The Erick Erickson Show

Erick Erickson opens by fact checking Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed after his Meet the Press denial of any Muslim Brotherhood ties, walking through his family history, his donors, and the Holy Land Foundation court record. Then a new White House press secretary debuts, Kimberly Guilfoyle is out as ambassador, and Erick makes the case against live streaming the Nidal Hasan execution after the fatal Goliath accident at Six Flags Over Georgia.

• Abdul El-Sayed on Meet the Press with Kristen Welker: the Muslim Brotherhood denial, his half sister's 2012 posts, and his mother's Islamic American Relief Agency ties
• El-Sayed's 2012 letter backing Mohamed Morsi, his donors tied to CAIR, and the Holy Land Foundation trial, plus the Michigan Senate race against Mike Rogers
• New White House press secretary's first briefing, and Kimberly Guilfoyle's resignation as ambassador
• Six Flags Over Georgia Goliath roller coaster death: Charles Cooke on how safe coasters really are, and the video spreading on social media
• Why Erick opposes live streaming the Nidal Hasan execution while still backing the death penalty, with a caller and a nod to Rick Jackson coming up in hour two

Erick Erickson sounds the alarm on the 2026 Senate map as Republican donors scramble to defend Nebraska, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina, and blames the Ken Paxton scandals in Texas for draining money from Mike Rogers in Michigan and handing James Talarico a path to the Senate. Georgia governor candidate Rick Jackson joins by phone to take on Keisha Lance Bottoms, with plans on affordability, data centers, mental health beds, and a Mississippi style push on third grade reading. Erick also plays Democratic candidates promising to abolish ICE, Vivek Ramaswamy's Ohio rally pitch against Sherrod Brown, and a pro-Trump Ohio voter, with Shane Gillis and the SNL monologue outrage teed up next.

• Senate panic: Republican outside groups spending in Nebraska for Pete Ricketts, plus Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina, and why Erick thinks the GOP internal polling must be bad
• Ken Paxton scandal in Texas: the Wall Street Journal report on Dubai, the Trump endorsement, James Talarico, and why Erick says saving the Senate matters more than saving Texas
• Democrats who "abolish ICE": Angie Nixon in Florida, Maxwell Frost, and a Hassan Piker interview, plus impeachment talk if Democrats win the House
• Rick Jackson interview: Georgia governor race against Keisha Lance Bottoms, affordability, data center rules for local counties, 500 new mental health beds, and reading by third grade
• Vivek Ramaswamy in Youngstown against Sherrod Brown in the Ohio governor's race, an Ohio voter on Iran, and the Shane Gillis SNL monologue backlash preview

Erick Erickson takes on the outrage over Shane Gillis and his Saturday Night Live monologue, explains the Streisand effect, and says the left cannot take a joke as Democrats close in on power. Then Erick breaks with President Trump over buying Russian diesel, arguing that Russia and China are helping Iran and that the money could get Americans killed, before a sober three week check on the midterms, the Senate map, Ken Paxton, James Talarico, and Ohio. Also: prayers for the Pope after lung surgery, the Greta Gerwig Magician's Nephew Narnia trailer, and golf with two NFL quarterbacks.

• Shane Gillis SNL monologue: the gym joke, the Streisand effect, the Hollywood Reporter and TikTok backlash, and why Erick says woke one was Lenin and woke two is Stalin
• Trump and Russian diesel: Scott Bessent, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and John Ratcliffe say Russia and China help Iran, the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, Canadian diesel, Argentine beef, and America First meets tariffs
• Midterm election warning three weeks out: GOP consultants in doomsday mode, Ken Paxton versus James Talarico in Texas, Vivek Ramaswamy and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and Pete Ricketts in Nebraska
• JD Vance and the socialism debate, plus Democrats who still want to abolish ICE and impeach Trump if they win the House
• Pope has lung surgery, Greta Gerwig's Magician's Nephew Narnia trailer and Aslan casting, a golf round with two NFL quarterbacks, and a family knife forging trip to North Carolina

Erick Erickson opens a Columbus Day edition of the show with a told-you-so on Democratic midterm polling slipping after its Labor Day peak, then takes apart the viral rumor that Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was hiding in an Ohio mental hospital. He digs into Elon Musk's $276 million midterm push for Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson's claim the GOP will hold the House, the federal search of Ilhan Omar's home, and the heated Fox News clash over Trump buying Russian diesel while Zelensky's drones hit Russian refineries.

• Midterm elections 2026: Democratic polling slides after its Labor Day peak, Brian Kilmeade and Kristen Soltis Anderson weigh in, and why the party in power usually struggles
• James Talarico, Ken Paxton, and the Texas Senate race: the Ohio mental hospital rumor falls apart on the timeline
• Elon Musk's $276 million Republican midterm rescue mission, Senate Leadership Fund, America PAC, and Speaker Mike Johnson's House prediction
• Federal agents search Ilhan Omar's home, the immigration form investigation, and why Erick says to let the evidence and due process decide
• Trump, Russian diesel, Zelensky, and Putin: Kilmeade vs. Rachel Campos-Duffy, the Lindsey Graham sanctions law, and Iran drone support from Russia and China

Erick Erickson spends the hour on the Muslim Brotherhood and what he calls the soft jihad strategy, starting with a Wall Street Journal report on the little-known donors powering the Democratic Socialists of America, Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate bid, and Zohran Mamdani. He reads from Michael Youssef's book The Unholy Alliance, takes a caller who left Salafism, and argues the answer is exposure and not a strongman on the right. He also covers Kimberly Guilfoyle's shaky ambassadorship to Greece, Hasan Piker, a Ukrainian strike on a Russian data center and the drop in bot traffic, and warning signs under the surface of the stock market.

• Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Senate race, and the Meet the Press exchange over his family's alleged Muslim Brotherhood ties, with Erick citing the Washington Free Beacon
• Wall Street Journal on the unknown donors behind the new left: Democratic Socialists of America, Alex Soros, Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Chris Rabb, and the anti-AI super PAC American Priorities
• Muslim Brotherhood history from Hassan al-Banna to Egypt's Morsi and Sisi, Qatar and Al Jazeera, the 1987 Explanatory Memorandum, Tariq Ramadan, and EPIC City in Texas
• Caller who left Salafism on why Islamic countries reject the Brotherhood, plus Erick on Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Hasan Piker, and the Iranian revolution's lesson about communist allies
• Kimberly Guilfoyle's future as ambassador to Greece, a Ukrainian strike on a Russian data center and the collapse in bot traffic, and why most S&P 500 stocks are down despite a bull market

Erick Erickson starts with why he does not believe the Durupinar site in Turkey is Noah's Ark, then turns to the Federal Reserve numbers showing one in five families behind on loan payments, trucking bankruptcies, and the Trump tariffs backlash from Howard Miller clocks to Bombardier in Kansas, with callers pressing him on where the tariff money went. He also covers Trump's Friday rally in Dalton for Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins, why the Nidal Hasan execution should not be live streamed, and Keisha Lance Bottoms and her "this city literally was burning" line.

• Noah's Ark, the Durupinar formation in Turkey, Jeremiah Johnson, Scott Stripling, and Wes Huff: no released radar data, no peer review, $1,100 to $3,600 tours, and why Erick says to feed the homeless instead
• Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances: one in five American families behind on loans, trucking bankruptcies tied to diesel prices, and a Wall Street Journal look at even wealthy spenders pulling back
• Trump tariffs and the midterm elections: Howard Miller clocks, Bombardier jobs in Kansas, Canada losing 68,000 jobs, the New York Fed data, and the Supreme Court tariff refunds, with callers Cesar and Thomas
• Why the 1950s nostalgia pitch alienates women and Black voters, with C.S. Lewis and The Screwtape Letters on living in the past
• Trump rally in Dalton, Georgia for Mike Collins, Keisha Lance Bottoms and the burning of Atlanta, and Erick's case against live streaming the Nidal Hasan execution as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia raise oil prices

Erick Erickson breaks down a brutal debate night in the 2026 midterms: Mike Rogers presses Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed on whether Israel or Iran is the bigger threat, his mother's ties, his Hasan Piker friendship and his Dubai property, while Susan Collins lands her sharpest blow yet on Maine's Troy Jackson. Erick also explains why Mike Collins is sinking in Georgia against Jon Ossoff, why you must vote all the way down the ballot, and remembers Chicago Bears legend Mike Ditka, who passed away today.

