IHIP News: Trad Wife SCANDAL ROCKS MAGA As Bigoted Influencers EXPOSED in Sex Scandal!

Okay, listener, we need to take a little. break from all of the stuff that Donald. Trump is doing to terrorize citizens and. take a little deep dive into this juicy, salacious, tradwife scandal in the heart. of MAGA. And I have with me today Will. Sommer. He is a senior reporter at The. Bulwark and he writes the newsletter. called The False Flag on right-wing. media and conspiracy theories, which is. right up my alley for entertainment. Will, how are you today? Hey, I'm good. Thanks for having me on.

All right, so let's dive into this. We. have a tradwife and then we have a. right-wing influencer Elijah Schaffer. that apparently weren't supposed to be. together and engaged in. slap-and-tickle style affair. Is that. correct? >> That's right. I mean I I mean I think. you summed it up colorfully there. Yeah, I mean so this is you know we can. look at Elijah Schaffer first maybe. I. mean this is a guy who was once Glenn. Beck's protégé, this kind of rising star. in right-wing media. And then he got.

fired from Glenn Beck's company for. allegedly assaulting, sexually. assaulting one of his co-workers. And there were all these other. harassment allegations and then he said, "Wait, I'm a real Christian guy now. I. have a wife and kids. You know, I'm. going to live this traditional. lifestyle." And needless to say the. revelations of last week suggest that. that was not really the case. Okay, I want to play a video for you and. the listener of this Elijah Schaffer so. everybody can kind of. know exactly the type of man that we're.

talking about. Kylie, play the clip. I saw a tweet that said this is like. it's crazy in 2025 to pull [ __ ] You. literally have to be like a millionaire, 6'7, have a drive a Lamborghini and like. that's who like you know what I mean. like and be white. And it's like, "Yeah, so women are still going after men that. emulate the most masculine tendencies, right? They're going after tall, rich, famous men." And then. And what do we get? The the the. the women they're just [ __ ] They. can't even cook a hot pocket, you know? So, it's it's it's like and when That's.

why once you have sex with them, once. you come you come to your senses, right? So, it's like you have that that that. post-ejaculate clarity post not clarity. they call it on online these days. But, like cuz you realize like after you nut. you're like. you're just a bunch of holes. And that's. really sad cuz then it devalues one's. And your view of women becomes so low. because women really are just a bunch of. holes today. But, that doesn't mean. that's who they have to be or who God. made them to be or what they should be. And I think that the lot of the hatred. that I have towards women and a lot of. the hatred a lot of men have towards.

women is is simply the product of. generations of sin and rebellion that. have created women to be something that. they're not They're not feminine. They're masculine. And and like like. look at this This type of woman that. Okay. I mean, that's alarming to say the. least and how it's all wrapped up into. Christianity. And I'm from Oklahoma. where I lived for 51 years. This doesn't. surprise me. This type of. toxic masculinity wrapped up into. religion and the institutionalized. misogyny and sexism that's built into.

this sect of Christianity. Yeah, well, I. mean, what a gentleman, right? I mean, you can see that there's the guy with. the beard Joel Webbe and who is a I. believe a pastor very evangelical. Christian guy and he's kind of he's. almost like Elijah, you're making the. the subtext of of this all a little. obvious, you know, that that it's about. sort of imprisoning women or or sort of. ensuring you have this access to a. woman. I mean, it's it's gross stuff and so And. this is this is what he was saying when. he was supposed to be the the. traditional family man.

And so, I mean, as we found out, however, there's he had. this employee, this woman Sara Stock who. is herself sort of a Catholic tradwife. And you know, apparently they were. carrying on an affair I guess before she. got engaged, but he was married with. kids. And that you know, even as they were. both proclaiming, you know, all we're so. against fornication and you know, all as. you see Elijah. say there, you know, all modern women. are so awful and promiscuous that they. were carrying on this this sort of. scandal.

