The Eric Metaxas Show - Matthew Peterson

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

Matthew Peterson Editor in Chief of Blaze Media weighs in on the political landscape.

Folks, welcome to the Eric Metaxus show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's legacy p.m. Investments.com. Do you check your bucket list lately? Are you ready to take care of item number seven? Listening to the Eric Metaxe show? Well, welcome.

Tune in and then move on to item number eight, skydiving with Chuck Schumer and AOC. Here now is Mr. Completed Mind. bucket list at age 12 Eric Mattaxas. Welcome to hour two. Before we go to my next guest, who's the head of Blaze Media, fascinating

conversation, I want to continue my conversation with Mike Wilkerson. You can find him at stormwall.com. Mike, we haven't talked about this, but you keep hearing the, you know, pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas, I don't know what they are. They just seem like BLM wearing different, you know,

carrying different flags. You keep hearing them say it's genocide. Cornell West is talking about it's genocide. How is it genocide? In other words, the idea that the Jews would want to be committing genocide seems to me insane, but they keep saying this over and over like this is genocide. They're killing innocents. They're doing this.

They're doing that. How do you respond to people who genuinely believe that, that, you know, that, you know, the Israel defense forces are committing genocide in Gaza? They're lying. They're lying intentionally. They're taking the typical postmodernist critical theory approach and taking the meaning of a word and inverting it and turning it into its opposite meaning.

Israel, the Jewish people are the people at risk of genocide. This century, last century. What I'm trying to say is that we're now, the blinders have come back off again. We realize that that is still true today as it was 100 years ago. The Muslim world outnumbers Israel something 100 to 1, some massive number. I don't have the population in front of me.

We know that Israel doesn't have the land. It doesn't have more than tens of millions of people there in the U.S., in France, as the third largest Jewish population in the world. The idea that this is Israel's attempt at a genocide, genocide, is just preposterous. And it is intentional as they lie to trick and to deceive the people who hear it, because obviously that it is a horrifying word. And it's used over and over and over again. This is what fascinates me is that really since Biden came into the White House,

we have seen a level, I have seen a level of lying and gaslighting like I've never seen in my life. It's one thing for people to have a different narrative, a different perspective. It's one thing for politicians to shade the truth or to promise things they don't do. but this seems genuinely wicked and sick. It's like, you know, you murder my family and then you say, I was trying to murder your family. And you say, wait a minute, what, what are you talking about? And everybody's like, oh, I, you know, it's that crazy. You have Jews being butchered so sadistically, so sickly.

And instead of talking about that they have flipped it, and that there are people all around the world protesting like Israel is the problem, but they're doing it with such vigor that if you really aren't wise, you would say, well, there must be something to it. Right. And this, that deep-seated anti-Semitism, as you said, is a spiritual issue. This isn't a political issue. This isn't something that is just a propaganda.

There is something deeply rooted and deeply seated there. We don't have time to go into it, but the Bible basically describes that narrative that the nations of the earth, we'll hate the Israelites, the Jewish people forever. I find it interesting. I mean, you're familiar with the Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats, right? So in this parable, he assembles the nations of the world before him and says that those who treated the poor well,

took care of the prisoners, healed the sick, etc., they would go on one side as the sheep, those who didn't, those who hurt others, those who mistreated the poor, took advantage of the weak, were going on the other side as goats and that they were going to be subject to eternal punishment. Well, a lot of times that's interpreted as the, how Jesus will respond to an individual and how he or she lived in life. Well, it actually, the parable actually says the nations of the earth. And the point I'm making here is part, I'm not saying the other isn't true, but I'm saying part of what Jesus was saying here is that the nations will be judged on how they respond to Israel as a nation.

Okay. So throughout the Bible, right up through the end time, the revelation story, we have this classic main event setup of Babylon versus Zion, right? That that is the true conflict. And in the end, Babylon is defeated, Zion overcomes. In Islamic literature, apocalyptic literature, it is modern Babylon who attacks Jerusalem and gets rid of the Jewish anti-Christ, etc., etc. But the point I'm making here is that we are at a moment in time where the nations are going to have to choose, how will they respond to what is happening in Israel? And it is a moment of temptation for some of these nations. We already talked about Turkey, but let's talk to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others, who may have been at least willing to engage in some sort of relationship being forced to reconsider it and making a decision to align with that on the side of Babylon. as opposed to on the side of Zion. The U.S. will be forced to make that choice as well as Israel's staunch supporter. Will that continue or will we go the way of the goat nations of the world? Well, I mean, it seems like we're kind of in the middle of that right now, right?

