Explore a heated debate on the Mike Gallagher Show. This episode unearths the layers of public opinion surrounding Trump’s potential reopening of Alcatraz. Mike and callers discuss whether this represents a step toward necessary law enforcement or Trump’s penchant for dramatic gestures. The show navigates between lighthearted commentary, critical analysis, and passionate listener opinions, making for a riveting examination of current events.
He’s the happy conservative warrior. Mike Gallagher. Broadcasting across hundreds of radio stations nationwide. And seen on your trusted conservative TV network, Salem News Channel. Here’s Mike.
SPEAKER 09 :
You know the old joke about Trump learning how to walk on water and his critics would say that’s because he’s too stupid to know how to swim? I’m starting to think that is absolutely correct when it comes to some of these initiatives and projects and plans that he is hatching for the United States of America. Alcatraz. Why would anybody care if he reopens Alcatraz? Why would anybody push back against that? But push back against it they are. CNN Trump’s order to reopen Alcatraz is the perfect metaphor for his second term. It’s a quintessentially Trumpian idea. Locking down offenders in tiny cells. I’m reading this from CNN.com. I swear to you this is not the Babylon Bee. CNN.com. Locking down offenders in tiny cells on an island surrounded by swirling murderous currents would feed Donald Trump’s craving for macho spectacle. They literally wrote a column complaining that Trump is simply trying to feed his craving for macho spectacle. The waters are swirling. The murderous currents. They left out the sharks. Aren’t there sharks in those waters? Well, that would be terrible for, you know, serial killers. And axe murderers and child rapists and kidnappers. That would be terrible. They might get bit by a shark if they tried to swim away. This is such a Trumpian idea. Here was Trump sort of waxing poetic, as media-ites cynically put it, about reopening Alcatraz, the prison.
SPEAKER 01 :
How did you decide to reopen Alcatraz? Can you walk us through that decision?
SPEAKER 10 :
Did I say what?
SPEAKER 01 :
To reopen Alcatraz. How will you use it?
SPEAKER 10 :
How did you come up with the idea? Well, I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker. We’re talking, we started with the movie making and we’ll end. I mean, it represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate, right? Alcatraz, Sing Sing and Alcatraz, the movies. But it’s right now a museum, believe it or not. A lot of people go there. It has the most violent criminals in the world. And nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there, but they, as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up. And it was a lot of shark bites, a lot of problems. Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz and just represented something strong having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country. And so we’re going to look at it. Some of the people up here are going to be working very hard on that. And we had a little conversation. I think it’s going to be very interesting. We’ll see if we can bring it back in large form, add a lot. But I think it represents something. Right now, it’s a big hulk that’s sitting there rusting and rotting. Very, you look at it, it’s sort of, you saw that picture that was put out. It’s sort of amazing. But it sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable, weak. It’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting. And I think they make a point.
SPEAKER 09 :
The best part of that clip is that the camera has a three-shot of the D.C. mayor, Muriel Bowser, and the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell. And the two of them look like they want to crawl under the carpet. They want to dig a hole and bury themselves in it. She looks completely, utterly constipated. Goodell looks just lost. You know, they were in the White House ostensibly to announce that, I guess, what is it, the NFL draft is going to take place on the mall or something in Washington? I don’t know. It was an NFL announcement of some kind regarding the NFL draft. And somehow the mayor of Washington, D.C., who’s a Trump hater, and Roger Goodell, who I don’t know what, they’re standing behind him looking around like, what in the world am I doing here? How am I here right now? They’re thinking of all the places they’d rather be, like the surface of Mars, at the bottom of the ocean. And there’s Trump… waxing poetic about Alcatraz. Leave it to the great Scott Jennings on CNN last night who asked a reasonable question about reopening Alcatraz.
SPEAKER 14 :
The idea of reopening a prison that’s been closed for many, many decades because it just doesn’t make sense to house people there. Why?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, does it? I don’t know. He said he was going to study it. I mean, we have a prison overcrowding problem. You’ve been fussing about recently him sending American criminals overseas to their prisons. Don’t we need more prisons in the United States? Okay, okay. What’s the matter?
