Will Cain Country - Jimmy Kimmel Fired: Cancel Culture or Consequence? (ft. Dave Smith & Ted Barham)

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

Story #1: After Jimmy Kimmel’s show is taken off air after his false and tasteless comments about Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin, many on the Left are freaking out about Cancel Culture. But is this an attack on free speech or simply a business decision after years of tanking ratings? Will breaks down the hypocrisy of the Left suddenly “defending” free speech after years of cheering on Cancel Culture. Story #2: Stand-up Comic and Host of 'Part Of The Problem,' Dave Smith joins Will to talk free speech, media bias, and the cultural fallout of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Smith calls out liberals who politicize tragedy and explains why Americans can’t trust legacy institutions. And don't get him started on former President Barack Obama. Story #3: Christian minister and resident of Dearborn, MI, Ted Barham sits down with Will to share his story from Dearborn, Michigan, after clashing with the city’s Muslim mayor over renaming a street after a terrorist sympathizer. Barham explains why he spoke out, the backlash he’s faced, and why he insists on standing for truth and freedom while offering Christian love. Subscribe to 'Will Cain Country' on YouTube here: ⁠⁠Watch Will Cain Country!⁠⁠ Follow 'Will Cain Country' on X (@willcainshow), Instagram (@willcainshow), TikTok (@willcainshow), and Facebook (@willcainnews) Follow Will on X: ⁠⁠@WillCain (00:00) Will’s Monologue: Jimmy Kimmel Fired — Cancel Culture or Consequence(18:00) Dave Smith on Free Speech, Hypocrisy, and Media Bias(29:00) Smith: Obama, Rhetoric, and the Left’s Politicization of Tragedy(50:15) Pastor Ted Barham on Clashing with Dearborn’s Mayor(56:00) Barham: Islam, Freedom, and Christian Love(1:13:00) Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1. Fired. Fired Jimmy Kimmel. Goodbye First Amendment. Hello fascism. Or Fafo. Just Good Business by ABC. Two, that conversation with comedian Dave Smith. Three, a Christian pastor in Dearborn, Michigan was told by the Muslim mayor that he's not welcome in Dearborn.

Get out. We're joined by that Christian pastor, Ted Barham. It is Wilcane Country, streaming live at the Wilcane Country YouTube channel, the Fox News Facebook page, Terrestrial Radio, and always on demand at Spotify or Apple. We're blowing up on YouTube. Will Cain Country. We want you to join us. We want you to bookmark, subscribe, and like, make sure that you join the Willisha. Hyperbole, hyperventilation, authoritarianism, the rise of fashion.

That's what you will hear, for example, from Congressman Eric Swalwell on CNN. Yeah, Congressman, I see you are wearing a hat. What does that hat say? You're right. I am, John. I was a guest on the Jimmy Kimmel show. He every night has a right to come into any house that wants to watch and entertain Americans, just as Greg Gutfield on Fox has a right to be not funny and go on his network and entertain Americans. It's a part of who we are, John, and frankly, it should shake every American that the president of the United States is out there firing comedians who make fun of him. That is not who we are, and every American should care and stand up to this. Jimmy Kimball is suspended indefinitely by ABC. Why? Is it the rise of fascism in the end of the First Amendment, or is it Fafo just good business? Let's get into it now with story number one.

The freak out could not be more complete. The hyperventilating could not be more audible across CNN and across X like this post from viral content creator Midas Touch on X. Bye-bye, First Amendment. Hello, fascism. That's exactly what you would have heard had you tuned in to the still broadcasting, shockingly today in the day and age of Goebbels. The still broadcasting, CNN. I give you the breaking news from Brian Stelter.

This is so serious, Aaron. America is a less free place if late-night comedians cannot do and say what they want. Of course, they can be tuned out. People can change the channel. That's how we vote. That's how we have our say in America. But this really does have a chilling effect across the American media. And it's not just me saying that we've heard from the group fire in the past few minutes,

the free speech group fire saying, quote, the government pressured ABC and ABC caved. Quote, we cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president, but until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are. Must have a backbone against government pressure, Brian Stelter. Also, by the way, you would hear from Van Jones. This is a red line that has been crossed for our industry, for the First Amendment, for the right of people to speak. There was nothing hateful about what was said. And even hateful speech is protected.

This is not acceptable. If you are going to run a media organization that's called. a news organization, you have to stand up to government bullying anywhere in the world and certainly in the United States. Jeffrey Tubin took his hands out of his pants long enough to stop pleasuring himself on Zoom and made his way back to CNN as well to talk about the firing of Jimmy Kimmel. It was not about the murder. It was about criticism. He was criticizing. He was mocking the president and the president's

political movement, MAGA. So what we have here is the administration cracking down on someone for criticizing them, which is much worse than the government cracking down for some sort of, you know, offensive conduct relating to good taste. This is about criticism of the administration that is getting the network in trouble. And that's a much more sinister thing. Let's just play the line again. If there was any tolerance or lack of tolerance in American political landscape, it certainly would be the case that a man who masturbated over Zoom on a work call to dozens of colleagues at CNN would not just be suspended but permanently shamed away from ever, once again, gracing a microphone. But here we are today, hearing from Jeffrey Tubin.

Just two days ago, the Attorney General of the United States suggested that the government would go after quote-unquote hate speech. there was near universal condemnation from the right. You name the outlet, Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, Will Cain, and Attorney General Pambondi was denounced as not understanding the nature of the First Amendment, not understanding exactly that we simply don't have hate speech in America. You saw the rights dedication, even against one of their own, against any infringement on free speech. And yet today, the people who,

who have celebrated the firing of private citizens, who've combed through the tweets of soon-to-be-drafted athletes, who have sicked a censorship industrial complex coordinated by an administration and a government over the past five years on not just celebrities and people with a microphone, but actual real citizens who have a freedom to speak their mind today tell you that we've seen the end of the First Amendment. forgive me if I'm choking on the hypocrisy. Who is hypocritical? Those who have never once cared over the past decade about the concept of free speech or those as recently as two days ago denounced the words of the sitting Republican Attorney General. Is what we just saw, what we are now hearing from these commentators?

It's all over X. Chris Hayes, host on MSNBC, the countries where comedians can't mock the leader on late-night TV are not really ones you want to live in. Or Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, a free and Democrat society cannot silence comedians because the president doesn't like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. An elected official needs to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act. Comedian Ben Stiller, actor, Ben Stiller, this isn't right. Sophia Bush, the First Amendment doesn't exist in America anymore. Period. Fascism is here, and it's chilling.

What really happened with Jimmy Kimmel? Two nights ago, Jimmy Kimmel took to his late-night television show and said this in the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk. We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Maga Gang desperately trying to characterize this. kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from. Jimmy Kimball said on Monday night that the killer was MAGA. This was a verifiable lie, an ugly and blatant lie. This was against all available evidence, even before the press conference from the Utah

county attorney. This was smearing half of a country who had just experienced one of the most horrific events they'd ever seen in their lifetime when it comes to actual destruction of free speech. A 30-0.6 bullet through the throat of a friend. And Jimmy Kimmel thought it appropriate to go out there on that night and reiterate an echo the fevered-pitched dreams of the like of Keith Oberman, one of the most ugly human beings on the face of this planet, who yesterday posted on X, go to hell, Sinclair Broadcasting, you'll meet there, Charlie Kirk. This type of individual was the one on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, repeating with scant evidence that Charlie Kirk's assassin came from the right.

