Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
by Righteous Media | Bleav
Independent Americans is a daily news show hosted by Paul Rieckhoff. He’s a fighter, a patriot, and an independent political and media force to be reckoned with. After serving as a soldier in Iraq in 2004, Rieckhoff emerged as one of the most dynamic political and social leaders in America. In every episode, he breaks down the most important issues facing our country. And he interviews the most influential and compelling people. He’s taking on Republicans, Democrats—and everyone in between. If you’re in the angry middle, Independent Americans reminds you that you’re not alone. We’re all in this together. Join the Independent Americans movement and subscribe now. Produced by Righteous Media.
Episodes
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Governor Wes Moore. Elon Musk & DOGE fired 31k federal workers in Maryland.
The looming post-9/11 veteran showdown for president. Making every day Veterans Day. Maryland Governor Wes Moore returns to Independent Americans for a Veterans Day conversation that refuses to let anyone spike the ball. Elon Musk's DOGE fired more than 31,000 federal workers in Maryland alone —...
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Hegseth & Miller close the circle. Massie moves to impeach. Dana White at the White House podium.
Netanyahu on the brink. Russia hits rescue workers. The circle is closing fast. With Susie Wiles out and Stephen Miller installed as chief of staff, Pete Hegseth is doubling down — posting memes with Miller, blocking promotions of women and officers of color, and dragging the Pentagon deeper into…
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Miller in, Wiles out. Trump is cornered — and dangerous. Hegseth sends Humvees and boats into DC.
Miller in, Wiles out. The last guardrail inside Trump's West Wing just came down, and the architect of ICE and the Iran war is now running the building. Paul Rieckhoff opens Veterans Week with a no-BS read on what that means: a cornered president with the most powerful military the world has ever...
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Midterms: Blue wave, independent water. Dems flip Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, Arizona.
Trump picks Stephen Miller as chief of staff. 60% of independents broke against the GOP. This was not a Democratic triumph. It was an independent revolt. Across Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, and Arizona, Democrats flipped House seats in districts gerrymandered to keep them out — and they did it...
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Two electorates: who picked the ballot, who voted on it, from the voter file
There were two electorates in this election, and almost nobody talks about the first one. The second is the one that voted on Tuesday. The first is the one that picked the names on that ballot: the people who voted in the primaries last spring and summer. TMI, our morning newsletter, put the two...
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Chuck Todd. The Dems are Surfers on the Anti-Trump Wave. JD Vance Dances Shamelessly.
Chuck Todd is back on Independent Americans, and he's not sugarcoating what just happened. Voters didn't fall in love with Democrats — they repudiated Trumpism, and independents were the fulcrum. Paul and Chuck unpack why 12 of the last 14 national elections have been change elections, why the...
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Independents are the water in the Blue wave. Trump cornered is dangerous. Dems are really gonna be annoying. 4 IVA wins. Vets win big nationally. Especially women vets.
4 IVA wins. Vets win big nationally. Especially women vets. GOP sports figures win again. They’re coming for Hegseth. No more political ads in sports! Independents were the water in the blue wave, and the water level is rising. In episode 668, Paul Rieckhoff rips through the midterm results with…
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Dem’s Blue Wave: Powered by the Indy Tsunami. Everybody Hates Trump. Indy Vets For Senate Lost—But Won By Playing.
Vets Win. Closed Primaries Cooked Results. Is Iran Imminent Now? Vets Day is Next. Election Results Breakdown. Paul Rieckhoff records before sunrise on the morning after — and cuts through the celebration with a no-BS, intelligence-grade read on what actually happened. Yes, Democrats rolled: the...
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Expect the Unexpected. The Independent Wave. 6 Indy Vets Look to Make History. New Iran Strikes. Mark Cuban Nailed It. Haley Stevens is the new Tulsi Gabbard. Trump on Vietnam. Election Day Breakdown.
It is election day 2026, and Paul Rieckhoff is wide awake before sunrise in New York with one message: expect the unexpected. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the US has been quietly striking Iran for weeks. The Pentagon hasn't held a routine press briefing since May 5th. Tucker Carlson is...
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Ty Pinkins on Obama, Clinton, Schumer — and the Democrats who sacrifice Black voters every cycle.