SPEAKER 09 :
I think, I don’t know if Scott was making a reference to Christmas Carol. You know the reference, right? Remember the line from Charles Dickens and Scrooge at Christmas Carol? Are there no prisons? Are the workhouses not in operation? Well, we need more prisons. Why not Alcatraz? I just hope they rename it Magatraz. It’s got to be Magatraz, not Alcatraz. But seriously, what is the problem with reopening? Why would the Trump haters hate this idea? What’s wrong? I mean, if Alcatraz is too Trumpian, as somebody just texted Paul from Philly, what about Devil’s Island? And forget the Birdman of Alcatraz. Now we’ve got the orange man of Alcatraz. 800-655-MIKE. Welcome aboard. It’s Tuesday, May the 6th, 2025. Let’s dive in. Look, if you’re against it, tell me why. If it’s a bad idea to reopen Alcatraz, can you tell me why you’re opposed to it, please? Everything the man comes up with, they’re going to find fault with, no matter how good or maybe how bad the idea is. Is this a bad idea? We’ve got a lot to break down today. We’ve got a lot of breaking news on this Tuesday here in the Relief Factor Studios. Welcome in.
SPEAKER 12 :
Mike Gallagher.
SPEAKER 09 :
The text from Michigan, Democrats don’t believe in putting criminals in prison, just political opponents. Somebody else said, maybe the reason the Democrats are against reopening Alcatraz is they’re worried they’re going to wind up there. Tish James, anyone? Have you seen this Letitia James and her speeches? This woman is completely off her rocker, screeching and screaming about how she’s Booker T. Washington. This is the scoundrel who campaigned on getting Trump, and now she’s trying it again. Now she’s ramping up another round of lawfare against Donald Trump. It’s like she’s not going to stop. These are some sick, sick people. I was having to navigate through the Social Security website last night. Boy, it’s glitchy and tough and complicated. I hit 65 a few weeks ago, and it’s a weird feeling because dealing with Medicare can be just an absolute nightmare. nightmare. First of all, you get overwhelmed. The phone won’t stop ringing. The junk mail floods in. The fine print, the pressure. And so I started looking for somebody, anybody who could help me navigate the Medicare maze. I found it with Chapter. Chapter. Their team walked me through everything step by step. They didn’t push any kind of insurance plan. They weren’t working for the insurance industry. They worked for me. Chapter is totally independent. They have a team of advisors who compare every Medicare option that’s out there for you, and they make sure you don’t miss anything. So look, if you’re approaching 65, even if you’re over 65, let them save you money. There’s no pressure, no agenda, just honest, personal help. I love this company. I want to get the head guy back on the show, Eli. These are great folks. It’s called Chapter. Dial 25Medicare and connect with Chapter. That’s the number, 25Medicare. Easiest phone number in the world. They make Medicare simple. Chapter is different. Premiums for plans are dropping on average of 34%. If you’re turning 65, if you’re over 65, take control. Call Chapter today. You’ll be glad you did. Dial 25 Medicare, Chapter 25 Medicare. All right, everybody on hold loves the idea of opening Alcatraz except Debbie in Houston. So let’s find out what’s on Debbie’s mind. So you don’t like the idea? Debbie? Hello, Debbie. Darn it, I wanted to find out what she didn’t like about it. Let’s try again. Hey, Debbie, are you there? All right. I guess not. I don’t know. Oh, the phone bank is off. Oh, the phone bank was potted up. There we go. Hey, every time I go away for a day, somebody changes all the settings in here. Hey, Debbie, sorry about that. There you are. Yeah, I’m here. How are you?
SPEAKER 14 :
I’m good. Good. I’m in major traffic.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I’m glad to keep you company.
SPEAKER 14 :
Right? I don’t like the idea for two reasons. One is that They said, well, first of all, it’s a historic landmark, and I would love to visit Alcatraz, and there’ll be no more visiting Alcatraz.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I don’t know that taking it away as a tourist destination is a good reason. Incidentally, I’ve been. It is a great thing to visit. It really is fascinating.
SPEAKER 14 :
And they’re also saying that the money to rebuild it, I mean, why not just spend the money on a brand new prison?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, maybe it’s cheaper to just refurbish the old one.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, if it’s cheaper, great.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, yeah, I got it. Well, I mean, again, I really want more than just sort of an exercise in, well, what’s a good idea? You know, Trump’s point about how it’s a terrible yet beautiful image, he’s right. It is, on the one hand, I mean, it’s off the coast of San Francisco. It’s in the waters. It’s kind of scary and ominous. But it’s also kind of a grim reminder of what happens when things go bad, when you make bad choices, when things go wrong in your life. Don’t we want people who could be making decisions about their life to make good decisions rather than bad ones? Isn’t it a good idea to show people what the consequences of their actions could be? Patrick Bet-David has a very popular podcast, the PBD podcast. He was on Fox News Channel reacting to this big announcement about Alcatraz.