By Monday night, and even in the moment, there was clear evidence, including the engravings on the bullet casings. That was highly, highly unlikely. And in fact, there was evidence already pointing in a different direction, a direction that was soon to be confirmed by authorities in Utah. And yet Jimmy Kimmel went on late night and said that. He went on to mock the President of the United States over the way that he grieved for Charlie Kerr. Is that what led to the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Well, here's what happened. In the wake of that, in my opinion, extremely unfunny and horrifically untasteful statement.

By no means can I think it satisfies the definition of a joke. Jimmy Kimball saw immediate and vast pushback from America. Perhaps some that are still somehow, among the small numbers of people that are still watching Jimmy Kimmel. he saw a revolt from the audience in response to that and possibly because of their own human decency the two biggest or two of the biggest syndicators television broadcast channel owners across the country next star and sinclair said we will no longer pick up ABC broadcasting in the form of Jimmy Kimmel. We will not air

Jimmy Kimmel. Next Star posted publicly. Next Star Media Group today announced that the company's owned and partner television stations affiliated with ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel live for the foreseeable future, beginning with

tonight show. NextStar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and replace the show with other programming in its ABC affiliated markets. Sinclair posted as well, publicly. Due to problematic comments regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk and programming provided to broadcast stations by ABC,

Sinclair and its partners, which operate ABC stations in 30 markets in the United States, will stop airing Jimmy Kimmel's showto until further notice. In its place, by the way, this Friday night, in Jimmy Kimmel's time slot, Sinclair's ABC stations will air a special remembrance of Charlie Kirk this Friday during the Jimmy Kimmel Live time slot. This special will also air across all Sinclair stations this weekend. In addition, Sinclair is offering the special to all ABC affiliates across the country. Not only a revolt in the audience, but a revolt on the carriers of ABC programming. This, by the way, is only on top of the failure.

that is Jimmy Kimmel. Ratings for Jimmy Kimmel's program have absolutely been in the toilet. He runs a distant third. Actually, he runs second to Colbert, slightly ahead of the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon. But over time, if you're watching Wilcane Country on YouTube or Facebook, you can see a year-to-year ratings chart for all the late-night programmings and see that their ratings over time have significantly deteriorated. Jimmy Kimmel Live, in 2013-14, was achieving a 0.71 rating. By 24-25, that rating was down to a 0.16.

He was down to about a fifth, a sixth of his audience he had a little over a decade ago. The reports after Stephen Colbert's firing cancellation at CBS were that Colbert was losing CBS tens of millions of dollars a year, tens of millions of dollars a year. You can only assume that somehow the economics are somewhat similar for ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, a ratings poor television show, a rich, highly paid host, offending great numbers of the audience and pissing off their biggest distributors. ABC was looking for an excuse to get out from underneath, Jimmy Kimmel. Now, many on the left today are pointing to an interview given yesterday by FCC Commissioner Brandon Carr on the Benny Johnson show,

where he said we would be looking at ABC. They must do the right thing. The easy way or the hard way. He invoked the public interest. requirement of regulating FCC licensed broadcasters. Let's take a moment just to review what exactly that means. There are four broadcasters in the United States, major broadcasting networks across the United States, that have access to public airways.

Those public airways, because they grant, in effect, at least in history, they granted in effect a monopoly, and they take up public space, meaning the licensed airways across the country. are ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Not Fox News, but your Fox broadcaster, which carries, for example, the NFL. Those networks license their airwaves from the FCC, publicly owned and regulated by the United States government through the FCC. As part of that regulation, it is a calculus, one that has been very rarely invoked, and perhaps many could argue should have been invoked, of asking whether or not that programming, quote,

unquote, serves the public interest. Brandon Carr told Benny Johnson, we're going to look at the muscle behind that regulatory requirement of whether or not you're serving the public interest. Well, when it comes to Jimmy Kimmel, under the guise of a late-night program, having long lost his ability to make a joke, had basically platformed exclusively lefties, pushing forward Democrat propaganda from, by the way, COVID to elections. Every single guest, when it came to anything outside of Anodyne Celebrity News, was coming to you from the left. He's not alone in that endeavor, by the way.

That's pretty much the programming MO as well of the view. And increasingly, there probably should be questions about the news division of ABC, which includes GMA and World News Tonight, especially after what we saw the other day coming from their national reporter Matt Gutman describing the, Starcross, touching, heartbreaking story of man's duality describing the assassin of Charlie Kirk. But it's easy to look at that picture and answer the question as to whether or not ABC is continuing to serve the public interest. Long lost has been that requirement. That requirement, by the way, does not apply to CNN. It does not apply to MSNBC. It does not apply to Fox News, not regulated broadcast channels through the public airwaves by the FCC. But it does apply to Jimmy Kimmel.

What more, and I don't know this, but I would like to believe it to be the case, that there still exist some semi-sane executives inside of ABC, or perhaps inside of their parent company, Disney, who looked at those statements from Jimmy Kimmel and simply said, enough of this bullshit. This has to end. This insanity, this TDS, this propaganda, this rhetoric, which if not in the words of Jimmy Kimmel, are pervasive across the left of describing your political opponents as fascist, Hitler. Or, in this case, assassins of one of their own from the right.

Enough, we would hope. Of this bullshit was said by some semi-sane executive at Disney. Jimmy Kimmel today is free to speak. His First Amendment rights are intact. He has the right to say hateful things, disgusting things. He even has the right to say verifiably untrue things about half of America. He does not have the right to say that on ABC. This is an employer.

making a private business decision. This is an employer responding to a market that said F-A-F-O. Found out, did Jimmy Kimmel, as have had many celebrities, many quote-unquote comedians. The list is comprehensive and long. And it, by the way, engulfs people of every person. political ideology. Roseanne Barr was canceled for posting on X.

Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby equals VJ. I remember no such invocations of fascism when Roseanne Barr was let go. J.K. Rowling has had a concerted campaign going against her for quite some time. She said, dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you. Live your best life in peace and security, but force women out of her. of their jobs for stating that sex is real. I stand with Maya. Gina Carrano, who was part of the

Star Wars franchise, owned by Disney, was fired and canceled from that very same corporation for saying Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers, but by their neighbors, even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views? Dave

Chappelle had a public pressure campaign that pushed they were stood, but tried to push him out of Netflix. There was a public pressure campaign, a cancellation campaign to get Spotify to get away from Joe Rogan. Unless we forget, some

several decades ago now, Bill Maher was let go, I believe it was, by ABC, because he said in the wake of 9-11, we have been the cowards lobbying cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it. It's not cowardly. I don't agree with all of these sentiments.

