January 8, 2026 • 16 mins
Nick Wright discusses who we want to be as Americans and what we want America to be.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome in What's Right with Nick? Right. So here's the deal, folks, I.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Am calling an audible today, and this is we are
on the precipice of one of my three favorite sports
weekends of the year, and we are going to do
our full wild Card weekend pick show, break game, breakdown,
(00:27):
all of it in a full jam packed episode that
will come out tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
However, we are going to do something very very different
given the events in Minnesota yesterday.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And typically when I.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Stray from sports, I tell people, hey, you know you
fast forward here or come back tomorrow. I am going
to implore, implore people to with an open mind and
an open heart, spend these next fifteen minutes with me.
And that's really I think all it'll be. And then
(01:09):
we'll wrap up the show and then we'll, you know,
put the clown noses back on and get back in
the playground talk sports.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But I really, if I have, if I have earned
even the smallest sliver of your trust or respect over the.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know how long you guys have been with
me as an audience decade in the national spotlight. I
really am asking you to spend these next ten to
fifteen minutes with.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Me, And what I'm not gonna do.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Is argue with folks about what is shown on that
video that at this point I assume everyone has seen
or at least has seen snippets of, and everyone who
has watched that video knows what they see.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And I and I just.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Have to believe that deep down at their core, every
single person who has even a shred of humanity or
empathy left, every single person who has not who is
(02:38):
still a person that sees that video is horrified and
sad and for a lot of folks justifiably very very angry.
And I understand that some people have had their brain
(02:59):
poison and so deeply by their social media feeds, or
by their own tribalism, or just by deep pervasive hate
for anyone they perceive to be on the other side,
that they can't find the empathy, and they will go
(03:21):
even further and attempt to justify or rationalize or maybe
even cheer on.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
What's shown in that video. But the video of.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Renee Nicole Good being shot three times at point blank
range does speak for itself. So I'm actually not going
to be talking about that. I'm not going to get
him back and forth or discuss proper police procedures or
(04:05):
if that was a good or bad. I'm not doing that.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I just want to ask one question, what are we
okay with? That's it. What are we as Americans okay with?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And when I said, I'm going to ask you to
trust me, just follow me down this road because we
are as Americans, we are collectively okay with the topic
of the day, mass deportations.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
With me here.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I believe in democracy. I try not to be a
sore loser, and I'm also not a conspiracy theorist, and
so I don't claim, you know, this election was stolen.
That election was not like we had a presidential election.
(05:25):
One party ran with mass deportations being a huge part
of their platform, and they won. It didn't sneak up
on us.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They didn't.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
It wasn't in the fine print. It was a huge
they had signed it did mass deportations. Now there was
an election and the candidate and the party that supported
that one. You cannot like it or like it. I
could not like it. But they won. And so we
can't say we didn't see that coming. They told us
(05:56):
it was coming. The country wanted it, and here we are.
So we are okay with that. Collectively, the majority is
and anyone that put pencil to paper about the math
of actually deporting millions and millions of people had to
(06:20):
reckon with that. If they were going to fulfill their
campaign promise, it would be through brute force and there
would be unspeakable hardship on countless communities throughout the country.
