Episode 4451: Tony Katz Today Hour 1 - 03/13/26

0:00The all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota, with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for in the all-new 2026 RAV4. Learn and shop more at toyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. Live from the heartland and the crossroads of America. It's Tony Katz today. It's Terrorism. Old Dominion University, Temple Israel and West Bloomfield, Michigan.

1:09The killing of two Americans at a bar in Austin, Texas, just a little over a week ago, it's Terrorism. You can call what happened at the synagogue, anti-Semitism, you'll be correct, but it is still Terrorism. And if we don't understand that we have people in the United States, whom we have allowed in the United States, or whom are Americans themselves who are engaged in this supportive of this, because they get supported by outside entities, and radicals within our own country, well how in the world are we going to possibly stop this, and so we're all clear with each other. The plan has to be to stop this. Not live with it. Stop it. Tony Katz, that is me. The show is Tony Katz today. Let's start where we start, which is Old Dominion. The university, Old Dominion University, where an ISIS supporting shooter shouting aloo Akbar, killed an ROTC instructor. He was known for having spent time in jail for connecting with ISIL,

2:20so we think of ISIS. ISIL was, there was this, call it an offshoot, call it a name change, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Terrorist organizations, the terrorist organizations, the terrorist organization. Somehow one is better than the other, not in my world. He spent time in jail, but was released early from jail. 2024 was able to get a firearm asked if this is where the ROTC was meeting where class was going on screaming aloo Akbar and open fire. This guy was a naturalized citizen originally from Sierra Leone. That's who he was. He spent 11 years in prison. Actually, I take that back. He was sentenced

3:27to 11 years in prison for offering material support to ISIS in 2017, but you'll notice he didn't serve the entire time. The man that he killed, a retired military officer known respected from every report beloved. This scumbag terrorist was stopped because an ROTC, you call him a crew, cadet, had a knife. It's the only way this guy was stopped. Somebody was there with a weapon able to be proactive in the defense of others. In Michigan, this 41-year-old Lebanese American

4:29took his car, truck, I should say, loaded with explosives and drove through the door of a synagogue called Temple Israel. Temple Israel is the largest reform synagogue in the country. Judaism has orthodox conservative reform. Call it highest, medium-lowest in terms of religiousness, trying to figure out how I would explain it. I'm a conservative Jew. I belong to a conservative synagogue. Reform synagogues I have found to be mostly liberal synagogues. Orthodox synagogues are synagogues that are most following rules, regulations, etc.

5:36This is the largest reform synagogue in the country, and this guy drove through the front door. Explosives and weapons in the truck. It should be understood that services weren't going on, but there's a school there and there's 140 students inside. They had at this reform synagogue, which I think I shocked a lot of people because it certainly shocked me. By the way, joyously, they had a security team. When this guy went through the door, drove through the door, he hit one of the security team, knocked among conscious, which one could understand. The other members of the security team opened fire, and this guy wasn't able to hurt anyone else inside. This guy died in his car. The car caught fire. There was the black smoke that you saw. In both situations, in both places, the bad guy was stopped by the good guy with a weapon.

6:46In both situations, if it wasn't for people armed in one way or another and prepared, you would have many more deaths. We would be discussing something very, very different. So, I'll start where I start in all of this by guns, by ammo, get trained. Do not show up to your place of worship without being armed. And any parishioner, any faith leader, I should state, who says you can't be armed here, fire them. They want you to die. Now, you might say to me, Tony, that's a little bit strong. I'll say to you, Kitten, I haven't even started. Any faith leader that says you can't be armed here is not worth a damn. They are not worth your time or your attention. They do not love you. They do not love your family. I would question out loud if they love the Lord. They've got to go. And if they won't go, well, then you have to go. You owe it to

7:54yourselves. And I have only appreciative. In ways I cannot fully explain that there's a synagogue out there that understood that it is their job to protect themselves and the ones that they love. Good on them. Every synagogue should take note. The connection between these terrorists is ideological. One may argue that it is religious and that they're all Muslims. Well, when you're wearing a hoodie that says property of Allah, you're saying something. But since I cannot state specifically everybody's religious background and connection points, I can state that we're not talking about a religion. We're talking about a political ideology, which is the ideology of the Islamist, which is the ideology that the other guy has to submit or die. Anybody doesn't agree with them. And most importantly, the place

8:54of true connection that they all wanted to do away with, degrade and destroy Western civilization, the American way of life. They all wanted to terrorize Americans, all of them. And those who do not want to admit the connections, I've got no time for those little children. Well, Tony, they're just doing this because in the case of the guy who attacked the synagogue, he had family in Lebanon and Israel attacked his family. And well, Tony, the synagogue's name is Temple Israel. And well, to explain the end part, I have to bring in the New York Times, the most disgusting newspaper in America. That wrote, Temple Israel was founded in 1941, dedicated to the formation of a Jewish state. Oh, so they deserved it. That's the argument of the New York Times.

