Off The Record with Sean Hannity

Over the last several months, Glenn has emphasized the importance of bringing together individuals who share the same goals and unifying principles so that we can learn from one another. GlennBeck.com is working to fulfill that goal by sitting down with some of the most interesting minds to give you an inside look at who they are and what they are working on.

We begin our series with conservative radio and TV personality Sean Hannity, who spoke with GlennBeck.com assistant editor Meg Storm about the “most anti-capitalist thing” he’s ever said, what he really thinks of the GOP (HINT: They are “timid” and “weak”), and what he has planned for 2014.

Below is a transcript of the interview:

Thank you so much for hopping on a call with us! We are running a new interview series in the Glenn Beck Newsletter that features interesting people –-

So you want me to give you a list!?

You actually make the list!

Oh, okay.

So I heard you have had some odd jobs over the years…

You know, I have. It’s actually the best thing that’s ever happened to me that I’ve done all these crazy jobs. I have a pretty strong blue-collar background.

I had my first job when I was 8 years old. It was a paper route. You had to be 12 to have the paper route, so we put it in my older sister’s name instead. I never liked it because I hated collecting, which probably is the most anti-capitalist thing I’ve ever said because that’s when you get paid and get your tips. But that was the hard part of the job.

When I was 12 years old, I got a job washing dishes in a place in West Hempstead, Long Island called the Norwood Inn. It was a pretty busy pub restaurant, and I would go there on Friday nights after school. They didn’t clean one thing all week long, so there were piles and piles. It was hard work. We would work until 2 o’clock in the morning. And this was kind of illegal, but we would then get a St. Pauli Girl beer and go home.

A year later, when I was 13, the chef walked out one Thanksgiving, and the owner threw me the apron and said, “You’re in.” I got promoted to be a short order cook. I still love to cook. I cook shrimp scampi, lobster tails, steak, fettuccini.

Then I worked as a busboy at the Merry Pedlar in Floral Park. On my 17th birthday they let me be a bartender, so I tended bar there and at Salisbury on the Green in Eisenhower Park. It was like a wedding factory. They would have five weddings on Friday, five in the afternoon on Saturday, five Saturday night, five Sunday mid-day, five Sunday night. I would work all those weddings, and I made a fortune. It was great.

I was paying for my own college, so all that money I made all those years went to the first year of college. One year I went to Adelphi. One year I went to New York University. Then I got into construction. I started painting houses. I did a small apprenticeship for a builder. And then I went to building school – actual college to learn how to be a contractor. I did everything in contracting you can imagine. I kind of specialized in finish work because I have a good eye.

It’s funny because my kids know me for radio and TV. My daughter recently said she wanted to paint her room. And I said I would do it, but everyone in my family is rolling their eyes like I can’t do it. One day about a month ago, I went out and bought all the materials, and two hours later, it was done perfectly. They are like, “How did you do this?” And I was like, “I used to do it for a living! What are you guys talking about?” They just didn’t know it that way. It was pretty funny.

The one constant – and this kind of ties into how I got into radio – is since I was a teenager I was listening to talk radio everyday. I would be on ladders, and I started calling talk radio shows. And I guess that is what kind of led me into talk radio in 1986 or ‘87 out in California.

Did you ever think you would end up in radio?

No, I had no intention of getting into journalism or news. I had a double major in college of economics and political science. I was really interested in politics and really interested in radio. My parents never came in and said, “Turn off the TV.” They said, “Shut that stupid radio off.”

In California was when the radio stuff started. At that point, I had built a pretty good business in Rhode Island doing rehab and finish work. There was this Rhode Island tech college that I went to, and the whole point was that I wanted to build houses. On one hand, I made a lot of money and had some pretty big contracts. I did pretty well, but it wasn’t my passion in life.

Like the Glenn Beck Radio Program, the Sean Hannity Show premiered nationally just before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

My show began day the before September 11 – September 10, 2001. It’s kind of hard because I can never say, “This is my anniversary.” It’s just not what we expected.

