🔥 EXPOSED: How MAGA Radio Spreads Border Fear and Anti-Government Narratives in Tucson
A deep dive into Chris DeSimone's "Wake Up Live" reveals shocking rhetoric about immigrants, attacks on affordable housing initiatives, and uncritical Trump praise.
This is based on Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone, a maga-conservative podcast in Southern Arizona, which was broadcast by Live The Dream Media on 4/15/25.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🎙️ A podcast called "Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone" discussed many issues in Tucson, but not always fairly or accurately. 😟 The hosts shared scary opinions about immigrants and complained about the city's spending 💰, suggesting only police funding matters for safety. 🚓 They featured guests who praised President Trump 🇺🇸 without mentioning any of his actions' drawbacks. This one-sided talk makes it tougher for our community to unite and tackle real problems. 🤝 There are better ways to address important issues without blaming or scaring people! 💬✨
🗝️ Takeaways
🗣️ Conservative talk radio continues to dehumanize immigrants through extreme rhetoric, with host Barney Brenner suggesting "firing squad gallows" for gang members without due process
📊 Despite a community survey showing strong support for affordable housing (59.7%), homelessness support (57%), and substance abuse programs, Wake Up Live hosts dismissed these priorities as wasteful
💵 The show presented police department funding shortfalls without context, ignoring the relationship between social services and public safety outcomes
🏛️ The Goldwater Institute's "Visions of Liberty Scholarship Competition" reveals how conservative foundations use financial incentives to promote their ideological perspective in education
🧮 Even practical tax advice segments eventually turned into uncritical praise for Trump administration policies, showing how conservative media creates an echo chamber for right-wing narratives
DeSimone's MAGA Megaphone: How Conservative Radio Perpetuates Border Myths and Anti-Government Narratives
In the desert air of Tucson, conservative talking points bloom like prickly pear in spring – abundant, thorny, and occasionally hard to swallow.
Tuesday's episode of "Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone" offered listeners a veritable smorgasbord of right-wing narratives, serving up border anxiety with a side of anti-government sentiment and a generous helping of Trump adulation for dessert. As your friendly neighborhood progressive journalist, I felt compelled to tune in and decode what our conservative counterparts are podcasting to the Old Pueblo – because knowing thy enemy is still sound advice, even in the polarized landscape of 2025.
The MS-13 Fear Factory: Manufacturing Monsters from Migrants
DeSimone and his sidekick, Barney Brenner, kicked off their show with an extended segment about a recent deportation case involving an alleged MS-13 gang member. What struck me immediately was not just what they said, but how they said it – with an almost gleeful contempt for the humanity of the person in question.
"He's a Maryland man, even though we just found out he is not from Maryland. He is not a citizen of Maryland. He is not a gentleman," Brenner sarcastically remarked, his voice dripping with disdain.
The conversation quickly descended into something far more disturbing. Brenner, seemingly emboldened by Trump's policies, advocated for treating migrants associated with gangs as military combatants rather than civilians entitled to due process:
"We've got one terrorist organization, and that's been around for a while... God bless Trump for designating them a terrorist organization. What we really ought to do is declare war on them, a congressionally declared war. And then you could try these murderers under military justice and just make them go away. Firing squad gallows."
Let that sink in for a moment, dear reader. A radio host in our community is casually advocating for executing people via firing squad based on alleged gang affiliation. Not after a fair trial in civilian court, but through military tribunals typically reserved for foreign combatants during wartime.
The casual brutality of this rhetoric isn't just morally repugnant – it's dangerous. By dehumanizing migrants and reducing complex issues of transnational crime to simplistic narratives of "us versus them," shows like DeSimone's create fertile ground for the kind of extremism that has already led to violence against immigrant communities.
