Defending the West: Erin Molan & Brandon Tatum on Faith, Courage, and Truth

It is my pleasure to introduce to the stage Aaron Molin and Brandon Tatum for a conversation about what it means to be standing with God and doing the right thing, something very rare these days. Brandon Tatum, Aaron Molin. So quick introduction, we decided to invite both of you tonight because there is something that you both have in common. And it's not just that you have moral courage, but you have moral discipline. And Brandon and I chatted about that today. I think that to have moral courage, you first have to have discipline. Courage is not natural. It's actually incredibly rare. This is something I learned from Dennis a few years ago. I asked Dennis when I was disappointed with people, how could, how could people be so disappointing? Dennis, are you disappointed when you see that people behave poorly? And I was frankly shocked because his response to me was, Marissa, I'm actually more surprised when I see good people who are brave. And I didn't understand that until this year. I didn't understand how rare it is to find people who are brave and have moral clarity and discernment and, and really moral resilience. I grew up as a kid, I learned about the Holocaust. I never understood how the Holocaust could have happened. I think now I kind of understand. I think I kind of understand now. And so as Dennis has been preoccupied with good people and how good people are made, and many people in this room have children. There are a lot of young people here with, with kids, my kids' ages. I'm curious, how do we make more Brandon Tatums? How do we make more Aaron Molins in the world? And what is it that made you, you, what made you discerning and brave? And so let's start with ladies first. Aaron, you, you've come here from Australia. You are known all over the world. And for some interesting reason, an Australian news anchor decided to speak about the defense of the West and the defense of Israel. Why? Who? First of all, thank you so, so much for having me. You're doing a phenomenal job. What a room. Douglas Murray was superb. It's an honor to sit here next to you. You're amazing. And thank you everyone in the room for your support of this incredible organization. Honestly, they do, they do God's work. So I, I, I ask you, as someone who is not donating myself tonight, I ask you to be incredibly generous if you can be and thank you for your of, of which side I would be on. I mean, it's utterly ridiculous. It was, it was so clear to me that this was good versus evil straight away. And I'm the daughter of a man who was a major general in the army who went to war to defend my country, was willing to give his life in defense, not just of my nation, but of what we value, what we stand for. And I think what terrified me so much after October 7th, it wasn't the fact that two days later, there were people in my country in front of a very famous landmark, celebrating that massacre, chanting death to the Jews, gas the Jews. That didn't scare me because there is evil in every part of the world. It absolutely, it disappointed me greatly. It disgusted me, but it didn't scare me. What scared me was the silence that followed of my fellow Australians. Most of whom I know are decent, God fearing, staunchly supportive of what is good in the world, but their silence utterly terrified me. And that's when I thought we have a problem here. I looked at our leadership in that country, and that was a moment for my prime minister to come out and determine that is not who we are. That is not what we stand for. That is not what we accept in this country, not on my watch, but instead he cowered. And not one person was held to account. And I've watched a country that I love, that my father would have died for, just slowly decay over the past two years. So for me, I didn't feel like I had a choice. I've got a seven-year-old. I understand that this issue is so much bigger than just Hamas-Israel, though that would be enough for me to stand. Like you, I learned about the Holocaust. And what I could not understand is the people who did nothing. And I never thought I would be tested in that space, but it was never a choice. It was something that I did and I will do again for the rest of my life. It's an honor to stand and to fight for what matters. Brandon, your moral discipline, where does that come from? Well, I think it's very simple. It comes from God. When you give your life to God and you dedicate yourself to something greater than yourself, it's quite easy for you to have the moral clarity. And I think that's the biggest principle for me. It's not that I'm so good or so great and so smart. It's that I do understand where I'm at and God's plan for my life. And that drives me every single day to do what's right. And when I look over the world, I understand that it's not a natural instinct for people to be bold and courageous. It's not natural. People do want to cower, especially in the face of backlash. With the amount of hatred I get online now, which is bizarre to me, I mean, they hate me more now. Some of the people, this is crazy people, not y'all, y'all