12/23/25 - Economic Numbers Don't Lie: Trump's Policies in Focus

Summary

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Mark Levin Podcast — Episode Summary

Podcast: Mark Levin Podcast
Episode: Economic Numbers Don't Lie: Trump's Policies in Focus
Air Date: December 24, 2025
Host: Ben Ferguson (filling in for Mark Levin)
Theme: Dissecting new economic data, evaluating Donald Trump's economic policies, challenging media narratives, and discussing broader government issues.

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Episode Overview

This episode zeroes in on the recent release of strong U.S. economic numbers, sparking a detailed debate on the effectiveness of President Donald Trump's economic and trade policies. Ben Ferguson, guest-hosting for Mark Levin, contrasts the ‘Trump economic golden age’ with the prior Biden administration, challenges criticisms from the mainstream media, and fields opinions and experiences from a range of callers. The conversation encompasses tariffs, tax policy, inflation, shifting voter trends, government waste, and related cultural and political battlegrounds.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Economic Data & Trump’s Policies (00:43, 05:52, 13:17)

• Strong Q3 GDP Numbers:
  • Q3 GDP growth was 4.3%, surpassing expectations (predicted 3.2%–3.8%).
  • Consumer spending rose at a 3.5% annual rate.
  • Exports and business investments improved substantially.
• Trump's Reaction:
  • Trump credited tariffs and tax policies for driving better-than-expected economic outcomes:

    “The Trump economic golden age is full steam ahead...there is no inflation and great national security.” (04:30, referencing Trump’s statement)

• Inflation Status:
  • The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, PCE, at 2.8–2.9%—above the Fed’s target but lower than during the Biden years.
  • Ferguson argues the decline in inflation is due to "supply-side effects," not artificial government stimulus.

Notable Quote:

“If you see growth because the government is sending checks to everybody and the Fed is printing money, then that’s going to cause inflation. But if you feel growth because of supply side effects, you can get the growth without the inflation, and that’s something that we’re seeing right now.”
— Kevin Hassett, White House NEC Director, (08:05)

2. Media Critique & Narrative Clash (09:37, 25:22, 29:10)

• Mainstream Media Accusations:
  The mainstream media is criticized for ignoring or misrepresenting economic gains, pushing a narrative of "doom and gloom" despite positive data.
• Fact-Checking Economic Coverage:
  Ferguson repeatedly points out media errors, including a recent New York Times article projecting bad economic news that didn’t materialize:

  “The New York Times...was an embarrassment. How wrong it was on the numbers that just came out. And they’re not going to retract the story.” (28:15)

• Media’s Reluctance to Credit Trump:
  Listeners and the host agree that many in the media and Democratic leadership "would rather see Americans suffer" than give Trump credit for economic improvements.

Notable Quote:

“It’s like, for real, whose side are you on?...You hate Trump so much that you want Americans to suffer, so that you can then say this is Donald Trump’s fault because you care more about power than the American people succeeding.”
— Ben Ferguson (66:00)

3. Tariffs and Policy Impacts (05:52, 23:29, 24:28)

• Tariffs:
  Trump and supporters claim tariffs rebalance trade, boost domestic manufacturing, and are responsible for robust economic momentum.
  • Detractors argue tariffs impact small businesses, as voiced by some callers.

Memorable Moment:

• Ferguson fact-checks a caller’s complaint about skyrocketing tomato prices, showing data that countered the claim (110:21–112:44), highlighting tension between anecdotal business struggles and macroeconomic data.

4. Government Waste & Fraud: Rand Paul’s Festivus Report (16:19, 39:30, 50:11)

• Examples of Wasteful Spending:
  Investigating federal dollars spent on everything from animal experiments, TikTok campaigns, and EV infrastructure, to fraudulent Medicaid billing in Minnesota ($9+ billion).
• Listener Frustration:
  Ferguson and callers express outrage at “$1.2 trillion in interest on the debt” and detailed examples of misused tax dollars.

Notable Quote:

“We borrow over $272 million every hour…over $75,000 every second. That is insane.”
— Ben Ferguson (16:19)

5. Voter Registration & Political Momentum (73:32)

• Shift in Pennsylvania:
  Noted Republican net gain of over 12,000 voters in a single week; dramatic erosion of Democratic voter advantage since 2016.
  • Tied to perceived economic gains and Trump’s influence.
• Prediction:
  Ferguson argues that despite “mainstream media” narratives of GOP losing momentum, facts indicate surges for the right in swing states.

6. Caller Engagement: Real-Life Reflections (20:58–28:01, 32:55–38:49, 55:26–69:34, 108:21–112:44)

• Support and Skepticism:
  Callers express both strong support and skepticism about whether positive macro numbers are being felt by average Americans. Issues discussed include health insurance costs, job market realities, business struggles, and conflicting data interpretations.
• Consensus:
  Most callers feel the country is on a healthier economic track under Trump, though some want faster or more visible “trickle down” effects.

7. Law Enforcement, Immigration, and Sanctuary Cities (15:46, 79:00–86:30)

• ICE & "White Supremacy" Accusations:
  Discussion of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accusing federal immigration enforcement of "white supremacy," prompting criticism for conflating law enforcement with racism.
• Trump’s National Guard Plan Blocked:
  Ferguson covers Supreme Court decision blocking Trump from federalizing Illinois National Guard to support ICE—a point used to illustrate ongoing resistance to Trump’s policies from courts and Democratic officials.

8. Gas Prices & Holiday Economic Relief (91:51–96:33)

• Falling Gas & Energy Costs:
  Referencing Trump’s goal for “sub-$2 gas” and local news coverage of lowest holiday season gas prices since 2020.
  • Host underscores real consumer relief at the pump, arguing against media’s preferred narrative of economic hardship.

Notable Quote:

“Electricity is coming down, and when that comes down, everything comes down.”
— Donald Trump, replayed by Ben Ferguson (93:08)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Kevin Hassett:
  “We’re getting growth without inflation, which is really proving both Reagan and Trump correct.” (08:30)
• Ben Ferguson:
  “What the President has stopped. And then what the President is doing right now is amazing. He has stopped Biden inflation that got out of control and is now turning around in 11 months.” (09:37)
• Caller Tim (Arkansas):
  “We were on a runaway train headed off a cliff and you don’t stop or turn a train on a dime. People are going to have to be patient...” (24:28)
• Donald Trump (replayed):
  “We’re now at about $2.50 a gallon. We’re going to be, I think at $2 a gallon. We could even crack that at some point. I’d love to do it.” (92:09)
• Caller Chris (NY):
  “We just need to feel it. And I don’t know if it’s going to take time or what, but...I like what he’s doing, but I think he just needs to look to the average person and what they’re going through.” (67:57)
• Call-in Section:
  Multiple timestamps (20:58–28:01, 32:55–38:49) include robust conversations between Ferguson and skeptical or supportive callers—highlighting America’s divided response to current economic policy.

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Opening & Economic Overview: 00:43–05:52
• GDP/Inflation Data & White House Analysis: 05:52–09:37
• Media Critique/Coverage of Numbers: 09:37–12:13
• Tariffs & Tax Policy (Callers Discuss): 20:58–25:19
• Government Waste/Fraud Segments: 16:19, 39:30, 50:11
• Voter Registration Shift/Politics: 73:32
• Gas Price Relief: 91:51–96:33
• Call-In Debates (food prices, jobs): 108:21–112:44

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Episode Tone and Language

• Direct, passionate, combative: Consistent with Levin’s and Ferguson’s signature style.
• Mocking and critical of progressive/Democratic figures and mainstream media.
• Supportive of Trump; frames economic discussion in stark, often emotional contrasts.

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Memorable Moments

• Ben Ferguson’s on-air fact-check of a caller’s claim about doubling tomato prices, using supplier data (110:21–112:44)
• Replaying and discussing local news coverage of gas price drops in Alabama, Ohio, and Arizona (93:33–95:27)
• Emotional calls from supporters and skeptics alike, illustrating real-world effects and perceptions of macroeconomic trends

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In summary:
This episode robustly defends Trump’s economic stewardship using fresh data and spirited debate with listeners, juxtaposed with critiques of media coverage and Democratic resistance. Economic policy, tariffs, inflation, government waste, and shifting voter registration form the central themes, all discussed in an urgent and combative tone reflecting the ongoing political and cultural moment.

Transcript

[Mark Levin]

America's best days are yet to come. That's because conservatives like you know and live the values our great country was built on. The Heritage foundation exists to make sure your voice is heard in the D.C. swamp each day, shining the light on a bright future. The Heritage foundation stands for your values and won't give up the fight because they know you never will. Paid for by the Heritage Foundation.

[Caller/Listener]

He's here. He's here now. Broadcasting from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker somewhere under to the brick and steel of a nondescript building, we've once again made contact with our leader, Mark Le.

[Ben Ferguson]

It'S the economy, stupid. That is the line that matters in every election. If you're not talking about the economy and the economy is bad, you're going to have problems. Democrats believe that the majority of you listening right now are blaming Donald Trump for what they're describing as a, quote, bad economy. I'm actually not joking. What does the data say? It says the opposite of that. Now, I have a question I want to ask you and I want if you're on X, I want you to respond. If you want to call, I want to hear do you support the President United States of America on the economic numbers and the economy in general? Do you trust the President of the United States of America on the economy and the way that's going? Yes or no? 1877-381381-11877, 3813-811 you can also send me your comments on X Ben Ferguson show. President Donald Trump on Tuesday credited his tariffs with producing better than expected economic numbers in the third quarter and added that the, quote Trump economic golden age is full steam ahead. In a pair of true social posts, Trump said the tariffs are responsible for the great USA economic numbers and declared there is, quote, no inflation and great national security. While urging support to pray for the U.S. supreme Court, he also touted the Commerce Department's reported 4.3% growth as a rate as proof that good government and all caps tariffs are powering what he called the Trump economic golden age. The government's initial estimates show U.S. growth and the gross domestic product numbers are big, the broadest measure of economic output. It rose at 4.3% annual pace from July through September. That is up, not down from the 3.8 in the second quarter as well as the roughly 3% forecast tracked by fact set. Now. The report credits stronger consumer spending. In fact, we had record Black Friday sales and Monday Cyber Monday sales, higher exports. By the way and increased government outlays for the jump. Trump sees on those details, arguing that tariffs are boosting the domestic production and rebalancing trade. In his second post, Trump claimed that consumer spending is strong and it's way up. Imports and trade deficits are way down, adding that investment is setting records because of his tax package which he labeled the great big beautiful bill and his tariff policy which Democrats said would be a disaster. That is actually not what has happened. What we've seen is incredible number of dollars that have been collected by our federal government which will then help with our out of control government spending. Our, our deficits. Now consumer spending, and this is important, grew it at a a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter. That is up an entire percentage point from the 2.5 in the prior period. Exports also surged and government spending also increased. Baron similarly noted that expert exports, excuse me, jumped sharply and that business investment improved compared with the prior quarter. Even as an analyst warned trade flows can be temporarily distorted by shifting tariff expectations. That's how they described it. Now here's what really matters. Inflation. Inflation remains a key political and economic pressure point. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, all right, what they prefer, the personal consumption expenditures known as PCE. The price index rose at a 2.8% annual pace last quarter with core PCE at 2.9, both above the Fed's 2% target but down from where they were with Biden. That dynamic could complicate the central bank's next steps on interest rates is what some economists are warning now. The GDP report was also released later than originally scheduled because of a recent government shutdown which create a backlog of federal economic data. The shutdown is expected to weigh on the fourth quarter activity with estimates suggested it could shave 1 to 2 percentage points off growth in the current quarter that we're in right now because the government was shut down. We know that is temporary and obviously will come back Now. Donald Trump and many of his advocates, his allies argued the headline growth number validates an America first approach. The US Using these tariffs to pressure adversaries, protect US Industry and drive investment back home. So all of this is way better than what we were quote, expecting. Fox Business Channel describing it this way on what we've just witnessed.

