Ari Blaff Breaks Down Challenges Facing Jewish Students in Canada, Rep Burgess Owens Champions American Values and Education Reform
01:13:45 Share

I say this every election cycle, and I'll say it again. The 2024 political field was intense, so don't get left behind in 2025. If you're running for office, the first thing on your to-do list should be securing your name on the web. With a yourname.votedomain from godaddy.com, you'll stand out and make your mark. Don't wait. Get yours today.

Welcome to another episode of Breaking Battlegrounds with yours Chuck Warren. I'm Sam Stone. Before we jump in with our first guest today, folks, I have to actually issue a warning for the podcast segment. Kylie's Corner, a little bit graphic today. If you got young children in the car, you're listening to this. Maybe save that portion for later.

It's about Canadian hockey players, Ari. How can it not be R-rated at least, right? Yeah. That actually isn't a subject we were going to talk about with our first guest, and probably I think he'd like to avoid it. Ari Blaff is a features writer with the National Post in Canada. Before that, he was a reporter at National Review and at Tablet Magazine Fellow. Ari Blaff, welcome to the program.

Thank you so much for having me, guys. All right. So you wrote a piece a couple of days ago titled You Can't Be Openly Jewish at TMU, which is Toronto Metropolitan University. Jewish students at Toronto Metropolitan University say they are isolated and harassed. Before you get into it, it's these type of stories, which I don't think our Canadian friends and neighbors and we consider our Canadians friends and neighbors. Why we got Donald Trump.

Donald Trump just saw this type of crap on American campuses. There is no way this is continuing, period. And I don't and I wish sometimes our Canadian friends would just understand. That's why we got them. People are just tired of this. And I and I want you to talk about this article. But as Sam and I were talking before he came on, I view this as purely bureaucratic bureaucracy incompetence.

And just turning a blind eye. So tell us a little bit about the article and these three students you interviewed. It just sounds like a hellish situation. And I would invite all three to come to America. We won't tolerate that down here. Yeah, it's very strange because I went to TMU about like seven, eight years ago when it was called Ryerson University. And the name was changed because the former namesake, I guess, had run afoul of some progressively or politically correct things going on.

But it's really a shame because growing up in Canada for the last 30 years, my dad's actually American and we never had conversations or fears about like, where would you send your kids to, especially Jewish kids? What schools would you go to? What schools are safer for Jews? What are not safer? Those were things which we thought maybe European Jews had to worry about or Middle Eastern Jews had to worry about, but not people in North America. And since October 7th, I can't tell you how many stories I've had to write like this, which sort of

like Mark Twain said, they don't repeat themselves, but they sort of rhyme. And they go along the lines of really crazy activism that sort of blurs the line between anti-Israel sentiment and outright anti-Semitism, advocating for violence, stuff like that. And like you said, usually a bureaucracy and administration that doesn't do anything, they usually will give you boilerplate statements and stuff like that. But

won't actually come and intervene and help out Jewish students to the point where they sort of are in a little ghetto amongst themselves, socializing within their own fraternities and sororities and in the Hillel groups, but not really engaging and participating in broader civic life because they are sort of petrified to be openly Jewish.

Ari, U.S. universities have in many ways created a sort of draconian social enforcement system over the years that really any expression of racial intent, you know, racial point of view or racial intent gets students in deep hot water. I'm assuming Canada's universities have built a similar system and that unfortunately, like the U.S. here, it doesn't seem to be applying to Jewish students.

Yeah, that is the sort of the million dollar question lingering over all these types of situations. And I asked these students and I asked them what they thought about it. And they felt that if they in Canada, it's more of a pressing issue. If you're indigenous, that's a very big topic, similar, I'd say, to African-American, black Americans.

And I asked them, like, what would happen if you guys were indigenous and were experiencing this type of harassment and threats of violence? And they said, like, 100%. There would have been such a quick response to it. And I think, unfortunately, the clear message which these students have experienced and which they spoke about on the record is basically that Jewish Canadians are really not a priority in terms of the hierarchy of oppressed people or marginalized people in Canada. They don't really care how they feel or how they're treated.

and no one really wants to advocate for them. And so they're sort of stuck in this weird limbo where like the Students Union will fund activists who are critical of them, but they don't really get any funding, any access to campus spaces. Professors sort of are afraid to speak on a limb. Like I just got an email after this article came out about a professor who doesn't want to go on the record, but he said that the experience that they're having among academics is even worse and that people have resigned from their jobs as a result of what's going on specifically on this campus.

It's just like I think one of them said, I'm not sure if I included in the story, but if you had taken out the word Jewish and put the word black. Yes, it was in the story. It was in the story. Yeah. And it's like sometimes we're so tone deaf or desensitized to I think how people speak about Jews or Israel and stuff like that's where he's right. Like if I if I would ever have thought about a classmate saying something like.

Like what's going on in the US right now with Barstool Sports, where the guy said F the Jews. If someone said F the blacks, like that would be, you would have been gone off campus so quickly and your life would have been destroyed so quickly. But like people can put Hamas triangles over Jewish students' heads on campus today and like they're sort of still have campus standing. They get campus funding, stuff like that. It's very bizarre.

Explain to our audience the Hamas triangle. What does that mean and signify for our audience? Because a lot of people don't know what that means. Sure. Yeah, so you'll see it a lot of times in graffiti on streets, on walls after these protests, but it's an inverted red triangle, so an upside-down red triangle that started emerging in Hamas propaganda videos after October 7th or shortly around that time.

to designate Israeli or enemy combatants in their videos. And it's sort of become an appropriated or reappropriated signal or symbol amongst pro-Palestinian activists. So they'll have it in their bios, they'll put it over activists that they're critical of, Jewish students, Jewish guest speakers, stuff like that. And it sort of blurs the line about like, are you guys just sort of rhetorically opposed to them or are you calling for violence directly against them? And are they an enemy combatant that deserves to be hounded?

Well, you wrote in the article, the students were saying they feel isolated. So my question is, I mean, that has to be so depressing and mentally draining daily. Why do they stay there? Why wouldn't they come down, come down to the U.S., go to Arizona State or University of Florida where DeSantis isn't going to tolerate this crap or University of Georgia? Why stay there? Because there's nothing I read in this article, and I don't think you try to make this just so lopsided, but

What I'm hearing up there, why would you stay and continue to be the recipient of such hatred, which the government doesn't care about? It's funny you mentioned the land thing. I saw a clip this week. They're announcing some crime or something in Canada. And the officer stands up and first does a land acknowledgement. It had nothing to do with anything he was given a press conference about. But they're going to allow this to happen. So why do they – did you ask the question, why do you stay at TMU?

The unfortunate answer, I think, is a lot of people feel like they don't have a lot of places to turn to. A lot of the Canadian universities, especially the elite level ones, like in the United States, are sort of turning into very...

Unsafe places for Jews, McGill, University of Toronto, York University, UBC out west, those aren't really great schools. And so I think you're probably onto something. I think a lot of a lot of Canadian Jews I've spoken to are strongly considering moving to the US. And I know a lot of people who have already moved to the US. I myself am openly considering it. My dad's American. I'm looking at US citizenship.