In other words, the Biden administration has not been heroically standing with Israel in the way that, you know, George Bush would have or certainly Donald Trump, would have, they're kind of trying to, you know, they're looking around which way is the wind blowing, what can we get away with? And of course, the radical pro-Palestinian crazy left is protesting the Biden administration for their measured response. In other words, their response is too measured for those guys. Those guys want them to condemn Israel. Condem Israel and basically give up their right of sovereignty and the right to defend themselves. Yeah. I'm not happy with the Biden administration.

been pushing for, though. There's no such thing as a humanitarian pause in a situation like this. Well, that's what I'm saying. This is like more idiocy. Humanitarian pause. Like how, this is called a war. This is a war. And the idea that Israel doesn't care about civilians, look, that's a wicked lie. Israel, like the United States, goes far out of its way to care for civilians to the greatest extent possible. I don't see other nations doing that, but even that is not acknowledged. One of the things that you mentioned earlier was Iran and how, you know, going all the way back to the Obama era, how the nuclear agreement that was entered into really undermined the security of Israel, undermine the security of the U.S., frankly.

And President Trump put an end to that. But even though they weren't complying with the terms of the JCPOA, as it was called at the time, that nuclear agreement, the Obama administration gave them, I believe it was $12.6, $12.7 billion plus several hundred million of economic sanctions relief for at least coming to the table. That was ridiculous. We basically fed our enemies with the fuel that they would need to turn around and attack Israel. We have to get back to more of a Trump-like approach to Iran. Circumptances have changed somewhat, but the general idea and the Biden administration

desire to try to appease Iran, send them $6 billion more, whether we actually send it or not, or didn't get there. I'm not sure. But the intention, the approach to Iran is completely wrong. Well, the naivete of the left toward evil has always been astonishing and unbelievably destructive. I mean, there's just no doubt about it. I mean, you had that with the former Soviet Union. Today you have it in spades with Obama. and Biden's approach to Iran. They don't seem to understand the situation at all and seem to be, as you say, feeding the enemies of the United States and Israel.

60 seconds left, some final thoughts, my friend. Well, I think maybe to just close out the geopolitical point, one of the things I've been talking about all year long is that we are stepping away now from the specific issue around Israel. We are in a distinct point in history. we are at a tipping point. And it is a point of the shifting geopolitical landscape that the old lines are being redrawn.

And this creates significant danger for America, for Europe, and otherwise. Again, a lot of the policies of the Biden administration has worsened this, for example, by pushing Russia, a European and Christian nation into the hands of the Chinese and not giving them any way out, cornering them, with that as their only option.

Yeah. You know, we've lost a new, in a future conflict or at least an ally or a neutral, etc. These shifts that we're seeing now are going to continue. This is the moment we're in. Mike Wilkerson, thank you, folks. Go to stormwall.com. America is at a tipping point.

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and welcome to this program. Hey, thanks for having me. It's great to be here. Yeah, well, listen, I'm excited to talk to you, to get to know you, and for my audience to get to know you. And they need to know that the Blaze is doing amazing work. But I just want to talk to you about, you know, the news. For example, I'd like to talk to you about January 6th, and I'd like to talk to you

about the current election. I don't know where you want to start. Well, I mean, one thing. that I've been thinking about is with the election is how all of this begins with really the Russia collusion, you know, story. And I keep thinking back to how things have fundamentally radically changed in our hearts and minds and the way we think about Washington, D.C. and our government. And really, that was the moment for me, and I think a lot of other people, when we realized how far that had gone, right, that we realized where we were at as a people. And it seems like we're

still obviously haunted by those ghosts now. I mean, you know, now they're going to put Trump in jail, right? So, but it was sort of revealed then, you know? Well, that's, no, that's exactly right. And I, and we're all still trying to process it. Look, I have friends that are in solitary for having done nothing. Yeah. In January 6th, it is despicable. It is evil. The Biden administration is evil. I believe they stole the election. I mean, to be at a place in America where anything that I just said might be true is really sick. And so we're in a war for the soul of America to try to get through this. Yeah, I'm into that.

