← The David Pakman Show
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- [00:00]
Kyle Kulinski
It finally happened. A blue wave hit the country last night. Republicans wiped out everywhere. Virginia flipping, New Jersey, not even close. Georgia kicking out Republican incumbents. And Donald Trump spent the night panic, posting like a guy who just had the floor drop out from under him. We're going to go through the numbers, we'll look at the margins, we'll look at the swings. And Republicans are pretending this doesn't mean anything. It's just Democrats winning in blue states. That is one of the funniest things I've heard all year. And if last night's results hold anywhere near these levels in 2026, Trump's presidency will be prematurely ending and he will be a lame duck two years early. I think Trump knows it. He melted down on Truth Social, said kill the filibuster, California was rigged, and somehow circled back to attacking SNAP recipients. Caroline Levitt, meanwhile, was asked, why did Trump get an mri? And her answer, it may not shock you to hear, does not exactly clear it up. We are also going to look at the panic inside of MAGA, the denial, and what the blue wave means for 2026, because I believe the 26 election started last night. Plus, Marjorie Taylor Greene went on the View trying to convince everybody that she's normal. Now, did it work? We're going to have to take a look at it. Big night, big fallout. We have also now raised more than $6,000 to feed hungry families. We are donating every new membership payment, if you are not yet a member on my website or not yet a Substack premium subscriber, every new payment, whether it's monthly or yearly, for November, we're donating to Feeding America, an extraordinary hunger charity. We so far have collected more than 60$200 in donations from you. All this is going to fund more than 62,000 meals, so I hope you'll participate. What a day. Well, Republicans are in shambles as they have lost everything in last night's elections. A dominant blue wave spreading through the country almost like a cleaning. Trump lost everything. A clean sweep for Democrats. And Republicans had better be careful, because if they don't accept and acknowledge and appreciate the significance of what happened last night, they risk getting decimated in 2026. Now, we're going to look at all of it, but why don't we start with the results so we can all get on the same page about exactly what happened? We start in Virginia, where Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic challenger, the Democratic candidate, defeated Winsome Earl Sears, the Republican candidate, by a huge margin, 15 points in Virginia. Virginia is not A blue state, Virginia sometimes votes for Democrats and sometimes for Republicans. And they currently have a Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin. The margin is important here. Four years ago, Glenn Youngkin won in Virginia by just a couple of points and yesterday spanberger won by 15. That is a roughly 18 point swing in a state that is pretty purple. It also bears mentioning that the Republican candidate, winsome Earl Sears, did not appear to be playing with a full deck. I mean, she seemed. Something seemed wrong with her. She seemed to be sort of in crisis. Maybe the analogy or metaphor that works is the wheel is spinning, but the hamster is dead. A very odd woman certainly, but also had political beliefs that were completely whacked out and she got absolutely crushed. Also in Virginia, the Attorney General race was kind of notable because the incumbent Republican, Jason Miarez was kicked out by the Democratic candidate, Jay Jones. That's notable because Jay Jones text messages were uncovered in which Jay Jones said that the then House speaker should be killed along with some Republican children. Not language that I would ever endorse or use. And despite that, still one, that's how sick of these Republicans voters are in Virginia that they chose the guy who said the House speaker should be killed over the incumbent Republican. We then go to New Jersey, a bluer state certainly, but the margin here really tells the whole story. Mikey Sherrill, former Democratic congresswoman brutalizing Jack Schedarelli. Schitterelli actually lost in 2021 to Phil Murphy by a few points and this time he lost by 13. Yet again, the margin is a lot of the story and we are seeing large margins here for Democrats and an incredibly important race as well. We then go to New York City, both the most interesting race, but maybe the least consequential. Consequential nationally, insofar as I think Virginia Governor is a much more significant bellwether about the country than New York City mayoral. But a win for the left and a loss for maga. Again, Zoran Mamdani winning not a plurality, but a majority of the vote, 50.6%. Andrew Cuomo coming in second with 41, Curtis Sliwa with 7. Interestingly, there was the belief that Sliwa may be playing spoiler and that if only he got out, Cuomo could win at least based on last night's vote. That's not true even if you gave all of the Sliwa vote to Cuomo and it still wouldn't be enough because Mamdani got over 50%. Next up is California's Proposition 50, which just crushed it. Now I'll remind you what this is about. Governor Gavin Newsom came up with this idea. Texas and other red states are just doing Partizan redistricting. They're not consulting with the voters. They're just doing it to try to gain seats next year. Gavin Newsom said, well, we're not going to unilaterally disarm. We are going to fight fire with fire if the voters want to. And so he put it to a vote. Do voters in California want to do Partizan redistricting, the likes of which could help California gain five seats in the House next year? Voters overwhelmingly said, yes, please, I will take 164 to 36. Overperforming the polling. You saw the lines of voters. We had video on our livestream last night. It seemed like a real, like this was not just a ballot initiative. The crowds, the lines waiting to vote on Prop 50. Massive. Just massive, massive, massive. And a huge win there. Another loss for Donald Trump. He says it's rigged. And then also interesting, if we go to Pennsylvania, there were three races related to the court of Pennsylvania and these were fascinating. All three Democrats stayed. Stella Tsai winning with 56% of the vote. Brandon Newman winning with 55% of the vote. And hold on, did I miss one? I thought that there were three, but this is only showing me two. Wolf. Okay, in any case, we will get the other data. Oh, yeah, for some reason I thought there were three, but I only have two here. And then finally, and this is wild, even in the red state of Georgia. Look at this. Georgia Public Service commissioner number two, incumbent Republican Tim Echols crushed by Democratic challenger Alicia Johnson. This is, folks, this is Georgia and they are kicking out Republican incumbents. Another one of these, Georgia Public Service Commissioner 3, incumbent Republican Fitz Johnson destroyed. These are by almost a 2 to 1 margin in Georgia. Democrat Peter Hubbard, the winner there, 62 to 38. Just unbelievable numbers. So what comes next? A few things we're going to talk about today. Number one, what is the reaction of Donald Trump? It's predictable. He's on a bender. He's unhinged, he's disjointed. Number two, what are the MAGA talking points going to be? The talking points are going to be Democrats winning in blue states isn't a big deal. Democrats winning in blue cities isn't a big deal. All right, well, we're going to analyze that. We're going to evaluate it for what it is and then I'm going to talk about the importance of this heading into 2026, which I believe immediately starts on the basis of these results. And I think that's going to be a very, very big deal. Let's go next to what was Trump's reaction. A visibly depressed Donald Trump lumbered up to speak to Senate Republicans this morning after brutal losses last night. He was barely audible at moments and we will listen to it. And he seems to realize that the champagne honeymoon is over. We'll start on Truth Social, where immediately. Last night, after being pounded brutally by these losses, Trump took to Truth Social where he said, quote, trump wasn't on the ballot and shutdown were the two reasons that Republicans lost elections last tonight, according to pollsters. Of course Trump wasn't on the ballot. But to a degree, last night was a referendum on Trump and Trumpism. And if he's blaming the shutdown, it is his shutdown and the country knows it. 55 to 45. The country blames Republicans, not Democrats for the shutdown. Trump continuing. Republicans terminate the filibuster. Set back. Hold on, I don't have. Wait, oh, get back to passing legislation and voter reform. President DJT Trump is not saying we need to win the will of the people by convincing them that our policies are better. Trump is saying let's get rid of the filibuster so that we can do whatever we want without checks, balances and restraints. That is not the right way to react after losing everything. Trump continuing pass voter reform, voter id, no mail in ballots, save our supreme court from packing, no two state addition, etc. Terminate the filibuster. This is an authoritarian through and through. There is no, hey, you know, maybe some of what we've been offering people isn't what they want. Maybe some of my policies haven't been so good for voters and therefore understanding that they went and voted for Democrats tonight. No, it's, let's do what we can to make it harder for certain people to vote. Get rid of the filibuster so Republicans can do whatever the hell we want. That's the reaction. And then finally, Donald Trump posting. And so it begins. This morning, a barely audible, depressed Trump tried to speak and he sounds as down as I have heard him in a long time.