[Caller/Listener]

First story today is of course the economic growth story, which even a lot of supply siders really didn't see coming. We were expecting a third quarter to come in at a strong 3.3%. Instead a it came in a full percentage point higher, a super strong 4.3%. And with recent inflation numbers coming in generally lower than expected, it looks like President Trump's economic policies are turning Biden's stagflation on its head.

[Ben Ferguson]

Turning Biden's stagflation on its head. We're experiencing a third quarter that came in very strong. That is what the numbers show. What's also interesting about this is a few moments later, you had the White House send out Kevin Hassett to talk about these numbers. Listen to what he said again on Fox Business.

[Caller/Listener]

For more details, let's bring in NEC director Kevin Hassett. A good day in the White House. I imagine, Kevin, you got strong growth, lower inflation. Looks like a perfect scenario. Yeah. And one of the things that I would like to add is that Larry Kudlow and I on this show for the last two months have been telling you you're going to get a 4% number. You did. And so it's really interesting to see the headlines from the fake news. Everywhere you look, it's like, oh, it's a completely surprising north of 4% number. But the point is that President Trump's policies are working and they're very visibly working now because we've seen, we've seen the data. And you know, President Trump, when we were talking about the numbers, he said something like, well, why don't we get 20%? Did you see that he truth to that today?

[Ben Ferguson]

I did.

[Caller/Listener]

That's, that's a little, little ambitious. I don't know about 20%. But, but the point, the point is that we're in a very unprecedented time, that the macro thing is that it's just like when we invented the computer and that, or was it Al Gore that did that? He's the Internet. And then all of a sudden in the 90s, we had incredible growth year after year after year with no inflation. And so I think, I think we could do it. I think we have those numbers. Do you have the numbers producers, can you put that up? Because the tax, the Reagan tax cuts, for a lot of reasons, mostly political, didn't kick in until January 1, 1983. The next six years you were growing. The first year you grew at about four and a half percent. The second year, the United States grew at over 7%. And I think the average after of six years was about four and a half percent. Do you think that's going, going to be that case for the, for the rest of the Trump administration there? Yeah, that's right. You know, so what happened with the Reagan numbers is an example. But there was a second Example, so Reagan did it with tax policy, and then it happened in the late 90s, really, because computers made everybody more productive. The thing about what President Trump intuits, which is true, is that we've got both of those. So we've got artificial intelligence increasing productivity, and we've got amazing tax policy as well. And so there's a chance that we, we get to numbers north of even what you've seen without inflation. And that's the other thing that the President mentioned in his truth today, which I really want to re emphasize, because he understands this, is that if you see growth because the government is setting checks to everybody and the Fed is printing money, then that's going to cause inflation. The Fed's going to have to raise rates. But if you feel growth because of supply side effects, that you can get the growth without the inflation, and that's something that we're seeing right now. As you know, CPI came in with a core of 1.6% just last week. And so we're getting growth without inflation, which is really proving both Reagan and Trump correct.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you listen to Kevin and, and I play that for you because not only is this what the White House said was going to happen, but it, it's even better than what they were expecting. Why? Because they're empowering Americans to succeed without government subsidies. You saw inflation go out of control under the Biden regime because they were constantly wanting to send you money so you'd be totally dependent on them and it's buying votes. Right. And then we saw inflation get out of control because if you're printing money and you're giving out money and it's not actually being earned and it's not actually the, the economy that's doing it, then it's artificial. It's not real. Right? It's like completely artificial. That is a big problem. So you look at this now, and I will say it again, because I think it's so important that people understand this. What the President has stopped. And then what the President is doing right now is amazing. He has stopped Biden inflation that got out of control and is now turning around in 11 months. We should all be celebrating this. This is the best case scenario. And when the media is like, oh, it's going to be a disaster. Oh, it's going to be bad. Oh, it's going to be terrible. And, and the economy is everything. I agree. The economy is everything. I couldn't agree with you more. The economy is everything. And what the President's doing is doing exactly that. The economy is fighting because of the policies that this president has put forward. That's empowering Americans to make more of their own money, keep more of their own money and allowing small businesses to grow. How could we not love that? On top of the tariffs, on top of bringing jobs and investment back to the United States of America on the world stage? This is why things right now are moving the right direction. Even while everyone in the media is trying to convince you that things are bad, the numbers don't lie. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. Mark Levin, I want to get your reaction to this. Do you stand with the president? Do you think his policies are working? Do you trust him on the economy? 1877-381381-11877-381, 3008-11 also send me your thoughts on X. BEN Ferguson SHOW on X. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

Folks, I have a question for you. Do you believe America's best days are still ahead? With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence coming up in less than a year, my friends at the Heritage found taking stock of the current situation and they need your input. They've launched a survey on America's future to gauge how Americans feel right now about where we are as a nation and where we're headed in the next 250 years. You know, for decades your American values have been under attack. But now where President Trump's administration in office, we have an opportunity to turn the tide and usher in a new golden age for America. But the Heritage foundation needs to hear from you. What policies do patriots like you most care about? What do you believe are the defining principles of America? What legacy do you believe we should pass on to the next Generation? Please visit heritage.org lavin today and share your feedback and help shape the future of America. That's heritage.org Levin paid for by the Heritage Foundation.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Mark Levin Show, Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. It is nice to have you with us. New economic numbers are out and it shows that Donald Trump's plan is absolutely working. That is driving the left totally insane. President Trump's tariffs are responsible for what he describes as the strong economic numbers. Kevin Hassett saying President Trump's pro growth policies are working and they're visibly working now because we've seen the data. Now this also is moving forward with what's about to come down the pipe in 2026, which is no tax on tips, no tax on overtime will both become reality. They've been passed, but they're enacted in 2026. And no tax for the majority on Social Security, that is massive. You put that together, and I got to tell you, this is what you, I would refer to as supercharging the economy, especially compared to where we were. A lot of people don't get credit for implementing their policies when they do it. And if you look at the difference between where we are now and where we were when Joe Biden was in office, it is amazing. Where we're headed, though, is going to be even more than that. It's going to be more important than that. You know, you look at what Democrats are fighting over right now, and Minnesota fraud scandal is a great example of that. You've got a group of fraudsters in the Somali community that the Democrats won't hold accountable. It is truly remarkable that Tim Waltz is even thinking about running for reelection knowing just how bad the fraud was. Tim Waltz is out there trying to divide the country and certainly in his state, even more by screaming racism on everything. He's now, instead of answering the fraud questions of our tax dollars just being used to go to terrorist organizations. Not a joke by the millions. What is he out there doing? Oh, he's like, all right, well, I'll figure out a way to distract from this. He's now railing against ICE raids in Minnesota by accusing the Trump administration of now what he describes as, quote, white supremacy. Did you hear me? White supremacy. Tim Waltz in his own words.

[Caller/Listener]

So this is what happens when your own federal government wages war against you. This is what happens when they target communities for their own benefit. This is what happens when they scapegoat. And this is what say happens when they no longer hide the idea of white supremacy. When you hear the vice president, United States talk about now white people won't have to apologize for being white. That's never happened once in my whole damn life. And I think everybody in this room knows what they're doing. So we're here today to say enough of this. We're here today to stand that Minnesota will protect their neighbors.

[Ben Ferguson]

White supremacy. This is what happens when they no longer hide the idea of white supremacy. So finding illegal immigrants who are committing crimes, holding people accountable for defrauding the government. He now is describing it as white supremacy. 1877-381381-11877-381, 3008:11 we'll get your phone calls in here. Your reaction to this? I do believe the midterms are going to be about the economy. I also believe that the midterms are going to be about do you trust the president? United States of America. And to do exactly what he's doing. And look there. There is massive corruption and our government spending is a real problem. I'll give you a great example of that. You may not realize that we borrow over 272 million every hour. Did you know that? I'm going to say that again. We as a Nation borrow over 272 million every hour. We borrow 4.54 million every minute. And we borrow over $75,000 every second. That is insane. Senator Rand Paul came out with his Festivus report pointing to trillions in government spending, including millions for COVID vaccine promotion and federally funded animal experiments. He flagged 1.6 trillion in waste from COVID influencer campaigns to bizarre animal drug experiments in the new report. And people should be angry about this. You should be mad that we borrow 272 million every hour. 4.54 million every minute. And we borrow over $75,000 every second. That should make you live it. Specific examples in this report. 40 million. Over 40 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to pay social media influencers to promote the COVID 19 vaccination for racial and ethnic minority groups. That was actually something your tax dollars are spent on. Over 5 million to dose dogs with cocaine. And nearly 14 million experiment on beagles. That's just some of the highlights. I'm gonna have more about that coming up. Ben Ferguson filling in for the great one. 1-877-381-3811 we'll be right back.

[Caller/Listener]

Foreign.

[Mark Levin]

We'Re coming upon the 250th birthday of the United States. And it has me thinking, what will America look like 250 years from now? My friends at the Heritage foundation want to know what you think. What policies should America prioritize? What principles should carry us into the decades ahead as America enters a new golden age? Heritage recognizes that this is the time to take stock and to be intentional about how we shape the future of America.

[Caller/Listener]

And.

[Mark Levin]

And they can't do it without your input. So please go to heritage.org Levin and let them know what you think is important. Without patriots like you stepping up and speaking up for what you believe in, America as we know it can't survive for another 250 years. Please go to heritage.org Levin heritage.org Levin take the survey on America's future. This survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete, but it is critical for making sure that the America we pass on to future generations is an America we're proud of. Go to heritage.org Levin today. That's heritage.org L E V I N Paid for by the Heritage Foundation.

[Caller/Listener]

Mark Levin radio's principled patriot. Call in now at 877-381-3811.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Mark Event Show. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. Good to have you with us as we are getting very close to Christmas Day and it is always an honor and just a pleasure to spend time with you guys. Want to remind you, uh, you can send me your comments if you can't get through on the phone lines, follow me on xenferguson show. And if you're on Instagram, I put up a lot of really cool stuff there. I'd love for you to follow me on Instagram @Benferguson podcast. So put in Ben Ferguson Podcast there and down with my podcast. I'd love to keep up with you every day as I do the Ben Ferguson Podcast each and every morning. If you like what I'm doing here, you'll love that. So grab it as well. All right, I want to get to some of your phone calls. Do you think the President is doing a good job improving the economy? 1-877-3813 08:11 Let me go to Bob in Las Vegas. I was there last week. Bob, nice to have you with us. Hello.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi. Yeah, I support the President's economic policies, the tariffs and yeah, everything. The battleships, the three thousand dollar stipend for early self deport. And he can play golf once in a while.

