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Don Imus: Trump Didn’t Want to Serve in Vietnam Because He’s a 'Coward'

September 08, 2017
Staff

WRITER

Legendary radio host Don Imus brought his usual vim to commentary on President Donald Trump’s job performance on radio Friday.

Glenn attempted to add something uplifting to the conversation by talking about people helping each other after Tropical Storm Harvey devastated parts of Texas and left tens of thousands of homes flooded.

“The world has been at each other’s throats for the last couple of years, and then we’ve had a nice break where people come together and they love each other and it’s nice,” he said.

But “nice” isn’t exactly the Imus brand. “How’s your boy Trump doing?” Imus asked.

“Don’t even start with me,” Glenn returned.

Imus asserted that he was just waiting for Trump “to say ‘I’ve had enough’ and go back to Trump Tower.” He pointed to the president’s Twitter habit as a weakness, asking why he needs constant validation on the size of crowds hearing him speak.

“It’s not the same guy I knew; I knew him for 40 years,” Imus said.

The longtime radio host then proceeded to trade barbs with Glenn while knocking Trump for reportedly dodging the draft for the Vietnam War.

“You know why he didn’t want to go to Vietnam? ‘Cause he’s a coward,” Imus said, recalling Trump’s disparaging comments on veteran and POW Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “I was in the jungles of Vietnam … so people like you could have these stupid little radio programs,” he said.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Every time I -- I say something like what I'm about to say, I am -- in my head, it is always preceded with, the guy is still alive. Don Imus joins us on the program now.

Now, hello, Don, how are you?

DON: Not good.

GLENN: So, Don --

DON: First of all, I'm on hold, listening to these commercials. You got one for the IRS, if you're in debt, haven't paid your taxes. Then the next part is a blood thinner deal. And then the last part, they give you if you're 85 -- or, you get a deal on a -- on a funeral -- who is listening to your program?

GLENN: You. Those were fed down the phone line for you.

(laughter)

So, Don, first of all, were you affected by the hurricane? Because you live in Texas. Most people don't know that.

DON: We live in Buddham (phonetic), Texas. We have a ranch here, in Washington County. We're 85 miles from Houston. We got 30 inches of rain here at the ranch. My son, Wyatt Imus, goes to Rice University, which is right in the middle of Houston. And my other son flies fighter jets out of Pensacola.

GLENN: So maybe this is God just trying to wipe the Imus family out. Have you thought about that?

DON: It does sound that way.

GLENN: Yeah, it does sound that way.

DON: So we weren't flooded here because we're at a high point in the county. But, you know, 30 inches of rain, like the house is -- 11,000 square foot house, got a brand-new copper roof on it, and the roof started leaking.

So, but nothing like -- hey, what's this Operation Barbecue thing you're doing?

GLENN: We thought that it would be, you know, helpful to go cook some food. So we're -- we are supporting the Operation Barbecue, a group that goes out. And they're actually doing at the convention center, they've provided I think 335 meals since this thing began.

DON: Is that your deal?

GLENN: We're one of their big supporters, yes.

DON: Okay. And who handles the money?

GLENN: Not me.

DON: Okay. Well, that's fine.

GLENN: Yeah.

DON: But, I mean, is the Red Cross involved or FEMA?

GLENN: I'm not sure how -- I'm not sure what everybody is doing. I know that we're supporting a couple of them. Operation Barbecue. Team Rubicon. Do you know anything about them? They're an amazing group.

DON: No, I don't.

GLENN: They're a group of veterans all over the country, that when there's a need, they just all kind of come in. And we've flown I think 1100 of them in from all over the country. And they're just going in, and they're mucking out these houses.

DON: Well, Deirdre Imus, you know, my lovely wife. You've met her.

GLENN: Yeah.

DON: Well, we call her El Chapo around the ranch here. We wanted to give some money, but there's certain organizations we won't give any money to. So maybe off the air, you can text me.

GLENN: Sure.

DON: Tell me who it is. We'll be happy to send you some money.

GLENN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll give you some --

DON: Is O'Reilly on?