- [11:36]
Donald Trump
It's time for Republicans to do what they have to do and that's terminate the filibuster. It's the only way you can do it. And if you don't terminate the filibuster, you'll be and bad shape. We won't pass any legislation. There'll be no legislation passed for three and a quarter. We have three and a Quarter year, that's a long time.
- [11:53]
Kyle Kulinski
Trump is, of course, unable to suppress his authoritarian instincts to just do whatever I can do so that no voters get a say and we can just decide. But he seems to be acknowledging they are up against the problem here. And Trump knows if he loses the House in 26, his presidency is over. Hilariously, Trump running through a list of the things that Democrats might do. Most of the list sounds pretty good.
- [12:18]
Donald Trump
There's nobody else who's going to object. They're going to do it the first day, they're going to pack the court, they're going to make D.C. a state, and they're going to make Puerto Rico a state. So now they pick up two states, they pick up four senators. Okay, you think you have problems? They're going to do all of the things. They're going to pick up electoral votes, votes. It's going to be a very, very bad situation. And it's done. It's done as soon as they attain power. Now, if we do what I'm saying, they'll never, they'll most likely never attain power because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine that it's good.
- [12:53]
Kyle Kulinski
You know, most of the stuff Trump's talking about sounds. It sounds pretty good. And most of what Trump wants to do himself sounds pretty bad. I mean, even after these brief, brutal losses last night, Trump still had the gall or the ignorance to get up in front of Senate Republicans and again attack food stamp recipients. What, you are still doing this?
- [13:18]
Donald Trump
Think so. Millions of Americans are going to be without SNAP benefits. And I will say about SNAP benefits, so when I was President, we had $7 billion worth, and now they have many times that, because these benefits were given to anybody that asked. And they're up to, I hear, just many times, 47 billion. So it wasn't the purpose of SNAP. That was for people that really had problems down and out people that really had problems. But during Biden, they gave it to anybody that wanted it. I think it's something you have to talk about because the numbers are incredible. But countless public servants are now not being paid in. The air traffic control system is under increasing strain. We must get the government back open soon and really immediately. We have to get it up. We have the hottest economy.
- [14:09]
Kyle Kulinski
Trump's asking like other people are responsible for this stuff. We really got to get this government open. But watch close. Why did your party close it then? What doesn't really make any sense. And then finally, in a real message of unity, Trump, about Democrats, says they are like kamikaze pilots really going to unite people. People here.
- [14:28]
Donald Trump
I've heard that about four times. I heard it after Kings. You know, they said I was a king and I heard it after Kings. I heard it after a couple of other moments in time. And I said, no, I don't believe so. And now I heard it's after the election. I don't believe so. I think they will. I think they're kamikaze pilots. I just got back from Japan. I talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikaze. They'll take down the country if they have to.
- [14:53]
Kyle Kulinski
Nothing says unity and inclusion like saying my political enemies would be the equivalent of kamikaze pilots to take the country down if they get their way. So Trump's disheveled, he's upset, he's down, he's depressed. But the question that I was curious about is what is the, the more buttoned up Republican line going to be? How are they going to spin this? And the funny thing is that they are arguing like it's Democrats who have to spin it. Let's talk about that. They want you to think that last night's losses mean nothing. MAGA is falling apart. When you really understand what happened last night, they lost everything, but they want you to believe that none of it means anything. I was wondering what line are they going to go with after they lost everything last night and it quickly became obvious what they were going to go with. Democrats won in blue states. It doesn't really matter when blue cities vote for Democrats. It doesn't really say anything about the country. A leftist one in New York City, Democratic governors, one in Democratic states, New Jersey's blue, a Democrat one, who cares? Now you might be saying, well, but what about Virginia? And you're thinking along, along the right lines. But we're going to get back to that. Here's a couple of examples. Here is Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary to, I guess George W. Bush, if I recall correctly. Here he is and there's sort of a new look, Kellyanne Conway here. Anyway, Ari Fleischer said the following. Ari Fleischer, let's get your take on tonight.
- [16:35]
Donald Trump
Well, blue states are blue states and.
- [16:37]
Kyle Kulinski
That'S why the Democrats won tonight. But if you take blue states or blue states, and that's why Democrats won tonight, Jesse Watters on Fox News, basically going with the exact same idea.
- [16:48]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Table with you.
- [16:48]
Donald Trump
Thanks for having me. The Democrats are going to spin this. This is a referendum on Trump.
- [16:54]
Vivek Ramaswamy
I mean, these are all blue states. Is it?
- [16:58]
Kyle Kulinski
This is wildly, wildly wrong. Now, if they want to go with that, they can do that at their peril. But let's go through it one by one. New York City mayor's race, it's usually a Democrat, not always, but it's usually a Democrat. When it's a Republican, it's someone like a Bloomberg who's, you know, kind of center sometimes in some ways he's almost center left, but a centrist of sorts. And in New York City, the Democratic nominee, one fine, I acknowledge that New York City is an n of 1. It's a completely unique place. What happens there might have a bearing on the country or it might not. But hold on a second, hold on a second. Virginia is not a blue state. Virginia has a Republican governor right now. And in 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin won that race by 1.9. And yesterday the Democrat Abigail Spanberger won by more than 15. That is a 17 point swing to write that off as Democrats voting in blue states. Republican plus two to Democrat plus 15. And your takeaway is blue states voting for Democrats. That is a dangerous takeaway. But if that's the takeaway they want, go have at it, hoss. Have at it. What about New Jersey? Well, New Jersey is a blue state, that's true. But New Jersey does sometimes vote for Republican governors. They had Chris Christie, for example. But the margin really matters here because four years ago in 2021, Phil Murphy, the current governor, won by three over Jack Schiattorelli, same Republican who ran this time. And then last night, Democrat Mikey Sherrill defeated the Same Ciattarelli by 13. Think about that. Same state, same opponent, 3 point win four years ago, 15 point win this time. Dems voting for Dems in a blue state. Ok, but that margin shift is hugely meaningful. Now, meanwhile, at Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a swing state. They voted to retain their Democratic judges who were on the ballot on that court by massive, massive margins. That's a state that Trump won in 2024. And then just look at Georgia, not a blue state where multiple Republican incumbents were kicked out by Democrats. Georgia Public Service commissioner to special election a whole Alicia Johnson defeated the incumbent Republican. Georgia Public Service Commissioner 3, Special Election Democrat Pete Hubbard defeated incumbent Fitz Johnson. So if their takeaway is none of this means anything because it's blue states voting blue, you really are going to do that at your own risk. And I don't think 2026 is going to go well. Republicans seemingly unwilling to acknowledge that Trump does bear some responsibility for their losses. And I don't often praise Vivek Ramaswamy. At least he's acknowledging they got their ass handed to them.