And we were okay with that. So if you are
a proud American, which I am, you have to come
(06:42):
to terms with that. So that that is something that
I know we're okay with even if I hate it,
But other things are happening that we need to have that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I feel like we haven't.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Had the vigorous, true national debate about whether or not
we are okay with The debate has not happened, and
it's taking place anyway. So are we okay with the
(07:19):
term domestic terrorist losing any meaning whatsoever? Are we okay
with that? Because if that woman, if Renaneicle Good, can
be classified as a domestic terrorist, then literally any of
(07:42):
us can be any of us. And words have to
matter because not only do they tether us to a
shared reality, but they have real words, like domestic terrorists
have real legal ramifications. There are protections theoretically that we
(08:08):
all have as American citizens that become far shakier if
we are designated as a terrorist, foreign or domestic. So
I want to be on the record on this. I'm
not okay with domestic terrorist simply being a catch all
(08:29):
term you to describe nearly anyone that the people currently
empowered dislike, or use to describe a protester, or use
to describe a thirty seven year old mother making a
four point turn attempting to flee law enforcement. I have
another question. Are we okay with giving masked, armed, in
(09:00):
badgeless men, many of which have had far less training
than your local police force, absolute power over us as
American citizens anytime we run into them? And to further that,
(09:22):
are we okay with the growing consensus in some corners
of American life that the justifiable penalty for failing to
comply with a law enforcement officer very likely maybe lethal force.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Are we okay.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
That we are a country with a foundational principle of
innocent until proven guilty, being entitled to a trial by
a jury of your peers, not being detained without probable cause,
and everything that historically has made America's system of jurisprudence,
(10:14):
the envy of the world, things that apply if you
are accused of murder, that all of those things can
be thrown out the window at any given moment by
(10:37):
a dude in a mask with forty seven days of
training because he's on a power trip. Are we okay
with the de facto punishment for failure to comply with
a law enforcement officer, at times being harsher than the
punishment for bank robbery. I'm not okay with that. Nobody
(11:06):
voted for that, but that is clearly let me revise.
I don't know that nobody voted for that, but that
was not put to a vote. Maybe people, It appears
some people like it. And if that is where we
(11:29):
want to be as a country, then I want I
want there to be a vigorous debate. I want people
to make their case and then we'll see who we actually.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Are as a country.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
But I'm not I can't believe that's where people actually are,
but it is the direction we're heading, more rapidly than
ever before. Are we okay with becoming a nation of
show me your papers, that any of us, at any
(12:03):
given moment, for no rhyme or reason, might have to
prove we are allowed to be where we are?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Are we okay with that?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Again, if we as a country are, then I want
to see the proof. I want that to be debated,
and I want folks that think that is the best
version of America to make their case, and if they win,
so be it. But I'm not okay with that simply
just being a thing now just happening. Are we okay
(12:48):
that we have unleashed a band of masked, armed, anonymous men.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Across this nation.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
That appear to feel accountable to no one, And if
they didn't feel accountable to anyone before yesterday, they can
only be emboldened after they saw that video and then,
most importantly, saw the reaction of literally the most powerful
(13:21):
people in the country exonerate the shooter and demonize the victim.
Are we okay that we are a nation with foundational principles,
foundational principles based in resisting and oppressive government, freedom of speech,
(13:47):
freedom of protests, freedom of movement, innocent until proven guilty,
and all.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That goes along with that.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And none of that applies evidently if you happen to
run into the wrong federal agent.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Who decides.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Don't care about your constitutional rights, and he might just
decide that the penalty for not listening to him is death,
and then post mortem you might be branded a terrorist
by your own government. Are we really okay with that?
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Is that really who we? Is that the road we
want to go down?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
And lastly, and this is bigger than yesterday's tragedy, But
yesterday's tragedy and I feel I feel terribly saying that
for that woman and her family, I understand nothing's bigger
than their stage tragedy. I apologize, But yesterday's strategy is
once again shined to spotlight on this. Are we okay
(15:12):
with there no longer being any type of shared morality
amongst us as Americans that Trump's our political affiliations? Are
we okay that we currently live in a world where
(15:33):
we can see a thirty seven year old mother shot
dead in the street, and we know when we see it,
some people, including some of the most powerful people, will
not only justify it, but try to convince you that
(15:53):
you didn't see what you just saw. Are we okay
with lyne by the world's most powerful people becoming so
brazen and commonplace that even when it's as black and
white as the video of the shooting of Renanical Good
(16:13):
that they believe they can instantly create an alternate reality where.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
What we all saw on video is not what we
saw on video.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I'm not okay with any of it, and deep down
in your heart, in your soul, in the marrow of
your bones, I gotta believe you're not okay with it either.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
That's right,
Welcome in What's Right with Nick? Right. So here's the deal, folks, I.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Am calling an audible today, and this is we are
on the precipice of one of my three favorite sports
weekends of the year, and we are going to do
our full wild Card weekend pick show, break game, breakdown,
(00:27):
all of it in a full jam packed episode that
will come out tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
However, we are going to do something very very different
given the events in Minnesota yesterday.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And typically when I.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Stray from sports, I tell people, hey, you know you
fast forward here or come back tomorrow. I am going
to implore, implore people to with an open mind and
an open heart, spend these next fifteen minutes with me.