SPEAKER 07 :
When you hear Van Jones talking about Democrats don’t know what they’re doing, they’re losing the audience, the 80-20 position, they’re always taking a 20% position. Crockett is now the face of it? Is that who it’s going to be, the face of the Democratic Party? They’re falling for this trap over and over again. And again, it’s making him look like… It’s making him look like a guy that controls them in an indirect way. He’s the puppet master of the enemy because they’re falling for his trap. He wakes up and I bet President Trump goes to sleep at night and wakes up in the morning and says, you know what? What am I going to say today to get under their skin? You know what? Alcatraz. Let’s talk about it. Let’s piss off the mainstream media and let’s get them get distracted and go talk about that. Every day he keeps succeeding with these games he plays with them.
SPEAKER 09 :
He makes a good point about how they fall for it every time. And I don’t know if that’s the goal or not. The Canada’s 51st state thing comes to mind. I didn’t get that. I still don’t get it. Maybe Trump’s threat got the liberal guy elected. I don’t know. Carney, incidentally, is in Washington today to meet with Trump. The way the sympathetic mainstream media paints it, oh, he’s going to stand up to Trump. He’s going to Washington to stand up to Trump. He’s going to take him on. But this Patrick Bet-David makes a terrific point. They fall for it every single time. And yet normal, decent people love the Trump presidency. Look at people who lost a child. The angel moms. Here was Caroline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, pointing out what the angel moms are saying about the Trump presidency.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s sad, truly, that we have to put mugshots of illegal alien criminals on the front lawn of the White House in order for the mainstream media to actually cover these stories. They should be covering them, but because they do not, we will put them right in their faces. And it drew a lot of attention, as it should. Last week at the White House, I met with angel mothers whose names your audience may not know because they are… living in silence. They are living in a tragic circumstance where their children were taken away from them by illegal alien criminals. And no politician, they told me, until Donald Trump cared about their stories, cared about listening to them. So we had them at the White House last week for a listening session. We’re going to continue to engage. with these angel parents who have lost their children as a result of the Democrats’ open border policies. And every day we are reminded by their testimony, their stories, the lives of their loved ones, law-abiding American citizens who should still be with us when we are mass-supporting illegal alien criminals from our nation’s interior.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s Caroline Leavitt last night on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News, and she’s right. Normal people are grateful. This presidency is an epic, epic presidency. This is one of the most effective, jaw-dropping administrations we have ever, ever witnessed. So it’s really a fascinating thing to behold. And it’s not just Republicans praising him. There’s a Democrat… named Tom Swozy, or Swazi, Swozy, right, Eric? Who, Swazi, who weighed in on what Trump has done with the border. Where do you hear this? This is coming from a Democrat. Buckle up.
SPEAKER 12 :
Mike Gallagher.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
Mike Gallagher.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so here’s this lady that Juanita Broderick reposted on her ex-account. Look, I love following Juanita’s posts. Of course, she was… You know, one of Bill Clinton’s alleged victims back in the day. And that’s sort of her historical prominence. This is the lady. Just an anti-Trump protest. We’re seeing these all over the country. Mostly in blue cities. But not exclusively. Middle-aged woman. If you’re watching on Salem News Channel, you’ll see what she looks like. She looks completely normal. and yet spews complete vitriolic evil.
SPEAKER 04 :
She’s a con artist and a thief. And I hope every day, wake up every day and pray that he dies.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, you don’t mean that. That’s an evil thought to say. Don’t you want to win based on winning the argument?
SPEAKER 04 :
I want him to be gone out of our hair and our country. He is destroying the entire world. Do you know?
SPEAKER 06 :
How did you feel when they missed him with the bullet?
SPEAKER 04 :
Wait a minute. Do you know, I was pissed. Oh my God, I was pissed. And some man lost his life over it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Some man that nobody even talks about lost his life over it. He was brought on stage. His jacket was brought on stage at the RNC.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, you know, and hey. So we do talk about it as Republicans. It wasn’t a person that shot him. It was a gun that did the damage. So, Trump, and may he die tomorrow.