And there, I mean, I think, you know, it's scary. It's disturbing. But ultimately, there's a lot of work that's now obviously needs to be done. And that also for me was 2020. As soon as that election happened, I was at Claremont. the Claremont Institute at the time. And we did some, I think, some great stuff, some amazing stuff with the fellowship programs and created something called the American Mind that got in a lot of good trouble, as they say.

But so, but when that happened, it was sort of like, it changed everything for me because I thought, you know what, we have to build the companies that are going to compete and get people out from under Woke Capital. And we have to combine forces, because people are going to get increasingly serious as they see this happen about what are they going to do with their lives, right? Where do I live? Who do I live near? You know, what school do my kids go to? And so, you know, seeing that, it's like, where are the needs here? What do we need to build in the private sector to move things forward? And, you know, in that way, it's an exciting time because you can

combine your work life with the cause in a way that's increasingly serious, right? But it also gives a sense of purpose to people's lives. And so I don't think, you know, I think all of this, even if it gets worse and worse and worse and nothing good happens, we need to remember that, you know, someone could be born in 1900, live through two world wars and a great depression, and still have a decent life, still be happy, still raise a good family, right? And how do you do that? And that's what I want to help people do, by the way, even with Blaze. Like that, how do we live our lives in the midst of this? That's really important. And that's sort of exciting. I mean, that's my silver lining on it anyway.

Well, the only pushback I would give you, because I agree with everything you say, and that's my whole life, in a sense, what you just said, what this program is, the only pushback, and I hate that term, I hate cliches, forgive me, Lord, forgive me audience for saying pushback. Yeah, I mean, just these cliches we all jump on to.

But the only way in which I would, let's say, dissent from what you just said is that someone born in 1900 who lived through all that at the end of it was still living in America. We are now in an existential crisis. I've been saying a few times that this is the third existential crisis of our history. First is the revolution. The second is the Civil War. We are now in a third existential crisis to determine whether, in fact, we will survive this as America.

Will America survive? If America survives well, then, okay, you know, you could say, how can I live my life and how can I? But we're right now trying to process that. And I think that part of what it is to be alive today is to say, am I awake to where we are in the nation? Do I understand that I shouldn't give a dime to these woke, evil companies trying to destroy me and my family in America? do I understand that I should try to find ways to give money or to give my time or my energy or my attention or my help to these other places? And I think that is what's happening. And that does make it an exciting time. We don't know where it's going, but we need to fight in the way that George Washington fought that if Providence be with us in this great cause, we will prevail.

But it's our job to fight and to trust in Providence. Yeah, I don't disagree. I think when you look back in history, you're right. you see the end of the rainbow. You see, you know, you're still America and it's post-World War II and all of a sudden it's happiness, you know. Great time to move to California in the 1960s. But you can see the American dream, you know, sort of blossoming in some way,

even though no time is perfect. I agree with what you say. I mean, I think it is existential. I think that for a lot of people, though, for regular people, you know, sort of in the audience, what can I do? increasingly, there's a bunch of things you can do, right? And that's what we need to encourage is some of the things that you were mentioning. How do I divert money out from under woke capital? Probably one of the most important questions that as a movement or half the country needs to ask, they're still hijacking

all that money against you. And I don't think we've even seen the beginning of a serious resistance there. Correct. The first to act are, you know, either really innovative or kind of grifty. that there's the first people in the space, sort of. And some of those efforts are good, but they'll fail. And so we need a lot more, and there's a lot more coming. But it's really, I guess the opportunity is, how do you live your life? Right. Because it's so serious now.