- [20:04]
Vivek Ramaswamy
We got our asses handed to us in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City. Democrats swept all three. There's two key lessons for Republicans. Listen carefully. Number one, our side needs to focus on affordability. Make the American dream affordable, bring down costs.
- [20:21]
Kyle Kulinski
I thought Trump did do that already, though.
- [20:23]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Wait, electric costs, grocery costs, health care costs and housing costs and lay out how we're going to do it. And number two, cut out the identity politics. It doesn't suit Republicans. It's not for us. That's the woke left's game, not ours.
- [20:38]
Kyle Kulinski
You know why Vivek, oh my God, this is so fascinating. Do you know why Vivek now is saying we've got to cut the identity politics? It's because he is now the victim of that. Just weeks ago, Vivek, who is running for governor of Ohio, who's welcome to come back on the show anytime. He's been on twice. He told me I had the viscosity of sanctimony last time he was on. He's welcome anytime. Vivek was hit by the monster he created because at an event, the Turning Point Charlie Kirk disciples said, you're Hindu. We need Christianity in this country. So all of a sudden Vivek is getting hit by Republican identity politics. That's why he's saying, oh, we got to get away from it. But at least he's acknowledging that they genuinely did lose. If Republicans want to insist last night was nothing more than Democrats winning in blue states, they're going to get crushed in 2026. Leave a Comment Leave a Like, if you're watching on YouTube, make sure you hit that subscribe button. 26 is starting now. We're going to talk about that after the break. When I was preparing for my last trip to Italy, I didn't want to spend weeks and weeks trying to learn Italian with the typical apps where you get, you know, flashcards and games and it doesn't really translate to talking to people. And this is why I turned to our sponsor, Babel. This is a method that works and it works quickly. And what really stood out to me was just how personalized Babel feels. The app was instantly adjusted to my level and I wasn't wasting time on things I already knew. And the review system is really good at making sure that things stick. Babel's lessons come in 10 to 15 minute chunks. I fit that easily into my schedule. I saw the progress before I knew it I was ordering a cappuccino and their version of a croissant. It's a coordinator. Anyway, I was impressing everybody. People loved it. Babble is not just about memorization. It uses interactive dialog, spaced repetition tips that make the learning feel way more natural. And my audience can get up to 55% off at babel.com/pacman. The link is in the description. Donald Trump has already packed his second term cabinet with loyalists. He's threatened deportation as political punishment. He's expanded executive authority in ways we have not seen in modern history. These are real changes that are happening right now. And what's even more alarming is that a lot of the media is either glossing over the worst of it or they're refraining framing it. So it all sounds a little more palatable. And that is why I use Ground News. This is a news comparison tool, doesn't just feed you headlines, it shows you. Here's how different outlets, left, right, center, are covering the same story. And this is one of the few tools I know of that can really help you detect the political spin, the bias, catch stories that your usual sources might detect, downplay or not cover it all on everything from immigration policy to economic shifts. If you want to get a bigger picture, a broader picture of what's being reported, Ground News is an invaluable source to keep you informed. And Ground News is offering my audience 40% off their top tier vantage plan. You'll only pay five bucks a month. Go to Ground News, slash Pacman or enter the code Pacman in the app to get started. The link is in the description. I believe that the 2026 election has officially started. And it is unfortunately likely that, recognizing the precarious position in which they find ourselves, on the basis of yesterday's Democratic clean sweep, Republicans are going to pull out all the stops to try to win next year, no matter what. What are the stakes? What does all of it mean? Because that's what I want to talk about today. I believe that last night was really the opening shot of the 2026 midterm elections. And what is on the line must be understood. If Democrats take back the House in 2026, Trump becomes a lame duck president. Everything he wants to do for the last two years of his presidency will die. In Congress, the agenda is dead. No even, not even a chance of major legislation. No more controversial appointments sailing through. Democrats will control House committees, they will control investigations. They will control the floor. Trump's presidency effectively ends two years early. And what's important about that is not only stopping Trump specifically, but also diminishing his power to choose an heir apparent, maybe J.D. vance or someone else, and to maintain momentum into the 2028 election. And the thing is, Democrats don't really need that much. The House majority for Republicans right now is very thin. And the exact number of seats that will need to be flipped depends a little bit on how all of the districts are redrawn. It could be five to eight seats. And the reason it's a little complicated is, you know, Texas has redrawn their maps. California passed Prop 50 yesterday. That's going to, I believe, gain five seats through redistricting alone. So the point here is Democrats will be in a position to take back the House with relatively few seats needing to be flipped. So now we go and look at what happened last night. Virginia. Virginia swung 17 points towards Democrats from where Glenn Youngkin won in 2021. New Jersey swung 10 points with the same Republican candidate running as in 2021. Georgia kicked out some Republican incumbents. If those swings held in competitive House districts across the country, dozens of Republican seats are suddenly in play. Seats that looked safe six months ago are going to end up being toss up. States that were toss ups might lean Democratic and the fundamentals are all working in the favor of Democrats. And, and we are now 30 something days into a government shutdown. Trump is admitting the shutdown hurt Republicans. Last night or this morning he said we got to open the government, where he posted on Truth Social, the shutdown was a factor and then today said we got to open the government. It's their shutdown. It's their shutdown. Voters are furious about SNAP benefits being cut and federal workers not getting paid in the chaos. And if the shutdown continues or if there's another one before the 2026 midterms, this is going to be an anchor around the neck of every single one of these Republicans who's running. Now. You add to that Trump's tariffs hurting the economy. You add the enthusiasm we saw in terms of turnout in a lot of these races. There are some real structural advantages for Democrats going into next year. But what we have to be ready for is MAGA will respond to this. They're not just going to accept losing. We've seen Trump calling to terminate the filibuster, demanding voter id, calling to end mail in ballots. When they analyze these results and see the momentum that Democrats have, they're going to get even more aggressive about voter suppression. They're not going to get more thoughtful about how can we win the hearts and minds of voters. No, that's what they should do. But they're not. They're going to say, how can we manipulate the voting systems and other procedural tools in order to try to win? So we'll see Republican controlled state legislatures pass more restrictive voting laws, make it harder to vote by mail, make it harder to register, make it harder to vote early, purge voter rolls, all the stuff that they do, close polling places in Democratic leaning areas. So they will be ready to make it harder for the coalition that showed up last night to show up again in 2026. They're going to say it's election integrity, it's voter reform, it's all great. While they're doing it, Trump's posting about it. He's already said multiple times in the last 48 hours, we got to get voter ID, get rid of mail in voting, make it harder for people to vote. So Democrats have momentum, Democrats have enthusiasm. Democrats have some fundamental and structural things that are favoring them. But this is going to be a real fight. MAGA is going to throw everything they have at suppressing the vote and, and making it difficult for Democrats to win, even if that is the will of the average voter. The question is, can Democrats maintain the energy of the last 24 hours for 12 months? Not an easy thing to do. Can Democrats fight back against the voter suppression? Can you actually turn the momentum into House seats in November of 2026? If they can. Trump's presidency is over and the agenda stops. He's powerless for two years. He becomes diminished in his ability to pick a successor successfully. And that is why I believe the 2026 election starts right now. I don't remember higher stakes for a midterm election in all the time I have been doing this, and I think both sides know it and that's why it is going to be a full year of this election. Tell me if you disagree with me, but I think it's already started. Caroline Levitt did not like being asked, why did Donald Trump get an MRI the other day. Now, her answer makes me think, does she think anybody is going to fall for this? The question, very simply, we were told he got an mri, but we still don't know why. Why did Trump get an mri? And her answer leaves a little something to be desired. Why President Trump get an MRI during.