I don't agree with all of these comedians or public figures. I don't think they all should have been cancelled. But what I do recognize is the through line from all of them, and is the through line that as well applies to Jimmy Kimmel, is when your value, your ratings, the support of your syndicators, your broadcasters, your affiliates, when your audience is in revolt, the cost of doing business with you has exceeded the value

that you bring to ABC. Jimmy Kimmel said something gross. More importantly, he said something false. He failed the public interest requirement of the FCC on public airways. More importantly, he failed and has been failing for some time, quite simply, ABC. We're not looking at cancellation. We're not looking at the end of the First Amendment. We're not looking at free press dying.

We're not looking about an issue about free speech. we are simply looking at consequences. We'll have this conversation when we come back with stand-up comic host of part of the problem. Dave Smith on Will Cain Country. It got Willa. They got my daughter. I need to find her. Willa!

From acclaimed director Paul Thomas Sanderson. You can save that girl. On September 26th, experience what is being called the best movie of the year. This is the end of the line. Not for you. Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Pan, Benicio del Toro. Tiana Taylor, Chase Infinity. Let's go!

Here I come. One battle after another. Only in theater September 26th. Experienced in IMAX. You came back. Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy host of the Trey Gatty podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together

and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com. This is Jimmy Phala, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America. where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at Fox Across America.com.

Cancellation or consequences. Tyranny or F-AFO from ABC. It is Wilcane Country. Stream live with the Wilcane Country YouTube channel available at Spotify as well and on Apple. Dave Smith is a stand-up comic. You can also find him on all those same platforms with part of the problem and co-host of Legion of Skanks and also available on many other platforms as well. Today he joins us on our platform, Dave Smith. Great to see you, man.

How are you, Will? Thanks for having me. I'm glad to have you. What do you think, Dave, of the firing or the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel? Well, there's, I mean, there's a lot, I guess, that I have to, a lot of thoughts that I have on it. And I did, you know, I thought it was, like, I thought it was pretty appalling what he said and so bizarre. There is this weird thing. Well, I don't know if you've noticed it, but it's because there's so many different groups here. So I just want to be specific. Like I'm talking about liberals, like neoliberal establishment type people, not the crazy left wingers who are making TikTok videos about how glad they are that Charlie Kirk got killed or something like that.

But like I'm talking about like the people on CNN or the late night comedians. like the liberal, Democrat, Joe Biden supporters, where all of them, it seems like, or almost all of them, are like incapable of just saying like this was bad without trying in some way to politicize. I don't know if you saw Barack Obama's whole thing about all the awful views that Charlie Kirkland, of course, completely mangling and misrepresenting them.

But it's just so bizarre to me that so many people have an issue in a situation like this with just being like, yeah, this was horrible. Like, I don't know. Listen, I'm, I'm, you know, this is not a political statement. If AOC had gotten shot in the neck and executed in front of a bunch of people, I wouldn't start, I wouldn't lead with, I really disagreed with her on the Green New Deal. But, you know, because even though I really do, because the only comment would be, oh my God, this is horrific. Like this is, she was an innocent person. She had a family. This is horrible. Anyway, so Jimmy Kimmel, of course, did this weird thing where he tried to make the bit about,

how it reflected poorly on MAGA trying to cover for one of their own. It didn't even make sense. There was no reason to suspect this was a MAGA guy who did this. All of it was dumb. I will say that I don't like the federal government or any government official to ever be talking about speech ever. I don't think any pressure should be put from the government on corporations. This is just that is not what a professed free society does.

And I think it's a truly like a betray. of the legacy of Charlie Kirk. For anybody, the idea of talking about hate speech, saying the word hate speech from the attorney general, that's how we're remembering Charlie Kirk. That does not seem right to me. I wasn't his closest friend, but I knew him and was pretty familiar with his work.

And there is something profoundly wrong about that. However, I also get where, you know, it's pretty tough, and you see a lot of these liberals doing this now. Now all of a sudden they're talking about free speech. after 15 years of them trying to ruin any right of center person's life for saying the woman, I'm sure you remember this in 2020. There was a high profile story where a woman, some random lady, got fired for posting All Lives Matter on her private Facebook page.

That like all lives matter will get your life ruined. And yet this kind of gleeful celebration of a husband. and father for the crime of being a public Christian, essentially, gets murdered and people, and then what, you're supposed to look a right winger in the face and say, we got to think about the principle of free speech here. And to have the people who cheered it on for years looking at them saying, oh, you guys are hypocrites because you want Jimmy Kimmel fired. So look, I would say, I do think the government should stay out of it.

I don't really like comedians losing their job over a joke, no matter how bad the joke. was. But at the same time, like, you know, like I am to some degree, you feel almost like you're like a, like there, you just caught like a pedophile and the mob wants to string him up and kill him. And you're like, hey, he gets a fair trial. Even the worst of the worst. You know, you still, it's like the idea of freedom. But that's not very satisfying to the mob. And especially when they've been as mistreated as right wing America has for the last 15 years. All right. You said a lot there that I want to respond to. First of all, I, I, I appreciate it. and echo your observation. I have taken to the self-torture at times of watching CNN sometimes. At night, I think Scott Jennings does an incredible job of debate. You like debate. I enjoy debate.

And so I've taken to watching that mess of a program where I basically get to see Scott talk to as though he's in the hallways of middle school and the hall monitors caught him and interrupt everything he has to say. But that's the torture I put myself through. But my observation is even the quote-unquote respectables, as you point out, can't just condemn the murder of Charlie Kirk without the addendum of but you know there's always a but as you point out if aOC were murdered we would say that's awful we wouldn't say but you know she was a socialist and they just have to always add the but to whatever it may be with charlie

kirk and the tone over them two nights difference of the way they're talking about charlie kirk's murder which by the way is literally the suppression of free speech through you know if not government force through literal force. And the way they were talking about Jimmy Kimmel's firing last night is unavoidable. You just can't avoid noticing the tonal hyperbolic difference in the two instances. You brought up Obama. I saw you post about Obama. I don't want Obama to get lost in the wash because he did speak yesterday and he did the thing. He just did Obama. Here he is doing Obama. When I was president in the aftermath of tragedies,

when Dylan Roof went into a black church, and based on his own words, shot a group of folks who were engaged in Bible study and who had invited him in. And according to him, it was four racist reasons. As President of the United States, my response was not, who may have influenced this troubled young man to engage in that kind of violence and now let me go after.

From New Rule, whenever we play a clip of President Barack Obama, and I don't know that we'll do so often, we must listen to him on two-time speed. It's getting insufferable. It's like having a stitch pulled out inch or centimeter by centimeter. Just pull the nail, man, out of the wood. Say what you got to say. I can't listen to that speed of talk.

But somebody put it well, Dave, he floated above it. He floated above everything, how he's better, telling lies about who he actually was. He politicized every school shooting. He politicized going after conservatives with the IRS. He's not the man that floats above it. He's in the mud. Oh, man. I mean, dude, it's tough for me to be objective here.

