Join us as we explore the elements forcing a reexamination of crime and order in America. We discuss the intense debates surrounding gun control following tragic events and listen in on Chicago’s leadership grappling with foundational questions on policing and safety. Political dynamics are changing rapidly, noted in the humorous yet telling rebranding saga of Cracker Barrel, which epitomizes the cultural clashes of today. Meanwhile, secret gatherings of citizens anxious about voicing their opinions reveal an undercurrent of tension, showing fear in what’s seemingly become a divided atmosphere.
Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. It’s Friday, August 29th, 2025. Where is the year going? We’re almost into September. This week, we try to find answers to important questions like what’s wrong with the mayor of Chicago? Why is California Congressman Adam Schiff so nervous? And where do you hide if you’re afraid of the president of the United States? Let’s begin by answering this question. Why do Democrats love crime so much? The Democrats are very cranky today. They’re not happy about zero homicides in our nation’s capital since Trump sent in the troops. They’re not happy. With Kilmar Abrego Garcia being deported, he was in ICE custody this morning. They’re not happy about a gangbanger getting kicked out of America. They are not happy with President Trump exposing the miserable, crappy, disastrous way Democrats are running American cities. They don’t like any bit of this. They’re upset, I guess, at zero. They embrace the bad guys. The bad guys. How about the illegal immigrant trucker who killed three people on a highway by making a criminal U-turn in the middle of a highway? The car slams right into the truck. Three people are killed. Do you know there’s a petition with millions of signatures of Democrats who are supporting the illegal immigrant trucker? I mean, this is biblical stuff. There are days when I swear we’re in the end times. You know, the Bible talks about the evil one. And the way good is portrayed as evil and evil is good and up is down and right is left and left is right. That’s what it feels like right now. Do you realize there have been zero homicides in what has been known as one of the homicide capitals of America? Washington, D.C. It’s a dangerous place. And statistically, there hasn’t been a single homicide in the entire week that Trump has deployed the troops. But they don’t want that. They don’t want people to live, I guess. I suppose they want people to get killed. How else do you describe it? Oh, that’s right. Trump is doing it. So that must be the problem. Since Trump is behind cleaning up the cities, and this is the problem. I think Scott Jennings had it best. Scott Jennings on CNN, one of the lone voices of common sense on that network, points out that Trump is doing something pretty masterful. This is brilliant. He is able to expose the failures of Democrat leadership in a way no other Republican president has ever done before.
SPEAKER 09 :
I think Democrats here are squealing because a Republican president is showing up in blue cities, places that have been run for decades by Democrats that are overrun with violent crime and overrun with illegal immigration. And they’ve done nothing about it. And even worse, they have encouraged it with soft on crime local policies. And so the real issue here is political. It’s just that Democrats are being exposed as being crappy at running big cities, and Donald Trump is showing up to show the people there, hey, it doesn’t have to be this way. And, oh, by the way, if we bring down the rates of violence and the rates of illegal immigration, that’ll be a great thing to go along with it.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is Trump’s superpower, his ability to expose the deep state, his ability to expose the rhinos, the Republicans in name only who are – being laid bare. The failed Democrat policies are being laid bare. And make no mistake, the Democrat Party is paying a heavy price. Check out CNN being forced to report what is happening nationally to the voter rolls.