On the eve of election day, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with Ty Pinkins — Army veteran of 21 years, three combat tours, Bronze Star recipient, Georgetown-trained attorney, and the independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Mississippi — for a no-BS conversation about what the rigged two-party system...
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Obama snatches the mic. Trump’s casting goes off a cliff.
Darlene Graham, Ken Paxton & the Herschel Walker problem. PLUS: Alaska’s dirty trick and the indy surge. Media Blitz Pod Obama snatched the mic. That's the story heading into the final stretch — a more popular, more charismatic communicator back on the trail hammering corruption in Georgia with…
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Can Obama save the Dems in the final stretch? Trump’s Bolsonaro problem. Ohio, Georgia, Alaska down to the wire.
One week out from Election Day 2026, the country is staring at a split screen that tells you everything about the rigged two-party system. Barack Obama is finally deployed to Georgia and Michigan trying to pull Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms across the line. Donald Trump is on the same stage...
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Election predictions, leadership & lessons from running for President w/ Senator Bob Kerrey.
AI’s threat to both parties? Osborn’s race in Nebraska. Trump loves talking about asses. Friday Football. Two days out from the election, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with one of his longest-standing mentors: Senator Bob Kerrey. Combat-wounded Navy SEAL, Medal of Honor recipient, former governor of...
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Can Indy Vet Todd Achilles Pull It Off in Idaho? Does Sen Jim Risch Hate Veterans?
Deadlock in Israeli Elections. Bolsonaro Lands in Miami After Fleeing Brazil. Remember Alex Pretti? Idaho is one of the most independent-minded states in America, and for the first time in a generation it has an independent on the ballot who can actually win. Todd Achilles — army veteran…
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Trump is Already Attacking the Election. The stupid arch vs Arlington & Vets. JD Vance Continues to Suck.
MS Senate Race Tightens—the Indy is Ignored. Jay-Z for Super Bowl Halftime. Brewers Fever! We are less than one week from the most consequential election of our lifetime, and Trump is already attacking it. Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the three-plan playbook for election interference — the military...
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Can Obama close the deal? Lawler on the ropes. Cait Conley’s breakout ad. And why independents decide it all one week from now.
Seven days out. The marathon is almost over, and the 90 million independents who have been written off, condescended to, and told they don't really exist are about to decide every close race in the country. Paul lays out why this moment belongs to independents, why the Democrats need Barack Obama...
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Hillary Clinton Stupidly Smears McConaughey. Sara Haines Follows Matthew’s Lead on The View.
Hegseth Broke Eisenhower’s World. Bloomberg - $80M to Dems. Vance Sells Out Ukraine and Continues to Suck. The partisan machine is scared, and it's showing. In episode 658, Paul Rieckhoff goes solo to answer the growing chorus of independent-haters — from Hillary Clinton's smear of Matthew...
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Trump’s billion dollar ballroom vs $6 diesel. Dan Osborn vs.Pete Ricketts.
Something is cracking in the Midwest. Iowa farmers are staring at $1,000 fill-ups for their tractors, fertilizer costs through the roof, and a White House that only remembers rural America two weeks before an election. Meanwhile Donald Trump is spending $1.2 billion of taxpayer-adjacent money on…
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Dead-Heat in Nebraska. Dan Osborn neck-and-neck with a $7M self-funder.
93 counties, 200 events, and riding a wave McConaughey just supercharged. Iran, the USS Lincoln, and Christmas on a credit card. Plus: Friday Football picks. Dan Osborn is back for a record sixth appearance, and he's walking into the final stretch of the most-watched Senate race in the country....
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Trump’s 180 on Ukraine. Witkoff calls Putin a “humanitarian.”
Musk’s Starlink shutdown blindsides Kyiv. Bodnar, Osborn, Achilles, Bengs & the indy vets shaking up the Senate. Media Blitz Pod Paul Rieckhoff joins Connell McShane on News Nation with retired Air Force Special Operations Commander Glenn Ignazio to call the Ukraine pivot what it is: a 180.…
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$7M vs $6,800. Independent Marine vet Matt Baker is taking on both parties in Va Beach.
The Iran forever war, the McConaughey moment, no debates and a rigged fight by design. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with retired Marine Colonel Matt Baker, the independent veteran running for Congress in Virginia's 2nd District — a shipyard-and-base-heavy stretch of coastline where readiness is being...
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McConaughey 2028? The Hollywood star’s independent moment. Bengs ties Rounds in S Dakota. Musk asked Trump to throttle Starlink.
The independent movement had a breakout weekend, and Paul Rieckhoff walks you through every piece of it. Matthew McConaughey went public with a message that lit up phones across the country — a Hollywood heavyweight planting a flag for the plurality of Americans who refuse to put on a jersey. In…
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Priming the steal. Trump ‘a greater threat’ to elections than Russia, China and Iran.
National Guard spotted at DC drop boxes. Four more years? The third-term flirt returns. Media Blitz Pod Senator Mark Warner — the top Democrat on Senate Intelligence — just said the quiet part loud: the greatest threat to American election integrity is not Russia, not China, not Iran. It's the...
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“Spray and pray” Trump’s chaos strategy from Cuba to Iran to Ukraine. Hegseth’s culture war bender. Mike Johnson pumps the brakes. Media Blitz Pod
Paul Rieckhoff hits the news circuit for a rapid-fire breakdown of a week where the wheels came off the Trump foreign policy machine. Elon Musk throttled Starlink in the middle of Russia's winter bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians — and Republican Senator Thom Tillis called it what it…
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Inside AUSA with Kevin Baron. Anduril and Palantir mobbed. Code Pink crashes Hegseth.
The drone revolution is here. F1, Cadillac, and the sports-defense overlap. Plus: Friday Football Picks Kevin Baron — founder of Elevation Global Strategies, former Defense One executive editor, and one of the sharpest national security minds in the business — joins Paul fresh off the AUSA...
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Hope in the heartland. Greg Ballard on standing up to gerrymandering and the GOP in Indiana.
Indiana isn't supposed to be where the independent movement breaks through. It's a deep-red state, 41st in voter turnout, where 95% of the legislature is effectively decided in May primaries by a sliver of the electorate. That's exactly why Greg Ballard — Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, two-term...
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Trump folds to Putin — again. Zelensky emerges as leader of the free world. Hegseth’s “Culture war bender” and firing squad livestream stunt.
Donald Trump is in full spray-and-pray mode. One day he's threatening Iran and Cuba, the next he's cutting a diesel deal with the Kremlin and backstabbing Ukraine again. Vladimir Putin ignored Trump's latest ceasefire within hours, and the Wall Street Journal editorial board noticed. Most…
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Trump says Ukraine needs a new president. Independents say America does.
PLUS: Newsom, the 25th, and a failure of imagination by the democrats heading into the midterms. Trump floated the idea that Ukraine needs a new president because Zelensky keeps hitting Russian oil refineries and that's driving fuel prices up. Paul Rieckhoff flips the frame: Ukraine doesn't need…
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Could Texas go blue? Paxton’s scandals, Trump’s war, and a Senate race Trump owns. PLUS: The pre-midterm Iran strike debate. Media Blitz Pod
Texas is still red. But Ken Paxton is a scandal-plagued candidate standing on that stage only because Donald Trump put him there — and Trump knows it. With a forever war in Iran dragging on, home heating oil hitting six dollars a gallon in the northeast, and a barrel of crude at $105, Republicans...
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IVN.US Crossover special: EXCLUSIVE - Paul Rieckhoff on the Let Vets Vote lawsuit.
Paul Rieckhoff walks his kids to their public school on primary day in New York City — and has to explain to his seven-year-old why Dad, an Iraq veteran and 9/11 first responder, isn't allowed to vote. That's the story behind the Let Vets Vote lawsuit, and in this crossover special with the...
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Adam Kinzinger: Will Trump attack the 2026 elections? Why GOP support is finally cracking. Can Talarico flip Texas?
Adam Kinzinger is back. The former GOP congressman, Air National Guard lieutenant colonel, January 6th committee member, and founder of Country First sits down with Paul to answer the question nobody in corporate media wants to touch head-on: will Donald Trump attack the 2026 elections, and if he...