GLENN: Oh, jeez. Here we go.

STU: No, we didn't. We didn't.

DON: What do you mean, oh, jeez, here we go?

GLENN: Because, Don, the world has been, you know, at each other's throats for the last couple of years. Then we've had a nice break, where people come together and they love each other and it's nice. And, you know, I did question my wisdom inviting you. I thought, well, you know, all good things have to come to an end. Let's just pile Don Imus into this and reverse the thrusters.

DON: Well, we all know what O'Reilly did, and we all know what I did when I got fired for trying to be funny, which I shouldn't have been. And Bill wound up okay. But, you know, listen -- the thing I was thinking about this morning is we don't know what you're doing.

GLENN: Wait. What?

DON: There's something that you're doing that we, the great unwashed out here, that we don't know. You could have a couple of midgets -- you can't say midgets, Imus -- you could have a couple of little people in your basement with a pony and two hookers. And who -- but we wouldn't know about it.

GLENN: Right. You wouldn't have any idea. I've hidden it pretty well, haven't I?

DON: Yes, you have. But here's the thing: You can bet on this, it's going to come out. It's going to come out. So here's what I'm saying to you: Tell us now. Tell me.

(laughter)

GLENN: I -- I really --

DON: What are you doing? What are you doing to the pony, Glenn? Glenn, did you try to kiss a pony?

(laughter)

STU: Try? Yeah. Even ponies won't kiss me.

DON: How is your boy Trump doing?

GLENN: My boy Trump?

DON: Yeah.

GLENN: Don't even start with me on my boy Trump. You're the one who writes to me, telling me how much you love him.

DON: You know, it's not the same guy I knew. I knew him for 40 years. Not the same guy. God Almighty.

GLENN: So did he -- you know, there's some people saying he's become the -- yesterday was his first day as a Democrat in office. Do you buy into that?

DON: No. I don't -- I mean, I'm just waiting for him to say, I've had enough, go back to Trump Tower, which, by the way, has ruined his name and everything else. The guy is a moron. Please stop it.

GLENN: Wait a minute. I thought this was your guy?

DON: Well, he's not my guy anymore, Glenn. So now what?

You know, I was done with him when he jumped on McCain. Not his -- you know, his kind of war hero is not one that's captured. Are you kidding me? This fat, blubbered-tittied moron has got five deployments to keep from going to Vietnam. You know why he didn't want to go to Vietnam? Because he's a coward. You know who did go to Vietnam, got shot down over Vietnam? John McCain, that's who. You know that I was in the Marine Corps. I was in the jungles of Vietnam, killing the Congs so people like you could have these stupid little radio programs. What are you talking about?

(laughter)

DON: Well, actually I played the bugle in the Marine Corps band.

GLENN: Right. But you were there. You were there. You were there.

DON: Yeah.

GLENN: So, Don, what has changed in Donald Trump since -- you say you've known him for 40 years. This is not the guy you knew. What's different about him?

DON: Well, I just thought he was a lot smarter. And, you know, once you're president, you wouldn't think you would have to defend every slight. You wouldn't think you would have to validate your presence on the planet with tweets about how big the crowd was or this -- I mean, you know, I had gotten into a huge fight with him that the press covered back 25 years ago. He was a bachelor then. And he was posing for some -- I forget what it was. And I said he had grandma arms. You know, he had the big old flap on his arms.

GLENN: Yeah.

DON: And he was going bankrupt in his casinos. So I said the boy was going from the back of the limo to the front of the limo. So he took great offense to that. And said, now that I wasn't drinking liquor anymore and doing cocaine, I wasn't as funny as I used to be. Howard Stern was a lot better. And Stern voted for Hillary Clinton, but...

GLENN: Is there any -- is there any difference though on, A, how you treated Bill Clinton? I'll never forget the flop sweat on Don Imus.

DON: There wasn't any flop sweat. What are you talking about?

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I felt like I was living -- you know, if I would watch it again, there would be no difference between this and Hurricane Harvey. There was so much water coming off of you.

