Join us in this riveting episode as we dive into the multifaceted world of politics and policies impacting everyday American lives. We explore Joe Kent’s surprising resignation from the National Counterterrorism Center and the broader implications his claims have stirred across the nation. Delve into the complexities of the ongoing government shutdown as it profoundly affects the aviation industry, highlighted by poignant personal stories that underscore the human cost of political deadlocks.
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SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. It is Friday, March 20th. This week, Congress dukes it out over the SAVE Act. James Tallarico wants more vegans and a St. Paddy’s Day celebration. We begin with this fellow named Joe Kent. He was a counterterrorism official in the Trump administration who resigned ostensibly over the war in Iran. This is why I love the MyPillow text line. Look at these two texts that I just got that are completely contradictory. One from Oregon and one from Missouri. And you think Oregon’s pretty blue, Missouri’s pretty conservative, but it was the other way around. Check this out. Here’s the text from Oregon. Joe Kent—and this is the guy who resigned yesterday— as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. His wife, by the way, used to work for Max Blumenthal. His second wife, he lost his first wife in Syria while serving in action. She was killed in action. And so this is a Gold Star husband and a veteran himself, And nobody can take anything away from him on that. The question, of course, then becomes, well, then can he trash the president and betray the United States on his way out, which many believe he’s doing? I happen to think he is. I think he’s using the short-lived position he had as a way to betray the United States with his… claim that we shouldn’t be at war with Iran and that Israel made us do it. But it plays right in to the crowd that is being egged on by people who hate Israel. Now check these two texts out. One from Oregon. Joe Kent is true MAGA and America first. And then at almost exactly the same time the Oregon text came in comes a text from Missouri. Joe Kent is scum. Others are saying he’s a traitor. He was a leaker. A bad guy. So look, this is perfect. Talk show fodder. Here we go. Let’s dive into it together. I’m sure you’ve taken a side. I would think you have. 800-655-MIKE. 800-655-6453. 800-655-6453. Shockingly, we’ve got an open line on this. Let’s dive into it. Because the way social media blew up on this, this was like DEFCON 1 last night. All day yesterday. You know what’s also DEFCON 1? If you get wiped out by viruses or bacteria or any of the junk that you get, and it’s hard to try to figure out which supplement works. You know, you’ve got one influencer after another telling you, this is the answer, that’s the answer. 25 years ago, a friend of mine named Dr. Dennis Black came up with something called Texas Superfood. Texas Superfood. The reason why is he saw the nutritional value in our food decline. Fact of the matter is, you’re not getting enough fruits and vegetables in your system. I guarantee you, your doctor would confirm this. That’s what Texas Superfood does for you. Provides your body with 55 vine-ripened fruits and vegetables daily. plus enzymes and probiotics, all in a simple solution. Capsule form, powder form. You can mix it in your morning smoothie or take capsules on the go. Go to TexasSuperfood.com. Enter the promo code MikeG so I can get you 35% off your first order. There’s always a 100% satisfaction guarantee with Texas Superfood. TexasSuperfood.com is the original superfood. TexasSuperfood.com, discount code MikeG. Here’s the letter from Joe Kent. He stepped down yesterday as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. President Trump, after much reflection, I’ve decided to resign from my position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. And it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Now, many people regard that message as despicable, as if President Trump is getting pushed around by the state of Israel. Here was Ben Shapiro’s reaction to this last night on his show. Cut number eight. Here’s Ben Shapiro’s reaction to this on his show.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, this morning, Joe Kent quit his job at the National Counterterrorism Center and issued a scathing letter designed to undermine President Trump. The letter is deeply, deeply conspiratorial. It states openly that, quote, Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Now, that is conspiracy trash. It’s also kind of strange since President Trump has said that it’s conspiracy trash. So apparently Trump is so deeply, deeply enthralled to those strange, powerful American lobbies. We’re not going to say we’re not going to say that he apparently has been so bamboozled by them. that he’s still under the impression that he’s his own man. But here’s the thing. President Trump is his own man. He makes his own decisions. And as per our usual arrangement, Trump’s critics are cowards who are simply unwilling to acknowledge that Trump is the one making the call.