the smart ones. Somebody next door is hating on me. But even when I came out and said I supported Trump, I didn't get as much hate. When I stood up against Black Lives Matter, which is a, I would say a domestic terrorist organization, I didn't get as much hate. When I stood up against the government during COVID, all of that foolishness that they were doing, telling us to wear a mask, getting double-vaxxed and all this old crazy stuff, I still didn't get that much hate. But for some reason, when I just put my thinking cap on and I said, this is wrong what happened on October 7th, this wrong how they're portraying Israel in the media, anti-Semitism is out of control. And when I did that, people began to turn on me that were originally on my side. People that are on the right call me the N-word and bash me every day. And do I care? No. However, I do see the perspective that people are conditioned, unfortunately, with a mind virus. And once you go down this path of a mind virus to hate Jews, God opens your mind to be a reprobate. And I'm telling you now, you guys can see the people online doing it. The ones that hate the Jews, they tend to fall off the wagon on everything else they talk about. They've lost their entire minds, diving into conspiracies, turning on everything that they claim that they believe in God, turning on it. They use the word platforming. They encourage people to come on their shows and say the stupidest stuff that you've ever heard. The very foundation of being conservative and putting God first, they wipe it all away because they hate Jews. You know, we got into this fight together over censorship. We didn't want to get de-platformed. I mean, PragerU sued YouTube. We're dealing with constant de-platforming. The right has been incredibly sensitive to the idea of de-platforming people who have differing ideas. But now the concept on the right is the tent is so big that every vile person deserves to be platformed. What's your reaction to, does the tent have any borders? Do we lose our soul because we just allow everybody to be part of this big tent? And what's the cost of having no borders in a tent? Well, I think it's very simple. We all agree with free speech. Say whatever you want on your platform. Be an idiot. It's fine. I'm going to challenge you. But what we don't accept is that when you have somebody on your platform or you bring somebody up and you don't challenge them, what kind of coward are you? You know, I'm going to shut up, I swear. When I look at the chair there where Charlie would be as my friend, if someone were to talk trash about my friend and bash his wife, the last thing that you would do is be able to come on my platform. The last thing that you would do is to probably be able to talk to me without being confronted. And we see people just mindless in letting this stuff go. Enough is enough. We have principles, we have standards, and you can spew that crap on your own platform, but you're not going to come on here and be a fool. Erin, I know that you've been watching carefully and I know that conservatives have inspired you as an Australian who is fighting for freedom of speech, who is fighting for common sense and patriotism in Australia. You come here and you're witnessing what is happening here in America on the right, the fight not just between left and right, but right and wrong. What's your take? I think, I mean, I'd say it's been fascinating to watch if it also hasn't been so gross in so many different ways, people that I once admired and looked up to and hoped to emulate one day, I feel very let down by. And again, and you make the point, that is their right to absolutely say whatever the hell they want to say, but it is our right to then call them out and fight back. And I feel like in this space, you know, I spend so much of my time calling out those on the left who are complete hypocrites. I call out feminists who march in the street, having tried to get a bloke in a workplace sacked because he complimented a woman's dress, to then walk outside and join a pro-Hamas march and deny the rape of Israeli women. I call that out because it's BS. So you have to then do it on the other side. And I think, again, it doesn't mean that you're deplatforming people, it doesn't mean you're cancelling people, but I think it says a lot about who you are, the kind of things you let go by. And my dad, again, was a major general in the army and he always spoke about the standard that you accept, that you allow is the standard that you yourself adhere to. And I've always, you know, he raised me to speak up when things are not right. So I look at it and I think, you know, they care more deeply about, and I know I completely butchered that saying, so if anyone would like to yell it out. What is it? The standard you walk past is the standard you accept, yes. So I feel like they are motivated so much more by money, so much more by ratings, so much more by the chaos they create. How ironic is it that so many of these people who were on network television, as was I up until last year, celebrated their freedom by going independent, to say that they could say the truth now and