uh these these charges and i think like the sentences totaled hundreds of years for for 15 uh prairie land protesters like what is that to your mind so far the most troubling case of this in action Well, I would point to a lot of the cases that we don't know about. I've heard from so many people, including many of that can't go on the record because they don't want to, you know, suffer the potential consequences of having an employer see their name come up next to something. But there are all sorts of visits that the FBI is paying to individuals, whether it's for a social media post or in the case of one individual I interviewed and wrote a story about young man in Arizona who attended an anti-ice protest was visited by two FBI agents afterwards. there is this campaign of sort of soft repression going on where they pay them these visits. And as this young man told me, he said, well, I'd like to go to the No Kings protest. This was several months ago. But I'm having second thoughts about it now because it was so scary what happened with this visit. So this is happening everywhere. And that stuff doesn't get reported. And when you try to talk to these people, sometimes they'll have defense attorneys that'll say don't talk to the press. And that makes sense for a defense attorney to tell their client. But the aggregate effect of that is that we have no idea how big this system of... They're called Joint Terrorism Task Forces, these post-9-11 structures that exist in all 50 states and which can deputize local police to become effectively federal agents, FBI agents. Those are the personnel that NSPM 7 taps when Trump issued this presidential order, stands for National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, and tells them to go after.

these groups that they regard as essentially domestic terror threats. And there's a whole continuum. Like at the extreme end, we have, like you said, nearly 500 years of federal prison sentences handed down. So that would be the extreme end. But there's a whole center, which is what I'm describing, which is like maybe someone gets detained for a day. And the way I've seen the mainstream media report this is they say, oh, you know, say there's anti-I's protesters and they're charged with obstructing ISIS trying to carry out. you know, federal tasks or whatever. Literally, I've seen on MSNBC expert commentators say, oh, well, no jury will uphold that. And it is so flippant because it's like, well, hold on a second here. Someone was arrested. It had to spend a day in jail and probably, you know, gets the shit scared out of them that they have to go and talk to a lawyer and everything. That's not nothing. And that has the effect of scaring people from expressing their political views. So that's the kind of middle of the continuum of consequences that I don't think gets very much attention. And it fits into, you know, the overall narrative of this being a renewal of Red Scare tactics and McCarthyite tactics. And this administration being really committed to that. So I guess let's go now to last week. You mentioned it this event where Stephen Miller and Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, both spoke. to dozens of foreign diplomats, essentially. And they asked them to, and this was in conjunction, by the way, with the State Department releasing in a 100-page report called Cuba, the capital of 21st century communism. And this is all within the same like 48 hours. And Trump also giving this address, red-scaring about China interfering in our elections. And so you can see how. the administration's trying to tie china and but most most critically here cuba to domestic left-wing organizations as a way to crack down on them um what recap those developments from last week uh with all of that context in mind if you don't mind can yeah so this was what's called a ministerial summit which means very high level people at like the cabinet level around that. So what that's to say is like, this is not just rhetoric. These are, like, people like Marco Rubio's time is precious, and we're in a situation where he has Secretary of State and Dool had it as National Security Advisor. He has the Iran War to worry about. He has the Ukraine worry to think about. For him to spend an entire day going to the summit, meeting with 65 other countries that... a lot of whom, I think, just went there because they're afraid of the U.S. or they want to maintain, there were a lot of European countries there that want to maintain relations with the Trump administration. The Mexican president, to her credit, said, I'm not going to this. And she said what it was, which is that this was a political exercise. So she wasn't in attendance, which is extraordinary. It's extraordinary. It's Summit was to describe how we're going to, and these are direct quotes, debank, defund.