Well, because I just hate Barack Obama so much, man. I hate him with such a passion. He did such a dis, I mean, so much damage to this country. Like, it'll take us decades to reverse what he did. And I'm not just, you know, and I have all my stuff that I could go off. Even when I posted on it the other day, I can't not call him the butcher of Libya and Syria and Yemen and the guy who surged the war in Afghanistan by 60,000 troops even when he knew we weren't going to win the war. And just the amount of death and destruction.

But this was one of his worst qualities. Droned Anwar Aalaki and American. Yeah, killed murdered American citizens with no charges against them. And Anwar Alaki's teenage child, who is also an American citizen. But then there was all. this element where he's so narcissistic and so divisive. And this stuff, yeah, I mean, like, he's sitting here, you know, as he's slowly in this professorial tone,

that, you know, makes the dumbest point, which isn't even true. And also, he's doing the thing that he's claiming not to do. Like, what is your point? What are you doing here? You're doing, I did a better job when I was president as opposed to Donald Trump. So you're doing the exact same thing of like, it's this side's fault.

This was the guy who said, said after Trayvon Martin got killed in self-defense, he said, if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin. Just inserted that, like, the first thought he had was the racial similarities between him. So, like, imagine, imagine if that were the case with a white president had just, that was the first thought you said about it that, you know, if I had a son, which you don't even have a son. But if I did, he'd have that skin color, not that skin color, which, by the way, also, Barack

Obama's skin color is like not clearly closer to Trayvon Martins than George Zimmerman's by the way, but whatever. It's probably in between. But it was just always these like incredibly stupid and divisive points. And, you know, look, he politicized every incident. Even when was that thing up in Boston where the cop, the black professor flipped out on the cop, it was totally unclear who was in the wrong there. He immediately jumped into it and looked like this whole. You see it, man. He like broke the left and he broke such a big thing in America where like the embrace of racialism and tribalism and all these political divides got so much worse through his presidency. And I'm, you know, we on another show with more time, I'll tell you, I'm convinced they did it intentionally too, just to distract from the fact that he was looting the country and starting so many new wars.

But it's like a horrible message. And I will say, by the way, just to be like an equal opportunist here, even though I reject all that stuff. You're like, I didn't think Donald Trump handled it well either. And I don't think it was necessary to even, you know, like some of the comments he made, I think were unnecessary. It should be pretty simple for us as a country, like especially a political leader in a moment like this to go, hey, you know what? A lot of things might divide us. But here's one thing that unites us. This is horrific and wrong.

And we're against that. And if somebody wants to go on to a college campus and do a change my mind, let's debate, let's discuss ideas, and then somebody else shoots them in the neck, that's the bad guy, and that's the good guy, and we should all be together on that, or what do we have? If we don't have that, we don't have a nation at all. And it seems like it's impossible for Obama to admit that. And of course, well, and I'm sorry, I'll throw back to you here, but of course also, even just as Obama is above it all, what's he doing when he brings up Dillon Roof? Like, how? How is that even relevant to this conversation? It's simply the fact that Barack Obama wants to remind you that, like, black people and left-wingers hold a monopoly on victimhood. And that even though in this case that it's a white Christian straight man, like, still we should flip it around and that you're not really somehow the victim in all of this. It's just disgusting.

Okay. A lot of really good points. We'll have to book that hour where you expose your feelings and thoughts. evidence against Barack Obama. I do agree, by the way, history. I don't know if history is going to be as clear-eyed and objective and honest enough to look back on that point in history with some revision, but I do think that that period of history is the beginning of the divisiveness in America. But I want to see if we can explore either some disagreement or we might end up on exactly the same page. Let's start with the free speech thing, and then we'll back into how

Donald Trump handled the assassination of Charlie Kirk. On the free speech issue. So, first of all, I don't care what anyone on the left has to say about criticism of the right. You've already laid it out. I've laid it out today. They are not credible witnesses to the defense of free speech today that I care about any of their invocations of fascism. I do care about my own particular integrity and holding myself to the standards that I have required in the past. I do remember, and I can't remember what year this might have been. Barack Obama was the president of the United States. And I can't remember the exact details. I'm sure that you can, Dave. There was like a filmmaker in America who, I mean, a low-rent, cheap film, I believe he was in Southern California, put something out,

and many people said that his film led to the uprisings, I believe, of the Arab Spring. I can't remember the details of that. But I think that was the details of the story. And Obama and Biden, and a lot of people came down on that filmmaker. They rhetorically blamed him. And I remember being at that time a guest on Morning Joe going, the powers that be should not be going after private citizens in their free speech. It's an improper use of the bully pulpit of the presidency. Now, I see two things that keep me from saying, will you hypocrite today when it comes to Jimmy Kimmel? One, the details of this, meaning the revolt from Nexstar and Sinclair, two, the ratings of Jimmy Kimmel. Three, probably the cost-benefit analysis that Stephen Colbert was subjected to is applied to Jimmy Kimmel. I've seen this happen in corporate America. America, they're looking for an excuse to get rid of these lost leaders, you know, and he gave them their excuse.

It was a business decision. I do recognize the words of the FCC chairman yesterday with Benny Johnson. The reason I don't apply the bully pulpit standard to either President Trump's Post on X or Brendan Carr is that it's just different. You could argue that it's right or wrong, but it's just different because broadcast airwaves are regulated by the FCC. there is this standard of, does it serve the public interest? And when you are putting out verifiable falsehood and lies, by the way, the answer to your question, I actually think what Jimmy Kimmel did is fall into that liberal social media rabbit hole that was taking place over the weekend that tried to pin the assassin on the right. I think that's what he probably exists within that bubble and thought that's a safe place to go back out on my mainstream platform. And I think because of those two things, ABC would have to answer real questions about to the FCC.

And only they wanted to. I mean, they're like, screw it. This guy ain't worth it. I'm tired of this bullshit. We're getting rid of Jimmy Kimmel. Yeah. So, okay, so I essentially, I think I agree with all of that. I think that's all right.

And starting with up top, that it is absolutely true that they tried to, they tried to say that the whole Arab Spring thing was kicked off over that. trailer being put on YouTube. And it was just completely lies. And they knew it. And there's, you know, what was going on in Egypt at the time was that the dictator Mubarak, who we had propped up for 40 years was being overthrown by the people. And then, of course, they voted in the Muslim Brotherhood. And we didn't like that. So that got overthrown real quick. And we're still propping up the military dictatorship there today. The stuff, it had nothing to do with the attacks in Benghazi, which they tried to make it out like that's what it was. Just a bunch of Muslims going crazy on our CIA boys who happened to be in Benghazi. Well, what were they doing in