SPEAKER 09 :
There you go. Let’s dive in. 800-655-MIKE. We’ll start with Leo and George to see where you stand on this. Leo, welcome aboard. How are you? I’m doing good, Mike.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for having me. You betcha. Glad you could join us. The first thing I want to say is that Israel never made Iran attack our embassy in 1979 and take hostages for 444 days. And therefore, it’s got to be that. We have been threatened by Iran for 47 years. This moron, Joe Kent, is using his position to retire for some agenda that’s his own.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, and not only that, but he used to agree with you, Leo. That’s the thing that blows my mind. The TSA lines continue to grow in airports across the country as Democrats take the Department of Homeland Security hostage in the fight over ICE. I flew over the weekend, hopped on a flight from Tampa to Greenville, South Carolina to spend the weekend with my dear friends Peg and Joey Hudson flying on that spunky new airline Breeze. Breeze Airways. Man, do I love my Breeze. It’s got a nonstop. It takes me longer to drive from the airport to the Hudson Lake House on Lake Kiowee in South Carolina than it does to fly from Tampa to Greenville. It’s an hour and five minute flight with like a real first class. Well, the plane going up had a first class. The one going from Greenville back to Tampa was an Embraer and it didn’t have first class. But that’s okay. I suffered. I suffered for my friends. And I did something kind of weird. I bought a bunch of $100 gift cards and I handed them out to TSA workers and All of them but one gratefully accepted them because they’re not getting paid. And the showdown between the Republicans and the Democrats is pretty simple to explain. Democrats think that somehow ICE is going to suddenly be dissolved. They want ICE defunded. And incidentally, I’m not trying to be partisan here. I’m going to explain why this partial government shutdown, which includes not paying a whole bunch of government workers like TSA agents and TSA personnel, The reason the shutdown is going on is that Democrats won’t fund Homeland Security until ICE gets defunded. Now, that’s not a partisan talking point. That’s not me with an opinion. I’m stating a fact. They’ve explained it. Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, they’ve all said it. ICE needs to be defunded. ICE has already been funded for the next three years. So what the Democrats are expecting isn’t going to happen. And as a result, they’ve got frazzled TSA workers going for now, I think going on the third week without a paycheck. I’m told the lines at Houston, Chicago, LaGuardia, Around the block. It’s taking hours to get through security, even if you have TSA pre-check, even if you have clear. It’s taking forever. Airline industry leaders blasted lawmakers yesterday over this government shutdown in an open letter saying, airline CEOs said air travel has once again become the political football in the shutdown fight, urging Congress to immediately fund the Department of Homeland Security and permanently protect key aviation employees from future pay disruptions. Look, the grateful reaction that I got from so many TSA workers over the weekend, both in Tampa and Actually, I feel bad. I didn’t have any left to go from Greenville to Tampa. But from Tampa to Greenville, I handed out $100 gift cards to as many TSA workers as I came in contact with. And again, everybody but one. One guy said, no, thank you, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t accept that. Everybody seemed to be very appreciative of the help. And that shows how these folks are hurting. The executives from American Airlines, United, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and Alaska Air, as well as the air freight titans Atlas Air, UPS, and FedEx, said this problem is solvable. And there are solutions on the table. Now it’s up to you, Congress, to move forward on bipartisan proposals that will get federal aviation workers, including TSA officers, U.S. Customs clearance officers at airports and air traffic controllers, paid during shutdowns. Now, to me, this is kind of an easy, I almost want to reach out to a Democrat who might be watching or listening today to call me and explain to me how you think Democrats aren’t going to be paying a heavy price for this in the midterms. The Democrats are holding America hostage with an unrealistic demand. Sorry, you’re not going to defund ICE. just because you don’t like the mass deportation effort that is underway isn’t going to lead you to get your way. And the Democrats’ position, and I’m trying to be as nonpartisan here as possible, the Democrats’ position is that we want ICE defunded. You’re not going to defund ICE, therefore we’re not going to vote otherwise. Now, I will put my opinionated, big-mouth talk show host hat back on and say that is obnoxious, that’s destructive, that’s petulant, that’s petty, it’s wrong, and Democrats ought to pay a heavy price at the ballot box. You better remember who’s to blame for this. Our frequent guest host, Joey Hudson, filled in for me one day this week, talked about growing concerns that foreign buyers are pushing Americans out of the housing market.
