Newsom's Diaper Dollars & Dirty Deals plus AOC’s Insane 1776 Billionaire Claim

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode Title: Newsom's Diaper Dollars & Dirty Deals plus AOC’s Insane 1776 Billionaire Claim
Air Date: May 11, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Ben Ferguson unpacks two headline political stories:

1. Allegations of corruption in California governor Gavin Newsom’s $20 million “free diapers” initiative.
2. Controversial comments by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), who claims the American Revolution was a war against "the billionaires of their time" and questions the legitimacy of billionaires in America today.

The tone is pointed, critical, and characteristically combative toward Democrats, with Ferguson positioning himself as offering "the truth you won't hear in the mainstream media."

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Gavin Newsom’s “Dirty Diaper Deal” (03:31–09:39)

Core Allegation:

• Ferguson dives into a reported $20 million state-funded diaper distribution program in California ("Golden State Start").
• He labels the effort “corrupt,” citing apparent conflicts of interest: the deal involves a nonprofit (Baby2Baby) run by a board member who also sits on the board of Newsom's wife’s organization, California Partners Project.

Ferguson’s Argument:

• Taxpayer dollars are being funneled to political allies and family under the pretense of social welfare.
• The per-diaper cost is "about $0.50," which Ferguson claims is “a hundred times more expensive than Costco,” suggesting gross inefficiency or profiteering.
• Newsom family ties extend to deep Democratic donor networks, referencing Hollywood and the Clintons.

Memorable Quote:

“Even Democrats figured out a way to corrupt diapers... Some would refer to this as a massive kickback.” – Ben Ferguson (04:20)

“You could take the $20 million he’s spending... and buy them 100 times less expensive than the diapers the governor’s plan is going to buy.” – Ben Ferguson citing Steve Hilton (05:25)

Critique of State Spending:

• Ferguson argues the money’s path is designed to benefit friends and family rather than constituents, as evidenced by inflated prices and nonprofit connections.
• He claims bulk purchases should secure state discounts, not the highest-possible price.

Political Context:

• Points out Newsom is a rumored contender for a 2028 presidential run.
• Argues this type of deal is routine corrupt practice, not an isolated incident.

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2. AOC’s “Billionaire” American Revolution Claim (09:41–18:13)

AOC’s Claim Examined

• Ferguson lambasts AOC for asserting that the American Revolution was fought against the “billionaires of their time," played via a direct quote from AOC’s appearance at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.

Direct AOC Quote (11:17):

“The American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time. And we are declaring independence from such an extreme marriage of wealth and power and the state.” – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (11:17)

Ferguson's Response:

• He calls this "historically illiterate" and a “radical rewriting of history.”
• Clarifies that the Revolution targeted monarchy and unfair taxation—not capitalist billionaires.
• Notes Founders like George Washington were wealthy but risked personal fortunes for independence.

Memorable Rebuttal Quote:

“The American Revolution, or exact quote, was against the billionaires of their time. That is not true.” – Ben Ferguson (12:57)

• Reads Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) critique of AOC’s claim, quoting:

  “No, AOC, the American Revolution was not against the billionaires of their time. It was against a large, distant, and overly intrusive government that recognized no limits over its own authority to tax, regulate, and eat out the substance of the citizens it claimed to serve.” (13:07)

AOC on Billionaire Wealth Legitimacy

Further AOC Quote (13:37):

“You can’t earn a billion dollars... there’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned.” – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (13:37)

• AOC argues that extreme wealth comes from market power, rule-bending, and labor abuses—not hard work or innovation.

Ferguson's Dismissal:

• Offers examples of tech and business innovators, sarcastically dismissing AOC’s claim:

  “If you created a company... like Tesla... you didn’t earn that.”

• Asserts the left is demonizing success, and framing the political debate as “us vs them.”

