Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

Latest Episodes:

Rob Serra: 9/11 Hero On The Broken Promise. 257 FDNY Dead From 9/11 Illness. Aug 13, 2026

Show notes

Another Firefighter Lost 30 Minutes Ago. Why ‘Never Forget’ Became A Punchline. His 9/11 Anniversary Message: “Don't Be A Dick”. Inside The Deutsche Bank Fire. The Halloween Attack. The Illnesses Still Killing First Responders.

Rob Serra is a legendary FDNY firefighter whose first day on the job was September 11, 2001. He's spent the twenty-plus years since burying brothers, fighting his own government for basic acknowledgement that the air wasn't clean, and refusing to let the country slide into the comfortable amnesia of an annual hashtag. In this conversation, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with Rob as another FDNY firefighter dies of a 9/11 illness thirty minutes before they hit record — a gut-punch reminder that 9/11 is not a memory, it's still killing people this week.

They get into the moral injury that connects 9/11 first responders to Afghanistan veterans: the same government that stood at the microphones promising "never forget" is the same government that told sick firefighters to go beg, and the same government that left Americans and allies on a tarmac in Kabul. Rob talks about the 257 FDNY brothers lost to 9/11 illness, the Deutsche Bank fire, raising kids while his body breaks down, an eight-year-old son who called him lazy, and why his sign-off is "stay low." It's raw, it's specific, and it's the kind of conversation that reminds you why humanity — not partisanship — is the thing worth protecting.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

935,892 Independents Locked Out of Connecticut's Closed Primary Today. PLUS: Bankhead the Dem Montana Senate Spoiler Handing Trump Another Seat. Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

Most Americans checked out for August. Paul Rieckhoff didn't. From a beach house on Long Island, he cuts a fast, urgent episode to hit what the corporate media won't touch: today is primary day in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin, and across those four states 21 of 22 U.S. House races are effectively decided before November ever arrives. Connecticut is the sharpest example — the only fully closed primary this week — where 935,892 unaffiliated voters, the largest voting bloc in the state, are legally barred from casting a ballot in the election that will actually pick their representatives.

Paul breaks down the numbers town by town, names the 129,563 Connecticut veterans caught in that lockout, and explains why so many of them refuse to join a party on principle — the same principle they swore an oath to defend. Then he pivots to Montana, where Democrat Alani Bankhead just blew past the 5 p.m. deadline to drop out, guaranteeing she'll split the anti-Republican vote and torpedo independent veteran Seth Bodnar's shot at an incumbent Trump rubber-stamper. It's a rigged two-party system on full display in a single news cycle — and a reminder that nobody else is counting these voters, so we will.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hegseth On Thin Ice. Trump Family Getting Rich Off Defense Contracts While Troops Die. The MAGA Civil War Is On. Media Blitz Pod Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

Pete Hegseth is on thin ice, and the reason should worry every American with a family member in uniform. U.S. commanders are reportedly picking and choosing which Iranian missiles to intercept and which to let fall. Our stockpiles of Tomahawks, ATACMS, and Patriots are draining. Ukraine's civilians are dying for lack of munitions. And the response from the White House is to hunt down leakers, blame subordinates, and ask Congress for another $67 billion — roughly $20 billion of it for weapons the administration should have planned for in the first place. This is what happens when leadership refuses to take responsibility and gets way ahead of its skis.

At the same time, the Trump family is cashing in on Defense Department contracts while the commander in chief ramps up warfare around the world and pushes a $1.5 trillion defense number. It may not be illegal. It is deeply, deeply wrong — and it is exactly the kind of grift that unites independents, moderate Republicans, and anyone who still cares about basic ethics. Paul breaks down Elizabeth Warren's "gelatinous blobs" broadside at spineless Senate Republicans, the small cracks opening around Cornyn and Tillis, the widening MAGA civil war between Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and the establishment, and where a wandering Tulsi Gabbard might land next. If you want to know where the off-ramps and pressure points are heading into 2026, this is the map.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Extremes Take the Primaries, the Middle Gets Left Behind. El-Sayed Squeaks Through in Michigan. Aug 09, 2026

Show notes

Democrats Drop Out in Idaho and South Dakota. Media Blitz Pod

The rigged two-party system delivered another round of primary results this week, and the pattern is impossible to miss: the extremes keep winning the nominations while roughly 44% of Americans who identify as independent get shoved further to the margins. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed squeaked past Haley Stevens in a race that was supposed to be close and somehow got closer — and now Democrats have ninety days to figure out whether a DSA-aligned progressive can hold a battleground state they cannot afford to lose. Paul Rieckhoff joins the news desk from Detroit alongside Lauren Wright and former Congressman Conor Lamb to lay out the stakes with no spin and no jersey.