DeSimone, not to be outdone, added his own flavor of cruelty to the conversation, mocking the idea that deportation separates families:
"Now, if he has a wife or end or baby mama and a child, they can just go back to El Salvador to spend time with them. Right. That's, that's where I have, if, if he's really, you know, again, if you're going to miss your baby, have your baby go visit you in El Salvador."
To which Brenner responded: "No, they'd prefer that she stay here so they can accuse us of breaking up families."
I wonder if either of these men has ever actually spoken with families torn apart by deportation, or if their understanding of immigration comes exclusively from Fox News segments and Trump rallies?
Numbers Without Nuance: The Immigrant Invasion Myth
The hosts continued building their fortress of fear with a series of alarming statistics about immigration, delivered with the confidence of men who have never bothered to check their sources:
"Seen in the last couple of days, a good estimate of the number of people that came into the country illegally, just under Biden is 10 million... the size of some US States, an entire state of people all here illegally. So by definition, all criminals were allowed in."
There's a lot to unpack here. First, the "10 million" figure is wildly inflated compared to credible estimates from organizations that actually track border crossings. Second, notice the rhetorical sleight of hand – equating immigration violations with criminality, as if people seeking work or asylum are equivalent to violent offenders.
This framing isn't accidental, folks. By labeling all undocumented immigrants as "criminals," the right creates a pretext for treating them as threats rather than as human beings caught in difficult circumstances.
But wait – it gets better (or worse, depending on your perspective). In a stunning display of economic illiteracy, the hosts managed to blame immigrants for inflation too:
"Under the Biden administration, with all the deficit spending we have printed and created out of thin air... They've printed something like $11 trillion during the Biden administration. And all that does... is dilute the value of money and circulation. And that's the reason for inflation and why prices on everything just skyrocket."
This economic analysis would earn an F in any introductory economics course. Inflation during the past few years was a global phenomenon driven largely by pandemic-related supply chain disruptions, war in Ukraine, and corporate price gouging – not by immigration or even primarily by government spending.
But why let facts get in the way of a good scapegoating? It's so much easier to blame vulnerable foreigners than to address the complexities of global economic systems or hold corporations accountable.
Defunding Public Goods: The Anti-Government Playbook in Action
The show pivoted to local issues with a segment on Tucson Police Department funding, where DeSimone presented data showing TPD requesting significant increases but receiving only partial funding:
"Fiscal year ‘23 requested by TPD was $20.5 million... In ‘24, an increase of $29 million was requested. Then they got $14 million. Then they requested for this year, $58 million... And they were approved for $17 million."
What's revealing is not the numbers themselves (which could be legitimate concerns) but how they're framed within a broader narrative that dismisses every public investment except policing as wasteful.
When discussing a city survey showing strong community support for affordable housing (59.7%), homelessness support (57%), and substance abuse help, the hosts could barely contain their contempt:
"When you say a government, especially one as inept as Tucson and Pima County are, can provide affordable housing... for them to build the $200,000 house would probably take a million in funding... they simply don't do anything efficiently."
This dismissive attitude toward public investment is a cornerstone of conservative ideology – the belief that government is inherently inefficient and that market solutions are always superior, despite abundant evidence to the contrary.
The irony, of course, is that by starving public institutions of resources and then pointing to their struggles as evidence of inherent inefficiency, conservatives create a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's like letting the air out of someone's tires and then mocking them for driving slowly.
A caller named Sergio reinforced these narratives, attacking progressive community groups with a remarkable blend of condescension and conspiracy thinking:
"These are the geezers at the Tesla protest... They literally are a tremendous Tucson's health, vitality and future. And as long as they're still around, they're going to continue to be the boat anchor to them. I mean, they are the iceberg to the Titanic."
The hosts eagerly embraced this framing, suggesting that community advocacy organizations are somehow acting against the interests of the very communities they serve. It's a classic divide-and-conquer strategy designed to delegitimize grassroots organizing.