Race & Division Theme:

• Ferguson connects AOC’s comments about Black Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants to a Democratic playbook centered on “dividing by race” and hating American values.
• Warns listeners that the midterms will pivot on themes of envy, division, and attacks on success and capitalism.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Democratic Strategy:

  “If you're successful, you're the devil.” – Ben Ferguson (14:28)

• On AOC’s Motivations:

  “They are telling you what they think about this country... believe them when they tell you they hate this country.” – Ben Ferguson (16:28)

• On Coming Political Fights:

  “This is the whole ball game... You destroy it [America] from within and you recreated it as a socialist, communist, Marxist society.” – Ben Ferguson (17:06)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Newsom Diaper Scandal Begins: 03:34
• Cost of Diapers Critique: 05:25
• Newsom Family & Donor Ties: 07:22
• AOC’s American Revolution Claim: 11:17 (AOC direct quote)
• Senator Mike Lee Rebuttal: 13:07
• AOC on Billionaire Wealth: 13:37
• Ferguson’s “Us vs Them” Segment: 14:18–15:10
• Race & Division Commentary: 15:10–16:05
• Episode Summary and Listener Call-to-Action: 18:13

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Notable Speaker Attribution and Quotes

• Ben Ferguson (Host):
  • On corruption: “They are deliberately funneling money to their family and their friends. That’s the only way that you could describe this logically.” (08:44)
  • On history: “The American Revolution was about freedom and capitalism.” (12:50)
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Clip):
  • “The American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time.” (11:17)
  • “You can’t earn a billion dollars.” (13:37)
• Senator Mike Lee (Quoted by Ferguson):
  • “No, AOC, the American Revolution was not against the billionaires of their time...” (13:07)

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Summary

Ben Ferguson’s May 11, 2026 episode of The 47 Morning Update is a polemic against Democratic figures Gavin Newsom and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It exposes alleged cronyism and waste in California’s diaper aid program, and harshly refutes AOC’s historical take on the American Revolution and her critique of capitalism. Throughout, Ferguson juxtaposes claims of systemic Democratic corruption with warnings of an election strategy built on envy, division, and anti-capitalist rhetoric. The episode is packed with pointed quotes, soundbites, and Ferguson’s signature irreverence and urgency.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

Good Monday morning. Nice to have you with us from the 47 Morning Update. And we've got two big stor. First up, corruption being exposed, this time through diaper kickbacks in California. So how did Gavin Newsom try to get away with this one? And it involves your tax dollars. Also, AOC is now coming out and saying she doesn't believe that anyone can actually become a billionaire legitimately in this country as she's now opened a new war on any American that's successful and she's blaming Donald Trump. It's the 47 Morning Update and it

starts right story number one.