not be controlled by anyone. Ka-ching. It changed very quickly, very quickly. They're all compromised in so many ways and it's sad to watch in a lot of ways. It's interesting. You had a dream job. I mean, you're a sports news anchor. I think every kid wants to be a sports news anchor. I can't imagine how hard it is, even in Australia. It must be very competitive. You had this dream job and you have a child, you have a young daughter and now you're dedicating your life, traveling all over the place. What has this new life cost you? Look, for starters, I do it first and foremost for my little girl. I have a seven-year-old daughter called Liza and it's probably the only part of this life that I struggle with or that I stop and question because the cause I don't ever question. I know beyond doubt that I'm on the right side of history and that this space is noble and worthy, but I also know that what I do endangers her in a way that didn't exist previously and I make that choice every day to publicly fight in this space. She does not. So that's probably the part that's very hard, but pick your heart. It's harder now, absolutely. It's harder now, but in five years, if people like me, if you don't speak out, what kind of world exists for our children? What kind of world? So, I mean, like all of us in this space, I have lost a lot, but you know what? I look at differences of opinion I have with people when it comes to politics or when it comes to COVID lockdowns or when it comes to particular politicians. You can have a difference in opinion and I can say, you know what? I still love you. You lean to the left, fine. Let's debate it, then let's go out for a drink. In this space, though, when it's values driven, when it is at your core, do you believe in good or do you believe in evil? I look at the people I've lost and I say, good riddance. I say, what a great way to cleanse in a lot of ways. So it's, I mean, I think I've had a tight chest for two years. Safety is a massive issue. We all get it. We get, you know, the difference here, I used to get threats when I was hosting sport, but they would be from knob shiners in their mother's basement. Now they're, oh, sorry, is that, are we allowed to say that? No. I'm so sorry. This is not PragerU kids. I'm so sorry to the priests in the room. I'm so sorry. I promise I'm going to dedicate myself more to religion at some stage. Don't worry, the rabbis forgive the priests. I know, thank you. But the threats now in this space are from those who have a bit more of a tendency to carry them out. So it's tough, but I have gained so much more than I have lost. It is such a privilege to exist in this space and I, it's an honor. It's an honor to do it. And it's something I hope my daughter, when she's a little bit older, will be a little bit proud of and will understand why there were sacrifices in the short term for what I hope will be a world that she is proud of and she can exist freely and in the long term. Yeah. Brandon, we both have mutual friends who we constantly think about and people are asking us about them. And I can only imagine the pressure and the tension for you during these trying times. What has it been like and any regrets? No, it's been pretty difficult at times, but you know, I understand the assignment and you don't always have to call people out by name, but you definitely have to call out the behavior. And I want people to understand that sometimes friendships with certain people run deeper than others may understand. And when the person, if you pray for them, when they come around the block and it's finally time for them to reconcile for the things that they've done, they still have you as a rock to come to. Some people want me to just throw some people away that are my friends, but who's going to tell them the truth? Who's going to be the person that they actually trust when they actually wake up to it? Who's going to pray for them? I don't believe in throwing away friends over certain things, but you better bet your dollar that I'm going to call out the BS when I hear it. And it's just like, if you have a family member, like if my dad disagreed with me, he's not going to not be my dad anymore, but I'm still going to call out what's right and what's wrong. And I'm not a victim in any of this. I want people to understand it very clearly. We're not victims of any of this. You don't like me tough. It's because you don't like the Lord. They ain't got nothing to do with me. If you find yourself saying that you hate Israel and all this crazy lunatic stuff, don't get mad at me. Get mad at the Bible. I didn't write it. I'm just living it. And if you can't live it, then quit lying to everybody and saying that you really believe in the book, that you really believe in God and you have a connection. You don't have, you don't have a connection. You play in church on Sunday morning. You act, you're trying to be virtuous by carrying a title. But who are you when the rubber hit the road? Who are you when pressure is on, when you have to pick a side? Are you going to pick the side of evil and convenience because it's paying you money? It's making you popular. You