And I think that will be an increasing reality. Politically already, Canadian Jews were somewhat more conservative-leaning politically than American Jews, but I think that's swinging even harder given what you're saying, the political inaction and the failure of leadership in the country. So

It hasn't really manifested yet at a massive movement, but I think we're going to see that increasing numbers of Canadian Jews are going to be coming and exploring their options elsewhere. That actually ties to the phenomenon that we were going to talk about with you next in your piece, How the Media Created Andrew Tate. Yeah.

Do the people who are pushing this, I really don't think they do understand how much opposition they are creating, how much they are hardening Jews. American Jews for the first time in years are starting to actually identify as Jewish again. Yes. But in fairness to here, they don't have in Canada. I don't think they have in Europe.

Americans are not going to tolerate a majority of us, this anti-Semitism. That's why right now we talked about this. There's the debate of due process. But Americans are just like, get their butts off campuses. Get these Hamas supporters out of here. Send them out. I don't care. And I think we're the only country who does that. I don't know anyone else is doing it.

Yeah, I remember speaking to someone and I had been covering so many of the street protests in Toronto after October 7th, where people were openly chanting like the Houthis, the

the Houthi rebel chants and we're carrying Hamas and Hezbollah stuff. And it just like dawned on me, like these are designated terror groups in Canada and the United States. But like, why is, why are people not enforcing it? Like that doesn't seem to be like a free expression. Because Canada talks a talk, but they don't walk the walk. So, you know, they all, Europe and Canada talk about the Houthis. Let's talk about them for a minute. Only Trump and this administration say, well, I'm just going to blow them to hell. I don't care. I'm just, I'm sick of the situation. And I don't think,

I think what's happening in Canada, and because I think Canada is more similar in a lot of ways to Europe than the United States, they want to talk things through. And Americans are just like, there's nothing to talk through. You're wrong. I mean, I was just looking at in 2021, Canada census reported 1,775,000 Muslims in Canada, representing 4.9% of the population.

A significant portion of that population, 63%, are immigrants. Now, I'm not against Muslims at all, but they're bringing these people, putting them on campus so Canadian Jews can't go to school. They're feeling isolated. They're not enjoying the college experience. It's horrible. Yeah.

Well, yeah, it's it's broader, though. I mean, this this attempt to indoctrinate young people across the West into this anti-Jewish mindset and to supporting these terrorist organizations is.

It seems like it's a fairly structured effort on some level because it's been so successful. But how do – we have just a minute left here in this segment and then we're going to get on to the Andrew Tate story. How do students start pushing back on this and reclaiming these campuses for everybody?

That is the tough question. That is one which I struggled with when I was on campus, because I one of the things that got me sort of interested in politics and journalism was that a professor that I was interested in studying under and possibly doing a PhD had accused me of being like a spy for the Israeli government sent to campus to sow discord and

part of the Israel lobby. And I remember I had gone through like the bureaucratic loopholes, filed complaints and like nothing happened. Like he's still teaching there. He might have, who knows, maybe he got a slap on the wrist, but he's still teaching there and he teaches Middle East studies. So like students who want to learn about Israel, Palestine, Middle East are going to have to go through him as a gatekeeper. And

It's unfortunate. I feel like the United States is getting to the point where a lot of the bureaucrats and a lot of this sort of administrative bloat is going to be cut in the coming years because it's just financially not feasible. And I think when more of these DEI hires, I think, are out of the way and there's more ability to just enforce basic laws and basic rules of the university that will have

more accountability. I just think there's so much insulation to people not being accountable in this way. Well, Ari, on behalf of the tourism of Arizona, we invite you to move down here. We think you'll enjoy it quite a bit. We're coming back with more from Ari Blaff here in just a minute, folks. Breaking Battlegrounds coming right back.

All right, imagine this: you're running for president. Yes, president. What's the first thing you need? Well, besides the million-dollar fundraising, you need to secure your web domain. You need your name, .vote. Easy to remember, straight to the point, and a direct link to your campaign. No, but seriously, whether you're getting out to vote or convincing people that yes, you can fix the potholes on Main Street, a .vote domain helps you stand out. It's not just a website, it's a call to action.

Head over to GoDaddy.com or Name.com, type in your name, .vote, and boom, you're ready to make a lasting impact. Get started today with your .vote web address.

Folks, this is Sam Stone for Breaking Battlegrounds. Discover true freedom today with 4Freedom Mobile. Their SIM automatically switches to the best network, guaranteeing no missed calls. You can enjoy browsing social media and the internet without compromising your privacy. Plus, make secure mobile payments worldwide with no fees or monitoring. Visit 4FreedomMobile.com today for top-notch coverage.

digital security, and total freedom. And if you use the code BATTLEGROUND at checkout, you get your first month of service for just $9 and save $10 a month for every month of service after that. Again, that's code BATTLEGROUND at checkout. Visit 4freedommobile.com to learn more.

Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds. We're continuing on now with Ari Blaff, features writer with the National Post in Canada. And he's done some great pieces. We were just talking about the anti-Semitism on Canadian campuses. But the piece that really caught our attention, Chuck, that Ari did is how the media created Andrew Tate. Yeah, this is what brought us to you. I saw this and thought it was well done because Sam and I have talked about this in the past. I

The media has more of a fascination of Andrew Tate than actual people I know, especially young men. And I know a lot of young men from the ages of 16 to 22 because of my son and so forth. I've never once heard him talk about it. And you talked here, Discord server Men's Human Rights ran a poll for its members.

where nearly half of the 75 respondents said that Andrew Tate's a scumbag harming boys. An additional 12% leaned negative on him. 14% called him evil. Just 6% said they viewed Tate as really helpful or leaned positive. But the most interesting thing was a vast majority had just seen just a few clips of Tate. 3% said they had watched several hours of content. I don't know people watching this, and I really have felt this is one of those made-up things by the media again.

sort of like due process for gang members in the United States. I feel like this is made up. What did you find in your reporting? I found that there was sort of this fixation on Andrew Tate that was so disproportionate to his actual influence in the everyday lives of Americans and young people around the world. And it symbolized to me, I think, the media and mainstream media, particularly elite media's

inability to actually grapple with issues that concern everyday Americans, everyday guys. And instead they're fixated on like some bizarre fringe figure instead of talking about

The disappearance of like blue collar industries, stagnating income, young guys struggling with gaming addiction, stuff like that. Like these are the meat and potato issues, which I think parents and Americans care about and want help and advice on. But instead, we're sort of talking about these fringe culture personalities talking about picking up women. And this sort of exemplified like why maybe young guys might not be doing so well because our conversation is so stunted.

And how much do you think – I mean the following that he has is sort of driven to him by the fact that they are or feel in their life like the Jewish students we were talking about earlier –

that the institutions around them are sort of ostracizing them. So, I mean, if you're a kid in any K-12 system in Europe or the United States or Canada, if you're a white kid, you get fed this sort of anti-white curricula now. If you're straight, you get fed this sort of pro-LGBTQ, anti-straight curricula.

If we're boxing kids into a corner and telling them how terrible they are all the time and someone comes along and says, well, I'm like you and I'm wonderful. Isn't that a really sort of dangerous mix? And then it is being amplified by the press.

