The Big Weekend Pod

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Cleveland Browns drafted Spencer Fano in the first round, number nine overall, after trading down, picking up an extra couple of picks from the Casey Chiefs who were an easy mark. And they got their man, Spencer Fano, won the Outland Trophy. If you're listening to Am 1230 in Salt Lake City, go Utes. We're very excited about that. He's going to be left tackle. I think the last round to have won the Outland trophy was Hall of Famer Joe Thomas. So we'd like a repeat of that. Joe Thomas was drafted 20 years ago. So time for another era, the Spencer Fano era. Also picked up Kevin Concepcion from Texas A&M. Speedy, speedy, fast, elusive. Returns punts as well. And we have nine more picks today, so I'll be covering the – no, I'm not going to cover the draft. I'll cover the news. Special envoy Whitkov and Jared Kushner are going back to Islamabad. I don't know why, given the – Pressure we had at the Pentagon this morning. Let's start there. Secretary Pete Hegseth cut number six on the blockade glowing global. Going global. President Trump said it again yesterday. We have all the time in the world. And we're not anxious for a deal. And I hear him say it every day in private as well. Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely. As we said previously, choose wisely. at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways, or instead they can watch their regime's fragile economic state collapse under the unrelenting pressure of American power. A blockade, as long as it takes, whatever President Trump decides. Because the bottom line remains the bottom line. Iran will never get a nuclear bomb. The choice is theirs. But with this blockade, the clock is not on their side. Moreover, President Trump has authorized the United States Navy to destroy any Iranian fastboats that attempt to put mines in the water or disrupt passage through the Strait of Hormuz, to shoot and kill. Our commanders have clear rules of engagement. If Iran is putting mines in the water, or otherwise threatening American commercial shipping or American forces, we will shoot to destroy. No hesitation, just like the drugboats in the Caribbean. You know, I think that even the Iranians have got to understand we know how to blow up the speedboats, and we'll see who gets to drive and people who want to be martyrs. Secretary Pete Hegseth had this to say about Iran, cut number three. The IRGC specifically has been reduced to a gang of pirates with a flag. They cloak their aggression in slogans, but the world now sees them for what they are. Criminals on the high seas. They don't control anything. They're acting like pirates, acting like terrorists. They're the ones who lay indiscriminate minds. who shoot at random ships, who killed 45,000 of their own people, innocent protesters in the course of weeks, their own people. They are the bad actors. Talking more about this with Matt Continent, Eli Lake, Ben Dominic, but I do want to play Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kane. Here he is on the blockade cut number seven.

First, as I mentioned, U.S. Central Command continues to maintain a strict blockade on all the ports. We're enforcing the blockade across the board against any ship of any nationality that is transiting to or from an Iranian port or territory. We're closely tracking vessels of interest headed towards Iran and those moving away from Iran that were outside the blockade area when this blockade was ordered. And as everyone saw this past weekend, we're prepared and postured to intercept them. As of this morning, 34 ships have met the U.S. blockade and made the wise choice to turn around. One ship did not, and that ship was the motor vessel Tuska. Over several hours this past Sunday, April 19th, the U.S. conducted maritime interdiction operations against the Tusca, whose crew attempted to breach the blockade line. The Tusca is a large container ship, about 965 feet long, or about the same size as a United States Navy aircraft carrier, and over 100 feet wide. The operation began about 4 a.m. Eastern Standard Time when the United States Navy Destroyer approached her. And the crew and the vessel ignored warnings. And I've described how the destroyer force is operating in the area prior. Upon intercept and coming within visual range, American forces began to issue several clear and unambiguous warnings and inform the vessel and their crew that they were in a violation of the U.S. blockade and directed the ship to turn around. Over a six-hour period, the vessel and her crew repeatedly ignored U.S. warnings. And then the U.S. Navy Destroyer executed a series of pre-planned, carefully calibrated escalation options, including firing five warning shots. the vessel and her crew continued to ignore warnings. And after exhausting all other measures, Centcom authorized disabling fire against the Tuska. U.S. sailors warned the crew of the Tuska to abandon the engine room, and at approximately 9 a.m. Eastern time, the destroyer disabled the Tuska's engine by firing nine inert rounds from the destroyer's mark 45, five-inch guns.

precisely into the engine room and engine space on board the tusca. Not surprisingly, the vessel then reported issues with their engine, went dead in the water, and began to comply with U.S. directions and orders. At 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, CENTCOM ordered United States Marines to seize the ship. Via helicopters, U.S. Marines maneuvered quickly to the disabled ship, boarded her from fast ropes via helicopter infiltration methods, and took custody of the ship. The ship and her crew remained safe in U.S. custody today. We also have been grabbing tankers. The blockade didn't go into effect until about four weeks of the war, and a bunch of tankers had left, and they're on the high seas full of sanctioned oil, basically pirated ships. Here's what the chairman said about the takeover of one of the tankers earlier this week, cut number 11. On Monday, April 20th, U.S. Indo-PACOM forces in support of a Department of Justice request interdicted the motor tanker Tiffany, which was transporting sanctioned Iranian oil. The Tiffany is a very large crude tanker, VLCC for short, and is also about the size of a U.S. aircraft carrier and capable of transporting approximately 2 million barrels of oil. At approximately 11.30 p.m. Eastern time, U.S. military forces and law enforcement forces also went to the ship via rotary wing platforms, fast roped onto her deck and secured her. After the ship was secured, a U.S. Navy control team embarked aboard the Tiffany, Tiffany, and assumed control the ship at 4 a.m. Eastern time on April 21st. A Navy control team is comprised of sailors led by a boarding officer that assumes control of a sea ship in order to secure the crew, the cargo, and the vessel. And disposition of that first vessel is still pending. The next interdiction occurred on Wednesday, this past Wednesday, 22 April, when Indo-Pacom conducted yet another interdiction, again at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. This time, the stateless motor tanker Majestic X, also known as the Ponix, also in the Indian Ocean. This is, again, a VLCC or very large crude tanker. At approximately 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, U.S. forces began the interdiction, again, using rotary wing assets to get to the ship, got on board, and secure the bridge.