SPEAKER 05 :
Foreign buyers of houses, it’s been a concern for a while. And again, we’ve primarily focused on Chinese buying farmland. That’s been the story over a number of years now. But this latest report from the National Association of Realtors and some other groups that pull together real estate data paints a very concerning picture of these foreign entities purchasing single-family residences in very large numbers. I mean, think about that. You’re a young couple. You’ve started your family. You want to get out of that rental and buy your first home, and it’s hard to find one that’s affordable. Buying your first home is part of the American dream. And it’s become increasingly difficult to do for a lot of young couples for various reasons. Again, we have interest rates that have improved since President Trump took office, but still they’re not at those very record low rates that we saw several years ago prior to COVID. And, of course, the supply of affordable homes. It doesn’t help when you have foreigners coming in and literally paying cash. There are stories of young couples who have gone through the process. They’ve gone to their bank or their mortgage broker. They’ve made the application. They’ve qualified for a loan, so they’re ready to go out and find their home. They make an offer, in some cases a full-price offer. only to lose the house to a foreign buyer who comes in and offers to pay more than the offer. They get into a bidding war, and they pay cash. So they’re able to close as quickly as the realtor and the owner and the attorney can get together to do it. They don’t have to wait on all of the inspections and the things that the young couple who has a mortgage has to do, because their mortgage… Broker requires a certain process. If you purchase a home, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve got to have the inspections. The mortgage company sends people out to look at the home. There’s a process there. It takes about 30 days. You’ve got a cash buyer, they can close within a few days. And quite often that’s what is happening according to these reports. Foreign buyers purchased more than 78,000 homes in the U.S. between April of 2024 and March of 2025, again according to the National Association of Realtors. Think about that. 78,000 homes purchased by foreigners that in most cases we don’t know that much about them. We don’t know who they are. probably know where they’re from, but we don’t know what their intentions are. These homes could have gone to young American families. Now, some make the argument, well, hey, look, it’s a free market. Sellers don’t have to sell to them. That’s true to a degree. But if you’re selling your house and you need to sell it maybe because you purchased another one or you want to purchase another one, Do you care who buys it? Are you going to hold out because the person is from a foreign country? Or are you going to sell it to the first person who comes along who’s able to close? Foreign buyers spent 33% more on U.S. homes than they did the year before last year. So they’re serious about this. They’re very serious. And This is a problem. Nearly half of foreign buyers paid cash. Nearly half of them.
SPEAKER 09 :
And, of course, Joey took the reins one day this week while I had a colonoscopy. Don’t worry, I gave you all the details.
SPEAKER 10 :
Let’s move from Sutton Foster singing You’re the Top to Mike talking about his bottom.
SPEAKER 09 :
To my intestines. You know, first of all, great news. No polyps, which is great. I feel like I got a new lease on life. And I have to admit, I was a little worried because I didn’t want to get too morbid. But three and a half years ago, they found two precancerous. But I think people, they find those a lot. They snip them out. Boom, boom, they’re gone and you’re all set. Okay. So this time it was a little bit apprehensive. No polyps at all. Isn’t the process when they knock you out with the propofol fascinating?
SPEAKER 10 :
I have always been fascinated by anesthesia. Me too. The notion where you’re just out. It feels like you’re out for three seconds, but it’s been 30, 45 minutes. And it’s like you’re in one room and then you wake up in another with no awareness of what it is.
SPEAKER 09 :
With no awareness of what happened for the last half hour, hour, or whatever. And I have, in the past, have had a very nasty, nauseous experience to general anesthesia. Well, as the guy explained to me, even though propofol is technically general anesthesia, it’s an anti-nausea med, he said. It is literally anti-nausea. So that’s why people tolerate propofol. And incidentally, you remember who used propofol. Michael Jackson. Poor guy. He died because the doctor was overdoing it with him. So here I am on the table on my side. I know TMI. I’m looking up at the lady. I’m looking up at the lady. I know. I was ready to go.
SPEAKER 10 :
Why you do this to me, dear me? So I look up at the lady.
SPEAKER 09 :
The lady’s going to give me the propofol, and I see that it’s the milky white substance that’s going to go into my IV, right? There you go. Well, me being a big mouth, I start talking to her. I said, you know that propofol, that’s what Michael Jackson used, right? And she just looked down at me. Oh, great. As she’s giving it to me. And I’m talking to her as I’m about to go under. She says, yeah. And of course, didn’t work out too well for him. I said, no. Or his doctor. I think he’s still in prison, don’t you? I’m talking to her. And then I start doing a play-by-play. Because I can feel it starting to knock me out. I’m saying to her, it’s coming. It’s coming. I can feel it. I hear it. I go… I go, here I go. Here I go. Now, she’s looking at me and thinking, I have a lunatic on my table. I have got a stone-cold asylum escapee because I’m doing this whole play-by-play. Here I go. I feel it now. And before you know it, I’m waking up. Mike, Mike, everything’s great. Wake up. Wake up. So that’s anyhow all good. And look, quick medical advice from your big mouth talk show buddy. Do it, everybody. Everybody do it. Get it done. Get it done. It’s the easiest way. I mean, it’s not easy. The prep thing is awful. I had to get up at 2 in the morning.