The Goldwater Connection: Indoctrination Disguised as Education
In the second hour, DeSimone interviewed Tyler Bonin from the Goldwater Institute about their "Visions of Liberty Scholarship Competition." While framed as promoting civic education, Bonin's comments revealed an agenda aimed at countering what conservatives perceive as liberal bias in education:
"A lot of the work that I do is working with teachers on contact knowledge... we bring in teachers and do workshops on founding principles on different historical events... You know, I think back to my alma mater and just the education and eyes of experience and you know, when I talk to younger alumni, you know, that very education has changed dramatically."
Bonin went on to frame contemporary education as problematic because it acknowledges historical injustices:
"Nowadays we're dealing with a cohort of students that are feeling victimized or they're looking at as all systems as being inherently oppressive... And so students are kind of left with this idea that everything is inherently bad."
What Bonin describes as students being taught "everything is inherently bad" is what most of us would call "learning actual history." Heaven forbid young people understand the legacy of slavery, indigenous genocide, and systemic discrimination that shaped our nation.
The scholarship program itself – offering $1,000 to students who write essays celebrating constitutional principles like separation of powers and federalism – is a perfect example of how conservative foundations use financial incentives to promote their ideological perspective while claiming political neutrality.
Trump Cheerleading: The Conservative Media Echo Chamber
The final segment featured tax advisors Ed Eddington and Tim Crawford from Desert Rose Tax. While they provided some practical tax information, the discussion inevitably turned to politics when DeSimone asked Crawford for his assessment of Trump's presidency so far:
"It seems like he's got in, he's gotten more things, more of his agenda advanced in the first hundred days than he did his entire first term. And most likely not because he didn't want to take care of things the first time. He had just colossal resistance... So he's really in charge this time. He won the popular vote."
This uncritical celebration of Trump's policies continued with Crawford praising the administration's border policies based on hearsay from clients:
"I've got some clients that are border patrol agents... And they were telling me over the last four years that they're frustrated. They're demoralized and they feel like babysitters... But now they said, well, we got Humvees with military people driving down, down the border. He said, and there's no people just, it's not chaos like it used to be. And they're charged up and they're excited and we've seen results."
Not one moment was spent discussing the humanitarian consequences of these policies or questioning whether militarizing the border addresses the root causes of migration. In the conservative media ecosystem, policy is judged solely by how tough it appears, not by whether it actually solves problems.
The Education Assault: Cherry-Picking Data to Attack Public Schools
The hosts reserved special venom for public education, celebrating what they called the "Mississippi miracle" while using literacy statistics to attack schools nationwide:
"One in three A-threaters in America are functionally illiterate... As below basic readers millions of teenagers struggle to extract meanings from words on a page."
DeSimone went on to praise Mississippi's approach:
"The Mississippi miracle started in 2012 when the Republican governor's slash legislature maybe been Haley Barbour in those days introduced phonics... and began to hold back 10 percent of third graders per year who failed the reading test."
While improved literacy is certainly important, this narrative conveniently ignores Mississippi's continued struggles with poverty, healthcare access, and other social determinants that affect educational outcomes. Instead, it reduces complex educational challenges to simplistic culture war talking points.
The goal here isn't actually to improve education – it's to undermine faith in public schools and promote privatization. It's the same playbook conservatives have used for decades.
The Real Impact: How This Rhetoric Harms Our Community
Shows like "Wake Up Live" aren't just entertainment—they shape how listeners understand their community and the world. When immigrants are consistently portrayed as dangerous invaders, when government is depicted as inherently corrupt and inefficient, and when progressive policies are dismissed as naive or malicious, it creates a distorted reality that can have real consequences.
For our neighbors who are immigrants or children of immigrants, this rhetoric creates an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion. For community members struggling with housing insecurity or substance abuse, it dismisses their needs as unworthy of public support. For teachers and students in public schools, it devalues their work and experiences.
