🎙Independent Americans

The best independent news & politics pod in America. Host: @PaulRieckhoff. Powered by @Righteous. Now at @Indy_Americans. #StayVigilant 🇺🇸

[🎙Independent Americans @angryamericans]

⚡️After 100 Episodes, we’ve evolved into Season 2 with a bold, new name. But we’re still bringing the same independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact you love. Follow us at @indy_americans and continue the journey with us to a better America. #StayVigilant🎙🇺🇸⚡️

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

Trump now thinks he’s a UFC fighter.

Perfect for my WTF Wednesday episode.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/teIGRy2UU0 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/s6HKKmGM51

[🎙Independent Americans @indy_americans]

He can't even pin a Medal of Honor on a soldier properly.

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

⚡️Mamdani and the Socialists Run the Table in NYC. Senate Finally Checks Trump’s Iran War Powers. Primary Fallout. Trump Blows Up Housing Bill for SAVE Act—Because He’s Focused on the Elections. DJT Thinks He’s a UFC Fighter. Hegseth’s Pentagon Purge Continues. Good News for Independents in DC.  Flu Outbreak Sickens Hundreds of Troops. 

It’s a new WTF Wednesday episode of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/7p88P0g6O1 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/CQoTUvde9Z 

🎧Spotify: https://t.co/9LFwWfWsFi 

📖Substack: https://t.co/ZXDYi7ldcL

Mamdani is the new king of the Democratic Socialists, and he didn't get there by accident. He understood that closed primaries are a rigged game where the players are also the referees — and he played that game to perfection while more than a million New York City independents were locked out of the vote that decides who represents them. Paul Rieckhoff breaks down what happened in NYC, in Maryland, and in Utah, why Brad Lander worked so hard to kill the NYC open primaries ballot initiative, and what the rise of the far left in safe-blue cities means for the angry middle that has nowhere left to go.

From there, the briefing widens out. The Senate finally voted to check Trump's Iran war powers — with an asterisk worth knowing about. Hegseth forced the retirement of General CD Donahue, the last soldier out of Afghanistan, and the patriotic purged are starting to file for office. Trump botched a Medal of Honor ceremony, fixated on UFC fighters' muscles, and pushed a SAVE Act designed to scare Americans away from the ballot box. Paul also flags some good news: DC just funded open primaries, retired Navy Admiral Nancy LaCore won her South Carolina primary, and a six-tour combat veteran named Cait Connolly is coming for Congressman Mike Lawler in the Hudson Valley.

Subscribe, rate and share Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff on YouTube, ApplePods, BLEAV, Spotify, all platforms and https://t.co/0izUv2beJZ.🎙️🚨🇺🇸🗳️

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

Back to work.

Trump's Iran Deal Is "A Loser's Agreement"

Paul Rieckhoff - Deadline: White House

My weekly segment on MSNow Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace (and David Rohde).  

More always on Independent Americas. (Except today—when I’m covering the joy of the Knicks parade from NYC!): https://t.co/ew5wipkwHU 🎙️🚨🇺🇸

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

Trump Has "Lost Control" of Iran and the Economy. His New Deal is Getting Slammed by Everyone. Inflation.

Why Georgia and DC Yesterday Again Revealed America’s Primary Problem. And Why Independents Don’t Want to Pick The Lesser of Two Evils. We Want Better.

My weekly WTF Wednesday segment with Connell McShane—and Lauren Wright.

The last exchange after minute 9:00 is critical. We independents (45% of voters—and rising) refuse to accept the unacceptable. We want better. And are fighting and working for it. #LetUsVote 🎙️🚨🇺🇸

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

⚡️The Independent Plan to Flip Tennessee with Lauren Pinkston - Independent for Governor of Tennessee. With 2 Million Independent TN Voters 775k Votes is the Magic Number. Where Do Trump Voters Go Next? Reason Over Extremism. Independence Never Goes Out Of Style.

It’s a new WTF Wednesday and Meet the Independent Candidate episode of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/mBxuBtvCqH 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/BBJY8MG7gr 

🎧Spotify: https://t.co/j5OaZlIETu 

📖Substack: https://t.co/VflPCundNF

Tennessee looks like a red wall on the map. Look closer. Roughly 48% of eligible voters there are unaffiliated — the highest share in the state (34%-R/18%-D/48%-I) — and only a third of them bothered to show up last midterm. That's not apathy. That's the angry middle waiting for someone worth voting for. Lauren Pinkston, independent candidate for governor, joins Paul to make the case that 2026 is the year Tennessee breaks the one-party stranglehold, and she's got the math, the ground game, and the biography to back it up.

Pinkston is a seventh-generation Tennessean, a PhD in international development who lived five years inside a communist country watching elections up close, a mother advocating for a child with special needs, and a founder who built a business with survivors of human trafficking.

In this conversation, she breaks down the 775,000-vote path to victory, why 60-70% of her incoming support is Republicans looking for an off-ramp from the MAGA machine, the $83 billion road backlog Nashville won't touch, the housing crisis pricing working families out of their own state, and why open primaries are non-negotiable for anyone who actually believes in the Constitution.

It's a briefing on what independent infrastructure looks like when it's built right — couch by couch, county by county.

Subscribe, rate and share Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff on YouTube, ApplePods, BLEAV, Spotify, all platforms and https://t.co/0izUv2beJZ.🎙️🚨🇺🇸🗳️

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

⚡️New Poll: Political Independents Hit Their Highest Level In A Decade. Iran, Deal Or No Deal? B-52 Bomber Crashes In California. Trump At NYC Parade? Knicks At White House? Primaries Tues In Alabama, Dc, Georgia And Oklahoma. NYPD Rise To The Moment. 

It’s a new Primary Tuesday Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/v6YiwYHqzP 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/uNRL4Kaa4y 

🎧Spotify: https://t.co/yPSK0S5fPO 

📖Substack: https://t.co/COSUz34kZo

Independents have hit 47% of the country. Republicans are at 26%. Democrats at 27%. That's not a trend line — that's a tectonic shift, and the new @CNN poll out today confirms what this show has been saying for years: the angry middle isn't homeless, it isn't tribeless, it's free. Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the numbers, what they mean for the 2026 midterms, and why younger voters, male voters, and white voters without college degrees are walking away from the GOP — and not running to the Democrats.

From there, it's a full no-BS briefing. Iran has de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz and Trump is negotiating what looks like a surrender. Eight crew members are dead after a B-52 crash at Edwards Air Force Base — a story buried under the noise. Closed primaries on Tuesday continue to disenfranchise nearly half the electorate. The NYPD is rising to meet a wild week of Knicks, World Cup, and parade security. And the big question hangs over Thursday: will Trump show up and shit on New York's joy, or stay in his tower? It's a sanctuary in a chaotic week — and a reminder that you're not alone in the angry middle.

Subscribe, rate and share Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff on YouTube, ApplePods, BLEAV, Spotify, all platforms and https://t.co/0izUv2beJZ.🎙️🚨🇺🇸🗳️

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

From CNN last night:

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

A message to Trump ahead of the Knicks parade tomorrow:

[🎙Independent Americans @indy_americans]

8 crew members gone. Not in combat. In service.

[🎙Independent Americans @indy_americans]

They saw a kid in the backseat. They jumped into daddy mode.

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

TOMORROW ONLINE:

VETERANS MEETING THE MOMENT

A virtual discussion with me and Max Brooks. About the mission, strategy and future of @IndyVetsAmerica. And the growth of our movement.

If you’re looking for a reason to be hopeful, join me and @maxbrooksauthor online for 45 minutes tomorrow at 10AM PT/1PM ET.

I will share a strategic update on the national political landscape facing independents, the situation in Iran, and IVA’s powerful and growing slate of independent veteran candidates — with special remarks from my friend, Max Brooks: author of World War Z, Senior Non Resident Fellow of the Modern War Institute at West Point, and son of legendary WW2 vet Mel Brooks. And some of the top independent veterans running in 2026. And, I’ll take your questions.

WHEN:

TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2026 · 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET · 45 MINUTES

WHERE:

ONLINE

Join us virtually tomorrow. Confirmed RSVPs will receive the Zoom link to join: https://t.co/SWmMMI3qCn

Join us and I promise you’ll leave informed and inspired.🗳️🐺🇺🇸

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

⚡️The Knicks Are The Champs! Trump’s Obscene UFC Dream Comes True. The Greatest MAGA Military Recruiting Ad Ever. Iran and US Say They Have a Deal. Hegseth: Ecuador and Guatemala Are Next. Fox Gobbles Up Roku. USA Soccer Wins Big! Even Though Trump Called Them. 