DON: I had the guts to stand up there and hammer his ass.

GLENN: You did.

DON: And, by the way, I played the speech the next day on-air. I killed it though. What are you talking about?

GLENN: I agree you did. But it -- I've never seen you squirm like that. It was --

DON: Well, no. He was glaring at me. And Hillary, she was glaring at me. And they were thinking about walking out. They were so --

GLENN: Right. So what is the difference -- what is the difference between what you said there and their reaction? And when you talk about grandma arms and to, quote you, blubber titties, what is the --

DON: Well, I don't know. I don't know how to answer that question. Don't ask me difficult questions.

(laughter)

No, but I don't want -- I like you. I like to call your program. My wife and I wanted to give some money to this deal, if it's not some scam. But I didn't call up to take an SAT test.

GLENN: It's not a scam. All right. All right. How much money are you going to give?

DON: I'd give 100 grand if we would -- I'd give 100 grand, if it's legitimate.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: Well --

STU: It is legitimate.

GLENN: It is legitimate, Don. Not a dime goes through --

DON: I want to know who handles the money. If the Red Cross or FEMA handles any of the money, then I'm not giving any money.

GLENN: No. FEMA and the Red Cross -- actually my charity was started because I don't trust FEMA and the Red Cross.

DON: All right. Good.

GLENN: And so there's not a dime that comes to us. If you mark it for Hurricane Harvey or Irma or whatever, 100 percent of the proceeds go right directly to the things that we have earmarked on the site. And you can even say, "You know, I want it to go to Operation Barbecue or Team Rubicon." Or --

DON: You can -- you can -- you have my email address. I get your whiney little email from you all the time. Send me a note about who handles the money, once it leaves Mercury Arts and whatever. And where to send the money. And we'll give you $100,000.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: That's nice of you, Don. That's a little cheap now that you've gotten rid of the cancer farm. You know, I thought you would be a little more generous.

DON: You really are just a worm.

(laughter)

DON: We always knew you were weird.

(laughter)

DON: I just --

(laughter)

Little fat boy, sitting there getting a lap dance from...

GLENN: All right. All right. All right. Don -- all right.

DON: I got to go.

GLENN: Goodbye, Don.

(laughter)

STU: That was Imus in the Morning. Imus.com. You get the updates on the -- on whatever Glenn is doing with that pony in the basement. We have that coming up, along with Doris Goodwin.

He's awesome.

GLENN: He is great. I have to ask him for permission to print the emails -- the email exchanges from us over the years. For like ten years, we've been going back and forth on emails. And they're the most cruel, politically incorrect, just brutal beatings of one another.

I mean, just beating of one another.

STU: Relentless.

GLENN: Hysterical.

STU: And there's not a moment of saying, no, but, you know, we like you. There's none of that.

GLENN: No, I said that -- remember this? The first time we went back and forth, and I -- you know, I thought, okay. I'm going to write -- Don gave me his email address. I can't write something nice. Because that's not who he is. So I gave him a backhanded compliment. And he came back even stronger. And so then we just got into this war. And then about -- I don't know. About six emails in, I decided to say, but really, you're a great guy and everything else. And he just went off on me. Really? Really? This is who you are? You really need to think you need to say that? Don't ever write to me again.

I mean, he's just brutal in all ways.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: But what I really like about him is he's a really nice guy, and he can take the punch as hard as he can throw it.

STU: Yeah. And also say, you should not brush off the fact that he just offered $100,000 for Harvey relief. You know, I mean, it doesn't --

GLENN: He spends that in medication every month.

STU: That's true. But, I mean, that's -- every week is probably more accurate.

GLENN: Probably every day. But -- all right. Well, but we accept it. And that is really nice. That's very nice of him.

Is the U.N. plotting to control 30% of U.S. land by 2030?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

A reliable conservative senator faces cancellation for listening to voters. But the real threat to public lands comes from the last president’s backdoor globalist agenda.

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

  Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor | Getty Images

As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: FIVE steps to CONTROL AI before it's too late!

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

  

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

   USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

   Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

 

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.