So if you ever wondered just how corrupt the Democratic Party could be, how corrupt could it be to take your tax dollars and use it for different projects to hook up your friends, is there anything that Democrats won't do to make a buck? I asked this question because Gavin Newsom, the guy who's the front runner for the Democratic Party for the presidency, well, there's a new report out that Gavin Newsom figured out a way to have $20 million diaper deal work with a sweetheart relationship, all using taxpayers dollars. Now they're just diapers, right? But even Democrats figured out a way to corrupt diapers. They have now landed the California governor into a, no pun intended, messy accusations of corruption for dumping 20 million in taxpayer money into a nonprofit led by an executive who sits on the board of his wife's own organization. Some would refer to this as a massive kickback. Now, the initiative was called the Golden State Start, which would provide, they claim, free diapers. By the way, there's no such thing as free diapers. Somebody's got to pay for them. And well, that just is the taxpayers at this point, right, to newborns and hospitals throughout the state. It also was a big debut ahead of Sunday's Mother's Day. It's been promoted as a partnership between the state and the Los Angeles based baby to baby nonprofit organization. However, the deal has resulted in massive, well, scrutiny, as it should, over how the organization was chosen and specifically its proximity to Newsom's political and personal network. The California Post revealed On Saturday. If you take the number of diapers they're planning to send out and the amount of money that he's spending on it, it's about 50 cents for each one, which is like a hundred times more expensive. If you just bought them literally at Costco, I'm going to say that again. You could take the money that he is spending, the 20 million, you could go and purchase at Costco retail. Just have your Costco card. I've got one. Many of you listening, have one. And you could buy them 100 times less expensive than the diapers that the governor's plan is going to buy. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton told the Post. This is what literally corruption looks like. Where's the money coming from is the other question people should be asking. And the answer is us. Now this is where it gets really interesting. Newsom's wife co founded the California Partners Project which helped facilitate this quote, partnership. It's a ripoff. It aims to increase women in leadership is what their stated goal is online. The co CEO sits on Newsom's board of directors. Yes. So this is just extreme corruption right in front front of your face. And so therefore it's like, yeah, we just do this all the time. Now the diaper deal as it was reported in la is glaring evidence of what? Sweetheart relationships between state funded programs and then like basically the equivalent of an ngo, right? Non governmental agency organization or affiliated non profit networks. Instead of taking our money putting into some. Let me rephrase that quote. Instead of taking our money putting into some scheme that benefits their friends and cronies, Hilton said, why don't they let us just keep more of our money in the first place so we can decide how to spend our money? Now the cozy relationships are not limited to just diapers. We're also learning the woman's family has ties that have also drawn attention from other critics, including her marriage to a few film producer whose father is a longtime Democratic donor who has deep ties to the Clinton Air political network. According to the post, some 7.4 million has already been approved for the diapers program. There's 12.5 million that has been proposed for the program for 2026 and 2027 state budget. Now other critics also argue that the comparable bulk retail prices are significantly lower than what the state will be paying. The Post reached out to Newsom's office and Babies baby to baby for comment, but guess what? Neither of them have said a word in response. Newsom, who many observers predict will run for president in 2028, appears undeterred, he's promising the Golden State Start as a unique child welfare initiative, calling it a first in the nation program to provide free diapers to all newborns born in California. Now, I go back to the dollar amount here, and this is the part that should really make people angry. They are deliberately funneling money to their family and their friends. That's the only way that you could describe this logically. Otherwise, why would you spend on average $0.50 for each newborn diaper? Right? It's hundred times more expensive than if you bought them at Costco. In fact, the state is spending more per diaper than any store. Basically, you could go to in California to buy diapers. So you could go into any grocery store, you could go into cvs, you go to Walgreens, whatever, Target, and you could get a better deal on diapers than what the state is paying while buying in massive bulk. And everyone knows that when you buy in bulk, what happens? You get a better price. That's not hard math to figure out.

Next, story number two.

Now, while all of this is happening, there's also another very interesting story that goes back to this issue of massive corruption. Democrats don't want you to know about just how corrupt they are. So instead, what do they do every time they attack the rich in this country? AOC doing exactly that. Showing how historically illiterate she is as a communist in her latest interview that she sat down to talk about the 2028 mindset. Right where the Democratic Party is going now. You should not underestimate what they're trying to accomplish here. The New York Post has an article out right now talking about this. The headline says, AOC claims the American Revolution was fought against billionaires. Going to say that again? AOC believes that the American Revolution was to fight against billionaires. Now she's a squad member. She's obviously under fire because if any of you know history, you know that that is insane. She's under fire for radically rewriting history by claiming that the American Revolution was all about fighting against billionaires, similar to the fight she and other fellow socialists are waging now on capitalism. Quote, the American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time. In fact, let me just let you hear from AOC in her own words. This is AOC describing the American Revolution. And the scary part is this was actually done at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. Another reason why you should be careful where you send your kids to college.