SPEAKER 09 :
It wasn’t a person who shot Cory Camperatori. It was a gun that did it. F Trump and may he die tomorrow. And praise that he dies. Who do you think she prays to? Do you think she prays to God that Trump will die? I honest to gosh lose the ability to form words. I just want to, I would love to talk to that woman. and say to her, do you realize what you have become? Dominic in Illinois, 25 past the hour. Hey, Dominic, welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show. Did you hear what that lady said?
SPEAKER 03 :
How you doing? Yeah, I still have chills going down my spine and my arms. Mike, I’m telling you, I live in Des Plaines, Illinois, which is Crook County. It’s probably the worst county in Illinois. And this is what we live with daily, every single day.
SPEAKER 09 :
I mean, if she looked at that video of herself, do you think she’d be proud of that? Probably. Really?
SPEAKER 03 :
Or would she say, I got carried away? No, I believe, to listen to that, it was a disgusting display of humanity.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that’s what they’re doing, Dominic, and whether it’s displaying Illinois or Oakland or downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, these people, I mean, and I really suspect that a lot of it might be an absence of faith. That’s why I’d like to meet her. Because let me tell you something, if she’s praying to God that somebody kills Donald Trump or that he dies, she can’t honestly think that God views that with favor. These women are, and like Juanita Broderick said, these awful, evil, white women, and it’s almost always white women. You don’t see black women or Hispanic women talking this way. It’s women like this. who looked like somebody’s grandmother from a white suburb. Here’s Debra in Columbus, Ohio. Debra, what do you think?
SPEAKER 05 :
Hi, Mike. Hi. You are so correct. I’m a white woman, 70 years old, and these women are brainwashed. They’ve been hearing what’s on the news. You know, they’ve been listening to this news about how terrible that Trump is for all these years, and they believe that he’s a rapist, that he doesn’t deserve to live.
SPEAKER 09 :
You know, if the media continues, you’re right, you make a good point. When you repeat a narrative that somebody is Adolf Hitler, that leads a weak, impressionable woman like that woman to say, yeah, I pray he dies. Every day I pray he dies or gets killed. I was pissed that the bullet missed him in Butler, Pennsylvania. Can you imagine one of us saying that about a Democrat?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, and you know what, Mike? A lot of these women are, I mean, they’re in my circle. And a lot of them, really, they think they’re good women, and in a lot of ways, they are. They’re not like this about anybody but Donald Trump. It’s Donald Trump. They just hate him, and they think he’s so evil, and they don’t think he deserves to live because he’s raped people, and he’s done all these things.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
The Mike Gallagher Show.
SPEAKER 10 :
I’m in less of a hurry than you are. We are sitting on the catbird seat. They want us. We don’t need them. They take advantage of us on trade. Now, these are friend and foe. We often do better with foe, meaning the enemy, than we do with the friends. The friends have been brutal to this country on trade.
SPEAKER 13 :
In the Relief Factor studios on Salem News Channel and Salem Radio Network, here’s Mike.
SPEAKER 09 :
There’s some breaking news out of Washington, D.C., and it involves North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis. Boy, what a piece of work this guy is. The so-called Republican senator has now told reporters he opposes Ed Martin’s nomination to be the top prosecutor, the federal prosecutor, for the District of Columbia. Tillis spoke to reporters moments ago He met with Martin last night. Incidentally, you know Tom Tillis is up for re-election next year? The only people who are going to vote for this guy are Democrats. Because Ed Martin is going to hand this key prosecutor position over to the Democrats, and he knows it. We’re going to have more Soros-sponsored prosecutors thanks to people like Tom Tillis. He’s upset about comments that Ed Martin made about January 6th. I’m not kidding you. I’m so infuriated right now at this guy. Tillis said in his high and mighty on his high horse, I have no tolerance for anybody that breached the perimeter on January 6th. And with Tom Tillis now signaling, and incidentally, you know what happens? This Boseberg, this Judge Boseberg is going to get to pick the D.C. prosecutor. And Boseberg mysteriously gets all of these cases involving Trump. He keeps getting assigned Trump cases. I wonder when the Tom Tillises of the world are going to get around to wondering why that happens. These rogue judges are running amok. And right now… Town Hall obtained a letter from Congressman Jim Jordan, Daryl Issa, and Chip Roy wanting to understand why in the world this Trump-hating, lunatic judge, James Boasberg, who’s