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s less awful than it. No, it’s awful. This text line here was filled with all kinds of things that you just didn’t have to do that. There are other ways. I didn’t have to do that. What’s plan B? Well, tell me what the other way is. I think I started slugging the stuff at 4 or 5 or something. So did I, 5 p.m. By the time I went to bed at 11 or something, I was done.
SPEAKER 09 :
I didn’t forget it.
SPEAKER 10 :
You didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night? I got up in the middle of the night because nature had called to finish the process. But I didn’t have to wake up and spend another hour popping a regimen of pills. And water.
SPEAKER 09 :
They make you take 12 pills at 2 o’clock in the morning. Then they make you drink 30 minutes of water an hour later. Then they make you do another 30 minutes of water another hour later. So you’re up all night.
SPEAKER 10 :
Didn’t have to do it.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, Dr. Spichemin, Dr. Feelgood, I guess, led me in the wrong way. I love breaking down the news, calling out Washington corruption, standing up for the values that make America strong. That means secure borders, limited government, economic freedom. That’s why I want to tell you about American Independence Gold. American Independence Gold is a veteran-owned company that stands strong for patriots. I love that every purchase you make supports the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, helping injured and fallen heroes and their families. And they help everyday Americans move their cash or retirement account into physical gold and silver. You’ve got to have gold and silver as part of your portfolio. We’ve got chaos. D-dollarization is a concern. Gold and silver represent freedom. Right now, register for a free Gold Bar giveaway, a free investor guide. Just text SILVER to 717767. Text SILVER to 717767. Or go to MikeGallagherGold.com. Go to MikeGallagherGold.com. Fill out the registration form. American Independence Gold. Backed by veterans building a stronger America. This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. The Save America Act is the other battle going on in Congress right now. Let’s be honest, it’s all about one thing, Democrats and cheating. I watched yesterday in absolute amazement as one of the panelists on TV’s The Five, a young woman by the name of Jessica Tarloth, went on a rant about how she is completely incapable of figuring out how to produce sufficient ID in order to vote in her state of New York. Now, first of all, as I pointed out a million times, they don’t want any kind of ID in New York. Trust me, they laugh at you if you present your driver’s license like I stupidly tried to do back when I lived in New York in 2016. And she sat there and blathered on about her married name and her maiden name and her middle name and she won’t be. And they’re all looking at her like, first of all, if you’re smart enough, to get a million-dollar-a-year contributor job at Fox News or whatever she makes. And that’s probably, she might make more than that. If you’re lucky to land at a gig like that, where you’re getting your wish and millions of people are watching you every night, but you’re too stupid to figure out how to produce ID in order to vote, well, you are the luckiest lady in America. You’re the luckiest gal in the universe because you can figure out how to be a multimillionaire TV star, but you don’t know how to produce ID. Yeah, nobody’s buying that, Jessica. You’re lying. And they’re lying because they are desperate. They are afraid that Republicans are going to grow a spine and And make you prove your citizenship and who you say you are, who you say you are, in order to cast your precious ballot. That’s not hard. That’s not asking too much. Check out Ted Cruz last night on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News.
SPEAKER 06 :
This bill is incredibly important. And this bill is basic common sense, Sean. What the Save America Act says is just two things. Number one, you should have to demonstrate you’re an American citizen to register to vote. That ought to be simple. That ought to be basic. And number two, you should have to show a photo ID to actually vote. Again, that is common sense. The overwhelming majority of Americans agree with that. Eighty one percent of Americans. agree with photo ID to vote. And by the way, it’s not just Americans writ large. It’s also the Democrats argue that this disenfranchises minorities. You know who disagrees with them on that? Minorities, 81 percent of Hispanics agree with requiring photo ID to vote. Seventy five percent of African-Americans agree with requiring photo ID to vote. And here’s an amazing one. Seventy percent of Democrats agree with requiring photo ID to vote. It’s just the elected Democrats. And it’s not complicated. Why?
SPEAKER 09 :
Now, it’s also not complicated why they’re objecting. They want illegals to vote. There’s no other conclusion. You know it and I know it. They’ve been against photo ID at the ballot box for as long as I’ve been doing a talk show. They’ve always pushed back against this. Why? Because they want to cheat. Podcaster Sean Farish offered up this spot-on greeting for St. Patrick’s Day. A little bit of humor. Again, it’s a day late, a dollar short, but this guy is so good. Sean Farish, who is one of the most pitch-perfect Donald Trump impersonators in the world. If you’re not watching, if you’re just listening today on the radio, you’d swear President Trump delivered this St. Patrick’s Day message. Now, if you’re watching, you certainly know that is most definitely not Donald Trump. But here he is. Sean Farish with his own rendition of President Trump wishing America a happy St. Patrick’s Day.