It’s a new Manosphere Monday Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/aRA1ygXScz 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/G4FTbdk0MV 

🎧Spotify: https://t.co/fPkCMUku0I 

📖Substack: https://t.co/SUb5X86kqC

Sports is our mirror. On Saturday night, that mirror reflected the best of America — a 53-years-in-the-making Knicks championship built on a diverse, humble, durable team led by Jalen Brunson, a man who shook every hand on the losing side because integrity is doing the right thing even when nobody's watching. On Sunday night, the mirror reflected something uglier: a UFC card on the White House lawn, locked behind a Paramount Plus paywall, with no women on the card, fight bonuses paid in Trump-family crypto, and sponsors ranging from Elon's Starlink to Turning Point USA. The White House, Paul argues, was openly for sale — and most fight fans loved it.

In this solo Monday briefing, Paul connects the dots between a triumphant Knicks parade week, a wildly effective piece of military-recruiting propaganda dressed up as an octagon, a U.S. World Cup team that just dropped three in its opener, a fragile Iran ceasefire with none of the original objectives met, Hegseth telegraphing Ecuador and Guatemala as next on the hit list, and Fox swallowing Roku. He closes where the show always closes — with Brooklyn bikers carrying Narcan, an Angry Middle that isn't homeless but free, and a reminder that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

Subscribe, rate and share Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff on YouTube, ApplePods, BLEAV, Spotify, all platforms and https://t.co/0izUv2bMzx.🎙️🚨🇺🇸🏀🥊⚽️

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

Trump's White House UFC "Propaganda Dream", the Despicable Michelle Obama Slander Fallout, and Is Trump’s DOJ Now Targeting Gov Gavin Newsom?

On CNN’s @ErinBurnett Out Front—with @JamalSimmons and @SarahAMatthews1.  

And go much deeper into the important political moments and angles of UFC White House that you missed—but shouldn’t—in the all new Independent Americans with me posted now.

I also dig into the bigger meaning of the Knicks, what real leadership looks like, and the latest Iran deal.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/aRA1ygXkn1 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/G4FTbdjsXn

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

UFC at the White House Sunday, Trump’s Name Coming Off The Kennedy Center, and Team USA as a Unifier Tonight at the World Cup.

I joined Erin Burnett on CNN for my weekly segment (along with Rina Shah).

It’s finally Friday! Go watch Team USA at 9ET! Especially in times like this, we need a reason to unite and cheer! GO #USA!!🇺🇸⚽️

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

A hot Friday in NYC. But it’s a city buzzing for The Knicks (and Team USA tonight).

I’ll have more on that and the UFC at the White House—finishing up another wild week in America and politics on CNN at 7ET with Erin Burnett.🗽🏀⚽️🇺🇸

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

⚡️NEW⚡️Holy Sh*T, Knicks! Trump: “I Love Inflation.” Markwayne Mullins and Ice Vs Mamdani. Iran Hits Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan. Trump vs Gov Wes Moore in Golf. World Cup Begins and Team USA Plays Tomorrow! 

It’s a new (a bit late) Thursday Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff.

📱💻YouTube: https://t.co/rAQMn1s3Mq 

🍎Apple: https://t.co/jeJXQwgTFn 

🎧Spotify: https://t.co/fwQa12UxDA  

📖Substack: https://t.co/zDtaJn5Vck

What a time to be alive. Trump told a room full of Americans he "loves inflation" — while working families are getting strangled at the grocery store and the gas pump. Meanwhile, Markwayne Mullin is openly fantasizing about siccing ICE on NYC Mayor Mamdani, treating federal immigration enforcement like a political weapon. Paul Rieckhoff cuts through it with a no-BS solo briefing built for the 90 million independent voters who are sick of being lied to by both sides.

This episode moves fast — from the economic gaslighting coming out of the White House, to Iran, to the constitutional alarm bells ringing over ICE being deployed as a political cudgel, to a genuine moment of American unity courtesy of the New York Knicks. Paul connects the dots between cultural touchstones and political rot, lays out what the angry middle should actually be watching, and points to where righteous anger can be translated into real-world impact. If you want intelligence-grade analysis instead of cable-news theater, this is your briefing.

Subscribe, rate and share Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff on YouTube, ApplePods, BLEAV, Spotify, all platforms and https://t.co/0izUv2beJZ.🎙️🚨🇺🇸🗳️🗽🏀⚽️

[🎙Independent Americans @indy_americans]

Trump is waiting for one excuse. Don't give it to him.

[Paul Rieckhoff🇺🇸🇺🇦 @PaulRieckhoff]

Congress FINALLY Votes “No” on Iran. Bessent Told Pulte “I’m Going to Kick His Ass”. And the Danger of the Government and Pulte Having All Your Data.

CNN OutFront with Erin Burnett tonight with Van Jones and Rina Shah.

Now, go watch the Knicks!🏀🎙️🚨