OConnor's Quick Strike

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Hey, what is up, Patriots? I'm so glad you're here. I'm John O'Connor, and this is O'Connor's Quick Strike, your rapid fire breakdown of the top three conservative stories since Monday morning. And today is Wednesday, October 22nd. So yesterday on O'Connor's Right Stand podcast, we dived into the no-kings protests that took place over the weekend. Who funded it? How many organizations were behind this grassroots movement?

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How many people really showed up and we discussed some of the violence. So if you haven't, how about loading up yesterday's episode and giving it a listen when we finish up here? Well, we have reached hump day, so halfway to the weekend, and I am so ready for it. I was just assigned a major project at my day job, which is likely going to require a lot of nights, early mornings, and weekends to get it all done before Christmas. So,

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I'm going to need some peace and quiet to truly process how I'm going to meet this deadline. And the older I get, I seem to get more more structured in my daily life. So when something new is tossed onto my lap, I generally need time to process how I'm going to fit it in with everything else going on. Until I get all that planned out in my head. I feel like my life is chaotic and crazy. So this weekend should give me the time to make the necessary mental adjustments

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and be ready to take on this new challenge. Well, enough about my crazy work schedule. Let's get to the real reason you're here. On today's episode, we are jumping around from D.C. all the way to France, and we will talk about the transgender ideology again as new data is out. All right, let's get into it. So the White House started demolition on Monday to build Trump's grand ballroom and patriots

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The liberal meltdown has been absolutely glorious. Here's what happened. Construction crews began tearing down part of the East Wing to make way for a $250 million, 90,000 square foot ballroom that will seat 900 to 1,000 people. Trump has been talking about this since he took office. For 150 years, every president has wanted a proper ballroom at the White House because right now, when we host a major state dinner,

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We had to put up tents on the South Lawn. And as Trump said, when it rains or snows, it's an absolute disaster. Now, you'd think building a proper venue to host world leaders would be pretty uncontroversial, right? Wrong. The left has completely lost their minds. And I mean completely. The meltdown started the second photos of the demolition went viral on Monday.

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You had reporters watching from Treasury Department steps, acting like they were witnessing the fall of Rome. The Washington Post ran breathless coverage about how Trump promised the construction wouldn't interfere with the existing building, conveniently ignoring that the East Wing is a 1942 edition, not the original White House. CBS, NBC, CNN, they all ran with the same narrative.

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Trump is destroying the people's house for his own vanity. Never mind that he's not using a single taxpayer dollar. Never mind that the building being torn down isn't even historic. They needed their outrage story. And facts weren't going to get in the way. Hillary Clinton fired back. It's not his house, it's your house, and he's destroying it. Jim Acosta. So any president can just start destroying portions of the White House? First,

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Hillary Clinton's claim is complete lie. The ballroom is 100 % privately funded. Trump and donors are footing the entire $250 million bill. Even Snopes, that's Snopes, confirmed no credible evidence that the Trump administration's proposed ballroom would be paid for using taxpayer money. Second, the destruction claims are absurd. The East Wing being demolished was built in 1942 by FDR.

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A bland office building added on top of a bunker. It's not the historic White House. And practically every president has modified the White House. Teddy Roosevelt built the entire West Wing in 1902. Harry Truman added his balcony in 1948. Barack Obama built a basketball court. Did you hear Jim Acosta hyperventilating when Obama was building his basketball court? Did Hillary Clinton tweet about Obama destroying the White House?

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Of course not. They celebrated it. But when Trump builds a grand ballroom to properly host foreign dignitaries, something every president for 150 years has wanted, suddenly it's a national crisis? This isn't some tacky gold monstrosity. McCrary architects are specialists in classical design. They're building something elegant that matches the White House's historical importance.

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It'll hold 900 to a thousand people, ending the embarrassment of cramming world leaders into the East Room or praying it doesn't rain on tent setups. Think about it. When the president of France or prime minister of India visits, we seat them under a tent. A tent. Like a backyard barbecue instead of conducting international diplomacy. Every other major world capital has proper venues.

