FIGHTER: Jon Kahn, 'Minister of Culture'

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Up and down, counting out, smiling through the taste of
flood and mown mouth. I got broses and broken bones,
but they don't know why. In this ring alone, I'm

(00:39):
a fighter. No one can say that I'm a run
and horder. I was born to be two dier. I'm
making rider. Don't throw our towel, just yeah, don't catch
in that last bill time I'm a fire.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
What a great line. I'm not a run and hider,
John con Let's welcome into the show. Those are some
great lyrics, John con Bright, bart news own Minister of Culture,
and that song Fighter right Now took the number one
spot on iTunes across all genres for six days straight,
debuted in the Billboard Top five for digital sales. John,

(01:30):
Welcome to the show. Very moved by that, Thanks all
very much.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Thank you for having me and reading the backstory on it.
How you had come up with a couple of chords
some lyrics went off to Nashville with it makes perfect sense.
Some of the country artists even name dropped in the article.
Sounds like they would have clamored for this song. Did
anyone come after you for this song? Like I want it.
I want to record it.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
No, I don't think anybody knew we were going to
release it, so we kept it pretty close to the best.
Like you said, I wrote a few chords and some
some melody and a few lyrics here, and I was
going to Nashville to work with Chris Wallen. He's an
amazing songwriter. He's like you mentioned, He's written for Toby
Keith and Trace Atkins, Canny Chesney, all these folks. And

(02:16):
I had never written with Chris before. And you know,
often when you get in the room, you don't know
how it's.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Going to go.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
When you're writing with somebody for the first time. I
kind of knew Chris's ideology. I knew he wasn't gonna
run out and find a safe space. But and he was.
He was down for it when I played it for him,
and so we you know, we knocked it out about
an hour and a half and we tinkered with it
for a couple of weeks. And actually people don't realize

(02:41):
that the song was written before the first assassination attempt.
They think it was a response to it, and it
actually wasn't. And when he in front of millions of
people in front of the world got up and yelled fight,
Fight Fight. You know. I called Chris and I said
we need to release the song because I had goosebumps
all over.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, it's because lyrically, and like the old adage goes,
you know, all good songs, they're applicable. Like those lyrics,
that song can work in many contexts. You know. I
could see it playing over the end credits to the
you know, the next Rocky movie, A million, you know,
so many different places. That's why I wanted to ask you.

(03:19):
It was written specifically for Trump, right, this was something
you were working on. You perceived him, like we all do.
I summoned damn. They just you know, so many lesser
men would have bailed. I know I would have been like,
all right, I'm out enough already. You people are vicious,
I'm out of here. And he just doesn't stop. Right.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well, that's you know, that's sort of like, you know,
we watched what they they've thrown at him over the years,
from the impeachments to the deep platform and social media
to law Fair to the raid on mar A Lago,
And the moment it hit me about this song was
when I was watching him after that that bogus New
York conviction and the way he kind of sauntered up

(04:00):
to the microphone and just he has that you know,
that vibe that I think we all want to president,
which is somebody says, you know what, you can throw
whatever you want at me. I'm not giving up. And
I was. I just had the same thought you had.
I just shook my head and said, he doesn't need
to do this. How does he get out of bed
in the morning and keep doing this? And I just
thought of the word fighter, and.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean, this is a guy who did did the
job already once for four years salary for no salary. Uh.
So that you know, that's another way in saying and
I think that's what I've been wrestling with all this
time and again where I'm with singer, songwriter, scriptwriter, film director,
uh Minister of culture for Breitbart A John con Uh.

(04:41):
One of the things I struggled the most with with
Trump was his ability, you know, for these these attacks
to take place, these attempts to take place, and he
doesn't go on and on about them. The next time
he speaks, he barely bring it up. And I think
it took me a while to realize This is a
guy who's had a security detail for decades now, and

(05:04):
there have probably been millions of threats. It's something he's
become accustomed to, because I have to tell you, John,
for a while there, I thought, how is he not
acknowledging constantly and saying, you know, he's just moving How
is he able to just move on for these attempts too?

Speaker 3 (05:22):
I think at this point, I think he sees the
higher purpose and I think he knows what he represents.
And I think that that's why, you know, I was
fortunate enough to be able to put together the video
for this as well. And you know what we did
with the video. The video gave us an opportunity to
show him in the light of the mainstream media is
trying so hard to deny and show the warmth, to

(05:45):
show how he cares about people, et cetera. And I
think that that's part of the reason the song has
taken off, is because you know, people feel sometimes they
feel powerless against this wall of gas lighting. You know,
we call it the Democrat media complex, from Hollywood to
the media to the d NC, all these things that
are just blasting out these messages and hopefully with the

(06:08):
song and the video. You know, a lot of the
feedback I've gotten is, you know, thanking us for showing
him in the light that so many millions of people
see him. So that's what's so so awesome about the
reception of the song in the video.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
And I know he is starting to use it at
his rallies, which I think is fantastic. I know it
has been tweeted out by Megan Kelly and by Donald Junior,
I think even by Trump himself. And I wanted to
ask you about that. You know, I found it interesting
how no band would step forward and play at the

(06:46):
inaugurated and play at the White House, or was cool
with us, you know, with you using this song because
I can't tell you, John, how many concerts I attended
back in twenty fifteen, sixteen, seventeen eighteen, and where the
lead singer of the band would I hesitate to say
say something pro Trump, but would be very pro America

(07:09):
and America first, and you could tell that they were
they were Trump supporters, definitely, there's no two ways about it.
And yet they weren't raising their hand and saying you
can use our our song. Because there was a cancelation
policy that would come with that, and I found out
so frustrating it. And now we're in the throes of
Hollywood just straight up imploding all of the If you've