can have the biggest platform ever, but what does it gain for you to gain the world and lose your soul? And one thing people can trust in B. Tatum, I may not speak proper English all the time, but I'm going to stand on principle. I'm going to be the same. I'm not going to switch up on you because I'm somehow getting a new platform and new people like me today and all this stuff. I'll never switch up on what the truth is. That's one thing people can count on B. Tatum with. I'm going to always keep it real. I'm going to always be solid. I'm going to always use wisdom in everything that I say. I'm telling you guys, there's money in conspiracies. People are making money. I see their platform. Their views were here and now they do all these conspiracies and they sell their soul and their platform get here and they cheer about it. I don't need money. I don't need platform. I just need to be right when the Lord called me home. That's all I care about. I want to bring up another very important subject and that is the conversation of young boys. We talked about this in the past that the left has been attacking young boys, calling them toxic masculinity, all kinds of accusations. Father figures have been gone. Boys are growing up with lack of truth and that is an understatement. But now we're starting to have a conversation about the disaffected boys on the right. This is something that Charlie Kirkup brought up many times. He brought it up with me. He brought it up with Dennis. The disaffected boys on the right, who are now being drawn towards platforms that are maybe a mirror image of the left. The same victimhood mentality, despair, conspiracy, anger. How do we talk to young men and raise great young men so they're not drawn towards all of this demonic evil but that they put on that armor of joy? I think it's very simple. We have to live the life in front of them. If you are living the life as a real man with integrity and courage and you're giving back and you show love and all of the things that God has called us to do, young men will see you and they'll gravitate to you. We need more mentorship. We forget about young men sometimes. We think because, you know, men are supposed to be brave naturally and all of these different things. But young men need a man to give them a hug. I'm telling you this. I have a son. He's 15 now. But there's something different that happened to my son when I hug him and I say I love you and I'm proud of you. Nothing against the women. Mama can do it all day long. But when dad put his arms around you and say I'm proud of you, boy. I love you. I'm gonna give y'all a quick story. My son's playing a football game the other night. He's in the game. We talk a lot about football. He's in the game. He gets his first pass. He drops the pass. He get another pass. They throw the bomb to him. Wide open. Fumble the ball. He drops it. I see him put his head down. I come from the bleachers. I come to the sideline. I say come here. I said I believe in you. You got the best hands out here. You're the greatest athlete out here. You've been training. You know what it takes. You got this. You're gonna score a touchdown. Get back in the game. What did my son do? It's on the internet. It's on Instagram. You can look it up. You know I ain't making this up. They throw the bomb to him because he heard from his father that you can do it. He caught the ball. The guy tried to tackle him. He said get off me. My daddy watching. I love it. And he scores a touchdown. I love it. I love it. We see the same example when it comes to our father in heaven. You can say whatever you want, but when you know that your father cares about you, that your father believes in you and loves you, you can conquer the world. And young men need good men. Just because you have the chromosomes and you have facial hair don't make you a man. Somebody that have integrity, a man that you can look in the eye and know you can depend on him, that's the men young men need. And all of us in the room or many of you men in the room that have established yourself and have done so many great things, it's up to us now to give back. It's not enough for you to be financially secure and stable and have built these wonderful, you know, great businesses and you've got all this wisdom and you go to the grave with all of that. You can't do that in this day and age. You got to reach back and tell these young men how to start a business, how to persevere. Young boys want it fast. They want quick success. Reach out to them and tell them it'll take some time, but you got to hang in there. You got to be faithful to God. All of these things, when we go back, when we reach back and we help our young men and we do it the right way, we will see a change in young men in America. Amen. So, sadly, we have to wrap up because Aaron has to catch a flight, but I'm going to channel Dennis Prager one more time and let you know that Aaron is single and ready to mingle. And so, please text me if you have anybody to set her up. I have horrendous taste, by the way. I'll screen them first. Thank you, everyone. I'm going to run. God bless you guys. Thank you. Thank you.