What was it like to be on air that day?

We couldn’t get into Manhattan to do the show that day. We ended up going to WLIR in Garden City, Long Island. It was amazing because I think they were able to wire in and get four other radio stations on the air at the same time. The amazing thing was you would walk in the halls and there were wires everywhere, but everyone got on the air and everyone got listened to that day. It was amazing.

Glenn talks about how much that experience changed his outlook. Do you feel the same way?

It changed my life in this way: I really think the world needs to understand radical Islamists. I think in the year 2014 we have let out guard down. There was a story in the Daily Caller late last week about how people with limited terrorist ties can still get into the country – as long as they’re ‘limited’. When you think of it – the people that did it that day are still at war with us, and they are still plotting and would like nothing better than to hit us again.

You also have your nightly program on Fox News. Do you prefer one medium to the other?

It’s not a preference. I love doing it all. I feel lucky to be doing it all. I’ve been at Fox since the beginning. They are really just great to me. I enjoy doing the show every night. We have fun; we talk about serious topics; we cover the issues. I am very fortunate to have the platform.

Are there differences between the way you cover a topic on radio versus the way you cover it on TV?

On TV you are always running out of time. What’s great is I go through this cathartic experience where I have gotten everything I want to say out – and more importantly, I fine-tune my argument on radio. After I go through a 20-minute monologue, I can reduce it to a specific question. And it actually really helps. It is really preparation in a way. They fit together perfectly.

You can do things on TV you can’t do on radio – make a face, shake my head, use a video. All of that helps you make your points versus explaining everything. Radio is the theater of the mind.

Between your radio and television programs and prepping for the two, what is a typical day like for you?

Today is probably pretty typical. I got up around 7am to say goodbye to kids before they head off to school. I like to start slow, and I don’t like to start with email right away. I usually start with headlines. I get early delivery of the New York Post, Daily News, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. I don’t get the New York Times anymore – I can’t stand it.

Then I move to the Internet and start answering email. I begin meetings with radio and TV – usually have a few email exchanges before we get to the actual meeting part, which is somewhere between 9 and 10 o’clock. If I have interviews that morning, I will do those. I get into hard prep after that.

I have an hour’s ride in, so I usually read and answer emails, and then I usually like to do some writing. I don’t write anything script-wise, but I like notes. I have files – a security file, an ‘other’ file. I do this news and information overload hour on radio, and it’s just to bring up topics that maybe aren’t the top stories of the day. And then I go for the top story of the day.

Once I finish radio, I do TV. Then I get home, hang out until my kids go to sleep, and I start all over again in bed with my iPad.

In the wake of Andrew Cuomo’s comments about ‘extreme conservatives’ in New York, you were vocal about your willingness to leave the state. I know Glenn would love to have you in Texas. Are you still considering a move?

The way the media played it, they said, “Oh look, he is not really leaving because he is not gone tomorrow.” I don’t know what universe they live in. The idea that I have well over 100 people on radio and TV that count on me for jobs – they have mortgages to pay, and kids in college, and car payments, and apartments. The idea that I am just going to say, “See ya” and walk away from people – I am not an irresponsible person. Number one.

Number two: I have contractual obligations that take me well through the 2016 elections. It doesn’t mean I am leaving radio or TV either. It’s just my wife and I have decided we want to leave New York. High taxes is one of the reasons. I also feel the government just takes and takes and takes too much money.

Apparently other people think so too because New York was the number one state people left in the last census – 3.5 million people left the state. New Jersey lost $70 billion worth in wealth leaving the state in a 4-year period. Liberals have destroyed the state. I don’t know if it can be fixed. It probably could, if the right person was in office. But I think people have been so conditioned to get government stuff, I am not sure if that battle can be won anymore.

Are you looking anyplace in particular?

When my son graduates high school, yeah, we are looking at Florida, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee. My wife is originally from Alabama. States like that. I have to say, Florida and Texas are the leading two candidates in my mind.

