Austin Metcalf’s Family Facing Death Threats

**SPEAKER_2** (0:10)
Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite Gunn-Totin Bible-Clingin' Deplorable American. Todd Stars.

**Todd Starnes** (0:29)
So yesterday, after the show, went out and did the big exercise routine. And was just... you never know who you're gonna run into. Over at the lovely park where I do the big, it's a two and a half mile around the lake trail, and I try to make it around twice. That's the goal. Yesterday did not happen. It was like 98 degrees outside. But anyway, I was having a good time. I was actually, what was I listening to? I think I was listening to Hannity or somebody. And so anyway, I'm doing the lap and drinking the water and trying to stay upright in the heat and humidity. And all of a sudden, this guy starts flagging me down, waving me down. So I take off the earbuds and I talk to this guy. And so he's a regular listener of the program. He's a friend of the show. I've never met him. I think I've met him once before.
And so we had this conversation and he had asked about how I was doing. He said, man, you are starting to, you're looking like you're losing a few pounds there. That guy was training for like a triathlon. So he was like a hardcore athlete. So we're having this conversation and then he just looks at me. He says, can I ask you a question? I said, yeah, sure, no problem. He says, what is going on with Trump? He says, you know, I voted for this guy. I'm a MAGA guy and I'm an America First guy. He says, but I gotta tell you, I don't know what's going on at the White House, but they've gotta get this under control. And the guy just, I don't know if it was sort of like therapy, but he just sort of let loose. And he was just really frustrated by what's been happening, maybe what's not happening at the White House and the war in Iran. And that's ultimately what it was really all about. It was really about the war in Iran. And I'm sitting there and I'm listening to this guy and he is a rock-solid conservative. Say he was probably an older guy, definitely in his 60s.
And he is just, he's really frustrated, almost to the point of being done frustrated. So last night, and I think what led to a lot of this is what happened yesterday when the president announced, okay, fine, we're done. And you can't trust the Iranians. We're gonna go in and we're gonna blow in the kingdom come. And then just a couple of hours later, the president comes back and says, no, we're not gonna do that anymore. We've reached some sort of a deal. And I think the president says, I think we're gonna have a ceasefire. We're gonna be able to work this out. And in response to that, the Iranians say, no, we do not have a deal. And then they sent drones to attack one of our military installations over there, and we shot them down.
So I heard what this guy was saying, and I sense his frustrations, and I honestly, I share his frustrations.
And the president is dealing with something in the White House that I don't think any of us truly understand. But I think there are forces at play here, and I don't think they're nefarious. I just think they're a very serious difference of opinion about whether or not we should be in a war. And I think those people are, in no specific order, the vice president of the United States and Donald Trump Jr. And Don Jr. especially has his father's ear. And then on the other side of the table, you've got a lot of the folks who are war hawks who say we should go in, we should finish the job that should have been finished in 1979, and we should be done with it because I don't care who you are, I don't care what side of the aisle you're on, there's no way that we can allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. And you and I both know that Iran wants to get a nuclear weapon. They're not going to stop.
That's the end goal here. And then they will use that against either Israel or the United States, or if they get to both. So yesterday, we had Congressman Tim McClintock on the show, and I really appreciated what McClintock had to say. McClintock is out there, and he's like, you know, we've got to attack the enemy until they wave the white flag of surrender.