disrupt, and essentially go after that there was no pretense of that this is some sort of neutral, oh, we're going to look at political terrorism in general. They said explicitly, far left terrorism repeatedly. And as you said, it was the Treasury Secretary, it was the White House advisor, Stephen Miller, it was Marco Rubio, and there's all kinds of people from the top of the State Department. And what's interesting about that, and then the subsequent report on... alleging Cuban subversion and being behind all these left-wing groups is that the State Department is supposed to focus on foreign policy. And if you look at that 100-page report that was put out on Monday that was connected to and sort of followed this international summit, it mentions, I counted like multiple dozens of Americans and American organizations. This is really unusual for the State Department. to look back at home and to name American groups. Like, I've never seen a report like that before. So it's very clear that to the extent they're interested in looking at these foreign groups and labeling them foreign terrorist organizations, it's so that they can bolster some kind of case against people here at home who are the political opponents of the Trump administration. Yeah. And can you speak about some of the people who were named in this? I mean, there was a whole section dedicated to DSA, which... is obviously immensely concerning and trying to tie it to Cuba and what they're describing as Cuba's terrorism against the United States because it dares to exist as a communist country. Yeah, there were three whole pages of this report dedicated to Democratic Socialist America. And what's amazing is it opens by saying, like, you know, they have their own organic, organic views and there isn't any, they said something like, there isn't any direct. um link to to cuba and it kind of like clears his throat and it's like wait a second well why are you talking about any of this but then it goes on to say yeah but they happen to be saying some of the same things and they're sympathetic to the cubans doesn't that make you wonder and so really it's an exercising guilt by association uh because they have very mainstream people in this um in this report it mentions new york mayor mom dany it mentions amy goodman of democracy now and if you go and you look like I wrote a list of all the names I encourage people to look at it because I'm not exaggerated when I say guilt by association. Their evidence of like her great crime was attending the wedding of some left wing. a wealthy person who finances these various causes. And that was it. Nothing like, nothing like what she'd actually done or said herself, just the association with someone else. And not just her, Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I mean, just like real, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass. So.

It was kind of interesting because it's pretty scary, right? Not a radical, not a radical, but okay. No, they had to point to it. It was like a blast from the past. I felt like reading it, it was reading it in like sepia tone and it was like some Ken Burns documentary. Because everything they talked about was stuff in the 1970s. The report is talking about the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Weather Underground and all these, like, obscure. I mean, I'd like to think I have some literacy on left wing stuff. There were all kinds of stuff I didn't even know about from the 60s and 70s that they're. talking about and the impression they're trying to give is that violence that took place then oh this is ds a resurgence of that it's the same old thing and but then you look at the contemporary situation now and it's like you know, there's no comparison. It was a much different social context. But that's what, that's the message they're trying to get across. And the sense, sorry, Ken, just the DSA doesn't do bombings to name one difference. Yes, that's a pretty, I mean, that's what that's what you would say as a member of DSA, right? I, I, I, I was what I like to believe, I guess. Yes. We do not have any knowledge of bombings. Now, we're being sarcastic at FBI at FBI. But. Can you just put this up for a sec? Because, like, I, this is not getting a ton of reporting. You mentioned Amy Goodman. And I think a lot about how democracy now has platform code pink over many years, the anti-war activist group. This is from CBS News, now owned and captured by right-wing Zionists. And this is how they frame. This is from last week. Neville Roy Singham, the wealthy husband of the founder of the progressive nonprofit Code Pink and benefactor of far-left political causes is under criminal investigation by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter. This also was a story that dropped around the same time last week that they announced essentially this. crackdown on on left-wing protests and and or political organizing and so like i don't know the specifics of what's being alleged here but i do know that that framing by cbs is uh immensely favorable to the claims of the administration um here and it feels a little bit like you know i know we're far past canary in the coal mine territory but that's a that's a blinking alarm bell for me yeah and in the report which i encourage people to read it's 100 pages long but it'll give you a sense of exactly what i'm saying when i talk about these things i always feel like as a reporter i have to try to when things that are factual sound crazy i'm like trying to think how do i substantiate this to make clear i'm not editorializing here it literally said so one example of what it literally comes out and says this report is it refers back to the Red Scare and the McCarthy trial and investigations, and it says, you know, this was really effective at destroying the American Communist Party at the time. And then it transitions into all this contemporary domestic political stuff that we're talking about. So the message is clear. They say they want to recreate that and deploy it against.