Okay, that's it's nuts. Okay, so this. right-wing, I think he's a right-wing. kind of controversial figure Milo. I'm. mispronounce his last name. What is it? >> Uh Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos. Okay, Milo Yiannopoulos. He goes on a Twitter. rant about this. I'm going to read these. and I want to get your feedback on these. cuz it's juicy AF. Okay, pop this up, Kylie. Milo says, "In February 2025, Sara Stock. and Elijah Elijah Schaffer began. sleeping together. The affair ended on. the day she got engaged about 6 months.

later. In that time, they experienced. multiple pregnancy scares. Is it It is. alleged by one former acquaintance that. Sara got at least one abortion.". Do you have any reporting on that? You know, I I don't. I mean, it. basically what the the backstory here is. that this kind of the this content had. been circulating for about a week before. Milo published it. I got some of it and. I had looked at it and said, "Okay, well, you know, this is how can we. report this out? Demonstrate certainly.

that this affair happened or this. business is imploding, this this Rift TV. that we saw in the clip there." Um and. then Milo kind of threw it up online. And and so, I I do think some of this. stuff I'm not sure about the sourcing on. it, but we do know there was this. relationship. Um and as you said, I. mean, I think it also offers some. insights into the the the infighting and. the personalities in this right-wing. media world where someone like Milo, who. I think shares a lot of Elijah. Schaffer's politics, is stabbing him in. the back here. Yeah, and then Milo also makes an. extraordinary claim that uh Elijah is.

gay and a former twink, I believe. He. goes here, "A little known fact about. Schaffer is that he attended the church. and he grew up around Bennie Johnson.". And listener, you remember Bennie. Johnson is the guy that outed himself. with the Google targeted gay cruise ad. I did an episode on that. Um, who's How. Schaffer attended sleepovers while they. were both attended the Calvary Chapel. Schaffer left it left the church in a. hurry when he was discovered having sex.

with another man. And obviously, I mean, I don't know if this is true or not, but. I think the through line here is that. this. group of mega Christians are very. sanctimonious and they're very. interested in the sex lives of American. citizens. They want to legislate. marriage and um, you know, what uh, gender or sexuality or you know, they. completely want to regulate and control. bathrooms and all of these things. Meanwhile,

they're involved in this complete. depravity and they justify it somehow, as you heard in the tape, with uh, Elijah, with religion. And this is not. unfamiliar to me because I when I grew. up in Oklahoma around all of these. evangelical Christians, I always found the more overtly. religious they are, the more screwed up. they were. And so, Milo, he seems to be. outing this. Does he have sources for. this? You know, it it's a little unclear what.

what exactly he's up to. I mean, Elijah. Schaffer has often kind of been dogged. by these these gay rumors. I mean, number one, I think we should say. basically anyone on the right, any man. is going to be accused, they're always. accusing each other of being gay. Uh, and it's kind of funny because Elijah. Schaffer now has had multiple uh, scandals involving sex with women. Um, and it's funny that each time they're. like, well, you know, more proof of gay. Elijah. So, I mean, that that seems. number one, you know, that. >> [laughter]. >> they're really fixated on that. Every. time, you know, I mean, this is a. scandal involving a woman and they're. saying, yet further proof that Elijah's. gay. Um, but but I think to your point,

I mean, it is, I think often, as we saw, you know, dating back to the fight over. gay marriage, often people the people. who are most exercised about this stuff. are are holding these demons back or. these these these secrets and that's why. they're so just, you know, agitated. about it. Whereas, you know, I think we. see this all across the right-wing media. where these men are just so mad about. women and they seem almost like. tormented by this idea that I want women. or women are, you know, I they're. treating me so unfairly. It's something. that doesn't really seem related to. reality and it often I think is covering.

up this like something much more. twisted. I think it's this. Growing up. non-religious around all of these really. hardcore core Bible thumpers, deeply. indoctrinated by their parents. The. number one thing they learn as they're. being raised is you cannot have sex. Cannot have sex. Cannot have sex. Sex is. the devil, demons, Satan, all this crazy. [ __ ] before they even have hormones. And so I think there's this desire for. them to hate the object of their desire. because the one thing we're genetically.