SPEAKER 07 :
This is your favorite president. And I just wanted to wish you a very happy and highly respected St. Patrick’s Day. I’m proud to announce that no president has ever had a bigger shillelagh than I do. It’s the biggest and most powerful shillelagh in the history of the world. Big shamrocks, too. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Everybody’s talking about it. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. But I got along very well with St. Patrick and I called him Pat. I said, Pat, all of the gold at the end of your rainbow, you have to give it to your favorite president or else you’re going to have a lot of problems. He said to me, we don’t want problems, sir. Not with you. So we made a beautiful deal. I also got along well with, you may have heard of him, Lucky the Leprechaun. And he said to me, sir, he said to me, laddie, they’re after me, Lucky Charms. Laddie, what are we going to do about it? I said, we’re not going to let them take your Lucky Charms. We’re not going to do it. We’re going to solve your problem. But it was the North American land whale known as Rosie O’Donnell. She was eating all of the Lucky Charms. She was eating everything in sight. I was talking to Ireland. They said, you have to take her back, sir. She’s causing another potato famine, sir. There’s no end in sight. She won’t stop eating, sir. Please take her back. I said, we’re not going to do that. We can’t do that. She’s your problem now. And so much for the luck of the Irish is very unlucky. You have to deal with her. But she’s your problem now. If you send her back. I said, if you send her back, we’re going to tariff you five thousand percent per pound. You don’t want that to happen. So they’re keeping her. We deported her. They’re keeping her. But I hope you have a tremendous St. Patrick’s Day, as they say. May your troubles be less. May your blessings be more than nothing but happiness. Come through your door. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. God bless you. And thank you for your attention to this matter.
SPEAKER 09 :
You love that guy. Got the big oversized leprechaun hat on. Sean Farish. He’s doing great work as a Donald Trump impersonator. You can check him out, Salem Podcast Network, and wherever you can find him. The Democrat candidate for Senate from Texas, James Tallarico, has a very special message about meat. I want you to hear this. I want you to hear a speech that was resurrected from just a couple of years ago. I’m told it was 2022. Now think about where you were in 2022. We went through the pandemic 2021. If you’re wearing a mask, if you’re a young, healthy guy wearing a mask in public in 2022, what does that say about you? You want that to be your next senator, Texas? The mask is one thing, but the substance is quite another. Imagine wanting to be a U.S. senator from Texas. Now, last time I checked, there’s a couple ahead of cattle in Texas, aren’t there? They’re kind of high on the beef industry, aren’t they? They’re pretty big on a nice big steak dinner in the Lone Star State, right? I’ll have to ask my buddy Mark Davis about that. Are you guys anti-beef in the state of Texas? Well, James Tallarico is.
SPEAKER 01 :
We have, I think, heard more and more issues of animal welfare. I think not just because it’s the right thing to do and the moral thing to do, but also it’s, as all of you know, necessary to fight climate change. It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society. And so I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign. So we have… We are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses. Some of you may know Big Nona’s. They were little Nona’s, and then they opened up Brick and Mortar’s, another Big Nona’s. But we just got our pizza from there today. And so the point is that I think all of us, not just policymakers, but everyone has to take personal responsibility in this effort.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s the guy that the Democrats are pinning their hopes on to win this contentious U.S. Senate race in Texas. Hey, Texas, are you being mean to the cows? You’re not treating the cows with enough respect. How about your pizza? Are you getting vegan pizza from Nona’s? Are you ordering from Domino’s? Those cow killers. Look, that’s the political opponent we’ve got to focus on, not one another. What’s it going to take for conservatives, for Republicans, for normal people to be unified again? And finally, it wouldn’t be the week of St. Patrick’s Day without a little song. Yep, I know, it’s a St. Patrick’s Day tradition, so gird your loins and guard your ears.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling from glen to glen and down the mountainside. The summer’s gone and all the roses falling Tis you must go, must go, and I must bide But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow And when the valley’s hushed and white with snow Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy I love you so Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy I love you so
SPEAKER 09 :
Happy St. Patrick’s Day a little late. That wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast for Friday, March 20th. Be sure to subscribe to all our podcasts and get ready for the M&M Extra, my daily visit with Mark Davis, the legendary Texas-based host. We’re going to have a podcast-only experience called the M&M Extra. Get ready for that. We’ll see you next week here on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.