Both ships, the Tafani, the Majestic X, and their crews remain in U.S. custody. And we will continue to conduct similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans against Iranian ships and vessels of the Dark Fleet. So I don't think you ought to go there if you're in the dark fleet. Come right back to the Uyod Show. Welcome back to America. I'm Hugh Hewitt. Eli Lake is with the free press. He is the host of the Breaking History podcast. And he, like me, are both fixated on Iran. Eli, the Karoline Leavitt announced today that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are going back to Islamabad. I feel bad for those guys. I don't think anything good is going to come out of that. I don't think Vahidi is going to throw in his cards. He's a hardcore old guard fought in the Big War 80 to 88. Do you think there's any progress to be made here? I do think that the regime is facing economic collapse and the blockade of the blockade is probably going to have an effect. So I think that that right there, but I don't think they've, I don't think they're feeling that pressure yet. And I think you're correct that Vahidi represents somebody who, you know, he was part of the, I mean, Vahidi back in the day was during that Iran-Iraq war. He was part of the faction that didn't want to take. the deal with Saddam Hussein, when Khomeini said it was like drinking the chalice of poison, he represented the people who wanted to continue fighting that war, which was paid a horrible toll on the Iranian. So I would not expect anything like that to come from him. But on the other hand, the way it was described to me by people in terms of understanding how the leadership works. Bahidi does not have the loyalty or does not necessarily have... the command, or he doesn't have the command, but he doesn't have the loyalty of the entire Revolutionary Guard Corps. He is rather the strongest chieftain in that group. So there are other rivals to him, but right now that he is like sort of on this five-person council, he's clearly the real power in Iran right now. I don't think you're going to see much yet. But that might change as the economic conditions worsen, as they understand the full extent of their military defeat. And even if nothing happens, I just think that the United States has plenty of military options to open the Strait of Hormuz. That and getting the remaining missiles and other things that were on the target list are military objectives. I think that's... eminently doable. I think the United States remains in a really good position. So, Eli, I talked to a senior official from Trump 1 today, and not Trump 2, not in now. And he told me, a nuclear program requires three things. Expertise. And the Iranians have at least the muscle memory of expertise, though they've lost a couple dozen of their top scientists. The technology that you can buy on the open market. And number three, money in time. Money in time.

We have seized three of their tankers at sea this month. I played General Kane. That's two million barrels of oil a grab, and we've done it three times at sea. Forget the cargo ship. Who knows what was in it? But we got the oil. They're going to run out of oil. The Hewitt option is this. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner give them a list of the oil facilities in Iraq, 1 through 30, and say, we're going to take out one of these each day, and we're going to end with Card Island being in rubble if you do not give us the highly enriched uranium and inspection rights at Pickax Mountain and other places, because we're not going to leave you with any money. What do you think about that? Just lay it out. Here's our target list. You can't stop us. They're all going to be rubble. You will have no oil. Well, right now, I think if it's Vahidi calling the shots, they probably would not accept it because I think they're almost kind of living in. I think Fahidi represents one of the true believers. But again, part of the strategy for something like that, which I think is actually pretty smart, is that... Are we sure that everybody around Vahidi wants to make that same decision? Exactly. And that's the key, is that, you know, the fracturing in that respect is a good thing. I never understood the argument that was made by some of the critics of the war after the initial decapitation strikes. Now you've got an even more hardline regime. They've always been hardliners, as you know. They killed 40,000 people. They killed 40,000 people in January. Exactly, right. Yeah. So the idea that, you know, oh, we can't risk it because someone might, the next person might be even worse. They're all in the category of horrible. So, I mean, at this point, I'm looking forward to the fracturing and I think that there will be more of it. And at some point, you know, I think there's going to be a lot of different opportunities. And remember, they still haven't turned the internet back on. The Iranian people are going to, you know, enter into this at some point. I would love it if we were things that we could start maybe doing to try to turn back on the Internet or provide alternatives. I think that that technology exists, and I don't exactly understand why that hasn't happened yet. But, Eli, you have great sources in both. You've got sources in Israel and UAE. Why is the UAE not building a big pipeline from the UAE? to Israel so that they don't have to ship anything. Why? Yeah, this ought to be like haliburton. That's a great question. I don't have an answer. I should say great question. I don't have an answer for that right now. But one issue is I think that, you know, if you build a pipeline, that's another target. And the Iranians have the drones and we maybe they don't have the drone defense. But the UAE has been in the fight. I can tell you that. And I can also say that. I don't necessarily, I mean, we'll see what happens with the Saudis. The Saudis are right now, you know, very connected to the Pakistanis who are hosting the negotiations and their outreach to Turkey, which I think is really troubling right now. But I think the Emirates and I think at least parts of this, part of the Saudi royal family at least, they're at a new strategic reality after this war and there will be there will be no option.