10:02You absolute despicable scumbags. They deserved it is the argument that these people are making. And it's being made, by the way, on your TV screens. It's being made by the most progressive and woke right fools out there. Suspect in Michigan synagogue attack lost family in Israeli strike on Lebanon. What does that have to do with attacking Americans in a synagogue? What does that have to do with attacking Jews? We're going to defend it. He was somehow confused. Well, it's all right. Well, it's Israel's fault. Screw off. You low life scumbags. And I don't want to see another Jewish person even pretending to be nice. Remember, my people, my people are some of the dumbest people around. No one talks about it. No one engages it. It is factual. These lefties, leftist

11:10Jews, somehow believing that they can make nice. There is no nice to make as I posted to all the liberal Jews I grew up with. Yes, forgive me for getting personal. The New York Times things temple Israel in West Bloomfield. The victims of a terrorist attack deserved it. They think you deserve it. Maybe you should speak up. Maybe you should admit that you've been wrong. Maybe you should accept that we're in this together. The terrorists want to kill Jews and destroy Western civilization. And you will never be progressive enough, liberal enough, or woke enough to appease them. Never. The same is true for any leftist. The same is true for every American. It is us versus them. You're on the woke right. You're on the political left. You don't like my politics. I don't give a damn. I don't care about any of it. It is us or it is them. Choose one. Choose one.

12:19I've got absolute tools making comments that this is all the fault of Israel. Blank you, blank this. Blank that America first. Dear God, son, do you not understand what's happening? You want to argue stuff that doesn't matter to the terrorist. The terrorist wants you done too. They want you to fall too. They will not stop. If Israel didn't exist, they still wouldn't stop. What's your argument? Your argument is you are a child in capable of seeing the writing on the wall. They've been at war with us since they saw us. If you believe in the worldwide caliphate, you are at war with anybody who doesn't. You think this is about Israel? Do you know how ignorantly stupid you are? Here, allow me. You are in a nutshell. You are Bernie Sanders level

13:24of stupid, just amazingly dumb. I think I just speak to myself enough for you. I've got a lot of U.S. Middle East policy is dictated by Israel that I think would be probably had it right, that it was Israel who decided they wanted to go to war. And if the 40 years of wanting to see this Netanyahu, finally got his wish, I mean, Netanyahu is one of this 40 years. Netanyahu is the guy that told us urge the United States to get involved in Iraq to be clean and easy-want. What is, if that is true? What is Israel's goal? What does they want by not only decimating the leadership in Iran? What do they want? They want to not have terrorists being funded by Iran so they don't get killed. But Israel dragged America into this war as to stupid

14:30for words. The only way you can actually be that dense is if you think that Medicare for all can actually work and doesn't actually enslave doctors. Oh, sorry, Bernie, I didn't mean to gosh, embarrassing for you, isn't it? We're here. Three acts of terrorism, one against the synagogue, one against ROTC, one against Americans at a bar. You really think this is about Israel? Stupid people need not apply. This is about us. You want America first? You get rid of the terrorists. You're not going to get rid of the terrorists. You blanking cowards in the woke right and on the political left who won't admit the reality in front of your face. It's us or it's them. It's us or it's them. You still think this is about whatever it is that allows you to get some clicks. Allow me to be a little more clear for a moment. Master baiting to Tucker Carlson

15:35is not a political philosophy. It's us or it's them. How many more things do you need to see in a two week period? How many more ways did you need to be attacked over the last 47 years by the Iranian regime? How much more do you need to witness? And at some moment, those of us who are thinking have to look at the people aren't thinking and say, we're not paying attention to you at all. At all, if you don't understand that we're in it because they want it, you're out of your head. If you don't understand that Christians need to be the one who wins this thing. Listen, I'm trying to get my people, my people to understand which end is up. It has been difficult. But an actual security team in a synagogue. I got a little bit of faith. We're the ones under attack.