[Ben Ferguson]

I, I love how they obsess over him playing golf. I think it's great to see a president and I'm gonna just make a comment that some may not like the way I say it, but I'm gonna say it anyway. It, I think it's really important when you're older to stay active. I love that The President's playing 18 holes of golf like, and playing them well. That many people that I know that played with, they're like, dude, it keeps him young. It keeps him like on his toes. It keeps him excited, it keeps him engaged. Like, why would you not be in favor of that? I couldn't agree more. I like the fact that he plays golf. I also like the fact that when he plays golf, usually he's playing golf with brilliant minds. And if you've ever been around President Trump, it's not like he turns off the political conversations. If he's playing golf with you, you're going to have an in depth conversation about what's going on. I think it's a way for him to spend quality time with brilliant people and ask questions and talk and have grand debates on the golf course. I, I, that to me, I've never had an issue with that. And they get angry and they try to hit him on like, well, he's playing golf again. Like, you deserve to be able to have a moment that you can spend with your family or with your friends or with your grandkids. He plays a lot of golf with his grandkids who play golf. His granddaughter's a great golfer. Going to college to play golf. That, like, for me, that's, that's when I know that we're actually winning, is when Democrats use that to try to hit him. Like, oh, well, he played golf. Yeah. He also works an insane workday. Like, I couldn't keep up with him. Most people around him have a hard time keeping up with him. He's getting things done for Americans. If you're getting things done with Americans, please take a semi break. Like, please take a semi break. I'm fine with that.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah. Oh, I'm his age. I don't know how he does, I'm six months younger. He was born in June of 46. I was born January 47. Yeah. I don't know how he does it. Man, oh, man, it's amazing. I'm so glad that he was elected and the election didn't go the other way. My God, that's horrible to think about. But, yeah, I support him all the way.

[Ben Ferguson]

I appreciate the phone call. Thank you, sir. It's good to talk to you. 1-877-381-3811. Let me go to Tim in Arkansas. Tim, nice to have you on the Mark Levin Show. How are you?

[Caller/Listener]

I'm doing great, Tim.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm gonna, this is two days before Christmas and I get to, I'm gonna hijack this conversation for 20 seconds. So this is very important how you answer this. Are you ready?

[Caller/Listener]

Okay.

[Ben Ferguson]

Are you, are you a duck hunter?

[Caller/Listener]

Duck hunter? No, I.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did you live in duck hunting heaven in Arkansas? Like, like, how could you not do this? Next time lie to me. Tell me you go to the, like, Stuttgart area and you shoot ducks. Like, that's just the hashtag America. Okay, I was trying to pump you up here to the audience. Fine, we'll go back to politics. But if anybody else calls from Arkansas today and I take your call, you just lie to me, okay? Get me excited about some duck hunting. Anyway, go ahead, Tim.

[Caller/Listener]

Well, I just wanted to share. Yes, I trust President Trump. We were on a runaway train headed off of a cliff and you don't stop or turn a train on a dime. People are going to have to be patient and let him do his thing and not react to short term things. For example, today I got notice that our health insurance went up $160 a month. Well, when you're on a fixed income, that's a heck of a blow. But he's working on it. But we got to be, we got a, we got to exercise some patience. That's just my opinion.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, there is a problem. We live in ADD society.

[Caller/Listener]

Right?

[Ben Ferguson]

It's instant gratification society. I also think, though, some of this isn't even that. I think what it really is, honestly about is the insanity from the left and the media. I don't care how good things are. They're going to tell you it sucks. They're going to tell you that Donald Trump is failing. They're going to tell you Donald Trump's a disaster. They're going to tell you that it's the worst thing in the world. I, that is the part here that really frustrates me is that no one will just be honest about it and just be like, yeah, it's really good. Like, this is impressive what the President pulled off. Just, just go back to the tariffs as a single issue. All right? Forget everything else, just the tariffs. If you look at the tariffs, the entire media apparatus and the Democratic Party said over and over again that we were going to have empty shelves for Christmas. That didn't happen. That you weren't going to be able to afford basic necessities. That didn't happen. And that there was going to be a shortage of basic things that we desperately needed. That also did not happen. They also said that the prices were going to skyrocket to the point where you couldn't afford basic things. That also did not happen. And they said that it could start war. Iii. That also did not happen. So I, I mean, at what point do people wake up and just realize anything the President's doing, they're going to tell you it's going to be bad. And then when it pans out that, hey, guess what, it worked, that you should then trash those people and never trust them again. Like, these are the same type people that told you if you, if you took the COVID shot that you'd stop the spread in two weeks and that, that everything would be fine and we go back to normal and Then they shut us down for years. So remember who these people are. These are also the same people that told you we were going to, you were going to die in the 90s and the 80s from global cooling. Then they switched it to global warming and said we'd all be dead right now. Al Gore, if you don't believe me, go look at his predictions. None of them become true. So I, I am at a point where I just want someone to say, hey, I'm. We owe the American people an apology. We're really sorry. We just, we, we straight up screwed that up. Like, like we, we are. We're liars and we screwed it up. Our bad. I don't think we're going to see that. But it would be nice, wouldn't it?

[Caller/Listener]

Well, it, it would, but don't you think most people with any sense have figured out that the mainstream media is just a tool of.

[Ben Ferguson]

No. No, I do not. I think there's still an awful lot of people out there that when they see, oh, the economy's in bad shape, it works for. It works. And it makes people think, oh, this is somehow Trump's fault. I mean, there was a report two days ago in the New York Times that was an embarrassment. How wrong it was on the numbers that just came out. And they're not going to retract the story. They're not going to apologize. Well, if you read that story, you probably think the economy is bad because they told you the economy is bad and the economic numbers coming out were going to be bad, when in reality they weren't bad at all. They were great. But you think they're going to run the same level of story on the front page talking about why we were wrong and the President was right and the tariffs are actually working and money is pumping back into this country and manufacturing is working. They're never going to do it. They will never do it because they hate Donald Trump more than anything else. This goes back to Trump Derangement Syndrome 101.

[Caller/Listener]

I agree, I agree with that. But, you know, we need to spend our energy, our brain power, our commitment to family, country, and we need to spend our energy on positive action and not just get distracted. I call it distraction by the left's lies. I mean, I don't even listen to them anymore, and 10 years ago I did. So you guys that are leaders in what I call truth media have done a great job of informing us of that, and you've made tremendous progress. And I hope, as an example, we got him elected and I can't imagine anything going the other way for quite some time.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I appreciate the phone call. Thank you, sir. It's good to talk to you. 1877-381381-11877-381, 3811. Ben Ferguson filling in for Mark Levin. Don't forget, you can send me your comments on X at Ben Ferguson Show. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

Mark Lev, folks, I have a question for you. Do you believe America's best days are still ahead? With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence coming up in less than a year, My friends at the Heritage foundation are taking stock of the current situation and they need your input. They've launched a survey on America future to gauge how America's feel right now about where we are as a nation and where we're headed in the next 250 years. You know, for decades, your American values have been under attack. But now with President Trump's administration in office, we have an opportunity to turn the tide and usher in a new golden age for America. But the Heritage foundation needs to hear from you. What policies do patriots like you most care about? What do you believe are the defining principles of America? What legacy do you believe we should pass on to the next Generation? Please visit heritage.orglevin today and share your feedback and help shape the future of America. That's heritage.org Levin paid for by the Heritage Foundation.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Mark Levin Show. It's nice to have you with us. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. And the economy, the numbers are showing that what Donald Trump said he was going to do, it's working. The tariffs are working. Wall street hitting more highs this week. People having more money in their retirement accounts than they've ever had before. Oil and gas prices low. But the president said he is not done yet. He wants there to be more and he believes that there is more that can be done moving into the new years. So what does this mean moving forward? I believe we should trust the president and where he's going. So far, I think what he's done has been truly incredible. Pulling us back from the brink is incredible. It is important that we allow the policies to work. That's something many Democrats disagree with. They want there to be pain, suffering and a real disaster. So let's get to your phone calls. 1877-3813-3811-1877-38-1380 11. Let me go to Dennis in New York Welcome. You are on the mark of in show. Ben Ferguson with you. Hi.

[Caller/Listener]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

Hi Dennis, Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey. Hi. Yep. I disagree. I think that Trump's economic policies right now are not aiding the individual, they're aiding the corporations. Right. Low cost money provides inflationary cycles. So he's a builder, low cost money. His buildings are priced higher right after he built because the inflationary that he built in with the low cost money not helping the little folks.

[Ben Ferguson]

So when you see the GDP numbers where they are, you see home prices dropping, rental prices dropping, gas at the pump. I got premium unleaded for under 250 a gallon yesterday. You think that's not helping?

[Caller/Listener]

No, I do not know what happened. We're sure we're getting the decrease in prices of things that have already been inflationary inflated. So they're coming back to a pre inflationary cycle. Not close. But they are dropping down toward that less demand and housing.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me ask this, what would you actually say would be something you get excited about? Is it a dollar gas? Like would that give you where you're like, okay, I'll give some credit or.

[Caller/Listener]

No, you know, well, listen, dollar gas is what, what it will do is fine, it'll be cheaper for people to travel around. Absolutely. It should lower the cost of, of goods and services, but it does not.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's, that's not true. I, I buy a lot of things that have to be shipped with different businesses that I'm a part of. And the price of shipping has dropped over the last nine months in a way that is, I mean, to my bottom line, thousands and thousands of dollars.

[Caller/Listener]

A month to my bottom food line, hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month plus it has not gone down. All right. There's a, there's a lot of bully.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, so let me ask you this. Let's, let's cut the chase. It sounds like you more or less just don't like Donald Trump.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh, absolutely. I've been a Trump supporter since I've known Donald Trump since he's a young man in New York. I'm from New York, from Brooklyn.

[Ben Ferguson]

But, but this isn't, if this is good news, are having, having inflation go down, unemployment low prices at the pump going down compared to where they were at $5 a gallon. And you're saying it's not, it's not good enough. I don't know what there could be that he could do for you that would be good enough.

[Caller/Listener]

I don't know which market that unemployment is down when people that have, are not applying for jobs anymore. Because there are no jobs to apply for. All right? The younger folks, medium term, medium age folks. Anybody who is looking for a position right now in the job market is not getting one. Corporations are not filling slots that are opening up by retirements or leaving at all. And if you know anybody in the job market that says that's wrong, I'd love to speak to them.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm looking right now online. If you go to ZipRecruiter right now and you're saying there's no jobs available, I got to tell you, like that's just not true. I'm looking at jobs right now that.

[Caller/Listener]

Are available in 100 to 200 to $300,000 categories. Nothing. You're talking about lower paying jobs down on the cycle. Nothing up.

[Ben Ferguson]

Hold on, hold on. So wait, let me get this right. So you only care about the, the top 1% is how Democrats would describe that.

[Caller/Listener]

The top 1%. No. What do you mean the only top 1%? If you're making 100,000 or $200,000 on Long island, you are not in the top 1% of anything. You're in a middle class maybe. All right, so this top 1% based upon just an economic number, that's baloney.

[Ben Ferguson]

Again, I'm in shock. What you're saying, based on reality, because what you're saying seems to be like political talking points. It doesn't seem to be based in reality.

[Caller/Listener]

Whose reality are you speaking of? The numbers.

[Ben Ferguson]

The average American right now. I mean, look at, I mean, when you say you want wage growth, like how much do you want the wages to go up for you to be happy? What does that look like?

[Caller/Listener]

I think that the wages should be to the area that you're living in. There should be a job supply of those that are qualified for the jobs. And there are very few jobs, very few.

[Ben Ferguson]

I get, I'm looking at the jobs as we speak. I don't understand where you're getting your data from.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay, and then I will, I will give you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me just go to. Let me go. This. The average earnings increases over the last year been 4 to 4.6%.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, those average. Reply to what?

[Ben Ferguson]

That's real wage growth. That's, that's across all sectors. Hold on. As, as a, I mean as of all sectors, fast growing sectors where we've seen even bigger is child care. Significant year over year increase. 4.8% data indicates. And again, I'm going to the jobs report that the median wage gain. So the average in the middle. Okay, so not just poor people as you described earlier, lower paying jobs is 4.6%. So, I mean, again, I deal with facts here. The facts say you're selling propaganda. The same propaganda the New York Times got busted for two days ago for selling out there that's not based in reality. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One, Mark Levin. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

This segment of the podcast is exclusively sponsored by Pure Talk. Pure Talk offers great coverage and can save your family money on your wireless bill every single month. Go to PureTalk.com to find the plan that's right for you. Thank you again for listening and thank you so much for this sponsorship. Pure Talk.

[Caller/Listener]

He's here. He's here now. Broadcasting from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker somewhere under the brick and steel of a nondescript building. We've once again made contact with our leader, Mark Leven.

[Ben Ferguson]

Our two Mark revenge show. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. And it is really nice to have you with us. President Trump ran on getting rid of waste, fraud and abuse within our government. It's something that we know has been rampant for quite some time, but we're finally starting to witness some of that waste front abuse disappear. We know a lot of it was done when Doge was started with Elon Musk being in charge. But the journey is still a big one. The battle is still an uphill battle. And the government, we now are learning, has funded a lot of things that are gonna make you wanna beat your head against the wall. The government has ex has funded experiments that dose dogs with cocaine. You're paying for that. Also, your tax hours are paying to force ferrets to binge drink. Those are just some of the highlights coming out from Senator Rand Paul's Festivus Report released by the end of the year. He wants you to know every year what your dollars have been going for. The Kentucky Republican uses his annual holiday report to air the grievances and highlight examples of massive government waste, which his reports say total more than 1.6 trillion. When counting the interest payments on debt, the 2025 report cites examples ranging from the Department of Health and Human Services paying social media influencers a collective $40 million to promote COVID 19 vaccination for racial and ethnic minority groups to the state department spending 1.5 million to boost American films, television shows, and, I'm not joking, video games abroad. No matter how much taxpayer money Washington burns through, politicians can't help but demand more fiscal responsibility. May not be the most crowded road, but it's one I've walked for years and years, and this holiday season will be no different. That's what Senator Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said in a statement. He said so before we go to the feats of strength, it's time for my airing of spending grievances, referring to the Festivus tradition popularized in the 1990 sitcom Seinfeld. The bulk of the federal spending Mr. Paul refers to as waste is the record. And this should make every American Beyond Angry. $1.2 trillion that we spent in interest payments this year on the government's $38.4 trillion debt. So 1.4 trillion of the money that was spent this year just went to interest. That makes interest. And this is how out of control our government spending and borrowing has become the third largest government expense, only after Social Security and Medicare. Again, something that should make you very, very, very angry now, he said. The government refuses to balance its budget and taxpayers are stuck picking up the trillion dollar tab annually. The more than 400 billion in the 2025 wasteful spending outline of interest payments on the debt included hundreds of millions spent on gain of function research, laboratory experiments on dogs, monkeys and rats, something we know was a disaster with the COVID 19 vaccine, something that Dr. Anthony Fauci is accused of lying to Congress on the issue of gain of function research. He went on to say, that includes more than 13.8 million that we spent alone on Beagle experiments. $14,683,280 to make monkeys play a Price is Right inspired video game. Again, almost 15 million just for that and so much more. He credited White Coat Waste, a nonprofit watchdog organization that once end government funded animal testing, with helping identify those and other expenses. Again, bipartisanship is a good thing. The 13.8 million for Beagle experiments refers to the ongoing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases granted funding for the University of Missouri, Columbia that was first approved during Anthony Fauci's tenure. The experiments exposed hundreds of beagles as young as 4 months old to ticks to infect the dogs with illnesses like Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The dogs are intentionally denied pain relief so that it does not interact with the infection or experimental vaccines. That is what White Coast Waste Research has found. The group also identified an ongoing $5.2 million project funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse in which beagles are dosed with cocaine and methamphetamines. The National Science foundation and other agencies also monkeyed around with your tax dollars, paul wrote in the report using a pun to highlight the 14 million in federal grants for inhumane research involving the monkeys. He says researchers at Brown University track the monkeys brain activity and eye movements as they play a video game called Plinko, a variation of the famous Price is Right game. The monkeys have head posts screwed into their skulls to keep their heads still while they play the game. The report also says the Department of Veterans, by the way, approved a $1 million project in which teenage ferrets are forced to binge drink alcohol for up to 90 days before they're killed. That sounds exciting. The researchers claim the goal of the Drunken Ferrets experiment, which you're paying for, is to pave the way, quote unquote, for teenage ferrets to be used to test chemical weapons, opioids, extreme stress and TBI traumatic brain injuries, or to conduct studies related to depression, stress responses, addiction, addiction, schizophrenia, suicide and sensory processing. The report, the report states. Justin Goodman, by the way, the senior vice president at White Coat Waste, said the group is proud that Mr. Paul continues to include research on wasteful government spending and wasteful government animal tests as well. Now, this is just some of what we found out, but there's even more. I'll give you another example of some of the shock and where your money is also going. Uh, not only do we spend 1.5 million for the HHS spending on celebrity influencers to discourage the drug use, Right, that's one of your tax dollars. But 1.9 million we also spent for mobile phone intervention for childhood obesity, Latino family, specifically that. That was where your tax hours went. 1.9 million for that. We also know that there was 244,000 funding for a Pakistani children's climate cartoon. So we're still paying for cartoons to be created in places like Pakistan. 1.5 million promotion of US and media films overseas. 2.5 million for the National Science foundation fund to promote insect consumption. So we're now paying two and a half million for you to eat bugs. A million and a half for an influencer led anti drug TikTok campaign. 40 million for COVID vaccine promotion after the pandemic had already ended. Let me say that again. Your tax hours. This year we spent 40 million to promote the COVID vaccine even after the pandemic had ended. 20 million controversial experiment involving all the ferrets, the dogs, the monkeys I mentioned a moment ago. 3.3 million for anti racism campus program at Northwestern University. 3.3 million of your tax hours for that. 7.5 billion with a B allocated to EV infrastructure, electric vehicle infrastructure. But only 68 charging stations have been built. So we spent 8.5, or excuse me, 7.5 billion on 65 charging stations. Again, another example of the corruption in our government. Another 22.6, not million, but billion spending on migrant benefits. So if you want to know what illegal immigrants are costing you, at the bare minimum, 22.6 billion, which we had to borrow the money. And now once we borrow the money, now we're spending that over trillion dollars a year on interest payments alone. Now the report also combines government spending deemed wasteful with categories some may view as improper. Insufficient is what the left says about this. They say, well, you know, there's a lot here that you don't understand. Right. All right, well, let's, let's go to this another example. The Department of Health and Human services approving a $2.1 million four year project where New York University researchers plan to camp outside EDM festivals to collect saliva samples to test for over 1000 drugs. Quote, perhaps we don't need a multimillion dollar rave reconnaissance mission to confirm that nightclub drugs are in fact drugs, is what was said by Senator Paul. HHS is also giving 2.9 million to the University of Michigan to investigate a mystery that had baffled absolutely no one, whether toddlers spending all day on iPads might affect their development. Now these are just some of the highlights of your tax dollars, waste, fraud and abuse being brought to light. The question now is how do we get rid of it? And what does the President plan to do on that issue? I'll give you some of that coming up in a moment. Ben Ferguson filling in for the great one, Mark Levin. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

As a consumer, you can carry the success or failure of businesses in the palm of your hand. Their success can depend on your decision to spend money with them or their competitor. Well, my friends at Pure Talk would like to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts for choosing Pure Talk for your wireless needs. Because of you, they've had a record breaking year because of your generosity. Through their Roundup for charity program, they've been able to donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership who stands on the front lines of helping to prevent veteran suicide. Your patronage has allowed Pure Talk to donate a thousand hand sewed Maine in America flags to your fellow veterans. And when you choose Pure Talk as your wireless provider, you help PureTalk support American Jobs right here in our country. Like I said, as a consumer, you have the power to make or break companies and with the money the big wireless guys throw around on advertising, you're inundated with offers everywhere you look. So from everyone in the Pure Talk family, thank you for your trust and God bless you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Q3 GDP came in at 4.3%, blowing past the x expectations of 3.2%. 60 of 61. Bloomberg economists got it wrong. That part of what President Trump posted earlier today, consumer spending is strong, net exports are way up, imports and trade deficits are way down, and there's no inflation. The president said the Trump economic golden age is full steam ahead and you haven't seen anything yet that literally being signed by Donald J. Trump. So the question is, why is the media continuing to lie to us about it? I want to get to your phone calls and see what you think. 1877-3813-8911-1877-38-13811 all right, let me go first to Tony in New Jersey. Welcome. You are on the mark of.

[Caller]

Hi, is this Ben Ferguson?

[Ben Ferguson]

It is. How are you?

[Caller]

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Merry Christmas.

[Caller]

Your question to us tonight was, you know, are we what was your question? Would you repeat it for me and everyone? Because I've been on.

[Ben Ferguson]

Sure. Do you trust the president of the United States of America on the economy and do you have confidence that we are headed in the right direction?

[Caller]

So I'd have to say yes. And if you ask me why, I'll tell you my story just in two seconds. When President Trump was in office, I was working and in his year 2019, which was his almost last year, I retired and I was very concerned, Ben, about finances, you know, but I was ready to do it. It was the right time within. So in 20, things were wonderful and I was able to move my life, the economy. I was very sensitive to the finances of the country, the costs of food, everything people were talking about. And we were in an economy that everything, it was beautiful. People could afford food. People were in a good economy. So that's the first part of my answer is my president did President Trump did a beautiful job with the economy, the stock market, etc.

[Caller/Listener]

Etc.

[Caller]

The second part of it is, is that when Covid hit and President Trump was no longer in office the following year, we had the election, everything hit the fan. I could tell you that within, within a short time, we were seeing the prices change and we were told this is because of, you know, Covid. And they were saying the availability of items and all this other stuff. And we saw the Democratic Party shut down a whole economy insanity so my question is, why would I trust anybody who did that when every state or country that did not shut down did fine? They did very well. So I have to wonder, why would the Democratic Party do that to us? And why would I want to trust them now? So now my President Trump has turned around. He's not 100% there, but he's pretty much, what would you say, 75% there? 70%.

[Ben Ferguson]

I bet you if you asked him, I bet you if you asked him, he'd say that you're 30, 40% of the way there because of what he has planned. Like he's saying this is just the beginning and stopping us from going the wrong direction and then pulling us back. That's the part everybody should be excited about, is that you're moving in the right direction now, not in the wrong direction.