for the Iranians to sort of rebuild that relationship until there's regime change. So that's another strategic loss for Iran in this conflict. I note as well, the Libyans up their oil production in one month by a million barrels a day. And so there are other places around the world to get oil. It's not as cheap, but we're not going to be at $90 a barrel. We're going to get back. to 75, which is more than 60, but the world can absorb that. They can't absorb a nuclear Iran. And so when you get rid of the Trump distortion effect and the Benjamin Netanyahu distortion effect, isn't this clearly a win for the world? I'm so glad you put it like that, you. It's become so frustrating to me. Even if the Iranians manage for a period of time to hold on to the straight of four moves, A, that is, we've talked about before, a depreciating asset because people will find alternatives to the straight of four moves and alternative sources. But the most important thing is weighed against demolishing. The vast majority of Iran's nuclear program, its defense industry, the conventional ballistic missile shield that Marco Rubio has talked about, weighed against all of that. Is it worth it? Yes, because the whole reason for this entire war has been to stop these fanatics from getting a nuclear weapon. And pretty, I mean, in theory, they could start again. But we just wiped away 30 years and half a trillion dollars worth of investment. And that is a military accomplishment. And I, you know, in my view. Absolutely a strategic accomplishment. And again, someone can say, yeah, theoretically, they're going to be more determined than ever to rebuild it. To which I say, then the United States and Israel will be determined to knock that out as well. Yeah, theoretically, if the Israelis are letting up. Yeah. If we had gone after Hitler in 1937 or 38 when he took Statenland or Austria and the Anschluss or even when he took over the roar, theoretically that might have led to a lot of heartburn, but he wouldn't have had the Third Reich. I really don't understand. It's the Trump distortion effect. Last word to you. Isn't that what it is the reason we can't see this? I think some of it's the Trump distortion effect. I think the other part of it is that we just have a generation of people of Western elites that are completely disconnected from the military. I did not serve, but when the Iraq war was going on, I went to Iraq several times and served with Americans there. That was something that was an invaluable experience for me, but so many have no idea what it means to be in the military, what it means to fight a war.

Amen to that. Eli Lake, we're looking for the breaking history. I got a lot of driving to do this weekend. And whatever you write in the free press. Thank you, Eli. I'll be right back, America. Matt Continent. He is next on The Hughitt Show. Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt. Matt Contenetti is here for his Friday. We can review with me. Matt, of course, free expressions columnist at the Wall Street Journal, head of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and Virginia elections analysts. First question, Matt, given your free expressions column in the journal today. Who has freer elections? Iran or Virginians after this map goes into effect? Well, I would say that the Republicans in Virginia won't be feeling very enfranchised after this map goes into effect. And certainly the population of Iran is not enfranchised. So. It's a hard call. Good call. I'll still vote with America in the end for freedom. But nonetheless, this Virginia map is depressing to all those who believe in fair representation, because that's what really happened. You had a Virginia map that was 6'5 Democrat-Republican, basically in line with the share of the vote that each party gets every four years. Trump won about 46% of the vote last. election in 2024 and now you're going to attend one democrat republican map which means that the 46 percent of republicans in the state of virginia will have one representative in congress that is the definition of unfairness Now, Matt, there are no Republicans in Massachusetts. They're only 34% voted for President Trump in 2024. I've always said redistricting done by the legislature, it's a political mischief game, just don't use race, and I'm okay with it. But the Virginians passed a constitutional amendment to prohibit it in the state. It's up to the states to decide. And basically, the Virginia legislature just rolled over it. I heard Ken Cucinelli, sounding former Attorney General of Virginia, sounding optimistic with Jake Tapper, but I'm not. because this is a very radical legislature in Richmond. I think they'll punish the state Supreme Court if they reverse the referendum. Do you have much hope for the court case? I think the only glimmer of hope I can see in the Supreme Court is that what the vote on Tuesday showed you is that this is not open and shot. I mean, this was a close vote, about 51, 48, maybe 52, 48, three or four points. The no vote.