Yeah, I think that's really why we're seeing a flowering, a flourishing of podcasts and alternative media, because there's a lot of guys out there who just are not tuning into this and they are curious to have these conversations. So it's not, Tate might be sort of like the fringe aspect here, but I think that's why Joe Rogan is super popular, Theo Vaughn, Chris Williamson. There are guys out there who are clamoring to have really interesting conversations about what's happening in their lives, what's changing with America. Um,

But mainstream media is sort of failing them. Like if you just look at some of the titles of the articles I pull up and there's dozens of those, you can find so many more of them. But why the patriarchy is killing men, why masculinity will not save men, always or disproportionately written by women and often not interviewing any guys. It's just like, who do they, like, there's no 20 year old guy who's going to read that. There's no 20 year old guy who's going to think that that's helpful. So it just shows you how out of touch I think a lot of mainstream media is when it comes to talking about masculinity, manhood,

How – we have this issue here in the United States. How is it being treated in Canada? I mean you have things like Michael Tomaski in the New Republic last November wrote, women will save America as usual. It's continually – it's a very feminist perspective and there's nothing wrong with – I mean look, I don't care if my doctor is a woman. I don't care if an Air Force pilot is a woman. I just want her to drop the bomb she's supposed to drop and make sure I get other –

The operating room of life. Same thing with men. I don't care. You know, but what why do you think is behind this push that white men are just toxic? I mean, didn't that idiot from Texas, Congresswoman Crockett, say that this week? Yeah.

I think it's sort of a case of a pendulum swinging too far. I think in the 50s and 60s, people were trying to advocate for more equality for women. And there were a lot of successful inroads that were made. And that was really amazing. Women have far better lives than they did 50 years ago. And men are the benefits of it. And I think society is the benefit of it. But I think now we've gotten to a point where that pendulum sort of didn't hit a middle ground. And it's to the point now where

as you see, like a lot of female writers openly say stuff, which guys would never be able to write or openly express. No reverse. I would never be able to write that in the New York times or Washington post. And it reminds me of a story of Warren Farrell, who's a very influential writer,

thinker about men's issues today and he grew up in the 1960s was a second wave feminist rubbed shoulders with Gloria Steinem and was on board with all their stuff but he eventually left the movement in the 70s because he thought that when they were advocating for gender egalitarian stuff being equal it they really didn't mean it in the 70s when he started talking about how guys should have equal access to their children and divorce custody hearings should be more 50-50 and

he was sort of spurned by feminists. And he sort of didn't understand why that was happening, because if you truly believe that men and women are equal and we should have equal access to children, for instance, why would you be opposed to that? So I think it sort of ditched egalitarianism and became more about just sort of singularly advocating for one gender over another.

Well, you also had quoted in the article a person we've had on the show, Richard Reeves, who wrote the book of Boys and Men, right? And he's the founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men. What were your takeaways talking to him? Because he had the same story. He was once in – what group did he start? It was a feminist group. I forget. I forget. But he left it because he just said this is not going the direction it's supposed to go, right? What were your takeaways talking to him? Because I found him to be very introspective on this issue.

Yeah, Richard, I think, is like a one of a kind in the United States right now. And I think he's sort of the singular voice who's been able to establish a bit of a foothold in mainstream media.

He knows how to speak to, I think, people who might be skeptical of issues that have to do with men and masculinity in an amazing way. And I think one area where he pushed back on me, which I think was very thoughtful, was in terms of how many women write about these issues as opposed to guys. And I think guys generally are not as...

tuned into these issues because I think gender has been sort of historically seen more as a female issue and women are sort of more pretty supposed to think about gender and how does gender relate to your earnings, your lifespan, how it impacts your life. And in some ways, like he had said in a comparable way, I think to how black people are probably more thoughtful about race, they might think and see race in a different way than people who don't feel racialized because it's just not as apparent to them. And so I think

And to that point, I think guys probably have to begin, I don't know if mobilizing is the right word, but beginning to see themselves as a group that should advocate for stuff like when it comes to suicide prevention or safe work conditions or equitable pay in terms of blue collar work. Like there's a lot of really interesting places here. Or how the school system is designed.

Yeah, 100%. 100%. I think the school place is another area which Richard has talked about in terms of redshirting boys to bring them back a year in terms of starting school. I don't know as much about the research on that. He's more of an expert on it. But I think that is a huge place. And that is something which I've spoken to a lot of parents about how they feel that boys and their mode of learning is not catered to currently in a heavily feminized teaching industry and a

And so there has to be some type of reform or some type of way to better address how boys are floundering when it comes to school. When you put boys in a box, you end up with Andrew Tate. Thank you so much, Ari Blaff. We really love having you on the program. Would love to have you come back on here in the future. Folks, follow him at nationalpost.com and make sure if you're not already, you're downloading the podcast. Remember, today is a little R-rated today.

You're not going to want to miss Kylie's Corner. So go Substack, Spotify, everywhere you get your favorite podcast, you will find Breaking Battlegrounds. We're coming right back. Support American jobs while standing up for your values. OldGloryDepot.com brings you conservative pride on premium made in USA gear. Don't settle. Wear your patriotism proudly. Visit OldGloryDepot.com today.

Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds. Our next guest up today, friend of the program, Congressman Burgess Owens, represents Utah's 4th Congressional District and serves on the House Education and Workforce Committee as well as House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Congressman Burgess Owens, welcome back to the program. Thank you. And I'm looking forward to chatting with you. A lot of good things happening and it'd be great to give you some updates for sure. I want to start something first. I have a lot of friends in the service industry and they've had a constant retort to me lately that people just seem so unsettled.

They just say, I can't keep up with people just expressing the chaos in their life and things that are happening. And I want to talk to you a little bit about this. How important is it that people come from homes where they have parents that actually care about their children and they're looking out for them and providing this safe environment? I know you grew up in an environment like that. Can you explain to our audience the difference that made in your life and how that foundation has benefited you through the good times and the bad times? Yeah.

Well, you know, I'll tell you, if you think about what our country is all about, there's some basic tenets that makes our American culture, the remarkable American culture it is, that allows anyone who comes here to always dream, to believe they can one day get to the middle class no matter where they start. And those tenets are faith, family, the free market, being able to go out and build a dream, take a risk, and wisdom through education.

Those are those are tenants to make a difference. The key to that is a family.

It is amazing when you start to understand the power of the family unit, when you can learn things like unconditional love, you can learn about vision, you can learn about discipline. And my family was very, very, my dad, there was no leeway. You respect women, period. It didn't matter what color, by the way. Matter of fact, the theme of my era, which I'm so thankful I grew up during these times of segregation, the deep South, but a very, very proud Black community. We would talk, my dad was a World War II vet.

And so was his brothers. And we'll talk very simply. If you want to be a very successful, very happy man at the very end of your day, learn to love God, country, family, respect women and authority. Those are things we've gotten away from. And so the conversation we'll have today are antithetical to what our country's always been about. And the fact that we have our families devolving is, by the way, not by accident.

We have an ideology that hates every bit of those tenets I just mentioned. It's called Marxism. They hate family. They hate faith. They hate an education that gives us hope. And they definitely do not like business ownership because that's where independence comes from. People begin to feel that they are confident to go out and not need the government. So we're in a very good place. And I want to say this for those who are a little bit concerned about the chaos. Chaos is necessary when we need change.

I've been a business owner. I know what it is to look at the numbers and say, man, what can I do to save this business? Whatever I got to do, I got to do. That's a chaotic period. But you make changes, you innovate, you figure out what can I do to get on the other end of this. We have a president who is a genius when it comes to business ownership. He's a genius when it comes to negotiating. And here's the key point. He loves this country.