Benghazi? Well, yeah, they had just overthrown the government and then they were shipping a bunch of weapons from Libya into Syria, which was to be the next front in the war on terror. So, but really like the moral- But no, these Libyan saw YouTube video and they're super pissed about what they saw on YouTube. I thought it had something to do with you toppling their government. I thought that might have been a little bit. But no, I guess it was the video. But like the lesson in all of that right, is that powerful interests are always trying to manipulate things in their benefit, right? And so, of course, a moment like this, where you see even Charlie Kirk's death, I mean, immediately Trump has his take Net and Yahoo has his take, Obama has his, to everybody's

trying to use this for their own benefit. And that probably applies to podcasters like myself and other people too. I mean, this is how human beings work. But the same, and so to your other point, I think that's exactly right. That also big corporations like ABC are, they got an opportunity here to get rid of a guy that already is probably a net cost to the network and they probably already weren't thrilled with. You know, these guys are getting humongous contracts still from back in the day is when they warranted that and they just don't anymore. We live in a new world. And so, yeah, they got their excuse to get rid of them. I would say this, which I think, like I get your point about not wanting to hear anything from the left about it.

it because they've lost credibility on this subject, or at least most of them have. There might be individuals that that doesn't apply to if they had a good track record. But I would just say that, like, even in these moments, like, if you could see the way it kind of energizes the liberals, because they at least have a talking point now, which is that Jimmy Kimmel was shut down by a fascist government and who really believes in free speech. And just for that reason alone, I would say, just let get the government out. of it don't even have the FCC chairman making threats or anything like that because it's better I think we are better off to let these people expose themselves they are quite irrelevant at this

point their their ratings are plummeting and just getting worse let them expose what terrible people they are and then I will say you know look I got no problem with like companies if they want to fire someone because they said something that's like outrageous and wrong I mean yeah to some degree we all live in that reality like unless you completely work for yourself and even someone like me like i completely work for myself but there's still i could say horrible enough things where you probably wouldn't want to have me on your show anymore and you'd be like geez what's david damas saying this i don't think i want to talk to that guy anymore we all exist in that world and yeah i think that should also apply to people like jimmy kimmel and like regular people like if you are a regular

lady who just works at your school and you go on TikTok and make a video about how happy you are that a husband and father just got murdered. Yeah, I don't think that's that crazy that the school would be like you don't work here anymore. And so I would just root for it to happen like

that absent any government pressure because then if nothing else that just hands a talking point to the other side to say, oh, you were cracking down on free speech when the truth is like no one, everybody who hates Jimmy Kimmel has already decided that he's not funny anymore. and doesn't want to watch his show.

None of us watch it. We only see it if there's like a clip like this. Let's keep this conversation going with comedian Dave Smith. When we come back on Will Kane Country. During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety

brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, Lisa 2026 X-90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com. Reading, playing, learning. Stellist lenses do more than just correct your child's vision. They slow down the progression of myopia. So your child can continue to discover all the world has to offer through their own eyes.

Light the path to a brighter future with stellar lenses for myopia control. Learn more at SLR.com and ask your family eye care professional for SLR Stellas lenses at your child's next visit. Welcome back to Will Kane Country. We're still hanging out with the host of Part of the Problem and Legion of Skanks comedian Dave Smith. You know, I was listening to you talk about that. And I was thinking about what you did on your show, I believe it was just last night. you know, you said a moment ago that you don't love the way that Donald Trump handled some of the stuff in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. I don't feel the same. Let's be self-aware. Am I in the tank for Donald Trump? Am I too far down any type of partisan lens? I just think, I don't know what you're referring to, but Donald Trump is doing, I think,

something that Charlie Kirk did often, which is tell a blunt truth. There is a rhetorical problem on the left. There is a rhetorical problem of calling all of your opponents, fascist, and Nazis, saying they're all bigots, homophobes, racist, and transphobes. And sooner or later, you're going to motivate a crazy person or you're going to create a crazy person to do what you've asked them to do if you constantly tell them these people are an existential threat to your identity or even your place on earth. And so I think that Donald Trump pointing out the left has to really get a hold of itself here and there's got to be some real reform.

Otherwise, what we're seeing with Charlie is just kind of the beginning. It's just math. It's just math that if you continue to talk like this, you're going to get results like this. But I was watching you last thing. And I like being honest. I think honesty is the basis of any friendship or relationship. When I saw that you said, I'm going to share my text with Charlie Kirk. I didn't love it.

I'm like, I don't think you should do that with a man who has passed. It's your prerogative. It's your communication. It's your relationship with Charlie Kirk. And if I'm being honest, I think the other day, I shared just kind of paraphrasing the last text that Charlie had sent me. And so, look, I'm not, I'm not mad. I just, I'm being honest about my initial reaction to hearing you do that, but I watched your show and I watched you share the text. And it was interesting in that you stopped in this moment because Charlie was texting you about people blaming violent acts on rhetoric.

And you sort of just stopped and you were like, man, it's pretty applicable to kind of what we're going through now. So all of that is background, Dave. do you disagree with me and or Donald Trump that the rhetoric of the left is creating what I think is mathematical outcomes? No, I mean, I guess like my only real quibble with it would be that I'd say I think we, like when we use the term the left, I think sometimes that's a little, that's not exactly right. Sorry, that's a weird way to say it, but not exactly correct. I mean, I really think it's like the liberal establishment that, you know, like not like just, I mean, like there's crazy left wingers out there. in the country. But it's, it's really the fact that all of the formerly trusted institutions, like all went all in on this rhetoric. I mean, it's the New York Times and the Washington Post and NBC and CNN and ABC and, you know, the Reuters, the Associated Press, like they all have

some responsibility in this, that it's as if because Donald Trump just upset everyone, in Washington, D.C. But that isn't reason enough to be hysterical. You can't go, he upset all of us. You know, you can't, like, that's not going to be enough to,

which is really what it is. And also, like, threatened their power structure. At least they perceived it that way. And so they just went to the craziest rhetoric they could find and called them a Nazi for eight straight years while they were doing all types of Nazi stuff. And so, you know, like, I do think,

sure, I think there's a fair point that there has been, they have heightened the tension and the level of rhetorical craziness to such a level that, yeah, it does seem like that could very likely lead to somebody who's on the edge mentally to do something really violent. And so I'm not saying there's no connection there. Now, just to say on the point about sharing the text with Charlie, I did, I get your point to, you know, I was a little bit conflicted. on whether or not to do it. I guess part of my thinking on that

was that at this point, it was almost like there was like this attempt where, okay, Benjamin Netanyahu is reading what, like, select passages of the letter that Charlie Kirk wrote to him. Marjorie Taylor Green is releasing text messages. Josh Hammer is releasing text messages.

Bill Ackman is releasing his text messages. Candice is doing a whole show about this. And she specifically called on me and Tucker to like release what we, have on it. And so I just kind of felt like, all right, look, now that there is this big fight over, you know, what exactly was Charlie Kirk's state of mind? And I do think it's actually a very interesting story. Now, I've been very clear, and I've taken a lot of flack for this, but I've been very clear to tell people that I think there is no evidence that Israel was involved in this killing,

even though these rumors are going wild online. I've seen you said that. Yeah, well, even though I've been kind of known now at this point as one of the guys who's a critic of Israel. And so in the cognitive, you know, dissidents of the internet world. Everyone's going, but you were just the guy who was blaming Israel, and now you're not. And you're like, yeah, well, I think they were wrong for that. And I don't see any evidence for this. So I made it very clear on the show. I'm not making any type of argument like that.