16:36They're here and all three of these terrorist attacks. We don't understand that we're under threat. We don't understand that it's us or them. We don't understand that Western civilization is on the line. Keep trying to tell yourself that Western civilization isn't on the line. Just so we know who you are, so we don't have to pay attention to you. So we can go about making sure we never vote for anybody who enables them and we only put ourselves in a position of policy to defeat them. I'm Tony Katz. This is Tony Katz today. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going. Blending rugged muscle with precision engineering all supported by Toyota's time tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability. With the available iForce Max engine, Tundra puts out impressive power, torque and towing performance and the Rumi high-tech cabin keeps you connected

17:37on the go or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, a powered rear window, portable JBL speaker, and a power lift gate. So gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today. Visit toyota.com for deals and local inventory or stop by your Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. And as this war continues in Iran, I believe it has been updated to six, six crew members on this Air Force refueling plane were killed in a crash in Iraq. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, absolutely horrible. The initial

18:37confirmation was four were killed. This is a KC 135 strata tanker. That has been up to six. That leaves the number of American dead that we know to 13. And it's horrifying. The thing that I will keep stating and I will keep reminding is that our hit on Iran, our necessary in my view hit on Iran. Nothing comes easy and I am a little bit amazed at the people who are who thought that in two weeks this would be done. Why isn't this over in three days? Why in the world did you think that? Why in the world would you think that? And more and more, the political left and the woke right with this idea that we're failing and we're losing no part of this is true. I want to see the regime ended and I want to see soldiers come

19:43home and I want to see this done just like you. I want an end to the funding of terrorism. Of course. And certainly seeing this regime not be closer to a nuclear weapon is also good. They had the 60% in rich uranium. They were bragging about being able to get it to weapons grade. We took out the facilities. We clearly did not end other work that they were doing. Maybe President Trump shouldn't be saying we obliterated it. Did we end it? Yes or no? It's the only question, the only question. But I'm stunned by the people who thought that this would go without a hitch that the capture of Maduro went without a hitch. That's what makes it extraordinary. People die in war and that's why you got to make sure you know what you're doing and

20:43go in with overwhelming force and do it to the best of your ability. People's lives are not in vain and shouldn't be thought of that way. But the loss of life does not mean you don't stop those who are trying to do you harm. Not in the slightest. This is Tony Katz today. Oh, I got to find this audio of this Soros aligned. Is he a district attorney? Is he a DA? I got to find this guy. Where is it? Tony Katz. Tony Katz today. Good to be here. Good to be with you. Find everything over at Tony Katz.com. I bring you over where I had the guy. I had him. Dang it. Dang it. Dang it. The latest, by the way, as we continue

21:46the conversation about Iran, Trump saying the US is totally destroying Iran and to watch what happens Friday. It was a very, very direct message from President Trump, calling the Iranian regime, deranged scumbags. It was very, very direct. And he also admitted that this is taking a very opposite approach to presidents of the past, of the past, a Pete Hague set, Secretary of War. Stating, I've addressed this before. I think it's worth saying again. Mission creep or expansive missions or prolonged timelines or democracy building or nation building. You name it, has not been part of what President Trump wants us to be involved in. We're solving for something here. This particular mission set, but also recognizing this country's condition to previous

22:47leaders, whether it's George Bush or Barack Obama or Joe Biden, who had these expansive, nebulous missions, sets of mission sets that kept changing all the time. So the timeline kept moving. And we kept pouring more troops in and on the ground. And then pretty soon, everyone wonders, like I did in Afghanistan in 2012, what's our mission here? I'm not clear what it is. He continued, we're taking the opposite approach here. And we're saying we've defined these objectives. We're pursuing these objectives. The president has his hand on the throttle and will decide ultimately when they've been reached that serves the purposes of the United States of America, American interests first. I think that there are a lot of people who want to agree with this. And their issue is that they don't feel that the administration has done a good enough job of explaining it. That in the end, the administration has not stated to America in a

24:00clear enough way. Here's what we're doing. Here's why we're doing it. Here's how it's going to work. Don't ask about timelines. We'll be done when we're done. I would argue that we've had this conversation regarding the economy. Don't tell me tariffs are great. Tell me why, tariffs. Tell me what the result of tariffs is. Tell me what we're getting for the trade deals. Tell me when we'll see the money coming in. Tell me when we see the project and the shovel in the ground. Tell me when it's about, it's, it's a messaging issue. We go back to the one big beautiful bill. The one big beautiful bill in July. It's got this and it's got that. We're going to expand the salt caps and we're going to, no tax on this and then we're going to provide more opportunities for that. The worst message bill in the history of America. All these things that Republicans are depending on in order to be able to share an economic message to win the midterms in 2026 and there's no messaging. There was no messaging then. There's no messaging today. Why not?