So I would say of all the times to be optimistic about where we are, we finally have leadership in D.C. And those who surround themselves with, that says, we're looking out for you guys. We're tired of you being used, abused, and discarded. We want to live the American dream no matter who you are. We want to feel proud to be an American. So just get ready. If you're not optimistic now, just hold tight. Hang in there. It will come. I've never been more excited about being part of an administration than I am right now.

One thing I got to ask about, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant has talked about a shift from focusing on helping Wall Street to helping Main Street that seems to be happening maybe for the first time, frankly, in my lifetime. And there is going to be some disruption about that. But how important is that shift right now in terms of the future of this country?

You said a very important word, disruption. And disruption is something that is always uncomfortable because there's a change of mindset, priorities. It is so key that we go through that right now and understand the middle class is at the point, the real, the key to our culture. And business ownership is what powers that middle class.

We watched the middle class being destroyed when businesses and business owners were shrunk down to a point where now there's more elitism and there's more dependency. That's not who we are. So what I love about what's happening right now, we have all these businesses coming back. We're now an educational teacher. Here's how to think, how to get into a productive workforce. We're about to truly get into the golden age.

And the key is listen to people who are optimistic, hopeful, and have a plan to do it. The other side is nothing but negative fear-mongering. And I tell you, if you buy into what those other guys are thinking, you'll go to sleep with nightmares and wake up with another nightmare. It's just the way they are.

So let's be optimistic. Let's look at a person who knows how to get this thing done right and stay tuned. It's going to be some good times ahead of us. They're selling nightmares and claiming government is the solution. Government is the solution is pretty much my nightmare.

You get it. Well, you know what? And anyone who's out there fulfilling their dream, like you guys are right now, you're doing something that you've always worked hard to get done. If you have a dream and working toward it, let the, let Democrats control things and you will find a, a, a,

You will find things that are more difficult because you cannot project out anymore. You don't have control over your life. So we're in a position where we the people are finally saying we want more and we're going to get it done for sure. We are in Breaking Battlegrounds. We'll get it done when we come right back.

In today's digital world, standing out is more important than ever. Whether you're running for office, leading a cause, or hosting a vote for the cutest pet in town, you need a web domain that's simple, memorable, and action-oriented. You need a .vote web domain. It's clear, impactful, and establishes a lasting presence for your campaign.

Don't wait. Head to GoDaddy.com or Name.com, type in your name.vote, and get started today. Because after all, every pet deserves a web address that's as special as they are. Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds with your host Chuck Warren. I'm Sam Stone. Continuing on now with Burgess Owens, congressman from Utah's 4th Congressional District and a friend of the program. So, Congressman, Nike has allegedly funded a trans study on children.

Can you tell us a little about it? You've been a very vocal opponent of this. They also seem to be not answering any questions, which tells me they're guilty. But that's, you know, that's my observation. Can you tell us a little bit about what they're doing? And they've gone given us all the silent treatment now. Well,

First of all, I want to thank OutKick. They saw this, they kept continuing to post it. Non-American people are waking up. Let me tell you one thing about our nation. Every generation has always, always felt we will sacrifice, we will do whatever it takes, we'll go to war to make sure our kids have a much better future than we have. We want our kids to stay on our shoulders. We want to protect our kids.

The evil, the evil ideology that uses kids and they abuse them. They take advantage of their innocence. That's something we will never, ever allow in this country. And right now, the thoughts are, the report that came out is that Nike was actually looking at experimentation

to see what it would take to make sure that when boys compete with girls, they can compete on a fair ground. I mean, just put your head around that. We're talking about kids, by the way. We're talking about six-year-olds. We're talking about eight-year-olds, 12-year-olds. Any of us who care about our nation, care about, have any kind of good heart, have any idea of what God is and who he is,

We shake our heads. How can people think that way? Well, believe it or not, that's the way people thought in the old days. I mean, I go back and I made the point of the Tuskegee experiment back when black men were used in experimentation with Tuskegee. That's evil. That's not our country. So we're expecting one thing for Nike to do. Don't hide out. Don't think it's going to go away. Let us know if you did it. If you did, just apologize and let's move forward. But

But don't be surprised when woke happens to corporations, this is what happens. You have people who are the head of the corporation who don't believe there's a God in heaven who will become, they think they can become God and they're going to change everything they think they can change.

Nike needs to be held accountable for this. They need to be held accountable for the fact they made billions of dollars in China where slave labor is the way they produce their goods. This is an organization that people need to understand is not at all holding to the American culture and dreams and values that we have. So if that's the case, we'll wait for Nike to come out. It's been, I think, 11, 12 days they haven't responded.

We're not going to forget it. And the more people like yourself can talk about this, the more they'll have to come to the plate and make a statement one way or the other. Donald Trump has done a bunch of executive orders. The palm of the executive orders. The next president can get rid of the executive order, give a new one.

So what you're you're spearheading some efforts to codify his executive orders on education. Can you tell us a little bit about how that's going? And you're optimistic that getting it through the House and gets through the Senate for Donald Trump's signature?

Yes, the miracle of where we are is we have something called Troth Vector. That in itself is a miracle that we have the House, the Senate, and President Trump. But here's the other piece that might not be known is that the last three terms I've been in place, we've had more America First legislators coming to the plate.

So we have not only the ability to put things through, but the America first, which means we're going to listen and follow our leader. We're going to look at the vision that President Trump has and make sure we can back him up. So yes, the executive branch is a lot quicker. They can do things in a much faster way. We're a little bit more...

It takes a little bit longer sometimes just to get things done. And then the send is even slower than we are. So what we want to do is have a leader that we can then codify what he's putting in place. We have something he put, he just put an executive order saying that men and men, men cannot,

cannot compete in girls sports. Well, we just codified that. We put that in law. We're looking at something called the ACE Act in which accreditation, you cannot put wokeness into accreditors, accreditation. Well, he did an executive order. We're now putting through an ACE Act. We just went to the House. We're going to codify that. So we have a leader that gives an idea of what the future can be

And what we have to hold on to. And we understand now that if we don't codify, we don't put this in law, then you're right. The next president come along and change it all around. And we don't want that to happen. So we're in tune. And I'm excited about, again, working with the president to get this done. One of the challenges you face in doing that, obviously, is working through the Senate where we don't have 60 votes to just move an agenda around.

And they can move a certain limited number of items or issues as part of a procedure, be able to do it with 50 plus, you know, 51 votes. What's the one bill they need to include 100 percent in that package? And what's the one bill that you think is most important that, hey, we should and can get 60 votes on that one?

Oh, boy. Well, first of all, thanks for that. That's a softball for me because that's one reason I'm here, guys. It's about education. We have an opportunity called reconciliation, and this is where we can put things in place that helps our country, moves us forward without having a 60-vote margin.

We have something called the Educational Choice for Children's Act, which I think is the most consequential legislative process we have in our country. It gives every child in our country a chance to have a choice in schools. And it doesn't take anything away from the local school districts. There's no oversight by the federal or state because it's a nonprofit. But what happens is individuals and corporations have a chance to invest

to give to nonprofits, we're gonna get a tax credit and parents can choose any school they want to, public, private, parochial, homeschool, trade, whatever they want. And that competition, that ability to look at merit is gonna finally get our education in a place that every other industry is. We need to have a matrix of merit.