SPEAKER 02 :
In all 30 states that track party registration, we’re putting on the screen the data. It shows altogether Democrats have lost 2.1 million voters. Republicans have gained 2.4 million. That’s a deficit that you have of 4.5 million voters.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s CNN. That wasn’t Fox News. That wasn’t a clip from Newsmax. That was CNN. They are hemorrhaging. And it couldn’t happen at a better time because we got the midterms going to be here before you know it. President Trump has his critics so twisted into knots they can’t even conceive the obvious, as demonstrated by the current mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson. What I’m about to play for you is an actual exchange that took place on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. He’s interviewing the mayor of Chicago, this Brandon Johnson, who incidentally is a piker compared to Zoran Mamdani in New York. If New Yorkers are idiotic enough to elect… this radical, lunatic, Marxist, Zoran Mamdani, they’re going to get more of this. I mean, they’re going to get this on steroids. They’re going to get this guy times 100. But this is the guy that is doing a magnificent job in running Chicago into the ground. And if you wonder why he’s running Chicago into the ground, maybe this exchange… is a perfect example. Maybe this will explain it for you. Even Joe Scarborough, who is a former Republican congressman, now he’s a star on MSNBC because he hates Republicans, he hates Trump, he hates conservatism. But even Joe Scarborough, even Scarborough is baffled that the mayor of Chicago cannot muster a straight answer when it comes to the safety of his city. Now, this is very painful to hear and watch. This is difficult to experience. But you’ve got to know what Chicago is facing right now with their leadership and what New York will face if they elect Zoran.
SPEAKER 10 :
Would you also like to get federal funding to help put 5,000 more cops on the street in Chicago? Would that help drive down crime?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, look, policing by itself is not the full strategy.
SPEAKER 10 :
I understand that you’ve talked about the other things you want. And I said those are good and important programs. But I’m asking also, would 5000 more police officers on the street in Chicago be helpful to go along with all of those social programs? And a lot of cities are engaging in and having success with.
SPEAKER 08 :
Look, here’s the best way I can put it, Joe, is that in the 90s when I was in high school, we had 3000 more police officers and we had 900 people being murdered every single year in Chicago. It’s just not policing alone. Of course, we want more detectives. I know it’s not policing alone, but.
SPEAKER 10 :
I know it’s not policing alone. You’ve told me everything else you want. I’m curious. And this this does come down to an ideological difference between between people. Do you believe that the streets of Chicago would be safer if there were more uniformed police officers on the streets of Chicago?
SPEAKER 08 :
I believe the city of Chicago and cities across America would be safer if we actually had, you know, affordable housing.
SPEAKER 10 :
That’s not the question I asked. My question is, and I just need to answer a no, do you believe the streets of Chicago would be safer if you got all of those other extraordinary programs put back into place, which do have a history of being successful? if that’s complemented by having 5,000 more cops on the streets of Chicago.
SPEAKER 08 :
I don’t believe that we should narrow it down to just police officers, is what I’m saying. That is an antiquated approach. I’m saying we’ve invested in detectives.
SPEAKER 10 :
Mr. Mayor, are you hearing what I’m saying? I’m agreeing with you that all of these other social programs are extraordinarily important. I just need a yes or a no, and then this will be the last time I ask. If you get all of those other social programs that 800 million that that New York City does, Los Angeles, other people do with great success. Would an additional 5000 cops on the streets in Chicago help complement those programs to make Chicago safer?
SPEAKER 08 :
Look, we are working hard to make sure that our police department is fully supported. I don’t believe that just simply putting out an arbitrary number around police officers is the answer. What I’m saying is policing and affordable housing is policing and mental and behavioral health care services is policing and youth employment. It’s a full package. Of course, we want to make sure that our police department is fully supported. That’s why I’ve invested in our detectives bureau, because what we have seen in the city of Chicago, when we solve crime, it acts and serves as a deterrent. It’s policing and all of the other efforts that we’re doing. Here’s the last thing that I’ll say to that. The federal government could work stronger to coordinate with my police department to get guns off the streets of Chicago. We’ve seen these coordination efforts work just a couple of weeks ago.