But once Benjamin Netanyahu is selectively reading what Charlie said to him, and they're trying to spin this, I do think it is fair to point out that actually the situation was much more complicated than that. And that I'm not saying Charlie was about to flip on Israel or anything like that. is that was just not going to happen. But the truth is that his young people were. And he was caught in the middle of that. And I think he was having some questions himself too.

And there was a lot of pressure put on him for hosting Tucker Carlson and myself at his last event. And so like if they want to tell that story, it's like, okay. But then I think the whole story should be told. And it's not like I wasn't releasing anything like that I thought was like private or that Charlie wouldn't have like wanted out there or something like that. No, like I get your point. No, and I don't want you to feel defensive. There'll be plenty of platforms for you to feel defensive or be attacked about that. My initial instinct was what I did watch it, you know, I did watch it, and I thought it was pretty harmless.

And by the way, what I saw you reveal was the man I knew with Charlie, which I think that Charlie, honestly, I think Charlie's a deep thinker and a man of faith. And somebody was interested in nuance. And I saw him indulging nuance with you on this debate, which I think is incredibly warranted that level of nuance. we're talking about the debate over Israel and then in particular about your debate with Douglas Murray. But that's the same guy I saw in what you read is the guy that I think has presented himself not just privately but publicly. Well, right. That's, I mean, look, that was Charlie. First of all, Charlie was a, he was a very kind person. He was a sweet heart. Everybody who knew him will say this. Charlie was the type of guy who like, like if he, if one of the first year

volunteers at Turning Point USA, like some 18 year old kid, had a moment with Charlie. Kirk where they're like, oh, I got to talk to Charlie Kirk for five minutes. I guarantee you every single one of those kids has the story that he was the nicest guy. Like that's just, he was just like that. Very happy warrior. And also, look, he was, he was a movement guy and he was a big tent guy. Like that's by definition when you're doing turning points. That's what you're trying to do.

You're trying to build. And so he had a, he saw the major problem here that there was a huge fracture in the movement over this Israel question. And he wanted us to all have productive conversations. about it. Now, that's, again, I'm not saying, and I wasn't claiming anything with those text messages other than just kind of like, hey, I'll give you what I have. So I'm, there's no information that I'm holding that I haven't given out. And, you know, it was just the point that, like, look, that to me is where Charlie was. And I think that he probably in a unique way, because

if you think about any of the other, like pro-Israel commentators, like Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson or Dave Rubin or like any what separated Charlie Kirk from those guys was that Charlie had to deal with the young people like they in a much more direct way he had to he had to his job was he had to keep young activists which are like the most true believers like he needed them to volunteer to get out the signatures and votes and all this stuff and he saw that they were really abandoning support for Israel and like something had to be done about this that that to me is a very interesting story. I would just add one other element that among the people that I interact with, it's hard to understand this because the videos you see about Charlie are when he's very

like certain and aggressive and adamant, but on complicated issues, he was really pretty open as well-minded. And certainly, as everyone knows, enjoyed the conversation and the debate and got something out of it from all points of view. And that's what I think I heard as well in what you shared. All right, man, I appreciate the conversation. All of it. Enjoy having you on, Dave. We'll see you again. I hope soon. absolutely thanks well have a good one okay check dave out as you as i mentioned he did a show last night uh you can check about it's part of the problem uh legion of skanks rumble youtube spotify apple thank you to dave smith we're a really fascinating story that i do want to share with you next you

probably saw it it was a christian pastor in dearborn michigan who went to a city council meeting and objected to a particular street naming the reaction of the muslim mayor of deerborn was outlandish. Well, we have that pastor. Ted Barham next on Wilcane Country. I'm here for Bet Rivers Online Casino and Sportsbook with poker icon Phil Helmuth. Thanks to Bet Rivers, I'm also a slots icon. Great. And a same game parlay icon. Cool, cool. A blackjack icon, a money line icon. A roulette icon. If you love games, Bet Rivers is the place to play in bet. Bet Rivers. Games on. Must be 19 plus in present in Ontario. Void or prohibited. Terms and conditions apply. Please play responsibly. If you have

questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you. Please contact ConX Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. I'm Emily Campanio. This week on the Fox True Crime podcast, I'm joined by attorney and spokesperson for the friends of Amanda Knox organization, Anne Bremner, who's featured in the new Fox Nation special, framed. Listen and follow now at Foxtruecrime.com. This little experiment that is Wilcane Country streaming live on the Wilcane Country YouTube channel and the Fox News Facebook page is absolutely exploding from the ground up. What a little project that we've all put together, honestly, in the darkness at time.

But on Monday, a million viewers on Facebook. Yesterday, 600,000 on Facebook. Right now on YouTube, some of our highest numbers yet on our brand new independent, not independent of Fox, but independent of the Fox YouTube channel, the Wilcane Country YouTube channel, thousands of you. right now out there in the Wallitia. Like, for example, Greg DeBarraton says Disney got to kill two birds with one stone. Get rid of dead weight and blame Trump for it. Many are saying, by the way, if Trump or the FCC hadn't said anything, everyone would have to face the facts. They're going to cancel Jimmy Kimmel because he's a failure. E-Carp 213 says, you are correct. He didn't say anything wrong. He played a clip of the president moving on to his latest construction project. I don't know what I am

correct about, but Jimmy Kimmel was not correct when he blamed the assassin on MAGA. Aaron Manukian said, Jimmy Kimmel wasn't canceled because of what he said about Charlie Kirk or about Trump. He got fired because no one was watching his show and the company was losing money. It's always the case, Aram, that they're looking for a reason. It's your job not to give it to him. All right, fascinating moment just over the last couple of days, but in so much news, you'll be forgiven if it escaped your attention, but probably hits your radar. Out of Deerborn, Michigan, when a pastor named Ted Barham went for the city council to object to the renaming of certain city streets and intersections in Deerborn, there he interacted with the city council and the mayor, the Muslim mayor of Deerborn. Here's how this went down.

I mean, Hezbollah, you know, bombed the embassy in Beirut, including many Americans. So I just feel that's quite inappropriate. You are an Islamophore. And although you live here, I want you to know what has been. mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city because you are not somebody who believe in coexistence. A mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, saying you are no longer welcome here and when you leave, I will throw a parade. There's a fascinating interview with that pastor. Ted Barrum

up at foxnews.com. Jasmine Bear got the interview. you can go check that out. The link is on our screen. I believe we'll be able to provide the link where you can go read this interview. But in the meantime, it's in the description underneath this video. So in the text description underneath this video, there will be a link to that article from Jasmine Bear up at foxnews.com. But in the meantime, we are honored now to have Ted Barham, a Christian minister, and the man you saw in that video with us here now on Will King Country. Ted, Pastor, thank you for being with us. Thank you, Will. Thanks for having me.

You don't have to call me past, but it's great to be on your show. Thank you so much. I appreciate the publicity from you and Fox and from Detroit Free Press and Oliver X. I really appreciate it. I can't take that for granted. I think it's really helpful that this has gone out and it's gone public. Well, I appreciate you giving us your time and sharing your story. Let's talk about the details of your story.