that is rejecting this unfair map was higher than Republicans earned in last year's gubernatorial election. It was higher than President Trump earned in 2024 in the state of Virginia. And there might be some justices on the Supreme Court who look at that and say, you know what, if we do overturn the map because the process violated all of these constitutional and statutory requirements, the blowback from the voters won't be that much. But as you say, they're going to be worried about the blowback. from the radical Democrats who now are in charge in Richmond, Virginia. And I think in the end, they'll be more afraid of the politicians than actual Virginia voters when they decide whether or not to uphold this new and unfair map. Now, Ron DeSantis has called a special session. There are 28 congressional districts, 20 are held by Republicans, eight by Democrats. I think you could go to chat CPT and GROC and say, draw me a map that gets me 28 Republicans and then have them both check each other's work, and that would hold up the constitutional muster if the Supreme Court. throws out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as is expected later this month. Do you want Ron DeSantis to do that, or do you want someone to call a halt to this? Well, I think after the Virginia vote, Ron DeSantis can say, look, he's simply continuing a process and redistricting Florida. If he can find a way to do it and the legislature approves of it is a necessary response to what's happening. in Virginia. Unfortunately, we're down this path now where each party is retaliating against each other. If it doesn't happen in Florida and if the Supreme Court decision you mentioned doesn't go the way many expected to, which is to say that these majority minority districts are misreadings or violations of the Voting Rights Act, well, then paradoxically, the Democrats could come out ahead. slightly from this gerrymandering war we've been having. So I think that means that Ron DeSantis should try to go to get some more seats out of the Florida state delegation. I will say this, though, all of these gerrymanders, including the one in Virginia, you know, they are very susceptible to wave elections that go in a different direction. And what we're seeing right now on the Republican states is, you know, the fact is the Republicans have lost a lot of support from Hispanic voters. And that means that even these gerrymanders could go and end up electing Democrats. The same thing, by the way, could happen, God forbid, if we have a Democratic president in 2030.

And a midterm election goes against that president and elects a lot of Republicans. Well, then these districts that the Virginia State Democrats have gerrymandered, that could blow up in their face as well. So it's a very dangerous game with the gerrymanders. And unfortunately, we're in this race to the bottom. And the long game is that the census is going to reward this out in 2032 with 12 to 15 new CDs. And that means the Democrats are really screwed. I'm kind of zen about this because we're going to lose the house anyway. But I'll be right back with Contonetti during the break, and he'll be back after the break to talk Iran. We're going to talk presidential candidates on the Republican side when we come back. I am back with Matt Contennetti, and it's hypothetical time. You have to actually listen to Big Weekend Pod to hear this part. Matt, the vice president, is in the poll position for the Republican nomination in 2028. There's no denying it. However, If there was sort of a disqualification round where everybody not named JD Vance got in there and did the debate, and you could see Glenn Youngkin, and you could see Doug Ducey, and you could see Mike Pompeo, and you might see Ron DeSantis, if they could come up with one person to run against J.D., who would your money be on, J.D., or that one person? And I'm taking Marco Rubio off the board. Okay, so now you've put me in the position of the liberal theorist, John Rawls. We have to have a veil of ignorance, right, on this. And it would create this new situation where it was JD against one Republican challenger for the 2028 nomination. I think the... The biggest threat to JD, not without Marco Rubio in there, would probably be someone like Glenn Youngkin, someone with that political profile, Southern, someone who can also make a case to independence and suburbanites, and someone who can draw distinctions between JD and JD's version of conservatism and kind of the... earlier forms of conservatism, and also, by the way, some Trump conservative principles. And as I'm talking right now, I've said someone in Glenn Youngkin, but actually... The clearest contrast in a lot of ways, and would fit my geographic requirement as well, would be Ted Cruz, who, of course, came in second to President Trump in 2016. So, yeah, I might have to say Cruz in the end. But they would have to consolidate down to one, wouldn't they? They'd have to get in the room and, you know, short straw wins or short straw loses. And that was, as you well know, Hugh, that was the problem in 2016. That was the reason Ted Cruz couldn't. crossed the finish line in first place in 2016 against President Trump was because he was still contending with Marco Rubio and with John Kasich even toward the end there. So I don't know if you ever read Axelrod's memoir, David Axelrod's believer, did you? True believer. It might be believer. I have, yeah. It's a fabulous book. And he believes in the theory of...

the personality most unlike the one that is in the White House. Among the Republicans, which personality is most unlike Donald Trump's who might run for the presidency? I think Glenn Youngkin is probably the most different from Trump in personality. He has no sharp edges. He always is trying to reach consensus, avoid conflict. You know, it's interesting. That... opposite effect that Axelrod talks about. The first time I heard of it was from Chris Matthews, the hardball anchor, who always said that Americans, Matthews told me always elect for the person that they did, unlike the previous occupant. But I never really thought of it in terms of primaries before, Hugh. And I actually think in the primary, what Republicans are going to want is someone to carry on the Trump agenda. But to be able to do so in a way that can secure another term for the Republicans in the White House knowing the dangers that this country faces from a radical left party. Amen. We're coming back on the network standby.

Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt, joined by Matt Continent as I am on those Fridays. He is the head of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. It's also the free expressions columnist at the Wall Street Journal and the Thursday panelist. I listened to him yesterday on the commentary podcast. So, Matt, as I was listening to your podcast and... J-Pod goes back and forth on where he is on the war. I think we've won the war decidedly. I think it's a strategic win that will follow Trump through history. But I would end it this way, the Hewitt Plan. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on their way to Islamabad right now. I'd have a piece of paper, a target sheet, non-exclusive. Just day one, we're going to hit this oil facility, day two. We're going to hit this one, day three, all the way down to. You know, Carg Island will be the last day and we'll destroy that. We'll level that. We're not going to occupy it. We're already picking up their tankers. We picked up three of their tankers this week. That's about six million barrels of oil. So that's a $600 million loss. They need money to build nukes. And I would let them decide, do you want an oil industry or do you want the nuke? What do you think of the Hewitt plan? I think it's a good plan. It's very interesting to me that JD Vance is not headed toward Islamabad this weekend. Of course, the Iranians didn't want to continue talking with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff because Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have been very resistant to the Iranian attempt to draw out these negotiations, to gain financial benefit before they have to deliver on any of their promises. And so here we're going to have, I think, another round of Kabuki conversations between Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, and then Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. So the question is, what will happen then? The worst thing that could happen is we agree to end the blockade and give sanctions relief to the Iranians without any real. deliverables on their part. I don't think that's going to happen. So then you have two alternatives. You have the resumption of the military campaign following that excellent Hewitt target list. I'd like to see that list. I bet it's a great list. Or you have the status quo. And either policy. resuming the military campaign, certainly, but also the current policy, the status quo policy, will exact increasing pressure on the Iranian regime. And that's what we need to continue to do. We've made great strides, accomplished much, but the final effort needs to be in depriving this regime of its financial lines of support, and then... showing that the United States Navy, the three carrier groups we now have in the region, can take the lead, clear the Strait of Hormuz, and create a new lane of escort traffic so that it's never held hostage by this terrorist regime again. Well, that is an interesting question. You're right.

By the way, the target list, best list, never been a better list. You have the best list, the perfect list. Perfect list, gold-plated list. I want to ask about another one of your colleague at AEI. Did you ever see the movie Big with Tom Hanks? Everyone has. I'm just assuming you have. Have you seen Big? Many times. It's a classic. So you know the fortune teller in the booth that knows exactly what's going to happen? Yes. All right. That's Yuval Levin. Would you walk by and put a coin in the machine and ask Yuval Levin why we don't have pipelines from UAE to Haifa already under construction? Because it just seems to me pipelines are the answer. You know, that might be the one question that you've all of in cannot answer and probably wouldn't want to. Yeah, I think it's obvious. I think it's amazing that the world allowed itself to be put into this situation. 50 years of an approach to the Iranian regime that was de-escalatory. That was, we would just want to avoid conflict with the Iranian regime. We want to keep the oil flowing. We'll put, you know, slightly under 20% of the global oil supply through the Strait of Hermuz. We'll put 20% of the world's fertilizer supply through the Strait of Hermuz. Who cares? Well, now we see why that was a huge strategic mistake. And I think it's important that the world knows that. So, yes, why is this pipeline not there? It's because people were invested in the status quo of allowing Iran to continue to terrorize the world. to continue its progress toward a nuclear weapon, to continue its ICBM program. And it's finally this president, President Trump, who said, enough is enough. And that means short-term pain, but the long-term gain of disarming the Iranian regime, ending its nuclear program, and setting the conditions for its eventual collapse will be historic. Oh, it's a strategic win. But I think you underestimate Yuval. I've never met him, which is why he mispronounced his last name, but I still think you ought to ask him the second question that I'd like to know. Are there no roads? Are there no tanker trucks? Are there no fertilizer trucks that can move the fertilizer to a Mediterranean port? Because it is all connected. It's not like there's – you don't have to go over the strait to deliver fertilizer to the world. No, you know, there are alternatives. And I think it's a matter of time of repricing. I think a lot of the repricing of the energy supply is already being done, some of the other commodities that go through the straight. But the fundamental for me, Hugh, is we cannot allow hostile regimes to control the world's naval choke points. And that includes the Gulf of Aden.

that the Houthis have been terrorizing. That includes the Strait of Harmuz and the Persian Gulf that Iran has shown. It doesn't care whether it blows up ships, commercial vessels. It terrorizes them. And it also includes the Taiwan Strait and the Strait of Malacca. And so this is a wake-up call. Do you mind if we impoverish the Iranian people? I didn't want to do it, but if you do destroy their oil infrastructure, and it's going to be destroyed simply because they're at capacity for storage right now. When you stop pumping, as the president tried to explain, in his Trumpian way, it screws up the whole system. The plumbing gets broken. Do you worry about impoverishing the Iranian people? They're not getting the money anyway, so I don't worry about that. Did we lose, Matt? Iranian people. I'm here and now. Can you hear me? Oh, you're back. You get one minute. Yeah, I'm back. You worry about it. I'm back. America didn't impoverish the Iranian people. The Iranian government did. And that's the truth. And that's why we can continue to exert this maximum pressure, the blockade, interdite, the kind of the veins of the IRGC economically, and put the pressure on the regime so that the Iranian people have a new chance for a new future and a more prosperous one as well. Who should get the money from the tankers? We did take three tankers. Victims of Iranian terror or the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