The question is, what are you going to do? How are you going to live in the midst of this? And deep philosophic questions are being forced upon people, right? That usually they can take for granted and sort of divorce. like, well, I watched Fox News in the evening for fun, and then, you know, I live the rest of my life over here. And, and that's, you know, that's fascinating. I never thought that I'd see that, and it's sad that it has to, you know, it comes in this, in the midst of this madness. But, you know, that's an opportunity. That's an opportunity to promote the true good and beautiful

at a time when it actually becomes almost a practical existential question that you can't distract yourself from it anymore. Does that make sense? Oh, absolutely. And that's the point is that in these last three years, particularly many, many, many, many people, myself included have woken up to a new world. And it's kind of like a rolling series of horrors where you wake up to this and you wake up to this and you wake up to it. And you start realizing that the world in which I grew up was, is in part gone and is in part always an illusion. I naively. fooled myself into thinking that, you know, the Bush family were conservatives who cared about America in the way that I care about America or who cared about the unborn in the way that I care about the unborn. And I just use them as one example. But I'm saying that a lot of us in the last few years have just realized suddenly that a lot of people we thought were on our team are not. There's a reason that Trump is so far ahead in the polls because people realize,

we're in a different day right now. We need people who understand that there's this thing called the swamp, the deep state, the unit party. It's real. You know, you heard people talk about it in the past and I thought, oh, come on, you know, I'm going to vote for John McCain. I'm going to vote for Mitt Romney. And, you know, that's good.

And maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But the point is we kind of kicked the can down the road. And here we are with a weaponized FBI, with people languishing in prison in America, but who are effectively political prisoners, with the president of the United States being targeted in a way that even Democrats realize this is political. I mean, that is wicked.

It's a level of ugliness we've simply not seen and how you respond to it. But it has had the advantage of waking a lot of people up, as you said. Yeah, yeah, it's not how anyone would prefer to be woken up. But so, yeah, January 6th is also one of those things where I like what my colleague here, Jason Whitlock, says about it. I mean, he says, people want me to shut up about it, but I don't think it's not over.

It's not something. You can't look at the polls, which some Republican politicians are doing and say, only a few people care about it. That's not the whole story. There's something about what happened there, right? It's key to everything that's going on now. It's how they're prosecuting the president in the United States because they made this argument that these people were, in fact, you know, insurrection.

and traders. And if that is allowed to stand, right, if we don't fight back on that narrative, that is going to just grow and grow and grow. We already see it happening. And, you know, if the worst happens in 24 and beyond, like they maintain power, they're going to be locking a lot more people up. And there's no doubt about that, right? So the narrative is already established. So we have to explode that. We have to explode that. We have to give to the truth of the truth about January 6th. If we don't, you know, to my mind, like, it's clear where this goes. And it goes to more people being locked up because they're political dissenters in their own country. We're talking to Matthew Peterson, editor-in-chief of the Blaze Media. Don't go away. Tell me why Relief Factor is so

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Talking to Matthew Peterson, editor-in-chief of the Blaze Media. Matthew, what you just said, this is why I say to people, you sort of have a year. In other words, if you do not awaken and take action now, for sure they're coming for you. If you don't believe that, you're a fool and you will be sorry. And this is what Dietrich Bonhofer was saying, essentially, to the German church in the early 30s, in 33, particularly, saying like if the church doesn't rally against this wickedness now, you'll be sorry because it'll be too late next year. literally that is true. The idea that people have been put in prison, in jail for doing nothing, who are political prisoners, this is an astonishing moment in American history. And if there are people who don't care, those people are on the side of evil. And I feel that we're at a time right now

where to say anything less is to do a disservice to the situation. People need to understand. People need to understand. If you're not aware of this or if you don't care, you are part of the problem. You are no different than the Germans who looked the other way. When there was a moment to do something, they didn't do it, and then the moment passed. That is literally where we are. So what you just said at the end of the last segment, that this is going to get worse, they're going to put more people. That's what the Nazis did. They put people in concentration camps. In the beginning, it was just you know, that weird neighbor and you didn't care. And then it was someone else. And then you realized, oh, I'm not going to say anything.

And then it's game over. Everybody's silenced. Everything is over because everybody's scared. That's just, we're just at the lip of that happening in America. And it's astonishing to say that, but it's true. Yeah. No, I agree. And that's why the first thing I did, really, when I got to Blaze as editor-in-chief

was to bring Steve Baker aboard his contributor who sat through the Oathkeeper's trial. He was there at January 6th. and he was there that day covering it. Not even a Trump guy, you know. I don't think he was, like, opposed to the rally, but he was kind of there out of curiosity, sort of a libertarian, you know, blogger type musician this whole life.