What did you go to the city council that day to share, and object to there in Dearborn. I read a couple of quotes from Mr. Osama Siblani, where he encourages violence over in the Middle East from a Hezbollah and Hamas perspective. And I also read a quote where I felt that that could be understood to be encouraging violence here in Michigan.

I don't have those quotes in front of me, but I think those have got out there on social media. And so I just thought it was not really very appropriate for his name. When he is kind of synonymous with Hezbollah and now Hamas, I didn't think it was appropriate for his name to be up so publicly in this city here in America. And the city council of Dearborn was looking at doing what with his name? They were going to rename a street or an intersection? It was an intersection that was named after him.

That's right. Yeah. Now, technically it was not the city council of Dearborn that did that. Technically, it was the county, but there were still several people there from city council, including the mayor, as the mayor himself said that day, who were part of that ceremony to put those signs up there. And the first reaction, at least in part that I saw, was that the mayor told you, if you don't like that intersection, you can close your eyes or go a different route, through Deerborn? Yeah, I thought I might crash. I didn't think that was great advice

because then I might crash if I close my eyes when I'm driving there. But so... Yeah, I think that's not advocating for the public safety in Deerborn. And I'm looking up, I'm trying to find the quote that you referenced. I've read it as well where this man who was going to have the

intersection named after him had definitely advocated violence. We're talking about the invocation of guns, of bombs, of missiles, and at least, but it did appear as well. He was advocating for this to also take place in Michigan. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And if I can speak about that, I feel it's really helpful that this has got the attention of so many people because I feel it's really bad that there has been a flow in the wrong direction, if I may say. So I have lived in Muslim countries for several

years and I've visited many Muslim countries. I've spent a lot of time in my life in Muslim countries. And I feel it's bad that the oppression and hostility that you find in Muslim countries is flowing into the West and from Muslim majority communities in that Western countries and in America, like Dearborn, I feel it's bad that that same oppression and hostility is flowing from those communities into the rest of America. I feel like it would be much better if we could reverse the flow. Instead of oppression and hostility, we have freedom and peace. And as a Christian, what I mean is the peace of Christ, which is something else that I talked about that day. Not everybody's seen the whole clip, but I talked about how Jesus said the peacemakers are

blessed, and I talked about how his death on the cross brought peace between Jewish and non-Jewish people, which I saw when I lived in Israel for a couple, for a few months, a couple of years ago. I saw peace between Jewish and Arab people in the church that I went, the Christian church that I went to, where you had Arab church leaders over majority Jewish churches, and you had an Arab church leader who is married to a Jewish lady, that kind of thing. And it was just a wonderful relationship that you saw between Arab and Jewish people in Israel. It doesn't exist anywhere else in Israel, but it only exists in the church. And that's the kind of peace that I'm trying to promote. Another metaphor that I like to use is I think it's too bad that immigration is just a one-way street.

So there are huge numbers of Muslim people coming into our Western countries. And I think that's great. Personally, I think it's great there are Muslim people coming into our Western countries. I love Dearborn. Don't get me wrong. Like I said in the article that you talked about on Fox News, a lot of my dearest friends are Muslim people and former Muslim people. So I love Muslim people.

So I think it's a great thing that there's so many, people from Muslim countries here. But there's two things. First of all, like I already said, I'll just reiterate. I feel that there should be more of the Christian message that is so influential in American society, I feel like it would be much better if that was to influence the Islamic communities. And Muslim people were willing to open their minds to, you know, to this wonderful message, the most wonderful message in the world of how the Lord Jesus loves you and died for you. And it's not just a message for Muslim people, it's a message for everybody. But I want that message to get out there. So at a national level, like in America, I think it would be good if it goes in that direction. I'm just reiterating what I already said. But something else,

else I want to say. No, it's good. It's that I feel like it would be good if it's not just a one-way street of immigration, but we are not allowed to go to Muslim countries, and we are not allowed to do the same things in Muslim countries that Muslim people are allowed to do here. And I'll give you an example. You have Islamic events in Dearborn on public premises with 55,000 people on one weekend, or 40,000 people on one day. And I say, fine, this is a free country, they should be allowed to do that.

Meanwhile, in the original Islamic country and the original Arab country, Saudi Arabia, where our mayor went a few months ago for the Islamic Hajd to Mecca, in that country, you're not even allowed one church, not even allowed one church in that whole country. Meanwhile, there are these enormous Islamic events here in our Western countries. And I don't think it's right that our oppressed Christian brothers and sisters, our oppressed fellow Christians should have to put up with that in all these Islamic countries. And I used to cut Muslim people here in Western countries some slack because, you know, people were, you know, brand new refugees that just arrived.

And they didn't have any power to anything about that back in Islamic countries. But now you have all these powerful Islamic people here in America and in Western countries. And I'll give you an example. I mean, there's the mayor of Michigan, the first Muslim mayor, and actually the most powerful cities in the Western world. So New York might have a Muslim mayor soon, and London has had a Muslim mayor for years. So you have people with a lot of power in our country, and I feel like we need to hold them to account. Look, you are making the most of the freedoms in our Western countries,

but in your Muslim countries, you are not getting us any of those freedoms. And I want to stand up for my oppressed Christian brothers and sisters in those countries. I know people, including when I was emailing people about this, one friend is really kind of cheering me on and encouraging me in this. He has shrapnel in his body from when he was suicide bombed in Pakistan. another friend that is a dear friend of ours. He lost his brother. His brother was killed when they became Christians in a Muslim country and that family was targeted. His brother was killed. He had to escape here to America. And so actually this is something else that I would

like to say, you know, if we lose these freedoms here in America, then there's nowhere left. And I speak as Canadian. I've lived in Canada for years. I am a Canadian citizen, but that's one reason why I moved to America several years ago, where my ancestors were from, actually, before they went out to Africa. And I lived in England for eight years, and in those countries, you don't have full freedom to speak about Islam. So now you don't have the freedom to speak in Islamic countries, and you don't have the freedom to speak here in, well, in Canada right next door, and Also here in America, we need that freedom. But I just want to say, I realize this is a long spiel. I just want to say, I don't want to just have this message of freedom. I want to have the message of peace in Christ. I don't want to just encourage more hostility towards Muslim friends. I want to encourage love towards Muslim friends. You've done a good job of Lane. Not that asymmetry. There's not a Muslim country in the world that I believe I can point to that has been welcoming in the same way America has been

welcoming of immigrant populations and diversity of religions. That's right. You said that you're worried about the flow, Ted, back home, though. You worry about the flow of hostility and intolerance, not just there. Your first point was you're worried about it, the flow back here at home in America. How have you seen that manifest, besides your interaction with the mayor, how have you seen that manifest in your community? Well, this would be a perfect example where you see how I was shouted down last week in city council.