a whole range of figures. I mean, you mentioned Code Pink, but there's also, I mentioned Cohen and, I mean, it's like very mainstream figures in this list, including sitting members of Congress. Yes, who are in DSA, Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Anyone who's a DSA elected is, I guess, a left-wing terrorist, according to this. Yeah, I mean, it's barely subtext to look at this and see, we want to do the Red Scare again. And I wouldn't underestimate the purchase that it's gaining because you're starting to see some Democrats say stuff like, I don't know about DSA. Like, I don't know about the socialism stuff. Like obviously they're not going to come out and be like, I agree with Trump. But what this does is it creates. it creates an ick factor around those elements of the progressive Democratic Party that's going to make people in the rest of the party say, maybe I don't want to associate with them. Like they have these big numbers and crowds and things, but maybe it's not worth it because who knows what's going to happen with these investigations and what the administration is saying. And so I really wouldn't underestimate that. Right. I would agree with you. I just sent this Ken's article here. Let's just pull it up because there is a list of some of the people towards the end that are mentioned in this report. Here it is. So you mentioned Karen Bass, which is a surprising name here, but here's, we'll just go through some recognizable ones, the Amazon Labor Union. Oh, yeah, they mentioned Christian Smalls, too. Yep. uh that exactly who participated in the convoy to cuba so that's going to be their evidence for that antifa uh which is you know not a formal organization there it's medea Benjamin Netanyahu of code pink black lives matter um chesa buddine the former district attorney of san francisco who was ousted by big tech money um ben cohen you mentioned dsa in general George Floyd? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So their view is that the Cuban government tried to agitate around the, during the George Floyd protests were like putting out propaganda saying, oh, the U.S. doesn't care about you if you're a minority, that kind of thing. Which happens, that happened during the civil rights movement too. Russia tried to push messaging around the civil rights, but that doesn't mean the civil rights movement was like coordinating with them, but that's the game that they try to play. Right. I mean, then that is how the same justification during the the red scare to crack down on civil rights activists, tying them to the USSR and to communism. Every government does that, including ours. We try to say, oh, look at how the Belocches are being treated in Iran. Look at how this is what states do. Yes. It would be extraordinary if they weren't doing it. Yeah, I mean, the Trump administration just arms a bunch of Kurds in Iran as a way to, with the Israeli government, to try to get them to uprise against their own government. The USSR hasn't, or.

Russia or China or Cuba hasn't done anything close to that. And we do that across the world in a variety of different countries. No, the Marco Rubio State Department talks about the Uyghurs because they really care about how Muslims are treated. Oh, yeah, totally. So Ilhan Omar is named, of course. And her daughter. Yeah. I mean, this is really creepy. I want to stress, I spend a lot of time reading these types of reports and it's very unusual for them to name. American citizens, let alone sitting members of Congress and their families. Ina Presley. So did they mention Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or are they just going after black women? I can't remember I can't remember in the report I would have thought so because they had a whole section on DSA that was like Bernie Sanders has expressed sympathy and and they do it's like the cork board game or it's like he knew this guy and then that guy knew this guy that that kind of thing yeah I mean can we put it back up the Maxine Waters mentions. Or something she did in the 1970s, some, some agitating she did it with some group, I think. Yes. To extradate Asada Shakur. To not extradite Asada Shakur. To not extradite Osada Shakur. I mean, I actually ended up just the other day buying her autobiography, so I'm sure I'm on some list now as well, as well as being a DSA member. Maybe I can hit the bingo. The People's Forum, of course, PSL, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Hasan Piker. Yeah, I mean, so there you go. People can check out your article on this to get the list, but that you also. link to the full 100-page report. Just any other thoughts here, Ken, on this? I would, again, just urge people to take this seriously. And I don't know what it is on the part of the mainstream. That international summit on far-left terrorism that took place last week, the New York Times literally didn't even write it up. They didn't even have like a 200-word. thing about it. And the strong sense I get, based on sympathetic people at these institutions, because there are good people basically everywhere, is that it's just seen as a clown show and it's not taken sufficiently seriously. And the gears of the national security system moved slowly. I mean, it took a year for some of the first NSPM-7-related cases to make it to trial and result. And we're only just now seeing... the fruits of those attempts. So my hope is that people can care about this before it's too late rather than after stuff starts happening. And that's what I've been trying very hard to do with the newsletter and draw attention to these things early on. Well, as I said, clip news, got to subscribe to Ken's substack. I'm wondering if you could just expand a little on the why tying them to...