We lost them again. That's because we have a thunderstorm, and northern Virginia has the infrastructure of southwestern Iran. Don't go anywhere, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt. Stay tuned. Thank you for listening to highly concentrated Hugh. And don't forget, one of our great sponsors is Consumer Cellular. 1-800-4-1-4-1-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4. When you call them, and you should, because you should want to save money. Make sure you use my promo code, Hugh Hewitt-U-G-H, you'll get your second month free if and when you switch to consumer cellular. Whatever plan you switch with, you'll get your second month for free. I want you to call and investigate because you're probably paying too much for whatever you're doing right now with consumer cellular. Or you can go online, consumercellular.com slash you. They've got great plans for every kind of person and every kind of data usage. However, they really target people who are 50 years and older. Listen to this. You get a single line with consumer cellular with unlimited talk, text, and data for just $35 a month. That's a single line if you're 50 years and older with unlimited talk, text, and data for just $355 a month when you call consumer cellular 800, 411, 4454, and everybody, it can be under 50, you can be over 50. Everybody gets their second month free when you use my name, Hugh. Weekend to you. Ben Dominic is in the house. He of the host of the Big Ben podcast, Fox News contributor, and the editor of the opinion pages at the Daily Wire. Ben, I wanted to ask you about that. When the late Fred Hyatt, who hired me at the Post, was the pooh-bah of the opinion pages at the post, that was his title, editor of the opinion pages. But we don't have pages at the Daily Wire. What do we call you at the Daily Wire? You can call me head of opinion. Head of opinion. But yes, I completely understand. No, there's, you know, one of the advantages, I think, and really I actually miss it of the old newspaper pages is that they kept your writers to a particular count. You have to meet that count in order to actually do quality work. And I think that... It's one of the things that, you know, frankly, I miss about the original version of X. You did much better work when you were confined to a, in their case, artificial limit. But when it comes to the... Sometimes I'll write a thousand words on X, Ben, and it'll get a million... views because it's serious. And Mark Dubowitz did one on Iran last night. He did. He did. I read that, yes. And so. So, but I just think, I just think that one of the things that is, is good about restrictions when it comes to the writing is that far too many writers just are unwilling to kill their darlings. They, they just, you know, hold on to every word as if it's. a pearl scent from on high. Oh, my friend Mike Duffy used to say about my columns. I wrote everything twice. They were fine columns, but I said the same thing twice every time. He was right. So we'll just call you the Commissar of Commentary at the Daily Wire. Sounds wonderful. I accept that. No, I will not, however, call you a draft analyst. I listen to the Big Ben podcast this week. Not only did Lucas Nail Sunny Stiles at 7, you actually thought Carnell Tate might drop there. So that means you don't know.

anything about Ohio State football. I was hoping he would drop this. Clearly. No, no, I was hoping, hoping that he would drop there. Of course he didn't drop there because everybody else understood how great of a player that he is. He is. But Sonny Stiles, I mean, I'm not going to complain about that at all. You should be very excited. Yeah. You're very excited. What we got last year. from UCLA. The guy's playing quarterback for one year, and he was arguably the best one in college football. Yeah. We had Schlesinger last year. You got Stiles this year. It turns an entire defense around to have a guy in the middle. I've had a great draft, though. I mean, like Spencer Fanow. Last time we drafted an Outland trophy winner was 2006 and Joe Thomas. So. Don't you really want to just do sports radio once a week with me? We could just do sports radio once a week. I would be more than happy to do that, Hugh. It would actually be, I mean, the funny thing about talking to the folks who are, you know, I mean, I'm sure you do the same thing. The folks who are off air at Fox News is that I went in to do a commentary with John Roberts this week. And every conversation that we had running up to the actual segment, which was not about sports, was about who should be drafted and where. Now, does John hang on to his Canadian roots and root for the CFL? So I can talk to him about the CFL and I can talk to him about hockey, but he gave zero attention to the NFL. Okay, and I have no knowledge about hockey. So I got to read it. I know a little bit about the CFL. Hey, let's go to. to the Hewitt plan for finishing the war. I think there's a big victory, and that history will recognize it as a big victory, that the Trump distortion effect and the Benjamin Netanyahu distortion effect are making smart people say stupid things. But I'd like to bring it to an end. And so my plan is, you know, and Jared Kushner on a plane to Islamabad. I hope they have a piece of paper on it with 30 targets, day one through 30, and they're all oil targets. And they simply, on day one, they're not exclusionary. We can hit other stuff like launchers and missiles and stuff. But day one, we're going to hit this oil field, day two, this, day three. And it's going to end with Carg Island on day 30. We're going to level it. And you're going to be poor for a generation. And that's what you get for screwing around. So pick your time. What do you make of the Hewitt plan? So you're going to make them an offer they can't refuse. Yeah, this is my offer. Nothing but pain. So look, I hope that they're smart enough to do that. Here's the thing that I think, you know, you need, and you talk to a lot more politicians than I do. I got a chance to talk to some of these Capitol Hill folks this week when I was doing a Wired and Live segment that I swung into off the bench. because Cabot Phillips was sick. But the thing that was interesting to me was, I don't think these guys know how to talk about this. I don't think they're used to talking about it. Remember last week when you were talking about them not being able to vocalize and achieve during this operation or anything associated with that?