And actually, that's not the first example of that in Deerboard. I will preface that by saying, believe it or not, and as I said in the article that you mentioned, the Fox News article, we have had some positive interactions with this merit, believe it or not. Not so much myself, a little bit, but more my family, where, believe it or not, he was actually, there was a roundabout in the playground, one of the beautiful new playgrounds that the mayor has brought into the city, and we're very proud of that as Dearborn residents. But anyway, my little boy and the mayor's little girl were on that roundabout, and so the mayor was pushing both both in the round, turning them around on the roundabout. And then his little girl went off, and so for about 30 seconds, my wife tells me I wasn't there. He was just pushing my little boy on the roundabout. And he knew who my little boy was because he had met him at my little boy's Christian preschool the week before.

So it's not all bad, but now I'm going to talk about some of the stuff that has been very unfortunate. So, I mean, there are several incidents, but I'll talk about some of my own experiences. So a friend of mine wanted to show a Christian TV show type thing, a kind of a Christian movie about the life of Jesus, The Chosen. It's quite well known about the life of Jesus in a park shelter. Just a small park shelter, maybe about 20 people. He just wanted to rent it to show that.

And keep in mind there's Islamic events, like I said, 55,000 people on property premises. Meanwhile, my friend wasn't even given permission to use this little park shelter. And I thought that this is ridiculous. And he had to go back to city council multiple times to defend himself against accusations that we were praying on children.

And why were we so-called praying on children? Because we were offering popcorn and hot dogs to people who wanted to come watch this movie. I mean, it was ridiculous. So I went to city council. I said, I feel like I live in a Muslim country. I've lived in Pakistan for four years. I lived in Lebanon for a year.

So I've lived in Muslim countries, and I said there isn't one Muslim country in the whole world that has free speech. So this is when the mayor shut me down. This is three years ago. And he said back then as well, I'm an Islamophobic and racist and all that stuff. Now, that did not go viral outside of Dearborn. It did go viral in Dearborn. And most people were cheering him on. He was really, sorry to interrupt.

Most people were cheering him on. Interesting. he was really mad at you like he was he was angry in the clip that we see now when he's saying he doesn't want you in Dearborn what is that based upon I mean clearly there's past experience he referenced I believe did he reference posts of yours on Facebook what is what is the source of the

what is the background of so much anger yeah sure before I answer your question I just want to finish a little bit more so after that incident three years ago where as you said he was very angry back then just like last week. I was kicked off Facebook, permanently, suddenly kicked off Facebook, lost my personal account of 16 years, my personal photos, family photos, and all my media pages. I was using my media pages to get the Christian message out to the Middle East. So I was kicked

off Facebook and I feel like people here in Dearborn, possibly the mayor himself, probably in fact, were responsible for that. But now coming back to your question, about some of the videos I put out there. Well, again, I want to put this in context. Keep in mind that here in Dearborn, we have multiple mosques that are broadcasting multiple calls to prayer every day. I hear multiple mosques here in my neighborhood, and they put out this Islamic message,

which I don't agree with, obviously, as a Christian, and other non-Muslims also don't agree with it. It says in Arabic there is no God but Allah and Mahabwe. that Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. So that's the context where Muslim people are putting out the Islamic message constantly, packing it out into our neighborhoods. And so in the context,

so that's the sort of thing that happens in Dearborn, I went and stood in front of the mosque and I did a video, it's not up anymore because I got kicked off Facebook, but I did a video where I respectfully encouraged Muslim friends to leave Islam and believe in the Lord Jesus. They put out a message that I don't agree with.

I was saying a message they don't agree with, that should be allowed. And one of the things that I said in that video, as I said, look, you live here in America, and here you have the freedom to believe what you want to and to check the facts for yourself and to see what's true for yourself, instead of in Muslim countries

where you don't really have that freedom. I mean, I already talked about some of the things that I've experienced Western countries. I know about five different people. I've met about five different people who have been captives of the Taliban. I know all kinds of people who have been oppressed. And, you know, I get these messages all the time from people in Muslim countries where they're talking about the oppression that they experience over there. So that's what it's like over there. But I say to people here, look, this is your opportunity to open your mind and not just have to swallow what is fed to you all your life growing up and for generations, maybe you can reconsider. So that's what I said in that video that I think the mayor found it especially objectionable,

but personally I don't think it was offensive, especially in light of how the Islamic messages constantly put out there in Dearborn, although I will say one thing positive. I think it's good that the mayor and the city council have allowed us to do a Christian call to prayer here in Dearborn. And we've been doing that from parts. We've been doing that from a church building here in Dearborn. And we've been allowed to do that. And they gave us permission to do that. The mayor gave us permission to do that. And I think, you know, we should give credit where it's due. So actually, I would love with the mayor, instead of continuing the oppression and the hostility, if he could actually work in the other direction, that flow that I was talking about, where he actually,

instead of continuing to be oppressive and hostile, he actually has a change of hearts and encourages, instead of that, he encourages freedom and also peace. Since that video got taken down, I'd love for you to share it with us. Maybe send it into my producers. I'd love to take a look at that video

if you're willing to share it. I'm not sure if I had the exact... Sure, that was four years ago. I'm not sure if I had the exact same video that I had back then. you know, I don't know exactly how I edited it back then and that sort of thing. So maybe I could do that. But, but I share it with our audience.

Last question. Yeah. Last question for you, Ted. So there was that line. I don't want you in Dearborn. I'll celebrate and throw a parade when you leave Dearborn. What did you think? How did you feel when you heard those words from the mayor?

Well, there are two reactions that I have to that. One is, I think it's very important for. us to stand up for our freedoms as Christians. Because like I said, if we lose those here in America, then they're lost everywhere. And they have already been lost in Britain and in Canada and so many Western countries, not to mention Muslim countries. So that is one thing I want to say. We need to keep standing up for our freedoms.

But the other thing I want to say is I think it's very important to show Christian love to our enemies, because that's what the Lord Jesus did. people killed him. He still loved them. And he said, the peacemakers are blessed. And he also said, bless those who curse you, which is why I said to the mayor, when he said all those things about me, I'll throw a parade, etc. That's why I responded by saying, God bless you, Mayor. God bless you, sir. I want to honor him as somebody that has been put in government.

And I also want to remember the Lord Jesus' words. Love your haters. Love your enemies. And bless those who curse you. Ted Barham, fascinating conversation. Thank you for sharing that experience with us. We'll be paying attention to what's going on in Dearborn. And thank you for your time today, Ted.

Thank you very much, Will. Very much appreciated. All right, there he goes. Ted Barham. Now, famously, infamously, of Dearborn, Michigan, and make sure you check out that video. It's quite a story. It's been quite a day here in the country. We appreciate you hanging out with us while you're here.

Go ahead and set a reminder. Hit follow on Spotify and Apple, bookmark, and subscribe to the page on YouTube. We'll see you next time on Will Kane Country. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcast. And Amazon Prime members, you can listen to this show, ad-free, on the Amazon Music Gap. Listen to the all-new Brett Bear podcast featuring Common Ground, in-depth talks with lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle,

along with all your Brett Bear favorites, like his All-Star panel, and much more. Available now at foxnewspodcasts.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.