SPEAKER 05 :
Turn it off. Turn it off. I can’t take another word of that. Utter disbelief. I saw that clip before the show, and I was in utter disbelief. That’s the mayor of Chicago, Illinois. Chicago has experienced 254 murders in 233 days. And his answer is to build affordable housing. He wants to build affordable housing as the solution to 254 murders in 233 days. California Congressman Adam Schiff was one of the most vocal promoters of the Russiagate hoax. Now the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into him. If he’s not nervous, he ought to be. How about Adam Schiff? This is as funny as it gets. Check out Shifty Schiff. He was on Meet the Press. And this guy, who was all aboard with impeaching and incarcerating and criminally charging Trump and, you know, prosecuting him and fining him. Incidentally, while I was away, that big half a billion dollar fine that he was ordered to pay, out the window, court said, of course, that’s ridiculous. He doesn’t owe New York $500 million tish, James. Threw that out the window. Big, huge legal victory for Trump and a big loss for Letitia James, that corrupt attorney general in the state of New York who literally campaigned on getting Trump. And now all of these people who weaponized the system are facing their comeuppance. You’ve got to hear Adam Schiff. Here he is on Meet the Press. Check out his whining, because right now Adam Schiff is facing an investigation over possible mortgage fraud. He may have pulled a fast one in lying about his personal properties when it came to applying for mortgages. So he goes on NBC and has the gall… has the nerve, has the audacity to complain about the Trump administration weaponizing the judicial system.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, the government mortgage company, Fannie Mae, says you’re, quote, engaged in a sustained pattern of possible occupancy misrepresentation on several loans. Are these allegations true? How do you respond to them?
SPEAKER 04 :
They’re patently false. And the president knows it. And the housing agency president’s person, Pulte, knows it. He’s essentially doing the president’s bidding. against me, against Letitia James, against this person on the Federal Reserve. Mortgage is their new weapon to go after their critics. I’m not backing down, and I have to hope that others will stand up to this increasing authoritarian form of government.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you stand up there, Shifty Schiff. You stand up. A lot of good that’ll do. You stand up to the courts and stand up to the judges and stand up to law enforcement if you’ve done something wrong. Look, this is not… A one-off either. There’s a lot of these guys. John Bolton. This guy seems to be in it up to his eyeballs. It’s just a wild thing. And I get back to the question. I get back to the question. Why is it so hard for the Democrats to even pretend to be normal? Here’s a text from Indiana that makes a lot of sense to me. I think it’s true. They just hate America and all that it stands for. It does feel that way, doesn’t it? Meanwhile, this week saw another horrifying school shooting. This time, it happened in Minneapolis. Gun haters love to set their sights on semi-automatic weapons, weapons of war. Oh, we got to ban the guns. The parent… who did not want his name used, told reporters he pepper sprayed through the stained glass windows into the building, firing 50 to 100 shots. He killed two kids. This is terrible. He said this is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this. Well, a lot of people know how you defend against this. One way you defend against this is to make sure people can defend against this. Isn’t it fascinating when people, and of course I don’t want to pile on this poor traumatized parent, but I don’t know how to defend against this? Yes, we do. You know how to defend against this. If you have a logical, normal, common sense understanding that an armed society is a polite society. You can bring out all of the trite expressions here. Only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. I had a guy actually call me today and say, a guy from, I believe, North Carolina, and and said, if only there were no guns. He said, I disagree with you, Mike. We can’t have armed teachers or armed administrators. That’s the problem. Then we’ll just have the Wild West. The Wild West? To have trained, skilled men and women who are capable of utilizing a firearm? to protect and defend innocent children? That’s not the Wild West. That’s