• Mike Rogers vs. Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate debate: Israel or Iran, Hasan Piker, the Muslim Brotherhood question and Leland Vittert's viral follow-up
• Susan Collins vs. Troy Jackson in Maine, plus the Vermont Lieutenant Governor race and the family farm migrant worker controversy
• Why Mike Collins is dragging down Georgia Republicans against Jon Ossoff, and Erick's struggle over leaving a line blank
• Vote down the ballot, become a poll watcher, and the Peruvian candidate named Hitler Mussolini who just won an election
• Coach Mike Ditka dies, a Gulf Coast hurricane heads for Mobile and Pensacola, and the Not Safe Radio Show at Gas South Theater

Erick Erickson welcomes State Department deputy spokesman Luke Ortega to unpack Secretary Marco Rubio's Acropolis speech defending Western civilization, the new Greenland deal with Denmark, and the 250,000 visas revoked under President Trump. Then Erick breaks down the New York ICE shooting of Oscar Bergall, Mayor Mamdani's attack on federal agents, and the Obama appointed federal judge who blocked his deportation. Plus Tommy Tuberville's 7 to 0 win at the Alabama Supreme Court, Iranian AI influence operations, a rant on "super intelligence," and the White Sox in the playoffs.

• State Department deputy spokesman Luke Ortega on Marco Rubio's Acropolis speech in Greece, the Iceland, Greece and Portugal trip, and the call for Europe to rebuild its industry and defense
• The Greenland deal with Denmark: two new US defense areas, a bar on adversary bases and critical minerals investment, and no expiration date
• Over 250,000 visas revoked, why tourist, work and student visas are pulled, and the new travel.state.gov visa fraud tip portal
• ICE agents shot Oscar Bergall after he rammed federal vehicles, Mayor Mamdani's response, and a federal judge's order blocking his removal
• Alabama Supreme Court rules 7 to 0 it cannot hear the Tommy Tuberville residency challenge in the governor's race, plus Iran's OpenAI fake journalist campaign and Erick's refusal to say "super intelligence"

Erick Erickson makes the case, as a Christian who supports the death penalty, against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's plan to stage a public, live-streamed execution of Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Hasan, citing Army regulations, Tertullian, Augustine, Ezekiel 33:11 and the risk of turning a paraplegic terrorist into a martyr for Islam. Erick also explains how his faith has changed his politics, takes on progressives who twist scripture and conservatives who ignore the refugee on immigration, and then turns to TV: Slow Horses, 24, Silo, Severance, Game of Thrones and how pornography and gratuitous language coarsen the soul. Plus the Cornell seven text message, the Not Safe Radio Show, Hurricane warnings for the Southeast and a Friday round of golf.

• Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon's plan to publicly live stream the execution of Nidal Hasan: why Erick Erickson supports the death penalty but opposes public execution, the Army regulation that bans it, and the martyrdom propaganda risk across the Middle East
• Faith and politics: Tertullian's De Spectaculis, Augustine and the Colosseum, Ezekiel 33:11, Proverbs 24:17, and progressive revelation versus progressives rewriting scripture on James Talarico, same-sex marriage and abortion
• Immigration and the Christian conscience: supporting deportation of illegal aliens without cruelty, care for the refugee, the widow and the orphan
• Family friendly TV: Slow Horses on Apple TV, 24 with Kiefer Sutherland, Silo, Severance, Shogun and Game of Thrones, and why gratuitous language and sex are coarsening culture
• Pornography, fathers talking to sons, the Cornell seven situation, plus tickets for the Not Safe Radio Show and a Southeast hurricane warning

Erick Erickson makes the case that the Republican midterm bloodbath is overstated, backing Ken Paxton over James Talarico in Texas and Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, with a look at Senate races in Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio and North Carolina. He then digs into the new CBS News report on the Iranian attack on Camp Buehring in Kuwait, the aircraft losses the Pentagon downplayed, and word that President Trump wants a plan to finish the Iranian regime before the midterms.

• Texas Senate race: Ken Paxton versus James Talarico, the new UMass poll putting Paxton ahead, Texas suburban voters, Greg Abbott, and why Erick still thinks Paxton can pull it off
• Michigan Senate race: Abdul El-Sayed's silence on October 7th, his refusal to say whether Israel or Iran is the bigger threat, Mike Rogers, and the eight point polling miss on Republicans in Michigan
• Midterm elections 2026: Alan Lichtman's 52 Senate seats prediction, Michelle Tafoya in Minnesota, Ashley Hinson in Iowa, North Carolina and Ohio, and Erick's call of a 50-50 Senate with JD Vance as the tiebreaker
• Iran war: CBS News video of the attack on Camp Buehring in Kuwait, more than 80 aircraft lost or damaged, Jack Keane on Hamas rebuilding in Gaza, three carrier groups, Marco Rubio's Acropolis speech, and Trump's push to finish Iran
• Lighter moments: the zigzag yellow line Orange County, Florida spent $150,000 on, the Atlanta Braves loss to the Dodgers and defending manager Walt Weiss, and Saturday's Not Safe Radio show at Gas South Theater