Morning Wire - The Trump Shift & Cabinet Confirmation Questioning | 1.17.25

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

Centers of cultural power cozy up to Trump, more nominees sit for confirmation hearings, and faith-based media is on the rise. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Black Rifle Coffee: Get 20% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code DAILYWIRE at https://www.blackriflecoffee.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Silicon Valley to Hollywood, cultural elites are warming up to President Trump. I don't understand how you say you love your country at the same time as you normalize this convicted felon, which I can say now every day. We break down the signs all around of a massive vibe shift. I'm Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, January 17th, and this is Morning Wire. Another busy day of confirmation hearings sees several more moments of contention, including with Doug Bergam and St. Scott Bessent. We do not have a revenue problem in the United States of America.

We have a spending problem. This spending is out of control. And faith-based media is booming. We look at the trends pointing to a renewed cultural interest in God. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Hey, guys, producer Brandon here.

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Head over to their site now for 20% off your purchase with Code Daily Wire. In 2016 and 2020, centers of cultural power like Hollywood and Silicon Valley signaled clear opposition to Trump and kept his administration at a distance. But that appears to be changing in 2025. Many culture critics are commenting on what's being called the vibe shift. Here with more on the vibe shift is Daily Wire Culture Reporter, Megan Basham. So, Megan, I've been hearing that term a lot. No doubt our listeners have two.

How big is this shift? You know, I don't think it would be hyperbole to call it enormous. It's totally different this time around. Elon Musk, as we would expect, is going to have pride of place at Trump's inauguration on January 20th, but he's not going to be alone. So will Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, both of whom donated a million dollars each to Trump's inaugural fund, and both will be seated on stage with him at the inauguration. And speaking of donations, Trump also raked some in from Open AI CEO and the CEO of Uber. And these are companies that up until just about five minutes ago were viewed as, well, pardon the pun, Uber progressive.

And then when we turn to car manufacturing, Toyota, Ford, General Motors, they're also kicking into Trump's inaugural fund, with Ford reportedly donating fleets of vehicles for use by high-profile guests. And if you look at the financial world, we see Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, major hedge fund managers, also throwing the returning president their support. So just a complete turn of the page here. That said, though, businesses tend to want to be on good terms with the sitting president, even if just for financial reasons. What other cultural indicators point to a vibe shift? Well, you know, this may be the most dramatic. During Trump's 2016 inauguration, planners actually had a pretty difficult time scheduling A-list performers.

Among the artists who declined to sing at that event were Garth Brooks, Celine Dion, Elton John, and then world-famous opera singer Andrea Bachelli, initially, said that he had accepted an invitation to perform, but then he backed out due to backlash in the music industry. This time, though, the Trump team has had no trouble scoring one of the biggest country artists on the planet. Carrie Underwood is going to be singing America the Beautiful at the ceremony itself, and then other major acts like Jason Aldeen and Rascal Flats are going to perform at an inaugural ball. And then maybe even more telling, I haven't really seen much backlash from the entertainment industry for any of these performers. I mean, you know, there's been a little bit of low-level grousing from a few isolated figures. Joy Behar comes to mind, but nothing significant.

And I also think if we turn and look at comedy, we see the same thing. So on New Year's Eve, comedian Whitney Cummings went on CNN and absolutely roasted the Democrats. 2024 election fried our brains. The Democrats couldn't hold a primary because they were too busy holding a body upright. Are we still rolling? Am I off? Go for it. And then just a few days later, comedian Nikki Glazer hosted the Golden Globes and took aim at Hollywood for being politically disconnected from the American public. I am not here to roast you tonight. I want you to know that. And how could I really? You're all so famous, so talented, so powerful. I mean, you could really do anything. I mean, except tell the country who to vote for. But it's okay. You'll...