hardwired to do is screw. Like it's in. our DNA, you know, survival of the. fittest, you know, perpetuating the. species. And so you see this woman-hating. uh. policy which I think abortion is a lot. about that. The abortion policy is like, "Okay, if this woman, you know, these. girls are doing all this, you know, [ __ ]. cover-up protection with all these. abortions which is a complete lie." But. in their mind, they want to make women, pardon my language, less [ __ ]. because they have so much inherent guilt.

from sex with their with their parents. I dated this guy in high school. Dad was. a crazy Bible thumper Southern Baptist. and his mom caught him masturbating and. I mean he was like grounded for a year. Like a teenage kid. It's really this. kind of stuff in middle America is very. real and I think it's it's kind of child. abuse and what we're seeing now is the. 1980s megachurch boom that I grew up in. Now these people are adults and they're.

out in the world and we're seeing how. dysfunctional and um. the debris of their abuse is playing. out. How has this played out in the trad. wife world? Well, I mean this landed. like a bombshell. It was a big scandal. I mean number one, Sarah Stalker self, I mean I think she's. like 23, 24. So she's pretty young. She's married already. She had had her marriage blessed by the. Pope, by Pope Leo. So she and her. husband had gone to Vatican. I mean you. can't make this stuff up. They had gone. to Vatican City and they they you know, she's in this kind of very traditional.

like 50s Catholic wedding gown and the. Pope is blessing her. And then people. are saying, you know, are you kidding. me? You roped the Pope into this sham? >> [laughter]. >> And so so that has obviously been very. controversial. She previously and this. this is shows you what what loving. people are in this community. This. right-wing media world. When she got. engaged last year, she posted a picture. of the wedding ring and I you know, I'm. not a big judge of diamonds, but it. looked a little small and I think a lot. of other people felt that the diamond. was small. So all these other right-wing. women who hate her for all these reasons.

are saying, oh, you know, it's too bad. you married a broke boy, all this. This. has created a whole other civil war on. the right. And so there were a lot of. people who were really eager to jump on. this. Um but I think, you know, if you. look at it and I'm sure this is. something you know, you you saw you. know, in Oklahoma, there. I think there's this kind of new. generation of these right-wing women who. say, you know, we need to go back and we. just need to you know, you need to find. a husband at 20 or whatever. And you. have these kind of older right-wing. women who are middle age or in their 30s. who are saying, you know, there's a. reason that you know, after the Mad Men. era women were like, we need to have. jobs because your man's going to run off.

with a younger woman, you know, all of. these other things. And so in this case, you have Elijah Schaffer's wife who's. very much a sort of trad figure staying. at home with the two kids and then. suddenly guess what? He's run off, he's. divorcing her, he's having this affair. allegedly. So I think um you know, there's kind of this like larger impact. that people are pointing to as like. wait, maybe this trad thing, it was both. hypocritical and also if you're a. regular person, it's kind of a dangerous. way to live your life. It's really really dangerous and I think. when you see these women and I lump.

Erica Kirk into even though she's a. millennial. But when you see these women. that have full-time jobs [clears throat]. that um are weaponizing their faith and. gender washing with their gender to say, "You need to do this. This is what God. wants you to do." And meanwhile, they're. working full-time. They have full-time. jobs. They are riding the coattails of. hard-working suffragettes and feminists. And for them to have the ability to even. have the platform to tell women to go.

back into the kitchen is a luxury. It. reminds me of Scott Bennett. It shows. you how I mean, Scott Bessent. It shows. you how far gay rights have come that he. feels safe enough to seek refuge in a. room full of homophobes. And so, in many. ways, these tradwives and Scott Bessent. and Peter Teal are a diabolical example. of the success of civil civil rights in. women and in uh LGBTQ+ people.

Yeah, I think so. The idea that, you. know, you they'll be welcomed into this. community, these whether it's gay. people, whether it's women, as long as. you agree to kind of help oppress, you. know, the other members of your class. and other minority groups. I think it is. very real. Yeah, I do, too. Okay, so is this girl. that got the Sarah? She She had the. phone. >> [laughter]. >> What's her wedding Is her marriage in. trouble now after the reveal of this. affair?