called responsibility. And this grown man, 55-year-old guy, said if only there were no guns for anybody. Nobody should have any guns. What an absolutely asinine thing to say in a country where that includes the Second Amendment to the Constitution as a foundational aspect of American life. We’re not Europe. I know a lot of people on the left wish we were Europe, but we are not. And this country defends the right to bear arms. And people like the 55-year-old guy from North Carolina wish there wasn’t a Second Amendment. They don’t believe anybody ought to have the right to keep and bear arms. And that’s not an exaggeration. That is the position that a lot of people on the left take. Nobody should be able to have a gun. And then, of course, if we were to go down that route, I can promise you the only people then who will have guns are bad guys. Are the evildoers. Look, these school shootings problem can be solved real simply, easily, real easily. Get rid of the gun-free zones and arm teachers and administrators. Now, I’ll qualify that. Of course you’re not going to force a teacher who doesn’t want to be armed to be armed. Of course you’re not going to force a principal who doesn’t want to be armed to be armed. But there are plenty of teachers. My son is one of them. He’s a teacher. And he would gladly be willing to protect his students with the firearm training that he has had in his school. If given the opportunity, there are plenty of teachers and administrators who would enthusiastically and dutifully carry in order to keep kids safe. We need good people to step up for a change. Train and arm our educators. And that’s how you… That’s how… You defend against the evil. That’s how you stop this. 800-655-MIKE. 12 past the hour. We’re going to take you to Minneapolis. There is scheduled to be a briefing on this Minneapolis shooting. Of course, it’s an all-too-familiar sight outside Annunciation Catholic Church. The tears, the horror, the prayers. The trauma and this community is going to have to suffer through what too many communities in America have experienced. And it will be fascinating to find out how and when this man was killed. Because he has reportedly been killed. So… When that happens, we’re going to find out that either a police officer or a security guard or maybe, shock of all shocks, maybe it was a faculty member or an administrator at the Annunciation Catholic Church. I want to remind you about my friend Mike Lindell at MyPillow. It’s normally $50. You’re going to get yours for $17.98. And yes, this is the pillow that started it all. You go to MyPillow.com and use the promo code MikeG and you will be on your way to the best night’s sleep of your life. Guaranteed, incidentally. Of course, all the products from MyPillow come with a money-back guarantee. Get the queen-size MyPillow for just $22.98 or upgrade to the king for only $24.98. Go to MyPillow.com. Here’s what you do. Find that Mike Gallagher specials box. Click on that square. And with anything you order, enter the promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG. Or call 800-928-6034. MyPillow. This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. Cracker Barrel, that beloved American restaurant chain, traveled to the land of woke and back again this week. Did you see what the dummies who run Cracker Barrel have done to Cracker Barrel? They’re rebranding Cracker Barrel. They’ve now whitewashed Cracker Barrel and they’re turning it into this sterile, antiseptic looking. It’s not just the logo. They’ve taken out all the apparently the tchotchkes and the warmth and the charm of Cracker Barrel. And did you see who runs Cracker Barrel? A white liberal woman. White liberal women are ruining this country. I mean, look, I went round and round with, what was her name? Jody from Paramus, New Jersey. If you missed my epic, epic smackdown with her, this nasty, excuse me, excuse me, you’re guilty of divisiveness. And okay, well, you’re a white liberal woman. No, I’m not. Excuse me. Oh, you’re not white? No, I’m not. White liberal woman from Paramus, New Jersey. It was the call of the week already, and it’s only Monday. And sure enough, a white liberal woman, apparently CEO of Cracker Barrel, thinks it’s a good idea to change Cracker Barrel. Well, check out Harry Enten, the numbers guy over on CNN, talking about the lack of appeal today of the Democrat Party. He points out that the Democrats have the same appeal to ordinary Americans right now, about as appealing as the rebrand of Cracker Barrel.
