# White House Shooting, Thomas Massie Loses, The Rise of Jihadist Militants in Africa, and U.S.-Cuba Tensions

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/world-ablaze-with-george-fontes-6627809/white-house-shooting-thomas-massie-loses-the-rise-of-jihadist-militants-in-africa-and-u-s-cuba-tensions
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/world-ablaze-with-george-fontes-6627809/white-house-shooting-thomas-massie-loses-the-rise-of-jihadist-militants-in-africa-and-u-s-cuba-tensions.md
Podcast: [World Ablaze with George Fontes](https://stenobird.com/podcast/world-ablaze-with-george-fontes-6627809)
Published: 2026-05-25T17:33:28+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/727da227
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/38903f/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.transistor.fm/727da227/890b8dfe.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/world-ablaze-with-george-fontes-6627809/episodes/white-house-shooting-thomas-massie-loses-the-rise-of-jihadist-militants-in-africa-and-u-s-cuba-tensions
Duration seconds: 5912

## Resource

Welcome back to another episode of World of Blaze. Today, I’m diving deep into the fallout from Thomas Massie’s historic primary defeat in Kentucky’s 4th district and what it reveals about the alleged power of "Podcastistan". We’ve heard the roar from the internet’s biggest influencers—Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Dave Smith—who threw their weight behind Massie, believing their reach on X could override political reality. But after a $35 million primary where Massie secured only 45.2% of the vote, we have to ask: is the influence of these podcasters actually influential, or are they just overestimating their matter to the real world?. We’ll also break down the competing narratives surrounding foreign influence in this race. While many in Podcastistan scream that Israel and AIPAC unseated Massie, the data from OpenSecrets tells a different story about who is actually spending the most to buy influence in the U.S.. We'll look at the numbers: China has donated over $500 million since 2016, while Israel doesn't even crack the top five for 2025. I’ll also expose Massie’s own complicated ties to foreign interests, including billionaire Jeff Yass and his stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, as well as alignments that benefited the Iranian lobby. Beyond the election, it has been a busy and violent weekend that we need to address: * The White House Shooting: We’ll discuss the details of Nasir Best, the individual who fired 30 shots at a Secret Service checkpoint before being killed—the fifth time the White House has been fired upon during the Trump era. * Assassination Plots: New reports of a plot targeting Ivanka Trump. * Iran Peace Deal: Why Trump and J.D. Vance were hurried to Washington for a call with Gulf nations regarding a potential deal on the table from Tehr…

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