From there the conversation widens to the races nobody in cable news is covering yet. Democrats have dropped out in both Idaho and South Dakota, clearing the runway for independent veterans Todd Achilles and Brian Bangs to go head-to-head against Republican incumbents. In Montana, Green Beret and Rhodes Scholar Dan Bodnar is running as an independent — if the Democrat will finally step aside and stop playing spoiler. It is a real-time test of an alternate theory of the case: that the way to beat entrenched incumbents is not to nominate a mirror-image extremist, but to run rooted, mission-first veterans who can actually reach the middle. This is what the map looks like when you stop pretending the two parties speak for everyone.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mamdani BOE Quietly Crushes NYC Open Primaries. Tucker, MTG & Massie’s Third Party. Al-Sayed Doesn’t Understand Weapons. Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

Brian Bengs—Indy Vet For Senate in South Dakota: the Dem Dropping Out & His Head-to-Head vs GOP Incumbent Rounds

The independent movement is surging — and the machine is fighting back. In episode 594, Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the biggest under-covered story of the week: Mayor Mamdani's Board of Elections quietly rejected 42,000 petitions from New Yorkers demanding open primaries, a direct shot at the one million independents disenfranchised by New York's rigged partisan system. Paul also digs into the Politico report that Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Joe Kent are sowing the seeds of a new third-party project at Carlson's Maine compound — and why a third party is not the same thing as being independent.

Then an exclusive with South Dakota independent veteran Brian Bengs, who now has a cleared head-to-head against unpopular Republican incumbent Mike Rounds after the Democrat dropped out. Bengs — a dual-service veteran and expert in the law of armed conflict — makes the case on the unauthorized Iran war, tariffs as a surgical tool versus a wrecking ball, the affordability crisis hitting South Dakota farmers, rural veteran healthcare, and why he refuses to caucus with either party. With Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Todd Achilles in Idaho and potentially Seth Bodnar in Montana all clearing head-to-head shots, the independent fulcrum in the Senate is no longer a talking point. It's a plan.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dems’ Far-Left Michigan Mandani Wins. Why El-Sayed Will Struggle With Independents. Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

"Let's F***ing Go." Dem Drops Out in South Dakota: Brian Bengs vs Mike Rounds Is On. Two Independent Vets Win in Washington While Their County Burns.

Michigan is not Manhattan. That's the through-line of this one. The Democratic primary in Michigan handed the U.S. Senate nomination to Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left progressive in a state where roughly 17% of voters are independent and Mike Rogers is waiting on the Republican side. Paul Rieckhoff calls it what it is: another gift from a rigged two-party primary system to the MAGA machine, and one more reason the Democrats will not save you. The Bernie-vs-Schumer civil war is nominating candidates who can't galvanize independents or win general elections — and it's happening on the biggest stages in the country.

But this episode is also a scoreboard for the independent veteran movement. In South Dakota, Democrat Julian Bedouin dropped out, clearing a one-on-one between IVA-endorsed independent veteran Brian Bengs and Republican Mike Rounds. In Idaho, Todd Achilles is head-to-head with 83-year-old Jim Risch. In Montana, spoiler candidate Alani Bankhead is being called on to step aside for Green Beret and Rhodes Scholar Seth Bodnar. And in Washington's top-two nonpartisan primary — the fairest system in the country — four independent vets ran while the wildfires burned, and at least two are moving on to November. Michigan is what wrong looks like. Washington is what right looks like. This is the map.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WTF WEDNESDAY: Spokane Is Burning. Ballots in the Fire Zone. Four Independent Vets on the Line. Aug 05, 2026

Show notes

PLUS: The Pentagon's Body Count Bookkeeping Trick. Blanche Ready to Weaponize DOJ. Democrat Spoilers in the Way in Montana, South Dakota. A Marine Vet in Tennessee Steps Up.

Spokane is burning. Three wildfires have merged into the Spokane Complex, torching more than 8,000 acres, destroying over 700 structures with a final count that could top a thousand, and forcing 65,000 people under evacuation orders. The Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center sits inside the evacuation zone and has been shuttered, its veteran patients moved to partner hospitals. And in the middle of that inferno, an election. Four IVA-endorsed independent veterans were on the ballot — Nate Powell, Danny Tarkington, Erin Croft, and Ronald McCoy — three of them running to serve the county that is on fire right now. Paul Rieckhoff walks through what a real open primary looks like, what it means when veterans meet the moment, and why Washington state's top-two system is what right looks like.

