The Ken Harbaugh Show

On this episode of Meidas Defense, host Joe Plenzler sits down with The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood to examine what we’ve learned about Al-Qaeda 25 years after 9/11. They discuss Osama bin Laden’s real strategy behind the attacks, how the U.S. response reshaped Al-Qaeda, the current state of the organization, and the major strategic mistakes America made in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wood also explains why...

Ken Harbaugh sits down with Dr. Robert P. Jones, founder and president of PRRI and author of the new book Backslide, to examine how white evangelical Christianity has fused itself to Trump-era politics. They trace how a once-fringe strain of Christian nationalism became the movement's defining feature — and what it means for a faith Jesus himself would barely recognize. Watch Safe Ground on Amazon...

Twenty-five years after 9/11, the generation that fought the Global War on Terror produced two decades of hard-won lessons about how America goes to war; on authorities, on targeting, on what happens when you tell commanders that the lawyers are the problem. Those lessons were never codified into the public understanding. They stayed inside the force. And now the same failure modes are back. ...

Ken Harbaugh talks with war correspondent and bestselling author Sebastian Junger, fresh off a trip to Kyiv where he was the sole American honored at Ukraine's Independence Day celebration. They dig into Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff's tone-deaf "win-win" framing of Russia's war just as Moscow unleashed a fresh barrage of missiles on the very city they'd left a day earlier. Chapter: For free and...

Meidas Defense host Joe Plenzler sits down with New York Times national security reporter Greg Jaffe for a sobering look at the limits of American military power and the growing culture of fear inside the Pentagon. They examine the loss of senior military leadership, restrictions on press access, and troubling parallels between Afghanistan and the current conflict with Iran. They also break down t...

Ken Harbaugh breaks down the arrival of Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Kyiv — and the disgust their Moscow remarks have stirred among Ukrainians enduring Putin's daily missile and drone attacks. Then he continues his conversation with war correspondent Caolan Robertson, fresh off reporting from the front lines in Kramatorsk. Support Ukraine’s 34th Marine Brigade, the unit at the h...

A Navy F/A-18 pilot turned lawyer is running for Congress in Georgia's 7th. Why? An Army veteran got deported over a missed hearing. Tony Kozycki called the congressman's office for help. Nobody called back. So he filed to run against that Congressman. Tony has been serving others all his life and now he’s willing to fight for others in Congress. He sits down with retired Navy Commander Bobby Jone...

Ken Harbaugh breaks down the Trump administration's latest attempt to restrict mail-in voting through the Postal Service despite court rulings against it, then talks with Army combat veteran Kris Goldsmith about what's really driving the effort. Support Ukraine’s 34th Marine Brigade, the unit at the heart of “Drone Hunters of Kherson," here: https://www.ukrainefreedomproject.org/valor Subscribe to...

Ken Harbaugh sits down with journalist Caolan Robertson to discuss his new short documentary on Kramatorsk, a front-line Ukrainian city under relentless Russian bombardment. The conversation explores what Robertson's camera captured about civilian life inside Putin's escalating terror campaign. Support Ukraine’s 34th Marine Brigade, the unit at the heart of “Drone Hunters of Kherson," here: https:...

Meidas Defense host Joe Plenzler sits down with retired Army JAG officer, law professor, and combat veteran Daniel Maurer to break down the legal limits of military power — from Operation Southern Spear and deadly maritime strikes to the removal of senior military lawyers and the growing use of troops on U.S. soil. Maurer argues the administration lacks legal authority to treat drug traffickers li...

Ken Harbaugh argues Democrats can't win in the reddest places until the party counters the disinformation shaping its brand. That's why independents like Seth Bodnar may be the answer where a Democrat can't break through — and beating Trump this November is too important to leave those opportunities on the table. Ken sits down with Bodnar, the independent taking on Montana's open Senate seat. Supp...

The USS Theodore Roosevelt hasn't left San Diego yet and her crew has already been told to plan on eight months; an extension baked in before the ship gets underway. The USS Gerald R. Ford came home after 326 days. The Abraham Lincoln went eight and a half months without a port call. And the Chief of Naval Operations just admitted the extensions come "in little chunks" with no endpoint families ca...

On March 31, President Trump signed Executive Order 14399. It does not ban voting by mail but it builds a gate. States hand the Postal Service a list of approved mail voters 60 days before the election, and USPS delivers ballots only to the names on that list. Federal law already requires ballots go out to deployed troops 45 days before a federal election. That protection has been on the books sin...