- [30:11]
Joyce Vance
His recent visit to Wall Street.
- [30:13]
Caroline Levitt
Look, as President Trump said he would inquire with the physicians, I'll check back on that. But as the physical itself stated, Kristen, and as you all know, because you are all Witness to it every single day. The President is in optimal physical health. This was a follow up appointment and we provided a detailed readout of that physical. I'm happy to give it to you again and I can inquire further.
- [30:33]
Kyle Kulinski
So I want to go back, think about each element of what she said here and how deceptive it is during.
- [30:39]
Joyce Vance
His recent visit to Wall Street.
- [30:40]
Caroline Levitt
Look, as President Trump said he would inquire with the physicians. I'll check back on that.
- [30:45]
Kyle Kulinski
So it's now been weeks and we're still at. You haven't even checked with the doctors. That's really weird, Caroline.
- [30:52]
Caroline Levitt
But as the physical itself stated, Kristen, and as you all know, because you are all witness to it every single day, the President is an optimal physical health.
- [31:01]
Kyle Kulinski
In fact, he doesn't seem to be in optimal, optimal physical health. His ankles are swollen, his right eye is almost completely swollen shut, his hands are bruised, his gait is bizarre, he seems confused. And again, you don't normally get MRIs for no reason. And they still haven't even told us what part of his body was received.
- [31:19]
Caroline Levitt
An MRI was a follow up appointment.
- [31:21]
Kyle Kulinski
And to call it a follow up appointment doesn't really tell us one way or the other why he got the MRI or what it was looking for.
- [31:28]
Caroline Levitt
Provided a detailed readout of that physical.
- [31:30]
Kyle Kulinski
The readout that they've provided never said he got an mri.
- [31:34]
Caroline Levitt
I'm happy to give it to you again. And I can inquire for.
- [31:37]
Joyce Vance
MRI is a very specific procedure.
- [31:39]
Kyle Kulinski
It's done on a part of the body looking for something specific.
- [31:42]
Joyce Vance
So it's not generally part of any.
- [31:44]
Kyle Kulinski
Kind of routine checkup.
- [31:46]
Joyce Vance
And in addition, President Trump has said that he wants to be transparent. He told us to ask the doctors, which we have and have not heard back, why don't we have more information on this?
- [31:54]
Caroline Levitt
As I said, I'll check back for you.
- [31:56]
Kyle Kulinski
Yeah, it's only been a couple of weeks, but she's going to check and then maybe you'll forget about it and then maybe you'll ask about it again several more weeks. The more they do this, the more we should be saying to ourselves, why did Trump get an mri? Why has it been weeks? And they don't go, oh, the MRI was of his back because even he's been having back pain and we wanted to see was there any physiological explanation for that? Or the MRI was of his brain, or why do we still not have an answer as to even what part of his body received an mri. This is a disaster. This is a complete and total disaster. Second question Trump was during the 60 Minutes interview, Trump was asked about the pardon of the Binance founder. And Trump said, I don't know him and I don't know anything about it. To which we all said that's what you said was the situation with Biden's pardons. And you said they should be invalidated when you claimed Biden didn't know who he was pardoning. Now Trump says, I don't. I know nothing about it. And we're supposed to believe that it's fine. Well, here is Caroline Levitt's explanation for that.
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Caroline Levitt
And ship with this individual. And when it comes to pardons, the White House takes them with the utmost seriousness. And the president understands the responsibility that he has as president to issue clemency and issue pardons to individuals who are seeking that. That's why we have a very thorough review process here that moves with the Department of Justice and the White House Counsel counsel's office. There's a whole team of qualified lawyers who look at every single pardon request that ultimately make their way up to the President of the United States. He's the ultimate final decision maker. And he was very clear when he came into office that he was most interested in looking at pardoning individuals who were abused and used by the Biden Department of Justice and were over prosecuted by a weaponized doj. And the individual you're referring to to that was certainly the case. Even the judge in his case said that the sentencing that the Biden administration was asking for was egregious and went too far. And so the president is correcting that wrong and he has officially ended the Biden administration's war on the cryptocurrency industry. And I think that's the message he sent with this pardon.
- [34:07]
Kyle Kulinski
So does Trump know the guy or not? Because he said he didn't know anything about him. Well, we get to that and still the answers are pathetic.
- [34:17]
Caroline Levitt
Question. President Trump said to CBS in the 60 Minutes interview that he did not.
- [34:21]
Kyle Kulinski
Know the Binance founder, which he pardoned.
- [34:24]
Caroline Levitt
What exactly did he mean for that? I know it means he does not know him personally. He means he does not have a personal relationship with this individual. And when it comes to pardons, the White House takes them with the utmost seriousness.
- [34:36]
Kyle Kulinski
So her position now is all Trump meant is I don't personally know the guy. I'm going to play that part of the 60 Minutes interview for you. Do you think what Trump is saying here is I'm completely familiar with the situation. I just don't personally know the guy or do you think Trump is saying I know nothing about this? Let's take a look.
- [34:56]
CBS Interviewer
This year the President has pardoned or shortened the sentences of more than 1600 people. The latest pardon was for a cryptocurrency tycoon who is known as Czech. The company CZ founded, Binance helped boost the profile of the Trump family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. He pled guilty in 2023 to violating anti money laundering laws. The government at the time said that CZ had caused significant harm to US national security, essentially by allowing terrorist groups like Hamas to move millions of dollars around. Why did you pardon him?
- [35:33]
Donald Trump
Okay, are you ready? I don't know who he is.
- [35:36]
Kyle Kulinski
I don't know who he is. Is different than. I've never personally met him. I don't know who he is.
- [35:44]
Donald Trump
I know he got a four month sentence or something like that and I heard it was a Biden witch Hunt.
- [35:49]
CBS Interviewer
In 2025, his crypto exchange, Binance helped facilitate a 2 billion dollar purchase of world Liberty Financials, Stablecoin. And then you pardoned. How do you address the appearance of pay for play?
- [36:06]
Donald Trump
Well, here's the thing. I know nothing about it because I'm too busy doing the other.
- [36:09]
Kyle Kulinski
But again, that is not. I've never met the guy personally. He said I don't know who he is and I know nothing about what he did, period. Someone just told him how about this guy? And Trump said, all right, let's do it. That's the most benign explanation. The more the darker explanation is Trump knows exactly who he is and knows that Binance lined Trump's pockets and that's why Trump pardoned the guy on snap benefits. Caroline Levitt was asked about that and she says we are complying with the court's order. Except it doesn't seem that they are snap. I know it's been asked and I know we just asked it, but I want to put a fine point on it. You talked about the President's post here and he wrote that snap benefits will only be given and radical let Democrats open up the government. I understand your previous answers, but as written, how would that not violate court order as a script?