Most insidiously, this kind of programming erodes the possibility of constructive civic dialogue across political differences. When "the other side" is portrayed not just as mistaken but as actively working to destroy the country, compromise becomes impossible and democracy itself is threatened.
A Different Path Forward
Despite the discouraging rhetoric on display in shows like "Wake Up Live," there are reasons for hope in our community. The very fact that Tucson residents expressed strong support for addressing homelessness, substance abuse, and affordable housing in the city survey shows that many of our neighbors understand the importance of collective action and compassion.
Across Tucson, people are working together to build a more just and inclusive community – from mutual aid groups providing direct support to neighbors in need, to community organizers advocating for policies that address systemic inequalities, to educators creating learning environments where all students can thrive.
By amplifying these voices and creating spaces for genuine dialogue based on shared values rather than partisan talking points, we can counteract the division that shows like DeSimone's promote.
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What's Your Experience?
How has rhetoric like that on DeSimone's show affected discourse in your neighborhood or workplace? Have you found effective ways to engage with friends or family members who consume this kind of media?
Share your thoughts in the comments below, and let's continue this important conversation.
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
Quotes
"What we really ought to do is declare war on them, a congressionally declared war. And then you could try these murderers under military justice and just make them go away. Firing squad gallows." — Barney Brenner suggesting execution without civilian trials for alleged gang members
"If you're going to miss your baby, have your baby go visit you in El Salvador." — Chris DeSimone mocking concerns about family separation during deportations
"They were telling me over the last four years that they're frustrated. They're demoralized and they feel like babysitters... But now they said, well, we got Humvees with military people driving down the border... And they're charged up and they're excited and we've seen results." — Tim Crawford (tax advisor) celebrating militarization of the border
"Nowadays we're dealing with a cohort of students that are feeling victimized or they're looking at all systems as being inherently oppressive... And so students are kind of left with this idea that everything is inherently bad." — Tyler Bonin from Goldwater Institute criticizing education that acknowledges historical injustices
"When you say a government, especially one as inept as Tucson and Pima County are can provide affordable housing... for them to build the $200,000 house would probably take a million in funding." — Barney Brenner dismissing affordable housing initiatives
People Mentioned
Chris DeSimone - Host of Wake Up Live podcast who frequently promotes anti-immigrant narratives and criticizes local government spending priorities. Quote: "The grahalvas and what they've done to screw up TUSD. Mississippi has the number one state for Hispanic kids in reading and their number two in math in Mississippi and these basically as our friend Keith van Hynen again I'm going to quote him has told you that these poverty pimps called the grahalvas have rammed the Hispanic kids lives into the toilet."
Barney Brenner - Co-host/regular guest who advocated for extreme measures against immigrants: "We've got one terrorist organization and that's been around a while... God bless Trump for designating them a terrorist organization. What we really ought to do is declare war on them, a congressionally declared war."
Tyler Bonin - Goldwater Institute representative promoting their "Visions of Liberty Scholarship Competition" targeting educational narratives: "We want to, you know, make sure that these, that students are really coming to understand their intellectual heritage in this country."
Ed Ethington - Tax advisor from Desert Rose Tax who provided practical tax advice while featuring in a conservative media ecosystem.
Tim Crawford - Tax advisor from Desert Rose Tax who praised Trump administration: "It seems like he's gotten more things, more of his agenda advanced in the first hundred days than he did his entire first term."
Sergio - Caller who attacked progressive community groups: "These are all the same group of people. I mean, they literally are a tremendous Tucson's health, vitality and future. And as long as they're still around, they're going to continue to be the boat anchor to them."
Donald Trump - Frequently praised throughout the program for immigration policies and economic approaches.
Regina Romero - Tucson Mayor, referenced negatively by hosts.
Matt Heinz - Mentioned as proposing a tax increase to fund affordable housing, which hosts criticized.
Steve Christy - Mentioned as "battling" with "these fools" on the city council.
Haley Barbour - Former Mississippi Governor credited with education reforms.