SPEAKER 03 :
The Democratic brand right now has about the appeal with the American voter as the Cracker Barrel rebrand has with the American consumers. Bad, bad, bad. What are you doing? Oh, my goodness gracious. What are we talking about here in terms of big party registration changes in the key swing states? Let’s look at the key Four swing states that, in fact, do keep track of registration by party. Look, the Republican Party is in their best position at this point in the cycle since at least 2005. And all four of these key battleground states, we go out to the southwest, Arizona, have about Nevada. Republicans haven’t done this well since 2005. Oh, my goodness gracious, at this point in the cycle. North Carolina, I couldn’t find a point at which Republicans were doing better at this point in the cycle. It’s at least this century. It probably goes way back in the last century. And Pennsylvania, very similar. Republicans doing better at this point than at any point at any point this century, at least as far as I could find. Now, what types of gains are we talking about here for the Republican Party? Well, let’s compare it to this point during the first Trump administration all the way back in 2017. Look at this. The Republican Party gains in party registration compared to this point back in 2017 during the Trump first administration in Arizona. You got a Republican gain of three points. OK, how about Nevada? Up the hill we go, even though we’re sticking in the southwest. A gain of six points. How about again? We come to the East Coast, North Carolina, a gain of eight points for the Republicans. And in the Keystone State, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, again, we’re talking about a gain of eight points. My goodness gracious for Republicans. They are converting old former Democrats to their side of the ledger, as well as picking up new voters, registering new voters. And it absolutely paid off for them back in the 2024 election. Now, of course, Donald Trump has been president since January. Are there any bright spots for Democrats? Have they picked up any ground since January 1 in terms of party registration? Uh-uh. Not in these key swing states, these four key swing states. What are we talking about? Party registration margin gain since January 1, 2025. Which party’s gain in Arizona? The GOP. How about Nevada? The GOP. North Carolina? The GOP. How about in Pennsylvania? We’ll make it four for four. The GOP. The bottom line is this, Jessica Dean. When it comes to party registration, Republicans have made massive gains compared to eight years ago. They are in their best position in these key… four swing states dating back at least 20 years. You have to go back at least 20 years, at least in the case of Nevada, longer in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. So Republicans looking pretty gosh darn good, at least when it comes to party registration. And we’ll see what happens down the road. But at this point, as I said at the beginning, the Democratic brand is in about as good a position as the Cracker Barrel rebrand. It is bad, bad, bad for the Democrats.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow. It’s really extraordinary to look at how well things are going right now for our side. And when I say our side, I mean the side of the party that actually cares about victims, crime victims. The Democrats never care about the victims. They never care about the actual victims of crime. They always care about the criminals. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, we’re all in. Cracker Barrel customers didn’t like the changes, and so with a nudge from the president, the restaurant reversed course. Is it time to show Cracker Barrel a little love? Maybe a little grace? How about the good news from Cracker Barrel? I’m going to go eat there this weekend. I’m going to support Cracker Barrel. Want to know why I’m going to support Cracker Barrel? Because they did the right thing. They did a stupid thing. They decided to try to rebrand this beloved restaurant. American institution. Ever have the chicken and dumplings at Cracker Barrel? Not exactly PhD friendly, but you can splurge a little bit and enjoy a good meal at Cracker Barrel. Once in a while. They’re dropping their new logo and returning to the Uncle Herschel old-timer design. The way Axios describes it, they’re making this move after criticism from some customers, including MAGA figures, who decried the switch as a woke gesture. The Lebanon, Tennessee-based chains announcement came hours after President Trump weighed in on the corporate culture war clash and called on Cracker Barrel to go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response. And that’s exactly what happened. Trump called on Cracker Barrel to go back to the old logo and admit their mistake and be successful. And that’s exactly what they did. They followed Trump’s advice. And evidently they even called the White House to thank President Trump for his input on the matter. Do you know how awful that is for Trump haters? Do you know how bad it is for Trump haters to be… To be dealing with the kind of influence that President Trump is exerting on the culture? I mean, look, I predict Cracker Barrel, go eat at Cracker Barrel. Support them. Don’t continue to harbor a grudge against them. And President Trump, in response, said, way to go, Cracker Barrel. You’re going to do great. Thanks for following my advice. This is a happy ending. This is not an unhappy story. This is a great outcome. Yeah, you had some woke, you know, female liberal with glasses, they always have the glasses on, that decided it would be a good idea to rebrand Cracker Barrel, of all places. Well, the proverbial ceiling caved in. The country said, no way. The president said, go back to the old logo, Cracker Barrel. And they did. And they admitted they made a mistake. I think we have to have a little bit more grace in our life. We have to exhibit grace more often and forgiveness. Look, they stumbled. The value of the company plummeted. People were boycotting Cracker Barrel. And they realized that they’ve infuriated their customers. They said, all right, we’re scrapping all of it, and we’re going back to the way it was. That’s a good thing. Here was Charlie last night, Charlie Kirk, on Fox News Channel with Laura Ingraham.