[Caller]

Of course we're moving in the direction to save our country from devastation which we were on the brink of. Can I remind you of that, Ben Ferguson? We were on the brink of devastation here. The Democratic Party shut down the whole country and paid people to stay home.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Caller]

And that's why all the jobs and people, you know, after a while, what happened is they paid everyone as directed by the federal government, and then people couldn't hold jobs open anymore, and corporations suffered because of what this administration did. So why would I believe anything they said? Number three, And I'll conclude with this just being very economical about it. I read the book by Larry Kudlow on JFK and the Reagan administration revolution and the tax cuts that we have now will hit after JFK was assassinated, that really pummeled all the approvals for getting through to the tax cut. You know, everybody agreed, let's do the tax cuts. And the nation thrived. So the tax cuts are going to help us, you know, economically. Research shows it. That's proven. Number two, we had a president in McKinley who was assassinated and he did tariffs, and that benefited the country. So President Trump is doing nothing then. That hasn't been done by other presidents and has worked well for our country.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, I agree with you and I appreciate your phone call, because I think what this is boils down to is you have a president that's saying it's a multifaceted approach. I mean, I know people in the oil and gas industry right now, they're actually very frustrated. And the reason why they're frustrated is because they don't like how low the gas prices have gotten. They don't like how low the oil price has gotten because their interests are in Places where you need $65 a gallon gas to really make a profit, Right? Like that's part of it. They want to, they want to make sure that there is, you know, the people in this country. Trump wants to make sure people are successful instead of hooking up special interests and that includes the oil and gas industry. He's like, no, no, you don't understand. I want cheap gas. The American people deserve cheap gas. We shouldn't make people that hate us rich by buying their gas. All of this I couldn't agree more. With Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One, Mark Levin. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

As a consumer, you can carry the success or failure of businesses in the palm of your hand. Their success can depend on your decision to spend money with them or their competitor. Well, my friends at PureTalk would like to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts for choosing Pure Talk for your wireless needs. Because of you, they've had a record breaking year because of your generosity. Through their Roundup for charity program, they've been able to donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership who stands on the front lines of helping to prevent veteran suicide. Your patronage has allowed Pure Talk to donate a thousand hand sewed main in America flags to your fellow veterans. And when you choose Pure Talk as your wireless provider, you help Pure Talk support American jobs right here in our country. Like I said, as a consumer, you have the power to make or break companies. And with the money the big wireless guys throw around on advertising, you're inundated with offers everywhere you look. So from everyone in the Pure Talk family, thank you for your trust and God bless you. The Mark Levan show.

[Ben Ferguson]

The pool feed for the conservative Media.

[Caller/Listener]

Dive in now. 877-381-3811.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, welcome back. It is the Mark Levin Show. Ben Ferguson filling in for, for the Great One. During the holidays, we all are about, at least I am and I think probably the majority of you spending time with your family, right? Your kids, your grandkids, your loved ones, your family members. You may not realize, but there are an awful lot unfortunately of people out there that they don't have their kids. They are kids that are lost. They are kids that have been abducted. There are kids have been forced into sex trafficking and slavery. There are a lot of parents out there that have kids that have been kidnapped that are exploited. Thank goodness this administration is fighting hard to bring those kids back home to get them out of these horrible conditions. A lot of this was because of minors that we released to people that we did not vet in this country with our wide open southern borders. That's part of the problem and what many people should be very angry about. Now I say that to play for you some of the successes that we're having that aren't getting the coverage. This is coming out of Fox 10 local news coverage talking about missing children that were found across Florida and what they referred to as Operation Northern Lights. This was not happening under the last regime, but this president has made it clear we will hunt you down and find you and we're going to find the children. Well, they found 43 missing children in Florida so far in Operation Northern Lights. And here's how. The local media covering it, the national media not touching it. And you gotta ask yourself the question why?

[Caller]

This video taken by the Leon County Sheriff's Office in Florida shows federal agents and law enforcement officers working behind the scenes to rescue dozens of critically missing children.

[Caller/Listener]

This was the largest missing child operation ever conducted in northern Florida. And we're very proud to say that 43 children will now be home safe for the holidays.

[Caller]

According to the U.S. marshals, through Operation Northern Light, children ranging from 1 and a half to 17 years old were reunited with their families. Of Those include a 1, 15 and 17 year old missing out of Okaloosa County. The 1 and 17 year old were rescued by U.S. marshals outside Jackson, Mississippi. The agency says one person was arrested for interfering with child custody. The U.S. marshals say the 15 year old and the child's abductor were found in Ocala. The adult was arrested and charged with interference with child custody. Greg Ledgedal, acting U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Florida, say the children that were saved were critically missing, meaning they were at risk of violent crimes or other serious harms like drugs, sexual exploitation, domestic violence or crime exposure.

[Caller/Listener]

During the course of the operation, we ended up recovering children from multiple states including Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. We had a lot of these cases that could potentially lead to charges of human trafficking, of interference with child custody in just a lot of really, really bad situations that these children had found themselves in.

[Caller]

Lael Jedal says this wouldn't have been possible without the help of state law enforcement and local agencies including Pensacola PD Lilju Doll says the biggest takeaway from this operation is to always know what your child is doing, who they are associating with and be involved in their lives.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, where was this help in the last administration? You think about this 43 missing children that are now going to be reunited with their families for the holidays, who are, as they described it critically missing, meaning they were at risk of violent crimes, serious harm like drugs, sexual exploitation, domestic violence or crime exposure. Why is it the last administration completely looked the other way? They didn't care. They wanted to fundamentally change this country. They wanted to bring in as many illegal immigrants as humanly possible. And the reason why they wanted to bring them in is simple, because then they would gain power and hopefully their votes one day they would gain the votes, their friends. And that can vote. That's also really, really important that you understand that. And this goes back to, I think, the president, United States of America, saying we're going to find these kids. We're not going to look the other way. We will find them. We will protect them. 187 or the 8, I should say. 1-8773-8130-0811-1877, 381-3811. Let's get to some of your phone calls. Roberta in Springfield, Missouri, welcome. You are on the Mark Levin Show. Ben Ferguson with you. Hi.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, good evening. Good to talk to you.

[Ben Ferguson]

You as well. Go ahead, give me your thoughts.

[Caller]

Because you, yeah.

[Caller/Listener]

You wanted to know if Trump's doing a good job. And I think he's doing an excellent job and in spite of people throwing trash in the path that he's walking to make America great. And I am so enraged that all this stuff about Jeffrey Epstein and there's nothing about Clinton and all the pictures with him. I'm tired of Donald Trump being trashed and always trying to paint everything as.

[Caller]

Though he was the enemy. And he's trying to make do such a good job.

[Caller/Listener]

And he is doing a real good job here in getting America back on shape. And it is wonderful to be hearing people say merry Christmas. There's a lot of people I know here in Missouri that are behind him 100%. I don't get it. Where the Democrats know nothing. They would vote for Jack the Ripper if he was on the Democrat ticket. They, they just don't get it. And it's all strictly party. And I'm so sorry for that.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, it is. And it's also, it's like when you look at the Democratic Party, it's like, whose team are you on? Right. Like, like, like who? Like, for real, whose side are you on? Are you so obsessed with Donald Trump being what is being described as a failure. Right. That, that you, you do know you're rooting against the American people making it. You're rooting against the American people succeeding. You're rooting against children, living a great life, living a good life. That, that's part of this, that, that I really do think that people should talk about more often is what are they actually rooting against? Right? Like really, what are you, what are you rooting against? You're rooting against the success of the American people and you say that the economy is bad and you don't want to fix it. That's what you're doing. And so I believe that we're in this moment where we should call it out for what it is. You hate Trump so much that you want Americans to suffer, live in poverty, live in high crime, so that you can then play say this is Donald Trump's fault because you care more about power than the American people succeeding, succeeding, middle class Americans succeeding and, and especially poor people succeeding. I appreciate the phone call. Thank you. 1-877-381-3811. Let me go do Anita in, in Grantville, West Virginia, you are on the Mark Levin Show, Ben Ferguson filling in.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, Hi, it's Anita. Back you fixes. Can you hear me okay?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I can hear just fine. Need to go ahead.

[Caller]

So do I need to go over.

[Caller/Listener]

What I previously said?

[Ben Ferguson]

Anita, we've got a bad connection here so we'll try to get you back, but we got a humming noise and it's hard to hear you. So we'll try to get you back. Let me go to Chris in upstate New York, line three. You're on the Mark Levin Show. Hello? Yes, Chris, if you turn on your radio so we don't get the refeed, I'd appreciate it and go ahead with your thoughts.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay.

[Caller]

What I was saying, I was listening to the gentleman who called earlier about the average person not really feeling any price discounts. And it's true for people who live earn maybe 150,000 and maybe there's only one person working. It's not happening. Maybe the eggs went down a little bit, gas went down a little bit, but electric, food, health care, it's over the top for the average person. And you know, I'm a Trump supporter, not a Democrat. I like what he's doing, but we just need to feel it. And I don't know if it's going to take time or, you know, or what, but that's what something needs to be done for the people that live, you know, under these conditions.

[Ben Ferguson]

So how fast do you think all of those things should be able to be fixed? Because I mean, we are talking about a president that got there. He's been there less Than a year. Do you feel like in the last year he's moving you in the right direction?

[Caller]

Yes, I do. Absolutely.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, so you're saying you are working, you are moving in the right direction. I'm willing to stick with you. But you want it to get better.

[Caller]

Yes. Yeah. So that we can. I can go to the grocery store and not pay $150,000 for two people in a week, and my electric bill is $350 a month. It's, you know, I mean, maybe it's because we're in New York, but I'm still. It's just. It's just harder. It's like we're feeling the effects, but, I mean, things are going down, but we're not feeling the drop. That's what I'm trying to say. But I like. I mean, I'm glad. I believe he's for the people. He's doing it, but I think he just needs to look to the average person and what they're going through.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, I'll see what I was thinking. I appreciate the phone call. Thank you. It's good to talk to you. Let me go to Roberta. You're on the Marco Ven Show, Ben Ferguson with you. Hi, Roberta. We lost you. I'm going to. Michael, line one, Longview, Texas. Hello?

[Caller/Listener]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

How are you, Michael?

[Caller/Listener]

Good, how are you doing?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, give me your thoughts. Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh, is this Mr. Ferguson?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, it is. You're on the air. Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

I just noticed, you know, when Tim Waltz was speaking, that he was saying that the essence of it was that your government is waging war against you. And he was talking about ice, right?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Caller/Listener]

And their job of removing illegal immigrants.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, let me pause with you. Let me play this. It's 30 seconds long for people to say, know what you're referencing? Tim Waltz railed against ICE raids in Minnesota, accusing the Trump administration of what he described as white supremacy.

[Caller/Listener]

Listen, so this is what happens when your own federal government wages war against you. This is what happens when they target communities for their own benefit. This is what happens when they scapegoat, and this is what happens when they no longer hide the idea of white supremacy. When you hear the vice President of the United States talk about, now white people won't have to apologize for being white. That's never happened once in my whole damn life. And I think everybody in this room knows what they're doing. So we're here today to say, enough of this. We're here today to stand that Minnesota.