You know, we we we don't know. I mean, she she said, you know, she said. basically, you know, a lot of this stuff. about me is made up, but I I I have. sinned in various ways, you know, please. pray for me. And then she deleted her. Twitter account. Um so, it you know, I I. think and this is another way it's going. to break down is like it it really falls. mostly on the woman. And so, I think. she's kind of disappearing. On the other. hand, Elijah, he's decided to do a heel. turn, and he came out and I and I'm I'm. I'm I'm I'm basically quoting him here. He said, "Yeah, I have a dick and it. works. Deal with it." So, he's kind of.

he's back to the bad boy persona. Um I. guess the family man stuff is over. Um. it's a very It's a very twisted. community all these uh kind of. right-wing e-celebs. That is That is crazy. I think it's so. difficult. for those of us that aren't in it to. realize like you know, sometimes I think. how did somebody vote for Trump three. times? Like how do you see him on TV and. then you vote for him three times? And. then you hear Elijah and then you hear. all of this stuff and you're like, "Oh, this is how. This is the cult This is.

the cult of his uh. support." Do you think that this is. going to have a backlash on the tradwife. movement? You know, I I I do think it. will. I mean, I I think in particular. Sarah Stock was I mean, again, this is a. woman who was blessed by the Pope. I. mean, a real kind of like trad. ostensibly, although she also had this. kind of like influencer YouTube career. So, you know, not exactly that trad. Um. but, you know, I I do think it's. suggested. Certainly, I've seen other. young right-wing women on the internet. saying, you know, "Well, wait a minute. Maybe things are a little more complex.

Maybe I shouldn't be rushing out to get. married by 21 and and you know, become a. homemaker. Maybe I I need to sort of. live my own life uh first." Because, you. know, I think it this has been kind of a. disaster uh for for trads in general. Yeah, I and honestly, I feel badly for. Sarah. I mean, probably completely. deeply indoctrinated as a child um which. I think that type of religious. indoctrination is child abuse. And here. she is, you know, acting out what she.

thinks is the right thing to do, submitting to men. She's probably never. ever had a conversation where somebody. spoke to her about consent, intimacy, um. casual sex, marital sex. It's always. just one type of sex and then everything. else is. of the devil. So, I do have some empathy. for these young girls and I think. journalism like yours in exposing this. is so important because it's really. dangerous for women to find themselves. in these spaces and this administration. and particularly Heritage Foundation and.

the Project 2025 with what they want to. do. a road a woman's ability to support. themselves or file for divorce is really. terrifying. Yeah, absolutely. I mean I I. think this is what interests me about. this I think all this talk about like. gender roles or what the ideal. masculinity is or what a marriage should. be because then when you look often what. are these people's marriages like? What. are they what are they up to? And it's. it's not just like imperfect. It's like. a horror show. Uh you know, I mean this. audio came out of Elijah Schaffer.

berating his wife. I mean we saw this. happen before with Steven Crowder the. very prominent podcaster you know, yelling at his own very pregnant wife. Um and and it's just these these like. just twisted things. I mean you know. supposedly Elijah Schaffer and Sarah. Stark first hooked up at CPAC which is. one of the big conservative conventions. I mean these you hear these stories. about CPAC or the Turning Point USA. convention these like people will say, well you know, you were like doing sex. acts in the hotel lobby and everyone was. around. I mean it it's like a bacchanal.

Okay, do you have any scoop on Benny. Johnson? And I've heard about him. [laughter]. like. just going his wife crying and upset in. a hotel lobby and he's just up doing gay. stuff with a lot of different men very. brazenly. Have you heard this or have. any confirmation of this? Yeah, you know, that's an interesting. case. I mean again you have a situation. where a guy is like kind of posing as. this very like traditional moralist. heterosexual family man. Um but you.

know, at least one person from when. Benny worked at BuzzFeed has said, oh. yeah, you know, a man you know, that we. hooked up at a party. Um you you. mentioned the gay cruise ad thing that. popped up that the sort of the. algorithmic thing that obviously only. comes up if you've been I have not faced. those ads myself. I think you have to. kind of be looking for that material. But I think the ultimate tell here was. was last year. Milo, you know, again kind of popped up. and said, you know, we all know Benny's. gay. And then Benny, you know, for whatever. reason he felt that this accusa- this. time it was too serious. And so both he.

and his wife suggested that they would. sue Milo. They said, you know, we're. going to stand we have to protect our. family's integrity. And I think it's been like two months. now. I just looked into this last week. No lawsuit has been filed. You know, it. sort of seems like was this real? Maybe. maybe they don't want to get this into a. courtroom and get it into discovery. And Milo, he correct me if I'm wrong, is. he like a born again incel or something. like this? There's something He was gay, now he's an incel or something.