SPEAKER 07 :
President Trump, he runs both the Democrat Party because basically everything the Democrat Party says is just against Trump. So he gets to determine the entire agenda of the Democrat Party. And now he runs Cracker Barrel all from the Oval Office just on Truth Social. I’ll tell you what, it’s an amazing test case to show the similarities between the two because both the Democrat Party and their attempted rebrand and Cracker Barrel, it shows that when you market test in Brooklyn, you lose in Birmingham, Alabama. When you try to just always pander towards a small subset of elite opinion, of out-of-touch actors, and then you have contempt and bitterness for the very country that you either wish that they want to buy your products from or to vote from you. So there is this very interesting connective tissue here. And it’s not worth overthinking. By the way, you look at the ridiculous logo that Cracker Barrel thought was a good idea. That’s the… Those are the same people that thought that a bunch of people in Pennsylvania were going to come out in a lot of numbers for Kamala Harris. Like, oh, yeah, which they’re going to be super excited for it. The big takeaway here, though, and I think this is important, is that. The middle part of the country, they do not want to see their traditions and their customs and the things that they have come to love and appreciate taken from them. The Democrat Party has done that. So much of Trump’s base are former Democrats, and they became Trumplicans, if you will, Trump Republicans, because of the working class basis. The same thing with Cracker Barrel. And the reason why they saw such a huge response is they said, no, not again. You’re not going to take yet another institution, yet another restaurant away. or Uncle Herschel from us. We’ve had enough stolen from us. That’s why we love Trump and we want Cracker Barrel the way it should be.
SPEAKER 05 :
As usual, Charlie Kirk is spot on. He’s right. And when you try to, you know, think that you can focus group a bunch of Brooklynites or people on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and change something as iconic as Cracker Barrel, it backfires. But see, I really do believe that a big, heavy heaping dose of grace is important here. We live in a divided nation right now, though Republicans make gains every day. So what do you do if you long for open dialogue with neighbors who disagree with you? If you live in one fancy Georgia neighborhood, well, you have secret meetings. You run and hide. We actually have right now extraordinarily stupid people saying stupid things. And it’s quite the thing to behold. I saw a video of a 60-year-old man in Georgia. I don’t know where in Georgia. I think around the Atlanta area, but I could be wrong. And he taped himself on social media. This is a boomer, of course, 60-year-old guy, a baby boomer, expressing concern about that the people who don’t like Trump have to meet in secret. These are secret anti-Trump meetings because they’re afraid to speak out against Donald Trump. They are actually running with Trump is a dictator, and they’re afraid something’s going to happen to their pickleball games if they speak out. Check this out.
SPEAKER 06 :
So last night, I attended an underground secret meeting with our neighbors in a neighborhood in North Georgia, a large neighborhood of about 1,500 people. red state, red town, and about 60 of our neighbors had a secret meeting. I’m not exaggerating, secret. It was passed one by one to people that are against this dictator Trump and all the corruption that’s going on in this country. And we met a half an hour away from our neighborhood, so none of our neighbors would know. Most of them, we guess, are for Trump. that we were actually having this secret meeting. I happened to speak at the meeting for a few minutes and I suggested that we form a club and we meet at our clubhouse. We have a huge 40,000 plus square foot clubhouse in this neighborhood and we have lots of room. And I said, why don’t we meet there and try to expand the group? And the look of fear on the faces of my neighbors, average age, 65, 70, So older people, right? They looked terrified of this. And basically it was shot down and most of them said, no, we can’t meet at the clubhouse because our neighbors will find out. And if they find out we’re against Trump, we’ll be blackballed from every event, every pickleball and every tennis and every club in our neighborhood, which is very active neighborhood, super active neighborhood. And we’ll be ostracized. We have to meet secretly. And I’ve been thinking about it all night, dreaming about this all night. People are terrified to talk to their neighbors. This is the United States of America. I don’t know how old you are, but I promise you, I’m 60 years old. This is not the country I grew up in. This is not the country I grew up in. It’s become a place of fear of our own neighbors. Scary times, sad times in America.