And he saw what happened. He stayed in the trial for it, covered it when the mainstream media wouldn't. And, and now, you know, we're unleashing some stories about what happened in that trial and it's just unconscionable. Because once you see the video, right, which they have hidden successfully up to now.

You see that some of these officers who were testifying that these people were, you know, antagonistic were in fact lying. And, you know, we have two guys who looks like they committed perjury. And up until now, no one said anything. They won't be able to ignore this one, though, because we're going to keep pushing on this truth about January 6th investigative series. I like this one because it's a concrete story of, you know, one. one group of people and the oathkeepers and the proud boys were supposed to be the two groups that were behind the insurrection, right, which is hilarious. I mean, the oathkeepers, I mean, I think Stuart Rose, he wanted Trump to call the Insurrection Act, right, to invoke it, which is the

most American way, you know, and he did it. So Trump did not do that. And so, you know, the oathkeepers were not doing anything. But some of them wandered into the Capitol and then tried to help people and then they were they were they were they were they were they were in federal prison and these are the kinds of stories that we need to just unravel them get them in people's faces so people realize this is not a joke this is not a partisan point you don't have to care you don't it doesn't even matter what you think about Donald Trump if do you want to live in a country where this happens do you want to live in this country where this is okay that's what we that's what we have to to hammer home and I do believe that um you know it's half the country plus obviously there's a

40% floor on either side, right, where they're not going to budge. But, but, you know, in between, there's people who no one wants to live in that country. I mean, no one wants to live in that world, like you say. But they are, they are silent, especially like upper middle class, aspirational people. They know the big bosses don't want them to talk this way in the big professions, right? They'll get fired. And, of course, in D.C., you can see the Republicans like, well, you know, I don't know. we're not supposed to say this, right?

Which is why Trump is, you know, still out in front. So, you know, I mean, I think media has a big part to play. And we have to focus on unraveling some of these particular stories. Well, and that's, that gets to where we are right now, is that we have seen, we are seeing the death of the old order. I mean, where anybody would take the New York Times seriously or where most people would take We now know that they are, it is now pure propaganda. They're insane. They've always, they've always leaned left. Similar with, you know, your doctor. We used to trust our doctors.

I no longer trust the medical establishment. That's a shocking, sad thing, but it's a reality that they were pushing the vaccines didn't care, didn't seem to care, that there may be dramatic harms as a result of getting the vaccine. This information is coming out more and more thanks to very brave voices, Dr. Peter McCulloch and on and on, Dr. Simone Gold, Naomi Wolf and on and on and on, people that really caught hell from the media establishment, from the reigning establishment, liberal and non-liberal. They bravely pushed and pushed and pushed. And so now we're starting to see, oh, oh, oh, there's there are these things.

So a lot of things are changing. And as a result of it, what you said earlier is that we're beginning to see, you know, the entrepreneurial spirit of some people is arising and saying we need alternative media outlets. If I have money, I need to give it to an alternative media outlet or to this, you know, freedom fighting group, you know, which is whether a legal group, like Alliance Defending Freedom or whatever. But the point is I think people are aware that we're in a war. right now and we need to create our own institutions and that's part of where we are right now. We'll be right back folks talking to Matthew Peterson.

Don't go away. I'm back talking to Matthew Peterson, editor-in-chief of the Blaze media. Matthew, what are you aware of when we're talking about, you know, creating a new world here where we see these institutions that are arising in response to the nightmare that we've seen in the last few years, that there are people stepping up in every sphere? What are you seeing along those lines? Yeah, this was the last two, three years of my life since 2020. It was in a right-leaning venture firm and created some media assets that Blaze acquired.

I came over here as editor-in-chief. So that was two years, last two years, I regard as like the early time of this commercial cultural movement. That's my only word for it. It's not snazzy, but that's what it is. It's a commercial cultural movement that I've actively, you know, cards on the team. able to try to help foster in every way possible. It doesn't have a name, but it's real. And so what you get is in every sector people who, you know, people who are talented, you know, successful in their jobs. They're not necessarily, you know, leaving Woke Capital because of its economic interests, right?

