
Ruthless Podcast How China Funds the American Left + Sen. Cornyn Joins The Progrum
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Feb 12, 2026 Senator John Cornyn, a longtime Texas Republican, talks reelection strategy, border security, ICE enforcement, and winning $11 billion in federal reimbursements for Texas. The conversation also covers foreign influence via well-funded activist networks, paid protests, media framing of crime, and oversight into nonprofit funding. Short, pointed, and politically charged.
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Astroturfing Meets Geopolitics
- Hosts trace modern astroturf activism to large undisclosed funding flows after Citizens United and the rise of issue-ad networks.
- They contend state actors like China overlay geopolitical aims onto that funding to shape U.S. policy and dependence.
Energy Policy As Strategic Leverage
- China benefits when the U.S. reduces domestic energy production because it increases dependence on Chinese supply chains.
- Hosts link environmental advocacy and anti-domestic-energy policies to strategic economic gains for China.
Follow The Money And Enforce Rules
- Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith is investigating foreign-backed nonprofits and money trails tied to malign influence.
- The hosts urge enforcement: identify violators, follow the money, and hold organizations breaking tax or disclosure laws accountable.