SPEAKER 05 :
When I was flying to Seattle for the Patriots Alaska cruise last week, I saw a guy at the gate who had a red Make America Great Again hat on. And I thought how bold it is of him. to do that. And he seemed very confident. And I went up and spoke to him. And he had a Hispanic accent. A pretty thick Hispanic accent. And he was just asking about when the boarding was going to take place. But I told him, I said, really love the hat. And I was thinking about how bold you have to be to profess your support for the Trump administration and the direction the country is going in because of people like this guy. Now, this guy characterizes it that he’s the side. He represents the side that is afraid. He’s afraid. Of course, nothing screams secret meetings louder than posting yourself on social media and going viral. And finally, a little life lesson to remember. Got to give you a life tip as we see a live view of Houston, Texas on the Salem News Channel. If you’re watching, we appreciate you very much. A lot of people continue to find the antidote to the mainstream media, snc.tv. There’s Houston, Texas, where, of course, we’re heard daily on AM 1070, The Answer. I’ve got a life tip for you. The cruise went perfectly, but the last morning when we docked in Seattle was a disaster of epic proportion because of my stupidity. Let me tell you what I did. I always wake up to my iPhone. I’ve never had a problem with the iPhone before and the alarm. Guess where I ran into a problem with the iPhone alarm? We get into port for the final day. It was Saturday morning at like 6 a.m. And I had a early, early, early morning flight. There’s one nonstop airline between Seattle and Tampa. It’s Alaska Airlines. And I don’t fly Alaska Airlines very often, but, boy, they do a great job. But I had like a 9.30 a.m. flight from Seattle to Tampa. And the ship docks, and you don’t get off the ship until like 7, 7.30, 8 o’clock in the morning. Well, Inspiration Tours had arranged for a big escort for the so-called headliners, you know, those of us who had early morning flights, off the ship before anybody else got off the ship. And the whole crew was involved, and it was a whole big production. This happened last year, too, when Seb Gorka and I hosted the Alaska cruise. You get us off, which is very appreciative. We’re very appreciative of that. I was supposed to have my suitcase ready to go at 6.45 in the morning. You got it? I got up. I set the alarm, rather, for 6 a.m. Plenty of time. Take a shower, shave, get out the door. I’m sleeping away. The phone rings in the stateroom. And I’m thinking, why is the phone ringing? I answer the phone. It’s across the room. I had to stumble across. And it’s Joel James from Inspiration Tours. He said, Mike, are you ready? I said, what do you mean? What time is it?
SPEAKER 1 :
6.55.
SPEAKER 05 :
It was unbelievable. I am flailing around. I held up everybody in the group. I actually held up the passengers on the ship because they were trying to get us off while they were holding the other passengers off who also needed an early departure. As soon as I hung the phone up and came flying around the bed, I looked at the phone. It was lit up like the alarm was going and no sound coming out of the phone. And I had everything set up the right way. I have no idea what went wrong. I don’t know. I don’t care. I will never again rely on an iPhone for an alarm clock. Don’t do it. I’m telling you. The moral of the story is we made it. Thank goodness. I got ready in record time, although I felt so sorry for the guy sitting next to me on the six-hour flight from Seattle to Tampa because obviously I didn’t have time to take a shower. It was awful. I mean, I had time to brush my teeth, take my relief factor and balance of nature, and then get out the door. That was it. That’s all I could do. Oh, boy. That wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast for Friday, August 29th, 2025. Be sure to subscribe to all our podcasts. Follow us on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like the show, be sure to share it with a friend. We’ll see you back here next week on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.
Join us as we explore the elements forcing a reexamination of crime and order in America. We discuss the intense debates surrounding gun control following tragic events and listen in on Chicago’s leadership grappling with foundational questions on policing and safety. Political dynamics are changing rapidly, noted in the humorous yet telling rebranding saga of Cracker Barrel, which epitomizes the cultural clashes of today. Meanwhile, secret gatherings of citizens anxious about voicing their opinions reveal an undercurrent of tension, showing fear in what’s seemingly become a divided atmosphere.