I think that you need to be addressing that to, Mike Johnson needs to invite you to come and talk to the conference on that, because those guys definitely don't know how to talk about it. And I think it's a real problem for them because it's the number, to me, that is the number one point of how you're going to go into the next six months arguing about what comes next. If you can't nail that down, if you can't make the case for it. then you already are starting on your heels effectively by arguing essentially with years of American precedent when it comes to our beliefs about foreign policy. And there's a reason why the first 10 minutes of Patton triggers every progressive and every conservative loves it. It talks about winning and killing the enemy, and that's what it's about. Yeah. And look, this should be something that they are. This should be something that comes naturally to them. I understand why it doesn't because they're not used to it. They don't have any kind of prescript for it. And I think, frankly, their staff isn't used to it. But those are the things that are going to matter when it comes to making an argument to the American people. And it could be a huge difference in terms of the outcome that we see in November. If they're incapable of making that argument, Hugh, if they're incapable of advocating for this. and arguing for it on the measures that they have achieved, they are going to be coming from behind the entire time, and they could end up with a 20 to 25-seat bottom-out in terms of something that's going to have to be climbed out of over the coming years. I don't want to see that. I know you don't want to see that. The country doesn't want to see that. I think by 2032 with the new census, all will be right. I'm kind of resigned to losing the House, and we're going to have three impeachments, and he's not going to be removed. And history is going to say Donald Trump did what he wanted to do and he got it done. And I'm going to ask you in the next segment. I think it's only going to be three. Yeah. You're right. They got two a year every six months they're wrong. In segment three, I'm going to ask you about, we're in the 11th year of the Trump era. It begins with coming down the escalator. What's the most important thing in the Trump era thus far, the worst development thus far, the best of worst of Trump and the best of worst of Dems? But before we get there, right now, the Virginia map is such a nightmare. Now, I am also, by the way, I believe in redistricting. I think politicians are allowed to scrored up the maps. Massachusetts has no Republicans. That's just good old-fashioned politics. But if you vote in a constitutional wall against that stuff, this ought to be struck down, but I don't think the Virginia Supreme Court has part in the expression the stones to strike it down. They're afraid of this legislature. I completely agree. And this is, in fact, what I've been saying about it. I think that the Supreme Court in Virginia, people need to understand this. It's a more political situation than the national Supreme Court. So you're going to see them react to the politics of this. They kicked the can on it before because they were worried about the outcome, and they didn't want to rule on it in advance, and now they're stuck in a position.

So I think you have to get that done. I think you have to do it as, you know, within this window, even understanding that with that comes a loss of brain heft and a lot more to come from it. And, I mean, I don't know what you – I actually – I've never taken the Hugh Hewitt poll about who you have in mind to replace these gentlemen. I happen to be a longtime friend and advocate for one Jim Ho. Who I think... Oh, he's a great. Great. I think Amulah Bar checks a lot of boxes, and Clarence Thomas might step down if he knew him if the bar was coming in. But you've got Allison rushing. You've got a whole... I mean, there are 20. The second question, though, we have one minute. Molly countered with, well, do you want your friend Robert? He's not my friend. I worked with him. I've known him for 40 years, but he's a colleague in I see him occasionally. The Chief Justice should step down. He's 71. I said, absolutely not. He's a great Chief Justice. I mean, he's really a great Chief Justice. Do you want him to retire to? No, I don't. I actually think he's managed things quite effectively. I mean, it's not. And in part, I would just suggest that the... The Overton window is important here. And, you know, you want to have justices replace Samuel Alito and Thomas, who are going to be able to do the work that is needed on that court. Sometimes with the Chief Justice, you need someone who can navigate things a little bit differently. There are ramifications for that that, you know, I still think, you know, I wish that there were more consequences for everything that happened with Dobbs. But, you know, when it comes to the chief, I think he's actually, you know, done a good job of figuring this out. He's brilliant. And when he's, when I narrowed it down with Molly and said, look, on race, there's nobody better than getting rid of the awarding of penalties or the awarding of benefits and punishments based on race. There's no one better on free speech. It's just. He gets this rap because of Obamacare, but that was actually correctly decided under constitutional avoidance principles. Stay tuned, Ben. I'll be right back with Ben Dominance for the best and worse of the Trump era thus far.

Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh at Ben Dominic, who is the Commissar of Commentary at the Daily Wire. Fox News contributor, host of the Big Ben podcast. Can I request music going forward? Oh, yes. I'd love some more who in the mix, though I am. Oh, we'll do the Who's next all album long. So, Ben, this question is actually. prompted by your discussion of W on the Big Ben Pod. I agree with you. I've been along a long time. He's my favorite president as a person. He is the most decent, loving, kind, ethical Christian man and... I think, I'm not even sure he made the wrong decision. I might have, I think everyone would have made the same decision on the bad knowledge he was given, but the perfect guy for 9-11. And we're coming up on the 25th year. And then we had the Obama era, and that's an era devoid of anything except sound and noise, representing nothing. The Trump era begins in 2015 with the escalator. It's ongoing. It's going to be a 15-year period of America that will be known as the Trump era. What is the best and worst development of the Trump era? It might not have anything to do with Trump. So I think the best development of the Trump era is a reorienting that needed to happen regarding the Republican Party and the coalition that they needed to become. I think for years, people had been sort of going back and forth about they're trying to make certain things work. And I think Mitt Romney really, to his credit, did his best to try them to make that coalition work. Donald Trump transformed that coalition, and I think that transformation is a positive one. I think it's very good, and I think it's going to lead to more Republican successes when it comes to the presidential politics. The flip side of that is that we have a more toxic... more villainous, more vile environment when it comes to the expressions of opinions than I have ever seen in my life. And you live, I mean, you are aware of the Nixon era. So I feel like it's too much for me to say it's never happened in America. It's so much worse than Nixon. It's so much worse than Nixon. You think, okay, so that actually vindicates something that I think, because I've been arguing that in Washington with some of my younger colleagues. I think it's much, much worse. And I think that the simple fact is that that's not something that can be recovered from via an election. You know, it's not going to be something where you have a cycle and you get through it. Okay. Like, it's just, that is the aspect of the Trump era that I think is absolutely the worst. It takes normal people and it incentivizes them to be radical. to do crazy things, to say crazy things, and to hate their neighbors. And I hate all of that. But I also think that's not Donald Trump's fault. I don't think that he did any of that. No, he served it. Reaction from the left. Now, let me talk to you about the clarity that he brought. I think the best thing that he ushered in was clarity. Everybody knows who everybody is and where they stand, whether it's...