say what they deem as foreign terror is a step up in their attacks on what they've already designated as domestic terror. Can you explain what legal guardrails are removed when that happens? Oh, the gloves completely come off because under the Constitution. The reason there's no law kind of explicitly laying out domestic terrorism is because it's understood that it's just going to violate the Constitution if you do that, because Americans are supposed to have certain civil liberties protections. But once you can link someone to a foreign group, then it's complicated. I'm not a lawyer, but the idea is that, oh, you're not doing it to that individual. You're doing it to this person as a adjunct of a foreign group, which does not have constitutional protection since they obviously aren't in the United States. It's basically turning someone in the U.S. into al-Qaeda. I don't know how to say that in a way that doesn't sound crazy. But again, I would point to the fact that the admin has said this explicitly at the summit last week. And I think in this State Department report this week that, you know, since 9-11, we focused on these foreign jihadi groups. And they explicitly say, and now we are going to put on the same footing as these jihadi groups, far-left terrorism. They say that openly. And that's what's happening. Well, Ken Klippenstein, independent journalists covering security and U.S. politics at Clip News on Substack. You can read his work there, subscribe to his newsletter, and we will put a link to that down below wherever people are listening to or watching this. And at majority.fm. Ken, thanks so much. Really appreciate your time today, buddy. Hey, great to talk to you again, Emma. Yep, great to talk to you, as always. With that, We are going to head into the fun half shortly, but I did have one PSA. I headlined this, but we have the capital switchboard number below, always. But you can call this number, the capital switchboard, 202-224-3-1-21. Now, you want to connect to your representative because this is currently being... debated and there is likely to be a vote at 3.30 p.m. Eastern around that time, so sometime in the later afternoon today on Wednesday, on the 27 National Defense Authorization Act, this is the act that essentially sets the Pentagon's budget. It doesn't, this isn't the funding bill. It's different, but it sets the budget and it sets like policy frameworks for how the budget is going to be allocated. And in this budget, or in this NDAA, rather, Section 219 is what is causing all of this controversy. It would give Israeli tech weapons firms... essentially a blank check to co-develop and cooperate with weapons manufacturers in the U.S. and with the U.S. military in particular. This is an effort by the Zionist lobby to remove the funding of the genocidal Israeli ethno state from the forum of public debate.

And it would help establish essentially a side deal, thank you, Chuck, with the Israeli government that would be outside of democratic input and even more integrated into the Pentagon. That's why you hear Benjamin Netanyahu going around saying, you know, we are financially independent now. Right, right. We don't need the U.S. military aid, understanding that the public is getting extremely disgusted by this and fed up. So why not? force it into the NDAA in some sort of section that removes it from, you know, the traditional foreign aid allocation process. Because as I mentioned, this isn't the funding mechanism. This is the budget and policy priorities. That's important. Benjamin Netanyahu knows American politics probably better than most American politicians. And so he knows exactly what he's doing. And of course, it's not just Benjamin Netanyahu. It's the Israeli government and their apparatus. But. Call your representative on the capital switchboard, express your frustration, 202-224-3121. Call in and say to vote no on the NDAA, specifically also because it includes this provision, Section 219, that integrates U.S. military technology and... operations with Israeli weapons manufacturers and tech firms and their military operations. So that's section 219. Matt, what is happening in the Matt Leckian media universe? Yeah, Left Reckoning, we had a show yesterday talking about Michael Brooks, talking about Basquezankara in New York Times and the Texas Senate race. So check that out, patreon.com slash left reckoning. All right, check that out. And we do have a special guest for the fun half. We're going to bring her in here, friend of the show. Francesca Furentini will be joining us for the fun half. As we set up her shot, just a reminder, join the majority report.com. It keeps us... surviving, thriving, alive, you know, as say the administration wants to criminalize left-wing political speech and has the ear of platforms that host us. A future legal fund. Join the Majority Report.com. Yeah. Stick me off during this time. I have no association with this program. Yeah. You don't want to be on screen with us, girlfriend for, you know, future evidence? No. This is not. Akefia, this is gingham. This is a just straight. Yes, gingham, which is back in and confusing for a lot of people. I know. I know. Because I think Kathy Hochul was wearing a gingham scarf and there were every Zionist in New York State was like, look at this. Zohran Mamdani has converted her to Islam essentially. Gingham is also, it's like so like upper east side. Like it, you know, it's whatever. I don't know which one's the hoity or toydier. They're both upper, the upper sides.

