Moment of Truth

This week on Moment of Truth, Nick sits down with Jon Schweppe, Senior Advisor at the American Principles Project, fresh off an 18-month stint as senior policy advisor to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson. Jon explains what antitrust and consumer protection enforcement have actually accomplished under this administration and why the FTC's Section Five authority is one of the most underrated tools in government.

They dig deep into the sports betting industry — the VIP programs, the psychological targeting of losers, the banning of winners, and expose how these companies actually operate. The conversation turns from speculation to affordability, with a full-throated argument against "burrito gate" and the strain of conservatism that tells struggling Americans to just work harder. Jon and Nick both make the case that if the right cannot even diagnose the affordability crisis as real, it has no business calling itself a movement for working people.

Tune in for this rare dip from Moment of Truth into intra-right, very-online squabbles (and come out better for it!)

Follow Jon: https://x.com/JonSchweppe
Follow APP: https://x.com/APProject

(00:00) Welcome to Moment of Truth
(03:55) Senior Policy Advisor to FTC Chairman Ferguson
(05:00) Government Is Run by Our Friends
(06:33) Big Tech Wasn't Let Off the Hook
(08:39) The FTC's Consumer Protection Authority
(10:07) The $1.5 Billion Amazon Prime Settlement
(13:05) The Sports Betting Problem
(19:36) Sports Leagues in Bed With Sportsbooks and the Ohtani Problem
(24:19) Young Men Are the Primary Target of This Business Model
(33:06) Burrito Gate — The Argument That Is Going to Get the Right Wiped Out
(44:16) The DSA and the Right Both Get the Problem — Only One Side Has Good Solutions
(48:07) The Core of Populism
(50:30) Age Verification for Porn
(55:38) Where to Find Jon Schweppe and the American Principles Project

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American Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.

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This week on Moment of Truth, Professor Ilan Wurman of the University of Minnesota returns for round two on birthright citizenship, breaking down the Supreme Court's decision and what comes next.

Ilan explains why the 5-4 ruling is actually closer to a victory than it looks, walks through the flaws in the majority's reasoning on extraterritoriality and the entry fiction, and makes the case for the Thomas-Gorsuch dissent He also gives a sympathetic read on Justice Barrett, lays out what a future administration and a future Supreme Court appointment could actually do differently, and pushes back hard against the doom and gloom many young conservatives are feeling.

Plus: his new book, The Constitution of 1789, and why he thinks Americans should love the Constitution the way it actually was written — not in spite of it.

Follow Ilan: https://x.com/ilan_wurman
Check out his podcast: https://x.com/rationallypod

Find his book: https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/law/constitutional-and-administrative-law/constitution-1789-new-introduction?format=PB&isbn=9781009485692

This episode is brought to you by STAED, the official drink of Moment of Truth.

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American Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.

Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj
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This week on Moment of Truth, Nick is joined by the Honorable Anthony D'Esposito, Inspector General of the Department of Labor and former Congressman from New York, for a conversation about what it actually looks like to root out waste, fraud, and abuse at scale.

The Inspector General explains how the Department of Labor's IG office has one of the broadest investigative jurisdictions in the federal government and what that means for cross-department investigations, including what the Vice President’s Fraud Task Force. They also get into how unemployment insurance fraud is quietly destroying small businesses in states like California and New York to the tune of millions of dollars a day. And no conversation about labor would be complete without tearing into the topic of H-1Bs and how immigrations and corporate interests alike are manipulating the system at American citizens’ expense.

There’s lots of great stories in this one, including gangs running restaurants in Boston on stolen identities, fraud influencers posting step-by-step guides on TikTok, and why the $6.5 billion healthcare fraud takedown was the biggest in American history.

Thank you to the Inspector General and his office for the generous favor of his time to come and talk about this important work.

Follow the Inspector General: https://x.com/USLaborIG

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American Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.

Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj
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This week on Moment of Truth, Nick sits down with Omar Pimentel, Director of Frontier Strategy at Type One Ventures and former space portfolio lead at the Defense Innovation Unit, for the show's first ever episode about space.

Omar explains how DIU was created to repair the broken relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington, how the Other Transaction Authority allows the military to buy technology at commercial speed, and why Starlink is the single best example of what happens when you let industry solve the problem instead of specifying the solution. They cover Space Force, GPS as America's most underrated gift to the world, the threat landscape in orbit, what kinetic conflict in space would actually look like, Artemis II and the road to landing on the moon by 2028, why Administrator Jared Isaacman is doing more with the same budget, and what the plan to get to Mars actually is.

And stick around till the end to hear Nick and Omar debate the best space movies of all time.

Follow Omar: https://x.com/OmarJPimentel

*Omar Pimentel is an employee of Type One Ventures. His opinions and views in no way represent the opinions or views of the current Presidential administration or the Department of War.

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YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4Tcg

American Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.

Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj
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This week on Moment of Truth, Nick sits down with Will Thibeau, Director of the American Military Project at Claremont's DC Center for the American Way of Life, for a wide-ranging conversation on the wars reshaping American foreign policy right now.

They cover the Iran deal vs. the JCPOA, why the nuclear threat has always been more complicated than neocons made it sound, and Will explains the helpful concepts of “battlefield geometry” and “battlefield algebra” that have fundamentally changed modern warfare.

They break down why Ukraine has been able to hold Russia at bay and evaluate how Iran's cheap drones mean that destroying 90% of their combat power still leaves dangerous residual capability. They also get into autonomous weapons, the Anthropic vs. Department of War dispute, and what D.C. staffers making policy in right now need to understand about all of it.

Follow Will: https://x.com/WilliamThibeau

Follow American Moment across Social Media:
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Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4Tcg

American Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.

Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.