On today’s Meidas Defense Podcast, Joe Plenzler is joined by trial attorney Mitch Jackson to discuss military orders, due process, government overreach, and the role Americans play in protecting democracy. Jackson raises serious legal questions about recent military strikes on suspected drug boats and also discusses masked ICE operations, jury duty, political pressure on law firms, and why the cou...

Six months ago, 1,300 Navy dependents left Bahrain with what they could carry. Last week the Navy told them they can't come back for the foreseeable future; pick a new home base stateside. The Navy planned for twelve days. It's been six months. Vice Adm. Renshaw told families the service has been making it up as it goes, and that hard decisions got delayed because leadership didn't want to close t...

Pearl Harbor. A 22-year-old mess attendant runs to a battle station that's already been destroyed. So he carries his dying captain off the bridge, mans a .50 cal the Navy never let him train on because he was Black, and fires until the ammo is gone. His name was Doris Miller. First Black American awarded the Navy Cross. Killed in action at 24. In 2020 the Navy named a carrier after him. This week,...

Dan Osborn served four years as a storekeeper on USS Constellation, then eighteen at Kellogg’s in Omaha, where he led a 77-day strike and got fired for it. He is the only person on Nebraska’s Senate ballot who has worn the uniform. This seat votes on war powers, force structure, and whether the VA gets funded. Osborn has questioned the rationale for the Iran war and warned against another forever...

Ken Harbaugh breaks down Trump's dismissive comments about the USS Abraham Lincoln's record-breaking deployment — "not nearly long enough" — and what it reveals about a collapse in sailors' faith in their leadership. He's joined by retired Navy Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, now running for Congress in Colorado's 4th District against Lauren Boebert. Factor: Head to https://FACTORMEALS.com/thekensh...

Ken Harbaugh breaks down why Trump's obsession with ballrooms, statues, and Oval Office gold leaf is a political gift Democrats need to use more of — and brings in strategist Cliff Schecter to unpack where MAGA's messaging operation is falling apart, and what Democrats need to do to make sure voters see just how unfocused and self-serving this administration really is. Chapter: For free and unbias...

Joe Plenzler, host of Meidas Defense, sits down with retired Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher to discuss why she’s running for Congress against Lauren Boebert — and why she believes America needs serious leadership focused on service instead of political theater. They break down the mounting costs of Trump’s war with Iran, the strain on U.S. service members, rising fuel and fertilizer prices hurting...

Ken Harbaugh breaks down Karoline Leavitt's disastrous tenure as White House press secretary, and the Trump administration's escalating disinformation machine. He then talks with former Congressman Denver Riggleman about Judicial Watch's new legal campaign targeting him and Adam Kinzinger over their January 6th Committee work. Harbaugh argues the harassment is a sign of panic — Trump's allies know...

208 days straight at sea and counting. Moldy showers, broken toilets, no soap, and sailors trying to go overboard. Retired U.S. Navy Commander Bobby Jones deployed to that same water, his deployments were extended as well. In this video he explains why the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group’s arduous deployment isn’t just more hard duty, it's a failure of leadership. Subscribe:  @ValorMediaNetw...

Ken Harbaugh examines how Trump's mass deportation promise has become reality through ICE, an agency an ACLU lawsuit shows is riddled with racist and violent conduct. He's joined by Army combat veteran Kris Goldsmith, founder of Veterans Fighting Fascism, to discuss extremism inside federal law enforcement. Watch the documentary “Safe Ground” for free on the VALOR Media Network: https://youtu.be/B...

Ken Harbaugh argues Trump is dangerously insulated from reality — and Democrats should be capitalizing on it. Even his own approval numbers have fallen below the Republican Party's, and districts once written off, like Missouri's 2nd, are suddenly in play. He's joined by Fred Wellman, retired Army officer, combat pilot, and newly minted Democratic nominee for Missouri's 2nd Congressional District....

Meidas Defense host Joe Plenzler sits down with Rep. Eugene Vindman for a wide-ranging discussion on corruption in Washington, Ukraine, Iran, and congressional oversight Vindman lays out his anti-corruption agenda, including bans on individual stock trading and prediction-market betting by government insiders, and argues that supporting Ukraine is critical to U.S. national security. He also sharpl...