25:05Why is there no messaging? So I think the issue here is, is that you didn't, you didn't sell the story. You needed to sell the story. Why? How the rest? President Trump put out on truth social. Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. The problem with that is that that's, that's too, that's too nebulous. Like I've got a million people I can apply deranged scumbags to. Right? I could do that to the squad, the New England Patriots. I mean, I got, it's unlimited number of groups that you can apply, that you can apply this message to. And some people love that kind of talk. I don't care about it at all. I care about success.

26:17That, that, that we may be different in that regard. The name calling doesn't move me. The action moves me. And when I see people like Scott Beccins, the Treasury Secretary, making the statement that when it comes to, for example, oil prices, where, where's the barrel right now? Where I, I use oil price.com. That is the site that I use in oil prices. Brent crude, by the way, this has been fluctuating. It has been down to like $94 a barrel today. Right now, it's at $102 a barrel. West Texas crude coming out of the ground is at $97 a barrel. Before this all started, West Texas crude was $63 to $66 a barrel. I've got Scott Beccins saying that when the moment comes, when we have the opportunity,

27:23we will engage military escorts through the straight-of-form moves. Okay, but what are we doing right now to take out the missile launchers and those who are engaging in threat against oil tankers? What is happening right now? I don't need Durange's comeback. I don't need the Treasury Secretary stating what the military is going to do. Show me the action. Show people the results. And then it was, it was Pete Heigsepp in his pressure today. Really weird statement. And he had some doosies in there and some of them were good. And I thought his approach was for me a little bit better than I've seen him over the last week or so. But there's a moment where Heigsepp is saying, you know, when it comes to the straight-of-form moves, we've got it. Don't worry about everything's fine.

28:27What do you mean, everything's fine? And he was asked about it in the press conference by a reporter. I'm right here. You have said that the US military is essentially aerial superiority, naval superiority over Iran. Yeah, we're not escorting ships to the straight-of-form, why? How did you not plan for this? We plan for it. Why aren't we recognize it? Because ultimately, we want to do it sequentially in a way that makes the most sense for what we want to achieve. And ensure that we're sending the right signals to the world when we do so. So when Chris Wright speaks, or we speak, it's based on a full assessment of what we're up against, what we want to say to the world, how we want them to see and understand the conflict. It's like this whole idea of the war widening. That's what the press wants to make it look like. Like it's widening and chaos and so we know we're actually closing in on grabbing hold of and controlling what what objectives we want to achieve and how we want to achieve them. Shape this called shaping operations and setting the conditions. But when you shape the environment,

29:31you don't always tell, I mean, foolish political leaders and foolish military leaders of the past will hang an exact deadline on it. Or here's exactly when we'll do what we're going to do. Or here's how long it's going to take us. And then if you meet that, maybe you meet it. But if you don't, you fail. And if you're far beyond, we know exactly what we're shaping and why. We're sending those signals working across the interagency. The straight-of-horn moves is something we've paid attention to from the beginning. And the American people can rest assured we will ensure that our interests are advanced. Now the one thing I like about that is that it is a difference in philosophy. And I like this philosophy, which is our job is not to answer the questions of the press. Our job is to do the job. And I've said this before what a pleasure it is to have adults back in charge at the Pentagon. Answering the questions of the press is not what it's about, including my own. It's about making sure that here was our plan. Now we're going to go execute.