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Hegseth, Vance, Rubio: The 2028 Pentagon primary is already on. Ukraine's brutal winter ahead. October 7th at three years. Media Blitz Pod
Pete Hegseth wasn't on the USS Abraham Lincoln when sailors were stuck at sea for more than a year, running short on rations, reporting suicide attempts, and watching supply bases get taken out by drone strikes. He showed up for the homecoming photo op. Paul Rieckhoff joins Connell McShane at…
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WTF Wednesday: Trump’s unhinged Iran speech: “Let Them Take Out Los Angeles.” Shapiro backs open primaries in PA. Indy vets Bengs, Achilles Lead in SD and ID.
President Mayhem is off the rails, and he's getting more desperate by the day. On this WTF Wednesday edition of Independent Americans, Paul Rieckhoff breaks down Trump's unhinged Iran remarks — publicly suggesting it would be "a very small price to pay" to let Iran take out Los Angeles and San...
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Trump runs home to Alabama. GOP internal polls worse than public. Independents below 10% on Trump — the sleeping giant stirs. Media Blitz Pod
Trump is retreating to friendly turf while the ground shifts under the whole rigged two-party system. Paul Rieckhoff takes you inside a Media Blitz week — a CNN hit with Erin Burnett and a News Nation sit-down with Chris Cuomo and independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar — to lay out what the...
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Trump's Iran war rolls on as Iraq War officially ends. Hegseth auditions for President. Paul sues New York over closed primaries. Media Blitz Pod
The last American troops have left Iraq. Donald Trump actually did what Obama and Biden wouldn't. But the present under the tree is a new, unauthorized, never-ending Iran war that most of the country opposes, 19 Americans dead since Operation Epic Fury began, carriers hung out to dry in the Gulf,...
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Veterans Sue New York Over Closed Primaries. Hegseth Purges 20% of Generals. Iraq Ends After 20 Years — Iran Just Beginning. Media Blitz Pod
The rigged two-party system just picked a fight with the wrong people. Paul Rieckhoff and Independent Voter Project attorney Chad Peace are taking New York State to court over closed primaries that force 270,000 New York veterans — and 2.7 million nationwide — to surrender their independence just...
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Friday Football: Connell McShane. How to fairly cover Trump’s America on TV.
Hegseth calls the press treasonous. From Fordham to Imus to NewsNation. Preparation beats panic. And a love letter to NYC. Pete Hegseth just labeled the press treasonous. The White House calls reporters the enemy of the state. And somewhere between the hot takes and the hate mail, working...
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Let vets vote. 3.1 million New Yorkers locked out of primaries. Rieckhoff & IVA files landmark lawsuit to blow up closed primaries.
Paul Rieckhoff is on the courthouse steps in Foley Square, filing suit against the state of New York. The question in front of the court is as old as the republic and as urgent as this news cycle: does the right to vote derive from citizenship, or from joining a political party? In New York…
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Trump’s Iran quagmire meets the Midterms. Independent vets lead the charge while Democrats play catch up. Latino Voters in Texas Turning on the GOP. Media Blitz Pod
Paul Rieckhoff joins the MSNBC table with Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone and former Harris senior advisor Mike Nellis to break down the political sucking chest wound of Trump's Iran war — and how it is bleeding into every corner of the 2026 midterms. From Texas, where Republicans are…
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“Why I’m Suing the State of NY.” The #1 threat to America isn’t Trump — it’s AI. OpenAI meddles with three federal sites. Iran War sucking chest wound hits GOP at the pump.
The number one threat to America isn't Donald Trump — it's AI. That's Paul Rieckhoff's argument on episode 635, and the New York Times just handed him fresh evidence: OpenAI's own technology went rogue this summer and meddled with three US government websites without the lab's knowledge. NATO…
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Will Trump’s Iran War drag down the whole GOP? Tillis, Murkowski, Collins, Rand Paul break ranks.
The Iran war isn't just a foreign policy story anymore — it's the political story that's about to reshape 2026. Trump's own base is fracturing, GOP pollsters in Iowa are quietly warning that R+15 districts are within the margin of error, and a war powers vote just came within a single vote of...
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Iran’s President in NYC. Xi in DC. AI Without Guardrails.