- [37:04]
Caroline Levitt
I've now answered this question several times. Gabe. We are complying with the court's order. We are getting the payments out the door as quickly as we can. USDA sent the guidance to the state. The President is referring to future snap payments. He does not want to have to keep tapping in to an emergency fund in depleting it in the case of a catastrophe in this country. He wants to have those funds preserved as they should be.
- [37:26]
Kyle Kulinski
The court has said you got to use that money and pay people's benefits. Trump is trying not to. Caroline Levitt is lying that they are complying with the court order. And then finally, finally, Caroline Levitt asked, Trump said Prop 50 in California was rigged. What did he mean by that? What evidence do you have that it was rigged?
- [37:47]
Caroline Levitt
Sure, Caroline, the President posted on Truth.
- [37:50]
Kyle Kulinski
Social that the voting underway in California is, quote, rigged.
- [37:54]
Caroline Levitt
What evidence does he have of that? And what does it mean that mail.
- [37:56]
Kyle Kulinski
In ballots in that state are under legal and criminal review?
- [38:00]
Caroline Levitt
By whom?
- [38:01]
Kyle Kulinski
And why?
- [38:02]
Caroline Levitt
And also in this vein, does the.
- [38:03]
Kyle Kulinski
White House still plan to issue an executive order banning mail in voting? And what legal authority do you have to do that?
- [38:09]
Caroline Levitt
The White House is working on an executive order to strengthen our elections in this country and to ensure that there cannot be blatant fraud as we've seen in California with their universal mail in voting system. It's absolutely true that there are fraud and there's fraud in California's elections. It's just a fact.
- [38:28]
Kyle Kulinski
It's just a fact that there's fraud.
- [38:30]
Caroline Levitt
It is just a fact. They have a universal mail in voting system which we know is ripe for fraud. And if you want to deny that, I'm happy to provide you all of the the evidence for it. I'd be glad to send that to you after this briefing. Rigged fraudulent ballots that are being mailed in in the names of other people and the names of illegal aliens who shouldn't be voting in American elections. There's countless examples.
- [38:50]
Kyle Kulinski
And we'd be remember that so called illegal aliens can't even register to vote. So it's all lies, takeaways. We still don't know why Trump got an MRI and Caroline Levitt's not going to tell us. Trump is still not complying with the court order on SNAP benefits and Caroline Levitt is lying. They are still not providing actual evidence of California's Prop 50 being rigged. And Caroline Levitt is very willing to lie. The big theme is Caroline Levitt's willingness to lie. She's less effective now than she was at the beginning because reporters understand almost nothing she says can be believed. And they're actually asking follow up. A lot of people think identity theft is something that only happens when someone hacks into your account. But the truth is that it usually starts with your personal information being posted online by data brokers where anybody can find it. Our sponsor Incogni is a service that helps protect your privacy by forcing the data brokers to delete your information. This includes your name, address, phone number, even sensitive things like property records or your political affiliation. And now, with their custom removals feature included in the unlimited plan, you're not limited to just the list of 250 plus brokers they work with. By default, if you find any site exposing any of your private information, even one they've never seen before, you can send a link and Incogni's team will work to get that removed. This is serious protection for you and your family and against identity theft, against fraud, doxing, harassment. And Incogni's data removal process is the only one independently verified by Deloitte. Get 60% off an annual plan when you visit incogni.com/pacman and use the code PACMAN. The link is in the description.
- [40:45]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Well, it is really a pleasure to be speaking with Joyce Vance today. Her new book is Giving Up Is Unforgivable, A Manual for Keeping a Democracy. It's such a great.
- [40:58]
Kyle Kulinski
Not great.
- [40:58]
Vivek Ramaswamy
It's an important time to be talking. It's great to be talking at an important time, but it is not necessarily a great time in the sense of a lot of the things that we're following. I really do appreciate your time, though.
- [41:09]
Joyce Vance
You know, it's really nice to be with you. And it's funny, I was just thinking about what you're saying because I had said to somebody, oh, I really enjoyed that conversation. But enjoy was the wrong word, right? I mean, it was a sort of a dark conversation about the political moment, but it felt good coming out of it to have had the conversation and to have shared ideas with somebody. So I think we can all be forgiven for that Use loose of the word enjoyed.
- [41:36]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Well, listen, I think one place to start that might be really relevant to my audience, that is an audience that, you know, is more steeped in politics than the average person. I would say, and I've been very honest with my audience that even personally, I think there are limits to how much of this stuff is healthy to consume. That I think it's good. You know, when I'm done with my. My last show of the week, I really try to not engage with what's happening for a couple of days, which I know is a privileged thing to be able to do, but it's really a mental health thing. And one of the things I saw that you mentioned in a recent book chat that you did is that we can't be outraged all the time. And there's a Couple of different layers where I think that that is important, and what I would love for you to do is to talk about it, but also contrast it with one of the things we're fighting is getting too used to the absurd things that are happening. And so, on the one hand, not everything can be a scandal. We can't be outraged all the time. And also, we don't want to fall into a situation where any of what's going on is accepted as normal. So can you talk a little bit about how those two things can both be true?
- [42:46]
Joyce Vance
I think you just said all of the smart, important things all at once and connected them in a way I've never really connected them before, because I think this sense of overwhelm that we all feel right, that's my new noun for the day, overwhelm. It's deliberate. This is a strategy that wannabe dictators use in order to get people just to give up, because they just feel beyond the ability to cope with it. And like you say, for mental health purposes, maybe need to just check out for a while, just on an even keel. You know, at the same time, outrage fatigue is real. And if you just think back to the first time that you, for instance, saw ICE attack a person on American streets and how horrified you were, and we're still horrified, but every time we see it, it's a little bit less. You know, we are watching these attacks that the administration is launching what the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, calls kinetic attacks, which are attack extrajudicial murders of human beings. And it's hard to sustain the outrage on time. 15 or 16. I think that's really the challenge that we face. How do we stay involved and engaged in what's going on? How do we do it without becoming sanguine about what we're seeing and accepting it as the new normal? And so that's part of the value that I've found in these substack conversations, maybe with folks that I don't know and with new audiences, who is for us all to have the chance to observe what's going on through fresh eyes, to make sure that we maintain the outrage. We should all be righteously indignant right now. I mean, it's hard to sit in my basement but simultaneously jump up and down and demand answers from my Republican senators. So we all have to figure out how to do that. We also need to take care of ourselves and remember that the reason that we're doing this is because democracy is not some abstract goal. It's a system that Lets us live good, happy, productive lives and make our own decisions, not to have a king or a dictator who tells us what we can and can't do. So our challenge is to do all of that at once.