From there the show swings to the other Washington, where the fires are political but no less dangerous. Todd Blanche is being teed up to weaponize the Justice Department. CENTCOM is literally crowdsourcing ideas to "pressure and punish Iran" while stockpiles of precision-strike missiles run dry. Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is splitting the wounded count into two ledgers to hide the true cost of the Iran war — the same muscle memory that lied about Vietnam and Afghanistan. And in Montana and South Dakota, spoiler Democrats with zero chance of winning are refusing to clear the lane for independent veterans Seth Bodnar and Brian Bengs. Plus a live endorsement alert: Marine Corps veteran Shane Eaton is on the ballot in Lawrence County, Tennessee — and he needs supporting fire this week.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Huge Primary Day for Independents. Four Indy Vets on One Ballot in Washington State. Another Trump Head Fake Iran Deal. Aug 04, 2026

Show notes

Plus: "Independents Aren't Real"? Kasich's Partisan Slander, Manchin's New PAC, and 45% of America Says Otherwise.

Trump says he's close to an Iran deal. He's been saying he's a week away from a Putin deal for a year and a half. Paul Rieckhoff calls the head fake for what it is, warns the media not to fall for it again, and lays out the chaos Congress is trying to jam through before its six-week recess — including Todd Blanche's nomination and the weaponization fund built to compensate January 6th insurrectionists. The forever wars don't take August off, and neither do we.

Then the real story: on August 4th, four independent veterans appear on a single top-two primary ballot in Eastern Washington. Nate Powell for U.S. House, Danny Tarkenton for Spokane County prosecutor, Aaron Croft for the State House, and Ronald McCoy for State Senate. Across those races, roughly 131,000 independents and 53,000 independent veterans can vote — a decisive bloc the corporate media isn't covering. Paul breaks down why open primaries are the battlefield, why John Kasich is wrong that independents aren't real, and what's coming next with Senator Joe Manchin, Heather Manchin, and Senator Angus King joining the show.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kasich Put On Blast: “Antiquated Views”. “All Gas, No Brain.” Trump's Iran War Tanks the Economy. Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

Governor John Kasich went on national TV and told Paul Rieckhoff, to his face, that independents aren't really independent — that come November they'll just go back to the bench and put the old jersey back on. Paul's response is the spine of this episode: that's an antiquated way of looking at America in 2026. Sixty percent of young people are unaffiliated. Fifty percent of veterans are unaffiliated. Ten thousand Americans are walking out of the Republican and Democratic parties every single week. Trump is sitting at a 22% approval with independents and a 32-34% approval overall — the Bush line — with an unpopular Iran war, tariffs jacking prices, and a party heading into the midterms with 96 days on the clock.

This is a media-blitz sweep of a very big week. Paul rolls through his hits on CNN, News Nation, and MS Now to break down the races the rigged two-party system doesn't want you watching: Todd Achilles running head-to-head against 83-year-old Jim Risch in Idaho after the Democrat dropped out, Seth Bodnar in Montana, Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Yemi Mobolade already governing as an independent mayor in Colorado Springs. He takes on the Politico poll showing MAGA voters shrugging off DUI convictions, bribery, domestic violence, and sexual assault allegations — and names the command climate that made that possible. And he pushes the Democrats hard: outrage isn't a plan. What's your alternative on affordability? What's your alternative to end the war in Iran? Independents are listening. So is a country starved for character.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trump’s Slush Fund Standoff & Blanche's Epstein Problem. Cornyn Unleashed - GOP Breaks Over Iran. Aug 02, 2026

Show notes

Trump's approval with independents just hit 24%. Republicans are going home to their districts and getting an earful about an unauthorized, unconstitutional, and wildly unpopular war with Iran that is now pulling in the Saudis, the Egyptians, and Iranian proxies from Iraq to Yemen. Paul Rieckhoff calls it what it is — a sucking chest wound — and lays out why Senate Republicans are finally breaking, why Lindsey Graham comparing Trump and Netanyahu to Roosevelt and Churchill isn't landing, and why supporting the troops means demanding a coherent plan, not a blank check for one man's war.

From there, the episode moves to John Cornyn refusing to be rolled on Trump's weaponization slush fund, Todd Blanche's Epstein problem and his condescending meeting with survivors, and the acting-AG limbo that could stretch into September. And it closes with a tribute to Coach Yeoman Wilder — the New York youth baseball legend who stood up to ICE agents at his practice, protected his players, and reminded a country full of capitulating law firms and universities what actual patriotism looks like. Righteous anger, patriotic hope, and a call to meet the moment.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms
Read more at Substack
Support ad-free episodes at Patreon
Connect: Instagram • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.

And now part of the BLEAV network!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected