Overview of It's Time To SAVE America | Episode 215
This episode (hosted by Vince on the Bongino/Cumulus network) covers three main storylines: breaking news about Don Lemon’s arrest tied to the St. Paul church invasion, rapid Senate momentum behind the SAVE Act (now styled the Save America Act) including new national voter-ID provisions, and an interview with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about American energy, public lands, and America 250 celebrations. The show also includes commentary on political reactions, enforcement actions, upcoming programming changes, and sponsor mentions.
Breaking news: Don Lemon arrested (St. Paul church invasion)
- Reported arrest: Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles in connection with the coordinated invasion/disruption of City’s Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
- Context: The incident involved protesters entering a church service, confronting the pastor and congregation, and traumatizing children. Video footage (including Lemon’s own footage) showed Lemon interacting with and supporting participants.
- Legal follow-up: A federal grand jury returned indictments leading to arrests of Lemon and three others. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the arrests.
- DOJ civil-rights official (Harmeet Dhillon cited): Emphasized that claiming “journalist” status does not inoculate someone from criminal charges if they participate in criminal conduct.
- Public reaction: Host condemns the church invasion, endorses criminal accountability for all participants regardless of profile, mocks downplaying by participants (example: a defendant comparing handcuffs to “slavery”).
Save America Act — Senate momentum and provisions
Political movement
- New name: SAVE Act is now being referred to as the Save America Act.
- Senate progress: Several Republican senators (including Chuck Grassley, John Thune) have signaled support; leadership is promising a floor vote. Chip Roy and Mike Lee are highlighted as key proponents; Chip Roy announced a finalized draft adding voter-ID.
- Host emphasis: Encourages listeners to keep pressure on senators to pass the bill and remove procedural obstacles (blue slip, “silent” filibuster).
Key provisions summarized (from transcript review of the bill text)
- Proof of citizenship required to register to vote nationwide.
- Voter ID requirement for casting ballots in federal elections (national photo-ID requirement added).
- Stricter absentee-ballot verification:
- Voters must include a copy of a photo ID with the absentee ballot request.
- Voters must include a copy of a photo ID when submitting the absentee ballot (double-verification).
- Civil remedies: Election officials who fail to enforce rules can be sued by citizens.
- Host argues this is basic, commonsense security that preserves voting integrity and protects lawful voters from dilution by noncitizen or fraudulent ballots.
Examples used to support reforms
- Georgia: Host contrasts old signature-only absentee procedures with reforms requiring an ID number on absentee ballots (e.g., driver’s license), arguing that ID-based verification reduced disenfranchisement and improved credibility.
Reactions, opponents, and rhetorical battleground
- Left-wing/legal pushback: Mark Elias (Democratic election lawyer) and his Democracy Docket called the bill an extraordinary attack on voting rights; host disputes this characterization.
- Political accusations: Host criticizes Democratic figures (e.g., Dan Goldman) for alleging the current enforcement and investigations are “rigging” elections or preparing to cancel elections — frames these accusations as projection and conspiracy-mongering.
- Host position: Protect elections via verification; accuses opponents of supporting systems vulnerable to fraud and of weaponizing the justice system and electoral rules when convenient.
Interview highlights — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum
Department scope & America 250
- Interior’s portfolio: Manages vast public-lands assets (500M acres surface, 700M subsurface, 3.2B offshore acres), national parks, national historic sites, Bureau of Indian Affairs, BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, offshore energy, etc.
- America 250: Plans extensive celebrations across national parks and historic sites; teased an attempt at possibly the largest fireworks display ever in Washington, D.C., on July 4 (record-setting pounds of fireworks).
American energy, minerals, and revenue
- Revenue model: Federal leases for timber, grazing, mining, oil & gas generate lease payments and royalties that flow to Americans; Interior-managed lands produce roughly 27% of U.S. oil (host claims that equals or exceeds ExxonMobil’s).
- Strategic argument: Increasing domestic production and responsible mining reduces reliance on foreign (and environmentally worse) sources—critical for national security, jobs, cleaner production, and reducing global supply leverage by adversaries.
- Critical minerals: Emphasized the need to mine domestically to avoid dependence on China and environmentally harmful foreign practices.
- Venezuela & energy diplomacy: Discussion framed around “energy dominance” — reclaiming Venezuelan oil production/markets reduces China’s access to discounted supplies and lowers fuel costs for Americans, aiding geopolitical leverage without troops.
Programming and sponsor notes
- Programming change: Vince’s live show moves to 8:00 a.m. Eastern on Rumble (rumble.com/slash Vince) starting Monday, February 2. Dan Bongino returns to podcasting at 10:00 a.m.; Haley at noon.
- Sponsors mentioned in episode: BoneCharge (infrared sauna blanket & red-light face mask), Patriot Mobile, Kalshi, The Wellness Company (parasite cleanse). (Sponsor details and offers discussed in the episode.)
Action items and recommendations (as presented by host)
- Contact senators and demand support for the Save America Act (proof of citizenship, national voter ID, absentee verification). Keep pressure on Republican leadership to force a vote.
- Support election-integrity measures that require photo-ID and proof of citizenship to reduce fraud.
- Follow enforcement developments (church invasion arrests, FBI investigations) and hold officials accountable equally.
Notable quotes / soundbites
- DOJ civil-rights official paraphrase: “A journalist is not inoculated from criminal charges just because they say they’re a journalist or rapidly switch hats between journalist and participant.”
- Pam Bondi (announcing arrests): “At my direction … federal agents arrested [the defendants] in connection with the coordinated attack on City’s Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
- John Thune (on Save America Act): Noted the bill originally addressed proof-of-citizenship to register and that a voter-ID voting requirement would be added; indicated interest in bringing it to the floor.
If you want key timestamps or a condensed one-paragraph summary suitable for social posts, I can produce those as well.