the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, why he keeps getting assigned cases to do with Trump’s second term. It’s happening over and over again. Well, Tom Tillis apparently just dealt the fatal blow to Trump’s pick to be the D.C. prosecutor. And you should hear Tillis, his explanation. It’s maddening. He likes Ed Martin. He’s a good man. If he was going to be the prosecutor in any other district, I’d probably be in favor of him. But I’m going to vote again. I will not support him because of his comments over January 6th. What did he say about January 6th? Who cares? That’s in the rearview mirror. But Tom Tillis, as a member of the Judiciary Committee… signals his opposition to Ed Martin, which means that, you know, the Democrats are going to get that pick. They’re going to get that position. His logic is absurd. He pretends not to know about all the January Sixers who walked into the Capitol being waved in by the Capitol Police. Tom Tillis said, oh, no, you entered that perimeter. That’s a deal breaker for me. Tom Tillis is a joke. And I really do believe that our biggest threat, not the lunatic Democrats who have no plan, whose only mantra is, I hate Trump. It’s Republicans who act like this. Tillis is going to just deliver this critical position to the Democrats. If Ed Martin doesn’t get confirmed… Boesberg gets to choose the replacement. It’s appalling. And Tom Tillis has to lose. I want to focus a lot on Tom Tillis’ re-election next year. Because we’ve got to get him out of office. There’s enough normal people in North Carolina who have had it with Tom Tillis. Absolutely ridiculous. And this is a huge problem for us. Democrats never act this way. I mean, right now they’re unified in their contempt for Donald Trump, to be clear. But you know something? These Republicans have got to lose their re-election effort. They’ve got to be primaried. They’ve got to be dealt with. They’ve got to be dealt with. They’ve got to lose. And Tom Tillis, frankly, is one of the worst of the worst. He’s got to lose next year. And frankly, we’ve got to call on normal people to oppose his re-election. This guy is the Democrats’ best friend. Lewis is in Greenville, South Carolina, 21 before the hour. Hey, Lewis, welcome aboard. How are you?
SPEAKER 11 :
All right. I just got to ask you, you know, you y’all keep talking about Tom Tillich like a rogue judge. Can I ask you this question? Every party that basically goes against the norm of Donald Trump and regroups what he says, it’s basically like he is a celebrity. If you don’t agree with what he says or what his topics and his atmosphere is, It’s the person that’s a bad person. Do you not think that all the stuff that he does, that he should be accountable for that, no matter what judge it is?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, who in the world doesn’t think there should be accountability? What have I ever said there shouldn’t be accountability? What do you mean there’s no accountability?
SPEAKER 11 :
I mean, you talk about accountability a lot. I listen to the show many times, but Donald Trump is not accountable for anything that he does. Donald Trump is your president, Lewis.
SPEAKER 09 :
He’s the guy that more than half the country selected to be President of the United States. What accountability do you want him to have that he doesn’t have?
SPEAKER 11 :
He’s accountability for the things that he says, the things that he does. Like what? Like what? Okay, first thing, he thinks that laws don’t abide by him. He doesn’t abide by any rules, any regulations. He thinks if they don’t agree with him, let’s fire him. Let’s arrest the judge if they don’t agree with him. How many arrested judges that didn’t agree with him?
SPEAKER 09 :
You’re not making any sense. You’re not even giving me any example of Donald Trump not facing accountability.
SPEAKER 11 :
You’re just… And look, you… The insurrection.
SPEAKER 09 :
The insurrection. Oh, the insurrection. There was no insurrection. Will you go away? What insurrection? I mean, do you enjoy sitting around being miserable that Trump is your president? What does it mean to you to know that that’s your president, Lewis?
SPEAKER 11 :
What does that mean to you? That’s people who don’t care about America’s president. People who care about America’s president, that would be their president. Donald Trump doesn’t care about America. He cares about designing his own pocket. That’s what he cares about.
SPEAKER 09 :
I get that. So what? That and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee. Who cares? I mean, Lewis, you can sit around. You’re baying at the moon. Your words don’t mean anything. And I’m not trying to be mean-spirited to you. I get that you don’t like the guy. So do something about it. Formulate a plan. What Democrat do you like to replace the Republican in 2028? Who are you looking to? What plan do you have that’s better than his secure border plan?
SPEAKER 11 :
I want a rough idea. office myself this term, and I would love to run for office. All right.
SPEAKER 09 :
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