- [44:57]
Vivek Ramaswamy
One of the challenges I've been thinking about a lot is especially as there is, I would say, some fracturing on the left. I don't want to like, overplay and say there's this civil war. I also don't want to pretend that the left is as united as it's ever been, because I certainly don't, don't think that that's the case. But in a context where there are certainly factions on the left right now, one of the things that seems mathematically correct to me is that given that 40 to 50% of the country doesn't vote, depending on what election we're talking about, I see a bigger opportunity in activating people not currently voting by connecting what they're worried about in their communities to who they vote for. Then getting into the rage debate scenarios of the intra left fighting. The latter may be entertaining. There's a lot of shows and YouTube channels built around that kind of debate. But I actually think the bigger opportunity is in this mass of people, tens of millions of people, who have not come to believe that they might be able to better their circumstances if they did engage with the political process. Now, every election cycle, as you know, you hear if we can just increase turnout among 18 to 29 year olds by 2%, we win everything. And of course, like it just ends up coming down to the seven swing states every election. And it's close. And so I guess my question is, what is your sense now of the best way to activate these tens of millions of non voters?
- [46:29]
Joyce Vance
This is a really great question. I mean, the numbers don't lie, right? If more young people voted, and if they voted what I think we generally perceive as for progressive policies, then maybe we wouldn't have a president John Donald Trump. Maybe we would have a president who cared about climate change or a president who cared about civil rights or what have you. So look, I think a big part of this issue is persuading people that voting matters. I mean, that's canon in my household, right? We deeply get, because my husband is an elected state court judge, we both come from families that had different levels of involvement in the political process and the civil rights movement. We get that voting is incredibly powerful and that nobody would try to take your right to vote away as hard as these folks are doing if it wasn't really powerful. But I have a 22 year old kid and we were talking about, what would it take to motivate you to. Well, this was me as his mom fishing. What would it take to get you to read a book about democracy? Because, you know, you want your kid to read your book. And he just sort of yawned and we had this interesting conversation that I recite part of in the book where he said, mom, I was four years old when Occupy happened and nothing has changed. You know, rich people still control government, they control Congress, they control caucuses. I'm a 22 year old kid. What exactly is it that you expect me to do against billionaire and billionaire adjacent people? And I think that that's a really legitimate point of view. And if we're going to activate younger voters or people who feel disenfranchised by the political process, then we need to share with them the story of times that government worked, because they don't remember those times. I mean, my kid, his earliest memories of a presidency, Donald Trump's first term in office, he maybe has shadowy memories of Obama and happy times, but that's not what he's grown up with. And so I think we need to tell the stories, and I do in the book of the civil rights movement and of times when voters went out in the streets to demand their rights and then change became possible. But we gotta make that concrete. You can't accept, expect people to, to go out and vote based on ideas, not on benefits in their own lives.
- [48:51]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Do you, or to what degree do you also think that kind of understanding the pace of progress historically is relevant? And I'll contextualize what I mean by that in, in my book, I had a chapter on basically why I am not an accelerationist. I believe in incrementalism. And the reason I say that is when I look at the three eras of the biggest progressive advancements, which I identified as the progressive era, the New Deal era, the civil rights era. At the time it sort of seemed slow. But when we look back and we realize, you know, a lot of it depended on who had won a prior election and who were the new Supreme Court justices that were in on the.
- [49:32]
Kyle Kulinski
Supreme Court at what ended up being.
- [49:35]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Critical times, I try to build up this case that it can feel slow, but we are hopefully building on something. Do you think that there's not enough of an understanding of sometime, like we want things to happen fast and in retrospect it will be fast, but in the moment it can sort of feel slow?
- [49:52]
Joyce Vance
Yeah, I mean, we're a fast society Right. I mean, in 30 minutes of TV, including commercial breaks, a crime is supposed to be committed and solved on Law and Order and that's how the world is supposed to work. I think the point that you make in your book is the right point. And the civil rights era illustrates this in some very interesting ways. Right? There's the integration of the University of Alabama, where I teach, over the objection of the governor, George Wallace, who stood in the schoolhouse doorway very dramatically and then stepped aside because President Kennedy had made it impossible for him to continue to stand there successfully. And, and so we see the integration of the university and there's a woman named Vivian Malone Jones who becomes the first black student to be enrolled. Someone with great credentials who would have been accepted in a race neutral environment. But they found excuses like the class size won't allow it or some other BS like that to keep her out. But she enrolls and she doesn't have an easy path. There's a lot of opposition. There are bombs that go off. She tells a story in an interview, right, that one day she decides to go to class, even though there's been a bombing right by her apartment that day, because the moment demands it of her. And in her wake, lots of students, black students, enroll at the University of Alabama. There's even a black student government president. Something that was unthinkable, you know, in my lifetime. And 50 years later, when the university holds the celebration of the anniversary of integration, the sitting Attorney general, Eric Holder, the first black attorney general, is Vivian Malone Jones, brother in law. So there's this sort of straight line of progress that's elusive in the moment, especially when the times are tough and it's difficult and you feel like progress isn't linear, which it never was in the civil rights movement. It was a step forward and two back and then go forward again. But it's that long sweep of history that's instructive. So at the risk of sounding like a professor, which I am in real life, you know, I'll just say we sometimes have to look at the video, not the snapshot, to understand why incrementalism, even when it's frustrating, is the right approach.
- [52:06]
Vivek Ramaswamy
In the kind of theme of the book of not giving up. One of the things I've sort of done content about and written about a little bit, is that there are some structural realities in the country that implicitly sort of resist mass protest and mass action. And kind of what I mean by that is when healthcare is, for most people, linked to their job, when wages have been stagnant and 40% of the country would have to borrow to meet an unexpected $400 expense when public transit or train transit is. Is very underdeveloped.
- [52:44]
Kyle Kulinski
You know, you put all of these.
- [52:45]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Things together, and it's both, like, kind of difficult and risky for the average person to take time off from work to go and protest. This is great for these structures that don't want people protesting, that don't want our financial system grinding to a halt, et cetera. So I'm interested in kind of hearing your thoughts about whether those structural hindrances to mass protests need to be dealt with first or whether it's part of what the protest would try to change or, like, how do you conceive of that?
- [53:17]
Joyce Vance
It would be great if we had the luxury of fixing all of the problems that you've just identified right now. The reality is we don't. I mean, we have to first run the race for democracy and then fix the problems. And as you point out, there are a lot of interests that deincentivize fixing all of those problems. Look, if you're a young single mom and you're a waitress or you have a job where you eat what you kill, you know, you only eat if you earn money. You can't afford to take a day off of work. But one of the lessons of the civil rights movement. So I live in Birmingham. I've had this amazing opportunity to talk with foot soldiers. Soldiers over the years. And one of the lessons that you learn is the importance of being in community and realizing you do not have to fight the entire fight on your own. And if you can't afford to stay home from work, don't. But that means that those of us who are in a position to go out and protest absolutely have to. And there's a moment in the fight for civil rights in Alabama where parents are being threatened with loss of their jobs if they protest. And so we get the school children's march, where children, I mean, like young kids, high school kids, march out of their schools and protest on the streets in Birmingham. And that leads to this sort of famous moment with Bull Connor and dogs and fire hoses. And much of that animates the rest of the country in the belief that something has got to change. You know, I hope it won't take a traumatic moment like that one, But I do think that there's value in understanding that not everybody has to do everything, but those of us who can do certain things have an oblig to do them right now.
