Birthright Citizenship, the Declaration, and Fighting for American Exceptionalism | Weds LIVE Ep. 40

America turns 250 this year, and the arguments about what this country actually is — and whether it's worth keeping — are coming from every direction at once. Jeremy opens with the Supreme Court's ruling on birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment, then traces it back to a deeper question: what did the founders actually risk when they signed the Declaration of Independence, and what does America owe them 250 years later? Jeremy is joined by a panel built for exactly this moment: Eric Metaxas — NYT bestselling author of Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World — makes the case that the American founding was the only genuine revolution in an age of so-called revolutions, and walks through what the moral character of men like Washington and Adams actually cost them. John West — VP of the Discovery Institute and author of Endowed by Our Creator — defends the Declaration of Independence against attacks from both the 1619 Project left and the dissident right's rejection of America as a "creedal nation," and unpacks what "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" meant to the founders. Rick Green — America's Constitution Coach and founder of Patriot Academy — brings the civic-action lane: why self-government requires virtue, why virtue requires biblical formation, and what ordinary Americans can actually do to keep the republic. The conversation covers American exceptionalism, the Constitution under attack, the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling and immigration, the growing rejection of the American founding from both the radical left and corners of the dissident right — including the fight over the term "Judeo-Christian" and whether America is a creed or a bloodline — and closes on where real hope for the next 250 years comes from. If you care about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, American exceptionalism, and the fight over what this country actually is, this is the conversation for July 4th, 2026. 0:00 Monologue: What the Birthright Citizenship Ruling Really Asks 5:39 Meet the Panel: Metaxas, West & Green on the Founding 8:25 Is the American Revolution the Only One That Worked? 10:37 Chesterton's Insight: America as a Creed 15:26 Are We a Bloodline, a Place, or an Idea? 18:48 Is "It's Not a Value Judgment" a Cop-Out? 30:50 Naming the "Emerging Right" 36:12 Culture, Self-Government & the Immigration Debate 43:57 UFC, Patriot Academy & Reaching Gen Z 50:10 God-Given Rights vs. Government-Granted Rights 55:54 Is "Christian Nation" a Loaded Term? 1:00:04 Defining Christian Nationalism and "Globohomo" 1:03:26 Jefferson's "Alter or Abolish" Explained 1:10:09 Survey Data: Reasons Not to Despair 1:16:34 The Hard Work Ahead — and the Danger of Utopian Despair 1:26:10 Defending the Founders Without Excusing Slavery 1:36:45 Why Particular Men and Places Still Matter 1:44:03 Real Heroes, Caesar Rodney & Washington's Troops 1:54:12 Closing: Go See the Declaration Before It Fades Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices