Fitness influencer Jillian Michaels was amazed to discover that Jesus Christ was a real person whose existence was chronicled in texts beyond just the Bible.

The conversation took place during an episode of Michaels’ podcast while she was speaking with world-class historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson.

Hanson was discussing the specific issues the Romans had with Jesus, which prompted her to admit that she was surprised to learn his existence was widely accepted as a historical fact.

 “I thought we didn’t even know this guy… this is going to infuriate people and I’m so sorry and I stay out of it, but I thought we weren’t even really sure whether or not Jesus existed and the apostles wrote this stuff hundreds of years ago,” Michaels said. 

Hoover explained, “We have Roman documents completely separate from religion, that he was a magnetic, he was a romantic, wonderful person to the people who knew him and he had staged a revolution and that presented a problem in this troublesome province.”

The historian recounted how Pontius Pilate was a Roman official who was most interested in keeping peace in the region, so he pushed the blame for Jesus being put to death onto the Pharisees, using the justification that this move helped achieve that goal.

Hanson also noted how Jesus’ teachings were the antithesis of what the Romans believed. “He’s got a new religion and unfortunately it’s turned the other cheek, brotherhood of man, blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor, that’s not Roman. We have a Roman military ethos that the strong inherit the earth and if an enemy offends you, you hit him twice. And this guy is preaching something very different,” the historian explained.

“When anybody says that the Jews killed Jesus, it’s more like the Romans wanted a quiet province and they did not like Jesus and what he represented was anti-Roman…So they said basically, well, in Judaism, in Judea, the Jewish establishment, the religious establishment doesn’t like him any more than we do. So we can get rid of him and then say the Pharisees basically did it.”

“This is so wild. I’m sorry. I know it’s not wild for people who know this information, but I genuinely thought, okay, the Jews had the Old Testament, the Torah, and then maybe there was this guy, Jesus,” Michaels said as she looked on in awe. “The apostles wrote stuff, but the first guy who wrote something was like 90 or so years later. We think maybe there’s some Dead Sea Scrolls kind of mentioned this guy, Jesus.”

Michaels doesn’t talk much about religion publicly, but described herself as “not a religious person” and “agnostic” in 2024.

President Donald Trump’s sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft are biting into Moscow’s ability to fund its war effort, according to a Treasury Department memo.

The Initial Market Reaction report by the Office of Foreign Assets Control found that the sanctions that Trump placed on Russian energy last month are restricting the cash Moscow can dedicate to its war efforts.

“President Trump has targeted Russia’s two largest oil companies in one of the most impactful Treasury actions to date. Russian oil is now selling at multi-year lows, starving Putin’s war machine. President Trump is the peace-and-prosperity President, and Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to end the senseless killing,” a Treasury spokesperson told The Daily Wire.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s initial assessment of the tariffs found that they are having their intended effect by reducing oil revenues to Moscow by “lowering the price of Russian oil and therefore the country’s ability to fund its war effort against Ukraine,” according to a summary of the office’s assessment.

“While there are multiple prices of Russian oil depending on grade and location, various grades are trading well below all other international prices. Moreover, several key Russian grades are selling at multi-year lows, widening their spreads to global benchmarks. This is testament to the fact that demand for Russian oil is plunging, driven by the efficacy of U.S. sanctions,” the summary found.

The Treasury assessment also noted that some of Russia’s biggest customers, namely India and China, have cut back their purchases of Russian energy in the wake of the tariffs

“Nearly a dozen major Indian and Chinese purchasers of Russian oil have announced intentions to pause their purchases of Russian December deliveries,” the Office of Foreign Assets Control found.

The Treasury leveled the tariffs on the Russian oil giants on October 22.

“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the time. “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine. Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”