And education has been the only place that we have not had that competition. Now we're going to get it. And the best of the best will rise. And the parents will actually take the kids to what works out for their child. So I'm excited about that piece of legislation. And we're hoping to get it through this coming week, this coming week coming up for sure. So President Trump wants universities to reveal foreign gifts and which would mean any gift over zero for certain countries of concern.

Yes. And currently reducing it from $250,000 to $50,000. You've been supportive of this? That's called the Return Act. Yes. Exactly. You've been supportive of this? Have the universities been knocking on your door pleading with you not to do this? You guys have done your homework. Thanks for that. This is something that's been in law, but guess what? The

The Biden administration never, ever forced them to do it. Of course, they're not if they don't have to. These colleges are getting beans and beans of dollars from foreign actors, and we have no idea what is coming in, what they're giving back. So the TURN Act says very simply this. You're going to report to us. You're going to let the American people. If you're going to get...

taxpayer dollars. We need to know where your influences are coming in, how much they're paying for you, and if there's any pro quo in the process. And what we're seeing in higher education, looking at Harvard particularly, how arrogant they are about what they do. They're a private school, and they have $53 billion in endowment and still think they deserve an entitlement to our taxpayer dollars. So we're saying no to that.

If you want our taxpayer dollars, you're going to make sure you give us the best product, a product that comes out that's not in debt, a product that comes out and go out and get a good job and loves our country. If you can't do that, do this on your own dime. And I'm excited that we're finally getting our education back to where we the people expect the greatest things from our kids. We should be the smartest, most productive, most positive and hopeful than anyone in the world. And they've been failing us in that regard. We're going to change that up big time.

There's a silly argument I hear Harvard saying because Trump's not going to take away their money and not going to let them play for grants that therefore he's impinging upon academic freedom. NPR, if you don't give us our two or three percent grants, you're against free press.

What would you tell people about this moronic logic that if we don't give money to NPR, we must be against the free press? If we don't give money to Harvard University, we must be against academics? Well, you know, this is called muscle memory on their part. This is something they've been getting away with for so long that they truly believe they're entitled. This is what's called elitism. And elitism is one of the most dangerous things we can have in our country. And by the way, it's on both sides of the aisle. Elitism says that...

that I am more important than anybody else. And I know more than anybody else. So lean on me. I'll make sure I'll take care of you. And that is how we get to where we're losing all our freedoms. So, you know, they can continue that, but we have a new sheriff in town.

What I love about President Trump is as much as they put roadblocks into his way, he gets as fast as getting around him as possible because he knows what he wants to get done. He has a mission. He's not going to get distracted. He doesn't care what they think. They can't control him with any money. And he's surrounding himself with people that are total loyal to American people. I've never seen anything like it. The speed, number one, the productivity. And for those who are watching, again, keep in mind, we're only a little bit over 100 days out.

he's bringing so much hope to people across the country because they see that he's listening to them. So just again, it is some remarkable times guys. And I would say that all of us, no matter what part we play, we've been, we've been ready for this moment. And we just now have to take this, this, this four years and sprint to get our country back. So we have intergenerational opportunity for our kids. So they'll never have to deal with the, the Marxist influence that we're having to work through right now. Well,

Speaking of dealing with Marxist influences, kind of maybe the most important thing Trump can do in this term is get this reset with China that he's been talking about. I think it was two days ago Stanford Review came out with a very in-depth piece talking about how the Chinese Communist Party is

frankly, victimizes and uses the students they're sending to Stanford to effectively spy on the United States, to acquire intellectual property, to report, essentially using them as agents in place. I mean, if they're doing that at Stanford, they're doing it at Harvard, they're doing it at Yale, they're doing it at every other elite institution and maybe every institution that

Do we have to start thinking rethinking every aspect of our relationship with China right now? Absolutely. What we have to understand about communists is evil.

There's no such good thing about communism. There's a book called "The Hundred Year March" and which is a marathon and you start to recognize that they do anything they can to develop a friendship only to at the very end stab you in the back. That's their goal. And they want to, this thing they did with Fort Fenton Hall, 300,000 people died. It's on purpose. So yes, we have to think everything we do with trying to know that they have a different end game and it's not about being friends

and having a win-win situation. We have a president who understands that. And I think we also have a president who, if he steps back for the last four years, which I think probably was a blessing for us, he's seen over the last four years what our friends and, quote, enemies have done to us, and he doesn't appreciate it. And he's the kind of guy who's going to fight for us.

You can say, you know what, you have proven yourself now that we can't trust you. And because we can't, we're going to make sure we make America first and we will win. And in the process, we'll make sure you have a chance to win also. So that's where we're entering right now. So it's a very mature approach with a knowledge of what we're up against.

And if I can say this again, what he's done more importantly is around several people that are loyal to our country, loyal to him, so he can focus on the mission, not focus on all the stuff that goes around him and people trying to undermine him. He wants to be mission-driven, and I think that's where we are right now, for sure.

I've never heard anyone, you know, kind of hit that point that Trump maybe were better off because we had the interlude for four years with Biden that he was able to see a different side of the coin. I believe it 100 percent allowed him to reset. It's almost like he took a sabbatical to a degree. I think, you know, we all need to go to.

to have moments of stillness, I think it allowed him to look back, to reflect upon things. Biden's very helpful. People are like, yeah, I don't want to do that. So I think it was an important reset for him. Can I say this? It was a reset for President Trump. He's a lot more mature when it comes down to what it takes as a politician. But he's also, there's a faith factor that I see in him that is pretty significant. And here's the real reset. The real reset is the American people.

We had a chance to see what the left really looks like, that they truly hate us. They opened the borders, let Fentanyl come in. Inflation went crazy. We have disrespect around the country. Everything that could go wrong, we had a chance to experience it as a people. And we came to this position on November 5th. We're sick of it. We're tired of it. We don't want any more of these boys and girls bathrooms, boys and girls sports, all that crazy stuff. We don't need it. We don't want it. We want to get back to normal.

So we're at a position where not only do we have a House, a Senate, and a President, we have we the people on the same page with the same expectations. And now we need to sprint. We need to take this moment and just go as fast as we can, as hard as we can. And the key point is to back into this education.

so our kids understand where they came from, our great country, our great culture, so they were going to fight for what we now understand. The way we were raised, we need to make sure our kids can take this and take the next level and not go down a route of destruction the way that many of them are now thinking about our country. Absolutely. Congressman Burgess Owens, we always love having you on the program. Folks, follow him on X at RepBurgessOwens.com.

We have 30 seconds before we let you go, so I'm going to ask one question. You were an NFL player. You won a Super Bowl with the Raiders in 1980. Who's the most athletic player you ever played with? Gosh, I was hoping you were not going to ask about NFL, but I'll give it a shot.

I would say sweetness, Walter Payton. He was a run out the defensive back. He's a guy who could run over you or run around you based on how he felt at that second that he got to you. And that was scary for defensive back. So sweetness was amazing, good talent. And it was just, I tell you guys, it was nice to be in those days where just sports was a way that we can just retreat from the craziness and come together as friends.