Yeah, he was gay and then there was. supposedly, you know, he was gay and. then he supposedly became ex-gay and he. became like a real trad cath- Catholic. guy. He would go on like Catholic QVC. and sell Bibles or sell sell like. relics. And then, you know, more recently I. think he's sort of just lapsed into this. kind of general like provocateur. troublemaker role where he's like. constantly digging up dirt on other. people on the right, which I think is. as, you know, you and I have following. the these characters. I think it's cer-. certainly interesting. There's always a.

a storyline that he's found. Okay, final question. I always associate a lot of this stuff. with evangelical Christians, but it. seems like there's a far-right Catholic. component to these trad wives with the. Pope and Milo, you know, hard-right. Catholic JD Vance, you know, his third. religion now that he's on after his. third name change is Catholicism. So are. you seeing a lot of like hard-right. Catholics in this genre? I am. I I think.

we're seeing both the rise of of. what they call incels trad caths. So. people who they really love the Latin. mass. Typically these are converts, you know, like JD Vance who see the the. Catholic church as sort of a I I don't. know if they see the the kind of like. the the non-denominational evangelical. thing as a little like declass A for. them and they want sort of a more. elevated version of of that kind of. those kind of hard right religious. values. Um and there's also been a rise. of of even Greek or Russian Orthodox. converts in the United States who are. very political and right-wing. Elijah.

Schaffer for example, I believe he wears. an Orthodox cross. I I believe he's an. Orthodox convert. So. it's all these kind of different. identities people are trying on. Um I I. should say, you know, Peter Thiel only. converted to Catholicism I think like. less than a year ago uh and had it. become this kind of big, oh, you know, I. I'm back, you know, I'm going to live. like it's the Middle Ages kind of. person. And so often I think. particularly with these media. personalities, I think it's like they're. kind of trying on different garbs to get. for for content essentially. That's that's really interesting because.

um. you know, to be a Catholic you really. have to do a lot of things. To do you. know, like Evangelical Christians you. can just go down and raise your hand, but I 100% agree with you that some. people think that Evangelical. Christianity is kind of trashy because. certainly in Oklahoma City when I grew. up where I grew up, I would have friends. that were pretty religious but not Bible. thumpers like the Evangelical megachurch. people and they very much looked down on. the megachurch people even in the Bible. Belt. There is like a pecking order of,

you know, classify classy religions and. then the the Evangelical megachurch. grifters are always kind of at the. bottom of the totem pole and it's. interesting to to know in the Trump. regime like. Alito, the handmaid, that's what I call. Amy Coney Barrett. There's some hard. right Catholics in the court. J.D. Vance, a hard right Catholic. I believe. didn't Peter Thiel, wasn't he like. raised Evangelical but now he's hard. right Catholic? Do you know that?

You know, I'm not totally sure, but I. mean there were a lot I mean Candace. Owens for example is a Catholic convert. I mean she's and they the course they've. had this kind of fight because where she. says Charlie Kirk wanted to convert to. Catholicism. He was on the verge of it. And then the Turning Point USA people. and these evangelical pastors who think. they're going to lead this. sort of a resurgence or revival because. of Charlie Kirk. They're saying, you. know, no he wasn't Catholic. So I mean. there is all this religious stuff mixed. into it. It's fascinating stuff. Well, thank you. for joining me. Whenever you break any. other. MAGA.

sex scandal, I'm in. I'm your gal. I eat. this [ __ ] up. I love it. Thank you so. much. >> [laughter]. >> Thanks for having me. >> [music].