McCrone and Keir Starmer or Tucker Carlson and Candice Owen, whether it is John Hickenlooper or Susan Colle. Everybody is out there in the middle with the Kleegelights on defined by a thousand voices, but in the end, I think essentially understood for who they are. And I don't think we're misled about anyone. What do you think about that? I think you missed the Cold War, Hugh, I appreciated the clarity. That's where we're at. No, I think you're completely right. And look, the other thing I'll just say about this, and I mean, it's one of these areas where whenever I compliment him for it, whenever anybody compliments it for it, you know, you get backlash for it. I appreciate having a president who's this funny. I'm in the business of journalism. I'm in the business of media. I appreciate having a president who actually is entertaining and interesting and creates news himself simply from his comments. You know, and that's something that, you know, I think we'll miss when he's gone because I don't think that there's going to be anybody who's entertaining. Don't you really want him to do the ruthless podcast? I did it right along on the ruthless podcast ones, and I said to them at the start. I don't know that maybe. They're afraid, Carolyn and Steve are afraid, because it would be the funniest episode in the history of the Internet. And I did the ride along. Obviously. I mean, look, I've known Josh and I've known Duncan for years, you know, they will get the best out of him. He's got to do it. I mean, I, to the extent that I can help make that happen, and I mean, I did it two weeks, three weeks ago, I can't remember which. And it's still, it's a phenomenal conversation always, and it gets the best out of you. So were you funny? I told them at the beginning. Look, guys, I'm not funny. I've listened to your show for years, and I know what you're supposed to do when you're right along. I can't be Mary Catherine Hamm. Or Band Dominant. I'm not the right demo. But they were nice to me. Trump would own it. Absolutely. And, you know, maybe that's the follow-on career. No, I think that what we can appreciate about this, Trump, is that he has reordered American politics in a way that I think is healthier for the Republican coalition. He's made, I think, a stronger presidential year coalition, emphasis on presidential year. But I also think that he's someone who has. unfortunately led to a toxicity that has made a lot of people be crazy who really need to just check themselves. All right, you just gave me an idea, Ben. A lot of her ex-friends as you and I know. Yeah, you just gave me an idea. W, the podcast, would not be interesting. He's very nice, and he's good on interviews, but he wouldn't be funny. Trump, the podcast, would be fabulous. Number one, absolutely.

And all you would need to do is say, no, Roger Goodell last night, what do you think? And then lean back and get out of the way. Yep, yep, exactly. He would tell you about Roger's entire life and he knows everyone. Then you'd go back over to Broadway. Do you have a favorite show and you'd get a history of Broadway and you could bounce over to, you know, the Haiti? And he would tell you all about Vahiti. Now, he might spill more classified information. The funniest things that he says are typically off the record. And so I think, you know, if he actually did the podcast, I mean, wait for a live stream because that would be insane. I, okay, you bring this up. The crazy guy on the left who was up with Al Syed and I can't remember. Piper. Hasan Piker. Yeah. Okay, I don't know anything about this guy except he's an anti-Semitic evil person. When did he become big? So he became big in part because he's just this guy who sort of fits a Venn diagram of different aspects of the dirtbag left, especially with the death of some of their older podcasts that went away. The name of one of which I can't name, but Dwayne will tell you in the break. But the thing that I think is really true about him is he is a completely, he's a perfect example of how fake the left is. This is a guy who comes from a wealthy family. He literally had a pony when he was growing up. No. He's not someone who is in any way. Yes, literally. No. I'm writing it. And the whole point is like this is a perfect example of like elite capitalist children who just decide that they hate their parents. And so because of that, they're going to go out there and say. Oh, that's the weather underground. That's when I was in high school. And the weather underground were blowing themselves up. And they were all rich kids from Greenwich Village. 100%. These are not people who are coming from that, from, you know, the underclass and revolting against people. No. These are wealthy people who are absolutely doing this because of... I think deep-seated psychological issues that should have been dealt with in therapy. Well, Ben, start thinking about right now being the host of the Trump podcast because you'd be perfect at that. You would get all the references. Ben Dominic, follow him on exit, be Dominic, listen to Big Ben Pod, except for draft advice. And I will be right back, America. Stay tuned. In a world that screams for your attention, there is a place that invites you to peace. You don't need a building. You don't need a choir. You just need to turn your heart to Air One. Air One. Songs that heal. Lyrics that pray for you when you don't have the words. From Lauren Daigle to elevation worship and more. This isn't just radio. It's worship for the everyday. Escape the noise and worship now. Download the Air One app. Ask your smart speaker to play Air One or visit Air One.com. Air One. Worship.

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