They're people who are successful in media, finance, technology, who see how bad it is and have been dying on the vine for the last however many years and are finally one by one sort of being activated. And the thought is, well, I can't stay here. I don't want to stay here. I'm willing to move to a red state. I'm willing to work with people of, you know, a lot because they're somewhat talented and there's some revenue there. I'm willing to take a pay cut, right? But I want to build differently. I want to build outside from under these companies. And also the companies themselves have sort of beenasticized into these places where no one wants to work, not only because of wokeness, but just because of how they're run.

You know, there's a lot of it. I don't like using these phrases either, but like, you know, toxic leadership or whatever. There is a lot of that. There's a lot of narcissists and, you know, the whole way the executive suites work has changed. This is not your dad's, you know, America. And big corporations like, you know, Vanguard and whatever run the thing anyway. No one really cares about the company itself, right? It's just being used for parts.

There's a lot of that. It's created this awful environment. So the opportunity is, and what you see happening is increasingly, serious people, right, are banding together to create new things, whether it's a classical Christian school in their community or whether it's a tech company that's trying to actually get people together to get married for life. And, you know, I know five different dating apps, right, and their founders who are trying to create something where people, you know, that runs against the tinderization of America and dating. And some of them are, you know, religious, some of them aren't,

but they're trying to do it. Now, here's the problem. No one knows about that. Right. Because no one's shining a light on this commercial cultural movement, right? Right. That you and I know is happening. But the way they work is, you know what ESG is when you see it, right?

You know it in the advertisement. You can tell right away the world in which you, the moral universe in which you and have it. Our side doesn't have that yet. And that is what we need to build. And that's what we need to shine a light on for our audience. Well, that's, I'm right there with you. And I want to do everything I can. to encourage it.

You know, part of that is having certain guests on this program to some extent having you on because people need to be aware that there are great things happening. I travel around the country and I am constantly being encouraged. I bump into groups that are just amazing, doing amazing things, but I realize no one knows about them. You know, so sometimes I'll have them on this program. But that is the challenge, right, is to get the word out. We don't have, you know, the megaphones that we might, but we're doing what we can.

What, I mean, I guess that's part of what you guys are doing at the Blaze Media. Yeah, so, I mean, so my contribution to this is let's create the network that starts to shine a light on this movement. So I think lifestyle is really important. I don't really like that word. It seems like a 1960s selfish word, but I'm going to style my life, you know. But I like to call it. way of life content. You know, how do I live as a man, as a woman, as a parent in the midst of this morass? And, you know, it's a broad-based coalition. It's, I know people who are not religious,

successful, like a guy contacted me once late in life. He has a toddler. And he goes, I don't trust any of the parenting advice from these lunatics. Can you give me, you know, I want to talk to some trad mom with five kids about how to raise a toddler, you know, and what's normal and what's not. because I don't trust, you know, the experts for a good reason. So I think way of life align, we call it, and exploring products and services for people who don't hate you, products and services that we're not getting paid for, that are not sponsors, that we're just kind of roaming around,

looking at what's cool and what's not. We're going to have a lot more of that kind of content. Entertainment, I want a new entertainment vertical that tells me, just like my audience, everything that's going on that's just not crazy when it comes to movies, music, and everything else. Turns out, as you say, there's a lot of it. It's just no one wants to put it in one place. We need to do that for our audience.

We need to do more investigative work, like the January 6th story. I mean, that's the big thing. That's the big dollar item, too. It costs money. And then, you know, sports. Jason Whitlock has fearless, you know, kind of his vertical brand. I mean, there's a lot of athletes saying important things. Riley Gaines and people like that, you know, speaking out.

We need to cover all of that. We need to cover this movement and just shine. a light on it and provide, you know, answers to the real questions that people are asking. And I don't think, in some ways, it's, it's not even that complicated, right? I mean, profiles. I want to see profiles of interesting people who are doing these interesting things. Yeah. Why don't we do that on the right? I see very few profiles, you know, a show like this is really important because in a sense, that's what you do, right? But it's very, you don't see that in a media network, someone shining a light on interesting founders or, you know, a family that started one of these like small charter schools and it's been really successful, right?