[Caller/Guest]

Listen, the American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time. And we are declaring independence from such an extreme marriage of wealth and power and the state.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, just to be clear, the, quote, billionaires of our time when the American Revolution was happening was actually people like George Washington who are whisking everything. Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln. They were very wealthy and they were spending their money at incredible rates to try to have an independent nation. The complete opposite of what AOC just said. But she wants you to believe this country was founded to destroy capitalism when it was actually about freedom and capitalism. The American Revolution, or exact quote, was against the billionaires of their time. That is not true. And we are declaring independence from such an extreme marriage of wealth and the state. She went on to say again, also lie. Now, she went to Boston University. Another reason why, if you went there, maybe you should ask for a refund for noting the American Revolution was actually, in fact a rebellion against the British government. And what were we rebelling against? Over unfair taxation without representation and control by a monarchy. Not a fight over wealth. In fact, it was the opposite of that. You also, I go back to George Washington and some of our other founding fathers were among the wealthiest in the counties. Washington himself was worth the equivalent of nearly 600 million in today's money. So to answer the question, as Senator Mike Lee put it this week, no, aoc, the American Revolution was not against the billionaires of their time. Quote, it was against a large, distant, and overly intrusive government that recognized no limits over its own authority to tax, regulate, and eat out the substance of the citizens it claimed to serve. Now, again, that's coming from Senator Mike Lee. He's absolutely right. So take a listen to AOC talking and demonizing billionaires in this country saying it's impossible for anyone to make a billion dollars legitimately.

[Caller/Guest]

There's a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned, right? You can't earn a billion dollars.

That's right.

You just can't earn that.

That's exactly correct.

You can. You can get market power, you can break rules, you can do all sorts of things, you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they're worth, but you can't earn that. Right. And so you have to create a myth that since you didn't earn that, you have to create a myth of earning it.

[Ben Ferguson]

A myth of earning it. So to be clear, if you're someone that started the personal computer that you didn't earn that, if you decide to come up with, like, an amazing car that didn't actually use petrol called a Tesla, you didn't Earn that. If you created a company that decided to start flying people from point A to point B and it exploded, you didn't earn that. If you came up with some unbelievable technology like AI and it explodes, you actually didn't earn that. This is AOC and the Democratic Party making it clear ahead of the midterm elections what they're going to do. They are going to make this about us against them. If you're successful, you're the devil. They're also going to talk about race as much as they possibly can as well. AOC saying this after attacking anyone that's been successful in this country.

[Caller/Guest]

There are, there are very few, like real archetypes of, in my opinion, truly what America is all about. I think about the civil rights and voting rights movement and how black Americans really created democracy in this country. That's right.

That's exactly right.

How they literally made something from nothing, it is just beyond me. I think about how, like native people have survived and preserved and treasured their culture. I think about, and I think many of us think about immigrants, which if you aren't from one of those first two populations, you are certainly from largely the third.

[Ben Ferguson]

You listen to aoc and this goes back to the core of the Democratic Party. They want you to hate this country at its core. They want you to hate anybody that works hard. They want you to hate anybody that doesn't depend on the government, AKA them, for your success or your livelihood or just your survival. And then they want to divide also on the issue of race, because this is what AOC believes. This is what the Democratic Party believes. I will say it again. They are telling you what they think about this country when they do it. Believe them when they tell you they hate this country. Believe them when they tell you that they want to destroy this country. Believe them when they tell you that America is evil. And that's what they're saying. Believe that. That is what they believe in. So the midterms are coming. And if you want to know what the midterms are about, this is what the midterms are about. This is the whole ball game. This is what they want to happen to America. You destroy it from within and you recreated it as a socialist, communist, Marxist society. I want to get your phone calls. 1800-474973-21800-474- 9732 patriotmobile.com Phone lines are open. We'll get your thoughts, your reaction to all this, see what you think about it. And again, AOC coming out saying this it truly is incredible. It's also not surprising that this is what she believes and this is why she's saying it the way she's saying it. She wants this country to burn to the ground and then she wants the AOCs, the world that would be her and any others to be the ones that are in charge of it. That's the goal. And if you are a successful person, be ready. Okay, I just be ready. Because they also want to bring you down. They literally want to take you down.

Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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