[Ben Ferguson]

Will protect their neighbors, $90 billion, what we're talking about in the fraud there. And that's what Tim Walsh had to say about the government corruption and countless mayors who've now come out, many of them Democrats, against him saying what he did and the amount of money our communities lost because of what he did is out of control.

[Caller/Listener]

Right. You know, it's just a way to deflect and you know, the, the white supremacy stuff is just a tremendous hyperbolic leap to go to that, you know, I was just going back to the root of what the, the root of his premise in saying that it's your government, you know, waging war against you. Well, it's, it's not the illegal, it's not a government of the illegal immigrant, by the illegal illegal immigrant and for the illegal immigrant. It's not their government. It's our government, my government. And I don't feel like I'm having war waged against me.

[Ben Ferguson]

I appreciate the phone call. Thank you, sir. It's good to talk to you. 1-877-3813, 8 11. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. You can also send me your comments on Instagram Ben Ferguson podcast there on x Ben Ferguson show. And make sure you grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson podcast. Wherever you get your podcasting, listen each and every day. We'll be right back.

[Caller/Listener]

Love in.

[Mark Levin]

As a consumer, you can carry the success or failure of businesses in the palm of your hand. Their success can depend on your decision to spend money with them or their competitor. Well, my friends at Pure Talk would like to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts for choosing Pure Talk for your wireless needs. Because of you, they've had a record breaking year because of your generosity. Through their Roundup for charity program, they've been able to donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior partnership who stands on the front lines of helping to prevent veteran suicide. Your patronage has allowed Pure Talk to donate a thousand hand sewed Made in America flags to your fellow veterans. And when you choose Pure Talk as your wireless provider, you help Pure Talk support American jobs right here in our country. Like I said, as a consumer, you have the power to make or break companies. And with the money the big wireless guys throw around on advertising, you're inundated with offers everywhere you look. So from everyone in the Pure Talk family, thank you for your trust and God bless you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Markovance show. It is good to have you with us and if you just joined us, we are chatting right now about the end of the year and some of the biggest wins for the President, United States of America coming actually on the economy. New numbers coming out showing the President is moving us in the right direction, not in the wrong direction. Also, there's been a report that Republicans are losing momentum and steam in the elections and that's going to be a problem for the midterms. Now if you believe that, then let me just tell you this story and see if you actually buy it. You ready? This is what we're witnessing in Pennsylvania. The GOP has netted 12,000 voter registration surge in Pennsylvania in one week as Democrat lead shrinks over time a rapid shift in Pennsylvania's voter registration landscape is added to the Republican Party's long term momentum momentum in the state It's a swing state. A recent data shows a notable a notable weekly gain that continues to chip away at the Democratic's edge. It's been built over decades in a key battleground state. According to the newly released report, today, Republicans achieved a NET game of 12,488 voter registrations over the Democrats in a single week. This gain reflects a continuation of broader momentum for the GOP in Pennsylvania where the Democratic advantage has been steadily shrinking over the past 10 years. As of now, Democrats do hold a registration lead of only 49,558 voters. Let me give you that in comparison to 2016 when Trump ran for president the first time Democrats had a lead when it came to registered voters of almost a million more. In Pennsylvania, 916,000 change. In 2016, that number has now dropped to 49,000. Now you compare that with the same period last year, Republicans have netted 82,373 new registrations over the Democrats. The surge also helped with the recent efforts by Democrats to reactivate dormant voters and left leaning strongholds it built. It builds on a longer trend of GOP gains that have significantly altered the voter registration landscape in Pennsylvania as well. Now long term erosion of the Democratic voter registration advantage in Pennsylvania is easily easy to document. In August, for example, Democrats lead a drop to just 59,153 voters out of the more than 8.3 million registered in the state. That represents one of the nearest gaps in recent history. The data also shows that since the 2024 election cycle, Democrats and pay attention to this have lost 449,000 registered voters, nearly twice the 222,000 lost by Republicans. That results in a net gain of over 227,000 voters for the GOP. Now this shift has occurred in tandem with economic development under President Donald Trump's second term. Trump, who carried Pennsylvania in 2024 by with 50.4% of the vote over Democrat Kamala Harris, has since highlighted economic gains in the state. In December speech, you may have seen it the other day at Mount Pocono. The President cited the creation of more than 60,000 jobs, including 4,000 in manufacturing and nearly 100 billion in new investments in the state. If you don't think Make America Great Again is working, you're not paying attention. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

With Donald Trump back in office, one of his biggest adversaries, top Democrat Dick Durbin of Chicago, is leading the charge to derail President Trump's agenda at every turn. And now Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Right now, Americans have thousands of credit card options, all with equal strong security. But Durbin's plan could result in less security. That means more risk for your credit, your identity and your financial future. Durbin's bill isn't about helping consumers. It's a giveaway to corporate megastores, which could shift costs onto you while putting your rewards and fraud protections in jeopardy. We've seen Durbin's failed policies before his last big banking regulation backfired, leading to higher costs and fewer benefits for American families. Tell Republican senators, stop Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late. Learn [e-mail] that's guard your card.com paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

[Caller/Listener]

He's here. He's here now. Broadcasting them from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker somewhere under the brick and steel of a nondescript building. We've once again made contact with our leader, Mark Levin.

[Ben Ferguson]

Our three, Ben Ferguson, filling in for the great one Mark Levin. And it is really nice to have you with us. Where do we even start now when it comes to the victory that the President has given us and how the media continues to have egg on their face as they lie and they get it wrong, we also know that the President of the United States of America has had to fight other battles. That includes the legal battles that are coming at him as Democrats will appeal on anything to the Supreme Court. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled against President Donald Trump's president plan to Federalize and send 300 Illinois National Guardsmen to the sanctuary city of Chicago to help protect Immigration Customs Enforcement agents from the violent rioters there. You gotta understand in Chicago and In Illinois, you've got a hardcore leftist radical governor in Pritzker who doesn't care that he was the death capital of America in Chicago. Now, in October, Trump had sought to deploy the National Guard to assist ICE agents, but a federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden blocked the effort with a temporary restraining order. When the Trump administration asked the U.S. court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to stay the judge's order, the panel of judges denied the administration's plea. That is when the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to stay the federal judge's order so National Guardsmen could be deployed to Chicago. Well, this week, SCOTUS ruled in a 6, 3 decision that the Trump administration, quote, has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute laws, the laws in Illinois. And therefore the administration's application for stay was denied. Now, at the preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source, they say, of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois. The President has not invoked a statute that provides an exception for this. Instead, he relied on inherent constitutional authority that, according to the government, allows him to use the military to protect federal personnel and property. But the government also claimed, consistent with the long standing view of the executive branch, that performing such protective functions does not constitute executing the laws within the meaning of the act. If that is correct, it is hard to see how performing those functions could constitute executing the laws under 124063. This court does not lightly assume that Congress silently, silently attached attaches different meanings to the same term in the same term in the same or related statutes. Thus, at the least in this posture, the government has not carried its burden to show that the permit that this permits the present to federalize the Guard in the exercise of inheritance authority to protect federal personnel and property in Illinois. We need not and do not address the reviewability of findings made by the President under 124063 or any other statute. The application to forestay is denied. Now, Justice Robert Sotomayor Kagan, Amy Coney, Barrett Brown, Jackson, they all back the unsigned order by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote a concurring opinion. Justice Alito wrote a dissenting opinion which Justice Thomas joined. The Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a dissenting opinion as well, saying this. Whatever one may think about the current administration's enforcement of the immigration laws or the way ICE has conducted its operations, the protection of federal officers from potentially lethal attacks should be thwarted. Alito wrote in these dissenting opinion. I therefore respectfully dissent. Now, this all goes Back to the issue of if you are dealing with individuals who refuse to abide by the laws of the land and break the federal laws, should you as a citizen be held hostage in that scenario? I would argue and say absolutely not. Now, there are many out there that believe that the state should have the ultimate rights on fighting crime and dealing with illegal immigration. If they want to be sanctuary cities, that's what they should be able to be. I think that is incredibly naive and incredibly stupid. Sanctuary cities destroy people's American citizens lives. I think that's one of the things we should just straight up start with. Not only do they destroy people's lives, but I also think that what the President has said here is he wants to keep people safe. Even if you're in a liberal area, even if you voted against them. That's important. To put that into context, this is a President that's sitting in the National Garden of places like Memphis and Chicago and Illinois, et cetera. And why is he doing it? Because he wants to save people's lives. That's it. He wants to save people's lives. Let's get to your phone calls and see what you think about all of this. 1 8773-8138-1187-7381, 300811 let me go to, let me go to Dana in Bismarck, North Dakota. Welcome, you are on the Mark Levin Show. Ben Ferguson with you.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, how you doing there, Ben? Thank you for letting me on.

[Ben Ferguson]

Absolutely. Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

On Donald, Donald Trump's performance here. Everyone take a look at this. He's only been in there a year and he's ended how many wars? Eight or nine. He's taking care of the border on the south end and the north end. He's taking care of the narco trafficking. He's made peace treaties and got awards from different countries for doing his job. And the reason is he's not a politician, he's a businessman. And we made the right choice by electing him because he doesn't just talk about it and waste time. He gets on it and he gets it done. Even when he's playing golf a bit, when he swings, he's designing the deck on one of these ships. So I gotta say for the Americans out there, when the midterms are up, don't vote with your, how would you say, opinion, vote with the facts, with how you know, how it works. If he doesn't have the Senate and the Congress behind him, all they'll do is fight everything he wants to do. And this thing is going to stalemate out like it always does and we'll get nothing. So I really encourage you to think that through when you go vote. And even if you do vote out some of these what would you call career politicians, which in my mind should go stick with the same party but get new blood ones that are like Donald Trump, that are willing to change that. We can't do that. We can't do that. And the caller that said that the prices aren't coming down, that's only because the care or the, the suppliers aren't taking the gas money savings they're making and passing it on to the people.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, but I am seeing prices fall. That's where I just disagree. Grocery prices are down overall, Gasoline down overall. Buying Christmas presents this year, some of the things I was buying, they were not crazy compared to, for example, last year. That's another part of this. I mean, if you think everything's doom and gloom right now, then all I can say is if, if you think everything's doom and gloom right now, I don't know if you're ever gonna be happy.

[Caller/Listener]

And he's just started. He's got three more years. I can't wait to see what comes here in 26. Let that man roll. He, he's got a brain that does not quit.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, no, you're right there. You're absolutely right. And I really appreciate your phone call. Thank you, sir. Good to talk to you. 1-877-381-3811. Yakim online for you are on the Mark Levin Show, Ben Ferguson with you. Hi, Came you there?

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, I am. Hi.