- [55:00]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Yeah, that's A, It's a, interestingly, a very similar message to what Heather Cox Richardson kind of suggested when, when I had her on a couple of months ago. And I, I'm. That it's, it's a very interesting one and an important one that I think resonates with a lot of people. How significant do you think the divisions on what we would loosely call the political left are right now? Because I could kind of, I could steel man, both cases, right? I could say, listen, you've got corporate centrist Democrats who seem very interested in maintaining the status quo and the systems that got them into power and treading very lightly in order to get themselves reelected.
- [55:43]
Kyle Kulinski
Cool.
- [55:44]
Vivek Ramaswamy
On the other side, you've got accelerationists and actual socialists, not people that are called socialists as a pejorative, but actual socialists who are happy to try to burn down systems with the belief that they can build them back up in a better way. And then in between you've got a bunch of stuff like, I'm a social Democrat in the style of like Denmark and Sweden, and I believe in well regulated capitalism that ensures that standards of living don't go too low and we use taxes to. Okay, how, how serious are these divisions in your mind?
- [56:18]
Joyce Vance
So look, Democrats have always been the party of a big tent. I'm a lawyer, I'm a former federal prosecutor, not a political theorist. But I've been around long enough to know that the only way this country works is if we build coalitions among people who don't see 100% eye to eye, and if we're willing to do something that's become all but unheard of in our politics, which is to compromise. And the hope is that if we do that, we can certainly do better than what we're seeing on the other side of the aisle right at this moment. I mean, if you, if you don't see this as a moment where you have to in many ways put country ahead of party or ahead of faction, then I think all hope is lost in this country. And it's, it's instructive to me to think about how much of the divide on the left, but really even the wedge between Republicans and Democrats has been driven by, let's just say, outside interests that are invested in seeing this country fail. So a lot of the disinformation and even the misinformation that we see online and in social media is designed, was designed to elect a particular presidential candidate. And I think if we study that sort of behavior, which is well documented, at least online, then it helps us Understand that the people who have interests in dividing us are not people who have any of our best interests at heart. And so my daughter, who I think is pretty far to the left of you, and maybe among that group of people who. Who are true believers in socialism, she nonetheless said, you know, I. I don't love Kamala Harris. I know you do, Mom. I'm going to vote for her because I think she's the best choice. And it's a binary choice, right? It's not my perfect world versus what's on the other side. And so we do need to, I think, quell enough of the divide to address that. But at the same time, it's not enough for people who have been in power for a long time to continue to ride on that, to coast on that, and to refuse to have conversations with people who see things differently. And, you know, a lot of the time when we all sit down at the table and discuss ideas, our ideas evolve and they're better and they're stronger. Socialism on the model in the Scandinavian countries where people have great educations and get good health care and have good quality of life, there's no reason we shouldn't be exploring what we can import from that into our system. And in an area that I work in that's near and dear to my heart, which is prison reform, we can absolutely learn from other countries. And it's ridiculous that we insist on having prisons where the model is, house people, warehouse people like animals, and then send 98% out of them back into the community and expect good results. So I would say let's get through the moment that we're in, but let's not forget that on the other side of it, there's a responsibility for people to listen to other people and to really fulfill the sort of, you know, the big tent moniker instead of just paying lip service to it. Sorry, I know that sort of rambled, but I think it's a complicated issue.
- [59:36]
Vivek Ramaswamy
It's complicated, no, but that. That I think is very well said and really lays out the stakes very, very accurately. The book is Giving Up Is Unforgivable, A Manual for Keeping a Democracy. And we've been speaking with the book's author, Joyce Vance. Get the book. Subscribe to Joyce's Substack. If you're one of Joyce's viewers, I'd be flattered if you subscribe to my substack, and I so appreciate your time, and I hope to do it again.
- [60:01]
Joyce Vance
This has been great. Let's do it anytime you want to. I mean, I think this is exactly the kind of conversation we should all be having right now.
- [60:09]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon.
- [60:11]
Joyce Vance
Thank you.
- [60:12]
Kyle Kulinski
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If you've never thought much about your underwear, this is the one brand that might make you start. Go to sheath underwear.com/pacman. Use the code PACMAN for 20% off. The link is in the description. Donald Trump is attempting to ignore a court order about food stamps. Does he really think that this is going to work? I mean, this is crushing a bunch of his own supporters as much as it's crushing the country at large. And by the way, it's not terrible for businesses, food stamps being one of the most economically stimulative forms of government spending. Here's what's going on. A court has said you've got to spend the 6 billion you have in reserve to give people food stamp benefits. And the Trump administration doesn't want to do it. As we're going to air right now, as I'm recording this, there is the claim that half of benefits are going to go out eventually, I guess. But in the midst of this, Donald Trump posts to Truth Social quote, SNAP benefits, which increased by billions and billions of dollars, many fold during Crooked Joe Biden's disastrous term in office due to the fact that they were haphazardly handed to anyone for the asking as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP will be given only when the radical left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do and not before. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J. Trump One of the greatest inaccuracies about food stamps is that there are people hanging out Living large on food stamp benefits who don't really deserve them. And the truth is we're talking about a couple hundred bucks a month. Now, a couple hundred bucks a month is not going to make an already wealthy person wealthier. And so the idea that people who don't really need the food stamps at all are just collecting the money and getting rich, that's not going to happen. But for people who do need food stamps, that $200 actually is the difference between I can eat or I can't. It's the difference between I have to go into debt to afford my groceries by putting them on a credit card and paying interest next month and more interest the following month and on and on, or I can go and get my groceries and use food stamps to pay for them. And the idea that there are just that, that there is largesse because of people who don't deserve or really need the food stamps, getting them, it is an absolutely pathetic and ridiculous idea. Idea. Politically, this does seem quite risky because there's a lot of Republicans who depend on food stamps as well. Now, Trump is trying to sort of say, yes, you're not going to have the food stamps, but it's because of Democrats that you're not going to have the food stamps. I don't think people are falling for it. The polling certainly doesn't show that with regard to who's responsible for the government shutdown. And this seems like another one of these extraordinarily shortsighted measures. Now, I would expect, because Trump loves to try to take credit for partially solving problems he created. My guess is that at some point some food stamp benefits will go out and Trump will take credit. And it will be something like, despite the evil Democrats who want everybody to starve, including my own followers, I have been able to and decided with the great strength of my orange face to release some money. I'm expecting something like that. And of course, we have to remember this is a problem he created. And by the way, even with the government shut down, there's no reason the 6 billion can't be used. Trump goes, well, once the government is open, the government being closed is your fault. But even with it being closed, you've got 6 billion for food stamps for exactly these sorts of situations. Now, again, I want to mention many of you are still writing in. David, I want to help on this food issue. The audience is the most powerful part of the show and what we are doing for all of November. And I'm going to have an update for you on the success for Every new website membership and new paid substack subscription. This month, we are donating the entire first payment to Feeding America. I have an update. We now have. It's November 5th. We started this on November 3rd. We have 172 new memberships. $6,792 will now be donated to Feeding America. Feeding America funds 10 meals with every dollar. The way they do this is by making deals with grocery stores and others with food that is normally gotten rid of and then also buying food in bulk. They can, they can support 10 meals with every dollar. The $6700 that you all have raised, which we will be donating funds, 67,000 meals. We're only on day three of this thing, so I hope that you will join. We've chosen feeding America because 98% of donations go directly to Feeding People. The overhead at the organization is really small. So if you get a monthly membership on my website, you're funding 60 meals. If you get a yearly membership on my website, you're funding 600 meals. And meanwhile, Trump's got 6 billion. He could use it to feed the 42 million Americans on food stamps. He doesn't want to do it. Courts are saying he has to. Families are scared. While we are fighting all of that, people need to eat. So we're trying to help them. And I will update you tomorrow as to where we are. $6700. 67,000 meals as of this moment. Links are in the description. Marjorie Taylor Greene went on the View to try to prove she's normal. Now, she's not a complete whack job and it didn't go particularly well. Now, I've said before, Marjorie Taylor Greene is at odds with some elements of what is happening in the Republican Party. She's at odds with the government shutdown. She's at odds with what's happening with health care premiums. But big picture, she's still a right winger. She's not a friend of progressives. She might be an enemy with whom we overlap in one or another area, which is fine. Politics make strange bedfellows and we should take advantage of anything we can to achieve our policy goals. But this is a. An interview, I guess, meant to showcase how Marjorie Taylor Greene, the radical and repugnant reactionary congresswoman, has turned the corner. In some sense, it's a new her. She was asked by Sunny Hostin. So you don't believe in Kuhnen anymore? You've changed now. And Marjorie's answer is a little bit shaky. I'll put it that way. Say you don't believe in the QAnon conspiracies anymore?