Support American jobs while standing up for your values. OldGloryDepot.com brings you conservative pride on premium, made-in-USA gear. Don't settle. Wear your patriotism proudly. Visit OldGloryDepot.com today. I say this every election cycle, and I'll say it again. The 2024 political field was intense, so don't get left behind in 2025. If you're running for office, the first thing on your to-do list should be securing your name on the web.

with a yourname.votedomain from godaddy.com, you'll stand out and make your mark. Don't wait. Get yours today. Welcome to the podcast portion of Breaking Battlegrounds. Great show today with both of our guests, Ari Blaff and Congressman Burgess Owens. He's a longtime friend of the program. He's always good, Chuck. He is, and he just, you know, he speaks from experience on DEI. He speaks from experience on family values. Yeah. And

Republicans, the NRCC needs to push him out there more. You know, absolutely they do. We do such a bad job of that. I was thinking about that with the NBA play. I know this is random, but I was thinking about that with the NBA playoffs. Like think how many players do you think NBA players right now you think the average person could name?

Oh, I can't. I mean, I... No, and you're a basketball fan, right? Yeah, no, no, no. Like, outside of the team you follow. Yeah, no. You can't really name them, right? Like, it's not like the 90s when you knew the stars. Well, it's also the problem, like, with the Suns and Jazz not playing. Right. I'm paying no attention to it except when I see a clip on ESPN or X that shows the last... You know, I just know there's been some real upsets. No one won their first home game. Right. But my point to that is...

Name three Democrat members of Congress and almost everyone is going to get at least one or two or three. Ask them to name three Republican members of Congress. Johnson. Maybe Johnson. Maybe Johnson. But for sure, if you and I went out and about who are just voters. Right.

They can name Crockett. Yep. And they can name AOC. Yes, absolutely. And Pelosi. And I find them naming them. Yep. And maybe Hakeem Jeffries, right? Pelosi, the devout Catholic that they all keep quoting on the phone. Oh, my goodness. Who's about as devout as a hooker is to chastity.

I think the hooker's far more devout, but that's just me. A couple of things before we get to everybody's favorite segment, Kylie's Corner. So ABC7 in California – I saw this all week, but I hated posting these because as we've talked about, we have some on the right that just – I heard somebody say something, so I'm posting this, right? Right. And so I really try to double-check anything we post. But ABC –

Seven eyewitnesses in California came out with a story yesterday, said the numbers are shocking. Experts predict Southern California gas prices could soar past $6 a gallon by the end of 2025 and $8 a gallon by the end of 2026. This is not due to tariffs. Thank you, ABC7. The refinery retreat that could wallop your wallet.

And so my favorite ex, Phil Mickelson, retweeted this. Californians voted for this and no bitching and complaining about it. Yeah, but hang on. I'm in Arizona. You're in Arizona. We get our gas from those refineries. It's going to be us too. And we didn't vote for it. I was in Utah last week on gas up my car up there.

It was literally 80 cents a gallon cheaper. Yeah. Literally 80 cents a gallon cheaper. And I don't think Utah generally is some of the cheapest in the Intermountain West. So I know. And, you know, why don't we have refineries here?

I mean, originally, because why would you bother having them not in California where all the oil fields were, right? Like it was convenience. But at this point, we need to start getting – I mean, we need to have another source for Arizona, period. Well, not only for that, just for emergency situations alone, right? So I want to get into Biden a little bit before we get into Kylie's Corner. So as you know, the new Pentagon Inspector General Report came out this week and it just –

Talked about the Biden administration's ill-fated attempt to build that pier in Gaza. Oh, my goodness. And what they came to is it was a half-baked political project to basically make his Hamas supporters, his ActBlue donors, happy. And what we spent is $230 million and it operated for just 20 days. And now we learned through this report that 60 U.S. service members were injured during the construction operation.

And one soldier even succumbed to their injuries and died. Yeah. All for a political stunt, which we talked about this in the show probably a year ago. The military said, it's not going to work. And he just ignored it. So I always love...

Democrats talking about, you just need to listen to the experts. The Biden administration didn't listen to any experts. Joe Biden killed that service member as clearly as if he put a gun to the person's head. 100%. It was never going to work. They were told it wasn't going to work. And again, folks, to be clear, this is purely done as a political stunt. Do not believe in your heart. There may have been one or two 20-somethings in the White House who thought this was a great humanitarian effort. But this is purely...

At the time when Biden's approval among Islamic voters in the United States, Muslim voters, was tanking. Yep. And they were going to vote for anybody else but Joe Biden. This was purely a political stunt with $230 million of your taxpayer money. By the way, Sam, how much could $230 million do to help take homeless people off the street?

Well, it depends if you're giving it to like the government or the Salvation Army. Salvation Army. If you give it to the Salvation Army, you're talking probably 50 grand a person, 100 on the high end. Yeah. And you're talking about taking two or three thousand people off the street. Which I'm told by Democrats is important. Yes. I've heard that as well somewhere. Finally, as you know, Joe Biden went on The View yesterday and –

He just couldn't answer. I mean, Jill stepped in. I really think there's something power hungry about that woman.

Oh, without a doubt. I mean, right. Literally, the best thing they could do for him is him just go back and look like he's the nice grandpa. She enjoyed the shadow presidency more than anyone. I mean, I think she actually reveled in his incapacity in the White House because it gave her room to be an unelected leader of the country. Would it be fair to say that she has more influence on the Biden administration than Musk did? Oh.

Oh, by far. Night and day. She had the pedal talk. She made decisions. Yeah. And finally, we have a new Pope. We didn't talk about that on the show much, but... Pope Leo loves guys who hit 200. And you know what? And you know what? I love his family.

brother's just talking. The one brother defending him, no, no, he's not the Cub. He's a White Sox fan. And then you see the very social media things. You know the man has great faith in God because he supports the White Sox, right? One guy wrote, if that doesn't drive you away from God, I don't know what does, right? And then the other brother, I was reading this morning in Florida, he

He called him and he missed the call. He goes, where are you? He goes, well, I was outside talking to the neighbors. So, yeah. By the way, do they now call him – I think they still call him by his first childhood name, the family. I don't think they call him Pope. Oh, the family? Yeah. 100 percent. 100 percent. So it will be interesting. I love people on X just trying to figure out his politics. I had a friend that's – she's very conservative and she was talking about this last night with me and I said –

You know, talking about immigration, how he criticized Trump and J.D. Vance on it. And there's some of the tweets coming out. People are like, oh, look at this. I'm like, what do you expect from a Catholic priest? I mean, this is their doctrine. You take everybody in. Right. I mean, they'll quote New Testament scriptures all day long. What do you expect in this? All I know is this. He's pro-life. Yep. He wrote a hit piece on socialism. Yep. Yep.

And he's against transgender. Well, he's the pope. You didn't elect a president. I know. And we keep wanting to make these religious people political. And you want to fit them in really narrow boxes. Yeah. Just come on, folks. Just let him do his thing.

As long as he actually loves Jesus and loves being Catholic and is committed to the canon. You're not going to meet any Catholic priest who does not believe you should have open arms for refugees. It's the one thing that drives people nuts in LDS, conservative LDS, that the LDS church doesn't more hammer down illegal immigration issues.

It's a scriptural injunction. You take in the homeless. You take in the weary. So for politicians, that's your job. That's not the church's job. Their job is to take care of the refugee. Well, and for all the years that we've been told that you don't want your religion in everybody's face in politics. Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure our folks believe that at all. Well –

An exciting week in Kylie's Corner. Tee us up, Jeremy. Kylie's got a corner and she's gonna start spilling out all the true crime in the world we're living in. So come and take a spin and listen.