[Ben Ferguson]

Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay. Hello, Ben.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, hi. I got you. Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh, you do? Okay. I'm sorry, for some reason I was on hold. I couldn't hear the show. It wasn't coming through. I, you know, I really want to address that caller from Long Island. I'm a former Long Islander myself and I moved out to Pennsylvania in 2001 and also too, I've been a truck driver since 1981. And I actually watched the deindustrialization, you know, happened in this country from the seat of a truck behind the windshield, you know, and it really was quite devastating. The first problem is that, you know, on Long island you have such high property taxes, but the property values have gone through the roof and at some point probably it may wind up becoming unsustainable. And then to top it off, you have the exodus from New York or corporations, you know, due to the policies in New York itself. Yeah, what you're looking at is basically, you know, the national economy versus, you know, it's a local issue for Long island, for New York State and for maybe other places like it. And even as far as things like groceries go, when you consider the costs of, especially in New York City, of all the tolls that are involved, the prices that a truck pays now, I can't even imagine, you know, and so all these things compound to make it look like the economy is not doing so good out there. And I really want to also address the food price issue. You know, we've had a number of catastrophic things occurring at food plants throughout the country over the last couple of years. And then aside from even that under Obama, when it comes down to, you know, you talk about beef prices and things like that, you know, they basically federalized a lot of state lands that were being utilized for grazing. And that was actually, if you remember, the tumbleweed wars with the Bundy family. And I forgot the name of the other family that was involved because they all of a sudden lost their grazing rights. So there's been a number of things that have been happening. And unfortunately, you know, there's only so much that President Trump can do. And some of these things, it's going to take time, especially with the tariffs. When you consider back when I started driving truck Long island, again, this goes to Long Island. Long island had a very thriving aerospace industry. My father worked at Grumman and I worked for Heat Treating Corporation. And the amount of, you know, small to medium and large businesses that were out there, you know, in that industry, I don't know how much of that is even left there anymore.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, no, I look, I think all of what you're talking about there is incredibly accurate. I agree with you on a lot of what you're saying. I got to take a hard break. We'll come right back. Ben Ferguson filling in for the great one, Marco Van, 877-381-3011. Don't forget, I do a podcast every day. I'd love to keep up with you there. So if you'll download the Ben Ferguson Podcast as well, follow me on social media during the break on X Ben Ferguson show and on Instagram. Ben Ferguson Podcast. We'll be right back.

[Mark Levin]

Drinking and driving is a decision that will change your whole world.

[Caller/Listener]

Things will never be the same once.

[Mark Levin]

You get a dui because legal fees and time in court are just the beginning. Getting into a crash is another way.

[Caller/Listener]

Your world could be irreversibly changed.

[Mark Levin]

After drinking and driving, your vehicle may not be the only thing that gets damaged in that crash. You could face a life altering injury or even death. But you're not the only one who.

[Caller/Listener]

Could face those consequences.

[Ben Ferguson]

Your decision to drink and drive could.

[Mark Levin]

Permanently change someone else's world, whether you injure them or leave their loved ones grieving. The next time you're out drinking, call a ride, share a taxi, a sober friend or a designated sober driver.

[Caller/Listener]

Always plan for a safe ride home.

[Mark Levin]

The only decision that'll change your world for the better is the decision to call for a sober ride.

[Caller/Listener]

It's never worth it to drive drunk. Don't risk it.

[Mark Levin]

Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Mark Levin Show, Ben Ferguson filling in for the great wine. And I've got one big great piece of news for you, and that is gas prices are coming down fast. Donald Trump talking about gas prices a few days ago had this to say.

[Caller/Listener]

We're now at about $2.50 a gallon.

[Ben Ferguson]

We're going to be, I think at $2 a gallon.

[Caller/Listener]

We could even crack that at some point. I'd love to do it, but and we could do it more easily if.

[Mark Levin]

We weren't building up the strategic national reserves which Biden emptied out before the.

[Caller/Listener]

Election so that he could try to get elected.

[Ben Ferguson]

Meaning she he started it.

[Caller/Listener]

Then he got thrown out of the race and she took over and she kept it going. And they emptied out these strategic national reserves, which are really meant for something else.

[Mark Levin]

They're not meant to keep people happy.

[Ben Ferguson]

With their gasoline price.

[Mark Levin]

They're meant for war. They're meant for problems, big problems.

[Caller/Listener]

He emptied it out and then she.

[Ben Ferguson]

Continued it during the process of trying to get elected.

[Mark Levin]

Didn't work out too well for him.

[Ben Ferguson]

And they virtually brought it down to.

[Caller/Listener]

The lowest level, I believe in history. And it didn't have much of an impact because the prices were very high.

[Mark Levin]

But our prices now for energy, but.

[Caller/Listener]

For gasoline are really low.

[Ben Ferguson]

Electricity is coming down and when that.

[Caller/Listener]

Comes down, everything comes down.

[Ben Ferguson]

When that goes down, everything comes down. He's right. There are people that are saying the president isn't doing enough. What is wrong with you state by state right now? I'll give you Alabama, for example. What are they saying about the holiday week gas prices? What are you paying? Here's an Alabama well, good news.

[Caller/Listener]

If you're getting ready for a long drive during this holiday week, Triple A saying you're paying $2.56 on average for a gallon of regular right now. That's below the national average, which is $2.85 this week. This time last year, the average price of gas here in the state was 274. Gas buddy says Christmas Day gas prices will fall to the lowest level since 2020.

[Mark Levin]

Wes.

[Ben Ferguson]

The lowest level since 2020. And they want you to believe that the economy is not going in the right direction. It's not just Alabama. Check in Ohio local WTOL channel 11 there for hitting the roadways because Toledo.

[Caller]

Area gas prices continuing to trend downward.

[Ben Ferguson]

Which is great news there again, GasBuddy.

[Caller/Listener]

Analyst shows that average gas prices are.

[Caller]

Falling and actually fell nearly 40 cents.

[Caller/Listener]

In the last week. Gallon of gas on average is going.

[Caller]

To cost you about 2, 48, which.

[Caller/Listener]

Is almost 41 cents lower than a.

[Caller]

Month ago and more than 61 cents.

[Ben Ferguson]

Lower than a year ago. 60 cents a gallon lower than a year ago. That's real. But people like, oh no, he's not doing enough real. Okay. Really? We're not, like, we're not. All right, so let's just go to another city where they're talking about this. Phoenix, Arizona.

[Caller]

Just not sustainable. Where your wallet will find some holiday.

[Ben Ferguson]

Cheer is at the gas station.

[Caller]

More than 109 million Americans are expected to drive to their year end destination, according to triple A, up 2% from last year. Low gas prices are a big reason why as of Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular $2.85, down 19 cents from last year. If you're looking for last minute gifts.

[Ben Ferguson]

And last minute savings, consider sporting goods, dish sets and smartphones.

[Caller]

All items that generally, according to government.

[Caller/Listener]

Inflation data, cost less than they did.

[Caller]

Last year in Washington.

[Ben Ferguson]

Whoa, did you hear that? Smartphones are less. Tablets are less. Wait, that can't be right. That can't be happening. No. I thought everything was bad. I mean, isn't that what they said to us? They told us that everything's bad. How, how can there be this much good news? Because they said it was terrible news. They said that everything was going in the wrong direction, that Donald Trump was a disaster. I, I don't. Somebody's gotta explain this to me. Insert sarcasm there. I mean, it's amazing. 1 8773-8138-1187-7381-3008 11. Harrison in Gloversville, New York. You are on the Mark Levin Show. Ben Ferguson with you.

[Mark Levin]

Hi.

[Ben Ferguson]

You there? All right, I guess Harrison put his phone down. We'll try to get back to him. Let me go to Rob in Baltimore, Maryland. You are on the Mark Levin Show. How are you, Rob? Rob you there? Go ahead. All right, Rob. For some reason you guys aren't hearing me. We'll try to get that fixed during the break. 1877-3813-8111-1877-38-13811 by the way, something interesting that just happened. Speaker Johnson is moving forward with pursuing construction of a Charlie Kirk statue inside the U.S. capitol. Much deserved for Charlie Kirk. We'll keep you updated on that one. But some good news there. Very quick break. Don't forget you can send me your comments during the break on x Ben Ferguson show on Instagram. Follow me during the break Ben Ferguson podcast. We'll be right back.

[Caller/Listener]

All right everyone, let's talk about drinking and driving, a decision that will change your whole world. Things will never be the same once you get a DUI because legal fees, time in court are just the beginning. Getting into a crash is another way your world could be irreversibly changed. After drinking and driving, your vehicle may not be the only thing that gets damaged in that crash. You could face a life altering injury or even death. But you're not the only one who could face those consequences. Your decision to drink and drive could permanently change someone else's world, whether you injure them or leave their loved ones grieving. The next time you're out drinking, call a ride, share a taxi, a sober friend or a designated sober driver. Always plan for a safe ride home. The only decision that will change your world for the better is the decision to call for a sober ride. It's never worth it to drive drunk. Don't risk it. Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa, the Mark Levin.

[Mark Levin]

Show where we create the talking points.

[Caller/Listener]

Call in now. 877-381-3811.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Mark Event Show, Ben Ferguson with you. And if you just join us, we've been chatting a lot about the economy. The numbers are coming out. Things are looking better and better. Gas prices are down. It is a trend nationwide. Many are paying 60, 70, 80 cents less a gallon than they were last year. That is really incredible. I want to get to your phone calls and get your reaction to some of this. 877-3813-8118-7738-1311. Let me go to Rob. Welcome. You're on the Mark Levin Show, Ben Ferguson with you. Hi Rob, you there? All right, we'll try you one more time. Rob, now I got you. Go ahead. All right, Rob, I get, I guess you. Can you hear me?

[Caller/Listener]

Oh yeah, I can Hear you now. I'm sorry.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, great. Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, sir. Yeah, thank you, thank you for your share. I appreciate it. Merry Christmas to you. Happy New Year.

[Ben Ferguson]

You as well.

[Caller/Listener]

I just, yeah, I, I just, if you don't mind, I just thinking about going back a little while ago. You had mentioned the. Did you say 9 billion in fraud in Minnesota?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Caller/Listener]

Do now or 90.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to say it was 90 billion. I have to go back and look.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay, well, I know, I heard, I thought I heard you say 90 billion. But anyhow, I, I just, you know, I was looking it up and you know, I just, I can't imagine the, the people of Minnesota being defrauded like this. And you know, also, by the way.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me be clear, it's 9 billion. So far, federal prosecutors in Minnesota have suggested that half or more of the approximately 19 billion in federal funds distributed through the 14 state run Medicaid Services program since 18 may have been lost to fraud exceeding 9 billion in the state alone. So just on that one program is 9 billion. So it's much more than that overall.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh gosh, that's just in the.

[Ben Ferguson]

So that's. At least let me do the CBS line. At least 9 billion build across 14 Medicaid services in Minnesota may have been fraudulent. Top prosecutors are now accusing. So that's a lot of money.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh gosh, yes. And then I heard there's a, is, there's a special task force that was assigned that they sent in. Is that, did you hear anything about that?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I mean they're certainly looking at a lot of this fraud. But you got to understand, you have a governor there that says if you question the corruption in the Somali community and this, the money going back to actual terrorist organizations, Al Shabaab, that you are now a racist and you're a white supremacist, in essence.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, yeah. The typical Democrat response. Yeah. Now I also heard there is some issues going on in Maine and in Ohio and possibly other states with this. I don't know if you heard any of anything about that. But you know, I, this is what I think. I think President Trump should really hammer these people and the state representative of the representatives there for Minnesota. I wonder what Amy Klobuchar has to say about this too also, you know, they ought to hammer this and say, look, at the very least, the pick people of Minnesota I think should be reimbursed some, something to help them, you know, because that's ridiculous. You got people struggling. Struggle, I'm sorry, struggling. You know, with their Food and their health insurance and their gas and electric bills and everything else. You know, I would love the President Trump to come up with something with some type of maybe like American Taxpayer Relief dividend, you know, or something. And dare these Republicans, I mean the Democrats to vote against this. Yeah, just dare them to. You know, these people need relief.