Glenn is open about how fed up he is with the establishment GOP and what he describes as the progressive element of the Republican Party --

Me too.

Do you have similar frustrations?

I am fed up too. There is a group of about 40 conservatives that are in the Republican Party that are fed up with us, but that’s it. I would argue they are timid. They are weak. They are too focused on their own power, their own reelections. They are uninspiring, and they don’t have an agenda that is going to help solve this country’s problems.

This morning, I woke up to the news that Republicans are going to leave open the debt ceiling. They do not want to fight on the debt ceiling debate. They originally were going to fight on the issue of the Keystone Pipeline or bailing out Obamacare, and now they are going to leave the debt ceiling open until March 2015. So it is no longer $17 trillion in debt. It is whatever this President decides until then.

To me, if they want to be the party of limited government. They have to fight to be the party of limited government. What they need to say is: We are the party that is going to stop robbing from our children. I have put a list of these things on my website. It is called the Conservative Solutions Caucus 2014. What is wrong with the penny plan, baseline budgeting, having a balanced budget amendment, and explaining to people you don’t want to steal from your children anymore? It seems like common sense.

Editor’s Note: You can learn more about the Conservative Solutions Caucus 2014 HERE.

Switching topics a bit, you broadcasted your radio show from TheBlaze’s New York studios last fall.

I miss my Liberty Treehouse friends!

They miss you too! I know I speak on behalf of all TheBlaze staff when I say thank you for the delicious pizza lunches. The way to our hearts is definitely through our stomachs.

I have learned that is a very common trait in radio and TV. It was just my way of saying thanks.

How was it broadcasting at TheBlaze?

Glenn was very gracious. He not only gave me the studio, while they were rebuilding mine, but he gave me his office with a view of the Empire State Building. I just got to know everybody there. I saw some old friends, made some new friends, and everybody couldn’t have been more gracious to me.

You obviously have a very busy schedule, but do you have anything you like to do in your free time?

I try to shut down as much as I can over the weekend. My kids play in a lot of national tennis tournaments, so we are traveling all over the place. When you enter the tennis world, it is a total escape.

I am not a big golfer, but I will play occasionally. I play a lot of tennis. And I try to work out as much as I can. Running and the elliptical – stuff like that.

I like to go to concerts. I love country music. I saw Florida Georgia Line recently. Brad Paisley is playing at Nassau Coliseum this week, so I might go out and try to see him.

Is there anything people would be surprised to learn about you?

Yes, but I won’t tell you.

(Laughs)

Just kidding!

Most of my private life is pretty boring. I like to read. I don’t have enough time though. I am just doing typical dad stuff.

I like to be private. I never go to dinners. I never go to Washington. I never do anything like that. I prefer anonymity. It’s silly, considering the profession I am in, but if you see me, I am going to be in sweatpants or jeans, a t-shirt, baseball hat, and glasses. By the way, I have worn that since I was little. Same outfit. Same shirt even – if I can save it, I save it.

Do you have any big plans for 2014?

I am just looking for the best people, the best candidates I can support. I don’t like that Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Mike Lee are sort of outcasts within their own party. So I am looking for other people like that, and if they show up, hopefully we can get them elected.

Okay, I am going to ask you a few ‘lightening round’ questions, so one word answers will do.

Go for it.

What’s your favorite book?

Well, I have to say the Bible because that’s the one I read the most. That is your roadmap for life.

What’s your favorite movie?

Okay, it is a tie: Gladiator, Brave Heart, and the Passion of the Christ.

What’s your favorite TV show?

Hannity on the Fox News Channel at 10pm ET. Just kidding. I love sports and Duck Dynasty. I am a big Duck Dynasty fan.

What’s your favorite food?

Steak

What’s your favorite place to visit?

Anyplace warm

Who is your favorite artist?

I would have to say Garth because he got me into country music. I am a big Garth Brooks fan.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us!

Anytime.

Hannity airs weeknights at 10pm ET on the Fox News Channel.

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.