And that's really I think all it'll be. And then
(01:09):
we'll wrap up the show and then we'll, you know,
put the clown noses back on and get back in
the playground talk sports.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But I really, if I have, if I have earned
even the smallest sliver of your trust or respect over the.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know how long you guys have been with
me as an audience decade in the national spotlight. I
really am asking you to spend these next ten to
fifteen minutes with.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Me, And what I'm not gonna do.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Is argue with folks about what is shown on that
video that at this point I assume everyone has seen
or at least has seen snippets of, and everyone who
has watched that video knows what they see.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And I and I just.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Have to believe that deep down at their core, every
single person who has even a shred of humanity or
empathy left, every single person who has not who is
(02:38):
still a person that sees that video is horrified and
sad and for a lot of folks justifiably very very angry.
And I understand that some people have had their brain
(02:59):
poison and so deeply by their social media feeds, or
by their own tribalism, or just by deep pervasive hate
for anyone they perceive to be on the other side,
that they can't find the empathy, and they will go
(03:21):
even further and attempt to justify or rationalize or maybe
even cheer on.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
What's shown in that video. But the video of.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Renee Nicole Good being shot three times at point blank
range does speak for itself. So I'm actually not going
to be talking about that. I'm not going to get
him back and forth or discuss proper police procedures or
(04:05):
if that was a good or bad. I'm not doing that.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I just want to ask one question, what are we
okay with? That's it. What are we as Americans okay with?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And when I said, I'm going to ask you to
trust me, just follow me down this road because we
are as Americans, we are collectively okay with the topic
of the day, mass deportations.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
With me here.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I believe in democracy. I try not to be a
sore loser, and I'm also not a conspiracy theorist, and
so I don't claim, you know, this election was stolen.
That election was not like we had a presidential election.
(05:25):
One party ran with mass deportations being a huge part
of their platform, and they won. It didn't sneak up
on us.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They didn't.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
It wasn't in the fine print. It was a huge
they had signed it did mass deportations. Now there was
an election and the candidate and the party that supported
that one. You cannot like it or like it. I
could not like it. But they won. And so we
can't say we didn't see that coming. They told us
(05:56):
it was coming. The country wanted it, and here we are.
So we are okay with that. Collectively, the majority is
and anyone that put pencil to paper about the math
of actually deporting millions and millions of people had to
(06:20):
reckon with that. If they were going to fulfill their
campaign promise, it would be through brute force and there
would be unspeakable hardship on countless communities throughout the country.