So I feel bad for the Zionists who are like, but they're confusing this with Palestine. It's like that tweet that was like, I saw a free parking sign and thought it said free Palestine. I was just going to say that. I was just going to say that. Isn't that? Fartlow? Yes. Yes. You far low. Yes. Francesca, what's happening over in your neck of the woods? We do have an image to put up here. There is an image. Yes. Yay. Yeah, I'm going to be in the hands, everybody. I couldn't have frame that in the less sexy way. I continue. Sorry. Well, look, it starts with an image. Look, a picture's worth a thousand words. In this case, I'm going to be in Minneapolis bringing my show The Bituation Room live. Thursday, August 20th to the Parkway Theater. We're going to be joined by a state senator, Zainab Mohammed, who's just awesome, local leader there. First black woman elected to the Senate in Minneapolis, or Minnesota. And then Liz Winstead, comedian, Matt Lieb, comedian, husband, host about his bar podcast and myself. So it's going to be a good night. And so everyone should come out, get tickets, I think, wherever you're watching this. Yes, we'll put a link down below. Have you ever been to Minneapolis? No. I've been to St. Paul. Right. Right. I've never been to Minneapolis either, except, like, on a connecting flight, but I would like to go because Matt, you know, sings its praises. The nicest people, truly the, like, couldn't have happened to the nice, like, the nicer people in our country, just sicking how many, like, 11,000, 12,000 ice officers on, like, a tiny, kind population. murdering two of them. So anyway, and then speaking of the NSPM 7, a lot of Minneapolis organizers have been caught up in all of that BS as well. So hopefully this will be a fun night. And if you are an organizer, please just hit me up. I'll put you on the list. Like, honestly, people shouldn't have to pay, you know, if you're out there doing the work. Well, love that. Check it out, folks. All right, we are going to head into the fun half in Francesca and I will have some fun with some clips that we have for you. See you there. Okay, Emma, please. Well, I just, I feel that my voice is sorely lacking in the majority report. Wait, what? Look, Sam is unpopular. I do deserve a vacation at Disney World. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome Emma to the show. It is Thursday. I think you need to take over for Sam. That's police, sir, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pause you right there. Wait, what? You can't encourage Emma to live like this. And I'll tell you why. So it's offered a twerk, sushi, and poker.

Boys. Twere? Sushi and poker with the boys. Was offered a tour? Yeah. Sushi and poker with the boys. What? Twerp. Tewer. Sushi and poker. Uh, Tim's upset. Twer. Sushi and poker with the boys. He was offered a twer. Sushi and... Ah, that's what we call bids. Twerp. Sushi and... I just think that what you did to Tim Poole was mean. Free speech. That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about it. I think you're responsible. I probably am in a certain way, but let's get to the meltdown here. Twir? Ugh. Sushi and poker with the boys. Oh my God. Twirl? Wow. Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my fucking mind. Someone's offered a twerk? Yeah. Sushi and poker with the boys. Logic. Twerp. Sushi and poker with the boys. Logic. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Add this debate seven thousand times. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Some people just don't understand. So I'm not trying to be a dick right now, but like I absolutely think the U.S. should be providing me with a wife and kids. That's not what we're talking about here. It's not a fun job. It's not a real thing. That's a real thing. Willie Walker's work. That's a real thing. That's that real thing. That's that real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real thing.

has like the weight of the world on the shoulders. Sam doesn't want to do this show anymore. It was so much easier. One of the majority of report was just you. You were happy. Let's change the subject. Rangers and Nick are going great. Now, shut up. Don't want people saying reckless things on your program. That's one of the most difficult parts of this show. This is a pro-killing podcast. I'm thinking maybe it's time we bury the hatchet. Left is best. Violet twer. incredible theme song i bumbler emma viglin absolutely one of my favorite people actually not just in the game like period