(07:32):
been to a ditty party that's kiss goobuyah, you know
your career. So maybe the game's different now.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well it's it's actually, it's not really different in Hollywood.
It's I mean, I came from I'm in La right now,
and I came from film and music, and I was
in that world instill in to some degree. But it's
the bias they say toward conservatives in Hollywood is very
very much real. My journey into this process began and

(08:00):
when I met Andrew Breitbart at a conservative speakeasy basically
that was called Friends of Abe and it was for
people in entertainment, whether they be actors, writers, directors, musicians
that didn't have a you know, a fellowship in which
to speak freely about their politics without that fear of
being canceled. And that's how I met Andrew. And you know,

(08:23):
when people found out that I sort of came out
in a very public way out of the conservative closet,
you know, I did it on Fox News and the
Wall Street Journal, and there were Grammy Award winning producers
that I was working with that wouldn't work with me ever. Again,
I've never written songs song since they found out. So

(08:45):
it's very real. And I know a lot of people.
This song is drawn out. A bunch of people in
LA that I had no idea were conservative musicians, screenwriters,
filmmakers that are whispering to me, thanks for doing thanks
for doing that. We still can't because they're active whatever.
I mean, it's really it's a very real thing.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
Oh, I can commiserate, you know. I had this is
going back maybe a dozen a dozen years. I'd say
it was twenty twelve. I was about to sign my
biggest book deal to date. I've written a handful of books.
This was going to be a pretty sizable one. And
I had a telephone call scheduled with a publisher for
one day, which was just going to be to go

(09:26):
over some final things and then be on the lookout
for this document coming over. And it started very awkwardly
with so I just googled you and I never knew
you worked with Glenn Beck And by the way he
said it, I gave a very enthusiastic, kind of comical answer.

(09:48):
Moral of the story John, that book never came out,
that document never got sent over, and I was left
kind of dumbfounded. It is very real. I think a
lot of people would be shocked to find out that
Adam Sandler's conservative. He doesn't wear it on his sleeve,
and he doesn't need to. But it's uh. He's someone
who I wish but would actually come out and say

(10:08):
it because he's so beloved. I think people wouldn't know
what to do. Their heads would explode.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Well, it's funny you say that. I think there's you know,
so Andrew Breitbart's very famous for his line about politics
being downstream from culture. He was loved for people. He
was one of the first people to understand that that
that culture affects political policy and not so much the
folks in DC and and so that's what's sort of

(10:34):
guided me. But he also wanted it to be kind
of versus. He never wanted to be, Hey, I'm a
conservative filmmaker. Here's my uh, here's my film about the Constitution,
or here's my here I'm going to hit the left
on redistribution. He just wanted it to be good content
that maybe you sneak in some conservative themes and show
that that can be commercial if you create good product.

(10:55):
So because he understood that, the left, if they got
a sense, like like you say, of Glenn being attached,
they would try to crush you.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
But going back to Adam Sandler, you know, they're definitely
a handful of big celebrities that think the way we do.
And it's interesting to think about that. If five or
ten of them got together and came out, it could
change the whole culture totally. I mean instantly. It would
give permission for everybody to say, you know what, it's
enough of the left bullying. You can't preach tolerance and

(11:26):
inclusivity and then not tolerate only conservatives.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, and I believe Adam Sandler's one of them. That's
the tragic part, John. It has to be the right ones,
you know, and he's he's just beloved across the board.
I honestly believe people wouldn't know. I don't know how
closely you pay attention to such things. Then again, you're
you're you know, you're a scriptwriter and you're renaissance man.

(11:53):
Clearly you got doing all sorts of different things in
the entertainment industry. But Schneider Rob Schneider, his run buddy.
He's all but embraced even conservative stand up comedy. He's
paying a price for it though he's got the target
on him now. But that Schneider, you know, that's Deuce Bigelow,
Happy Gilmore. I think he's a key one. And it's

(12:16):
sad to me, but I agree with you. It would.
I'm just putting the disclaimer on there. It would need
to be the ten right ones, and Sandler, I believe,
is one of them. I don't know who the other
ones are. I thought Clint Eastwood would be one. He
was deemed by the left as too old to know.
They immediately got agist once he really started wearing yeah,

(12:37):
which was ugly. Right.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Look at they're tough, you know, they're tough, and when
they see anybody who's got some power or with the
voice that might be counter to their narrative, they try
to crush it. And that goes to eating their own
as well. I mean, unless you get to the point of,
you know, like you said, being Clint Eastwood, then they
attack him. But John Voight continues to work and that's true. Yeah,

(13:02):
it's it's it's a tough environment. But I think that
you know, I think one of the things we've done
at Breitbart which has been effective is that we've kind
of held a mirror up to Hollywood over the years,
and I think that their endorsement, their criticism, it has
become less impactful because we've been able to show the
disconnect between these Hollywood leftist elites in the everyday American

(13:24):
just trying to put food on the table and get
their kids through school. So we're kind of proud of that.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
And now I know you'll be performing. Well, maybe it's
more than just Fighter. Maybe it's a full set at
the America First Music Festival in Palm Beach coming up.
Is there are there any plans for you to play
at an actual live at a Trump event.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Well, that would be an honor. I don't have anything
locked in, but I've got my fingers crossed and I
will be there.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, that's fantastic. And the video is fantastic too. With
your permission, I'd love to post it and get some
eyes on it. And again it's John con The name
of the song is Fighter. Make sure you check it out.
I'll be posting it shortly so you can hop on
nine to sixty w Eli dot com or NewsRadio fourteen
ten dot com to check it out, and he has

(14:17):
bested the song topped artists you know with names like
Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish. That speaks volumes. It's
Fighter by John con