[Ben Ferguson]

You go, you go back. Just listen to this. This is CBS News. Okay? CBS put this out, saying at least 9 billion build across 14 Medicaid services Minnesota may have been fraudulent. Here's how they are reporting it. This is how bad is. And yet. And yet Walt is saying if you ask questions about this corruption in the Somali community, you're a white supremacist.

[Caller/Listener]

Minnesota's fraud crisis is growing. Today, prosecutors charge more people for billing the state for social services they did not provide. The federal prosecutor says it's possible half or more of the $18 billion billed to 14 programs since 2018 is fraudulent.

[Ben Ferguson]

We have team coverage starting with Jonah.

[Caller/Listener]

Kaplan with more on what we've learned about the these latest charges.

[Ben Ferguson]

Jonah.

[Caller/Listener]

So we've gone from maybe $1 billion to possibly 9 billion or more.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, we've heard from the new U.S. attorney, Frank, that we're not even at the end of the beginning of this investigation. And now we know why. Feeding our future was just the tip of the iceberg.

[Caller/Listener]

The fraud is not small. It isn't isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated.

[Ben Ferguson]

Prosecutors on Thursday indictment, including one already charged in another case. The five new defendants are all accused of defrauding a state program meant to provide housing assistance to the disabled and those dealing with addiction. Two people charged aren't even from here. According to officials, Anthony Jefferson and Lester Brown came from Philadelphia to Minnesota looking for an opportunity to make money. They set up two fake companies and collected $3.5 million.

[Caller/Listener]

This is an instance of what's essentially fraud tourism. Mr. Jefferson and Brown were residents of Philadelphia who had no connection to Minnesota except for they heard that Minnesota and its Housing Stabilization Services program was easy money.

[Ben Ferguson]

The state already cut off the Housing Stabilization Program because of suspected fraud, but it's one of 14 social programs now under federal investigation. Together they build $18 billion since 2018. We asked how much could have been fraud.

[Caller/Listener]

You know, I don't. I don't make these generalizations in a hasty way. So when I say significant amount, I'm talking in the order of half or more. But we'll see.

[Ben Ferguson]

One of the new indictments accuses a fraudster of exploiting a program to help children with autism. Court documents Say Abdin Hassan Yousef used some of the 6 million bucks he stole to buy a Freightliner semi truck. Governor Walls, in a statement, said he applauds the new indictment, saying, quote, this is exactly the type of strong action we need from prosecutors to ensure fraudsters are put behind bars. Frank, this is not going away anytime soon. I mean, I love how the local media covers that, right? They're the ones that will tell you the truth on this. They're like, yeah, it's really bad. Not going away anytime soon. Meanwhile, the national media is like, oh, come on, come on, it's totally fine. Like, like, like nothing. Nothing to see here. Nothing to be concerned about here. Everything's good, everything's fine. And, and it's just your tax dollars being, you know, abused. But really, it's, it's totally okay. Bill, welcome. You are on the Mark Levin Show. Ben Ferguson with you. Hi, Bill, you there?

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, I'm here.

[Ben Ferguson]

How are you, sir? Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, Ben, you were, you were saying that things are getting better, prices are going down, and average people are supposed to be filling it. After, before COVID I had three food trucks, food carts. Business, you know, got hit pretty hard during COVID Couldn't do anything. I was starting to come back this year, January 22, I had to shut down two food trucks. The food cost, beef went out, outrageous. Dairy went outrageous. Lettuce, tomatoes, bananas, everything. My prices spiked by 40%. Cost of labor spiked by 40%. And also my insurance went up for my trailer. I was paying $700 a month for a parking spot for it. That went up to $1,000 a month. I've lost 90% of my income.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's obviously a lot. So your takeaway from where we are now is what?

[Caller/Listener]

I'm worse than I was when Trump come in. You know, the only thing, like you said, gas prices are going down, but my bottom line cost, okay, have skyrocketed cost savings.

[Ben Ferguson]

Are you blaming Trump for that? Are you, are you willing to admit that, hey, a lot of this actually has to do with another issue, and that is what he inherited, and now he's getting it going back in the right direction.

[Caller/Listener]

I can honestly say that my beef prices were less okay during the Biden era, and they more during Trump. My vegetables, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, you know, have skyrocketed. A case of Roma Tomatoes are almost $60 a case. Okay? I paid $20 a case last year, okay. I look at my bank account, and, you know, it's a lot less.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you, are you angry? Is that what you're telling me with Trump, What I'm telling you.

[Caller/Listener]

When these tariffs come in, raising business prices, cost and everything, Three events that I used to go to. Austin, Austin.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me ask you this question. Let me ask a different way. You're telling me that you would rather go back to Joe Biden's policies. You feel like they were better?

[Caller/Listener]

What I'm telling you, business for me was better under Biden than under Trump. I can't afford to go to the Texas State Fair, which I went to.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you want to go back to Joe Biden? Inflation.

[Caller/Listener]

Sir. It wasn't inflation. I didn't, I didn't have, you know, I didn't lose to two food carts under, under Biden. I lost them under Trump.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, so. So again, you want to go back to Joe Biden being present, that's what you're telling me?

[Caller/Listener]

I wouldn't mind the situation to be what it was prior to last year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay?

[Caller/Listener]

I was making money.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, so then, I mean, I just have to go back to the part about this. It's so insane. Prices of services are down, gas prices are down, some areas below $2 a gallon. Food costs have come down from where they were. Inflation was as high as 9.7% under Biden. And you want me to believe that life was better with Joe Biden?

[Caller/Listener]

I'm telling you, home prices have come.

[Ben Ferguson]

Down, rent prices have come down, and you want me to believe that it was better under Joe Biden?

[Caller/Listener]

Well, let me put it this way, okay? Like I said, $20 a case for Roma tomatoes compared to $60 a case, and that was just Monday that I bought those, okay. I paid $40 more a case for Roma tomatoes than I did, okay, previous.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I've got Roma tomatoes. Right now you're paying how much a case?

[Caller/Listener]

$60 a case.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, so. And your definition of a case is how many pounds?

[Caller/Listener]

40 pounds.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, so 40 pound case is what you're looking at. You're saying $60 and a year ago you paid what.

[Caller/Listener]

I paid, $20.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay. And that you think is Donald Trump's fault?

[Caller/Listener]

It's a tariff, my friend. It's the wintertime, you know, I'm telling you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, so. So last year, Roma, I've now got the data in front of me. It was between. In 20, 24 Roma cases through the year were between 35 to $60 for a 25 pound case, depending on the season. That was the average. Right now, the average is exactly the same. Well, okay, I got it. I mean, right now, right now, And I'm. This is retail. This isn't what you should be buying for if you've got a restaurant. Because I. I own a couple restaurants, okay? Roma tomatoes. Right now, 25 pounds, you're looking about 29.

[Caller/Listener]

I'm talking about a 40 pound. A 40 pound.

[Ben Ferguson]

I understand that, but what I'm saying is that's exactly where it was a year ago. So I don't understand how you're saying it's more than double because last year you were not getting it for $20 a case at any point in the year. It was 35 to 60 in 2024.

[Caller/Listener]

By my volume was.

[Ben Ferguson]

So either either you got really bad at buying or you're lying.

[Caller/Listener]

No, I'm not lying. But, you know.

[Ben Ferguson]

So hold on. I deal with facts here. Then explain to me how you were buying them below the market rate a year ago. Were you buying them on the black market?

[Caller/Listener]

No, sir, I went.

[Ben Ferguson]

Were you buying from illegal aliens?

[Caller/Listener]

No, that. You know, that's.

[Ben Ferguson]

So. So then how did you go from 20 to 60 while everybody else was playing between 35 to 60 in 2024? And now you want to blame Donald Trump for it?

[Caller/Listener]

I'm not blaming Donald Trump. I'm blaming the tariffs, my friend.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you're saying that the tariffs right now are making you pay the exact same amount that people paid last year?

[Caller/Listener]

No, sir. I told you what I paid Monday for a case.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay. All right. I think I've proven my point here. Ben Ferguson filling in for the great one, Mark Levin. You got it. You got to fact check these guys. More coming up.

[Caller/Listener]

It's a special Christmas edition of Thursday Night Football and it's only on Prime Video. This week, the Denver Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas night. Cap off your holiday with an old school rivalry. This is going to be a fun watch when you have head coach the Denver Broncos calling plays for his quarterback in that offense. Look out. Coverage begins at 7:30pm Eastern with football's best party, TNF tonight presented by Verizon. Not a Prime member. Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. It's the Broncos and Chiefs Thursday at 7:30pm Eastern only on Prime Video.

[Ben Ferguson]

Restrictions apply.

[Caller/Listener]

See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome back. It is the Ben Ferguson show. It is good to have you. Or not. Bedford. So golly, that's the one. You know, I do my own show. Marco Vinci show. Don't laugh at me, Mr. Produced. They're laughing at me. Yeah, I made it almost the entire show without screw Up. All right, we'll just start it all over. It's the Mark Levin Show. Ben Ferguson filling in for the Great One. I was reading, by the way, while I was doing that. It's just, it's, it's, it's just a habit, you know, when you do your own show every day, it's just, it's a habit. So I just got off the phone during the commercial break with someone that works in the food services industry with selling. I said, all right, give me the real background. The Roma tomatoes. And he, he laughed. He said there's. So there's an Internet meme, he said, that's claiming that the new tariffs have made the price of Roma tomatoes skyrocket. He said it's actually not true. He said, if you ordered a year ago from this, and I don't want to tell you which food provider this is, but it's one of the big three, all right, Because I don't want him to get in trouble. But he said that without the tariff fight, you'd get the tomatoes for about 17% less. So if you want to talk about an increase, they haven't doubled. It's a 17% tariff. He also said that the price right now was on the books multiple times because the commodity, it's constantly changing in 2024, he said, when Joe Biden was president. So he said the new tariffs on fresh tomato imports, that is not, as he described it, having a massive impact. He said it's about 70%. Actually, right now, we're in between. Tomatoes are pretty good. They're well under a dollar a pound in most grocery stores. Number two, he said Mexico supplies the majority of our tomatoes. Around 70, 90% of tomatoes consumed in the US come from Mexico, depending on the season. And they said again, the tariff costs, he said you could be paying 17% more. But this idea that they're double what they were because of tariffs, he says an absolute lie. Some forecasts say that tomato prices could rise significantly in some estimates up to 50% over current levels if a deal is not done. That, again, has not happened. So the idea that they've doubled in the last year is just unfair. Now, domestic growers are urging, argue that tariffs help protect them from unfairly low price imports, which the policy that they're pursuing. So that's something else you need to understand. And there's not a supply chain issue on this either. So when you hear, and that's why, look, I don't like to say that people are lying until I know for a fact. And do the research now that I, I can, I can feel confident that the last guy was a woke liberal who's trying to blame Donald Trump. And we sniffed him out there, folks. We did. We smoked him out. Follow me wherever you are on social media. Media. Have a great night and a merry Christmas. See you soon.