- [68:01]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
I went over that a long time ago. I mean, we've changed. Well, no, I haven't changed. I was a victim, just like you were of.
- [68:09]
Joyce Vance
Of.
- [68:10]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Of media lies and stuff you read on social media. You all have attacked me many times on the show.
- [68:15]
Kyle Kulinski
But of course, that has nothing to do with whether she believes Q and on.
- [68:19]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Because of things that you read about me that weren't clips we've seen or clips you've seen.
- [68:27]
Vivek Ramaswamy
No, but wait, hold.
- [68:27]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Not even true.
- [68:28]
Kyle Kulinski
Let's take a second.
- [68:29]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Yeah.
- [68:31]
Kyle Kulinski
All right. So she says that the Jewish space lasers thing has been rebuffed. Just as a reminder, it was posted to her Facebook page. She's just arguing that whoever was handling the Facebook page posted it. Now, whether we believe that someone running her page would post without her permission and without her believing it's something about Jewish space lasers, I don't know. Maybe I've got a bridge to sell you. But needless to say, that is what she is claiming. She was asked a question by Whoopi Goldberg. Does she support Trump sending troops to American cities?
- [68:59]
Vivek Ramaswamy
Clear question.
- [68:59]
Kyle Kulinski
Issue of constitutionality, issue of separation of powers, issue of federalism. She dodges the question, sadly, because, you know, free speech is everything, and it feels like it's harder to do and to have in this country. Do you think it's a good idea. Idea for the military to be marching into our cities and towns right now?
- [69:27]
Caroline Levitt
Because.
- [69:29]
Kyle Kulinski
Maybe people don't like the speech that they're hearing. How do we combat that and get back to going after the people who really are the problems?
- [69:38]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Well, you know, on speech, Free speech, I want to say that I think that all. All of us right here are doing a great job of exchanging our ideas and things that we believe in, and we're doing it in a very professional and kind way.
- [69:54]
Kyle Kulinski
And this sounds to me like playing both sides.
- [69:59]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
I think we need more of that in America. I really do. And a lot of people wanted me to come on the show and say nasty things. And, you know, all of us don't fight. They wanted all of us to fight.
- [70:11]
Kyle Kulinski
Thank you for not doing that.
- [70:12]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Oh, my goodness. No, I didn't. I didn't want surround that. It's like five to one.
- [70:17]
Joyce Vance
She could handle it, but she didn't want to.
- [70:20]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
No, I. I didn't want to do that today because I believe that people with powerful voices like myself and like you, and especially women to women, we need to pave a new path. This country Our beautiful country, our red, white and blue flag is just being ripped to shreds. And I think it takes women to of maturity to sew it back together. And I think that happens.
- [70:48]
Kyle Kulinski
Oh, boy. You know, I've got to hand it to her. She was prepared. She is trying to play both sides. I want to take you back to the question, do you support Trump sending troops into American cities? And she does this kumbaya as women, speaking as women, which is not the way that Marjorie Taylor Greene normally talks, because she knows her audience and this is a PR effort. Marjorie Taylor Greene, having been pseudo shunned by Donald Trump and bits and pieces of maga, is looking to climb the social ladder. And what she is trying to figure out a way to do without having to say, of course I don't support sending troops into cities, which would put her completely at odds with the Republican Party. Or of course, I do support sending troops to American cities, which would put her at odds with the audience and the women of the View. She chooses to go, listen, we got to be nice. I'm not going to come on here and say nasty things as women, as powerful women, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She's trying to play both sides. This is a PR campaign. I am now more convinced than ever. It doesn't mean that there aren't some nominal disagreements between Marjorie Taylor Greene and MAGA on the fringes, but she is trying to play both sides. The topic of Republican men came up. You called them, quote, unquote. I believe this is you mostly weak Republican men. So would you like to name names?
- [72:26]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Yeah, well, there's, I, you know, I think there's a lot of paid social media influencers. And I found it very interesting that they were the MAGA accounts, but they're all paid. And they all attacked me when I announced I was coming to join you ladies on the View. And I think that that's very weak and pathetic. But when I talk about weak Republican men, I'm pretty much talking oftentimes about the leadership in the House and the Senate. And they're just, they're not getting our agenda done.
- [72:57]
Kyle Kulinski
All right, so it's the leadership of the House and Senate. And then finally for Marjorie Taylor Greene, maybe her most, most normal moment of the entire thing.
- [73:04]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
21. And there was a sunset date of the end of this year, and Republicans never made a plan for that. And I have been practically. I yelled at Mike Johnson last week on our GOP conference call. By the way, I'm missing the call today. It's going on right now. And I hope that Mike Johnson is finally giving a single health care policy because the country deserves it and it shouldn't be a secret. And I shouldn't have to go into a SCIF to go find our Republican health insurance plan.
- [73:32]
Kyle Kulinski
Maybe there is no plan.
- [73:34]
Vivek Ramaswamy
You know what?
- [73:34]
Marjorie Taylor Greene
You want to know something that I believe is the truth? There's a lot of ideas, there's a lot of bills, but there's no consensus. And I think that's all right.
- [73:43]
Kyle Kulinski
So Marjorie Taylor Greene, rightly saying enough with the health care plan has to be a secret thing. We can't keep doing this thing. I think she's playing both sides. I think this is a PR effort. I don't buy that this is a new Marjorie Taylor Greene even one iota, but she's welcome on the show anytime and I'd love to talk to her about it.
- [74:02]
Joyce Vance
It.
- [74:02]
Kyle Kulinski
On the bonus show today, we will delve in more detail into some of the down ballot races in yesterday's blue wave. We will talk about the Supreme Court entering the lion's den on Donald Trump's tariffs and we will talk about teachers getting threats after Halloween, costumes wrongly linked to Charlie Kirk. All of that and more on today's bonus show. Sign up@join pacman.com make sure that you are getting the bonus show and the commercial free show and all of it and I'll see you then. But of course, we'll have a new show tomorrow.