How did they do it, right? Less op-eds and more of that is what I'd like to see. Yeah, that's, I mean, again, that is a big part of what we try to do on this show. And again, it's limited. I do Socrates in the city, which is another thing. But I feel that I keep meeting people who are doing great things. And I get encouraged by that. And I want to pass an encouragement on to my audience.

But I do think that we need more and more and more of all of this kind of stuff. And we do need to win this next election. We need to get very, very serious and intentional because that is something we can all focus on right now. If we allow them to get away with what they have done, which is so despicable, we deserve to lose America. and we will lose America. We are losing America. And so we just got a short segment coming up. I want to talk to you a little bit about the election coming up. Folks, I'm talking to Matthew Peterson with the Blaze Media. This, as you know, is the Eric Metaxus show. Please go to Eric Metaxus.com. Sign up for the newsletter because we send these interviews to you. And we can use your help in spreading the word,

sharing this and other interviews we do on your social media. That's something you can do. So go to Eric with taxes.com. We'll be right back. Welcome back talking to Matthew Peterson, editor-in-chief of the Blaze Media. So we have an election coming up. We've seen a lot of stars rise. I mean, it's a shock to see the new speaker come out of nowhere. He seems to be just a real hero. We have people like Matt Gates, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Beaubert, people that are just firebrands. Josh Hawley has been amazing. There are people that clearly, do get it, but there aren't enough of them. What do you see happening in the next year? You know, I think that there's a lot of onlook-for leadership that will continue to rise.

I think in times like this, you don't really know who the real leader is. Politicians tell you what you want to hear. I don't really trust them as a rule, even if they're on my side. But these are times where, you know, you're going to find out that there's not everyone is corrupt. and some of these people are going to rise as the pressure rises. And so I do think that there'll be on look for leaders will continue to pop up out of nowhere and we'll find out what people are made of. But beyond that, here's the big problem for everybody, news for the right and left. The story here, the narrative is still, what are they doing to Donald Trump?

And, you know, I almost feel like there's kind of a Trump fatigue among, you know, the ruling class right and left. but, you know, the inexorable martyrdom, really, is what they're doing, right? The lawfare persecution, just moving forward and moving forward and trying to put him in prison, that is still the central narrative or story, the true story of what's going on, whether anyone likes it or not. And so this is really about, you know, are they going to be successful in doing that? Our leader is going to rise up to say, this is shameful and happening. in America or not. And in the meantime, you know, the Republican Party, you know, they haven't,

they have not prepared the way for November 2024 in a satisfactory manner, in my opinion, at all. There's many fundamentally unsurious people in charge of this thing. You don't have to say Ronna McDaniel out loud. We get it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I have no idea what qualifies her for that position. I've none, none. If anything, you know, you're fired. That's what it should be. I don't understand. I don't understand that. So there's a lot of dark, cynical things I can say about where this is going. But the other aspect to think about is that there's a lot of unlooked-for turns happening in moments like this in history.

And nothing is set in stone. And we're in a very volatile time, but that means that things can turn for the good as well as the bad. And, you know, they don't really have this thing as locked down as they'd like. That's the whole reason that they have to put Trump in prison and prosecuted, right? So I think, and I think a lot of people are very upset, and there's still some time before it really clamps down. But like you said, I mean, I think this is a very, very important year in America's history. I don't think there's any doubt about it. In fact, again, I can't think of a year that is more important than the year ahead.

And people need to understand, ladies and gentlemen, this is. it. This is it. What you do this year, that goes in your record. We have crossed the starting line. We're in the race. We're in the battle. And if you don't do everything you can now, you will live to regret it because there are many people in history that they kind of thought, well, I don't know. Let's see which way the wind blows. If that's your attitude at this point, you're working with the dark side, whether you know it or don't. So I'm here to tell you, hopefully you should know it. You're working with the dark side if you're not working against the dark side. It is that dramatic where we are right now. And if I didn't know the story of Dietrich

Bonhoeff and what happened in Germany, I couldn't speak so clearly. But unfortunately, I know that story or fortunately I know that story. Matthew Peterson really just helpful and encouraging. God bless you. God bless the Blaze media. And we will be in touch with you in the future. Grateful to have you doing what you're doing. Thank you. Thank you so much, Eric.