And we were okay with that. So if you are
a proud American, which I am, you have to come
(06:42):
to terms with that. So that that is something that
I know we're okay with even if I hate it,
But other things are happening that we need to have that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I feel like we haven't.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Had the vigorous, true national debate about whether or not
we are okay with The debate has not happened, and
it's taking place anyway. So are we okay with the
(07:19):
term domestic terrorist losing any meaning whatsoever? Are we okay
with that? Because if that woman, if Renaneicle Good, can
be classified as a domestic terrorist, then literally any of
(07:42):
us can be any of us. And words have to
matter because not only do they tether us to a
shared reality, but they have real words, like domestic terrorists
have real legal ramifications. There are protections theoretically that we
(08:08):
all have as American citizens that become far shakier if
we are designated as a terrorist, foreign or domestic. So
I want to be on the record on this. I'm
not okay with domestic terrorist simply being a catch all
(08:29):
term you to describe nearly anyone that the people currently
empowered dislike, or use to describe a protester, or use
to describe a thirty seven year old mother making a
four point turn attempting to flee law enforcement. I have
another question. Are we okay with giving masked, armed, in
(09:00):
badgeless men, many of which have had far less training
than your local police force, absolute power over us as
American citizens anytime we run into them? And to further that,
(09:22):
are we okay with the growing consensus in some corners
of American life that the justifiable penalty for failing to
comply with a law enforcement officer very likely maybe lethal force.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Are we okay.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
That we are a country with a foundational principle of
innocent until proven guilty, being entitled to a trial by
a jury of your peers, not being detained without probable cause,
and everything that historically has made America's system of jurisprudence,
(10:14):
the envy of the world, things that apply if you
are accused of murder, that all of those things can
be thrown out the window at any given moment by
(10:37):
a dude in a mask with forty seven days of
training because he's on a power trip. Are we okay
with the de facto punishment for failure to comply with
a law enforcement officer, at times being harsher than the
punishment for bank robbery. I'm not okay with that. Nobody
(11:06):
voted for that, but that is clearly let me revise.
I don't know that nobody voted for that, but that
was not put to a vote. Maybe people, It appears
some people like it. And if that is where we
(11:29):
want to be as a country, then I want I
want there to be a vigorous debate. I want people
to make their case and then we'll see who we actually.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Are as a country.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
But I'm not I can't believe that's where people actually are,
but it is the direction we're heading, more rapidly than
ever before. Are we okay with becoming a nation of
show me your papers, that any of us, at any
(12:03):
given moment, for no rhyme or reason, might have to
prove we are allowed to be where we are?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Are we okay with that?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Again, if we as a country are, then I want
to see the proof. I want that to be debated,
and I want folks that think that is the best
version of America to make their case, and if they win,
so be it. But I'm not okay with that simply
just being a thing now just happening. Are we okay
(12:48):
that we have unleashed a band of masked, armed, anonymous men.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Across this nation.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
That appear to feel accountable to no one, And if
they didn't feel accountable to anyone before yesterday, they can
only be emboldened after they saw that video and then,
most importantly, saw the reaction of literally the most powerful
(13:21):
people in the country exonerate the shooter and demonize the victim.
Are we okay that we are a nation with foundational principles,
foundational principles based in resisting and oppressive government, freedom of speech,
(13:47):
freedom of protests, freedom of movement, innocent until proven guilty,
and all.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That goes along with that.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And none of that applies evidently if you happen to
run into the wrong federal agent.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Who decides.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Don't care about your constitutional rights, and he might just
decide that the penalty for not listening to him is death,
and then post mortem you might be branded a terrorist
by your own government. Are we really okay with that?
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Is that really who we? Is that the road we
want to go down?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
And lastly, and this is bigger than yesterday's tragedy, But
yesterday's tragedy and I feel I feel terribly saying that
for that woman and her family, I understand nothing's bigger
than their stage tragedy. I apologize, But yesterday's strategy is
once again shined to spotlight on this. Are we okay
(15:12):
with there no longer being any type of shared morality
amongst us as Americans that Trump's our political affiliations? Are
we okay that we currently live in a world where
(15:33):
we can see a thirty seven year old mother shot
dead in the street, and we know when we see it,
some people, including some of the most powerful people, will
not only justify it, but try to convince you that
(15:53):
you didn't see what you just saw. Are we okay
with lyne by the world's most powerful people becoming so
brazen and commonplace that even when it's as black and
white as the video of the shooting of Renanical Good
(16:13):
that they believe they can instantly create an alternate reality where.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
What we all saw on video is not what we
saw on video.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I'm not okay with any of it, and deep down
in your heart, in your soul, in the marrow of
your bones, I gotta believe you're not okay with it either.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
That's right,
Host
Nick Wright
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