It's your favorite time of the day. It is. Well, before I get to what I actually want to talk about, did you guys see that Buster Murdoch got married? He is the son of Alex Murdoch. Yeah. And Alex is the lawyer from South Carolina who killed his son and wife with the shotgun. Oh, yeah. Family farm. Right. Yeah, the son, Buster, got married to his girlfriend who was actually, they were together when this all went down and the whole trial went down and still together and got married. Okay. Yeah. So we wish them the best. Yeah.

Wait, that poor kid. Literally, that poor kid. I wouldn't use the word poor kid. I don't think he's totally innocent.

Don't you? No. A show for another day? A show for another day. A topic for another day. That is a conspiracy for another day. Oh, now I'm interested. Yeah, now let's unpack that next week. Let's unpack that later. But today I want to unpack what's going on in the hockey world because I have not heard a lot about this. And I have gone down a deep rabbit hole and it is disturbing. So the details are disturbing if you have children in the car.

Don't let them listen. This is a definite PG-13 segment. Probably a rated R. Oh, yeah. R right now? Okay, well, tell us about it. So it might be a little all over the place because we are in week two of the trial, and there's already been a mistrial on this incident. And so we have some information that came from the first trial, but then it stopped. And also, this is happening in Canada, and Canada has publication ban laws, which prevents the media from reporting on certain aspects of the trial, which keeps the fair trial and the individual's identity concealed. So...

there may be some spots but bear with me here so i'm going to talk about how um the opening day statement i'm going to run you through what is the incident what so the incidents what's happening is carter hart alex from menton cal foot dylan duby and michael mcleod they're all hockey players they play in the nhl well not anymore but they did at the time um they're on trial for sexual assault and then michael mcleod he has an extra charge of sexual assault for aiding the entire situation

They were members of the Team Canada team in 2018 when the world – and they won the World Junior Championship. So they went out to a gala and then went out to a bar afterwards. And that is when they met this 20-year-old girl. She's 5'4 and 120 pounds because I'm going to put that out there so you can take that into account when you listen to the situation. So –

They've all been drinking at this bar, Jack's, and Michael McLeod, the main guy who has the two charges of sexual assault, met this woman and they started dancing all night. And eventually he invited her back to the hotel room, which she agreed and consented to. And then they had consensual sex. Following this, she went to the bathroom and he texted a group chat saying three-way quick 209 Mikey. That's just like all the text said. And within a couple minutes, she said leaving the bathroom, there was at least 10 different men in the room.

the victim claims that she started just going along with the acts because she was drunk and uncomfortable and didn't know what would happen if the players...

Or if she made the players mad. So they're alleging that Michael McCloud, Carter Hart, and Dylan Duby each received oral sex from her non-consensually. Alex Fermenton then had non-consensual sex with her in the bathroom. Michael McCloud then had another more consensual, non-consensual sex with her later that night. And then Cal Foote supposedly slapped her and put his genitals on her face. So...

This that was all the opening statement from the crown and something else to know is the victim can't press charges. She has to go to the police and then the police have to decide the crown. So Canada has to decide if they're going to press the charges. So she had she said she's been on the stand now and she alleged that she tried to leave the room multiple nights and the guys would not allow her to leave. One guy actually said she's crying. Bring her back in here. And.

She then talked about the night when they were out at the bar and said there was multiple incidents when the guys would like all put their arms around her and like kind of have her in like a close circle and they would grab her hand and put it on their genitals or one guy actually was like slapping her butt. She said so many people slapped her that she didn't doesn't actually know who did. It was just so many people. It was going throughout the night. Yeah.

They said one guy. So this is all her testimony now. She said one of them laid a bed sheet on the floor and told her to get on it and start touching herself, which she believes was an instance when she was having consensual sex with Michael. He had said get on the floor and she said, no, it's dirty. So then he must have told that information to the other guys and then they ended up

laying a bed sheet down. Um, but she alleges that the entire time they were laughing at her and spitting on her. Um, she said her body, her entire body just shut down and she just did what she needed to do to be safe. Um, she said while the guys were forcing oral sex on her, they would slap her butt and do other and spit on her back. Um,

She actually told them to stop slapping her because she was in so much pain. And then that's when she felt like the situation switched. And that's when they wouldn't allow her to leave following that. Let's see. Is there any... This does not sound like it was a one-time thing. I'm going to be... No, no, no. Yeah. So then the next day he texted her and said, can we talk? And she said, sure, what's up? And he said, call me, text me first. And then he said, did you go to the police Sunday after the incident? Yeah.

And she said, I talked to my mom about it and she called, but I told her not to. I don't want anything bad to come of it. And I told her to stop. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. He said, so you did. She said, I was really drunk. I didn't feel good about it at all afterwards, but I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble. I know I was also in the wrong. So this entire situation, she's been very open. She's been very flip floppy. And that's what the lawyers are saying.

using against her because in instances she said like she was okay with it and then she'd be like well I wasn't because it was crossing a line but I think in any instance of this any female would most likely act in this way so that they don't obviously get more hurt or something happens right I mean she's scared right now yes very scared

And the Supreme Court. Oh, go ahead. These are hockey players in Canada. Yeah. I mean, it's it's gods on earth. Yes. And she did say like when she felt uncomfortable at the bar because there were things like grabbing the hand, putting on the crotch and stuff. She said, I was still attracted to Michael. So it wasn't I was putting those things aside, even though I probably shouldn't have. And I was so drunk. So they did walk her through the entire night. And she ended up having eight shots, two Mike's hard lemonades, a vodka soda and a beer. Sure.

Oh, I forgot to add one other thing. Before she left that night, Michael had got her on video saying, I am sober and this was all consensual. And they made her shower before she left.

This was not the first time. And the worst thing is this happened in 2018, 2019, and these guys continued to play hockey until 2024 last year until the trial began back up because she actually sued. So the teams kicked them off based on some moral clause or something because of this, or they're just too old and retired? No, no. They took family. They just took a family leave or they took personal leave time, and that's what. Now, what was that word? Was that?

tournament or whatever was that in Canada that year I believe so yeah yeah and so she had filed so originally in 2019 the charges were dropped and then in 2022 she filed a civil lawsuit and team Canada paid her out 3.55 million and then that's when a bunch of pressure came back on to the crown and that's when the police reopened the case and started trying the guys again and

And they said there's 10 guys involved, but they didn't have enough evidence for 10 of them. But they have enough for the five that I the names that we have. Yeah. Yeah. She said they all felt comfortable with it and they were all doing sexual acts in front of each other and making jokes. There was also an instance. Forgot to mention there's so much in here that there was golf clubs in the room and they said, let's put golf balls up her or she can just take the whole club. Oh, my gosh. And how has no one been talking about this?

Well, I think part of it probably because it's just so vulgar. Yeah, I know. I felt actually, I felt when I was typing this up, I don't know. I mean, I thought about changing the subject, but then I was like, I want to talk about it because it needs to be. I mean, this is a horrendous act. I agree with Sam. I don't think this is her first rodeo with this, at least a couple of them, right? It's probably just the content. So now...

It's trial. Yeah, we're on week two and they gave eight weeks for the trial. Is this criminal or civil? It's criminal.