How one independent could change everything in the senate. And the 45% of Americans nobody's talking about. Media Blitz Pod Iran's president is on U.S. soil, giving a UN speech and taking shots at America — while Iran is actively trying to kill Americans in the region. Xi Jinping is inbound to...
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Friday Football: The collision of sports and politics with Joshua Robinson, Wall Street Journal Sports editor.
Trump and the World Cup, Iran War Blowing up F1, Congress vs Football. Plus: Why AI can’t solve chess. Ranch dressing diplomacy. Sports may be the last thing left in American life that everyone watches at the same time. Eight of the top 10 live broadcasts last year were the NFL. That kind of…
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Bob Chew: Colorado’s Independent Navy Vet taking on Hickenlooper — and the Republicans and Democrats. 52% reject the duopoly. $8T in debt and counting.
Colorado has become one of the clearest case studies in America of what happens when voters lose faith in the rigged two-party system. A mere 25% of the state is registered Democrat. 23% is Republican. The remaining 52% — a majority — reject both. Into that opening steps Bob Chew: former Navy...
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Hurricane Season 2026. Trump hits the UNGA. Cuba, Iran, the media—all in the path of the storm.
Zelensky brings light to NYC. TrumpTV is Here! Independents vs GOP Dark Money. Giants Crash out in LA vs the Rams. We All Bond in the Suck. Hurricane season is here, and the biggest storm making landfall this week is Hurricane Trump. Paul Rieckhoff opens episode 630 from New York City as the UN...
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AI is THE national security issue. Is Trump gonna hit Cuba now? Is space war next?!?
Hegseth Has Been Hiding Iran Dead #s. War on the Moon? Trump Bans CNN, MSNow, Politico. Ovechkin is an Agent of Putin. UNGA Week. Ed Sheeran Speaks Out. Paul Rieckhoff is solo from New York City with Trump, Zelensky and Netanyahu all in town for UNGA, and the news cycle already on fire. AI...
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Trump’s Iran War a “Sucking chest wound.” Seven Republicans break on war powers. Canada to the EU. Diesel over $6. 45% of US voters now Independent. Media Blitz Pod
The Iran war has cascaded from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb to your grocery bill, and the president has two bad choices left: capitulate or escalate materially. Paul Rieckhoff runs the ground truth with a sharp panel breakdown of what's actually happening at the pump, in the Freedom...
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Is Trump losing control of everything? Massie moves on Hegseth. The Fed hikes rates. Ukraine goes all-in. Plus: Ed Sheeran walks into a buzzsaw. Media Blitz Pod
Is Trump losing control of everything? That's the through-line this week as the system starts pushing back on multiple fronts at once. Paul Rieckhoff breaks down Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — a Pentagon leader more obsessed with grooming…
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Can Ed Sheeran bring peace to the Middle East? Congress shuts down two weeks early. 19% Approval for Trump. The Iran War Grinds On. PLUS: Friday Football!
Congress has left the building — for two months. No AI legislation, no check on an Iran war the American people never signed up for, no oversight while Trump threatens Cuba, threatens Greenland, watches the Fed raise rates, and lets his son throw a Russian-funded wedding party. Trump sits at 19%...
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“They’re getting rich, you're getting screwed.” Russia feeding Iran intel to kill Americans. LSU, Lane Kiffin, and the death of College football. Media blitz pod
Russia is quietly feeding Iran the intelligence it needs to kill American service members, the munitions stockpile the administration swears is full is demonstrably empty, and the sailors on the USS Lincoln haven't seen their commander in chief set foot on the deck. Meanwhile the president's son…
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About this show
Independent Americans is a daily news show hosted by Paul Rieckhoff. He’s a fighter, a patriot, and an independent political and media force to be reckoned with. After serving as a soldier in Iraq in 2004, Rieckhoff emerged as one of the most dynamic political and social leaders in America. In every episode, he breaks down the most important issues facing our country. And he interviews the most influential and compelling people. He’s taking on Republicans, Democrats—and everyone in between. If you’re in the angry middle, Independent Americans reminds you that you’re not alone. We’re all in this together. Join the Independent Americans movement and subscribe now. Produced by Righteous Media.
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