30:38I, on this very program, said if President Trump is interested in helping the protesters, putting out their help is on its way and all that jazz. Well, how do you help the protesters if the objective that you keep talking about is military targets? What is that? How do you, you have to break the IRGC to help the protesters? And certainly an acceptable answer is, well, you can't do anything until you soften up the ground. You can't do anything until you put the Islamic regime on their heels. You have to break the regime and then you can discuss the very idea of how you can help these people. And remember, I want to help these people, but I start where I start. I want to end the terrorism. For me, it is the funding of terrorism, the attacks on Americans globally. Then eliminating nuclear, maybe it's a very close second, and then helping these people. And that's a very close third. I want to help them. But you can't be

31:43a nation that goes out there and says, we're going to free these people, you can't spend your life doing that. You cannot spend your life doing that. No, you can't, a nation can't do that. You may want to, but you can. So I do appreciate that maybe we don't get the full story. But when you see oil prices jumping, don't start by having this, this conversation about, oh, it's fine. It's not fine. Don't approach it like that. Don't engage in a flippant way at all. That is not a way to do things. And so when you say, wait to see what we do with these deranged scumbags, no, no, no, no, no, no. And the regime, as for, by the way, the regime itself, and people who want to claim, you know, the regime hasn't been heard, it hasn't been affected,

32:45it's embarrassing. Anybody know where the Ayatollah is? The new Ayatollah, the sun, right? What, where is he? There are statements. No, no, they're written statements that people are, are, are, you know, taking an oath of loyalty to a cardboard cutout. Sarah, who does all our social media work, our digital work, refers to him as Ayatollah auto pen. We're getting these statements. We don't know where the guy is. Who knows where the guy is? Yes, damage has been done, and it's good. But don't get into the glib, Mr. President. I said this the other day about your, your speech there in, in Ohio, as a Kentucky, it's talking a little excursion to around not when American troops die, not when American troops are putting their lives in the line. Don't ever be glib, be direct, be focused, talk about the mission, and then let's talk about winning. Let's win, let's go home. That's the plan.

33:55I'm Tony Katz, and this is Tony Katz today. And this is a place that I have a very personal connection to. I feel I've spent a lot of my time growing up in and out of this temple, and I feel just a, the all new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, and it builds on everything drivers know and love about Toyota with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The 26 RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys, while the available all-wheel drive keeps you in command when conditions are unpredictable. The new RAV4 is designed around the way people actually use their SUV, from daily errands to weekend adventures, while the GR sport model coming soon, both a net combined 320 horsepower, in a plug-in hybrid drivetrain with a GR tuned suspension for an even more responsive exciting drive. No matter which RAV4 you choose, you'll enjoy the reliability Toyota is known for, coupled with the inspiring performance that's

34:58unique to Toyota. Shop more and find details at toyota.com, the all new RAV4 from Toyota. Let's go places. An immense amount of pain as does the rest of the community that incidents like this even happen. And I think it's just important to be clear, as the governor said, that whether anti-semitism is coming from the left or the right, whether it's coming from some group that you like or don't like, you have a responsibility to call it out. I agree with you, Senator Alyssa Slotkin. Would you please now call out Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib? I'll wait. Senator, will you please call out Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib? Now please, do not sit there on a television screen, as you are the center of Michigan and talk about the horror that happened in this synagogue, praising the

35:58security team. It's good to know that you're willing to praise people who have a gun who could protect and defend people from somebody else who has a gun or a car filled with explosives. But if we should call out anti-semitism from the right and the left, will you please call out Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib? Now please, Tony Katz, Tony Katz today. And while we're at it, and I know that I'll take heat for this. If you want to focus on what happened in Michigan as anti-semitism, I don't think I can stop you. The problem is that's only a part of the puzzle. I'll go back to where I started. Okay, said anybody missed it. I've got other things that I've got to get to on the show, including the insanity out of Arizona. We're fighting a war with the terrorists. And I have got leftists in America who still want to fight the war that men can be women. Crazy. This was terrorism. Address the terrorism. That whether we are on the right or the

37:06left, whether we are indeed conservative or liberal, Christian or Jewish, gay or straight, regardless of the rest, we are the ones under attack. It was a reform synagogue. I will bet you dollars to donuts that the vast majority of people who belong to that synagogue are liberals and they got attacked. We're in this together. It is us or it is them. If you're going to call it anti-semitism, you call out Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar. And when you've done that, and that's now in the past, we still have to deal with the terrorism and the terrorists. And the connection of all three of these terrorists, whether it be the synagogue, the old dominion attack or what happened in Austin, is that they are all connected to this Islamic ideology. We're going to pretend that isn't real. That's somehow bigoted. It is factual. We have to be honest about it. And then we have to ask ourselves what we're going to do with it.

38:10What are we going to do about it? Keep it here. This is Tony Katz today. The all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota, with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for. In the all-new 2026 RAV4, learn and shop more at toyota.com. Toyota, let's go places.