He'll get them next time. In terms of actors, if we look at A-list celebrities, they are openly backing Trump in a way we never saw before. I'm thinking of people like Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and DC superhero Zachary Levi. Now, professional sports have, of course, always had a little bit more of a conservative bent than other areas of culture,

but you still mostly saw the big names keep pretty quiet about their politics. That's not happening now. Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, Danica Patrick, former Patriots general manager Bill Belichick, two-time Super Bowl champion Lawrence Taylor. They are all open Trump supporters. And if you paid any attention to this past NFL season, you noticed that it was replete with players doing that famous Trump dance. So just a completely different landscape.

Right. No doubt it feels totally different this time around. Megan, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Yesterday was another big day in Washington for the incoming Trump administration, with five cabinet nominees appearing before Senate committees. Here with an update on the latest batch of confirmation hearings is Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim Ricey. So another series of hearings coming at a kind of rapid fire this week. Give us the rundown. What happened on day three? Yeah, John, five hearings yesterday. And just like Wednesday, it was a mix of uneventful and lively.

Let's start with the uneventful. Eric Turner, Trump. Trump's pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said he would not impose DEI requirements of the agency. Lee Zeldin, Trump's pick to lead the EPA, had a surprisingly easy hearing considering his staunch opposition to environmental activism. Other than a couple of interjections from Bernie Sanders, who chimed in to make disputed claims about climate change and downplay the threat of China, the hearing was pretty smooth. Senators were even joking about which of their states had the best mountain ranges.

Oh, who won? Well, John Curtis said Utah had real mountains as opposed to the hills on the East Coast, but like Zeldon, I'm a New Yorker, so I refuse to take that sitting down. Gotcha. So let's get to the good stuff, the drama. Doug Bergam's hearing was rescheduled from Tuesday. We've had a few days of anticipation building for that one. How did that go? Well, the governor focused primarily on American energy dominance,

warning that the country was currently facing an energy crisis, and that Washington needed to work closely with state. and local governments to boost energy production. Here he was explaining why domestic energy production is crucial for national security and not bad for the environment. We've got to realize that if you shut down U.S. energy production here, it doesn't help the global environment. That's a false tradeoff.

It doesn't help because somebody else produces it someplace else, less cleaner than we do. Bergam also offered a glimpse into how he would balance those priorities with the need to preserve federal land, saying, quote, not every acre of federal land is a national park or a wilderness area. Some of those areas we have to absolutely protect for their precious stuff, but the rest of it, this is America's balance sheet.

So two very energy-focused hearings back to back. Switching gears a bit, let's talk about Scott Besson, who we've actually recently talked to on this show. How did that go? Trump's pick to run the Treasury Department

had probably the most colorful hearing of the day giving us some instantly viral exchanges with Democratic senators, like when he schooled Ron Wyden on tariffs. All through the campaign, we heard they weren't, that foreign countries were going to pay it? I think that's baloney. So your response.

Senator, I would respectfully disagree. And the history of tariffs and optimal tariff theory does not support what you're saying. Or when he responded to Wyden's question about climate change. We are in an arms race and clean energy with them. Are you going to be on the side of people who want to unravel this? Just so we can frame this for everyone in the room, China will build a hundred new coal plants this year. There is not a clean energy race. There is an energy race. And then there was the moment Sheldon Whitehouse asked Bessent to read an article he'd already read. I would actually ask you personally to read this Economist magazine article. I don't think it's complicated. No, Senator Whitehouse, you gave it to me in your office and I did read it. Good. All right,

so we're ahead of you. So I just want to make sure. I will point out to my children behind me, doing your homework's important. All right, so a little feisty, but still pretty amicable interaction. across the board. And what are we looking at today? Just one hearing. Christy Noem, Trump's pick for the Department of Homeland Security. She'll appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee later this morning. DHS is, of course, a huge job. So we'll be watching to see what Noam has to say about national security, the border crisis, and more. Indeed, and I should note that we'll be streaming that hearing on Daily Wire. Tim, thanks for reporting. You bet. Faith-based content has exploded in new media and is increasingly piercing through mainstream.