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But America uses tents. And you know what happens when it rains? The whole thing becomes a muddy disaster. We're the most powerful nation on earth. And we're hosting foreign dignitaries like we're running a county fair. Trump said, not on my watch, and is paying for it himself. That's leadership. And here's something the media won't tell you. This isn't just about state dinners. The current East Room can only hold

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between 100 and 200 people. When we need to honor Medal of Honor recipients, host military ceremonies, or celebrate major achievements, we're constantly limited by space. The new ballroom solves that problem for every future president, Democrat, or Republican. But of course, because Trump is the one actually getting it done after 150 years of talk, they have to attack it. The real issue?

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Trump delivers. For 150 years, presidents talked about wanting a ballroom. Trump is getting it done. The best part? Construction continues through the Democrat shutdown because it's privately funded. While Chuck Schumer holds the government hostage over healthcare for illegals, Trump builds something that will serve future administrations for generations. That's the difference between builders and destroyers, patriots. Two. Here's generally good news.

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Remember when we said the explosion in transgender and non-binary identities look like social contagion? Remember when they called us bigots? We were right. New research from Eric Kaufman shows transgender identification among young people has collapsed since 2022. We're talking freefall. The data comes from multiple sources. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression surveyed over 60,000 college students.

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Brown University tracked their own students. Phillips Academy and Andover did the same. And they all showed the exact same trend. Trans and non-binary identification peaked in 2022 and 2023, then dropped by nearly half in just two years. At Andover, 9.2 % of students identified as neither male nor female in 2023. By 2025, just 3%.

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That's a 67 % drop in just two years. Even better, students are returning to heterosexual identification. Traditional gay and lesbian identities remain stable, but the trendy identifications bisexual, queer, questioning, pansexual, are all cratering. Here's the kicker. In 2023, when this trend was at its peak,

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College freshmen were more likely to identify as trans or queer than seniors. Now it's reversed. Younger students are less likely than older students. That tells you the cultural tide has turned. Kaufman found this tracks with mental health trends. When depression spiked during COVID lockdowns, so did these alternative identities. As mental health improved, the identifications declined.

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What does that tell you? Confused, depressed teenagers were told their struggles were gender identity issues. Schools, therapists, social media, all pushed kids towards transition as the solution, and it made things worse. Think about what happened. A teenage girl is depressed, anxious, struggling with puberty and social media pressure. Instead of addressing the actual mental health issues, adults told her,

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Maybe you're really a boy. They gave her a new identity, a new community, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones. And when that didn't fix her depression, because how could it? They said she needed surgery. It was medical malpractice on an industrial scale. And now that the social pressure has eased, now that it's not trendy anymore, kids are quietly going back to reality. Bill Maher,

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said the sudden rise looked suspect and got destroyed for it. Turns out he was right. Before we celebrate too much, remember the victims. Kids, mostly girls, were rushed into irreversible procedures, double mastectomies, cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers that destroyed bone density. Adults who should have protected them mutilated them instead.

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And many of these kids are waking up now, realizing what was done to them. They are called detransitioners, and their stories are heartbreaking. Girls who had healthy breasts removed at 15 or 16, who now can never breastfeed their own children. Kids who were sterilized before they were old enough to understand what that meant. These victims need help. They need compassion. And they need justice.

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Which means holding accountable the doctors, therapists, teachers, and activists who pushed this unvulnerable children. But let's acknowledge what the state approves. Conservatives were right. We protected kids. We called out the social contagion. And the trans emperor has no clothes. When Matt Walsh asked, is a woman? They called him a bigot. When J.K. Rowling said biological sex is real,

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They tried to destroy her career. When we said this was a trend that would fade, they said we were denying people's authentic selves. Turns out, we were right about all of it. And they owe us, and more importantly, they owe those kids one hell of an apology. One. Now for our warning story. While we're celebrating Trump's victories, let's not forget what the left wanted to do, and what they'll try again if they get the chance.

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This is happening right now in France. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy reported to a Lesanté prison in Paris on Monday to begin a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy related to his 2007 campaign financing. Here's the kicker. His appeal is still pending. The conviction isn't final. He's still fighting it in court. But the judge forced him to start serving his sentence anyway before his appeals are complete.

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They are throwing him in prison while he's still legally fighting the charges. Now, you might be thinking, wait, doesn't that happen in America too? Don't people go to prison while appealing? Sometimes, yes. But here's the critical difference. In America, if you're convicted, judges usually let you remain free on bail while your appeal is heard, especially for white collar crimes, especially for first time offenders, and especially for former high ranking officials.

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It's not automatic that you go straight to prison. In Zarcosy's case, the judge specifically ordered him imprisoned immediately despite his appeal, citing the seriousness of his crimes. That's the judge making a political decision to punish him before the legal process is complete. And here's what makes it even more suspicious. France is doing the exact same thing to their conservative opposition leaders right now.

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They convicted a major opposition figure in a case she's appealing, but the judge ordered her banned from running for office immediately before her appeal is even heard. Starting to see a pattern? Convict your political opponents, then make sure they are neutralized, imprisoned, or banned from running before they can fight back through the courts. Sound familiar? This is the exact playbook Democrats tried to use against Trump.

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Remember Letitia James in New York or Alvin Bragg in Manhattan or Fannie Willis in Georgia or Jack Smith at the federal level. They all wanted Trump in prison before the 2024 election. They wanted him bankrupted by legal fees. They wanted him disqualified from running. Anything to stop voters from having their say. The French people understand what's happening. Reports say Zarcosi waved to cheering crowds as he was driven to prison.

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Dozens of supporters gathered outside his home on Tuesday morning singing the French national anthem, holding signs saying, Free Nicholas, encourage Nicholas, come back soon. They know this is political persecution, not justice. Here's what should terrify you. Democrats came damn close to pulling this off with Trump. Trump had four separate prosecutions running simultaneously.

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New York convicted him on 34 felony counts in a case legal scholars across the spectrum said was absurd. Georgia tried to criminalize questioning election results. The federal cases were only dropped because Trump won the election. If the results had gone the other way, prosecutors would be pushing for Trump to serve time immediately. They'd be arguing he's a threat or a flight risk or that his crimes were serious enough to warrant immediate imprisonment.

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And with the right judge, which they carefully selected in each case, they might have just gotten it. That's exactly what happened to Zarcosy. They got the judge they needed, and he's in prison while his lawyers are still fighting. The only reason Trump is in that position right now? American voters saw through it and elected him anyway. But don't think for a second Democrats haven't given up. They are watching France. They're taking notes.

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The moment they get that power back again, they'll try harder and more aggressively. Sarkozy waving to crowds from a police car is our warning. That could have been Trump. That could be any conservative leader they decide is too dangerous. The left doesn't believe in fair play. They don't believe in due process. They believe in power. And if they get it again, they'll use the legal system as a weapon to destroy anyone who stands in their way.

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France is showing us the extreme version of what that looks like. We better be ready. So, what did we cover today? Trump builds a ballroom with his own money. They lie about it. Why? Because they can't let him succeed at anything. We said trans ideology was a social contagion. And what did get? They called us bigots. We were right. Kids are returning to reality. But did anyone apologize for mutilating children? No.

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They just moved on. Sarkozy sits in a French prison while his appeal is pending. That's not justice, that's power. And that's exactly what Democrats wanted versus Trump. Four prosecutions, 91 felony counts. The left will lie about anything, sacrifice children for ideology, imprison opponents without due process, all while lecturing us about democracy. Well,

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Thank you for listening to O'Connor's Quick Strike. I'm John O'Connor. Stay vigilant, Patriots, and I'll see you on Friday.