In Canada. In Canada. And the Supreme Court of Canada has openly said that their justice system is not properly equipped to prosecute sexual assault. But they did make a change over the last few years, which I found was interesting. I don't know how we do things here. But they said instead of trying all of these guys five ways individually, this is all one trial. And so all of their lawyers are – so when she's on the stand, she's been on it all week, each lawyer then interviews her and cross-examines her and –

So forth, which I thought was interesting. So all of them, the same jury will all vote on their convictions. So all of them together. Yes. And the jury is nine women and five men, I believe. Where is the trial at? It's in London, Ontario. Wow. I mean, first, I guess partially the reason you haven't heard much about it is it's Canada. And they have more limitations on what can be said from a trial or a legal proceeding than we do. Right, right. But-

Boy, you would think this would be headlines all over the world. Yeah, because it was in 2024 when the guys were leaving the teams. And so I was like, I wonder what the coverage was like

when they were leaving. And it really was all just, oh, they're taking personal time. He's taking mental health days. Those were like all what the teams were putting out. But were there stories before they took these leaves? So there was... We didn't know who was involved in the story. The story was out there and it was all initials like EM, MM, and all those kind of things. So we didn't know exactly who. But then when people started taking personal leave, the people who were covering this would say, you know, like, we now know it's Michael McCloud because there's only one MM that's listed in this lawsuit. And he's the only...

NHL player who has since taken the leave. So they started piecing it together like that. But it wasn't until the trial started, honestly, a couple weeks ago when we got all of the names of and their accusations. I have a harder time excusing athletes and famous people for this type of activity. I know that sounds weird, but these are folks who have women throwing themselves at them every day, right? Well, you're in a world of willing women and you do this kind of thing?

Well, you were telling me, what are they doing spring training for Major League Baseball? Yeah, they have classes like this that teach them how to interact with, you know, what to do of different situations. If women approach you in this way, if you do get someone pregnant, how to handle that, how to stay out of these types of situations. They bring people in to teach these guys because they are. Which is so sad they have to have classes on it that common sense would tell you.

Common sense should tell you, but... But people lack a lot of it. Young, dumb, and full of it. Well, and what's sad is a lot of these guys... Hockey especially, because when I was in college, these guys would come in two years later. They'd be freshmen when I was a junior because they were playing somewhere else. And so I think if you're taking them straight from high school, right? And you're just throwing them into this world of fame, essentially. And now these women are throwing... And I think that's why they have those classes because it's the same with all the other sports is guys get drafted out of high school and you don't...

Learn these life lessons at these ages. Like you get. Well, and even where they are going to college, I think probably. Yeah. I mean. Depending on. That's a that's one of the most horrible. So what's a maximum punishment in Canada for that? What are these guys facing? Why don't you guys keep talking? I mean, because it is Canada. Yeah. I like Canada less by the day.

Well, you know, there's an article in the National Post, which Ari is a writer for, and today's headline is, Canada is the most European country in the world. And I think that's very true. I think it follows similar patterns on justice, immigration, economics, things of those natures. So, yeah, it's fascinating. So the maximum punishment is 10 years, but it looks like most likely it'll be two years is what? What would it be in the U.S.?

It would be more. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it would be state by state. It wouldn't be – there's not a national standard for something like this. But you're not looking at two years. Two is nothing. Right. No. But two is – By the way, when these gentlemen were booked as a criminal trial, have they served any jail time? No. Again, I don't know about Canada's parole system. For us, if you're sent in for two years, you're out in six months. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Six to ten. Yeah. That's what I don't understand. Why? Well, I mean, you know, look, they chalk it up like good behavior. They chalk it, you know, but put them out on parole where you're still in jail. You have a less opportunity to have bad behavior. Yes. You know, it's it is probably as much as anything else. The reason we do it is just simple cost savings costs a lot to maintain a prisoner. Right. But we've seen the abuse of that system.

all across this country, all across the world, where justice is being politicized in a way where people are committing very serious crimes and being let go by the prosecutors. And then, you know, you've had crimes that have been over prosecuted. This one just doesn't sound like Canada's laws are sufficient for what this is. Well, suppose I just looked up to see, double check, McLeod hasn't served any time and he has not served any time and he actually currently plays hockey for the Continental Hockey League.

Is that like their AAA? Yeah, CHL. Yeah, for the Avangard Omsk. Have there been any protests against him on the court? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The old ladies are out there with their signs, and they're all yelling at them every time they walk into the courthouse. Well, yeah. I don't know. Yeah, I think at the end— That's just awful. And again, it's a warning for all of us. Yes. Not just this young woman to—

Be observant of our environment. Be careful what we do when you go to late-night drinking. And, again, this doesn't make anything that's our fault at all. But, again, another situation, sadly, that a lot of us get ourselves into situations that could have just been avoided by saying goodnight. Right. Yeah. Right. Well, Kylie, thanks for that up-and-coming. Before we wrap up here, anything new on Idaho? No.

Oh, yes. Something happened with Brian Koberger. He – oh, there's been a lot of video footage released with him. And there's been the Google – his Google searches. And his Google search, yeah. He's looking for Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy. And what was it on – something about porn. It was on – Non-consensual porn. Non-consensual porn. Yeah. So, yes. Those were the – Yeah, he's a character.

Well, what's interesting is he studied criminal justice. Right. And I thought I was under the impression of like this guy was originally before all this information was coming out, like probably studied this and knew how to perform the perfect crime. But it really sounds like he did it. And he was actually probably just sick human being and.

Yeah, because I don't think he committed a very good crime. No, I don't either because he was caught – there's like 14 videos that have come out of his car circling the house. So again, maybe another example of our universities being absolute failures. Yeah, like he tried to turn off his phone but like halfway on the way to commit the crime. It's like – I don't know anything about my phone. It'd be tracking me the whole time. Do you still think he had an accomplice?

Oh, I don't know. I literally go back and forth every day about this. Same with the Karen retrial. I go back and forth if she's guilty or not. I'm like, I cannot keep that straight. That one's crazy. But...

It just seems really hard that he didn't... If he didn't have an accomplice. However, the roommate that... More information is coming out about her and what she saw. And she did see him. And she did tell the other roommate downstairs that she saw a man leaving the house. So I think if there was two people, she would have been like, there was multiple people. Yeah. Where she is stuck with one person the entire time. And it's stayed consistent with the text. So kind of seems like it was just him. And he's like throwing them off. Like, did you get the other guy? But...

Interesting. I get really confused. Well, folks, thanks for joining us this week. We thank our guests, Congressman Burgess Owens, of course, the great writer. We hope to have him on again. Ari Blaff from the National Post and formerly the National Review. On behalf of Jeremy, Kylie, Sam, myself, we want to leave you with a little inspirational clip from Glenn Powell, who gave a commencement address about...

Life's about detours, and it makes it exciting and makes life more rich and full. So on behalf of Kylie, Sam, and I and Jeremy, we'll leave you this clip. Have a great weekend. No good story happens from things going right. My granddad always said this. The greatest gifts in life are not in the plans. They're in the detours.

There is no way I could plan my way to being on the stage. I have failed a lot more and a lot longer than I have succeeded. I didn't originally get the role in Top Gun that I auditioned for, and it's worked out better than I could have ever even imagined. So if you want your life to be a great story, like a great movie, if you want it filled with adventure, comedy, romance, action, thrills, when you go out there and things inevitably don't go according to plan, just remember that's when your movie's plot is just getting interesting.

That's when your protagonist is being tested. That's when the writers are working overtime to give the audience some nail-biting drama. Enjoy things not going according to plan. If you knew the ending, it wouldn't be worth the watch. No good story happens from things going right.