culture. A faith-based podcast has now even overtaken the Joe Rogan experience on Apple Podcasts. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey, Amanda. So we've been tracking this trend for a couple of years now, especially with the rise of Angel Studios and with Daily Wire's own contributions as with The Sound of Hope film. What is the evidence that interest in faith-based content is in fact growing? Hey, John. Well, there's faith-based content climbing the charts when it comes to total downloads and online engagement, and that's really prevalent in the podcast and app space, where there are no gatekeepers. A breakout hit from a few years ago was Ascension's Bible and Year podcast, which is actually hosted by a priest, Father Mike Schmitz. That held a spot

at number one for a total of 24 days. This year, Ascension released Rosary in a Year. That debuted at number one on Apple Podcast charts, topping even Joe Rogan. The listenership for Bible in the Year is huge, garnering well over 700 million downloads. And rosary year could be on track for similar numbers. It debuted at number one in all categories back in December, and it still remains in the top ten on the Apple charts. And there are many other Christian shows gaining steam in the podcast space. Catholic Discussion Podcasts, Pints with Aquinas,

and Bishop Robert Barron's The Word on Fire, each get millions of views just on YouTube. And Ali Beth Stuckey's Protestant Christian Perspective podcast Relatable gets comparable numbers. There's also the Catholic Prayer and Meditation app called Hallow, which has been endorsed by stars like Mark Wahlberg and Gwen Stefani. The numbers there are also staggering. That app has over 22 million installs, and around Easter time last year,

Hallow landed at number one on the Apple App Store, marking the first time a health, wellness, meditation, or religious app ever accomplished such a feat. Well, is this new for faith-based content to get these kinds of numbers? Well, alternative media in general is booming, but it's definitely new for faith-based content to hold the number one ranking on the charts. And I should also note, the reigning podcast King Joe Rogan has increasingly been bringing on Christian prospective guests. The same week, Rosary in a year was climbing the Apple charts,

Rogan dropped a highly anticipated episode with biblical scholar Wesley Huff. Just a week later, he brought an outspoken Catholic actor, Mel Gibson, who right now is working on the sequel to the massively successful Passion of the Christ. Here's a taste of Gibson and Rogan discussing the martyrdom of 11 of the 12 apostles. I regard the gospels as history, it's a verified, history. Some people say, oh, it's a fairy tale. He never exists, but he did. All the evangelists, the apostles, who went out there, every single one of those guys died rather than deny their belief. And nobody dies for a lie. Nobody. Right. The discussion of faith on Rogan's podcast is probably the biggest example of faith breaking

through the mainstream. The Joe Rogan experience audience is mostly male and not particularly religious, and the reach is massive. It's the most popular podcast. on Spotify with 14.5 million followers and episodes average around 11 million views each. Wow, but we're not envious of those numbers here. Never. So is faith actually on the rise? Yeah, so an average of all 2023 Gallup polling found that about 22% of Americans are not affiliated with religion, which is the highest has ever been.

And nearly half of all Zoomers, those born between 1997 and 2012, they're not religiously affiliated according to a 2022 UGov survey. But there is also data showing a shift toward religion. A Springtide Research Institute survey from 2023, for example, found that a third of people aged 18 to 25 believe more than doubt in the existence of a higher power. That's an increase from only about a quarter in 2021. There are also other signs like the significant spike in Bible sales or things more anecdotal,

like the trend online noticing more athletes talking about their faith. At the same time, though, it is undeniable that there is a more extreme push away from God in the mainstream. The explosion of Onlyfans, which is basically a subscription pornography site, is a prime example of this. I spoke to Father Mark Mary of Rosary in a year about that polarity in culture, and here's what he told me. One thing that can bring many people to God is a distaste or a disillusion of some of the other options out there, where it's like, okay, here are being proposed worldviews, here are being proposed lifestyles. many young people or people in general have tried it a little bit and they're like, no, that is just not what I'm looking for. And so they go looking somewhere else and it brings them to the Lord.

Obviously, there's many forces that work culturally, but it does seem clear the pull of faith has grown stronger in several public spaces. Right, and a positive trend. Amanda, thanks for recording. You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.